Chapter 430
Chapter 430
"Shen Lang, is the grudge between our two families settled now?"
"Almost. Just a little more and it will be."
"I know, I know. Shen Lang, you have a remarkable talent for literature and poetry. Could you compose a poem about the tragedy of my Su Clan? Just two lines will do."
Shen Lang thought for a moment before speaking.
"The rolling waters of the Raging River flow eastward, its waves washing away all heroes."
Su Nan was taken aback.
"Hahaha, what a brilliant composition! Such a fine poem. A classic verse, the likes of which appear only once a century. No wonder Ning Yuanxian was so fond of you. You are not only meticulous but also overflowing with talent. For thousands of years, countless heroes have fallen, and countless illustrious families have vanished like smoke. The annihilation of my Su Clan today may seem like a world-shaking event in the present. But in the grand scheme of a hundred or a thousand years of history, the fall of the Su Clan is but a speck of dust, not even worth mentioning. They say heroes are like the stars in the sky, but with so many stars above, who would notice if one disappears today and another tomorrow? Still, I, Su Nan, have no face to show my ancestors. No face to show them! Shen Lang, the grudge between our two families ends here!"
After speaking, Su Nan raised both hands and struck his own head with all his might.
*Smash!*
In an instant, his brilliant and precious head burst like a watermelon.
Su Nan died a gruesome death. Perhaps, as he said, he chose to die by shattering his own face and head because he felt he had no face to show his ancestors. The remaining hundreds of Su Clan warriors watched, stunned. The meaning in their eyes as they looked at Shen Lang was all too clear.
*'Will you do it? Or should we kill ourselves?'*
Shen Lang said.
"Do it yourselves!"
The hundreds of remaining warriors placed their swords to their own necks and slit them lightly. The warriors of the Su Clan all chose to take their own lives.
* * *
Meanwhile, to the west, Su Yong, dressed in Su Nan's clothes and carrying Su Nan's banner, was leading several thousand men toward a mountain valley in the Western Regions. He could see the entire valley was filled with ambushing soldiers. Moreover, the ambushers were looking down on them from high ground. Seeing this, Su Yong's eyes filled with hot tears.
"Die! Die! The Su Clan will never be destroyed! The Lord will live on forever!"
As the several thousand remnants of the Su Clan's forces charged into the valley, a barrage of arrows was unleashed. Countless large rocks rolled down from the mountains. In just an hour, the thousands of Su Clan soldiers led by Su Yong were annihilated. Before he died, Su Yong could close his eyes in peace, believing he had saved his lord.
* * *
Shen Lang frowned as he looked at the corpses littering the ground, while Li Qianqiu couldn't help but sigh at the scene. He held back for a long time before finally speaking.
"I'm starting to think a farmer's life is quite good, and so is a life dedicated to the sword."
His words implied that while great figures lead brilliant lives, they often meet such tragic ends. Shen Lang also sighed and said.
"Su Nan was a formidable man. If he had overcome his greed, neither Master Zhang nor I would have been his match."
Li Qianqiu asked.
"Young Master Shen, how does it feel to have taken your revenge and settled the grudge?"
"Extremely satisfying. But Su Nan had one truly infuriating quality. He made it so that I wouldn't resent him and the Su Clan before he died. Damn it! I was supposed to take my revenge with my own hands, but he went and killed the entire Su clan himself, didn't he? A truly remarkable man."
A moment later, they went to several carriages and opened the doors, finding them filled with glittering gold. They were gold ingots, each weighing ten catties. Gold naturally sways the human heart, let alone this much of it. However, neither Shen Lang nor the Sword King Li Qianqiu were moved in the slightest. Li Qianqiu's entire fortune was no more than three hundred gold taels, but he saw money as nothing more than dirt. Besides, even if he had money, he wouldn't know how to spend it. Buy a luxurious carriage or a mansion? Or take several wives and concubines? Such things were desired only by snobs like Shen Lang. But Shen Lang already had a luxurious carriage, a mansion, and several women.
"Rourou, this gold was plundered by your father, so it belongs to your clan. I return it to its owner."
At Shen Lang's words, Princess A'rounana shot him a glance. She had little interest in gold that she couldn't eat or drink.
"Are you taking it? If you want it, take it all."
The new queen of the Qiang Kingdom was generously offering to squander her family fortune. Shen Lang shook his head. When he needed money, he could just ask his wife or the Heavenly Dao Society. Taking the gold himself and having to store it was too much trouble.
"I don't want it either. How about this? Transport the gold to the Qiang Royal Palace, then melt it all down in a cellar and pour it onto the floor. That way, no one can steal it."
"Alright! If you need it later, just say the word, and I'll give it to you then."
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
That astronomical amount of gold might indeed be useful to Shen Lang in the future.
"I'll lend you Big Dummy for one night. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning!"
* * *
That night, Shen Lang couldn't bear it and fled a li away to sleep. It was because the pair, Big Dummy and A'rounana, were tossing and turning too much. No, to be precise, A'rounana was, and still is. Big Dummy was completely incapable of taking the initiative. He was too shy, too embarrassed to do such things, so he always lay there passively. After the 'grand event', he usually couldn't face anyone for twenty hours. Such an embarrassing, yet utterly amusing, thing existed in this world. Big Dummy had opened the door to a new world, but he hadn't delved deep into it or become proactive.
* * *
The next morning.
Shen Lang took Big Dummy and bid farewell to A'rounana, the queen of the Qiang Kingdom. The queen returned to the Qiang Royal Palace with her cavalry, while Shen Lang headed back to the State of Yue with Big Dummy, Wu Lie, and the others. A'rounana dispatched two thousand cavalrymen to escort Shen Lang on his journey home. After several days of travel, Shen Lang's party finally left the Qiang Kingdom and reached the border between Yue and Qiang, at the foot of the Great Snow Mountain.
There, Shen Lang met a familiar face. Grandmaster Fanya was leading a white ox, upon which were loaded many stone fragments from the Great Calamity Palace. Grandmaster Fanya was wearing new clothes, a rare riding habit. Shen Lang's gaze naturally drifted to her thighs.
*'The curves are quite nice. The trigonometric functions are even better.'*
"Scum!"
Fanya cursed at Shen Lang and immediately left, heading toward the State of Chu. The ways of the world are unpredictable, they say. She had intended to return the secret manual to the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate, but she heard that it had been occupied by Zheng Tuo. Thus, she was unable to return it.
*'It's not that I don't want to return it; the owner is gone.'*
Even after Fanya had walked quite a distance, Shen Lang kept his head turned, still staring at her retreating figure.
*'The shape of her rear is truly exquisite.'*
Li Qianqiu couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up.
"In terms of looks, Princess Ying Jue is no less beautiful than my martial sister Fanya. Why is it that you never gave Ying Jue a second glance, yet you repeatedly provoke Fanya?"
"Ying Jue has seen too much darkness, and her heart and soul have been stained by it. In contrast, Grandmaster Fanya, despite appearing cold, is actually innocent and pure. Plus, she pretends not to be, but she's quite emotional, which makes provoking her very amusing."
The Sword King Li Qianqiu simply could not comprehend the mental world of this scum.
"Besides, I never thought of doing anything to her. I was merely looking at her with an eye of pure appreciation."
"Then, after you treat my wife, if she is very beautiful, will you also look at her with that eye of appreciation?"
Shen Lang was startled and extremely flustered.
"How could I? Am I that kind of person? I never flirt with a woman who has a husband. Well... no, I've never carelessly flirted with a woman who has a *proper* husband."
With that, Shen Lang led his troops into the territory of the State of Yue.
* * *
Grandmaster Fanya led her ox, walking absentmindedly down the road.
*'Having to go back to the Ma'am Dao Palace and face my disciples again is so boring. What excuse can I use to get out next time? Should I say I'm going to annihilate the traitor Lin Shang's Snow Mountain Palace again? No, no. There are only nineteen people in Lin Shang's Snow Mountain Palace; if I go to annihilate them again, there'll be no one left. Lin Shang is ugly and has a bad temper, but she's still my senior martial sister. I can't let her be bullied all alone in the Snow Mountain Palace.'*
"Is there any reason for me not to return to Ma'am Mountain?"
No matter how hard she thought, Fanya couldn't find a reason not to go back.
*'So annoying, so damn annoying! Why does our Ma'am Palace have so few enemies? Just Li Qianqiu and Lin Shang. If we had more, I could go out and play every day under the pretext of revenge. Shen Lang, that scum, has so many enemies that he gets to wander around every day seeking revenge. How did he make so many enemies? Or maybe I won't go back and find a reason to play outside for a few more days? The war between the Nanguo Kingdom and the Shaman Tribes is raging, so there must be many homeless people wandering about. The common folk must be suffering greatly. As a Grandmaster, I have a duty to protect the innocent refugees. No, no! I'm not the holy maiden Xue Yin, and I've never done anything to save the common people in my life. I've never committed any sins in my life, so I don't need to atone like Xue Yin. Ah, it's so boring, so boring.'*
Unable to find a reason not to return, Grandmaster Fanya had no choice but to head back to the Ma'am Dao Palace in low spirits.
*'If there's any promising disciple in our Ma'am Dao Palace, hurry up and grow so you can succeed me. I'm sick of being the sect leader.'*
* * *
At the same time.
A hunched, white-haired, and white-bearded old herdsman, dressed in furs, drove his flock of sheep southward, heading toward the Shaman Tribes' territory.
"Hah! Dust to dust, earth to earth! Riches and glory are but passing smoke before the eyes!"
He opened his mouth and sang a tune from the Qiang Kingdom.
"Big sister, don't sit on my bull. Your bottom's so big, the bull can't walk. Your scent is so strong, doesn't it make the bull's club poke the ground!"
* * *
Inside the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate.
Zheng Tuo and Yang Yongnian were like mice who had fallen into a honey pot, having obtained endless wealth and glory. Within this fortress, there were countless provisions and beautiful women. Zheng Tuo was a cautious man, so at first, he only ate and drank the provisions he had brought with him. He even used a silver needle to test every sack of grain and piece of meat, always checking for poison.
Still, he was not at ease and didn't eat them. Instead, he had the old, weak, women, and children of the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate eat the provisions first. After the people in the fortress had eaten the food for two days without incident, Zheng Tuo finally began to indulge in the provisions within the fortress. There was an endless supply of delicious wine, food, and fine things. These were truly the days of wealth and glory befitting a king or a marquis.
At first, his army did not harm the family members within the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate. But after a few days, they could no longer restrain themselves, and the women within the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate finally met with disaster.
And so, the armies of Zheng Tuo and Yang Yongnian spent their days in debauchery within the Marquis of Zhenyuan's Estate.