Chapter 77

General Feng
Huticah

General Feng gnashed his teeth and wearily observed Hu-go make a fool of himself in front of the king’s court advisors.

“I am the crown prince, the chosen royal son meant to lead you. Now that our father died, it is only proper that I make the true judgement on my father’s death.” Some of the men nodded their agreement to Hu-go’s words. “And I have no doubt in my mind that the case of my father’s death is suspicious to the hilt. How is it possible that my father died at the arrival of his prodigal son who was raised by our enemy? Fellow brothers, in our midst we have the murderer and traitors who committed treason, please allow me to bestow a suitable punishment!”

At that moment General Feng stood. He bowed with his right fist by his waist then began to speak. "What my younger brother has said is sound. However, we must not ignore the tradition of Huticah. When the king passes away, it is tradition that no decisions can be made except when the next king is conferred. Shouldn't we first confer the king, then let him make the judgement? Because for all we know, my younger brother might know that I am the chosen king, therefore he is coming up with false allegations so I can be killed and stopped from taking what is rightfully mine.”

“How dare you! Those are false allegations!” Hu-go protested.

General Feng smirked as he looked at the Huticah Court Chief, who massaged his grey beard and wearily raised his hands to silence the people sitting around the circumference of the tent.

“I have heard you all,” he nodded. “As the chief, I have to be just and consider the tradition left to us by our founding fathers.” He hit the ground with his walking stick, announcing that he had come to a decision. “Very well, bring in the Bestowing chest and let us see who is the rightful king!”

Everyone passed out remarks of being of the same mindset according to the chief.

A guard walked in with the Bestowing chest, a golden box, rigidly locked with a metal and sealed with wax. He handed it over to the chief who raised it to everyone to indicate that it was indeed locked and the seal had not been tampered with.

Placing it on his thighs, he pulled out the necklaced key on his neck, broke the seal and unlocked the chest. When he looked inside, his eyes widened in shock, but he hid his emotions just as fast as they appeared. With solemn eyes, he cleared his throat and took out the tally of the next king, raising it to the rest of the men. “Bow down to your next king!”

Everyone went on their knees, leaving General Feng as the only man standing. Their mission was a success, a monumental achievement, though there were still strings needing to be tied.

It was a few days later that General Feng stood behind the wooden door of the straw hut with stoney walls.  It was just across the river, hidden by the viney trees that were knitted together. They had found it by tracking Hu-go, who had remained meek for the past few days and stayed away from acting suspiciously until he was convinced no one was watching him. That was when he rose before the sun could yawn and ran to the place General Feng had patiently waited for him to lead him to.

“Father, soon they will officially confer General Feng as their new king. When will you come back and announce that you are not dead? He is a traitor and he must die.”

“Son, we both know that I cannot make the reveal until we are sure to what extent he has invaded Huticah, otherwise we might walk into a trap and they will kill me for sure this time.”

“According to my findings, there are not many of them. Do you think they were sent by the emperor?”

“Obviously! Otherwise, why would my son betray me? I bet the emperor put him up to it by threatening him.”

It was just like General Feng had suspected, the king did not really drink the poison but pretended to do it. A clever man, indeed.

General Feng and his men had known something was amiss when it was said the king would not be seen by anyone as it was his wish when he lived that when he died, no one was to view his body because people would remember him in the light of a deceased man and not someone who had lived and reigned powerfully.

What a silly excuse, it was a lie to cover the fact that he was still alive.

“Feng Chang An is a rogue, he cannot be treated kindly.” An unknown voice of someone who sounded quite old spoke.

“Grandfather is right, Chang An must be killed when Father comes out.”

General Feng chuckled in pleasure. So the rumor was true that the father of King Tobba was not dead. He had been alive all this time, but they faked his death to appease the furious Nevoria when the fallen dragon was assassinated by King Tobba’s father. If they did not make that fake sacrifice, Huticah would be history.

General Feng motioned to his men to get ready as he was budging in. He pulled out his sword and shouted, “Charge!”

His men pounced on them from behind the small building, assisting in the attack.

The greatest thing he ever saw in his life was the shock displayed on the faces of the three men inside. “Kill their servants!”

General Feng’s men sliced off the heads of the few servants inside, only leaving the three royal men standing.

“Father, how good that you are alive, now I can kill you in self-pleasure.”

“You are indeed a rogue, I should not have let my guard down with you,” King Tobba regretted, wrapping his arms around his frail white-haired father.

“I cannot believe such a presumptuous person is part of my bloodline.” General Feng's grandfather spat in disgust as his small eyes of detest scanned him.

“Since you are all still hateful... Men! Make Tobba repent on his knees!”

Yin Xue pulled King Tobba and kicked him onto the floor. “Filthy dog!” Yin Xue could not help swearing.

General Feng leered as he positioned his sword on the neck of his grandfather. However, the man was prepared for death and not moved by his threat. He just glowered and looked away.

“For what you shamelessly did to my mother, I shall repay you with killing your father right in front of your eyes, Tobba. I want you to feel as helpless as she felt to not be able to protect what belonged to her. Filthy disgusting man!”

General Feng viciously raised his hand and dug the blade into the heart of the old king, who gasped and had his eyes rolling to the back of his head, blood spattering onto the clothes of King Tobba.

“Father!” King Tobba rawly screamed. “Oh, no, Father!” King Tobba tried to set himself free from the restraints of men holding him, yet unsuccessful.

The loud screams of his and the scuffle he was making managed to open the way for Hu-go to make use of the opportunity to flee. Hu-go kneed the man holding him back and jumped out, running for his life.

General Feng nodded to the men he had prepared for Hu-go, to run after him as instructed earlier. Let the idiotic son run to his demise for help and let us see what it will amount to.

Back to his revenge, General Feng went on to kick back the chair his grandfather sat on, the lifeless body thudding on the floor.

“Now it is your turn Tobba, any last words?”

Tears and mucus were on King Tobba's visage. “What is it you want? I will do it for you… Just don’t kill me.”

“What do I want?” General Feng smirked.

“Anything! I will do it,” he begged. "It is not your fault that you act this way after being raised by that hellion emperor. He is the one who told you lies so you could be brainwashed."

King Tobba was amusing. Why is it he couldn't believe that he could have a son that was worse than him? “You are right. There is something I want.”

His father's hands clapped in plea. “I will do anything.”

General Feng laughed to himself. It was all comical to see the man on his knees. “Three bows.” He raised three fingers. “The first for Li Lian, the second for my mother and the last for the emperor. Kowtow for them facing the door and tell them you are sorry.”

King Tobba shuffled from the floor and shakingly went on his knees facing the said direction. He raised both hands and hailed his first bow. “I am dearly sorry.”

He then repeated his sentence twice in relative synchrony to all his bows, completing all three.

Nonetheless, this did not satisfy General Feng because in King Tobba’s stature, there was no bone of remorse in him. All of it was a pretense. He was better off dead for the relief of the world.

“I have done all three, now can I live?”

General Feng guffawed and vehemently cut his throat.

Bloody king!

Tobba's head bounced on the floor with the cascade of blood washing the floor.

“Yes, you will live.” General Feng began to stab his body, still not feeling like his thirst for revenge was quenched. “You will live in the darkness of death, as the dogs feast on you for dinner tonight.”

S.V