Durin's Diary

Chapter 919 Planting Peach Trees

As Zhang Mengping walked toward Madam Mu's courtyard, he called out to the old man... or rather, it was the old man's questioning gaze that stopped Zhang Mengping in his tracks.

"Ask me anything you want to ask," Zhang Mengping said as she sat down on the steps.

"Don't tell me you called me back because you finally thought about my pension, do you?" The old man asked Zhang Mengping with his hands behind his back and his eyes drooping.

The latter smiled, took out his pipe and untied his tobacco pouch: "What, you don't believe me?"

"You'd be a fool to believe you. If you really could figure it out, you wouldn't have let me miss it for so many years." The old man said, taking out his cigarette case: "Stop smoking your pipe and smoke something better."

“You don’t understand, this is the taste of home.” Zhang Mengping shook his pipe as he said this: “You old man are quite clever. I’m not like others, so I’ll tell you the truth. Your Du Lin killed the twin princes in front of everyone yesterday. Xiang Shu gave the order to attack, and the heads of the two unlucky guys have already arrived with the messenger.”

"Good lad, the twin princes are no pushovers. Did he kill them all by himself?" Upon hearing this news, the old man frowned.

The twin princes are princes under the Crimson God of War. Everyone knows the Crimson God of War, this ancient alien god. Because of his title as a god of war, the great demons and princes under his command are the most vicious infighting. After all, this Crimson God of War only cares about killing and bloodshed, and he doesn't care at all who is killed or whose blood is spilled.

Therefore, whenever the Southern War God Demon Army fails to attack Zhennan Pass, internal infighting will follow, and its cruelty is even greater than that of attacking Zhennan Pass.

After all, defeating the demon army at Zhennanguan requires breaking through the various garrison cities and finally reaching the gate walls, while internal fighting only needs a pretext to turn the place into a bloodbath.

This is the most ridiculous thing about this Crimson War God. Some people even think that the number of people killed by Akar's demon army at Zhennan Pass was less than the number killed by the demon army itself in internal fighting.

Although it's ridiculous, everyone understands that this is very likely true.

Because Akar's demon army would indeed do that.

“Yes, he killed him all by himself, but we don’t know exactly how he did it.” Zhang Mengping said, lighting a cigarette after filling it with tobacco. “With this achievement, some people in the army want to overturn your case.”

"I don't need any exoneration. Killing the navy men was indeed my fault, and I'd be happy to be expelled from the military. I just don't want to see the young men in the military disappointed with this land." The old man's words came from the bottom of his heart.

“We all know that, but with Dulin’s achievements, the Army is exonerating you. You should also know about Xiao Luo’s faction; they are also pushing things along. So, as you saw, Old Lin suppressed the Navy and made you retire as an Army Marshal. Isn’t that so that if he dies in the future, your child can make a good connection if he really returns to the Western Continent?”

"Alright, let's consider this matter closed." The old man nodded and said no more.

But his silence didn't mean Zhang Mengping wouldn't say anything. He took a puff of his cigarette and then looked at the old man: "Speaking of which, Madam Qi is also in Zhennanguan. You old man, you've finished your business in Yumen, aren't you really going to go and see her?"

"Why would I go? She was personally appointed a title by His Majesty's grandfather, a permanent wife." The old man glared at the decrepit old man: "Why would I go to see her?"

"Her short-lived husband died in Shanhaiguan before they were even married. What, you old man, are you really going to watch her live a life of widowhood? You two are still young. It would be a good thing if you could get together. Don't let her feelings go to waste."

"That sounds familiar," the old man frowned.

“A few years ago, I said the same thing to my fiancée, who is my descendant,” Zhang Mengping said, before taking a puff of his pipe.

"What a damn world." Hearing his old friend say this, the old man shook his head—he knew that one of Zhang Mengping's descendants had died young outside the Great Wall, and his wife had guarded that empty little building for five whole years. It was he who personally persuaded her to leave.

This land needs every wife and husband to fulfill their duties. Who doesn't want to stay with their loved one forever? Unfortunately, war shows no mercy to anyone, so there are too many resentments, separations from loved ones, and unfulfilled desires.

Even that little girl far away in the Western Lands is the same. Her husband died for his ideals, and she is entangled in the past. She should move on, but this old man knows she can't, even if she knows someone is waiting for her, even if that person knows it too. Who can truly understand the love and hate, the gatherings and separations of all beings in this world?

Thinking about this, the old man sighed: "Let me think about it some more."

"You've been thinking about this for two centuries already. How much longer do you want to think about it?" Zhang Mengping sighed as she asked. "I know you watched him and her grow up, but he's been dead for two centuries. Her lover, her family, even her friends, have all been lost, just like you and me. She only has you left. How much longer do you want to think about it? Do you want to think about it until you die of old age, until she's the only one left in this world?"

Finally, Zhang Mengping raised his pipe and gently tapped the old man on the head.

This strike produced sparks of tobacco, revealed Zhang Mengping's bitterness, and also brought out the old man's deepest grievances.

“You know I watched them grow up. I told him to come to Yumen Pass to find me. As the eldest brother, as long as I live, I will definitely protect him! But what did he do? He said he was grown up and could protect himself! In the end, he went to Shanhaiguan and didn't even make it through a month! We finally had such a talented child, and he died in Shanhaiguan! What could I do?! I can't fly there fast enough to save him!”

At this point, the old man slammed the half-smoked cigarette butt in his hand onto the ground.

"Don't you understand how many people like us, Zhulongzi, have died for this land! I came to Yumen Pass at the age of eighteen and ate sand there for nearly four hundred years. Did I ever complain to you about the hardships I endured? I fought against heaven and earth for so long outside the pass... all I wanted was to save one more child... but in the end, those bastards' descendants caused so much mess! They can't see the despair in the eyes of those young people! But now that I've seen it, I can't just ignore it!"

"Who do you think you are!" Zhang Mengping shouted.

"I am Marshal Mo from outside Yumen Pass!"

After the old man finished speaking, he remained silent for a while.

"At least I was before that happened."

After he finished speaking, he plopped down next to Zhang Mengping.

"Old Pang's time is almost up, and he has more wrinkles on his face now."

"Don't you still have me?"

"My basic human qualities are not as good as his."

Faced with the old man's doubts, Zhang Mengping sighed. He held up his pipe and said, "After Lao Pang and I are gone, you will be the oldest and most willing to take charge in Zhulong. I entrust the world to you."

"What's it to me? Who said that if the sky falls, tall people will hold it up?" The old man glared at him.

"The sword you swung in the street back then beheaded the entire family of the naval admiral, chopped off more than a dozen fools who couldn't distinguish right from wrong, and also slashed open the knees of those cowards. I say you are the highest, and you must be the highest, because I know that even if you lose your official position, if someone commits such an evil deed again, you will still pick up that sword and chop them up."

At this point, Zhang Mengping reached out and rubbed the old man's head: "Old man, I'm really counting on you for the future. Don't let the battle flag that our old brothers have guarded all their lives fall, okay?"

The old man remained silent, but eventually he nodded.

"Okay, I'll go find her after I finish dealing with things at Yumen Pass."

"Go ahead, your brothers understand you. Don't let them down." Zhang Mengping said, smiling as he patted the old man on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)