Late Night Tales Of The Capital

Chapter 106 It Feels a Little Cold During Snowfall
It snowed for an entire night in Luoyang City.

At dawn, the invitational memorial from the Ye Army was delivered into the palace.

Xiao Huating received affirmation from Li Chunyu. The latter had readily agreed to even the request for Ye Yunhai to accompany him on the conquest. He seemed to have made up his mind to become the Second Prince. Of course, this had caused the minute guilty feeling in Li Chunyu’s heart to disappear.

The hearts of Emperors were made of steel and cold as ice. Since Li Chunyu had such an ambition, it was natural that he made such requests of himself.

However, he could not have imagined that Xiao Huating’s goals were aligned with his to a certain degree. Li Chunyu had promised his father to never allow the Ye Army back into Luoyang—not even a single steed. Likewise, Xiao Huating was not planning to allow the souls of 200 thousand soldiers slip away from her grasp.

She had spent the past two decades or so for this moment to happen. She had only one task to accomplish, and that was to do anything she could to get hold of the souls of the Ye Army soldiers.

To this end, she came up with many ideas and used many devious tricks, even using herself as a pawn in this chess game.

In fact, she had gradually gained control over the army many years ago by planting her people in its ranks, from squad leaders to deputy generals. It had taken far too long, and it was her only task, so she had put in extra effort into it. Everyday, she waited for news that it was time to reel in her catch.

Finally, a completely black crow flew into her room, bearing a message for her. It was a summon from a faraway place.

It was a message for her to awaken and reel in her catch.

For one entire day and night, Xiao Huating danced in joy. She lost control of herself and could not even fall asleep. She was very clear what awakening herself and the souls of 200 thousand soldiers meant!

Only the resurrection of the “Lord” could activate her, and only his revival could have required the blood of so many people.

In truth, Xiao Huating did not really know how many ironclad cavalry troops from the plains had arrived or where they came from. It was inconsequential for her, however. Since the crow told her that 150 thousand cavalry troops would come from the South, it had to be true.

After the loss at the epic battle a century ago, the followers of the “Lord” had dispersed among human lands. They operated tirelessly for a few generations, quietly awaiting their time to change the course of history.

Ye Que would have been greatly shocked if he had stood here beside Xiao Huating and could read her mind. This was because there was no cavalry arriving from the North in the dimension he was living in now, nor had 200 thousand Ye Army soldiers ventured forth into battle. Even up till the day Xiao Huating died, no summon came from Mountain Valley of Pure Blackness.

It was as if everything had been altered.

And it was a game changer.

The land was still the same, and the only variable was Ye Que himself.

Ye Que was the cause of the Butterfly Effect, but he was unaware of this fact. If he could turn back time and replay each frame of his past actions, he would realize that the problem originated from the Divine Book in his body.

If Ye Que had not reverted back to his youth, he should have been training hard to master fundamental sword skills in Qingqiu Sword Sect now and definitely would not have entered the Imperial Mausoleum. If he had not entered the mausoleum, both Li Jianqi and Nalan Rongruo would have died long ago, and Red Bean could possibly have died too. Of course, this was not the most crucial point.

The most important factor was the page of the Divine Book hidden below the altar!

In fact, if one thought about it seriously, the River Soldiers, Battle Soul of Founding Father and Undying Dragon Bones were all assisting the Divine Book. This was because there was something hidden beneath the page that the Mountain Valley of Pure Blackness had been searching for a long time to no avail.

Many people had died in the Imperial Mausoleum in the previous generation, and the River Soldiers was also retrieved then. However, a few other items were still left buried deep within the ground and never emerged from the mausoleum. With these items still in the ground, the object that the Mountain Valley of Pure Blackness was seeking was unable to break free by itself and remained forever in the mausoleum.

However, everything changed with Ye Que’s presence.

Li Jianqi obtained the Battle Soul of the Tang Dynasty’s Founding Father, while Red Bean obtained the Undying Dragon Bones. The River Soldiers was also successfully summoned, while Ye Que managed to find the page from the Divine Book with the help of the voice in his mind. All of the real treasures in the Imperial Mausoleum had been retrieved, and naturally, the magical enchantments had been broken, allowing the Black Eyes, which had been suppressed for all this while, to successfully escape and appear in the Mountain Valley of Pure Blackness.

After which, countless numbers of crows flew over China. Xiao Huating was awakened, and two men in the palace of the Tang Dynasty decided the fates of 350 thousand soldiers.

Everything was spiraling far away from the original course of history.

Far, far away.

The gates of Luoyang City were thrown open, and 200 thousand Ye Army soldiers in full armor and holding spears embarked on their conquest in the snow. Hundreds of kilometers away at Mount Mei came a youth who was flying around on a sword. He carried a young lady in white robes on his back, and her eyes were shut, but she held on with dear life onto a black oil paper umbrella.

Since he escaped from the Gold Palace, Ye Que had begun flying on his sword. He estimated that he was flying in the direction of One Line Gorge, but he did not know where he had begun to deviate from his original course. Perhaps, it was the effect of the formation, or perhaps it was due to the fact that the endless Luo River was always beneath him, making it hard to navigate.

Whatever the reason was, there was no One Line Gorge in sight when Ye Que reached the border of the Imperial Mausoleum.

He passed through layers of weak Spiritual Force Barriers and finally managed to escape from the Imperial Mausoleum.

He stood at the midpoint of the mountain and turned to look behind him. A lake was sitting above ground—a lake in the mountains!

Overnight, the original mausoleum had been replaced by a lake filled with water from the Luo River.

He had been flying on his sword for an entire day and night without rest. Even though his Divine Energy reserves were full now, he began to feel a little exhausted and placed Red Bean gently on the ground. Ye Que himself then sat down as well.

He managed to recover a little of his energy after two hours of meditation.

He turned back to look at Red Bean, only to find her eyes still shut. She was still unconscious.

His cheeks began to feel a little cold. He did not know when it had begun to snow. At first, a few small ice crystals fell, before they turned into larger and larger petals of snow. It was as if an opening had been torn apart from the thick layers of clouds.

Snow fell all around him.

After they emerged from water, Red Bean had reverted back to normal human form. Her chest rose and fell gently, and her small mouth opened a little. Without any True Energy to protect her, the young lady seemed to be unable to withstand the chilliness from the cold weather and falling snow and began to shiver.

Ye Que looked to his sides before placing her back on his back. He began to look quickly around the mountainside for shelter against the cold wind, eventually managing to find a cave about a few meters wide. Even though the opening was huge, it was still much better and more comfortable than trying to shield themselves from the wind and snow outside.

He walked out of the cave after placing Red Bean properly inside. A cold wind was blowing, and the temperature outside had fallen. In her current condition, Red Bean needed more than shelter from the wind.

She was a practitioner of Starburst Realm power that had survived the ordeal in the Imperial Mausoleum. Ye Que would be unable to forgive himself if she died from cold.