Li Xue wiped off her tears and forced a smile, “What are you puzzled about?” Her voice trembled like her agitated mood.
How could Ling Tian not feel her trembling voice? He sighed tenderly in his heart and hurriedly changed the topic, “In our previous life, our world practices monogamy. Why would you not be conflicted about the idea of polygamy?”
“Monogamy?” Li Xue let out a self-mocking smile, “Are you lying to ghosts? Tian’ge, you are also someone who grew up in an aristocratic family. Did you really not know? Even if we are talking about the seniors of our previous life, how many of them only had a single wife? Almost all of the elders had a good three to five wives at the very least. Which one of them didn’t have a few mistresses on the outside? Monogamy? Are you cracking a joke?”
“Not to mention an aristocratic family like ours, it would be an embarrassment if a small boss didn’t have at least one mistress! Even the small public security bureau officer would have a couple of girlfriends for sure!” Li Xue chuckled, “It wouldn’t be easy to find a loyal husband even if he didn’t have money or status. As for those with money and status… ah ah, I don’t need to say anything more.”
Ling Tian smiled, “I am not talking about anyone else but you. Do you not have any thoughts?”
Li Xue snorted and pinched Ling Tian on the arm before whining, “Of course I have my thoughts! But so what if I have my thoughts? Would you abandon your other lovers for me? Would you? You don’t need to answer this question and we all know the answer in our hearts. I won’t mind.”
Li Xue snorted, “Besides, we are already in a different world where the strong would reign supreme. You are walking the path of the monarch and if you only have a single wife, people would think that you are crazy.”
Ling Tian let out a long sigh of relief, “This world is truly great.”
Li Xue’s eyes widened in anger and she suddenly questioned angrily, “Be honest, could it be that you are fighting for hegemony just so you can set up a harem of 72 concubines and have a new concubine every night?!”
“No!” Ling Tian said with a righteous look and shook his head seriously, “How can this be possible? Am I someone like that? Besides, how could 72 concubines be sufficient? I need to have 3000 beauties in my harem at least.”
“You! I will bite you to death! I didn’t use enough strength before or otherwise how could you dare to be so arrogant?!” Li Xue flew into a rage and pounced forward brandishing her ‘claws’.
“You said you wouldn’t mind. How can you bite me? I will bite you first! Wuwu…”
Mmm, the two of them were biting each other. See no evil, hear no evil and do no…
******
Just when Ling Tian was filled with the sweetness of springtime, Eastern Zhao was already engulfed in flames. Famine spread across the land with bitterness in the eyes of the people.
Shen RuHu’s army had finally come into contact with DongFang JingLei and he joined up with them. At this moment, DongFang JingLei was being chased after by the forces of the Eastern Zhao army and he had less than 5,000 subordinates still alive.
Following that, both parties did not say a single word and charged at each other in a chaotic battle.
Shen RuHu’s purpose was simple. He wanted to create as huge of a mess as he could to buy some time for the troops at Sobbing Ghost Mountain. Since he wasn’t willing to talk, he would make the battle as intense as possible. Only if the battle was intense would attention be drawn to their battle.
Just when both parties were having a huge battle, Ling Jian was clad in a full set of black robes and snuck into Eastern Zhao territory. He was like a floating spirit and a sharp arrow, headed straight for the hinterlands of Eastern Zhao.
His target was the temporary residence of the Eastern Zhao Emperor, Blazing Sun City!
The temporary capital of Eastern Zhao, Blazing Sun City!
The sun set in the west and the autumn winds rustled. The boundless darkness descended onto the continent again.
Ling Jian who was hiding in a shrub had his usual calmness and was expressionless. His eagle eyes were locked on the imposing city gates before him. He was like a deity above the nine heavens gazing emotionlessly down on the world.
During his current trip with Ling Tian, especially after he climbed up to the peak of the mountain with Ling Jian, he had received quite a bit of enlightenment. Even after he faced humiliation from Li Xue, his sword dao which hadn’t had the slightest bit of improvement lately finally had signs of breaking through.
Especially after he witnessed the tall peak that was once under his feet collapsing before his very eyes. In Ling Jian’s heart, he also felt a large obstruction in his heart collapsing!
There are only things which cannot be imagined but not things which cannot be accomplished!
From that moment on, Ling Jian felt his eyes lit up and his future was limitless. All the sword, blade, fist, and movement techniques that Ling Tian taught him in the past no longer had any mysteries to him. All of his previous doubts and questions had been cleared up in that single moment without any obstructions left behind.
At that moment, Ling Jian was overjoyed and had a strange feeling of nirvana!
Ling Jian could clearly feel that his martial arts had taken another large step forward. If he were to fight Li Xue again, Ling Jian was confident that even if he wasn’t able to beat her, he definitely wouldn’t lose!
This was a breakthrough in his mental state and also a restoration of his confidence!
Ling Jian’s confidence scaled up another level and reached entirely new heights!
He had the confidence to challenge any expert in the world!
On Ling Jian’s skinny shoulders, the hilt of a sword could be seen sticking out. On top of it, a black sword tassel drifted around in the winds like it was the flag of a demon. As it drifted around, its ferocious teeth were revealed.
Ling Jian finally climbed out of the shrubs and his cold gaze was like an unbreakable sword, fixed on the dark distant city.
Ling Jian sped across the wilderness like a wisp of green smoke.
His cold gaze seemed to indicate endless bloodshed in Blazing Sun City!
The night was no longer lonely!
Even with Ling Jian’s character, he couldn’t help but feel his blood boil.
In the past ten years, Ling Jian led the First Pavilion despite his young age and his feats spread across the entire continent. From an unknown assassination organization to the current First Pavilion. Furthermore, the prestigious might of the First Pavilion Head had spread across the continent. There wasn’t a single person on the continent who didn’t know about his name! However, no one knew that the leader of the number one assassin organization was actually such a young youth!
In the past ten years, there were thousands who had died under Ling Jian’s sword! The boundless killing had already thoroughly tempered Ling Jian’s spirit! In Ling Jian’s eyes, things that would shock ordinary people were no more than a daily occurrence to him.
In this world, there weren’t many things capable of making Ling Jian have a change in expression. At the same time, the people who Ling Jian cared about were as rare as phoenix’s feathers and unicorn’s horns. Regardless of how difficult the mission was, Ling Jian had never shrunk in fear or failed a mission!
With regards to killing, regardless of who it was, Ling Jian had absolute confidence. The series of continuous victories he experienced over time had already bred a desire for victory which disdained everything else! Even when he faced Yu ManLou back then, Ling Jian charged forward with absolute confidence and would not be agitated in the slightest!
Regardless of how powerful Yu ManLou was, he was no more than a family head of an aristocratic family! Even if this family head was more prestigious than all the monarchs of the world! However, he was still a family head after all. All of these years, there had been more than one family head who had died under Ling Jian’s sword. Towards the title ‘Family Head’, Ling Jian was already numb.
Even though Ling Jian almost died in the Yu Residence back then, the current him was far stronger. The Ling Jian of today would probably not fail again! There wasn’t anyone in the world that Ling Jian did not dare to kill!
The person who Ling Jian wanted to assassinate today was an even higher existence! He was the monarch of a nation, the ruler of Eastern Zhao, DongFang MingRi!
This time, Ling Jian truly had a completely different feeling. The excitement that he rarely felt before killing someone had sprouted in his heart today. Ling Jian had killed all kinds of individuals before, from ordinary commoners to the prime minister of an empire. However, he had never killed the monarch of a nation!
He originally had the chance to do so when massacring the Northern Wei imperial family. However, he missed the opportunity because he wanted to personally kill Wei ChengPing and Ling Chi snatched the opportunity to kill the monarch of Northern Wei. Even though there wasn’t any challenge in killing the Northern Wei monarch!
However, the chance was currently in front of him! If he was able to successfully kill the Eastern Zhao monarch under the layers of protection by his guards, Ling Jian would definitely feel a strong sense of accomplishment. What Ling Jian chased after was the instant sense of accomplishment and the emptiness that followed after.
It was only at that time when Ling Jian was the happiest. Just like how Ling Tian killed the powerful Family Head of the DongFang Family with a single blow!
Ling Jian could already imagine DongFang MingRi dying under his sword with his blood spurting in all directions and his head flying up into the sky before being caught by him.
If this assassination could be completed successfully, Ling Jian’s next target would be the number one expert in the world, Justice!
Borrowing the cover of the darkness, Ling Jian did not even need to pass through the city gates. As though there were invisible stairs by the city wall, Ling Jian flew up dozens of feet into the air. Like a black bird, he silently flew up the city walls before making use of the shadows to avoid the patrolling guards. After avoiding a dozen patrol squads, he then carefreely walked on the streets of Blazing Sun City.
Blazing Sun City at night was completely silent as though it was a dead city. Because night had just fallen, the night watchman had not come out. As compared to the bustling Sky Bearing City, Bright Jade City, and Gold Jade City, Blazing Sun City was completely different.
Occasionally, there would be a couple of patrol squads looking in Ling Jian’s direction, and Ling Jian would casually hide in the shadows. There were even a few patrol soldiers who would brush by Ling Jian’s sleeves but not notice him in the slightest. They never imagined that the most frightening assassin in the world was just a step away from them. If they were to find out about this, these soldiers would probably lose their sleep for the next couple of months. How is this any different from brushing past the god of death?
During those few encounters, Ling Jian even made preparations to silence these soldiers. However, these soldiers were filled with laughter and conversation, not noticing Ling Jian in the slightest. This made the number one assassin who wanted to kill extremely depressed. With such soldiers and patrol squads, Ling Jian felt that he could bring 10,000 soldiers in and they would not even notice it!
They were short-sighted to the point they were almost blind!
Or perhaps it could be said that they just couldn’t be bothered!
With the smoke of battle still rising to the skies, these guards were actually so relaxed and undisciplined! Ling Jian was astounded at his target. It wasn’t difficult to train a bunch of elite soldiers. As long as one had the time and skill, one would be able to train up a bunch of troops to the embryonic form of elite soldiers. They would then require the baptism of a single battle and would become freshly minted elite troops.
However, it was truly puzzling why Eastern Zhao would spend so much money and grain to train up an unruly mob. Even if one did not understand military discipline, they should not train up a bunch of pig-like soldiers, right? The military trainers of Eastern Zhao truly have some ability, Ling Jian praised in his heart. If those military trainers knew that they were able to receive the praise of the number one assassin in the world, who knows if they would feel pride or grief?!
After strolling a couple of rounds in the city like a ghost, from the tightness of the security, Ling Jian could already determine that DongFang MingRi was currently in the City Head Mansion. Since the target was already located, Ling Jian began studying the geography of the place. He planned his route of advancement and also his route of retreat.
There were truly many patrol squads in Blazing Sun City and there were a couple of times where Ling Jian’s whereabouts were almost found. Such a feeling of being on edge was one that made assassin Ling extremely uncomfortable. Thus, he might as well jump out in the open to take a look at the urban landscape of the city. To see what route he could take to the City Head Mansion, what retreat route he could take, where he could escape to if he was injured, where the dead ends where…
Should one praise Ling Jian for being bold because of his skill, or should one scold him for being foolishly bold?!
At the very end, Ling Jian had even taken his sword off his back to use it as a ruler. As he was measuring the distance, a patrol squad coincidentally passed by and the dim yellow lantern light shone onto Ling Jian’s body.
Ling Jian felt a tinge of depression in his heart and stood still without bothering to avoid the light in the slightest. With his mood being bad, it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea to kill a few to vent his frustrations. As for alerting DongFang MingRi, it wasn’t too big a matter. At the very most, it would be slightly more difficult for him to assassinate DongFang MingRi. However, it would also allow him to find the mythical feeling of hovering between life and death.
Ling Jian held onto his sword and he looked at the approaching twenty or so soldiers with a pair of frosty eyes. His eyes grew colder as the troops approached and his sword about the leave its sheath!
Right at this moment, something which was completely out of Ling Jian’s expectation which made Ling Jian not know whether to laugh or cry happened. The leader of the patrol squad approached Ling Jian with his lantern. Seeing that Ling Jian did not avoid him in the slightest together with Ling Jian being dressed in black, glaring at them ferociously with the overbearing manner of an expert, the leader looked at Ling Jian with shock. Just when Ling Jian was about to unsheathe his sword, the patrol squad leader suddenly bowed down to Ling Jian respectfully, “It has been tough on Sir.”
Ling Jian was dumbfounded and flew into a rage, “Do you recognize me? What Sir? Hmm?”
That leader bowed down and said in a soft voice, “Please appease your anger Sir, this subordinate will leave immediately. I definitely wouldn’t dare to disturb Sir. May Sir forgive us.”
Ling Jian was completely depressed and grabbed the leader by the sleeves and scolded, “Have you seen me before?! Why are you so certain that I am your officer? Why are you so careless?! Let me tell you, I am an assassin! An assassin who is here to kill your monarch! Do you understand?!”
That leader laughed dryly and wiped off the sweat on his forehead, “Sir really knows how to joke… hehehe. Looking at Sir’s prestige, Sir is definitely an expert among experts! How would we be so blind to mistake Sir for an assassin? With Sir present, how would there be any assassins? Please stop joking with us! If Sir wants to find someone to joke with, this subordinate can find two beauties for Sir!”
Ling Jian was dazed by the leader’s words and released his sleeves. Ling Jian suddenly understood what the leader meant and roared with anger, “What nonsense are you talking about! Look at how spineless all of you are! Hmm? Are you guys patrolling or taking a stroll? If you guys patrol the place in such a manner, what can you guys find? A bunch of b*st*rds! Even if an assassin was right before your eyes, you guys wouldn’t be able to recognize him! Scram for me!”
“Yes yes yes. This subordinate will scram immediately. This subordinate will scram… hehehe.” He then bowed respectfully again before fleeing quickly.
A sound of anger sounded from afar, “F**k! He dares to say that I am spineless? Isn’t he a ball-less eunuch? Coming out every day to deceive people? He still wants to fool me? Even if I am spineless, I am still much better than that ball-less thing! He only knows how to harm little kids every day! Cheh! He still has the cheek to reprimand us!”
“Leader is wise. If not for leader’s wisdom, we wouldn’t know how to deal with that darn eunuch who likes to keep catamites…”
“That’s right, that’s right. Look at his deadpan face. Apart from the palace, where else can he come from? That fool still thinks that he can become a turtle after putting on a tortoise’s shell… what a joke!”
“Hahaha…” a wave of laughter sounded.
Eunuch? Ball-less? Keeping catamites?! Becoming a turtle after putting on a tortoise’s shell?!!
These words thoroughly enraged this number one assassin to the point his lips trembled and limbs turned cold! Is this what they think of me?!
Just when Ling Jian wanted to turn around to vent his anger he could no longer find them. After throwing off Ling Jian, these fellows were afraid that the eunuch might end up asking them to find a catamite for him. In order to avoid trouble, they escaped quickly at the very next intersection…
Ling Jian snorted and his deadpan expression turned completely red from anger. In order to vent his anger, Ling Jian swung his sword down hard at the wall beside him.
A series of footsteps sounded and another squad arrived. Seeing Ling Jian standing up proudly in the middle of the road, they were first taken aback before bowing down respectfully as though they saw a devil and quickly fled.
Ling Jian laughed from extreme anger.
Weren’t the guards of the Blazing Sun City too preposterous?!
The patrol guards truly couldn’t be blamed for their negligence. It was truly a problem of the Eastern Zhao Empire.
Before DongFang JingLei staged his rebellion, he had once sent a powerful swordsman to assassinate DongFang MingRi. This swordsman created huge chaos in the Eastern Zhao palace and it was also because of this chaos that DongFang JingLei had the opportunity to chase the imperial family out of the Imperial Palace.
The number of casualties that this swordsman caused was incalculable. The beauties of the imperial harem were largely weak and defenseless. In the face of a martial arts expert, they were naturally diced up like vegetables without the slightest bit of retaliation. DongFang MingRi’s most beloved concubine was also killed on that night. As for the Eastern Zhao monarch DongFang MingRi, he also suffered heavy injuries from the incident.
After this assassination incident, a huge alarm bell went off in DongFang MingRi’s head! DongFang MingRi truly realized that in the face of a martial arts expert, the defenses of his imperial palace were truly lacking.
Being chased out of his capital had become the biggest humiliation of DongFang MingRi’s life! As the monarch of a nation, he was treated like a traitor and escaped like a dog without a house. How could he ever endure such a humiliation!
As for the reason, DongFang MingRi naturally understood that the successful rebellion was because of the chaos created by the assassination. From that day on, DongFang MingRi hated the word ‘assassin’ to the bone and was also filled with caution.
Ever since he moved into Blazing Sun City, DongFang MingRi began a series of anti-assassination operations. He would instruct the experts of his palace to dress up as a black-masked man, roaming around the streets to test the wariness of the soldiers. Thus, these soldiers would always be on edge, afraid that they would miss an ‘assassin’.
This was also a form of practice to prepare for the unexpected!
Naturally, the experts of the imperial palace were reprimanded fiercely by DongFang MingRi for allowing the assassin to enter the palace without anyone knowing. As such, these experts vented their anger on the soldiers and resented them for being useless. With regards to them being punished for the soldiers’ dereliction, all of them were filled with rage.
Now that they received a command from the emperor to pose as an assassin, they naturally wouldn’t let go of this opportunity to take revenge for their grievances. In the past few days, with the excuse of it being an exercise, they tortured the whole imperial army badly. There were even some experts who had some deficit to their bodies and were screwy in the head. They caught some of the better looking soldiers to tease them and the entire imperial army was filled with a grievance but had no place to vent it. After this continued for a while…
Every time the soldiers saw a young man clad in black, they would avoid them like the plague. With Ling Jian acting as though he was causing trouble, standing in the alley openly while waving his sword… when had they ever seen such an arrogant assassin?