Chapter 186: This Is a Crook!
"From the Shangguan Family of Generals then to the great Generals Qiu and Leng now... they might indeed contribute so meritoriously that it overpowers the emperor but His Majesty has never minded this. This is what is so precious about all this, the genuine trust between the emperor and his officials!"
"His Majesty has never known the names, identities, origins, nor appearances of the Lord Nine Supremes, yet the emperor dared to appoint the fate of the nation and warfare to them. What kind of man does it take to do so?"
"You've all come to compare yourselves to us with harsh words and sharp tongues but can you really do so? All of you aren't only conceited, biting off more than you can chew, all of you are ants trying to shake a big tree!"
Yun Yang's icy gaze glided across each of the generals' faces and said softly, "This is why I can stand proudly before all of you - because I'm Yutang's citizen! Not only me, but every ordinary citizen of Yutang will be equally proud when faced with your questions!"
"This is not my personal pride, it's the nation's pride!"
Yun Yang smiled and turned to face the dark-skinned youth, speaking mockingly, "Child, I know your identity is special and must have come from an exceptional background. If you really have the steel, go back and tell your emperor not to cast doubts over Han Sanhe, can you do it?"
The youth in black clothes huffed angrily and turned away clenching his teeth; this time, he did not even bother to reply in any way.
He could not have done it.
If this could be done so easily, Han Sanhe would have done so a long time ago; would he have waited until now?
The group had bickered during their entire journey to the Residence of Nine Supremes. It was a surprise that they had actually argued all their way back too.
It was when they were about to make a turn, leaving the Residence of Nine Supremes behind, that everyone turned to gaze at the residence engulfed in clouds simultaneously - there were myriad emotions captured in their stares.
No matter what happened, this place would become a legend of the Tianxuan Continent.
It would become a sacred place for the Empire of Yutang - for the entire continent, even.
Yun Yang looked like he was unaware of what was happening, only walking forward in a furious rage, but he was carefully observing and scrutinizing everyone's reactions.
Some of the members of the two hundred men were in wonder and some of them were deep in thought. Some of them had mysterious glints in their eyes and the rest were simply fiendish.
There were some who would come to the Residence of Nine Supremes again tonight!
Yun Yang could have guessed this without even using his brain.
He was not at all worried though. To be a little boastful, Yun Yang was confident that the Residence of Nine Supremes' defensive formations could even kill Ling Xiaozui if he were to personally enter the place.
The man whom the world had acknowledged as the Unrivaled Expert would perish within as well; what more others?
In any case, anyone who wished to tempt fate was invited to come, the more the better.
It would be best if all two hundred of them would enter and die together inside; it would save a lot of trouble that way!
...
Since the beginning of their return journey, all the generals realized with no small amount of surprise that their Yutang tour guide seemed to be more passionate than ever.
"Hey, everyone, why don't we go to the Pavilion of Twirling Beauties tonight? Pretty ladies, there are abundant, all of them are talented and only sell their talents. They pick their clients so those who visit have to at least have some self-confidence; if one were to be rejected by the ladies, how embarrassing will that be?"
"If you don't like that or don't have confidence, we can go to the Fairies' Aerie. While ladies there aren't real fairies, they come quite close! For real."
"Not your fancy? Too elegant? We can go to the Tower of Rouge and Powder. The ladies there are all soft and warm..."
"Could it be that all of you are looking for the most direct way to happiness? We're all men, we can be honest with each other. If you want simple things, we can go straight ahead to the Hall of Beauties where you can enter as long as you pay. Not only are the ladies pretty, they're skilled too, guaranteed to have all of you forgetting to return home..."
"Where do all of you actually want to go? Speak up. There must be a preference... It's easier for me to arrange it if you tell me... Besides, didn't you come all the way for this? Don't be abashed. Is it so hard to utter a word, you gentlemen?"
"Quick, quick... Sigh, do you feel embarrassed with me? We're all men, there's tacit understanding among us..."
"Could it be that you've all stayed in the military for too long and harbored fetishes? That wouldn't be a problem either; I'm not an expert in these things, but Yutang has places for this as well. It wouldn't be a problem to find a few to solve your woes, but you have to go one by one, and you can't be too violent..."
Yun Yang was extremely hospitable along the way; making ceaseless recommendations and uttering a continuous stream of nonsense.
All the notable generals from various countries looked at the rascal with an irritated glance; no one wished to hold a conversation with him.
Not that you're being overly friendly, we've almost forgotten how you scolded us for the exact same topic on our way here.
We've also almost forgotten that you've chided us all earlier...
However, other than ignoring Yun Yang because his words were too harsh, it was more so because everyone had still not recovered from the fact that they had just lost an expert right before this. They were still thinking about the mystery and strength of the Residence of Nine Supremes, how would they have the heart to think about anything else?
Besides, the bastard keeps on talking about us coming for the women, introducing brothels incessantly and all of that drivel...
How are we supposed to go when you've said it like this!
You've taken our dignity, thank you very much, and you want us to go to the brothels with you?
Aren't you too optimistic?
Even the handful of generals who were indeed lecherous and needed to be satiated every night wore expressions of guardedness. What if they had followed this fellow into the brothels and he hollered, "This is General Zhan Ge from the Empire of Dongxuan. He's come a long way just to look for Yutang ladies to quench his thirst... You all must serve him well..."?
The ladies would most probably blow up and chase all of them out then!
That would be utterly humiliating!
How likely was it that Yun Yang would do such a thing?
After thinking about it and judging from his demeanor this whole day... everyone knew that it was almost certain that he would do it.
Perhaps he would even cross the line and charge in, bringing others with him when they were naked and in action...
On this basis, everyone ignored Yun Yang's passionate and hospitable invitations like they were deaf and mute - they could not hear him nor did they want to speak, they had no mood to do so anymore.
"Or..." Yun Yang suggested, "Perhaps we could go have fun somewhere else? We can't be walking like this for the entire day."
No one answered him.
"F*ck me. What does each one of you want to do? F*cking say something!"
Yun Yang finally found a reason to lash out so he erupted reasonably, "See, have all of you become mute? You've asked me to become the tour guide but you're all not talking to me now. I'm already putting up with all of you and introduced so many places of your dreams but all of you are treating my kindness like this... you, all of you, what do you actually want?"
Yun Yang roared like he had been greatly wronged, "Could it be that all of you want to have your way with me..."
The generals were exasperated, their hands reaching for their heads to soothe a headache they were about to get.
Each of them had rounds of bickering with him, they knew full well that this fellow was not an easy pick!
Han Sanhe was having a headache due to this as well because he had realized it early on. Yun Yang was even more of a thug than Qiu Jianhan was; this fellow was purely spinning everyone around, entertained by his own cleverness and reveling in the entertainment he derived from this.
He was a crook!
He could be talking to you nicely one moment but lash out at the next. He would then grow berserk and attack everyone before swiftly changing his stance and look for someone to talk to him and build an amicable atmosphere... After he got familiar with everyone, he would begin chastising everyone again without warning; it came easily to him like he was a professional.
Yun Yang had such a gift, changing his mood five to six times in just about a day and a half.
Even Han Sanhe was helpless against this thug.
Are we here for our own ulterior motives or are we here especially to cooperate with this child's farce in allowing him to provide Yutang with unity?
This is really something.
Furthermore, who among us is not a legendary-leveled general in Tianxuan Continent?
Most people from this continent are respectful when they see us; those who are timid will even be intimidated to speechlessness by our sanguinariness...
Not only is everything useless before this Young Master Yun, it produces the opposite effect. He smiled and raged, so at ease with whatever he was feeling - smiling when he wants to and opening fire once he feels like scolding everyone!
After criticizing everyone, he can still approach us as a friend.
All the generals had seen much of life, given their old age, but it was still their first time coming across such a shameless pain in the neck.
Compared to the Incredible Troublemaker Qiu Jianhan, who was infamous in the military and his nation, this child could almost overtake him in being an absolute thug!
After all, Qiu Jianhan was only marginally shameless; it was not like he did not have any shame at all. Yet Young Master Yun here could be as courteous as one could possibly be for one moment and had no care of his dignity in the next...
Facing a troublemaker of this level, even Han Sanhe who was experienced and wise could not do anything to him and could only sigh helplessly.
"Why don't we drink?"
Yun Yang had been firing salvos at the group for a while now but suddenly had a change of heart and plastered on the most gentle of smiles. The sincerity contained in the lifted corners of his lips was so genuine that no one could reject him.
"I'll go get a few pots of Blood of the Hero later, let us all get drunk. Don't worry, these pots of wine are all on me. I won't have you all spend so much."
"It's rare that we get to gather and share similar interests. We're all good friends; wealth is only what you can't bring away, what is it worth?" Young Master Yun said righteously.
"Good friend? Whoever befriends you must have done terrible wrongs in their past life, their ancestor's grave must have already collapsed..." All the generals grumbled in their hearts but their eyes shone brightly.
Blood of the Hero?