It is known that no two sets of armor are exactly alike.

They also noticed that the skeleton in front of them was wearing the general's exclusive armor and spoke to them in a familiar tone.

Finally, who is this skeleton?

The moment Gong Shuwu spoke, everyone present felt their brains shrink. The sorrow on their faces froze, and only tears streamed down their faces, leaving two tear tracks before being dried by the battlefield wind. As the wind blew, the tears in their eyes dried as well.

Gongshu Wu drew his weapon.

He clicked his tongue and said, "They really did come to mourn my death."

His tone revealed little emotion, neither joy nor anger.

The deputy general, who had been promoted by Gong Shuwu, was the first to react. Her back teeth were chattering as she pointed at Gong Shuwu and stammered, "General, you are the General?"

Gong Shuwu countered, "Do you want to see the tiger tally to verify your identity?"

Although he couldn't see his own face at this moment, he knew that a talking skeleton wearing armor could stop a child from crying at night and gave people a strong sense of horror. Gong Shuwu scratched his head through his helmet with his white bone claws. In fact, he was no less puzzled than his generals. He and his benefactor fought against Gong Cheng, but they didn't gain any advantage, but they didn't suffer too much either. On the contrary, towards the end of the fight, Gong Cheng inexplicably changed his expression and ran away despite being stabbed twice and having his trousers torn.

After Gong Cheng fled, all the ancestors also returned.

Gong Shuwu looked at his ancestors, and despite being blind, he still felt a surge of emotion, as if tears were welling up in his eyes. He patted his father's shoulder, which had been repeatedly shattered by Gong Cheng that night, as if to comfort him. Then, he turned and clasped his hands in gratitude to the dejected Shao Chong: "Thank you so much for your righteous act! I am deeply grateful, and if there is an afterlife, I will repay your kindness with my life!"

After saying that, he gave his father, whose eyes were blazing with anger, a bear hug.

The bones rattled and clanged as they were struck.

In layman's terms, it's a quick shot of something falling apart.

At this moment, Gong Shuwu's mind was clear and lucid, filled only with the acceptance of death. He said cheerfully, "Father, I haven't seen you for many years. Hahaha, from today onwards, father and son are reunited. After we pass into the Yellow Springs, I will drink with you and my elder brother until we're both drunk!"

The flames in the old father's eyes flickered a few times.

He raised his skeletal hand, nearly knocking Gong Shuwu's skull askew.

Don't mention your older brother.

[Just mentioning his father makes me angry!]

[While other people's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke, my ancestral grave is flooded!]

The dozens of Gong clan members who were watching tacitly moved away from the view.

Then I heard a string of curses that would lead to being dragged away for censorship.

The old father cursed and swore, starting with his second son, Gong Wen, then moving on to his eldest son, Gong Wu, and finally to Gong Wu's son, Gong Cheng. He said that if he had known his eldest son's only offspring was such a bad person, he would have preferred to remain insular with his wife rather than have him. Even if his eldest son had been born, he would have castrated him to avoid producing such an unfilial descendant. He had been dead for so many years, yet his grandchildren were still dragging him out and giving him all sorts of beatings. They were too filial!

Gong Shuwu hugged his own skull.

Hearing his father's unrestrained words, Gong Shuwu also rebelled: "How can you blame my elder brother for this? Rather than castrating him, wouldn't it be better for you to nip this problem in the bud? Don't you think so?"

Because her father was away fighting wars all year round and was rarely home; her mother, as the matriarch, had heavy responsibilities. She not only had to manage the Gong family, but also had to be the matriarch of the clan and handle the clan's affairs. She even had to take care of her father's servants and their families, from widows to the lonely. Therefore, Gong Shuwu was raised by his elder brother.

According to the elders in the household, the first word Gong Shuwu uttered after he learned to speak was "Father," which was directed at Gong Wu. For a long time, Gong Shuwu couldn't distinguish between "Brother" and "Father."

In Gong Shuwu's heart, his elder brother was like a father to him.

He felt a deeper affection for his elder brother than for his elderly father.

An old father who castrates his eldest son is better off castrating himself.

This is what it means to truly nip the problem in the bud and eliminate any future troubles!

The old father poked his finger into his son's skull, roaring angrily: "If I castrated myself, would you still think you could crawl out of your mother's womb? You're such a filial son!"

Gong Shuwu did not respond.

It wasn't that he couldn't refute it, but rather that refuting it would be tantamount to defaming his own mother's reputation, so he could only silently endure the verbal abuse from his father. His father's rant was passionate and impassioned, his eyes burning with more intense emotion than ever before.

Gong Shuwu can guarantee this.

The fight with Gong Cheng just now wasn't this intense.

In the end, it was a grandfather who couldn't stand it anymore.

He stepped forward and patted Gong Shuwu's elderly father on the shoulder, saying, "Stop scolding him. You'll drive the child crazy if you keep scolding him. I know you love this child, but it's not worth it. Aren't you afraid that if you scold him too harshly, he might come and poop and pee on your grave one day?"

The old father jerked his shoulder, sending the person flying away.

He seemed impolite, but his tone had noticeably weakened. It wasn't because of the warning about defecating or urinating, but because someone had exposed his hidden thoughts. He was still verbally aggressive: "Look at him now, he's lost all his ability to carry on the family line, and he's still defecating and urinating on my grave? Let him squat down and see if he can even poop. If he can, I'll take his surname! Now he's truly childless."

Gong Shuwu: [...]

He thought he heard someone chuckling, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

Honestly, being able to laugh on such a heavy topic truly makes them a model of a "loving family."

Several members of the Gong clan patted his elderly father on the shoulder.

He comforted her, saying, "Sigh, try not to think too much about it."

Some people also reopened old wounds: "Who hasn't had no descendants? You know, we old brothers have been down here for so long and haven't seen any incense offerings, which shows that incense offerings are all a scam. As for your grandson, once he's gone, he's gone."

[Exactly! We can't beat him now, but I believe that in ten, twenty, thirty... a hundred, two hundred years, Gong Yunchi will eventually die! Then we'll see how arrogant he is! Oh, by the way, Yili boy, if you run into your 'filial nephew' later, make him change his surname. Let him take whichever surname he wants, and don't let his future children have the surname Gong.]

Gong Shuwu's father was displeased and approached aggressively: "What gives you the right to say that? Even if he's an unworthy descendant, he's still my unworthy descendant. What I say, you can't say!"

The other person slapped him so hard that his skull tilted 180 degrees.

He said irritably, "Who does this grandson talk about his father to?"

Gong Shuwu: [...]

What a wonderful family drama!

He had no say at all. In the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, Gong Shuwu suddenly lost all expectation for his future life in the underworld, but since he was already dead, whether he went or not was not up to him.

[Father, Great-Grandfather, let's go downstairs and discuss this calmly. Don't let our benefactors laugh at us here...] Why must we be so humiliated even in death? Forcing himself to bow to his benefactors, he said, [May our friendship endure forever, may we meet again in the next life!]

Then--

Then the ancestors all left.

All that remained were Gong Shuwu, whose hands were still clasped in a graceful fist salute, and Shao Chong, who was trying to process the strange conversation.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Until Shao Chong asked, "Aren't you leaving?"

Gong Shuwu: [...]

Why don't I feel like I've left at all?

His eyes, brimming with embarrassment, flickered as he awkwardly replied, "Perhaps it's not time yet; we need the sun to rise?"

Folk tales often say that ghosts and monsters are afraid of sunlight.

It was normal that he couldn't "come and go freely" like his elderly father and others who had been ghosts for many years, since he had just died. Gong Shuwu thought he had figured out the truth. Because of the great exertion, he could only barely keep the skeleton from falling apart and didn't have the extra strength to provide support.

If you force yourself to walk there, you'll fall apart halfway there.

Judging from the atmosphere, the battle over there ended earlier than here.

I just don't know what the outcome will be.

Gong Shuwu was full of worries.

Catching a glimpse of his benefactor stuffing a piece of trousers into his robe, a sight that truly ignited a fire within him. If he wasn't mistaken, this trousers were torn from Gong Cheng's armor, weren't they? Gong Shuwu hesitated, then finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing, benefactor?"

Shao Chong's tone was regretful: [Add to Favorites!]

Gong Shuwu: [Collect/Add to favorites?]

Two words were enough to wipe out his non-existent brain.

[Yeah, I'll collect it! He ran away, didn't he? If he ran away, he lost, and if he lost, he's my defeated opponent. If I beat him, I can collect his trousers—that's common knowledge in the wandering swordsman circle! Everyone has to abide by it! But he cheated… the trousers armor, barely passable.] If he hadn't been quick enough to tear off the trousers armor, how would he have proven he defeated Gong Cheng?

This person is so despicable and shameless!

They can't even accept defeat!

I'm so angry I feel like I'm about to burst.

Gong Shuwu: [...]

He had been rebellious for a while in his youth, chasing trends and imitating wandering knights. Although it was just for fun, he had never heard of such strange customs in the wandering knight circle. However, that was a decade or two ago, and he didn't know what it was like now.

No wonder...

Gong Cheng was about to back down when his benefactor suddenly tugged at his belt.

Gong Shuwu earnestly told his benefactor a cruel truth: "This piece of trousers is part of the martial armor. When Yun Chi retrieves the martial armor, this piece of trousers will also disappear; you won't be able to keep it."

This news was like a bolt from the blue for Shao Chong.

He was completely stunned!

His expression first showed confusion and bewilderment, then his face fell, and he cried out, "How could this be? I wasn't going to get the merit for slaying the general in the first place, and now I don't even have the spoils of war to prove I repelled him. How can my merit for the rescue be divided between Sixth Brother and Twelfth Brother?"

He worked all night but got nothing good.

Gong Cheng hit someone so hard, and he was also injured and bleeding himself.

What a huge loss!

Gong Shuwu could only gently comfort his benefactor: "Don't worry, benefactor. We don't have the kind of trousers this kid is wearing now, but we might be able to find some of the diapers he used as a baby. um, maybe we can look around."

Back then, Zheng Qiao launched a sudden attack, taking advantage of the marriage alliance between the Gong and Chen families, when the entire Gong clan was attending the wedding banquet. The entire clan was caught off guard. All of the Gong family's property was confiscated and taken into the Geng Kingdom's treasury, and there were undoubtedly corrupt individuals involved in the process.

After the establishment of the Kang Kingdom, he became the Grand General of the Tianxuan Guard and opened his own general's mansion. Although he did not restore Gong Wen's identity, he secretly searched for Gong's relics from back then and even spread the word. Before long, people who wanted to curry favor with him began to present Gong's old belongings.

Even some of Gong's servants who were lucky enough to survive brought over some not-so-valuable items. During the ransacking of the house, they took advantage of the chaos to leave with quite a few things. Valuable items were pawned, and old clothes that couldn't be sold were altered and used as linings.

Among them were actually Gong Cheng's childhood diapers.

Gong Shuwu hesitated, saying, "...But these diapers were not only used by Yunchi when he was a child, but the servants also used them for their own children and grandchildren. They were washed, used, and mended repeatedly. Now, only the faded embroidery on the corners of the cloth proves its use. If my benefactor doesn't mind, you can get them from the General's Mansion of Tianxuan Guard after the army's triumphant return. I am all alone, with no ties, and shouldn't be stingy with this little bit of my possessions..."

Normally, one should give all the inheritance to the benefactor as a way of repaying them.

However, whenever Gong Shuwu had money, he used it all to help the widows and children of fallen soldiers and their elderly parents. Despite the grand appearance of the general's mansion to outsiders, his actual wealth was not substantial. Gong Shuwu felt embarrassed to offer even this small token of gratitude to his benefactors.

Upon hearing this, Shao Chong pondered for a long time.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves approached.

It was Yu Zi who led the remaining half of the troops to pick them up.

Thus, the scene at the beginning came about.

Gong Shuwu and his generals, with their large "flame" eyes wide open, had to admit an embarrassing fact—they had mourned too early! However, as soon as they heard Gong Shuwu say that he would leave when the sun rose, their faces, which had just recovered, turned sad again.

You're going to cry sooner or later anyway, so you might as well start crying now.

Thinking of this, I felt a deep sadness.

The deputy general clung to Gong Shuwu's leg and wailed; she had never been so heartbroken, not even when her own father died. She was one of the few female military officers who hadn't come from the women's garrison; she had been taken in by Gong Shuwu when they were fleeing and nearly starving. Afterward, she joined his camp as a soldier.

Because of his talent, he has had a relatively smooth career over the years.

Gong Shuwu was practically her father. Her parents gave her life for the first time, and Gong Shuwu gave her a second. Overnight, she was reduced to this state, and her soul was about to be scattered. The blow was too great.

When others are buried, their relatives and friends can still look at their remains and pay their respects. It takes a year or two for the body to turn into bones after lying in the coffin. But Gong Shuwu was one step ahead, and his bones were placed directly into the coffin.

How could this not be heartbreaking?

Her shout stirred up the emotions of the army, which had just calmed down, and for a moment, the cries were deafening. Gong Shuwu also saw white banners being hung up one after another in the army—it was a custom for armies to carry these things when they went to war: white banners, paper money, mourning clothes, burial garments, coffins, everything was prepared for any eventuality. He just never expected that he would see his own white banner fluttering in the wind.

Until Yu Zi reminded him with a pale face.

"It's already dawn."

The bones of martial artists are unlike those of ordinary people; they are dense, fine, and smooth. Gong Shuwu's bones are even more exceptional, as translucent as jade, with a clear, lustrous sheen. Rather than a human skeleton, they are more like exquisite works of art, almost tinged gold by the sunlight.

It looks like the soul will be scattered as soon as the sun rises.

Gong Shuwu: "..."

Yu Zi forced her eyelids open and shouted with all her might.

"Don't rush to announce the funeral yet!"

After saying that, he closed his eyes and fell off the horse.

With her head down like that, if she were to be hit hard, not only would her skull be broken, but her neck would be too! The nearest military officer was so frightened that he rushed to catch her. Gong Shuwu, carrying the skeleton, ran forward with a clattering sound, grabbed Yu Zi's wrist, took her pulse, and hurriedly cried out, "Physician, physician, quickly call the physician from the medical field!"

Yu Zi's aura was so faint as to be almost nonexistent.

In the army, when a funeral is held, don't let her be the last one to receive it! Gong Shuwu didn't have the extra energy to think about why Gong Cheng suddenly withdrew.

Why?

Naturally, it's because the Northern Desert camp is in dire need of attention!

(～￣▽￣)～

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