Chapter 89: Ambition

Sorry that there is only one chapter after weeks of wait. I am really busy lately with work and school.

On the second day, Gu Nan leading the camp crushers departs from the An Yang city under the king of Qin’s order.

The emissary does not know either why she was summoned back to Xian Yang city other than the order itself.

Ying Yiren’s convoy is escorted by Wang He. After all, the Zhao cannot send pursuers into Qin’s territory anymore, especially given the drastic disparity in the two states’ power.

It is worth mentioning that on the day when Gu Nan leads the army to leave, Ying Yiren and Lu Buwei comes to see her off until she gets far.

As for what is on their mind, Gu Nan does not know or bother to care.

Across from the bustling streets of Xian Yang, the crowd is sparse.

Gu Nan wears a clean armor set, yet her cape is still dyed with blood stain that cannot be wiped off.

She walks along the road in the palace which is as spacious as it was when she was accompanied by her master.

After the guard tells her that the king of Qin is waiting in the side hall, Gu Nan unwillingly hands over Blackie and proceeds into the palace by herself.

Maybe it is because the king has dismissed everyone that the palace is empty of people.

Even the eunuchs who should always stand on guard at the entrance are nowhere to be seen.

The side hall is quite big, but Gu Nan cannot see any person along her way.

And when she finally stops at the entrance of the hall, the king’s voice comes from it.

“Are you there?”

His sounds hoary and old compared to his older self from a year ago.

“Hehe, come on in.”

“Yes.” Gu Nan carries the Guardless at her waist into the hall, and nobody is even there to take over her weapon.

The king of Qin sits by himself at the center of the hall.

However, he is only wearing an ordinally cloth robe that does not have any embroidery or decoration worthy of a king.

“Gu Nan meets your highness.” Saying so, she steps forward and salutes.

Ying Ji smiles, which deepens the wrinkles carved on his face.

“Spare the courtesy. I have already waved everyone off in the palace. This time, I summoned you here as your elder, not a king.”

Then he points at himself and then at Gu Nan, frowning: “Treat Gua in the same way you treat your master. Do not forget that it is I who taught you the theory of internal breathings, and hence I can also count as half your master.”

“I dare not.” Gu Nan gently lowers her head.

Ying Ji falls silent for a moment, and then nods his head as if seeing it coming. A sense of sadness can be heard in his tone: “True, Gua is the king of Qin. You indeed dare not.”

Gu Nan stands on her feet, while the king of Qin sits in the seat.

Sudden, the king breaks the silence.

“Gua have read the military report. The Camp Crushers are indeed excellent, worthy to be recognized as top elites in the world.”

“Gua only intended to test your military prowess, and were not expecting you to be so outstanding.”

“I suppose that you must have acquired all the skills from that geezer Bai Qi.” 

“I dare not bear your compliment.” Gu Nan starts again. “I am only one tenth of my master’s capability.”

She is confessing the truth, since the knowledge she inherited from Bai Qi may take her whole lifetime to digest.

“Emmm.”

The king retracts his smile, as his gaze turns fierce on Gu Nan, like a pair of sharp swords pointing at her throat.

Maybe the king of Qin as a martial artist is no better than Gu Nan, yet his bearing far exceeds hers.

He speaks. “Gua has a question for you. Last year, when you were training the three hundred forbidden guards by my order, what was on your mind?”

“Do not tell me that you did it for wealth. You and I both know that it is not the case.”
 

The candlelight flickers in the palace, distinguishing the bloodstain from Gu Nan’s white cape dragged on the floor.

The king of Qin does not trust Gu Nan. She is capable, but her true intention is not yet known by him.

“I indeed did it for the sake of wealth. Your highness knows it; my house almost ran out of food.” Gu Nan utters.

The king of Qin half shuts his eyes.

But Gu Nan is not done speaking yet. Her head remains low and voice sounds dull.

“However, do you highness know the last wish that my master entrusted to me?”

“Oh? Tell me about it.”
 

Gu Nan raises his head to meet the gaze of the king, as the two just stares at each other.

Then, she opens her mouth.

“My master told me to take a look at the prosperous world to come.”

The stare of Gu Nan at the king is void of the usual sloth that can be seen in the past. Instead, it is replaced by a spirit of sharpness that can make the king compromise.

“This is what my master wishes for in his entire life. What he wants to see but could not, I will take his place and see it clearly!”

The king of Qin looks at Gu Nan deeply. In her eyes, he sees a fixation which can inspire awe in his mind.

Years ago, he saw the same kind of fixation from another person named Bai Qi.

The apprentice now feels exactly the same as the master.

He still remembers the time when Bai Qi confessed that he could be discarded as a useless pawn, a storming killing intent erupted from outside the room.

He firmly believed that if Bai Qi did not stop her, she will kill her way in.

“A prosperous world, that is a bold wish.”

The king rises from the seat and steps to the threshold with his hands clasped behind his back.

He stares at the horizon as if seeing his towering palaces spread to the end of the world.

“Hahahaha!”

All of a sudden, he laughs, unlike an old man anymore, but full of pride and ambition.

“Good!”

“Gua promises you that you will see a prosperous world!”

Saying so he reaches out his hand and toward the sky clenches it into a grip and speaks, word by word, sonorous and powerful: “My prosperous world!”

He wants to perish all other powers of the Warring States, and become the first and only emperor!

He wants to dominate both the earth and heaven!

Gu Nan turns around to look at old man who reaches out toward the sky as if racing against heaven and time to accomplish his ambition to conquer all.

“Gua will attack Zhou.”

“You and the camp crushers will come along.”

He smiles when saying so as if deciding a trivial matter.

Zhou is the royal house. Even though dilapidated, it is still a royal house that once ruled all.

To attack Zhou means that Qin will end the Zhou dynasty.

“And move the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to Xian Yang!”

Gu Nan looks at the king of Qin with a complicated look.

In the turbulent period of the Spring and the Autumn, heroes and many prominent figures have lost their lives.

Maybe the king of Qin knows that he has few times left and will soon join them. However, he still wants to fight against the heaven’s will.