"Ten years ago, Lu Jiang led his troops to resist the Eastern Hu invaders but was ambushed. The entire thousand - man squad perished in the Yu River. Father immediately ordered a search and salvage, but no bodies were found. Helplessly, he then ordered the construction of a cenotaph for Lu Jiang and sent it back to the Northern Kingdom in a memorial ceremony."
Lu Yan frowned as he stared at the speaker. He couldn't quite figure out what Xia Chuli was up to, but an inexplicable sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.
Xia Chuli seemed to sense Lu Yan's emotional change. He let out a cold snort and said, "Similarly, in order to show his 'respect' for Lu Jiang, Father also set up a cenotaph for him right here in the Hall of Gathered Heroes."
He paused for a moment, then slowly shifted his gaze to King Xia Jie, who was trembling on the ground. "But what no one knows is that this cenotaph is not empty!"
King Xia Jie on the ground was suddenly choked and started coughing violently.
Both Lu Yan and Xu Ruhui stared at Xia Chuli with wide - open eyes. Lu Yan even grabbed Xia Chuli by the collar and roared, "What the hell are you talking about?!"
Xia Chuli was lifted up entirely. Lu Yan was much taller and stronger than him, but Xia Chuli remained calm. He held onto Lu Yan's hand. While struggling for breath, the smile on his lips grew even more smug.
"Dear Uncle, aren't you curious? Lu Jiang was a war god. Why did such an elite troop be completely wiped out? Why was not a single body salvaged after ten days of searching? Was it because they were no match for the Eastern Hu? Or was it because the water in the Yu River was too cold? Or perhaps—"
"Shut up!!!" Lu Yan roared. His eyes were blood - red, and his whole body trembled with rage. The hand that grabbed Xia Chuli's collar tightened even more, almost choking Xia Chuli.
"Cough... Uncle, there's a limit to self - deception." As soon as the words were out, Xia Chuli took out an old hexagonal badge from his bosom. Lu Yan was all too familiar with that badge. The gilded character "Lu" in the center was like a sharp sword, piercing through Lu Yan's heart and lungs in an instant!
The badge of the Lu family's army was hexagonal and gilded.
That was the one, the only one belonging to Lu Jiang.
Lu Yan looked at the badge in disbelief. He instantly felt a bone - chilling cold, as if thousands of ice picks had suddenly pierced into his flesh, pinning him firmly to the ground, unable to move.
—The Eastern Hu? They're a piece of cake! You just stay in Liange City obediently and wait for your father's good news!
—Are you the heir of the Marquis who Defends the North? The Marquis... he was ambushed. His chances of survival are slim...
A teenage boy crawled on his knees to King Xia Jie's side, crying heart - rendingly, "Your Majesty! I'm begging you, Your Majesty! My father is still under that ice - covered river!"
"Sigh... Lu Yan, we've searched for a long time. Please accept my condolences... I will build a cenotaph for your father and enshrine him as a god of Lixia..."
Fragments of memories flooded back. Lu Yan's face turned deathly pale. Unable to bear the torment of these memories, he let out a pained sob. The hand that tightly grasped Xia Chuli's collar suddenly loosened. Seizing the opportunity, Xia Chuli took a few steps back and coughed violently.
"Let me ask for you, my dear Uncle." Xia Chuli glanced at Lu Yan, who was as if struck by lightning behind him. He reached out to grab a dagger and kicked King Xia Jie, who was curled up on the ground, onto his back. "Uncle, you were fifteen years old back then, right? How wonderful! A loyal dog at fifteen. My dear father, have you been using this loyal dog smoothly all these years?"
"Cough... Wicked... son!" King Xia Jie had his neck stepped on and grabbed Xia Chuli's ankle in pain. But the next moment, the dagger in Xia Chuli's hand stabbed into his arm, making him scream out in pain.
"Lu Jiang's merits were so great that they overshadowed the king. So, a new Marquis who Defends the North who could be under his control had to be found." Xia Chuli said, "Father, am I right?"
"Wicked son!" King Xia Jie roared with all his remaining strength. "I should have killed you and your mother when you were still in her womb!"
Xia Chuli's eyes darkened, and he pushed the dagger deeper.
"Aaaaaah—"
A sudden gust of wind came from behind. Xia Chuli was suddenly pushed to one side. Lu Yan, like a ferocious beast craving for blood, pounced on King Xia Jie. His eyes were blood - red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. He grabbed King Xia Jie by the neck and roared, "So it was you who killed my father! It was you! And my father's body! Where is his body? Did you take it away?!"
"Hehe, take it away?" Xia Chuli stood up from the ground. "Lu Jiang was a war god. A war god, of course, should be enshrined in this palace."
"... " Lu Yan turned to look at him. His eyes were dull and lifeless, like a walking corpse.
"If I remember correctly, you came here to pay your respects before you went on the expedition, right? In front of this statue of Xing Tian."
Lu Yan's whole body trembled violently. Something in his eyes was on the verge of shattering. Despair, like rapidly growing vines, almost drowned out all his rationality. "You... What do you mean?"
"See for yourself." Xia Chuli bent down to pick up a pebble and threw it hard at the statue of Xing Tian.
In Lu Yan's eyes, that moment seemed to last forever.
He watched helplessly as the pebble shattered the gold foil on the statue's abdomen. The gold foil cracked and slowly, slowly revealed what was inside.
A shriveled mummy sitting crookedly.
Lu Yan held his breath. In a very short time, he recognized the armor the mummy was wearing.
The armor of the commander - in - chief of the Lu family's army.
Lu Jiang was a war god, and a god, naturally, should be enshrined in this hall.
Why did Lu Jiang go to fight against the Eastern Hu? Why was the entire Lu family's army wiped out?
Why couldn't Lu Jiang's body be found? Why was a cenotaph built?
Because King Xia Jie had planned to kill Lu Jiang from the very beginning. In the end, he even built Lu Jiang's remains into the statue of Xing Tian!
Out of suspicion, he had killed Lu Jiang. But even after Lu Jiang's death, he still let Lu Jiang bear his baseless evil. He didn't even let Lu Jiang rest in peace after death but forced him to protect that damned country!
And he himself, before the expedition, had even paid respects to this statue of Xing Tian, to his wrongly - killed father who couldn't avenge himself. And in front of his father, he had even begged for the stability of the murderer's country?!
Lu Yan suddenly remembered the posthumous title that King Xia Jie had bestowed upon Lu Jiang after his expedition—"Loyal".
Loyal?
How ironic! How ridiculous!
"Aaaaaah—" Lu Yan was heart - broken. The truth was like a thorn and a fire. He let out a heart - rending scream, covering his head with both hands in great pain.
Lu Yan was like a wild beast that had lost its mind. His rationality was ignited in an instant. He grabbed the dagger that was stuck in King Xia Jie's arm and yanked it out forcefully, taking some flesh with it!
King Xia Jie didn't even have time to scream when Lu Yan had already stabbed the dagger into his chest.
"Ugh—"
"You deserve to die." Lu Yan held the dagger tightly, with flames of anger in his eyes.
The moment he saw Lu Jiang's remains, he knew that he must kill King Xia Jie. He must make King Xia Jie accompany his father in death!
"You! Deserve! To! Die!"
Lu Yan twisted the dagger fiercely!
King Xia Jie's scream suddenly stopped. His body twitched a few times and then silently fell to the ground.
Blood splashed everywhere, staining Lu Yan's resolute face. Beside him, Xu Ruhui knelt on the ground, teary - eyed and motionless. Seeing this, Xia Chuli curled his lips into a strange smile.
"You've killed the king." Xia Chuli said with a smile. "Uncle."
"...!" The next moment, Lu Yan rushed towards Xia Chuli like a ghost, with a bone - chilling killing intent on his face.
"Clang!" Their weapons collided. Lu Yan kicked Sen Ya, who was blocking in front of Xia Chuli, in the lower back and tried to kill Xia Chuli again.
Sen Ya was ordered to protect Xia Chuli, and the two fought fiercely. For a moment, they were evenly matched.
Xia Chuli stood a bit farther away and taunted, "Want to kill me? What have you discovered, Uncle?"
Lu Yan didn't say a word, but his moves became even more vicious and deadly.
"You've noticed Shen Qingfeng's strangeness, haven't you?"
He seemed to think that this wasn't hurtful enough, so he continued, "Shen Qingfeng wanted you to enter through the East Straight Gate because it's the closest to here!"
"Shut up..." No, it was because the person guarding the East Straight Gate was Gong Tan...
"Shen Qingfeng got close to you just to gain your trust!"
"Shut up!!!" No, Shen Qingfeng loved him. He had said that he would marry him...
But why, why...
"Xia Chuli will be a wise king. Let's help him ascend the throne together."
"Okay, I promise you. I won't call him A Li anymore."
"Lu Yan, I can't tell you about this now. Can I tell you later?"
"Lu Yan, trust me."
Trust me...
Trust me...
At the back of Golden Summit Mountain, Shen Qingfeng stood against the wind, his words cold and decisive—"Yu Shuang, detonate!"
Boom—
Boulders rolled down, burying the cave.
Shen Qingfeng, what were you hiding? What exactly hadn't you told me?
Could it be... Could it be that, as Xia Chuli said, all your feelings for me were... fake?
"Ugh!" Sen Ya kicked Lu Yan in the stomach. He let out a muffled groan and took several steps back before barely standing still.
"Senior brother..." Xu Ruhui knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He had been acupunctured by Sen Ya and couldn't move at all.
"Hahaha..." Xia Chuli was in a great mood. He took a few steps forward and looked at Lu Yan's desolate appearance. He felt an indescribable sense of pleasure. He looked past Lu Yan's shoulder and said, "Lu Yan, do you know? Shen Qingfeng has always been my man!"
Lu Yan stood there motionless. After a long while, he slowly turned his stiff neck and looked over.
At the entrance of the Hall of Gathered Heroes, thousands of soldiers of the Lu family's army were surrounded by an army that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Due to the numerical disparity, the Lu family's army soon fell into a disadvantage. One by one, they were either killed or captured.
But all these didn't matter anymore. Lu Yan was in excruciating pain all over his body. His eyes were fixed firmly on the front—In the center of the enemy army, two people walked out, surrounded by others.
One of them was Shen Qingfeng, as pale as paper. The other man, wearing dark green armor and with a high ponytail, exuded an air of nobility and extraordinaryness. He was none other than Cen Shuning, the Marquis of Cenwen from Yushan, a feudal lord who had refused to pay tribute to Liange for many years and was the most unruly one under Liange's jurisdiction.
The moment Lu Yan saw Shen Qingfeng, he felt as if thousands of arrows had pierced through his heart. Even his breathing was accompanied by a stabbing pain in his chest.
He never expected that one day, Shen Qingfeng would stand on the opposite side of him.
Were all of it fake?
Everything...
Was... fake?
Cen Shuning slowly drew out his sword and pointed it directly at Lu Yan, who was covered in blood in the hall. He said in a deep voice, "The traitor Lu Yan coveted the throne and led his troops in a rebellion! He killed the emperor of Lixia and intended to use the Crown Prince to control the emperor and command the vassals. Now, we from Yushan have come to the capital to rescue the king and uphold the orthodoxy of Lixia!"
Lu Yan gritted his teeth and took a step back. "Wh... "
Cen Shuning's sword - shaped eyebrows stood up. "All troops, follow my order—Kill!"