Chapter 165: Chapter 20: A Plea to Lu Zi to Defeat the Thieves

Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong stared in stunned silence, their souls trembling.

After a long moment, Guan Zhong swallowed hard and said with a quaver in his voice:

“Was the West Pole Celestial Court… struck by an unforeseen calamity? Or have the Five Directions Celestial Courts gone to war?”

Duke Huan of Qi’s brow was also furrowed. After a long pause, he said:

“This is not for the likes of us to peer into. But it should be no great matter. Just a few palaces and a Celestial Gate have fallen…”

“But,” Guan Zhong said softly, “the Celestial Gate is the facade of a Celestial Court. It is its very face.”

Duke Huan of Qi fell silent, a deep worry clouding his features. The West Pole Celestial Court was the Qi Kingdom’s greatest backer…

Suddenly, a drop of liquid splashed on his face.

Duke Huan of Qi looked up instinctively. It was blood, dripping from the head hung on the banner.

The head’s eyes were wide with fury. Knocked slightly askew by the falling rain, its eyes were fixed squarely on him, their expression a mixture of anger, mirth, and mockery.

Enraged, Duke Huan of Qi conjured a whip from the clouds and lashed out viciously at the head.

CRACK!

Amidst the sharp sound, he thought he heard a sneeze, an “ACHOO!” Then, he saw another ferocious fireball crash down from the western Celestial Vault, piercing through the Western Celestial Court and sending even more pavilions and towers tumbling down.

This time, it seemed a Celestial Venerable had also been crushed to death. Its corpse fell, and the earth and heavens shook.

Duke Huan of Qi was dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, in a vast Daoist Palace somewhere.

Watched by two dazed and bewildered Childs,

the Supreme rubbed his nose, yawned, and muttered:

“Oh dear, how unfortunate. A sneeze, and I crushed a Celestial Venerable…”

As he spoke, his gaze pierced through the Thirty-Three Celestial Realms. He glanced indifferently at the Human World, at the Qi Region, and then said to himself:

“I’ll leave the other one for that brat.”

The two Childs both swallowed hard. One of them couldn’t help but ask:

“Great Lord, this…”

The Supreme shot him a look and said slowly:

“What, am I not allowed to sneeze?”

“But, but…” the Xiaotong stammered.

The Supreme waved his hand dismissively.

“My lineage practices pure Non-action, following the course of Nature… Is it so strange for me to sneeze in accordance with Nature?”

The Childs shook their heads so hard they resembled pellet drums. Peeking through the gates of the Daoist Palace, they cast a pitying glance at the Western Celestial Court below, now a chaotic mess with two giant craters, before silently resuming their fanning.

’Don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked, don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked…’

「…」

「Luoyang.」

The Celestial Son sat in the Ming Hall, performing the grand rites and inviting the Daoist and Duke Mu of Qin to take the seats of honor.

“Lu Zi, as you embark on this journey, do you require soldiers?” The Celestial Son of Zhou’s eyes gleamed, his majestic voice resounding. “One million fierce soldiers and three thousand Celestial Humans. Will that be enough?”

As he spoke, he stared at the youth seated in the place of honor, who wore a Grand Daoist Robe and a brilliant Daoist Crown. The Celestial Son’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

The youth simply sat there calmly, yet illusory phenomena of all kinds could be seen floating before him. Chaos Qi and Innate light flowed across his simple Daoist Robe, and his Dao Rhyme was overwhelming.

Lu Xuan looked calmly at the nominal ’Human King’ of the current age, shook his head gently, and said:

“I am not going to destroy Qi. I only wish to retrieve my Senior Brother’s head and, while I’m at it, execute the perverse Duke Huan of Qi. That is all.”

“But!” The Celestial Son of Zhou’s voice suddenly rose an octave. “But the Qi Army is strong and its horses are sturdy! If Lu Zi goes alone, I’m afraid…”

“This subject will accompany Lu Zi,” Duke Mu of Qin interjected. Although the Celestial Son of Zhou had been reduced to a mere symbol, Duke Mu still referred to himself as a subject.

Lu Xuan, however, said softly:

“The road ahead is long. Your Majesty should keep the soldiers here in Luoyang City.”

He could faintly guess the Celestial Son of Zhou’s intentions. He planned to use Lu Xuan’s ’momentum’ to march his army out of Luoyang. If they truly followed him and smashed through the Qi Region, the Celestial Son’s decrees would no longer be confined to Luoyang.

But…

Lu Xuan had no intention of getting involved in these courtly schemes. His plan was simple: go to Linzi, execute Duke Huan of Qi, bring back Senior Brother Zhang’s remains, and give him a grand burial.

That was all.

The Celestial Son of Zhou gazed at the Great Virtue of the age below him. Recalling the grand Daoist voice that had previously resounded throughout the world, a flicker of fear appeared in his eyes, and he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

After a long moment, he sighed softly, then said:

“Then we shall do as Lu Zi says…”

As he spoke, the Celestial Son looked up, and a brilliant light also appeared in his eyes.

“The hundred cities Duke Huan of Qi slaughtered were all filled with my people! The people of I, the One Man! Every night, the souls of those hundred cities cry out in injustice within my dreams…”

He stood up, his great robes whipping in the wind. As if throwing caution to the wind, he laid everything out in the open.

“The Zhou Dynasty is in decline. I cannot punish the Qi Kingdom. But I beseech Lu Zi to act in my stead. Will you carry the great trend and fortune of our Human Race and go personally to Linzi?”

The Daoist, his brilliant Daoist Crown upon his head, pondered for a moment before rising gracefully and nodding.

“I will.”

“Relay my decree!” the Celestial Son of Zhou’s voice boomed. “Lu Zi is a Great Virtue! He shall hold the authority of reward and punishment for my Great Zhou! He may judge the merits and faults of the Dukes! He shall be the Grand Minister of Justice for my Zhou!”

RUMBLE!

Even though the Celestial Son of Zhou’s decrees could not leave Luoyang, he was still the nominal ’King’ of the Human Race, and Luoyang was still the gathering place of Human Dao Fortune. With a single edict, the heavens themselves changed. A surging tide of Human Dao Fortune roared into Lu Xuan’s body!

Lu Xuan, who had already begun cultivating the [Dao Generating One], perceived this surging, vast Human Dao Fortune and understood the threads of Cause and Effect within it. If the Human Dao Trend of the world were divided into ten thousand parts, he now shouldered one of them.

The Grand Minister of Justice was a high official of the Great Zhou, wielding the power of law. He could execute Dukes and ministers, bestowing rewards and meting out punishments.

「That same day.」

The gates of Luoyang City were thrown wide open. Generals, soldiers, and commoners lined both sides of the road. At the head of the procession was a chariot bestowed by the Celestial Son of Zhou, azure in color and flying an azure flag. The Daoist sat upon it, with Duke Mu of Qin in attendance at his side.

The Eighty-One Armors, having received Divine Robes and Divine Soldiers from the Celestial Son, accompanied the chariot. Among them were a hundred cavalrymen on tall horses, their presence both ferocious and majestic to the extreme.

The generals, soldiers, and commoners all shouted in unison:

“We ask Lu Zi to defeat the thieves!”

The Celestial Son of Zhou, accompanied by his hundred officials, followed behind until they reached the city gates. Then, the Celestial Son raised his arm and cried out, his voice filled with sincere emotion:

“I ask Lu Zi to defeat the thieves for my Great Zhou!”

Amidst the vast and mighty shouts, another portion of the ten thousand parts of the Human Dao Trend’s fortune fell upon the azure chariot, landing atop the majestic Daoist’s head.

The Historians took up their brushes in unison, carving onto bamboo slips:

[There were thieves in Qi, who committed acts that incurred Heaven’s wrath and the people’s grievance. When Lu Zi heard of this, he was enraged.]

[The Celestial Son said that in his dreams, he heard the unjust suffering of the people of the hundred cities and was deeply grieved. Therefore, he appointed Lu Zi as the Grand Minister of Justice, to wield the power of law and the authority of reward and punishment.]

[Afterward, Lu Zi rode a chariot to Qi to defeat the thieves. The myriad people lined the long streets, and the Celestial Son saw him off, following until Lu Zi had departed Luoyang.]

[The myriad people and the Celestial Son cried out in one voice, saying: “We ask Lu Zi to defeat the thieves!”]

「…」

Atop the chariot.

The Daoist asked calmly:

“This journey, how long will it take?”

Duke Mu of Qin looked at the youth beside him, whose face was young but whose bearing was overwhelmingly majestic, and answered softly:

“If we travel quickly, we can arrive in three days, but victory is not certain. If we travel slowly, accumulating great power and carrying the great trend with us, it will take eighty-one days.”

“We should travel slowly.”

Lu Xuan caressed the two Keeper of the Records tokens and said softly:

“If we hurry to the Qi Region, I have a thirty percent certainty of executing Duke Huan of Qi. But if we take eighty-one days, gathering the will of the people along the way and gaining the great trend of Human Dao Fortune, my certainty will increase to seventy percent.”

“Excellent,” said Duke Mu of Qin.

Lu Xuan nodded slightly, closed his eyes, and sat meditating atop the chariot. He focused on the Human Dao Trend swirling above his head. Although he only possessed two of the ten thousand parts, it imbued him with a more brilliant majesty.

When he opened his eyes again, the dream had ended. He was back in Langya City, on his bed.

He sat up straight, gazing at the morning sun outside his window, and muttered to himself:

“Eighty-one days…”

As he spoke, a thought stirred in Lu Xuan’s mind. He raised his head and gently lifted a hand.

Two portions of the great trend of Human Dao Fortune spun quietly above it.

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