Chapter Ninety-One: Seeing the Vermilion Bird, the World Is at Peace

Outside the Outer City of Chang'an, each of its four sides had three gates. The Yanzhou Gate through which Yu Lang entered lay on the southern stretch of the western wall. After entering, the group passed in succession through five wards: Fengyi, Changshou, Chongxian, Chongde, and Anye. Each ward was enclosed by high walls, a small city unto itself.

For an imperial house, the seat facing south while backed by the north was the mark of honor; thus the Taiji Palace and the Daming Palace stood at the Dragon Head Plain in the south of the city, the highest point in Chang'an. The wards inhabited by the great and the noble also lay mostly in the south, while the northern wards were home chiefly to ordinary folk and to a few court officials below the third rank.

Following Cui Zhongshi, Yu Lang and the others reached the far end of Anye Ward, where a vast avenue suddenly opened before them. Though Yu Lang had long been used to broad highways in his former life, he still could not help being awed by the immense, level rammed-earth surface of Vermilion Bird Avenue.

Vermilion Bird Avenue was some forty-five zhang across, nearly one hundred fifty meters. The center of the road stood slightly higher than the sides, and well-made drainage ditches ran along both edges. Yu Lang felt deeply that this mighty city, in scale, planning, and methods of construction alike, was far ahead of its age.

Cui Zhongshi once again explained to the several wide-eyed young men: "This Vermilion Bird Avenue faces the Vermilion Gate of the imperial city to the north. It is also Chang'an's north-south central axis. West of this avenue falls under Chang'an County; east of it falls under Wannian County. If you ever get into trouble in the future, be sure to go to the right yamen."

The avenue on both sides was planted with tall pagoda trees. Though only bare branches remained at the moment, rows upon rows of them still made a magnificent sight.

"Such a huge city, such a long street, and yet why are there so few people about?" Xie Zhiqian asked in surprise.

Cui Zhongshi stopped and looked at him. "Don't you have a curfew in your Yangzhou?"

"We do, but..." Xie Zhiqian's own uncle was the magistrate of Yangzhou, so naturally he dared not say that the curfew there was little more than a formality, with no shortage of young masters going out at night in lively company.

Cui Zhongshi said, "Chang'an is not like other places. At this hour, if you're found on the street, you'll certainly be hauled back for questioning. If you make the slightest suspicious move, it would be no strange thing for your head to be cut off on the spot."

"Then aren't we in grave danger right now?" Xue Wenyang asked uneasily. Though night had fully fallen, and though he knew some martial arts, he was not arrogant enough to think he could fight the soldiers on patrol. Even if he could beat one squad, could he challenge the whole of Chang'an? The capital's defenses were in the hands of the imperial troops: the Left and Right Feathered Forest, the Left and Right Dragon Martial, the Left and Right Divine Martial, the Left and Right Divine Strategy, and the Left and Right Divine Might armies, ten elite forces in all. Guarding the palace city were the even more valiant Northern Garrison troops, among whom crouched dragons and hidden tigers.

Cui Zhongshi knocked lightly on the token in his hand again. "Relax. I am carrying out the Emperor's orders. If you follow me, nothing will happen to you."

Yu Lang's attention, meanwhile, was fixed on the streetlamps along Vermilion Bird Avenue. These lamps stood more than three zhang high. Atop each stone pillar sat a brazier, and over the brazier was a lampshade, likely made of wood. Its curious shape both shielded the flame from the wind and allowed most of the light to escape. Merely the lamp oil consumed by these streetlamps in a single night was no small expense; within the imperial city itself, the wastefulness must have been even greater. To exhaust the strength of the whole realm in supplying Chang'an's needs was no empty boast.

When they reached Fengle Ward, Cui Zhongshi seemed to encounter an acquaintance and hurriedly flattered the man with bows and smiles.

The man was exceedingly tall, fair-skinned, and beardless. Though age had begun to mark his face, it could not dim the vigor of his bearing. He asked Cui Zhongshi where Yu Lang and the others came from, and Cui Zhongshi answered patiently, recounting everything once more.

"Mm." The man nodded, apparently quite satisfied with Cui Zhongshi's handling of the matter, then suddenly turned and slapped Cui Zhongshi across the face.

Cui Zhongshi spat out a tooth stained with blood and kowtowed repeatedly. "Grand General Gao, I don't know where I went wrong to anger Your Excellency. I beg you to calm your wrath."

In Chang'an, the only man who could be called Grand General Gao was the exceptionally honored Champion Grand General, Grand General of the Right Guard Gate, Gao Lishi, Duke of Bohai. For a eunuch to rise to such a position was proof of extraordinary skill and power.

Yu Lang's brows drew together slightly. Gao Lishi's slap had seemed casual, yet in truth it had been lightning-fast. Yu Lang asked himself whether, if that slap had come for his own face, he would have been able to evade it nine times out of ten. This man was unfathomable.

Gao Lishi strode up to Yu Lang and the others in a pair of glossy official boots. "What are you to be bargaining with Steward Cui? Steward Cui has come under the Emperor's spoken order to receive the person. You simply hand her over. Why all this needless fuss?"

The blow had been delivered to Steward Cui, but the rebuke was aimed at Yu Lang and the others. Beating Steward Cui was to establish authority before Yu Lang; questioning Yu Lang was to spare Steward Cui's face. In that single casual move lay all the guile of one long steeped in the official world.

Then Gao Lishi stopped in front of Yu Lang. "I hear it was you who told Steward Cui that unless you could see the Emperor, you would not hand over Yang Yuhuan. Who gave you the nerve to be so presumptuous beneath the Son of Heaven's feet?"

Gao Lishi's voice was deep and without much fluctuation, yet it carried an oppressive authority that needed no anger to intimidate. Every plain-spoken word made one's spine turn cold.

Xue Wenyang and Xie Zhiqian were facing such a figure for the first time. Cold sweat poured down their foreheads, and they felt that merely standing before him was already more than they could bear.

Yu Lang fixed his gaze on Gao Lishi's eyes. "We traveled thousands of miles westward to bring Sister Yuhuan to Chang'an. Without such caution, we would already have died on the road. Grand General Gao, a person of great station speaks with weight. Do you mean that if we hand Sister Yuhuan over to you now, and anything should go wrong with her, the responsibility will rest entirely on you?"

Gao Lishi nodded. "A fine spirit you have, young man. No wonder you were able to hold Steward Cui in check with only a few words."

The thick-set benevolence of a kindly elder next door vanished in an instant, and his expression changed sharply. "But remember this well: this is Chang'an. There is no reason here, only imperial power. If His Majesty wishes to see Yang Yuhuan, then all you can do is hand her over. If anything happens to Yang Yuhuan, your head will still be cut off. When the executioner's blade falls on your neck, no one will listen to your arguments!"

The words were tyrannical to the extreme, yet they were in truth sound advice. Yu Lang knew that with Gao Lishi's status, there was no need for him to say so much to him; if he wished to take someone away by force, Yu Lang would be powerless to stop him. He said, "Many thanks, Grand General Gao. I have profited greatly from what you have said today."

Gao Lishi's expression softened somewhat, and he signaled for Cui Zhongshi to go receive Yang Yuhuan into the sedan chair.

But Yu Lang stood in front of the carriage, the wooden sword grip clenched tight in his hand. "What Grand General Gao says is indeed excellent counsel, but a gentleman has what he will do and what he will not. On this journey I have already known the danger ahead. I know that within the deep palace there are many who mean Sister Yuhuan no good. How can a man stand by and let a woman be exposed to peril for the sake of his own safety? That would be unrighteous! Sister Yuhuan enjoys His Majesty's deep favor; to fail to protect her fully would also be disloyal to the Son of Heaven of Great Tang! Does Grand General Gao truly mean to force me into such disloyal and unrighteous conduct?"

"Such a sharp tongue," Gao Lishi said, his eyes narrowing. "I wonder whether the sword in your hand is even a third as bold as the one in your mouth."

His aura kept rising. The others in the field could scarcely breathe, and even standing upright had become difficult.

Yu Lang had felt such a presence only once before, in the Western Capital, when Li Bi had single-handedly forced fifty thousand Longyou troops to halt without daring to advance a single step. Gao Lishi's strength was not beneath that of the Formless One, and might even surpass it by a great deal.

Gao Lishi had long since seen through Yu Lang's level of skill and knew that, under this pressure, a cultivator at the peak of the Void-Piercing realm would likely be unable to lift a sword even an inch.

Yu Lang tilted his head and glanced up at the starry sky, then let his eyes fall on the Vermilion Bird poised in the center of Vermilion Bird Avenue, wings outspread as if about to take flight. The Vermilion Bird was one of the Four Spirits of Heaven, born from flame and able to be reborn only from utter extremity.

In an instant, the stars above seemed to answer the hidden Vermilion Bird below. Inspiration surged through Yu Lang. He suddenly lifted his sword and steadied its point upon Gao Lishi's face.

With the Singularity Dao Seal sealed and his cultivation fallen back to the Void-Piercing realm, Yu Lang nevertheless entered the Realm of Enlightened Mystery once more and condensed the Vermilion Bird Dao Seal.

A Vermilion Bird of flowing golden light appeared above his head, and the pressure upon the others eased at once.

Yet Cui Zhongshi collapsed to the ground in terror. The Vermilion Bird Dao Seal.

When the Vermilion Bird appears, all under heaven submit. Since ancient times, any cultivator who condensed the Vermilion Bird Dao Seal possessed the bearing of an emperor.

This was heaven's favor, and also something Heaven must envy. If Emperor Xuanzong learned of this, then even if the Sword Saint himself came in person, he would not be able to preserve Yu Lang's head on his shoulders.