That night on New Year's Eve, when the city walls of Jianguo were broken through, was also during such a bitterly cold winter. Upon entering the palace, Yan Feili's crew had split up to find that emperor's figure. All while inside that palace, was a scene of chaos, as an unending slew of fallen corpses lay strewn over every visible inch, and a whatever servants were left, were scrambling for their lives.
Yan Fieli had no time—spared no time—to heed them, for a country under destruction was itself just a disaster, and as such, those people were simply all the victims of a catastrophe.
He found and grabbed a high-ranking eunuch who had served the inner palace, that man trembling as told him the emperor had already escaped with a group of armed guards. So Yan Feili released him, then rushed to his own horse to give chase, chasing that emperor all the way to the Imperial Palace's Houshan Mountain.
Atop that hillside, a great number of
corpses belonging to Jianguo's guards were lain, including those of some great experts, who's fresh blood gushing out in streams and still very much filled with warmth—meaning it had not been long since they fell. Such a visage left Yan Feili shocked.
Following this, at the foot of Mount Houshan, under a moonlit sky, the awed man could have sworn he had seen another "Bright Moon" below.
Below, that youth, had his entire form was clad in white; a double-edged flexible sword[1] clasped in his hand; exuding an air of icy elegance, much like a blossom in winter—seeming to be above all, like a god over the earth, as he stood within a sea of crimson blood.
With the radiant moon filled heaven shining behind him, the faint silvery hue of the moonlight seemed as if it emanated from within his own form. His beautiful, snow-like robe sleeve fluttering lightly, as beside him, an encirclement of scattered and broken corpses, including the ones of those twelve elite masters, lay. While before him, cowering weakly to such an extent it seemed like his soul had long departed from his body, was the emperor of Jianguo wearing a face paled in fear and trembling in pure fright. The sight further increasing the youth's callous grandeur, making the young man appear undefeatable by anyone existing in this world.
And Yan Feili loved the strong—he adored the strong.
Only the powerful could survive in these current troubled times; only the powerful could forge a new world for the sake of those who are weak! So with just that one instance, with no words needing to be said—with no reasons having to be stated—Yan Feili was profoundly subdued by the youth before his eyes. Climbing off his horse, he made his way to that young man.
Yan Feili soon saw a silver ring attached to the youth's left ear, a fierce and threatening flying dragon carved on top. The glittering of that silver ring in the moonlight, tricking one into thinking it was itself shining.
"Who are you?" the young man questioned coldly. The faint scent of plum blossoms wafting under the moonlit sky, made Yan Feili become a bit absentminded.
"I am called Yan Feili.[2]"
"So you're the leader of the rebel forces." the young man narrowed his eyes, inspecting the other man closely.
He had long heard of Jianguo's Rebel Army's campaign, the outstanding military successes they had achieved, as well as being regarded as a strong army in their own right. But their leader was unexpectedly young.
"Did you come here to kill him!" using his sword to point towards that fatuous emperor, he more stated to Yan Feili rather than asked.
"Yes!" Yan Feili turned to look at that incompetent, barely hanging on to consciousness and foaming at the mouth, person.
"You can have him!" The youth spoke arrogantly, like he did not care in the slightest.
Yan Feili did not feel as if he were insulted by this gesture at all, only that this was simply the natural manner of speaking for that young man.
After he went before that person, he raised his sword; and with only one light swing of that sharpened blade, blood gushed out, then a head tumbled to the ground.
Yan Feili, when he looked at the dead body in front of him, surprisingly, felt nothing inside. This was the man his master had always dreamt of killing, and now—ever so easily—he was simply dead.
If the one who had waved their sword was his master, would he had felt appeased? Would he have felt satisfied? Would his hatred have disappeared? These things he just did not know, these things he did not understand.
But now that he had finally completed his master's wish, what was he to do next? Yan Feili suddenly turned around, his gaze fixed upon that younger man. Having never before felt that the distance between himself and the radiant moonlight could be so close, it was almost within his grasp.
The youth allowed the other man to continue his stare. Leisurely moving to sheath his flexible sword on which not one trace of blood could be seen.
"You want to come with me." The younger man suddenly lifted his eyes and looked at him directly.
"Yes!" without even a second spared for consideration, Yan Feili replied.
Back then, he still did not understand why he had replied so easily, as if he had been waiting for that sentence for a long time. Like if there was a fear of not doing so, would lead his own regret.
Recalling those memories many years later, Yan Feili had no choice but to now admit; that at that time, his heart had just simply made the most direct, and most honest, decision for himself.
"Kneel before me: Beitang Ao, and pledge to me: throughout your entire life, I will be held above all else! Throughout your entire life, your loyalty will be for me alone! And Throughout your entire life, you will never betray me! Otherwise, you will suffer the most painful suffering imaginable on this earth; and in death, you will face eternal condemnation in hell!" the youth's cold tone held the grandeur of a god's. His expression remaining cold and detached, yet wild; arrogant, yet distant—dazzling under the reflection of the moonlight from above.
...
Yan Feili disbanded Pan's army.
He took the wealth accumulated after many years of campaigning and looting, and divided it equally amongst all within the group.
Those who wished to leave, they took their share of the wealth, hoping they could begin a new life in this chaotic world. And for those who did not wish to part, they stubbornly remained beside Yan Feili; hoping to be with him through thick and thin, sharing with him both honour and disgrace! And as for Liu Qi, he chose the former.
Yan Feili gave his share of the silver to him, and the two parted ways on the banks of the Lijiang River.
They had accompanied one another for over ten years, and they were close to each other as brothers would be. But in the end, because they both pursued different goals, now they had to part ways with the other, and each face a destiny of their own.
"Xiao Yan..." Liu Qi had always called him this, even after more than a decade, it never changed.
"I thought you wanted to enjoy a settled life."
Yan Feili did not respond.
Yes, it was true! He would love to settle down—settling down was something for which he yearned!
He had had enough of wondering around, and the beggar's life he led since childhood.
Although General Pan robbed from the rich to give to the poor, and his army had strict military discipline, what difference was there between them and common thieves! They both hacked out a living at knife-point and killing others just to not be killed. One could say, such a life had no stability, and there was nothing about it that made him want to stay. But now, he had come across that unreachable, distant shining moon.
So he was more than happy to abandon a dream peaceful life to pursue him. To abandon all attachments, with the sole wish to follow that person from behind, and to give that man all he has.
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[1] Ruanjian: a flexible sword that can bend like those unbreakable rulers(I still broke-___-). Here's a vid for reference {and my shameless attempt to shoehorn in a clip with one of my favorite actors( ꈍᴗꈍ)}
[2] Yan Feili used a humbling way to introduce himself here (在下) and usually in English things are spelled out more when being polite so・・・
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Updated on Saturdays.