Chapter 352: How Big is the Shadow in the Heart
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Very evidently, Chen Feiyu had really been unjustly implicated this time. Because, he had been wrapped like a 'metal dumpling' the entire time and thrown into a cold corner.
After Wu Feng greeted Chen Feiyu, his mood seemed to have improved. Waving his hand, he led his entire army and stomped into the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
Next, he personally patrolled the various key areas of the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
After a round of patrol, Wu Feng was finally sure that Chen Feiyu had really abandoned the Thunderous Lion Settlement and instead, turned around to ambush his Yan Ya and Shi Zun settlements.
This caused him to feel extremely triggered.
After initiating an ambush and using three thousand of his troops to exchange for six thousand of Wu Feng's, Chen Feiyu continued to use the Thunderous Lion Settlement to exchange for his Yan Ya and Shi Zun settlements.
A complete defeat!
Most importantly, he had foolishly waited at the gate of the Thunderous Lion Settlement for over two hours, giving enough time for Chen Feiyu to attack the two main settlements.
He couldn't contain his unhappiness.
"Clang!" He threw a cup onto the ground, causing it to shatter into pieces.
Right at this moment, the Thunderous Lion Settlement Chief who had been beside Wu Feng all along ever since he entered the Thunderous Lion Settlement spoke.
"General, would you be resting in our settlement tonight?"
"Resting?" Wu Feng hadn't actually considered this. However, after listening to the settlement chief, he gave it a thought.
Over ten thousand soldiers rushed from the Yan Ya Settlement without stopping in order to attack the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
After which, they launched attacks lasting multiple days, and stood in the cold wind ever since dawn for over two hours. If they continued to rush back to the Yan Ya and Shi Zun settlement, it would definitely affect the hearts of the soldiers.
After all, soldiers were human too. They needed rest.
"Yes, we will be resting in the Thunderous Lion Settlement tonight, I hope that Settlement Chief can make the arrangements." After reaching this thought, Wu Feng nodded and spoke politely to the settlement chief, suppressing the anger in his heart.
"Alright, this is what we should do. When General Chen was in our Thunderous Lion Settlement, we made arrangements for him as well. However, he hadn't returned since he left the settlement to face the enemy a few days ago." When the settlement chief heard Wu Feng's words, he mumbled to himself.
"Hadn't returned? Settlement chief, are you saying that Chen Feiyu hadn't returned since leaving the settlement?" When Wu Feng hard this, he was clearly surprised.
"That's right." The settlement chief replied confidently.
"Now I understand!" Wu Feng finally understood.
After gaining knowledge that Chen Feiyu hadn't returned to the settlement, Wu Feng finally managed to link everything together.
Ever since the start, Chen Feiyu's target had been the two main settlements - Yan Ya and Shi Zun.
Leaving the settlement to face the enemy was only a feign. It was very possible that Chen Feiyu's initial plan was to split his army into two, sending two thousand troops to drag time on purpose.
Then, sending his main force to attack the two main settlements of Shi Zun and Yan Ya.
However, they just happened to encounter his six thousand troops, and after which encountering him. After panicking, he left two thousand troops to lead him towards the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
His purpose was only to give himself more time.
Seems like…
He is only a cowardly turtle who could only run!
Wu Feng was extremely confident in his own abilities. This confidence led him to believe that when others encountered him, they would either surrender or run.
After all, ever since he had entered the Southern Mountain Range, he hadn't faced any form of resistance.
"Seems that I have overestimated this Chen Feiyu. He is just a person who wishes to drag time until the combat examination ends. How could I have actually considered that he was plotting against me?" Wu Feng blamed himself.
Sometimes, when one was too careful, they might actually miss out the simpler things.
After understanding this point, Wu Feng finally relaxed completely, realising that Chen Feiyu couldn't pose any form of threat to him. Then, finishing off Chen Feiyu was only a matter of time.
"Alright, then could I trouble you to help us make arrangements!" Wu Feng's mood lifted and a confident smile returned back to his face. He appeared extremely at ease.
The settlement chief nodded his head. Very quickly, a few citizens of the Southern Mountain Range appeared behind him, each of them leading a general behind Wu Feng to their resting area.
As for Wu Feng, the settlement chief attended to him personally.
"This is the first time you are in my Thunderous Lion Settlement. As the settlement chief, I should fulfill my role as the host and bring you over to my side to drink a few cups, I wonder if you fine with that?"
"Settlement chief, you are too kind. Alright, then I will follow your arrangements. That aside, I have some silver taels here, I hope that you will take them. If it is convenient, I wish to obtain some meat to reward the soldiers." Wu Feng nodded, then casually reached into his pocket and took out a few silver bars, handing it over to the settlement chief.
"This… Since it is my job as the host, why not we do away with this silver?" The settlement chief appeared somewhat hesitant.
"I hope that you accept this, our Great Xia has our own military laws. Troubling you is already an inappropriate thing for us to do, if you won't even accept this silver, then…"
"Since general insists, I express my gratitude towards you on behalf of the people of the Southern Mountain Range."
"The Great Xia and the Southern Mountain Range had always been family, why is there a need to thank me?"
…
After a courteous conversation, Wu Feng was led by the settlement chief into a huge stone house. It was filled with the bones and skin of all kinds of beasts. It appeared extremely wild.
Glancing at the decoration inside the stone house, Wu Feng nodded lightly.
In the Southern Mountain Range, only the house of the settlement chief would contain such items. These animal bones and skin were from the hunts of the Southern Mountain Warriors after they became of age.
To be able to have them placed in the settlement chief's house was actually a form of pride to the warriors of the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
There were a few other elderly people sitting in the stone house at this moment. Each of them had extremely dark skin and wore a hat on their head. However, compared to the settlement chief, there were no feathers in their hats.
Wu Feng knew that these were the elders of the settlement with notable statuses. Since they were setting up camp in the Thunderous Lion Settlement, it was very important to ensure a good relationship with them.
"I represent the Great Xia to express my greetings." Right after entering the stone house, Wu Feng bowed in accordance to the Great Xia's customs towards the elders in the house.
"General, you are too polite. We have already made preparations for your bath ceremony, please follow us in." When the elders saw Wu Feng bow, they quickly stood up one by one and spoke.
"Bath ceremony? Alright, thank you for taking the trouble." Wu Feng nodded once again.
The bath ceremony was indeed part of the Southern Mountain Range culture. Normally, the bath ceremony was prepared for returning warriors of the Southern Mountain Range. It was a great form of respect and honour.
The ceremony wasn't very complicated.
It was mainly bathing and changing one's clothes.
However, this honour was extremely great. Wu Feng had never thought that he would be treated in such a manner right after entering the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
He was somewhat hesitant, however, he had no way of rejecting.
Because, rejecting the bath ceremony meant rejecting the friendly intentions of the Southern Mountain Range. It was an extremely disrespectful act.
Seeing that Wu Feng had agreed, two elegant Southern Mountain Range ladies wearing rattan skirts entered gracefully from within the stone house.
After seeing Wu Feng, the two women flushed slightly red and discreetly lowered their heads.
"General, we are in charge of servicing you for the bath ceremony. Would you be willing?" A Southern Mountain Range lady walked in front of Wu Feng and raised her head slightly, her face filled with shyness.
"Thank you." Wu Feng had stayed in the Southern Mountain Range for some time.
Hence, he naturally knew how daring the Southern Mountain Range were. This bath ceremony service wasn't considered something too out of the ordinary. Of course, in the process of the ceremony, usually, nothing much would happen.
Because…
This was a holy ceremony.
…
As the settlement chief prepared the feast and wine in the living room, Wu Feng was brought by the two Southern Mountain Village ladies into the room.
A huge wooden pail was already prepared inside. Steam rose from within the pail, and inside it was filled with all kinds of specialty herbs from the Southern Mountain Range.
Wu Feng had tried such herbs before. Rubbing these herbs on one's body would cause one to feel very refreshed. It was indeed a rather blissful experience.
Hence, he didn't bother being too courteous.
He allowed the two Southern Mountain Range ladies to remove the armour from his body, then remove the brocade clothes he wore within, leaving him with nothing but a white pair of underwear.
At this moment, Wu Feng's body was left with a pair of underwear and the jade flute he held on his hand.
The two Southern Mountain Range ladies glanced at one another shyly. Then, one of them prepared to remove Wu Feng's pants, while the other reached out both of her hands above her hand, waiting for Wu Feng to pass the jade flute into her hands.
When Wu Feng saw this, he hesitated somewhat.
"Can I hold on to my jade flute?" Wu Feng asked.
"This… General, we have already prepared the weapon rack for you. The purpose of the bath ceremony is to wash away the dirt on one's body and one's soul. Based on our traditions, when the warriors go out for an expedition, they have to splash the blood of beasts on their bodies. When they return, they have to wash away the blood. This weapon… had been in contact with blood, hence it would naturally be better to place it at one side." A Southern Mountain Range lady explained softly after hearing Wu Feng's request.
"Since that is the case, let's follow your Southern Mountain Range tradition. However, would it be possible to place the weapon rack nearer to me?" When Wu Feng heard this, he nodded once again.
"Alright, I'll get the weapon rack." The Southern Mountain Range lady nodded, then, turned around and left. A moment later, she returned holding the weapon rack in both hands and placed it at the door.
When Wu Feng saw that the weapon rack was just nearby, he relaxed and handed over the jade flute in his hand to the lady. Then, leapt up and entered the wooden pail.
Water splashed in all directions.
Wetting the hair of the Southern Mountain Range ladies.
However, it didn't raise any negative reactions from the two Southern Mountain Range ladies. Instead, this caused their faces to flush completely red.
After glancing towards one another, the two of them carefully made their way to the side of the wooden pail. Their smooth arms scooped up the herbs from the wooden bucket and began to rub them over Wu Feng's body.
Wu Feng felt the warmth from the water and the refreshing feeling that swept over him. He began to smile, allowing the two ladies to service him as they pleased.
Maybe it was because it was too comfortable, or maybe it was because the perpetually drawn bow in his heart was finally released, but Wu Feng's eyes finally began to close slowly after taking one glance at the weapon rack at the door.
There were two steps in the bath ceremony.
The first was bathing, the second was changing.
After fifteen minutes of bathing, one of the ladies finally stopped.
"General, I will retrieve the clothes."
"Alright…" Wu Feng nodded lightly and continued to soak his body in the warm water, enjoying the massage of the other lady.
Time flowed by very quickly.
Fifteen minutes passed…
Thirty minutes passed…
However, the lady that left never returned.
This caused Wu Feng to feel somewhat suspicious. Opening his eyes, he saw the lady standing quietly at the door.
She had a special Southern Mountain Range robe.
She must have been standing there all along, waiting for him for fear of disturbing him.
Wu Feng lightly shook his head and nodded towards the lady at the door. The panic in his heart instantly vanished.
He was still too vigilant.
Just as he prepared to announce that he was done bathing and was ready to change, he suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right. Because, behind the Southern Mountain Range lady, there was another figure.
Due to being blocked by the body of the lady, he couldn't discern the identity of the figure.
However…
What was strange was that the figure seemed to be sitting casually on a chair and munching on fruits. Furthermore, he even poured himself a cup of wine from time to time.
This caused Wu Feng to feel somewhat uneasy.
After all, he was completely naked at this moment.
Being serviced by two ladies while naked was something every man enjoyed. However, being admired by another man while snacking on fruits was a different feeling.
"Who are you?!" Wu Feng instinctively shouted out.
"Looks like Young Master Wu is done bathing?" When the figure heard Wu Feng's words, he slowly placed down the wine cup in his hand and stood up from the chair.
Wu Feng heart skipped a beat.
He felt that this voice sounded somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it before somewhere. However, he wasn't quite able to recall.
In the Southern Mountain Range…
Was there somebody he knew in the Thunderous Lion Settlement?
Wu Feng tried hard to recall, and finally realised that there wasn't.
Right at this moment, the Southern Mountain Range lady servicing him slowly stopped. Then, she walked quietly towards the door.
As for the Southern Mountain Range lady standing at the door, she immediately turned around and left.
"They left?!" Wu Feng was slightly taken aback. After all, that lady held the clothes in her hands. Weren't those clothes for him to wear?
Just as he thought, Wu Feng's eyes immediately widened. The expression on his face froze completely.
Because, just as the two Southern Mountain Range ladies left, he finally recognised the figure at the door.
That was a youth dressed in leopard skin. He seemed somewhat young, around fifteen to sixteen years of age. He even carried a thin, faint smile on his face.
He had seen this faint smile before. Furthermore, his memory of it was extremely profound!