The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 634 Immortality Heaven

"How can it be!"

Zhu Zai's hand trembled, and the paper slipped from his grasp and fell half a foot before he caught it in his hand again. He twirled it a few times, examined it carefully for a moment, and then his brows relaxed slightly.

"No seal, no blood, and the paper is wrong."

He looked at Tang Lanzhou.

"If it were a message from the border troops, why wouldn't it be stamped with an official seal?"

"If a message was hastily sent after the city fell, how could there not be bloodstains on the paper?"

"Lord Tang, who exactly are you—"

Tang Lanzhou shouted sternly.

"How could I not know these things!"

"This letter has no seal or blood because it is not a legitimate document from the border army at all—it is a handwritten letter from Lao Qifeng, the leader of the Beggars' Sect, delivered by a disciple of the Beggars' Sect! Since you live inside the Forbidden City, the Beggars' Sect disciple could not enter, so he had to sneak into my house to deliver this letter to me!"

Zhu Zai's brows, which had just relaxed slightly, furrowed again.

"Lao Qifeng...why doesn't he come in person?"

"He is dead."

Tang Lanzhou said in a deep voice.

"He fled all the way back from Shanhaiguan."

"He was at Juyong Pass when the incident occurred. He heard a loud bang and saw a corner of the city wall collapse. In a hurry, he wrote this letter and sent his disciple to deliver it while he went to the breach to defend against the enemy. The last thing the disciple saw before leaving was him and hundreds of soldiers exploding together."

Zhu Zai remained silent.

"Boss Lao... Beggars' Sect."

"Hundreds of people...exploded?"

"But...if this is true..."

Zhu Zai felt his heart pounding in his throat.

Datong, the key to the north. Shanhaiguan, the first pass of the Great Wall. Both are the most important passes in northern China.

Juyong Pass is a vital strategic point for the nation.

Because it is only a hundred miles away from the capital.

Thanks to Emperor Chengzu's strategic policy of "the emperor guards the country's gate and the monarch dies for the state," the capital of Dashuo was already very close to the border. Juyong Pass was the last line of defense for the capital against the northern nomadic tribes. If Juyong Pass were breached, the enemy would have the entire North Zhili plain in front of them. If they were cavalry, they could reach the capital in less than three days.

But this shouldn't be the case.

Zhu Zai's forehead twitched violently, his eyes bulged, and his thoughts were in turmoil.

Shouldn't.

There are too many contradictions to count.

At least according to conventional wisdom, this shouldn't be true.

"Master Zhu".

"Lord Zhu!"

Tang Lanzhou's palm suddenly pressed down on Zhu Zai's shoulder.

“I know there are many unreasonable aspects to this matter. If it were three years ago, I would not have believed it either… Messengers can be intercepted, government troops can besiege and suppress, letters can be blocked, and if the army is lightly armed, it can also enter the pass silently. But it is impossible for three strategic passes to fall one after another at such a speed.”

"But, after that night three years ago, I have a question... I don't know martial arts, so I want to ask you. If you think this is possible, we should prepare for the worst now. If you think it's impossible, I will immediately have someone kill that Beggar Clan disciple."

Zhu Zai looked up.

Tang Lanzhou stared intently into his eyes and asked through gritted teeth.

"If, I mean if."

"If there were someone whose skill level was higher than Commander Li's, could they single-handedly breach the walls of three cities?"

"If this person exists, then this matter could be true."

"The army first gathered at Shanhaiguan. This man blasted open the city wall and then led several thousand elite cavalry on a rapid march, breaking through passes one after another. The army followed behind, killing everyone in each place they reached. Others quickly followed, sweeping across the area. At the same time, several celestial beings chased after messengers and drove away the fleeing soldiers. If this man exists, this is probably the truth."

Zhu Zai instinctively opened his mouth.

"This is not——"

The denial that had been blurted out came to an abrupt halt.

Although Zhu Zai often glared and berated Li Miao, his faith in Li Miao had reached a blind faith, a faith that Li Miao had gradually solidified over the years. In Zhu Zai's mind, if Li Miao couldn't do it, no one else in the world could.

Li Miao couldn't do that.

So no one can do it.

But... is there really none?

Zhu Zai closed his eyes and uttered the words with difficulty.

"...There was a person."

"Someone might be able to do it."

Tang Lanzhou's heart sank suddenly.

His solemnity and anxiety stemmed not only from the magnitude of the matter, but also, and perhaps more so, from his lack of martial arts skills. Consequently, he had no clear understanding of what the Celestial Realm could achieve, and thus needed to consult Zhu Zai to determine the veracity of the matter.

Now, Zhu Zai has admitted it.

The Beggars' Sect wouldn't joke about Lao Qifeng's life. Therefore, this matter is probably true.

Someone has shattered the walls of the three formidable passes of Datong, Juyong, and Shanhaiguan, and is marching towards the capital with thousands of elite cavalry and countless celestial beings.

Tang Lanzhou felt a sudden, sharp pain in his heart. He swayed and nearly collapsed, but managed to grab Zhu Zai's arm to steady himself. He spoke in a hoarse and urgent voice.

"How long would it take Lord Li to travel a hundred li?"

Zhu Zai replied in a similarly hoarse voice.

"In less than half an hour."

Tang Lanzhou felt another pang of pain in her heart.

He realized a problem.

Speed, and time.

The Beggar Clan disciple who brought the news was a top-notch fighter. He used his lightness skill to travel at breakneck speed, and it still took him two hours to reach the capital. In other words, more than two hours have passed since Juyong Pass fell.

And that person will only be faster than Li Miao.

In other words, he may have arrived two hours ago.

If you think about it again... when the three cities fell, the enemy didn't let any messengers escape, so why was this Beggar Clan disciple able to deliver the message smoothly? That Beggar Clan disciple had nothing special about him, and he wasn't hindered or hunted down in any way.

It's very likely that the other party felt they no longer needed it.

It was close enough; the knife tip had pierced through the flesh and was pressed against the heart. Whether the person being slaughtered noticed or not was no longer important, because the knife tip would pierce the heart before he could even make a move to resist.

The two looked at each other.

"I'll go mobilize the troops!"

"I'll go and summon the celestial beings!"

Zhu Zai slapped the tiger tally into Tang Lanzhou's hand, then flashed to the window. Without regard for anything else, he smashed the window with a palm strike and flew out into the courtyard.

Zhu Zai stopped.

He should have immediately used his light-footed skill to gather the Celestials remaining in the capital, but he remained motionless.

The moonlight, like water, condensed into cruel frost in Zhu Zai's vision, illuminating the rooftop not far away, where a beautiful figure had appeared at some point, looking at Zhu Zai with a mocking gaze.

"Master Zhu, there's no need for that trouble."

A woman from another ethnic group, wearing a large coat sewn from wolf skin, with dark skin and a pretty face, smiled.

"The Eternal Heaven has arrived."

“If you cooperate, I will not kill you. After all, the Eternal Heaven does not want to fight with a madman like Li Miao. If you live, we can try to calm Li Miao down instead of fighting to the death.”

"The demise of the Great Shuo is inevitable. If you cooperate, far fewer people will die."

Zhu Zai looked at the woman but did not speak.

The woman suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"Are you waiting for the emperor to come to the rescue? He should be the strongest person in the capital right now, shouldn't he?"

"You don't need to wait any longer."

The woman raised her hand and pointed to her ear.

"listen."

Before he could finish speaking, two loud explosions resounded.

A strong gust of wind swept across Zhu Zai's cheek.

He pinpointed the direction of the loud noise.

The more distant sound came from Zhengyang Gate in the capital, commonly known as the "national gate." The closer sound came from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where the emperor resided.

Upon hearing the sound, Tang Lanzhou peered out through the broken window. His gaze settled on Zhu Zai's hands behind his back. He narrowed his eyes, turned around, picked up the imperial seal from the table, and slammed it against his forehead. He then tore off his official robes, smeared the blood on his face, put away the tiger tally and the imperial seal, and slowly walked out of the house.

After walking out of several palaces, an old eunuch who had come to investigate after hearing the commotion ran towards them. Upon seeing Tang Lanzhou, he was greatly alarmed.

"Lord Tang, what are you doing—"

"Undress."

Tang Lanzhou said expressionlessly.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard outside the cabinet, Zhu Zai suddenly smiled.

"The Eternal Heaven?"

"What a load of rubbish, it's so tacky."

"That sounds like idiot."

The woman wasn't annoyed; she just smiled and said...

“I will not pursue Zhu Gong’s disrespect for the Eternal Heaven, after all, you are Li Miao’s godfather… If you do not like our way of addressing Him, you can naturally call Him by His name in the Central Plains.”

boom! boom! boom!
Loud noises came from all directions.

The most recent one was the mournful roar of Zhu Shoujing, who was stationed in the Forbidden City.

The firelight began to spread and flicker, illuminating the woman's face in a half-black, half-white light.

"You can also call him—the Old Man of the River."

(End of this chapter)