Chapter 1161: Ding Wei May Be Done In by You This Time

When word reached Jin, Emperor Taishu Xiong was furious enough to smash quite a few things himself.

For Taishu Xiong, the matter carried emotions more complicated than it did for anyone else. Whatever Chen Changgong had been, Taishu Xiong had already given him his daughter. His daughter had only just given herself to Chen Changgong when Yin Chu killed the man. How was Taishu Xiong supposed to face that daughter in the future?

And she was not his only child. He had many sons and daughters. How would the others look at him after this? Would their hearts turn cold?

Yet Yin Chu was Yin Chu. This was entirely in keeping with his temperament and way of doing things. Years ago, Taishu Xiong had ordered Yin Chu to serve as Shao Pingbo's military adviser. Yin Chu had taken an immediate dislike to Shao Pingbo and actually obeyed the imperial edict in appearance while defying it in substance. On the excuse that heavy snow had collapsed the military camp, he simply left without ever carrying out the order.

So it was hardly surprising that Yin Chu could do something like this.

According to the information Blackwater Terrace sent back from Xiping Pass, to some extent Yin Chu's actions were understandable. The Qin army's offensive power had exceeded Jin's expectations. Had Yin Chu not commanded well, Xiping Pass might already have been broken in a single assault.

Qin's attacking strength had placed enormous pressure on him. If Xiping Pass fell, Yin Chu would become a sinner condemned through the ages by the State of Jin.

And yet at precisely such a moment, Chen Changgong kept harping on about leaving. Tens of thousands of surrendered Wei soldiers were still inside Xiping Pass. Chen Changgong's attitude could easily shake military morale. With the battle so difficult, this was exactly the moment when everyone from top to bottom had to unite their strength and purpose. How could Yin Chu allow anyone to unsettle the army? Once morale wavered, defeat would be inevitable.

There is one kind of man in this world who can least afford to lose: a general.

Lose once, and at the lighter end an entire army may be destroyed in defeat; at the heavier end, a state may perish.

Chen Changgong had collided head-on with that fatal point. Given Yin Chu's temperament, it was not strange at all that a man already killing with blood-red eyes would cut him down.

What could Taishu Xiong do? He truly had no way to deal with Yin Chu. Yin Chu had led his troops deep behind enemy lines and was holding out alone. Could Taishu Xiong rebuke him now and declare that he had acted wrongly?

Deep in enemy territory, even withdrawing was difficult. If the battle was lost, Yin Chu himself might die. Taishu Xiong might not even have the chance to settle accounts afterward.

And if Yin Chu held Xiping Pass, then he would have rendered tremendous merit. In that case, it would be difficult for Taishu Xiong to settle any account at all.

There was no choice. Shao Pingbo's proposal became the final remedy. After venting his fury, Taishu Xiong could only follow it: conceal Chen Changgong's death with all possible effort, and treat Chen Changgong's family with exceptional generosity for others to see.

Originally, everything had already been negotiated with Chen Changgong. A princess could not become a secondary wife or concubine; Chen Changgong was supposed to separate from his first wife. Now there would be no separation. Chen Changgong had taken advantage of the princess, and Taishu Xiong still had to treat Chen Changgong's wife well.

No matter how grand Taishu Xiong's ambitions, he was still a father. Beneath the shell of an emperor there remained, to some degree, a father's heart. He had already wronged his daughter badly enough. He did not want anything more to happen to her. Xiping Pass was a place where men were fighting to the death, so he wanted to remove her from danger.

Her mother was also weeping before him day after day. Thus he arranged for his daughter to be brought back.

Yet Yin Chu actually defied the imperial command.

His answer was one sentence: "A general in the field does not always obey the sovereign's command."

Not only did Yin Chu refuse to let Taishu Huan'er return to Jin, he forced her to put on a smiling face and appear frequently before the soldiers, showing that she stood together with them and using her presence to bolster military morale.

When Taishu Huan'er refused to cooperate, Yin Chu actually drew his sword and threatened her. If she disobeyed, he would kill her.

Terrified, with Chen Changgong's death still vivid before her eyes, Taishu Huan'er did not dare refuse. From that point onward, she remained with the soldiers of Jin and accompanied them in holding Xiping Pass to the death.

When Taishu Xiong learned of it, he erupted in fury, yet there was not a single thing he could do to Yin Chu. After that bloody battle, even the Qiyun Sect cultivators holding the pass alongside the army had come down on Yin Chu's side.

First, the Qiyun Sect cultivators could see the actual situation. Military morale truly did need to be consolidated. Yin Chu's methods were excessive, but that did not necessarily mean he was wrong.

Second, Yin Chu truly had killed until his eyes were red. At such a time, forget a princess—whoever dared defy military orders might be killed. He would even dare kill Qiyun Sect cultivators. Who among them would still dare oppose him or try to remove him from command? If they actually did so, military morale would collapse, and there would be no point trying to defend Xiping Pass at all.

When the news reached Qiyun Sect Leader Taishu Feihua, even he remained silent. He did not dare forcibly demand Taishu Huan'er back from Yin Chu. If he drove Yin Chu too far at a time like this, even Taishu Feihua would not be able to bear the consequences.

Yin Chu's attitude was resolute. As long as Xiping Pass could be held, no price was too high, and he did not fear death.

He had dared kill the princess's betrothed, dared draw a sword on the princess herself, and dared defy an imperial edict. He had already thrown everything aside, including fear of death. Who could do anything to him?

When Shao Pingbo heard, he was deeply moved and sighed. "This is a true man of valor! No wonder His Majesty ordered him to hold Xiping Pass from the very beginning. With a man like this commanding there, Xiping Pass is already half defended. His Majesty truly understands him. His Majesty truly knows how to employ men."

He was gradually beginning to understand Yin Chu's state of mind. From the perspective of the whole war, he and Taishu Xiong believed Chen Changgong should not have been killed. But for Yin Chu, trapped in desperate circumstances, that so-called greater situation was worth less than dog shit. Holding Xiping Pass was the greatest situation of all. Anything that threatened the determination to defend the pass would receive no mercy from him.

Taishu Xiong's rage lasted only for a time. Once he calmed down, the tender feelings of family were immediately cast aside. Qin's single assault had inflicted severe losses on Xiping Pass's cultivators. Without enough cultivators, the pass could not be held for long. Taishu Xiong urgently began coordinating additional cultivators from Jin.

With Qi, Wei, and Qin joining forces, and other states secretly providing assistance, Jin's cultivator resources were stretched extremely thin. In the end, even Tiandi Sect was mobilized. Linghu Qiu had no choice and was forced to lead Tiandi Sect cultivators into the Wei battlefield.

Inside the dilapidated farmhouse, Shao Pingbo stared at the map and sighed. "It's time for us to leave."

Shao Sansheng asked from beside him, "Where does Eldest Young Master intend to go?"

"Xiping Pass." Shao Pingbo said, "In battles of attack and defense, the frontal battlefield ultimately depends on soldiers staking their lives. There is nothing useful for us to do by remaining here. Given the current state of Wei's army, it is simply no match for Jin. The war around Xiping Pass is about to unfold in full..."

He lifted one hand and pointed at the troop movements marked on the map, tapping Huyan Wuhen's army. "The real threat is Huyan Wuhen. If we can find an opportunity to deal with Huyan Wuhen... Rather than waste time here doing nothing, we might as well follow the main battlefield and see whether a chance to strike appears."

Shao Sansheng nodded. "This old servant will have Blackwater Terrace make the arrangements immediately."

Shao Pingbo looked back. "Wait. Still no reply from the shopkeeper?"

Shao Sansheng stopped. "This old servant has sent message after message, but there has been no response."

Shao Pingbo turned around. "Not even a reply?"

Shao Sansheng shook his head. "Nothing."

"I urgently asked to see him. He should know there is important business, yet he has not sent even a word back..." Shao Pingbo fell into thought. "Could something have happened on Misty Pavilion's side?"

...

In the mountains, inside a gorge, Sha Rulai appeared at the old meeting place where he had met Niu Youdao before, wrapped in a black cloak. This time it was daytime.

The meeting was urgent, so they had not been overly particular about the hour.

The moment he appeared, someone emerged from a recess in the nearby cliff. Sha Rulai sharply turned his head and saw a man dressed like a Misty Pavilion operative approaching. He did not recognize the face.

Then the newcomer laughed in a familiar voice. "Don't be nervous. It's me."

As he drew near, he raised a hand and peeled off the false face.

It was Niu Youdao.

Sha Rulai relaxed, but suspicion still lingered. Once Niu Youdao reached him, Sha Rulai actually circled him several times, repeatedly looking him up and down.

"What are you doing?" Niu Youdao found it strange. "Don't recognize me anymore?"

Sha Rulai stopped in front of him. "I've seen two of you. How do I know whether you're real or fake?"

Niu Youdao snorted in amusement. "What, you really think I'm dead?"

Sha Rulai said, "Prove you're you first."

Niu Youdao could not help rolling his eyes. "Mr. Sha, stop fooling around. This joke isn't funny. Other than me, who else could know the secret way we contact each other? Surely I wouldn't have told the fake that secret too."

Anger immediately surfaced on Sha Rulai's face. "So you know this joke isn't funny? Niu Youdao, what exactly are you playing at? Do you realize that after doing this, you can never show your face again? Before making a decision like this, shouldn't you at least have discussed it with me?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "I didn't discuss it precisely because I was afraid you wouldn't agree."

Sha Rulai said, "If you keep playing like this, always thinking you can control the situation yourself, you may throw me into danger at any moment. If that's how you're going to act, we have no way to continue cooperating."

"I had no choice!" Niu Youdao said. "If you want to blame someone, blame your wife. The moment I entered the Sacred Realm, your wife started stirring up trouble against me. She got every side watching me. She made it impossible for me to keep a low profile even when I wanted to."

"Mr. Sha, from the moment I entered the Sacred Realm the second time, I made a decision. I had to die once."

"Every faction had its eyes on me. I understood my position clearly. I was already under the Nine Saints' attention. How long do you think I could keep maneuvering while they were watching me?"

"Under their gaze, my position was far too dangerous. I could be exposed at any moment, and I could barely accomplish anything. If I wanted to escape that situation, there was only one method—the best method."

"I had to die."

"Only after I died could I escape layer after layer of danger. Otherwise, there was simply no way out. This is good for you too. Once I am dead, your wife can no longer come looking for me and provoke other people's suspicions about us."

None of this was false. From the moment he entered the Sacred Realm for the second time, he had made one major decision.

That major decision was to die once and for all.

Sha Rulai fell silent for a moment. "Your death has already alarmed all Nine Saints. They've personally stepped in and are investigating the cause. You had me keep an eye on Xuan Yao's movements. Was Xuan Yao the one who attacked you?"

Niu Youdao smiled. "Who else could it have been?"

Sha Rulai said, "If you wanted to die, then die. What was the point of going to Wuliang Garden and making such a commotion first?"

By now, all Nine Sacred Lands had learned that before his death, Niu Youdao had mobilized a large group and conducted an inspection of Wuliang Garden. Among the upper ranks of the Nine Sacred Lands, this was no longer a secret. As for the claim that Niu Youdao had gone there to investigate an inside traitor, the Nine Saints had jointly sealed that information. Even Sha Rulai did not yet know it.

Niu Youdao said, "Since I was going to die anyway, why not leave them a little trouble behind? Wouldn't it be good if the Nine Saints started fighting among themselves?"

Sha Rulai asked, "Inspecting Wuliang Garden is enough to make them turn on one another?"

"After setting the board, I pointed the spearhead at Ding Wei..." Niu Youdao gave him a rough account of what had happened, concealing only the theft of the Wuliang Fruits. For the moment, he did not intend to let Sha Rulai know about that.

Sha Rulai was speechless for a while. Then he frowned. "In other words, the Nine Saints are bound to suspect Ding Wei. Yet they've handed the investigation into your death over to Ding Wei himself..."

He fell silent briefly, then slowly shook his head. "The Nine Saints have vicious intentions. Ding Wei is in serious trouble now."

With his hands clasped behind his back, he sighed. "Xuan Yao attacked you, which means he definitely used people and resources from Ding Wei's faction. And Ding Wei currently controls Misty Pavilion. If someone else investigated, they might never uncover anything. But if Ding Wei investigates personally, he'll inevitably notice the traces."

"If Ding Wei knew beforehand that Xuan Yao was going to attack you, then he was one of the masterminds and would help conceal it. If he didn't know and discovers that Xuan Yao did it, does he hide the truth or not?"

"The problem is that he still doesn't know you framed him before the Nine Saints. He doesn't know the Nine Saints already have their eyes fixed on him. Whether he conceals the truth or not, it will be very difficult for him to clear himself now."

He shook his head again. "Ding Wei may really be done in by you this time..."

[End of Chapter 1161]