Chapter 129 - I’ll Persevere

The three Garrison B armies arrived at Ningwu’s official dock according to plan. The three generals who were leading those three armies had received orders from General Bai Shangnian. The Navy Weiyang General Shen Leng was the commander-in-chief of the troops. The three of them had to follow his orders.

The three men were more or less unhappy with the arrangement, since after all, Shen Leng was too young and had too little experience, while on the other hand, every single one of them worked desperately hard to climb their way up to Class A Fifth pin over the course of at least ten years. It had been less than two years since Shen Leng joined the military and yet he had achieved what they did in ten years. If one were to say that they did not have any resentment towards him, even they themselves would not believe it.

However, the soldiers of Great Ning were valiant and that meant that they would listen to military orders and not go against authority. Since Shen Leng was the commander-in-chief, Shen Leng would henceforth have the final say in everything.

The ships were docked at Ningwu’s official dock for less than a day when Garrison B’s combat soldiers arrived there. They started boarding the ships in succession. After everything was in order, it was already nightfall. Shen Leng passed down an order for the troops to spend the night at the dock and embark early in the morning on the second day.

The three generals of Garrison B were named Ma Ji, Lu Daotong and Chen Shangzhen respectively. All three of them were from the Four Depositories Military Repository. They had pure Great Ning military backgrounds. Hence, they gave off similar auras.

At night, Shen Leng and Chen Ran burned some ritual money by the river bank. At least 150 local soldiers were killed here, coupled with Shen Leng’s brother, Li Tuming.

“General, do you think it’s strange? We just got here today, and when I took a short nap in the afternoon, I dreamed about Li Tuming.”

Chen Ran placed the last stack of ritual money into the fire. He looked at Shen Leng. “He was standing somewhere nearby smiling at me, and even gave me a thumbs up.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“No.”

“Are you afraid?”

“What’s there to be afraid of. It’s just a brother missing me.”

Chen Ran’s vision went a little fuzzy for a bit; his face turned slightly pale. It was not because he was scared, but because he was thinking about how Li Tuming died in his arms that day. He grabbed his hand, telling him how he was in pain, and how he could not become a Marquis. He even said he saw stars in the sky that were exceptionally bright and big, and that the biggest and brightest one belonged to Shen Leng.

Shen Leng used a wooden stick to flip the ritual money around in the fire, ensuring that they would all get burned properly. He knelt there and muttered to himself, “After I have killed your last enemy, you should get reincarnated. Don’t wait for us to look for you. We are still going to live for a long, long time.”

Chen Ran grunted. “Don’t come looking for me if everything is ok either. Even though I said I’m not scared, I’m actually rather terrified…come to think of it, do you think that brother Tuming has something he’s worried about? Why don’t after we’re done with the drill, I’ll go look for someone to make a paper of a beautiful woman for him?”

Shen Leng said, “Our brother Tuming will personally thank you tonight.”

Chen Ran trembled. “Ah, forget I said that.”

As it turned out, Chen Ran was a pure little fatty. When he first joined the Navy, his physical state was not considered to be good. However, under Shen Leng’s harsh trainings, he became much more fitter – it was a huge difference compared to before. Presently, based on his physical abilities, it was easy for him to defeat five or six hooligans on the street all by himself. His originally pale skin had become a lot darker as well. However, he was still as chubby as before. It was hard to come up with an explanation for that.

“Look at how tan your face is. It’s rather even and dark.”

Shen Leng hit Chen Ran on the head. “Oh, your facial hair isn’t that short anymore.”

Chen Ran responded, “Damn it, why did you hit me in the head and talk about my facial hair. It doesn’t make sense…”

In the absence of other people, both of them would still fool around with each other, like they used to back in Yulin town. When it was just the two of them, Chen Ran spoke more freely as well.

The weather by the river bank was always changing. Not long after the ritual money was fully burned, it started drizzling. The combat soldiers at a distance away laughed and yelled at each other as they boarded the ships to hide from the rain, while some of them hid inside the official dock. Chen Ran bent over and stuck his butt out as he picked up some stones, as he wanted to play stone skipping. Shen Leng saw how his butt was sticking out and got into a poetic mood.

“The abrupt rain stops, lifting my eyes.”

At first, Chen Ran did not realize anything. He was not well-read or had any interest in poems and songs in the first place, and he did not understand them either. However, when he stuck out his butt and Shen Leng said ‘lifting my eyes’, he understood what he meant.

“Your father.”

Chen Ran took a handful of stones and tossed them at Shen Leng. Shen Leng used his palm to swat them away, causing them to fly everywhere.

Somewhere in the darkness, three men stood at the side of the woods as they watched Shen Leng and Chen Ran fooled around with one another. One of them said coldly, “A person like that can become a commander-in-chief?”

The person who spoke was Ma Ji. The three of them were strolling along the canal; initially when they saw Shen Leng, they wanted to go over to greet him. But when they were relatively close by, they saw how immature he acted, hence they lost the interest to do so immediately.

Lu Daotong laughed and said, “After all, he’s still a child. How strong can he be?”

“Knowing somebody by their reputation cannot be compared to meeting them in person. Do you think my Great Ning military duty is a child’s play? A person like that can actually lead the troops, and was even personally commended by His Majesty himself.”

“Don’t be too loud. What if somebody hears this? Your resentment is towards His Majesty, and not Shen Leng.”

“Ah, let’s go.”

The three of them turned around and walked off, avoiding Shen Leng and Chen Ran.

Shen Leng turned his head around and looked in the direction where the three of them were heading towards. He laughed and shook his head. “Those people must really be boring.”

Chen Ran suddenly hit Shen Leng on the forehead with a stone. He laughed heartily. He looked so happy that it seemed as though he was currently happier than when he received an award for a meritorious deed. When he reminisced about their childhood, playing in the mud without their pants by the river bank, he went into a trance again.

“Want to compete?”

He undid his pants and aimed at the canal.

Shen Leng snorted. “Did you win before?”

He undid his pants as well and stood next to him. This was a battle that concerned a man’s dignity and honor. Distance and flow rate had to prevail!

Chen Ran said, “Who I am today is different from who I was before. I have become stronger.”

Shen Leng replied, “Become stronger, not bald.”

Chen Ran imagined how he would look if he was bald. He felt he would look really ugly.

Ultimately, Chen Ran lost again. He compared their height with his hand; he was less than half a head shorter than Shen Leng. Hence, he felt even more unhappy with the result. “This is unfair – you are taller, so it’s higher.”

Shen Leng responded, “Ok, you can stand on a stool next time.”

Chen Ran started laughing. Thereafter, he gradually became silent. “Leng, did you go back to the Navy’s camp to kill Mu Xiaofeng?”

Shen Leng did not expect Chen Ran to be that sharp. He then realize that this matter was not going to be easy to deal with. He had a worried look on his face. “Even a fool like you could guess it. How am I able to continue deceiving others?”

Chen Ran suddenly said sincerely, “Do you really think that you can continue going through the motions? That will depend on whether there is anybody out there who is willing to help you with it. Leng…I’m not stupid. I just don’t like to talk too much. You are smarter than me; I’m afraid that what I say may affect you. Mu Xiaofeng deserved to die, but everyone will definitely think about you the moment they find out about his death. What I’m trying to say is – why don’t we run away? What’s the point of taking the risk?”

Shen Leng patted Chen Ran on the shoulder. “It’s not that grave. Trust me. Some people will help me with this.”

Chen Ran grunted, but how was it possible for him to simply drop it? All he could think about was – if something bad really happened to Leng, even if he were alone, he would still fight his way to save Leng. If he could not save him, he was willing to die with him, and continue being brothers in the netherworld.

Both of them stood by the canal for a very, very long time, until darkness enshrouded.

On the second day, before the sky was bright, the fleet began on their journey. They returned to Nanping River from the Grand Canal, before heading eastwards. Shen Leng calculated approximately when he would receive the news of Mu Xiaofeng’s death. Nobody would casually approach Mu Xiaofeng’s courtyard. Based on Mu Xiaofeng’s interpersonal relationships in the Navy, even if he did not leave his residence for three or five days, nobody would drop in to check.

If their bodies were not discovered after three days, when Shen Leng’s ship arrived at Yanping Island, the boat that was in charge of delivering the news might not be able to catch up in time.

He needed to make full use of the time difference. If the news about Mu Xiaofeng’s death arrived at Yanping Island faster than he did, that would not happen. In fact, Shen Leng was hoping that some people would jump out and create a commotion. The more chaotic Yanping Island was, the easier it would be for him to make a move on Bai Shangnian.

If others were to know what he was thinking, they would definitely be so scared that their jaws would fall to the ground. He had already killed the deputy commander of the Navy, who happened to be the only son of the great scholar, and yet he had no intention of stopping. Furthermore, he was targeting a Class A Third pin great general who was in charge of a massive military force.

His method of doing things was not typical at all. In Hei Yan’s words – it was a pity for Shen Leng to become a general.

Why did Shen Leng stay the night at the official dock? It was because he wanted the three generals of Garrison B to see him, such that there would be more witnesses who could help him in the future.

Journeying long distances in the waters was one of the components of the drill. As predicted, after two days, several Garrison B combat soldiers started to be unable to endure the journey. They were not unfamiliar with the waters, but they had been rocking on the ship for quite a while, causing them to feel dizzy. Nobody would be able to endure that.

The three generals of Garrison B refused to embarrass themselves. Hence, they tried their best to hide the state of their soldiers.

Seven days later, they were very close to Yanping Island. At the very most, it would only take them half a day to arrive at their destination. For the first time, Shen Leng ordered the fleet to pull towards the river bank to replenish their supplies at the nearest official dock. In truth, based on the supplies they had in hand, it was more than enough for them to last till Yanping Island. The combat soldiers were overjoyed by that. For the first time, they felt that being able to have both feet planted onto the ground was something worth feeling happy over.

After taking their lunch, they saw Shen Leng standing on the ship gesturing towards them. Thereafter, the bugle was sounded. The troops started boarding the ships once more. Shen Leng turned around and entered the hold of the ship and did not come out again.

And at this moment, Bai Shangnian and Zhuang Yong have already met with each other on Yanping Island. They even climbed Mount Hulu, located on the southwest of Yanping Island, together. Yanping Island was right in the center of Tai Hu, hence, the scenery all around it was beautiful. Climbing the mountain made one less troubled and more carefree as well.

“General Zhuang, you seem to be full of admiration towards the young man named Shen Leng?”

Bai Shangnian was walking next to Zhuang Yong. The stone steps of the mountain was narrow – it was just nice for the both of them to walk side by side.

“Not exactly. If the young man is not outstanding himself, I will not bother to pay any attention to him either.”

“What you said makes sense, General Zhuang. The young men now have it too easy and comfortable. It’s rare to see a person like Shen Leng who’s willing to go all out. It has been easy and comfortable for Great Ning for a long time. Hence, naturally, people tend to be more relaxed.”

“Easy and comfortable is a good thing. It would be great if things continue to be easy and comfortable.”

Zhuang Yong said, as though he was hinting at something deeper. “Isn’t long term peace and stability the same as easy and comfortable?”

“Hahaha…that’s right.”

Bai Shangnian realized that it was about time for him to lay the groundwork. He invited Zhuang Yong to climb the mountain this time for the sake of ensuring that the next step of the plan would go without a hitch. According to his plan, he was going to pretend to not be acclimatized and let Zhuang Yong know today that he was not feeling well, such that he would be able to act as though his physical condition worsened the next day.

“General Zhuang…”

Before he could complete his sentence, he suddenly saw Zhuang Yong putting his hands against his stomach. He looked rather unwell. Zhuang Yong tilted his head and looked at Bai Shangnian. “General Bai, I am very sorry. My stomach is failing me. I have spent many years in the Navy, who knew that when in a change of environment, I can’t get acclimatized. I started to have diarrhea last night, and I was throwing up too. Even after I took some medication, I don’t seem to be getting better. I have to go back first.”

Bai Shangnian stared blankly. He thought to himself: You’re from the freaking Navy. Can’t get acclimatized? My ass.

But all he could do was laugh it off. “In that case, go back and have a good rest. This drill cannot do without the commander-in-chief, which is you.”

Zhuang Yong said, “I’ll persevere. I’ll definitely persevere.”