A wilderness of tombstones.
Xu Qing gazed at the communal graveyard, eroded by wind and sand for centuries, now dilapidated beyond recognition, and sighed softly.
As the fate of Dayong was exhausted, the once-noisy cemetery now truly became a desolate grave.
Having spent many days in the communal grave, Xu Qing followed the old paths in his memory and walked deep into the burial grounds.
On a mound of earth, a skeleton marshal with tattered cloak and corroded armor was observing the spot where the former banner stood.
Following his gaze, Xu Qing saw a flagpole that had broken due to decay on the tallest grave mound.
The banner with the word 'Yong' inscribed on it had long since vanished.
At this moment, the Eight Banner Marshal sat alone on the grave, as if he were a defeated general.
Beneath him, Xu Qing was followed by a funeral procession of papermen.
A hundred twenty-eight bearers for the emperor, eighty for the princes, and sixty-four for a nation's marshal.
The paperman procession behind Xu Qing happened to number sixty-four.
"Marshal, the time has come."
The Eight Banner Marshal, who had been staring blankly at the flag, finally glanced down the grave. The youth looked the same as when they first met a dozen years ago, with an unchanged smile on his face.
The living solemn, the dead smiling.
Despite the changing landscapes, only this person remained consistent.
The Eight Banner Marshal suddenly realized that the pale-faced youth had always intended to send him off, and that smile was merely a professional courtesy for arrivals and departures.
"Dayong... did it perish by your hand?"
The hoarse voice echoed, as if tainted by the lingering sands of the underworld.
Xu Qing nodded and then shook his head.
"Dayong perished by its own devices. From ancient times to now, how many empires have risen and fallen? Could a single person cause such changes?"
Xu Qing smiled and said, "I merely brought it a swift end to spare it from causing further harm."
"Marshal, belonging not to this time, you cannot witness the suffering of ordinary people or understand the conflict between Dayong and me. In the long run, perhaps this early conclusion is a blessing for future generations."
The dwindling life flame within the Eight Banner Marshal flared briefly at Xu Qing's words.
Destroying Dayong is a benefit to future generations?
What a bitter irony for the founding marshal who established Dayong!
Noticing the marshal's agitation, Xu Qing clicked his tongue and reminded him again, "Marshal, you're not of this time, and Dayong isn't the Dayong of old. From past to present, countless extraordinary figures have existed, yet who can escape the fate of a ruined empire?"
"Even the civil and military ministers who aided the founding emperor couldn't prevent the end of an era."
"Marshal, you must let go. I've heard that the merchant Shang Shaoyang from Qianzhou, leading the Huainan forces, together with the Gu family's Four Symbols Soldiers, drove the Southern Barbarians back six hundred miles into the Southern Territory, reclaiming three lost counties—a perfect achievement."
The life flame that had just been ignited within the Eight Banner Marshal quickly settled down again, and he looked at Xu Qing deeply, drew out the long spear beside him, and said:
"Merits and demerits will be judged by future generations. Since I was once a marshal of Dayong, I must fulfill my duty to Dayong in that same time."
"If you wish to collect my body, you must level my grave and break the spear in my hand!"
Xu Qing looked at the marshal, with his life flame flickering like an old candle in the wind, and finally drew his sword.
"This sword was a gift from General Zuo. I used it to take the life of the foolish emperor—Marshal, do you also wish to be buried under this blade?"
"..."
Hearing the name Zuo Zixiong, the Eight Banner Marshal hesitated and asked, "Did General Zuo remain loyal to the court? Did you kill him as well?"
Xu Qing chuckled, "I promised you, Marshal, to send General Zuo out of the underworld alive—how could I kill him once I've sent him out?"
"General Zuo is no longer in Dayong. Perhaps when the world is at peace, I might send him back."
The Eight Banner Marshal froze, feeling uneasy, and said, "How is that different from killing him?"
Xu Qing contemplated for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "It's fine. If a hundred years won't do, then a thousand years. Who knows, maybe the world will no longer have emperors, and without an emperor, General Zuo might truly find himself."
"After all, throughout the ages, this is but an ancient kingdom."
No emperor? How could that be? How could the world operate without an emperor?
The Eight Banner Marshal couldn't comprehend.
"Deceptive words to confuse the masses! How can the protocol between sovereign and subject be violated? It's just that I mistakenly trusted a sinful one, failing to eradicate this scourge before the decline of Dayong over a dozen years ago. Now that we meet again, we are foes!"
"If not now, when will you draw your sword?"
The Eight Banner Marshal's life flame grew weaker and weaker, and even Xu Qing's silhouette became blurred.
"Marshal, you should have rested long ago."
Xu Qing sighed softly. How could he not see the marshal's intention?
This old general wished to die on the battlefield rather than fade away in these desolate tombs.
Xu Qing drew his sword, passed through the Eight Banner Marshal, and stood behind him.
The Eight Banner Marshal didn't feel the sword pierce his body. Turning his head, he saw the young man pressing the sword hilt against his back, saying:
"I concede."
The young man twirled his sword, sheathed it, and extended a palm, placing it on him.
In the next moment, the Eight Banner Marshal felt an unprecedented lightness. He saw his father carving wooden swords with him in childhood, his mother taking him to lantern festivals, meeting the former emperor, and the camaraderie in the military camps.
Further on, marrying, having children, and campaigning across lands...
When the scenes before his eyes ended, the Eight Banner Marshal's head drooped.
Xu Qing looked at the reward from the Sutra of Salvation.
Three Army Seal Master seals, ranked in the lower tier of heavenly grade.
The three seals were of blue, yellow, and red, each engraved with the characters for heaven, earth, and people.
The Heavenly Blue Seal could gather malice into clouds, lift armies, enhance marching speed, and make divine soldiers arrive as if descended from the sky. The Earth Yellow Seal reinforced camp defenses, drawn on the Power of Earth Veins for protection, building an impenetrable fortress; the Human Red Seal could heal wounded soldiers, dispel water and fire, purify pollution, and remove calamities.
The Heavenly Blue Seal could gather malice into clouds, lift armies, enhance marching speed, and make divine soldiers arrive as if descended from the sky. The Earth Yellow Seal reinforced camp defenses, drawing on the Power of Earth Veins for protection, forming a baleful formation—impervious to external spells; the Human Red Seal could heal wounded soldiers, dispel water and fire, purifying pollution and removing calamities.
Xu Qing held the three Army Seal Master seals, floating in his palm.
In the past, even with a multitude of Fierce Generals, he couldn't make them soar through clouds on the march or become heavenly soldiers.
But now, with this marshal's seal, he truly possessed the ability to command heavenly soldiers.
However, Xu Qing also realized something that made him, the Seal Master, feel quite awkward.
Even as an Undying Bone Zombie, he hadn't yet mastered the art of flying or cloud soaring.
Zombies cultivate the physical body, each bone heavy as thousands of pounds, unable to learn ordinary flight methods. Only evolving into a Flying Corpse could awaken the abilities of flying and earth escaping.
Xu Qing put away the Army Seals, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Moments later, Xu Qing gathered the Eight Banner Marshal's bones, while the Straw Spirit Papermen bore the coffin, and the funeral procession headed towards the Bone Temple.
————
Impure Observation → White Bone Observation → White Bone Renewing Observation → White Bone Radiance Observation
Viewing beauties as white bones leaves me without desire. Viewing white bones as beauties leaves me without fear! White Bone Observation
Shed the skin; it's merely two hundred and six bones, flesh, filth, hair, intestines; dressed up, there are eighteen thousand possibilities. The lotus white face is but a blood-stained skull, splendid rouge makeup is merely sharp killing blades.
In life, guessing hearts; in death, observing white bones.
Viewing beauties as white bones leaves me without desire, viewing white bones as beauties leaves me without fear—being without desire or fear is to observe all of life. Being without desire or fear, great deeds can be achieved.
All appearances are illusory, having form is also formless. No self, no person, no sentient being, no lifespan—red-dusted skeletons are but white bones and flesh. The phenomena are not such; all forms are illusion.