Chapter 39: The Fall of Taicang
1375 Words
The Kingdom of Pigeon Dogs had only one city, where over a hundred thousand Pigeon Dog people lived, with several thousand more scattered in the grasslands outside the city, raising poultry.
Deep within the royal palace of Pigeon Dog City, in a bizarre, entirely white palace, a figure draped in black robes—a Pigeon Dog person—stared at an old copper mirror before her.
The copper mirror reflected a scene—Ji Xia, the young ruler of Taicang, standing motionless at the center of his palace, his eyes empty, his face dazed, as if under some curse.
The black-robed Pigeon Dog person’s face twisted with malice. She raised her hands, and ripples suddenly formed on the surface of the mirror. The scene in the mirror shifted abruptly—Ji Xia shrank down, while the palace around him grew enormous. The ground sank, space twisted, and the lights in the palace flickered and went out, leaving nothing but utter darkness.
She glared at the image of Ji Xia in the mirror, her throat letting out a growl of fury: “Humans! You killed my beloved daughter! I’ll make sure you die without a grave!”
The voice was unmistakably female, a Pigeon Dog woman!
The darkness in the mirror suddenly shifted. A sound like water droplets falling echoed through the space, and a massive eye glowing with greenish light appeared before Ji Xia.
Ji Xia snapped back to his senses, his body jolting. He found himself staring into that giant eye, and he saw nothing but boundless hatred within it.
“Where is this place? The porridge Kong Ying gave me... it was poisoned!” Ji Xia thought, alarm rising in him. He tried calling upon the Sword of Vengeance, but his mind felt like it had sunk into an abyss, unable to connect to the Decaying Immortal Tree.
The eye blinked slowly, growing larger. Ji Xia took a few steps back, and from the shadows, a towering figure began to emerge.
It was a one-eyed Pigeon Dog!
But it didn’t stand on two legs—it was crouched, its jet-black fur indicating that it held a distinguished position within Pigeon Dog Country. Its sharp fangs were caked with blood and flesh, making it a terrifying sight. The creature’s massive, three-meter-tall body continually exuded a sense of power, a constant reminder of its dominance.
“Where is this place? Who are you, noble of Pigeon Dog Country?” Ji Xia asked, instinctively trying to delay with his usual tactic—buying time by gathering information.
The one-eyed Pigeon Dog let out a terrifying roar, and its giant claw slammed down toward Ji Xia. He leapt sideways just in time, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Had that claw struck him, he would have been crushed to death on the spot!
Just as Ji Xia prepared to counterattack, the one-eyed Pigeon Dog transformed into a swirling cloud of black smoke and vanished.
“What’s going on?” Ji Xia thought, his mind racing.
The black smoke reassembled in the air, and a figure Ji Xia recognized all too well appeared before him. It was Zhou Qing’s master, Qing Furen, whom Ji Xia had personally beheaded!
Qing Furen’s face was crimson, floating in mid-air, his eyes bloodshot, his fangs bared like an enraged beast. He glared at Ji Xia, as if staring at his lifelong enemy.
“This is an illusion?” Ji Xia immediately realized. He had decapitated Qing Furen with his own hands—how could he possibly be alive again?
Qing Furen pointed into the void, and black smoke billowed again, blocking Ji Xia’s vision.
Ji Xia found himself surrounded by pitch-black darkness, a biting cold creeping in as if the Day of Silence had arrived, the sun sleeping forever.
After a long while, the smoke cleared, and the surroundings slowly came into view. To his horror, Ji Xia realized he was surrounded.
Countless corpses lay around him, their eyes wide open, staring at him with undying hatred!
And these dead bodies—each one was someone Ji Xia knew very well.
Lu Yu, in a white robe stained red with blood, his body cleaved in two by a great sword, blood pouring out of him. Yet he seemed oblivious to the pain, merely staring at Ji Xia with tears of blood flowing from his eyes.
"Your Majesty! You are the king of the fallen Taicang!" Lu Yu screamed, his voice filled with grief and anger. Ji Xia stumbled backward and crashed into someone behind him. It was Zhaoqi, holding his own severed head, offering it to Ji Xia. The head spoke: “You disguised yourself as Da Feng, angered Da Feng, and brought down the wrath of Da Feng, causing the fall of Taicang! You are a criminal of Taicang, a sinner of the Ji clan!”
Ji Xia silently glanced at Zhaoqi, then turned his gaze to another figure beside him.
It was a woman in a red gown, her face pale, a sword wound on her throat marking her otherwise stunning beauty with a haunting sorrow. She stared at Ji Xia, asking, “Your Majesty… why didn’t you save me?”
Countless other figures emerged from the shadows, their bodies shattered, their expressions horrifying, their bloodied hands reaching for Ji Xia!
Chang Feng, Gu Shu, Bo Xian, Jing Ye...
An endless procession of Taicang citizens, all seemingly gathered here, came for Ji Xia’s life!
Ji Xia’s mind was in chaos, flashes of images filling his brain, memories whizzing by in rapid succession!
"Your Majesty! The Pigeon Dog army has breached Taicheng! The wild dogs are devouring people in the streets!"
"The people rise up in resistance but are dismembered by the hunting soldiers, left to writhe in pain in front of the palace!"
"General Ji and City Lord Bo Xian are dead, and the palace guards can no longer hold their ground!"
"Your Majesty, you killed the Pigeon Dog princess, angered the Pigeon Dog kingdom, and now Taicang is doomed!"
"Ji Xia, you are a sinner of Taicang. Your soul will be lost in the boundless wilderness, becoming a wandering ghost, never to ascend to the Heaven of the Cang Dynasty!"
Scenes of war and bloodshed flooded Ji Xia’s mind. He saw powerful Pigeon Dogs tearing off the heads of countless Taicang citizens, blood splattering across the streets of Taicheng.
Countless citizens wailed in agony, some killing their own children before choosing death.
The surviving Taicang humans were then herded into Taicheng, treated as food, slaughtered and eaten!
Thus, the human race in Taicang was wiped out, and the last human kingdom within a radius of three thousand miles perished. The human legacy in this area was severed completely!
Human life no longer existed, and civilization was extinguished!
And all of this—was his doing.
"I killed the Pigeon Dog princess. I caused the fall of Taicang. I am a sinner of Taicang, a sinner of the human race?"
He asked himself, haunted by the images of countless Taicang citizens dying in misery. Was it his fault?
“No... no, it’s not true!” Ji Xia thought, as a sudden realization flashed in his mind, but his head felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles, crushing his remaining willpower, causing unbearable pain!
The black-robed Pigeon Dog person gazed at the scene in the copper mirror, her cold voice echoing throughout the palace: “A mere child, today I’ll make you suffer and die!”
She traced her finger over the mirror, and a streak of pitch-black spiritual essence fused into it. Countless dead souls of Taicang vanished, and once again, a roaring one-eyed Pigeon Dog materialized in the darkness, saliva dripping from its jaws. It opened its mouth wide, ready to devour Ji Xia!
But Ji Xia remained oblivious!
“If your mind were clear, you’d have no way to resist this illusion. But now, with your will faltering, your soul collapsing, this one-eyed Pigeon Dog will devour your soul, your spirit, and your memories completely!”
“By then, even if you don’t die, you’ll be nothing but a useless shell, a living corpse!”
“My seventh son’s spirit will be comforted in the heavens!”
- Writer
