Chapter 883: Fortune

Chapter 883: Qi Yun

Li Huowang drew the flame closer to the tail of the dragon vein, inching it ever so slightly toward the first emperor of the Great Liang dynasty, so that he might see him more clearly.

It was evident that the figure's face had long since lost all human semblance—more like a dragon than anything else, yet not quite. It looked instead like a twisted, malformed dragon’s visage.

Long whiskers, like stitching threads, ran beneath the scales, weaving through the golden scales on the surface and distorting them into chaotic patterns. Seven clawed limbs protruded from the body, each with joints that bent backward, their number varying from one to another.

At this moment, Li Sui explained to Li Huowang, “The dragon veins are passed down from generation to generation. If anyone knows anything at all, it must be found within these veins.”

Li Huowang nodded. Indeed, the dragon vein wasn’t merely an advisory council for the current emperor—it could also reveal the truth of what had happened in the past, through the voices of every emperor who had come before.

“Whoosh!” A scaled clawed hand suddenly swung out, faster than Li Huowang could react, slicing across his face in an instant.

The sound of flesh tearing filled the air. Half of Li Huowang’s face slowly drooped, revealing a blood-soaked skull beneath.

He raised his right hand, bent his index finger, and pressed the back of it against his skin, slowly pushing the flesh back into place. With a sharp snap, he reattached the face.

“Senior, are you the first emperor of Great Liang?” Li Huowang lowered his hand and asked the thing before him.

As soon as Li Huowang finished speaking, a roar erupted from the coffin—an ear-piercing dragon cry that shook the very foundations of the tomb.

The dragon aura that poured out began to affect everything around him. Li Huowang’s body lost control, scales rising and falling like waves.

“He’s deaf and completely mad—he won’t tell you anything,” said someone.

Li Huowang looked up toward the source of the voice, scanning through the rows of emperors stacked like corpses until he spotted a face, hair disheveled.

That golden strand—whether beard or hair—covered the face entirely, hiding its features from view.

The bearded emperor shook his head, turning his gaze toward the badge hanging from Li Sui’s waist.

“Celestial Observation Bureau? So it’s the Celestial Observation Bureau that brought you here to find us old fools. You’re no ordinary lad.”

Just as those words were spoken, a voice came from higher above.

“I remember him. After the dice took the dragon vein, it was this red-robed boy who killed the dice and restored the dragon vein.”

“So you’re saying this boy did great service to Great Liang?”

“He did. Great service!”

“He’s a blade wielded by Ji Lin—he’s killed many members of the Great Liang royal family.”

“I’m not even of the Ji surname! Why should I care about such things?”

Hearing the increasingly chaotic voices, Li Huowang raised his voice sharply. “All senior figures!”

As the noise gradually faded, he spoke again. “Tonight, I have come not for any other reason, but to ask if you would be willing to share with me some knowledge of the dragon vein’s history.”

To emphasize his point, he added, “You all know that Great Liang’s time has been shortened. This concerns the future of your empire and realm. I beg you to help.”

A buzzing murmur rose among them, and after a short while, they seemed to reach a consensus. The voices quieted.

“If you’ve done great service to Great Liang and were brought by the Celestial Observation Bureau, then we may tell you.”

Li Huowang didn’t seem surprised by this response. After all, both sides were allies now—they had no reason not to tell him.

As the others fell silent, the bearded emperor finally spoke.

“In the days when the Great Qi dynasty collapsed and there was no leader among the dragons, our clan, the Ji, was one of the most prominent families in the capital. Not just thousands, but tens of thousands.”

“To claim that throne, we killed mothers, grandfathers killed grandsons, brothers murdered brothers. In the end, only one remained—and that man became the first emperor of Great Liang.”

Li Huowang glanced down at the lowest emperor and said, “Senior, I already know this. What I want to know is not the succession of the dragon vein, but its origin.”

“Great Liang was once called Great Qi. Where did the dragon vein of Great Qi come from? Do you know?”

“Heh, if we’re going to talk about it, we must start from the beginning. In ancient times, humans were nothing more than livestock for the shamans to eat. They lived like pigs feeding on filth, only fit to eat mud.”

“But later, our ancestors refused to remain pigs forever. So they schemed and escaped.”

“But escaping wasn’t enough. They’d eventually be hunted down. So they had to carve out a new world for themselves. And the qi of the dragon vein was what supported that world.”

“The shamans?” Li Huowang couldn’t help but recall the shaman priests of the Law Sect, whose faces were covered entirely by masks. He immediately asked, “Senior, are the shamans you speak of connected to the Law Sect?”

“They have nothing to do with it. That was the ancient era—there was no Law Sect then.”

“So, what exactly are the shamans? Could it be… that they are the Keepers of Fate?”

His question sent ripples through the silence.

“No, not the Keepers of Fate. They don’t exist.”

“That’s right. There’s no such thing as the Keepers of Fate. All lies.”

“This is the Imperial Temple. No one speaks those two words!”

Then Li Huowang’s next question silenced them all. “Then what exactly are the shamans?”

After a pause, the bearded emperor said slowly, “We are the emperors of Great Liang. Before Great Liang was Great Qi, before that was Northern Yan, before that was Great Chen. We heard it from our predecessors.”

“All of ancient history was passed down from generation to generation. We don’t know what these shamans were.”

“But surely they were stronger than ordinary people, otherwise how could they enslave everyone?”

Li Huowang suddenly realized something. Among the names of dynasties following Great Qi, there was another one—Great Chen.

“Is this related to the Heavenly Chen Kingdom? Could it be that the Heavenly Chen Kingdom represents an alternate timeline where Great Chen never fell?”

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He turned to the dragon vein and asked about Great Chen.

“I don’t know. There are countless dragon veins in the world. Just because we’re asking here doesn’t mean we can get answers. Go ask the Qingqiu dragon vein—they seem to contain emperors from the Three Kingdoms of Northern Yan.”

“Li Sui, I don’t have time now. Send someone to Qingqiu to investigate the connection between the Heavenly Chen and Great Chen.”

“Understood, Father. But I think it doesn’t matter whether we find anything or not. Whether the Heavenly Chen is the same as the original Great Chen or not, it’s still our enemy.”

“You’re right, but let’s check anyway. Who knows what else we might discover?”

With that, Li Huowang pulled himself back to the matter at hand. “Senior, please continue. How did the qi come to be? How did the first dragon vein appear?”

“The qi of heaven and earth was seized by the first emperor and his people from a shaman. Only with this qi could one uphold a world. That person was the first emperor.”