Chapter 240 Not a Complete Gun

A deathly silence.

Fan Kuai's thoughts nearly ceased, while the others, those with knowledge of history and the cultivators, were plunged into a state of immense bewilderment and disbelief. Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, a figure of immense renown in history, had been pierced through the heart by another.

And this other person had been with them, working alongside them, just moments before?

A stark contrast.

It almost robbed them of the ability to think.

Beneath the armor, Wei Yuan gasped for breath, his hand trembling, yet his eyes shone with the brilliance of cold stars. The spearhead in his hand, having pierced Xiang Yu's true spirit's heart, was slowly withdrawn, carrying with it the visceral sensation of tearing flesh, even from a true soul form.

As Xiang Yu opened his mouth, blood trickled from the corner of his lips.

"Good spear technique."

Yet he still praised Wei Yuan's spear with admiration.

At times, Wei Yuan felt that if the First Emperor hadn't departed in such a way, if Xiang Yu had been in the Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods, he might have been better suited as a wandering knight-errant, unrestrained and unburdened by the grand strategies of the world.

Xiang Yu said, "Great Qin's warrior, who are you?"

Wei Yuan withdrew the spear, its blade scraping against the ground as he replied, "Quanzhou, Wei Yuan."

"Wei Yuan of Quanzhou..."

Xiang Yu murmured to himself, then suddenly laughed, saying:

"It is a pity that I am but a remnant soul. Had I come in my full strength, I would surely have unhorsed you!"

The blade of the spear in Wei Yuan's hand hummed, as he replied:

"Then you are welcome to try."

His blood still coursing with heat, one hand gripping the reins, he stood tall upon his horse, looking down at Xiang Yu, and said coldly, "No matter when you come into this world, as long as I am still here, I will strike you down from your horse once more. The world is vast, King of Western Chu, but you shall never cross the point of my spear."

"I will defeat you again!"

Xiang Yu's double pupils stared at Wei Yuan, and he said, "If that is so..."

He said slowly:

"Then that would be excellent."

The voice faded into a murmur as the true spirit crumbled, dissipating once more.

Wei Yuan's tightly wound spirit was finally able to relax. He didn't like Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, but he also had to acknowledge the immense pressure and threat he posed. This separation would likely be their last in this lifetime.

The spear in his hand appeared intact, yet he could clearly feel that its core had collapsed and could no longer withstand such a battle.

Wei Yuan rode his horse across the battlefield.

The obsessions of the Qin Dynasty and the shadow that had enveloped that era slowly crumbled away. He felt a sense of increasing harmony within his true spirit, or perhaps it was merely his imagination—simply the unbridled exhilaration that came from defeating Xiang Yu.

A deathly silence.

Some of the Li family disciples had gathered around Fan Kuai.

They were not the same group of cultivators who had summoned Fan Kuai—they had already been cut down in the Qin cavalry's charge. With the battlefield sealed off, they had instinctively moved closer to the only one who seemed capable of resisting this nightmare-like Qin general.

Fan Kuai recognized those eyes, as well as the familiar, domineering spear technique, and said:

"So, it's you."

"What a pity."

Sitting on his shield, he sighed, "Zifang is not here, nor is Pei Gong."

"Otherwise, they would surely have wanted to drink a cup with you..."

Wei Yuan looked at Fan Kuai. He had become acquainted with Zhang Liang in that era, and had also cooperated with the Han army. He nodded, sighing softly, "General Fan Kuai, it has been a long time."

This exchange caused the faces of the cultivators who had instinctively grasped at a lifeline to freeze.

They… knew each other?

That meant that the museum curator who had been among them all along...

They seemed to finally realize something, their breaths catching in their throats.

Fan Kuai said, "Zifang had already resigned from his official post to live in seclusion, but unfortunately, Empress Lu ultimately brought him back. She could not bear to have someone like Zifang out of her sight. But Zifang once said that if you, General, were still alive, Empress Lu would not be able to take him away."

"With your martial prowess, General, and his wisdom, you could naturally have lived a carefree life in seclusion."

"So he resented you, saying that rather than dying on the road at sea, he might as well be used by her one last time."

Wei Yuan thought of that white-robed youth from the past, and the strategist who later held all the answers in his grasp.

Old friends were like before, yet scattered like rain.

In the end, he could only utter a word of regret.

Fan Kuai laughed several times, said a word of regret, and then slowly dissipated.

The Li family cultivators were terrified, but Wei Yuan merely glanced at them and rode past.

He reached down, wanting to pick up the Overlord Spear once more, but suddenly grasped at empty air. Only now did he realize that the spear had turned to dust, swept away by the wind, never to be found again.

It seemed that the Overlord Spear's blade would never be whole again in this lifetime.

Wei Yuan muttered to himself with a wry smile.

For some reason, that sentence was inexplicably connected to the palace's special products.

Overlord Spear, you are no longer a complete man, no, a complete spear.

The key was that he himself had been the one to break the spear.

Wei Yuan rode his warhorse to the foot of Xianyang City. Zhang Han stood beneath the city gates, reaching out skillfully to grasp the reins of the warhorse. Wei Yuan dismounted, removed his helmet, and set down his long spear. Zhang Han tapped the spearhead, saying, "The inside of the spear is broken. One more strike and it will snap."

"I beat the drum to summon the army. Why didn't you lead them to crush Xiang Yu?"

Wei Yuan said, "I told you, I can only command three thousand men on the battlefield."

"Any more than that, and I'll lose control."

Zhang Han, who had just beaten the drum, said helplessly, "That's why I said I'd beat the drum for you."

He smiled and shook his head, saying, "A mere hundred thousand troops, I can fully mobilize them. Although I can't compare to Han Xin's effortless command, there's no problem with forming battle formations. Then you lead three thousand elite troops in the front, with the crossbows behind. Even Xiang Yu would have to consider it."

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, looking at Zhang Han, and said:

"There's no need."

"He still owed me a spear thrust, and now, that thrust has been repaid."

"Besides, to fight Xiang Yu and his ghost army with three thousand men, to be honest, I don't have much confidence. He's the number one strategist of troops and terrain. Unless we use numbers to wear him down, there's no point. And if we do that, how many more of these terracotta warriors will he shatter?"

He paused, looking at the towering Qin army, and sighed:

"I just wanted to see the Qin army's formations again... like a dream."

"But I don't want these terracotta warriors to be broken by Xiang Yu because of me."

"Besides, to defeat Xiang Yu in single combat in front of the Xianyang City of Great Qin, under the Qin army's formations, as a Qin general, that's what I've always wanted to do."

Zhang Han looked at him strangely, and said, "Are you trying to make up for something?"

Wei Yuan said, "Think what you want."

Zhang Han laughed, and said, "You remind me of how you used to be. You were always like this before."

"You'd always do reckless things for some insignificant reason. If it were me, I wouldn't go and duel Xiang Yu for such a reason... A Yuan, are you still the type who, to run off and roast meat, would find a bunch of reasons to skip training?"

Wei Yuan's expression remained unchanged, "Of course not."

"Oh?"

"I don't need to find reasons now."

Zhang Han laughed out loud, saying:

"Forget it, Yuan, what else do you want to do?"

"You came to the Emperor's Mausoleum. It shouldn't be just to settle old scores with Xiang Yu, right?"

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then told Zhang Han about Gonggong's escape and the need for a sword. Zhang Han said, "The sword passed down through generations of the Mo family is a top-tier treasure. Such treasures are all in the Xianyang Palace's treasury, guarded by a large army. These people wouldn't dare to act rashly."

"I'll go in with you."

Wei Yuan nodded.

Zhang Han smiled, but then his body suddenly slumped. Wei Yuan reached out and caught him, discovering that Zhang Han's breathing was even, and he had fallen into a deep sleep. He looked up and realized that Zhang Han was standing next to him, in his youthful form, while the one he was holding was the researcher Zhang Han was attached to.

Zhang Han opened a side door outside the Xianyang Palace. Wei Yuan and Zhang Han walked into the main body of this underground palace.

Outside, the Great Qin terracotta warrior army remained silent, maintaining their defensive posture. The immense pressure prevented anyone from daring to speak, or even move, fearing that the slightest movement would cause an arrow to strike them.

……………………

The interior of the Xianyang Palace was exactly as Wei Yuan remembered.

Zhang Han led him forward. Unlike the outer city area, which was full of mechanisms, there were no mechanisms here. At the front, they saw the tightly closed palace gates. Zhang Han stopped, not continuing forward.

Wei Yuan stopped.

Zhang Han said, "I can only accompany you this far."

The Great Qin general, still in his youthful form, smiled as he looked around, saying, "So nostalgic. The days when I guarded this place with you seem like only yesterday, but it was already more than two thousand years ago."

Wei Yuan turned his head to look at Zhang Han.

"You..."

Zhang Han said, "You should have realized by now that I am just a remnant soul, and I should have dissipated long ago. It was only when Xiang Yu broke through the outer perimeter of the Emperor's Mausoleum that the golden goose flew out, allowing my remnant soul after death to be nourished here."

"Originally, I only intended to find a way to prevent outsiders from destroying the Emperor's Mausoleum, but I didn't expect to see you again in the end."

He looked at Wei Yuan, and suddenly said, "I want to ask you, A Yuan, back then, I felt I had no face to see you and committed suicide in the city. If you and Liu Bang saw me, what would you have done..."

"Killed you."

Wei Yuan answered.

"Then brought your remains back to Xianyang City, buried them in the east of the city, and drank a toast."

The east of the city was where he had gone hunting as a youth, leading a yellow dog.

Is that so...

Zhang Han raised his hand and tapped his chest, smiling and saying, "Qu Qi Wu Yi." (How can one say we have no clothes?)

"Yu Zi Tong Pao." (I will share your robes.)

"To be able to fight alongside you... I have no regrets."

Crack.

As intense emotion flickered in Wei Yuan's eyes, Zhang Han raised his hand, surprisingly still holding the previous cell phone, and took a photo of Wei Yuan, glanced at it, and laughed wildly, "You really look stupid, hahaha!"

He put the phone in his pocket.

As he finished speaking, the aura of Zhang Han's true spirit slowly dissipated. Previously, he had only been able to slow down the rate of dissipation of this remnant soul by clinging on, but now it had reached a point where it could no longer be slowed down. As if yellow sand was spreading, Wei Yuan stood quietly in his armor, watching as his friend's soul transformed into a terracotta warrior.

He was wearing armor of the Shaoliang Manufacture level, and Zhang Han's hand rested on the sword at his waist, with a smile on his face and an air of spirited energy between his brows.

And in the pouch beside him was the bottle of water that Wei Yuan had given him.

Wei Yuan quietly looked at the terracotta warrior that Zhang Han had transformed into.

In the end, he only reached out and brushed the dust off Zhang Han's shoulder.

His lips moved, but he said nothing.

Old friends were like before, yet scattered like rain.

He suddenly turned around and strode towards the main hall, reaching out and pushing open the gates of the main hall. The main hall of the underground palace, sealed for more than two thousand years, was finally opened. The towering palace seemed to press down like the sky, with huge pillars supporting the hall. No weapon could pass these two pillars, as they would be drawn away. Above the hall were simulated sun, moon, and stars, while the nine provinces and four seas were in other directions.

On the highest imperial throne, the emperor, dressed in dark black robes, slept quietly.

And then,

He opened his eyes.

ps: Second update today... Thanks to Wu Yin for the generous reward, thank you.

The First Emperor's situation is a bit special, I guarantee there will be no OOC, everyone can read with peace of mind.