Chapter 143

"Do you think I'd believe you? You've followed me for so many years, I still know you. Your strength isn't weak, but you lack the ability to command troops; all along you've only been able to serve as my deputy marshal."

"I know you're unwilling, but I never thought of replacing my deputy marshal, because I trust you, and the reason I trust you is that you have no brains."

"But now you tell me you can easily know information even I don't know—whose faction in the court are you aligned with to get such news?"

"Regardless of victory or defeat in this campaign, I fear I will die; if I die, the credit will fall to you. Thus, you will be able to ascend to the position legitimately."

"Facing Lin Feiyun's words, Ding Chunlong laughed, laughing brightly, reached out and knocked Lin Feiyun's sword aside; Lin Feiyun then felt his strength wane, swaying before collapsing to the ground."

"What did you do to me? Why did I suddenly lose my strength?"

"Lin Feiyun only then realized something was wrong, but it was already too late."

"Ding Chunlong picked up the sword he had dropped on the ground and made a few motions with it in front of him."

"What you say is true—I don't have your abilities, but haven't you also lost battles? This was originally a linked scheme, and one of its links was meant to take your life."

"In this internal turmoil of the Great Zhou, His Majesty indeed wants to take the opportunity to seize Great Zhou. So what should we do? We can only send you, the strongest marshal, out."

"If you succeed in taking Great Zhou, I will kill you at an appropriate moment, making you a hero of my great enlightenment, and then I will accept the emperor's reward using your achievements."

I told His Majesty I no longer want to be a general; as long as he gives me enough silver to return home and live as a wealthy man, that's fine. His Majesty was very pleased, after all he plans to cultivate new, obedient, capable commanders.

Rather than you, this grand marshal who is gradually slipping from control; actually I know you haven't slipped from the emperor's control—it's those ministers in court who dislike you and are framing you.

"What should be done? In my view, you deserved to die long ago; although you've been with me all these years, you've never brought me a good life."

"Every one of your successes—people only see you; no one ever remembers me, and even when mentioned, I'm merely seen as your foil. I've had enough."

"But I can't do anything about them; I can only endure the resentment. But now it's different—His Majesty thinks I can help him get rid of you, so I have value."

"You could have died later, but the only blame is that you failed to enter Humen Pass and also failed to take Great Zhou; now I can only send you on your way early, after all His Majesty knows that if he summons a grandmaster, he doesn't need you at all."

"Finally, it's the tea you just drank—I poisoned it. As a marshal of the three armies, you're so careless; I don't know whether to say you're too trusting of me or just foolish."

"Ding Chunlong rambled on and on; this is the incoherent speech of someone feeling pleased with himself. However, Lin Feiyun had no intention of waiting passively for death; although he currently can't exert strength, that doesn't mean he can't put up a fight."

"As long as he finds the right moment to charge out, his subordinates will come to rescue him, and then Ding Chunlong will surely die."

"Stop struggling—are you trying to crawl out of the tent to call for help, which is why you're ignoring my words? In Lin Feiyun's tent now, all are my people; your people have already been arranged to the rear."

"Moreover, I have people guarding over there, so you can't possibly approach; after all, you can't even crawl out of the tent now—how could I not have devised a foolproof plan to deal with you?"

"Alright, the nonsense is done; this also counts as letting you die in peace. Now I'll send you on your way—remember in your next life to judge people correctly, and don't be so conceited again."

"Ding Chunlong walked toward Lin Feiyun unhurriedly, his sword still flashing a few flowery moves; since he was fully confident, playing with his sword was still nice."

"Lin Feiyun didn't speak, but instead lowered his head; Ding Chunlong thought he had resigned himself, raised his sword, and was about to stab Lin Feiyun."

"But unexpectedly, Lin Feiyun suddenly lifted his head, his eyes filled with blood, then slapped the ground with a palm, launching himself into the air; immediately he turned mid-air and struck Ding Chunlong with a palm, landing squarely on his chest."

"Ding Chunlong, caught off guard, spat a mouthful of blood and was flung backward; before hitting the ground he was already seriously injured and unconscious. Lin Feiyun hesitated not at all, rushed out, mounted his swift horse, and galloped wildly toward Humen Pass."

"The night was deep; Shen Tianxing, Yang Hongyue, and Ru Yan were on the city tower admiring the moon. They would leave Humen Pass for Wuzhou early tomorrow morning. Shen Tianxing restrained his desire and admired the moon on the tower."

"Detected that the Great Wu marshal Lin Feiyun, severely wounded and critical, is riding a horse toward Humen Pass; issuing a choice mission, please host select completion."

"Choice One: rescue Lin Feiyun, subdue him, laying the most solid foundation for future attacks on Great Wu."

"Choice Two: kill Lin Feiyun, lead troops out of the pass to attack Great Wu's border stronghold, annihilating the army he brought."

"Choice Three: like Lin Feiyun, use him as a bargaining chip for a temporary alliance with Great Wu, leveraging Great Wu's power to seize Great Zhou."

"Hearing that the system actually issued a choice mission, Shen Tianxing almost burst out laughing from anger."

"Normally such choice missions would directly tell him what reward he'd get for picking which option, but this system didn't say, and moreover gave three extremely laughable choices."

"First, the first choice is the best, no need to doubt. Second, killing Lin Feiyun and wiping out his army would, although it would make Shen Tianxing's future attack on Great Wu somewhat easier."

"But Lin Feiyun is in such a miserable state, surely due to persecution from Great Wu; his death would actually be a good thing for Great Wu, so this option definitely cannot be chosen."

"The third choice is the simplest; seeking skin from a tiger basically brings no benefit at all. Although Shen Tianxing isn't afraid, he would surely be stabbed in the back—so besides the first, is there any other choice?"

"I choose the first one; can you now tell me what the reward is?"

"Congratulations, host, for choosing the first mission to rescue Lin Feiyun and subdue him; completing the task yields a reward of 5 million killing value, a Super Gift Pack, and two million silver."

"Is that it? Now even the rewards are so perfunctory? What is a Super Gift Pack?"

"Shen Tianxing couldn't help but complain, and then Hong Yi's voice came from his ear."

"No need to ask—the Super Gift Pack lets you open anything available in the system mall; each time you can only get three items, and when lucky you might obtain a divine weapon, super divine weapon, divine-grade martial arts, or super god-tier martial arts."

"If luck is bad, you might just get an inferior weapon—isn't that the most suitable reward for you? As long as your luck value is sufficient, plus you have the blessing of destiny fortune, you needn't fear failing to get good things."

"Having said that, Shen Tianxing felt relieved; just then Yang Hongyue's voice also came from his ear."

"Shen Tianxing, down there seems to be a horse, and on the horse seems to be a person—shall we go down and check?"

"Shen Tianxing nodded, about to go down and pull the person up, and by the way feed him a Small Return Pill—he didn't expect Ru Yan to act first, leaping up and fluttering down like a fairy, reaching out to grab Lin Feiyun."

"Immediately after, Ru Yan landed, stamped her foot, and with Lin Feiyun in hand flew up to the city tower, landing steadily there, and casually threw him to the ground."

"Leave such trivial matters to me—why need the husband to act?"