Chapter 298: The War up North
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
Upon receiving Ling Tian's 'first aid', the guard felt a wave of gratitude, and two large tears actually rolled from his eyes and dripped onto the floor! Who would have thought that the owner of the Ling Family Courtyard, Ling Tian, a person whom everyone here regarded as a god, actually knew how to apologize?! At that moment, he felt the blood in his body surging and found out that his voice was choked with emotion, unable to say anything. It was only after a long time that he finally forced out the words, "young… noble…"
Ling Tian wiped his tears away and laughed, "What a sight! You're such a strong and burly man, but you're actually crying. Did I hit you so hard that you're crying in pain? Look at him, is he actually a grown man?" As he spoke, he turned to the other three guards.
"That's right, it's so unsightly. Li LaoSi, you're embarrassing us, crying like a newborn baby. You only got kicked once! Even we wanted to do the same but didn't have the chance! Hahaha!" The three of them also laughed, but you could see that their eyes brightly shimmered and their voices were also trembling a little. Seeing the sympathy and care that Ling Tian showed towards Li LaoSi, and having Ling Tian jest with them like friends, the four of them felt that they would gladly lay down their lives for him!
Li LaoSi wiped his tears away and started laughing.
When Ling Tian left the place and saw Ling Chen silently tailing behind with a frightened expression on her face, he couldn't help but laugh, pulling her into his chest as he whispered, "Silly lass, this was just a ploy, and you actually thought it was real! Look at your pout, I could practically hang a lamp there! If I can't even lie to you, then how am I going to bluff that lass? To lie to someone, you first have to be able to make those who are close to you believe in your lies!"
Ling Chen wasn't originally pouting, but upon hearing his words, her lips stuck out immediately as she lamented, "I also knew that young noble was using a ploy, but when young noble was lecturing me, my heart still hurt! I've never been scolded by young noble before, and it was actually very painful!"
Ling Tian started, and couldn't help but ruffle her hair, laughingly scolding her, "You silly lass!"
Ling Chen nestled in his chest and serenely replied, "Miss Shui must also be feeling terrible though, after all, she has some feelings for you young noble, and Chen'er can tell that she's not lying about that!"
Ling Tian smiled in response, "Of course she would feel terrible, a stately heir of the Water of Heavenly Wind being reduced to such a state. How could she be feeling good? Of course, she better be speaking the truth, or I really would have carried out what I said!"
Ling Chen sighed, "While what you said was the truth, that wasn't enough to cause agony to Miss Shui. Young noble, you really don't understand the mind of a female."
Ling Tian paused for a while and then suspiciously replied, "What do you mean?"
Gazing off into the distance, Ling Chen slowly spoke, "A lady might not care about much, but the thing she cherishes most is her purity! A lady can face the harsh judgment of the world, but be unable to take even a single word of beratement from the person she loves! Even the smallest bit of a poor impression inside the heart of the man she likes would be as though she was being mutilated. Does young noble understand now that I put it this way?"
At this point, Ling Chen mustered up her courage to directly face Ling Tian and huffed, "Young noble's actions today, in light of being an enemy, are completely justified! But if you were the object of a lady's admiration, then that is not only overboard but also needlessly cruel. I believe that no lady would be able to take such an insult! Even if Miss Shui is from the Water of Heavenly Wind, she would be no exception, as after all, in the end she's still a lady!"
Ling Tian silently took two steps forward, the scene of Shui QianRou in despair fresh in his mind. He couldn't help but sigh out loud, murmuring, "Maybe I went overboard. But for the safety of my father, I didn't have any other choice…"
Ling Chen also got a little nervous at this point, and attempting to placate him said, "In the end, Miss Shui is still on the opposite side, so to suffer a few sentences of verbal abuse could be considered letting her off pretty lightly." As she spoke, she let out another sigh, "Actually, in this patriarchal society with this power struggle among men, women should never have gotten themselves involved. After all, we're still too weak. Young noble is the person Chen'er loves the most, so anything you want to do, Chen'er will support you to the end without a single word of complaint!"
Ling Tian curiously stared at her a little, as he hadn't expected Ling Chen's thoughts to have reached such a stage, and couldn't help but admire her maturity. He carelessly smiled in reply, "It doesn't matter even if women get involved, as long as they don't take the lead. As long as they stay safe behind their men and make use of their meticulous nature and wits to aid them, that would be more than enough. For Shui QianRou, she is totally not treating herself as a woman! While a woman commits no wrong in helping her man, to attempt to take over a man's role is going a bit too far!"
Ling Chen also smiled, thinking to herself while looking at Ling Tian, Young noble, I'll always be right behind you, living for you. This life, the next, and the one after the next. Forever and ever!
Ling Tian walked in front, with his hands behind his back as he stared up into the sky. He felt his soul leaving his body, his spirit soaring over to Northern Wei. In his ears he heard the sound of warhorses galloping and the sounds of slaughter and thought to himself, I wonder what the situation there is now? His brows furrowed at the problems he was facing.
The Northern battlefield.
The great general Ling Xiao was definitely different. With ten thousand personal troops and a hundred thousand as the main force, they seemed to have formed a wall of iron around Nine Swallow City! Ever since Ling Xiao had arrived at the destination, the morale of the soldiers had risen to an all-time high! Northern Wei had attempted many attacks, but not only were they repelled time after time, but their casualties continued increasing without end! Even if they were to unite under one common banner, many of their soldiers would still be mysteriously assassinated in their barracks! All the signs pointed towards Northern Wei already having the intention to surrender and retreat.
Deep in the night, Ling Nineteen's skinny frame was hidden in the shadows, sitting in front of a tent as he tested out his blade by himself. The war this morning had just ended, and the bloodstains on Ling Nineteen's body were akin to badges of courage and bravery.
The soldiers nearby him all began to shift a little farther away from him, shooting looks of fear. In their eyes, he was like a smelly and hard piece of sh*t. Other than those brothers of his, he treated everyone coldly, looking at everyone with a face devoid of emotions. Looking at him was just like meeting a pestilence demon.
Ling Nineteen cast his gaze over to the soldiers, the corners of his mouth raised in a helpless smile. Ever since he started participating in the wars, he chose this sort of unharmonious lifestyle with those around him. This was not introversion, neither was it disdain. This was because their lives of the young soldiers were too colorful and beautiful, and he had to use such a style to protect himself.
All this came from the fact that when Ling Nineteen first entered the army barracks, it only took him an hour's worth of time to befriend all of the other soldiers there. After all, the army would be full of hot-blooded men, and such fellows were the easiest to connect with. In those few days, Ling Nineteen felt that it was the happiest, most fulfilling time of his life. He treasured his friends, and was even prepared to live and die with them!
However, in the battle three days later, while all the men had hot blood rushing through their veins, most of them lost the chance to ever be hot-blooded again! Out of a platoon of close to a hundred men, only four of them were left. Ling Nineteen actually wanted to use his abilities to protect the few close to him, but this was a battlefield, and abrupt changes took place at any time and anywhere. To be able to protect your own life was already considered a miracle! Upon seeing those people he had shared jokes with a mere hour ago lying on the sandy ground, devoid of all life, he felt truly powerless at that moment! That sort of emotion could make even a hardened man go insane!
From then on, Ling Nineteen stopped befriending any of the men in the barracks, instead purposely distancing himself from them and burying any emotions in his heart. There was no other reason for that, it was just that he didn't want his comrades to feel the same pain as he did if he ever fell on the battlefield. It was the attentive people that found out that this youth wasn't as cold as he looked, going so far as to save anybody on his side, whether he knew them or not.
Ever since he was dispatched here by his young noble, he had developed the strange habit of wiping his blade. In the middle of the night, he would sit quietly wiping his steel blade, his thoughts flying off to some unknown place. He would reminisce about the times he spent with his fallen comrades and remember the fond times they shared. This period of brightness was the greatest pleasure he had every day.
Inside the tent, his other three roommates had long fallen asleep and were making loud snoring noises. The flags in the neighboring tents also fluttered in the night, suddenly giving him the feeling that although the grand array of tents looked imposing in the daytime, they resembled a tomb in the nighttime. These sorts of thoughts were a little bit too inauspicious!
Thinking of his young noble, a look of reverence was immediately revealed in his face. By adopting kids that were abandoned and without food, clothing, or shelter under his care, and even imparting a set of martial skills to them, this was as though going from hell to heaven! Such a life, what more could he ask for?
Touching a scar on his arm, Ling Nineteen's face had a reminiscent expression.
At first, when young noble was gathering up the kids, he chose three thousand of them himself to personally teach. After a month, only a tenth were further selected to continue to undergo this special training. After yet another month, the three hundred became a hundred, and one final month passed before this number was reduced to fifty! The scar on his arm was obtained on the final qualification test! At that time, he originally didn't have enough ability, but when his arm was injured he didn't even flinch despite the sweat on his face betraying his pain. It was this particular point that caught his young noble's attention and got him selected.
His opponent that year was originally called Gou Dan, but young noble later renamed him as Ling Chi. However, everytime they met, Ling Nineteen would still call him Gou Dan, and every time they would get into a fight but he would be unable to defeat him. Thinking on this point, Ling Nineteen smiled.