chapter 598 (magazine-syndication, not final)

Some say wars are caused by religion, while others say wars are ended through beliefs.

In the year 184, the Yellow Turban Rebellion erupted across the kingdom in seven provinces and twenty-eight prefectures.

[?]: Even in times of war, he sends students to survey the land-
[?]: I really can’t agree with that.

[?]: Fortunately, they have all returned safely.

[?]: No, one of them has been stranded in Yi Province.

chapter 598 The Eighth Disciple

[Zhang Zhao]: It was Master Water Mirror’s intention to have the Eight Geniuses witness war.

{teaching assistant of the House of Water Mirror, Zhang Zhao}
[Zhong Yao]: Under the command of General He Jin, the entire kingdom has been mobilized.
{Zhong Yao}

[?]: Master Lu Zhi of the top academy of the kingdom must also answer the call to suppress the rebellion.
(according to a Chinese fan analysis, this “top academy” might be referring to the government-sponsored Imperial Academy)
[?]: We of the House of Water Mirror might not be spared either.

[Zhang Zhao]: A religious sect like that could plunge the world into chaos within a mere few months; something none of us major houses could ever hope to achieve…
(“…almost [more powerful] than various great houses [by a] hundred times/folds…”)

[?]: Oh, such absurdity…!

There were only seven of us that year.

I remember First Disciple Brother’s words.

[?]: Those who share the same desire hate each other, while those who share the same concern are like family.
(quoting “Stratagems of the Warring States”, chapter on Zhongshan kingdom)
[?]: The Eight Geniuses share the same desire, while the Eight Eccentrics share the same concern.

{First Genius of Water Mirror, Yuan Fang}
[Yuan Fang]: Do you remember the analogy I made in the past?

[Zhou Yu]: Those who want the same thing despise each other, while those who worry about the same thing are friendly to each other.
{Fifth Genius of Water Mirror, Zhou Yu}

[YF]: The Eight Geniuses will fight among themselves, yet the Eight Eccentrics will unite people…

[?]: The Yellow Turban Rebellion will prove which of these contradictory methods of war will come out the winner.

[Jia Xu]: A healer, an illusionist, and an eloquent speaker.
{Third Genius of Water Mirror, Jia Xu}
[JX]: Three brothers collaborated to gather great strength within such a short period of time.

[Xun Yu]: Not to mention how profitless their endeavor was, completely upending the traditional method of war.
{Second Genius of Water Mirror, Xun Yu}
[XY]: The long-term nurturing of an army now seems insignificant in comparison.

[Guo Jia]: The Dark Art of War becomes righteous when religious fanatics make use of it…
{Fourth Genius of Water Mirror, Guo Jia}

[?]: and as the world gets more chaotic, those who share the same concern grow even closer and stronger.

[Zhuge Liang]: Except that there is no way to clean up the mess once the religious art of war is used.

[ZGL]: Without any rules, no one can predict whether the outcome is disastrous or beneficial.
{Seventh Genius of Water Mirror, Zhuge Liang}
[ZGL]: Their mission statement will also change once power comes into play.

[YF]: Too bad I promised teacher a long time ago, or I’d definitely study it at length.

[ZY]: Don’t bother arguing with Seventh. He’s good at “do as I say but not as I do.”

[YF]: Right, the one who most wants to strengthen the kingdom is a “rebel” like him.

[YF]: I’m just curious why he’s so fascinated by the thing that Third brought back.
[ZGL]: For research.

[ZY]: Lamp of Seven Stars of the North, that’s some cultish stuff.
(“seven star extend life lantern…”; reader Misogi-chan credits Brewitt Taylor for the name translation)

[?]: The old emperor would make someone who can use it on him as his right-hand man.
(rephrased; thanks to reader Misogi-chan for the idea; Misogi-chan already theorizes that this Emperor could be referring to The Martial Emperor of Han, who lived a relatively long life compared to other emperors of the dynasty)
[?]: And if someone knows how to use it, we will all be kneeling down to him.

[JX]: Don’t get hooked on it. Anyone who becomes obsessed with immortality will end up going down that path.

[XY]: Life is so short. Who doesn’t wish for longevity?

[?]: It’s funny how hundred-year-old immortals tend to appear during war-torn eras.
{note: people’s average age during the Han dynasty was around forty.}

[GJ]: A hundred years,
[GJ]: that’s like the minimum qualifying age for the Eight Eccentrics, right?

[?]: In this day and age, whoever hands out free treatments and medicine gets to be regarded as an immortal even if they are not.
(simplified)

[JX]: Careful now, they really do have a hundred years of documented achievements.
(not sure)

[GJ]: Once the senior immortal dies, they will pretend he was cultivating immortality behind closed doors, then send out a lad who is supposedly his new form.
(not sure; I don’t read much xianxia novels to know their translation convention)

[?]: If he is successful, he can inherit all the followers. And the bigger the sect, the more believable it seems.

[YF]: The succession of Celestial Master is an alternative form of imperial succession.

[YF]: The succession process under religious laws avoids the issue of power struggles within a clan.

[YF]: In addition, they don’t even need to follow logic or reason. Essentially, the more absurd something seems, the more like a miracle it is.
(not sure)

[GJ]: Wise men of old have all been deified in some respect.
[XY]: They used their knowledge as a foundation to market their school of thought.
(not sure)

[?]: “Great Teacher” Zhang Jue of the Eight Eccentrics is skilled with using “Scriptures of the Great Peace.” to start rebellions,
[?]: yet the author Yu Ji had already passed away during Emperor Shun’s reign.
{note: Liu Bao, Emperor Shun of Han, was the eighth Emperor of Eastern Han dynasty}

[?]: And now his reincarnation has become one of the Eighth Eccentrics.
(implying the Yu Ji we know in the story is not the Yu Ji in historical records)

[Pang Tong]: In this house I studied

[PT]: the hasty works of the Yellow Turbans.
(not sure if he is referring to any specific writing or if it’s a generic term; according to a Chinese fan analysis, it could be the Scripture of Supreme Peace)

{Sixth Genius of Water Mirror, Pang Tong}
[PT]: They are destined to lose.

{whoa~}

[ZY]: Sixth, I can’t believe the sore on your chin disappeared!
(“…mouth below big sore/skin-ulcer…”)
[ZY]: Th-then the one in your right eye must have been excised too!

[YF]: Removal is good. At least you won’t look so scary anymore.
[JX]: You’re not wrong. People tend to judge someone by their appearance.

[?]: Your efforts would be in vain if a leader were to dislike the way you look.

[ZGL]: Once it’s healed, you won’t need to cover your face anymore.
[GJ]: Does this mean Eighth can fix his face too?

[XY]: Eighth isn’t that heinous, so please stop making fun of him.
(wordplay on multiple meaning of 恶; heinous crime or heinous look)

[XY]: He might have a peculiar look, but he’s still our classmate. Why not treat him better…
(wordplay on 奇, strange/enigma, referring to Eighth Geniuses)

[YF]: Young Mister Xun, we’re not repulsed by his face, but by his freakish actions.
(wordplay on 怪, strange/freak/monstrous, referring to Eighth Freaks/Eccentrics)

[YF]: While he’s still stuck in Yi Province, let me tell you my thoughts on him.

[YF]: The Eight Eccentrics fawned over the Yuan clan in order to benefit from its wealth. During my recent trip home, I was surprised to discover that Zuo Ci already knew Eighth.

[GJ]: Hahaha, I told you all that the Eight Eccentrics planted two spies in the House of Water Mirror.

[XY]: Eighth merely followed in Disciple Brother Yuan’s footsteps when he studied at Mount Heming, but that happened in their childhood!
{note: Mount Heming, where Daoism/Taoism originated}

[PT]: The immortal on the mountain said this about First Disciple Brother: The crane cries in the ninth pool of the marsh, its voice is heard in the sky. That’s only given to members!
(see Classic of Poetry, entry 184)
[ZY]: I heard a similar saying given to Eighth: Its voice is heard in the wilds. How suspicious.

[YF]: That’s so interesting! If he’s a spy, being in the House of Water Mirror must be one of his moves.

[YF]: In order to use religion for war, one must first understand the essence of all texts.

[YF]: He must join different schools and use their knowledge to deal with potential challenges.

[GJ]: If he has the skill to join the School of Water Mirror, he must’ve also tried the Zhao clan’s academy.

[JX]: They only accept members of the Zhao clan. It wouldn’t be easy to join them.

[?]: And to make it even more difficult, they only teach the best skills to the heir…
[?]: If Eighth isn’t back yet, could he have joined Zhang Xiu’s school in Yi Province?
(this Zhang Xiu is associated with Zhang Lu and the creation of Five Peck of Rice)

[ZGL]: If he studied under Zhang Xiu, does that make him a member of the Rice Sect?
[GJ]: Haha.

[YF]: There are many people who share the same name. Perhaps his name has a profound meaning in the Rice Sect.

[PT]: Interestingly, how will the world view him when he comes from the School of Water Mirror?

[XY]: Enough is enough, don’t use his name to tease him when he’s not around!

[YF]: Everything can be part of a strategy. We’re just hypothesizing based on how the Eight Geniuses think.

[YF]: As members of the House of Water Mirror, we’re always calculating and preparing for the day when those who share the same desire will hate each other.

[YF]: We’ve all sworn to keep our names a secret to outsiders before we graduate.

[YF]: Because the strategy has already begun within this house!

[YF]: Ever heard of ascending to the heavens in broad daylight?
(will later refer to 升/ascend, “sheng”; note 升’s older/traditional form 昇, which includes the words 日 and 升, and is part of the wordplay of 白日升天, especially if words are written vertically like in ancient times)
[GJ]: Interesting!

[YF]: Originally it meant that the Celestial Master had completed his cultivation and ascended to the level of a celestial being. In truth, that’s their form of succession.
[?]: If I were Eighth, how would I seize the world from Water Mirror’s Geniuses?
(this bubble is weird, font is different and faint)

[?]: Let us establish this absurd yet interesting question while our teacher is not here.

[?]: For my first move, I would remain in the House of Water Mirror until the end, with the goal of inheriting its vast network and many resources.

[?]: For my second move, I would incite the various major warlords of the central plains to fight and eliminate those who may oppose me.

[?]: For my third move, I would ally with foreign tribes so that I could use their influence later.

We all treated First Disciple Brother’s deduction that day as a joke, yet his words still left us in cold sweat.

{pow}
{pow}

[?]: Watch out! There’s quicklime everywhere!
[?]: Cough cough cough!

[?]: That powder is poisonous, Sir Yang, don’t get too close!

First Disciple Brother continued: By the time I’ll have inherited the House of Water Mirror, the other Geniuses will have turned on each other due to political differences, and the world will have been divided.

That would be the perfect time to collect allies.
(not sure)

I would not graduate because I’d know I would be restrained.

I’d wait for the Eight Geniuses to leave, one after the other.

When that day comes, I will control the House of Water Mirror with my left hand

while commanding the Way of Supreme Peace with my right.

The crane cries in the ninth pool of the marsh, and its voice is heard in the sky.

My wish is to rule the world through belief, so that for every generation afterwards, all wars will surrender to it.

I want to integrate religion into politics.

I…

am the successor to the one who ascended to the heavens in broad daylight. From the House of Water Mirror…

I am immortal Zhao Sheng.
(referring back to 昇/升/ascend, “sheng”; Zhao Sheng has a historical reference, but by this point in the story this character is no longer the same reference)
{note: Zhao Sheng, disciple of the Celestial Master Zhang Dao Ling of the Way of the Celestial Masters}

I am the ingenious move made by the Eight Eccentrics to engulf Water Mirror.

I am the victor in this battle between Geniuses and Immortals.

The one who most wants to strengthen the kingdom is a “rebel” like me.

The five barbarian tribes behind me are my unbeatable backing.
(may potentially refer to the later upheaval of the five barbarian tribes)

In historical records, miracles only accompany the victors.

The mission statement will also change once power comes into play.

I’m one with the heavens. Not only will I replace Zhao Sheng…

I must also replace

the strongest…

the final,

victor!

— author’s comment —
Lumping all the answers together to make it simpler. But in my experience, this method of writing was the hardest to use for this chapter. So much info dump, leaving me exhausted as well as satisfied, but it can only be used once.

— black page preview —
If you can’t finish your great undertaking,

allow me to complete it on your behalf.

The year is 212, and I’m suddenly reminded of that incident.

And I also remember: the more absurd something seems, the more like a miracle it is.