Slag Shou Cultivating Manual Chapter 2

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T/N: ah~~ finally done with this monster chapter of 5,000 characters. 5,000… That's way too much Chinese characters! Kuu kuu~ This mushroom is crying tears of blood T^T

Good news is that the other chapters are around 3,000 so they won't take that long… probably… hopefully…. 

The road to becoming emperor was very smooth for He Zheng. No one was as ruthless nor as callous as he. Therefore, the final winner was of course him.

   When he ascended to the throne, the officials who had previously opposed him and supported the other princes all s.h.i.+vered. Under the pressure of the acquiescence of the other ministers, they finally resigned and bowed down.

   He felt the satisfaction coursing through him. However, as he sat on the large, imperial throne, instead of what should have been happiness, he felt unease.

   He returned from the hall early to rest, but did not expect the servants to be so incompetent. Even the tonic soup he often drank was not prepared. Exhausted he asked: "What about the tonic soup?"

   When The servants in charge of his meal préparions heard the question from He Zheng, they panicked and pleaded for mercy. " Emperor, emperor… we have erred. There is no tonic soup tonight…"

   His eyebrows rose impatiently. "Why? Is there something wrong with the cook?"

   In the past, he would not cause such a ruckus over a bowl of soup, but this tonic soup had become indispensable to him and has extraordinary significance.

   Since the day he decided to cease power, the schemes and killings weighed upon his mind. He seems to hear the crying and wailing of despair at night, disturbing him.

   This bowl of tonic soup is very precious. It doesn't contain any rare medicines, but the prescription is very difficult to make and the effect is also very good. After taking it at night, it soothes his tense nerves, and allows him to sleep well.

   But this time, even this little comfort was lost to him.

   the servant's weak voice was heard, "Actually… that tonic soup was sent by the third imperial prince. He urged us to not tell the emperor…"

   Why is there no tonic soup? The answer is obvious. The third prince was dead under his own hands. Thus there's noone to give him soup at night.

   He stared vacantly for a moment, not expecting that it was like this, and his chest felt like it was suffocating.

   He gritted his teeth, how is the third prince again! He is already dead! His heart felt irritated and he shouted: "Then let someone else do it!" For a bowl of soup, was it worthy of angering him?

   He Zheng had always been indifferent and stoic. Even if he had thoughts of scheming towards someone or anger, it was always suppressed. But this time, the servants had a front row seat to his unrestrained expression and felt suffocated. Urgently, they immediately sent a bowl of warm soup to present to the emperor. 

  In the end, He zheng only took a sip and he threw the expensive porcelain bowl on the floor, shattering it. 

   The taste was wrong! The strange taste seems to evoke his train thoughts, and he finally realized that many things are gradually becoming out of his control and overwhelming.

   The group of servants could not detect his thoughts. Without hesitation, they kneeled and bowed their head for atonement. Hearing them crying and plead for forgiveness was noisy and annoyed He Zheng. Thus, he drove everyone out.

   Alone, he took of his outer garment, washed himself, and prepared for bed.

   He Zheng thought that it would be a sleepless night, but by the middle of the night, he was dreaming of the dead He Lang. the suffocating feeling in his chest seemed to vanish, his nerves relaxed and he slowly sank into the dream.

   But this was not actually a dream, but a memory.

   When he was still a young boy, the relations.h.i.+p between the two of them was very close. They read , studied together and did not play with the other princes. For He Lang, this was because of his cold temperament and He Zheng because he disdained of them. 

   His mother is the most favored concubine. He was showered with favor from birth and was arrogant and dispotic. Although he did not hate He Lang, he still looked down on his mother's humble origins, and he felt that his ident.i.ty was also low.

   He was still young when his mother died and everything changed. He fell from the highest of clouds to the bottom of the valley. The people who had previously flattered him now ridiculed him. after being bullied, Angry and confused, he would hide in the Imperial Garden, to cry.

   He Lang, quietly sat in the pavilion from a distance, watching him. When his tears had dried, he came over and asked him if he still wanted to cry.

   He remembered his (HZ) eyes had filled with hate and swore that he would be the most honorable person in the world, controlling the fate and life and death of all in his hands. 

   What happened after…? He regretted that he did not remember every detail, only a vague memory of He Lang's warm, soft hand stroking his head, the flowers blooming behind him, and his soothing voice. His voice was warm, without any ridicule, nor attempt of persuasion or fear, he merely smiled and said: "You will."

   You will get what you want, and you will govern the world -

   The night was still cool when He Zhang woke up from his sleep. He looked around in the pitch black room. His posture, lacking his usual aloofness and arrogance, bending in a curve that exposed his fragile and tired state. 

   His eyes glazed over replaying a scene of him and that person playing the hide-and-seek.

  Back then, he would also always disappear suddenly, and when he (HZ) couldn't find him and attempt to leave, he would suddenly appear in front of him again. 

  But now, would imperial older brother still be able to appear?

   ……

   He Lang is aware that he is already dead because he feels his body is already cold. On the other hand, he feels that he is still alive, because he feels his soul escaping, fluttering and swaying gently, free and unfettered.

   Since he wasn't aware of his destination, he could only drift aimlessly. He couldn't help pondering over whether he was going to be reincarnated, and if he would meet He Zheng in his next life.

   His ascended and around him was emptiness as far as the eyes could see.

   "Since you haven't reincarnated yet, let's make an exchange, okay?" The voice of a middle-aged man resounded through the air but he didn't know from where it came from. 

   This being the first person he met after his death, He Lang was curious, especially about this exchange he offered. Can it not be done if he reincarnated?

   The same voice sounded again. "You should definitely agree to my proposal. Little brother, your predestined lifetime was shortened, and it won't take long, you will be recruited to reincarnate. You do know that people usually have three souls (hun), representing their spirit and intellect, and six souls (po), representing the mortal form's carnal desires, right? I only need one soul that represents your carnal desires, then you can be resurrected. Tempted?"

(TN: 【: 魂/hun refers to soul with your 'mind' that can exist without a living body, while 魄/po refers to soul (desires) where it's existence needs a living body.] Since there's a difference that cannot be expressed fluidly in English, I will refer to the soul that he will lose (along with his feelings) as qingpo. Literally, soul feeling.)

   He Lang heard the man's crafty tone but he nevertheless remained unmoved. 

When he spoke, his tone was filled with desolation and despair. "How will I be resurrected?" His family members are no longer alive and the person he loves does not have him in his heart. He might be able to live, but this would only implicate the innocent people by his side. 

The nameless man is clearly displeased and says "I cannot say much, merely that, because you died an untimely death, you have the privilege to be resurrected to enjoy a one of a kind human world."

  Actually, before he found He Lang, he had encountered another wandering soul, but the other party seemed to have lingering affection for his lover after his death. Since resurrection would mean surrendering his qingpo and his lover had long since died, he had not been interested. 

  He also has to admit that it is very difficult for a person to surrender their precious feelings so casually.

   The nameless man did not intend to force He Lang, but the words he had just said aroused He Lang's interest.

   In his past life, he had spent most of his time in the palace, watching the flowers every day, with only a book as a companion. Unlike the other princes, he did not partic.i.p.ate in the battlefield for power. There were so many things that he has never experienced for himself.

   Because of this, if he were able to, he would wanted to be able to experience the world for himself, without boundaries.

   "I accept the proposal." Helang nodded his acceptance.

   The nameless person heard his decision and was very satisfied. He waved his hand to take away He Lang's qingpo.

   A transparent and tangible matter emerged from the top of He Lang's head. Simultaneously, he felt a sharp pain in his head and he resisted the urge to scream. Even as he gritted his teeth and beared the pain, in his heart emerged a smudge of expectation. 

 The qingpo was hard to remove and a loud bang emerged like the sound of a physical match between his soul and body. By the time he opened his eyes, he could sense that his body had already been restored. 

His skin felt warm to the touch and he stood firmly rooted on the ground.

   He looked at the village a distance away, his raging blood cooling down. When he thought of He Zheng, his heart was like still water, no waves in sight and the heart that previously ached became numb and calmer than ever. Trading his qingpo for a new life, who can say that this is a bad bargain?

   The He Lang reborn without the shackles of love, looked up at the empty sky. He felt that the nameless  person had not disappeared and immediately thanked him. He hesitated for a while before making a request.

   The character of the nameless person was straightforward and generous. After completing his wish, he was also willing to help Helang.

   "I want to retrieve my jade." It was that piece of jade that his mother had left for him.

   He Lang could tell that the nameless person possessed vast power. His other half of the jade was given to the He Zheng, but after losing his qingpo, his affection for him had naturally waned. Naturally he wanted to get it back, but he could not return to the palace again, only request help.

He Lang thought that his request would be hard to accomplish and was prepared for the other person to refuse his request.

   When he heard He Lang's request, he made a long "hmm-" sound and seemed to look for something.

   He Lang waited quietly, and then suddenly there was a heavy weight in his hand. The familiar touch made his cold heart recover a degree of temperature.

   He opened his mouth to thank the nameless person, but he seemed to have already left.

   He Lang took the other half of his jade, putting the two halves together into a perfect fit. When the two jade came together, like magnets merged with each other and became a complete piece of jade without a line of separation in sight.

   He Lang frowned, unable to understand the magic of this jade. He was about to inspect further when he saw a glare of light,l and reflexively closed his eyes. His hands unconsciously loosened, and he worried that the jade would fall on the ground and break, only to look down and find a black book on the ground.

   He remembered that there was no such book previously and bent down to pick it up and continued to look for his jade while muttering to himself, "Jade?"

   Unexpectedly, the book in his hand seemed to be able to understand human speech. It shook and made a loud flipping book, opening the first page. The characters written on it was clearly seen by He Lang.

   【It's me】

   He Lang squatted for a while, not feeling scared, merely interested, and he continued to tentatively ask, "You are sentient?"

   The manual ignored his interrogation and continued to turn its pages.

   [Since you have opened the manual, you are now bound by this manual! I hope that the host accepts the fate of this arrangement and successfully completes the tasks given for each world…] Although Helang could not understand what it meant, he understood that there seemed to be an arranged to go to other worlds and frowned. "If I don't want to?"

   [The host has no control. Afterwards, host will be automatically transferred to other worlds! 】 "What if i do not do the tasks you a.s.signed?"

   【Host will die. 】The booklet answered clearly and concisely.

   He Lang was helpless. He had just resurrected, and already his life was threatened. Anyway, right now he didn't have any destination so he compromised and no longer resisted. He continued to ask, "What kind of book are you? If i am going to the worlds you talked about, what do I need to do?"

   The book in front of him paused for a long time, slowly opening a page and explaining: [I am a manual that helps the male protagonists of each world become successful and gain recognition. The task of the host will be consistent with my goal. 】

He Lang nodded. As a gentleman, if he can help others to win success and recognition, then of course he is naturally happy to help.  Since he can't resist it, he will accept anyway and experience a different life…

。。。。

   After the new emperor ascended the throne, his temperament had undergone a visible change. He who had previously shown bloodthirsty characteristics in the past, was now afraid of seeing blood. The previously calm and unfl.u.s.tered personality had now become violent. From time to time, something would touch his delicate nerves and a large amount of palace maids would be punished.

   His brothers had died, and there were few family members left, and he had yet to take a wife nor concubine. As such the palace was empty and lonely.  

   Walking through the Imperial Garden, countless memories emerged from He Zheng like the raging tides, and he was horrified to find how much he was longed to see a familiar figure sitting in the pavilion again.

   Day after day, he would regularly send gifts, the tonic soup sent every night, and his house was pack full of paintings and calligraphy. He has always opposed his own Zhong family, and suddenly helped him to ascend the throne. … All this regard and love originated from that person.

   He never noticed it since that person had always been obscured, small in presence, and willing to stay behind him. Even when his hands were covered with blood, he only helped him and tolerated his cruelty.

   It was not until his wish was fulfilled, and that person had died, did he discover that his love was so beautiful, was his only solace, and that he had unknowingly personally obliterated that gentleness. He was willing to turn back, but the person who had been behind him was no longer there.

   He dragged his tall, frail body up, and remembered that He Lang had given him a lot of things. He suddenly recovered his strength, and what was a sense of loss was now transformed into joy. He immediately called the palace maid, asking her to send everything that He Lang had sent. Even if seeing them would add to his sense of loss, it would make him feel better.

   However, the palace lady replied that, before, he had once said that he would not receive the gifts of the third prince. As such, the servants had diligently toss aside the gifts…

   Why hadn't even known about this point? By the time he did, He Zheng lost his strength, not even able to summon his anger. He dazedly lifted his head up and on his face ice cold face, resembled tears. 

   The sorry state of appearance of the emperor frightened the palace lady, who hurriedly kneeled down and reminded him that there was still the piece of jade in the palace hall. She had barely finished speaking, when the emperor rushed to the palace hall disregarding his image, and frantically turned over his storing cabinet. When he finally found the small, bright box, it was empty.

   "Where's my jade? Where's my jade?!!" He Zhengqi incoherently shouted repeatedly. Unresigned, he rummaged through the cabinet over and over again, finally kicking it repeatedly. 

Smashed to a pulp.

   Several palace maids were so scared and tears filled their faces, not understanding the situation. That half of the jade, they had ensured that no one had ever touched it… How can it be gone? Looking at the already maddening emperor, they were all desperate to escape. 

  He Zheng's body slummed down on the floor, the coldness of the floor resonated with his heart. He pushed away the palace maid's helping hands, unable to muster the strength to cover up his eyes with his arms.

   The only thing left from that person was gone… everything else was gone… he was also gone…

   The emperor lying on the ground felt a whirlwind of emotions, drowning out all other voices and the broken scenery in front of him blurred. In the deepest darkness of despair, a man's smile and voice formed- He Lang.

   He considered himself unmatched and had been too arrogant, never placing He Lang in his world. Now, he has to admit that in his whole world, there was only him. Such that not even one inch remained.

Mushroom: *cackles* ha ha ha  suffer, suffer! Bring forth more suffering to appease my cinnam.u.f.fin~