Chapter 1479: Whose Funeral is This? (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"Has Your Excellency taken the wrong medicine? Why are you so angry?"

Xiang Zhao had never seen Gongyang Yongye so volatile before; the sudden outburst of his voice startled her. They had last met only a few months ago; her impression of this venerable man was that he was taciturn, reserved, and possessed a temper that others could not tolerate. He wasn't particularly easy to get along with, but he wasn't difficult either.

His temper seemed to have grown during this meeting.

It's one thing to yell at her, but to be so rude to a teacher is another.

Xiang Zhao: "It's not that we don't want to help, but how can two weak scholars compare to Your Excellency's divine prowess?"

If you have the energy, do more work. What can the two of them do to help?

Gongyang Yongye almost laughed out of anger.

Xiang Zhao felt that his temper had grown since he last saw him for several months, and he also felt that Xiang Zhao had become increasingly sharp-tongued in the Central Allied Army over the past few months.

There was none of the previous caution and care.

Enraged, Gongyang Yongye slammed his shovel to the ground. The shovel, imbued with martial energy, cleaved a half-zhang-long fissure in the ground at his feet. In the past, if he had displayed this imposing, unyielding stance, Xiang Zhao would have been secretly intimidated, fearing he would escalate the situation. This time, she merely stood half a body length in front of Luan Xin. Two breaths later, Gongyang Yongye simply pulled the shovel out with his other hand, his face grim.

He lowered his tone: "Two ancestors."

He turned around and went back to work.

With his weakness in someone else's hands, he's truly become a free handyman.

This scene left Luan Xin completely stunned.

He knew that this student had an exchange of interests with Gongyang Yongye, and he roughly knew the content of the exchange. However, since this transaction was beneficial to Xiang Zhao, who had no powerful backing, Luan Xin naturally wouldn't interfere. He initially thought that Gongyang Yongye was the dominant party, and Xiang Zhao had relatively weaker say in this transaction. Now it seemed that the balance of power had shifted slightly.

And the root of this change—

Gongyang Yongye can be summarized in one sentence.

"It's true that a kind person is often bullied, and a good horse is often ridden."

Luan Xin: "..."

This statement sounds strange when applied to a 19th-rank Marquis within the Pass, but it fits quite well when applied to Gongyang Yongye. Perhaps it's because of his many years of medical experience and his rich experience of being the subject of medical disputes, Gongyang Yongye's temper is relatively good among martial artists of the same level, a quality that even Gongxi Qiuyunce and a few others cannot match.

Apart from a few people related to the Gongxi clan, everyone else was just a cat or a dog in Gongxi Chou's eyes—not a living, breathing person he could look at on equal terms. Anyone who got in his way was killed without a second thought. Yun Ce looked at the gentleman, whose cold expression could keep people at arm's length.

In comparison, Gongyang Yongye was indeed easier to bully.

But that's all. If someone really had murderous intent, even ten Xiang Zhao tied together wouldn't be enough for him to cut them down with one blow.

Luan Xinchong was worried about Xiang Zhao's gaze.

Xiang Zhao understood immediately: "Teacher, there's no need to worry."

The scenario Luan Xin feared will not happen.

If Gongyang Yongye had only considered personal gain, he could have cut his losses in time when Xiang Zhao was targeted by the Yuan family and then possessed.

There were few people who could help Gongyang Yongye achieve his goal, but the cost would certainly be much lower than rescuing Xiang Zhao, who would have to oppose the Central Society. The fact that he didn't give up but chose to continue investing in the project indicates that there was indeed a motivation beyond profit driving Gongyang Yongye to do this—perhaps the resentment of having his pride wounded by the enemy as a nineteenth-rank Marquis of Guannei, or perhaps other factors.

Whatever it was, this is the result.

This outcome is favorable to Xiang Zhao, meaning she has more room to maneuver and gain more initiative and benefits in this transaction—between a partner who only cares about profits and a partner who can negotiate concessions, Xiang Zhao naturally prefers the latter.

Luan Xin's expression turned strange for a moment, as if he had thought of something.

Looking at Gongyang Yongye, who was working hard, and then at the young students beside him, he worried that the simple cooperation had become distorted.

"This...is too old, it's not suitable."

It is easy for men and women to develop feelings that change during times of hardship.

Gongyang Yongye had risked his life to save Xiang Zhao, and now, in his youthful appearance, possessed the strength to easily annihilate thousands of troops, yet he was always willing to be ordered around without complaint, only daring to utter a few words of complaint. It seemed as if he was placing himself in a subordinate position, but the key issue was that he was merely bowing his head, not handing over his power, while the other party mistakenly believed that he had absolute control over this power.

An illusion is just an illusion, but this kind of story about a superior bowing down can easily confuse young people who are inexperienced in the ways of the world.

Luan Xinsheng felt a little embarrassed.

He shouldn't have said that, but I can't leave him out.

Xiang Zhao is quite adept at reading people's expressions and moods.

She found it amusing: "Why is the teacher also adopting those market-like practices?"

Do I look like a love-obsessed character from a storybook?

Even if you're going to be love-struck, you should at least find someone who can't threaten you under any circumstances. People are fickle, including when it comes to feelings. If you were to date someone like Gongyang Yongye, who could threaten your status or life at any moment, what if you were the one who changed their mind first? Wouldn't that be like waiting to die? The other person's ruthless revenge would be enough to make your life miserable.

Xiang Zhao certainly wouldn't make things difficult for himself.

From this perspective, Gongyang Yongye is more suitable to be a supporter.

It can ensure that you remain undefeated if she changes her mind.

Hmm, Gongyang Yongye doesn't seem like someone who sides with reason rather than family.

Luan Xin coughed lightly: "I misunderstood."

Xiang Zhao said, "Teacher and his wife have been a harmonious couple for so many years, they are the envy of everyone. Teacher has this happiness, and naturally hopes that others can be like them too. But fate is a matter of destiny, not everyone can have it..."

She was half-heartedly envious.

The teacher and his wife do have a very good relationship.

The Ministry of Personnel was the head of the Six Ministries, and the teacher, as the Minister of Personnel, enjoyed the emperor's deep trust. There was no discord between the emperor and his ministers, and no power struggles or scheming existed. As the Minister of Personnel, he was a truly powerful official, and countless people in the officialdom wanted to curry favor with him.

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the selection, appointment, promotion, demotion, and transfer of officials. As long as Luan Xin is willing, even a little bit of resources slipping through his fingers can feed many people. How much enormous benefit can these resources help him exchange for? The temptations of profit he faces are numerous.

In this situation, Xiang Zhaodu only had one teacher's wife.

The couple's bond, forged through shared hardships, is stronger than gold.

Luan Xin felt rather uncomfortable.

I wanted to laugh, but I also felt that this was a bit frivolous and impetuous.

Gongyang Yongye, who was working hard, was speechless.

Can't we just use telepathy to whisper to each other?

He's not going to eavesdrop!

"Those two living ancestors, should we bury them over there beforehand?" Gongyang Yongye finished dealing with the tail, carried his shovel back, and suppressed the urge to smash the master and apprentice to death with the shovel. Impulse is the devil.

Luan Xin said, "Let's go and take a look first."

According to the information sent by the medical staff of the Imperial Medical Bureau, these patients were all alive at the beginning and could have been saved. Burying them alive would be no different from massacring over a thousand living people. In the past, Luan Xin would have done it anyway. The cost of massacring was much lower than the cost of treating patients, and the risks were also much smaller. There was no need to worry about accidents during the transfer of patients for treatment causing the epidemic to spread.

Low cost, low effort, low risk.

Anyone with a modicum of rationality would have made that choice.

Gongyang Yongye rolled his eyes: "Too much trouble!"

Luan Xin: "The Lord will not agree."

Gongyang Yongye: "She's a handful too!"

Some of Shen Youli's behaviors were indeed incomprehensible to him. When other warlords fought, apart from their elite troops who would be paid and fed, the other soldiers were basically not paid much. The vast majority of soldiers' income depended on the massacre of the city after the war—this kind of massacre did not necessarily kill people, but it absolutely had to plunder every inch of the city. It would be best if the gold, silver and granary income could satisfy them, and if not, they would capture people to sell as slaves.

What general would refuse to massacre a city during a battle?

Wouldn't the soldiers outside headquarters skin them alive?

Shen Youli did the opposite.

She was willing to tighten her belt and empty her private treasury, even scrimping and saving from the national treasury, all to ensure a stable supply of wages to the soldiers of Kang Kingdom. This money was used to offset the profits from the post-war massacres of cities. Soldiers were rewarded for their merits and their families were given land as compensation. This practice earned her criticism in the central regions as hypocrisy. Gongyang Yongye observed coldly that the Kang Kingdom's military camps truly lacked both a maritime trade commander and a quartermaster.

Without these, soldiers would have nowhere to redeem the spoils of war they plundered. They couldn't possibly carry heavy loads of supplies and drag seven or eight slaves around while fighting. The Kang Kingdom's decision to attack a city without massacring its inhabitants might seem foolish at first glance, but after seeing it more often, he admired it.

but--

"There are a lot of things to do, and there really are a lot of things to do."

Luan Xin and his apprentice also treated him as a free handyman.

Gongyang Yongye jumped down into the underground cave in a huff, circled around, and climbed back out. He took off his outermost clothes and burned them to ashes to avoid bringing out the stench of disease. He clapped his hands: "The stench of corpses down there is overwhelming. How could there be any survivors? The new batch that was thrown down there had their minds eaten away by something. Their brains are empty. Some are rotting, some are shrinking. They can't possibly survive."

No matter how skilled a physician is, they cannot bring a mindless walking corpse back to life. If it could, it wouldn't be medicine, it would be divine magic!

Upon hearing this, Luan Xin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He said, "Then it will all be burned."

They initially considered burying them, but Gongyang Yongye argued that after the patients' consciousness was extinguished, their skin and bones became exceptionally hard, as if they were wearing thick armor. Simply burying them by shaking the ground might not kill them. If any escaped, Luan Xin would be a sinner. After much deliberation, cremation seemed the safest option. The medical staff at the Imperial Medical Bureau also suggested burning the contaminated items to remove the pathogenic energy, and boiling them at high temperatures would also eliminate any potential sources of infection in the drinking water…

Gongyang Yongye spat on his hand and rubbed his palms together.

With a few deft movements, he conjured a ball of black flame half his height using his martial energy, then twisted the flame into a long thread. With a flick of his finger, the thread of fire shot into the underground cavern from the opening he had just emerged from. Dozens of monsters, chasing the life force of living beings, had already gathered near the opening.

These wires, once wrapped around them, were like adding fuel to the fire.

With a sizzle, the fire spread instantly.

These monsters were only harder than ordinary corpses, offering no resistance to the flames fueled by the martial energy of a 19th-rank Marquis within the Pass. Instead, their dehydrated corpses became ideal combustion material. Watching the flames suddenly leap higher, Gongyang Yongye scoffed.

First, he said, "This thing is pretty easy to burn."

He added, "It would be quite good for heating the kang (a traditional heated bed).

Easy to ignite and burns for a long time, isn't this the best firewood? He lived in Kangguo for a while and was most satisfied with the winter. With the kang (heated brick bed) lit, he could stay at home all day, unlike the damp and cold southwest.

He blocked the only opening, preventing any fish from escaping.

They wouldn't stop until every single corpse was set on fire.

Xiang Zhao: "Won't it go out because there's not enough air underground?"

Gongyang Yongye: "My fire isn't so easy to put out."

It can burn whether there is air or not.

"That's enough, let's go."

He reached out his hand to the master and his apprentice.

We need to hurry back; Wenxin Wenshi's pace is too slow.

As a result, the master and apprentice tacitly stepped aside, their eyes landing on his palm with a hint of subtle disdain. Gongyang Yongye was initially annoyed, but when he understood what they disliked, he became even more annoyed.

"You two are my ancestors!"

They find fault with everything.

It's just saliva, not a handful of shit. He said, "I've lived this long, and I've never felt so frustrated as I am today."

Luan Xin: "..."

He felt that Gongyang Yongye would feel even more frustrated in the future.

Yes, anyone who has raised a child understands.

Gongyang Yongye's efficiency deserves praise. When he rushed back, Shen Tang was lying on her side in the coffin, eating melon seeds.

Several military officers wailed and cried, while the others merely pretended to do so.

Military generals have loud voices, great strength, and can last a long time.

Shen Tang spat out the sunflower seed shells: "Why aren't they here yet?"

Did you stand her up?

Chu Yao looked at the dripping water clock: "My lord, no need to rush, it will be ready soon."

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

It wasn't until Chu Yao counted to the ninth time that he said, "Here it comes."

Shen Tang suddenly sat up from the coffin.

As if to confirm Chu Yao's words, almost the instant his voice fell, a crimson light shot down from the direction of the crescent moon, its target precisely the main mourning hall. The crowd, already impatient with their wailing, transformed into elderly men and women, fearing they would miss out on the supermarket eggs if they were even a step too slow, upon seeing the commotion.

Military merits are awarded based on speed; those who act first receive them, while those who act later miss out.

"Who dares to trespass into our army camp!"

A clever fellow, seeing that he couldn't keep up with his colleagues' speed, had a sudden inspiration. He focused his energy in his dantian and opened his mouth with a roar like a dragon and a tiger, asking a question.

In a moment of desperation, an extraordinary performance was made, creating waves of sound that shook the funeral hall, causing the white banners to flutter and paper money to fill the air. Not everyone could see who killed the enemy first, but everyone could definitely hear who made the first move.

Several close comrades cursed inwardly, "Despicable!"

The visitor naturally did not respond.

He was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, he passed through several obstacles.

Like a falling meteorite crashing into the coffin.

"What did I think it was? It's just a blind man!"

A translucent, bluish-green tortoise shell, several dozen feet long and wide, rose from the coffin, like a miniature version of the celestial and terrestrial deity. The crimson light, hostile in nature, neither dodged nor evaded, but collided head-on with the tortoise shell. The instant they collided, the violent friction of the air produced a deafening shockwave, and the paper money spontaneously combusted in the air, turning into clusters of flames…

In an instant, countless cracks burst open on the surface of the tortoise shell.

The figure within the crimson light sneered.

Amidst the raging flames of war, Shen Tang gracefully rose, standing against the wind within the coffin guarded by the shattering tortoise shell. She remained calm, like an outsider, indifferently watching the spectacle, utterly unfazed by the imminent danger. Suddenly, the tortoise shell shattered, and a golden light streaked from behind her, directly attacking the red glow. Gold and red intertwined, and feathers melted before they even touched the ground: "Dare to come out in the middle of the night?"

The golden light receded, and a faint phantom image of a raptor could be seen.

Yang Ying and Lu Ji stood on either side of the coffin.

Lu Ji gripped his double hammers, calming his breathing, and looked at Yang Ying in disbelief, as if she had betrayed the organization: "You're amazing, Shengmei!"

The newcomer shattered her tortoise shell with a single blow, but was forced back by Yang Ying.

|ω`)

Okay, it's decided. I won't start a separate thread for the giveaway. I'll do the giveaway later by commenting on the chapter update that day.