Pei Ming and the others had entered the yard of a residence, probably in search of a well. Xie
Lian entered the yard and commented offhandedly, “The houses on this street are all so
impressive.”
Hua Cheng replied, “The Kiln is situated in the imperial capital, the heart of the Kingdom of
WuYong, and this place is close to the Kiln, or rather, close to what was the imperial capital two
thousand years ago, so it’s also a place of wealth. Since it’s mostly prominent figures and
government officials who live here, they’re naturally impressive.”
There certainly was a well, only, the sight near that well was exceedingly horrifying. There were
seven to eight people sprawled over the edge of the well as if they were dying of thirst but still
perished after having struggled to make it there. Upon a closer inspection, Xie Lian blinked,
“This… rather than say they’re people, they’re more like stone statues?”
They were of course not live humans, but they weren’t corpses, and definitely were not
skeletons. Each of them were coarsely made, ashen white ‘stone statues’. Xie Lian was about
to reach out and touch when next to him, Hua Cheng gave him a look. He immediately
remembered the two had only just promised each other not to touch anything strange and
dangerous, so he forced down the impulse. Now thinking about it, who in the world would sculpt
so many terrifying statues? They should be people indeed, but had transformed into this form
for some reason.
The front doors of this home was wide open, and Xie Lian looked to the inside of the house and
saw there were two more people lying on the ground, their positions twisted in a tight embrace.
Although their faces were blurred and their expressions unclear, but judging by their action one
could already sense terror filled their hearts. There was a bundle of something tightly hugged
between the two, and on a closer look, Xie Lian realized that it must’ve been a baby.
What had happened was more than clear. Xie Lian said, “Those outside were this household’s
servants, and the ones inside should be the master’s family of three.”
“En.” Hua Cheng said, “After the volcano erupted, the WuYong River’s flow became running
lava. The residents who lived in the high plains weren’t burnt to death by the lava or blazing
fires, but they couldn’t escape the blanketing volcanic ash and died from suffocation.”
The enveloping volcanic ash instantly wrapped their whole bodies and formed a layer of hard
shells on the surface, preserving the last moments of those people, transforming them into
stone statues.
That old well was of course long since dried out. Pei Ming wasn’t interested in studying the
faces of the dead either, so he left, carrying Pei Su with him, and continued the search for water.
Suddenly, Xie Lian noticed something strange, and flipped into the house, crouching down next
to the stone bodies of the family of three. Hua Cheng entered too and asked, “What did you
want to see?”
Xie Lian furrowed his brows slightly, “I just think their positions are a bit strange. These two
adults are holding each other tightly with one arm, but the other arm…” The other arm was
tucked in their chests, like they were gripping onto something firmly.
“You want to see what’s in their hands?” Hua cheng asked.
Xie Lian only just nodded when Hua Cheng tapped once on the joint stone statues. Xie Lian
exclaimed, “Wait, wouldn’t this be too disrespectful to their remai…” However, Hua Cheng
moved faster than he did, and the family of three instantly broke into a pile of shattered ashen
white shards. Hua Cheng said quietly, “No need to be too concerned. They’ve long been dead,
and the remains were already no more.”
In that pile of shards were nothing. Those ‘stone statues’ were hollow on the inside.
Although on the surface, the volcanic ash formed a solid protection shell, but the corpse
wrapped inside would still rot and break down. After the rotting was done, what’s left was only
this layer of ashen shell on the surface.
All lives must come to an end, leaving behind only that which had never lived in the everlasting.
Within the blocks and pieces of those ashen shards on the ground were some not yet fully
rotten through pieces of cloth and the accessories on the hosts’ bodies, such as rings, earrings,
necklaces, etc. Xie Lian felt what this couple were gripping at the face of death couldn’t possibly
be those jewelries, and was picking through them when Hua Cheng picked up something and
handed it to him.
“What’s this?” Xie Lian asked.
“It’s what they were clutching in their hands.” Hua Cheng said.
It was a pendant, a shimmering golden plate and something akin to bones were hanging off of
the chain. Upon the golden plate was engraved patterns, and Xie Lian lightly dusted off the
ashes on the surface to look at the details, “The ominous star*?”
What was depicted on the golden plate was a celestial drawing. Gold for the heavens, agate for
stars, this was what they called the sign of the ‘Ominous Star’, which was the celestial phase of
when the Star of Glowing Befuddlement stood still in the Heart Constellation.
The Star of Glowing Befuddlement had historically been seen as the Star of War and Death, and
when it rested within the Heart Constellation, it was even more ominous a sign, especially
towards rulers and emperors and other such leaders, so why was such a celestial drawing
engraved on an accessory?
No, this shouldn’t have been an accessory. Xie Lian fumbled through the shards of the shells
again for a while and found the other two pendants that looked exactly the same. There were
three in total, even the baby in this couple’s arms had one. Under what circumstances would the
same accessory be kept three times?
“This couldn’t be a protection charm, could it?” Xie Lian wondered.
Only protection charms could give those at the brink of death the urge to grip them tightly, to
pray madly with the last vestiges of hope amidst terror.
“It is.” Hua Cheng said, “I’ve dug through a part of this city too, and I’ve discovered this
protection charm on quite a number of these statues.”
Xie Lian hummed, “The people of WuYong worshipped their crown prince, so this should be the
protection charm of the crown prince. But why draw this celestial phase on the protection
charm? Does the crown prince have any connection to the ominous star?
“Because the day he was born, it was the celestial phase of the ominous star.” Hua Cheng said.
“So, the people of WuYong used this celestial phase to symbolize him.”
“How did San Lang find this out?” Xie Lian asked.
Hua Cheng flipped the gold plate over, “It’s written on it.”
Sure enough, on the back side was engraved a column of characters. Hua Cheng explained,
“These words mean “Saint Born Under the Ominous Star”. Maybe now in the present, having
the Star of Glowing Befuddlement rest in the Heart Constellation is a grave omen, but things
might be different two thousand years ago.”
Xie Lian stroked that line of words, his heart slowly sinking, since, the day he was born, it was
also the sign of the ominous star!
Was this not too coincidental?
He rose to his feet, “Let’s go to the divine temple.”
The two walked down the long street side by side. Pei Ming and the others weren’t fruitful in
their search in the area, so they followed along too. There were many remnants of carriages on
the streets, some resting by the roadside, some completely overturned on the ground. There
were also a number of scattered stone people lying on the ground, each with bizarre
mannerisms, but the majority had gone back to their own homes to escape the disaster, so
those were homeless beggars or travelers who couldn’t make it home in time. The cries and
struggles in that moment before death were all preserved, and the group of them traversed
through this bizarre sight.
Hua Cheng pointed out for Xie Lian which ones were residences of wealthy merchants, which
ones belongs to the entertainment district. Xie Lian couldn’t help but ask, “San Lang, the
Kingdom of WuYong had fallen for over two thousand years, and there weren’t any descendants
left, so how did you learn to read their words?”
He couldn’t have just forcibly learned from nothing, there should’ve been a door to the method.
“It’s not too difficult,” Hua Cheng said, “Gege can see that some WuYong characters are very
close to the modern characters.”
“It’s true.” Xie Lian said, “The two words ‘WuYong’ are indeed very close to the modern
characters.”
“Right. So, those two words were the first few of the WuYong words I’ve learned.” Hua Cheng
explained, “There’s a few more that are like this, and when mixed in a phrase, the rest of the
words can be deduced. There are some that have the same character but different meaning, but
not too many.”
Xie Lian nodded, and Hua Cheng continued, “And then, there are words that show up more
frequently. Like those two.”
He pointed at two buildings on the street, “It’s easy to tell what kind of place this is. On the
signs, the words on the top are different but the ones on the bottom are the same. Therefore,
what the bottom words mean could be easily determined, either a tavern or a restaurant. There
are many ways to do this. If gege wants to know more, I’ll tell you all about it when there’s time.”
So that was it. There were actually people in this world who could use their own powers to figure
everything out without any help. Xie Lian couldn’t help but be awed.
The divine temple of WuYong was still the grandest and the most impressive building in the city.
The group of them arrived before the temple, but before they entered, Pei Ming suddenly spoke
up, “What’s that noise?”
Squeak squeak squeak, squeak squeak squeak. The noise came from afar, and dispersed from
afar. “Rats?” Xie Lian wondered.
“Not your typical rats. But, if there’s rats then that means there’s water nearby.” Hua Cheng said.
When they entered the temple, this time, there were no traces of burning on the walls. They
could see by just raising their heads the immense, vibrant colours of the mural. However, this
time, there wasn’t only one mural, but left, centre, right, three sets! There was a mural on each
of the three walls!
The group of them came before the first mural and looked up. The Crown Prince of WuYong
was sitting upon the clouds, his body shone with golden light. However, his expression was
severe. In his left hand was a ball of light, and within the glow was a small mountain that was
spewing flames; in his right hand his five fingers were pressed together, his palm facing forward,
seeming to be waving.
Below was a palace, and in the palace stood over ten people, each of their attires and
accessories lavish and sumptuous, and each of their gestures were different. Some had their
arms wide open, some were donning armours and carrying bows, and some were ponting into
the far distance with an agitated expression.
The details of the painting were complex and abundant, Xie Lian studied it for a good while
before turning around, “Let me tell what I’ve gathered from this painting?”
“This ball of light held in the left hand of the Crown Prince of WuYong contains the scene of a
small volcanic eruption, which meant he had told his dream to those down below. As for the
gesture of his right hand, it’s obviously a rejection, so he must be dismissing something.”
“What is he dismissing?” Pei Ming asked.
“That’ll depend on the actions of the people below.” Xie Lian replied, “This palace is situated in
the mortal realm, lavish and glamourous, so it should be the royal palace. These people should
be the royalties and nobility of WuYong. This one with his arms wide open, judging by the
action, he should be making the ‘expand’ gesture. Expand what? That’s told by what’s in his
hand.”
The crowd looked closer, and what’s in his hand was a map. Pei Ming was more than familiar
with what that meant, “Expand the territory!”
“Yes.” Xie Lian said, “And these generals are all donned in armours, looking ready to be
dispatched and are ready to go into battle. There are also those on the side pointing the way.
Look, their directive actions are very obvious, it’s like they’re saying ‘go there, fight there’.”
“With this, the meaning of this mural becomes easy to understand – combining the points, it
seems the Crown Prince of WuYong had told his prophecy dream to the ministers in the royal
palace. Once the volcano erupts, the consequences would be severe, and it would be a disaster
that could bring ruin to the Kingdom of WuYong. The territory of the kingdom isn’t big enough,
because the volcano is situated right in the centre, so the cities with great significance will
perish. So how should this be solved?”
“If their own territory isn’t big enough, then go take over someone else’s.” Hua Cheng said.
“Right.” Xie Lian said, “So, the ministers suggest opening up the borders and invade the
neighbouring country.”
“However, the Crown Prince of WuYong doesn’t agree to this method, which is why his right
hand is the gesture of rejection.”
After analyzing the first mural, the group of them came to the second mural. The colours of this
mural was much gloomier than the previous one, perhaps it was because what it depicted was
the scene of slaughter on the battlefield.
Below on the battlefield, blood flowed like the rivers, and the soldiers on both sides killed
relentlessly. Xie Lian could tell which side was the soldiers of WuYong since their armours were
exactly the same as the generals from the previous painting. The WuYong soldiers looked
savage and aggressive, trampling the heads of their enemies under their feet, corpses raised by
halberds, arms and legs and bloody flesh flew in the slaughter, bloody and cruel. There were
even soldiers who reached for children and women huddled in a ball with savage smiles. Truly,
the horrors of war.
Above the battlefield the gloomy clouds were thick, yet within the clouds peeked a sliver of white
light. The Crown Prince of WuYong peeked half of his body from the clouds to watch the scene
down below, his expression that of fury. One of his arms were extended out, releasing many
pillars of golden light, and the WuYong soldiers in the light were all sucked up.
This painting’s meaning was easier to analyze than the previous one. Xie Lian studied it for a
moment before saying softly, “It seems, the generals and ministers didn’t listen to the crown
prince’s advisement and still dispatched armies to invade the neighbouring country. The soldiers
killed too much, even harassing the women, children, and the weak from the other kingdom, so
when the crown prince found out, he was angered, and moved to stop the aggression of the
WuYong soldiers.”
After Pei Ming heard, he said flatly, “How touching. But to be honest, if one of the kingdoms
must perish, then choosing to protect your own couldn’t be helped. The soldiers charging in the
frontlines, if they haven’t yet been cut down by their enemies, they would’ve died from rage with
their own crown prince. I certainly wouldn’t want to fight for a king like that.”
Xie Lian chuckled drily a couple times and said a little woefully, “General Pei is, uh, right.” Hua
Cheng on the other hand, only grunted coldly. Pei Ming continued, “So, the volcano’s about to
erupt. What does tHis Highness the crown prince plan to do? He can’t just let his own people
wait for their own deaths?”
“Let’s look at the third painting.” Xie Lian said, “It should have the answer.”
The group of them finally came before the last painting. The colours of this mural was an
enormous contrast to the previous one. It had returned to bright and vibrant, filled with holy light.
However, with the first look, Xie Lian was shocked to the core, and he widened his eyes.
Pei Ming took a look, “My god, is this the idea the Crown Prince of WuYong came up with? Ha!
Daring. Worthy of admiration.”
On the third mural, at the bottom of the painting was the Kingdom of WuYong. The WuYong
River flowed wildly across the earth, and the crown prince with his four guardian gods were also
in it. However, they weren’t the focal point. Within this painting, the most prominent object, what
was at the centre, was a bridge.
A giant bridge shining with white light, was held up by the Crown Prince of WuYongAnd his four
guardians, and the people on the ground were swarming towards the bridge with smiles
covering their faces.
This Crown Prince of WuYong had built a bridge that connected the heavens with the intention
of bringing his people to the heavenly realm!
———-
●[熒惑守心] The Star of Glowing Befuddlement Resting in the Heart Constellation aka.
The Ominous Star in this translation – Ancient Chinese astronomers believed Mars was
unstable in both position and light, hence they called it “the Star of Glowing
Befuddlement”, and it symbolized ‘Ruin’, ‘Pestilence’, ‘Death’, ‘Famine’, ‘War’, and other
such bad omens. The Heart Constellation in Chinese astronomy sits in the East by
Scorpio, and symbolized the Crown Prince, the Emperor, and depending on where in the
constellation, the Commoner. Thus, when Mars enters the Heart Constellation and
moves within it, it was often interpreted as major changes in politics and dynasties, the
fall of greatness.
————-