Death… and me

“Yes!” Wu Qian Qian was in a state of shock. And the anguish that Tie Bu Tian’s words carried gave the impression as if he was caught in a life or death situation. The despair underlying his actions was such that even an illiterate person would be able to sense it very easily.

[He is getting ready for a war! He is ready to risk everything, even his life, to win this war! ]

[Moreover, rather than drifting away from his throne and living a purposeless life, he would prefer to burn both jade and common stone instead. ]

“There is nothing to worry about!” Apparently seeing through Wu Qian Qian’s anxiety, Tie Bu Tian said, “The Iron Cloud has got a rather large number of talented people… if we win this war, we will have enough time to clean up this mess slowly and gradually. Then we will slowly promote those talented people and help them grow stronger, and that is how we intend to recover our lost might… without worrying about anyone trying to come in our way. And in this life there is going to be enough time for us to achieve that.”

“However, if for some reason we were to lose… then it’s even more pointless for us to worry.” Laughing strangely, Tie Bu Tian said with a smile on his face, “This is precisely to give Diwu Qing Rou a headache.”

[So that’s how it is! ]

Wu Qian Qian was terror-stricken on realizing this.

[Tie Bu Tian had already thought about the victory as well as the defeat. ]

This nation is filled with people who follow blindly. However… even if they’re willing to follow blindly, they still require a man with sufficient status who can stand up, take command and appeal to all … the brave soldiers, and the subjugated slaves of the vanquished nation, alike! Because in the end, they all need someone who can lead them to a brighter future…

To cite a simple example for everyone’s better understanding: just as a political party member is able to establish a base of operation for his party, a traitor can also establish a fake government from the shadows.

The reason is that since ancient times, there had never been a generation without traitors regardless of the continent or era under consideration! There was no exception to this, plain and simple!

[Though Tie Bu Tian’s move might appear to be quite vicious, it is still the most efficient way to crush any possibility of Diwu Qing Rou ruling the Iron Cloud Nation and that too (,)in the shortest time possible! ]

[That’s because once the top ranking traitors are out of the picture, then, at the most, only those on the level of village leaders would remain… ]

A leaderless flock of dragons wouldn’t be considered powerful!

On this basis, Tie Bu Tian’s resolute and upright character could be seen by anyone.

“I understand.” Wu Qian Qian said solemnly.

“It’s good that you understand.” Tie Bu Tian said, giving her a warm look. There was a gentle smile playing on his face as he said, “Minister Chu, you are granted complete authority to deal with this matter… and you further have the authority to mobilize all the forces that come under my command as well!”

[All the forces that come under our, the Emperor’s command! ]

“I will strive to live up to your expectations, Your Majesty!” A shiver ran down from Wu Qian Qian’s head to toe as she said this.

Tie Bu Tian nodded in response and said with a smile, “Diwu Qing Rou can’t put his plans into action against us even if he wishes to because, right now, an all-encompassing civil unrest grips the Great Zhao Nation! We must, therefore, try to finish our own purge before they finish theirs in Great Zhao.”

“And to achieve this goal you can use any aggressive methods whenever you feel the need…you have my permission for that,” Tie Bu Tian said in a heavy tone.

“Understood!”

Tie Bu Tian’s mind was feeling quite relaxed now. Although in the Bu Tian Pavilion he had spoken the same words to the other ministers, but they were completely different from this particular minister.

‘You have my permission to use aggressive methods’! Tie Bu Tian would have never dared to say these words in front of Chu Yang. Chu Yang is already infamous for using far more aggressive methods! Extremely aggressive methods! Tie Bu Tian would never take the risk of telling Chu Yang to use aggressive methods because if he did… Chu Yang might just end up killing off the entire population…

However, saying it in front of Wu Qian Qian, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter.

“As for the spies hiding amongst the high ranking military officers… all we need to do is wait for the right time, then I would personally go to the frontlines, and with the help of Imperial Uncle, we shall wipe them out completely! And to be honest, Bu Tian Pavilion hasn’t got sufficient strength at the moment to deal with those people.”

“Yes!”

“Very well, Qian Qian…” Tie Bu Tian said in a gentle voice while at the same time some rather unclear emotions flashed in his eyes. He sighed softly before speaking again, “You are not him, so there’s no need for you to pretend in front of me… you don’t need to assume his stance or imitate his voice either…”

“Your Majesty, please call me Minister Chu… or just Minister.” Wu Qian Qian carefully took a step back before saying in a cold tone, “I would be much obliged if Your Majesty would call me by my official title, and not by… my given name.”

Tie Bu Tian could not help laughing at this and said, “You… you… don’t tell me you are afraid that I will lay my hands on you?”

Wu Qian Qian further moved a step back while at the same time concealing her beautiful face behind the mask, as a result of which no one could see her facial expressions now. She bowed down respectfully and said: “Your Majesty, if you don’t have any other orders, this humble servant of yours would like to take her leave now. As soon as your humble servant departs from here, the purging of Iron Cloud shall formally commence.”

Tie Bu Tian remained silent for a while before he finally said in a low voice, “… good!”

Wu Qian Qian turned around and walked away quickly.

Tie Bu Tian looked at Wu Qian Qian’s back profile as she was leaving and couldn’t help himself saying with a forced smile, “This girl……”

However, very soon, frown replaced the smile on his face as he recalled things in his mind; e[ver since I have ascended the throne, the imperial ministers have been continuously trying to convince me to choose an imperial concubine or an Empress. If not for my firm refusal to entertain all such proposals, I’m afraid they would have already drafted many marriage proposals. However, I cannot avoid these things for far too long, and when the time finally comes… what should I do to deal with it? ]

When a man proposes marriage to a woman, she is married off to him; this is an established custom that has remained unchanged since ancient times. Of course, not to have any offspring is the worst possible way in which one could be unfilial.

Thinking about all this, Tie Bu Tian sighed as if he had already gotten a headache. A contemplative expression could be clearly seen on his face.

Over the next few days, away from this, the entire Iron Cloud Nation stood face to face with the butcher knife of King of Hell Chu!

Unlike the purges in earlier times, purging operation this time was resolute and much quicker; it passed like a thunder and moved like the wind. It was simply on an unprecedented scale, and it was executed in a way that no one had ever seen before.

From the lists that Wu Qian Qian held in her hands, people’s names were found out one by one and they were brutally interrogated. And not just that, in order to uproot the entire line of traitors, a team of specialists was assigned to investigate and follow the clues all the way!

This was immediately followed by their collective beheading!

None of them went through any trial, nor did they get any decree from the Emperor. To the contrary, all of them were massacred in no time.

People’s bodies were drenched in blood from head to toe as their heads were sent rolling off the scaffold.

Even the executioners felt their hands go numb from the non-stop beheadings.

On an average, every executioner had to behead hundreds of people on a single day. Ah! These were the lives of real human beings, being squandered like nothing…

At the same time, sitting somewhere deep inside the palace, the emperor appeared to be quite indifferent to what was happening outside. Moreover, when his ministers tried to bring his attention to what was going on, he said in a composed manner, “If you lot also want to experience the same dread of being on the execution platform, I can certainly make your wish come true, you know?”

And thus there was absolute silence!

Consequently, the massacre of people was further intensified at the command of King of Hell Chu.

It was reported that Minister Chu of the Bu Tian Pavilion kept giving ruthless commands to the executioners, “Too slow! Too soft! Too weak, haven’t the lot of you eaten anything today? Do you want me to put you in their place…”

“Continue with more force and brutality!”

“Use more force, again and again!”

“A detailed investigation report is what I want! Even if you end up dying due to exhaustion, keep investigating!”

On the other hand, Wu Qian Qian’s mind was occupied with only one thought: [The greater the chaos in Iron Cloud, the safer Chu Yang will be in the Great Zhao Nation! ] And thus, Wu Qian Qian didn’t hesitate in the least while sending out her very first order to massacre people.

[If massacring all these people would send me to hell… then I would gladly go to hell. ]

[However, you must remain safe there! ]

… …

Six days later, Chu Yang quietly woke up besides the Lotus Lake.

His eyes gently blinked as if he had slept for thousands of years before they suddenly opened up. At that very moment, the vitality from all the living things around him began to flow in one direction, before it suddenly started flooding his entire body all at once.

Chu Yang did not sit up immediately and continued lying in his current posture while carefully sensing the world around himself!

It seemed as if the world around him had completely changed without him coming to know about it at all. The sound of the insects crawling beside him, the sound of birds chirping in the distance, and the sound of insects creeping underground… all these sounds entered his ears very distinctly.

To the extent that he could hear the sound of tiny grass growing bit by bit!

[This is the sound of life! ]

[This is the realm of Heavenly Law! ]

Chu Yang was overjoyed!