Chapter 399: The Nightmare

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Jiang Rui couldn’t hold his kneeling posture any longer, and fell down on his buttock. He had to die just after having learned of the reality, anybody would feel indignant under the circumstances.

His expression was bewildered, as he murmured, “I don’t want to die. I don’t like it no matter how I die.”

“I have thought about killing you all the time over the years,” He Zhan said. “I have thought of more than ten ways to let you die. In order to prevent you from dying prematurely, I sent over many people to protect you. When Zhuo Rusui attempted to kill you, I took the risk to have saved you. I have waited a long time for this day; so you have no choice but to select a way to die.”

Jiang Rui felt cold both physically and mentally, and said, “If you intend to taunt me, I think you have already done enough over the years. Why didn’t you kill me earlier, instead of waiting until today?”

“You are a signpost for me in the Illusionary Realm. As long as you are still alive, the hatred will be with me; as such, I won’t forget that real world so easily.”

He Zhan added, “It is until now that I have suddenly found that all this is meaningless, so I have no need to keep you alive anymore.”

Jiang Rui murmured, “I have the good talent and willpower and intelligence; but I have always had a hard time here. It turns out that it is you who have given me the hard time in secret.”

“You always thought I was a useless but lucky person when we were in the outside world,” said He Zhan. “Do you also think I am ahead of you in this world because I am lucky here? You have to accept the fact that you have never been better than I. If one is capable, then one is always capable; if one is incapable, then one is always incapable. You were not good enough in the outside world, and are not good enough here either.”

“Hahahaha, I have figured it out now; you are a eunuch. How did you feel when your thing was being cut off? No matter how incapable I am, you are truly incapable!”

Jiang Rui made a degrading comment, and then a hint of determination suddenly flashed in his eyes.

He didn’t try to sneak attack He Zhan, but commit suicide instead. Unfortunately, it was not successful.

He Zhan’s cloth ruffled a little, bringing out a few residual shadows. Though it seemed that he hadn’t made any move, he had in fact already sealed off all meridians in Jiang Rui’s body. Then He Zhan sat back in his chair.

Jiang Rui’s countenance changed abruptly, as he stuttered, “Sorry, you know…I didn’t mean to…Back then…I didn’t expect you to suffer so much.”

He Zhan didn’t heed him. “I will employ a certain method to make sure you won’t be able to move, but your perceptions will be more sensitive; and I will ensure that you won’t pass out.”

One could imagine what it would be like when the Intelligence Bureau employed their horrifying torture methods on him, how painful that would be.

Jiang Rui said with a pale face, “Are you really going to do something so relentless? Okay, I admit I’m scared now, and I admit I did something wrong to you…I beg you to let me die quickly.”

He Zhan said nothing in response.

Jiang Rui despaired. He breathed heavily as he said, “I admit my wrongdoing. However, according to the rules of the Dao Competition, what has happened here can’t continue in the outside world. You can’t hold a grudge against me there.”

Though he didn’t like to experience the dreadful pains, he was even less willing to be oppressed by He Zhan after he left the Illusionary Realm.

“There is no way I will do that,” He Zhan said with a smile. “Hence, no matter how painful it may will feel later, don’t hate me. In the outside world…we are still friends.”

Jiang Rui had already prepared for the torture, thinking that he could withstand any horrible torture as long as he could hold onto his Dao Heart given his exceptional talent in Cultivation. However, when he saw the smirk on He Zhan’s face, he suddenly felt a chill passing through his body. “How do you want to put me to death?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

He Zhan replied, “Let’s choose the death by cutting bit by bit then. Sorry. I know this is very old fashioned.”

Jiang Rui’s face grew paler, his body trembling slightly. He attempted to prostrate before He Zhan and beg for his pardon by holding onto his leg; but he couldn’t move an inch.

“It will be very bloody and awful. I don’t want to witness it. I let you enjoy it by yourself.”

Having said that, He Zhan left the restaurant.

As he walked out the restaurant, he glanced at the eave on the other side.

The green bird had already flown away.

She believed that the Cultivation practitioners outside the Huiyin Valley didn’t want to watch the brutal scene, since they were not the highly achieved swordsmen of the deviant sects…at least on the surface.

It was deathly quiet on the street at night. A glint of morning sunlight could be spotted over the distant horizon, but it grew darker in the human world.

As He Zhan walked toward the dark night with his black overcoat on, the horrible screams broke out behind him.

The screams kept going, but in a gradually weaker voice.

…

…

Though Jiang Rui was a talented Cultivation practitioner, his death was merely a trivial matter in comparison to the all-encompassing world.

The Cultivation sect in Lushan County somehow was worried for a long time. The Sect Master even wondered if he should go to the capital to ask for the Master Eunuch He’s pardon in person. Yet, as time went by, he hadn’t heard anything from the Intelligence Bureau, and then he felt relieved.

Nobody understood why He Zhan suddenly captured that person that night and put him to death by slicing him bit by bit, even though he had done nothing about that person for decades.

The Royal Dowager didn’t know of the incident that occurred in the restaurant that night. She waited nervously for He Zhan’s reaction.

In her view, someone like He Zhan, who was a disloyal villain, would certainly do something after the conflict between the two of them in the Royal Palace the other night.

Unexpectedly, He Zhan hadn’t done anything. He didn’t even concern himself about the matter of selecting the new emperor. He took care of the state affairs as usual.

Soon Zhao State had another new emperor. The Emperor watched over the court meetings by sitting in the Royal Dowager’s lap behind the pearl curtain.

From that day on, He Zhan stopped attending the court meetings.

It was only his closest subordinates who could sense something queer about the Master Eunuch He.

He often looked at a spot in the grey sky lately, staying in stupor for a long time.

Once in a while, he would go to the cold palace of a certain side hall, and walked up and down in the narrow passageways.

Sometimes, he would go to an empty small courtyard and took out a bamboo chair, waving a round fan gently.

It was the early autumn.

He Zhan had been lying on the bamboo chair from autumn to winter, and then until spring. Time had passed slowly and uninterestingly. When He Zhan felt extremely bored, he suddenly sensed a familiar feeling.

He was gradually forgetting many things, but he also recollected many other things.

It seemed that he had lived such a life somewhere, seemingly in a temple somewhere; then he suddenly had the desire to eat a plate of dried red moss.

The chestnut tree on the slope of the royal garden had grown up a long time ago. The mark left by the broken branch grew hard now, but it was more evident.

He often stood under the chestnut tree. He would instinctively touch the mark of the broken branch while looking at the distance, reflecting on something.

One day, he suddenly recalled that patch of the ocean, the boat on the ocean, and the former friend on the boat, and also that old man with silvery hair.

The old man with silvery hair seemed to have said something before his death; but the sound of the waves was too loud for him to hear it, or it was because he was too sad and furious to hear it.

What was his last statement then?

He Zhan had thought about it for a long time. At last, he remembered it one day.

The small boat had been gone ever since.

…

…

The Master Eunuch He suddenly disappeared.

The offices of the Intelligence Bureau were empty again. The toilet coated with gold was nowhere to be found either.

Many officials and secret agents of the Intelligence Bureau, the leaders and the cavalrymen in orange clothing had also vanished at the same time.

Nobody knew where they had gone to or had any clues. And they couldn’t be spotted in any of the counties either.

This event shocked the entire Zhao State, and then the whole world.

During the court meeting called hastily, not even one of the officials in the imperial court could speak at first. This was too bizarre, and senseless.

Some officials even wondered if the people of the Intelligence Bureau were punished by heaven because they had done too many evil deeds.

“What is going on here?! So many people have disappeared all at once, but you can’t even find a clue!”

The Royal Dowager pulled up the curtain angrily and stood in front of the officials. “Do you expect this dowager to rely on you, a bunch of idiots, to govern the state?!” she scolded.

She should have felt relieved at the news that He Zhan had disappeared, or even felt overjoyed; but for some reason, she had a mixed feeling of fright and anger.

She felt more so in the late night. Thinking that He Zhan had left, the feeling of extreme loneliness wrenched at the Royal Dowager’s heart.

A few days later, some clues had finally been discovered. The Grand Scholar of the imperial court entered the Royal Palace the same night and knelt down before the bed in the Yuan Palace, and reported to her in a low voice.

All of Zhao State knew that a group of dreadful bandits lodged in the deep end of the expansive Ping Lake. The navy of the imperial court went there many times in attempts to purge them, but in vain. Instead of having done nothing to hurt them, the navy lost many ships to them.

Not long after He Zhan and the officials of the Intelligence Bureau had disappeared, the group of bandits suddenly came out from the end of the Ping Lake. Over a hundred large ships went to Qi State through the water way and then headed for the East Ocean. After that, they all vanished without a trace.

It was evident that He Zhan and his subordinates were on those ships.

Though this matter seemed simple, it was in fact not. He Zhan had deceived everybody inside and outside the imperial court for many years, and more importantly, he had made use of the canal constructed and repaired by Zhao State and Qi State almost perfectly.

It was obvious that those large ships were built with the technique of Qi State.

To achieve this feat, He Zhan must have planned it for many years and rendered a great deal of effort.

The Royal Dowager’s face instantly turned pale after hearing this. She turned to look at the small child sleeping on the bed, remaining reticent for a long time.

Had you thought about leaving the entire time? Or was it merely an alternative you prepared just in case, and now you used it because you were too disappointed in this dowager that night?

…

…

The Master Eunuch who was powerful both inside and outside the imperial court had left.

For the people of Zhao State, this was similar to the sudden disappearance of the Royal Palace.

Everybody had a strong feeling of anxiety. It was quiet inside and outside the imperial court.

The rumor gradually spread out. It was certain that Master Eunuch He had indeed left. It was not that he would stand in the shadows to look at the world and then come back to exercise his power at any moment, as he had done before. The whole state was lost in a condition of bewilderment and emptiness.

Countless petitions from the officials and the populace were brought to the Royal Palace like the snowflakes falling down, to plead the imperial court to send out the army as soon as possible to find the Master Eunuch He.

As time went by, this sort of petitions became fewer and fewer, until there was none.

It wasn’t until the middle of summer that everybody realized Master Eunuch He wouldn’t come back, the situation abruptly changed again.

The petitions of the officials and the populace were brought to the Royal Palace again like the snowflakes falling; but this time their contents were totally different.

All the officials and the populace criticized Master Eunuch He for his relentless control of the power in the imperial court and his cruelty. They believed that the reason he left Zhao State was because he had collaborated with Qin State and fled due to the fear that his treacherous act would be found out.

All the officials of the imperial court had bribed Master Eunuch He in an attempt to please him, and so, were the loyal followers of Master Eunuch He? In order to discern the loyal followers and who had supported the Master Eunuch He the most, the officials started attacking each other verbally in the court meetings. It was chaotic and scandalous. It wasn’t until the beginning of winter that the situation was finally brought under control.

During the process of controlling the situation, the Royal Dowager Zhao fully displayed her political wisdom and capability.

Then, it was time to discuss his crimes.

The imperial court had compiled seventy four major crimes for He Zhan in total. Besides those common crimes, they had also listed some crimes that were so strange that even the officials of the Intelligence Bureau were unable to come up with ideas.

Reading those crimes, the Royal Dowager’s look grew increasingly unsightly; in the end, she couldn’t control her emotion anymore. She slammed the red brush pen heavily on the table, breaking the pen in half.

The red ink splashed on the wall, looking as beautiful as the red plum flowers.

“What nonsense it is!”

She only approved a few crimes in the end.

Those crimes were mostly related to laziness, rudeness, and insincerity when serving the emperor.

Regardless of how many crimes He Zhan had committed, his name would be recorded in the history book, and it would be an infamous one.

Thinking of this, she had a hint of remorse.

The Royal Dowager arrived in the royal garden. She waved her hand to signal the palace servant girl holding the umbrella for her to leave her alone, and then sauntered to the spot beneath the chestnut tree.

Here was the place where they had stood together.

The snowflakes fell on her.

She looked at the distance, her eyes turning red.

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