What on earth was Silver Moon up to?
By the time he returned to Three Rivers Pasture City, Wei Yuan pretty much had his answer. First and foremost was to let Wei Yuan witness the aftermath of an Immortal Lord's ascension. A blessed land ample enough to support two immortals had been utterly ruined like this; the natural cycle for heaven and earth to recover was a hundred thousand years, and for a subsequent Immortal Lord to emerge would take two hundred thousand years.
This place was the Liao domain. The Martial Ancestor had sealed off heaven and earth, barring mortal Immortal Lords; within the mortal realm, one could not utter a single word about Immortal Lords, whereas in the Liao domain, one could at least speak of them obliquely, and Wei Yuan could hear it.
Beyond this, Silver Moon had also set Wei Yuan a test: how exactly to govern these fifteen million Liao people living on this barren land? Three Rivers Khanate lacked none of the basic geographical elements, but what it lacked were leylines and spiritual qi. Without sufficient spiritual qi, even if their souls were strong, the Liao people born here could hardly grow to their fullest. And the price of generations of stunted growth was the attrition of the soul. After many such generations, their souls would be distinctly weaker than the first generation.
Reincarnation involved the ultimate mysteries of heaven and earth, and even now Wei Yuan only understood the barest surface. For instance, when a Liao soul reincarnated, how did one define that it was the original one? Where were the memories of past lives stored? Was a person defined by the soul itself, or by the memories of reincarnation? All sorts of questions remained unsolved mysteries even in the Immortal Realm to this day. But what could be confirmed for now was that the thousand-odd garrison troops Wei Yuan had slain at the pass were likely among the sturdier of the Liao people, yet after their souls reincarnated, they were far weaker than the souls Wei Yuan had reaped on the Eastern Jin battlefields—inferior by two whole major tiers, so to speak. Thus, Silver Moon wanted to see how Wei Yuan would govern this stretch of Liao land.
These were the two grand matters, but there was also a string of smaller problems waiting for Wei Yuan to resolve. For example, the black horse that had been delivered was clearly problematic—hugely so. For no rhyme or reason, they had sent Wei Yuan a monster originating from the Golden Feather Realm, and one at Scenery Command perfection at that; the implications were immense. Foul-mouthed though this horse was, its Dao heart was transparent and practically flawless. This was easy to understand: generally, those who had foul mouths, threw fits at will, and disregarded everything had transparent Dao hearts. On the contrary, it was those who cared obsessively about saving face who tended to bottle up festering knots inside.
In other words, this horse possessed supreme talent and a transparent Dao heart, burdened with massive karmic ties. Wei Yuan needed only to give it a slight nudge, and it could step through the Immortal Gate. Once that happened, the karma with this horse would be tied fast.
Thinking to this point, Wei Yuan suddenly frowned, a peculiar notion surfacing in his mind. Could Silver Moon want him to take care of the Golden Feather Realm along the way as well?
Once this thought appeared, the more Wei Yuan pondered, the more plausible it seemed. Back then, he had thought going to the Nether Cold Realm was merely an exploration, only to be thoroughly swindled by Hongye in the end and forced to take over Shu Li’s realm. Now that he knew these realms all originated from calamities, Wei Yuan felt that falling into the Desolate Realm in the past might not have been purely by chance either.
Now there was another one, Silver Moon, trying to lure Wei Yuan toward the Golden Feather Realm.
Wei Yuan couldn't help cursing inwardly: *Am I an anti-inflammatory ointment? Rubbing me wherever something's inflamed?*
Amidst his thoughts, they had arrived back at Pasture City. Wei Yuan settled into the city lord's grand seat. Looking down at the Liao people before him, nothing about them sat right with his eyes. Seeing Batu about to speak, Wei Yuan's face darkened, and he said, "Shut up!"
Batu took fright and hastily shrank back.
Wei Yuan glanced left and right and asked, "Where is that horse? How long has it been boiling? Is it cooked yet?"
Batu had no choice but to brace himself and step forward. "That horse is named Naba Tanggula, meaning 'the Black Mountain that even an eagle cannot fly across.' His standing in the Liao Clan is actually far higher than mine. Born inherently gifted with spirituality, he was originally a sacred beast upon Sky Azure Great Snow Mountain. Hearing there was great fortune here, he accepted the Silver Moon Great Khan’s recruitment and came specially to Three Rivers Khanate."
"An undercover agent?" Wei Yuan arched an eyebrow.
With that question from Wei Yuan, cold sweat broke out on Batu once more. He hurriedly said, "He is sincere in submitting! He can sign a blood covenant; My Lord may rest completely assured!"
Wei Yuan sneered. "Take him as a mount? Heh, we’ve met but once, and he already came close to greeting three generations of my ancestors. If I took him in, wouldn’t that be disrespecting my ancestors?"
Batu was stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.
Wei Yuan ordered the horse to be led in. This time, the beast had learned to behave, having proactively had someone seal his mouth with dharmic power.
Wei Yuan then summoned Hongmo and asked in front of the black horse, "Is this thing of any use?"
Hongmo shook her head immediately. "Useless! Foul-mouthed, frail of body, can't fight. Why would you still need a mount now? He flies far slower than you! Besides, if you really want a mount, wouldn’t riding me do?"
Only then did Wei Yuan realize Hongmo’s mouth wasn't much better than the black horse's.
The black horse was panicked as well, but with his mouth sealed, he couldn't even defend himself in the slightest, snorting white steam in utter agitation.
Wei Yuan gave a snort and pointed to the side. The attendants made room and led the black horse over. The black horse stood there meekly at once. With a Dharma God present, he wished he could find a hole to crawl into. After all, he was on the Dharma God’s menu, and ranked quite high on it too. This Dharma God kept calling him useless—her intentions were as clear as day!
The black horse couldn't help resenting Wei Yuan: *Why on earth do you keep a Dharma God? Fine, keep one if you must, but you don't even feed her full! Right now, the way she looks at me, her eyes are glowing green!*
Once everyone was seated in their proper places, Wei Yuan finally said, "Next, let us discuss the governance of Three Rivers Khanate. Since this land belongs to me, all Liao laws are hereby abolished, and Qingming's laws shall be implemented instead. Any town or tribe with more than a thousand people will have officials dispatched by Qingming to administer it. Does anyone object?"
Batu had no choice but to cough lightly and say, "This old servant believes the territory of Three Rivers Khanate is vast, the Liao populace numerous and fierce of temperament, living by water and grass. Governing them is truly no simple feat. Furthermore, the Liao people have our own traditions of which the human race knows little; taboos will inevitably be breached. Should conflict arise from this, it would hardly be pleasant."
Wei Yuan remained impassive. "Then what do you propose?"
"This old servant believes we should rule the Liao with Liao. This method has existed since antiquity, employed by both the human race and the Liao Clan, and its effectiveness has been proven time and again. I beg the Realm Lord to discern this clearly."
"Rule the Liao with Liao?" Wei Yuan smiled faintly, his tone turning chilling. "Am I here to seek benefits for you, that I need to cater to your thoughts? I said before, this land was taken by force, not negotiated. If it had truly been negotiated, you might still have had some bargaining chips to play at ruling the Liao with Liao or whatever. But now? Out of the question!"
A flash of anger flitted across Batu's face, yet he quickly put on a fawning smile and said, "This old servant was merely considering My Lord's convenience. I only fear some herdsmen are uncouth; if they should harm the officials My Lord dispatches, this old servant would be guilty of a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths!"
Wei Yuan said coldly, "If an official dies, the killer shall be beheaded and their entire clan enslaved; the chieftain of their tribe shall share the same guilt, beheaded, and their entire clan banished into slavery. This law takes effect immediately."
"This..."
Wei Yuan continued, "From this day forth, the people of this land are divided into two classes: the first class is the Qingming human race, and all Liao people are second class. If a Liao kills a human, the killer is beheaded and their clan enslaved. If a human kills a Liao, compensation shall be paid according to the price."
Batu's hands trembled slightly, but in the end he lacked the courage to turn hostile and strike. Leaving aside Wei Yuan himself, the predatory Hongmo glaring beside him alone could slaughter the entire Pasture City clean. As a Liao, he naturally knew the horror of a Dharma God.
Wei Yuan wasted no more words. "If you want better treatment, first prove that you are useful to me."
"...Understood," Batu’s voice was filled with bitterness.
Wei Yuan gave a snort and rose, preparing to depart. But as he passed by the gathered Liao people, a few wisps of sandy-yellow qi suddenly drifted into his sea of consciousness, settling naturally above his sea of karmic luck and turning into a wisp of yellow qi that wandered restlessly.
Wei Yuan was stunned in an instant.
This was... Liao karmic luck?
Without pausing to ponder, Wei Yuan had already turned around, his face lit with a sun-like smile, and said warmly to Batu, "Winter will soon be upon us. Go tally up what winter supplies the tribes are lacking and report back. I will have them delivered immediately!"
"Ah... ah?" Old Batu swung from heaven to earth in an instant, utterly bewildered.
Chapter 1303