Chapter 20

In this chaotic world, Shen Tianxing will never compromise; the most direct way to deal with those who want his life is to take theirs.

Not to mention Shen Tianxing still has a Zongshi Peak experience card in hand—he fears nothing, even against ten thousand troops.

Just the Dragon-Slaying Blade in his hand plus the buff from Hua Zi Lei Bi Ke Xi could easily handle this Five Pin expert.

"Fine, since you refuse the toast and choose the penalty drink, don't blame this General for being ruthless—soldiers, seize Shen Tianxing, life or death doesn't matter!"

Shen Tianxing's performance hit the mark; Pan Dongpeng immediately gave the order, and his subordinates were about to obey when a furious shout rang out from afar.

"What a ruthless attitude, what a disregard for life and death—halt, all of you! Who gave you permission to slaughter each other?"

Yang Hongyue rode over, with Qin Lie and Li Ming following her, along with hundreds of soldiers.

Nobody expected Yang Hongyue to appear; Shen Tianxing is merely a petty commander of a thousand—how could Yang Hongyue care so much about his life or death?

"Paying respects, General Yang, General Yang—Shen Tianxing disobeyed military orders, privately led troops out of camp, and after leaving the city beheaded the commander of ten thousand, Lin Ao, who tried to make him return to camp!

His methods were extremely cruel; along with Lin Ao's hundreds of subordinates, they were all slaughtered by him and his men, and the corpses were buried in the woods outside An City's North City Gate, two li away.

I, too, came under the Marshal's orders to bring him back for investigation—what exactly happened? I never expected him to flatly deny it, intending to make a last stand, so we had no choice but to prepare to act and seize him.

By now, Pan Dongpeng has no choice but to tell the truth; the key is to deflect blame, pinning all responsibility on Shen Tianxing.

""Vice General Pan has said all this, but where's the evidence? How do you prove that Lin Ao and the others were killed by Shen Tianxing? What was left at the scene? Any witnesses?""

Yang Hongyue is certainly biased toward Shen Tianxing; of course, the main reason is that Shen Tianxing is being targeted by Sun Tiejun, and Shen Tianxing had already said before leaving that Sun Tiejun intended to deal with him.

Originally, Yang Hongyue hadn't given it much thought; although she dislikes Sun Tiejun, she wouldn't go so far as to kill Shen Tianxing, a mere commander of a thousand.

But now the facts are before her, Yang Hongyue cannot help but believe, and naturally she chooses to side with Shen Tianxing.

As for how she could come, it's largely thanks to Li Ming seeing Pan Dongpeng lead troops out of the city and reporting to her; realizing something was wrong, Yang Hongyue then brought troops to aid Shen Tianxing.

Shen Tianxing secretly thought it a pity; Pan Dongpeng is of Five Pin strength, killing him would yield at least ten or twenty thousand Killing Value, plus these 500 people would surely net another one or two thousand Killing Value—maybe Pan Dongpeng could even drop some good loot.

""General, what more evidence do you need? Shen Tianxing left camp not long ago, and Lin Ao and his men were immediately killed; their bodies were found in the woods along their usual route—if not Shen Tianxing, could it possibly be someone from the Dawu Army?""

Is Pan Dongpeng truly stupid? Certainly not; with Yang Hongyue here, the plan has failed, so he can only push the blame onto the Dawu Army—even if Sun Tiejun wants to hold him accountable, he just needs to say Yang Hongyue went there, leaving Sun Tiejun nowhere to vent his anger.

""Hmph, Shen Tianxing leaving camp was permitted by this General; what fault is there in him going home to see his wife? Earlier, Shen Tianxing earned great merit at Humen Pass, and bringing a few troops home for escort is hardly improper.""

""If he didn't leave camp without permission, then Lin Ao had no need to block him; how can you be certain he would kill Lin Ao and his men?""

""He hasn't done it, yet you insist he admit it, bring him back for trial—if he refuses to go with you, what wrong has he done?""

""You also claim it could be the Dawu Army, yet you don't investigate properly and instead turn weapons on your own people—what crime does that make you guilty of?""

Faced with Yang Hongyue's reprimand, Pan Dongpeng had difficulty speaking; what rendered him speechless was the apparent mistake that Shen Tianxing has a wife, and Yang Hongyue could never be interested in a married man.

In other words, the supposed enemy Sun Tiejun is baseless; the result was this huge blunder, losing a capable officer, and I myself fell into a pit through sheer bad luck!

""General Yang's words are quite right; it is this junior's fault for acting without proper investigation. I will now return to investigate and inform Marshal Sun, asking the Marshal to mete out punishment.""

Pan Dongpeng is Sun Tiejun's man; although General Yang outranks him, she cannot directly dispose of him, so Pan Dongpeng took the opportunity to back down, thereby putting the matter behind him.

Yang Hongyue came to rescue Shen Tianxing, not to make things difficult for Pan Dongpeng; now that the matter is settled, there's no need for her to continue making things difficult for Pan Dongpeng.

""Remember what you said; go tell the Marshal that before acting, one ought to investigate thoroughly, not just improvise—what must be prepared now is the plan to encircle and annihilate the Dawu Army in five days.""

""I will dutifully follow General Yang's order; upon returning I will relay this to Marshal Sun, and then take my leave.""

Yang Hongyue nodded; Pan Dongpeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly led his men away from Yunshan Village in haste.

""Thank you, General Yang, for coming to lift the siege; I didn't expect such a minor matter to trouble you to make a trip.""

Shen Tianxing grinned cheekily; Yang Hongyue rolled her eyes in annoyance, dismounted, came up to Shen Tianxing, and whispered in his ear:

""I'm not here to lift the siege; I'm here to save them. One more person means one more share of strength to kill the enemy—Lin Ao and his men were all killed by you, right?""

You don't need to admit it; let this matter drop. After all, it's ultimately the trouble I've caused you, and Sun Tiejun's blunder—I'll have people watch Sun Tiejun's men so they won't bother you again.

You also must not make a habit of this; although it's Sun Tiejun's problem, you cannot just go around killing so many of your own people—this once only; if there's a next time, General Yang won't care whether you live or die.

""Thank you for the reminder, General; I won't make a habit of it. Since you've come all this way, why not rest a while here? Have a cup of tea before heading back.""

Shen Tianxing said that with his mouth, but in his heart he didn't care at all—whoever wants his life, he will take theirs; even if the heavenly king himself came, it would be the same, and he would not compromise just because of a single remark from General Yang.

Just now, when General Yang arrived, he let Pan Dongpeng off, but that doesn't mean the matter is over; if the chance arises next time, he will settle things with Sun Tiejun as well, to prevent future trouble.

Yang Hongyue looked at the dilapidated wooden house; the so-called courtyard enclosed by a fence had nothing but a few broken bamboo poles, which had been made into a clothes rack for drying clothes, and otherwise there was nothing.

""General still has many military affairs to attend to; there's no time for tea here, and you shouldn't delay too long—remember to report back to camp in three days.""

Yang Hongyue said that offhand, then immediately mounted, waved her hand as a signal, and led Qin Lie, Li Ming, and her soldiers away at speed.

Li Ming also deliberately turned his head to smile at Shen Tianxing; Shen Tianxing instantly realized it was Li Ming who had sent the word, this smile being a friendly gesture—it seems he can gain a temporary ally.

After Yang Hongyue and her party had gone, Shen Tianxing was about to return to the house to finish what he'd left undone, when a familiar voice reached his ears.

""Detected that the Host has prematurely slain a commander of ten thousand, supplying the evolution energy needed by the System; the System Upgrade speed has increased, and it will complete upgrading in three double-hours."""