Skinning Them Works Too

The Flood Dragon's roar startled the Academy.

Ruan Yuan was the head of Jixia Academy and managed it alongside the Lord of Changbai Mountain.

His appearance was deeply deceptive. Though thirty, he had a baby face that made him look barely over twenty, and there was an indescribably natural, easygoing grace to his every movement.

"For a young Flood Dragon's first cry to carry such power-what a blessing for Great Zhou."

The Lord of Changbai Mountain had replaced all the disciples in the Zhou Quarters with demons.

After human emperor fortune manifested, the various factions of Jixia Academy had sat down to negotiate. They agreed that the Demon Domain could plunder Wu Junji's fortune, provided they did not endanger his life.

Within the Academy, Great Zhou's high officials could not intervene.

How much they could seize depended entirely on the demons' abilities.

If they obtained not a single thread, that merely proved the Demon Domain's incompetence.

In compensation, Great Zhou's national debts were erased, and the nations of Tibet, Mongolia, and Goryeo bestowed countless benefits upon it.

Tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, and mules, all manner of rare medicinal herbs, and gold, silver, iron, and copper were given to Great Zhou.

The Demon Domain would provide conveniences for Great Zhou: sea demons would escort ships, mountain demons would guard caravans, tree demons would bear fruit and nurture forests...

So long as Wu Junji entered the Academy, before the next decade arrived, the Demon Domain would not encroach upon Great Zhou in the slightest. It would even aid in disaster relief and emergency rescues, promising Great Zhou five years of peace and prosperity.

The national pact had been signed with fortune. Whoever broke their promise would pay the price of its backlash.

The Lord of Changbai Mountain sat beneath a willow, legs spread in a commanding sprawl, eating live scorpions one at a time. The crunchy little snacks pleased his palate and relieved his stress. He declared arrogantly,

"A Fake Flood Dragon can only suppress ordinary demons."

"You took away the Human Emperor's General Summoning, but forgot there was another little Flood Dragon. Don't royal brothers always turn their own flesh and blood against one another?"

"Why did this little Flood Dragon lend him a hand?"

Ruan Yuan chuckled.

"Perhaps a child's innocence, an unblemished heart."

The Lord of Changbai Mountain thought little of it. A three-year-old cub was ignorant and knew nothing of good or evil. He probably did not even know what he had done. Still, using this opportunity to knock him down a peg would be worthwhile.

"I intend to take Wu Junzheng's General Summoning."

Ruan Yuan frowned slightly and warned him, "The second prince was not included in the treaty."

The Lord of Changbai Mountain was domineering and allowed Ruan Yuan no room to refuse.

"I will not harm Great Zhou's second prince. I merely intend to clear away everything around the Human Emperor."

In the Yao Quarters, several heirs of the Demon Domain sat, lay, stood, or leaned against things.

Hearing the Flood Dragon's cry, they all looked south.

A peach blossom petal bloomed on Mu Zhao's finger. She pressed it between her lips and licked her fingertip.

"A Fake Flood Dragon."

Xiong Yu impatiently pounded his fists together. "Zhou She is full of useless trash! Give them a chance, and they still can't get a bite! Just charge in and beat that Human Emperor brat black and blue. He'll be scared out of his wits, guaranteed. Won't his fortune scatter then? Once it scatters, we can eat it!"

White King burst out laughing and egged him on. "Then hurry up and go! Kill the Human Emperor with one punch, and you'll probably have your body and soul annihilated on the spot."

"Human emperor fortune is no ordinary thing. It cannot be used without great achievements, which is why we can do as we please. Otherwise, you'd already be on your knees calling him Daddy."

Xiong Yu bared his fangs, his savage nature laid bare. "If that day comes, you won't escape either!"

Lang Xi swished his wolf tail and tried to make peace. "Stop arguing. That's precisely why we need to stand together."

"The Zhou Dynasty's Retired Emperor was shortsighted enough to trade human emperor fortune for fleeting benefits. That's what gave us our chance."

"Instead of fighting in our own nest, we should join forces and divide up the human emperor fortune!"

Gao Hu rolled over on the carpet and lazily stretched his tiger's waist.

"The prey is already in the den. Whoever fails to get a bite is useless."

"Everyone, we mustn't miss tonight's Night Reading."

At those words, demonic shadows emerged behind the five of them, hideous and ravenously impatient...

In Zhou She, Wu Junzheng kicked open Wu Junji's door and cried anxiously,

"Crown Prince! Someone took away my General Summoning! Come help me find-"

Inside, the little Crown Prince was changing clothes. He had put on his top, but had not yet managed to put on his trousers.

Wu Junzheng froze for a moment, then slammed the door shut and retreated.

Undisturbed, Wu Junji slipped on his trousers and tied his belt in one flowing motion.

The spring chill blew the cobwebs out of Wu Junzheng's head. Then it struck him: they were both male. Why the hell had he backed out?

He kicked his way back in and demanded,

"Why are you taking off your clothes in broad daylight?"

The little Crown Prince pulled on the Academy's scholar's robe, his voice turning cold.

"If you're sick, go die."

"I'll offer you the first stick of incense."

Wu Junzheng said indignantly,

"I saved you! Now you're ordering me around-where was that backbone earlier?"

Wu Junji picked up a cup from the table and hurled it.

"You barged into my room in broad daylight. Give me a reason."

Wu Junzheng was instantly cowed. The three-foot-tall child radiated authority without anger, his indifferent expression overlapping with that of the tyrannical Emperor Zhongzu from their previous life.

He straightened up obediently, then turned his head as if to disguise it, indignant but lacking confidence.

"My General Summoning was taken away. Come with-accompany me to find Ruan Yuan."

Wu Junji glanced sideways at him, his eyes two gleaming stars, lustrous yet cold and sharp.

"You've been granted a princely title? Why haven't I heard?"

Wu Junzheng stammered, mumbling his way past the question, then asked with little force,

"Are you coming or not...?"

Wu Junji refused outright. "No."

Wu Junzheng squawked,

"Why not? Your General Summoning was taken away too! Zhou She is full of beasts. They're clearly mistreating us!"

"You're Great Zhou's Crown Prince! I'm a prince of Great Zhou! How dare they insult us like this! I'll tell Imperial Grandfather to cut their heads off!"

As Wu Junzheng spoke, his voice rose again.

The Crown Prince shot him a glance, and Wu Junzheng fell silent.

He was clearly far more afraid of Wu Junji than of the demons.

"Without Ruan Yuan's tacit approval, who could take away your General Summoning? Now guess who stands behind Ruan Yuan."

"You and I have been sold off by the Retired Emperor and Emperor Zhou."

Wu Junzheng would have believed they had sold off one of them, but selling both made little sense.

"You and I are Great Zhou's only two princes! How could Father and Imperial Grandfather sell us both off?"

Could they think that with the third and fourth children soon to be born, they had no shortage of heirs?

Wu Junji waved him away to find the answer himself.

88 crawled out of its withdrawn state, a little afraid to face Wu Junji.

"Host, Emperor Zhou was involved too?"

Wu Junji tossed the filthy Meteorite Dice into a drawer.

"Does it matter?"

"With me, doubt means guilt."

Whatever Emperor Zhou had done to him in their previous life, the debt of giving him life in this one could cancel it all out.

But if he harmed him again, Wu Junji would have to revisit those old accounts.

Because of a spittoon, 88 had screamed and restored the memories it had deleted and altered.

Had he not known 88 lacked the brains for it, Wu Junji would have thought it was trying to harm him.

Human emperor fortune came with one enormous pitfall.

Wu Junji had not been born a Human Emperor. He had attained that standing through his own achievements.

Only the fortune flowing back from his previous life had bestowed upon him the fine reputation of being a born Human Emperor in this one.

But he could not use it.

Other princes could use their fortune to suppress hordes of demons.

Wu Junji could not. The fortune within him was like a millstone: it needed achievements to provide the driving force before it could begin turning and move at his will.

Otherwise, he was a walking Tang Sanzang-brand power bank. Without General Summoning, his rechargeable Monkey King, he could only serve as decoration.

But what sort of achievements could possibly set human emperor fortune in motion?

Even founding emperors possessed only golden dragon fortune.

Where could Great Zhou manufacture an achievement for Wu Junji greater than founding a nation?

Faced with this bottomless pit, the Retired Emperor chose to push him out and trade human emperor fortune for something tangible.

Perhaps, after the demons fed on it, his human emperor fortune would downgrade to golden dragon fortune. That would be a good thing too.

And so Wu Junji had been sold off just like that.

88 felt its host's future was utterly bleak. It drooped.

"Is there really no way for us to get out?"

Wu Junji took paper and a brush from his bundle, added water, and ground ink, his face filled with a maturity utterly unsuited to his age.

"If I killed Wu Junzheng now and bashed my own head until I was half dead, Ruan Yuan would risk his life to get me out of the Academy."

"But I didn't enter the Academy just to leave."

"They covet the human emperor fortune within me. In truth, I've coveted them for a long time too."

A predator's ferocity flickered in Wu Junji's eyes. His porcelain-white fingers were thinner than the brush shaft, his grip soft and plump as he wrote four large characters on the opening page-the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia.

88's heart lurched.

Those four words had once been rotting flesh that Wu Junji could not bear to touch.

It had never imagined that one day he would start compiling this monumental work, buried in a sea of fire, all over again.

"The Peaceful People's Encyclopedia is a shovel. It can dig a breach in the great rivers and let me draw upon a thread of fortune."

Achievements-this book was his achievement.

He had compiled the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia after the Yongle Encyclopedia, which had vanished from history. If the Yongle Encyclopedia was the culmination of the Ming Dynasty's knowledge, the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia was the culmination of Great Zhou's.

Every question from antiquity to the present could find its answer in this book.

If The Analects was a book of moral instruction, the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia was a book of practical use.

Both accomplished great things in their own age and benefited a thousand generations to come. Their value would endure for a millennium.

That was why Wu Junji had been so confident back then. With this book, he could claim a place in Great Zhou's literary world.

Now he remained just as confident. This book was his achievement.

The Retired Emperor's actions had actually done him an enormous favor.

When the national pact between the Demon Domain and the Retired Emperor benefited the common people, that would become another achievement of Wu Junji's.

He did not fear being lowly, because he was certain he would not remain lowly forever.

"Chen Yu is useless. I can't count on him anymore. I need a new lackey now."

Speak of the dog, and it came running.

Wu Junzheng shut the door and wiped the sweat from his brow after all his running around, barking,

"That old bastard Ruan Yuan! How dare he hide from me!"

"You were right! That undying old bastard Imperial Grandfather really did sell me off!"

"Tell me, what do we do?"

The Crown Prince gave him a couple of looks, as though he had not expected him to say that.

Wu Junzheng looked a little embarrassed. Though close to Imperial Grandfather, he had also been taught how to become an emperor.

Savor the affection of the imperial family-one taste, and you fell silent.

The Crown Prince in Wu Junzheng's memories had mostly been his later self: deranged, tyrannical, cruel, and sickly.

The Crown Prince in this life always left Wu Junzheng feeling a little awkward.

Helping him, cursing, and crying in the dining hall seemed to have broken through some barrier for Wu Junzheng. His old evasiveness and timidity were gone, and he urged him in a gruff voice,

"Look, look, look-is that all you're going to do? Say something!"

"If you won't speak, smash a cup or something. I can't stand seeing you so quiet!"

When the Crown Prince held power, he ran rampant. When he lost it, he lay low.

Wu Junzheng ground his teeth in frustration, stubbornly refusing to admit that he liked seeing the other boy run rampant.

Wu Junji bit the shaft of his brush.

"I'll do what I did before."

Wu Junzheng froze. "Skin them?"

A second later, Wu Junzheng accepted it. "That works too."

The Crown Prince had even skinned him before. There was no one under heaven he could not skin.