Death… and me

Although you came today to look for me, yet you are now leaving because you are worried about Prince Bu Tian being suspicious? You're even saying that I shouldn't look for you?" Chu Yang sighed, "Are you so old that you're talking nonsense now?"

"Hahaha…"

After hearing what Chu Yang said, Tie Long Cheng's guards glared in anger. However, Tie Long Cheng simply laughed and walked out.

After he reached the door, he turned his head and faced Chu Yang, "Although I like these swords that you have, one hundred thousand gold taels is by far too absurd a price. I too have many rare items. However, they are not up for trade. I would prefer to save them for the soldiers. Well, how else will I be able to get my hands on these swords of yours?"

Chu Yang felt slightly surprised and confused; he had never met someone as thick-skinned as him. The way that he spoke, was it any different from just asking me to give them to him?

He snapped, "I don't really want to part with these swords, and I certainly will not give them to just anyone. Moreover, you are someone whom I certainly will not give them to!"

"Hahaha…" Tie Long Cheng was especially cheerful. He laughed until tears came out.

"Little boy, in the end, you will still have to give them to me. This is guaranteed! When that time comes, I will not accept right away but let you beg for me to take them off your hands before eventually accepting. Just wait and see."

He laughed heartily once he was done speaking and left the room on that note.

"Want me to beg you? You can keep waiting!" Chu Yang snorted, "It's not even dark and you're already having such a nice dream!"

Swooshing sounds were heard outside in a very orderly fashion. Within moments, the entire street was left without a single soldier. The soldiers had withdrawn speedily without creating any commotion.

In the distance, bustling sounds started to ring out. At this time, the street started to recover its liveliness.

Chu Yang turned around and was about to say something when his mouth suddenly opened wide.

In front of him now was only Gu Du Xing. That strange young lady had disappeared. It seemed that she had only come to talk prices for fun. After that, she had vanished without a trace…

"Where did she go?" Chu Yang scratched his head.

"Who cares if she left or not. I have a question for you…" Gu Du Xing looked at him seriously, "You want to intervene in the war between Iron Cloud Nation and Great Zhao Nation, don't you?"

Chu Yang nodded and replied, "Yes."

"This is a very stupid decision! You and I are just martial artists. I believe you know what being a martial artist means. The social standing of martial artists in the Lower Three Heavens and the attitude of the royal court toward martial artists, these are not things you unaware of. What's more, whether it is the royal court or the battlefield, they are both much more dangerous than Jiang Hu. I don't think this is a wise decision."

"I am aware of the dangers involved. I also know that this is not the path martial artists take. Moreover, I am sure that once I embark on this path, it is possible for me to die at any moment and not be able to bury my body. Even so, I believe that I must make this decision." Chu Yang looked at Gu Du Xing and said, "Just as you would rather die ten thousand times over than to not save Gu Miao Ling, I too have my reasons."

Gu Du Xing looked straight into Chu Yang's eyes and saw, in the depth of his eyes, pain mixed with longing. This type of deep emotion was even more profound compared to his love for Gu Miao Ling!

Gu Du Xing nodded slowly. At this moment, he suddenly understood why Chu Yang wanted to help him save Gu Miao Ling. Even though Chu Yang did not say, Gu Du Xing understood his thoughts.

Chu Yang, too, had a love like that! Therefore, he would not allow any lady to suffer an unfortunate fate. He would also refuse to allow such a beautiful and sincere love to turn to dust.

It was at this moment that a warm feeling grew inside of Gu Du Xing.

"If you believe that this is too dangerous, you can still leave before it is too late." Chu Yang said casually. "I will still keep my promise you."

"I want to leave… but I understand…, the place that can help me cultivate the quickest is the battlefield." Gu Du Xing smiled. His smile was as bright and warm as the sun, "After all, I already agreed to give myself to you for ten years. Although I might want to back out, I will honor my commitment to you."

He winked a few times and continued, "You only cared about keeping your own promises. You want me not to keep mine and become a bad person?"

Chu Yang quietly looked at him for a long time before he finally relaxed and smiled, "Yeah, I thought you wanted to take back your words. I didn't expect this."

Gu Du Xing laughed out loud and punched Chu Yang on the shoulder hard. The both of them looked at one another and suddenly began to laugh. At that moment, a brotherly love, the kind that would be able to weather through any kind of storm and hardship, had begun to develop between both of them.

If you are willing to put in the effort for me, I am willing to put my life on the line for your sake. It is that simple!

The two young men had officially accepted each other, but neither said a word. On the contrary, they used their previous agreement as an excuse to cover their sincerity.

However, both sides knew that the other person understood their true feelings.

The happiness at this moment was truly warm.

…

Not too far off from where they were, within the military's circle of protection, Tie Long Cheng and that strange young lady was conversing quietly with each other.

Tie Long Cheng: "This person is useful. We can use him to do great things."

Young lady: "Huh? Really?"

"Stop pretending in front of me. Why did you go there? And by yourself as well?"

"…"

"Although I don't know why he wants to go head to head with Diwu Qing Rou, the moment he opened Heavenly Armament Pavilion, I understood his intentions." Tie Long Cheng smiled, "No one would be stupid enough to open a Heavenly Armament Pavilion in Iron Cloud because these two words 'Heavenly Armament' is considered taboo here. And yet he knowingly did this. Because of this, I thought he did not know what happened before."

The young lady nodded, then suddenly turned and asked, "This that why Second Uncle…"

"Hmmm, I came here because of this. Also because when you met him at the citadel gate, you showed interest in him, a little too much interest. Being on the constant lookout for talents is no doubt a good thing. But you are still young. Your second uncle might be old, but I will help you look for and judge people." Tie Long Cheng smiled, "I just didn't think you would be so quick."

"So everything Second Uncle said to him was all intentional?" The young lady thought for a moment and smiled again, "There was a hidden intention behind every word you said? Second Uncle truly is shrewd."

"Haha, he wants to deal with Diwu Qing Rou and you were also there, so of course, I told him the great price we had to pay for going head to head with Diwu Qing Rou. This was something that was necessary, but those secrets that he spoke of, even I was not aware of some of them."

"But this opened up Second Uncle's old wounds…" The young lady took a deep breath and said sensitively, "I know that in the whole of Iron Cloud Nation, the one person that would not want to bring up the events that happened that year is you, Second Uncle. But today, you brought it up first. Second Uncle did that for me…"

"Also for Iron Cloud." Tie Long Cheng face became somber, resilience clearly shown on his face, "Not talking about it does not mean it did not happen. If there comes a day when Second Uncle can no longer go into the battlefield, I hope that people won't make the wrong judgements just because the truth had been concealed. That is why I must talk about it! Even if the wound has already scarred over, it must be uncovered."