Chapter 158 Snow and Cold Wind

This year, unseasonably, even Quanzhou was blanketed in goose feather snow. The amber streetlights illuminated a thick layer on the ground, creating an unexpected warmth due to the light, though it was still icy to the touch. The atmosphere on the streets, however, was far colder than the snow.

"...Lord Wu'an?"

Xiang Hongyu, or rather, Xiang Yu, spoke slowly.

Bai Qi tossed the wine aside, landing it neatly in the snow.

As the top-ranked of the Ten Military Sages, positioned first on the left during the Tang Dynasty's reverence for the left, and only removed from the list during the Song Dynasty's decline in martial virtue due to his perceived excessive bloodshed, he had spent his time on Earth thoroughly studying the history of both the Qin and Han dynasties.

Such aura, such slaughter.

Bai Qi gazed at the tall man before him.

"You bear some resemblance to your ancestors."

Xiang Yu's aura was heavy. His lineage had served as generals of Chu for generations, granted the fief of Xiang.

Hence, Xiang.

The Xiang family kept portraits of their enemies from each generation, to remind their descendants to know shame and then be brave. For instance, Wang Jian killed Xiang Yan, and the last famous general of the Wang clan, Wang Ben, died at Xiang Yu's hands. And the face before him was at the forefront of the Xiang family's records.

In the twenty-sixth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Qingxiang of Chu sought to ally and attack Qin, to recreate the glory of the past.

The Qin state decided to inflict a greater blow on Chu.

Thus, they dispatched Bai Qi.

For three consecutive years, Bai Qi served as the commander.

In the first year, a blitzkrieg secured the lands of Shangyong and north of the Han River.

Undoubtedly, a display of top-tier generalship.

In the second year, Bai Qi's command and strategic abilities seemed to have improved. He first used his customary blitzkrieg to destroy five Chu border cities, then crossed the mountains directly into Chu. Once inside, he instantly divided his forces into three routes, targeting the Chu capital with precision.

At this point, Bai Qi's performance became somewhat outrageous.

For some reason, in that era when everyone thought winning was enough, Lord Wu'an had a heartfelt obsession with the word "encirclement".

Even if it was the capital of the enemy country, he encircled it.

In the third year, Bai Qi's strategy seemed to have improved dramatically.

As if completely ignoring the limitations of the era.

This time, he employed tactical insertions and guerrilla warfare, directly penetrating the rear of the Chu army, inflicting a great defeat, then capturing the Chu capital, burning the Chu royal tombs, and merging the various divided forces, sweeping eastward in one go, causing Chu to collapse and relocate its capital.

This indicated that Lord Wu'an's strategic level had directly risen to the level of being able to independently manage a war of annihilation.

While other famous generals of the same era were galloping about plundering cities, Lord Wu'an was already directly targeting the enemy's capital.

Blitzkrieg, flanking, rapid insertion, cutting, encirclement, merging, a one-wave push.

This was why Li Mu, Lian Po, and Wang Jian were merely among the Seventy-Two Generals, while Lord Wu'an was the head of the Ten Sages. Endless killing was merely the most insignificant thing about him. Although all were unparalleled generals, there was an insurmountable gap between the Ten Sages and the Seventy-Two Generals.

The Seventy-Two Generals conquered cities and broke through strongholds, invincible in their advance.

They were unparalleled generals or strategists who could only emerge in times of great war and chaos.

The Ten Sages, on the other hand, each possessed strategies capable of destroying a country.

A butcher?

No, no, no, releasing these old salted vegetables would result in the destruction of countries and cities.

Back then, the Chu capital was moved to Chen, which is now Yu province.

And the ancestral home of the Xiang family was in Jiangdong.

In other words, in that battle, Lord Wu'an directly destroyed Xiang Yu's ancestral home.

Fortunately, the King of Chu managed to gather an army of 100,000 and recapture fifteen cities beside the river.

That era of military strategists was the era of Lord Wu'an. For three consecutive years, one could feel Lord Wu'an's terrifying strategic growth. The pressure was only felt by other famous generals; the number one player was still leveling up at a crazy speed.

First Version: Blitzkrieg.

Second Version: Basic Blitzkrieg,拔掉(bá diào) border cities, guerrilla warfare for thousands of miles, raiding and encircling the capital.

Third Version: Blitzkrieg, raiding for thousands of miles, guerrilla encirclement.

Smoothly connecting with insertions behind enemy lines to directly crush the enemy.

Finally, the merging of divided troops and the penetration of the battle lines directly turned the Chu state into the Southern Commandery of Great Qin.

It was not about battles, but about strategy at a higher level.

Moreover, Lord Wu'an's hobbies were remarkably consistent. Old Bai had no other hobbies in his life; he just wanted to encircle, blitzkrieg, and maneuver, then divide and merge his troops. His ultimate goal was encirclement, ultimately causing the Chu state, with its thousands of miles of territory and millions of soldiers, to relocate its capital and never recover.

He was granted the title of Lord Wu'an.

And in that vast campaign, facing the Qin army, the Xiang family, who had been generals of Chu for generations, struggled, resisted stubbornly, and ultimately retreated unwillingly, far from their homeland, without even leaving a ripple, with no record in history.

What was most unbearable was not defeat, but that the opponent had never even regarded them as rivals.

They were directly ignored.

Unwillingness, anger, pain, like a speck of dust, or even less than dust.

Xiang Yu was quite surprised that Lord Wu'an recognized him and even remembered his ancestors' affairs. However, this was immediately followed by a fierce killing intent. Military strategists and generals served their respective masters, but the hatred of slaughter was real. They carried the blood feud of each other's countries.

Lord Wu'an, who had forced the Chu state to relocate its capital and almost single-handedly pushed Chu towards destruction, versus the Overlord of Western Chu, who constantly defeated the Qin army in the final years of Qin, the strongest general of the late Qin dynasty.

The wine jar fell to the ground.

The Chu war spear and the Great Qin halberd instantly clashed.

……………………

The sudden surge of energy outside naturally drew attention from inside the house.

Wei Yuan's expression changed drastically. He guessed that Lord Wu'an and the Overlord of Western Chu had run into each other. Bai Qi had clearly said in the morning that he had something to do and wouldn't be back, so had that matter been resolved? As he turned and walked out the door, the two outside had already exchanged countless blows.

Even if one was just a modern reincarnation and the other was the embodiment of military killing intent, their clash still caused a huge impact on the surroundings.

The ground cracked, the streetlights twisted and shattered. In the darkness, only the white snow reflected the moonlight, making it even clearer. Just as Wei Yuan was about to intervene, Xiang Yu's spear momentum suddenly weakened. Lord Wu'an swung his halberd, about to sever Xiang Yu's head, but stopped in time.

"This is..."

Bai Qi put away his halberd.

Xiang Yu swayed, suddenly collapsing. Yu Ji, who had been sent away by Xiang Yu to buy things, had just arrived. Ignoring everything else, she rushed forward and caught Xiang Yu, preventing him from falling directly to the ground. Her expression was anxious. Wei Yuan, however, saw something and turned to look at Bai Ze, who was whistling and looking away.

"...What's going on?"

"Ah? What, what's going on? I don't know."

Wei Yuan directly grabbed Bai Ze's forehead with a Death Grip.

Finally, after experiencing the friendly exchange techniques of the Tu Shan clan and Yu the Great, Bai Ze sincerely and earnestly explained the matter – "It's time-limited, ah. How can the True Spirit recover so quickly? It's probably the effect of that cup of wine wearing off, so the True Spirit went back to sleep."

Bai Ze had a bump on his head, but his expression remained unchanged:

"Besides, if Xiang Yu's True Spirit were to recover immediately, it would be equivalent to his current life being directly overwritten. That would be too wasteful. So it's better to take it one step at a time. Each time he drinks wine, it's like sleepwalking. This guy will gradually remember the past."

"Eventually, he will complete his awakening, equivalent to a mature and calm version of Xiang Yu."

"But..."

Bai Ze glanced at Lord Wu'an, who was sitting there.

His scalp tingled.

He felt that the real Shura field, in a sense, had begun.

True Shura.

Lord Wu'an took a deep look at Xiang Yu and said:

"It doesn't matter. With the great calamity upon us, I naturally know the importance of alliances. In the past, among the various states, sometimes they fought each other, sometimes they joined forces. These were common occurrences. Our era was one of war and chaos that lasted for five hundred years. Perhaps our views on these matters are different from yours."

"Now, it's merely equivalent to my Great Qin and Chu joining forces to face the enemy together."

"If there are grudges, we can discuss them after defeating the great enemy."

‘Brothers may quarrel at home, but they unite against external aggression.’

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, this was taken even more seriously.

However, Bai Qi's words also concealed another layer of meaning. After truly quelling the remaining chaos, there would probably still be a battle between them. Even Wei Yuan was powerless to do anything about this. To let go of obsessions? What a joke! The reason these people became heroes was their strong personal will.

‘My heart is not a stone; it cannot be turned!’

Who would dare to try to talk them down? Do you believe they wouldn’t draw their swords on the spot?

Even the resurrected Buddha would have no hope of converting them.

Or rather, if both sides had the same strength of will, they would try to convince each other.

See who was more stubborn.

In the end, either there would be an old butcher in the Buddhist kingdom, or there would be a bald general at the front of the battle.

One who would ask you if you understood after hitting you over the head with a heavy weapon.

After Xiang Hongyu woke up, he had no impression of what had happened before, only a vague feeling. The hotpot meal was relatively peaceful. That is, Wei Yuan dragged Bai Ze out overnight and used Taoist magic to repair the ground.

Which was to throw away the rubble, fill in the potholes, and then create an illusion array.

Finally, the most important step was to send a message to Mount Longhu.

Old Celestial Master, come clean up the mess!

However, even so, two military commanders fighting down a street basically meant demolishing a street. Reassuring the remaining residents and erasing the relevant memories of those neighbors was also a delicate and tiring job. It was easy to destroy things, but very troublesome to repair them.

You look very cool when you kick and shatter the ground while fighting.

But you look really pathetic when you sweep the floor after the fight.

The worst part was that he didn't even cause the fight himself, but he still had to sweep the floor.

After finishing, Wei Yuan and Bai Ze collapsed on the sofa. The sky was faintly bright, almost dawn. There was no point in sleeping. Bai Ze adopted the style of an old salted fish. Suddenly, he had potato chips and cola in his hand. He turned on the TV and changed the channel.

Bai Ze said, "What are we eating for breakfast?"

Wei Yuan lay like a corpse: "Heat up the leftover hotpot."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"But that's not enough to eat."

"It's okay. As long as you add some new vegetables to the hotpot broth, it's a new meal. But why are you here?" Wei Yuan was annoyed. Bai Ze, lying like a corpse, said, "Don't mind, don't mind. It's not important."

He changed the channel: "I still have to train Xiang Yu's physical fitness, don't I?"

Wei Yuan didn't pay much attention at first.

Suddenly, he heard the morning weather forecast and was slightly stunned. He raised his head and said:

"Wait."

"Bai Ze, change the channel back."

Bai Ze suspiciously changed it back.

The fair-faced, elegantly made-up female host smiled.

"Today's morning weather forecast: over the next few days, rainfall in various parts of Shenzhou will increase significantly. Viewers, please remember to bring umbrellas. Humidity in the air will also increase, which is quite different from the usual dry winter..."

"In other news, water levels in rivers across the country are rising."

"The great rivers of the north are thawing early."

"There is a trend of typhoons and associated heavy rain along the coast. It's the New Year, so please be careful. Spending the New Year at home is also quite festive. The important thing is to be able to reunite with family."

She even joked with a smile: "However, it's thundering, it's raining."

"Friends, remember to take in your clothes when it rains."

Bai Ze was still chewing on potato chips, not caring at all, planning to change the channel and watch a movie later.

But as he watched, as he looked at the Shenzhou map, which was full of signs of humidity and rainfall, as if it was about to become a bowl of chicken soup, the expression on his face slowly solidified. The two turned their heads and looked at the heavy snow that had been falling all night and had not completely stopped.

"Humidity rising across Shenzhou?"

"Rainfall the highest in the past decade?"

"Rivers rising."

"Typhoons and tsunamis?!"

The two hangers-on looked at each other and said in unison:

"Gonggong!"

……………………

At this time, Jue, who should have been resting, reached out her hand.

The jade book obtained from the Queen Mother of the West slowly lit up.

Recalling the human world in that future, Jue resolved to reach out—she had already witnessed the scene of the great thief sacrificing himself for Jiangnan in that dream. She would never allow it to happen a second time. Everything in that illusion was real.

So she was also sure that Wei Yuan would really fight to the death for the human world until his sword broke and he died.

Just like the red-clothed constable who stayed in Jiangnan.

The celestial maiden also unhesitatingly opened the jade book.

The jade book lit up, and wisps of text appeared.

‘On a certain day of a certain month, listening to music, drinking tea, listening to stories in Jiangnan’

‘The second day, listening to music, listening to stories, drinking tea.’

‘Queen Mother of the West, ah, Queen Mother of the West, you are in the human world to travel and respond to the great calamity. How can you be like this?’

‘How can the god of Kunlun be so addicted to the human world that she cannot extricate herself?’

‘The third day, listening to music, drinking tea.’

‘The Legend of the White Snake is interesting. Record it.’

‘The pastries are delicious.’

Inside was completely a collection of the Queen Mother of the West's eating, drinking, and playing over the years. From the words inside, one could see that the Queen Mother of the West was living a very carefree life. On the contrary, Jue, who had made some kind of decision, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had to put away the *Queen Mother of the West's Shenzhou Travel Guide*, but for some reason, she always felt restless.

The girl opened the door and went out, paused, hesitated, but suddenly turned back.

She opened the jade book, looked at the words, and saw that the great calamity inside was different from the playful travels.

The style of Kunlun, intuition is first nature.

She hesitated, thought of those words the Queen Mother of the West used to say, and stretched out her finger, dripping blood.

Her blood fell into the words "great calamity".

The moving words suddenly stagnated, and were scattered, as if the words were stained with traces of blood, constantly splicing and combining, and finally turned into new words.

The following words appeared on it –

"Do not believe..."

"Do not believe..."

The chaotic word combinations were completed.

Kaiming Beast.

Do not believe, Kaiming!

ps: Today's first update... four thousand two hundred words.

One of the three gods of Kunlun, the Kaiming Beast, the one seen in the third trial.