Taiheiki

Chapter 211 Destiny
"Here!"

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The military council was over, and it was already getting dark. Wei Cong wearily rubbed his forehead, wondering which lady he should stay with tonight. A-Jing's fish soup was superb, but she was pregnant again, so it wasn't as relaxing and enjoyable as A-Yun's place.

"Father!"

"Ah Sheng?" Wei Cong looked up and was surprised to find Nie Sheng standing at the door. "You didn't go back? Is something wrong?"

Nie Sheng nodded and walked in. He bowed to Wei Cong and said, "Godfather, do you remember what I told you last time?"

"About last time?" Wei Cong was slightly taken aback, then quickly realized, "You're going to go in my place? Oh, oh, I've already thought about it, it's better if I do it myself!" He paused for a moment, "In the end, the Moth Thieves are a bit too complicated, it's better if I go myself!"

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Yuzhang Prefecture, Nanchang Guanying City.

The horse's hooves pounded the stone slabs, shattering the tranquility of the early morning.

A large, apricot-yellow banner fluttered in the wind, its four large black characters, "Great Teacher of Virtue," seemingly transformed into a black dragon, its claws outstretched in the morning breeze. Two rows of burly warriors, clad in black armor and wearing yellow turbans, stood beneath the banner, their expressions cold and indifferent. They held long spears, their hands on the hilts of their swords, completely surrounding the watchtowers along the roadside. To Lu Ping, these Yellow Turban warriors were less human and more like inhuman monsters; their shadows trembled and shifted… as if they might pounce at any moment and tear her to shreds.

"Fairy Lu, the Great Master invites you!" A Taoist in black smiled at Lu Ping, extending his right hand in a "please" gesture. Lu Ping nodded, casually draped her whisk over her left arm, and walked towards the pavilion. The Yellow Turban Warriors parted to make way for the two of them.

The pavilion wasn't large, only about ten square meters. When Lu Ping climbed the steps, she saw the Great Teacher Liu Xin sitting cross-legged on a rug, his eyes slightly closed, chanting incantations. Lu Ping recognized the words as prayers from the *Taiping Qingling Shu* (Book of Great Peace and Cultivation), so she stood aside and waited. Their last meeting had been several months ago. Liu Xin's appearance hadn't changed much, but Lu Ping could keenly sense a significant transformation within him.

In fact, this change also occurred within herself. During this time, Lu Ping found her power growing stronger; spells that were previously impossible or had negligible effects could now be cast. Her skin became fairer, and her brows held a more ethereal quality. It was as if the legendary ancient gods had awakened from their slumber and answered her prayers, filling her with both joy and trepidation. This change was even more pronounced in Liu Xin; even standing there, Lu Ping instinctively felt a tremor, as if the person meditating there wasn't a Taoist priest, but a rising sun.

Finally, Liu Xin finished reciting the prayer. He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Lu Ping: "Chancellor Lu, you've arrived! Quanzhen, you should step back first and not let others disturb us!" he said to the Taoist in black.

"Yes, sir!" the black-clad Taoist replied, bowing as he withdrew from the pavilion. Liu Xin looked Lu Ping up and down, nodding in satisfaction: "Good, good. It's been several months since I last saw you, and your Taoist cultivation has improved so much. It's truly a cause for celebration!"

"I wouldn't dare!" Lu Ping quickly lowered her head to avoid the other person's gaze: "Compared to you, my little skill is like the stars compared to the bright moon, truly insignificant!"

“Yes!” Liu Xin sighed. “Chancellor Lu, you should have noticed that in the last month or two, both of our cultivation levels have increased significantly. Do you know why?”

"I don't know, please enlighten me, esteemed teacher!"

"Master Lu, your family has a long and distinguished tradition of scholarship. You should know that people like you and me, in times of peace, no matter how diligently we cultivate, will only achieve so much and will not amount to anything!" Liu Xin laughed. "The reason for this is the will of the people. You must know that the will of the people is the will of Heaven. No matter how talented we are, we cannot compare with the will of the billions of people in the world. And what has happened in the past few months?" Liu Xin smiled. "Truly, this is an old acquaintance of yours!"

Lu Ping's heart skipped a beat, but she put on a puzzled look: "You and I are old acquaintances, you mean we both know him?"

"Hehe!" Liu Xin laughed, "Why does Grand Master Lu pretend to be confused? Wei Cong, Wei Mengde! He pacified the Lin Yi Kingdom, was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Buqi, and became the Governor of Jiaozhou. He devoured Jiaozhou from the great fortune of the Han Emperor. Such a world-shaking event, don't you know?"

"So it was him!" Lu Ping said with a smile. "That's right, I do know him, but I didn't expect that you, Great Teacher, would also recognize him?"

"Not only do we know each other, but I've also been saved by him." Liu Xin smiled. "If it weren't for him, I'm afraid I would be dead by now!"

Lu Ping gritted her teeth. The burning sensation Liu Xin was exerting on her mind was intensifying, and she had to use all her strength to hold on. If she closed her eyes, it seemed as if the person sitting in front of her wasn't a person, but a giant fireball, ready to incinerate her at any moment. It was terrifying. Was he even human?
Liu Xin noticed Lu Ping's expression at that moment. He smiled self-deprecatingly, clasped his hands together, and chanted a Taoist incantation. It was as if a dark cloud had obscured the sky, and the terrible heat had vanished. Lu Ping let out a long sigh and said, "Great and virtuous teacher, thank you!"

"But do you know what, Grand Master Lu? This kind of thing only happens to you and me!"

"It only happened to you and me?" Lu Ping was taken aback, then realized, "You mean your other disciples didn't experience this—"

"Yes!" Liu Xin nodded: "They have also grown, but only slightly, not as much as you and me!"

"This—, how is this possible?" Lu Ping exclaimed, "According to the elders in my family, when the world is in chaos, strange methods will emerge. How could it only apply to the two of us?"

"Yes! I was puzzled at first too, but then I had a guess!" Liu Xin smiled, but there was no doubt on his face: "That's why I came to see you, and it confirmed my guess!"

"Confirming my suspicions?" A sense of foreboding arose in Lu Ping's heart. "Is this related to Wei Cong?" "That's right!" Liu Xin nodded. "You and I are both acquainted with him, so what we're facing right now isn't chaos, but rather the passing of the old king and the rise of a new one. Heaven has bestowed upon us magical powers so that we can help each other! That's why our magical powers have increased so much, while others can only receive a tiny fraction! It is precisely for this reason that Wei Cong was appointed Governor of Jiaozhou and Marquis of Buqi, after which our magical powers have grown rapidly!"

"Is that so?" Lu Ping sighed, looking down.

"Is it hard to accept?" Liu Xin sighed. "When we first started our uprising, he sold us ironware and armor. I thought it was a gift from heaven to help us. But now it seems that in heaven's eyes, our uprising, which separated the north and south, was to give him an opening to go south and take Jiaozhou. And we are now fighting against the imperial army for him. Clearly, heaven is using us as the foundation for his rise to power! The will of heaven is unpredictable, so unpredictable!"

Lu Ping was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I once invited Wei Cong to join me in starting an uprising, and offered to marry him as my teacher, the General of Pingnan, but he refused!"

"Of course!" Liu Xinku said with a smile, "Those favored by Heaven are always proud and arrogant, how could they be willing to be subordinate to others? Let alone the General of Pingnan, even if I were to be given the position of Great Teacher of Virtue to him, I'm afraid Wei Cong would not accept it! Even if you are exceptionally beautiful, it would be difficult to subdue him!"

"Alright!" Lu Ping sighed. "Then what do you think we should do?"

Liu Xin closed his eyes and remained silent for a long while. He stood up, walked to the window of the watchtower, and looked out at the sky, as if the answer lay in the azure expanse. After a long pause, he turned around: "I know that if I were to pledge allegiance to Wei Cong, wealth and glory would be assured, but what about these hundreds of thousands of impoverished followers who have followed me? I cannot abandon them!"

"You dare defy the will of Heaven? Is that destiny itself?" Lu Ping's voice trembled. "Do you know what the consequences will be?"

"Disgrace, a violent death, annihilation!" Liu Xin's voice was calm: "Unfortunately, I've already experienced all of this once. It's not that terrible!" He stretched out his right hand and pressed it against his left chest: "The Han Dynasty has lasted for four hundred years, and the Liu family has enjoyed it for four hundred years, while also causing suffering to countless people for four hundred years. Now let me, a traitor of the Liu family, end all of this!"

“But you don’t have to do this at all!” Lu Ping said urgently, “Since the mandate of heaven is on Wei Cong, even if you do nothing, the Han Dynasty will still end. Why not follow the mandate of heaven?”

"Chancellor Lu, you still don't understand!" Liu Xin smiled. "Although I've only met Wei Cong once, he's too kind-hearted. Even if someone like him can replace the Han Dynasty, he can't wash away the sins of the past four hundred years, nor can he satisfy the resentment of the countless people over the past four hundred years. That won't do!"

"Too kind?" Lu Ping pondered Liu Xin's words, recalling Wei Cong's past actions, and felt a mix of emotions, unsure of what to say.

"Chancellor Lu!" Liu Xin sighed, "I've heard about Wei Cong's deeds in Yuzhang and Jiaozhou; he has accomplished much, benefiting both the gentry and the common people. I can't match him in that respect, but he also falls short of me in one area: destruction. Only by burning the weeds can the crops grow properly. Do you see those Yellow Turban warriors outside? They're actually all dead; what's standing there now is just an empty shell. But they all willingly became like that, seeking only power—the power of revenge. And if I were to now, for my own selfish reasons, side with Wei Cong and forget the promises I made to them, what do you think they would think in the afterlife?"

“I understand!” Lu Ping nodded. Hearing this, she knew that all words were useless. “Then you must have some plan for summoning me here today, right? Please enlighten me, Celestial Master!”

"It's not a matter of arrangement!" Liu Xin laughed. "The two strongest people in the world right now are you and me. I am stronger than you now, but since I have chosen this path, I have betrayed my destiny. Sooner or later, you will surpass me. You love that man very much, don't you? Then go with him. In this way, the sect's lineage will not be broken, and I will have the face to meet the ancestors in the afterlife!"

"Love?" Lu Ping looked wistful. "I don't know what it is. I just miss it sometimes, but as time goes by, it fades. I don't know if this counts as love!"

"Of course it's love!" Liu Xin laughed. "Others would struggle to even get a smile from you, yet Wei Cong is someone you can't forget. What else could it be but love? Besides, there's no greater merit than supporting the imperial court. Wasn't it because Marquis Liu was able to travel with Chisongzi that he helped Emperor Gaozu establish the Han dynasty? What else could we, as cultivators outside the secular world, seek besides this? The mandate of heaven is here, so don't hesitate!"

Lu Ping was no ordinary man. In the blink of an eye, he had made up his mind. He stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Xin, saying, "In that case, Lu Ping will head to Jiaozhou. Please take care!"

"Enough! I am a dying man, what is there for me to cherish!" Liu Xin sighed. "You only need to pass on my lineage, and that will be a great favor to me!"

Lu Ping stepped out of the pavilion, her mind made up. She whistled, summoned Ali, and headed straight south. After traveling half a mile, a thought struck her. Looking back, she saw five-colored clouds above the pavilion, like raging flames, reaching their peak of prosperity. Lu Ping couldn't help but gasp inwardly. She knew that since ancient times, the most prosperous phenomena inevitably decline, and no one could escape this principle. Liu Xin's prosperous aura was definitely not a good omen in the long run. Thinking of Wei Cong, a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

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Panyu.

"Xie Bing!" Qin He called out softly.

The air was filled with the smell of pine resin and dust. In front of him were rows of tall bookshelves, filled with various silk books and bamboo slips, and of course, even more paper books. It is said that Wei Gong guided the improvement of papermaking techniques, making this originally rough and fragile material tough and white, which could be used to record and bind books, and became the new favorite of Jiaozhou scholars.

Of course, the new paper that Wei Gong improved was just as flammable as before. To avoid a fire, candles were strictly prohibited in this room, so Qin He had to rely on the dim light in front of him to navigate the narrow passage between the bookshelves.

Xie Bing sat hunched over at a tilted wooden table, drawing something on it with a charcoal pencil. An oil lamp hung above his head. Hearing Qin He's footsteps, he looked up and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Because someone hasn't been home for three days!" Xie He replied irritably. "A messenger delivered something, but no one was home to sign for it. So the gatekeeper knocked on your door, but no one answered. He looked through the window and saw that the bed hadn't been slept in. He was afraid something had happened to you, so he came to me!"

(End of this chapter)