A Blind Disciple

"His lips had turned into purple as well as his fingernails. He probably poisoned himself!" the physician told King Ru Ning and took a few steps forward to examine the body of Emperor Huang Le. 

"He is dead." the man repeated after checking the pulse of the emperor. 

Another physician stepped forward and looked at the cup of tea that the emperor had placed on his table. "This is not a cup of tea. It is poison!"

King Ru Ning felt dismayed. Though the man had died yet it was an easy death. He shook his head and went to the table.

There laid a piece of paper. As King Ru Ning picked and read its content, he felt weakened. There are only two words written on this piece of paper, yet these few words were enough to touch his emotions. Such were words so rare that neither spoken nor written by any ruler of an empire.

"I'm sorry."

King Ru Ning breathed some air before he slowly placed back the paper to the original spot on the table.

Emperor Huang Le had written an apology letter. But, unlike an imperial letter, the message is labeled to none! 

Or perhaps, he had written this apology for everyone - including himself. In his last moments, Emperor Huang Le might have written his emotions using the brush not as the ruler of his empire but as a scholar. Just like an ordinary person who was openly admitting his mistakes.

He could be sorry for allowing himself to be deceived and used by Emperor Chi Xing. He could be sorry for not being able to save his grandfather and causing his death. He could be sorry for deliberately implicating and executing his father. And above all, he could be sorry for his empire for not accepting the proposal of peace and harmony by King Ru Ning. 

He just lived his life to apologize! 

That was the last realization Emperor Huang Le had made before he resolutely faced his fate and drank the poison on his cup.

King Ru Ning glanced at the dead man on his seat one last time before he exited the hall. They searched the whole palace and found out that every people inside was also poisoned and dead!

Then a cloud of smoke started to spread on the hall. Emperor Huang Le not only killed his servants and all the people inside his palace but also intended to destroy the place!

The lurkers sent by the Hong Empire immediately spread the message of Emperor Huang Le's death and the destruction of his palace by arson.

Surprisingly, the citizens of the Huang Empire did not even mourn the loss of their leader. The people are already dissatisfied with how their ruler governed them but did not also bother to complain.

King Ru Ning instructed the lurkers sent by the Hong Empire to spread an announcement to all territories. The business-minded servants did not also waste time and started circulating the news.

EMPEROR HUANG LE IS GONE. THE EMPIRE OF HUANG AND THE EMPIRE OF RU WILL UNITE AND WILL BE UNDER THE CONTROL OF EMPEROR RU SHI.

~

After the citizens knew about the death of Emperor Huang Le, the citizens' reactions were surprisingly neutral. They have not expressed any approval or objection about the unification of their empire and the Ru Empire. It was as if they did not care about this affair at all!

King Ru Ning did not also pay much attention to the citizens' unusual reaction. HE sent a message to his son before he continued leading his troops towards the next empire. After all, his focus was to conquer the entire Region A.

~

Dong Empire

As the soldiers and King Ru Ning traveled the forest road towards the Capital of the Dong Empire, an abnormality happened. His troops seemingly met the dead-end of the road. 

There is an enormous mountain that was blocking their path.

"My King, did we perhaps take the wrong route? There is no mountain on the map." a general leading his Ru soldiers asked King Ru Ning in a respectful tone.

King Ru Ning also scanned the area. Then, a frail elder suddenly immerged out of nowhere.

"My disciple is cultivating. This old me asked you not to disturb him."

A cultivator!

King Ru Ning suddenly became alert. Although there are lots of cultivators in their continent, it is rare to see someone capable of creating a mountain! Such cultivation does not exist in this continent.

"It is no problem at all, senior." King Ru Ning humbly responded. Then he instructed his men to build their camp.

After hearing King Ru Ning's response, the mysterious elder also vanished from their sight. The soldiers stared at the mountain for a long time with an astonished expression on their faces before they finally moved to build their camp. 

~

Days turned into weeks while weeks passed months yet, the mountain is still blocking their path. King Ru Ning could not help but wonder how to resolve his situation. 

They had consumed so much time waiting for the mysterious elder's disciple to finish his cultivation! King Ru Ning is almost compelled to go near the mountain and see if what would happen but was still cautious of not offending the mysterious elder.

 Although they were delayed to enter the next empire, their time was not exactly wasted. He had trained the new allies on his troops and these soldiers had improved a lot as well.

King Ru Ning sat on the large rock looking at the mountain while eating his lunch. That day, some members of his troops were able to catch a wild boar for their meal. His gaze changed from the mountain to his troops training a few meters away from him. It has been his daily routine for a month now. 

As the sun was glaring fiercely at them, his mind wandered again when the mountain would be gone. Not long after, a man and the elder emerged once again and walked towards him.

"Senior." King Ru Ning greeted the mysterious elder.

"My disciple has lacked his knowledge of how the order of this world works. Do you mind if he joined your group and let him gain some experience?" the elder asked and King Ru Ning was speechless for a few breaths.

"The way you trained your men is interesting. He does not have this kind of fighting ability, so I hope he could improve in this skill." the mysterious elder added when he heard nothing from King Ru Ning.

King Ru Ning looked at the disciple and was amazed by the color of his eyes. It was color white! 

The man probably felt that King Ru Ning was staring at him. He then said quietly. 

"I am blind."