Reign of the Phoenix

The guards pointed sharpened iron bars at the stone door and began to beat them with hammers. Bit by bit, stone chips fell off from the door. This was Gao Chenghao’s new strategy.

Originally, he wanted to use the explosive and blow the door open, but that was only a last resort in case he had to rush for time. Using violent means would have a high chance of destroying that peerless book inside.

According to Gao Chenghao’s calculation, it’d take at least two days to chip away at the stone door. Without the threat from Chiyun Yuexuan, he had enough time to take it slow with the treasure. Thinking of the treasure that was soon to become his, he could already foresee the future where he dominated this world.

Evening in Gao Chenghao’s estate, there were noises of people playing “raise fingers, guess number[ A drinking game: two people raise their fingers and say a number at the same time. The one who guesses the total number fingers raised by both will be the winner. The loser will drink as punishment.

].” The guards drank as they watched Xing Yao’s charming, exotic dance. Xing Qi was making her way among them, pouring wine for everyone. Drinking too much, the guards wantonly pulled on Xing Qi and teased her.

The guards’ lecherous laughter somehow frustrated Gao Chenghao, who buried himself into draining cups. Soon, he became tipsy and barked, “You dog servants! Having fun fooling around with women when your master is down. Are you making fun of me?!”

A guard who didn’t know what had happened to him responded, “Your Highness didn’t even touch the line when that Shangxia princess already escaped. We servants are still looking forward to one day, you’d get fed up with her and allow us brothers to have a taste.”

Under the influence of alcohol, the guards only care about flirting with Xing Qi. No one noticed that Gao Chenghao had stumbled up on his feet and grabbed a sword. Walking over, he thrust right through the chest of the guard who had spoken just now. The latter struggled a little before he stopped breathing altogether.

Terrified, Xing Yao and Xing Qi squatted down on the ground hugging their heads. The other guards were scared to half sober up and stiffened where they sat, trembling.

Gao Chenghao threw the sword aside. “Dog servant, you dared fantasizing about your master’s beloved woman? Murong Zhining is mine, she belongs to me and only me!”

…

After two days of continuous hammering in the cave under cliff of the dragon-head mountain, they finally pierced out a small hole on the stone door. Gao Chenghao looked through the hole into a dark space, where he could faintly discerned a row of bottles neatly lay at the rear cave wall.

Gao Chenghao was overjoyed. He ordered his underlings to speed up on opening the door. He couldn’t wait to take possession of the treasure.

Roughly four hours later, there was a hole big enough for a person to slip through on the door. Gao Chenghao had a guard go in to scout with a torch.

It was only a few steps inside when the guard seemed to trigger some mechanism. A bunch of big rocks fell from the top, burying him underneath. Gao Chenghao sucked in a cold breath. He ordered another guard to go in. Knowing Gao Chenghao’s ruthlessness, the guard bit the bullet and raised his torch, and slipped into the cave.

Gao Chenghao anxiously waited outside for the guard’s report, but he only got a shrill scream in return before everything was silent. He impatiently called out, “What’s the situation inside?”

Responding him was his own echo.

Gao Chenghao knitted his brows. Waving his hand, he ordered another guard to go in.

This guard instantly knelt in fright. “Fourth Prince, please spare my life. I still have aging parents and small children to take care of. Please spare me!”

Gao Chenghao kicked the guard to the ground, then grabbed the torch in his hand and went into the cave himself. Under the faint torchlight, he saw the second guard lying on the ground with a ferociously distorted face and two bloody punctures on the back of his hand. Gao Chenghao instantly scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, a snake with flickering tongue slithered by his feet and fled into the darkness.

Gao Chenghao heaved a long breath before shouting outside, “You useless bunch, roll in here! There’s no danger inside!”

With the addition of many more torches, the interior was now clear to see, but Gao Chenghao’s frown grew even deeper. This was far too different from what he had imagined of the treasure. There were no piles of silver, gold and jewelry, only five bottles placed next to the wall. Still holding a sliver of hope, he kicked a bottle. It broke under his kick and some copper coins rolled out.

Nearly driven insane by rage, Gao Chenghao violently kicked the other four. Without an exception, there were only scattered broken copper coins mixed some other coins, and some pieces of silver.

Gao Chenghao viciously stomped on the coins to vent his fury. “Treasure? How the hell is this treasure? Just some damn private savings of some pork dealers! Even the heavens are making fun of me now?!”

Insensitive enough, a guard chose this moment to console him, “These coins are from several hundred years ago, they’re worth quite a sum now.”

Upon hearing those words, Gao Chenghao, who was nursing a stomach of fire without a place to vent, thought this guard was mocking him. He pressed the guard onto the ground and stuffed the coins in his mouth. “Come, they’re very valuable! I’ll let you have them all!”

Unwilling to give up just yet, Gao Chenghao meticulously examined the cave but reaped no harvest. He dejectedly withdrew from the cave.

In the evening, Gao Chenghao drank in frustration in his estate. Unknowingly, he had drunk too much again.

Falling on the carpet next to the table, Gao Chenghao stared at the ceiling in a daze. In his hallucination, Murong Zhining squatted down next to him, twirling her hair as she looked at him with a charming smile. “Fourth Prince, I heard that you found the Beiyan treasure. Congratulations.”

Gao Chenghao wanted to reach his hands and pull her, but his arms didn’t have a bit of strength. He helplessly lay there, unable to tell whether this was a dream or reality with his groggy mind.

He saw that irritating guy Chiyun Yuexuan also coming along with her. Chiyun Yuexuan stood next to where he lay with crossed-arms, looking down at him, and even gave him a kick. “Your Highness, did you dig up the private savings hidden by some old farmer? Hahahah…”

Gao Chenghao glanced from the corners of his eyes to see his guards were also sprawling all over the floor.

Xing Yao looked at Tuoba Zhi as if boasting about her credit. “I put Hardcore Knockout Drug you gave me in their dinner.”

Chiyun Yuexuan checked all of the room. “Seems that they didn’t find anything. There’s no such thing as Beiyan treasure, only a lie invented by the later generations.”

Tuoba Zhi mused for a moment. “I don’t think so. This is just a camouflage trick by the Murongs to make people think that there is no treasure. The real treasure won’t be so easy to find.”

Murong Zhining leaned over to Gao Chenghao. “Fourth Prince, you see it now? There’s no such thing in this world as ‘Murongs’ treasure,’ so please stop following me from now on. Return to your country and do meaningful things.”

Gao Chenghao was unable to move, but his mind gradually cleared up. His eyes were filled with venomous hatred. “Even if you run to the end of the earth, I will follow you like a shadow. Seizing you as mine shall be the most meaningful thing I will ever have done.”

Chiyun Yuexuan gave Gao Chenghao another kick and took out his dagger. “Still work your smart mouth even at this point? I’ll just skin your right here and now.”

Murong Zhining tugged on his sleeves. “You can’t! We’re in my father’s country territory, you can’t touch him here.”

Gao Chenghao laughed out loud, “Hahaha, Princess is reluctant about me, this is the treatment that you’ll never have, General Chiyun. When you fell into my hands, Princess didn’t care a tiny bit about your life and death. Since you like me so much, Princess, I won’t disappoint you.”

…

Back in Lian Kun’s estate, Murong Zhining sat at the table in her room. Chiyun Yuexuan was sitting opposite her.

“Ning’er, if there’s no clue to the treasure, we should leave right away. I want to take you away from this worrisome place as soon as possible. We don’t know anything about Tuoba Zhi’s father. For him to suddenly ask to meet you at this kind of time, I feel that something is off.”

Murong Zhining lowered her eyes. “You’re over worrying. Mister Tuoba saved us, and Old Mister Yuan is our senior. Since he wrote a letter asking for a meeting, I naturally can’t excuse myself out of it, personal relationship-wise or reason-wise. If anything, I still have you here, don’t I?”

Chiyun Yuexuan frowned. “I’ve always felt that Yuan Dong is an old fox, quietly watching everything to play out, lying in wait like the fisherman waiting to reap all the benefits.”

Murong Zhining pouted in displeasure. “You aren’t allowed to slander him!”

The next day, Tuoba Zhi’s father, Yuan Dong, arrived at Xingzhou and met Murong Zhining at Lian Kun’s estate. He looked to be over 40 years old with, seemingly very young in light-yellow brocade robe with the ‘fortune’(福) word patterns. Just like Tuoba Zhi, his bearing was refined and extremely scholarly. However, from the strong muscles seen under the brocade, he was certainly not a pure man of letters, but more like an old hand who was adept at martial arts. Chiyun Yuexuan creased his brows at this.

Yuan Dong respectfully cupped his hands. “Commoner Yuan Dong greets Your Highness!”

Murong Zhining smiled brightly. “Uncle is too polite. I have received kind favors from Mister Tuoba and am a friend of his. I dare not let myself be addressed highly in front of you. You can directly call me by my name.”

Yuan Dong lowered his head. “I have raised my son to be so ignorant of the rules. I am ashamed.”

Following ‘the guest is the biggest,’ Murong Zhining had Yuan Dong be seated at the highest seat. Everyone else also took their seats, wanting to hear the reason for Yuan Dong’s visit.

Seeing Yuan Dong hesitate to say something, Murong Zhining offered a friendly smile. “If Uncle has something to say, please don’t hesitate. We juniors are all close friends and often gather to discuss the Beiyan treasure. Since we’re all fated, there’s no secret between us.”

Tuoba Zhi also nodded towards Yuan Dong. “Please rest assured, father, they are all trustworthy people.”

Yuan Dong’s expression was heavy. “This old man just happened to be doing business in the vicinity of Xingzhou when I heard that you were here, so I took the liberty of coming to see you in order to clear your doubts, regardless whether you will believe me or not. We Tuoba clan absolutely has no ambition for the Murongs’ treasure. I only want this dispute that has lasted for hundreds of years to quickly end, and hope that no one else will have to lose their life for it. Let me first tell you an old story.”

Yuan Dong began to slowly narrate: Legend had it that the Qin State was able to unify the six states because they possessed the most advanced weapons at the time. Not only did they mastered the most advanced technology, they also made ballistae that could accurately hit the target from a very long distance. This made the six other states trembled with fear.

Qin Shi Huang utilized his supreme weapons and well-trained army to rampage invincibly through the expedition war against the six states. Nothing could stop him from ultimately merging the territories of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei into the map of Qin.

After Qin Shi Huang unified the states, he continued to attach great importance to the research and production of weaponry. He knew full well that military force was the true way of a powerful country. Therefore, The First Emperor of Qin secretly assembled a group of experts, who then specialized in research to improve weapons and yielded great progress.

Aside from his obsession for making weapons, Qin Shi Huang also paid attention to his physical maintenance. In order to achieve immortality, he ate various pills refined by alchemists over a long time, several of which had been tested by his subordinates and proved that they could really return people to their young state. Unfortunately, Qin Shi Huang had eaten too large a number of pills over the years, inevitably accumulating pill toxins. Finally, the toxins acted up and his body gradually collapsed.