100 Ghost Collection

Ch 11 ~ Ghost Corpse (Middle)

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Editor & Translator: Sonrisa t.n.t

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Just after the end of the first month, the Wei Kingdom and Rong Kingdom in the north started a war.
The people of Rong were very aggressive, which caused the military situation on the borders to become very urgent.
Therefore, in the imperial court, an imperial decree and the General Seal was once again in Huo Yang’s hands.

After the morning court ended, the Emperor of Wei summoned Huo Yang alone.
In the Imperial Study, the emperor handed a letter to Huo Yang and said: “I, the emperor, heard that in the last war with the Xu Kingdom, you did not accept the letter of surrender.
Nor did you read its contents, was there a reason?”

“Even though the Xu Kingdom was small, it strongly advocated loyalty and righteousness.
If I didn’t destroy their beliefs completely, I was afraid that it would only become more troublesome.”

The emperor nodded, then he pointed to the letter in his hand and said: “Recently, when I, the emperor, was browsing over the documents of Xu Kingdom, I found this letter among it.
After reading it, I, the emperor, realized that this was a personal letter written by a woman of Xu Kingdom to you.”

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Huo Yang was shocked and immediately knelt down: “I, the official, am guilty.”

The emperor waved his hand: “It’s okay, I know that you are loyal.
This personal letter, you should read it.”

Only then did Huo Yang dare to take out the letter inside the envelope.
The woman’s handwriting was graceful and within it, it carried a rare heroic spirit.
As soon as he read the first line, Huo Yang’s face turned pale.
The long letter told the story of their encounter and separation, talked about the helplessness of the world, how in the midst of war, the love between a man and a woman was so miniscule.
Su Tai said that the Xu Kingdom had already surrendered, and she only asked the General to spare the people in the capital and the captured Xu soldiers.
She said, ‘Huo Yang, the baby and I don’t want to die in the war’…

She laid down her pride, every word of her plea was filled with her blood and tears, but in the end, the response that she received was an “absolute refusal to accept the surrender.”

It was as if there were needles in his chest, with every breath he took, they penetrated into his flesh.
Huo Yang could not even imagine how she felt when she swallowed those tree bark and grass roots.
How did she feel when she died under the arrows of his soldiers?

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She laid down her dignity, but he abandoned her indifferently.
Therefore, she could only humbly pick up her pitiful pride, protect her monarch, and fulfill her loyalty in the name of death.

It was not that she was too stubborn to beg for mercy.
She was not as strong as she appeared to be.
She asked for help, but with his own hands, he pushed her into the abyss…

The emperor sighed: “Huo Yang, you and I have grown up together since childhood, this time when you set out, the situation is very dangerous.
The people of Rong are aggressive, and right now, the north is covered in snow and ice.
On the battlefield, blades have no eyes… This woman already has your heir, it’s better to take her to Justice Seal City.
If anything unexpected happened… I will protect your bloodline and he will become the pillar of the country.
This way, I will not be wasting Old General Huo’s kindness towards me.”

Huo Yang was silent for a long time, then he said, “Your Majesty, the Huo Family no longer has a bloodline.”

Before setting out, Huo Yang went up to the Star Plucking Tower, where he promised that he would protect Su Tai in this lifetime.

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Back then, it was the height of summer.
The starry sky filled Su Tai’s eyes with sparkles.
Her smile was huge as she forced him to stretch out his pinky finger: “Pinky swear! Whoever lies must drink a hundred bowls of goldthread rhizome water.
Otherwise, I won’t let you off the hook even if I become a ghost!” At that time, he just thought she was making a joke.
However, now that he thought about it, he realized that Su Tai was filled with worries.

* (Chinese) goldthread rhizome – is a plant, the yellow rhizomes are used to make medicine, it’s extremely bitter-tasting

“Huo Yi.” He called out to one of his retainers, “Make me a decoction of one hundred bowls of goldthread rhizome water.”

“General?”

“Make it thicker and it must be extremely bitter.” He broke his promise, so he deserved to be punished.

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Huo Yang walked over to the side of the Plucking Star Tower and leaned against a pillar to watch the brilliant night sky.
His favorite thing to do was observe the changing constellations.
At the same time, he had fallen in love with being at the highest point, looking down at the flourishing world and watching the endless stretch of the entire country that was under his protection.
He always felt extremely at ease whenever he did this.
However, Su Tai said: “Even the highest and most flourishing places cannot beat the cold.” Before, he had never thought that the highest place was cold, but now that he looked back, he realized that he had become so very lonely.

The highest place could not beat the cold, maybe it was because the person he wanted by his side could no longer be found.

Huo Yang raised his hand and poured a bowl of goldthread rhizome water into the empty kair.
Then he softly whispered: “Su Tai, today, I only drank ninety-nine bowls.
I owe you a debt, if you’re a ghost, then come find me.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

Downstairs in the Plucking Star Tower, within the stillness of the pitch-black night, Su Tai was standing along the edge of the wall, wrapped up in her navy blue cloak.
As the acerbic bitter taste of the goldthread rhizome water wafted around in the ice-cold air, Su Tai heard noisy clamors coming from the Stargazing Observatory on the ninth floor.
Someone was vomiting uncomfortably, while others were persuading anxiously.

Su Tai covered her face, releasing only a trembling sigh.