Deputy General Wang Ming felt a fire of anger rising in his heart from the scolding.
Tax silver! Tax silver! Tax silver!
Was that tax silver given to them?
How much was the meager salary they actually received?
Besides, it was clearly you who evaded the customs duties, avoiding the main roads and choosing to travel through these desolate, wild paths without even reporting to them. If it hadn't been for General Ren's divine martial prowess, you would have been killed and your bodies destroyed without anyone ever knowing.
And you still blame them?
And you keep calling them useless trash?!
Hmph! If it weren't for these useless soldiers guarding the northern frontiers, the barbarians would have marched south in full force long ago. The Great Yu Dynasty would have collapsed. How could you trade your tea in peace?!
Just as he was about to snap back, he suddenly remembered something.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Ren Tianye walking back.
In his hand, he held a short blade.
It was already unsheathed. The blade reflected a dim light, exuding a sharp, chilling murderous intent.
His heart immediately skipped a heavy beat.
Now Wang Ming knew why Ren Tianye had gone over to the horses just now. His short blade had been hanging on the saddle, and he had gone specifically to fetch it!
A wave of panic instantly washed over him.
General Ren had just cut down a young girl of the Great Yu, and now he was going to kill another citizen of the Great Yu?
He and his brothers-in-arms all took the Chifeng Army as their role model, imitating and learning from them in every aspect. They were most accustomed to the Chifeng Army's style of doing things—preferring to swallow their grievances rather than making things difficult for the citizens of the Great Yu.
If General Ren killed two people in a row like this, his heart would surely suffer immense torment.
He quickly shouted at Young Master Li, "Shut up!"
"You ignorant brat, how dare you attempt to slander our border army."
"Shut your mouth right now and roll as far away as possible."
But instead of rolling away, Young Master Li roared even louder, "You bunch of useless trash! You couldn't even protect my family, and you want me to shut up?"
"In your dreams!"
"Not only will I not shut up, but I will announce it to the world. I will tell the whole world that you border army soldiers are all useless trash. You took so much silver, enjoyed enough luxuries, yet you couldn't even protect the citizens of the Great Yu."
"I am going to the capital!"
"I will file an imperial appeal!"
Young Master Li's eyes were practically splitting at the seams in his fury. "I want you border army soldiers to be buried along with my Li family."
"Especially you..."
He pointed at Deputy General Wang Ming. Looking at his father on the ground who had been hacked to death, he roared with a heart-wrenching voice, "I want you to be hacked to death by a flurry of blades, just like my father!"
"And you..."
He randomly pointed at another soldier, looking at his mother's decapitated corpse on the ground. "I want you to have your head chopped off, just like my mother."
He pointed at the border army soldiers one by one, matching them with the tragic deaths of his clansmen.
"I want you to be burned alive, just like my younger cousin."
"I want you to be dragged to death by strong horses, just like my younger female cousin."
Finally, his gaze fell upon his sister, and his finger pointed at Ren Tianye, who was already approaching him. "I want you to be pierced to death by a halberd, just like my sister..."
As his words trailed off, Young Master Li suddenly froze.
He sensed that something was not quite right.
The barbarians were skilled in using bows, arrows, and long swords; other weapons were rarely seen. Yet, his sister had been pierced to death by a halberd.
Did the barbarians even use halberds?
Weren't halberds weapons only used by the soldiers of the Great Yu?!
From the corner of his eye, he quickly caught sight of the Sky-Piercer Halberd planted into the ground nearby. Un-dried blood still lingered on the shaft of the halberd, gleaming with a bloodthirsty light under the increasingly crimson setting sun.
"The Sky-Piercer Halberd belongs to me, the general."
Guessing his thoughts, Ren Tianye grabbed the Sky-Piercer Halberd. With a slight flick of his arm, he shook the fresh blood off the halberd.
He smiled slightly. "I was the one who killed your sister."
Ignoring Young Master Li's horror, he planted the Sky-Piercer Halberd back into the ground and smiled at Deputy General Wang Ming and the soldiers. "The barbarians nowadays are truly not simple."
"They even put on a full act."
"To make us believe them, they not only sent a young girl as a spy, but also specially assigned her a brother. Tsk, tsk, tsk. They cannot be underestimated, truly cannot be underestimated..."
Ren Tianye's words carried a smile, and his tone was light and breezy.
Young Master Li's expression, however, drastically changed, his face turning pale.
Just now, he had been knocked unconscious, so he didn't know what had happened, but now he knew.
His sister was not killed by the barbarians.
She was killed by the border army in front of him.
She was killed by this handsome young general clad in silver armor.
His entire body instantly began to tremble uncontrollably.
Why would the border army kill their people?
Didn't the border army all take the Chifeng Army as their role model? Didn't the Chifeng Army love the people like their own children? Even if someone shat on the heads of the Chifeng Army, they would respond with a smile.
These border army soldiers followed their example, so why did they kill his sister now?
Why was this young general in silver armor completely different?
Not only did he kill his sister, but now... he was going to lay hands on him too?
"Curse. Why did you stop cursing?"
"Didn't you want to let the whole world know about the crimes of our border army?"
"Didn't you want to file an imperial appeal?"
"A mere barbarian, putting on quite a convincing act."
Ren Tianye's tone remained nonchalant.
Young Master Li, however, was shivering all over, unable to utter a single word.
Seeing Young Master Li in this state, Deputy General Wang Ming carefully approached and whispered, "General Ren, it seems Young Master Li has realized his mistake. Besides, he is young and ignorant, perhaps we should..."
Ren Tianye nodded and said, "Since you, Deputy General, have said so, I will give you face."
Deputy General Wang Ming was overjoyed. "The General is wise."
He was just about to help Young Master Li up when he saw Ren Tianye take out that short blade and place it in front of Young Master Li. Then, after rummaging in his robes for a while, he pulled out a piece of cane sugar.
Wang Ming was stunned. "General, what is the meaning of this?"
Ren Tianye glanced at Young Master Li and said, "Choose."
"Is this a glimmer of hope that you are leaving for Young Master Li, General?" Wang Ming muttered, then quickly urged Young Master Li, "Hurry up and choose, what are you waiting for?"
Young Master Li's spirits lifted. He quickly looked at the blade and the cane sugar on the ground, immediately forming an answer in his heart. He definitely couldn't choose the blade.
Choosing it meant certain death.
So, he had to choose the cane sugar!
But,
As he reached out his hand, he hesitated again. This general clad in silver armor seemed different from all the kind-hearted border army soldiers he had seen before, and his way of thinking was completely the opposite.
If he chose the cane sugar, would it happen to violate this general's taboo and bring about a fatal disaster instead?
He suddenly stopped and began to hesitate.
Deputy General Wang Ming also gradually realized the situation.
This was indeed a difficult choice.
He couldn't help but ask, "General, do you want Young Master Li to choose the cane sugar?"
Ren Tianye nodded.
Young Master Li immediately went to grab it in ecstasy, only to hear Ren Tianye continue, "If he chooses the cane sugar, it proves that this boy is extremely cunning and calculating. He absolutely cannot be spared!"
Young Master Li's hand paused, and he immediately went to grab the blade.
Then he heard Ren Tianye continue leisurely, "If he chooses the blade, it proves that he harbors murderous intent. This boy absolutely cannot be spared."
Young Master Li was dumbfounded again, but he reacted quickly.
He tried to pick up both the cane sugar and the blade together.
Then he heard Ren Tianye's voice again: "If he chooses both, it proves that this boy is insatiably greedy. He absolutely cannot be spared."
Young Master Li's face was instantly filled with terror.
Could it be that he was supposed to choose neither?
"If he chooses neither, it proves that he is naturally rebellious. This boy absolutely cannot be spared!"
Young Master Li: "..."
Deputy General Wang Ming: "..."
The soldiers: "..."
Ren Tianye remained as leisurely as ever. Watching Young Master Li, who was trembling on his knees and had not made a single movement for a long while, he smiled and said, "Time is almost up!"
"Still haven't made your choice?"
"Very well. Since you refuse to choose, this general will wait for you no longer."
After a brief pause, Ren Tianye continued, "This general was willing to overlook the fact that you, a barbarian, infiltrated the borders of our Great Yu to act as a spy and steal top-secret military intelligence. I even offered you a glimmer of hope to survive."
"Yet you did not cherish it in the slightest..."
"Never mind. No matter how benevolent and forgiving the border army may be, we cannot be repeatedly provoked. Today..."
"I have no choice but to send you on your way!"
Swish!
The gleam of a blade flashed, then quickly dimmed.
A large head fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
