Chapter 38: There Was a Reason

There were ten people in the First Canteen. Apart from Wang Dali, everyone else said they wanted some.

Seeing that everyone was interested, Xia Hongsheng teased them. “My junior sister was asking me about it. Why are you all joining in?”

Old Qi, who was kneading the dough, knew exactly what kind of person he was and answered with a grin, “Old Xia, keep your voice down. If Qian Duoduo hears you, he’ll carry off the entire platter.”

At the mention of his second junior brother, Xia Hongsheng fell completely silent.

After hearing Uncle Gong Jian say all that, Gong Yaozu did not know whether he ought to laugh or cry. He had managed to get through this hurdle, but his father had placed a tightening spell around his neck. His father’s meaning was obvious: they might let this year’s matter slide, but next year he would have to pass the examination for junior scholars as well.

On the afternoon of the eleventh, Lin Cheng finally managed to return home to Qingjiang, only to be greeted by his mother’s familiar stream of nagging.

With only two hundred cigarettes a month, he wanted to smoke some himself and still had to save a few for his mother. Naturally, he had to count every single one carefully.

He said that every life which came into this world deserved respect. Everything each life endured, however heavy, was something one could not refuse to bear.

This was the first time Zhang Jindong had heard the inside story of Duan Yongping’s departure from BBK. Before this, he had always pitied Duan Yongping for being driven out of the company he had founded himself. Yet after hearing Lin Cheng’s account, he came away with a rather different impression.

This was Chang Hui’s psychological tactic. Chang Hui suddenly appeared at the center of the formation, naturally making the enemy believe that the battle was already lost. On top of that, the wind and snow seemed to carry the sound of a large force of reinforcements charging toward them. If they did not flee now, when would they?

The Dragon God Sect’s leader, Immortal Gubing Beimingzi, immediately followed the same method. He offered up a dazzling golden core with a strange metallic sheen, which plunged straight into the pitch-black opening behind the first.

Chen Yue had no faith whatsoever in the firearms cast by the imperial Ministry of War. Armor, shields, long spears, arrows, gunpowder, siege equipment, and the like, however, he accepted without hesitation. With several hundred seagoing ships at their disposal, they could carry as much material as they needed.

“You don’t need to feel burdened, nor do you have to worry that I’ll demand anything from you. Even if I did make some unreasonable demand, you could simply ignore me, couldn’t you?”

That brought Lang Hongxiang’s score to six points. As long as he could defeat Xiao Tianyi and the others, he would have eight points. At least, he still had a chance.

The Black Demon Formation trembled without pause, as though some incomparably immense force were pounding against it from outside. Under the impact, the temple shuddered with every popping sound.

The battlefield where the Wolf King and the others fought lay even farther away, perhaps ten li from Wolf Valley. It was already beyond Lang Hongxiang’s ability to observe. All he could tell was that four figures kept crossing through the sky while blue and crimson energies raged, dyeing half the heavens in their colors.

“Father, there are two soldiers at the village entrance handling this year’s recruitment,” Wang Fengqi said breathlessly. The old man sitting in the courtyard and rolling a cigarette was Wang Fengqi’s father.

Lang Hongxiang did not answer. He shot up from the ground, and his powerful demonic essence once again spread toward Yaque and Bai Yuqu.

More than ten people were crowded into a single villa, so naturally someone had to be responsible for cooking. During the day, they had also bought plenty of food.

Chen Yan took it from him slowly, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Ever since she had met, come to know, and fallen in love with Li Huang, she had spent no small amount of his money. She had no idea how much of his pocket money she had saved herself.

More than a hundred soldiers had already fallen before the armored man. Judging from what he had seen, the man wore a smile on his face and had not taken this lopsided battle seriously in the slightest.

So the so-called question of whether it was “convenient” had merely been a polite expression. Jinggu Yousheng had understood that perfectly well, yet he was pretending to be foolish. No wonder Han Xiao’s words had grown increasingly blunt.