The Rebel King Emerges from the Mountains!

A vast sky, clear and Ruyu, covers this boundless mountain range.

The mountains of Central Shu are secluded and desolate, with snow-capped peaks and cold valleys.

The large, extremely cold-resistant trees in the forest were only bent over by the frost and snow, and when gazing at the distant mountains, one could still see a lot of lush greenery.

Han Rui stood on the edge of the cliff and began to play his flute. He didn't play it very hard, so the sound was faint and didn't travel far.

He wore a square scarf on his head, had bright eyes, a white beard, and a somewhat thin face, but a rosy complexion.

Judging from the thick gray cloth robe he was wearing, it was clearly very warm, but there were signs of wear and tear on the cuffs and elbows, indicating that it was an old garment.

The flute music, filled with joy, lingered for a long time before drifting leisurely towards the edge of the cliff.

"Can you please stop bragging?"

Behind the cliff was a cave, from which came the impatient voice of an old man.

"You're always so happy, as if you've just taken three new concubines. Are you really that pleased to see our Great Yuan Dynasty in such dire straits?"

"Don't forget, you were also born in the Yuan Dynasty!"

Han Rui stopped playing the flute, wiped the dampness from the blowhole, turned around and laughed, "Tai Buhua, you're supposed to be a high-ranking official in Central Shu, how can you be so impatient?"

A string of gibberish curses immediately erupted from inside the cave.

Han Rui smiled proudly, "I don't understand!"

"You surnamed Han, I'll Laozi your ancestors! When you arrested the Semu spies and interrogated them, why didn't you say you couldn't understand?!"

An angry sound of pounding against the stone walls came from inside the cave.

"When you led your men to infiltrate Laozi mansion and kidnap Laozi for ransom, why didn't you say you didn't understand? You heartless, despicable old devil!"

"Ever since the news of the fall of Dadu came, you've been coming here eight times a day. Can't you find someone else to torment? Why do you have to torment Laozi?"

"What I find most unbearable is that you sing the same song every single day. Laozi used an iron chain to pull out a chamber pot, the tunes I could pull out would be more varied than yours."

Han Rui chuckled, "The other people here don't have such deep feelings for your Great Yuan Emperor. When they heard that the Emperor had surrendered, they went everywhere knocking on the door, were shocked for half the night, and then they accepted it."

"Only you, who initially didn't believe it, and then kept getting angry easily, haha, it's so funny!"

The people inside the cave, exhausted from pounding on the Shitou, let out heavy breathing and whispered, "You beast, you old beast."

"Don't forget, you were also born in the Yuan Dynasty!"

He was so angry that he was incoherent, and he repeated what he had said before.

Han Rui said softly, "If I hadn't been born in the Great Yuan, I might not have rebelled. The Great Yuan is truly blessed to have me."

Tai Buhua for a long time after being choked by his words. It took her a while to catch her breath.

"You're such a lucky person."

Tai Buhua said resentfully, "Every time your rebellion fails, you always manage to escape alive. You're too experienced. Hiding in the mountains for so long, even the court's experts and the army can't find you."

"Now it's all good. You just need to continue hiding in the mountains. When the world is finally settled, the new dynasty will definitely bestow upon you, the first rebel king, some kind of marquis title, as a reward."

"No, your daughter and son-in-law are so cunning; who knows, you might even become a duke."

To this day, Tai Buhua can't forget those two scenes.

That young man, who looked to be under twenty, killed sixteen top experts whom the man had hired with great gifts in one fell swoop. The moment his right arm was severed, it was pulled back, placed on the wound, and reattached.

Especially when his severed arm was close to the wound, silk threads sprouted from his flesh, dancing gracefully and connecting with him on their own.

And that little girl, she said she wanted to do business with him, and with a wave of her hand, warehouses full of grain, weapons, and winter clothes vanished.

How could Heaven be so blind? There's a monster among the rebels!

Han Rui suddenly said in a sinister tone, "Are you secretly cursing my daughter as a monster?"

Tai Buhua shivered and snorted coldly.

"I've heard that your Grand Tutor can even melt a living person into pus and blood, then soak himself in a pool of blood for days, remaining incredibly energetic."

Han Rui sneered and said, "And they've raised a huge monster that looks like a bat, a lizard, a bird, and a snake all at once."

"Perhaps he isn't human at all. Maybe in the future, he'll commit adultery with that great monster, fathering many little monsters to rule your Great Yuan."

Tai Buhua retorted decisively, "That's slander!"

The mountain wind whistled through the precipice.

Han Rui broadened his gaze, looking towards the mountain gorge.

"I heard you used to have some connections with Yan Tiemu'er. Since you say I'm slandering him, why don't you tell me what kind of person he really is?"

The mountain winds, whether blowing low or high, produce vastly different sounds when they reach the cave entrance.

After several gusts of wind had passed, Tai Buhua, who was in the prison, finally spoke with suspicion.

"You've always been practical, and you've already asked for all the necessary information. Why are you suddenly asking about the Grand Tutor?"

Tai Buhua pondered, "Could it be that you intend to leave the mountain and strive for a higher position in the future, so that you can understand the Grand Tutor and avoid him?"

Han Rui's eyes were filled with desolation as he held the bamboo flute horizontally in the wind.

When the wind blows through the flute, it sounds like the mountains are weeping.

Amidst so many mountains and forests, on such a vast and solid earth, the cries were so faint that they could not reach the heavens.

"Tai Buhua, you are a rare honest official. The treasury under your jurisdiction has not been subject to much fraud. It is truly an anomaly among the important officials of the Great Yuan Dynasty that your family's wealth is not as great as that of the public treasury."

"That's why I haven't killed you yet."

Han Rui chuckled lightly, "But you, for so many years, have only been able to turn a blind eye to the affairs of the Great Yuan's officialdom."

"By choosing to make this concession, you're destined to never understand what I'm thinking."

Tai Buhua pondered for a long time.

He vaguely heard what sounded like a flute mixed in with the wind, but he didn't understand what Han Rui was doing.

I truly don't understand you.

Tai Buhua sighed, "Those who have truly experienced life and death on the battlefield understand better that human life is very fragile, and there's not much luck involved."

"You've escaped death so many times; others see it as good luck, but in your own eyes, even a man of iron should have collapsed long ago."

"The imperial court has offered you amnesty so many times, I really don't understand why you've been able to persist and continue your rebellion?"

Han Rui put the bamboo flute back into his sleeve, warmed it with his arm, and revealed a smile that no one could see.

It seems that having the opportunity to retrieve the bamboo flute and having enough warmth to keep it warm is something to be very proud of.

"I might as well tell you, I had thought about giving up a long time ago. At that time, my daughter even told me a story that also advised me to give up."

Han Rui said, "Baiyu Yu said that even if I don't rely on anyone else this time and succeed in rebellion on my own, I might not be able to last nine months before being wiped out by the imperial army."

"Perhaps it will be decades before someone picks up a few Shitou from somewhere and piles up a grave for me.

"Perhaps several hundred years from now, another Tartar dynasty will be established, and they will pour molten iron on my grave, doing everything they can to humiliate me."

Han Rui smiled.

"I guess that Tartar dynasty was afraid I'd turn into a zombie. They couldn't possibly think that pouring molten iron on the grave of a rebel leader from hundreds of years ago would extinguish the local people's enthusiasm for rebellion."

Tai Buhua was utterly puzzled. "This story is so strange, it's as if—as if your daughter knew about things hundreds of years in the future?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Han Rui laughed loudly, "It is strange, but after hearing it, I immediately perked up."

"I thought that within ten years of my death, everything I had in life would vanish like smoke."

"I never imagined that hundreds of years later, everything I did would still hold some weight in people's hearts. How satisfying! How satisfying!"

"Then what do I have to fear, in this heaven and on earth?"

Han Rui's laughter continued until he suddenly disappeared into the distance.

Only the sound of the wind remained on the cliff; the flute music was no more.

Down the mountain, hundreds of veterans were making flags using large bamboo poles and coarse cloth.

The ice and snow seemed to be incubated by the heat from their bodies, and clear water droplets were everywhere in the bamboo forest.

When Han Rui arrived, everyone looked up at him, some with serious expressions, others with smiles.

"I've already informed Baiyu, and she even went up to the cliff and played her flute to her heart's content. How's the flag-making going?"

Among the crowd was a scholar who laughed and said, "Don't worry, with so many flags, everyone will know that the greatest rebel king in the world has emerged."

Han Rui smiled and pointed at him.

"Alright, there are quite a few strategists in the mountains now, but you're the most experienced. Help me with some more work."

In the Dadu city.

Chu Tianshu had a wax pill containing a Gu worm plugged in his ear, and he heard the news relayed by Han Baiyu.

"Ha, your dad's got a lot of energy!"

Han Baiyu said helplessly, "Sometimes I'm conflicted. I don't want him to go through so much danger at his age, but every time I tell him a story, he always manages to understand a different meaning. Maybe he's just naturally stubborn."

Chu Tianshu turned and walked out of the room.

He was on the city gate tower, a few steps outside, when he leaned on the railing and gazed at the landscape beyond the city.

Master Han is truly a greedy old man.

He hadn't expected the rebel army to actually succeed in all these years, but now that the world is in turmoil, although the rebel army hasn't yet gained the upper hand, it's clear that they've truly developed the foundation to rival the enemy.

If this turmoil continues, after a prolonged period of upheaval, the Great Yuan may truly collapse completely.

If that's the case, could you go even faster?

Perhaps we should first invite out the most stubborn and ruthless conservatives and then eliminate them decisively.

People along the Yangtze River Yellow River, Henan, can sooner obtain the peace and tranquility they have long deserved.

"I agree."

Chu Tianshu said, "Please tell him that we have set a date and will ask him to come out of seclusion."

The mountains and forests of Central Shu.

Such a sound was heard.

"Please copy the announcement and proclaim it to the world: I, Han Rui!"

"We will leave Bashu and Chongqing, reach Hunan, pass through Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shandong, and head north to Dadu (Beijing) to meet with righteous men from Nine Provinces."

"The glorious Nine Provinces Non-Self my generation alone. Rebellion against the tyrannical Yuan Nine Provinces Non-Self a personal matter for my generation."

"When we go to the Dadu an alliance, we must let the whole world know that our righteous army does not discriminate based on ancestral origin or social status. Anyone who is determined to overthrow the tyrannical Yuan dynasty, eliminate the scourge, and enable their fellow villagers and displaced people to live in peace and prosperity is my kin!"

"From now on, all members of the righteous army shall share my food and clothing, and may Celestial Person bear witness to this oath forever!"

Han Rui looked solemnly at his old friends.

"The mandate of heaven has been given to us; if the violent Yuan dynasty is not destroyed, it will be an outrage against heaven!"

One by one, large flags were raised, and everyone shouted in unison.

"If the tyrannical Yuan dynasty is not eradicated, it will be an outrage against Heaven!"

They all knew they were bait, only worried that others wouldn't take the bait.

Wait, are we bait?

We're going to build our country!