In the land of the Zengwu Kingdom, the first human kingdom, ruled by the unbroken lineage of the Zengwu Dynasty for hundreds of years, chaos reigned. The death of Emperor Li Xian, the seventh emperor of the Zengwu Dynasty, shook the royal court, triggering a storm of power struggles, conspiracies, and factions vying for power.
Amidst the grandeur of the palace halls, subtle murmurs of discontent rippled, like distant rumbles of a gathering storm, as shrewd ministers and eunuchs, donning their ornate robes and swaying with each step, waited for the opportune moment to further their personal ambitions.
Peace and silence enveloped the land as the emperor's funeral was held, as if every party unanimously set aside their grudges as a mark of respect for the culture... However, everyone knew that it was merely the calm before the storm.
The long-held grievances and resentments of the people, which had been brewing for years under the reign of the now-deceased emperor, were on the verge of igniting.
As anticipated, just after the funeral of the emperor, a rebel army known as the "Sons of Liberty" launched their offensive. The rebel army took advantage of the growing division within the government, their banners fluttering in the wind as they surged forward.
Exploiting the confusion and fragmentation of the imperial forces, the rebel army, led by General Lin Zhao, swiftly descended upon the capital with relentless fury.
The siege lasted for three days and three nights, and before long, the once-prosperous city transformed into a battleground, its streets evolving into a theater of chaos and destruction.
Marked by the relentless pounding of catapults, the whistling of arrows that blotted out the sun, and the clamor of battle that never seemed to cease.
The defenders fought valiantly, but the sheer determination of the rebel army and the division within the imperial ranks proved overwhelming.
After the dust finally settled and the smoke cleared, the Zengwu capital lay in ruins.
The once magnificent city was reduced to rubble, and the majestic city walls had crumbled. It was a city of ghosts, where the cries of its inhabitants had been silenced by the harsh realities of war.
And just like that, the golden thread of the Zengwu Dynasty, unbroken since the founding of the kingdom, had been severed.
The once-mighty empire now stood on the precipice of a new era, marked by uncertainty, change, and the echoes of a past that would never return.
In a certain library in a town under the rule of Zengwu Kingdom, a young man could be seen fully immersed in his writing.
From time to time, faint murmurs and occasional sighs escaped from him as he wrestled with his thoughts.
Hours passed, his brow furrowing in concentration as he remained deeply absorbed in his task. The pages of the manuscript turned one after another as he filled them with characters tirelessly, as if it were the very essence of his existence.
Finally, with a sense of accomplishment, he gently set down the pen and let out a sigh. "The end...". Closing the book, his eyes relaxed and began to wander in confusion. "How long has it been?" he sighed.
His name was Fuu, a librarian on the surface, but before that, he had a shocking identity that would shock the whole world if it were known.
"Hundreds of years, I guess..." Shaking his head, his memory had been blurred, and he had a hard time remembering things.
"Hundreds of years... And yet I was still the same as before, young, and energetic."
Before he had always thought that he had traveled into an ordinary ancient world, but after he passed forty, everything changed because he learned that he was immortal.
Time passed... The people he knew grew older and died one by one, until today, he was the only person who was alive from a hundred years ago.
Before he crossed into this world, there had been many speculations on the internet about how a person would be if he was immortal.
Many said it would be great, because, as long as one lives long enough, he could dominate the world, learn a lot of skills, build a large network of connections, earn a lot of money, become rich, enjoy the beauty of life, and travel the world.
Others said it sucked because seeing the people you loved die one after another and seeing the change of the world before your eyes while you still remained young, unchanged under the power of time, was torturous.
Well, as a living proof himself, he could say that what was speculated above was true, but not entirely... Having a long life is indeed great because you have a lot of time to grow, and as you grow older, you learn more, and through the years of accumulation, being successful in life is just around the corner.
However, seeing the people around you pass away one after another and seeing the world become more unfamiliar under your eyes made everything feel pointless.
He was indeed great; he had a long and glorious life, and at some point, his name was even mentioned in history a few times, but what's the point?
He was the only one left; all his friends and loved ones had already passed away, leaving him with no one to share his glory.
"Sigh..." Shaking his head, he got up from his seat and stretched his arms to reach the manuscript that he had just finished.
Turning towards a corner of the library, he began processing the manuscript, cutting the sides evenly, making a leather cover, and more..
The whole process lasted for more than an hour, until finally, it was turned into a modest-looking book with the title "The Fall of the Zengwu Dynasty."
Nodding his head in satisfaction, he went to put it on the shelves in his secret room.
This was a history that would soon be buried in the long river of history. What was written inside was the cruelty of war, the massacre of the Li royal family lineage, the approximate number of people that died, and the names of people involved in it.
Such a detailed account of history... The future rulers of the country would definitely not allow it to exist... After all, victors write history, and if this were to become known to future generations, it would undoubtedly ignite a firestorm of controversy and repercussions.
However, Fuu didn't care about it at all.
The reason he was writing it was because his memory started deteriorating a few decades ago... Well, not exactly, after all, his immortality made him one of the greatest minds on the planet, but there's a limit to the things that he could store in his head.
As time passed and his mind accumulated a lot of information, some of the less important things were inevitably forgotten. That's why he decided to write history books several decades ago.. to preserve important memories for the future.