Chapter 11

Perhaps this was generally the emotion inside every father when they secretly hear their children say “I want to become like my father in the future” for the first time?

Shen Yi once asked him, what would he do if Chang Geng resented him? 

Grand Marshall Gu calmly and steadily showed up on the battlefield, tried to maintain his composure as he watched his adopted son, looking forward to seeing a little hint of surprise and delight on his face – even if ‘surprise’ was greater than ‘delight’; but unexpectedly, Chang Geng only gave him a hollowed look as if his heart was already dead. 

“Oh no, this time he is truly angry.”

Along the way, Chang Geng thought for countless times: Now that the city was infested with mass-murdering barbarians, and Teacher Shen was currently here, then what would become of his little yifu who took half a day just to walk over the doorstep?

All of his worries turned into scattered ash the moment he heard two words: “Gu Yun”.

How laughable! How could Grand Marshall Gu, whose name was famous across the land, be a sickly man who couldn’t see clearly and couldn’t hear well? How could he need you to worry about him?

These thoughts suddenly exploded in Chang Geng’s mind like fireworks, but also just like meteors quietly passing by. He was too weary to think about it any further, it’s just that his heart hurt—because after having such silly concerns for so long, it seemed that he just overestimated himself.

Seeing how Chang Geng did not respond and that the rims of his eyes were red, Gu Yun finally managed to find a twinge of guilt from his already rotten conscience. He sighed, then under the eyes of many enemy soldiers, he got down on one knee and carefully removed the steel leg guard from Chang Geng’s injured leg. The hand that was covered in a layer of armor gently pressed down a few times: “The ankle is dislocated, not a major problem. Does it hurt?”

Chang Geng did not say anything.

Although this child usually would throw a tantrum and would get mad at him on weekdays, all of Chang Geng’s thoughts always went out to him. But now in this moment, Chang Geng suddenly stared at him with such strange and distanced eyes. Gu Yun instantly felt a hint of regret. 

The stone-hearted Marquis of Order quickly thought to himself: “Everything has already come to this, what good is feeling regret now.” 

Chang Geng trembled fiercely, yet he did not call out in pain. 

Fourteen years ago, Gu Yun’s own father had slain all the chief commanders of the Eighteen tribes. The Wolf King – and the father of this Barbarian Prince, now had to walk on two horrible prosthetic legs. This was all thanks to the “blessing” of Old Marquis Gu. 

As if to fulfill his wishes, there was an ear-piercing screech in the distance, and a pale signal tower rushed into the air like a rocket, illuminating the sky like daylight. 

Gu Yun retracted his ever so calm eyes and spoke in his special tantalizing and provocative tone: “How is that fallen Wolf King Ge Tu doing? Are his bones still firm and strong?”

Shen Yi, even in a face-to-face confrontation, always remained sensible and cultured, bearing the demeanor of a greater nation. The barbarians’ prince had not yet been able to adapt to Grand Marshall Gu’s speeches and almost vomited blood from pure anger: “You …”

Gu Yun: “I heard some time ago that the Prince of Eighteen Tribes has very grand ambitions, even creating the ‘Gold Erosion’ plan. I’m telling you, Your Highness, you want to swallow Great Liang at your level? Watch out or you will soon burst your own stomach!” 

The “Gold Erosion” plan was the topmost secret of the Heavenly Wolf sect. It was also a plan that Prince Yinghuo personally came up with after he took over leadership.

Unless Great Liang was corrupted from both inside and out.

Although Great Liang was vast in lands, there was no large-scale Ziliujin mine. Ziliujin was the lifeblood of a country. There must be absolutely no mistakes. Therefore, the imperial court explicitly prohibited private reselling. The offenders were treated the same as those who plot a rebellion. If they were caught, a sentence ordering the execution of nine generations was nothing new. 

However, Ziliujin was immensely profitable; it could not be stopped even after repeatedly banning black markets. There was a saying “birds doomed by food, human doomed by wealth”, the amount of desperate people who were willing to exchange their lives to earn money have been numerous since ancient times. But even if they were willing, if there were no sources to provide, it was still useless.

The earliest black market’s “gold merchants” all went to the grassland to try their luck. But not even one in a thousand of these people could have a single stroke of luck, most of them already died halfway.

The Heavenly Wolf sect aimed for Great Liang’s black markets, they did not hesitate to kill the chicken to take the eggs. Every year, a large amount of Ziliujin was dug up. After paying their tributes, the extra Ziliujin was used to bribe the soldiers and officers in the border areas, bringing them down one by one. This was the “Gold Erosion” plan.

This plan was slowly started to put into action about seven or eight years ago. Later, the barbarians got in touch with Hu Ge Er, who was currently living then in the small town of Yanhui. The two sides assisted one another. After many years of paving the way, the Barbarian Prince was quite confident: in this crucial town of the Northern Frontier, there is not a single corner where his hand could not reach and his eyes could not see.

But even if Heaven and Earth knew of this, the culprit himself knew of this, then how did Gu Yun know? 

In just a span of just a few sentences, the fight for the Giant Kite in the air had been settled with no delay. 

The Barbarian Prince looked as if he wanted to tear him into pieces. Gu Yun saw that he had almost turned mad from anger.The irritation from his powerlessness of being unable to deal with Chang Geng just now finally subsided, he then revealed a smile.

“Gold Erosion, haha, truly brilliant – no more talking nonsense: capture them!”

After that, Gu Yun took up the rein: “Your Highness has been made frightened, allow your subject to walk the horse for Your Highness.”

Chang Geng tried with all his might to stare at the man, but no matter if his gaze contained swords and spears in them, Gu Yun remained completely indestructible… similar to how he always could not hear when Teacher Shen told him to wash the dishes.

Chang Geng lowered his voice: “The Marquis did not bring even one servant, came all the way out here to this isolated and secluded area. Truly, this scheming must be exhausting!” 

“Angry to the point of not acknowledging me anymore.” Gu Yun thought to himself with some concern. “What should I do?” 

Gu Yun patiently softened his voice and explained: “For military reasons, I failed to reveal my identity to Your Highness, I have offended you. And for taking advantage of the little Prince on numerous occasions before… I hope that after we return, you wouldn’t tell on the Emperor……”  

Chang Geng who was on the horseback caught sight of this. All his pains and grievances have vanished instantly. In desperation, he instinctively rushed forward and stretched out his arms, trying to block the long sword for Gu Yun:

Gu Yun’s feet spurted out a line of white mist. The Lightweight Suit and the Heavy Armor were not at all the same. Even a little movement could make people feel as light as a bird. He mounted on the horse in just a flash. Chang Geng only felt a tight force around his waist, his back slammed into the thin layer of armor on Gu Yun’s chest, then a dark shadow flashed across his vision.

The blades inside the Wind Slasher in Gu Yun’s hand had not been unleashed yet, it still had the shape of a smooth and black iron rod. But the sharp tip has already plunged into the shoulder of the Heavy Armor with incomparable precision, The mechanism on the shoulder of the Heavy Armor was suddenly cut off. The iron arm of the barbarian made a piercing noise, then deadlocked: the long sword that came slashing down was hanging in the air.

The scent of bitter medicine that seemed to absorb into Gu Yun’s body was buried deep under the Iron Suit. Unable to detect it, Chang Geng felt as if the man sitting behind him right now was a stranger.