Chaotic Times and Disasters: I Hunt Down Martial Arts Masters and Become a God

Fu Qing left the imperial study and walked out along the palace path, his boots making a dull sound as they stepped on the gold bricks.

He folded the approval document and put it in his pocket. A fleeting thought suddenly occurred to him: How could the old emperor be so quick to approve it? He didn't even say a word of polite refusal, but just approved it and even granted him a settlement allowance.

The feeling of satisfaction made him momentarily think that the emperor was actually a good person.

But the thought only lasted for a moment.

He walked to the palace gate, where the centurion of the Imperial Guards recognized him and straightened his back to salute.

Fu Qing nodded and stepped over the threshold of the palace gate. His boots landed on the bluestone slabs outside the gate, and the gate slowly closed behind him.

The lives of 60,000 soldiers in the Southern Frontier, the civilians outside Woye City controlled by Gu worms, the soldiers torn apart by the demon race in Luoying Ravine, and the brothers who fell on the way to the front in Wan Gu Gu Pass.

The Feng family was wiped out; Feng Changyang was poisoned to death by his own brothers, and the entire Feng family was exterminated, erasing their name from history.

The half of the country's territory, including more than a dozen states in the northern border of Yue Kingdom, which the emperor had taken in exchange for the Tongtian Seal, was won by 60,000 people and given away with just one seal.

He glanced back at the eaves of the Taiji Hall, where the glazed tiles gleamed with a cold, bluish light in the morning glow.

Ling Yushu was indeed kind to him—he was appointed General of Shengjing, given a general's mansion, rewarded with gold, silver and silk, and given medicine and the remains of an immortal.

He praised him in the battle reports from the southern frontier, supported him in front of the Duke of Liang, and approved his resignation memorial with great gusto.

But he could never bring himself to like the emperor's ruthlessness and incompetence.

He patted the approval document in his pocket and strode towards home.

...

That evening, Fu Qing set up a table of wine by the pond in the backyard of the General's Mansion.

It wasn't anything fancy. Song Yawei made a few scallion pancakes, Song Nini stewed a pot of meat, and then took out a plate of pickled radish, a plate of braised beef, and a plate of peanuts from the kitchen, putting together four or five dishes on the stone table.

Beside the stone table stood several old willow trees, their branches drooping over the water and swaying gently in the night breeze.

An Sheng carried a jar of old wine and pushed open the courtyard gate. Leo was dozing by the pond, with the little braid Fu Mingxuan had braided for him during the day still stuck in his mane. Hearing footsteps, he perked up his ears, then lazily drooped back down.

An Sheng slammed the jar of wine down on the stone table, making the peanuts in the dish jump.

"This is a bottle of aged Zhuyeqing liquor that my father treasured. He hid it in a secret compartment in his study for several years. I'm taking it out today to give you a farewell gift."

Before he could finish speaking, another series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate. Yu Fu, carrying a large bag of braised food wrapped in oil paper, burst through the gate, his round face jiggling as he ran, panting heavily. As soon as he entered, he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Brother Fu! Why didn't you tell me you were leaving beforehand! I only heard about it from Han Duo when I went to the Martial Arts Academy to find you this afternoon, and Han Duo heard it from Pei Qing!"

"I ran here without even changing my clothes. On the way, I stopped by Old Zhao's braised pork shop and bought all the remaining pig's trotters and ears for you to eat on the way!"

He piled the oil paper wrappings on the stone table, and the aroma of the braised food seeped through the oil paper, mixing with the smell of the pork rib soup.

Leo's nose twitched, he opened one eye to glance at the pile of oil paper packages, and then closed his eyes again.

The three of them sat down around the stone table.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, its silvery light spilling onto the pond, the willow branches, and the simple dishes on the stone table.

An Sheng broke the clay seal on the wine jar, and the aroma of the wine immediately filled the air, rich and lingering.

He poured three bowls of wine, picked up his own bowl, and clinked it against Fu Qing's bowl.

"Brother Fu, are you really going to the Northern Frontier? I've heard that place is even colder than the Southern Frontier. The wind feels like knives on your face, and in winter, even a piss can freeze into an icicle. It's much harsher than the Southern Frontier."

Fu Qing picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The Zhuyeqing wine was sweet at first taste, but had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

"Someone has to go. Although I am not surnamed Feng, I have the blood of the Feng family flowing in my veins. The Feng family ancestors fought there for more than a thousand years, and the line cannot end in my hands."

Yu Fu's mouth was stuffed full of braised beef, his cheeks bulging like a squirrel's.

"Is it because of the emperor?"

He swallowed the beef with difficulty, grabbed the wine bowl, and took a gulp, only to be choked and cough by the strong flavor of the bamboo leaf green liquor.

"My father said that at the court meeting that day, the emperor pretended to support you, but in reality, he put you in a very difficult position. He appointed you as the General of Shengjing, but you have no troops or power under your command; you're just an empty shell."

"My father said the emperor wants the Duke of Liang to fight you so he can sit back and watch the two tigers fight. Don't you think so?"

Fu Qing placed the wine bowl on the stone table, gazed at the moon's reflection in the pond, and remained silent for a long while before speaking.

"Yu Fu, your father has been in the court for so many years, he sees things more clearly than I do. The emperor has indeed treated me well. If it were someone else who killed the Duke's son, they would have been imprisoned long ago."

"Not only did he not punish me, but he also stood up for me and made the Duke of Liang apologize to me in public. The entire Feng family was wiped out, and he knew the truth but never exonerated the Feng family. I can't trust such a person."

An Sheng picked up his wine bowl and clinked it against Fu Qing's again. This time he didn't say anything, but just tilted his head back and downed the wine in one gulp.

Yu Fu, unusually, put down his half-eaten pig's trotter, picked up the wine jug, filled Fu Qing's cup, and then filled his own and An Sheng's cups as well.

"Brother Fu, what are your plans after you go to the Northern Frontier? Can you trust General Tuoba?"

"He should be reliable. Tuoba Gui has followed the Feng family for generations, so he can be trusted."

Fu Qing picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

"But the northern border is not monolithic. There are factions within the Feng family army. Some are still loyal to the Feng family, some want to join the imperial court, and some waver between the two sides. He has been holding on alone for too long. If I go, at least I can share some of the burden with him."

Yu Fu was silent for a moment, then picked up his wine bowl.

"Brother Fu, don't worry, my dad and I will take care of things back home. If there's anything I can help with, I won't refuse."

An Sheng also picked up his wine bowl, "I'll drink this bowl with you, and I'll come find you for a drink next time I go to the North."

The three of them drank the wine in their bowls in one gulp.

They drank until late at night, the wine jars were empty, and the braised dishes were all gone.

An Sheng lay slumped on the stone table, completely drunk, his face resting on his arm, a trace of wine still clinging to the corner of his mouth, and he began to snore.

Yu Fu leaned against a willow tree, his round face appearing pale in the moonlight, and unusually, he wasn't grinning.

"Brother Fu, my father also said that the northern border is not as peaceful as it used to be. If you go, they might submit to you, or they might not."

Fu Qing picked up the last bowl of wine and slowly drank it all.

"If you're not happy, then fight!"

...

The next morning, Fu Qing rode his horse out of Jingjing City.

The Medicine Palace was built in a secluded valley outside the city, with fields of medicinal herbs covering the mountains. When the morning breeze blew, the air was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance, bittersweet, just like the scent on Su Wen's body.

He walked up the stone steps, his boots slipping slightly on the moss-covered slabs. Several disciples of the Medicine Palace were squatting in the herb fields on either side, picking herbs. They looked up at him when they heard his footsteps, then lowered their heads and continued their work.

The main gate of the Medicine Palace consists of two heavy wooden doors with the two ancient seal characters "Medicine Palace" carved on the lintel. The paint on the door panels has been eroded by time and is mottled.

Two disciples of the Medicine Palace stood guard at the entrance. They were both about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in plain white disciple robes, with medicine pouches hanging from their waists.

Fu Qing walked to the door and said to one of the gatekeepers,

"My name is Fu Qing. I've come to receive Su Wen. Please inform him of my presence."

The disciple looked up at him, and his eyes widened slightly when he heard the name "Fu Qing".

"General Fu, please wait a moment..."

He turned and ran inside.

Fu Qing stood at the door waiting, his fingers tapping lightly on the hilt of his knife.

After a while, hurried footsteps came from inside the door, the steps were a bit chaotic.

The door was pushed open from the inside, and Su Xue stood in the doorway.

She was wearing a plain white robe, the robe of a disciple of the Medicine Palace. Her eyes were slightly red and still had wet tears on them, making it look like she had just been crying.

Fu Qing's heart sank.

Su Xue is Su Wen's senior sister. She is usually very cheerful and can laugh out loud even when she is chased all over the mountain by a troop of monkeys in the secret realm.

She stood in the doorway, her fingers gripping the doorframe, her lips trembling before she finally spoke.

"General Fu, I heard that she... in order to break through to the sixth rank of medicine, she damaged her foundation in medicine and has been unconscious for several days. She has been kept alive only by my master using two remnant pills, and she has not woken up yet."

Fu Qing's pupils contracted sharply, and his finger stopped. "Where is she?!"

Su Xue stepped aside to make way for him, leading him through the main hall of the medicine palace, through a corridor lined with medicine cabinets on both sides, through a courtyard filled with drying medicinal herbs, and to the door of a separate pharmacy at the far end.

The pharmacy door was ajar, and a very faint golden glow shone through the crack.

Su Xue pushed open the door, stepped aside to let Fu Qing in, then stepped outside and gently closed the door behind her.

The pharmacy was dimly lit, with the windows covered by thick medical cloths. Only a small medicine lamp in the corner emitted a faint green glow, and the air was filled with the mixed aroma of various medicinal herbs.

Suwen lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her face as pale as a sheet of paper, and her lips devoid of any color.

Her hands were outside the blanket, her breathing was so weak it was almost imperceptible, her chest barely rose and fell, only the flame of the medicine lamp flickered slightly, proving that she was still alive.

...