Chapter 123 Twelve Kingdoms Chronicles World

  Apart from the matter of the fetus fruit, Shu Ke also roughly drew a map of the twelve countries for the three to see. The place they are currently in is called Pei Lang, located within the borders of Qiao Guo in the southeastern part of the Twelve Countries world. After spending a night in the Li Fu prison, early the next morning, their hands were tied with ropes and they boarded a horse-drawn cart heading towards the nearest county town.

  Although Ya Ge had already guessed that as the king's son, Yang Zi wouldn't be so easily sent to the government office of Qiao Guo and sentenced to "imprisonment" and "death penalty", she didn't expect them to escape in this way.

  The road to the county town had to pass through the forest where they had walked out yesterday. As soon as Yage entered the forest, she felt a sense of danger. Sure enough, not long after, a group of demons that looked like wolves rushed out from the depths of the forest and attacked them.

  "Ah——!" The driver yelled in terror, "How can there be demons? Isn't the king sitting on his throne?" He turned around and glared at the three with red eyes, "These demons must have been brought by you evil sea guests! You all deserve to die! Damaging farmland is not enough, but also bringing demons. No wonder the king strictly ordered that all of you evil sea guests be killed!"

  Twelve countries were also a strange world in Yajiao's eyes.

  As long as the Qilin-chosen king sits on the jade throne, the country will be peaceful and prosperous. But once the king loses his way and deviates from the path of benevolent rule, monsters will appear within the borders, which is a warning from the Heavenly Emperor. And if the king insists on his own way and does not change, he will eventually die after the Qilin falls ill and dies. Then, monsters will run amok in the country, the land will become increasingly barren and unable to produce anything, and the people will have no choice but to leave their homeland and flee to other countries for refuge.

  Now that there are demons appearing within the borders of Chou, is it aimed at Yang Zi or has something gone wrong with the King of Chou who sits on the jade throne? Ah Ka thought both were possible, and even in Japan, there were demons chasing after Yang Zi.

  There are no demons that can't be defeated, but such demons usually have the ability to transform into human form and belong to a particularly high class. Such demons would not go out of their way to kill a high school student in Penglai, it's not very realistic. So there is only one possibility for these demons to hunt down Yangzi, that is, they were summoned by the Kirin's messenger!

  The Kirin of the Twelve Kingdoms are a very sad creature, as the chosen king and assistant to the king, they always represent the benevolent side of the king, because they are born with a kind heart and cannot stand the sight of blood. Once they encounter bloodshed, the Kirin will become dizzy and weak in the limbs, and in severe cases, it will even faint directly. Therefore, when she was in Japan, Keiko could only let Ouki fight, she did not want him to summon the Shin'yō and fight against that Hou.

  And what makes it even more extraordinary is that Tian Di has a layer of protection for Qilin who relies on himself to protect very little.

  The Kirin's messengers are all demons living in the Yellow Sea, at the center of the Twelve Nations. Although it is called the Yellow Sea, it is not a sea but rather a paradise for demons. The Kirin lived in the Ponrō Palace at the very center of the Yellow Sea before becoming the beast king, and during that time they would go to the Yellow Sea to retrieve messengers under the protection of the female demon who was born at the same time as them.

  The stronger the Qilin, the more powerful the recovered command will be.

  Only the master of the Qilin can command them to do something against their will, and that is the king of a country. So when Ya Ge didn't understand the basic situation of this world at first, he speculated that there was a huge conspiracy behind Yang Zi's pursuit, now it seems that it's true after all, since another country's king has intervened.

  However, Yangzi was his target, so even if it meant going against a country, Yago would never choose to back down.

  The man driving the horse carriage was knocked to the ground by the sudden appearance of the demon, but Yago reacted quickly and jumped off the carriage with elegance. Shiben fell pitifully to the ground, fortunately not landing on her face, or else this little girl would probably have been disfigured. Yangzi, on the other hand, landed safely under the control of the messenger called "Rongyu".

  Because all three were tied up, the man driving the carriage casually placed the precious sword he had obtained from Yangzi yesterday on the carriage board. The villagers, including Lü Xū who possessed a celestial registration, had all tried and failed to pull the sword out of its scabbard, so the sword was taken along with the three to the county town.

  The sword with such a gorgeous decoration is something that nobody dislikes, unfortunately it's not suitable for Yangzi, what a bargain.

  She saw her hand behind her back draw out a sword, cut off the rope on her hand and start to exert her divine power. Those more than ten attacking demons were annihilated by Yang Zi like a god of war. Yaka, who was blocking the way in front of Shen Ben, had no expression on his face, but he was secretly sighing for Yang Zi.

  An excellent student who normally doesn't exercise except in physical education class has managed to perform such a series of high-difficulty moves, and after sleeping for a night, Yangzi will definitely wake up with aching all over.

  Under the gaze of Yaka and Shiben, Yangzi walked over and cut off the ropes on their hands with a bloody sword, then didn't say a word.

  Taking a glance at the man who was dragged to death on the ground, Yaka sighed and pulled up Yorihime Yoshiko, who was sitting on the ground with an eerie expression. Turning her head to face Yangzi, who still held his sword with a pale face, she said: "Let's hurry up and leave this place. You've killed so many demons, the thick smell of blood is likely to attract even more demons."

  She pursed her lips and nodded, and Yangzi just lifted his foot and stopped.

  "What's wrong?" Yaka asked, following Yangzi's line of sight and saw the sword scabbard pinned to the ground by the overturned carriage with a blue gemstone tied to it. "Is the scabbard important?"

  Yangzi shook his head, then nodded again soon after, saying in a low voice: "The sword scabbard is probably not very important, but that pearl... I said it was very cold earlier. The 'Jie Mo' demon told me that holding the pearl would keep me from feeling cold, and it's quite effective."

  "It seems that's the truth." Yaka raised an eyebrow, not telling Yangzi that the "Kikō" with a human face was not a demon but a Qilin girl. He thought of what Rokusho said, that every country would have its own treasure belonging to the king, and wondered if the sword in Yangzi's hand and the pearl were among them. He bowed his head and asked, "Can you stand on your own, Shīben?"

  After getting a positive response, Ya Ge let go and ran to the side of the carriage. Zhen Yuanli sent his double arms forward with force and lifted the carriage up: "Yang Zi, hurry!"

  Yangzi took a leap forward to pick up the scabbard, then helped Sheng Ben who was still a bit weak in his legs, and the three of them quickly left this blood-soaked place.

  In the depths of the forest, a figure with long hair stood vaguely among the trees, emitting an aura of sorrow. The person muttered something under their breath before turning around and quickly leaving the place.

  And Ye Ge also received the system's first reward after coming to this world.

  Complete side quest for Host and help Nakajima Yoko retrieve the "Mizukagami" scabbard of the Kuniyuki sword, reward 500 points.

  It seems that this scabbard should be a very important item, otherwise the system wouldn't have given him such a solemn reward. However, if it wasn't for it, Yangzi would not have been able to lift up that fully wooden carriage, and she could only choose to cut off the precious pearl tied to the scabbard with her sword.

  But that shape looks like a sword, and it's actually called "Water Dragon Sword", the Japanese aesthetic sense is really beyond his understanding!

  The three people who escaped finally came to the county town along the small path in the forest, and at Yaka's suggestion, Shiben stayed outside the city. He and Yangzi entered the city to gather information and try to get food and other things needed by the three of them.

  Yang Zi's two hands were empty, but in the end, Ya Ge took out a platinum ring suitable for men from space and pawned it at a pawnshop to exchange for some money. Although there was no problem with language, because she didn't understand the prices of this world very well, Ya Ge also didn't know if it was cheap or reasonable. Only when buying food later did they discover that the price was not bad, at least three people wouldn't have to worry about money for a few months in the future.

  After bringing some food and clothes bought from a clothing store, the two returned to the outskirts of the city and began discussing what to do next.

  "'Kui' can only be opened by Qilin, if you want to learn Japanese, you can only ask Qilin for help." Holding a large pancake and breaking it into small pieces to put in her mouth, Yangzi frowned and smiled bitterly, "The people of Chouguo hate the sea guests so much, the Qilin of Chouguo probably won't be able to help us either..."

  "So you're thinking of going to another country to find a Qilin and ask for help?" Yaka said, speaking out the words that Yangzi had swallowed back. "But Yangzi, even if we follow what Lu Xiu said, that their Qilins are benevolent creatures who sympathize with humans, will they really grant your request? The impact on this side would be huge, and would the Qilin sacrifice the interests of its own people just to send us back to Japan?"

  Yahiko's question left Yangzi speechless. She had thought about these things before, but if she gave up on the possibility of going home now, she would really collapse.

  "Are you thinking of going back?" Sheng Ben put down the large pancake that was hard to swallow in his hand, looking at the two people discussing finding Qilin with a sarcastic expression. "It's not easy for Jing Qilin to bring me to this world, I don't want to go back."

  "Go! This world belongs to me, not you cowards!"

  Yahiko furrowed his brow, he really wasn't good at dealing with this kind of overly self-conscious person. His previous protection and help for her was only because she was a little girl. But to force him to be with Shirabe all the time, he couldn't accept it. Only...

  He glanced at the silent Yangzi, and could only sigh inwardly. This kind girl probably wouldn't be able to stay alone for long, especially in a world with demons.

  "Can you understand the language of this world, Shibuya-san?" Akira said bluntly, hitting the girl with harsh reality. Since there was no way to separate them, he still had to think of a way to polish this girl up.

  The little girl glared at him for a while, then turned her head and stopped talking like Yangzi. She could be reckless with Yangzi without hesitation, even teasing her, but she didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of this male classmate. She didn't know why, probably it was just intuition?

  The atmosphere among the three people seemed a bit heavy, as if it was foretelling that the road ahead wouldn't be easy to walk.

  The author has something to say: I'm very sorry for not updating the past two days, the potato was really heat-stroked and couldn't get out of bed, fortunately it wasn't serious enough to go to the hospital.

  It's really too hot, 36 degrees every day, for a potato that already feels unbearable at 30 degrees, Fujian is not a place where potatoes can stay!!!

  In the next chapter, Xiaoben will get separated from the two and go on her own storyline, while Yage and Yangzi will meet Lejun.

  Le Jun is one of the most beloved characters in the Twelve Nations of Tuber, although Tuber also thinks he's not suitable for being an official.

  Below is a map of the 12 countries, Chou is the country where Ya Ge will be in the future, Qing is the country of Yang Zi, and both are currently in Chou.

  Finally, I'll put up a brief introduction to the Twelve Nations. Like potatoes, it will slowly unfold and many basic settings will take a long time to write down completely.

  The information comes from Baidu God!

  Here, surrounding the Yellow Sea where the gods reside, are the twelve countries of Qing, Zou, Fan, Liu, Yan, Gong, Cai, Qiao, Dai, Shun, Fang and Lian. The regular geometric pattern of this map is related to the Hetu and Luoshu, which can be seen from Le Jun's explanation of the geographical location of the twelve countries for Yangzi.

  These countries all practice a primitive monarchical system, with the highest ruler of the state being called the king. Each country has its own king, such as Yanwang of Yanzhou and Tongwang of Chouzhou. From the names alone, it is impossible not to think of ancient China. In fact, the author's inspiration, Xiao Yumei, came from this. The various official titles, rituals, governance strategies, and even the entire world setting in the novel are closely related to the Confucian classic "Zhou Li". The demon images in the novel have a great connection with "Shan Hai Jing", and also extract the essence of mythological legends from China's traditional "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West", creating a completely strange but seemingly traceable world view. It is a society where magic replaces science as the source of all things, forming a stark contrast with the barbaric medieval fantasy world view.

  Each country has a king who governs the nation and a Qilin that assists the king. The divine beast Qilin receives heavenly revelation to select the king, the king receives heavenly revelation to possess an immortal body, until the end of his reign. The people are born from egg-like fruits on a tree called "Rimu".

  The center of the world is the Yellow Sea. It's a vast land that can rival a country, though it's called a sea, there's no water. What flows through there are only time and wind, apart from that, it's endless deserts and forests. This is a land surrounded by swamps and winding rocky mountains.

  The four sides of the Yellow Sea are surrounded by Mount Kong. Mount Kong pierces through the cloudy sea and seals off the Yellow Mountain. It is impossible to climb Mount Kong, and the only way to pass through the Yellow Sea is through the Four Commanding Gates: Lǐng Gèn Gate, Lǐng Qián Gate, Lǐng Kūn Gate, and Lǐng Xùn Gate. Each gate has a spiritual beast guarding it, and they are only opened once a year, with the opening times being: Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, and Autumnal Equinox. The day when the Four Commanding Gates open is called "ān Hé Rì". Cities have been built around the Four Commanding Gates, and their architecture is specially designed for defense against evil spirits.

  In the Yellow Sea, there are forests, swamps and deserts. It belongs neither to man nor to god, it is a world outside of the world where demons and monsters run amok. However, in the Yellow Sea, there are also the people of Huang Zhu.

  In the center of the Yellow Sea, there is a continuous mountain range. It consists of five high mountains, called Wushan. The central high mountain is Chonghshan, and the surrounding high mountains are called Pengshan, Huashan, Huoshan, and Hengshan. Pengshan was originally called Taishan, but it was renamed Pengshan due to its inauspicious name. The name of Pengshan has been used for about a thousand years. It is said that Wushan is the mountain of the Queen Mother of the West, and the master of Pengshan is Wang Furen. There are Sheshenmu, Penglu Palace, and Futu Palace, which are the birthplace and growth place of Qilin, and also the only place where humans and gods intersect.

  The other four inner seas are: Qinghai, in the east (wood); Chihai, in the south (fire); Baihai, in the west (metal); and Heihai, in the north (water). These four inner seas are truly great oceans. Along with the central Huanghai (earth), the five inner seas are arranged according to the Five Elements.

  The Twelve Nations are surrounded by the Void Sea. Outside the Void Sea of the Twelve Nations is Penglai, which is Japan. The other end of the Twelve Nations is Kunlun, China. The passage that connects the two worlds is called Erosion. Usually, erosion brings disaster.

  The countries in "The Twelve Kingdoms" are all ruled by kings, but these kings are different from the kings we are familiar with. They are not hereditary, but rather people chosen by a god-like existence called "Qilin" to become kings. If a king has children, they must also go through Qilin's selection process in order to ascend to the throne.

  Qilin represents the laws of the world, representing the highest will of the world, is the plenipotentiary representative of the creator, its actions represent "heavenly intention", guarding the multitude of lives, no one can deny the authority of Qilin. Qilin represents the "Heavenly Emperor" to issue heavenly decrees, select the most excellent people to become kings, and those who become kings under the guidance of Qilin ascend to the throne, ruling over a region, they must govern with virtue, seeking welfare for the people, absolutely cannot implement brutal rule. If he can do this, then he can get the blessing of Qilin, can ascend to heaven to become an immortal god. On the other hand, if the king is cruel and unjust or levies heavy taxes, then he will lose the opportunity for eternal life, becoming an ordinary person.

  However, the existence of Qilin is not one-sided. Once Qilin chooses someone to be the king, it also means that Qilin and the king have exchanged a covenant, sharing the fate of choice and being chosen, becoming bound by life and death. Qilin represents justice and compassion in the human world, representing the will of heaven, and the king must also govern according to the will of heaven.

  However, the king can only rely on benevolent government to govern the country and respond to geopolitics. At this time, it is necessary for the king to have a superior judgment, although he is forced to take actions that violate justice and compassion, but he must grasp the "degree", once exceeding the necessary "degree", the king will "lose his way", also representing that he has lost the Mandate of Heaven and violated the will of heaven.

  If the king violates heaven's will and loses his heavenly mandate, the Qilin that exchanged vows with him will contract a serious illness. This is called "losing the way". If the king realizes he has violated heaven's will and suddenly awakens to return to virtuous governance, then the Qilin's illness will be cured; otherwise, the Qilin may die. Since the king's eternal life is bestowed by the Qilin, once the Qilin dies, the king will also perish together with it.

  To avoid this, the king who has lost the Mandate of Heaven must take his own life. Once the king who has violated the will of heaven is dead, the qilin's illness will be cured and another heir can be chosen to become king.

  A country with a king will receive the blessing of Qilin, and the country will be prosperous and peaceful. Once there is no king, demons will run amok, disasters will continue, and the country will be abandoned.

  In short, the king is the key to a country, and the fate of the king is closely tied to that of the qilin. This forms the unique political and worldview foundation of "The Twelve Kingdoms".