Jing Yang could feel the rocking from rolling wheels, without opening his eyes he knew that he was definitely in a carriage right now. Opening his eyes and looking around, sure enough. But it was not an ancient Eastern carriage, but a classic Western carriage with glass windows.
He looked out the window, outside there were soldiers on horseback. Based on the clothes and appearance of the soldiers, this should be a place similar to the ancient Western European continent.
Then looking down at himself, he was wearing all old clothing, the simplest possible white robe. It really formed a sharp contrast with this relatively high-end carriage.
After looking at the views outside the window for a while, Jing Yang adjusted into a more comfortable position leaning against the back of the seat, and closed his eyes to open his memory intake function.
This is a world where the human race coexists with demons, called the Sabio continent, where there has always been a legend about the holy light.
The demons are fierce and brutal, and pose a great threat to mankind. Thousands of years ago, when mankind was almost forced into extinction by the demons, suddenly one day the continent suffered three consecutive months of torrential rain. The water demolished the magic hall of the demons, causing the magic power of the demons to be greatly reduced.
When the heavy rain stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and a column of light fell from the sky, causing all of the demons in the human realm to disappear.
After the beam of light disappeared, a flowing spring suddenly appeared. Humans built a temple where the beam of light had shone, and all of the newborn children would be baptized and blessed in the temple in hopes of being sheltered by the holy light. Mystical things happened again, and some of the children who had been cleansed in the springs grew up with the power of light, which could purify the magic of the demons. Since then, humans finally had the strength to compete against the demons.
With thousands of years of change and development, mankind gradually grew up and established the human empire, with soldiers that could fight against the demons.
The person Jing Yang was replacing this time was called Sylvie Graham. His grandfather was the temple elder, known as the holy one, and was valued by the royal family, with the respect of the people. His grandfather not only had strong light powers, but also had the powers of divination.
One day 20 years ago, Sylvie's grandfather had divined that there was a powerful demon soul born in the human world, which would bring great disaster to mankind.
The royal family and entire empire's temples sought hard, it took five years to finally find this child, and the emperor ordered the child to be killed. Sylvie's grandfather pleaded for the child, saying that he could not force sins that had not yet occurred on a child, and that he hoped that he could bring the child back to the temple, purify the demon magic in his body, and make him into a normal human being.
This child's name was Carnia, he grew up in the temple until he was twelve years old. Just when the demon magic in his body was about to disperse completely, he suddenly disappeared without a trace. Sylvie's grandfather and the emperor had dispatched people to find him, but no one could find his trail.
During a battle between the humans and the demons, the eldest prince and war god Orede was injured while fighting against the demon king. Powerful demon magic invaded his body, causing severe trauma to his body and mental strength.
Sylvie's grandfather rushed to the border to help clear the demon magic for the great prince, but the demons took the opportunity to continually attack the troops. The great prince had forced himself to fight and Sylvie's grandfather had used the power of light to help the great prince in his combat, but suddenly died on the battlefield. When the great prince lost the assistance of the power of light, he suffered the first defeat in his life.
After the great prince was unable to continue fighting, the second prince who had escorted Sylvie's grandfather to the border led the soldiers to defeat the demons and force them to withdraw.
The biggest reason why the second prince was able to defeat the demons was because there was a man who appeared by his side with extremely powerful light powers, and that person was the Carnia who had disappeared for three years.
Carnia's light powers could repel all of the mighty demons, and even the demon king was afraid of his power, so the demons retreated, and were even willing to sign a peace treaty with the humans, and never invade the other again.
The second prince and Carnia became the heroes of the empire, returning to the capital with the exultation of the people.
Carnia explained to the emperor where he had been for the past few years, along with why he had fled from the temple. He said that there was no demon magic in his body at all, but instead an extremely strong light power. He said that it was because Sylvie's grandfather had been afraid that his strong light powers would be discovered and would impact his position that he had said that his body had demon magic and imprisoned him in the temple.
The second prince confirmed Carnia's words, and also said that it was with his help that Carnia had escaped from the temple, and in the past few years it was he who had protected Carnia from being discovered.
Carnia even said that Sylvie's grandfather's light powers had actually long started deteriorating, and because he had discovered his secret, Sylvie's grandfather had wanted to kill him, so he had fled. And Sylvie's grandfather's sudden death on the battlefield, was the best evidence.
After Sylvie's grandfather had died, it was Carnia who had the strongest light power in the empire. So when they returned to the capital, Carnia, helped by the supporters of the second prince, very smoothly entered the temple and became the holy lord of the temple.
And for Sylvie and his parents, because of the mistakes made by his grandfather, the second prince suggested that the emperor execute them. The emperor looked at the affection for Sylvie's grandfather who had served the empire and the royal family for so many years, and did not execute them, but instead sent them to a small remote temple and imprisoned them.
Five years later, the already not very healthy emperor became weaker and weaker. The great prince had always been kept in the capital temple to be purified because of the extremely strong invasion of demon magic, and before the demon magic in him completely disappeared, he could not walk out of the temple. The second prince gradually took over the state affairs, his supporters increased, and he became very likely to replace the great prince to become the heir to the throne.
Humans and demons had been living in peace for more than five years, and more and more people believed that as long as the second prince and Carnia were there, humans and demons would no longer have to go to war, they no longer had to be afraid, and no longer needed to suffer the pain of their loved ones dying in battle.
The demon king demanded from the human emperor that in order to show the sincerity of humans wanting to coexist peacefully with the demons, they would send a demonic beast from their beast halls to the capital of the human empire, and every year, the humans had to sacrifice a human with the power of light to the demonic beast, that is, to be eaten by the beast.
When this request was made, some officials objected to it, but some endorsed it, all of whom were the second prince's supporters. They believed that it was worthwhile to use one life to guarantee the peace of the people in the entire empire for a year.
After a period of debate, the final decision was to use those guilty of crimes as sacrifices for the demonic beasts, which would satisfy both sides. Carnia made a strong request to let the grandson of the former holy one to serve as the first sacrifice.
Sylvie and his parents had been sent to a remote temple to be imprisoned, and had not been bullied any less by those worshippers of Carnia. In order to protect him, Sylvie's parents had suffered a lot, and one year ago, both of them had died. Now, Sylvie was being escorted back to the capital by the people of the second prince.
As for why he was being escorted in a carriage that could be considered quite good, it was because when the emperor had awakened and known of this matter, he had said that since he was already going to be sacrificed, no one was allowed to embarrass him or treat him badly until his sacrifice.
Jing Yang now knew everything about the current situation, but it was only the cover-up. Then what was the real situation?
The now highly respected Carnia, in fact, did not have the least bit of light power. The reason why he was able to destroy any powerful demon, was because he and the demon king had made a contract, and all of this was his and the demon king's plot.
After Carnia had been brought back to the temple by Sylvie's grandfather, he had lived a much better life than before, but this good life made him even more unsatisfied. Even if the demon magic in his body was being gradually purified, there was no way to change the twisted nature he had been born with in his bones.
It was indeed the second prince who had helped take Carnia out of the temple, but during the years of his disappearance, the second prince simply had no idea where he had been, because he had always been with the demon king.
Carnia had gone to the demon realm and was hidden by the demon king. They had made a plan together for the total destruction of mankind.
Carnia fell in love with the demons and demon king, they were lovers, but after returning to the human race, he also had a relationship with the second prince and became lovers with him.
In the previous world, Carnia had helped the second prince get the throne, but the demon magic in his body had accelerated the death of the second prince. Then he had helped the demon king destroy the human race, and lived happily together with the demon king, using his lifetime in exchange for an eternally young appearance. Between the two lovers, he actually lived a perfect life.
Jing Yang opened his eyes and let out a long sigh. This was really a story about the farmer and the snake. Sylvie's grandfather was the farmer, thinking that since it was a life, he could give him salvation. And Carnia was the venomous snake, for those who had put all their effort into saving him, he had used his poisonous fangs to viciously bite them in the back.
Therefore, you couldn't casually be a good person, you really needed to see what the quality of the person you wanted to save was. When you couldn't see it clearly, it was best not to randomly save them.
The carriage went straight to the palace. The emperor had awakened, and when he heard that Sylvie had arrived in the capital, he wanted to see him.
Seeing the withered old emperor, Jing Yang knew that he had suffered from the influence of Carnia, and he was afraid that he would not live much longer. In such a situation, he still wanted to drag his weak body to see Sylvie, there was naturally a reason.
Before Sylvie was born, no one in the empire had appeared with a power of light comparable to that of Sylvie's grandfather, and the emperor and Sylvie's grandfather had been worried that the temple would have no successor. After Sylvie was born, his grandfather discovered that he had a very strong power of light in his body, but in order to let him grow up safely and peacefully, his grandfather temporarily sealed up his light powers.
Until Carnia had escaped from the temple and could not be found no matter what, Sylvie's grandfather had already had a hunch that things would go in a bad direction. He had told the emperor that his grandson had a very strong power of light, and if one day a miracle descended, he was the one who could save humanity.
The emperor sending Sylvie and his parents to a remote temple for imprisonment was actually also a form of protection, but the situation had already come to this point, he was sober less and less, and more things were out of his control. Bringing Sylvie back to the capital was his only hope, but the emperor also did not know whether the miracle Sylvie's grandfather had mentioned had descended or not.
In the top left of the main hall, a position that was supposed to belong only to the great prince, the second prince and Carnia two people now stood. Carnia was dressed in a white robe made of the finest fabrics, with wide sleeves and a floor-length cape, and even gold embroidery. Such a holy robe and his somewhat glamorous face did not really match, but he still showed an appearance of being noble and holy, which made Jing Yang feel like it was extremely awkward.
"You, do you know why you were brought back?" The emperor asked him in an old, hoarse voice.
"Know." Jing Yang answered very calmly.
The emperor squinted at him with his loose eyelids, and carefully observed his expression. "Looking at your grandfather's face, you may ask for a request."
"I want to return to where I used to live, I have not returned to the capital for many years, and I hope that your Majesty can allow me to live for another ten days." Jing Yang said.
"…Is that your request?" The emperor was somewhat disappointed in his heart.
"Yes, your Majesty."
The emperor was silent for a moment, and suppressing the anxiety and helplessness in his heart, he agreed, "Very well, I will fulfill your request."
"Thank you, your Majesty." Jing Yang respectfully saluted, and then withdrew from the main hall.
Jing Yang wanting to return to the place where Sylvie used to live, of course, was not out of nostalgia. The person who lived there was not him, so he had nothing to miss. He went there, in order to get something very important.
All of the items in Sylvie's previous home had been swept away, and everything that was of value had been taken by Carnia.
Jing Yang left the soldiers at the door and went into Sylvie's room alone. This room had been covered in a thick layer of dust, and even though the furniture was not broken, it all still appeared very old.
Jing Yang pulled out a dusty black cloak from under the bed. He had come to fetch this cloak, it seemed very ordinary, but was actually a stealth suit.
Patting off the dust from the cloak, Jing Yang held the cloak and went out, saying to the soldiers outside, "This is my father's old cloak, I would like to take it with me as the last remembrance of my father, is that okay?"
After getting to the palace, the soldiers keeping custody of Jing Yang changed into the emperor's personal guards, they would naturally not deliberately embarrass Jing Yang. It seemed like nothing more than a shabby cloak to them, since he wanted to use it as a remembrance for his father, there was nothing wrong with that, they could agree to it without even asking for advice.
Jing Yang had asked the emperor to allow him to live for another ten days, and the emperor had also specifically allowed him to live in the temple, and gave him quite good treatment.
Translator Notes:
[1] Sabio – 赛比欧, pinyin is sai bi ou, doesn't really sound like a continent name though
[2] Sylvie Graham – 葛兰尔西维, first name xi wei, last name ge lan er, Sylvie was given by MTL, last name pulled from online from a list of British surnames starting with G
[3] Carnia – 卡尼亚, pinyin ka ni ya
[4] Orede – 奥雷德, pinyin ao lei de, name from MTL
Random Notes:
1.5 hours: 1:30 pm – 3 pm, for 4.1k characters to 2.8k words. The start of a new arc, one that should have more plot than many of the other ones. Names are pointlessly hard to translate as usual.