By the time the Anti-Zhou Army arrived, flames had already swallowed the entire Lu Tai!
"An offering by fire! This is an offering by fire!"
Seeing this, someone cried out repeatedly, "King Zhou has wicked intentions! I beg Your Majesty to sacrifice to Heaven and dispel his curse!"
Ji Fa watched the raging flames and raised a hand to quiet the tumult.
He looked into the distance.
Outside Chao Ge City, Verdant Green Maiden skipped along, swinging her gourd and humming a little tune.
Three middle-aged men in coarse clothes emerged from the woods ahead.
They blocked Verdant Green Maiden's path.
"Please wait, Ma'am!"
They smiled warmly and bowed to Verdant Green Maiden.
Three people had appeared out of nowhere to block her path. Verdant Green Maiden narrowed her eyes, her expression turning unfriendly.
She tied the gourd to her waist.
"You three aren't going to Chao Ge to earn merits, but instead you're blocking my way in this little forest. What for?"
The gray-robed Daoist in the lead wore a mild expression. He cupped his hands toward Verdant Green Maiden. "We have come on behalf of our king to ask you for the Art of Longevity."
"If it's for yourselves, just say so. No need to make it sound so noble."
After hearing him, Verdant Green Maiden muttered under her breath and waved them away. "I don't have it. Don't block the road."
The three smiled at her words.
The gray-robed Daoist stepped forward and bowed to Verdant Green Maiden.
"You jest, Ma'am. You came to our Xi Qi more than a decade ago, and your appearance hasn't changed to this day. If that isn't the Art of Immortality, what is?"
"Please don't keep it to yourself!"
"Our king is a Wise Ruler the likes of whom the world has never seen. Wouldn't it be a great blessing for all under Heaven if he lived forever?"
The three chatted and laughed as they slowly closed in on Verdant Green Maiden.
Verdant Green Maiden was getting impatient.
"I said I don't have it! Good Snake keeps her word and never lies. Don't block my path!"
Seeing that Verdant Green Maiden refused to tell them the Art of Immortality, the smile gradually faded from the gray-robed Daoist's face. He exchanged glances with the two beside him.
"For the sake of our king and the realm of Great Zhou, forgive us, Ma'am!"
The three took up their positions and produced their so-called Magic Tools, surrounding Verdant Green Maiden as they prepared to capture her by force.
Verdant Green Maiden watched them form their array, muttering incantations all the while, and fell silent.
Then she simply walked toward the woods on one side.
The three stared in astonishment as Verdant Green Maiden strolled right out of the array they had set up.
"This..."
"How could this be!"
"This array was passed down by the Ancestor Master!"
Ignoring their astonishment, Verdant Green Maiden broke off a branch and turned back.
Under the three men's bewildered, dumbfounded gazes, Verdant Green Maiden raised the branch.
Again and again, she whipped them hard.
The branch looked light as a feather, yet every blow landed with the force of a thousand jun!
The three men were knocked to the ground in an instant.
As she beat them, Verdant Green Maiden muttered, "That's for blocking my way! That's for attacking me! You want to live forever? You want to be immortal? Cat got your tongues? Speak up! Still want to live forever?"
"Please spare us, Ma'am..."
"No, we don't want to live forever! Please forgive us!"
The Body Tempering Technique they had been so proud of was utterly useless against Verdant Green Maiden's blows!
They howled, begging Verdant Green Maiden to show mercy.
After the three begged for forgiveness, Verdant Green Maiden gave them a few more whacks before stopping.
She tossed the branch aside, walked over, and kicked away the tools they had used to set up the array.
"What kind of worthless junk is this? You thought it could trap me?"
"Do you think I'm an easy snake to bully? Do you really think you're Great Zhou from Investiture of the Gods?"
"You've been reading too many novels!"
The three men on the ground had no idea what Verdant Green Maiden meant by that last remark. Their whole bodies were in excruciating pain; it seemed she had beaten their bones to pieces.
Verdant Green Maiden crushed the tools beneath her feet, then grabbed the gray-robed Daoist by the collar.
She bared her fangs, her voice turning cold.
"Tell Ji Fa that our deal has begun. When the time comes, I'll come claim what I'm owed!"
"Yes... I will certainly relay your words to my king, Ma'am!"
The gray-robed Daoist weakly nodded in reply.
Verdant Green Maiden released his collar and wiped her hands. Then she returned to her earlier carefree manner and left the place, humming a little tune.
That evening, the three badly injured Daoists were carried before Ji Fa.
The gray-robed Daoist relayed Verdant Green Maiden's words to him.
Ji Fa fell silent for a long time. At last, he merely waved for someone to carry the three of them away and treat their injuries properly.
"Prime Minister, did I do wrong?"
Jiang Ziya sighed. "Your Majesty shouldn't have so easily made an enemy of Ma'am."
Ji Fa remained silent for a long while.
The next day, Ji Fa sacrificed to Heaven outside Chao Ge City!
A month later, the Zhou Army returned to Xi Qi.
Several more months passed, and Verdant Green Maiden climbed Qin Ling to gaze out at the currents of Heavenly Auspicious Fortune beneath the night sky.
Through the hazy darkness, the Dragon Qi of Chao Ge faded away.
Above Hao Jing, clouds churned!
Watching the winds and clouds shift, Verdant Green Maiden shook her gourd. She listened to the sound of the two drops of Heart's Blood inside, each containing nearly a thousand years of Auspicious Fortune from two dynasties, and laughed aloud.
"One day, I'll become a dragon!"
The illustrious King Ji Fa of Zhou was unable to continue his grand undertaking.
Just one year after the fall of Shang, Ji Fa fell ill.
His illness came on like a collapsing mountain.
Ji Fa was sick for two years, and in the end, he never rose again.
Hao Jing, inside the palace.
The palace attendants stood solemnly outside Ji Fa's bedchamber.
After night fell, Ji Fa saw Verdant Green Maiden standing beside his bed through the haze.
"Ma'am, you've come?"
Ji Fa was startled for a moment when he saw Verdant Green Maiden, but quickly accepted it.
He coughed a few times and asked, "Have you come to take Ji Fa's life, Ma'am?"
Verdant Green Maiden shook her head. "What use would I have for your life? I want the life of the last king of Great Zhou."
At this, Ji Fa managed a strained smile.
"Then you'll have to wait a long time, Ma'am. The Prime Minister said Great Zhou should rule for eight hundred years."
"Only eight hundred years. I can wait."
Verdant Green Maiden didn't care how long she had to wait.
She had no other special talents, but she did have a long life.
Perhaps Old Heaven was compensating her. After all, she had transmigrated, gone from a human to a snake, and from a man to a woman. Such a novel experience deserved some compensation.
"Truly, you're worthy of being called Ma'am. A thousand years of turmoil pass by in a laugh and a word."
Ji Fa smiled bitterly. He looked at Verdant Green Maiden, fell silent for a moment, then said, "Back then..."
"I know. Those Daoists were just greedy for the Art of Immortality."
Verdant Green Maiden knew what Ji Fa was going to say. She reassured him, "I didn't take it to heart, so you don't need to either. You don't have much time left, after all. Try to take it easy."
"Your way of comforting people is as unique as ever, Ma'am."
"At first, I'd comfort people properly. But after seeing so much, I just don't feel like doing that anymore."
Verdant Green Maiden shrugged, took two fruits from her robes, wiped them clean, and offered one to Ji Fa. "Want one? I picked them in your palace. They taste pretty good."
Looking at the red fruit in Verdant Green Maiden's hand, Ji Fa weakly raised his own.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry..."
Seeing that, Verdant Green Maiden simply put the fruit in his hand. "Here, hold it."
Ji Fa held the fruit, feeling its coolness, and looked at Verdant Green Maiden.
"Have you been in Hao Jing these past three years, Ma'am?"
Before you continue