"This King... has spent his entire life striving to restore dignity to the Xiongnu people, to allow them to stand tall and live with pride...
No longer harassed by beast tides and natural disasters, no longer suffering from poverty and hunger...
I have... I have poured all my strength into this cause. Yet... no matter how exhausted I become, man's plans will never triumph over heaven's will.
This King... hates... hates...!"
Even at death's door, the fallen king forced his battered frame upright, determined to preserve his last shred of dignity.
Xuan Hao Hongye stumbled, clutching his bleeding wound, and glared venomously at Song Yanran and Shen Zhao, his eyes burning with resentment.
"Empress, this King did not lose to you, but to heaven itself. Heaven chose Longhan over the Xiongnu.
But you haven't won either. My armies will soon march into the Northern Territory. Your dynasty won't last much longer. Ahahaha...!"
Amidst his tragic laughter, Xuan Hao Hongye produced a message token and snapped it in two without hesitation.
Instantly, a streak of light shot into the sky, blooming into a dazzling fireworks display above the nine heavens.
"Ahahaha... this is this King's final trump card...
Empress, even if you win this battle, it will be a pyrrhic victory... *cough*...
Your reputation will be ruined, your people will hate you to the core and never respect you again...
Your own kin will covet your power and refuse to see you regain it...
You can never return to how things were, this King... *uh*... *cough*..."
Before he could finish, a mouthful of blood erupted from the depths of his throat.
The Forced Mandala Formation, forcibly infused into his body, had now backfired, its Demonic Qi consuming him. Xuan Hao Hongye was utterly depleted, his strength and ambition reduced to embers.
"Sigh~"
Shen Zhao could only sigh in resignation at Xuan Hao Hongye's state.
Setting aside their enmity, Xuan Hao Hongye was undoubtedly a capable ruler, who had dedicated his entire life to reviving the Xiongnu.
If it were possible, Shen Zhao would have gladly spared him, showing a king the respect he deserved.
But from the moment Xuan Hao Hongye colluded with the Nine Nether, Shen Zhao's heart had hardened, branding him an enemy.
The Nine Nether, Shen Zhao's sworn foe, would inevitably clash with him on the battlefield in the future.
He couldn't allow any unsettling factors to lurk around him, threatening to disrupt his future plans.
"Royal Father."
At that moment, a soft call made Xuan Hao Hongye's heart skip a beat.
Turning, he saw Xuan Hao Qiongchuan slowly approaching him.
"Qiongchuan, what are you doing here? Have you already led the troops to break through the pass?"
"Good! This King was right about you. This is the kind of bloodthirsty warrior the Xiongnu should have."
Xuan Hao Qiongchuan sighed softly, gently taking Xuan Hao Hongye's hand. "Royal Father, I have already transferred full command of the Xiongnu army to Her Majesty the Empress."
"What? What did you say? Say that again!"
"Royal Father, opposing Longhan will only lead to ruin. For the Xiongnu to survive, we must align with the Empress. This is our only path forward."
"You... even you have betrayed this King!"
As the truth struck him, the last ember of Xuan Hao Hongye's ambition was doused with ice-cold water.
He could never have imagined that his own son, the future heir to the Xiongnu throne, would secretly pledge allegiance to Song Yanran behind his back.
"Get out! This King has no son like you! You are unworthy to be a Xiongnu man! Get out! Get out of my sight!"
The ruthless fists rained down on Xuan Hao Qiongchuan.
Yet the king, his strength long since depleted, was now so weak that his blows were less forceful than those of a frail old man.
Xuan Hao Qiongchuan endured his father's abuse without retaliation. Only when Xuan Hao Hongye collapsed from exhaustion did he gently support him.
"Royal Father, His Majesty has promised to abolish the Xiongnu population reduction policy. The Celestial Dynasty will also establish our own city-states for the Xiongnu, and our people will be free to interact and live alongside the subjects of the Celestial Dynasty. I believe that when the barriers between us finally disappear, the Xiongnu and the Celestial Dynasty will become brothers, merging into one."
Xuan Hao Hongye was too weak to speak, but his sharp eyes seemed to accuse his son: "You are the sinner of the Xiongnu nation!"
"Enough!"
Song Yanran rose and approached Xuan Hao Hongye, her gaze steady and unwavering.
"Xuan Hao Hongye, you have been a worthy ruler, yet you have never fully understood the history of our past. Now that your life is drawing to a close, I shall reveal to you a secret I had intended to keep hidden."
"Xuan Hao Qiongchuan's surrender has taught me a valuable lesson: often, concealment only breeds suspicion and hatred, leading to endless conflict."
Xuan Hao Hongye: "What trickery are you planning now?"
Song Yanran: "When I warred with the Xiongnu, I admit my throne was unstable. I desperately needed a victory to secure my position, which is why I personally led a campaign to Mobei and struck directly at the Royal Court. After I annihilated 300,000 of the Xiongnu's elite cavalry, my throne was indeed secured. Whether you believe it or not, I never intended to harm the Xiongnu civilians."
Xuan Hao Hongye scoffed: "Empress, even now you seek to justify your atrocities? Though I've considered you my lifelong enemy, I've always respected your life's journey. Don't make me change my opinion of you as I face death."
Song Yanran: "I have no reason to deceive you further on this matter. After I crushed the Xiongnu, I intended to withdraw my troops back to the capital. But on the way, I discovered a sinister and terrifying Demonic Contamination within the Royal Court. This contamination had already corrupted the minds of the Xiongnu people, distorting their perceptions and judgment to a degree far beyond that of normal individuals."
At first, I paid little attention to it. However, as the investigation deepened, we discovered that this Demonic Contamination originated from the primordial era.
Yet, as the death toll continued to rise, the power began showing signs of spiraling out of control,
almost completely permeating the minds of every Xiongnu subject.
Of the three thousand troops I sent to investigate this contamination, only one survived.
The rest were devoured by the contamination, transforming into grotesque beings that posed a grave threat to the entire Central Domain.
The surviving general informed me that the Xiongnu had long practiced sacrificing to the Demonic God.
However, the god brought them no prosperity.
Instead, every Xiongnu who worshipped the Demonic God lost their sanity, becoming abnormally brutal.
Later, to protect their people, generations of Xiongnu leaders struck a bargain with the Demonic God: three thousand living sacrifices annually in exchange for slowing the spread of the contamination.
As the Xiongnu population was sparse, they resorted to raiding border settlements in the Central Domain for victims to feed the contamination.
Over time, however, successive Xiongnu leaders gradually mastered the nature of the Demonic Contamination,
gaining immense power and using it to further control their people, becoming increasingly greedy and savage.
Yet all external power comes with a price. The Demonic Contamination has parasitically nested within the bodies of each Xiongnu king.
"While I could slow its spread among the Xiongnu people, the Demonic Contamination lost its suppressing force upon the Xiongnu King's death and began to spread wildly.
At the time, I had no knowledge of what the Demonic Contamination was when I killed the Xiongnu King. This directly led to its rampant spread among the Xiongnu people.
Therefore, for the sake of the Central Domain's peace and the continued prosperity of your Xiongnu tribe, I was forced to order the slaughter of all those infected with the Demonic Contamination.
This included not only Xiongnu people but also border dwellers of my Longhan dynasty.
I could not allow this terrifying force to ravage the Central Domain, so I resorted to this drastic measure.
This is the truth of what happened back then. Do you understand?"
After hearing this, Xuan Hao Hongye was so shocked he couldn't speak.
"No, this is impossible. This King refuses to believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but you should know that I have no reason to lie to a man as close to death as you."
When Shen Zhao heard the words "Demonic Contamination," his heart instinctively trembled.
"So, the disaster of the Demonic Contamination wasn't confined to the Western Buddhist Sect Kingdom? It had already existed in the outer regions of the Central Domain long before?"
Although he had already learned this secret in the Hall of Records, hearing Song Yanran reveal it in person still left him utterly stunned.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)