Chapter 21 - 18: Holy Female Bodhisattva
Someone screamed. The midnight lamps flickered erratically, their last light reflecting off his unblinking eyes.
SPLASH.
He sank to the bottom of the lake. A smear of crimson slowly floated to the surface, but in a bizarre twist, the bloodstain seemed to be devoured by the water. Soon, no trace of his body remained on the lake’s surface.
No.
It wasn’t just him.
It seemed that whenever a Cultivator died on the lake and their body sank to the bottom, it was devoured by some ferocious beast.
Of course, those engrossed in the fight for the Heavenly Repair Pill saw none of this.
Su Luoqiu murmured, "Third Elder Sister?!"
"Mm."
The voice was ethereal, as if it did not belong to this world.
She was a young woman whose hair seemed to have been dyed silver-white by the moon. She wore no makeup, yet her beauty was unbelievable. Dressed in a green skirt, she resembled an Immortal Fruit nurtured by heaven and earth, yet she also possessed a Buddhist aura, as if a holy and compassionate Female Bodhisattva had descended to the mortal realm.
But this Bodhisattva was blindfolded, seeing none of the world’s suffering. She held a birdcage draped in black cloth, locking away her own seven passions and six desires.
And so, all living beings suffered, but the Bodhisattva never shed a single holy tear.
"Fourth Brother, you should go back. If you feel you’re in danger, go wait at the noodle shop. No one can take your life there."
Su Luoqiu’s smile froze on his face. "Third Sister, why are you here?"
"There is a riot by the lake. It is only right that I come to see it. But... I am only looking."
The young woman was clearly blindfolded, yet she knew exactly where people were. "Sir, it is late. You should go back and rest as well."
Lu Changyuan smiled. "As the Third Princess, are you not going to stop this?"
Su Youwan turned toward Lu Changyuan and, for some unknown reason, parted her lips. Her lips were extremely pale, as if she were ill. This diminished her Buddhist aura, lending her a more pitiable and endearing quality.
She asked, "Why?"
"If you don’t, I’m afraid this crowd will tear down the Imperial City."
The young woman, standing at the boat’s prow, slowly walked to Lu Changyuan’s side. She stooped, leaning down to look at him. "A few guests have come to your home, and the guests have started fighting. What should the host do?"
Her alluring, silver-white hair almost brushed the tip of Lu Changyuan’s nose.
Too close.
Lu Changyuan stared intently at her beautiful face, paused for a moment, and then said, "Watch the show?"
"Precisely. It would be wrong to help either side. What’s more, Youwan is just a weak woman engaged in Cultivation; I have no power to stop them. As for the Imperial City, if they want to smash it, let them. It’s not the first time Upper Jade Capital has been trashed."
Lu Changyuan couldn’t help but recall that he himself had trashed Upper Jade Capital once before.
’So I was one of those unreasonable guests!’
Su Youwan, still blindfolded, turned toward the chaotic battle on the horizon. "Besides, among all the Cultivators who die, very few are innocent."
Lu Changyuan clearly sensed Xia Lianxue’s body tense up. He smiled and, to her utter shock, patted her on the head.
Just as she finished speaking, a violent burst of fire shot into the sky like a grand firework, but the raging flames threatened to devour the entirety of Upper Jade Capital.
Xia Lianxue clutched her clothes tightly, standing beside Lu Changyuan with her head lowered. The firelight illuminated only half of her delicate cheek.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Your Highness, it is time to make our move."
Inside the residence, someone with a bowed head reminded the Second Prince.
"No rush. Let’s wait a little longer. A little longer."
He had been pacing in his room for a long time. Ever since returning from the painted barge, he had been walking in circles.
He had been planning this for many years. It was only put on the official agenda after the Blood Demon Palace approached him. With years of scheming about to come to fruition, how could he possibly remain calm?
"How much longer until my elder brother returns to the capital?"
"The Crown Prince will take at least seven more days to return to Upper Jade Capital. No, Your Highness, the Crown Prince might not even make it back. If the men from the Blood Demon Palace keep their word, the Crown Prince is likely done for."
The Second Prince was quite satisfied with his subordinate’s report. "What about the Royal Family’s protectors?"
"The three protectors have all gone to Liuqing Lake. Now that the Elixir has appeared, they certainly won’t have the spare attention for anything else." The advisor said with a smile, "After all, who can say if those protectors are more interested in guarding the people of our Upper Jade Capital or in getting the Heavenly Repair Pill for themselves?"
The Second Prince let out a cold sneer.
The Pill that appeared tonight was a fake. It was a Blood Pill provided by Xue Yanluo, disguised as the real thing using a Mysterious Art.
He eagerly anticipated seeing the ugly expression on the final victor’s face when they discovered they had been duped.
The advisor said, "Your Highness, I fear the Blood Demon Palace has other objectives."
"I have already promised them their pick of the National Treasury once this is over."
The advisor shook his head. "I’m afraid it’s more than that. Why would the Blood Demon Palace be interested in our dynasty’s treasury?"
The Second Prince clasped his hands behind his back and gave a confident smile. "There’s something you don’t know. Our dynasty’s founder was also a Cultivator, and an extremely powerful one at that. What the Blood Demon Palace is after is naturally related to our ancestor."
"Can Your Highness elaborate?"
The Second Prince scoffed. "That, I cannot disclose."
It seemed the matter was too mysterious and inconvenient to reveal.
In reality, the Second Prince had no idea either, because Xue Yanluo had never told him in the first place.
"Besides, this is my only chance. My elder brother has pretended to be benevolent and generous for ten years, and the entire court is extremely pleased with him. Even the National Preceptor thinks highly of him." The Second Prince paused. "Right, where is the National Preceptor?"
The advisor explained, "He still hasn’t left the Imperial Palace. Your Highness, he still has the Primordial Mirror."
Ever since the Emperor fell gravely ill, the National Preceptor has remained in the Imperial Palace, concocting elixirs to keep him alive.
"No matter. With the help of the Blood Demon Palace’s Immortal Masters, it’s time for the position of National Preceptor to change hands."
"Your Highness, has His Majesty truly... passed away?"
"That’s not important."
’It doesn’t matter if he’s dead or not. By the time I storm the Imperial Palace, the Emperor will definitely be dead.’
’Oh, wait, the National Preceptor will be dead too.’
’The National Preceptor, trying to save the Emperor’s sacred body, worked day and night refining elixirs and died from exhaustion. What a beautiful story.’
’And I, the Second Prince, with the Crown Prince away from court and Immortals wreaking havoc in Upper Jade Capital, had no choice but to take on the heavy burden of the throne to stabilize the Dynasty. How righteous of me.’
"The only one who worries me is my high-and-mighty third sister."
Someone hurried over, stopping outside the door to report in a low voice, "Your Highness, everything is ready. Three thousand men have assembled, and the three Immortal Masters from the Blood Demon Palace have also arrived."
The advisor said, "Your Highness, it seems the people from the Blood Demon Palace have arrived. If we don’t move now, it will be too late."
"Tell General Long to open the gate."
Horses were already prepared outside. The Second Prince vaulted onto his steed, his spirits soaring.
"Tonight, the grand situation will be settled."
And so, the silent night was suddenly shattered by the light of fire.
Countless torches ignited in the darkness.
This Second Prince, who had been inferior to his elder brother and third sister since childhood yet was filled with a wolf’s ambition, finally bared his fangs.
The Imperial Palace’s North Gate swung open, and the Second Prince’s soldiers poured in like a stream of fish.
The flames quickly spread to the watchtowers. A continuous blood-red mist clung to the Second Prince’s soldiers, making them hysterical and fearless of pain.
The moon in the sky was covered by clouds.
The war cries from the fight for the Heavenly Repair Pill intertwined with the war cries from the Second Prince’s coup, making it impossible to tell if there was any patch of pure land left in all of Upper Jade Capital.
Blood stained the night red, but it did not stain the ground.
The blood of the dying Cultivators and the blood of the dying soldiers eventually merged, becoming indistinguishable. It was absorbed by the earth, ultimately gathering at the bottom of Liuqing Lake.