Chapter 147: 142 Unwelcome Guest

The Great Chief was startled. He looked the old man up and down, confirming he was just an ordinary, bedraggled country bumpkin, before laughing loudly: "You? What kind of onion do you think you are? You can help us get rid of Sang Jialiang?"

The old man was so frightened he just kept kowtowing. The scholar smiled and said: "He doesn't have any other skills, but his son is getting married, and he wants to marry Sang Jialiang's younger sister."

The Great Chief let out an "oh," his interest piqued. He leaned forward and asked: "Sang Jialiang has a younger sister? What does she look like?"

The old man was tongue-tied. The scholar said: "Just a village girl. Even if she isn't his biological sister, they are cousins from the same clan. Sang Jialiang will definitely have to escort her when she gets married."

The Great Chief pondered: "You mean we should kidnap his sister on the way to the wedding, make him come up the mountain to ransom her, and take the opportunity to hack him to death in the Righteousness Hall? That's good, and we can also enjoy his sister."

The scholar shook his paper fan and said: "Why go to such trouble? Since it's a joyous occasion, there will inevitably be drinking. The man surnamed Sang is usually cautious, but can he refuse the wine offered by his in-laws at his sister's wedding? We only need to add some poison; even if it doesn't kill him, he will certainly be severely weakened, and then he will naturally be at our mercy. Once he dies, won't his sister, and that so-called impregnable Wushu Bao, all be under your control, Great Chief?"

The Great Chief was overjoyed and said: "A fine plan! This time, the man surnamed Sang will surely die! I want to slaughter Wushu Bao until not even a dog or chicken is left, just to vent my anger. Go, give this old man a packet of top-quality poison—the best kind, one that kills as soon as it's eaten."

The old man said tremblingly: "Then the tribute from our village..."

The Great Chief said with dissatisfaction: "You old man..."

The scholar smiled: "Just go and handle this matter properly, and the matter of the reduction or exemption of the tribute can naturally be considered."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, kowtowed repeatedly, and left tremblingly.

After he left, the Great Chief turned to the side and said: "Master Advisor, this idea was yours, right? I doubt that old man could come up with such a wicked... brilliant idea."

The scholar shook his head with a smile and said: "Great Chief, don't underestimate the cunning of these unruly people; it really was a plan he offered on his own initiative. I didn't even know his daughter-in-law was a girl from the Sang family. He came up and asked for poison right away, clearly having a plan in his belly already. Truly, 'an old man who doesn't die is a thief'."

The Great Chief laughed heartily and said: "Thanks to this cunning old man, we have such a good idea. This time I returned from Baixiong Mountain, my eldest brother personally guided me, which gave me a great breakthrough and allowed me to cultivate a body of Gang Qi. I was just thinking that this time I would definitely be able to chew through the hard bone that is Sang Jialiang. I didn't expect someone to deliver such a great gift. If we can take it by wit, we won't waste our effort; it's perfect for me to consolidate my realm on the mountain for two days. Just let the third and fourth brothers go down the mountain to catch him. Don't just poison him to death in one go; bring him up the mountain, I want to dig out his heart and liver to go with my wine."

The scholar said: "That is all up to the Great Chief's wishes. Great Chief, after this trip to Baixiong Mountain, it seems the General Chief still favors and trusts you greatly. Why is there another disaster?"

The Great Chief slapped his thigh and said: "My eldest brother is great to his brothers, but it's a pity he has too many brothers, and he insists on foisting a wicked thief onto me..."

The scholar thought to himself: A wicked thief? Aren't we all wicked thieves?

The Great Chief said: "That guy... is a disgusting and overbearing wicked thief. I couldn't stand him back when I was on the mountain. We burn, kill, and loot outside, but when we get home, we still have to look out for brotherly loyalty. That guy will kill his own people for fun depending on his mood! Yet he had the dog's luck to become a Sword Guest, and he holds it over me. Now he has to stay in the stronghold for a few days; I get annoyed just thinking about it."

The scholar straightened his back and said: "A Sword Guest is coming? When?"

The Great Chief said: "He is an unwelcome guest. He arrives tomorrow, and you are responsible for receiving him. Remember, killing a few underlings is fine, but don't let him kill the chiefs on the mountain."

The scholar felt a chill in his heart and said: "He will kill our chiefs?"

The Great Chief said: "You don't know that Baixiong Mountain is full of madmen these days. It's very different from when I was on the mountain. Only my eldest brother hasn't changed much. By the way, I passed on that speech you told me to my eldest brother." He cleared his throat and imitated the scholar: "Nowadays, Lingzhou is too chaotic; mere plundering cannot last long. Although the General Chief has one hundred thousand brothers under his command, they are all a scattered pile of sand; they can only ruin things, not accomplish them. Why not reorganize the troops and use Lingzhou as a foundation? You could plan for great things if you advance, and protect a region if you retreat. Wouldn't everyone be looking for long-term wealth?"

His imitation was vivid and lifelike. The scholar felt both nervous and excited, and asked: "What did the General Chief say?"

The Great Chief said: "The General Chief said, 'Sure, Penglaoliu, you can even say things like this now, haha, it really is a crow turning into a raven'."

The scholar was so nervous listening to what followed that he didn't even notice that a crow is a raven.

The Great Chief stood up, hands behind his back, perfectly imitating the temperament of another person, and said: "He also said, 'When a person lives in this world, they must know what they want to do and what they can do. I worked hard to learn martial arts and cultivate the sword, and now that I have become a Sword Hero, what am I seeking? Just two words: pleasure!'"

Hearing this, the scholar leaned back, his whole body going limp.

"'Those great things you mentioned, surely there are people who want to do them, so let them do it. They work themselves to death, having to buy people's hearts, fight to the death on the battlefield, and compromise with those people above while bearing the pressure of the Yin Calamity. Even if they eventually seize this flowery empire, how many days can they enjoy it? Before them, I will have already enjoyed it for half a lifetime. Drinking big bowls of wine, eating big chunks of meat, I am free and happy. When the day comes that the army is truly at the foot of the mountain, I will accept the amnesty; who can refuse the defection of a Sword Hero? Wouldn't it be even better to still retain a title of nobility then?'"

The scholar's face turned ashen as he listened, and he couldn't help but ask: "Then what should we do?"

The Great Chief continued: "My eldest brother also said: 'As for the brothers who follow me, if they have ambition, they can naturally go and serve a wise lord; aren't there enough wise lords out there for you to serve? Only those who are willing to enjoy pleasure with me are my true-hearted brothers. I don't set any rules; everyone can do as they please. Good wine, good meat, gold, silver, and beauties—those with the ability can just go and take them. As long as I am here, Lingzhou will always be a place of pleasure for everyone. And you...'"

He covered his mouth in a hurry as he reached this point, thinking: The rest of what he said shouldn't be repeated.

It turned out that what the General Chief had said to him afterwards was: "Old Six, you should also listen less to the nonsense of those failed Scholars around you. To accomplish great things, are you that kind of material? Are we brothers that kind of material? Those bookish people have the worst hearts; they want wealth and status themselves but dare not go into battle to fight for their lives, so they incite others to be their guns. When things go wrong, they slip away, leaving you to take the blame. Keep your guard up; kill when you should. Where can't you find a paper fan?"

Although the Great Chief was a crude man, he wasn't entirely stupid, and of course, he knew he couldn't tell this to the person concerned. However, he didn't want to do anything to the Master Advisor either; he found this advisor easy to use. Whenever he wanted to do something, the advisor would roll his eyes and come up with a wicked idea, which was much better than using his own brain.

He patted the scholar and said: "You know what our eldest brother means, so don't think too much about it. Isn't being the Second Chief also very enjoyable? Let's live through the days in front of us first; dealing with the unwelcome guest and then flattening that annoying Sang Jialiang is what's important."

The scholar bowed listlessly.

————

The next day, Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi indeed stayed behind to teach the village children martial arts. Wusun Tong and Che Sha were very surprised. Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi discussed it and decided to temporarily hide the matter of the Secret Realm and the sword, at least until they left Wushu Bao, only saying that Sang Jialiang had paid a price to hire them to teach martial arts. This price was naturally paid by Tang Zhao.

Wusun Tong and the others thought about it; there was nothing else to do, so staying for two or three days didn't matter. In their spare time, they also taught a set of Liangzhou Saber Arts.

During these few days, Tang Zhao mainly annotated the Mysterious Technique, while Jiang Shenyi came to teach the children Internal and External Arts. He originally thought he had teaching experience, after all, he had guided Tang Zhao for a few years with remarkable results; what could be difficult about guiding children?

Immediately after, he learned that people are not all the same.

The children in the village had never attended proper schooling. Let alone drawing inferences or answering ten questions for one, they couldn't even state facts clearly. Only then did Jiang Shenyi realize that there were people who still didn't understand after being explained once, twice, or even three times.

It only took Jiang Shenyi half a day to go from full of confidence to feeling irritable, then to flying into a rage, and finally to doubting his life. Instead, Wusun Tong said: "Let me do it, I was also stupid when I learned martial arts as a child."

In terms of martial arts, Jiang Shenyi was more than a realm above Wusun Tong, but in terms of teaching, Wusun Tong was far better than him. Watching him tirelessly demonstrate and explain to the children over and over again, Jiang Shenyi felt a bit ashamed. He went back to his room and wrote out a whole chapter of internal arts, specifically for Sang Jialiang to explain, so that he could master it and teach the children later. Although Sang Jialiang was not the smartest, he could understand, and Jiang Shenyi's teaching went more smoothly this time.

Just like that, two days passed. Wusun Tong and the others had taught martial arts for three days and eaten stewed chicken for three days. The village knew the honored guests were kind, so they specially stewed the village's chickens one by one to treat the guests.

By the third day, Tang Zhao had finished annotating the Mysterious Technique and had a rough discussion with Sang Jialiang, letting him memorize some key points to slowly understand later, before mentioning their departure.

Although Sang Jialiang was reluctant, he knew he couldn't keep them any longer. Having such honored guests come here, teach the children these martial arts, and give them so many techniques was already a tremendous blessing; to be greedy would be to risk losing that blessing. He said: "My younger sister is getting married tomorrow and moving to a village in the south. It is on the same route as you all. Why not set off together and stop by that village to have some wedding wine?"

Tang Zhao hadn't expected such a joyous occasion, and after discussing it with his companions, he naturally agreed.

It turned out that this younger sister of Sang Jialiang was not his biological sister, but a cousin from the same grandfather. Although they were not born of the same mother, they were very close. She had no adult brothers, so Sang Jialiang, as her eldest cousin, was to escort her.

Sang Jialiang also sighed: "I was originally reluctant to see this sister marry away, but that boy from Hu Zhuang is truly a handsome young man, and my sister took a fancy to him herself, so we could only fulfill her wish. This is called..."

Tang Zhao said: "A talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven."

Sang Jialiang said: "Exactly. When we get to Hu Zhuang, I will borrow flowers to offer to the Buddha and properly toast you all with several cups of fine wine."