759 Possession (2/2)
All of a sudden, Shulitu stood up, his body straight as a board. He stared blankly into space, and the voice of an old man came out of his mouth. ”My palace…”
Everybody was transfixed with shock. The officers closest to Shulitu knelt down to the ground immediately – they had heard it very clearly and could clearly tell that it was indeed the Khan's voice.
”My palace… danger… take me back…”
Patches of soldiers knelt to the ground as if a hurricane were sweeping across the field. Those in the distance didn't hear the voice, yet they followed the lead of those in front and also knelt. When the news that the young king had been possessed by the Khan spread, even the common soldiers who were confronting the Court Attendants troops panicked and knelt down.
Fang Wenshi was suspicious. He had never heard Khan's voice before, but judging by the crowd's reaction, there should be no misunderstanding this. But he knew that Shulitu had only seen the Khan once when he was young, so he couldn't possibly have imitated the Khan so vividly.
Fang Wenshi knelt as well. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He raised his head and looked around. As expected, Han Fen who was dressed as a soldier was kneeling near the feet of Shulitu. She had lowered her head and he couldn't tell what she was doing.
Dragon King was the only one who didn't kneel, and he just lowed his head to pay his respects to Shulitu.
”Palace… return…” Shulitu said in the Khan's voice once again.
This was a command. The Court Attendants Army got onto their horses as quickly as they could. Then Shulitu came around, looking at the mess and asking, discombobulated, ”What's going on?”
Most of the officers hadn't believed the story that the Khan had gone to Heaven and become the Fire God, but now they had no reason to doubt its authenticity. All of them bent at the waist from five steps away, which made Shulitu the tallest man present.
All the soldiers in the camp fell in at an unprecedented speed. At the head of the procession, officers were guarding Shulitu, and the Court Attendants Army were following them. Then there were the common soldiers. None of the soldiers stayed behind because the Khan hadn't commanded any of them to do so.
There were more than 100,000 cavalrymen. And when Shulitu reached the destination, more than 10,000 men were still on their horses and hadn't moved a single step out of the camp.
About several miles from the camp, Shulitu was possessed by the Khan again. Instead of going to the intact palace in the north, Shulitu changed the direction of the army and led the procession towards an unknown small hill in the south.
This made the whole event even more bizarre, but nobody dared oppose his commands.
After walking for a few more miles, Mo Lin signaled the Dragon King to leave the procession with him.
Gu Shenwei had been keeping Mo Lin within his sight the whole way.
Dawn was about to break and the gravely cavalrymen were slowly processing in columns – the Court Attendants Army could still act orderly when necessary.
Mo Lin looked towards the hill in the distance, ”You discovered it after all, Dragon King.”
”By accident.”
”Maybe it really is God's will.”
”Maybe we should both stay in awe of God's will. Nobody knows what God's thinking, so I never bothered trying to figure it out.”
Mo Lin smiled and said, ”The Khan was a great emperor, but sometimes he was like a child. He was wary of everyone around him, but he also wanted to keep them by his side, even in his death.”
”Maybe that's because both emperors and children believe that they have the freedom to do so. I'm curious – how did they manage to keep the construction of such a large mausoleum a secret?”
”All of the materials were prepared forty years ago, and then ten years later, when people forgot about their existence, several thousand craftsman started their work, which lasted almost thirty years. Some people were born underground and died underground, having never seen the light of the sun in their whole lives. Finally, last year, the whole project was roughly finished. The craftsmen were buried in advance – before the Khan's death, at the bottom of the mausoleum, along with 200 guardians. The wing guards are the only ones alive who know the truth.”
Mo Lin retold an extremely cruel deed in a very casual way, then he sighed. ”the Khan seemed to have known that he would enjoy longevity, so he was in no hurry. Yet the mausoleum had barely been finished before he was murdered. Sometimes I think that that was retribution. The Khan and I have taken so many innocent lives. We deserve our punishment.
”The four wing guards have committed suicide.”
Mo Lin nodded – clearly, he wasn't surprised. ”What do you plan to do, Dragon King?”
”First, as a part of your punishment, you're not allowed to kill yourself or me.”
Mo Lin smiled, ”A punishment like that would make me feel ashamed.”
”Second, I'll level that hill and fill in the valley, then destroy the rest of the Royal Court and assign a part of the Court Attendants Army to guard it for a year. In the spring of next year, when grass covers up the whole place, nobody will be able to find the entrance or the exit, and I think that nobody will even remember this place in a few more years.”
”What are the Dragon King's conditions?” Mo Lin knew the Dragon King very well.
”The Western Regions.”
Mo Lin turned and looked towards the endless procession of cavalrymen, ”As you wish, Dragon King. There are still more than 90,000 men in the Court Attendants Army, and I'll try my best to make sure that they will willingly fight for the Dragon King.”
”For His Highness,” Gu Shenwei corrected him.
A small team rushed towards them from the rear, and Long Fanyun was leading the group. ”Chu Nanping won.” A simple remark summarized the result of the competition, which was followed by a warning. ”The scouts reported that King Shengri is mustering an army and that he's probably also coming here.”
”He wants to flee,” Gu Shenwei stated simply, instantly drawing a conclusion.