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"You dare!"
The Seven Experts of the Qin Palace—who had been completely forgotten until now—exploded in fury.
The lead expert in blue robes turned purple. "You assassins have the nerve to run wild in Wolf Meng County? Do you really think the swords of Qin are blunt?!"
Broken Sword didn't even glance at them.
His eyes stayed locked on Raphael the entire time.
Raphael met that stare and gave a small, easy smile.
"Broken Sword. Pleasure."
Broken Sword raised an eyebrow.
"You know me?"
"Not personally," Raphael answered honestly. "But I've heard the name."
Heard it? The guy's a walking legend. This is the same man who would one day play the two-faced role and stubbornly star in Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings no matter how much the world complained. Too bad neither version of him would ever exist in this timeline.
Broken Sword stared at him for a few seconds—something about Raphael's eyes felt strange to him—then turned to Long Sky and Nameless.
"Who is this man?"
Long Sky shook his head.
"No idea. He appeared out of nowhere. Incredible skills. The three of us together couldn't take him down."
Broken Sword's eyes narrowed.
Raphael knew it was time to speak up.
"Gentlemen," he said clearly, "there's one thing I need to make crystal clear—I am not here to assassinate the King of Qin. My purpose has nothing to do with yours."
Long Sky blinked.
Nameless stayed stone-faced.
Broken Sword kept staring.
"Then what are you here for?" Broken Sword asked.
Raphael thought for a second.
"Just passing through. Figured I'd test my skills while I was at it."
Even he knew how ridiculous that sounded.
But something even more ridiculous happened next—
Broken Sword suddenly moved.
In a flash he was right in front of Raphael, sword slashing toward his chest.
Force Sense fully active. Raphael had predicted the strike perfectly. He sidestepped smoothly while triggering Force Push. The invisible wave slammed Broken Sword back three full steps.
Broken Sword regained his footing. The sleepy look in his eyes vanished completely.
"Impressive technique."
He turned to Long Sky and Nameless.
"This man's background is unknown and his skills are bizarre. We can't let him leave. All three of us—take him down first, ask questions later."
Long Sky nodded, silver spear trembling.
Nameless held his sword horizontally.
The three of them once again formed a perfect pincer, surrounding Raphael in the center.
Raphael let out a long sigh.
"I already told you I'm not here to kill the Qin King. Why won't you believe me?"
"Believe you or not, we'll decide after we take you down," Broken Sword said coldly.
All three attacked at once.
This time Raphael didn't retreat.
He drew a deep breath and unleashed Force Push at full power—but not at the three men.
BOOM!
One entire wall of the Go pavilion collapsed in a thunderous crash. Bricks and tiles exploded outward as dust filled the air.
The seven Qin experts screamed and scrambled for cover, huddling in the corners and shaking.
Long Sky, Nameless, and Broken Sword's attacks froze mid-motion.
They stood frozen, staring at the demolished wall, then back at Raphael. Their expressions were priceless.
Raphael dusted off his sleeves.
"Now… can we talk like civilized people?"
The three men exchanged glances.
After a long silence, Broken Sword spoke, voice slightly hoarse.
"What… what kind of technique was that?"
Raphael didn't answer.
He walked over to one of the few remaining intact Go tables, sat down, and casually crossed his legs.
"I have one question for all three of you."
The trio remained standing.
Raphael looked at them directly.
"Why do you want to assassinate the King of Qin?"
Long Sky was caught off guard.
Nameless frowned.
Broken Sword just stared.
Raphael kept going.
"Tell me—why assassinate Ying Zheng? What exactly did unifying the six kingdoms do to you?"
Long Sky answered coldly, "The Kingdom of Zhao was destroyed. My people were slaughtered. This blood debt cannot be forgiven."
Nameless spoke, voice like ice. "The Qin army killed my entire family."
Broken Sword was silent for several seconds before he finally said, "I am a man of Zhao. I must avenge Zhao."
Raphael listened, then suddenly smiled.
There was no mockery in that smile—only something deep and complicated.
He stood up and walked right up to the three of them.
"Men of Zhao? Men of Qin? Men of Chu? Men of Qi?"
He spoke each word deliberately. "Do you realize that in a few decades, all those names will be nothing but history?"
None of them answered.
Raphael continued.
"Ying Zheng unifying the six kingdoms isn't about destroying your countries. He's doing something no one in history has ever done—making everyone on this land share one single name from now on: Huaxia."
He pointed at the ground beneath their feet.
"From this day forward, the Central Plains will forever carry one mark: Great Unity. That mark will be carved into every person's bones. No matter how many years pass, no matter how many wars come, as long as that mark remains, this land will never split apart again."
He looked at Long Sky.
"You said Zhao was destroyed and your people slaughtered. Then let me ask you—where did the Kingdom of Zhao come from?"
Long Sky was stunned.
Raphael didn't wait for an answer.
"Zhao's ancestors were nobles of the Shang Dynasty and vassals of the Zhou Dynasty. Go back a thousand years and they were all subjects under the same ruler. Qin is simply restoring the old order. What right do you have to tear it apart?"
He turned to Nameless.
"You said the Qin army killed your family. Then let me ask you—from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States, over five hundred years, how many people died on this land?"
Nameless stayed silent.
Raphael answered for him.
"I'll tell you—too many to count! In the Battle of Changping alone, Bai Qi buried four hundred thousand Zhao soldiers alive. Four hundred thousand! Do you understand what that number means?"
His voice rose.
"That's an entire generation. Four hundred thousand families. Four hundred thousand sons, four hundred thousand fathers, four hundred thousand husbands."
He pointed at the seven Qin experts still cowering in the corner.
"Who are they? They're men of Qin. You hate them, they hate you. You kill their people, they kill yours. Five hundred years of this, and the Central Plains have become nothing but a river of blood."
He stepped right in front of Long Sky and looked him dead in the eyes.
"What Ying Zheng wants to do is end all of that. He wants the people on this land to stop slaughtering each other. He wants the people you see as enemies to become your own countrymen."
Long Sky's lips moved, but no words came out.
Raphael turned to Nameless.
"You said the Qin army killed your family. Have you ever thought—before they killed your family, did your family kill theirs? Have their families also lost people the same way you did?"
Nameless's hand on his sword trembled slightly.
Finally Raphael looked at Broken Sword.
"You're a noble of Zhao. Zhao was destroyed and you hate Qin. Then let me ask you—during the two hundred years Zhao existed, how many small kingdoms did it destroy? How many people did it kill?"
Broken Sword's face changed color.
Raphael took a step back and looked at all three.
"You keep saying you want to assassinate the King of Qin for revenge. But have any of you thought about what happens after he dies?"
He pointed outside.
"The remnants of the six kingdoms will immediately rebel and carve up the land again. And then? More fighting. More killing. Another river of blood. Five hundred years. A thousand years. It never ends."
There was a hint of mockery in his voice now.
"Is that what you want? A Central Plains that stays forever divided and forever at war with itself?"
Long Sky's arms dropped.
Nameless lowered his head.
Broken Sword stood completely still.
Raphael suddenly felt the whole thing was pointless.
He raised his hand and triggered Force Push.
The three men felt an overwhelming force slam into them. Their bodies flew backward and crashed hard into the hall's pillars with dull thuds.
He controlled his power carefully—they only broke a few bones and couldn't stand for now. No fatal injuries.
Raphael walked to the door and looked back at them one last time.
"From now on, I will go to the Qin Palace to protect the King of Qin. If you still want to try assassinating him… I'll be waiting."
With that, he pushed the door open and walked out.
Behind him, the three men stared at each other in stunned silence.
After a long time, Long Sky struggled to his feet, leaning against a pillar and gasping.
"That man… what the hell was he?"
Nameless shook his head.
Broken Sword said nothing.
His eyes stayed fixed on the doorway, filled with something unreadable.
Long Sky looked at him.
"Broken Sword, what's wrong with you?"
Broken Sword stayed quiet for a long time before speaking slowly.
"Did you… actually listen to what he said?"
Long Sky was stunned.
Nameless looked up.
Broken Sword continued, voice low.
"Five hundred years of slaughter… rivers of blood… he was right. I know how many small kingdoms Zhao destroyed too. The people they killed—did their families hate us the same way we hate Qin?"
Long Sky opened his mouth but couldn't speak.
Broken Sword slowly stood up and walked to the doorway, staring at the night sky.
"I don't want to kill anymore."
Long Sky was shocked.
"What did you just say?"
Broken Sword turned around.
"I'm leaving."
Long Sky frowned.
"Where to?"
"Overseas."
Broken Sword said softly, "I'm leaving this land. I will never return."
Long Sky stared at him for a long time, then finally gave a bitter, relieved smile.
"Go then."
Broken Sword nodded and walked out.
Outside the door, a woman in white stood quietly waiting.
Flying Snow.
Broken Sword walked up to her and took her hand.
"You heard everything?"
Flying Snow nodded.
Broken Sword looked into her eyes.
"Will you come with me?"
Flying Snow was silent for one second, then nodded.
The two of them left side by side and vanished into the night.
After that night, no one in the Central Plains ever saw Broken Sword or Flying Snow again.
Some said they found a small island overseas and lived in seclusion, never involving themselves in worldly affairs again.
Others said they went to the Western Regions and died in the desert.
No one ever knew the truth.
Long Sky and Nameless also never spoke of assassinating the Qin King again.
A few months later, someone saw them working as guards for merchant caravans on the Silk Road in the Western Regions.
Others claimed they went north and joined the armies fighting the Xiongnu.
No one knew the truth about that either.
As for the seven Qin Palace experts, they reported everything to the King of Qin upon their return.
Ying Zheng listened in silence for a long time.
Then he asked one question:
"What was that man's name?"
No one knew.
He asked a second question:
"Will he really come?"
No one knew that either.
From that day on, Ying Zheng waited.
He waited for the mysterious man who could destroy an entire hall with a wave of his hand.
But he never came.
One year. Two years. Five years. Ten years…
Until the six kingdoms were unified. Until Ying Zheng became the First Emperor. Until he died in Shaqiu…
That man never appeared.
The incident became a minor footnote in the history books, treated by later generations as nothing more than a wild legend.
But of course Raphael hadn't disappeared.
He had simply gone somewhere else.
After leaving Wolf Meng County, he traveled south, passing through Qin territory and entering the lands of Chu.
He was looking for one person.
Xiang Yu.