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Chapter 410 Letters
The handwriting was very steady, as if it were just a letter to an old friend.

Zhou You pondered for a few seconds, then unfolded the paper again.

Although well preserved, the paper still looks quite old—which is normal, given that the letter is over a hundred years old—but fortunately, the text inside is still very clear and not difficult to read.

“The chosen one. No, let’s talk about young friend Zhou. First of all, I need to apologize to you—I have actually been deceiving you all along.”

—Perhaps because he had received many years of Western education, or perhaps because he already knew about Zhou You's background, Feng Qianlin did not use the kind of refined written language, but rather spoke in very simple colloquial language.

"Perhaps I've been deceiving you ever since you saved me from that corpse-transporting accident."

"I don't ask for your forgiveness, but I only hope that my friend Zhou won't resent me too much."

Zhou You paused for a moment.

In a daze, I seem to see that refined and cultured middle-aged man who also had his country and the world in his heart.

"Young friend, when you read this letter, I imagine your life will have come to an end, so you can now reveal everything you have to say."

"—Yes, my title of the chosen one is a lie."

The handwriting suddenly changed, as if relieved, becoming extremely smooth.

"I don't know what it's like where you are, but here, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and even the Wing King, really almost overthrew the Qing Dynasty and saved the country."

"Unfortunately, Hong Xiuquan, as the leader, was truly depraved, and the others were blinded by the allure of worldly wealth. The once mighty army immediately fell apart. Later, the Qing court, driven to the brink of despair, severed its own dragon vein, inciting all the evil spirits in the world to besiege the holy army, ultimately leading to its failure and even causing the Wing King to sacrifice himself."

"But in any case, it was just one step away—after experiencing this once, the one on the dragon throne is like a frightened bird. As long as it involves news of the chosen one, he will pursue it like a madman."

"And that's exactly what I took advantage of."

At this moment, a blot of ink suddenly spread out, as if Feng Qianlin had hesitated for a long time before slowly putting pen to paper.

"But a plan is just a plan. If I want to lure the Qing court into a trap, I must not run away. If I escape even a step, all my previous efforts will be in vain. Secondly, I must not bring too many guards. I must make the person on the dragon throne see the shadow of the Wing King in me, and then proceed step by step."

"From the moment the plan was proposed, I knew its chances of success were less than one in ten thousand. However, the unrest in the Han region is becoming increasingly serious. It seems that the Empress Dowager has resorted to unspeakable taboo methods in order to save the crumbling Qing Dynasty. To prevent the deaths of millions of people, I have no choice but to take this risky step in order to find a way out."

"However, I suddenly met you."

The speech was interrupted again, but soon the handwriting became more passionate.

"To be honest, I've never believed in fate, but your appearance really reminds me of the Wing King—so I've decided to abandon the safer route and instead go straight for the Empress Dowager's sore spot—"

"As expected, Yu Sanzhi first tried to stop them at the cost of his life, but then most of the Qing troops in the prefecture were mobilized, and finally they began to surround and kill them without regard for the consequences."

"Chen Xun tried to persuade me and stop me, and even took his anger out on you, but I was different. I believed in you, just like I believed in the Wing King back then."

"Because you are all the same kind of people."

"—I apologize again, I lied to you for my own selfish reasons..."

Zhou You shook his head with a wry smile.

Brother Feng clearly couldn't forget him, mentioning him three times in just a few hundred words.

But here's the thing.

—If you didn't care in the first place, why would you hold a grudge?

After explaining the reasons, Feng Qianlin suddenly changed the subject.

"Now that I've finished speaking, let me tell you about you—I know that you and the Wing King come from the same place and are for the same purpose, and the ultimate target is roughly that old Empress Dowager."

"However."

"I need to remind you—that Empress Dowager is not scary, what's scary is actually the Qing Dynasty."

On the second page of the letter, the handwriting suddenly became somewhat mournful.

“I have consulted many documents and found that the Qing Dynasty—which at the time should probably be called the Later Jin—was extremely strange from the moment it entered the pass. It’s not that its military strength was particularly strong, but rather that it seemed as if there was a hand pushing the entire dynasty from behind the scenes.”

"The shadow of this can be faintly seen behind the Qing Taizu, Chongde Emperor, Shunzhi Emperor, and later Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors."

"The most obvious point is that the phenomenon of 'soul-worshipping' emerged after the Qing army entered the pass, and reached its peak at this point in time."

"Therefore, I can speculate that the one on the dragon throne seems to be preparing to release him."

At this point, Zhou You fell into deep thought.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly turned to the next page.

However, to his surprise, this page was much simpler than the previous densely packed text.

"But I have no idea what the specifics of that thing are, I can't even describe it—I may have seen information about it before, but I have to forget it."

"Because that's their nature—as you become aware of them, they also become able to reach you."

"The only thing I can remember is 'be careful under the Forbidden City'."

"In the end, there's no need to try to save me. In order to completely drag the Qing Dynasty into this mess, before I left, I had already asked the master of Kuchan Temple to sever all karmic ties. Therefore, my death was inevitable—but truly, I accepted it willingly."

“I am a bastard, a bastard since birth. My family has sucked the blood of countless people. Every penny I have spent is stained with countless corpses. All my titles and prestige were obtained by stepping on others.”

"But at least, in the very end, I can contribute my share to these millions of ordinary people, and that is enough."

"I wish you good health from now on."

"Feng Qianlin's final words."

"."

After reading it, Zhou You fell into a long silence.

Feng Qianlin's letter was not particularly stirring or passionate, far less heroic than the martyrs' sacrifices. It contained nothing more than explanations, apologies, and informing the recipients.

But Zhou You still felt like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

That inexplicable emotion made him grit his teeth, and he inexplicably wanted to smash something—but when he saw the simple, unadorned tombstone, even covered in moss, he swallowed it back down.

Then, only one sentence was forced out through his teeth.

"Feng Qianlin, you're right, you're a complete bastard—I rushed to your grave in a frenzy, you apologized a bunch of times, and then told me I didn't need to save you??? Are you fucking kidding me!!"

However, even venting anger won't solve anything.

That person has gone to his death and has already gotten what he wanted.

So, what should I do?
Zhou You pursed his lips, glared at the tombstone for a long time, and then finally let out a heavy sigh.

Without saying anything more, he simply lit a talisman, burned away the surrounding weeds, and after it went out, Zhou You took out his wine gourd, poured a cup, and smashed it forcefully in front of the grave. Together with the incense he had lit earlier, this served as a memorial.

Then, he stood up, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction without looking back.

But faintly, a very soft voice drifted over, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

That is.

"Shang Jun, may you rest in peace."

After rushing home by plane, there was very little time left.

Zhou You changed his clothes, washed up quickly, ate something to fill his stomach, and then planned to open the black book again.

At this moment, the little ghost girl was still looking at him with great concern.

After a long pause, the man hesitated and made a gesture.

That means.

"Was your friend rescued?"

Zhou You pursed his lips and replied directly.

"I couldn't save him—and this bastard doesn't need me to save him!"

The little ghost girl was clearly startled, but seeing Zhou You's expression, she still gestured again.

"So what are you planning to do now?"

Zhou You had already opened the cover of the black book. Upon seeing this, he took a deep breath and then answered.

"Although I couldn't save him, we were still friends, and I have to fulfill his last wish first."

"—So, I'm going to bury that damn Qing Dynasty a little bit. Wait for me, I'll be right back."
-
There was a heavy snowfall yesterday.

Logically speaking, in previous years, snow like this would actually be considered a good omen—as the saying goes, "a timely snow promises a good harvest." This heavy snowfall covering the ground would wipe out countless insects and rats, leading to a good harvest the following year.

Unfortunately, there has been far too much snow this year.

One snowfall can be considered a good omen, two snowfalls can be considered auspicious, three snowfalls can also be considered good, but four, five, or six snowfalls all at once...
That would be an utter disaster.

The villagers couldn't survive and had to flee to the city, but the city had limited space and couldn't accommodate so many refugees. Besides, those unscrupulous merchants and officials were hoarding goods and speculating, hoping to make a fortune if the disaster got worse, and no one was thinking about providing any relief.

The result was that refugees froze to death in droves by the roadside—but those lords never cared.

After several snowfalls, everything was buried, so there was no fear of it being an eyesore.

As for what to do next spring.
Just kidding. It was uncertain whether the Qing Dynasty even existed back then. If we didn't make as much money as possible now, we wouldn't even have enough to run away with later.

However, among these many corrupt officials, there are one or two who are relatively kind.

Anping is one of them.

Although the "lord" stationed here was forced to come, he was still considered diligent and caring for the people. The city built shelters specifically for the refugees and cooked several pots of musty porridge every day.

—Don't underestimate this seemingly small action; it at least offers a glimmer of hope for survival. This led to a massive influx of disaster victims from the surrounding areas, forcing the city to implement a movement restriction order.

Each day, only about a hundred people are allowed a quota. The first few can go to the city to do labor service as a form of work relief, or become soldiers in the master's army. The rest of the people are given a bowl of thin porridge each, and then they can only rely on themselves to endure the hardship.

Zhang San had been queuing since midnight, but there was still a long line in front of him—fortunately, judging from the distance, it would be his turn today.

The wait was exceptionally long, and his empty stomach made him feel very uncomfortable. So, to relieve the boredom and to distract himself, Zhang San started talking to the person behind him without realizing it.

No one knows who started it, but they ended up talking anyway.

"Hey young man, did you know that the bandits over at Stone Slope have been wiped out? They say that guy single-handedly took down those scourges with just a sword."

The young man opposite nodded. Although he was as travel-worn as the other refugees, he still had a gentle smile on his face, which made him seem somewhat different.

But the guy still didn't say anything.

Zhang San didn't seem to care, and continued speaking with great enthusiasm.

"Don't you believe me? According to the great-uncle of my seventh aunt's and third aunt's husband's brother, he was right there and saw it with his own eyes. He was like a reincarnated sword immortal, flying up the mountain on clouds, making a sword gesture, and with a whoosh, he chopped off that old thief's head."

The other person continued to smile without answering.

Seeing that the other party had no interest, Zhang San shook his head and changed the subject.

"Young man, are you aware that things have gotten chaotic in the west again?"

Upon hearing this, the other party finally raised the corner of their mouth and asked.

"How to say?"

Finally, someone responded, and Zhang San immediately perked up.

"It's said that the Empress Dowager's madness was so severe that a certain high-ranking official couldn't stand it anymore and finally raised the banner of rebellion. Speaking of which, how many times this has happened this month? I think the Qing Dynasty is like a rabbit's tail; it won't last long."

In previous years, he would never have dared to say such a thing—after all, criticizing the government was punishable by death, let alone pointing fingers and cursing the Qing Dynasty—but judging from the current situation, the officials above don't have time to care about him.

Adding to the suffering he had endured these past few days, Zhang San finally couldn't hold back any longer and vomited it all up.

Upon hearing this, the person opposite suddenly looked up and said softly.

"Another one?"

However, the sound was so faint that Zhang San didn't hear it clearly at first.

"What do you say?"

"No, it's nothing. Is there any other news besides this?"

Zhang San was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head vigorously—he was just a country bumpkin and didn't know much, but as someone who valued his reputation highly, he couldn't show weakness because of this. So after thinking hard for a long time, he finally found an excuse and hurriedly said.

"By the way, young man, have you heard of a notorious killer lately? He claims to be a disciple of the White Gate and has been slaughtering his way from south to north, leaving a trail of heads in his wake. He even took down the local Golden Scale Gang, who were terrorizing the area."

However, before he could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd.

Then, a furious roar rang out.

"You damned scoundrel, give me back my gang leader's life!"

(End of this chapter)