Chapter 1017: The Incomparably Loyal Feng Lintao
Feng Lintao was sighing in his heart. Sometimes it was impossible to predict how things would turn out with certain people. Things could change dramatically. That said, Feng Lintao was an extraordinary individual in his own right. After all, it was Lan Yao herself who had described him as selfish, cold, apathetic, brutal, and someone who could patiently endure all sorts of situations.
Therefore, after defecting to humankind, he had done just that: endure. And now, even though the sight of Xu Qing provoked some mixed emotions, he quickly set them aside. As he did, he didn’t attempt to hide what he was feeling. In fact, he intentionally let those emotions flicker across his face. This was something he had become quite skilled at doing.
Even as a half-blooded Devilbird, he had made the difficult journey to Smoldering God. Given that, it was only natural that he was a survivor. He knew how to use every asset at his disposal, even his emotions, to his advantage. He had learned how to do that from a young age. And how, he was using that tactic in order to prove his sincerity.
After all... in the months since he had defected, he had mostly been ignored. The empress hadn’t made any special arrangements for him. As a result, he was feeling a bit unsettled. He was well aware that it was all because the empress hadn’t fully accepted his request for asylum. Shē was still watching him. Therefore, he needed to find the right opportunity to prove his loyalty.
It was with such thoughts in mind that he clasped hands and bowed to Xu Qing. He made sure that it came across as sincere.
Xu Qing looked at Feng Lintao calmly and without speaking. He looked neither happy nor angry, and in fact, there didn’t seem to be any emotion at all within him.
Though Xu Qing didn’t speak, Erniu did. Beaming, he toyed with his sageheaven god vine and said, “Hey, Little Fengy! Long time no see!” [1]
Feng Lintao turned to Erniu. Looking somewhat sorrowful, he clasped hands and bowed. “Greetings, Grand Zodiacist. I apologize for how I acted when we first met. I hope you and the imperial tutor can let bygones be bygones. I can’t pretend that I had another choice other than surrendering to you humans, but at the same time, I hope you know that I’m being completely sincere.”
Feng Lintao chose to bow his head as a show of both respect and weakness. At the same time, it was a way of proving that he really was acquainted with Xu Qing and Erniu.
Of course, all it took was a glance for Xu Qing to see what was going on. And considering how sharp Erniu’s eyes were, how could he not realize as well?
Hefting the god vine, Erniu smiled happily. “Why wouldn’t we let bygones be bygones? After all, you gave little Ah Qing and I some really nice stuff! In fact, I haven’t had a chance to thank you for your generosity!”
Feng Lintao smiled wryly and forced himself to suppress his inner rage. In the final analysis, he didn’t hate Xu Qing very much. But he definitely hated Erniu. Erniu was the one who had scammed him. Erniu was the one who had pretended to be gasping on the verge of death, and had caused Feng Lintao to slip up in rare fashion. What was more, it was Erniu who, at a most critical moment, had devoured the god vine and taken away his trump card. That was what had led to the prolonged pursuit by Lan Yao and Yue Dong. Were it not for Erniu, he could have turned defeat into victory. The source of all his problems was right in front of him.
That said, he couldn’t openly show his hatred. Taking a deep breath, Feng Lintao suppressed the rage inside of him.
Unfortunately, that was when Erniu said something unusually shameful. “Come now, you cute little vine. Say hi to our benefactor!”
Looking very pleased with himself, Erniu lifted the vine up. The vine turned, and its leaves rustled....
Feng Lintao had to struggle to keep himself under control.
Standing not too far away was the chief minister. When he saw that Erniu was planning to keep talking, he quickly interrupted by speaking to Xu Qing.
“Imperial Tutor, the reason Her Majesty summoned you, beyond mundane military matters, is because we need to confirm something.”
Xu Qing looked over at the chief minister. “I supposed it has to do with Feng Lintao’s identity?”
The chief minister nodded. “Not just that, though. Imperial Tutor, would you please take a look at the contents of this jade slip?”
The chief minister took out the slip and sent it flying over to Xu Qing. Inside of it were the testimonies and entreaties of Feng Lintao.
Xu Qing took the jade slip and studied it for a few breaths of time. Then he said, “I first encountered this person on the way back to humankind from Firemoon Darkheaven territory. All the relevant details are within the jade slip I previously submitted.
“As for the conflict between this person and the women named Yue Dong and Lan Yao, based on what I saw, they really did want to kill each other. In fact, were it not for the assistance provided by my Eldest Brother and I, this person would have had a hard time escaping death that day.
“As for how my Eldest Brother and I got wrapped up in that whole affair, it seems to me it was just random chance. If the Devilbird holy land had sent this Feng Lintao here in advance as a spy, it seems unlikely to me that he would choose to surrender. In the end, Her Majesty will need to make the final decision about what to do.”
Xu Qing said nothing further after that. The chief minister nodded. Xu Qing had essentially corroborated Feng Lintao’s story about his surrender. As a result, Feng Lintao breathed a slight sigh of relief inwardly.
With that, the session of court went on. As various ministers brought their reports about the war effort, Xu Qing was able to get a general understanding of how things were going, and what losses had been sustained.
Overall, things weren’t looking good. The atmosphere in the grand hall slowly grew more and more oppressive.
As Feng Lintao listened, he didn’t dare to do anything to attract attention to himself. In fact, had he been given a choice, he would rather not listen to this information.
About two hours later, the session of court ended, and Feng Lintao respectfully left.
Xu Qing didn’t move. The grand hall emptied until the only people left behind were Xu Qing, Erniu, Empress Summer Departure, and Ningyan.
Standing, Xu Qing bowed to the empress. “Your Majesty, is it correct to assume you asked me to stay behind because you have some orders?”
The empress glanced at Erniu. Erniu pretended to not notice.
A moment later, the empress said, “Xu Qing, I need you to help me do something.”
Xu Qing didn’t react to the words. He just waited to hear what would come next.
“I need you to think of a way to capture Lan Yao. And if you can’t capture her, I want you to bring her corpse back here.”
A look of curiosity appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. “Lan Yao?”
Based on the words exchanged between Lan Yao and Feng Lintao in the Fardark Cistern incident, he was under the impression that Lan Yao was backed by powerful people in the Devilbird holy land. But even still, that didn’t seem enough to make the empress herself take an interest in the woman.
Ningyan looked surprised, and clearly had no idea what his mother was up to.
“There is more to Lan Yao than meets the eye,” the empress said. When both Xu Qing and Ningyan looked confused, shē expressionlessly continued, “The Devilbird holy land apparently has two Grand Emperors. One of them is suspected to have perished, and Lan Yao is a descendant of that perished Grand Emperor. Based on the intelligence reports I’ve received, she has the most pure bloodline in her clan. If you can bring her back, I can use her blood to ascertain whether or not the Grand Emperor is actually dead. And I can use her blood for other purposes as well.”
The empress took out a white jade slip. It was made from a special material that made it seem real, but at the same time, illusory. It almost looked like a construction of pure light.
“If you encounter any obstacle you can’t overcome, Xu Qing, just crush that light-jade, and I will go in person to help.” With the wave of a hand, the empress sent the light-jade flying over to Xu Qing.
He accepted it, and could immediately sense the immense pressure coming from it. Xu Qing established a mental connection to it, then put it away. “Your Majesty, capturing Lan Yao will require the use of Feng Lintao. Putting him out there as bait will definitely draw her out. That said, he’s crafty, and can’t be relied upon in life-or-death situations. He definitely has backup plans in place. If we conceal the truth from him, only for him to find out we’re using him as bait, it’s hard to say what will happen.”
“What suggestions do you have?” the empress asked.
Before Xu Qing could respond, Erniu’s eyes lit up and he interrupted, “I have an idea!”
With that, his lips moved slightly as he transmitted a message to Xu Qing and the empress. An odd expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face, all while Erniu looked incomparably pleased.
The empress’ eyes glittered. “Permission granted.”
Xu Qing got to his feet, took his leave from the empress, and left the grand hall with the eager Erniu.
Inside the hall, Ningyan watched them go and wished he could go with them. He also wondered what the three of them had just talked about secretly. Of course, he didn’t dare to take any action without his mother’s permission. Even as he thought about the outside world, the empress spoke to him in a calm voice.
“Ning’er, I need you to pen an imperial edict for me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ningyan said solemnly.
***
Five days went by.
Xu Qing and Erniu tracked down Wu Jianwu, who had been living in the imperial capital for all this time. Wu Jianwu handed over to them two baby rats, golden in color, that had hatched from the eggs they gave him....
Around then, an imperial edict was circulated in the east of Revered Ancient.
Feng Lintao was appointed as Heavenly Marquis Birdslayer, and his accomplishments were publicly announced.
“He renounced the darkness and sought the light, providing top-secret information about the holy lands to humankind, thus preventing major losses in the war! He is brave and ferocious, and has irreconcilable animosity with the holy lands. He hates all Devilbirds to the core of his being, and has killed over a hundred infiltrators from the Devilbird holy land!”
The imperial edict was a shock to everyone in the east.
Feng Lintao immediately became the focus of a lot of attention, and many species began running investigations into his background. Sadly, none of that was what Feng Lintao wanted.... Being the center of so much attention made him nervous and uneasy. But what made him even more uneasy was the shocking development that occurred a month later.
Humankind began achieving many victories in the small-scale battles with the Devilbird holy land. In fact, it almost seemed like the humans were privy to all of the Devilbirds’ war plans.
And every single time, the empress would reward Feng Lintao. In fact, a special guard contingent was assigned to him, which made it clear how important he was. There was no way that the Devilbird holy land would be unaware of the developments.
And yet, Feng Lintao was fully aware that whatever intelligence reports the humans were using to figure out the Devilbird battle plans had nothing to do with him.... More time passed, and then something truly shocking happened to Feng Lintao. He was appointed as a heavenly king!
The ceremony was to be carried out under the glow of the grand spell formation, right where the holy lands could see what was happening....
***
In the wilderness outside of the imperial capital were all of the prisoners of war the humans had captured from the holy lands. There were no less than 10,000 of them. Feng Lintao stood in front of the prisoners, clad in the garment of a heavenly marquis.
The empress’ voice rang out into heaven and earth. “My dear official Feng, you might not be human, but you are completely and utterly loyal to humankind. You have a steadfast heart and have earned awe-inspiring battle credit. Therefore, it is on this day that I appoint you as a heavenly king. You are now Heavenly King Birdslayer!
“I am aware, my dear official, that you hate the Devilbirds to the core of your being. Therefore, I shall celebrate your appointment to the rank of heavenly king with the blood of these Devilbirds. You may slaughter them now!”
Everyone looked on intently.
The holy lands. The humans. Xu Qing. All the other species. Everyone was watching.
As for Erniu, his eyes glittered with anticipation and excitement.
Feng Lintao’s heart was racing, but he didn’t let any negative emotions show on his face. Instead, he seemed very excited as he clasped hands in the direction of the imperial palace. “Thank you for making my wish come true, Your Majesty!”
1. There’s some funny wordplay in the nickname Erniu uses for Feng Lintao. Basically, the nickname is based on Feng Lintao’s surname (Feng), which means wind. If directly translated, it could be rendered as something like ‘Little Wind.’ But the pronunciation of the nickname, including the tones, are the exact same as the word for ‘crazy person, madman.’ Something similar in English that I thought of would be if someone was a psychologist, so you called them by the nickname “Little Psycho.” ☜