Saint Born Under the Ominous Star

Pei Ming and the others had entered the yard of a residence, probably in search of a well.

Xie Lian entered the yard and commented offhandedly, "The houses on this street are all so impressive."

Hua Cheng replied, "The Kiln is situated in the imperial capital, the heart of the Kingdom of Wuyong. This place is close to the Kiln—or rather, close to what was the imperial capital two thousand years ago—so it's also a place of wealth. Since it was mostly prominent figures and government officials who lived here, they're naturally impressive."

There certainly was a well, only, the sight near that well was exceedingly horrifying. There were seven to eight people sprawled over the edge of the well, as if they were dying of thirst but still perished after having struggled to make it there. Upon a closer inspection, Xie Lian blinked.

"This…rather than say they're people, they're more like stone statues?"

They were of course not live humans, but they weren't corpses, and definitely were not skeletons. Each of them were coarsely-made, ashen white "stone statues". Xie Lian was about to reach out and touch when next to him, Hua Cheng gave him a look. He immediately remembered that they had only just promised each other not to touch anything strange and dangerous, so he forced down the impulse. Now thinking about it, who in the world would sculpt so many terrifying statues? They should be people indeed, but had transformed into this form for some reason.

The front doors of this home were wide open. Xie Lian looked to the inside of the house and saw there were two more people lying on the ground, their positions twisted in a tight embrace. Although their faces were blurred and their expressions unclear, judging by their actions, one could sense terror had filled their hearts. There was a bundle of something tightly hugged between the two, and on a closer look, Xie Lian realized that it must've been a baby.

What had happened was more than clear.

Xie Lian said, "Those outside were this household's servants, and the ones inside should be the master's family of three."

"En," Hua Cheng said. "After the volcano erupted, the Wuyong River's flow became running lava. The residents who lived in the high plains weren't burnt to death by the lava or blazing fires, but they couldn't escape the blanketing volcanic ash, and died from suffocation."

The volcanic ash instantly enveloped their whole bodies and formed a hard shell on the surface, preserving the last moments of those people, transforming them into stone statues.

That old well was, of course, long since dried out. Pei Ming wasn't interested in studying the faces of the dead either, so he left, carrying Pei Su with him, and continued the search for water. Suddenly, Xie Lian noticed something strange. He flipped into the house, crouching down next to the stone bodies of the family of three.

Hua Cheng entered too and asked, "What did you want to see?"

Xie Lian furrowed his brows slightly. "I just think their positions are a bit strange. These two adults are holding each other tightly with one arm, but the other arm…"

The other arm was tucked against their chests, like they were gripping onto something firmly.

"You want to see what's in their hands?" Hua Cheng asked.

Xie Lian had only just nodded when Hua Cheng tapped once on the joined stone statues.

Xie Lian exclaimed, "Wait, wouldn't this be too disrespectful to their remai…"

However, Hua Cheng moved faster than he did, and the family of three instantly broke into a pile of shattered ashen-white shards.

Hua Cheng said quietly, "No need to be too concerned. They've long been dead, and the remains were already no more."

In that pile of shards were nothing. Those "stone statues" were hollow on the inside.

Although on the surface, the volcanic ash formed a solid protective shell, the corpse wrapped inside would still rot and break down. After the rotting was done, what was left was only this ashen shell.

All lives must come to an end, leaving behind only that which had never lived in the everlasting.

Within the blocks and pieces of those ashen shards on the ground, there were some not yet fully rotted through pieces of cloth and the accessories on the hosts' bodies, such as rings, earrings, necklaces, and so on. Xie Lian felt what this couple was gripping in the face of death couldn't possibly be jewelry, and was picking through these pieces when Hua Cheng picked up something and handed it to him.

"What's this?" Xie Lian asked.

"It's what they were clutching in their hands," Hua Cheng said.

It was a pendant; a shimmering golden plate and something akin to bones were hanging off of the chain. Upon the golden plate were engraved patterns, and Xie Lian lightly dusted off the ashes on the surface to look at the details.

"The ominous star¹?"

What was depicted on the golden plate was a celestial drawing. Gold for the heavens, agate for stars; this was what they called the sign of the "Ominous Star", which was the celestial phase when the Star of Glowing Befuddlement stood still in the Heart Constellation.

The Star of Glowing Befuddlement had historically been seen as the Star of War and Death, and when it rested within the Heart Constellation, it was even more ominous a sign, especially towards rulers and emperors and other such leaders. So why was such a celestial drawing engraved on an accessory?

No, this shouldn't have been an accessory. Xie Lian fumbled through the shards of the ashen shells again, and found the other two pendants that looked exactly the same. There were three in total; even the baby in this couple's arms had one. Under what circumstances would the same accessory be kept three times?

"This couldn't be a protection charm, could it?" Xie Lian wondered.

Only protection charms could give those at the brink of death the urge to grip them tightly, to pray madly with the last vestiges of hope amidst terror.

"It is," Hua Cheng said. "I've dug through a part of this city too, and I've discovered this protection charm on quite a number of these statues."

Xie Lian hummed. "The people of Wuyong worshipped their crown prince, so this should be the protection charm of the crown prince. But why draw this celestial phase on the protection charm? Does the crown prince have any connection to the ominous star?"

"Because the day he was born, it was the celestial phase of the ominous star," Hua Cheng said. "So, the people of Wuyong used this celestial phase to symbolize him."

"How did San Lang find this out?" Xie Lian asked.

Hua Cheng flipped the gold plate over. "It's written on it."

Sure enough, on the back side, there was engraved a column of characters.

Hua Cheng explained, "These words mean 'Saint Born Under the Ominous Star'. Maybe now in the present, having the Star of Glowing Befuddlement rest in the Heart Constellation is a grave omen, but things might have been different two thousand years ago."

Xie Lian stroked that line of words, his heart slowly sinking. Since, on the day he was born, it was also the sign of the ominous star!

Was this not too coincidental?

He rose to his feet. "Let's go to the divine temple."

The two walked down the long street side by side. Pei Ming and the others weren't fruitful in their search of the area, so they followed along too. There were many remnants of carriages on the streets, some resting by the roadside, some completely overturned on the ground. There were also a number of scattered stone people lying on the ground, each with bizarre mannerisms, but the majority had gone back to their own homes to escape the disaster, so those were homeless beggars or travelers who couldn't make it home in time. The cries and struggles in that moment before death were all preserved, and the group of them traversed through this bizarre sight.

Hua Cheng pointed out for Xie Lian which ones were residences of wealthy merchants, which ones belonged to the entertainment district.

Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "San Lang, the Kingdom of Wuyong has been fallen for over two thousand years, and there aren't any descendants left. So how did you learn to read their words?"

He couldn't have just forcibly learned from nothing; there should've been a door to the method.

"It's not too difficult," Hua Cheng said. "Gege can see that some Wuyong characters are very close to the modern characters."

"It's true," Xie Lian said. "The two characters for 'Wuyong' are indeed very close to the modern characters."

"Right. So, those two characters were the first of the Wuyong words I learned," Hua Cheng explained. "There's a few more that are like this, and when mixed in a phrase, the rest of the words can be deduced. There are some that have the same character but different meaning, but not too many."

Xie Lian nodded, and Hua Cheng continued.

"And then, there are words that show up more frequently. Like those two."

He pointed at two buildings on the street. "It's easy to tell what kind of place this is. On the signs, the words on the top are different, but the ones on the bottom are the same. Therefore, what the bottom words mean can be easily determined; it's either a tavern or a restaurant. There are many ways to do this. If gege wants to know more, I'll tell you all about it when there's time."

So that was it. There were actually people in this world who could use their own power to figure everything out without any help. Xie Lian couldn't help but be awed.

The divine temple of Wuyong was still the grandest and the most impressive building in the city. The group of them arrived before the temple, but before they entered, Pei Ming suddenly spoke up.

"What's that noise?"

Squeak squeak squeak, squeak squeak squeak. The noise came from afar, and dispersed from afar.

"Rats?" Xie Lian wondered.

"Not your typical rats. But, if there's rats, then that means there's water nearby," Hua Cheng said.

When they entered the temple, this time, there were no traces of burning on the walls. They could see by just raising their heads the immense, vibrant colours of the mural. However, this time, there wasn't only one mural, but left, centre, right; three sets! There was a mural on each of the three walls!

The group of them came before the first mural and looked up. The Crown Prince of Wuyong was sitting upon the clouds, his body shone with golden light. However, his expression was severe. In his left hand was a ball of light, and within the glow there was a small mountain that was spewing flames; in his right hand, his five fingers were pressed together, his palm facing forward, seeming to be waving.

Below was a palace, and in the palace stood over ten people, each of their attire and accessories lavish and sumptuous, and each of their gestures were different. Some had their arms wide open, some were donning armour and carrying bows, and some were ponting into the far distance with an agitated expression.

The details of the painting were complex and abundant, Xie Lian studied it for a good while before turning around.

"Let me tell you what I've gathered from this painting?

"This ball of light held in the left hand of the Crown Prince of Wuyong contains the scene of a small volcanic eruption, which meant he had told his dream to those down below. As for the gesture of his right hand, it's obviously a rejection, so he must be dismissing something."

"What is he dismissing?" Pei Ming asked.

"That depends on the actions of the people below," Xie Lian replied. "This palace is situated in the mortal realm, lavish and glamourous, so it should be the royal palace. These people should be the royalty and nobility of Wuyong. This one with his arms wide open, judging by the action, he should be making the 'expand' gesture. Expand what? That's told by what's in his hand."

The crowd looked closer, and what was in his hand was a map. Pei Ming was more than familiar with what that meant.

"Expand the territory!"

"Yes," Xie Lian said. "And these generals are all donned in armour, looking ready to be dispatched into battle. There are also those on the side pointing the way. Look, their directive actions are very obvious, it's like they're saying 'go there, fight there'.

"With this, the meaning of this mural becomes easy to understand—combining the points, it seems the Crown Prince of Wuyong had told his prophetic dream to the ministers in the royal palace. Once the volcano erupted, the consequences would be severe, and it would be a disaster that could bring ruin to the Kingdom of Wuyong. The territory of the kingdom isn't big enough, because the volcano is situated right in the centre, so the cities with great significance will perish. So how should this be solved?"

"If their own territory isn't big enough, then go take over someone else's," Hua Cheng said.

"Right," Xie Lian said. "So, the ministers suggested opening up the borders and invading the neighbouring country. However, the Crown Prince of Wuyong doesn't agree to this method, which is why his right hand is the gesture of rejection."

After analyzing the first mural, the group of them came to the second mural. The colours of this mural were much gloomier than the previous one. Perhaps it was because what it depicted was the scene of slaughter on the battlefield.

Below on the battlefield, blood flowed like rivers, and the soldiers on both sides killed relentlessly. Xie Lian could tell which side was Wuyong, since the soldiers' armour was exactly the same as the generals from the previous painting. The Wuyong soldiers looked savage and aggressive, trampling the heads of their enemies under their feet, corpses raised on halberds, arms and legs and bloody flesh flew in the slaughter, bloody and cruel. There were even soldiers with savage smiles who reached for children and women huddled in balls. Truly, the horrors of war.

Above the battlefield the gloomy clouds were thick, yet within the clouds there peeked a sliver of white light. The Crown Prince of Wuyong peeked half of his body from the clouds to watch the scene down below, his expression that of fury. One of his arms was extended out, releasing many pillars of golden light, and the Wuyong soldiers in the light were all sucked up.

This painting's meaning was easier to analyze than the previous one. Xie Lian studied it for a moment.

He said softly, "It seems the generals and ministers didn't listen to the crown prince's advice, and still dispatched armies to invade the neighbouring country. The soldiers killed too much, even harassing the women, children, and the weak from the other kingdom. So when the crown prince found out, he was angered, and moved to stop the aggression of the Wuyong soldiers."

After Pei Ming heard, he said flatly, "How touching. But to be honest, if one of the kingdoms must perish, then choosing to protect your own can't be helped. The soldiers charging in the frontlines, if they hadn't yet been cut down by their enemies, they would've died from the rage of their own crown prince. I certainly wouldn't want to fight for a king like that."

Xie Lian chuckled drily a couple times and said a little woefully, "General Pei is, uh, right."

Hua Cheng on the other hand, only grunted coldly.

Pei Ming continued, "So, the volcano's about to erupt. What does this Highness the crown prince plan to do? He can't just let his own people wait for their death?"

"Let's look at the third painting," Xie Lian said. "It should have the answer."

The group of them finally came before the last painting. The colours of this mural were an enormous contrast to the previous one. It had returned to bright and vibrant, filled with holy light. However, with just the first look, Xie Lian was shocked to the core. He widened his eyes.

Pei Ming took a look. "My god, is this the idea the Crown Prince of Wuyong came up with? Ha! Daring. Worthy of admiration."

On the third mural, at the bottom of the painting was the Kingdom of Wuyong. The Wuyong River flowed wildly across the earth, and the crown prince with his four guardian deputies were also in it. However, they weren't the focal point. Within this painting, the most prominent object, what was at the centre, was a bridge.

A giant bridge, shining with white light, was held up by the Crown Prince of Wuyong and his four guardians, and the people on the ground were swarming towards the bridge with smiles covering their faces.

This Crown Prince of Wuyong had built a bridge that connected the heavens and earth, with the intention of bringing his people to the heavenly realm!

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Translator Notes:

¹"The Star of Glowing Befuddlement Resting in the Heart Constellation", aka "The Ominous Star" in this translation: Ancient Chinese astronomers believed Mars was unstable in both position and light, thus they called it "the Star of Glowing Befuddlement". It symbolized "Ruin", "Pestilence", "Death", "Famine", "War", and other such bad omens. The Heart Constellation in Chinese astronomy sits in the East by Scorpio, and symbolizes the Crown Prince, the Emperor, and depending on where in the constellation, the Commoner. Thus, when Mars enters the Heart Constellation and moves within it, it is often interpreted as foretelling major changes in politics and dynasties, the fall of greatness.