125: Chapter 125 Failure to Control the Floods; Birth of Emperor Yu

Emperor Ku gazed at the figure of Emperor Yao as he gradually walked away, and a soft sigh echoed lingeringly throughout the Fire Cloud Cave.

He then transformed into a streak of light and headed toward Three Immortals Island.

Meanwhile, the territory of the Mortal race was already suffering immensely.

Ever since Emperor Yao abdicated and Emperor Shun succeeded him as the new Common Sovereign, Holy Mother Guiling, a Disciple of the Jie Sect and his teacher, had also been within the territory of the Human Race, doing her utmost to help them manage the flooding.

However, the flooding was bolstered by the power of the Human Dao, and relying on magic to dredge the waterways only triggered even more severe floods.

...

Emperor Shun stood at the peak of the high ground, gazing at the surging, muddy waves beneath his feet. His brows were tightly locked, and his eyes were filled with anxiety and grief.

"The method of blocking the water is, in the end, like drinking poison to quench thirst. We must find someone who can truly control the water!"

Emperor Shun immediately issued an order to summon all tribes of the Human Race, seeking someone who understood the principles of water and possessed great talent in water control.

Soon, Gun, who had the ambition to control the water, was recommended to Emperor Shun.

In the great hall, Gun, dressed in coarse cloth garments with an upright posture, bowed to Emperor Shun with a determined gaze: "I, Gun, am willing to accept the command to control the water. I swear to quell the flooding and protect the safety of our Human Race!"

Emperor Shun heard the ministers from various tribes praising him, felt moved, and immediately stood up:

"Now that the flooding is rampant and the Human Race is in imminent danger, I appoint you as the Chief Official of Water Control, in charge of all manpower and resources for water control. You must curb the floods. Do you dare to take on this heavy responsibility?"

"Your subject will not refuse, even if it means death!"

Gun responded loudly, without the slightest hesitation.

From then on, Gun took over the heavy responsibility of water control and rushed to the front lines of the flood.

Continuing the water-blocking method of the previous Emperor Yao, he mobilized the tribespeople to build dikes and dams and reinforce defensive lines, attempting to use manpower to build a barrier and forcibly lock away the floodwaters.

But he never expected that the power of this flood far exceeded that of the past few hundred years. Combined with the monstrous water pressure accumulated from generations of water-blocking, it had already reached the point of collapsing the dikes.

Gun spent ninety years, leading his tribespeople day and night without rest to move stones and build dams, exhausting countless grain and manpower of the Human Race.

Yet the dikes he built were fragile in the face of the violent floodwaters and collapsed one after another.

The flood broke through the defensive lines, ravaging an even wider area. Countless tribespeople were buried in the flood waves, the losses of the Human Race became increasingly heavy, and cries of misery filled the land.

When the news reached the capital of the Human Race, the court was instantly shaken, the ministers were in an uproar, and the great hall was in chaos.

A group of ministers, holding reports of the disaster, looked pained and knelt to speak.

"Common Sovereign, Gun has been controlling the water for ninety years, but not only has he failed to quell the flooding, he has made the floodwaters even more rampant. The casualties of our Human Race have reached billions, fertile fields have been destroyed, and homes are no more!"

An elderly minister with white hair, holding the report in his hands, choked with sobs and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Common Sovereign, Gun has the heart to control the water, but lacks the ability. He stubbornly chose the method of blocking the water, and now has brewed a monstrous disaster, causing thousands of tribespeople to die tragically. I implore the Common Sovereign to punish him to appease the public grievance!"

Another important minister of the Human Race stepped out, his expression solemn, and spoke sternly.

"I implore the Common Sovereign to punish Gun to uphold the laws of the Human Race!"

For a moment, all the civil and military officials knelt, their repeated requests echoing throughout the great hall.

Emperor Shun sat upright on the main seat of the great hall, his fingertips tightly clenched.

Looking at the mountainous pile of reports on the desk regarding the deaths and injuries of the disaster victims, and then gazing at the scene outside the hall where dark clouds obscured the sun and floods surged to the heavens, his expression was as heavy as iron, and grief surged in his eyes.

How could he not know that Gun had poured out all his heart and effort, working tirelessly for ninety years? But the failure to control the water had instead exacerbated the calamity of the Human Race. This responsibility could not be shirked.

After a long silence, Emperor Shun slowly stood up, his voice filled with endless heaviness as it resonated throughout the entire hall:

"Gun was ordered to control the water for ninety years. Although he exhausted his efforts, he chose the wrong strategy and was stubborn and self-opinionated, causing the Human Race to suffer a catastrophic disaster with countless deaths. He cannot escape his guilt!"

He raised his eyes to look toward the direction of the flood outside the hall, his tone resolute: "Pass on my order: take Gun to Yu Mountain and execute him on the spot, to comfort the thousands of tribespeople who died in the flood and to uphold the laws of the Human Race!"

"Your subject obeys the order!"

The imperial guards before the hall accepted the order, immediately turned, and rushed to the front lines of water control to capture Gun and bring him back to the capital to answer for his crimes.

...

Meanwhile, at the front lines of water control, at the foot of Yu Mountain.

Gun was watching the dike that had collapsed once again. The muddy floodwaters swept through, smashing the last section of the stone dam into pieces, while the remaining tribespeople around him wailed and fled in all directions.

His hair and beard were white, his body covered in mud, and those eyes that were once full of determination now held only endless dejection and self-reproach.

"I… in the end, I have failed the trust of the Common Sovereign and failed the entire Human Race…"

Gun sighed to the sky, his voice hoarse, tears mixing with the muddy water as they slid down. Just as his heart was shattered, the sound of iron armor rumbled from the horizon. The guards sent by Emperor Shun had arrived and surrounded him completely.

"Gun, the Common Sovereign has an order: you have failed in water control and brought disaster to the Human Race. You are to be taken to Yu Mountain immediately and executed on the spot!"

The commander of the guards announced the decree loudly. His voice was cold, yet could not hide a trace of regret. Gun did not resist, nor did he have the strength to resist. He simply raised his hand silently, wiped the mud from his face, and nodded slowly: "I plead guilty, do with me as you will."

He knew deep down that his sins were grave; he had no face to face the tribespeople again, and even less face to return to see Emperor Shun. He followed the guards calmly, walking toward the peak of Yu Mountain.

At the peak of Yu Mountain, the cold wind whistled, carrying with it a sky full of rain and mist.

Gun was taken by the guards to the cliff at the mountain peak. Looking at the surging river below, his eyes were full of regret and guilt.

The commander of the guards held the execution blade, looking at the old man before him, and said in a deep voice: "Gun, do you have any last words?"

Upon hearing this, Gun spoke his final words: "My death is not worth regretting; I only hope… that in the future, someone can cure the flooding once and for all, and protect our Human Race for ten thousand generations of peace…"

As his voice fell, Gun closed his eyes. A cold light flashed, the execution blade fell, and a generation of water-control aspirants perished at the peak of Yu Mountain.

But a strange thing happened at this moment!

Gun's body fell onto the rocks of Yu Mountain, yet his Physical Body did not rot, and his vitality did not dissipate.

His unextinguished obsession with water control and his sincere concern for the Human Race, combined with the residual Human Dao Luck and the flood calamity Luck between heaven and earth, all condensed within his corpse, transforming into an incomparably thick force of life.

Time flowed on, and another few decades passed in a flash.

Gun's corpse lay quietly at the peak of Yu Mountain. Having weathered wind and rain, it remained as perfect as before, his skin looking just like it had in life, and a faint spiritual light always lingered around his body.

On this day, suddenly, ten thousand rays of rosy light and a thousand strands of auspicious Qi appeared above Yu Mountain. The flood that had originally been ravaging the area around the mountain automatically retreated by three miles, not daring to approach.

Gun's corpse trembled slightly. Accompanied by the cry of a baby that shook heaven and earth, a golden light burst out from his Dantian. Within the golden light, a male infant stood in the air, his body wrapped in the mysterious yellow Luck of the Human Dao.

The male infant landed, and the stubborn stones at the peak of Yu Mountain automatically split open. A clear spring gushed out, and birds from all directions flew over, circling and singing.

This scene startled the entire territory of the Mortal race.

Holy Mother Guiling gazed at the celestial phenomenon in the direction of Yu Mountain, and understanding appeared in her eyes.

"The Fifth Emperor, the Emperor of Water Control, has been born!"