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Chapter 509: Troops Return to the Capital

As the army left the defensive perimeter, Xu Qing looked over his shoulder in the direction of the distant western front. He had experienced many things in the past two months, and had seen far too much death. There were many other cultivators who were similarly looking to the west. Most were swordsages from Sea-Sealing County.

Eventually, Xu Qing turned back around. High in the air, he could see several hundred black dragons gliding around a... four-clawed golden dragon.

Only bits and pieces of the dragon’s massive frame were visible as it swirled through the clouds, but it gave off a sensation of holiness. Of course, there was little need to mention who sat on the imperial carriage atop the dragon. The people down below, including Xu Qing, were all familiar with that individual who was as respectable as the highest heavens, and was as far above them as the clouds were from the mud.

It made Xu Qing think back to something one of the scholar teachers back in the slums had once said.

“What are important people like...? It’s simple. They’re people who, if you’re in a crowd and you look up at them, you remember them, whether you want to or not. Because they’re the only person you see. But when that person looks into the crowd, they don’t see you, and could never remember you. That’s the difference between ordinary people and important people. So, ya little punk, if you ever reach the point that the city magistrate himself notices you, then you’ll know you’re an important person.”

Xu Qing remembered that after the broken face of the god’s eyes opened, he had snuck into the city magistrate’s manor to look for cultivation techniques. At that time, he found the city magistrate himself, who was nothing more than a corpse. Xu Qing had looked down at his blank eyes and seen his own reflection in those dead pupils. [1]

He glanced briefly at Seventh Prince high in the clouds, then looked away, his face completely expressionless as the army moved onward.

Several hours later, the army reached a large-scale teleportation portal. They marched into the portal, and then Xu Qing and his fellow war veterans disappeared in a flash of dazzling light. They materialized near the county capital.

The locals had been away for two months. It wasn’t possible for the army as a whole to enter the capital. Xu Qing and most of the other rank-and-file soldiers waited on standby outside of the city. Only a handful of people who qualified to personally attend Seventh Prince teleported into the city itself.

Now that he was back in familiar territory, Xu Qing looked in the direction of the capital and listened to the familiar buzz of the city that drifted through the air. A seven-colored glow rose high above the city, and the three palaces emitted dazzling light.

Xu Qing couldn’t see into the city, so he didn’t notice the colorful banners that festooned all of the buildings. The main road which led from the teleportation portal into the Governor’s Mansion had been renamed Boulevard of the Imperial Prince. Lanterns and colored banners decorated the streets, which were lined with cheering crowds.

“We won!”

“We won!”

“We won!”

Drums thumped and gongs clashed as the lieutenant governor waited outside the teleportation portal, flanked by a contingent of Demi-Immortals, Saintfiends, and other nonhuman patriarchs. When the teleportation light flared, and Seventh Prince stepped out, the entire group clasped hands and bowed respectfully.

“Greetings, Seventh Prince!”

High above, the four-clawed golden dragon exhaled a red mist that glowed with bright light. Down below, Seventh Prince stepped out and smiled.

The crowd roared.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Xu Qing. He currently stood outside the city in the army, where they could hear the commotion but couldn’t see anything. Eventually, orders came down telling the imperial army to pitch camp. Meanwhile, the swordsages from the western front were finally given freedom to return to their homes. They were being dismissed from service. Going forward, they wouldn’t need to go to the front lines except under special circumstances.

The order came from the lieutenant governor and the deputy palace lord of the Swordsage Palace. Thanks to their pleadings, the imperial prince had shown favor to the swordsages to thank them for their service.

When Xu Qing left the army, he had nowhere else to go but his sword pavilion. Upon entering, he didn’t even bother to take off his armor. Instead of meditating, he lay down and slept. He didn’t wake up until the evening of the following day.

When he opened his eyes, he found that his transmission jade slip and command sword were both full of messages.

Message transmissions weren’t allowed on the battlefield, and all such devices had been locked down. Now that he was back in the county capital, all of those messages came through.

“Xu Qing, I haven’t been able to get in touch with you, but I saw your Eldest Brother today. I was very relieved to hear that you’re fine. I’m going back with the Wood Spirits. Things are different nowadays in the county capital, and the war took a heavy toll on the Wood Spirits. I nearly died myself.... If you have time, come visit the Wood Spirits. Ling’er will be awake soon.” That message was, of course, from the innkeeper of Plankspring Way.

“Xu Qing, when you wake up, come drink with me.” That was Kong Xianglong.

“Little Junior Brother, after you wake up, let me know. I need to come get your dao fruits.”

That was the Captain.

“Secretary-General Xu, be careful. After I got back to the county capital I got news that some of the nonhumans you threatened joined forces to submit a formal petition claiming you harmed the unity of Sea-Sealing County. The lieutenant governor has kept a lid on it, but you still need to watch out.” That was Qing Qiu.

Xu Qing responded to each message with a few words, then put the jade slip down. After stretching a bit, he finally took off his armor, then waved his hand to summon plenty of rainwater and mist to bathe himself. He hadn’t bothered with such things during the war. There hadn’t been any point. The battlefield was filled with so much smoke and death that even if you cleaned yourself, you would almost immediately become dirty again. Only the most fastidious person would bother with such an endless, pointless cycle.

After bathing, Xu Qing put on a new swordsage uniform. Around that time, the Captain, who had similarly bathed and changed clothes, arrived with a look of anticipation on his face. Back on the battlefield, Xu Qing had explained to the Captain that he only brought a small portion of dao fruits with him, and had left most of his cache back in the county capital. Now that they were back, Xu Qing didn’t even wait for the Captain to say a word. He took out a bag of holding and tossed it over.

“50/50,” Xu Qing said calmly.

The Captain’s eyebrows danced up and down. “Perfect! I’m finally going to have enough to buy that Ancient Dao Righteous Bestowal Edict. Let me tell you, little Ah Qing, all of my hard work here in the county capital to earn military credits has been for this!”

Looking very pleased with himself, the Captain tucked the bag of holding into the fold of his garment and then looked at Xu Qing with a broad smile on his face.

“Any chance you’re thinking of buying a life lamp, little Ah Qing? The military credits from these dao fruits will be more than enough to get one. Pretty soon, they’ll be giving out battle credits as well. Have you checked to see what battle credits you’ll be getting? I got four grade-five battle credits and two grade-three!”

Xu Qing took out his command sword to check his battle credits.

“Swordsage Xu Qing, as approved by the Swordsage Palace and audited by the Military Affairs Department, you have earned the following battle credits during the war of Sea-Sealing County: one grade-two battle credit; four grade-three battle credits; seven grade-four battle credits; eleven grade-five battle credits.”

Xu Qing was more than a little surprised that he had earned so much.

The Captain laughed heartily. “Looks like you got a lot. I heard that the deputy palace lord himself approved all of the rewards, and that he doled them out handsomely to everyone.” Grinning, the Captain looked around and then lowered his voice. “Did you really sleep the entire time since you got back, little Ah Qing? Let me tell you, a lot of stuff happened since yesterday. The entire county capital has changed thanks to the arrival of Seventh Prince.

“He appointed three of his own subordinates as the palace lords of the Swordsage Palace, Administration Palace, and Justice Palace.

“The grand elders of four prefectural Swordsage Courts were accused of being negligent in their duties. The one from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was among them. One of the listed reasons was a prisoner escape. That shrew Nethersprite went so far as to suffer a serious injury and even a drop in her cultivation base to slip out of her bonds and escape during the chaos.

“There was a big change to the treaty with the Demi-Immortals and Saintfiends. Nobody knows how Seventh Prince did it, but all it took was a single day for both of those species to officially ally themselves with the humans of Sea-Sealing County. In addition to that, over 400 nonhumans agreed to increase their yearly tribute and also cede full military authority.

“Anyway, enough of that boring stuff. I’m going shopping! By the way, little Ah Qing, the lieutenant governor announced that tomorrow we’ll have a county-wide memorial service for the governor, the three palace lords who died, and all the other warriors who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.”

Xu Qing watched the Captain leave. As he stood outside his sword pavilion, he realized that the familiar county capital already looked different. Things were changing.

He suddenly missed Seven Blood Eyes, and he missed his Master.

After some thought, he went into the city to buy some alcohol, then went to Kong Xianglong’s sword pavilion.

Kong Xianglong was there alone, drinking. Upon seeing Xu Qing, his lips twitched as if he might smile. However, he didn’t smile. He just took another drink. Xu Qing sat down next to him and took out a jug. Together, they drank without speaking for a while.

The night passed, and then light filled the sky outside. At that point, Xu Qing said, “Big Bro Kong, the memorial service is about to begin.”

Kong Xianglong looked up at him. A moment passed. “Xu Qing, go outside and wait for me for a moment.”

Xu Qing nodded and walked out of the sword pavilion.

Before long, the door opened and Kong Xianglong emerged. He had just shaved, and he didn’t smell of alcohol. With his fresh, white swordsage uniform on, he looked just like he had in the past, before the war.

“The old man never let me call him ‘grandfather,’” he said softly, “so I didn’t bother trying. Even when I was young, I always lived alone. Except... he was always so strict. If I showed up to the memorial drunk, I can only imagine how pissed he would be. Maybe he’s not here to curse me, but I think I should do what would please him. Am I right, Xu Qing?”

Xu Qing nodded.

Kong Xianglong took a deep breath and started walking. Xu Qing went with him. As they left the sword pavilions and went up into the city, bells tolled somberly. Eventually they found themselves... in front of the huge statue of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity.

There were already hundreds of thousands of people gathered there. There were cultivators from the Swordsage Palace, Administration Palace, Justice Palace, as well as the county yamens.

More people were arriving, flying in from all directions. Some people were missing limbs or were otherwise recovering from serious injuries. Some people had bloodshot eyes, while others suppressed their grief. These were the veterans from the western front.

Down in the imperial military camp, the soldiers stepped out of their tents and bowed their heads.

All families in the county emerged. Men. Women. Young ones. The elderly. They all looked at Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity.

On the western front, the prefectural cultivators and swordsages who were still part of the war effort all stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the county capital, their expressions full of sorrow.

And the humans who had returned from the front lines to their sects in various prefectures did the same. Bells tolled in all of those sects, spreading through the prefectures and filling all heaven and earth.

As one, the county mourned.

1. Xu Qing snuck into the city magistrate’s manor before the start of the story, though he recounted the incident in chapter 1. It was during that escapade that he got seriously injured. Only by shoving the violet crystal in his chest did he recover from that injury. He went back to the manor in chapter 44. ?