Chapter 502: Huang Shengyong

The 12th year of Great Xia, December 28, late night

Zhongyang Camp, warehouse entrance

“Restricted area—no unauthorized entry!”

Rumble… rumble… rumble… crack…

Ten massive iron-wheeled carts, fully loaded with beast meat, slowly approached under the escort of over a thousand armored soldiers; the guards at the warehouse gate shouted a warning, and the convoy immediately halted.

Leading the escort was a young man in white robes, sword at his side, no more than twenty years old; his brow radiated sharpness, yet upon seeing the thousand armored guards at the warehouse entrance, he immediately smiled and approached a commander, bowing with a grin: “I am Lu Yun of Dongling, disciple of Beishuo’s Sword Master Lu Yang. May I ask your honorable name, General?”

“Director of the Beishuo Inspection Bureau, Huang Shengyong!”

Upon hearing the middle-aged general’s name, Lu Yun instantly understood why the man had been glaring at him with ill will since his arrival.

This year at the Beishuo Martial Tournament, he placed sixth; the man behind him was Huang Shengyu, eldest son of the current Beishuo Inspection Bureau Director, Huang Tianxing.

From the names alone, it was clear Huang Shengyong was likely Huang Shengyu’s younger brother or cousin, and probably held a grudge against him over the tournament.

“So you’re General Huang—I’ve long heard of your name. I’ve been sent by my master to deliver these ten carts of beast meat as military rations for your army. Just now, Minister Yang Ping told us to bring them directly here for storage…”

“This is a restricted warehouse—no casual entry. Remove the tarps from the carts; we’ll inspect and inventory everything ourselves.”

Huang Shengyong still gave Lu Yun no courtesy; he walked to the first iron cart, drew his great knife, and slashed through the black tarp.

The tarp tore open, revealing bundles of blue beast meat to all.

Lu Yun and the Dongling escort team, seeing Huang Shengyong’s casual act, frowned darkly.

They had come far to deliver vast quantities of beast meat to aid Beishuo; not a word of thanks, and now this reckless slashing—clearly, they didn’t regard Dongling at all.

But what angered them wasn’t over yet.

Huang Shengyong noticed their expressions; he smirked, walked to the second iron cart, deliberately slashed open its tarp to expose the blue meat, then turned to Lu Yun and laughed: “Your Dongling village really knows its place, hahaha…”

“Call it what you will—it’s still just a village. It ought to know its place!”

“Hahaha! Last year, if not for our aid, Dongling might have been wiped out by Great Xia. Now, with a great enemy at the gate, Sword Master Lu has finally shown wisdom—he stands with us.”

“Hahaha!”

…………

The warehouse guards instantly saw their commander, Huang Shengyong, was deliberately humiliating the Dongling team, so they joined in laughing—mocking, arrogant, full of contempt.

When Heaven wishes to destroy someone, it first drives them mad.

Hearing the mocking laughter, Lu Yun’s face darkened—but when his master’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind, his anger vanished.

Huang Shengyong’s behavior wasn’t strange. Leaving aside this year’s Beishuo Martial Tournament, over recent years, as Dongling’s strength grew, so did its influence in Jingxi and across all of Beishuo; it was natural for Beishuo people to resent it.

Add to that last year, when his master orchestrated that performance with Luo Sizheng—Beishuo believed they had saved Dongling from Great Xia, yet Lu Yang refused Yang Fa’s recruitment, a blatant act of ingratitude.

Beishuo’s hostility toward Dongling wasn’t new.

But at this very moment, Huang Shengyong dared to lead these men to deliberately provoke them—Lu Yun hadn’t expected this.

To be this foolish—it’s extraordinary!

Watching Huang Shengyong head toward the third cart, Lu Yun strode forward with a grim face and pulled back the tarp himself.

Unlike the first two carts, the beast meat on the third iron cart was packed in giant leather sacks.

Lu Yun pulled out one sack, untied its mouth to reveal the blue meat inside, and spoke with anger: “These ten carts of beast meat were hunted with great effort by Dongling. I ask you, General Huang, to show some respect…”

He paused, ignoring Huang Shengyong’s darkening face, and continued: “For your convenience, the first two carts contain loose meat—each bundle 500 jin, 400 bundles total, 200,000 jin. The last eight carts are sack-packed—each sack 2,500 jin, ninety sacks per cart, eight carts total 720 sacks, 1,800,000 jin. Since you distrust Dongling, take your time to count. I’m leaving.”

Lu Yun said no more; he waved to the escort team.

The escort team, clearly seething, immediately abandoned the carts and followed Lu Yun toward the warehouse perimeter.

“Wait…”

Huang Shengyong, whose expression had remained grim, finally snapped—he called out to stop Lu Yun, then angrily gestured to his soldiers behind him.

Riiip… riiip…

The soldiers instantly understood and slashed open the tarps on all seven remaining iron carts.

The beast meat from all ten carts now lay exposed before them.

Seeing the rigid faces of Lu Yun and his men, Huang Shengyong felt a surge of triumph.

He feigned apology: “This is a restricted warehouse—we must inspect thoroughly. Young Master, forgive us…”

He paused, then sneered: “My men are preparing to fight the Xia Army. These laborious tasks should be handled by your Dongling brothers. Please, go ahead.”

Lu Yun’s pupils flickered with shock—but he quickly masked it, replacing it with fury: “General Huang, pushing these ten carts inside won’t take much effort—is that what you call labor?”

“Lu Brother, do you know what this place is? The Battle of Zhongyang is imminent—this is a restricted warehouse. Nothing but beast meat is allowed inside. These carts won’t enter. You must unload all the meat and move it to my designated locations.”

“You…”

Lu Yun clenched his fists, his cheeks flushing crimson—he seemed ready to curse at any second.

But he held back. His fists unclenched. He turned to his men: “Since General Huang has ordered it, we obey. Brothers, begin moving!”

Without even glancing at Huang Shengyong, he walked straight to the first cart, lifted a bundle of meat onto his shoulder, and headed toward the warehouse gate.

“Hmph!”

Seeing Lu Yun humiliated, Huang Shengyong wore a smug grin; he signaled the guards at the warehouse gate to open it, then led Lu Yun inside.

Thus, over a thousand men from Dongling, under Huang Shengyong’s direction and supervision, carried the ten carts’ two million jin of beast meat—bundle by bundle, sack by sack—into the warehouse.

Two million jin was a lot, but since everything was pre-packed, there were only 1,120 items total; a thousand Dongling men should have finished in one trip, quickly.

But Huang Shengyong, with his soldiers watching, deliberately sabotaged them—now ordering the meat placed here, now there—forcing Lu Yun’s men to carry it back and forth until it took a full hundred breaths to complete.

To deliver aid and be treated this way—it was unprecedented. Every single Dongling man, including Lu Yun, carried a blackened face throughout the entire labor.