Chapter 72: A Song and a Battle

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 72: A Song and a Battle

In the current Qin Dynasty, there were not many cultivators who could be described as great rebels.

Such individuals not only possessed astonishing cultivation, but also the immense ability to destroy a stable dynasty. Born into distinguished families, most were even prominent figures from fallen dynasties.

In the past few days, the Bureau of Divinity, through several clues, had discovered a cultivator who could be a great rebel. However, they could only observe secretly. They wanted to gather more clues from this cultivator to find the leader, the person His Majesty the Emperor was wary of!

Before this matter could develop decisively, the inexplicable appearance of these Changling Guards did not bode well for the masters and subordinates of the Bureau of Divinity.

Qin Xuan and Meng Tianfang exchanged glances. Qin Xuan gritted his teeth, making up his mind. “Report this to Official Qi to prevent any changes.”

Meng Tianfang’s eyes flashed. He did not say anything, but he pretended to look as if he was afraid of the group of Changling Guards, he quickly headed into a small alley and left.

At this moment, the Changling Guards, clad in armor, charged forward and stopped the carriage procession that had just left the Jiujiang Commandery Assembly Hall. The captain of the Changling Guards in the front row, wearing a black metal mask, shouted loudly. “Stop the carriages! All of you, disembark! Prepare your household registration documents and travel permits!”

A thin, middle-aged man in blue, who appeared to be an advisor, bowed and politely asked, “Sir, what is the matter? Is there a misunderstanding? We are the Heaven Rising Chang Shop of the Jiujiang Commandery…”

Before he could finish speaking, the captain of the Changling Guards kicked him, sending him flying. He slammed heavily into the carriage behind him. Instantly, the thin, middle-aged man's face went pale. He could not breathe and nearly fainted.

“Didn't you hear me? Household registration documents and travel permits!”

The captain of the Changling Guards who kicked the blue-robed advisor held the hilt of his sword. His black metal mask reflected the sunlight. “We suspect that the people in your group are connected to tomb robbers. Everyone must disembark from the carriage and show their household registration documents and travel permits. If anyone resists, they will be killed on the spot!” he said grimly.

Many people in the carriage procession were furious and wanted to curse, even the people who came out of the Jiujiang Commandery Assembly Hall froze where they stood.

Robbing the tombs of the imperial family was a capital offense punishable by nine familial exterminations. If there really were someone among them, anyone who spoke out for the carriage procession would be accused and imprisoned.

At this moment, Qin Xuan, who was sitting on a bench by the alley, felt a chill run through his body. He discovered that there was a Changling Guard personnel standing silently under the eaves in the shadows of a shop not far behind these dozen ferocious Changling Guards.

This Changling Guard personnel was very low-key and could not compare to the black metal masked captain in terms of presence. However, Qin Xuan could clearly see that he had a white jade hairpin in his hair, and his scabbard was inlaid with dozens of red agate beads.

This meant that this Changling Guard personnel standing silently in the shadow was a commander.

This was an official rank that required one to kill a thousand armored soldiers to receive a reward… this person was a cultivator with at least a realm five cultivation, or realm six cultivation!

When Qin Xuan thought of this, he was now even more afraid of seeing the man wearing the black metal mask. He had already determined that this man did not look like an ordinary company commander leading a hundred soldiers. His body felt increasingly cold, and the warmth from the hot soup was suppressed. He could not help but stand up.

At this moment, surrounded by a dozen armored Changling Guards, everyone in the carriage procession had now stepped out of the carriages. Each of them held a household registration document and a travel permit.

In other dynasties, even those that had fallen, and even the Qin Dynasty before Emperor Yuanwu's accession, the inspection involved checking travel documents. These documents contained simple information about one's identity: birth information, where they came from, where they were traveling, and their purpose. Along the way, commanderies and districts would stamp these documents. This was done as proof that the document confirmed that the person had passed through those places.

However, when Emperor Yuanwu ascended the throne, the Qin Dynasty boldly initiated a new government and changed many policies. Over the following years, bloodshed raged, and many people died. But eventually, several new policies were firmly implemented.

The most significant impact was the registration system.

Every citizen of the Qin Dynasty, upon birth, was recorded in detail in a register by the commandery or district. If any changes were made, they had to amend the register immediately. Upon death, the register was destroyed. If they were awarded titles or land, those titles and land would be reclaimed.

The greatest impact of this system was not to simplify identity verification, preventing refugees and bandits from easily moving around in the Qin Dynasty, but rather to enforce taxes and titles. For example, through the return of fraudulent wages and the return of land that should have been returned, the Qin Dynasty's coffers were filled within a few years. This forced many enemy dynasties that had long been observing to form alliances with the Qin.

“You’re Zhou Chen? Where are you from?”

“What do you usually do?”

“…”

The Changling Guards began inspecting the household registration documents and travel permits of the people in the carriage procession. They randomly asked a few questions to confirm.

Qin Xuan picked up the yellow pole he had placed on the chair next to him. After taking a step, his breathing stopped completely.

That black metal masked captain was walking towards someone in the carriage procession.

This was a man dressed as a carriage driver. He appeared to be in his thirties and had slightly yellowish hair. Although his facial features were very different from the person the Bureau of Divinity had observed, his posture was very similar. More importantly, based on Qin Xuan’s years of experience, this carriage driver’s behavior was suspicious.

As he was being questioned by a Changling Guard and answering questions, his gaze kept flickering. He seemed to be mostly thoughtful, lacking the fear of others.

This led Qin Xuan to suspect that this person was considering his next move if his identity was revealed. These reactions did not escape the masked commander's notice, causing him to walk towards the other person. What made Qin Xuan stop breathing was that the corners of the person's lips were slightly raised as if a grin was about to appear.

Qin Xuan was in no position to stop this because even if he stated his identity and charged over, he would alert the enemy. So he simply gripped his yellow bamboo pole tightly and hoped that the reinforcements from the Bureau of Divinity would arrive soon.

“I sense you have a problem with your identity. What’s your name?” the black metal masked captain asked grimly. He was already in front of the carriage driver.

The carriage driver rubbed his face and paused for a moment at his bearded chin to catch his breath. He seemed to be thinking and deciding something. He smiled inexplicably and stared at the captainchallengingly. “Do you really want to know?”

A dangerous aura suddenly filled the entire alley. Even the other Changling Guards, who had been intently inspecting everyone else, turned to look at this carriage driver.

The commander under the eaves in the shadows also suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming.

The black metal masked captain paused for a moment and then laughed. “It seems it is you… I want to see what name can scare me in Changling.”

The carriage driver laughed, revealing his white teeth. “You’ll know when you see my sword.”

As he said this, the air around him suddenly trembled. Smoke billowed from cracks in the ground beneath him. Mist seemed to appear in the alley. At the same time, the surrounding carriages seemed to turn into weightless paper, flying out of the way.

The black metal masked captain drew his sword in shock.

At that moment, the scene seemed to freeze, like a painting.

The captain's sword was only halfway drawn when the carriages were sent flying silently. Just as the wheels had barely left the ground, the carriage driver had already finished swinging his hand forward. A stream of water seemed to sweep through the air, sweeping across the captain's body, from head to toe.

A ray of light suddenly appeared in a crack in the cold mask on the captain's face. Then the mask split open. Beneath the mask was a shocked face. A red line appeared in the center of this face.

“Cloud Water…”

When the man disguised as the carriage driver attacked, the captain had already drawn his sword, and he let out a startled cry. However, as so much blood gushed out from the red line, he could only manage to shout two words.

Boom!

In the next moment, the carriages, seemingly frozen in the air, crashed heavily into the shops on both sides of the alley. At the same time, the captain's body split in two, and blood sprayed into the cold air.

Only now did the surrounding Changling Guards realize that the carriage driver was holding a sword that rippled as if made of water.

“A great rebel of the Cloud Water Palace of the Wei Dynasty!”

Shouts of disbelief rang out.

This shout was uttered with vital energy. The sound immediately carried far and wide.

There was a ripping sound.

The person who shouted this was the commander who had been hiding in the shadow of the shop eaves. He then sprinted forward. A small peach-red sword flew before him, the sword seemed to bloom with peach blossoms that spread and filled the space around the carriage driver.

However, amidst the sword strikes, the person who appeared to be the carriage driver held his sword behind his back with one hand and placed the other behind his back. He then smiled proudly…

One of the windows in the Jiujiang Commandery Assembly Hall silently disappeared. It was shattered into powder by the immense wave of primal energies of the universe.

A drop of water fell.

That drop of water shattered all the peach blossoms.

The peach-red sword broke.

This Commander of the Changling Guards sat on the ground. He seemed to have lost several inches of his height. Blood spurted from his mouth.

Qin Xuan raised his head in disbelief and looked towards the Jiujiang Commandery Assembly Hall.

“My generation loves to learn the sword, living by the cold pond for a decade…”

With a soft voice, a white figure floated down from the Jiujiang Commandery Assembly Hall.

All the colors in the sky seemed to be eclipsed by this person. Every eye in the alley looked up.

“Slaying the serpent in a day, the dark blue water turns crimson for three months…”

The person continued chanting. With a loud bang, the remaining dozen Changling Guards sprayed blood, flew out, and slammed into the shops on both sides of the alley.

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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