Beneath the dense cover of white funeral scrolls, in front of the coffin.
Chen Ji silently looked at the scattered silver coins covering the ground. He suddenly understood what the true trump card of the Betting Official Pathway was. This person, who was the most cautious, most terrified of death, and possessed the heaviest gambling nature, had chosen the Official Path Gateway most suited for himself.
At this time, Advisor Liu sprinted outward, shouting loudly all the way. "Where are the Black-Clad Guards?! Chase that man named Feng and bring him back! Absolutely do not let the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry fall into his hands under any circumstances!"
Several men in black quietly surfaced from the small alleys. "Advisor Liu, calm your restlessness and impatience; we will go chase him."
In front of the main gates of the Liu Family's main residence, Advisor Liu had someone fetch a few carrier pigeons. Handing them over to the Black-Clad Guards, he carefully instructed them, "You all are not that surnamed Feng's opponent. Split up into seven routes and head to the Tiger Armor Camp to seek out Assistant Commander Yang and expose that man surnamed Feng. If Assistant Commander Yang doesn't believe it, then tell him to come to the Liu Family's main residence and ask the Master face-to-face! If this matter succeeds, immediately write a letter and have the pigeons bring it back!"
A Black-Clad Guard hesitated. "But Mister Feng... the man surnamed Feng holds the Tiger Tally. The Tiger Armor Camp only recognizes the troop tally, not the person!"
Advisor Liu said in a heavy voice, "We can only give it a try. Go quickly!"
"Yes!"
The Black-Clad Guards tucked the pigeons into their clothes, mounted their horses, and charged into the dark night.
Supporting himself on the doorframe just like that, Advisor Liu waited, his heart burning with anxiety. Less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn later, a pigeon flapped its wings and flew back.
Advisor Liu was stunned. He immediately reached out his hand, allowing the pigeon to land on his wrist. An armored soldier reminded him, "Advisor Liu, there is blood on the pigeon's feathers."
"It's the blood of the Black-Clad Guards," Advisor Liu's expression was fluctuating unpredictably. "There are people outside who ambushed and killed the Black-Clad Guards!"
The crowd looked up toward the area outside the main gates. The pitch-black color of the sky was like an abyss seeking to devour people; no matter what, it couldn't be filled.
His face ashen, Advisor Liu raised his voice. "Close the residence gates! Ignite the torches on the watchtowers! Without my command, absolutely no one is allowed to open the gates!"
Chen Ji and several armored soldiers pushed the heavy, Zhu-lacquered main gates, slowly closing them. The instant the two gates shut tight, this Liu Family's main residence transformed into an impenetrable, heavily fortified city.
Advisor Liu suddenly turned around and walked toward the ancestral shrine. "I'm going to find the Master!"
Chen Ji and the other armored soldiers followed behind him through the long alleyways. Arriving in front of the ancestral shrine's doors, they saw Advisor Liu fall to both knees on the ground. "Master, we were all deceived by Feng Wenzheng! I said earlier that there must be someone secretly obstructing things when generals of the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry met with accidents one after another. It was definitely this man surnamed Feng! This person weaves webs of lies; there isn't a single word of truth in his mouth..."
At this moment, Chen Ji deeply empathized with Advisor Liu.
That Mister Feng was like a swindler who was Both Good and Evil—chaotic and powerful.
The other party carelessly wandered along the edge of the blade, playing everyone like fools. Even Chen Ji couldn't distinguish which of the other party's words were true and which were lies.
Advisor Liu continued speaking. "Master, it's already too late to recall the other armies. The most urgent task at hand is to send people to find General Zhou and order him to bring the Elephant Armor Camp as reinforcements..."
In the ancestral shrine, Elder Liu paid no attention to Advisor Liu. Standing with his back to everyone, he slowly looked up at the mountain-like tiers of spirit tablets in the main shrine niche and let out a long sigh. "If Feng Wenzheng truly started laying out this scheme seven years ago, then everything is completely over... Prince Jing has harmed me."
Advisor Liu abruptly looked at Elder Liu's kneeling back. "Master, we cannot sit here Waiting for Death!"
"Of course we cannot sit here Waiting for Death. That would be undignified," Elder Liu stood up and smoothed out his grey cloth robe. "Beat the drums and ascend the hall, burn incense, draw the death lots, and sacrifice to the banners!"
...
At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the sky brightened slightly, and the east took on the color of a fish's belly.
Deep within the high walls of the Liu Family's main residence, heavy drumbeats sounded, growing increasingly urgent with each strike.
Upon hearing the drumbeats from within the various houses in the main residence, the clan members and relatives of the Liu Family hurried over.
Leading the armored soldiers, Advisor Liu pushed open the narrow doors throughout the main residence one by one. Hundreds of black-clad deathsworn soldiers Enter in Single File Like Fish through each door, ultimately coming to gather densely in front of the ancestral shrine, cramming the open space and alleyways full.
No one spoke; they only stared solemnly at the ancestral shrine.
Elder Liu brought out the long-sealed death lots from beneath the sacrificial altar—sixteen divination cylinders filled with bamboo slips.
Wiping a divination cylinder with his sleeve, he said slowly and methodically, "I originally intended to lead you all to rise up in rebellion, but I never expected to fall victim to someone else's schemes, brewing a massive catastrophic error. Today, the ancestral shrine is opened. Those who draw a death lot will face the enemy alongside me. Those who do not draw one will leave through the rear gates. When the time comes, there will be someone to escort you secretly southward, where you will board a ship and set sail for Java Island. In my early years, I already commanded my eldest son to establish properties and businesses there; it will be enough for you to live on. Remember this: never, ever return to the Ning Dynasty."
Everyone had assumed Elder Liu's eldest son had long since shaved his head and become a monk at Yuanjue Temple in the Capital City. They never expected the Liu Family had actually executed a scheme of 'substituting a plum tree for a peach tree' long ago, secretly sending him to Java Island.
Just as Elder Liu had stated, what aristocratic families sought shouldn't originally be 'victory,' but rather 'invincibility and avoiding defeat.' Only in this way could they endure for a long time.
Over the past thirty-one years, the Liu Family had sought constant victory, but where in life was there a principle of winning forever?
Advisor Liu pleaded, "Master, why aren't you leaving? That fast ship can carry over a hundred people! The Eldest Master has already established a firm foothold on Java Island. You can stage a comeback there!"
Elder Liu smiled. "If I don't die, the person in Renshou Palace won't be able to sleep. Me staying behind is precisely to give him an explanation. Beat the drums!"
The drumbeats became dense once more. The wiped-clean divination cylinders were passed among the crowd, and everyone silently drew their individual slips. Some who drew a living lot wept tears of joy, and there were fathers who secretly swapped their living lots for their sons' death lots. Some who drew a death lot remained silent and speechless, while others who were unwilling wailed loudly and fainted.
Standing on the steps of the ancestral shrine, Elder Liu's eyes were filled with the vicissitudes of life.
An incense stick's worth of time later, those who drew living lots departed the ancestral shrine under the guidance of several Black-Clad Guards, heading toward an unknown destination. Those who drew death lots wrapped white cloth around their heads, everyone dressed in plain mourning garments.
Advisor Liu suddenly said, "Master, Prince Jing is still in our residence. This tribulation facing the Liu Family is largely due to his indispensable contribution!"
Elder Liu remained silent for a long time. "Bring him here. Use him to sacrifice to the banners!"
Chen Ji's heart sank.
Turning to the black-clad deathsworn soldiers, Advisor Liu said, "Go! Bring the Prince, the Prince Heir, and the Commandery Princess here! Sacrifice to the banners!"
Watching the dozen or so black-clad deathsworn soldiers turn and leave, Chen Ji had the intention of following them, but no logical reason to do so.
What should he do?
Right at this moment, a miserable scream suddenly rang out from a watchtower in the Liu Family's main residence, interrupting Advisor Liu's train of thought.
Hundreds of people turned their heads uniformly to look. They saw a shooting star fly through the dim sky, piercing completely through the deathsworn soldier on the watchtower.
When the shooting star extinguished, the sky darkened once more, as if absolutely nothing had happened just now.
This darkness paused for an instant, yet also felt as if it paused for a very long time. In the next moment, shooting stars abruptly burst forth like a torrential rain, as dazzlingly brilliant as a flowing galaxy, piercing right through all the deathsworn soldiers atop the dozen or so watchtowers!
The heavy clattering of iron hooves sounded from outside the Liu Family's main residence. The sound of iron hooves spread from the north to the east and west, completely encircling this massive residence that had stood for hundreds of years.
At this time, a deathsworn soldier whose abdomen had been skewered lay sprawled on a watchtower, using his final bit of strength to shout, "The Trouble-Resolving Guard has arrived! The Thousand-Year Army has also arrived!"
Advisor Liu roared in fury, "Where is the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry?!"
Yet that deathsworn soldier no longer made a sound.
The Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry, which was supposed to be setting up defenses on the roads to block the enemy, had been taken to an unknown location by Mister Feng. The Thousand-Year Army and the Trouble-Resolving Guard penetrated the Liu Family's defensive lines directly and arrived right before them.
Advisor Liu said with a savage expression, "So the Thousand-Year Army came as well. What a good Prince Jing, what a fine Thousand-Year Army! Where are the armored soldiers... wait, why is there one armored soldier missing?"
At this time, Elder Liu sighed softly. "His Majesty, Prince Jing, and the Eunuch Faction all worked together to lay out this scheme against my Liu Family over many years. Losing is not an injustice. Advisor, take men to go delay them for a while to buy some time for the clan members who drew the living lots."
Advisor Liu led his men and rushed toward the main gates to provide reinforcement. "Hurry to the main gates! Stop them! Do not let them charge inside..."
Before his voice even fell, a loud boom resonated as the Liu Family's main gates were broken open from the outside. The two massive doors slowly fell over, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that surged violently through the air.
The black-clad deathsworn soldiers in front of the gates tried to peer through the dust to clearly see the newcomers, but could only see a blurry figure slowly surfacing from within the dust.
Several breaths later, a man dressed in white clothes and wearing a white Mask stepped over the threshold. Fanning away the dust in front of his face with his right hand, he looked with a smile at the hundreds of deathsworn soldiers crammed into the small alleyway. "Yo, so many people here?"
On that white Mask, faint golden dragon patterns were painted using a fire-gilding technique. Within the rules and regulations of the Ning Dynasty and Jing Dynasty, anyone who arbitrarily wore dragon patterns would suffer Property Confiscation and execution—unless the item bearing the dragon pattern was personally bestowed by the Emperor himself.
For a moment, Advisor Liu acted as if he was facing a formidable enemy. "Bai Long?!"
Acting as if no one else was present, Bai Long pulled a Command Plate from his sleeve and said slowly and methodically, "The Imperial Command Plaque is here. Those who see it shall kneel and bow, as if the Emperor has arrived in person."
Advisor Liu and the deathsworn soldiers remained expressionless and entirely motionless.
Bai Long smiled with complete indifference. "If you don't want to kneel, forget it. In any case, everyone present is already guilty of capital crimes."
Advisor Liu said in a cold voice, "Lord Bai Long truly thinks highly of my Liu Family, actually coming in person."
Bai Long gave a loud laugh. "If I didn't come in person, I was afraid it would be somewhat unsafe."
Advisor Liu's expression was savage. "My Liu Family will not allow ourselves to be captured without putting up a fight..."
Before his voice fell, a speaking voice suddenly rang out from above everyone's heads. "I advise you not to move, oh. Otherwise, I will kill you first."
Looking up, Advisor Liu saw Jiao Tu and Yun Yang, both clad in tight-fitting black clothes, sitting on the roof on the left side of the alley.
Sitting on the high eave corner of the roof ridge, Jiao Tu swung her legs dangling in midair back and forth. Yun Yang stood beside her, his arms crossed over his chest. The two of them were beaming with smiles as they looked down at the deathsworn soldiers.
Advisor Liu was alarmed and bewildered. "You... weren't you exiled to Lingnan?!"
Toying with the jade pendant on her collar button, Jiao Tu said with a beaming smile, "Lingnan's climate is hot and humid, and there are so many venomous insects. The two of us had only walked halfway and didn't want to go anymore, ah."
A voice also rang out from the other side. "Advisor Liu, if you do not wish to die, then obediently put down all the murder weapons in your hands."
Turning his head again, Advisor Liu saw Jin Zhu and Meng Ji standing on the roof on the other side. They had trapped the hundreds of deathsworn soldiers in the alleyway right in the middle!
Bai Long, Tian Ma, and Jin Zhu.
Meng Ji, Jiao Tu, and Yun Yang.
Six Zodiacs had arrived together!
(End of this chapter)