Chapter 1101: Chapter 1095: Restless and Uneasy
Until it met its beloved female cicada, it feared that the next time reversal would cause it to lose its companion, so it sought the God to grant the female cicada the same ability to reverse time, but the God refused.
The cicada then pleaded for the God to take back its time-reversing power, but the God refused again, because from the beginning… the God had warned the cicada that time reversal would come at a price, and even the God’s beloved pet cicada would have to take responsibility for its own choices.
The cicada had endless life but didn’t want to watch its wife disappear forever due to its own immortality, because without the accompaniment of the female cicada, the longer the life… the lonelier it would be.
From then on, the cicada was dejected and never sang again…
Later, the God promised the cicada that when its life was about to end, the God would transform the cicada and its mate into jade cicadas, allowing them to be together forever.
Later on, the God entrusted this pair of jade cicadas to the Monarch of Tianfeng Kingdom, his loyal follower, for safekeeping. One day, the Queen of Tianfeng Kingdom accidentally knocked over the pair of jade cicadas enshrined by the Monarch, and when picking them up in her hands, an event of time reversal occurred.
Due to this, the Queen of Tianfeng Kingdom helped the Monarch avoid several assassination attempts, and during the early great war when Tianfeng Kingdom destroyed Hanye Kingdom, the Queen used the time-reversing ability of the jade cicadas to foresee several plans of Hanye Kingdom in advance, causing Tianfeng Kingdom to defeat Hanye Kingdom decisively.
The Queen stated that for this… she lost her three children, her parents, and her siblings, and later prematurely lost her husband. She believed the jade cicadas were cursed, and thus had them sent far away, one to the east… one to the west, forbidding the Imperial Family of Tianfeng Kingdom from ever touching the jade cicadas again.
Just when everyone thought the jade cicada was nothing more than an ancient legend of Tianfeng Kingdom, the Great Shaman of Tianfeng Kingdom found one of the jade cicadas.
The grandfather of Sal Khan and the Great Shaman had been studying it but could not successfully achieve time reversal. The Great Shaman speculated… perhaps it requires gathering both jade cicadas to enable time reversal.
If Tianfeng Kingdom had these two jade cicadas, even if they lost a battle… with the ability to reverse time, they could be invincible, and the Monarch could also attain eternal life. How could this not be tempting?
Ever since one of the jade cicadas was lost, three generations of Monarchs of Tianfeng Kingdom have been searching for it within the boundaries of Tianfeng Kingdom…
Also because for many generations, the Monarchs of Tianfeng Kingdom did not know that beyond the snow mountain where the God resides, there is such a land.
Now that it is known that another jade cicada had once appeared in Zhou, that the late Emperor of Zhou once had an identical one, even if it was not buried in the tomb of the late Emperor of Zhou, it should still be in Zhou.
Therefore, for Sal Khan right now, finding the other jade cicada… and taking hold of the territories of Zhou and Yan, to establish a foothold on this land, is equally important.
Because of this, upon knowing that Li Tianfu and others had acted against Zhou and returned in defeat, Sal Khan immediately sent envoys to Zhou and also dispatched envoys to Yan…
After all, both Zhou and Yan had already formed an alliance, and last night Yan Kingdom also sent troops, so a visit to both countries is necessary.
At this point, both envoys have yet to return, which makes Sal Khan restless with concern.
No matter what happens with Yan, it is necessary to stabilize Zhou first, to form an alliance with Zhou, to further investigate the whereabouts of the jade cicada.
Otherwise, if war truly breaks out, the difficulty of finding the jade cicada will certainly increase.
Sal Khan grasped the jade cicada in his hand, reached out to warm himself by the fire, and when he heard footsteps outside, he looked up to see a soldier enter and report that the Disciple of the Great Shaman had arrived.
“Let the Disciple of the Great Shaman come in!” Sal Khan hid the jade cicada in his sleeve, looked up towards the Disciple of the Great Shaman who pulled back the curtain flap, adjusted his posture, and picked up the teapot on the brazier with a cloth to pour a bowl of tea for the disciple of the Great Shaman, signaling him to sit, “Have the people sent to apologize all returned?”
The Disciple of the Great Shaman shook his head, sat down opposite Sal Khan after saluting, and said, “Last night we suffered heavy losses, not only did we lose four giant elephants, but when I went to see the escaped elephants, they had burns. It seems that Zhou and Yan have figured out how to deal with our elephants; during winter… our elephants need fur to keep warm, though this time Zhou and Yan were not well-prepared, so the burns on our elephants were not too severe, but after this battle, Zhou and Yan surely understand that they can use oil to deal with our fur-wearing elephants!”
“If Zhou and Yan people spare no effort and use enough oil…” The Disciple of the Great Shaman said with worry in his eyes, “In winter, it is already relatively slow for our elephants to move, and once it snows, the ground becomes very slippery. According to the soldiers who escaped, the giant elephants are heavily armored and very heavy; if they fall, it is very difficult for them to get up again.”
Upon hearing this, Sal Khan lowered his gaze to the crackling and burning red charcoal, and asked the Disciple of the Great Shaman, “If war truly breaks out, can we defeat Zhou and Yan?”
“Your Majesty, I am not the Great Shaman, and do not have the ability to communicate with the God, so… I cannot be sure.” Looking at Sal Khan, the Disciple of the Great Shaman said, “But Your Majesty, based on what the soldiers said, I think… if the war breaks out in weather suitable for elephant activity, we could be invincible, but in winter… it’s hard to say.”
“You might as well speak frankly, if it’s winter… we cannot win!” Sal Khan’s voice was cold and hard.
With his head bowed, the Disciple of the Great Shaman pounded his chest with his fist: “Our Tianfeng Kingdom is protected by the God, the darling of the God, and the God granted our Tianfeng Kingdom the giant elephants… Our Tianfeng Kingdom is meant to be invincible in battle, but… the God has chosen a master for this land, and the master is not our Tianfeng Kingdom, so I daresay winter might be hard.”
Sal Khan extended his hand to warm himself by the fire, and after a while, he closed his eyes: “Is there any way to disrupt the alliance between Yan and Zhou, to form an alliance with Zhou, or to form an alliance with Yan to attack only one country?”
“Li Tianfu, the Emperor of Xiliang, and Zhou… they are irreconcilable.” The Disciple of the Great Shaman said.
Sal Khan raised his eyes: “In that case, when the envoys sent to apologize to Zhou and Yan return, if the two countries decide to go to war, then let Li Tianfu personally go to Yan, and no matter what methods she has to use, she must form an alliance with Yan. And yesterday… that King Yan of Xiliang, Li Zhijie, still hasn’t been found?”
The Disciple from Dadu nodded: “Yes, still not found, either he died on the battlefield or he has escaped.”
“Li Tianjiao being alive is a threat, and although on the surface, the several great families of Xiliang fear and submit to Tianfeng Kingdom, behind the scenes they still support Li Tianjiao, hoping that Li Tianjiao will regain the throne!” Sal Khan gritted his teeth, his eyes getting colder and darker, “So even now, we know nothing about the whereabouts of Li Tianjiao, Yun Poxing, and others!”