The Magus Era

As the morning mist suffused the open field, the group of people finally left Si Xi’s cottage.

Emperor Shun still needed to go find the leaders of those clans and do some strenuous arguments with them, trying his best to draw a satisfying end to the Chi Ban Mountain war.

Huaxu Lie and Lie Mountain Kang headed back to their own clans delightfully with their personal army troops under their leads. This time, both of them had been rewarded and attained their very own territories, and now, each of them was going to gather a batch of clansmen who were willing to pledge loyalty to them. They would then develop and construct their territories.

The thin milky white mist was attached to the ground, drifting along the wind.

From afar came gentle and beautiful singing of young girls who had gotten up early and been doing the laundry by the streams. A few streams slowly flowed across, along with waves of water clattering sounds made by those laundry girls.

Ji Hao and Si Wen Ming walked in the boundless open field. Surrounding them were wild floristic woods that reached to their waists in height. Those fresh and tender scapes could be broken by a single slight touch, and once they were broken, sweet and fresh juice would gush out of the fractures, emitting a dense refreshing scent.

At first glance, the sight was filled up with red and white petals. As the sun rose in the east and the dew drops on the petals and leaves evaporated gradually, the mist grew even denser than before. Breezes blew across, making thousands of fist-sized flowers rustle along. Ji Hao only felt extra relaxed and happy. Abruptly, he raised his head and gave a loud growl.

The long growl spread out like waves of tidewater. Battle beasts raised by people living in Pu Ban city heard the growl and responded with waves of roars as well. Within a short while, strong waves of reverberant roars of different creatures rose one after another without an end, which sounded rather lively.

Si Wen Ming laughed out loud. He held his hands behind his body, walking forwards at a steady pace, step by step. After quite a while, he said to Ji Hao, “What you said just now had even Emperor Shun shocked…Your point of view is correct. If we want to rival the non-humankind, our humankind has to combine our powers, weave our powers into a tough rope.”

Raising his hands, Si Wen Ming looked at the sun rising in the east and continued word by word, “All powers have to be gathered; all warriors have to obey one and solely one will. Our humankind cannot stay like a puff of drifting sands anymore. Instead, we have to be a unity.”

Ji Hao looked at Si Wen Ming, who had a solemn look on his face. Seeing this, he felt that his mind was boiling while an indescribably great feeling arose spontaneously from his heart.

He then said seriously, “Those warriors from the rebel troops should have realized that they are all human beings… that they should be fighting for the entire humankind. Their swords and blades can only face enemies, instead of piercing towards their own kind only because of an order given by their elders.”

“But they have already gotten used to listening to their elders’ orders and slaughtering other human beings for the benefits of their own clans.” Si Wen Ming raised his pair of arms high and thundered. “This kind of thing has to be twisted. Something has to be changed. Otherwise, we will never have any hope.”

Turning around, Si Wen Ming pointed to the north and said, “This time, we got lucky and defeated the non-humankind, but what if they come back?”

“If those terrifying beings that once nearly made the famous three ancient emperors fall back in the ancient time descended once again… if those dreadfully powerful beings combined all their powers and launched an all-out attack on us… if during the battles that would decide the fate of the entire humankind, a few, even ten more people like Ying Yunpeng emerged…We would be totally out of hope.” Si Wen Ming gasped deeply while looking at Ji Hao and seriously shaking his head.

“I’ve been to the central area of the Yu Dynasty, and I’ve seen their real potential. I know how terrifying they are.”

Si Wen Ming said quickly, “I also know about something that those clan leaders and elders know, yet they aren’t willing to believe, and nor do they want to think about. They always think that as long as they don’t think about those things and cast those things out of their concerns, those facts would stop existing and they would be able to sit on the positions of clan leaders and elders and live happily ever after.”

“But that’s not true!” Si Wen Ming waved his hand and continued loudly, “The non-humankind will come, they will certainly come. For now, they are maintaining a general peace with us only because they are too busy to deal with us at the moment.”

Pointing his finger at the sky, Si Wen Ming carried on in a loud and clear voice, “When they have the time when they could deploy more military forces, they will march into our lands with real elite armies. At that time, our humankind would become slaves forever and ever! Just like the dark-kind, like those non-humankind slaves, our children, our children’s children, would all become slaves!”

Si Wen Ming drummed his own chest and roared at Ji Hao while staring at him with a pair of eyes that had been glowing brightly as if filled with surging lava. “I’d rather have my body smashed into pieces than let my children, my children’s children, and my generations of descendants who will inherit my bloodline, become slaves and lie under the feet of those non-humankind beings like animals, and be trampled upon.”

Ji Hao felt boiling blood surging around his heart. He gnashed his teeth and said, “No one can enslave our children and our descendants.”

Si Wen Ming clenched his fists and threw a slight punch on Ji Hao’s chest, then lowered his voice, pointed at the Yao Mountain and said, “In a couple of days, people and supplies belonging to you will all be ready. Yao Mountain is a nice place, Ji Hao. I hope you can help me in the future.”

Si Wen Ming then looked at Ji Hao and exhorted, “Beware of Wuzhi Qi and Gong Gong Wuyou… beware of those Northern Wasteland clans. More importantly, you should also beware of people from Ten Sun Country. For you, Ten Sun Country can be even more dangerous than Wuzhi Qi…Ten Sun Country and your Gold Crow Clan have been feuding for years!”

But right after he said that Si Wen Ming laughed out relaxedly. He remained looking at Ji Hao and continued, “However, you shouldn’t be afraid of them.”

Ji Hao looked back at Si Wen Ming and said in a serious tone, “Why should I be afraid of them? They should be afraid of me.”

The two of them stood side by side, facing the sun rising in the east. The sunshine poured down and evaporated this milky-white watery mist. They stood there seeing the field becoming clear and fresh and the Pu Ban city gradually waking up from a deep sleep, emitting the special and magical splendor which belonged solely to it.

People walked on the streets while the crows of roosters and barks of dogs mixed together. Streams of smokes rose from kitchen chimneys, coiling up along the wind. Showering under the warm sunshine, Pu Ban city was so lively.

Till late in the morning, both of them let out a long breath simultaneously. Ji Hao grinned and said, “Pu Ban is a nice place.”

Si Wen Ming nodded deeply and responded, “Pu Ban is truly a nice place.”

Pausing briefly, Si Wen Ming suddenly changed the topic and said, “Ying Yunpeng and the other rebelling elders are all kept in Pu Ban Prison. Yesterday, I heard Hao Tao say that Ying Yunpeng has been yelling that he wants to see you in person.”

“See me?” Ji Hao paused and murmured to himself, “I don’t think I have this kind of a friendly relationship with him, do I? And he’s now in hell of a trouble, does he still have time to see me?”

Si Wen Ming frowned in confusion as well and said, “It’s indeed a bit strange. Ying Yunpeng has an odd temperament, and he has been a bit too arrogant and bullying all the time. But in all fairness, he’s not a truly bad guy. In Pu Ban city, among clan leaders and elders of large and powerful clans, many even have odder and fiercer temperaments than he does. This time he suddenly turned the weapon around without any sign, which shouldn’t have happened at all.”

Ji Hao remained silent for a while, then raised his head and glanced at the sky. He smiled and said, “In this case, let’s go meet our elder Ying Yunpeng.”

He then looked at Si Wen Ming and continued smilingly, “I’m curious anyway. What makes him want to see me?”