A Midnight Summons

Chapter 494: A Midnight Summons

“Alright, move it. Stop showing off.”

Chun Xiaoman used the bamboo pole in her hand to push the preening Gouwa aside. She stepped up to the man who had collapsed in defeat, took a moment to gather her words, then slowly began to question him. “Why did you come to our village? Why did you kill everyone you saw on the way in? What did we ever do to you?”

Faced with Chun Xiaoman’s inquiry, the man spilled everything he knew, afraid that a moment’s hesitation would bring that rope back to his own neck.

“We—we were driven out by those soldiers on horseback! We ran out of food on the road, so we listened to the shaman. He said to find a village far from the government offices, somewhere we could scrounge for food. You folks are the farthest from the county seat around here.”

“Soldiers on horseback?” His disjointed explanation left Chun Xiaoman bewildered. So they had come to cause trouble for Niuxin Village for no particular reason at all?

“Who exactly are you? Why were the Great Liang soldiers driving you away?”

“We are the Law Sect!” The moment he said this, the Law Sect follower visibly steadied himself, his chin lifting high, as if the name itself was a pillar of strength.

“Tell me, is there any law left? Is there any justice? There are so many of those surnamed Buddha and those surnamed Immortal! They never bother with them! So why do those imperial dogs have to make things difficult for us, who follow the Child-God!”

“Hmph! The Great Shaman who can communicate with the Child-God has already declared it! Don’t be fooled by those Great Liang dogs strutting around now! They’re like grasshoppers after autumn—they won’t be jumping for much longer!”

“Just a while back, the Child-God showed its power! That darkness was its divine ability! When the venerable one fully descends to the mortal world in the future… Hmph! When that time comes, the Law Sect will be the state religion! We of the Law will take turns being emperor! No grain levies, no corvée labor! We’ll eat fatty meat every single day!”

“What the hell is this guy babbling about? Has he lost his mind?” Gouwa stared at the man, flabbergasted.

Gouwa didn’t understand, but the well-traveled Lü Zhuangyuan could see the writing on the wall.

“Ah, hell. These aren’t just bandits out for loot! These bastards are trying to start a rebellion, just like that Prince Xian!” He slapped his thigh in distress.

“We’re finished. We ran all this way to escape the war, and we haven’t even had a few peaceful days before it’s starting up again!”

“Rebellion? With those useless wastes we just dealt with?” Lü Xiucai said dismissively, but as he recalled that strange little woman, the contempt on his face gradually faded.

They might not understand everything else, but everyone understood the word “rebellion.” In their minds, it meant war, death, and famine.

A tense-faced Chun Xiaoman quickly crouched down in front of the man and pressed on. “Are there many people in this… Law Sect of yours?”

“Of course! There are at least a million in the Jiangnan circuit alone! And everyone under heaven is a child of the Child-God! Some have just awakened sooner, and some haven’t awakened yet!”

“That includes you! I advise you to surrender now and pledge yourselves to our Child-God!”

Though it sounded like boasting, the claim still managed to intimidate everyone present.

Zhao Wu’s expression darkened. “We killed so many of their people… aren’t they going to retaliate?” No one could answer that question. A heavy stone pressed down on everyone’s heart.

“Don’t panic. Brother Li and Miao Miao left a while ago. They should be back soon.”

These words visibly lifted everyone’s spirits. In their eyes, Li Huowang was a being akin to an immortal.

With him around, this so-called Law Sect rebellion was nothing to worry about.

“Miss Chun, I think we should stock up on more grain. Forget the autumn harvest. If the world is really about to descend into chaos, then grain is life itself.” The experienced Lü Zhuangyuan was already thinking several steps ahead.

“Mm. Zhao Wu, take some of the gold and pawn it. Let’s fill the granaries first! We’ll discuss the rest after Brother Li gets back.”

“Zhi Jian, set up a rotating night watch with a few of the village militia. Just like we did on the road. It’d be best to bring a couple of dogs along. There are things some people can’t see that they can.”

With Li Huowang away, everyone began to move under Chun Xiaoman’s direction. Normally, Gao Zhijian would have been the natural pillar to rally around, but his stammer made him less suited to the role.

While Niuxin Village was lit up with activity, in Shangjing City, the wooden door to Li Huowang’s small courtyard was knocked on. “Is Master Er at home?”

Li Huowang jolted awake from a nightmare, his hand already instinctively reaching for the weapon hidden beneath his pillow.

“Is Master Er at home? Please, open the door. My master requests your presence.”

Listening to the night watchman’s call a few streets over, Li Huowang noted that it was only the third watch. He didn’t know many people in Shangjing. Who would come looking for him at this hour?

“Brother Li, there are twelve people outside, and a large sedan chair,” Miao Miao whispered, reporting everything she could see.

“Get dressed and grab your things. Wait upstairs. If they’re hostile, we’ll kill them and slip out of Shangjing under cover of night.” Li Huowang threw on his red Daoist robe, hiding the Purple-Tasseled Sword behind his back, and walked toward the courtyard gate.

Just as his hand touched the wooden bolt, completely focused, Hong Zhong’s skinless face suddenly emerged from within the door latch. “I took a look for you. The one doing the shouting is a eunuch.”

Li Huowang’s eye twitched slightly. He reached his hand into that faceless, eyeless head, gave it a gentle pull, and the courtyard gate swung open.

His keen sense of smell immediately caught a mixture of perfume and the stench of urine. Hong Zhong was right. The fat, beardless old man in front of him was a eunuch.

What surprised Li Huowang even more was the jade cat cradled in the old eunuch’s arms. It looked very familiar.

“Hehehehe… This humble servant greets Lord Er Jiu.” The old eunuch, holding the jade cat, performed a deep and respectful bow toward Li Huowang. His voice was dripping with sycophancy as he said, “Please, get into the sedan chair. My master invites you to his residence for a chat.”

It seemed the young emperor had recovered his wits and remembered this insignificant little nobody.

As Li Huowang settled into the sedan chair, which was the size of a small room, eight sturdy bearers lifted it simultaneously and carried him toward the Great Liang Imperial Palace.

Despite being carried by eight men, the ride was remarkably smooth. It gave Li Huowang the sensation of being in a carriage. So this was the highest class of sedan chair—the fabled “eight-carrier palanquin.”

The sedan chair passed through the walls the color of date-red, but it did not stop. It was carried all the way to the Great Liang Emperor’s bedchamber. Only when they reached the very entrance did the bearers slowly tilt the sedan chair, inviting Li Huowang to step down.

The bedchamber had a golden roof and red doors. Gold-glazed roof tiles shimmered with a silver light under the moon. On the likewise silver-gleaming ridgepole crouched a row of small glazed beasts, each wearing the unique mask of a Great Liang emperor.