Five Hundred Million Shi of Grain

Xiao Jue looked at the old man before him, then shifted his gaze to Jia Wen beside him.

Jia Wen stood quietly to one side inside Chengxin Study, seemingly admiring the calligraphy and paintings from the previous dynasty hanging on the walls.

Terms.

They said they wanted to negotiate terms, but did he really have the standing to negotiate?

What would happen if he refused?

Xiao Jue knew exactly what kind of person Jia Wen was.

He wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

Today, he had brought this old man before him. Surely it was so they could discuss these so-called "terms."

And from the very beginning, Xiao Jue had never had the right to refuse.

The image of the old man just now lightly crooking a finger, and the memorial that had been lying on the floor flying straight into his hand, surfaced once more in Xiao Jue's mind.

The last words his father had spoken before his death began to echo in his mind—

"Duke of Qi is no human being."

Now it seemed that not only was Duke of Qi no human being, but neither was Marquis Jingyuan. Even Duke of Qi's master wasn't human.

Were there any humans left?

Xiao Jue silently asked himself.

Yet as he thought about it, his mood grew all the calmer.

"Please, Your Excellency. Go on."

Xiao Jue spoke in an unhurried, gentle voice.

"This old man is Nian Yun, a 133rd-generation Inner Disciple of the Luoling Sect."

The old man in pale green Daoist robes spoke slowly.

"I entered the mortal world this time because I received word from my disciple Jia Wen, who reported back to the sect that he had observed the Great Yan's fortune waning, with drought demons ravaging the land and its people suffering