Those words struck like a thunderbolt!
The shock left everyone’s ears ringing.
Several soldiers who were on good terms with Shitou desperately tried to hold him back, but it was utterly useless. Shitou stood there as rigidly as a flagpole.
Even Zhou Mengyan could no longer bear it.
Fine, fine! On such an important day, he just had to make a scene, didn’t he?
In that case, don’t blame me for showing no mercy!
Turning to Zhang Shi, he said, “General Zhang Shi, my subordinate is ignorant and has made a fool of himself before you…”
Before he could finish, Zhang Shi calmly interrupted, “Is he merely ignorant? Hasn’t he violated military discipline?”
“Grand Commander, I wonder whether you know me well. I have always run my army with an iron hand. Anyone who violates military discipline is subjected to severe punishment without exception!”
“By the looks of it, Grand Commander, you have a much broader heart than I do. You can actually tolerate a subordinate like this!”
Zhang Shi’s goading pushed Zhou Mengyan, who was already on the verge of losing control, completely over the edge. He shouted, “Guards! Take Shitou away and execute him as a warning to the others!”
With the executioner’s blade about to fall, Shitou remained completely unafraid. He shouted coldly, “Grand Commander, even if you cut off my head, I will never submit to this Zhang Shi!”
“He served under Ren Tianye. Although Ren Tianye opposed Yunjing, he was still a renowned general of his generation and treated Zhang Shi well enough. Yet Zhang Shi betrayed even a man like Ren Tianye. A man like him has a black heart!”
“If he can betray Ren Tianye today, then tomorrow he can betray you, Grand Commander…”
“Execute me, Shitou, and I will accept my fate without complaint!”
“But…”
“This subordinate requests permission to execute Zhang Shi!”
“I request that Zhang Shi, this petty villain, be executed!”
Zhou Mengyan flew into a rage. “This is rebellion! Total rebellion… Guards! Drag him away and execute him! Execute him at once!”
“Wait!”
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
Zhang Shi stepped forward. He first glanced at Shitou, then turned to Zhou Mengyan and said, “Grand Commander, wait.”
“This man has insulted you so openly. General Zhang Shi, today I must uphold military law. Even killing him would not be enough to vent the hatred in my heart!”
Zhang Shi nodded, but said, “Grand Commander, killing him indeed would not be enough to vent my hatred. That is why I intend to keep him alive and humiliate him slowly.”
Zhou Mengyan froze.
Then his entire body shuddered.
He remembered Zhang Shi’s past exploits.
It was said that when Zhang Shi had fought across the northern frontier, he had slaughtered countless people like a demon descended from the heavens. His methods were extraordinarily brutal.
Zhou Mengyan could not help feeling worried for Shitou.
To be fair, Zhou Mengyan was a man who valued old ties. Shitou was, after all, his personal guard. If Shitou had simply been killed, then so be it—but to have him tortured before his death…
That would be far too cruel.
He wanted to refuse, but after thinking it over, he decided that Zhang Shi was probably only trying to establish his authority.
So he stopped objecting and nodded. “Very well. Since General Zhang Shi has put it that way, then…”
Zhou Mengyan looked at Shitou and said coldly, “Guards, bind Shitou and hand him over to General Zhang Shi. From this day onward…”
“Whether he lives or dies will be up to General Zhang Shi!”
When Zhou Mengyan shouted those words, there was a trace of sorrow in his voice.
The men in the army were not all straightforward hotheads like Shitou. Many of them understood exactly what this meant: Zhou Mengyan was handing Shitou over to General Zhang Shi so that he could slowly deal with him.
Without realizing it, they all took half a step back.
Everyone had heard of Zhang Shi’s reputation, but none of them had ever truly witnessed his methods. Only now, on their very first meeting, were they about to see what he was capable of?
But Zhou Mengyan had already given the order, and no one else dared say anything.
The entire crowd fell silent.
Just then, a voice rang out. “Zhou Mengyan, you have truly disgraced yourself.”
“Shitou violated military regulations. The proper thing to do is simply kill him. Yet you insist on handing him over to Zhang Shi so he can be tortured. Are you really so powerless as Grand Commander now?”
The one who shouted these words was none other than Zhou Mengyan’s wife. She had already led twenty or thirty officers from the army over in a grand procession.
In an instant, she had placed herself in direct opposition to Zhou Mengyan and Zhang Shi!
His wife took the lead. She first gave Zhou Mengyan a cold look, then turned toward Zhang Shi. Despite the imposing aura radiating from Zhang Shi, she showed not the slightest fear.
She said calmly, “General Zhang Shi, don’t think I can’t see through your little scheme. You may be able to deceive Zhou Mengyan, but you cannot deceive me!”
“Today, I’ll make this clear to you!”
“As long as I remain in this military camp, you will not be allowed to stir up a single wave!”
“And there’s more…”
As she spoke, she turned to face Zhou Mengyan directly and said coldly, “Zhou Mengyan, I thought that giving you complete authority over the military and political affairs of the naval forces would help you improve. I never imagined you would become even more useless. Therefore…”
“From this day onward, you will no longer be the only one who gets to make decisions in this military camp!”
“I have already submitted a request to the imperial court. I believe Yunjing’s decree will arrive soon. When that happens… I’m afraid you will no longer be able to remain in the position of Grand Commander of the navy!”
Her words were measured but icy. The moment she finished speaking, the twenty or thirty officers behind her all shouted in unison.
“Madam is right!”
“We will follow Madam!”
“We obey only Madam’s orders!”
…
Amid the roar of their voices, Zhou Mengyan’s expression became exceedingly grim.
Ruan Fei’s expression also turned extremely ugly.
However, neither of them had to remain grim for long, because Madam’s purpose in coming this time had been to intimidate Zhou Mengyan, Zhang Shi, and Ruan Fei. After delivering those ruthless words, she brazenly led the twenty or thirty officers away.
She had come quickly, and she left just as quickly!
But the atmosphere had changed completely.
Zhou Mengyan’s good mood had vanished without a trace. After returning to his tent, he kicked an innocent chair two or three yards away and roared, “This is outrageous!”
“Absolutely outrageous!”
“I have commanded the naval forces for so long, and she thinks she can strip me of my position with a single imperial decree?”
“Does this Yangtze navy belong to me, or does it belong to her?”
Ruan Fei took the opportunity to fan the flames. “Brother Mengyan, Madam really has gone too far! General Zhang Shi has arrived, and capturing Ren Tianye was already within our grasp. But after she interfered, she has instead given Ren Tianye a chance to escape!”
“Brother Mengyan, you know me. I have never been one to stir up trouble. But if this had happened to me, I absolutely could not endure it!”
With the atmosphere already heated to this point, Zhang Shi naturally would not miss the chance to add fuel to the fire. He immediately said, “That’s right, Grand Commander. There is a limit to what a man can endure. This…”
“This is something we absolutely cannot tolerate!”
Nine-tenths of Zhou Mengyan’s anger was genuine, but one-tenth of it was an act. He had been waiting for Zhang Shi to say exactly that.
He immediately turned around and grabbed Zhang Shi by the arm.
“Brother Zhang, I’m counting on you at a time like this!”
“As for Madam, only you can keep her in check!”
“Otherwise, once this gains momentum and Yunjing’s decree truly arrives, I’ll be finished!”
“Brother Zhang, I’m begging you!”
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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?”
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."
