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“Dark Heaven Village! Lü Buwei!”

‘The supreme power in the Qin dynasty, prior to Emperor Qin Shi Huang, a merchant…’

Having studied history and literature, I instantly understood who Lü Buwei was upon hearing his name. He was a powerful figure and a behind-the-scenes minister in the annals of Chinese history, uniquely known for directly supporting the emperor while being a merchant.

Though he was ousted by Qin Shi Huang in later years, before that, he wielded enormous power as a major authority in Qin, effectively controlling a vast empire.

It’s rare for a merchant to have such prestige and influence, making him a solid character in the pages of history. Most scholars studying history would surely know of Lü Buwei; he was indispensable in the establishment of the Qin Empire.

However, it was hard to believe his words easily.

Calmly, I looked at this ‘self-proclaimed’ Lü Buwei and said, “What do you mean? We are in the era of the Jiajing Emperor, the age of the Great Ming Empire. If you say you are Lü Buwei, that means you’re a figure from the Qin dynasty, which is about 1,700 years ago, right?”

“……”

Lü Buwei raised his dark eyes. This expression wasn’t just from shadows under his eyes; his entire eyeball, pupil, and the skin around his eyes were so black it sent chills down my spine.

A normal person would feel a twinge of fear, but having seen so many terrifying things, I remained unflinching in my gaze.

He slowly opened his mouth. “Kill me… please…”

I understood. If he were truly Lü Buwei, it made sense for him to say such a thing. But you need to at least explain why you are trapped here and what the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng is, so I can help you out with your request.

“…up there… the treasure… break it…”

Treasure?

I shot a glance at the ceiling at Lü Buwei’s words. There was indeed a staircase up there, yet I couldn’t see the treasure. I had to climb further up to find out what that treasure was, so I decided to ascend the stairs.

‘It’s as if the mountain was dug out entirely…’

I’d felt it before, but this architecture made no sense. Constructing a building like this underground requires tremendous effort compared to just building above ground. How much manpower and sacrifice was needed to create such facilities during ancient Qin times?

After climbing about 300 steps, I finally spotted the radiant rainbow-colored treasure.

“Is this what you want me to break?”

But I couldn’t just take Lü Buwei’s words at face value. If breaking it meant he’d die, I wouldn’t learn anything here. So I tried to gently extract the treasure from the altar, but it seemed like yanking it out with force would just break it. I thought about cutting the altar itself, but it felt too spiritually tied to the whole setup, so I left it alone.

‘Looks like it’s firmly embedded so you can’t take it out from the start.’

Resigned, I returned to Lü Buwei and said, “I’ve found the treasure. However, I won’t break it until you explain the context.”

“……”

Lü Buwei silently lowered his head.

After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke. “I’ll give you the Lüshi Chunqiu…”

“……!!”

He coughed as if his breath was being strangled, producing a sound between a groan and a scream. “I’ve… suffered… for so long… please… kill me…”

“What do you mean?” I asked, tilting my head.

“About the Lüshi Chunqiu, I know of it. It’s the book compiled by Lü Buwei of the Qin dynasty, gathering more than 3,000 scholars and intellectuals, outlining the correct political norms and behaviors for rulers. I haven’t read all twenty volumes, but I’ve perused the two volumes of the Jì and three of the Lǎn.”

During my studies under Mangnyang, I’d skimmed through it. However, since my other studies took precedence, I never fully delved into it; I just got a taste. Properly studying the distinct volumes divided by seasons takes an ordinary person about three years. Mangnyang had claimed he memorized it all in just a month.

“……”

“I’m no scholar. I have no need for Lüshi Chunqiu now.”

Lü Buwei poured his heart into his words. “Listen…!!”

“Understood.”

It seemed Lü Buwei had regained some of his sanity from pain. His tenacity to grab this chance pushed him through the agonies.

“I recognized you the moment I laid eyes on you… I learned the ways of physiognomy from the Great Immortal, and no one in the world can read a person’s traits and character as well as I can… With this ability, I discerned the heroes and talents of the Warring States, distinguishing gems from stones, leading to my success…”

“Hmm…”

He looked at me with those dark eyes.

“You are just a commoner… never a scholar’s likeness… impulsive and worldly… an ordinary human…”

“……”

“But… since you are here, you can’t be just an ordinary person… Your martial arts and wisdom exceed what’s typical… You even possess a ruler’s destiny, which should not exist for you… You are undoubtedly… a phantom…”

“What?”

I felt bewildered by his words. Who was he to judge me based on appearance? The label ‘phantom’ certainly didn’t carry a good connotation. But if he was indeed Lü Buwei, who had commanded the talents of the Warring States, it wouldn’t be so strange for him to have such insight.

Lü Buwei opened his eyes wide, continuing to speak. “To such an anomaly like you… I truly offer the Lüshi Chunqiu… Only if you break the treasure to kill me!!”

“The real Lüshi Chunqiu?”

“Yes… the genuine one… that I… never even passed on to the Yongzheng…”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Are you saying the Lüshi Chunqiu in circulation is a fake?”

“Seven hundred years have passed… the fake has spread throughout the world as I wished…”

“Are you serious?”

“Hahaha… Did you think I merely established the Lüshi Chunqiu to set forth a political ideology? Consider what I had to gather… hundreds of thousands of golden coins… I’m a merchant… would a merchant waste money on such trivial matters?”

“……”

“Hehe… the Lüshi Chunqiu…”

He cackled unsteadily. “It’s worth a thousand gold for a single character… broad in perspective… a discussion on the Six Harmonies… what I sought was a grimoire that isn’t one… a method to truly become a deity!”

“What?!”

“Break the treasure…!!”

“But how will you tell me the location of Lüshi Chunqiu if I smash the treasure? It would kill you.”

“… smashing the treasure doesn’t mean I’ll die immediately.”

With those words, Lü Buwei closed his mouth, as if he were dead. I hastily approached him and shook him, but he seemingly returned to an utterly dazed state. It appeared he had been so long in suffering that it drove him into madness, and his current state could be referred to as madness.

‘Hmph, do you think I have no way out?’

I gritted my teeth and placed my hand on his forehead to enact the Soul Exchange Technique. As I kept my hand there, I felt his essence tugging towards me. But soon after, it stopped approaching and returned, saying, “Huh?”

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman watching commented, [His soul is being held hostage by someone. The entity that captured him won’t let go, so your technique won’t work on him.]

“Hmm.”

I had experienced this before. The Soul Exchange Technique is potent, but if the other party’s soul is already someone else’s possession, the difficulty in manipulating them drastically increases. Moreover, if the possessor’s strength is strong enough, the technique could be rendered unusable. I turned to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman and said, “Is he really Lü Buwei?”

[I believe there’s no doubt about it.]

“Who did this to him…?”

[You should really smash that treasure.]

“Can you use your Corpse Dissolution Technique to at least extract the treasure? Extract information from this guy before me.”

[Impossible. That treasure was created as one piece, and the sorcery binding it is very elaborate and powerful. The one who crafted the altar could wield sorcery even beyond the Great Immortal.]

“……”

After a moment of thought, I unsheathed my sword and stabbed Lü Buwei’s forehead.

Thwock!

His head split open in an instant. I thought he’d surely be dead now, but unexpectedly, he regenerated and returned to his original state shortly after. And he started groaning in pain again.

“He’s under the spell of immortality.”

No matter how much he was attacked from the outside, Lü Buwei remained trapped within this essence, suffering eternal agony but never dying. He had been bound like this for thousands of years. It was truly an extreme form of torture, to the extent that being swiftly decapitated would be a mercy. I was bewildered inwardly.

‘How harsh! Who could hate Lü Buwei this much?’

I shook my head. It was clear that asking him to break the treasure tied back to the sorcery binding him and the immortality spell all connected to the treasure. With no other option, I resolved to rise and smash both the treasure and the altar at once.

Boom!

The moment the treasure shattered, murky magical energy spilled forth from within. This energy briefly took the form of a smoky king figure that seemed to be speaking to me.

[You’ve broken the toy… hahaha.]

It laughed and then vanished.

A toy?

As I tilted my head and descended, I heard Lü Buwei letting out a ripping scream.

“KRAAAAH! Again… you trick me! Yongzheng!!!”

Crisp crackling!

Thunder crackled chaotically, engulfing Lü Buwei’s body entirely in flames. He could not escape the essence; rather, the essence writhed like a living entity and began devouring Lü Buwei.

Crack!

I urgently called out to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, “Heavenly Mysterious Woman! Please save him!”

[Understood.]

Corpse Dissolution Technique!

As the spell of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman unfolded, jade-green light burst into the hall. Finally free from his incineration, Lü Buwei collapsed, looking severely injured. It seemed he was even on the verge of death, unable to speak at all.

“Heavenly Mysterious Woman, please recover him.”

[……]

“Heavenly Mysterious Woman?”

At that moment, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman appeared to be in a bind.

[The Law of Cause and Effect has started restraining me. Did I exert too much power?]

“What?”

[Baek Woong, I have no choice but to return to the Celestial Realm. It seems I’ll be unable to appear for a while. Summon me with appropriate offerings or ceremonies again.]

Poof!

In an instant, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman vanished. Staring in disbelief, Lü Buwei coughed out, “Ugh… Yongzheng… that bastard… rebellious child… traitor… ugh…”

“Get a grip.”

I rushed over to refer to Lü Buwei’s blood to strengthen his life force. Though I administered emergency treatment with medical techniques, he was so severely burned and weakened, riddled with puncture wounds, that it seemed he wouldn’t last long.

Even under proper medical conditions, my techniques alone couldn’t save him. Lü Buwei seemed to have sensed this truth and gasped, “This… tomb… is merely for show… Mount Ye itself… is merely… his disguise… And the real… Yongzheng… has overturned… everyone’s expectations… even God and the Demon King…”

“What do you mean?”

“Yongzheng isn’t… here… he never died in the first place… does this look like a tomb?”

After briefly losing his words, Lü Buwei continued. “He’s… really a terrifying one… even God will be struck from behind…” He chuckled maniacally, “Truly… hehehehehehe.”

“Where is the Lüshi Chunqiu?”

“… The ancient capital of the Xia, and I left the deciphering method with Li Si…” He said, as his life drained away.

With a thud, Lü Buwei died.

I closed his eyes and attempted to summon his soul with the Heavenly Secret Technique, but his soul seemed to be whisked away elsewhere. The claim that it was held hostage was indeed true. Scratching my head, I thought, ‘Damn it. He didn’t let slip anything crucial at all.’

All that was truly troublesome was that the Heavenly Mysterious Woman had vanished. It was likely that her constant interference while staying with me had triggered the Law of Cause and Effect to restrain her, leading her to return to the Celestial Realm to quell that backlash.

With the capabilities of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, she could hide her aura from the Seven Luminaries, so it would be fine for now, but it was a dangerous situation when considering Queen Mother of the West.

Exiting here would likely be quite a hassle. I smacked my lips, making the most of my Stealth Technique and Light Body Technique to sneak past people’s eyes and escape Mount Ye.

Once out of the mountain, I returned to where my companions were. Thankfully, it seemed the location of Mount Ye was not far from Luoyang, allowing me to reach it in a hurry. Upon hearing my tale of visiting Mount Ye, Cheon Woo-jin said.

“We need to go find the real Lüshi Chunqiu and summon Li Si’s soul in the old capital of Chu. Why is it that every time you wander off, you bring back more work?”

Cheon Woo-jin scolded me and added, “Now’s not the time for such things. With the absence of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, the power to contain Cheon Gong-pyo has diminished greatly. We need to think of a countermeasure.”

“Hmm. If we could find the real Lüshi Chunqiu and offer it as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman…”

“What guarantee is there that we’ll even find it, and how long will it take? Consider that the standoff between Chi You and Jeogok won’t last long.”

“Ugh.”

Making a face, the Celestial Sage next to me snapped, “Why is the progress so slow? We have plenty of plans but haven’t executed any of them!”

“Celestial Sage.”

“I don’t care! I’m going to deal with Cheon Gong-pyo first. I’ll negotiate with him afterward, whether you follow or not!”

Poof!

The Celestial Sage vanished right in front of us. Those left behind stared blankly at where he had been, but Jin So-cheong spoke up.

“Let’s follow him. At this rate, we have no choice but to engage in battle with Golden Crow Island immediately.”

“Ugh, without the Heavenly Mysterious Woman…”

“Baek Woong, she can never become a true ally in the real sense. Don’t rely on her too much. She is an external influence.”

“But…”

“She hasn’t fully disclosed her true intentions to us yet. Remain cautious.”

Surprised by his words, I looked back at Jin So-cheong. “What do you mean?”

“Just as you have a sense from your past life, I have my own intuition. Right now, that intuition tells me we can’t fully trust the Heavenly Mysterious Woman.”

“……”

“First, let’s focus on the task at hand.”

“Understood.”

I couldn’t ignore Jin So-cheong’s words. Although he knew little about sorcery or magic, his suggestions and instincts often hit the mark.

“Watch closely. I will lead us directly to the entrance of Golden Crow Island.”

Swish!

Using Cheon Woo-jin’s technique, when our group arrived at the entrance of Golden Crow Island, a furious Cheon Gong-pyo glared at us with a thunderous expression.

[You miserable fools!!]

She yelled at us with fiery rage. [Did you let that monkey charge ahead by himself? Are you trying to mess with me? Don’t you know how reckless that bastard is?!!]

I hurriedly interjected. “That’s not it. We don’t hold command to dictate what Cheon Gong-pyo should do.”

[Ugh…!!]

At that moment, as Cheon Gong-pyo was about to attack us, she suddenly sported a flustered expression. [Tch!] Then, without a word, she hurriedly dashed into the entrance of Golden Crow Island.

‘Why is she acting like that?’

The reason would soon become clear.

A booming voice from behind us echoed. “Where’s the Celestial Sage? I came rushing over because you called!”

“……”

Xiang Yu had arrived.

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