Chapter 28: Doubling of Strength

Chapter 28: Doubling of Strength

Qin Yuan took the scroll from Lu Yunfei’s hand. The three characters at the top read: "Five Animal Frolics."

To his surprise, this world actually possessed such a thing. Influenced by the habits of his past life, Qin Yuan subconsciously dismissed it. He looked further down and saw illustrations of a tiger, a deer, a bear, an ape, and a bird. At first glance, they seemed ordinary, but after staring for a while, they appeared to come to life. They tempted the viewer to keep looking and to imitate their movements. Vaguely, it felt as if a voice was trying to impart a technique to him.

An ordinary person would have already succumbed to the temptation and begun to learn. But who was Qin Yuan? An old turtle who had seen it all, he instantly became vigilant. Looking at the Five Animal Frolics scroll again, he felt only a sense of profound malice. Qin Yuan immediately rolled it up. If there was even the slightest issue, he would not touch it. He had endless time; he would never lack opportunities to encounter superior spells and divine abilities. There was no need to take such risks.

"Is there a problem with this scroll?"

"If one learns the things on it, I fear they will not meet a good end."

Lu Yunfei hurriedly explained, "I only saw how carefully Prince Gong had hidden it; I had no intention of harming you." Lu Yunfei deeply regretted taking it out, worried that if Qin Yuan stopped protecting his family, what would they do? In such chaotic times, widows and orphans were easily bullied.

"So, Prince Gong was practicing the Five Animal Frolics?" Qin Yuan frowned. Although this technique was evil, it was powerful; if Prince Gong had mastered it, he should not have been killed so easily.

"The treasure box had a seal on it; it must have been newly acquired," Lu Yunfei said, then rubbed his forehead. "The alcohol is hitting me. I’m so dizzy..."

*Dizzy is exactly what you should be,* Qin Yuan thought. With a thud, Lu Yunfei abruptly collapsed. Qin Yuan rose calmly and left.

About an hour later, Qin Yuan infiltrated the prison again. The prison’s defenses were not bad at all; there was more than one ninth-rank expert stationed there. But in front of Qin Yuan, they were nothing. Qin Yuan easily opened Lu Yunfei’s cell, untied Lu Yunfei’s belt and fastened it around his neck, then created ligature marks. After inspecting them to ensure everything was in order, he slipped away silently.

Another hour passed, and two jailers came to escort Lu Yunfei to the execution ground. "Oh no! The prisoner has committed suicide!"

...

At noon, the vegetable market was swarming with people. There was no other reason than the fact that the number of people to be beheaded today was simply too high—over a hundred in total.

"I’ve lived this long, and this is the first time I’ve seen so many people beheaded."
"The executioner is going to be exhausted."
"The executioner is going to make a fortune, more like."

...

The discussions below were loud, but the curses from above were louder.
"Traitor Wei Ting!"
"Heaven strike the traitor Wei!"
"I curse you, Wei Ting, to die without a burial place!"

...

"Execute them at once!" the supervising official shouted, throwing down the execution order in a rage.

*Thwack, thwack...*

Heads the size of watermelons rolled far away. The commoners below covered their eyes, yet peeked through their fingers. A few bold ones even pulled steamed buns from their robes, rushed forward, and soaked them in the blood of the executed.

...

In the dim moonlight, at the wind-howling mass grave, countless corpses lay scattered among sporadic fires, while a pack of fat, red-eyed wild dogs feasted wantonly.

Lu Yunfei suddenly opened his eyes. Why was his head so groggy? *Huh, where is this?* As he sat up and looked around, a chill ran down his spine. Could he have reached the legendary underworld?

"Ahem."

The sound came abruptly from behind him. Terrified, Lu Yunfei flattened himself against the ground, trembling as he said, "This lowly one—ah, no, this lowly ghost pays respects to the Lord of Impermanence. Long live, long live, ten thousand years to the Lord of Impermanence."

"Do I look that much like the Lord of Impermanence?" asked Qin Yuan, his face masked and his body padded to look bloated, using a disguised voice.

Lu Yunfei looked up, and seeing it was truly a human, he relaxed entirely. "You scared me to death."

"And here I thought you said 'long live ten thousand years'," Qin Yuan mocked unmercifully.

Lu Yunfei scratched his head in embarrassment. Looking around, he asked curiously, "Benefactor, where is this place?"

"A mass grave." Qin Yuan tossed him a bundle. "Your family is on the post road outside the woods to the east. After reuniting with them, go to the ferry and take a boat south, then head to Min Province. It is a place that the military does not contest; you can live a stable life there from now on."

Lu Yunfei took the bundle and found it contained white silver. Moved, he said, "I don't know how to thank you."

"If you don't know how to thank me, then don't," Qin Yuan said with an indifferent wave. Lu Yunfei reacted as any commoner would and kowtowed to Qin Yuan.

"Go quickly, your family must be waiting anxiously."
"Until we meet again."

Lu Yunfei stood up and trotted into the woods. Watching his retreating figure, Qin Yuan sighed slightly. The greatest enemy on his path to immortality was not unknown dangers, but endless loneliness.

Qin Yuan did not go home directly. If the man were captured halfway, his rescue would have been in vain. He secretly escorted him until he boarded the boat at the ferry before returning. In truth, Qin Yuan had overthought it; the Garrison Army was currently busy making a fortune, and they wouldn't bother with a minor official even if they knew.

Returning to West Third Street Alley, Qin Yuan took out the Five Animal Frolics scroll. He wouldn't learn the content, but he could utilize it. Qin Yuan stared at the scroll for a while, and the animals gradually became vivid. Eventually, he found himself drawn into the scene. The tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird continuously performed their techniques and secret arts.

Qin Yuan lunged at the tiger. It was a black tiger. It immediately engaged Qin Yuan. First was the "Hungry Tiger Pouncing on Prey"—a fishy stench rushed toward him; *so realistic,* Qin Yuan thought. With his reaction speed, the black tiger naturally missed. Then, the black tiger whipped its thick tail horizontally; a massive shadow of the strike nearly grazed Qin Yuan’s scalp. The tiger then used its hindquarters to try and flip Qin Yuan over, but it failed too.

After being defeated three times in a row, the black tiger let out a roar, its body swelling to twice its size, looking incredibly majestic. It pounced on Qin Yuan again with a fierce, gale-like force...

Under the high-frequency attacks of the black tiger, Qin Yuan was constantly injured, but his hand-to-hand combat skills were also steadily improving. *If the person who created the Five Animal Frolics knew I wasn't practicing the actual techniques but just using them as a sparring partner, I wonder how they would react,* Qin Yuan mused.

Winter passed and autumn arrived; another year went by. Qin Yuan’s spiritual consciousness had grown from a small puddle to a large basin of water. The completion rate of his "Gold Membrane" had increased from twenty percent to thirty-five percent. The storage space in his Qi Sea had expanded from the size of half a room to a full room. His internal energy had reached forty years' worth, up from thirty. If his combat power had been six thousand before, it was now at least over ten thousand.

"Is it time to find the Empress Dowager hiding in the mausoleum?" The thought had barely surfaced before Qin Yuan suppressed it. It was better to wait until she was so old she had no power left to fight back before delivering a crushing blow. Just imagining the Empress Dowager’s indignant look—like a child being bullied by the village boys because of her frailty—made Qin Yuan feel quite content.

During this year, Wei Ting hadn't been idle either. After many twists and turns, the negotiations with the thirteen southern provinces (the four provinces closer to the north had recently abandoned their independence one after another) finally reached a conclusion:

First, the term of the Chief Executive was shortened from five years to four.
Second, the Gentry Council must exist from the local level all the way to the capital.
Third, Wei Ting would serve as Chief Executive, but would be constrained by the Gentry Council.
Fourth, the thirteen southern provinces would disband half of their troops.

...