Chapter 26 A Small Bird

This was the greatest hero of an entire era, a king who whipped the world into shape. What hesitation could there be when such a man was willing to share his dream with you? As a member of the Qin elite troops, the boy felt his blood burning.

Wei Yuan's consciousness once again lurked in the background, merging with the boy in his memories.

But he finally understood why the former self would not hesitate to kill Xiang Yu at all costs.

So that was it. Anyone would have done the same.

He thought.

The boy, like a warrior before an expedition, knelt on one knee, his right hand striking his heart. After a thousand words, he finally lowered his voice and shouted:

"Nuo!"

The boy saluted. After rising, the First Emperor wrote an order:

"Go and choose the elite troops you want to take with you."

"Yes."

The boy saluted again, then slowly retreated, walking out of this temporary palace. When he went outside, he saw a tall man standing with his head bowed at the palace gate. The originally slender eyes of the boy Yuan narrowed slightly, and he slowly said, "Chief of the Central Secretariat..."

The pale-faced, beardless youth smiled and said, "Congratulations, Imperial Guard."

The boy paused, his gaze fixed on the man named Zhao Gao.

The latter did not seem like a eunuch. It was said that he came from a humble background, his mother punished for a crime and sent to the hidden palace. But how could a humble person be proficient in both civil and military affairs, and also understand Legalist doctrines? In the Qin court, few could surpass him in understanding Qin laws. His Great Seal Script was also the best of his time, comparable to Li Si.

His Majesty did not care about background; talented people from all over the world could be used. But he had to care.

Wang Jian was strong, domineering, and had the ambition to swallow the world, but this could also be a source of danger.

In the past, Zhao Gao was the focus of his attention.

But that would not work now. When the preparations for the eastward crossing were complete, he would leave here, far away from the Great Qin for ten years. A dangerous thought even floated in the heart of the boy, the Iron Eagle warrior: should he kill this dangerous man before leaving? But his loyalty to the Great Qin and the First Emperor did not allow him to do so.

He only lowered his eyes and said softly:

"I have a word. I ask that the Chief of the Central Secretariat take good care of His Majesty's daily life. If His Majesty is unwell when I return, even if it's just a hair out of place, Yuan will demand it back. At that time, even if you flee ten thousand miles away, Yuan will still execute you."

Zhao Gao, the Chief of the Central Secretariat, smiled and bowed, softly saying:

"I dare not."

"Humph!"

The boy disliked the snake-like aura emanating from this fair-skinned youth. Outside the palace gate, he picked up his Qin sword, his body covered in black armor, and strode away. The Chief of the Central Secretariat remained bowing, the black and white sleeves suddenly crossed, separated on the jade steps. Only when the boy had walked far away did Zhao Gao slowly raise his eyes, gazing at that back.

After a long time, he stepped into the palace.

He knew that nothing could be hidden from that godlike Emperor.

But the First Emperor did not care.

After dealing with several official documents, the First Emperor casually said: "You draft an order, to be spread after Xu Shi sets sail, telling the warlocks of the world that Xu Shi is sailing to find the elixir of immortality. I want to seek the elixir of immortality throughout the world. If the alchemists can do it, they will be greatly rewarded."

Zhao Gao was surprised and said, "Your Majesty..."

He hesitated and said, "The idea of immortality is just wishful thinking."

The First Emperor said indifferently: "I naturally know that. Draft it."

Zhao Gao did not dare to disobey and bowed in agreement. While drafting, he suddenly understood what the First Emperor was thinking. Since he had already proclaimed himself the First Emperor, wanting a Second and Third generation, and even ten thousand generations, there was no doubt that this Emperor had never intended to be immortal from the beginning. The idea of immortality was just wishful thinking.

To present wishful thinking to the Emperor was naturally deceiving the ruler and misleading the country.

Zhao Gao was shocked in his heart, and the hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

His eyes lowered even further.

He realized that this was the last chance the First Emperor was giving to the alchemists.

If no one answered the call, then there would naturally be no follow-up to this matter. But if those alchemists in various places were still obsessed, saying that they could achieve immortality, and gathered in Xianyang, then what awaited them was probably not the Emperor's reward, but the Iron Eagle warriors of the Great Qin Black Ice Terrace, the burning of books, and their own execution.

Xu Shi had sailed out to sea, wasting manpower and resources. At this time, posting a list could easily lure out those alchemists hidden in Divine Province. Compared to time-consuming and laborious searching, it only required a list order, done casually, but the effect would definitely be excellent.

Zhao Gao lowered his head, not daring to look to the side.

The closer he got to the First Emperor, the more he felt the Emperor's coldness and terror.

He was high above, not wearing the冕旒 (miǎn liú, a type of ancient Chinese crown) that concealed his face like past monarchs.

But no one could see him clearly.

………………

The things Xu Shi needed for his voyage still required several days of preparation.

During this period, Xu Shi and Yuan still followed the First Emperor's chariot. As an Iron Eagle warrior about to leave the Great Qin, Yuan was responsible for patrolling the surroundings. One day, while passing through a mountain road, he failed to notice that on the distant road, a young man in white was staring at the Emperor's chariot, his fingers clenched white.

This young man in white turned to look at the tall strongman beside him and said, "Thank you for your trouble."

The strongman cupped his fist and said, "Young Master Zhang, please step back."

The young man said, "Liang doesn't deserve to be called Young Master."

The strongman had no choice but to stop addressing him that way, only finding these formalities troublesome. Besides, his relationship with this young man was just one of paying for services rendered. The title of Young Master was only because the other party was indeed the descendant of a noble family. Since he didn't like it, he was too lazy to say more.

He immediately focused on the front, holding a thick, huge iron cone in his hand, which gleamed with flowing light. From afar, he saw the black flags waving, and the Emperor's chariot came in a mighty and imposing manner. The strongman exerted all his strength, his eyes widened.

The young man said in a low voice, "Attack!"

The strongman roared, and the huge iron cone in his hand was thrown out. However, this treasure, which Cang Hai Jun had painstakingly forged to kill the king, clearly aimed at the First Emperor's chariot. As it approached, the entire space seemed to freeze, and then the direction of the iron cone seemed to be instantly changed, crashing into an empty carriage.

The real First Emperor's chariot was unscathed.

The young man's face changed drastically. The Qin army was already furious, and the sound of swords being drawn could be heard everywhere. Accompanied by low roars, among the many elite soldiers, a young man in black armor took the lead, charging with a bow on his back and a sword in his hand. The strongman had already exhausted all his strength and was勉励 (miǎn lì, making a forced effort) to escape. After only a few steps, he was shot into a hedgehog by the Qin crossbows.

He immediately fell to the ground and died.

He had overestimated himself and underestimated how terrifying the Qin elite troops were when they formed a formation.

The young man Yuan then spurred his horse to chase after the young man in white in front of him.

But he discovered that the latter's figure was ethereal and unpredictable, obviously having mystic arts skills, and was far more powerful than himself.

Seeing that he was entering the mountains, where warhorses could not pursue, Yuan dismounted and chased on foot, his Qin sword slashing several spells, and Qin crossbow arrows firing from his back.

The first arrow hit the tree beside him, the second arrow hit the ground in front of the young man, and the third arrow flew past the young man's diadem. The young man in white was startled, knowing that this was the Qin army elite calibrating the direction of the crossbow arrows, and his heart could not help but feel cold.

The Great Qin had hundreds of thousands of elite troops, but the Iron Eagle warriors were only three thousand, all brave and fierce.

Just as he was regretting whether he had been too reckless this time, he heard the sound of the trigger being released without an arrow.

It turned out that when Yuan had passed the strongman, he had taken the opportunity to fire an arrow, piercing the strongman's brow. At this moment, he had no more arrows. The young man in white breathed a sigh of relief. Before fleeing, he turned his head and met the eyes of the young elite warrior in black, with a red cloth tied around his hair.

Zhang Liang saw the anger and murderous aura in the latter's eyes.

The red cloth headband danced behind him.

And Yuan saw that he was a young man in white, with delicate skin, and a face even more handsome and beautiful than a woman. The young elite warrior slammed the Qin crossbow in his hand heavily and shouted angrily:

"Thief, don't run!"

Zhang Liang didn't care about this and only used magic arts to escape. The Qin army sealed off this area, and the world was searched for ten days, but nothing was found. The young man seemed to have evaporated from the world, showing a magic arts cultivation that was completely inconsistent with his age.

Yuan was extremely resentful and pleaded guilty to the First Emperor.

The Emperor forgave him, only saying:

"The things Xu Shi needs have been prepared. You may set off on a selected day."

"It's a pity that there is no time for you to return to Xianyang City to visit your family."

"...Nuo."

On this day, a team of Great Qin elite troops, along with the alchemist Xu Shi from Qi, and thousands of young boys and girls, set sail in large boats. The boy supported his Qin sword, stood at the bow, watching the turbulent waves, all smashed by the Qin ships, watching the black dragon flag flying freely above the rivers and seas.

Hidden somewhere in Divine Province, the young man, as fair as a woman, breathed a sigh of relief.

He returned to his teacher Huang Shigong and continued to study military strategy. The old man asked why, and Zhang Liang replied:

"As long as the First Emperor does not die, even if there is resistance everywhere, it will be suppressed.

"But he is still a mortal after all. Even if in the past, present, or even the future, there will never be another mortal like him, he will also have a day of doom. The next Qin Emperor cannot match him. When that time comes, it will be a real opportunity to overturn the world. The time for Liang to show his talent will also be at that time."

The old man was surprised, stroked his beard, and nodded, his eyes full of appreciation.

The undercurrents surged in the dark, and the First Emperor's chariot drove mightily across Divine Province.

A lazy man watched with envy, and he couldn't help but pat the sword in his hand, and sighed to several good friends in the same village: "A real man should be like this!"

The crowd only laughed: "Duke Pei, come and drink!"

"Good dog meat."

A high-spirited young man pointed to the canopy, his eyes as bright as stars, and said:

"He can be replaced!"

The uncle next to him quickly pulled him back.

That unbridled black dragon flag fluttered over the land of Divine Province and also sailed into the vast East Sea.

This was Divine Province after the unification of the Seven Kingdoms, an era when myths ended and legends were born.

The sky was occupied by the Ancestral Dragon. Tireless, it ambitiously watched the more distant world. Millions of iron cavalry only surrendered to one person, and the heroes slept in the cradle of steel, waiting for the day when that vast figure was no longer seen in the sky, and then they would clash with each other and rush towards their respective destinies of blood and fire.

………………

When a huge wave hit, Yuan's eyes blurred, and Wei Yuan opened his eyes.

The spirituality activated by the jade dragon pendant in his hand had also slowly dimmed. It was obvious that the remaining true spirits were no longer here. Although he had gained something, there were more doubts. If he wanted to know the entanglement with Buddhism, he would ultimately have to go to the Huai River. The white-haired Nujiao looked at him regaining his senses and said with a smile:

"Awake?"

"Yeah..."

Wei Yuan nodded and put away the jade dragon pendant.

Nujiao was slightly curious, propped her cheek with one hand, and asked with a smile:

"What kind of story did Yuan in the Qin Dynasty experience?"

Wei Yuan said, "What kind of story..."

Is it ‘the ruler treats me as a national scholar, and I will repay him as a national scholar’吗 (ma, a question particle)?

It wasn't.

It wasn't ah.

He was silent for a long time and replied:

"That's just the story of a small bird who once shared the dream of the vast sky with the Ancestral Dragon."

ps: Today's first update, thank you, thank you to the Alliance Master Gui Xi Bu Gui, thank you~

The eunuchs in the Qin Dynasty were not castrated. Eunuchs were officials in the palace. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that they were fully castrated.

Although Zhang Liang's assassination of Qin and Xu Fu's voyage were both during the First Emperor's first eastern inspection, one was in 219 BC and the other was in 218 BC. Here, I have slightly blurred the handling~