Caomei was staring together with all of the other village kids at Jieshi, the 7 years-old son of Senior Guardsman Shen, who was now demonstrating his recently acquired physical prowess to all of the observers after he had been awakened by The Empress recently.
Apparently, his dad personally knew the kind-looking big-boned black-bearded Emperor and had managed to sneak Jieshi inside Ping's Clinic a few days ago after the closing hours to get him Awakened, since The Empress had relocated herself over there for the past week or so.
”Look! I can even do this!" *Boing Leap*Perfect Triple Backflip*Thud*
*OOOOOOH!* Exclaimed all of the kids together.
"Yeah! I feel incredible! It's like I could swim to the deepest part of the oceans or climb the highest mountain peaks! Oryaaaa!" *Punch Punch Punch* "When I grow up I'm going to be just like my Dad and beat up all of those nasty Demons from the Dungeon and keep all of the village safe."
"S...so...is there any chance that The Empwess might be able to Awaken the rest of us too?" Little Caomei couldn't help but ask. She also wanted to get stronger, because maybe then the other kids would stop making fun of her, since she was the youngest of them all at 4 and a half years old, even if she was the Mayor's daughter.
"Maybe, but only after she finishes with the rest of the grownups. Everybody says that she has been working very hard as of late to Awaken all of the people in the village. But then again...I'm not so sure that you can make the cut."
"Huh? Whyyyy!!!"
"Because she can awaken only GOOD people that know how to work together. Apparently, whenever she uses that strange [Skill] of hers on you, she gets to take a peek at your very soul and see how good or bad you have been in your life. If you have been a good person, then she will help you awaken your Spirit Roots, but if she sees anything nasty inside of you, then she will simply suck out your brains through your ears to replenish her spiritual energy and then continue to help the other nice people instead. So a naughty arrogant little shit like you would simply get brain-sucked."
*Slurping noises from the rest of the kids*
"Nooo!" Caomei couldn't help but panic.
"Mnaaahaa! Yeeees! Haven't you heard about Rou, the butcher's boy? Apparently, The Empress caught him while he was beating up some of the other kids, so she dragged him by the ear inside of the Clinic, and then she sucked his brain out! Cai and Teng heard the noises through the Clinic's door, and can testify!"
"Yep! I've seen him too! After he came out of the clinic later in the evening, he looked like a veritable zombie, and even 3 days later, I still haven't heard anything about him anymore. Not to mention that his parents seem to be very scared about something."
"No way! But…then..."*sniff* Caomei began to tear up.
"Ahahaha! What, scared already?"
*Crybaby*
*Crybaby*
*Crybaby*x2
"We all know you're the one that broke your Dad's expensive Ming vase!" Jieshi pointed his finger at her. "And then you blamed poor Patches for it! The innocent dog got beaten up for no reason because of you!"
*Liar!*
*Liar*Liar*
*Crybaby*Crybaby*
*Guilty*Guilty*
*Crybabyguiltyliar*
*Crybabyliarguilty*
"Waaaagh! You are all so mean! I'm not pwaying with you anymore!" The little girl immediately burst into tears, then ran back into the Mayor's house to seek comfort in her daddy's arms.
>>
Unfortunately for little Caomei, later in the evening of the same day, she suddenly found herself being picked up by her mother and then swiftly taken to the Clinic through the back door, for an impromptu Awakening.
Awaiting for her in the candlelight dimly-lit main room of the Clinic, The Empress seemed to have been expecting her arrival and she was now exuding an air of mysteriousness as she kept the gazing straight into the eyes of the little child like she was trying to pierce right into her soul and extract all of the secrets.
The bald Monk girl seemed to be resting in one of the sickbeds even though she did not appear to be injured anywhere at the moment, so Caomei thought that maybe she had one of those unseen diseases down there that people keep talking about?
Why the hell were all of the Monks bald in the first place anyway? THEY WERE ALL A BUNCH OF WEIRDOS!
Did they all get Cooties from praying too much and had to shave their heads to get rid of them, as Cai had told her? Caomei was really hoping that it was not something contagious…she liked having hair on top of her head, instead of being all shiny like the Monks.
After she got snatched with much reluctance from her mother's arms, she instantly began feeling like she was being held firmly into place by the vice grip of the Monk girl, so she started to panic inside even more.
What if The Empress was indeed able to see her soul? Then the Monk lady would know all about the naughty things that she had done, like breaking Papa's vase, stealing Tang's new toy, pilfering the ornamental cookies from the forbidden jar in the kitchen, and forgetting to feed Patches.
Just as she was trying to wiggle her way out from the grasp of The Empress, Caomei suddenly felt a very strong zap inside of her head, and a lot of images that she had no idea what could mean suddenly flooded inside of her mind.
"AAAAAAAA!"
"Damn it child, stop moving around so much, look what you made me do…Hmm…oh ho ho, look, what do we have here...I see that somebody's been a naughty little girl...have you been dipping into the cookie jar when mama wasn't looking?"
Immediately when she heard that statement, Caomei realized that all of the rumors about The Empress were all true, and that she was oh-so-very dead. Therefore, she immediately turned on the waterworks, and let them all go in all directions, as she began balling her eyes out and also wetting her underwear.
"No*hic*...pwease... Mommy…*hic*Don't let The Empwess suck my bwains out through my ears…*hic*I am sowwi...I confwess it all! It was me who bwoke the Ming vase, not Patches! I also stwole all of the cookies from the fowbidden jar, and hid away Tang's new toy because I was jealous…*hiccup*I have been a bad gwerl, but please don't let The Empwess drain my bwains away…*hic*I still want to keep my bwains! I need my bwains! Waaaghh! Waaaaaaah!"
"Suck out your WHAT? Also, what did you just call me?" The Empress suddenly cried out.
*Hiccup*The Empwess? Well, awen't you one? If mister Fungus is the Empewor, then doesn't that make you his Empwess? I mean, that's what ewiybody around the village seems to say, considewing that you act like his nagging wife all of the time…" Little Caomei couldn't help but innocently exclaim while still shivering like a leaf in the bald girl's grasp.
The Empress suddenly looked like she had swallowed a whole salmon, and then began gasping for air before crying back in anger. "Where the hell have you heard anything about that?"
"Oh Dear Lord, now you've gone and done it…" Momma couldn't help but admonish little Caomei while picking her up from the bald Monk girl's arms. "Ugh…yeah sorry about that... It's just that...these strange ridiculous rumors have been spreading throughout the entire village, and she must have overheard them from the other kids…"
"Rumors? Can you tell me what the exact contents of these rumors seem to be, please?" The Empress asked Momma with a murderous gaze inside of her eyes.
"Oh well, you see…"
(And then Momma went into her gossip mode, and spilled all of the beans while little Caomei was still feeling ticklish inside of her head).
━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━
The instant that the Mayor's wife finished her story, I immediately rushed out of the building and ran straight to the temple to find Lingfeng and the others.
How the hell had such a thing occurred right under our noses, and we had failed to even notice it!?? I should thank the Heavens for that little girl's silly innocence and for bringing this problem to my attention, but this also meant that we now had a MAJOR problem on our hands which we needed to fix urgently.
It was indeed a true blessing that this entire village was absolutely in the boonies and that nobody had come or had left from the premises all throughout this entire period, otherwise all of the three Empires would have been yelling about Fung's continued survival by now, considering how fast rumors like these tend to spread!
But this issue needed to be addressed immediately, so right after I got my hands on Lingfeng, we both instantly flew back to the village and went straight to the Mayor's house. After milking him for even more information, we somewhat managed to realize what had occurred, so we “politely” urged him at swordpoint to call for a meeting of the entire village early in the morning of the next day, because this problem needed to be addressed publicly ASAP.
>>
Sure enough, just as the next morning arrived, the emergency bell alarm of the entire village started ringing, and all of the Mayor's hirelings began going from house to house to gather all of the families and then herd them towards the main market square of the village, where the round well and the raised podium with pillory stocks could be found.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Lingfeng then immediately cast some sort of a voice amplification spell from his wind-attuned spellbook and after some more poking, nudging, and outright threats, the Mayor finally relented and went first to address the masses.
"My dear citizens. I'm sorry for having been forced by the current circumstances to drag you all out of your comfortable homes at such an early hour of the morning, but there is a certain problem which has become widespread across the entire village that needs to be addressed immediately, as it may threaten the life of our entire community."
*Crowds mumble from a lack of comprehension*
"Yes, yes, we shall address that problem immediately, but I think it is better that you hear about the entire situation from the mouth of the parties directly involved. Miss Trina, Mister Fung, the stage is all yours."
"Thanks, Mayor Dizhu. Good morning to you, people of the Village of Piece.
"It has come to my attention that certain rumors have been circulating among the gossip circles of the village which unfortunately contain some dangerous information capable of putting your entire community at risk.
"Since I hate lying, as it always only makes things worse, I'm going to be totally honest with you folks. Yes, as most of you have already heard, the heir to the Ruby Throne is indeed Mister Fung over here. He is the legitimate 17'th Prince of the Ming Dynasty, born from the union of the Emperor and the Queen Mother herself."
*Startled crowd mumbles*
"You may not know or realize this, but the Imperial and Noble families are not as loving as your own, so his Brothers have conspired to murder him and remove him as a competitor for the throne ever since he has been a child, which is the reason we were fleeing away from the Imperials and the maddened Demonic Sects under the guise of being just some simple Monks until now. I am sorry for the deceit, but it was a very necessary tactic for our own survival.
"Unfortunately, we have also received some dire news from the outside world which contain some disturbing information.
"To put it in simple terms, because of the appearance of the Ancient Evil that the crazed Blood Cultists have summoned in the Dungeon right beneath our feet, an alert was triggered at all of the Major Sects and at all of the Imperial families from all of the Empires.
"Therefore, all of the Big-Shots immediately retreated like cowards to the safety of the Ancient Forbidden City, because that place was thought to be the safest place in all of the entire world since it was an impregnable Fortress that has remained unconquered by any army or monster attack in thousands of years.
"Yet something unexpected occurred over there, as an explosion of unheard-of proportions suddenly leveled the entire Forbidden City in one single blow and also killed everybody who was taking refuge inside of it. And yes, that did include ALL of the three Imperial families and ALL of the leaders and the disciples of the Major Sects.
"The explosion can be indeed called a catastrophe of never-before-seen proportions, but in the end, it seems that the whole blast has been caused by meddling dirty human hands, as the guilty party for the whole affair seems to be no other than the Fourth Prince of the Qin dynasty himself, Prince Hongmu, who by some “amazing coincidence” was absent from the city when it all blew up.
"We have confirmed from some outside sources that the Dark Prince of the Qin Dynasty has also summoned a fiery Demon from Hell named Ifritt, and has bound the Evil Creature to his servitude. He has also colluded and maybe even directly led some of the Demonic Sects which have been active across all three Empires, including the contingent of Cultists who have summoned the Ancient Evil right beneath our feet, so he is indeed the guilty party for our current predicament."
*Panicked angry crowd murmurs*
"I realize that these are some incredibly disturbing news, but you must never underestimate what the Greed of Men is capable of achieving. Still, there is indeed an underlying common point to all of these problems that I am trying to show to you, which is the fact that all of this madness started from the moment that the Ancient Evil got summoned right beneath our feet.
"That act has marked this tiny little village as the unfortunate focal point of a World-Changing Quest Event, and that Quest is currently undergoing, so there’s no way of getting away from it.
"And before anyone asks, the fact that the sole remaining Heir to the Ruby Throne wound up inside of this village together with the Ancient Evil is just a simple coincidence...Or who knows, maybe even the call of Destiny that the Earthmother has chosen for all of us.
"The truth of the matter is that our entire group could have simply bypassed the village altogether and left you all of you to your own fates. I mean, as his retainers, our duty was first and foremost to protect the Prince, not to go and save some unfortunate villagers.
"But Prince Fung...no...EMPEROR Fung chose to stay within the village and give a helping hand even if he did not have to, at the risk of his own position and even his own life.
"I think you have all noticed his active involvement in all of our troubles, or maybe have even fought side by side with him down in the catacombs, therefore I hope that you have all already realized that this is a man that will not shirk away from his duties and will try and help everybody as much as he can.
"Considering that all of the male heirs of the Ming Dynasty have all perished in the explosion of the Forbidden City, it leaves Fung as the last and only remaining male member of their lineage which makes him THE RIGHTFUL MING EMPEROR by all accounts!
"Yet becoming the Ming Emperor is not such a simple thing as going back to the Capital City and claiming the Crown, as most Noble Houses will not want to see a powerless 17'th Young Prince ascend to the Throne, when they would be able to place their own relatives as Puppet-Emperors on the seat instead.
"Quite the contrary, even if Fung IS indeed the rightful Emperor, his life has never been in more in danger than it is at this very moment, as all of the Noble Houses of the Ming Empire WILL want to see him dead if they ever find out that he is still alive.
"The Dark Prince of the Qin Dynasty will also want to see him dead because that bastard Hongmu wants to conquer all of the three Empires, so a REAL Emperor could become quite a big obstacle against his goals of conquest.
"Not to mention that the Ancient Evil from beneath our feet will also like to devour Fung alongside with the rest of the world, because it simply does not give a damn about who dies.
"The ONLY thing which has kept us alive so far has been the secrecy of our existence, which has now been broken by those silly rumors that have begun to spread all throughout the entire village.
"I do not know how all of you found out about Fung, but it does not matter at this particular moment, we’ll figure that out later. What I need everybody to realize is the fact that both the Ming Noble Houses and the Dark Prince ARE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING to get rid of the rightful Emperor, including wiping out a small village like your own from the map for KNOWING TOO MUCH!"
*Shocked murmurs of consternation*
"YES! Do not think for even a second that those guys will hesitate to murder each and every one of you inside of this village down to the last woman and child just because you have all become an inconvenience to their plans. They WILL!
"So far, the only thing which has kept us safe is the fact that NONE OF THEM KNOW THAT WE EVEN EXIST YET. Thank the Gods in Heavens that none of you have left the village so far, otherwise we might have been too late.
"From now on, I want all of you to swear on God Aadmin himself that you will not utter another word about the fact that Fung is the Emperor! That includes even you children, because it involves the safety of your very own lives and that of your families. You would not want to see momma or poppa die because you said the wrong words, now would you?
*All of the kids nod*
"While we might be isolated from the world at this very moment, we can never know when an enemy spy might show up and listen-in on a casual conversation that some of you might have inside of your houses about the rumored Emperor, and then report back to his Evil Masters.
"Considering the spells and skills that Cultivators have on their hands, you might not ever see the spy or know that he even exists. Yi Gore, Mr. Nobi, care to give the crowd a demonstration so they can realize what I'm talking about?
"Ugh...sure...if you insist."
"Immediately."
*BuzzCloakingSound*
*PoofDissapear*
*Oooooooohhhh…!* Exclaimed the stunned crowd at the disappearance of the two men.
"Look, look, momma, those people tuwned invisible! How did dey do dat? Will I be able to tuwn invisible when I gwow up?"
''Hah... Sure, kid, if you work on your Cultivation each and every day and practice hard all of your spells, you might be able to even do that and a whole lot more." Fung winked back at the child.
"Thank you, Mister Empff...Fungus…"
"Hah...You're a smart little cookie, aren't you? You catch on pretty fast." Fung began caressing the hair of the little girl who was now giggling in her mother’s arms.
"Indeed. If even a 4-year old child can realize the dangers of handling such sensitive information, I hope that the rest of you will be even smarter and know how to keep your mouths shut from now on. Your life literally depends on it."
*Wide mumble of acknowledgment*
"Also, there is a second issue that I want to bring up. Some of you might even start thinking “Why the hell should I even put up with this new Emperor...What has he ever done for me or my family? Maybe I should just simply sneak out of the village and go sell this information to any Noble Houses that are willing to pay."
*Enraged and insulted crowd mumbles*
"I can understand why my words might upset some of you, but I know better than to underestimate the darkness and greed that can brew inside of humanoid hearts. Better to lay it all out on the table right now, then to be sorry later.
"While indeed you might not gain anything if you were to remain inside of this village together with the rest of us, there is still a small chance that we might all get away with our lives out of this bad situation by sticking together.
"But if any of you were to spill the beans to any of the Noble Houses, I can guarantee that they would just simply slit your throat the instant you told them everything. This information is of such a sensitive nature that no extra witnesses ever need to be left alive that know of it.
"So I am saddened to tell you that at this very moment, you are either with us or against us, with no other choices left. And no, that was not supposed to be a threat, but rather an observation of our current situation. If you choose to ally yourself with the Noble Houses, then you will most definitely cause the downfall of this entire village, and even get yourself killed.
"But if you stick together with us and help us get through this crisis, then maybe there is a slim chance that everybody might get away from this alive and unscathed.
"It is why I have taken the liberty to try and Awaken everybody inside of this village in the first place, so that we might all have a higher chance of resisting whatever evils will come our way, be they in the form of greed-driven unlawful men or even the Demons from Hell themselves.
"How'd you do that anyway? Awaken people, I mean! Who the hell are you anyway? Ye ain’t no mere mortal for sure! There's a betting pool that's going around the village for that, so we all want to know!" Somebody yelled from the crowd.
"Trina over here." Fung suddenly took over my speech before I could even open my mouth while also putting his arms around my shoulders. "She is a Blessed Child of the Heavens, a person who has come from beyond the stars above with otherworldly knowledge inside of her mind to help the poor unenlightened people of our world to grow in wisdom and then usher us into a new age of prosperity. She is a Chosen One and a Prophet to God Aadmin the Allfather Himself, which makes her an even more important person than my Emperor self. While I might be able to change the Fate of a mere Empire, She is capable of changing the Fate of the Entire World!
"And because she's so important, all of the Nobles and all of the Demonic Sects now want to get their dirty paws on her and exploit her knowledge for their own selfish reasons, and that is something that I will NEVER allow to happen while I'm still alive! She is my one and only true Friend and Companion, and I would do anything to protect her! ANYTHING!" Fung spoke with a firm conviction.
"Oooh! So she IS The Empress after all! Ah told you so, now give me the two silvers that you owe me!"
"No...wait... How did you all come to that conclusion?" I squealed in a panicked voice."... No, Fung, what are you doing, stop nodding and agreeing with them...you're only making things worse…G...uck Aaaaarghhh...shit...I'm not going to be able to get rid of this title any more, am I…" I grabbed my head in pain.
"Mhmm…" Fung kept nodding with an immense victory grin plastered all over his face.
"Fuuuuung! You bastard! Way to screw me over right at the opportune moment! Just wait until I get my hands on you later in the evening! I'm going to roast you alive from the inside out!" I grabbed Fung by the collar and began shaking him while he was still smiling like an idiot.
Timmy: Congratulations, you have earned the titles "The Heavenly Empress, The Awakener Prophet of the One True God"
Timmy: Morgan is currently laughing his ass off at your misfortune, and is asking what his wedding gift should be.
Hrrr! Way to rub salt on the wounds, Aadmin! F. you, Morgan 🖕!