Chapter 510 - 313: Emperor Yan’s Hidden Legacy (Part 3)

Above, the real Emperor Qin toyed with a golden dagger, asking in a deep voice.

The person kneeling below trembled, not daring to answer.

"You sit on my golden throne and claim to be me," Emperor Qin pinched the golden dagger between his fingers, pointing it forward in a subtle aiming gesture, "even calling my beloved ministers your beloved ministers..."

"What should be your punishment?"

"Your Majesty... cough cough..." The imposter immediately fell into panic and alarm.

"Master Tang." Emperor Qin acted as if he hadn’t seen, looking at the imposter with disgust and then motioning with his hand.

Tang Guang, a Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm expert, stepped out from the shadows and struck the imposter on the head with his palm.

"Your Majesty, the counties to the west have already moved, and the King of North Snow seems to want to take advantage of your birthday and illness to stage a coup." Hoong Xiao also stepped out from the shadows.

"Heh, Chang Qin Wenshuo, you never outmatched me back then, even less so now!"

"..."

...

North Snow County, in the Nanyan Mountain Range three thousand miles south.

This mountain lies south of North Snow County and north of Taiping County, and a millennium ago it was where the Imperial City of the Yan Dynasty stood.

Later the dynasty was destroyed, and with the passage of time, the Yan Mountain is now covered in perpetual snow. Apart from the vague outline of abandoned grand structures, it is just an expanse of towering white trees.

At this moment, a person in somewhat old black cotton clothing was trudging through the snow.

Chu Ming had been on this mountain for over two days, his Primordial Consciousness spreading out, searching inch by inch, locating the ruins of the former Yan Capital and the location of the Yan Imperial Mausoleum.

Despite assistance from the Sword Gourd Spirit, within the thousand-mile Yan South Mountain, he had not yet found the place to use the Yan Hanling to enter the Yan Dynasty’s hidden treasure.

Thus, there was the black-clothed young man chopping wood in the mountain.

"Hey... young man ahead." A shout suddenly came from behind.

Chu Ming halted, surprised as he turned to look, seeing an elderly man carrying a bundle of firewood walking toward him in the wind and snow, his heavy cotton coat dyed white by the snow.

To find the entrance to the Yan Dynasty’s treasure, the Sword Gourd Spirit basically only covered unexplored areas. Chu Ming’s back belonged to areas that had already been explored, and his Heart Spirit was immersed in the exploration, hence he hadn’t noticed the elderly man trailing him.

"What is it, old man?" Chu Ming, dressed in a black cotton coat, surveyed the elderly man, who was just ordinary and seemed somewhat robust, probably having condensed Qi and Blood Power in his youth, but not much.

"Young man, no further up ahead." The elderly man hunched over, wiping the snow off his face as he spoke.

"Which village are you from? Haven’t your elders told you? Ahead is the ruins of the Yan Dynasty, forbidden to enter."

"Not to mention today’s heavy snowfall, it’s easy to get lost. Rumor has it there are man-eating exotic beasts inside, lose your life in a heartbeat."

"Young man, if you don’t have enough firewood for winter," the elderly man put down the bundle of firewood, "come, I’ll share some with you."

He said while separating half.

"Old man..." Chu Ming shook his head, "I’m the only one at home, I’ve got enough firewood."

"Enough? Then why aren’t you going down the mountain? When night falls, the snow will only get heavier... Oh, are you lost?" The elderly man said enthusiastically.

Lost?

Not finding the entrance could count as that.

Chu Ming nodded slightly.

"Come, follow me, I’ll lead you down the mountain."

"Okay."

After wandering the mountain for two days, seeing nothing but snow, continuously using the Sword Gourd Spirit to explore, his Heart Spirit had expended considerably, he needed to stop for a rest.

Moreover, something about the old man seemed off.

As evening approached, the elder and the youth exited Yan Mountain and arrived at a village.

"Young man, I forgot to ask, whose family are you from?"

"I’m not from this village."

This village was called Rock Concealment Village, located at the foot of Yan Mountain on the eastern side. The village appeared sizable, with roughly a thousand people according to exploration.

"Not from our village...?" The elderly man paused, "I said you seemed unfamiliar, a village kid your age, I would know them all."

"It’s about to get dark, and the snow is falling heavily, why don’t you come to my place to wait out the snow?"

Chu Ming clasped his hands in thanks, "Thank you, old man."

"The people in the village call me Old Shi."

"Thank you, Old Shi."

"Let’s go."

Bracing against the wind and snow, the elder and youth arrived at a small courtyard.

"Old man, you’re back." A silver-haired elder emerged from the yard.

"This is my old partner," Old Shi put down the wood, bending over to brush off the snow, "old man, quickly give..."

"Oh, I forgot the young man’s name."

Name?

Chu Ming paused for a moment and then said, "My name is Hoong Jun."

"Hoong Jun?" Old Shi’s hand paused slightly while clearing the snow from the wood, then smiled, "Old partner, pour some hot water for young Hoong Jun."

The silver-haired elder hunched over, giving Chu Ming a kind smile, "It’s cold outside, come inside quickly."

"Let me help." Chu Ming bent over to help clear the snow.

"No need... no need..." Old Shi directly pushed Chu Ming into the house.

Entering the house, he instantly felt the warmth, the interior was neat and clean, showing the two elders were diligent people.

"Here, drink something warm, warm up."

The silver-haired elder brought hot tea; it was white hot milk infused with a few leaves. There was nothing amiss; Chu Ming drank a few sips, and the taste was quite good.

Soon after, Old Shi came in with cleared firewood.

"Old partner, young Hoong Jun got lost in the mountain, isn’t from our village, he’ll stay over at our place tonight."

"Okay, I’ll tidy up the west room."

Old Shi went to start the fire and prepare food while the silver-haired elder went to the west room.

Chu Ming tried helping several times but was refused by the two elders.

At night, the three were having hot food.

Knock knock knock—

The door was knocked.

"Who is it?" Old Shi went to open the door.

Outside under the heavy snow, stood a squad of soldiers, each wearing stern expressions beneath icy armor.

The lead soldier handed over three bags of items, "Old man, is there enough food at home for winter?"

"Enough, enough, King Shuo has sent it three times, just the two of us, how could we eat so much..." Old Shi expressed gratitude endlessly.