Part 5
Zong Hao stood there and watched the Emperor quietly. Through the mask, he looked at this Emperor whom he had respected as an elder for many years, his heart filled with complexity. “I want to know about that base. What exactly happened to my sister? Who were her biological parents, and why does this base exist?”
The Emperor lowered his eyes. Clearly, Zong Hao knew even more than he had imagined. “Since things have come to this, there is no use in hiding anything anymore. It started with the late Emperor and your grandfather…”
Before the late Emperor ascended the throne, the Interstellar insect plague was already rampant, and beast tides frequently occurred at the borders. At that time, the situation for banshouren wasn’t as dire.
By chance, the late Emperor and your grandfatherâwho was his closest friendâwent to the borders in disguise and rescued several banshouren from a beast tide.
Those banshouren lived at the borders all year round and were accustomed to fighting those creatures. Their dream was to one day drive them away from their homes.
The late Emperor was young then and shared the same idea with your grandfather. They wanted to change the days disrupted by those creatures.
Coupled with the debt of gratitude for saving their lives, the late Emperor, your grandfather, and the banshouren became close. It was also then that the late Emperor clearly felt the genetic gap between ordinary humans and banshouren.
The late Emperor and your grandfather stayed at the border for several years. During that time, their relationship with the banshouren truly grew closer. After facing life and death several times, they swore an oath of brotherhood.
“In the beginning, the late Emperor truly treated them as partners. But over the years, he clearly saw them progressing rapidly. Several banshouren coordinated perfectly, and their jingshenli even surpassed theirs by several levels. The late Emperor was young and aggressive back then, and he felt a bit resentful about being surpassed repeatedly. He ventured out alone to fight a swarm of exotic beasts to increase his strength, but he nearly died under their hooves. He was saved by one of the banshouren.”
“Although he was saved, his injuries were severe. That banshouren was desperate to save him and somehow accidentally pressed their wound against his. Some of the banshourenâs jingshenli was transferred into his body. At that moment, the late Emperor felt his own jingshenli suddenly surge.”
“He didn’t think much of it after waking up. He was grateful for the rescue and began paying more attention to that banshouren. He realized that while he had seen the beast forms of the others, he had never seen this one’s…”
Later, by chance, the late Emperor saw the banshourenâs beast form. It was a rare renyu. Not only that, but the person was actually a woman. For convenience, she had always dressed as a man, and because she was small and slender and her appearance didn’t change as she aged, she hadn’t been suspected.
Upon making this discovery, the late Emperor fell hopelessly in love with the renyu. But the renyu was a pair with another banshouren, a childhood friend. She politely declined the late Emperor.
At that time, the late Emperor was young and arrogant. He felt the renyu looked down on his genes and the fact that his jingshenli didn’t increase as much as a banshouren’s, leading her to choose the stronger childhood friend.
“Subsequently, the late Emperor developed the idea of researching a way to enhance the jingshenli of ordinary people. This way, the genes of banshouren wouldn’t be so special. He recalled how the renyu had accidentally transferred jingshenli to him, and a thought occurred to him: could it be extracted? You likely know what happened nextâjingshenli can indeed be extracted.”
“The late Emperor was later summoned back to the Capital Planet. He couldn’t bear to leave his ideas and research behind, so he coerced several banshouren into returning with him. He told them his plan, claiming that if it could be developed, the entire Interstellar population could be enhanced. Then who would need to fear the insect and beast tides?”
“The banshouren were swayed. Their dream had always been to drive those things away and protect their homes. What was the sacrifice of a few individuals compared to that?”
The Emperor gave a bitter smile. “The late Emperor exploited their kindness. Initially, perhaps he really just wanted to research it. He devised a plan, labeling several individuals as subjects 1 through 4. The renyu was subject 4, and her lover was subject 3. During this time, your grandfather also joined the base, but he was unaware of the late Emperor’s true plan. He thought it was pure research for the benefit of the entire Interstellar.”
“Your grandfather stayed at the initial base on behalf of the late Emperor until he noticed something was wrong. Besides the four original banshouren, new individuals appeared every month. But because results were being produced and many people were indeed enhancing their jingshenli, your grandfather didn’t suspect anything…”
“However, years later, once the border crisis was suppressed, banshouren were still being continuously sent to the base. By then, the late Emperor had ascended the throne. Your grandfather finally realized the gravity of the situation. During that time, subjects 3 and 4 had a child. When the news reached the late Emperor, before long… your grandfather discovered that subject 3 had died mysteriously.”
“At that time, your grandfather suspected the late Emperor. He couldn’t believe it and wanted to withdraw, but it was too late. He did something very bold. He personally orchestrated an accident, using his own life to stage a disaster at the base. He died in that accident along with subjects 1, 2, and 4. He sent their children and many other banshouren away, faking their deaths.”
The reason subjects 1, 2, and 4 had to die there was that if their bodies didn’t appear, the late Emperor’s suspicious nature would never have allowed him to believe an accident had truly occurred.
The late Emperor did believe it, but having tasted the benefits, he didn’t stop. Once that base was gone, he quickly built another one.
And because he had caused the death of his close friend, he was very good to the orphaned Old Master Zong, who was very young at the time.
“However, everything eventually came to light, all because of me… I am the one who failed the Second Prince’s mother, Old Master Zong, and your sister. When I fell in love with the Second Prince’s mother, I didn’t know she was a banshouren, nor did I know she was a renyu or a descendant of subjects 3 and 4. It wasn’t until we intended to marry and reported it to the late Emperor that he sent people to investigate… only then did he discover that a renyu was still alive, leading him to suspect that your grandfather had spared those children.”
“The late Emperor used the life of the Second Prince’s mother to threaten me. In the end, I compromised and let her leave. I didn’t expect… that she was already pregnant with my child. Nor did I expect that the late Emperor would later discover your sister was a descendant of subject 1. He spared the renyu’s descendant, likely fearing I would rebel if pushed too hard. But your sister… he didn’t intend to let her go.”
“You know what happened next. Your sister’s identity as a banshouren was exposed. Old Master Zong likely guessed who leaked the information. To protect the entire Zong family, he took his own life shortly after, fearing the late Emperor would take his anger out on the younger generation. Later, the late Emperor passed away as well, and that hot potato of a base fell into my hands. But the situation was already set. If I let her return… I couldn’t explain or justify it. So I retreated and ignored the base for several years. Once the Prince was capable, I handed it over to him.”
Who knew that his “ostrich” behavior would lead to an even more irreversible situation?
On the other side, Ning Yunyi waited until dawn, but Zong Hao didn’t appear. Instead, Ichi came to see them off. By the time they returned to the Ning house, it was broad daylight. Handing the Second Prince over to the Jinqian Turtle, Ning Yunyi and his elder brother went to catch up on sleep.
When Ning Yunyi woke again, the sky outside was dark. He had slept for an entire day. He washed up first to refresh himself before opening his bedroom door. However, as the door opened, he noticed something. He looked down and saw a big cat curled into a ball, lying at his doorâno telling how long it had been there.
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