Chapter 1055

Hu Xiaotian said: "Why do you want to act against Xi Yue?"

Zhou Mo said: "Sir Hu worries that you will ruin the big plan because of her."

"Your big plan?"

Zhou Mo sighed and said: "Rest assured, she will not be harmed."

Hu Xiaotian coldly said: "Isn't it already too late to say this now?"

Zhou Mo's gaze fell again on the sword hilt on Hu Xiaotian's shoulder, and he whispered: "Do you want to kill me?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I dare not, Xi Yue and Feiyan are both in your hands; even if I wanted to kill you, I would have to consider their lives." As he spoke, he slowly drew the Hidden Edge Sword from behind his shoulder, the great sword Hidden Edge, its dark blade flashing with a light that gave a sense of oppression from the heart.

Zhou Mo furrowed his brows: "Do you want to fight me?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I just want to see how many secrets you are hiding!" He lunged forward like a leopard, the great sword in his hand thrusting straight at Zhou Mo's chest. Zhou Mo did not dodge or evade, standing still there; when the sword tip was only half an inch from his heart, the chilling sword aura had already penetrated his skin, yet Zhou Mo still had no intention to dodge, silently gazing at Hu Xiaotian.

The sword tip hovered, not released; Hu Xiaotian looked at Zhou Mo and said: "Why don't you fight back? Do you think this will make me go easy and let you go?"

Zhou Mo said: "Third brother, I am sorry to you; if you kill me, I will have no complaints."

From outside came Xiong Tianba's terrified voice: "Don't!"

Zhou Mo roared: "Get lost!" After the thunderous shout, he grabbed the sword blade with both hands and thrust it forcefully into his own chest; his palm was cut by the edge of the Hidden Edge Sword, and fresh blood dripped down the blade.

Hu Xiaotian and Zhou Mo locked eyes, their forces converging on the Hidden Edge Sword. Although Hu Xiaotian was filled with resentment, he could not kill Zhou Mo with a single sword strike; even if he killed Zhou Mo, he could not retrieve Long Xi Yue and Murong Feiyan.

Hu Xiaotian suddenly raised his left fist and heavily struck Zhou Mo's abdomen. This punch caused Zhou Mo to loosen his grip on the Hidden Edge Sword and stagger backward; Zhou Mo covered his abdomen, staring at Hu Xiaotian, gritting his teeth; Hu Xiaotian's punch was indeed not light.

Xiong Tianba stood aside, tears welling up in his eyes; he did not know what had happened? Why would his master suddenly turn against his sworn brother, the third uncle?

Hu Xiaotian shouted: "Give me a reason!"

Zhou Mo whispered: "If you want to kill, then kill; there is no reason."

Hu Xiaotian nodded. Then he violently thrust the Hidden Edge Sword in his hand deep into the ground: "Go!"

Zhou Mo could hardly believe his ears; he had not expected Hu Xiaotian to let him go so easily, and he whispered: "Why?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "We have sworn brotherhood after all; from now on, you are you and I am I. If you don't want to speak, I will not make things difficult for you; you only need to remember that if you ever get a chance to see Xi Yue and Feiyan, tell them for me that in this lifetime I will surely come to find them."

Zhou Mo pressed his lips, nodded, and said: "Take care!" He strode to his horse, mounted it, and Xiong Tianba followed, shouting loudly: "Why?" His eyes were full of tears; a man's tears are not shed lightly. Only because the time of sorrow had not yet come, Xiong Tianba, though not exceptionally clever, now understood: his master had betrayed the third uncle; emotionally he should side with his master, but morally he should side with the third uncle.

Zhou Mo said: "Everyone has their own ambitions! Bear cub, the affection between us as master and disciple ends here!" He tightened the reins, spurred his horse, and galloped toward the gate's guests, never looking back.

Xiong Tianba grinned widely as he came to Hu Xiaotian's side: "Third uncle... my master has left..."

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "Are you planning to follow him or stay?"

Xiong Tianba wiped his tears dry and said: "Stay! My master surely has unspeakable difficulties; third uncle, don't be angry with him."

Hu Xiaotian said nothing, silently walked toward the spacious training ground of the Shenghou Fu; Huo Shengnan was already waiting there; actually she had been observing from the shadows earlier, preparing to assist Hu Xiaotian from the sidelines, but Hu Xiaotian, as expected, let Zhou Mo go.

Huo Shengnan softly sighed: "It seems you ultimately still cannot let go of this brotherly bond."

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "It's not that I can't let go; killing him would be meaningless, given his nature he would never tell me the truth."

Huo Shengnan said: "At least regarding the matter of Long Xi Yue, he already owes you greatly."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Xiao Tianmu and he are deeply close; if I killed him, I could not guarantee Xiao Tianmu would not take revenge; now Xi Yue and Feiyan should be under their control." Although Zhou Mo betrayed me, Hu Xiaotian believes Zhou Mo must have his own difficulties, and given his understanding of Zhou Mo, this person has always acted openly and aboveboard, whereas Xiao Tianmu is different—this second brother of mine is deep‑schemed, employs any means, and his bond with Zhou Mo is even stronger than mine with him; if I truly killed Zhou Mo in the name of righteousness, it would surely invite Xiao Tianmu's revenge.

Huo Shengnan knew Hu Xiaotian was wary of hurting the innocent while attacking the guilty, and she said dimly: "For such ambitious people, there is no kinship or friendship; if you talk about benevolence and righteousness with them, in the end only you will suffer."

Hu Xiaotian smiled calmly: "Don't worry, I have already severed ties with them."

"Nonsense!" Long Xuan'en, for the first time, flared up in front of Qiqi, slammed the table and rose in anger, his deep eyes fixed on Qiqi, and he roared: "What did you say? Dare you say it again?"

Qiqi said: "I have already made myself clear; Dakang is now riddled with wounds; if we do not respond in time, the state will surely collapse, the nation will cease to be a nation, and the day of its downfall is not far off."

Long Xuan'en pointed at Qiqi and said: "You little girl, I trust you so much, I let you handle state affairs on my behalf, yet you actually came up with the idea of splitting and destroying Dakang—do you think Dakang isn't chaotic enough? You actually want to actively give my land to others; are you even a descendant of the Long clan? Do you think this is worthy of our ancestors?"

Qiqi said: "Your Majesty, can you still control Dakang as it stands now? If you could, why has Li Tianheng of Xichuan risen in rebellion? Why have domestic rebels sprung up everywhere? In fact, Dakang has now become a loose sand; why not abandon some insignificant territories and preserve the core foundation of Dakang?" She argued forcefully, and her emotions grew agitated.

Long Xuan'en angrily said: "It must be Hu Xiaotian teaching you, isn't it? What kind of bewitching soup did he give you? First you followed his suggestion, letting Hu Buwei lead fifty warships and ten thousand elite marines to Luo Song to develop some maritime grain route. But the result? Not only did Hu Buwei seize the chance to flee, even my fifty warships vanished! Dakang's navy once ruled the seas, invincible under heaven; now, because of your suggestion, I have lost my core naval strength. You now urge me to enfeoff Dakang's lands—what is your motive? Do you not want to see me become a lonely widower before you are happy?"

Qiqi said: "Your Majesty, everything I have done is solely for Dakang's consideration; I never intended to harm Dakang's interests."

"Enough! If I did not consider you young and ignorant, I would certainly not spare you today."

Qiqi bit her cherry lips and said: "Your Majesty, since you deem me young and ignorant, why then do you let me handle Dakang's state affairs for you, handing over the rivers and mountains to my hands? Have you given this deep thought? Do you treat governing the state as a child's game?"

Long Xuan'en roared: "Qiqi, although I dote on you, if you continue to rely on favor and act coquettishly, I will not spare you either."

Qiqi said: "What would killing me achieve? If killing me could let Dakang recover its vitality, revive the court's orders, and let the people regain faith in the government, then I would die without regret. But Dakang's present situation is not of my making; even if you killed me, it would be of no avail."

Long Xuan'en sneered: "Do you think I really dare not kill you?"

Qiqi said: "What is there not to dare? You are the lord of Dakang; is there anything under heaven you dare not do?" Her gaze fearlessly met Long Xuan'en's.

At this moment, Wang Qian hurriedly entered, approached Long Xuan'en's side, and whispered something in his ear. After hearing it, Long Xuan'en's face showed delight, and he told Qiqi: "Please step back! This matter must not be mentioned again; otherwise I will not bother with any courtesy."

Qiqi angrily turned and left; she couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye.

After Qiqi left, Long Xuan'en beckoned Wang Qian with a finger and said: "What did you say? Say it again!"

Wang Qian beamed with a smile and said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty; just now we received news from the Da Yong side: the Da Yong emperor Xue Shengkang died suddenly of illness!"

"Really?"

Wang Qian had not yet had time to answer when he heard an announcement from outside: Hong Beimo had arrived.

Hong Beimo's visit this time was also to report this matter: the Dakang emperor Xue Shengkang had suddenly fallen ill five days prior, died due to delayed treatment, and Xue Shengkang had not even had time to name a crown prince; now the Da Yong realm is also in utter chaos.

For the Dakang ruler and his ministers, this is truly a great piece of news; for years they have lived under the threat and shadow of Da Yong; the Da Yong emperor Xue Shengkang has always been ambitious, aiming to unify the Central Plains and conquer Dakang as his lifelong goal; now his ambitions unfulfilled, he died first, and Long Xuan'en, upon hearing this news, could not help but laugh heartily: "Heaven blesses Dakang, heaven blesses Dakang!" His most feared opponent had suddenly died; it can be determined that the power vacuum left by Xue Shengkang's death will take considerable time to fill, and Da Yong will inevitably fall into a struggle of power succession and the ensuing conflicts; in this situation they cannot spare hands to invade Dakang, meaning Dakang finally has a chance to catch its breath.

Hong Beimo smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you are indeed blessed with great fortune."

Long Xuan'en, overjoyed, nodded and said: "Heaven has eyes; Xue Shengkang actually died; just now that girl Qiqi even advised me to partition Dakang's lands—hahaha, hahaha! She thought Dakang's fate was already at its end."

These past few days my kidney stones have flared up; I need to rest, the body is the capital of revolution, Zhangyu dare not overstrain, let me transition smoothly for a few days; my condition these two days is not great either; this month's update already exceeds two hundred thousand characters, which by rights is quite a lot, but Zhangyu really needs to adjust the pace, otherwise the work cannot reach its best state; updates may be affected somewhat; please ask all readers to understand more; the end and start of the month are the critical period for vying for the Monthly Ticket; Zhangyu truly does not want to give it up, I can only say at most one week, Zhangyu will strive to quickly adjust my condition. (To be continued~^~)