Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 195 Heroic Spirit

After Yuan Chang raised his army, he secretly invited Wing King Ge Jian, Flower King You Di, and even Ghost King Ming Shiyin, who had already surrendered to Tang.

Kao Yu-Didi's background in the Demonic Sect is a secret unknown to the other three cult leaders.

Despite knowing that his adopted sister was cold-hearted and ruthless, Yuan Chang still held a sliver of hope for her.

Secret letters almost always disappeared without a trace.

The word "almost" is used because Ge Jian also sent a messenger back with a message, expressing that he would take good care of his son Cong Zhou and hoped that Brother Yuan would not disturb his peaceful life.

After surviving such a close call, who wouldn't want to live a peaceful life?

Yuan Chang recalled that after the death of the leader Pang Xun, he was still trapped in the isolated city of Haozhou for a month. When the food ran out, he led his troops to break out of the siege, but was caught up by the government troops. All his brothers died, and only he jumped into the water to escape. He became a minor official and has been scolded by people ever since.

Yuan Chang also wanted to forget the turbulent years of the past and live a quiet life in his later years.

After the sacrifice of the cult leader Pang, he had already given up all his ambitions.

But this world was too much for his eyes, which had seen so much suffering, to bear!
When his younger siblings refused to join him in raising an army again, Yuan Chang was disheartened when an uninvited guest appeared in the military camp.

Wang Ying, a subordinate of Zhao Yin, the military governor of Zhenhai, and the garrison commander of Langshan.

Wang Ying also had another impressive identity—the son of Wang Shi, the Left General of the Golden Guard who quelled the rebellion of Qiu Fu in western Zhejiang.

Wang Ying's reason for rebelling was that he did not receive the rewards he deserved after making meritorious contributions.

"Of the brothers in the cult, few responded to Old Yuan. The one who went through thick and thin with me was you, the noble young master of the Wang family of Taiyuan."

“Ying is just a son of a concubine,” Wang Ying said calmly. “I don’t lack those rewards. But my subordinates have been rationed for years, and some have even fallen to the point where they have to dress their wives and daughters in fine clothes and paint themselves to beg for food at the market gate.”

It turns out that both of them drew their swords for the sake of the weak who were bullied and harmed in the world.

“We are merely wolves and tigers clearing the path for sages; we will accomplish nothing,” Yuan Chang said. “Knowing that death is inevitable, Brother Wang, are you prepared?”

Even with Pang Xun's profound wisdom and long-term planning, he still suffered a miserable defeat. Yuan Chang's angry uprising, however, showed no sign of success.

"In this life, can one live as long as heaven and earth without struggling against them?" Wang Ying gave a rather bold answer.

At that moment, their eyes met, and they felt like old friends.

Later, Yuan Chang learned that Wang Ying, this illegitimate son, was actually the one that General Wang Shi privately considered to be the most like his own prodigy.

“My father killed rebels, corrupt officials, and arrogant soldiers. He spent his whole life repairing and mending the Tang Dynasty, only to find in the end that a person like him, like the light of a firefly, could not illuminate this dark world at all!”

Wang Ying looked disappointed: "My father spent his life serving in various local positions, putting out fires everywhere, only to find that the root of almost all evils lay between the two capitals."

"With jackals in power, why bother with foxes? After returning to the capital, he tried to reform the powerful families in the capital. Those flies and maggots with their hands stained with fat and blood couldn't persuade my father, so he started with the Wang family of Taiyuan, using their connections and heavy bribes to persuade several nearly 100-year-old clan elders to put pressure on my father."

"When Grandpa came back, he looked old and dejected, as if all his energy had been drained. He wept and begged the innocent people who had died unjustly to forgive him, saying that he had never hated the blood of the Taiyuan Wang family in his veins as much as he did today."

“A year later, he passed away. Before he left, my grandfather said that the Wang family of Taiyuan, or any other aristocratic family, should be uprooted.”

Wang Ying spoke quite calmly: "I think I may not be able to destroy the Wang family of Taiyuan. But as a member of this family that has been tainted and corrupted, I at least have the right to ignite myself and add fuel to the fire in this world."

"As the fire spreads, many people will die. The people we want to protect will suffer even more. But great order comes after great chaos. We are simply carrying the resentment of the people to let those who commit evil with impunity know what it means to perish together with the enemy."

Born into a prominent family and the son of a famous general, Wang Ying had already seen through the darkness of the world quite thoroughly.

A later saying goes: "Having seen the vastness of the universe, one still cherishes the green of grass and trees."

At this point in the story, Wang Shenzhi was already choked up. Born into a merchant family, and with his innate ambition and profit-driven nature, Wang Shenzhi should have become someone like Gao Yan or Shi Pu, ruthless and unscrupulous.

However, his experience joining Yuan Chang and Wang Ying's rebel army allowed Wang Shenzhi to truly witness what heroism was all about.

"After the Ape King was defeated, he was trapped in the city. Commander Lei could not rush to conquer it."

Wang Shen knew: "In order to save the soldiers of the three armies, the Ape King asked to exchange his own life for the lives of more than 10,000 soldiers."

"To reduce casualties during the siege, Commander Lei agreed. However, he stated that Yuan Chang's wife and children would not be pardoned, given his status as a traitor."

“The Ape King’s wife was only twenty years old at the time, and had only been married to him for three years. The Ape King told me that he was known in the Ming Cult for not being close to women, and was once teased by the leader of the cult, Pang Xun, as a ‘stone monkey.’ He never thought that he would get married and have children in this life.”

"That day, Shenzhi watched as Madam Yuan, holding her two-year-old child on the city wall, loudly proclaimed her love for the Ape King in front of tens of thousands of soldiers, saying that marrying him was the greatest fortune of her life. Then, without hesitation, she jumped off the city wall."

"The Ape King looked at the corpses of his wife and children below the city, let out three mournful howls to the sky, went out of the city and entered Lei Shuai's camp, where he was subjected to a thousand cuts and cuts, but his face remained unchanged until his death."

"The commander of Ying refused to surrender and continued to fight. He was betrayed by his cowardly subordinates and ambushed in Mingzhou. He fought bravely from dawn to noon until his bowstring broke and his precious sword became dull. He died a heroic death. The government troops beheaded him, and his face was still lifelike. He still had the air of a noble young man, which made people feel ashamed."

“Life is what I desire, and righteousness is also what I desire. If I cannot have both, I will give up life for righteousness.” Wang Shenzhi sighed and said, “The heroes who gave up life for righteousness in Mencius’s words must be people like the Ape King and the Commander of Ying.”

Zhu Wen said, "Commander Lei is ruthless and kills without hesitation, but I didn't expect him to be so trustworthy this time."

If Gao Pian breaks his promise, Wang Shenzhi, whose head has already been taken in exchange for military merit, will have no chance of standing before Zhu Wen.

"Heroes cherish heroes. Although Commander Lei is ruthless, he also has the spirit of a hero, which is incomparable to ordinary villains."

Upon hearing Wang Shenzhi's words, Zhu Wen suddenly thought of Zhen Ranyu, the Flame General who had died at his hands, and felt a pang of sorrow.

"When I returned home, all my goods had been confiscated by the government troops, and I had a criminal record for participating in the rebellion. My father almost broke my leg. After hearing my story, my elder brother, who was a county official, told my father that Sanlang was extraordinary and would surely achieve great things in the future. He persuaded my father to let his son continue to lead the merchants. My elder brother also used his past connections to take out a considerable amount of his private savings and have my criminal record cleared by the government."

"Your elder brother, Wang Chao, is quite a charismatic figure who has connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds."

Wang Shenzhi smiled with pride.

The three brothers were known as the "Three Dragons of the Wang Family" in their hometown, and people also said that "the Third Brother of the White Horse was the best."

Wang Shenzhi had no need to use these local compliments to boast to Zhu Wen.

But Wang Shenzhi was, after all, only a seventeen-year-old boy. Hearing Zhu Wen praise his elder brother, Wang Shenzhi was genuinely happy.

Zhu Wen took the incense sticks from Wang Shenzhi and went to the incense burner to offer them.

A commotion suddenly arose at the temple entrance.

"Zhang Laosan, don't you even know who you are? When Physician Luo came to offer incense, how dare you rush ahead of the fairy?"

The man who was scolded, Zhang Laosan, was dressed in silk clothes and seemed to be a moderately wealthy man. Despite being reprimanded, he looked ashamed and quickly retreated to the back.

A young woman in her early twenties, dressed in blue with a sword at her waist, entered the temple with a calm and composed gait. She was without makeup, her features exquisitely defined, and her face devoid of any smile; she was truly "as beautiful as a peach blossom, as cold as ice."

What is most striking is the woman's icy white skin, almost translucent, which further accentuates her delicate beauty and aloof temperament.

The commoners made way for the young woman, but she ignored them completely. After entering the room, she only glanced at Zhu Wen and Wang Shenzhi before going straight to the incense burner and lighting incense sticks.

There were no prayer cushions in the temple, so she placed the one she had brought on the ground, knelt on it, and solemnly bowed, her expression revealing piety.

The woman also seemed to know the true identities of "The Great Sage Equal to Heaven" and "The Great Sage Reaching Heaven".

(End of this chapter)