The Tale Never Ends Chapter 190 Ringside Witness

But I was however left stunned like a large frozen snowman in the middle of the room. "What did I just hear?! His mission is severing the dragon leys?!" My past recollections about the history of the dragon leys rushed back into my mind like a broken dam: Bian Dashou not only severed Li Zicheng's dragon leys by orders of the Ming Court, he'd even made full sure that both dragon leys of Li Zicheng and the Ming Empire were snapped in the same time to allow the Jurchens to take the country and founded the Qing Empire! "But here is the priest whose task is to destroy the dragon leys of Li Zicheng!? Does that means he's Bian Dashou?!"

My head shifted slowly as I slowly turned to look at Father, who was still nonchalantly sipping at his wine, and Mother, who remained perched on his shoulder. They hardly said a word even after Bian Dashou had left, but from the expressions on their faces that changed, it was as if they were communicating with each other using telepathy. A heartbeat later, Father stood up. He lifted his shoulder as if to shrug off the snowy-white fox that was Mother and it shook itself, turning into a gorgeous woman dressed in garments of ancient China. Who else would it be if not for Mother! But it was no less amazing to see with my own eyes that Mother was actually a white fox with magic powers and seeing her transform almost made my knees buckled!

They traded a brief look then Father, narrowing his eyes, said suddenly, "Go North-east. Speak to them through their shaman. Speak to them as one of the Wudaxians and help them fulfill their calling as the future monarchs of China. I might always say that no one should change history, but there is no denying that chance is a regular happenstance in the course of history too." Mother nodded wordlessly. With a demure smile, she spun on where she stood, her dress billowed like the wings of a b.u.t.terfly as she whirled and she was gone.

Father got up too and pushed through the doors. I followed close behind, anxious to see what he was up to. But to my shock, he ordered some food and a large urn of wine! For the rest of the day, Father did nothing but indulged in the epicurean pleasures that this tavern had to offer.

I got bored from watching Father that I almost slept. But just when I was drenched with lethargy and tedium, Father's mouth which had never stopped chewing paused suddenly. A flash of light gleamed in his eyes and I leaped to my feet. The next second, he vanished! I slapped at my thigh in dismay! I should have realized this long ago; with his magic, Father could easily teleport himself anywhere in a moment's notice and I'd never be able to catch up! I should have been following Bian Dashou instead!

I spat bitterly with regret. But there was no other way. I pushed past the doors and out of the room. The waiter outside saw the doors swinging open but he could not see me coming out. He strode over, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was inside while closing the door, when he almost jumped with fright! The room was empty, save for the empty dishes and plates! The food was gone and worst, and the customer had not paid! He rushed in, worried and jittery, when he noticed something silver twinkling at him between the plates and dishes and he broke into a relieved grin...

With no interest in the waiter, I left. More so, since n.o.body was able to see me. By now, I was quite certain of my situation now: I might be neither seen nor heard by anyone at this time. But I could still affect items and matter around me like how I was able to open the doors like a normal person.

I walked out of the tavern and tried flying again, which I could still do with little difficulty. Then again, I was also puzzled. I had traveled through Time back to the past, but I was nothing more than an incorporeal ent.i.ty. Yet I could affect matter around me like normal, although no one could feel or perceive my presence. Moreover, I was not only invisible, I can also fly. This left me wondering if only my soul was transported back through Time and not my physical body.

I flew back towards the direction from where I came from, relying on my vague sense of direction. Before long, I finally returned to the gates of Wu Zhong where thousands of missing person notices hung from the city walls like countless Post-It notes. But unlike before, the whole townscape of Wu Zhong abounded with chaos and turmoil as if war was coming! Everyone was scrambling with their belongings, dragging their families along while running away from the town, heading towards the direction of Xiguan town.

"What is going on?" I asked myself and I landed in the middle of the bedlam where the noises of cries and shrieks of despair filled the air. Within the midst of the clamor, I heard people saying, "Run! Run for your lives! The barbarians have invaded Zunhua City! They'll be here in no time!" Everyone was frantically deserting the city as war was INDEED in the offing after all.

"The Jurchens have reached Zunhua City..." I pondered quietly. "So this must be the historic Jisi Incident!" I had once read about this from a book. The Jisi Incident was the first time the Jurchen's invasion penetrated past the fastness of the pa.s.ses and pierced into China proper. The Chinese general Yuan Chonghuan initially refused to send any reinforcements to support the defense of Zunhua City and with Wu Zhong City now bare and empty after being continually plundered by the renegade Ming soldiers, the Magistrate of Wu Zhong could do nothing but lead the common people away to safety.

That, at least, was the gist of what was happening around me. That would also mean the death of Yuan Chonghuan would not be far ahead; according to history, he would be sentenced by Chongzhen Emperor to death by lingchi—a method of torture and execution so excruciating and tormenting by slicing the flesh off the sentenced offender slowly and systematically to exact the most pain. And right after that, the pillars that once held the foundations of the Ming Empire would collapse complete, if they had not already. Then I remembered what I read in history books depicting how the Jurchens ravaged the farmlands and pillaged the villages as they pa.s.sed by. Bian Dashou's earlier words to Father returned to me and I finally understood as I pieced the information together. The Magistrate and the people of Wu Zhong had decided to desert the city because they were utterly disappointed in the Ming armies. Sometime after this, according to history, the Jurchens would eventually be repelled and they would withdraw while pillaging the districts of Tongzhou, Qian'an, Zunhua, and Luanzhou. From the way things were progressing, doubtless to say, Wu Zhong also hardly be spared. Before long, the Jurchens would come knocking and find the house empty without a fight.

Last but not least, I must not forget about Li Zicheng's rebel army. The books I had read about the Jisi Incident had also noted that this was also when the rebel army began to make good progress on their conquests. I slowly glided up into the sky and flew away from Wu Zhong.

As I swam among the clouds in the sky, my thoughts wandered somewhere else. I should have long guessed that Father knew Bian Dashou since he was the one charged to watch the Dragon-slaying Blade. This was further insinuated by Bian Dashou's deference and respect when he spoke to Father. Preoccupied with my thoughts, I began to look around. But what I saw sent me into a shock!

The sun came and gone and so did the moon overhead! The pa.s.sing of Time around me was suddenly accelerated at a breathtaking rate! The sudden spike in the pace of Time began as soon as I took off into the air and even so, I found myself as if being steered like a ship as I flew. I was not in control of myself as if an invisible hand was guiding me! I had merely thought about Li Zicheng, and before I knew it, I was already in the air and I did not even know where I was going to.

When I finally landed, I was at a complete lost at the days and nights that had fleeted by as if I had pa.s.sed through a wormhole. But from the thick accent in the chatter of the people around me, I should be somewhere near Shaanxi.

I began looking around. But before long, I came to a building that looked odd to me. But when my head slanted up for me to glance at the plaque board hanging from the eave of the building, I saw the two words that said "County Magistrate." "Heavens," I shrugged helplessly, "I should have known... A person from the future now trapped in medieval times." It should have been no wonder that I find ancient architecture strange.

I smirked at my own ignorance as I began to walk away. But in just a few paces, I stopped. Something had flashed through my mind, although I do not know what it was. But I knew only one thing: it was urging me, drawing me back to the building of the County Magistrate.

With the confusion driving me to the point of becoming mad, my fingers dug frantically for my pack of cigarettes. So there I was, an invisible soul from the future now cross-legged and sipping on his cigarettes on the steps at the doors of the magistrate building, thinking about that momentary vision that flashed through my mind. But I burned through my cigarettes with great alacrity as I failed to make any sense of it. But somehow the repeating echoes of the nearby hawkers hooting and plying their wares reverberated in my mind and the word "Shaanxi" kept on ringing in my mind like the tolling of bells.

But just when I was still drowning in the disconcerting apprehension still gripping me, a man walked past me and up the steps. He banged at the doors of the magistrate building loudly and I looked up. He was wearing the same outfit as magistrate constables as I had oft-times saw in movies and dramas and a bundle wrapped in a large piece of lotus leaf nestling in his arms.

The large timber doors of the magistrate office cracked opened with the clatter of somebody removing the drop bar from the other side. A head then popped out of the opened doors and the man looked at the constable carrying the lotus-leafed bundle. A loud cackle rang amidst the hubbub of the markets nearby before the man continued, "Heh heh heh! Zhang Zixiang! The Magistrate has been expecting you for some time! Come on in!"

But I was however frozen with my hairs standing when I heard him and sweat began breaking down my back!