AEOGA CH100

Water droplets slid down his soaked sleeves, tracing along the back of his hand with its prominent joints before falling from his long fingertips.

The harsh sun grew increasingly scorching, yet it could not dispel the bone-chilling cold clinging to his body. Lu Xuechao walked a few steps with a rigid spine, only to feel the light before his eyes gradually blur, stumbling before blacking out.

In his life-or-death struggle with Wu Feng, he, too, had completely exhausted his strength.

…

When he opened his eyes again, what met his gaze was a simple wooden crossbeam above.

“You’re awake!” A crisp female voice called out, filled with pleasant surprise.

Lu Xuechao slowly sat up and saw a young girl in a wooden hairpin and cloth skirt sitting by the bed. She had a sweet, innocent face with round, adorable cheeks.

Without drawing attention, Lu Xuechao took in his surroundings. It was a modest wooden house. Beside the embroidery work belonging to a young woman, hunting gear was also set out in the room. The girl had calluses on her hands from rough labor, but they didn’t look like they came from handling a bow and arrow. Furthermore, her hair was not pinned up in a married woman’s bun. There should be a man in this household—either her brother or father—who had not yet returned.

Safe for now.

Withdrawing his gaze, he spoke gently: “Did you save me, young lady?”

The moment he spoke, the words the girl had prepared stuck in her throat, her face flushing crimson instantly.

This young master, who looked like an immortal, possessed a voice that sounded just as lovely.

“Young lady?” Lu Xuechao reminded her again.

Only then did the girl snap back to reality, saying with a hint of bashfulness: “It wasn’t me, it was my older brother who saved you. Yesterday he went to catch fish, found you passed out by the river, and carried you back. Seeing that you hadn’t woken up after a full day and night, he went out to find a doctor for you. Um… this humble girl is Ye Yu. May I ask your esteemed name, young master?”

A day and a night had already passed?

Then Huaiyun must be frantic.

Lu Xuechao answered softly: “Lu Qingshu.”

Even his name sounded so elegant! Just hearing it set him apart from the Niu Tiedans and Wang Ergous in the village.

Ye Yu’s heart fluttered with excitement. In truth, having grown up in this village, she had never seen such a handsome man in her entire life, and she wanted to praise every bit of him.

In their youthful spring, young girls always fantasized about having a heroic prince charming. Ye Yu had been proud since childhood and looked down on the boys in her village, thinking that if she were to marry in the future, she would have to marry someone as handsome and capable as her brother. Lu Xuechao was so breathtaking that he exceeded the absolute limit of her understanding, making her only dare to admire him from afar without harboring any desires of coveting or defiling him.

As they were speaking, a tall man dressed in hunter’s garb walked inside. Standing nine feet tall with a valiant appearance and a ring of dark stubble around his mouth, he bore the quintessential look of a Yelang man.

Because men of Changli did not keep beards.

“This is just a temporary place to stay, and I couldn’t find a doctor nearby.” The man walked in alone, and seeing Lu Xuechao sitting on the bed, his naturally booming voice softened slightly: “Young master is awake.”

Lu Xuechao looked so frail and fragile that it felt as if a loud sound might blow him away.

“It is no matter.” The place where Lu Xuechao’s neck had been choked still throbbed with pain, causing him to cough lightly twice. “It is just a minor injury; there is no need to trouble a doctor.”

He was a physician himself and knew full well that this was merely physical exhaustion that he could nurse back to health on his own.

“My name is Ye Yang,” he said. “This is my younger sister, Ye Yu. Yesterday, I saw you passed out by the river, so I carried you back.”

“Your sister has already told me.” Lu Xuechao let out a soft laugh and introduced himself once more: “Lu Qingshu.”

Ye Yang?

According to the preview provided by the Heavenly Book, the protagonist of the male-oriented harem game Night Without End was named Ye Yang.

Was it a coincidence, or…

From what he could see, the Ye Yang before him was merely an ordinary hunter, bearing not the slightest resemblance to an emperor’s stature.

“Young Master Lu, are the injuries on your body truly alright?” Ye Yang appeared rough-and-tumble on the surface, yet he possessed a keen eye for detail. He noticed the marks on Lu Xuechao’s neck—in truth, it was hard not to notice. On such fair skin, a strangle mark was startlingly conspicuous, clearly showing the outline of a hand print. When he found him, he was soaked through, so he must have been thrown into the water.

Young Master Lu looked just like a frail scholar; who could have laid such a cruel hand on him?

Lu Xuechao shook his head: “I am a physician myself, so it is no great issue.”

“Allow me to ask a nosy question: how did this injury come about? The two armies are currently locked in battle around this area, and things outside are extremely chaotic, with everyone fleeing for their lives,” Ye Yang said. “Were you harmed by the Changli army?”

Lu Xuechao asked casually: “Has the Changli army been committing atrocities against the common people?”

If they had, he would never condone it.

“No, they haven’t,” Ye Yang added. “Then it must have been the Yelang army.”

Lu Xuechao remained silent, taking it as a tacit confirmation.

Ye Yu gritted her teeth: “That god-forsaken group! They can’t win against foreign enemies, so they only know how to bully us innocent citizens.”

Ye Yang sneered: “They’ve used soldiers to refine Gu and slaughtered civilians to fake military merit—what is there left that they wouldn’t do?”

Lu Xuechao listened quietly. It seemed their propaganda had worked remarkably well; the disgusting deeds committed by Emperor Chongxing were now common knowledge.

“May I ask where this place is? Since I am fine now, disturbing you two further would be improper, so I shall take my leave.” Lu Xuechao began inquiring about the current situation.

He had already been missing for a full day and night; he needed to return as soon as possible, or Huaiyun would go mad.

“Young Master Lu wants to go back?” Ye Yu asked reluctantly. “Where is Young Master Lu’s home? If it’s not far, my brother and I can send you back.”

Lu Xuechao replied: “Jiangming City.”

He had been searching for herbs nearby. Changli had been steadily taking over Yelang’s border, and Jiangming City was the latest city where they had set up camp, currently fighting for control against the Yelang army.

“That place?! It has already been captured by the Changli army, which makes it far too dangerous. It’s safer for Young Master Lu to stay here,” Ye Yu said hurriedly. “Besides, this place is quite a distance from Jiangming City. Jiangming City is upstream, while this is downstream. In peaceful times, it would take half a day’s journey, but with swords having no eyes outside right now, and Young Master Lu looking so… ahem. I heard that people from Changli all like men. Although we haven’t heard of them forcibly abducting men yet, it’s really unsafe for Young Master Lu to walk on the roads. It’s better to stay here and recover in peace.”

Lu Xuechao said: “Does the Changli army not refrain from harming innocent civilians? Going back shouldn’t be a problem.”

“That was before, but things are different now.” Ye Yu hesitated before continuing: “Young Master Lu, your home… might be gone.”

Lu Xuechao said: “Oh?”

Ye Yu sighed, showing no reverence when bringing up the monarch of her own country: “That dog emperor seems to have captured the Empress of Changli, making the Emperor of Changli fly into a rage and start playing for keeps.”

Lu Xuechao went silent for a moment: “…Did he massacre a city?”

That should be impossible. No, absolutely impossible.

“No, it’s just that the Changli army was fighting slowly before. Though they took several cities, they tried their best not to affect the civilians, which is why we didn’t panic when we heard about it,” Ye Yu sighed. “But yesterday, the Emperor of Changli suddenly issued an order demanding that all civilians in the cities along his path evacuate immediately. He threatened to bombard Yelang with explosives until the dog emperor hands over the Empress of Changli…“

“We didn’t understand what bombardment meant at first, until we heard people fleeing from upstream saying that last night, the city burst into brilliant flames with sky-shaking explosions. The entire Jiangming City was flattened to the ground overnight.” Even when recounting it second-hand, Ye Yu’s voice trembled with fear. “No one knows what kind of weapon possesses such terrifying power, but it’s said that corpses of the Yelang army were scattered everywhere… Fortunately, the Emperor of Changli hadn’t completely lost his humanity and spared the civilians, or else it truly would have been a massacre.”

Lu Xuechao: “…”

Great, he had already started going mad.

Xie Chongjin had used gunpowder.

No matter how fierce the fighting had been previously, and despite the delays caused by avoiding civilian casualties, Xie Chongjin had never unleashed this ultimate trump card. Unless absolutely forced, neither of them wished to use such a cold, destructive weapon.

Yet the moment Lu Xuechao went missing, Xie Chongjin deployed it without hesitation.

A dragon had its reverse scales; touch them, and its wrath would be ignited.

Xie Chongjin’s bottom line had been breached.

With Lu Xuechao missing, Xie Chongjin could not wait even a single moment. Abandoning his gradual approach, he chose to blast his way forward, charging toward Langcheng at breakneck speed.

Fortunately, Xie Chongjin still retained a shred of sanity, giving the civilians half a day to evacuate so that things did not reach an irreversible tragedy.

That half-day of waiting had likely consumed every last ounce of his patience.

Knowing how anxious and frantic Xie Chongjin must be right now, Lu Xuechao needed to return all the more.

“Where has the Changli army reached by now?” Lu Xuechao asked.

Ye Yang spoke in a heavy voice: “Like a mad dog, they struck Yuexia City in a single night, shelling the city gates directly without any negotiation. Terrified by the news, the lords of several subsequent cities opened their gates and surrendered on their own initiative…“

The brother and sister held no goodwill toward the enemy ruler invading their nation. Yet compared to their own monarch, who was committing far worse atrocities, this Emperor—who refrained from slaughtering the innocent and launched a furious war for the sake of his beloved—earned a flicker of admiration from them instead.

Yuexia City… Lu Xuechao recalled the map of Yelang he had memorized. Huaiyun was pushing straight toward Langcheng, which was in the exact opposite direction from where he currently was.

Rushing to Yuexia City now would be too late, not to mention that in his eagerness to rescue him, Huaiyun would certainly not tarry in Yuexia City for long.

Within Changli, if they were separated, they could still send messages via carrier pigeon. But this was Yelang—setting aside the fact that he had no carrier pigeon on hand, even if he did, he wouldn’t know where to send it…

It would be better to head straight to Langcheng and wait. Huaiyun’s ultimate destination would surely be there.

By taking a shortcut from here to Langcheng, he might be able to arrive at the same time as Huaiyun.

Lu Xuechao looked at the siblings and said: “I have relatives in Langcheng. Since I cannot return to Jiangming City, I shall go to Langcheng to seek refuge with them.”

“Langcheng?!” Ye Yu’s eyes widened. “That is the most prosperous and wealthy place in all of Yelang. Young Master Lu clearly doesn’t look like an ordinary person; as expected, you have ties to Langcheng.”

“It’s just… Langcheng is usually safe above all else,” Ye Yu whispered. “Right now, the Changli army is heading straight for it, and the city’s populace as well as high-ranking officials are scrambling to escape. Why doesn’t Young Master Lu refrain from going there and stay with us for now until the storm passes? We live in nearby Liuye Village. Because it’s close to the city, we evacuated along with everyone else. Now that the Changli army has moved far away, this place is actually the safest.”

Lu Xuechao smiled lightly: “Miss Ye is remarkably well-informed, even knowing about the matters in Langcheng.”

“Ahem! It’s not that I’m well-informed, it’s my brother!” Ye Yu cleared her throat, her face full of pride. “Though my brother is a hunter now, in his earlier years he traveled far and wide as a chivalrous hero. While wandering the江湖, he made countless friends from all over, keeping in touch through letters. My brother is also very popular, so whenever the neighbors have any news, they always let him know.”

“Xiaoyu.” Ye Yang felt helpless about his sister bragging about his greatness to everyone he met, yet his eyes held a fond smile.

Is that so… then his ability to rally people with a single call and launch an uprising makes complete sense. Lu Xuechao lowered his eyes.

Ye Yang then turned to Lu Xuechao: “Xiaoyu is right. The roads are too dangerous; why doesn’t Young Master Lu stay and live with us?”

Lu Xuechao shook his head: “Thank you both for your kindness, but I have a reason why I must go. As for the two of you… do you intend to live in the village forever?”

“If not in the village, where else could we go? I could make the world my home alone, but I can’t let my sister wander around suffering with me,” Ye Yang smiled bitterly. “In times like these, who knows if we’ll wake up one day as citizens of a fallen nation. To put it bluntly, no matter who becomes emperor, us common folk will go on living our lives all the same. The one sitting on the dragon throne right now was never a good person to begin with, so changing him is fine too. I only hope that the one from Changli… can truly see the hardships of the common people and make everyone’s lives better.”

It was often said that Yelang possessed strong soldiers and sturdy horses, yet all the common people wanted was merely enough food and warm clothes.

Lu Xuechao felt compelled to speak: “Perhaps that person… has no intention of annexing Yelang.”

Xie Chongjin’s attack on Yelang was firstly for self-defense, and secondly for revenge.

He wanted to personally slay Emperor Chongxing to avenge the deep, blood-filled hatred of his past life’s fallen nation.

Xie Chongjin held grudges fiercely, yet he was never an emperor who craved expanding territories or harbored grand ambitions of conquest. He only wished to rule his own nation peacefully, holding zero interest in foreign lands.

“The world splits after long unity, and unites after long division. Since it will split again sooner or later, what meaning is there in me unifying it?” Xie Chongjin had once said. “Managing an extra inch of land means I have to work an extra bit, which leaves me less time to spend with Qingshu. That’s a terrible deal, and I won’t do it.”

Lu Xuechao had replied at the time: “If these words of yours are recorded in the history books, I will become a sinner condemned for eternity for ruining the nation.”

Xie Chongjin had said: “I won’t let the grand historian write bad things about you. He can write bad things about me, but not about you.”

Lu Xuechao: “…”

How childish, Huaiyun-ge.

…

“How could that be?” Ye Yu said in disbelief. “He’s about to fight his way all the way to Langcheng, yet he doesn’t want to annex Yelang? Then what is he fighting for? Just to get his Empress back?”

Lu Xuechao said calmly: “It is not impossible.”

At least, this sudden eight-fold acceleration was definitely because of him.

Ye Yu: “…”

She could not accept the fact that a career-oriented Emperor was actually driven purely by love.

“There is a saying that goes: no matter who becomes emperor, the common folk will go on living their lives all the same,” Lu Xuechao said. “Yet whether those lives are good or bad makes all the difference.”

“The one who becomes emperor doesn’t necessarily have to be another emperor.” Lu Xuechao looked at the siblings, his gaze landing on Ye Yang: “Anyone can do it. You can.”

Then he looked at Ye Yu: “You can too.”

Ye Yu pointed at herself in surprise: “Me? Huh? But I’m a woman!”

“What about being a woman? Both Xifeng and Leyang have women as their rulers,” Lu Xuechao said. “As long as anyone has the mind and ability, they can change this world.”

“Are kings, generals, and ministers born to their ranks?”

He lifted the cold quilt, stepped off the bed, and walked outside the house, displaying a slender yet unyielding aura.

Ye Yu chased after him two steps: “Is Young Master Lu leaving already? The road to Langcheng is long and treacherous; letting you travel alone is far too worrying…”

Lu Xuechao turned his head back, letting out a soft, meaningful smile.

“Though the journey is treacherous, I have someone I hold dear who is also missing me.”

“I must put his heart at ease.”