knife

Chapter 287 Strong alliance
Gripping the greatsword tightly in both hands, He Zudao stepped forward and swung the sword.

A large stone roller several feet away from him suddenly leaped up, floating in mid-air before being cleaved down by an invisible blade of energy. With a series of cracking sounds, the stone roller was neatly cut into dozens of pieces, which then fell to the ground with a series of thuds, arranging themselves in an orderly fashion.

"The Great General's martial arts cultivation has made progress again, congratulations!" In the distance, behind the blooming peach blossoms, an old man dressed as a farmer, wearing patched clothes, straw sandals, and with a large pipe tucked into his waistband, walked over leisurely and clapped his hands, saying, "It seems that it won't be long before the Great General will be able to knock on the threshold of the Innate Realm."

"Your cultivation has indeed improved significantly, but advancing to the Innate Realm is no easy feat!" He Zudao sheathed his sword and stood there, showing no surprise at the old farmer's sudden arrival. "It all depends on fate."

"When the heavens unleash their killing intent, stars shift and constellations change; when the earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land! When man unleashes his killing intent, heaven and earth are overturned!" The old farmer said, "Now, chaos is approaching, and it is the time for heroes to emerge. Believe me, General, it won't be long before you reach the Innate Realm!"

"Thank you for your kind words!" He Zudao smiled. "Let's go, we'll talk inside!"

After removing his armor, putting down his greatsword, and changing into a scholar's robe, He Zudao no longer looked like a ruthless general leading troops; instead, he resembled a learned scholar.

In reality, this person was a true scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, achieved the highest rank, and excelled in both civil and military affairs.

"Everyone outside is saying that He Zudao has gone mad! He's become a madman who only knows how to kill, and his days are numbered!" The old man sat at the table, lit the large pipe at his waist, and laughed as he puffed out smoke.

He Zudao smiled and said, "Without madness, there is no life. Otherwise, how can I escape my predicament? Otherwise, how can I be used as a tool by those so-called wielders? If I don't become a tool, I have no value, and a person without value is truly doomed!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"In ten days, we will officially attack Luoyang!" He Zudao looked at the old man and said, "Once Luoyang falls, all the demons and monsters in the world will surely jump out impatiently, ready to pluck this big, white and red fruit."

"Kou Zhong is in Luoyang!"

"So the Yang family of Hongnong was afraid that I would be killed by Kou Zhong, so they sent Yang Jian to secretly come and hide in Feng Congwen's army to protect me and ensure that I would not die before I captured Luoyang!" He Zudao said with a smile.

"So the vanguard army attacking Luoyang must be Feng Congwen's troops?"

“Of course!” He Zudao nodded and said, “Feng Congwen is a good talent, but unfortunately, he doesn’t share our values. So when the Yang family of Hongnong approached him, he joined them almost without hesitation. After all, they were both wealthy and influential families with a long history of succession, and they shared common goals and understandings.”

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together!" The old farmer exhaled a thick puff of smoke. "However, the few thousand remnants of the Hedong aristocratic families that he has gathered under his control are still quite formidable in combat. They have been clearing the way for you all this time, winning every battle."

“He hates Kou Zhong and Wei Zhengdao to the bone. How can he be satisfied without killing them?” He Zu said. “That’s why he’s attached himself to me. But it’s clear that I’m not the best ally he wants to rely on. So, separation is inevitable. Good thing. After we finish fighting Luoyang, we can part ways amicably without hurting each other!”

"The Yang family of Hongnong never directly engages in the struggle for power; they prefer to operate from behind the scenes. It's just unknown who they have chosen this time. This family is quite formidable. A thousand years ago, they chose the Duanmu family, and three hundred years ago, they chose the Li family. They have almost never failed. If they clearly express their support for one family, that family will most likely become the most prestigious."

"Who knows? But just because they've never personally taken to the stage in the past thousand years doesn't mean they won't now!" He Zudao laughed. "Perhaps they want to step into the limelight and give it a try?"

"If that's the case, then they'll be easier to deal with!" The old farmer finally finished his pipe, crossed his legs, tapped the ash on the sole of his straw sandal, and tucked the pipe back into his waistband. "Our religion isn't afraid of genuine villains, it's afraid of hypocrites."

The "divine cult" is what people call the "demonic cult."

The old farmer uttered these words so frankly in front of He Zudao, clearly indicating that they had already colluded with He Zudao. "Old Ke, I'm sometimes quite puzzled!" He Zudao said, "Didn't you say that the Empress Dowager of Great Chu is the Holy Maiden of your Divine Cult? Jiang Qian has completely taken control of the Chu Kingdom, which means that the Divine Cult has basically seized control of Chu. Why don't you do your best to help her, instead of focusing on undermining her? Jiang Qian has accomplished what He Qingqiu couldn't do back then."

The old farmer shook his head and said, "It's similar to your current relationship with Feng Congwen. People with different paths cannot work together. Jiang Qian is the Holy Maiden of the Divine Sect, but is the Chu Kingdom under her control any different from the past?"

He Zudao thought for a moment, then shook his head, seemingly without any difference.

"Jiang Qian and her ilk have indeed risen to power, but they are purely driven by power and wealth. They have long forgotten the very foundation of our religion." The old farmer, known as Elder Ke, was furious. "These people have now become the spokespeople for those wealthy and powerful families, ruthlessly suppressing and killing the poor and needy at the bottom of society. They are even more cruel than those wealthy and powerful families who used to ride roughshod over the common people."

"In that case, you might as well expose the truth that Jiang Qian is the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect in front of the world. Once the truth is exposed, they will face great difficulties!"

"Do you think people will believe us just because we say it?" Old Ke chuckled. "In the eyes of the world, we are rumor-mongers who will stop at nothing to slander others. Besides, if we do that, we will completely fall out with Jiang Qian and the others, which will not benefit us at all."

“Maintaining this aloof attitude still has some advantages, right?” He Zudao said sarcastically.

"Yes, at least we can make them kill fewer people," Old Ke said. "Over the past few years, we've been reflecting on this. If we want the world to know and accept our ideals, we need a fixed territory that truly belongs to us, a land where we can be in charge, to experiment with what we want to do. If we succeed, it means we're right. And if it's right and good, it will create a siphon effect on other places, becoming a place that all ordinary people yearn for. It'll be like a snowball rolling downhill, our power will grow bigger and bigger, and our strength will become stronger and stronger."

“Strength is everything. Only when you have the power to speak can you do what you want to do!” He Zudao nodded and said, “It’s not that you don’t understand this principle, it’s just that all your past efforts have failed. If He Qinglai had succeeded back then, you wouldn’t be in such a sorry state today.”

Old Ke sighed, shook his head, and sat down.

"Don't you hate me?" He Zudao sat down opposite Elder Ke. "Actually, I've always wanted to ask you this question. If my father hadn't betrayed the Crown Prince and Crown Princess back then, He Qingqiu might have succeeded!"

“Hate can’t solve anything!” Old Ke said. “Besides, your father is your father, and you are you. And over the past few decades, you’ve probably seen through a lot of things and understood a lot of the truth, otherwise you wouldn’t have acted this way in Hedong. Contacting you is the result of our careful consideration. Both of us need a fixed territory, and our mutual efforts will benefit both of us.”

After a pause, Elder Ke continued, "Moreover, we now truly have the clearest understanding of the words left behind by the founder of the Divine Sect. To be honest, we are only now realizing the truths represented by these words, which the founder understood hundreds of years ago."

What did the founder of the Divine Sect say?

"To build a new world, the old world must be shattered. Any attempt at improvement is merely providing a new outlet for the gluttons of the old world. It's just a change in name only; the world will continue to operate according to the old rules, repeating the cycle again and again."

"So my actions of slaughtering those powerful families in Hedong made you decide to cooperate with me."

"It also made us truly understand the meaning behind these words. How can we build a new world if we don't wipe these people out?" Old Ke laughed. "We share a common understanding on the goal of shattering the old world. And you are an excellent general, which is exactly the kind of talent we lack. But we have a huge force at the grassroots level, and we can mobilize tens of thousands of people to follow you at any time. Just like now, without our help, it would be as difficult as climbing to the sky for you to even return to the South, wouldn't it?"

"That's right, they'll be wary of me returning to the South, because there are still tens of thousands of garrison troops there. Although those people have been trying to win me over, divide me, and replace me over the years, as long as I reappear on that land, I have the ability to reunite the disorganized garrison troops in the South. And that's one of your goals, isn't it?"

"Although we are called professional rebels, to be honest, we actually lack a truly efficient and well-trained army. Your joining will change our predicament. A combination of strengths is the best outcome, isn't it?"

“Of course!” He Zudao laughed. “Outsiders say I’m crazy, but I’m not really crazy. It’s just that I had no other choice when there was no other way out. Now that there is a way out, I will naturally choose to live.”

(End of this chapter)