Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 972 – All Alone, a Stranger in a Strange Land1

The young man in the bamboo hat quietly stared at Xuanyuan Po, gradually calming down.

The killing intent vanished, leaving only absolute calm and cold.

Both his voice and expression were cold to the extreme.

In his view, Xuanyuan Po was a walking corpse, an inevitable object of sacrifice.

“Even if I used nothing, you still would be no match for me. In front of me, Chen Changsheng was also just a dog, so how could you do any better? Once I complete my task, I will kill you. Of course, I will not personally kill you. I will let you die painfully and despairingly at the hands of your own race.”

Xuanyuan Po remained silent. He stood there covered in blood, giving no response.

With this, victory and defeat were decided.

It appeared that no one would be able to stop the young man from gaining the final victory in the Heavenly Selection ceremony.

All around the Imperial City was silence, with not a single sound to be heard.

That the young man in the bamboo hat had been able to so easily defeat Xuanyuan Po had stunned everyone.

Even more shocking was the information vaguely implied by the young man’s words.

Just who was he? He dared to call the Elder of Heavenly Secrets ‘old man’ and say that the Pope was just a dog before him?

Countless gazes fell upon him, and also upon his bamboo hat.

The gaze of the Archbishop of the Western Wastes, on the other hand, rested on the young man’s left hand.

Earlier, in the instant that the young man clenched his fist, the archbishop had caught a glimpse of a seal.

As an archbishop of great seniority within the Orthodoxy, he knew of many old secrets. Coupled with the urgent message he had received from the Li Palace last night, he had already guessed at who the young man was, and it was the answer he had least wanted to see.

The archbishop’s complexion was rather pale, his body trembling.

The Great Zhou ambassador and the Tang clan steward glanced at each other, seeing the shock and fear in each other’s eyes.

The archbishop’s body suddenly stopped trembling while a stern and somber Qi began to rise from his red robes.

The shock in the eyes of the ambassador and steward also turned into determination.

They had already confirmed the identity of the young man in the bamboo hat, so the demi-humans should have known long beforehand. Yet there had been no disturbances within White Emperor City over the last few days, and even now, those influential figures within the Imperial City remained passive. What did this mean?

There was no hesitation. Even if they would instigate a sudden conflict, they could not allow the demi-humans to continue their secret exchange with this person!

A resounding shout, filled with fear and wariness, rang out in front of the Imperial City.

“This guy is a demon!”

Right after, another shout rose from the crowd.

“He’s a demon!”

Shout after shout rang out over the Imperial City, no one able to stop their words from falling into the ears of the demi-humans.

“You are a demon!”

……

……

The young man in the bamboo hat was actually a demon!

In front of the Imperial City, there was sudden silence, swiftly followed by turmoil.

Once more, the crowd turned to gaze at the young man.

Their earlier gazes had mostly been ones of respect and confusion, but now they were wary, annoyed, loathing.

The high official in charge of the Heavenly Selection ceremony frowned at the young man.

The Beast Guard and soldiers in front of the Imperial City were even more startled. They raised their weapons and aimed them at the young man.

The young man in the bamboo hat calmly stood, not intending to escape or even explain himself.

He looked around at the crowd, easily finding the source of the first shouts.

A priest, a military officer of the Great Zhou embassy, and a merchant’s steward.

He realized that the Human race had already prepared themselves for this day, which made him somewhat surprised.

According to the military advisor’s plan, the fastest the capital could respond would be tonight.

Where had the problem occurred? Or was it that the representatives of the Human race in White Emperor City were acting on their own?

But none of this mattered, so he immediately ceased pondering these questions.

He had intended on stating his identity today anyway, so although having it exposed had caused a little turmoil, it could not affect the greater situation.

……

……

“This guy is really a demon? How did he sneak into the city?”

“I always thought it was weird that he always kept that bamboo hat on. It looked sneaky, but it turns out it was to hide his identity.”

“There are two big holes in that hat, but I don’t see any demon horns.”

“What if this guy is a descendant of the Demon Imperial clan?”

The plaza in front of the Imperial City was raucous, the crowd surrounding the young man growing more and more astonished as they talked.

Ever since the alliance with the humans was established a thousand years ago, excepting an extremely small number of spies, a demon had not been seen in White Emperor City for many years.

And this young man in the bamboo hat was highly likely to be a descendant of the Demon Imperial clan!

The high official supervising the Heavenly Selection ceremony had an incredibly cold expression as he sternly ordered, “Seize him!”

Several hundred elite members of the powerful Red River Beast Guard slowly pushed their way to the center of the plaza.

The young man glanced at Xuanyuan Po.

Xuanyuan Po was covered in blood with many bones broken. It was no longer possible for him to move.

It would be perfectly fine if he captured Xuanyuan Po and used his life to threaten the demi-humans.

Xuanyuan Po was the future of the Bear tribe, Princess Luoluo’s student, and most importantly, he had represented the Orthodox Academy in his matches.

The demi-humans needed to consider the Li Palace’s stance.

Yet the young man did not do this.

He just stood and watched, allowing several priests and two southern cultivators to venture through the crowd and take Xuanyuan Po away.

At this sight, some of the crowd couldn’t help but grow uncertain, thinking, if he really is one of those monstrously evil demons, would he really be willing to be captured?

The young man asked, “Why do you want to seize me?”

The high official of the Demi-human Court replied, “We must confirm that you are not a demon spy.”

The young man fell quiet for a while, then replied, “This does not need confirmation, because I have never denied it.”

Since he did not deny it, he admitted to it.

The crowd was in an uproar.

Several shrill cries could be heard in the sky as black silhouettes flashed past.

The gray vultures had left the city walls and were prepared to fight.

One could see several demi-human supervisors running down the steps leading to the Imperial City.

The gates of the cavalry barracks behind Heavensguard Pavilion began to slowly open, the sound of hooves coming from within.

The young man’s identity had caused all of White Emperor City to grow nervous.

He was very calm, not feeling the slightest bit nervous.

Although he was a demon, he was no spy.

A calm and lofty voice came down from the Imperial City.

“One who has come from afar is a guest. I invite you.”

These words instantly silenced the crowd.

The populace was both shocked and perplexed.

The high official was even more astonished, thinking that he had misheard.

The Red River Beast Guard felt the same.

The Archbishop of the Western Wastes and the Great Zhou ambassador wore extremely unsightly expressions.

It was like they had heard news that the demons had won a battle.

The young man faintly smiled and began to walk toward the Imperial City.

Yes, he was not a spy.

He was a guest.

A guest invited by White Emperor City.

1. While this chapter title brings to mind the Robert Heinlein novel ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’, it is actually a line from the poem ‘Thinking of My Brothers in Shandong on the Double Ninth’ by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei.