Chapter 1091: An Unexpected Troublesome Invasion [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
As it turns out, even a two-hundred-year-old skeleton can become enraged if its sore spot is touched. Shen Tang's words struck a nerve with Wei Cheng, who turned his head sharply, his eyes blazing with fury.
Shen Tang gave an awkward laugh: "Did I guess wrong?"
Wei Cheng: "..."
He didn't speak, but the two clusters of flames in his eyes were burning brightly.
Just as Shen Tang was secretly on guard, preparing to face Wei Cheng's sudden killing move, he said in a chilling tone, "You guessed right."
Shen Tang: "...6."
If you guessed right, you guessed right. Why put on this show?
Wei Cheng didn't know the meaning of "6," but he guessed that Shen Youli was probably just being sarcastic and wouldn't say anything nice: "Don't think that my not taking action is a sign of goodwill towards you. My falling out with my uncle doesn't conflict with taking your life. This place is quite deep from the ground. If it collapses, even if you have the best talents, you won't be able to escape alive, understand?"
Wei Cheng is a skeleton and doesn't need to breathe, while Shen Tang and Gong Xi Chou are living people. Martial arts masters require far more air than ordinary people. If they were truly trapped so deep underground, they would suffocate.
Shen Tang pointed to his nose.
He said, "To be honest, I am skilled in both literature and martial arts."
Such a thickness meant that even a valiant martial artist couldn't penetrate it before running out of oxygen, but she was also a scholar of letters, and could definitely cast a spell similar to "Transplantation" before she died. She had already marked it before she and Gong Xichou came down.
Wei Cheng's palms clasped together and then opened again.
Finally, he suppressed his anger: "Hmph!"
Shen Tang was surprised.
Her actions just now also had a testing purpose.
Wei Cheng's extreme tolerance suggests that things are not so simple.
Gong Xichou secretly touched Shen Tang's fish-scale armor wrist guard with his finger, not to persuade her to hold back, but to give her a signal. If they really had to fight, they should fight together; they couldn't afford to be at a disadvantage.
Shen Tang gave him a look that said, "Take it easy."
This makeshift tunnel was truly dark. Shen Tang's night vision was decent, but it couldn't compare to someone like Gong Xi Chou, who benefited from the Martial Courage Totem and was immune to darkness. Fortunately, the two holes in Wei Cheng provided natural light, greatly facilitating Shen Tang's passage.
Wei Cheng led the way, and the three of them walked further and further downhill.
Shen Tang sensed something was wrong and leaned closer to Gong Xi Chou, saying, "Gong Xi Chou, don't you think there's something wrong with this place? Neither of us feels uncomfortable about the lack of air supply here."
This question was quickly answered.
There is an underground city built by the council of gods.
The magnificent city was now nothing but ruins, with only the intricately constructed ventilation system still functioning. Shen Tang followed Wei Cheng and Gong Xi Chou out of the pit, and her view suddenly opened up. Not far away, a slightly disheveled Ji Mo Qiu had been waiting for a long time.
Gong Xichou hurried forward and, seeing that his brother hadn't changed much since he left, his anxious heart finally settled. He wanted to give his elder brother a hug to celebrate his survival, but his brother simply walked past him and went to greet Mama. Gong Xichou lowered his hand in disappointment.
He said angrily, "It's an extra that's costing us money."
He used to mock Xun Ding as an extra, but it turns out the biggest extra wasn't Xun Yong'an, but his own brother. His elder brother completely ignored him the moment he saw Mama; it truly chilled Snake's heart.
Despite his anger, Gongxi Chou's legs still moved forward obediently.
Wei Cheng stood to one side, lost in thought.
Even the Gongxi clan wasn't as united as he thought.
"High Priest of Jimo, you must be tired from this journey."
"It wasn't hard work, I've fulfilled my mission." A smile bloomed on the face that resembled Gong Xichou's, the corners of his eyes curving upwards, greatly softening the cold and arrogant air about his features, making him look quite obedient and approachable. Ji Moqiu knew who Shen Tang most wanted to see at this moment, so he didn't exchange many pleasantries, lightly brushing aside the recent turmoil, "Wei Lou has been trapped, Your Highness, shall we go see him now?"
"Wei Lou?"
This is an unfamiliar name.
Shen Tang was stunned for a moment before realizing that Wei Lou must be the secular name of the Grand Preceptor of the Eternal Life Sect: "Of course I should meet him."
If he weren't unsure of the extent of Wei Cheng's falling out with him, he would rather let Wei Lou meet his maker than see him. As an enemy, there's really nothing to talk about with Wei Lou.
Ruins within the city, beside a withered tree.
Upon arriving here, we did not see Wei Lou himself, but only a fallen tree that even three or five strong men could not encircle.
Countless broken tree roots were exposed.
It was obvious that the tree had been dead for some time.
Where are they?
"above."
Shen Tang looked up, following the direction Ji Mo Qiu pointed.
Above this withered tree, hundreds of roots intertwined to form a giant sphere, which at first glance looked like a tree canopy. Shen Tang hadn't seen it immediately due to the angle of view. Ji Moqiu said from the side, "Wei Lou has some tricks up his sleeve, making him really difficult to catch. So we dared to use this avatar to trap him here, and he can't break free."
Shen Tang didn't notice the details in Ji Moqiu's words; her attention was entirely on the sphere formed by the root system, which indeed contained the aura of a living person. Wei Lou had obviously also heard their conversation.
Ji Moqiu raised his wooden staff and waved it at the cage.
The tree roots snapped open to the sides.
The white-haired scholar was revealed, sitting upright inside.
Aside from his slightly disheveled appearance, Wei Lou showed no outward signs of injury. He didn't react excessively to Shen Tang, merely glancing away indifferently. Shen Tang felt a pang of regret; if Wei Lou were seriously injured and died right now, it would save her so much trouble.
At this moment, Wei Cheng, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"Uncle, you've seen the person, can you speak now?" As a skeleton, Wei Cheng wouldn't tire, but his tone was filled with weariness. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, things from a hundred years ago, even earlier. I really can't figure it out, Uncle. When did you change? Why did you betray our lord? You knew perfectly well that we were just one step away!"
If you've never seen it, you won't regret it.
But he happened to have been so close to the summit!
The more this happens, the more unwilling they become, and the more their anger burns.
For over a hundred years after the fall of the Wu Kingdom, whenever he had a spare moment, he would think about who had betrayed their lord and the Wu Kingdom, causing them to fail at the last hurdle and regretfully stop before they could unify the world! He had suspected many people, even himself, but not his uncle!
The blow from this truth was far greater and more intense than when he was seriously injured and begged his uncle for death, when he woke up to find his own corpse being cooked in a pot, or even when the city fell and his clan was wiped out! He wanted nothing more than to strangle the other man's neck and throw him into a mortar to be smashed into mincemeat and fed to the dogs!
In the end, reason prevailed over emotion.
Wei Cheng just wants the truth.
Shen Tang was surprised to hear this, not expecting Wei Lou to want to see her. Just as she was about to speak, Wei Lou smiled mockingly and asked in a low voice, "Just one step away? You really think it's just one step away?"
Shen Tang pulled her foot back.
It's quite rare to see an uncle and nephew, both over two hundred years old, arguing.
Wei Cheng was certain, his palms clenched to suppress his boiling rage: "Just one step away! Wei Lou, unifying the world is just one step away! My lord, you and I, along with Yun Da and the others, are living like ghosts, each and every one of us has sacrificed everything for this one step?"
Did the master who created the Gu worms not know its drawbacks?
The warriors who consumed the Gu worms were unaware of its drawbacks.
Shouldering the pressure of food shortages, relying on the enemy for sustenance, and ultimately forced to feed on the corpses of enemy and even fallen soldiers, were their civil and military colleagues unaware of these drawbacks? No one is a brainless fool! All they wanted was to stop war with war, stop killing with killing!
If this move can end the worst suffering of a chaotic world, unify the country, and prevent future generations from repeating the same mistakes, then it will be worthwhile!
result--
The final step before reaching the summit was taken away by his own people, causing him to stumble and fall to his death, leading to the destruction of the Wu Kingdom overnight.
How could he possibly accept this?
If Wei Cheng were still made of flesh and blood, he would definitely be overwhelmed by blood and qi.
Faced with Wei Cheng's accusations and questioning, Wei Lou chuckled and glanced at Shen Tang: "Does the King of Shen also think so? Back then, the Wu Kingdom was just one step away from unifying the world?"
When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer as a result.
I never expected that the conflict between the uncle and nephew would involve me.
Under the scorching gazes of Wei Cheng and his nephew, Shen Tang said calmly, "I am not from that era, nor do I know what you have experienced. Based only on my personal opinion and a few years of experience as a ruler, I think it is still far from over. The Wu Kingdom's Gu calamity relies on overdrawing its population to gain strong military power. While it can sweep away powerful enemies in a short time, what happens after the victory? National stability, the well-being of the people, and their peaceful and prosperous lives are the most important things."
She felt that Wu Guo had taken too big a step.
They only push forward horizontally, without engaging in domestic construction.
"...Assuming that the Wu Kingdom truly unified the world back then, how many people would the Wu Kingdom have? Three hundred million? Or five hundred million? With so many people, the amount of food consumed every day would be astronomical. The planted food would take months to harvest. Before the turmoil subsided and the new seedlings were ready for harvest, did you and your ruler have any contingency plans? Did the granaries have enough grain stored for several months to hedge against the risks?"
Shen Tang's voice was so calm that no emotion could be discerned.
She had no particular feelings towards the Wu Kingdom, which had been destroyed over a hundred years ago.
However, even a century after the country's collapse, a group of old-timers still remember it fondly, which suggests that it must have had a captivating charm back then.
Shen Tang could only rely on his own experience to make an objective evaluation.
"With such a vast territory, how long does communication take across the country? Can the royal decrees reach all regions in a timely manner? How much control does the royal court have over local powers? Even if the entire territory is conquered by force, and the Wu Kingdom is nominally unified, if it cannot control the local areas, it is practically no different from a fragmented kingdom with warlords ruling independently. Local tyrants and powerful families can still do whatever they want, and the common people will continue to suffer. As long as ordinary people are cold, hungry, and have no land to cultivate, they will eventually be driven to despair. Nothing has changed..."
According to Shen Tang, Wu Kingdom is still a long way from unification.
Unifying the territory is only the first step in a long journey.
He delivered a lengthy discourse, which made Shen Tang somewhat thirsty.
Wei Cheng and his nephew remained silent throughout.
After a while, Wei Cheng calmed down, and the fire in his eyes finally subsided: "Is this your reason?"
His voice was much calmer.
If Wei Lou made a mistake in a moment of confusion because he saw these drawbacks, then Wei Cheng could be considered to have had his reasons. The problems raised by Shen Tang were indeed ones they had overlooked, or rather, they hadn't given them serious consideration because they were caught up in the fervor at the time.
Once unification can be achieved, the rest can be resolved gradually.
Wei Lou's response was delayed by a few breaths.
He said, "No."
Wei Cheng was stunned: "Why is that?"
"Because of her."
"Her? Who?"
Only after asking did Wei Cheng realize that his uncle's gaze was fixed on Shen Tang. Shen Tang, who had inexplicably become the center of attention, was also bewildered and chuckled, "I wasn't even born over a hundred years ago, how could this have anything to do with me?"
If I had awakened more than a hundred years ago, that would have been a truly exhilarating life.
Unlike now, where every step you take is fraught with danger.
Both legs are also burdened with a bunch of debuffs that hold them back.
Wei Lou let out a sneer.
"Furthermore, when did I betray my former lord?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Tang and the other two felt a chill run down their spines.
They subtly drew closer to each other, making it easier to work together to cope with changes. They weren't afraid of anything else, but they were afraid that this farce of uncle and nephew turning against each other was something the two of them had conspired to do all along, just to lure Shen Tang into a trap.
Fortunately, their fears did not come true.
Wei Lou then changed the subject.
"A wise minister chooses his lord carefully, just as a good bird chooses its tree carefully. Loyalty between ruler and subject is mutual. It's not that I betrayed my former lord, but that my former lord betrayed me, and he also betrayed you, and betrayed all of us!"
Wei Lou's reasons for choosing to betray Shen Tang had nothing to do with what Shen Tang said. The entire Wu Kingdom was full of fanatics who only had "unification" on their minds and were too lazy to think about anything else.
Wei Cheng was completely confused.
He said angrily, "When did our lord betray us?"
Wei Lou sneered at Shen Tang again: "How is it betrayal? You should ask King Shen—we fought to the death for our own principles, for the common goal of ruler and subject, and were willing to risk our lives. After all that hard work, we're just doing all the work for someone else."
Shen Tang: "...???"
What's going on? Why is she being blamed again?
Is she capable of carrying such a heavy burden?
Shen Tang jumped back a step: "Wait, let's talk this out. Don't keep shifting the blame. What do you mean by 'working hard to make a wedding dress for me'?"
Most of the losses I've suffered so far have been caused by former subordinates of the Wu Kingdom.
Return the wedding dress?
That's really alarmist!
Wei Cheng also said, "Don't talk nonsense!"
Ji Moqiu and Gong Xichou, who were present, seemed to have grasped some of the truth. Ji Moqiu whispered to Shen Tang, "That King of Wu was once a candidate for High Priest, and his education was based on His Highness. He took pride in serving His Highness... Perhaps that's why?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Wei Lou sneered, "Yes, how absurd!"
Their initial motivation for conquering the world was for righteousness and ideals, and after the success, it was only right that they would share the fruits of victory. He was completely convinced of the king's authority, and his loyalty was second to none. He also hoped that this "fruit" would be passed down from generation to generation in the hands of the king's descendants.
And what was the result?
As a result, the country was about to be handed over to others.
Give it to the so-called evil god.
What are the mortals who fought alongside him supposed to think? They thought they were loyal to a wise ruler, only to find out the ruler is someone else's dog? Does some worthless evil god have the right to share in their spoils? The right to plunder their profits? Bullshit!
"What I need is a ruler."
"I am not anyone's vassal or follower."
"The Kingdom of Wu was not a sacrifice he offered to the evil god."
"Was his initial motivation for conquering the world truly for the sake of the world, and because he shared our ideals? I highly doubt it. He is a traitor! A liar full of lies! A hypocritical villain! He is definitely not the wise ruler for whom I would submit and serve!"
Wei Lou roared ferociously, venting his anger with all his might.
"He's a fraud!"
"He and I have never shared the same goals!"
_(:3」∠)_
Wei Lou was originally designed as an "incarnation" of Yuan Liang and others (but the portrayal feels a bit lacking), a character who came together because of an ideal. When that ideal is shattered, madness ensues.
Speaking of which, all of Tang Mei's subordinates wear the same style (_`)
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