"You, who exactly are you..."
The old man turned his head slightly and smiled:
"Do you still remember that scholar from years ago who stuck with the army, refusing to leave, taking half your rations?"
"General, this time, please leave quickly."
"The six arts of a gentleman, though I am old, I have not forgotten."
His right hand grabbed a mechanism beside him, and suddenly a hidden door fell down, isolating Zhang Duo outside, and immediately, chaotic noises erupted from the other side—swords clashing, a crash, and the old man's voice shouting in reproach.
Zhang Duo's body grew rigid.
It was not White Tiger Hall, not Great Wilderness Stronghold.
The reason this person saved him was because...
Blazing flames burst forth instantly, engulfing the entire house and everyone inside it. Someone shouted, demanding to know who it was, and the old, steady laughter rang out:
"I am Zhong Jiayi, just an ordinary scholar."
"As for the other questions, we'll discuss them down below!"
Zhang Duo's body trembled violently as if struck by lightning.
In his memory, familiar faces rolled over; it was that timid, nonconfrontational scholar who always spoke in classical prose.
At this moment, the other mechanisms inside the house exploded, causing the house to collapse inward. The previously unguarded martial soldiers from Great Wilderness Stronghold were all gravely injured, and as they cursed and yelled, Zhang Duo, dragging his body, took their lives one by one.
He kept coughing, his eyes wide open, and dropped his gun, lifting the aged scholar, the latter barely possessing any martial arts skills, his breath already weakening near death.
"Why? Go to such lengths?!"
Zhang Duo's breathing became even more rapid, his vision blurry. The poison that could affect martial artists of Fourth Rank and above spread deep within his body, accompanied by a state of mind collapse that was extremely lethal even to a grandmaster.
This was perhaps the most humiliating moment of recent years. Follow current novᴇls on novel⚑fire.net
The last time was over twenty years ago; back then, he was almost forty, possessing martial arts skills but having accomplished nothing in life. Shunned by his sect, estranged by his wife and children, the shoe on one foot had fallen off while walking down the road when he encountered those people.
After that, he achieved fame and success, bestowed lands, held a position as a Pillar of the State; noble clans all treated him with respect, far exceeding the status and position of those he met back then. The finest wines were served to him, whose aroma alone could intoxicate.
Those he encountered back then seemed to pale in comparison.
Yet nothing could compare to that cup of murky wine, because at that time, he had nothing, and the world looked down on him, but those people were still willing to offer him their hand.
Zhong Jiayi, his breath already faint, smiled in surprise:
"Why save you? What nonsense, it seems, General, that these twenty-some years have indeed been tough... cough cough, the you back then would never have asked such a question."
"The great general of the Divine Martial Mansion who pacified the world."
Zhang Duo knelt on the ground, his shoulders trembling, silhouettes in the world of his heart suddenly erupted into chaos; those deemed mere instincts with no significant presence, the silhouettes seemed to transform into roaring waves, and scene after scene flashed before his eyes.
Ah... now, I finally see the images in my dreams clearly.
"Zhang Xiao? A good name."
"We are the Divine Martial."
"We must pacify the world, hey, I'm telling you, don't laugh, everyone gathered under this banner shares this ambition; for this goal, we will go to no end and resort to any measure."
The scholar, merely of age, gesticulated; when quiet, he gazed at the distant sky, his features gentle, his brow and eyes defiant, a brazen smile as if he would swallow the vast world in one gulp.
By then, he had lost everything; it was that scholar who shared the same aspiration and dream with him.
From the Jianghu's Poison Dragon Zhang Xiao, he transformed into the Divine Martial Zhang Duo.
He solemnly promised in his heart: "As long as I live, the flag of Divine Martial will never fall."
"As long as I'm alive, the Divine Martial still exists."
The scholar patted his head, smacked his lips, shook his head, and said, "That's not right, not right,"
"You should say it , come, follow me."
Beside him, Li Qidao poked his head over and said: "What are you doing? I want to add a word too, come on, everyone come over, there's something fun."
Someone howled, Li Qidao shouted as if insulted:
"Damn it, it's not pickles!"
"Wang Tiance didn't sneak into the kitchen, come on over, all of you."
The people in his memory all came, gathered together, the delicate-featured scholar looked around, lightly coughed to clear his throat, and said: "Well then, let me start with the first sentence."
"By the way, this is the Divine Martial Order, everyone has to obey, even if one day I'm gone, you must comply, only by doing this can it still be the Divine Martial, even if the Divine Martial Mansion no longer exists in the world, it remains the same."
"We have gathered here not for fame, nor benefit, is it not?"
The crowd in his memory responded in a low voice.
No longer young, hair turned gray, gravely injured, Zhang Duo murmured, as if things forgotten for twenty years have always been in his heart, voice weak and trembling, unknowingly tears flowed all over his face.
"Only wishing for the world, the Four Seas at peace."
"We must defend the borders, not giving an inch..."
"After accomplishments, do not act recklessly or arrogantly."
"Seek not fame, nor profit, do not resort to violence out of personal desire."
"The battalions of Divine Martial, fight for the world."
"For this fight, we will go to no end."
"This is Divine Martial."
Zhong Jiayi, on the brink of death, looked at the tear-streaked Zhang Duo, and said:
"The grace of saving a life, must be repaid... didn't I say that back then? Heh, General, you didn't believe it then, and I didn't expect to encounter this opportunity today, I have no regrets in this life."
"Cough cough, General, don't be upset, someone like me, I should've died back then, but General, I've lived well these twenty-some years."
He lifted his head, looking at the white-haired Divine Martial general, suddenly his eyes brightened as if in a last burst of life, smiling like in the past, softly said.
"In the world you all fought to protect, I lived well."
"No disgrace to the name of Divine Martial."
His breath disappeared.
The white-haired old man knelt on the ground, body trembling, a low roar in his throat, fist pounding the ground heavily enough to bleed.
Thirty years as a traveler in Jianghu, ten years as a Divine Martial soldier.
And then a full twenty years of long-time persevering, relentlessly holding on, unwilling, refusing to let go of the old times. In the end, he finally lay upon the ground, his once stubborn form shattered, utterly defeated, wailing uncontrollably.
"All these years, what on earth have I been doing..."
PS: Today's update is presented...
Of course, wrong is wrong, no one can forgive on behalf of others.
Five thousand two hundred words in two chapters combined, slightly fewer words, and an outburst is imminent.