Chapter 361: All Beings Under the Night (1)

Chapter 361: Sentient Beings Beneath the Night (Part I)

The Yamato Sector, Edo Castle.

Much like the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Chiliarch Station sheltered under the same roof, the Centuriarch Station of Edo Castle was similarly erected in a bustling quarter where carriages flowed like water and horses thronged like dragons.

This was a towering edifice rising a full thirty chang into the sky, where a vast multitude of Embroidered Uniform Guards engaged in clerical labor drifted in and out without the slightest attempt at secrecy.

The site had originally served as the garrison headquarters for the regional military forces stationed in the Yamato Sector.

Yet, during the era of the Great Court Debate, the Confucian Order, intent on toppling the Eunuch Faction, had implemented a policy of "enlightenment" within the districts of the condemned, withdrawing the garrison until almost nothing remained. Compelled by the subsequent decline of the imperial Zhu-Ming clan, the Empire’s military forces were soon carved up and devoured by the Confucian noble houses and the corporate giants of the Military Order to augment their own strength.

The invincible Ming legions that had once marched across the four corners of the earth to conquer all in their path had long since dissolved into smoke, leaving behind only the private retainers of noble houses and the armed forces of conglomerates.

Even the current garrison guards were typically nothing more than retinues brought along by local magistrates upon assuming office, or a motley crew of idle Order-followers recruited from the local populace.

While they were proficient enough at tasks like washing the streets or intimidating the peasantry, their sort bore absolutely no relation to the venerable title of "The Military."

To the left of the main entrance of the Centuriarch Station building, four crude, massive characters were hacked into the stone with some sharp implement.

Slaughter All Traitors to the Realm.

It could hardly boast of any breathtaking calligraphic mastery, yet between the strokes there lingered an intense undercurrent of unreconciled grief and indignation, which had not dissipated in the slightest despite the passage of time.

This was left behind by the final contingent of departing Ming soldiers.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Centuriarch who later took possession of the premises chose not to scrape away those four words, but instead assigned guards to watch over them.

As for the reason behind such a choice, it had long become an open secret known to nearly every soul in Edo Castle.

At this moment, on the highest floor of the Edo Castle Centuriarch Station, a handsome, bald youth with crimson lips and white teeth hurried along with rapid, impatient strides.

The attire he wore was not the flying-fish official robes or the stout civilian garb common among the Embroidered Uniform Guards; rather, he was draped in a simple, long Buddhist cassock, his hand loosely gripping a strand of eighteen prayer beads, while the cybernetic spiritual aperture resembling ordainments atop his shaven crown gleamed with glints of cold light under the corridor lamps.

A monk treading with arrogant impunity through an Embroidered Uniform Guard station was a circumstance that inherently smacked of bizarre distortion.

Yet what proved even stranger was that every guard who crossed paths with this young monk along the way invariably stepped aside to yield the passage, offering a deeply respectful greeting of "Lord Banner Commander."

This young monk, whose countenance suggested he was at most of an age for hair-binding, was precisely the sole Banner Commander who had failed to appear at the Embroidered Uniform Guard's New Dawn Assessment, the Director of the Second Bureau of the Edo Castle Centuriarch Station, Chuandeng.

"Greetings, Banner Commander Chuandeng."

Chuandeng waved his hand casually at the saluting guards, rushing excitedly toward the innermost sanctuary of the Centuriarch's study.

Before his foot had even crossed the threshold, his voice forced its way inside.

"Senior Sister Kongque, your Junior Brother has returned! Have you seen the bandit insurgency report recently issued by the Chiliarch Station? Yesterday, Inuyama Castle was also struck by the Honghu, and half the city was nearly burned to the ground!"

The monk Chuandeng brandished an electronic ledger in his hand, shouting in a resonant voice toward the capable, resolute woman who came into his field of vision.

"The Temple of Confucius, which had just begun to show signs of recovery, was entirely bewitched into puppet death-warriors. The tragedy was so grim I didn't even dare open the images for a closer look, for fear of staining myself with a mountain of karmic retribution."

Chuandeng smacked his lips, lamenting: "Though it must be said, the Centuriarch Station of Inuyama Castle truly possesses some genuine skill. The leader of this Honghu raid was a Spring Emperor Decree of the Fifth Agriculture Order. Placed anywhere outside the Yamato Sector, such a figure would be grand enough to rank among princes and marquises, yet they ended up leaving both their true form and three imprinted clones behind in Inuyama Castle!"

"So you finally remembered to return?"

Kongque’s sharp, knife-like eyebrows arched upward as she cast a cold, scanning gaze over him, asking with a murderous aura: "Did that bastard named Fan Wujiu die in the attack on Inuyama Castle?"

"That I do not know for certain."

Chuandeng scrolled through the electronic ledger. "But judging by the phrasing of the dispatch, the Chiliarch Station utilized the word 'victory,' so there shouldn't be any casualty among officers of the Banner Commander rank."

"Shouldn't be?"

Kongque’s tone spiked abruptly. "How exactly is your intelligence work conducted, if you cannot even confirm a matter of this nature?"

Chuandeng had evidently long grown accustomed to her manner of speech; he spread his hands, his face a picture of utter helplessness. "Eldest Senior Sister, I have only just disembarked from the 'Joi Maru,' and my seat hasn't even warmed yet. Where would I go to find out? Besides, our domain is Edo Castle, not some rustic backwater like Inuyama Castle. It is already no easy feat for me to keep watch over this place; how could I possess the energy to govern other territories?"

"It is not as if you are unaware of what sort of creature Lu Chengjiang, the Vice-Chiliarch formerly in charge of intelligence at the Chiliarch Station, turned out to be. He was merely a worthless sycophant who rode in on petticoat strings! If Edo Castle did not have me, it would have long been riddled with holes by the infiltrators of the Honghu!"

Kongque's razor-sharp demeanor did not soften in the slightest despite Chuandeng’s explanations; she remained aggressively overbearing.

"Speaking of the Chiliarch Station makes my blood boil. If you hadn't been absent this time, how could we possibly have lost the premier position in the New Dawn Assessment?"

"You can hardly blame me for that."

Chuandeng's pale face was filled with innocence. "The summons of a Buddhist decree arrived from Hanshan. Would I dare disobey? I merely failed to anticipate that it would delay me for such a length of time."

"But then again, Senior Sister."

Chuandeng looked at the displeased woman, flattening his face as he crept closer. "Do not be angry with me. In truth, whether I was physically present or absent for this assessment, it would not have altered the final outcome. You ought to be clear on that point."

"I truly cannot fathom why the Lord Chiliarch would show such partiality to a measly little Inuyama Castle. Granting so much funding and Ministry of Works quotas to those pieces of refuse—do they even know how to utilize them?"

Chuandeng grimaced and winked, flashing a grin at the countenance filled with wrath. "To be able to slay a Fifth Agriculture Order, it appears they do know how to utilize them after all."

"What does a mere Fifth Agriculture Order amount to?"

Kongque’s brows knit fiercely, her five fingers clawing tight. "With a single turn of my wrist, I alone could slaughter such a thing!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Who in all of Edo Castle does not know the illustrious name of our Asura Kongque? A dignified premier Banner Commander of the Yamato Sector; if you hadn't disdained these dog-shit official titles, you would have become a Centuriarch ruling your own domain long ago."

Chuandeng’s smile was full of banter as his head nodded like a pounding pestle, entirely failing to notice that Kongque's left hand had already come to rest atop his shaven skull.

"Chuandeng, having not thrashed you for a period, has your skin begun to itch with insolence once more?"

A gust of frigid words poured down the back of his collar. Chuandeng shuddered all over, yet his mouth continued to babble without cessation.

"Though I, this monk, appear young, that is merely due to the constraints of this physical vessel. Within the Huangliang Buddha-land, I am by no means small."

"Then do you dare enter the Huangliang Buddha-land with me?"

Kongque smiled coldly. "If you dare not, then I can just as easily enter your Buddha-land, to witness firsthand precisely how grand you are!"

"No... there is no need for that, is there? Master Kongque, pray appease your wrath. Be careful lest you violate the precept of anger, causing instability within your Buddha-land."

Chuandeng fell silent as a cicada in winter, carefully offering an accompanying smile of contrition.

The woman let out a cold snort, releasing her palm's grip upon the bald head, and turned her gaze toward the Wisdom King who sat cross-legged upon a rush cushion.

A miniature Buddha, no larger than a finger in stature, stood upon his shoulder with palms pressed together, chanting a faint Buddhist melody from its mouth.

The root of wisdom at the center of the Wisdom King's brow emanated a luster akin to white jade in accordance with the Sanskrit chanting.

"My Lord, the speed at which this Centuriarch named Yamaraja is growing is somewhat too rapid. Should we devise some means to eliminate him, lest he become too powerful to manage in the future?"

"To refrain from false speech is also one of the precepts, Senior Sister."

Chuandeng, having just escaped a thrashing, forgot his prior terror in the blink of an eye, laughing as he said: "Su Ce himself is one of the few surviving ancient monsters of the Sect Martial Order. Since even he has not raised a hand against Yamaraja, it is obvious he has already accepted the reality that the Sect Martial Order is being phased out, and wishes to elevate this successor to grant the Martial Order a chance at rebirth. With such a magnificent sovereign holding the fort, how could you possibly move against him?"

Kongque said coldly: "Su Ce is already old. His physical flesh can no longer bear such tyrannical genetic strains. What is there to fear?"

"He is indeed old, but he is not yet dead!"