Chapter 218 — Never the Light of Heaven Again
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
He said in alarm, "We have flown from the capital to here — that must be tens of thousands of li, surely?
Have any of you seen the sun?
" The dozen or so fire bandits looked at one another and all shook their heads. Fan Yunxiao drew a breath of cold air and looked up at the bleak clouds in the sky.
He muttered, "One cloud covering tens of thousands of li — is that any ordinary cloud, damn it?
And this snow — even the Southern Wilds is buried deep. Next year will not be a peaceful year, I fear, but a year of famine with the corpses of the starved strewn over the fields.
.
. When men's bellies are empty and they cannot eat their fill, they rise in rebellion. . . And here I thought I could enjoy a few peaceful years and make a few fortunes. Number Two, open the furnaces to full blast; we fly on south!
" After a little more than an hour, the Cloud-Chasing Pirate Ship flew out of the Southern Wilds and into the skies above the Southern Sea. Suddenly a blinding light appeared ahead; when they reached the light, they saw the proud sun pouring down its rays, lighting the sea so that it was transparent as sapphire. Fan Yunxiao looked back and drew a breath of cold air.
A cloud of unimaginable vastness covered the whole territory of the Kingdom of Jingping!
In the Imperial Academy, Shen Mu was packing his things, preparing to board ship and return to the Wasteland, when an official of the Directorate of Education came up and called loudly, "Grand Master of the Palace, the Emperor commands: every official of the sixth rank and above in the capital must attend court to deliberate!
Otherwise they shall be held to account! " Shen Mu set down his baggage and said to Snow Fox, "You stay here for now; I will go to the palace and have a look. " It was his first time at court.
When he reached the throne hall, he found it already a sea of people, packed with a thousand officials; fortunately the Golden Throne Hall was large enough to hold so many.
Emperor Yanfeng sat in the Golden Throne Hall, worry on his face, asking from time to time, "Has the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping arrived? " Hearing that the Imperial Preceptor had not arrived, the worry on Emperor Yanfeng's face deepened.
After a moment, Emperor Yanfeng cleared his throat, his voice like a great bell, and said gravely, "We shall not wait for the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping.
My beloved ministers, it has been more than ten days since you saw the sun, has it not?
I too have gone more than ten days without seeing the sun — and not I alone: the whole Kingdom of Jingping has gone more than ten days without seeing the sun. These past days I have received memorials from officials in every region, flying in like snowflakes — from the northern deserts to the southern sky, from Sunrise Island in the east to Mishui Pass in the west: great snow, six or seven days of great snow! " He rose from the dragon throne and pointed upward, his finger trembling a little: "One cloud has covered the whole of my Kingdom of Jingping! "