Chapter 589
Twenty years ago, the cause of the war between the five countries was the magic weapon of the Demon Sect.
Jun Hezai stirred up the storm for this object.
But Jiang Tianye didn’t care about this object at all, so that in the end, Madam Qingyang tragically died by the Di River, and Jun Hezai never got the magic weapon.
After Jiang Ran finished speaking, he looked at Jun Hezai in silence:
“Twenty years ago, the reason I survived was not because I was so lucky…
“It was because I had to.”
That year, the snowfall was so heavy that it covered the sky.
A child still in his infancy was being chased by so many experts.
Even if the guards around him were dutiful,
they would eventually all die.
The moment Jiang Ran opened his eyes, he was in the middle of an empty snowy field.
If someone hadn’t brought him to that empty place, how could a few-month-old child have managed to escape from the crowd and appear there alone?
“It was too bad that Duan Dongliu came at that time.”
Jun Hezai sighed:
“Otherwise, that night, I would have taken you away.
”If I had raised you personally, why would I have wasted so much effort?
“I imagine that whether it was asking you to open that door or doing something else, Your Highness would be willing to do it for me.
“Unfortunately…at that time, Duan Dongliu could not be provoked.
”And ever since he took you away, he has been guarding your safety with his life.
“I have tried several times to take you away, but I never had the chance.”
“Logically speaking, you are capable of harming the Demon Sect, so how could an old drunkard, alone, possibly be your match?”
Jiang Ran asked quietly.
“Does Your Excellency know… who the people were that joined forces with me in the past?”
“I would like to hear more.”
“The best masters in the five countries.”
Jun Hezai smiled and said,
“The martial arts skills of each of them is not inferior to the three standing in front of you.
”They are on par with me…
“Just imagine, cooperating with them is like asking a tiger for its hide.
“Before anything is achieved, there is still a chance.
“But once it is achieved… we will evolve into a series of killings among each other, and the final outcome is still unknown.
”At that time, my subordinates will ultimately be just a pawn of the Demon Sect.
“Without sufficient support, even martial arts will seem so mediocre.
”Under these circumstances, how can I join forces with them again?
“That is the path to death.”
“Therefore, you could only rely on your own strength to find a way to take me away, but the old drunkard would not give you such an opportunity. After that, you gave up…“
”That’s right,“
Jun Hezai smiled and said,
”But everything was worth it.
“After twenty years of twists and turns…everything is still under the control of your subordinate.
”My lord, give up. What is blocking you today is far more powerful and more terrifying than when we teamed up to kill Jiang Tianye twenty years ago.
“Even if your martial arts have long surpassed Jiang Tianye’s, today you…will definitely die!“
”Just for this object?“
Jiang Ran lifted the mysterious black iron box in his hands.
Jun Hezhai’s gaze did not seem to be burning with any passion, and he merely nodded:
”Just for this object.“
”Very well…“
Jiang Ran said:
”I can give you this object.“
Jun Hezhai was taken aback, and then he laughed:
”Your Highness, these words are truly hard to believe.”
“Never mind.“
Jiang Ran waved his hand:
”But before that, there is something that is puzzling to me, and I want to ask you…“
”Your Highness, just speak.“
Jun Hezhai said frankly:
”Today, we have come to the end of the road, and I will tell you everything, without holding back.“
”May I ask if the Golden Cicada Emperor is here as well?”
Jiang Ran suddenly made a startling remark.
And once the words were out, not only did Jun Hezai’s face change subtly, but the people behind Jiang Ran were also stunned.
The princess’s hand trembled slightly.
First, she clutched the hem of her skirt, then let go, and clenched her fist.
Qingyuandaozi couldn’t help but speak:
“Jiang, what do you mean?”
Jiang Ran didn’t answer Qingyuandaozi’s words, but looked at Jun Hezai.
Jun Hezai was silent for a moment before letting out a breath:
“Your Highness, this remark is even more puzzling to your subordinate…
“Everyone knows that the Four Kingdoms are besieging Jinchan, and the Jinchan Emperor has the entire country’s strength backing you up.
”How could he be by your side?“
”Isn’t that strange?“
Jiang Ran said as he opened a gourd of wine and took a sip:
”Guan Changqing is a man of great integrity…To tell you the truth, I actually admire such people.
“Those with feelings and loyalty, those with integrity, those with deep sense of justice…
“For anything I can’t do, I will always respect and admire those who can.
”But for such a person to admit before dying that he is subject to you,
“this is not right.
”Even if you are a hero, you are just a roughneck.
“Unless you completely control him with the methods of the devil cult, he will never submit to someone like you.”
“…Perhaps Your Highness has overestimated his integrity.“
”Then Your Highness might as well doubt whether there is someone who is willing to bear all the costs and give him such an order?“
Jiang Ran’s gaze fell on Jun Hezai:
”And as far as I know, there is only one person in the world who can do this.“
”Sure enough, you have been doubting me since that time.”
A voice that Jiang Ran and the princess felt familiar with came from behind Jun Hezai.
It came from a man in black, wearing a mask on his face, who walked out of the shadows.
He spoke, then stood next to Jun Hezai and looked at Jiang Ran and the others with him.
At the same time, he slowly reached out his hand, grabbed his mask, and removed it to reveal his true face.
It was the Golden Cicada Emperor!
“Shan Yuzhi!!!“
The princess stared at the face that had made such an impression on her since childhood, and said in a firm voice:
”Have you gone mad?“
”Yuzhi, I told you that you shouldn’t get too close to him.
“How can a lowly nobody like him be worthy of the Princess Golden Cicada?
”But you seem to have your heart set on him…
“You’re determined to run away with the Demon Lord… You really broke my brother’s heart.”
The Golden Cicada Emperor, Shan Yuzhi, sighed gently:
“Now, just because I stand on opposite sides with him, you want to say…that I’m crazy?
”I would like to ask you:
“Where exactly am I crazy?
”Ever since I ascended the throne, there have been rumors that I am a conservative ruler who seeks not to make achievements but to avoid mistakes.
“They were wrong!
“What I want is for the whole world to be my kingdom, and all the people in it to be my subjects!
”I want to fill the world with my golden cicada empire… I want my golden cicada people to never again suffer the hardships of war!
“Am I… wrong? !”
At first, his voice still had a hint of the regret a brother might feel for his sister, but the more he spoke, the more passionate he became, until in the end, it was already high-pitched.
For the first time in many years, the pent-up anger in his heart was presented so directly to everyone’s eyes.
However, the expression on the princess’s face did not change.
She just felt more and more uncomfortable:
“So, you can do anything?
”Even team up with someone like Jun Hezai?“
”You can be close to the Demon Lord, why can’t I work with you?“
”Besides, those who achieve great things don’t care about small details.
“Integrity, kindness, and the way of a gentleman are for show, to reassure people.
“But if you show love and friendship to your enemies, it’s just ridiculous.”
The Golden Cicada Emperor looked at the Princess and sighed again:
“Come, Yuchen, come to your brother’s side.
”If you come over here obediently and never ask about what happened today, you will still be my Golden Cicada Princess.“
”I see…”
The Princess let out a long breath:
“My brother thinks that I really treasure the title of princess?
“When I was a princess, I always had the people of Jincheng in mind.
”Now, if you don’t want me to be the princess, it’s like taking off all the shackles on me, so that I can choose more freely what I want to do.“
”Do you think I’m giving you a choice?“
The Jincheng emperor looked at her coldly:
”If today, you choose to turn your back on me,
“Then you are my enemy.“
Having said this, he clapped his hands lightly.
In an instant, a murderous aura surged from all directions.
It came from all sides!
There were so many people hiding around here that it was surprising.
What was even more terrifying was that each of these people was a master.
The aura they casually displayed made Qingyuan Daozi and the others dare not underestimate them.
”Why are there so many people?“
Jin Ge was surprised:
”I didn’t see any before.”
“I know!“
Tian Miaomiao said hurriedly:
”When I came here earlier, I noticed that there were traces of people hiding around.
“I wanted to tell you, but you wouldn’t let me speak.”
As she said this, she wiped the corners of her mouth, which were greasy from eating the meat pie, and smacked her lips, feeling the fragrance of the meat pie still lingering between her teeth.
It was very satisfying.
“You want to kill me?”
The princess looked at the emperor in shock.
The emperor slowly lifted his gaze:
“It is not I who want to kill you.
”It’s just that you are deeply in love with this demon master.
“If you are unwilling to sever your feelings, and he dies today, how can I let you remain as a problem?”
“A problem…”
The princess couldn’t help but laugh:
“Brother…to be honest, although you hide it well,
“But you are still on the wrong path and doing the wrong thing.
“Jiang Ran is a man who values loyalty… The more gentle you are with him, the more he will be good to you.
”The more vicious you are to him, the more miserable your end will be.
“From the very beginning, when you chose to join forces with Jun Hezai, you sealed today’s situation.
”You were wrong… You could have pulled back, but you didn’t.
“Not only that, you even fuelled the flames.
“When we were in Qing country, it was you who personally issued the imperial decree, ordering Guan Changqing to send troops to Qing country, so that when I arrived in Qing country, I was like a rat on the street.
“Life and death hung by a thread…
”Thinking back, the Marquis of Wuwei was truly loyal.
“I had previously thought, the capital is after all my base of operations.
”How could I allow so many experts to break in so easily?
“Gathering at the Marquis of Wuwei’s residence?
“And how could you, the emperor, be easily manipulated by a group of martial artists?
“I think this was all staged by you.
”Because of the matter of Guan Changqing, you were worried that the truth would come out, so you simply used a trick to divert attention, so that we would shift our focus to Wu Weihou. Your Majesty, who was seriously injured…
“How could you be the mastermind behind it?”
“However, it seems that you still haven’t been fooled by this Demon Lord of our time by your side!”
The Golden Cicada Emperor looked coldly at Jiang Ran.
Jiang Ran, however, smiled dumbly:
“Your Majesty is wrong…
”I did not become suspicious because of what happened to Guan Changqing.
“In fact, outside the capital, during the siege by the blood cicadas… I already began to suspect.”
“Oh?”
The Golden Cicada Emperor looked at Jiang Ran in surprise:
“Why is that?”
“Doesn’t Your Majesty think that the blood cicadas’ actions were too strange?”
Jiang Ran sighed:
“It was a very clearly targeted assassination.
“First, the princess, then Shan Yuzhi!
”I can still hear the cries.
“However, the Lord of the Cicadas was not even present when the king was assassinated.
”Is this… reasonable?“
”The Cicada Lord is extremely well hidden, so it is only natural that he would not appear. After all, in the face of the Demon Lord of the Age, who would have the confidence to actually kill me in front of you?”
“That’s a reasonable argument.“
Jiang laughed:
”But what’s unreasonable is… if the Cicada Lord had such concerns, why did he let the two Silver Cicadas act recklessly?
“Don’t they know that the slightest mistake in the face of the true self is a dead end?
”They were so eager, as if they were trying to reassure the true self.
“So that I know that within the Golden Cicada capital, there are no more Blood Cicada masters. There is no need to worry that during the journey to the Green Country, there will be any Blood Cicada masters who will do harm to Your Majesty!“
”…And then what?“
The Golden Cicada Emperor’s eyes became extremely indifferent.
”And then…“
Jiang Ran laughed dumbly:
”I suddenly remembered my wife’s younger sister…
“When she first contacted me while she was wandering the rivers and lakes, she used an alias called Li Tianxin.
“Li is the same as standing.
“Tian is the same as speaking.
”Li Ri Xin, the three combined is the meaning of her real name, Tang Huayi.
“The answer to the riddle is in the riddle itself.
”So at that time I was thinking, looking at the entire Golden Cicada, who dares to call themselves the Cicada Lord?
“There is only one person who can do it!”
Golden Cicada, Golden Cicada… The words Golden Cicada Dynasty are not said in vain.
Who dares to call himself the cicada lord in the golden cicada dynasty?
If it is not the current emperor, anyone would be guilty of usurpation.
The emperor is the emperor of the golden cicada, so wouldn’t the cicada lord be the emperor’s lord?
But if the emperor is the cicada lord, then it is really the most reasonable.
When Jiang Ran said this, it really made everyone around him look at each other in shock again.
Even the princess was baffled:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There was no evidence.“
Jiang Ran was helpless, but he still smiled:
”So at that time I still left a heart, and I deliberately let the Silver Cicada who won the [Random Turning Wheel Decision] live.
“This was a gamble, and although I don’t think that the Cicada Master, who was able to get so many Blood Cicadas to rush up and die together, would care about the life or death of a Silver Cicada.
“But considering that we will be leaving Qing Country after all, and leaving this person to Your Majesty’s disposal, if he is truly the cicada master, naturally he will not be able to bear to kill this person.
“We will keep him by our side and continue to use him.
”Of course, his identity will still be kept secret.
“By the time we return from Qing Country, if we do a little investigating, we might be able to find clues to confirm his identity.
“Unfortunately, just after we returned to Jinchan from our trip to Qing, we were given a big gift.
“First, His Majesty was poisoned and his life was in danger.
”Then, the Marquis of Martial Valor led the best fighters in the world to fight me.
“After all this was over, the other four countries pressured me… leading me to hurry to find the divine weapon according to Jun Hezai’s script.
”Where was I going to find traces of this person?
“But in fact, by that time, all of this was already trivial.
“What was meant to be, would be…
”What I didn’t expect was that I thought he would stay in the capital and wait for me to kill everyone from Jun Hezai’s side before returning to the capital to hand over the divine weapon.
“But I didn’t expect that he would come here in person.”
The princess also remembered that when Jiang Ran said he would give the Silver Cicada to her brother, he did have a strange expression.
In the end, he actually hid such a thought in it.
If Jiang Ran hadn’t revealed it himself today, no one would have guessed.
However, even Jiang Ran didn’t expect that while he certainly didn’t have time to find the Silver Cicada… but when the Old Drunkard and the others went to invite Jiang Ran to stay at the princess’s house, they encountered that person.
Unfortunately, in the face of the Old Drunkard and the others, that person’s参差转轮决, no matter how amazing it was,
couldn’t stir up any waves.
Having said that, it seems that almost everything has been said.
Jiang Ran lightly clapped his hands:
“At this point, there is probably nothing worth talking about anymore.
”Come, Jun Hezai, if you want the contents of this mysterious iron box, I will give it to you.”
With these words, he flung his hand, and the mysterious iron box immediately flew towards Jun Hezai.
Jun Hezai’s face sank slightly. Even before the mysterious iron box reached him, he had already been circulating mysterious energy at all levels.
As soon as he exhaled his internal energy, the box immediately trembled slightly.
A humming sound could be heard, and Jun Hezai then pressed his hands downwards, causing the box to fly in alarm.
It drew an arc in midair and landed in Jun Hezai’s hands.
He looked at the box in his hands for a moment, unable to react.
I got it so easily?
A hand was passed over from the side, and Jun Hezai subconsciously wanted to put the box away, but when he saw that it was the hand of the Golden Cicada Emperor, he forced himself to resist the urge.
He handed the box to him.
The Golden Cicada Emperor didn’t hesitate, and reached out and opened the box.
The next moment, his face suddenly sank:
“Jiang Ran…what trick are you playing with me?
”This box…is completely empty!“
”Empty?”
Jiang Ran was stunned:
“Where is the Dragon Slaying Scripture? Where is the Dragon Slaying Scripture that can control the water veins of the world? Your Majesty, you cannot keep it for yourself.”