Chapter 1 Fire

"Divine monsters in the fire? Assassinating me? Didn't I just repair the Fire God Temple in Shichahai two months ago...!"

The Wanli Emperor couldn't figure out the situation.

He repaired the Fire God Temple.

And now the Fire God was coming to kill him.

"?"

The Wanli Emperor was utterly bewildered, but he knew that escaping danger was the priority. So, with his questions unanswered, he began to retreat. However, the three divine monsters in the fire, having just set the Qianqing Palace ablaze, wouldn't let the Wanli Emperor off so easily!

The Fire God's divine fire was restricted by the power of the nation and couldn't directly affect the emperor and his entourage. That's why the Fire Gods set fires in the palace, but they couldn't be the ones to start them.

Those with national authority, like the emperor, could walk through the divine fire unharmed.

But if mortals started the fire, it would be a normal conflagration that could burn any living thing. So, mortal fire had its advantages.

Divine monster techniques couldn't be applied to the emperor. Yet the emperor himself was still just a mortal. Although he was imbued with national power, and his words were law within the Forbidden City, restraining all spirits, demons, and even the Celestial Court, the Underworld, and Earth Immortals, his physical body was frail, and that couldn't be changed.

"The emperor has run away. I just heard they're heading to Longde Hall."

"Good. Lord Song should have already killed that Daoist in Longde Hall, seized his body, and is waiting for the emperor."

"It's a pity. We could never accurately determine the emperor's sleeping quarters. We thought we could burn him to death with one big fire tonight, but he still managed to escape."

Behind the Qianqing Palace were nine warm pavilions, each divided into upper and lower levels connected by stairs. Each pavilion contained three beds, either upstairs or downstairs, totaling twenty-seven beds. The emperor freely chose which room and which bed to sleep in. Even those familiar with the warm pavilions couldn't easily determine where he was sleeping.

It was a precaution.

"Chizhi, have the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace been taken care of?"

Among the three figures in the fire, the white-bearded old man questioned the brocade-clad boy.

The brocade-clad boy replied crisply:

"They've all been taken care of. The 'A-Lian' have seized the bodies of those palace maids and eunuchs. Wherever the national power doesn't reach, in places where the imperial family doesn't reside, the 'A-Lian' have completed their preparations."

"The 'A-Lian' are so happy now. They've only become gods recently, and they can already play games in the palace!"

"And those two children, they've been living in the West Six Palaces for more than two months, spending day and night with those women. They should have two more mothers now."

After the brocade-clad boy finished his crisp reply, the old man nodded:

"Lord Fire is coming soon. The A-Lian can't just focus on playing, or they'll displease Lord Fire."

"Let's go, we should follow them too. Last year, we failed, and the Wanli Emperor became wary. We can't make any more mistakes this time."

"Chizhi, Lord Song is gone. Go to the side of the First Prince and guide him. You must let him see the Wanli Emperor's 'last moments'. With that, our great task will be accomplished."

........

The three figures in the fire watched the Wanli Emperor and his entourage leave. As the Qianqing Palace turned into a sea of flames, at the same moment, even further south, earth-shattering light rose as well.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was ablaze!

The Hall of Central Harmony was ablaze!

The Hall of Preserving Harmony was ablaze!

The front three halls erupted in flames. Countless palace servants were buried in the fire. Amidst the screams of "Fire!" those Great Han Generals, palace maids, and eunuchs on duty in other areas began to put out the fire.

Of course, the raging fire also alarmed the Grand Secretariat, because the Grand Secretariat's offices were located in the Wenyuan Pavilion. Soon, the Grand Secretaries had arrived before the Hall of Supreme Harmony!

Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao, Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan, and Grand Secretary Zhang Wei.

"Quickly inform the Imperial Horse Administration!"

The outer palace was in chaos. The firelight obscured the front three halls, and the raging flames seemed to burn away all the filth in the world.

The charred corpses that died in the fire stood upright in a bizarre posture. A path was cleared among them, as if welcoming someone's arrival.

"Grand Secretaries, look...!"

A eunuch's voice was sharp, filled with fright. The Grand Secretaries followed the eunuch's finger and looked towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony. They actually saw the charred corpses standing among them slowly raising their arms, as if celebrating the fire!

A strange voice came from the fire:

"Come play games, come play games..."

The palace maids and eunuchs were pale with fright. This was the first time most of them had seen such bizarre things.

Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao's eyes widened. On his scarlet official robe, the eyes of a crane came to life.

With a single thought, the national power surged, and the old Grand Secretary shouted:

"Alive, they toil; dead, they rest! What is the meaning of dying without rest!"

As his voice rebuked, the cry of a crane sounded. The charred black shadows in the fire fell with a thud, and then cries of "It hurts, it hurts, A-Lian hurts" came from the fire. Dozens of shadows were flitting about.

Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan was astonished: "There are monsters? But this is the Forbidden City!"

Zhao Zhigao stared at the dozen or so shadows in the fire. They looked like a dozen children playing in the fire. What surprised him was that the crane on his robe only cried a few times and then remained silent!

"When evil spirits and monsters encounter us court officials, the divine beasts formed from the national power should pounce on them with a single glance. Why is it that my crane is not reacting now?"

"A single shout only made these monsters feel pain?!"

Now, many officials spend years in the imperial city and don't understand that the birds and beasts on their official robes have the power to subdue demons and vanquish spirits, especially those newly promoted officials.

But it's understandable. After all, there are many gods of the Underworld and the Celestial Court in Shuntian Prefecture, and the vast national power protects it. How could there be any demons or monsters?

Perhaps the officials have heard of the affairs of demons and monsters in various places, and often discuss them with others, but how could they see the function of the birds and beasts on their robes without practical experience?

After all, decades have passed since the era of flourishing Daoist arts during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.

The black shadows in the fire began to move away, disappearing into the flames!

"Not good, these things have run away, they've gone to the inner palace!"

The Great Han Generals, Banner Guards, and Front Army Guards, these imperial palace guards, only stood guard in the outer palace. The inner palace was the emperor's private domain, and no one was allowed to enter without permission.

"It's too late to say that now, His Majesty's life may be in danger!"

The Grand Secretaries were now anxious. A eunuch told them that the emperor had previously mobilized the Southern Military Inspection Office to enter the inner palace, and later someone seemed to see the Embroidered Uniform Guard heading towards the northwest corner of the veranda.

"Northwest of the palace?"

The northwest corner of the Forbidden City was a special area, although located in the north, it didn't belong to the inner palace.

There were three halls in this area. One was the Yinghua Hall, which was only used for Buddhist ceremonies and sacrifices and was usually empty. One was the Xianxi Palace, which was an empty palace. The Jiajing Emperor used to use that palace as a place for refining pills, but later it was demolished. It was rebuilt during the Longqing Emperor's reign, but now it was abandoned and even ghosts didn't live there. And there was also the Longde Hall, which was originally used to worship the Zhenwu Emperor and Emperor Ruizong of Ming.

Inside the Longde Hall was a Wudang Daoist sweeping the courtyard.

The Grand Secretaries demanded that the Front Army Guards and the Imperial Horse Administration enter the inner palace. The Front Army Guards and the Imperial Horse Administration were afraid of being held responsible. Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao was furious:

"If something happens to His Majesty, you will all be held accountable!"

"This old man is seventy-three years old this year! Seventy-three, eighty-four, Yama won't invite me, I'll go myself! There's nothing to be afraid of, I'll bear all the responsibility, it's just a decaying head!"

With Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao's guarantee, the Front Army Guards and the Imperial Horse Administration agreed, but even so, they looked as if they had lost their parents, and kept saying that they deserved to die ten thousand times.