Chapter 550: Peace, At Last
Song You continued walking, using his bamboo staff for support, his gaze passing over each frozen face.
This army looked as if they had arrived here only yesterday—their expressions vivid, their features lifelike. Even the dents and scratches on their armor remained clearly visible, marking them as hardened veterans of countless battles.
And yet, this very army, despite the King of Weilan surrendering and opening the city gates, had refused to accept the surrender. Instead, they had slaughtered the entire city, taken the royal family captive, and looted the palace and capital. Each and every soldier carried a heavy blood debt.
In the Western Regions, such atrocities had not been uncommon. Even now, it was not rare for Great Yan’s border generals to start wars purely for military merit. Some killed thousands, even tens of thousands; others went so far as to annihilate entire cities and kingdoms.
Later, they would fabricate crimes to justify their actions, claim the plundered wealth as their own, and present severed heads as proof of victory. They did these all without a care for the lives they had destroyed.
Now, these men were sealed here in ice. It seemed both the work of a demon and the fulfillment of karma.
The world was complicated—there were no simple explanations.
Yet, in the end, the demon had come for treasure too. Its actions were no different from theirs all those years ago.
And after more than a century of being frozen in place, perhaps... that was punishment enough.
Song You walked on, step by step.
When Song You stopped opening new treasure chests, the cat lost interest as well. It picked up a gold coin from a distant Western kingdom, held it solemnly in its mouth, and followed behind him in tiny, deliberate steps.
Censor Zhang, however, grew more confused and hurried to keep up.