Chaotian Capital, the Great Shang imperial palace.
In Bingtian Hall, where sandalwood incense drifted through the air, two square-faced men in four-clawed purple dragon robes knelt on the floor.
On the jade dais a zhang in front of them, an old man with black hair carelessly strewn over his shoulders sat in a purplewood dragon throne, calmly looking through the memorial in his hands.
Though the old man looked to be in the frail, aged body of his twilight years, his face was ruddy, his back straight, and his eyes bright and clear. At a glance, it was obvious he was a cultivator who had refined himself to the utmost.
This man was the current emperor of the Great Shang Dynasty, the ruler of the Wu Imperial Clan, who mainly cultivated the exceedingly rare National Fortune Path—Martial Successor Emperor.
"Your Majesty, the Demon Subduing Bureau has finished interrogating Marquis Wuyi. Marquis Wuyi colluded with a Demon Person from Black Heaven Gate, secretly siphoning the vital essence from the bodies of the people who visited Spring Full Pavilion in Chaotian Capital over the past five years. As a result, the number of people who died from serious illness and bodily decline during those five years has only continued to rise.
"The Demon Person from Black Heaven Gate who colluded with him also frequently sent many Demon Persons carrying the evil artifact, the Spirit Gathering Banner, to towns and villages around Chaotian Capital to collect the vital essence of the living. Their sole purpose was to use demonic arts to revive Marquis Wuyi's wife."
"Marquis Wuyi and Madam Han had known each other since childhood. They were childhood sweethearts, and their feelings ran far deeper than outsiders could imagine. I can understand his longing for his late wife, but to revive Madam Han, he willingly fell in with Demon Persons, betrayed the Wu Imperial Clan, and harmed the innocent people of Great Shang. Such deeds surely deserve death."
The two square-faced men chimed in one after the other.
Only thirty-six people in Chaotian Capital were permitted to wear four-clawed purple dragon robes: the thirty-six marquises and dukes of Great Shang.
The two who had come today were among them: Marquis Wuping, Wu Zongfei, and Marquis Wuchang, Wu Sanyu.
"When is Hu Nian to be executed?" Emperor Wu asked, still looking at the memorial.
"Your Majesty, tomorrow."
"Change it. Have him torn apart by five horses instead. After Hu Nian dies, drive seven black nails into his head and send it to King's Burial Valley. Bind his left and right arms with red string, take them to the Northern Frontier, and bury them somewhere remote. Throw his legs into the Boundless Cold Cave in the Southern Frontier. Bury his torso properly in the Wu Clan ancestral mausoleum."
Emperor Wu spoke as if it were nothing. It was clear from his tone that this was no idea he had just come up with.
"Th-this..." Wu Zongfei froze as soon as he heard this.
What bizarre way was this to dispose of a corpse? He had lived all these years and had never heard of anything like it.
"Your Majesty, even if Marquis Wuyi fell into depravity and brought shame upon the Wu Imperial Clan, there's no need to put his body through all this after he dies. If only his torso is buried in the ancestral mausoleum, won't that disturb our ancestors?" Wu Sanyu hesitated for a long while, but in the end, he couldn't help speaking up.
"Hu Nian's fall into depravity wasn't as simple as you imagine. Do you truly think he colluded with Black Heaven Gate for the sake of reviving his wife? No. Black Heaven Gate had set its sights on him long ago."
Emperor Wu put down the memorial and smiled at the two clansmen below.
Suddenly, his eyes turned unfocused. The black pupils in his eyes split in two in an instant, becoming a pair of double pupils.
The moment Wu Zongfei and Wu Sanyu met his gaze, they felt the world around them sway, and everything began to spin.
Most people were born without anything unusual about them.
But some were born amid strange signs from heaven and earth, with peculiar features of their own.
Some had seven red moles in a constellation on their backs, six fingers from birth, double pupils, the gaze of an eagle and the bearing of a wolf, arms long enough to reach past their knees, the ability to rotate their manhood like a wheel, or two babies sharing one body.
Emperor Wu had been born with double pupils. He had cultivated the National Fortune Path, a path few could master, and his double pupils could see and observe the fortunes of a nation and of its people.
As one of the Three Thousand Great Paths, the National Fortune Path was divided into nine ranks, but no one knew which rank Emperor Wu had reached.
Since he had ascended the throne, the Great Shang Dynasty had grown ever more stable and prosperous. Clearly, behind the scenes, Emperor Wu had used the abilities of the National Fortune Path to do much for Great Shang.
"All thirty-six marquises and dukes are of the Wu Imperial Clan's orthodox line. You hold noble titles and possess a measure of Great Shang's National Fortune and Wu Clan Dragon Qi. How could the thing Black Heaven Gate wants be Hu Nian himself? They want the little bit of our ancestors' legacy in his body.
"By secretly colluding with Black Heaven Gate for years, Hu Nian has already allowed them to steal the fortune of the Wu Clan. His body must be destroyed, and this connection severed. Otherwise, Black Heaven Gate will have a chance to pry open Great Shang's National Fortune. Do you two understand?"
Wu Zongfei's expression instantly turned astonished. He had never imagined that Hu Nian's fall into depravity concealed such a grave threat.
No wonder that when Marquis Wuyi's collusion with Black Heaven Gate was exposed to the world, Emperor Wu had given none of their clansmen a chance to plead for Marquis Wuyi. Instead, he had directly ordered the Grand Duke to publicly announce Marquis Wuyi's death sentence.
Wu Sanyu couldn't help asking, "Your Majesty, did you only recently discover this matter, which concerns Great Shang's National Fortune and threatens our clan's Dragon Qi?"
National Fortune was formless and invisible, beyond the sight of the naked eye.
Only those who cultivated the National Fortune Path had the means to perceive it, and even to interfere with it.
In all of Chaotian Capital, only Emperor Wu possessed this ability. If he had observed something amiss with the National Fortune long ago, he should have discovered Hu Nian's fall into depravity earlier.
"Yes. I only noticed the anomaly in his fortune when Hu Nian was exposed. That means Black Heaven Gate also has someone who cultivates the National Fortune Path. He obscured the changes in Hu Nian's fortune, keeping me from sensing anything unusual. If the Demon Subduing Bureau hadn't caught Hu Nian and exposed the matter, I would never have discovered it."
Emperor Wu put away his double-pupil ability and sighed.
"The Demon Persons of Black Heaven Gate still haven't given up on bringing down our Wu dynasty!" Wu Zongfei clenched his fists, his face full of anger. "I understand, Your Majesty. I'll go to the Demon Subduing Bureau shortly and change Marquis Wuyi's method of execution and the disposal of his corpse."
"Your Majesty, there are two more matters to report today," Wu Sanyu said.
"Are they good news or bad?"
"One good, one bad."
Emperor Wu tapped the wooden table. "Then tell me the good news first."
"Yesterday, an Iron Horse Demon Subduing Captain of the Demon Subduing Bureau advanced a rank and triggered three heavenly signs: Great Sun Hanging in the Sky, Crimson Flames Burning the Clouds, and Heavenly King Holding the Sun. Everyone in Chaotian Capital knows of it. If nothing unexpected happens, this person will surely become a pillar of the Demon Subduing Bureau."
"Oh? Then this is truly a blessing for Great Shang." Emperor Wu smiled. "The last time someone advanced a rank and triggered three heavenly signs was that Purple Thunder True Man, wasn't it? It's a pity heaven envies talent. Unlike Immortal Saint Zhao Lingzi of old, Purple Thunder True Man never attained the position of Heavenly Monarch."
The Wu Clan did not use the sun as a symbol of the emperor, so Ning Xiu's Great Sun Hanging in the Sky sign felt in no way insulting to Emperor Wu.
"Order Marquis Wuzhan to take an Earth Fiend Token from the Wu Clan treasury and give it to that Demon Subduing Captain as a congratulatory gift from me for advancing a rank," Emperor Wu commanded.
Wu Sanyu immediately replied, "Understood."
As Great Shang's foremost blade, everything the Demon Subduing Bureau did was for the state. That was why emperors of every generation had valued its talent so highly.
Only those who cherished talent could win the loyalty of the talented. The Demon Subduing Bureau's internal culture had remained so strong for hundreds of years largely because of the emperors of past generations.
"Now tell me the other matter. What's the bad news?"
Wu Sanyu's expression immediately turned grave. "The vital essence of tens of thousands of living people was poured into Madam Han, Marquis Wuyi's wife. She was already dead, and then she was brought back to life through Black Heaven Gate's secret arts. On top of that, we don't know what changes the Demon Person who conducted the ritual made to her. Under the combined effects, Madam Han's corpse has become an exceedingly rare Ghost Fiend Nether Corpse. Though her strength is still weak, even Marquis Wuzhan and Bai Taicang can do nothing to her body."
"Even Marquis Wuzhan and Bai Taicang can't?"
Marquis Wuzhan, Wu Taizong, was arguably the most unusual of the thirty-six marquises and dukes of this generation.
Though he had inherited the title of Marquis Wuzhan, he had refused the official Merit Body Emperor Wu offered him. Instead, he chose the Martial Path, and through talent and hard cultivation, he truly reached Martial Path Rank 3. His personal exploits were famous far and wide.
He was also the last of the Demon Subduing Bureau's Three Tigers, following Qin Daorong and Nan Yuanxing.
It was extremely rare throughout Great Shang's history for one of the thirty-six marquises and dukes to also serve as a Silver Tiger Demon Subduing Captain in the Demon Subduing Bureau.
If even Marquis Wuzhan, a Martial Path Rank 3 cultivator, and Bai Taicang, an Immortal Path Rank 2 cultivator, couldn't destroy Madam Han's body, then the situation had to be grave indeed.
Emperor Wu asked, "Have you tried using the furnace deep inside Demon Subduing Prison on her?"
Wu Sanyu shook his head. "Marquis Wuzhan told me it was useless. A Ghost Fiend Nether Corpse is a legendary creature, beyond the reach of ordinary methods. Fortunately, countless minds reside inside Madam Han. They're the lingering souls of the people harmed among those whose vital essence was taken. They mixed together, leaving her without a consciousness of her own. She's like a walking corpse, only craving flesh and blood, and unable to unleash the power of a Ghost Fiend Nether Corpse. We only need to keep her confined and watched in the Heaven Zone of Demon Subduing Prison.
"But if that were all, I wouldn't have come to report to Bingtian Hall. The real problem lies elsewhere. Your Majesty, Marquis Wuzhan said the Medical Path Demon Subduing Captain he summoned found fetal movement in Madam Han's belly. It seems that Madam Han, who died many years ago, is pregnant with a child."
"What?" For the first time, astonishment appeared on Emperor Wu's face.
Fetal movement meant, quite literally, that a fetus was moving inside a woman.
That proved the fetus was alive. But Han Wan'er had been dead for years. Even if she had been pregnant before she died, by now the fetus should have become like a dried-up corpse inside her. How could there still be fetal movement?
A Ghost Fiend Nether Corpse carrying a child—what would it give birth to? No one could even begin to guess.
It might well become an unparalleled calamity of evil. Such a hidden danger naturally had to be snuffed out before it could turn into a disaster.
"At present, the Demon Subduing Bureau has no Rank 1 experts available, and all the Golden Dragon Demon Subduing Captains are away. Marquis Wuzhan hopes to ask Grand Duke Tai to leave the mausoleum and see if he can execute the Ghost Fiend Nether Corpse, putting an end to this threat."
Emperor Wu nodded. "Approved. Then go to the ancestral mausoleum and find Grand Duke Tai."
"Since everything important has now been reported, we shall take our leave and go to the ancestral mausoleum to see Grand Duke Tai." Wu Sanyu and Wu Zongfei rose and turned to leave Bingtian Hall.
Watching them depart, Emperor Wu thought to himself, Countless people under heaven covet the fortune of my Wu Clan. Among my clansmen, few can help me uphold the Wu dynasty.
This chapter was meant to fill in some details and bridge the gap. I'll write another long chapter in a bit.
Before you continue