Chapter 231: There Will Always Be A Way To Defeat The Enemy
Yun Ce walked between Shen Tingyu and Xiao Man, saying, “We were only apart for four days, why do you act so unfamiliar?”
Shen Tingyu said, “You killed me twice, right?”
Yun Ce nodded and said, “That’s right, this will be the third time.”
Shen Tingyu chuckled and said, “Do you know, the past four days have been the quietest days of my life.”
Yun Ce smiled, “Matters between sworn brothers can sometimes be the most difficult to handle.”
Shen Tingyu looked at Xiao Man, who had already fled, a gentle look appearing in his eyes, and said to Yun Ce, “Only among Han people can such a spiritual and beautiful woman be found.”
Yun Ce said in surprise, “Her looks are far inferior to Shen Lexi’s, and even to Liu Ruyan’s.”
Shen Tingyu said dismissively, “You spent over twenty large fish maws on Shen Lexi, was it just because she was good-looking?”
Yun Ce shook his head and said, “That’s not true, I made that up to trick you, my brother. Now, Shen Lexi should be in Chang’an, with Liu Changsheng.”
Shen Tingyu said with regret, “Actually, you should have tried Shen Lexi. I mean, as a normal man loving Shen Lexi, not treating her as a tool for venting your desires.”
“If your consumption of over twenty large fish maws was due to your intense love for Shen Lexi, I would be happy to see it.”
“Because the former is animal nature, and the latter is humanity.”
“For thousands of years, the Gui Fang tribe has strived to remove the animal nature from their bodies. As a result, not only did they fail to remove it, but due to years of hiding and oppression, the animal nature has become deeply ingrained and is now impossible to eradicate.”
“For years, I have diligently cultivated, all I wanted was transcendence. As a result, I’m still in this sorry state, unable to transcend, and I’ve made myself neither human nor ghost, even losing the appearance of a Gui Fang person.”
“Oh, this behavior, in the eyes of you Han people, seems to be called – imitating others to one’s own detriment?”
Yun Ce watched Xiao Man and the others leaving the battlefield, supporting each other, a smile appearing on his face. He cupped his hands in salute to Shen Tingyu, “You are the kindest Gui Fang person I have ever met.”
Shen Tingyu shook his head, “I thought they were all going to die, so I was exceptionally lenient with them. However, after I kill you, I’ll probably still have time to catch up with them and kill them one by one.”
“You weren’t in a hurry to kill them just now, why are you so urgent now?”
Shen Tingyu picked up the great axe placed on the ground and said softly, “The voice that had been clamoring in my mind suddenly disappeared. I suddenly realized that it’s quite good to be a Gui Fang person.”
Yun Ce asked, “Are you triplets?”
Shen Tingyu nodded, “Triplets are not uncommon among the Gui Fang. The problem is, although there are three of us, we share one head. Even though we were miles apart, I could still hear their dying screams.”
Yun Ce thought Shen Tingyu was a very honest person. No matter what he was asked, he would answer truthfully. Such a person, to be honest, was unprecedented, whether on Earth or in the Great Han.
“You don’t have any more brothers, do you?” Yun Ce continued to ask.
Shen Tingyu chuckled, “You killed them and removed a deep-seated trouble for me, I’m grateful to you, how could I lie to you?”
“You are sworn brothers, how did they become your deep-seated trouble?”
Shen Tingyu tidied the threads on his great axe and said, “When a person lives in this world, they should have their own secrets and privacy they don’t want others to know.”
“Do you know, I don’t, I never have. When I was very young, I had some bad thoughts, and as a result, my younger brothers informed my mother…”
Yun Ce burst into laughter, “That’s nothing. A long time ago, I also wanted to hide the fact that I wet the bed, but my mother found out anyway. She sun-dried my wet bedding in the sun and announced it to many people.”
Shen Tingyu also laughed, “What if your secret was poisoning your father?”
Yun Ce was stunned and said, “Why did you kill your father? Wasn’t he good?”
Shen Tingyu chuckled, “He was very good, a rare learned scholar among the Gui Fang people. I just really disliked that he tormented my mother every night.”
Yun Ce gasped, “The torment you speak of…”
Shen Tingyu picked up his axe and stood up, nodding, “That’s right, the torment you’re thinking of.”
Yun Ce said in confusion, “That’s a family matter, a perfectly normal thing. Why did it bother you? Don’t attack yet, first tell me the story clearly. Did you really kill your father later?”
Shen Tingyu swung his great axe, and Yun Ce felt the entire space tremble.
“I killed him, using the most potent poison from the centipede. After my father was poisoned, he relied on his profound internal breath and lasted for a full day and night, spitting blood continuously, spitting out a bucket of blood. In the end, he pointed at me and died.”
Yun Ce looked at the gradually becoming violent Shen Tingyu and shook his head with pity, “Sharing a head with two younger brothers can indeed drive a person mad. You might not know, but I also have a noisy ghost in my head.”
“Are you also twins?”
Yun Ce shook his chain hammer and realized he was too close to Shen Tingyu to leverage its length advantage. He took a few steps back, then, brandishing a chain hammer, said to Shen Tingyu, “Who are you?”
Shen Tingyu clashed his two great axes together. Before the crashing sound of the axes ended, he looked up at the sky and roared, “Liu Chang’an, I am Shen Tingyu, the Fourth Priest of the Gui Fang people!”
After waiting for a moment and not receiving a reply from Yun Ce, he looked towards Yun Ce and found that the person he had looked up to had actually run away, and was running very fast, disappearing into a mere silhouette in an instant.
Shen Tingyu looked at Yun Ce’s retreating back and let out a cold snort. Even though this fellow ran fast, he couldn’t compare to his mount, Zhu Yun. He raised his hand to his mouth and let out a whistle, a remarkably loud whistle that carried across the plains.
After waiting for a while, seeing no sign of Zhu Yun approaching, Shen Tingyu stomped his feet on the ground, and his body actually rose three zhang. In mid-air, he gazed into the distance and saw his mount, Zhu Yun, far away, affectionately nuzzling another Thunder Smoke Beast and heading east.
“┗|｀O′|┛Aooo~~”
Yun Ce heard Shen Tingyu’s roar and felt that this guy really should let out a howl to vent. Having lost two younger brothers in quick succession was already pitiful enough, and then to confess in front of an enemy that he had poisoned his own father to death out of a perverted obsession with his mother. Such a serious leak of secrets, once it got out, how could he, who had been pretending to be a gentleman in front of everyone for so long, ever show his face again.
Doggy’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind, “You weren’t talking about me when you mentioned that noisy ghost just now, were you?”
Yun Ce said, “Your moral bottom line is even higher than mine, so you’ll only be the one to suffer misfortune.”
“That’s more like it. I’ve activated a lot of new subroutines recently, and my sense of morality has indeed improved. Don’t forget, that poem by Cao Zhi, 《White Horse Verse》, I taught you to recite it word for word.”
“By the way, how did you know Shen Tingyu’s Thunder Smoke Beast was in heat?”
“Did you need me to see? Just look at the cheap expression on the Red Date Horse’s face. It can still pretend in front of people, but after luring the Thunder Smoke Beast into the bushes, its head-bowed sniffing of the mare’s buttocks is unbearable to watch.”
“This Thunder Smoke Beast isn’t bound to Shen Tingyu, is it?”
“No, this horse, like the Red Date Horse, is free. Hmph hmph hmph, this is all due to the confidence of important figures. The Red Date Horse was thoroughly roasted by Shehuo, and carries the aura of Shehuo all over its body. And what is Shehuo? It is the god of this land.”
“That mare thought the Red Date Horse was the king of Thunder Smoke Beasts, and that it had a chance to bear children with the most powerful king of Thunder Smoke Beasts in the world. Coupled with the fact that admiration for the strong is their inherent nature, it’s completely normal for Shen Tingyu to lose his Thunder Smoke Beast.”
“I must say, the Red Date Horse is quite reliable. It sent the warhorses to those fools first before running off to seduce the mare. Overall, you can treat it like a person in the future.”
“At least, its mind wasn’t clouded by desire. That’s a capability only possessed by talented individuals.”
“┗|｀O′|┛Aooo~~”
Another roar echoed from the distance. This time, the emotions conveyed in the roar were complex: sadness, failure, and exasperation were all clearly and undeniably understood without any active analysis.
“He’ll go to Chang’an to trouble Liu Changsheng, won’t he?”
“Liu Changsheng can withstand it, but such a cover-up is ultimately a minor trick. If Liu Changsheng grits his teeth and accepts it, you can hide for a while longer. But, there are too many flaws, and ultimately, you won’t be able to hide it.”
“What you must face, you will eventually face.”
“Also, judging by the Gui Fang people’s large-scale deployment of Mad Ox Knights towards Iron Enclosure Pass, they are systematically clearing the outskirts of Iron Enclosure Pass.”
“And judging by the fact that you haven’t seen a single scout from Iron Enclosure Pass in days, their task of clearing the outer areas is essentially complete. Your defenses are… alas…”
Yun Ce strode across the grass, his figure as fast as a shooting star. To his right front, Xiao Man, who was unharmed, was leading six injured individuals, who were lying on horseback, galloping away.
To his right front, a female Thunder Smoke Beast was chasing a male horse that was in heat, filled with a myriad of grievances. Their speed was equally rapid.
As the full moon rose, a tall figure, dressed in white and with two axes strapped to his back, was also rapidly approaching Iron Enclosure Pass. The closer he got to Iron Enclosure Pass, the more scouts he encountered.
When the towering city walls of Iron Enclosure Pass appeared in Shen Tingyu’s eyes, Shen Tingyu was no longer the picture of refinement he once was. His white robes were already soaked with blood.
His handsome face was also splattered with drops of blood. His eyes, cold as a falcon’s, stared fixedly at Iron Enclosure Pass for a long time. Finally, as a horn blew from atop Iron Enclosure Pass, he turned and left.
“Currently, it is not yet time to attack Iron Enclosure Pass. However, Shen Tingyu has made up his mind. Once they attack Iron Enclosure Pass, he intends to go in himself, even if it means tearing Iron Enclosure Pass to the ground, he must find that bitch Liu Chang’an. Only by dismembering him can he wash away today’s shame.”
