475: The bloody history of the Qin Dynasty, a corner of the era

Sandstorms raged, time flowed, and Chu Jiang and others arrived at No. 009 Demon Suppression Platform.

This Demon Suppression Platform was a full circle larger than the previous one, with an even more terrifying Aura, cast like supreme profound iron, full of oppressive power.

When everyone stepped into the third layer, they found that the control System here had gone dark, a skeletal figure sat on the control panel, and on the panel was a thick, dusty diary.

After opening it:

【Great Qin Calendar 1480 · Seventh Day of the First Month】

Today I received a conscription order, commanding me to guard Mystic Mechanism City within three days. The messenger said, Your Majesty wants to build a “City of Eternal Unbreakability” to suppress the human devils of Tiansha Hall. Before leaving, my old mother gave me a bag of millet cakes; the cakes were hard, but her eyes were harder, not a single tear fell.

At the city gate, the Gongshu Family's mechanical beasts were moving rocks, and the Mohist Disciples were carving Formations on bronze plates with cinnabar. A white-haired General said: “If Mystic Mechanism City is completed, Great Qin will be eternally stable.” I gripped my long halberd, thinking this assignment might be easier than guarding the border.

【Great Qin Calendar 1482 · Nineteenth Day of the Third Month】

The human devils of Tiansha Hall arrived.

They covered their faces with black robes, driving stitched-together corpse puppets to attack the city. A volley from the Mohist “Thousand Mechanism Crossbows” shattered the corpse puppets into pieces, but the minced meat actually wriggled and reassembled! The Gongshu Family's Elder roared: “Decapitate them! Burn their hearts! Break their spines!”

When I cut off the head of the seventh corpse puppet, blood splattered on my comrade A'Hu's face. He wiped it away and laughed: “The blood of these ghastly things actually stinks.”

That night, we roasted by the pile of corpses. The firelight shone on A'Hu's empty left sleeve—a corpse puppet had bitten off his arm earlier that day.

【Great Qin Calendar 1490 · Twenty-third Day of the Seventh Month】

Mystic Mechanism City built thirty-six Demon Suppression Platforms.

Beneath each platform was suppressed a “Human Devil General” of Tiansha Hall. The Mohists used soul-locking nails to pierce their shoulder blades, and the Gongshu Family cast their cages with meteoric iron. The General said these human devils were undying and unkillable, and could only be suppressed forever.

While on night patrol, I heard roars from beneath No. 009 Demon Suppression Platform. As I approached for a closer look, the long-haired human devil in the iron cage suddenly opened its eyes, its pupils blood-red: “Youngster, do you know that the Qin Emperor uses living people to refine Formations?”

I kicked the iron cage: “Spreading demonic lies!”

【Great Qin Calendar 1491 · Second Day of the Fifth Month】

The ninety-eighth time I inspected the Demon Suppression Platform Formation, the sky suddenly tore open a blood-red gash, and the Mohist Grandmaster and the high-ranking officials of Mystic Mechanism City fought a bloody battle for three days, the Sky-Measuring Ruler stained with blood, and sixty percent of Mystic Mechanism City's powerhouses fell. Only later did I learn that it was the Tiansha Hall Master, that beast who had harmed millions of common people, the primary target of Mystic Mechanism City's suppression; he possessed an immortal body and could only be worn down by time.

【Great Qin Calendar 1495 · Eleventh Day of the Twelfth Month】

Food and resource supplies had been cut off for three months.

Mohist Disciples began to boil leather belts to stave off hunger, and the Gongshu Family's mechanical beasts, lacking Spirit Stones, lay paralyzed beneath the city walls like piles of scrap metal. The General climbed the watchtower daily, looking towards Xianyang.

This morning, A'Hu went mad with hunger and actually climbed over the city wall to dig up and eat the rotting flesh of corpse puppets. By evening, he was covered in black spots, convulsing and begging me to kill him. I closed my eyes and pierced his heart; his blood was thick and green.

The General said: “Hold on for one more month, reinforcements will surely arrive.”

The General did not lie; a month later, reinforcements truly arrived, bringing a large supply of resources. But after the quartermaster spoke with Mystic Mechanism City's General, a look of worry appeared on his face. Perhaps the outside world was even worse than our Mystic Mechanism City. I also don't know how my old mother is doing; in this chaotic world, I hope you are well.

【Great Qin Calendar 1500 · End of the First Month】

Due to concerns about demons and devils attempting rescue, Mystic Mechanism City began to Seal itself off three years ago, hiding deep within the Void Realm abyss.

The last time external information was received was three months ago, a military dispatch arriving at Mystic Mechanism City. The handwriting on it was somewhat crooked and incomplete: “Great Qin forever… reinforcements… hold fast…”

But this time, there were no reinforcements, no supplies.

Seven days later, the Mohist stargazing instrument exploded into fragments, and the entire high command fell into a deathly silence.

No one knew what happened, but I guessed that the outside world might have deteriorated even further. I was worried about my old mother, but as a soldier, my duty is to protect my home and country, and I cannot leave yet.

【Great Qin Calendar 1560 · December】 (Handwriting is scrawled)

The Mohist Grandmaster, who had been sitting withered at the Formation core, turned to white bones, suppressing the Tiansha Hall Master beneath Mystic Mechanism City at the cost of his life, strengthening the Seal. The environment of the entire Mystic Mechanism City became increasingly harsh, with monsters everywhere. During a patrol mission, I became infected; each cough brought up black blood and mysterious Gu. The last family letter in my embrace had become blurred, perhaps Great Qin had already disappeared… No, impossible, Great Qin cannot be destroyed. There are so many great people still here, it won't happen. I will stop my wild thoughts and continue to guard.

【Great Qin Calendar 1603 · December】

Most of Mystic Mechanism City's people had died.

I exhausted my heart and blood repairing the cracks in No. 009 Demon Suppression Platform; as I collapsed, bleeding from all seven orifices, I still clutched half a Formation Plate in my hand. The Gongshu Family's Elder locked himself in the central secret chamber, saying he would “perish with the city.”

Last night, a corner of No. 009 Platform's iron cage broke open. That Human Devil General crawled out halfway, with thirteen soul-locking nails piercing his chest, yet he cackled at me: “The Qin Emperor is dead! Great Qin is fallen! You are all abandoned pawns!”

I sliced off half his head with a sword, but something inside me suddenly felt empty.

“Is Great Qin truly fallen?”

I fell into confusion.

【No Year, No Month · Blood Mist Fills the Sky】

The bronze pillars of the Demon Suppression Platform were covered in blood-moss, like festering blood vessels.

I am old, I can no longer wield a blade. I have shut down most of the Demon Suppression Platform's functions to reduce energy consumption, barely keeping No. 009 Platform from collapsing. This energy, maintained for three thousand years, should be able to wear down that beast at the bottom of the city.

This morning, I used the last of my cinnabar to carve words on the wall:

“Mystic Mechanism eternally suppressed, never to surrender to devils.”

——————

Mystic Mechanism City No. 009 Demon Suppression Platform, First Generation (Last Generation) Guardian, Yang Liwan, left this.

…

Although this city had long been without Qin, without Emperor, without sun or moon.

Only the wailing of the wind through the cracks, like someone crying, with only time remaining eternally unchanged.