Chapter 242: Why?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yes, the north wind that had been blowing grew stronger as the army’s flags fluttered and danced harmoniously in the wind, adding to the grandeur of the event.
The expressions on countless faces changed when they saw this phenomenon; some of them were delighted while some of them were worried; others just had mixed feelings. Somewhere among the crowd, there was a small group of people who remained stoic but their gazes shone brilliantly, the sharpness within barely concealed.
"Indeed…"
Qiu Jianhan stood in the breeze, his gaze distant and longing.
The wind grew stronger and more violent.
His Majesty, who was waiting with his head lowered, raised it high in alarm as he stood up expectantly.
Yang Botao’s eyes shut slowly.
He would come! How could he not? Once he comes, I’m gone.
It was something he had acknowledged and had been prepared for, but when the time truly arrived, his last sliver of hope would be gone.
Nobody among the Four Seasons Tower’s experts was bothered with Yang Botao’s emotions; they were concentrating and connecting their deific consciousness to lock the entire Tiantang Square down.
"Get ready!"
The wind came as it ruffled the clouds.
The puffs of clouds fluttered and rippled, shifting far towards the other end of the sky from where they condensing above the heads.
The sky broke through then, a dazzlingly blue sheen; not a cotton puff of white was seen for as far as it stretched. The sun was incandescent as it shone upon the world.
The crowd in Tiantang Square cheered – it was the voice of the people.
"Supreme Wind! Supreme Wind!"
The deafening cheer was ceaseless, the people’s eyes moist.
What was never lost could hardly be appreciated – it was always taken for granted.
When the Nine Supremes were still here to contribute to the nation and fight in their wars, everyone revered them, acknowledging the existence of the nine heroes – they were Yutang’s guardians.
It was until they had lost them that they truly realized what the Nine Supremes had brought to Yutang in guarding the empire.
It had been a little more than a year since the Nine Supremes’ doom, while the war was still ongoing from four sides of the country. The empire was tiptoeing on eggshells, the situation so critical that even an ordinary home in Yutang was affected.
With the influx of news on the war came the news regarding the souls perished during the battles. If the war news from all country’s borders were described as falling snow, the countless notifications of death were like snowstorms. The Empire of Yutang had triumphed with its army, yet it was a public enemy and had been attacked from all directions; there was only a handful of families in Yutang who did not have someone enlisted in the military. It was nothing out of ordinary for a family to send seven to eight men out to the war; for some homes who had more sons, it was incredibly common.
When the Board of War’s personnel began distributing the list of fallen names and pensions, everyone waited anxiously with outstretched necks. Each one of them was petrified of their name being called out as that would only mean that one of their relatives had sacrificed themselves to the nation!
Such anxious anticipation would only be quelled when the list of names was done being announced. They would then comfort those wailing in grief before returning home to wait for the next notification…
The cycle of waiting would then be repeated, as would the anxious suffering.
Almost everyone had realized that the war news had been unprecedentedly frequent in the past years and the number of soldiers who had fallen had escalated.
When the people gathered, it was rare to hear someone asking, "Have you heard? Someone’s son from the next village has fallen somewhere…" They would then shake their head sighing and went on with each other's lives. It would be a long time before similar news would be heard again.
It was totally different this year.
Every once in a while, the relaying of war news that spoke of countless lives that one had seen, those of their neighbors and relatives… lives that once they had encountered with their own eyes, they were all turned into names on a piece of paper and were never seen again.
There were too many of them!
There were seven brothers from a family who had joined the military together to guard the border. The family had only received the brothers’ letter the year before last that relayed their wellbeing of all seven brothers. However, since last year, news basically arrived once a month that the family had already received six death notifications up till today.
The poor old lady had wailed in grief for a long time…
The citizens who didn't even know how to read had realized something clearly – it was the Nine Supremes!
A Yutang that was deprived of the Nine Supremes was entirely different.
Previously, everyone could live their lives in contentment while the Nine Supremes were still here; despite the existing risk for a loved one to join the army, they would be fine thinking that their loved one had just gone for a long trip. There would come a time when they would be back and a family reunion could be set.
There was only a handful of casualties every year, one’s family would not be that unfortunate – it was a common understanding.
Now that the Nine Supremes were no more, each sending-off between a family and their children to depart for war was anguishing. It was a separation that might be for life.
It was an immense difference.
As time went on, as the warfare grew frequent, as the country’s situation turned increasingly precarious, as the people who received the notification of perished names increased… everyone began to miss the days when the Nine Supremes were still around.
More and more people were thinking, "If the Nine Supremes Lords were still here, how can Yutang lose so tragically? How can so many soldiers have perished?"
"If the Nine Supremes Lords were still here, my son would not have died."
"If the Nine Supremes Lords were still here…"
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When Tie Zheng returned from the Tianxuan Cliff’s battle with the news that perhaps someone among Nine Supremes might still be alive, the entire nation was thrown into an uproar. However, so much time had passed and there was no longer credible news that was being relayed.
Hope gave way to doubt and disappointment.
There were also a group of people who assumed the news was a trick of the higher-ups to pacify the people.
In spite of all that, today was a good day! They would finally see the Nine Supremes Lords with their own eyes!
There was indeed a member of the Nine Supremes Lords who was alive!
At this moment, as the wind billowed in Yutang, no one could ever understand the turmoil in each of the Yutang citizen’s hearts!
Their hearts were as one, anticipating Nine Supremes Lords to reemerge in the human realm to guard Yutang once more.
The wind whistled, slowing turning into a huge tornado in the air as it swirled swiftly above Tiantang Square in a column that was slowly descending.
As the air whistled, a silhouette in black appeared in the sky; the tornado had suddenly become the image of a person dressed in black, wearing a black mask. The man landed on the two hundred feet tall flagpole lightly as he stood on one foot, overlooking what laid beneath him with fluttering clothes.
Qiu Jianhan’s gaze tore through the distance to look upon the faraway individual, his entire being shaken the moment their eyes met.
How much desolation and how much loneliness were swirling in the gaze; how much despair and how much resentment!
He had come.
Despite the thunderous cheering of the crowd beneath him, he stood tall on the flagpole – like a sharp sword that stabbed towards the heavens!
He did not come down.
Qiu Jianhan took a large step forward and cupped his palm over his fist, asking, "Is it Lord Supreme Wind who has come?"
High in the sky, the man in black waved his arm – the medallion of Supreme Wind clearly on display for all to see.
Without waiting for Qiu Jianhan to speak another word, Supreme Wind, who stood on the pole scoffed faintly and said, "Nine Heavens Dictum, Residence of Nine Supremes. Wind has come today to end a grudge."
Faraway, on the other side where the Residence of Nine Supremes could still be faintly seen from where they were quaked out of the blue before nine rainbows gushed and soared into the sky!
Red, orange, yellow, light green, green, blue, purple, white, and black.
The nine rainbows swirled and intersected each other in the sky like they were alive, like a dragon. They went higher and higher, gradually disappearing into the high heavens where the eye could no longer follow.
Was this a miracle? Perhaps it was God's will!
It was something that could not be forged nor imitated.
"Lord Supreme Wind! It’s really Lord Supreme Wind who has graced us with his presence!"
The entire Tiantang City was abuzz. When the wind grew stronger, the people at the square could already sense it and smiles on their faces grew as well; when the silhouette amidst the wind appeared, Tiantang Square turned immediately into an ocean of happiness.
Supreme Wind had appeared. He had reappeared in Yutang.
He need not prove his identity. Just arriving as a gust of wind and waving his arm about could already unite the crowd and rid them of their doubts. With the consecutive reaction from the Residence of Nine Supremes, it had further verified Supreme Wind’s identity.
Plenty of soldiers who had never shed a single drop of tear had their eyes shining with brimming moisture. The Nine Supremes Lords who were undefeated had appeared once more today!
At the same time, three strong mental forces met in the air.
"What is going on? There is no doubt about the man’s physical being but why can’t it be caught hold of?"
"I can’t get a hold of him either. The physical aspect looks real but it’s like he’s only an intangible mirage."
"Same situation here. Shapeless as the wind may be, traces would be left wherever it passes. How can it be so unreal!?"
"F*ck, what is happening?"
As the consciousness separated, they had made a decision swiftly.
The man still stood tall on the flagpole, his voice desolate and forlorn. "On the battle at Tianxuan Cliff that day, eight hundred and eight brothers of mine were ambushed and succumbed to death… Until now, whenever I think of their voices and faces, it’s like they’re still right before me. Yang Botao, can you tell me why?"
The battle at Tianxuan Cliff – The Nine Supremes and eight hundred warriors who had fallen into an ambush in their advance to assist. It was a fight that brought great pain, how could anyone have forgotten it?
Speaking of the battle, not only was it unforgettable, it was the most heartbreaking fight for Yutang in nearly a hundred years – more so than the war that the Shangguan Family of Generals’ three marshals had perished in.
The reason was that it was in this battle that the Empire of Yutang had lost the Nine Supremes!
It was for this reason that the Empire of Yutang’s recent critical battles had no way of being turned for the better; it was for this reason that countless men from Yutang had sacrificed themselves. Whether personally or formally, whether it was for the country or people, everyone in Yutang loathed the people who planned the conspiracy, resented those who formed the ambush, hated the men who killed these fallen warriors.
In spite of this, it wasn't the people who killed Nine Supremes that everyone in Yutang, His Majesty included, hated the most. It was their own countrymen who had betrayed the Nine Supremes behind their backs!
Everyone wanted to ask, "Why are you doing this, as a man of Yutang?"
Everyone else outside of the Empire of Yutang held an opposite stance against Yutang, they were enemies. Being hostile, targeting, scheming and even tricking the Nine Supremes were measures within reason. Even if their tactics were tasteless, they could hardly be blamed. However, as a citizen of Yutang’s citizen, how could you?
Today, when this person had appeared and was questioned directly by Supreme Wind, one of the Nine Supremes, the question in everyone’s heart was finally raised, "Why?"
Gazes of unadulterated resentment were harshly directed at Yang Botao.