Death Scripture

Duodun was quietly listening to his own heartbeat. When the Second Consort walked in, he raised his head and inhaled deeply, as if someone who had been in suspended animation had suddenly been revived.

"You went to meet with the Dragon King?"

"Mmm."

"If you had come by here first, I would have asked you not to."

"I know. But I had to try."

Sitting opposite Duodun, the Second Consort tidied her clothes and peered at him, feeling both grief and pride. "Are you ready?"

Duodun didn't answer, a contemplative look on his face. "Do you still remember what the old Khan said back then?"

"What?" The Second Consort was confused. There had always been some kind of unspoken telepathy between the two, which enabled them to know each other's true thoughts. But this time, she had no clue what he was referring to at all.

"It was… about a dozen years ago. I was fourteen or fifteen then and the old Khan had just executed the then King Kuari. Do you remember?"

"I do. Among all the kings, the then King Kuari was the last peer of the old Khan as well as his younger brother." The Second Consort thought that Duodun's current situation had revived some of his pensive memories, so she tenderly said, "That is a tradition of the Khan family. Every time a new Khan is elected…"

She was unable to finish her words.

Duodun was confused, and then laughed. "You misunderstand me. I was referring to the time when we were on our way to the execution ground. I remember that the sky was blue, and the clothes that you were wearing were also blue. You were on a horse and riding back and forth. The head of the imperial bodyguards was very displeased and he went to the old Khan and slandered you, saying that you had misappropriated the right to ride. The old Khan burst into laugh. What did he say next? I've been trying to recall for a long time but I still can't."

Holding Duodun's hand, the Second Consort said with extremely tender voice, "The old Khan said, 'I never worry that what's in my hand will fly away. I never worry that what's within my sight will disappear. I never worry that what's beneath my feet – ' "

"Will run away." Duodun delightedly finished her sentence for her and felt greatly relieved. The words he had been trying so hard to remember were finally recalled.

"The old Khan said a lot of similar things. He liked to say this kind of pithy stuff to make his stupid subordinates revere him." The Second Consort was among the very few people who knew about what kind of person the old Khan had really been, and she would never regard him as a god and revere him.

As if he hadn't heard the Second Consort's comments, Duodun repeated the old Khan's words. "'I never worry that what's in my hand will fly away. I never worry that what's within my sight will disappear. I never worry that what's beneath my feet will run away' …" Then he smacked his face, seemingly to be savoring the words.

"So, I've never held anything in my hands."

The Second Consort nearly started crying. She hurriedly concealed her emotions with a smile, and said, "That's not true. You hold me in your hand. Azheba and the others are also fiercely loyal to you."

Duodun patted the Second Consort's hand. "You're a unique woman. The old Khan failed to hold onto you, so too will I."

The Second Consort was just about to speak again when Duodun said quickly, "I need you to promise me something."

"As long as I'm not dead, I'll do anything for you." The Second Consort's tone became tough. "Say it. I'll take revenge on them all, whatever the cost. The Dragon King, Shulitu, Luoluo – none of them will get away with this."

Duodun shook his head. "I hope that you'll avenge my death, but our foes are not Luoluo and Shulitu. I lost to them fairly and I have no complaints about it. It is the Dragon King and Zhesu that I hold hatred towards. One of them is an outsider, and the other bears a foreign surname, but they dared to manipulate the competition for the throne. For this insolence alone, I will never be able to rest in peace."

About why Duodun had lost, the Second Consort had a lot to talk with him. But at this moment, she just wanted to satisfy all of Duodun's requests. "The Dragon King and Zhesu – I'll keep this in mind. You'll see them soon in the flames of hell."

"I'm going to hell, too?"

"All of the Khan's descendants have to go to hell. Don't be afraid. I'll be there sooner or later too." Her heart filled with affectionateness, the Second Consort felt that hell was not horrible at all.

A childish smile appeared on Duodun's face.

Two coughs came from outside the flies. A guard said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, it's about midnight. Do you need any… tools?"

"What do you have?" Duodun asked.

"Poison, ropes, and sabers. If Your Highness needs something else, I'll do whatever I can." The voice was so humble that it was as if these killing tools were merely some knick-knacks that the prince used regularly.

"Poison's the best choice," the Second Consort mouthed.

Duodun didn't take her advice. He said aloud, "I want a saber. Give me a sharp one." Then he explained in a low voice, "I prefer to die by saber."

"Yes," the voice outside answered. After a while, two soldiers walked in. Surprisingly, they both wore masks, each holding an unsheathed scimitar gleaming coldly in the dim candle light.

After placing the scimitars on the carpet, the two soldiers bowed and left.

The Second Consort couldn't help but snort. "Shulitu dared to impose the sentence, but he doesn't dare come and watch?"

"Shulitu acted more like a Khan's descendant than I could have ever imagined. You can marry him and join hands with him to deal with the Dragon King."

"I can handle the Dragon King myself," the Second Consort said coldly. But she soon switched to a gentle tone, "Besides you, I won't marry anybody else. No matter if you believe me or not, you're the one who has ever held me in your hand – not the old Khan, and definitely not some other man."

Duodun nodded solemnly. He sat up with his knees on the ground and picked up a scimitar before him. "They were so sweet – they brought me a spare one. You should leave."

"No. I want to watch you and let your death be engraved in my mind. That way, I'll never forget my promise to avenge your death."

Duodun solemnly nodded again. He had tried his best to expel the fear in him, but when he held the saber which was to end his life, he still felt weak and he didn't even have enough strength to make one last remark.

He put the saber against his neck but felt that it was not easy for him to muster his strength. He tried several other postures but none of them felt right. At last he pointed the tip of the saber against his stomach, his breath gradually deepening.

"I'll go instigate the Naihang Tribe to come here and rescue you," the Second Consort suddenly said. She had overestimated her will; she simply couldn't sit still and watch her loved one commit suicide in front of her.

Duodun shook his head. The Second Consort's weakness had toughened him. "We can't let the Naihang Tribe benefit from this."

Stabilizing his breath, he was just about to do it when suddenly, another issue occurred to him. "Don't let outsiders deal with my body."

Midnight passed. Two masked soldiers walked in. When they saw Duodun kneeling with his head down as well as the Second Consort who was sitting transfixed beside him, the two exchanged a glance and then one of them picked up the other scimitar on the ground.

"Leave," The Second Consort said without even turning her head back.

"Cough… Um… Sorry, Second Consort. We… We…"

"You won't have to deliver the head. I'll do it myself."

The two soldiers exchanged another glance, and after quite a while they put down the scimitar and said respectfully, "The young king is still waiting in the main tent." Then they left the tent and waited outside.

Propping Duodun up, the Second Consort gently helped him lie on the blanket, picked up the other scimitar on the ground, tightly held it in her hands and then knelt down. Looking at that familiar face, she suddenly found that her hands were quivering.

She couldn't do it.

The soldiers outside coughed again, but didn't say anything to urge her.

Suddenly, a very very low voice was heard. "Do you need any help?"

The Second Consort's heart lurched and she nearly dropped the scimitar. She abruptly turned her head and saw an eccentric woman. She had no idea how long that woman had been standing in that corner.

There was both curiosity and greed in that woman's eyes, as if that body on the ground was an adorable toy.

"Do you work for… the Dragon King?" The Second Consort involuntarily lowered her voice.

"I work for the Master Commander of Waning Moon Hall. I'm Han Fen. Now I'm Dragon King's prisoner as well as an idler."

The Second Consort didn't quite understand her, but she did believe that this woman was a disciple of Waning Moon Hall. "Did the Dragon King send you here?"

"He didn't." Han Fen walked to the Second Consort's side, making no sounds as she walked. "I just want to see what kind of penalty 'you shall end your life' is. It turns out to just be suicide. It's too simple. Do you want to cut off the head? I can help you."

The Second Consort's eyes were blazing with anger. "You want to help me – "

The Second Consort had just finished the last word when she suddenly felt that the body in her arms had lightened. Before she could react, Duodun's head had left his body and rolled before her knees.

Han Fen was not very satisfied with her work. "I'm not quite used to this kind of saber. A narrow saber is better. And wire is the best."

The Second Consort was transfixed with shock.

The soldiers outside urged, "The young king is still waiting."

The Second Consort turned her head aside and looked at the doorway, finally coming around from the extreme horror. When she turned her head around again, she found that that the disciple of Waning Moon Hall named Han Fen had disappeared. One of the two scimitars was still stuck in Duodun's abdomen, and the other one was still on the ground, clean and gleaming, with no blood on it at all.

Carrying Duodun's head in her hands, the Second Consort walked towards the main tent, attracting a lot of people's attention. The soldiers who hadn't yet fallen asleep at midnight stood silently in the doorways of their tents. Even the many nearby warhorses seemed to sense the solemn occasion, and they stood in place quietly without letting out a single neigh during the whole process.

The main tent was full of generals. Standing in the doorway, the Second Consort raised Duodun's head high and displayed it to all of them, the blood running down her hands and chest.

Under the bright candle light, the features of the head were vivid yet a little glazed.

It was even quieter inside the tent.

Shulitu didn't expect that the Second Consort would do something like this, and he was startled, flustered, and didn't know what to do.

The Second Consort looked calm. Her eyes swept through everybody's face, but she didn't see the Dragon King.

"Your Highness," she said – even her voice was calm. "I implore you to grant me permission to take Duodun's body away. I want to give him a proper burial."

"Of course." Shulitu noticed that his tone was a little weak and hurriedly adjusted it. He couldn't afford to show any weakness in front of these generals, let alone be intimidated by a woman. "You have my permission, Second Consort. Take Duodun's body and give him a burial becoming of a prince. Duodun was not the first descendant of Khan to die, and he won't be the last either. But the grasslands will remember him, because he lost to the new Khan."

All the generals knelt down in unison, and started repeatedly telling, "The Khan". The Second Consort also knelt down with the others and mouthed "The Khan". When the crowd gradually quieted down, she said, "Duodun's last words were: 'only young king Shulitu is qualified to succeed the throne and be the Lord of the Prairie.'"

Thus, she soothed the uneasiness in all the troops and also dissolved Shulitu's hostility towards her. She was afraid of only one thing – how much that Han Fen had heard and how much she would disclose to the Dragon King.

The yells of "The Khan" gradually spread through the whole encampment. Ears pricking up, Shangguan Ru said, "Shulitu has ascended to the throne."

Embracing her, Gu Shenwei turned over, totally uninterested in this news.