Chapter 18: Beheading for Peace and Universal Celebration (New Book Period, Seeking Follows, Seeking Collections)

Ding Peng, having regained his senses, looked at Fang Longye. His eyes froze for a moment, then he said with a relaxed air, "So it is Immortal Master Fang of the Long River. Forgive me, Ding is trapped in a prison and cannot return the courtesy."

Fang Longye flicked his sword-fingers, and the iron chains on Ding Peng's body snapped at the sound.

"You recognize me?"

"Seven years ago, while leading troops past Longyuan Prefecture, I had the honor of witnessing Immortal Master's style in slaying a water demon."

"Oh? Is that so~" Fang Longye actually did not know that this Grand Commandant Ding had any intersection with his own avatar, Fang Xian.

As the two spoke, they startled Ding Peng's children, who were in the same cell.

"Father, my body hurts so much..."

Ding Peng's daughter woke from her sleep, and the first sentence she spoke made Ding Peng's eyes turn red.

"Yun'er, don't be afraid, Father is here."

With his shackles removed, Ding Peng struggled, wanting to stand up to approach his daughter.

But he simply could not do it.

In order to make him confess to the crime of treason, he had suffered many harsh tortures these past few days.

At this moment, apart from his head of white hair, he looked no different from an ordinary person.

In reality, his body was already covered in hidden injuries, his original martial cultivation of the Dao had dissipated completely, and he could barely even lift his hands.

Fang Longye reached out and used Dharma power to draw a Rejuvenation Talisman, casting it into his body. Only then did Ding Peng regain the ability to move, pulling his daughter into his arms to comfort her softly.

Fang Longye looked at Ding Peng's daughter and frowned.

He saw that she was only thirteen or fourteen years old, yet like her father, she was covered in iron chains. More crucially, a chain made of black iron ran straight through both her shoulder blades, connecting to an iron ring on the ground, which was exceptionally discordant and cruel.

Fang Longye summoned a green-light Dharma sword to help her cut the restraints, then cast a spell to heal her injuries.

Watching his daughter's body gradually recover its health, Ding Peng thanked him repeatedly~

"She is but a young girl, why was she treated like this?"

"Immortal Master, you may not know, but my sister has had the strength of nine bulls and two tigers since she was small. Two years ago, at only twelve, she began charging into battle, invincible. Even though her martial cultivation was abolished just like Father's, the imperial court remained in constant fear of her, which is why they dealt such a poisonous hand."

Ding Peng's son, standing to the side, looked up to explain, then lowered his head in self-reproach, "If it weren't for that dog emperor using me and Father to threaten her back then, Sister might have been able to escape."

"Feng'er, hold your tongue!" Ding Peng scolded.

"Hold my tongue for what? Back then I wrote to tell Father not to abandon the Ding Family Army and return alone, but you wouldn't listen, insisting on clinging to loyalty and righteousness. If you had listened to me, how could our Ding family have ended up like this?"

The boy, only about ten years old but acting like a little adult, suddenly let out a low roar.

"Even if Father had foreseen the danger, staying at the front lines would have been useless; it would have been the same outcome as today." Ding Peng's daughter, her injuries now recovered, said coldly.

"Sister?"

Ding Peng's daughter reached out, grabbed the iron chains and shackles on her brother's body, and with a forceful snap, freed her brother from his restraints.

She looked seriously at her bewildered brother and explained: "Provisions, military equipment, and logistical supplies are all under the control of the imperial court. Even if Father had prestige, could he lead a group of starving soldiers and kill his way back to Tai'an from ten thousand miles away?"

"At the very least, Father could have carved out a territory in Jiangbei~" Ding Feng argued.

"Military morale, public sentiment—which one supported Father? And those gentry below, which one of them is easy to deal with? In the end, attacked from both north and south, the result would still be defeat and death~"

Ding Yun shook her head, refuting her brother's words.

Fang Longye watched the siblings' argument with great interest. Seeing this, Ding Peng called out to the two: "Yun'er, Feng'er, why don't you come and thank the Immortal Master~"

Hearing this, the siblings stopped their conversation, hurriedly stood up, came before Fang Longye, and knelt to pay their respects, "Ding Yun (Ding Feng) thanks the Immortal Master for the grace of saving us."

"Rise. This is also because I have a fated connection with the two of you." Fang Longye waved his right hand, and the two stood up involuntarily.

He then turned to look at Ding Peng: "I believe the Commandant already understands my intentions, but unfortunately, it seems the Commandant will find it difficult to follow my wishes."

Ding Peng bowed deeply, "Many thanks for the Immortal Master's kindness, but Ding cannot get past the hurdle in his own heart; I cannot blame anyone else."

"Does the Commandant really not want to reconsider? Sacrificing one's life for righteousness is indeed respectable. But if you leave with me, I could overturn a dynasty with a flip of my hand; what injustice could not be washed away then?"

"Many thanks for the Immortal Master's favor, but forgive Ding for being unable to harbor such thoughts."

"The Zhang Kingdom is already rotten to the core; the changing of the Human Dao is a common occurrence, why must the Commandant be so stubborn?"

Ding Peng did not reply, but sighed instead. He called his two children over, reached out to stroke their heads for a long time, and finally had them kneel before Fang Longye, saying: "Immortal Master, although it is somewhat shameless, I have one request."

Fang Longye sighed slightly, "Very well~ Ding Yun, Ding Feng, from now on, you two siblings shall call me Teacher!"

Seeing this, Ding Peng bowed, "Ding Peng thanks the Immortal Master once again~" "Father!?" The siblings also understood their father's choice and cried out in unison.

Then he pulled his two children over, wiped the tears from their faces, and smiled calmly: "My choice as a father is merely an obsession in my heart; I am just being difficult with myself. People must always have something they persist in, right? To seek benevolence and obtain benevolence—that is all."

"Father!"

That night, Fang Longye used a puppet spell to replace the dozens of Ding Peng's relatives and friends who were willing to leave, while Ding Peng and the others chose to face death with equanimity.

Half a month later, Ding Peng and the others were beheaded at the Noon Gate. Their heads were urgently sent to the front lines to be handed over to the Cang Kingdom, and with the condition of the Zhang Kingdom ceding the eight recovered prefectures in the north, peace was successfully negotiated. More than half of the results of over a decade of northern expeditions were destroyed.

Ding Peng died, and the peace talks were successful.

The Zhang Kingdom's imperial court immediately announced the cancellation of the "Northern Expedition Military Tax" and reduced taxes for three years to soothe the common people.

The whole world celebrated, and everyone was happy~ The Cang Kingdom, without expending any effort, regained the eight prefectures including Yujing, while the Zhang Kingdom stabilized the six northern prefectures it already held, using them as a barrier for the south.

The Emperor stabilized his throne, the civil officials suppressed the arrogance of the military generals, and the commoners received the gift of a respite, shouting praises for the Sage's benevolence.

No one mentioned Ding Peng; it seemed as if such a person had never existed in the Zhang Kingdom.

At the old Ding residence, the siblings Ding Yun and Ding Feng stood across the street for a long time. Then, Ding Yun looked at Fang Longye, "Teacher, let's go!"

"Do you not want to look a while longer?"

Ding Yun shook her head and said, "The things that should be taken have been taken back; there is nothing left to be nostalgic about."

She brushed past the Dharma barrier that had been concealing the siblings' tracks, lifted her heroic little face, and said with determined eyes, "One day, I will return to Tai'an City in a dignified manner; we shall see then!"

"That is fine, otherwise your relatives and friends would be worried." Fang Longye nodded.

"By the way, Teacher, this is for you." Ding Yun took an ancient sword with a black scabbard from her brother Ding Feng's arms and offered it to Fang Longye with both hands.

"This is?" Fang Longye reached out to take it and drew the sword to examine it. As soon as the sword left its sheath, a chill that numbed the bones and muscles immediately radiated from the blade. He saw that the sword's design was strangely ancient, over three feet long from tip to hilt, two fingers wide, dark green in color, and the patterns on the sword's spine were in the shape of a hundred dragons coiling around it.

"A fine sword!" Fang Longye praised. In terms of sharpness alone, this sword was already enough to rival a Dharma Artifact.

"Sir, this is the Green Blood Sword passed down in our family. The original intention was for our ancestor to keep us mindful of a loyal and patriotic heart. Since the Emperor has treated my Ding family's heart of loyalty as worthless, the Ding family no longer needs this sword either," Ding Yun said coldly.

"Sir has yet to receive our tuition, so let this sword be offered to you as a gift for accepting us as disciples~" Ding Feng echoed his sister's words and said respectfully to Fang Longye.

"Very well, I shall accept your intentions." Fang Longye was noncommittal; he sheathed the Green Blood Sword, casually placed it into his Storage Bag, and led the two toward the outside of the city~ Walking along the way, watching the commoners inside and outside the city expressing their gratitude, Ding Feng said in a muffled voice, "Sister, I truly feel it was not worth it for Father."

Ding Yun was silent for a moment, then replied, "I feel the same."

Fang Longye heard the two's conversation and smiled, but did not reply. Instead, he approached an old farmer carrying grain into the city and asked, "It seems everyone is celebrating?"

The old farmer could not see the Ding siblings and only saw a noble young master dressed in brocade asking him a question. Not daring to be negligent, he replied, "Indeed, after fighting for over a dozen years, thanks to the Emperor's benevolence, we can finally live a few good years."

"Oh? But what if the Cang Kingdom invades from the south again in the future?"

"Noble one, you worry about the country and the people, but for us little folk, we count ourselves lucky to live one day at a time; how could we worry about the future?" Having said this, he bowed and hurried away.

"Counting the ends of the earth, still flesh and blood, how many families can endure?"

Fang Longye sighed deeply and said earnestly to the two, "The commoners are shortsighted, but do not blame them; it is already not easy for them to survive."

"Sir, but my father wanted to fight for a good life for them!" Ding Feng said, puzzled.

"This is not your father's fault; it is the fault of the Zhang Kingdom's imperial court. The court placed the entire burden on the commoners, so naturally, the commoners do not want to fight," Fang Longye replied.

"The momentum of the Northern Expedition cannot be leaked; one can only advance and never retreat. Therefore, the moment Father was recalled, he knew he was already powerless to turn the tide," Ding Yun said coldly.

Fang Longye looked at her with approval and replied, "That is correct. The reason your father was unwilling to leave with me, besides his unwillingness to go against his own convictions, was because he understood that after the imperial court took the initiative to retreat, no one would be willing to support the Northern Expedition in the short term."

The commoners in the southern lands were unwilling to bear the burden of the Northern Expedition again, while the commoners in the recovered northern lands wanted to rebuild their homes.

The peace faction wanted to suppress the arrogance of the war faction, and the Emperor wanted to eliminate the military generals he deemed a threat to his throne; those who saw the danger clearly did not dare to speak much as the imperial court had already delivered its final verdict.

Unless the Zhang Kingdom's imperial court was overthrown and a new dynasty established, and under the redistribution of interests, the commoners' lives were improved, only then would they naturally support the Northern Expedition.

Unfortunately, Ding Peng himself was unwilling to be the one to overthrow the Zhang Kingdom.

"The Zhang Kingdom is already rotten to the core; there is no saving it." Fang Longye led the two out of the city gate and headed toward a forest not far away, preparing to reunite with the dozens of Ding Peng's friends and relatives he had previously rescued.

Not far away, on the great river connected to the moat, an old man on a lone boat sang with tragic emotion: "Pouring water onto flat ground, each flows east, west, south, and north. Life also has its fate; how can one sigh and sit in sorrow?

Pouring wine to comfort myself, raising a cup to cut off the song of the difficult road. If the heart is not wood or stone, how can it not feel? Swallowing my voice and hesitating, I dare not speak."

Although I am very long-winded, I still want to express my gratitude to the friends who support me. In addition, friends who have not invested can also click to invest. Even if I flop, I will persist to the end. I will write at least 4000 words every day and guarantee no breaks for 30 days, so there is no need to worry that I will fail to do the second step and the investment will fail~ (End of this chapter)