Chapter 334: Splitting up with XiMen
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
The huge group of soldiers and warhorses had already successfully entered the pass, leaving Ling Tian alone. Gazing at the plains, he only felt an intense desire to let out a sigh.
At this same time next year, probably even the soil mounds will have disappeared, right? If that's the case, then who will still remember the intense killing done on this piece of land? Who will remember that a once powerful country was reduced to nothing here? And as for the forest of white bones buried below the soil, how many of them still have a beautiful wife at home looking out of the door every day, pining for them? How many of them will appear once again, in the dreams of their lovers at midnight?
Those pitiful bones left to wander along the side of the river,
While their wives at home still dream of their return! 1
Shaking his head, Ling Tian dispelled his current thoughts to the back of his head. He couldn't help but laugh, sensing how easily he was emotionally triggered by the scene in front of him. Death and turning into bleached white bones, he of all people would understand it best!
From afar came the sounds of galloping horses, resounding like muffled thunder! All the soldiers in the Ling Army immediately heightened their wariness, raising their heads.
Ling Tian squinted, looking into the dust clouds from afar while keeping a relaxed expression.
The newcomers only numbered a few, probably a thousand at most, but one could see that every single of them had valiant and fierce looks. Undoubtedly, they were all elite soldiers. Seated at the front was a youth clad fully in black. However, no one noticed that the moment he caught sight of Ling Tian from afar, a gleam passed through his eyes, and in that instant, his face took on a weird expression.
"Who are the newcomers? Ah? …." Ling Nineteen opened his mouth to ask. He was seated in a circle together with Ling Chi and Ling Yun. As for Ling Jian and the rest, they had disappeared a short while ago.
Ling Nineteen had taken the initiative to stand up and open his mouth, but the moment he spoke, he felt as though someone was choking him by his throat, rendering him unable to speak. Ling Chi stretched out a hand and pulled him back, shooting him a warning look while whispering, "Don't speak, let the young noble deal with this."
Those that were about to react the same way as Ling Nineteen caught themselves and lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
"Impudence! Who goes there? How dare you show such disrespect in front of this young noble?! Hurry and dismount!" Ling Tian shouted out with an icy expression. Within his voice could be heard a trace of displeasure, as though he was unhappy at this group of people for breaking his own mental state.
"And who might you be?" The black-robed youth also had on a cold expression as he sternly replied, "Where is General Han TieXuan? This young noble has something to ask him, quickly bring me over!" As he spoke, he raised the horse whip in his right hand, attempting to establish dominance. However, for reasons unknown, his finger trembled a little, causing the horse whip to deviate and point at Ling Tian's chest instead of his face. This reduced the domineering effect he hoped to achieve.
"General Han TieXuan?" A smile appeared on Ling Tian's face. "Are you from Western Han?"
"This young noble in front of you is the youngest master of the XiMen aristocratic family!" A person beside the black-robed man tried to butter him up. "He is the last young noble left in the XiMen Family! Hurry up and pay your respects!"
"The XiMen Aristocratic Family? Hahaha…" Ling Tian laughed so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks. "So it's that entire family of people with homosexual tendencies, preferring huge and muscular males? What a resounding and prestigious name! The last time, the heavens witnessed the number one talent of the XiMen family performing, and the scene is still vivid in everyone's minds. Now hearing this really brings back memories. Haha… I wonder if this last young noble is also interested in this type of performance! If that's the case, then I'll pray that you just never see me in that way!"
"You're seeking death!" On that black-robed youth's side, a group of men were enraged and immediately drew their swords, rushing up. However, the youth's hand rose up, halting them in their tracks as they obediently returned back to their stations. While that youth was young, he had a certain sort of influence within that group.
While their side was already on the verge of snapping, the strange thing was that by Ling Tian's side, everybody seemed to have seen and heard the exchange, but all remained sitting by the side without batting a single eyelid. Were they that confident of this guy?!
The black-robed youth breathed in deeply, a strange light flickering in his eyes as he cupped his fists, saying, "This one here is XiMen Sa, may I request for this noble's name? Might I know how my family has offended you?" He was directly in front of Ling Tian, but deliberately did not lower his voice, showing that he had a backing that was as formidable as Ling Chi and group.
By the side, Ling Chi and group's faces twitched when they heard, but their faces remained passive.
Ling Tian narrowed his eyes as he looked at XiMen Sa. The expression in his eyes turned unfathomable as he replied, "XiMen Sa? Haha, a youth is still a youth after all, still so… inexperienced! To think that you still cannot guess this young noble's identity! The XiMen family definitely lacks successors!" Ling Tian purposefully paused at the inexperienced word, as though poking fun at him.
Hearing Ling Tian's words, a hint of fear appeared in XiMen Sa's face, and he quickly lowered his head. Ling Tian harshly coughed once, only to see him raise his head quickly, with disbelief on his face. "You are… Ling Tian?"
Ling Tian laughed out loud, displaying an incomparable arrogance as he replied, "That's right! I am Ling Tian! Your eldest young master, XiMen Qing's bosom buddy! Ling Tian! As he spoke, a hint of hostility wafted out from him. All the experts of the XiMen family immediately developed a trace of fear in their eyes!
All their elite troops that the XiMen house sent to Sky Bearing mysteriously disappeared and everyone knew that this was Ling Tian's doing. The two families could be said to have an irreconcilable blood feud! However, regarding Ling Tian's vicious methods and his strength, both only left the XiMen house in much fear. The moment they heard that the person standing in front of them was him, all of them only had a heavy heart, afraid of the consequences.
"Indeed, it's you!" XiMen Sa shot a gaze that was as sharp as a knife. "Even if it's you, what are you going to do about it?"
Ling Tian only shook his head and smiled, "I've just allied with the Western Han General Han TieXuan and wiped out the 400,000 strong army from Northern Wei. So you tell me, what do I want now?"
"Ah…" XiMen Sa was stunned. After a long time, he spoke, but to his men's surprise, his question was, "Is your esteemed father… alright?"
A curious light passed through Ling Tian's eyes, but he still answered, "He's fine now! Thanks for asking!"
XiMen Sa secretly let out a sigh of relief at this, and smilingly replied, "Indeed, heaven helps the worthy! When I first received the news of your father, I immediately rushed over, wanting to help… General Han. To think that you were able to arrive before me and ally with General Han, causing the Northern Wei to suffer a huge defeat, never to recover again. Haha, this is like the saying the affairs of the world are akin to chess, difficult to predict."
Ling Tian solemnly nodded his head and spoke with a sighing tone, "That's right, all things in life are just like a game of chess, unable to be predicted. Just like how young noble XiMen has appeared here, isn't it an extremely unexpected incident?"
XiMen Sa laughed at this, his eyes turning into slits from his huge smile, "That's right, it was indeed unexpected." The two of them exchanged glances, laughing together. With the harmonious way that they were laughing, one would think that they were best friends!
The experts in the XiMen family stared at each other, mystified over the conversation he was having with Ling Tian. However, they were extremely certain of one point, that their young noble was actually battling it out with Ling Tian in a game of wits! Since their young noble couldn't defeat Ling Tian in a battle, he chose to battle Ling Tian in a game of wits instead! Whichever side did not understand the other would then fall into a disadvantage!
XiMen Sa cupped his fists, laughing as he spoke, "If young noble Ling does not have any special requests, then this younger brother here will be rushing back to Western Han!"
Ling Tian thought fast, and smiled, "Since this young noble here feels so close with young noble XiMen, and we get together so well, how could you leave so hurriedly? My intention was actually to await the return of General Han, and meanwhile tidy up the supplies left behind by the war. However, I have something important to attend to and will need to rush back to Sky Bearing. General Han will only return much later, so I will have to trouble young noble XiMen to collect and bring the war supplies back to Western Han, is that alright?"
The moment Ling Tian spoke, expressions of joy appeared on the faces of the subordinates behind XiMen Sa! While the processing of war supplies was a tedious task, it was a form of meritorious service! The moment they returned to their country, this merit would be shared among them. This group of people did not actually expect that by following XiMen Sa out this time, they could actually have riches drop from the sky in front of them! If this idea did not come out of Ling Tian's mouth, they would have long gone insane over this thought! Now, they were just waiting to see how their young noble would deal with this, but all of them had on the same greedy look in their expressions.
While XiMen Sa did not reveal any change in expression, the pupils of his eyes shrank as he turned back to face Ling Tian. "Since young noble Ling says that the two of us have chemistry, then how could this XiMen Sa not listen to your request? I can't possibly spoil young noble Ling's great matters just because of some trivial matters I have back at home!"
Ling Tian smiled in return, "That's right! I thank young noble XiMen for understanding." Both parties looked at each other and smiled, however, their smiles appeared a little weird this time, as though they had some tacit understanding. In XiMen Sa's eyes, a look of gratitude and admiration could be seen… the same look that could be seen when Ling Nineteen and the rest looked at Ling Tian.