Ch.149: Panic Left and Right; East or West Undecided
“Did General Pei win or lose?” Xie Lian asked.
“Won. And lost.” Pei Su answered.
All the insurgents died under Pei Ming’s sword, and among them were many veterans who shared decades of friendship with him.
The sword ‘Ming Guang’ had always been used to fight alongside them, and now, it had become the weapon to butcher them.
Just as the slaughtering was coming to an end, and the results of the fight clear, the ruler of XuLi judiciously ordered for the bloodied, barely mobile Pei Ming to be surrounded under the offense of treason.
Pei Ming might be good in fighting wars, but if the battlefield wasn’t one of real swords and weapons, he might not be victorious. He was clearly fighting foes and defending the throne, but in the end he only won a “Kill on Sight!”
Pei Ming held that pot in his hand; it wasn’t that he didn’t hear what they were discussing, only he didn’t have the time to care. “I should’ve known it was you. This is very much your style.”
Thinking back, it must’ve been Rong Guang’s resentment possessing that broken sword so thoroughly dyed in the blood of millions, and having connected with its bitterness that he survived this long. However, the voice inside the pot was still cold, “Your brothers are all long dead. I’m nothing but a sword.”
Xie Lian knew that he may probably never admit to it and continuing to question would be fruitless. “Nevermind, General Pei.”
Pei Ming nodded and returned the pot to Pei Su.
Thus, they subdued two particularly nasty ghosts. Overlooking all others, this could be considered a good start. “General Pei and I will continue to go further into Mount TongLu,” Xie Lian said, “Ban Yue, how about you two? Will you go find Lord Rain Master?”
“Lord Rain Master had already gone on ahead to chase after the ghosts who kidnapped farmers.” Pei Su said, “If we go it’d be the same way, so we are willing to assist General and Your Highness, and join you.”
Pei Ming snapped out of it and knitted his brows slightly, “Then we best hurry. The Ruler of YuShi isn’t a martial god but went on faster than us, so they might run into danger ahead.”
Thus, Xie Lian picked up Hua Cheng, Ban Yue tucked the two pots away, and the party hastily made way deeper into the thick woods.
Since they were still situated on the outer edges of Mount TongLu, they didn’t run into any impressive characters; most were nothing but weeds and the group wasn’t interested in fighting at all, going past them directly. Some were foolish enough to challenge them, but they were all scared away by Ban Yue and Pei Su’s snakes. Thus, after a day of journey, they had finally left the forest and entered the second level of Mount TongLu.
Here, the woods were growing sparse, the roads growing wider, and there were traces of inhabitation. Xie Lian even saw off the side of the road a broken down, blackened little house, which was exceedingly bizarre in this isolated land, and he wondered, “Why are there houses here?”
Ban Yue and Pei Su both shook their heads to indicate they didn’t know. Pei Ming also replied, “I’m afraid this is something you’ll have to ask that Lord Ghost King in your arms.”
After Xie Lian asked he had already thought if Hua Cheng was awake then he’d for sure have the answers to his questions, and he looked down. Although Hua Cheng’s unusually hot body temperature was gradually cooling, his eyes were still shut, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but worry.
Pei Ming reminded him, “Your Highness, we’re about to enter the next level. What we will run into further ahead will be even more powerful. Shall we take a break and wait for Hua Chengzhu to wake?”
Just then, the group of them had come to a fork in the road. One path headed east, and the other headed west. Xie Lian contemplated and hummed, “The night has deepened, let’s camp here for the night.”
After travelling for a day, it was well time to rest, and focus on shielding Hua Cheng to help him recover. Ban Yue spoke up, “Pei Su gege also needs rest.”
Only then did the group remember that Pei Su was mortal at the moment, and required rest as well as sustenance, it’s just he had been silent the whole time. Xie Lian had cursed shackles on his body and was the same, but because of his worry for Hua Cheng, he had completely forgotten.
The group of them thus stopped at this fork in the road and built camp. Ban Yue started the fire and Pei Su went hunting. Xie Lian saw everyone was busy minding their own business, and started staring at Hua Cheng’s face again. A moment later, instincts made him whip his head around, and sure enough, Pei Ming was watching the two of them.
The two stared at each other, and Pei Ming huffed a dry laugh, “Fine. I’ll go away.”
“No, it’s fine.” Xie Lian said.
It wasn’t like he was thinking of doing anything that couldn’t be seen, so why did he make it sound like he was thieving around?!
Just then, Ban Yue walked over with a pot for food, “General Hua…”
Xie Lian and Pei Ming both turned their heads. “What is it?” Xie Lian asked.
That black pot had within it a terrified wild chicken that was tied up. Ban Yue showed them the pot, “Pei Su gege caught it to have me cook, but, I don’t know how.”
After Pei Su hunted he went ahead to scout. Pei Ming on the other hand, seemed to be dissatisfied with Ban Yue no matter how he looked at her, and berated presumptuously, “Aren’t you a girl? Fighting and killing all day, nevermind not painting your face, but how come you don’t even know how to cook?”
Xie Lian and Ban Yue were speechless. Ban Yue wasn’t a delicate girl raised in a normal household, and had not a clue of how Pei Ming judged beauty. She couldn’t understand his words and was puzzled. As for Xie Lian, he had pretty much figured things out by now. Pei Ming was someone hard to describe when it came to women. “Put it down, Ban Yue. I’ll teach you.” Xie Lian said.
Ban Yue already deeply admired him so she happily followed his instructions. An incense time later. Xie Lian pulled at the colourful feathers off the wild chicken, and Pei Ming raised his blood-soaked hands, lamenting, “The Chicken-Killing General and the Feather-Plucking Crown Prince can be considered famous sights too now.”
Xie Lian watched him kill the chicken with his bare hands, a bloody and grimy sight, “General Pei, couldn’t you have used a knife or something? It would’ve been cleaner.”
“And is there any?” Pei Ming demanded.
Just as the words left his lips, the two glanced at the two pots sitting on the ground on the side.
Rong Guang who was inside the pot seemed to have noticed the two peculiar looks, and the pot shuddered violently, shouting, “GET OUTTA HERE! SCRAM FAR AWAY! CAREFUL, I JUST MIGHT SMEAR VENOM ON MY BLADE AND POISON YOU ALL!”
The two hurried away. Once they were sure that pot couldn’t hear, Pei Ming shook is head and said to Xie Lian, “And he keeps denying it. He’s always had that temper, of course it’s him.”
Xie Lian also heard how Rong Guang cussed at Pei Ming, and had long grown an odd sense of sympathy, “I understand completely. I have a little cousin who’s somewhat like General Rong. He knows how to cuss more but doesn’t know how to do much.”
At least Rong Guang could help Pei Ming fight battles. If Qi Rong was to go help Xie Lian fight battles, then before Xie Lian was killed by enemies he’d already be ruined by Qi Rong. Pei Ming seemed to have imagined what a Rong Guang who only knew how to cuss but didn’t know how to fight was like and remarked earnestly, “That’s indeed frightening.”
Xie Lian threw the now fully plucked wild chicken back into the pot, filled it with water, and started cooking it atop the fire, adding some wild fruits or herbs every now and then to add flavour. Ban Yue copied him and tried very hard to find anything that looked edible to stuff into the pot. Pei Ming didn’t know what they were doing, but since he’d never entered the kitchen himself, he didn’t see any problems, so he helped by adding firewood to the campfire. “Your Highness, I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask you, but since we weren’t acquainted, it wasn’t appropriate to ask.”
It’s true they weren’t close. Before, Xie Lian’s impression of Pei Ming was pretty much a physically skilled but ill-minded womanizer, and they’ve even faced each other a couple times.
Yet now that they’ve crossed paths a few times, unknowingly, his opinions have changed, and their relationship could be considered somewhat friendlier. “By all means, General Pei, please ask.”
“You’ve been banished twice, with two cursed shackles on your person.” Pei Ming said, “After you’ve ascended for the third time, you could’ve asked the Emperor to remove them, so why didn’t you?”
Xie Lian watched as Ban Yue thought really hard before cheerfully pulling out a few long, wine red scorpion tailed snakes, and put them into the bubbling pot. He replied easily, “Then, General Pei, I’ve also got a question I want to ask you.”
“Please.” Pei Ming said.
“How come after you snapped Ming Guang you’ve never forged a new sword as a spiritual device again?” Xie Lian asked.
Pei Ming raised his brows, “What an unpleasant question.”
Xie Lian matched his expression, “Likewise.”
The two chuckled a bit. Suddenly, Pei Ming said, “I never thought it was a beautiful tale.”
“I get you.” Xie Lian said.
He was about to speak when suddenly there was movement behind him, and his heart jumped, looking back, “San Lang?”
Sure enough, Hua Cheng had sat up!
Xie Lian was both surprised and delighted and immediately went over to help hold him up by the shoulders, “San Lang! You’re awake! You… seem bigger?”
Indeed, before Hua Cheng only looked to be a little older than ten, but now he appeared to be at least thirteen or fourteen, and when he spoke, his voice also changed from that of a child to the slightly raspy voice of a teen. “Yes. Thank you gege, for giving me relief.”
“What a joyous occasion,” Pei Ming commented.
“No need to thank me, I…” Xie Lian replied before he noticed there was the word ‘relief’ and his smile froze, wondering, ‘It’s not what I think it is, is it?’
The next second, Hua Cheng grabbed his shoulders and said darkly, “Your Highness, listen to me. Something is coming rapidly from the east. You must get away for now!”
Xie Lian was taken aback. The two both looked to the east, like they could see through the endless black night and saw a figure skulking in the darkness. Although Xie Lian didn’t sense anything but still he said, “Very well! We’ll take leave.”
“Where to?” Pei Ming asked.
The fork in the road only had two paths, and Xie Lian said, “The west!”
Ban Yue grabbed that cooking pot over the flames, looking like she was going to bring it along, and said, “Pei Su gege hasn’t returned yet!”
Just as she spoke, a shadow came hurrying from the road to the west, and it was Pei Su who had returned from scouting. “General! Don’t go down this road! There’s a large number of ghosts coming this way right now!”
“How many?” Hua Cheng demanded.
Pei Su noticed the one who asked was Hua Cheng and was stunned for a moment, “Judging by the tremors of the ground, at least five hundred!”
As a martial god, unless there was absolutely no other choice, ‘retreat’ would never be considered. Pei Ming demanded, “Do we go west or east?”
Hua Cheng said with conviction, “West!”
Xie Lian answered too, “West.”
For some reason, although there were more ghosts coming from the west and not a single shadow in the east, but Xie Lian’s instincts told him the west must be the safer choice than the east. Without further ado, the group hastily went on their way. At first, Xie Lian was already prepared to kill without hesitation should they run into the first wave, but after running for several miles, not a single movement was detected, and he was rather puzzled, “General Pei Junior, where and when did you hear that over five hundred ghosts were approaching?”
“Just nearby here.” Pei Su said, “At the time, they were only five to six miles behind me, and were going very fast.”
“Then this is strange!” Xie Lian said.
The group continued to run to the west, and that five hundred some ghosts were running eastward; both parties were fast so they should’ve bumped into each other head on by now. So why was there not a single ghost, and not even any movement?
“Little Pei wouldn’t have heard wrong.” Pei Ming said, “Maybe they went back the way they came?”
“I don’t think that’s likely.” Pei Su said, “Because the speed of their pace was really fast. It sounded as if they were…”
“Running for their lives.” Hua Cheng said.
Suddenly, Xie Lian stopped in his step. Not just him but the entire group stopped. Because, just ahead of them was a field of corpses that was blocking their way.
Those corpses, some were beasts, some were men, bodies all shapes and sizes, there were even battered souls, wisps of black smoke and ghost fires floating in the air. An exceedingly chilling sight. Xie Lian squatted down to check and said, “They really were running for their lives, they just… didn’t succeed.”
After Pei Su heard them, he immediately turned back to inform Xie Lian and the others. And it was right after he left that something had pursued and killed them all in one go.
“It’s the work of one person.” Hua Cheng said, Xie Lian nodded. If both parties were great in numbers, then the kill wouldn’t be this clean, and the battle wouldn’t have ended so straightforwardly.
And to have killed over five hundred ghosts and monsters in such a short period of time, no doubt it was something stronger than the Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon, so it seemed, it was one they should keep an eye on.
Ban Yue said, holding her soup pot, “I hope Lord Rain Master didn’t choose this path…”
“No need to worry, My Lord has the protection steed.” Pei Su said.
Right at the same time, Xie Lian heard a strange chattering noise from not far away, and when he went over to look, there was a skull whose jaws were chattering, and the noise came from it.
When it noticed someone had discovered itself, it cried, terrified, “MERCY, I’LL NEVER COME AGAIN, I WANNA GO BACK, I WANNA GO HOME!”
Xie Lian cupped it with both his hands and said gently, “Don’t be scared, we’re only passing by. Can you tell us just what exactly happened here?”
That skull’s jaws chattered as it bit out, “Y-you’re passersby? Don’t keep going onwards anymore, there’s someone really scary ahead… counting us, he’s already killed over a thousand ghosts, and he’s still dissatisfied, he’s still, he’s still…”
Over a thousand!
That was way more than they had imagined. Xie Lian asked, “Who is it that you speak of? Do you know what his name is? Or title? Or what he looks like?”
“N-no.” The skull said, “I didn’t see very clearly. It didn’t take long for him to kill us. I only faintly saw it was a black clad man, very young, his face very pale…”
“Sounds a little troublesome.” Pei Ming said, “Your Highness, Hua Chengzhu, are you sure we should be heading westward right now, and not east?”
That skull heard and shrieked, “THE EAST WON’T DO EITHER! NOT THE EAST!!!”
“What’s happened in the east?” Xie Lian asked.
That skull said, “We… didn’t dare go east, which is why we chose the west. Because, on the road to the east, there’s a white clad young man, who within a day, had already killed over two thousand ghosts. He’s far more terrifying than this one in the west…”
———-
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