abnabooks Chapter 94 Grandmaster Ku He
Chapter 94 Grandmaster Ku He
An old monk, dressed in gray cloth, with white hair and beard and a withered face, sat cross-legged, eyes closed in meditation.
He was Ku He, the pillar of Northern Qi and one of the four grandmasters. He secluded himself for many years, detached from worldly affairs, but no major event in the world that could shake the balance of power could escape his notice.
At this moment, his usually calm and collected eyes trembled slightly, a rare occurrence. A top-secret intelligence report from the capital of the Qing Kingdom lay quietly on the prayer mat before him.
The contents of the intelligence were like a series of thunderclaps, causing a huge upheaval in his heart, which had long been as still as water.
"At fourteen, a Grandmaster, he defeated Ye Liuyun in one move, killed the Empress and the deposed Empress, and forced Emperor Qing to submit. Ye Tian, son of Ye Qingmei."
Ku He's lips moved slightly as he murmured these keywords, and his withered body trembled uncontrollably. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, causing even this grandmaster, who had long since transcended life and death and whose heart was as firm as a rock, to feel an uncontrollable sense of dread.
He recalled the woman who emerged from the temple decades ago, a woman as cunning and radiant as an elf. He remembered her astonishing pronouncements, the incredible "magical creations" in her hands, and even more so, her unfathomable strength and uncanny abilities.
Now, her son, a mere fourteen-year-old boy, has grown to such a terrifying degree!
"A monster, truly a monster," Ku He swallowed hard, feeling his mouth dry. He could imagine how anxious and restless Emperor Qing must be at this moment.
Suddenly, Ku He's face turned pale, his body stiffened abruptly, and an unspeakable warm current surged uncontrollably from his lower body. He, the grandmaster Ku He, upon hearing Ye Tian's heaven-defying news and recalling Ye Qingmei's incredible deeds back then, was so shocked by the immense impact and fear of the unknown that he literally wet himself!
This was a humiliation worse than death for him! He hurriedly circulated his internal energy to forcefully suppress the strange sensations within him and the turmoil in his heart, but his forehead was already covered in cold sweat.
"What exactly does Ye Qingmei's son want to do? The Qing Kingdom, no, the entire world, is probably going to be thrown into complete chaos!" Ku He felt an unprecedented sense of crisis rising in his heart.
He opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them, and immediately made a decision.
"Someone come here!"
A man dressed as a secret agent from the Northern Qi Dynasty appeared silently at the door of the quiet room.
"Issue my decree," Ku He's voice was slightly hoarse, "order the Imperial Preceptor Zhuang Mohan to immediately assemble an envoy to the capital of Qing Kingdom, ostensibly to congratulate the Prince of Qin on his wedding and to 'recognize his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion.' The mission is to ascertain the true nature of Prince Ye Tian, the Prince of Qin, and his attitude towards Northern Qi."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The secret agent bowed and accepted the order.
"Furthermore," Ku He paused, a complex light flashing in his eyes, "try to contact Chen Pingping or Prince Qin, Ye Tian, through the Qing Kingdom's Supervisory Council or other channels. Tell them that Northern Qi is willing to exchange Yan Bingyun, the Qing Kingdom's chief spy, for Xiao En, an old minister of our dynasty."
The spy was slightly taken aback. The name Xiao En was practically taboo in the Northern Qi court. This former intelligence chief, captured by the Qing Kingdom for many years, had long been considered worthless. The Grand Preceptor's bringing up this old matter again, and his offer to exchange him for someone as important as Yan Bingyun, was truly perplexing. But he dared not ask further and respectfully accepted the order once more.
After the spies left, Kuhe sighed softly, her gaze seemingly piercing through the palace walls, looking towards the distant far north and that long-forgotten past.
His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to decades ago.
At that time, the old emperor of the Northern Wei (the predecessor of the Northern Qi) had just passed away. The newly enthroned young monarch was good in every way, except that he was extremely afraid of death at a young age. He was worried day and night and was obsessed with seeking immortality and cultivating that ethereal art of immortality.
Ku He, who had diligently cultivated in a remote mountain temple since childhood, single-mindedly seeking to unravel the ultimate martial arts path and attain enlightenment to enter the legendary temple, saw an opportunity. He was already exceptionally talented, and by chance, he obtained some incomplete records about the temple, knowing that it might hold power beyond the mortal realm. Thus, he seized the chance to enter the palace, using his profound martial arts skills and otherworldly demeanor to gain the trust of the young emperor.
Ku He advised the emperor: "Your Majesty, life and death are the cycle of Heaven, which no ordinary person can defy. However, legend has it that the temple located in the far north is the abode of immortals, and there may be the immortals' methods of immortality left behind there. If you can find the temple and receive the immortals' teachings, Your Majesty can naturally break the shackles of life and death and live forever."
Upon hearing this, the cowardly emperor of Wei grasped at a straw, overjoyed, and spared no effort in mobilizing the entire nation's resources, expending countless manpower and materials, to support Ku He's search for the temple. Finally, after paying a heavy price, they found some vague clues about the temple—the mysterious temple seemed to truly exist in the desolate, frigid lands of the far north.
The Emperor of Wei was overjoyed and immediately ordered Ku He and his most trusted intelligence chief, who was also his childhood friend and study companion, Xiao En, to lead a team of a thousand elite warriors, carrying ample supplies, deep into the north to find the legendary temple.
It was an arduous and extraordinary journey. They trekked across frozen snowfields, struggled in the biting winds, and narrowly escaped death countless times. Of the thousand-strong group, more than half had perished by the time they reached the area where the legendary temple might exist.
Just when they had gone through countless hardships and were almost about to give up in despair, one day, the gears of fate quietly began to turn.
Ye Qingmei, a modern female PhD in engineering from the 21st century.
Due to an accidental experiment, the soul was transported to this world and possessed the body of a little girl in a temple who was imprisoned as an "outcast" by the people in the temple.
As a highly educated soul accustomed to the freedom and prosperity of modern society, Ye Qingmei simply could not bear the isolation and rigidity of the temple, akin to being in a prison. Therefore, relying on her wisdom and some knowledge gleaned from the temple's records, she devised a plan to escape.
When she successfully pried open the long-sealed "door" of the temple, which was believed to be inaccessible to mortals, and escaped to safety, she happened to run into Ku He and Sean's group, who were wandering in the vast snowfield outside the temple, almost frozen to death, but unable to find the door.
When Kuhe and Sean saw this little girl who suddenly emerged from the "fairyland," dressed strangely and behaving incomprehensibly, they were amazed and thought they had encountered a true "fate".
Looking at the two disheveled yet determined "natives," Ye Qingmei's heart stirred. She casually picked two items from the things she had "borrowed" from the temple. She gave Ku He a seemingly unremarkable ancient manual, a top-tier internal energy cultivation method best suited for humans in this world, compiled, organized, and researched by the temple based on the cultivation data of "Heavenly Vein Individuals" (those with modern genes, better adapted to the temple's trace nuclear radiation environment), far surpassing any known martial arts manual of the time. She also gave Xiao En a special pill that could cleanse the marrow and greatly enhance physical strength, another unique product of the temple.
Ku He and Xiao En were overjoyed, and they revered Ye Qingmei as a deity.
Afterwards, Ye Qingmei felt that the two men still had some use, so she traveled south with them, hoping to get away from that awful place, the temple, as soon as possible. After they crossed a majestic snow-capped mountain, Ye Qingmei looked back north and suddenly remembered Wu Zhu, the man in the temple who was always blindfolded, taciturn, yet silently protected the "little girl's" body. She felt that leaving Wu Zhu alone (or rather, a robot) in that desolate place was too pitiful and too lonely.
So, the next day, Ye Qingmei made an excuse and secretly ran back to the temple alone.
Using her knowledge of the temple's internal structure and Wu Zhu's special privileges over her as his "host," she successfully "kidnapped" Wu Zhu away. Before leaving, she also "took" a "long gun"—a Barrett M82A1—that she found to be incredibly powerful and uniquely designed from the temple's armory.
Ku He and Xiao En waited anxiously for several days at the agreed-upon place, but Ye Qingmei never appeared again. They thought their "destiny with immortals" had come to an end, and could only return to Northern Wei with endless regret and the medicinal power of the secret manual and elixir.
With the help of the secret manual from the temple, Ku He devoted himself to cultivation and eventually broke through to the realm of Grandmaster, becoming a great martial arts master and laying the foundation for the Northern Qi (later Northern Wei) dynasty.
Sean, thanks to that elixir, possessed a physique far exceeding that of ordinary people, becoming the founding father of the Northern Qi intelligence system. Both of them harbored extremely complex feelings towards Ye Qingmei, including gratitude, awe, and deep apprehension towards her endless stream of mysterious methods.