Chapter 18: Daring to Covet My Wife — I Handle the Killing and the Burial

Shen Daniu had grown used to running roughshod over Yunshan Village; anyone with a family to look after wouldn't dare provoke him, and only Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou, both orphans, had the nerve to come back to repay the kindness — but even they were getting a little scared now.

Shen Daniu was the sort of man who would stop at nothing to carry on the family line; when it came to enlisting in exchange for a wife, he was the most eager of all, but unfortunately his son was a fool, and no one wanted him.

Now that he'd finally caught a chance, with a young virgin girl sent down to the village, there was no way he could let her slip by.

"Want to tie us up? Then come and try! Send us to An City, and we can find Tianxing on the way. Even if by some chance he's really dead, the merits he's earned will be enough to make the authorities send someone to kill you."

Shen Erhu forced down his fear, gritted his teeth, and tried to threaten them — but it was utterly useless against Shen Daniu.

"Hahaha... you little fools who don't know when you're dead. You've actually reminded me of something — just beat them to death. All of you, get him! Kill them both! Didn't Shen Sangou bring back a wife? She's yours."

Hearing Shen Daniu's words, the old local thugs and rascals who'd come with him lit up at once, grabbed wooden clubs, and were about to rush in to beat Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou to death.

Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou stumbled back in terror, wanting to turn and run, only to find they were already surrounded by the lot of them — this time they were truly done for.

But just at that critical moment, the sound of urgent hoofbeats came from behind, accompanied by a sharp whistling through the air.

Shen Tianxing was seen riding toward Yunshan Village with Zhao Lingfei and his soldiers. The whistling sound was a long spear, snatched from one of the light cavalrymen and hurled by Zhao Lingfei — it pierced straight through the old rascal at the very front of the ring, pinning him dead to the ground.

"Someone's been killed — run!"

The first to react at the sight of a dead body cried out in panic and turned to flee.

The others tried to run too, but how could the legs of ordinary men outpace horses? Over a hundred light cavalry came charging at tremendous speed, and in an instant they had ringed Shen Tianxing's house on all sides — airtight, with no one able to escape.

"Tianxing, it's you! You're finally back! If you hadn't come back any sooner, we'd have been beaten to death. That Shen Daniu was about to snatch your wife away and give her to his fool son for a wife!"

Shen Erhu, beside himself with excitement, hurried to report. Shen Tianxing dismounted, and his piercing gaze fell on Shen Daniu.

Shen Daniu stared dumbfounded, trembling all over with fright. The thugs and rascals behind him were so terrified they shrank back behind Shen Daniu, shivering; some of them even wet themselves.

"Quite the village chief, aren't you — setting your sights on my wife. Giving her to your son as a wife is just an excuse, isn't it? The truth is you want her for yourself. Tell me, how would you like to die?"

Shen Tianxing was all smiles, but Shen Daniu felt as though he had fallen into an icy pit. Especially when he looked at Shen Tianxing's smile, it seemed as if he were gazing upon the devil's grin.

"Tianxing, I know I was wrong. I don't want to die. I beg you, let me go. Just let me go, and I'll do anything you ask. I swear from this day on I'll never show my face in front of you again, and I'll never come to take your wife.

You've lived in this village for so many years after all. I may never have been good to you, but I never truly harmed you either. What happened today was a moment's foolishness. I beg you to be merciful and spare me!"

Shen Tianxing kept smiling, still nodding his head. Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou both thought Shen Tianxing was softening, and Shen Daniu felt as if he could see hope.

"Finished talking? Then you can be on your way. I had wanted to let you choose how you'd die, but now — cut off their hands and feet and bury them alive."

"Yes, my lord!"

Several sword-and-shield soldiers answered at once, then swiftly stepped forward and seized Shen Daniu and the thugs. Ignoring their wailing and pleas for mercy, they dragged them outside, hacked off their hands and feet, and then hauled them off to dig a pit in the distance.

Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou kept swallowing hard, and seeing Shen Daniu and the others with their hands and feet cut off, they were so terrified they trembled all the more.

"You two don't need to be afraid. Coming to help my wife at a time like this — I'll count you two as brothers from now on. If you ever need my help with anything, just say the word!"

As he said this, Shen Tianxing reached out and clapped them both on the shoulder, nearly scaring the two of them to their knees.

"Tianxing, if you're going to talk, then talk — don't clap us on the shoulder! From the look of you, you've earned merit and become an officer? You can just kill people like that and get away with it?"

Shen Erhu was scared, but he still plucked up his courage to ask.

"I just saved General Yang Hongyue, became a Thousand-Man Commander, a sixth-rank post. It's not that I can kill people at will — it's just that they wanted to touch my wife, and they've done plenty of evil over the years anyway. Burying them is burying them."

Shen Tianxing answered casually. Shen Erhu and Shen Sangou both grew excited at once — they truly hadn't expected that enlisting, killing enemies, and earning merit could actually lead to becoming an officer. What incredible luck was that?

"Mingyue, I'm back. Shen Daniu and the others have been buried by me. You can come out now."

Shen Tianxing stood outside the door and shouted. Mingyue, who had been hiding under the covers, had heard a great commotion outside just now, but had been too scared to make out what was going on.

Now hearing Shen Tianxing's voice, she was overjoyed. She hurried out from under the covers, took three steps as if they were two, went up and opened the door. Seeing the beaming Shen Tianxing standing before her, she threw her arms around him in delight.

"It's wonderful that you're back. Are you hurt? You didn't really become an officer, did you? Are those soldiers yours? And that beautiful female general — she wouldn't be General Yang Hongyue, would she?"

Mingyue's questions pleased Shen Tianxing greatly. The first thing she cared about was whether he was hurt; only after that did she ask about anything else. With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?

"I'm not hurt. I just became a Thousand-Man Commander. They're my subordinates. That beautiful female general is a Hundred-Man Colonel under me — General Yang Hongyue doesn't have the time to come all the way here just to see my wife."

Mingyue's face flushed red in an instant. She hurriedly let go of Shen Tianxing and said, a little annoyed:

"Who's your wife? I never said I'd marry you!"

"No way. I risked my life to cut my way through a river of blood, barely survived, and the first thing I did was come back to find you — and now you say you don't plan to marry me? That's too heartbreaking for me."

As he spoke, Shen Tianxing turned away, leaving behind a back that seemed faintly sorrowful. Mingyue grew anxious, at a loss for what to do. After a moment's thought, she hurriedly hugged him from behind and said, a little flustered:

"That's not what I meant. It's just that you're already a Thousand-Man Commander. I only felt I wasn't good enough for you, and I was afraid I'd bring you trouble."

Shen Tianxing turned around and embraced Mingyue. Though she'd thinned out a little, her face was indeed exquisitely beautiful, and what she ought to have wasn't small either — just as Zhang Lei had said, a bit of nourishment would fix her right up.

"As long as I don't feel you're beneath me, that's enough. As for trouble, I couldn't care less. Anyone who means you harm — I'll send them down to hell first."

Mingyue was deeply moved. The Great Zhou and the Great Wu had been fighting battle after battle, and women like them were among the greatest victims of the war. No one treated them as people, and no one cared whether they lived or died — but Shen Tianxing truly cared about her.

At this thought, Mingyue seemed to have made up her mind. She looked up at Shen Tianxing.

"The trouble I mean isn't that. Come inside with me — I'll tell you alone."