Chapter 19

Pei Huaiyu ignored every piece of advice from the aged imperial physician and stepped onto that charred, acrid site of defeat. The remains were so badly charred that even the face was unrecognizable. The flesh had been burned to ash, leaving behind bones that looked even more ghastly. The man’s tight jaw trembled slightly—a sign of tension, of fear, and of a reality he refused to accept, no matter how much time had passed. Even though the imperial physician had spent a lifetime in medicine, witnessing life and death time and again, he still recoiled from such sights, backing away several paces. Perhaps it was because the visage was so hideous that even the physician had no desire to examine it closely. Pei Huaiyu, however, was different. He knelt down and, without a hint of revulsion, took hold of the ghastly white bones. For an instant, his heart seemed to stop beating.