Qu Ping from Great Chu?
For a short moment, Wu Qi could not think of anyone with this name alone. But very soon, the life story related to this man surged out from Le Xiaobai's memory. If the man was not just another man with the same name, this Qu Ping should be the same person in Le Xiaobai's memory, the Left Minister of Chu State, Qu Yuan.[1]
Wu Qi took a deep breath and rested his eyes on the slowly disappearing hole in midair. Whenever he thought of Qu Yuan, there would always be a faint scent of bamboo leaves lingering before his nose automatically. He had already lost count of how many rice dumplings[2] he had eaten since he was little. If in this world, at this moment in time, he was able to meet the man who let countless people eat rice dumplings for over a few thousand of years, that would be an excellent experience and feeling!
Wu Qi laughed, having a really good feeling right now, although at this moment, Ying Zheng and Xiang Yu were staring furiously at each other not too far away from him, ready to jump at each other's throat. As a matter of fact, it was not only Qu Yuan, even Ying Zheng and Xiang Yu looked really cute in his eyes now. Suddenly, a thought leaped into his mind: All these men around him, regardless it was Yan Dan, Jing Ke, Su Qin, Han Fei, all of them were part of the history, but a living history now. If he were able to return to Earth in the future, perhaps even just a strand of hair he stole from these people could make him a great fortune.
Narrowing his eyes and wearing a brief smile on his face, Wu Qi gave all the men around him a look with ease of mind. Good, he really liked this feeling!
Able to be part of their lives, able to breathe the air in the same world with them, able to share their sorrow and happiness, able to stand side by side with them when facing the enemies, he really liked this feeling! Even though Ying Zheng had taken him, Wu Qi, as an enemy, when he was able to take an advantage from someone like Ying Zheng, the feeling he experienced was simply beyond any words could describe. There were a few thousand disciples back in the Underhand Sect, yet Wu Qi was the only disciple who could steal something from the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty, Ying Zheng, and he actually succeeded!
A great and lofty aspiration sprung to life spontaneously. Wu Qi's eyes darted from side to side, as he had taken all the people around him as his potential targets in the future.
Ying Zheng and Guigu'zi were looking at the slowly disappearing hole in midair as well, then suddenly both breathed out a long sigh at the same time. "Qu Ping from Great Chu? The Left Minister, Qu Yuan really lives up to his reputation!" exclaimed Guigu'zi, "Only a man like him can unleash such an extraordinary divine ability. Xiang Yu, currently, what status is Qu Ping holding in Great Chu?"
With a complex expression, Xiang Yu rested his eyes on the black hole, not replying to the question immediately. At last, he finally roared out in a low, muffled voice, "That pedantic scholar... now... he should officially be Great Chu's... Emperor!" Furiously, he swung the coiling-dragon spear and continued in an angry voice, "If not for that old thief Huang Xie, and the little white face Li Yuan, I would have long taken the throne of Great Chu! Damn it! It is all because of them, who kept fighting with me over trivialities, none of us could become the Emperor of Great Chu in the end, and could only let that pedantic scholar take the throne."
After scolding a few words, suddenly Xiang Yu laughed and said, "But it looks like he did a pretty excellent job over these two thousand years."
Then, he narrowed his eyes and gave Ying Zheng and Guigu'zi a look, laughed aloud and said, "I dare not comment on other things, but can mention the boundary of our land and the population. During my journey to the north, I've traveled through Great Wei, Great Zhao, and had also stolen into their capital and lived there for several years, obtaining some of their intelligence. Great Chu's territory is thirty times larger than theirs, and our population is one hundred times greater than theirs!"
Proudly, Xiang Yu threw his chest out and looked at Ying Zheng, who had his face fallen suddenly, laughed and said, "Great Wei and Great Zhao had slaughtered countless barbarians during the expansion of their territory. Yet we, the Great Chu, did it in a different way. That pedantic scholar, Qu Ping, had seduced the holy lady of barbarians and made her the Queen of Great Chu. As a result, we've absorbed and taken barbarians as part of our people, and wherever we went, all the barbarians would surrender without the need of fighting them. With that, the national strength of Great Chu exceeded all the other dynasties by a great deal!"
He threw his head back and let out a loud laugh into the sky, while all the mighty soldiers of Great Chu standing behind him were also laughing complacently. As these soldiers were laughing, they began to lift up the face masks that came together with their helmets, revealing their faces. Among the eighty thousand soldiers, over sixty thousand of them had colorful tattoos on their faces. Their chins were covered with many patterns such as poisonous insects, wild beasts, skeletons, ghosts, which were unique to barbarians.
Ying Zheng opened his mouth, yet no words could come out of it for a long time.
On the other side, Yan Dan had his body swayed a little, nearly coughing blood. "Seduce the holy lady of barbarians, using her to control the barbarians... So, this method does work... But too bad, although we, the Great Yan, was also established after slaughtered all the barbarians, yet I myself had personally killed seventeen holy ladies. What a Great Chu, what a Qu Ping! As for this Xiang Yu, obviously, he has the great talent to become a domineering overlord. Yet, he is willing to accept his position below Qu Ping… The Great Chu, oh The Great Chu!"
Yan Dan took a deep breath and clenched his jaw tightly.
Wu Qi too felt his head was spinning. The territory of Great Chu was thirty times larger than Great Wei and Great Zhao? And their population was one hundred times greater than the other two dynasties?! Judging from this, Great Chu's national strength was at least ten times stronger than Great Yan and even Great Qin! Evidently, as The Great Chu had been maintaining an intimate relationship with the barbarians, and even had their bloodline merged into one, the speed of their development could no longer be compared with Great Yan, who had been fighting bloody battles with barbarian every single year, and even announced the barbarian hunting decree!
"What a Left Minister, Qu Yuan!" Wu Qi breathed out a heavy sigh.
All of a sudden, both Ying Zheng and Guigu'zi turned looking towards Wu Qi's direction. With bright gleams flashing in his eyes Ying Zheng shouted, "Yan Dan, since you're already here, why are you still peeking at us from a corner? Are you still waiting for an internecine outcome between Xiang Yu and me, so you can take some advantages of us?"
He waved his hand casually, unleashing a strong airflow in Yan Dan's direction, and opened up a cloudy passage that was nearly one thousand miles long. The cloudy passage measured ten miles from edge to edge, emptied and without any fog or mist that could be seen, revealing a bright azure sky above it. It stretched straight from Ying Zheng's chariot to where Wu Qi and Yan Dan were standing. Yan Dan gave a long and sonorous laugh, stepped onto a cloud and began flying through the cloudy passage. "Elder brother Zheng, it is ages since I saw you last!"
Since Yan Dan had already made the move, it was natural that Wu Qi and all the other subordinates of his had to follow him. The five demon kings brought a great swarm of their disciples and apprentices, riding on a strong demon wind and followed behind him too. Wanying Dragon King was startled at first, and turned to look to his left and right. Then, he helplessly brought his son, the three great demon subordinates, and nearly one hundred Nascent Soul demons, rode onto a water wave and followed slowly behind them.
Upon hearing the call of 'elder brother Zheng', Ying Zheng's face suddenly twitched a little, while a complex expression could be seen appearing on his face. But very quickly, his expression turned extremely cruel and cold, while the bright gleams flashing in his eyes turned emotionless. Coldly, he rested his eyes on Yan Dan and said with an indifferent voice, "It has been over two thousand years since I've heard this call of 'elder brother Zheng'. Dan, if you're willing to bow your head before me and merge Great Yan with Great Qin, I can confer you the title of Prince."
Yan Dan laughed and said, "Elder brother Zheng, Ying Zheng, the Emperor of Great Qin, if your Great Qin is willing to submit under Great Yan, Dan can give up the enmity in those years, and allow you, my elder brother, to be the Prince of Bingjian in Great Yan, and enjoy a wealthy and peaceful life." Pointing his finger at Ying Zheng, Yan Dan continued saying, "I'm more generous than you, Ying Zheng. Can your title of Prince be compared with the title of Prince of Bingjian in Great Yan?"
Looking at Yan Dan, Ying Zheng shook his head, sighed and said, "Of course it is comparable. Your Great Yan is weaker than my Great Qin, and a random title of Prince from Great Qin is equal to the title of Prince of Bingjian in your Great Yan. Yan Dan, it seems to me that you have suddenly gained a great confidence, which makes you have the courage to stand to face me like this. But, what gives you the qualification to fight with me? Just the three inferior assassins standing next to you?"
Upon hearing Ying Zheng's words, Yan Dan could not help himself and let out a loud and long laugh.
Suddenly, Mo Di and Xun Kuang flew out from behind Yan Dan, cupped their fists and bowed slightly towards Ying Zheng.
In an indifferent voice, Mo Di said, "Mo Di from Mo Sect offers greetings, Your Majesty Ying Zheng."
On the other side, Xun Kuang's voice was cold and simple, "Confucian Sect, Xun Kuang."
Ying Zheng's face fell. Very quickly, he gazed at Mo Di, then fixed his glance at Xun Kuang's face. Guigu'zi too had his expression changed slightly, as he flew forward, cupped his fist and bowed slightly at Xun Kuang while saying, "Brother Xun, do you still remember the old friend, Wang Xu, the Guigu'zi?" After that, he turned to Mo Di, cupped his fist and offered a greeting as well, "The Grandmaster of Mo Sect, it is an honor for Guigu'zi to meet you!"
Both Mo Di and Xun Kuang returned a greeting to Guigu'zi, then the trio smiled at each other and flew several miles away, chatting and laughing along the way. When the three of them were chatting, they looked calm and peaceful, and no blustering and aggressive manner could be seen at all. Wu Qi could not help but have his mind filled with mixed emotions. So, this was the bearing of true grandmasters! With three of them here, there was no way Yan Dan, Ying Zheng, and Xiang Yu would fight again now.
Ying Zheng was so angry that his mouth kept twitching. Then, he suddenly turned to look at Han Fei, who stood quietly beside Yan Dan, and said, "Mister Han Fei, the position of Prime Minister in Great Qin is vacant. Could Mister condescend and take this post?"
Han Fei shook his head, showing no emotion and not saying a word, just like a wooden puppet.
Yan Dan laughed, then turned to shout at Li Si and Xu Fu, "Mister Li Si, Mister Xu Fu, if both of you willing to come to Great Yan, you are free to choose among the positions of Prime Minister, Imperial Advisors, or anything similar. Except for the throne of Great Yan Emperor, no matter what title of nobility you want, how many fiefs you want, you can just let me know, Dan will treat you with the utmost respect, like my teacher!"
Having a feeling that he was neglected by everyone, Xiang Yu roared out furiously, "Both of you are the heroes of the generation, so why are you keep acting like those pedantic scholars? Ying Zheng and Yan Dan, which of you have the guts to fight head-to-head with me? I don't care who these people are, no matter you are Han Fei, Li Si, or Xu Fu, after I have chopped off the head of your master, you'll naturally be my subordinates!"
Han Fei, Li Si, and Xu Fu turned looking at Xiang Yu at the same time, then together cried out angrily, "Your words are like a fart! Loud and stinking!"
Han Fei pointed his finger out casually, and the natural energies around Xiang Yu shattered immediately and turned into nothingness. Then, Li Si waved his hand, and in the next moment, a very powerful thunderbolt streaked from above and smote on Xiang Yu's head. Meanwhile, Xu Fu was seen hideously reciting some incantation, and all of a sudden, three huge and ferocious looking ghosts emerged in midair, using their sharp claws to attack Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu immediately burst into a great rage, punched out his fist and smashed the attacks from the three men to shreds. He let out a furious roar, raised the coiling-dragon spear and was about to launch a charge with his eighty thousand soldiers. Even though he was facing Yan Dan and Ying Zheng at the same time, Xiang Yu had the confidence that he could defeat them with the military force he had now. This was the pride of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu!
Right when the situation was about to turn chaos, suddenly a very evil laugh came from a far distance, "With so many mighty heroes and great talents gathering here, this place is indeed a meeting point of extraordinary existence! How could I, Lao Ai, not come here to join the fun? Hahaha, each of you is dragon among men. Including me, today's meeting can be called as the 'Meeting of Four Dragons'! Isn't this a splendid event?"
Then, a music that was very pleasing to the ears came from afar, as Lao Ai, with a large red robe draped around his shoulders, and escorted by several hundred seductive and beautiful ladies and nearly one thousand tall and burly men, flew quickly towards them on a cloud. With his long hair hanging loosely down and bright gleams flashing in his eyes, Lao Ai rested his eyes straight at Ying Zheng's face.
Abruptly, the three mighty heroes let out a loud cry at the same time, "Lao Ai, get the hell out from here! The 'Meeting of Four Dragons'? You're not qualified to be a dragon!"
Suddenly, Lao Ai's face turned extremely unsightly, while Wu Qi was smiling and narrowing his eyes, staring at him happily.
[1] Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) was a Chinese poet and minister who lived during the Warring States period of ancient China. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses. He is also remembered as the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan)
[2] Rice dumpling - Or Sticky rice dumpling, or 'Zongzi', is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi)
Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) was a Chinese poet and minister who lived during the Warring States period of ancient China. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses. He is also remembered as the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan)Rice dumpling - Or Sticky rice dumpling, or 'Zongzi', is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi)