[You have successfully defied fate and obtained 2,000 Rebirth Points!]
[Your path of fate has been updated!]
[Enraged that your parents were taken by Master Wang and Magistrate Chai, you bathed the Sanhuang County Magistrate's Office in blood!]
[However, your actions provoked the wrath of the Imperial Court and attracted the attention of the Yaoqing Imperial Court's high command. While on the run, you were hunted by dozens of Martial Dao experts from the Prison Control Department and were ultimately killed.]
[Congratulations, temporary Reincarnator. You have completed the first turning point of fate. Your rebirth evaluation has risen dramatically!]
After everyone had left, Li Chang'an briefly glanced at the information appearing on his retina and let out a slow, turbid breath.
'Defying Fate really is tough. Especially when you start from such a low point.'
It had taken Li Chang'an so much effort to finally and completely rewrite his first fate!
Now, he finally no longer had to walk on eggshells.
After successfully rewriting his first fate, his cumulative rebirth evaluation should have already surpassed C+ Level. Even if he were to die now and leave the Rebirth World, his accumulated score would be enough for him to become a Permanent Reincarnator.
'From now on, every additional predetermined fate I rewrite is pure profit!'
'Finally, I can afford to be aggressive!'
With this in mind, Li Chang'an stopped hesitating. He turned and walked over to the old Daoist, asking, "Is the army severely short on rations right now?"
His words snapped the old Daoist out of his daze. "The Rebel Army is just a ragtag group," he replied. "Of course we're always short on rations and weapons!"
Li Chang'an nodded. "In that case, what do you plan to do?"
"What else can be done? Since the dawn of time, haven't the common people always been the first to suffer when armies rebel?" The old Daoist gave a bitter laugh, then sighed and shook his head. "But the people near Sanhuang County just survived a flood and a plague. They have less than a tenth of their grain stores left. I... I just can't bring myself to take from them..."
If not for the fact that Wang Su himself was a Peak Martial Master with absolute authority over the group, this so-called Rebel Army would be no different from any other band of robbers and brigands.
Now, this humble force, so painstakingly assembled, was on the brink of collapse. Yet he, their leader, could not bring himself to prey upon the long-suffering commoners.
If they didn't prey on the common folk, who else was there?
The rich and powerful?
Those people had their own guards and even hired Martial Artists as bodyguards. Even if the old Daoist could overpower them with his martial prowess, the grain he could seize would be but a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, after pulling off a job like that, his own reputation and that of the entire Rebel Army would be ruined among the gentry and nobility. They would be hunted and condemned wherever they went.
In this era, earning the enmity of the gentry and nobility could, in some ways, bring consequences even more terrifying than the Imperial Court sending an army to quell them.
After all, the Imperial Court had to raise an army to put down dissenters.
But the local gentry didn't.
If truly provoked, they could quickly assemble a private army on their own turf.
Seeing the old Daoist's deeply furrowed brow, Li Chang'an understood his concerns and said with a smile, "There are some things that, if you find them inconvenient to do, you can leave to me!"
The old Daoist raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"I want to be the Rebel Leader!" Li Chang'an's words were nothing short of shocking. He looked at the old Daoist and continued, "I plan to first reorganize our forces and establish a clear banner. Then, we'll kill some, release some, and recruit some. We will strive to topple this damned Yaoqing Imperial Court within ten years!"
Without hesitation, Li Chang'an laid out his entire plan.
He spoke so casually, as if he weren't talking about overthrowing the Yaoqing Imperial Court, but about slaughtering a pig or a cow for dinner.
Hearing this, the old Daoist was utterly dumbfounded, unsure for a moment how to even react.
The Yaoqing Imperial Court might be decadent, but it wasn't yet on its last legs. Countless rebel armies had risen up across the land over the years, only to be crushed after floundering for a few months.
It wasn't an enemy that could be toppled just by saying so.
Had these words come from anyone else, the old Daoist would have likely just scoffed in disbelief.
But coming from Li Chang'an, he did not treat it as a joke.
After a long while, the old Daoist spoke hesitantly, "I, Wang Su, am not one to covet power, and this title of Rebel Leader is hardly a crown of glory. But are you sure you want to do this? Never mind what the world will say, but the overt attacks and covert schemes from the Imperial Court..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
But he trusted that Li Chang'an understood his meaning.
"Great sacrifices are needed for great ambitions, to dare command the sun and moon to forge a new heaven. New regimes are always built upon mountains of corpses and seas of blood!" Li Chang'an said with a smile. "Infamy, fame, even life or death... none of it holds any particular meaning for me now. You don't need to worry about me."
He paused, his eyes shining brightly. "And taking a step back, so what if we fail? A single spark can start a prairie fire. As long as we sow the kindling, there will always be others to come, to stand on our shoulders and change everything!"
The old Daoist was silent again for a long time.
He had always considered himself a man of vision, determined since youth to overthrow the Yaoqing's rule and restore the glory of the Central Plains.
But compared to Li Chang'an, he was stunned to realize his own vision seemed no bigger than his thumb.
He had no confidence that he could lead the Rebel Army to victory, but for some reason, he felt an inexplicable trust in this disciple-in-name.
Therefore, after a long silence, the old Daoist's expression turned solemn. "Are you truly ready?"
Li Chang'an nodded. "With nothing but the fire in my heart, I will carve a path through a river of blood and forge a bright, clear world!"
The old Daoist closed his eyes, his heaving chest betraying the storm of emotions raging within him.
He never would have imagined that, with one foot already in the grave, he could still feel his blood boil and his body burn with passion just from a few words, like he was a young man again!
"Good!"
The old Daoist's voice was short and solemn.
It was only a single word, yet it seemed to take all the strength in his body.
...
...
「Yaoqing King Calendar, Year 241. September 23rd, the beginning of autumn.」
Li Chang'an took the position of Rebel Leader from the old Daoist and formally renamed the Rebel Army: the "Taiping"!
In years past, this was always the most joyous season for the common folk. But this year, the area around Sanhuang County was shrouded in sorrow and silence.
The floods of the rainy season had drowned too many rice seedlings.
The summer plague had taken away too many of their friends and family.
This turned the autumn, which should have been a season of joyous harvest, into something tinged with the same withered, decaying color as the dying leaves.
When they heard the Rebel Army had captured the county seat, the people of Sanhuang County were filled with despair.
—The bloody lessons of history had taught them that no matter who ended up sitting in the Government Office, it was always they, the mud-caked peasants toiling under the sun, who suffered in the end.
Magistrate Chai had been a bastard, to be sure.
But he was still a County Magistrate appointed by the Imperial Court. And since he had already collected this year's taxes, he would at least leave them a path to survival.
But now that the County Magistrate's Office had been seized by this rebel mob, who knew what would happen?
Unlike the Imperial Court, which at least needed the pretense of a just cause, a rebel army didn't need to invent a reason to take what it wanted—they could just seize it by force!
However, just as the local populace was living in constant fear.
The Rebel Army did not sweep through the countryside like a plague of locusts as they had feared. Instead, notices were posted outside every village, announcing that Li Chang'an, leader of the Taiping Uprising Army, would be distributing relief grain to aid the disaster-stricken commoners.
The notice was simple and direct.
Yet the shockwave it sent through the populace was more profound than any proclamation the Yaoqing Imperial Court had posted at their village entrances in the past several hundred years!
...