Chapter 508: Issues

The imposing troops might have caused innocent lives to be lost and even the subjugation of the country and extinction of its people, but as long as it did not actually happen, it had the potential to pull Yutang's people closer together, so that there would be hope against an external threat.

However, the consequences of internal strife were not only the loss of innocent lives but each time there was imperial unrest, it would cause a massive upheaval throughout the entire nation. Even when things came to a stop, there would still be a lot of work that needed to be done.

Now that the external factors were gone and Marquis Yun had returned to the capital of Yutang, how could His Majesty let his brother be exempted from the worldly affairs and remain idle?

Do you want to rest without caring about anything? I'm afraid it won't be so easy!

Do you think you're called the Marquis of Heavenly Clouds Yun Xiaoyao so that you can float around like a lazy cloud? Certainly not!

Marquis Yun could already foresee the many mountains that were about to be placed on his shoulders once he arrived at the capital.

Yun Yang's considerations were about the same as Marquis Yun but the former had contemplated a bit more than the latter. It was because Yun Yang knew a big secret Marquis Yun did not - the current eldest grandson of Yutang's royal blood, the only son of his eldest brother Supreme Earth and Supreme Water, was Yu Qiankun.

This was a terribly large event with even bigger implications.

In truth, Yun Yang was not too worried about the princes fighting over the throne. He would kill whoever that posed any trouble; this was Yun Yang's straightforward manner of dealing with problems. With his current cultivation base level, no one throughout Yutang could stop him from doing anything!

That was right, anything!

To Yun Yang, with him to depend on, his baby of a nephew could ascend to the throne safely without the slightest quiver of a doubt. He need not even pay too much attention to the process.

What he was actually concerned about was another matter, that of Old Dugu's revenge.

He had to seek revenge! He would definitely ferret that Ouyang out and tackle him. He would return what Old Dugu had gone through back then, ten or even a hundred times worse onto that man!

There was a third issue - the Ma-i Sect. Yun Yang's opinion of Ma-i Sect was even lower due to the previous battle, but he had, after all, made a vow witnessed by heaven. He had to do it, regardless of what his personal opinion was. Since the Ma-i Sect disregarded them and would rather violate their ancestral teachings to join the world hegemony, they should bear the consequences. Yun Yang would take the extra effort to help their ancestors clean up the school then.

Compared to the fourth matter, the previous three issues did not seem like issues at all. The fourth matter was one that had been clouding Yun Yang's mind all this while. He had put in so much work to instigate the fight between the Bound of Universe's Lei Family and the Four Seasons Tower, but why had nothing happened, even after Lei Dongtian had returned for such a long time?

What had he done? Was he not seeking revenge anymore?

Yet, how could Lei Dongtian's feisty character swallow this indignation?

Thinking of Lei Dongtian, Yun Yang could not help thinking about another force, the Four Seasons Tower. There had been so many tumults and change of personnel, even countless losses, but the Four Seasons Tower's foundation had not been shaken at all. Even more so, there was not even much show of its repertoire. This was already hinted at by the mysterious man who came to Mr. Nian, who was already so mighty that Yun Yang still felt the lingering fear thinking about his capabilities.

This was the main issue that pressed at him and prevented him from sleeping.

Of course, there was more. For example, the structure of the Nine Heavens Dictum, the matter of the four noble young masters, the matter of Ji Lingxi and Yue Rulan, and the Seven Star Lake mentioned by the old mistress... There was also the matter regarding the treasure map pieces...

The variation of issues at hand gave Yun Yang a headache, having to deal with so many things simultaneously.

Of course, Yun Yang would not forget another important task. Returning to the capital, he was to condition Old Grand Commandant Fang's health. The pillar of the empire must not crumble so easily, especially now that the war was over. The old senior might not be able to hold onto that last breath suddenly from the relief and would leave at an inopportune moment.

Since he could revive Old Marshal Qiu, why not keep Old Grand Commandant Fang alive as well? It was better to have the whole trio alive to resume the legend of the capital's three rogues!

Anyway, time was pressing. It did not become more forgiving just because the eastern border's war had ended. Yun Yang frowned; he was truly tied down with too many issues.

...

Yun Yang was weighed down with concerns, while Marquis Yun was anxious, but the ones who were absolute contrasts to the worried pair were the delighted Young Masters of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. These four fellows were exceptionally joyful; although they were wounded all over, they were also in unprecedentedly high spirits.

"How many did you kill?"

"Probably four to five hundred? Yourself?"

"More than you, at least in the thousands..."

"Me too, always more, never less."

"I realize that continuous battle is beneficial to us. I've actually managed another breakthrough... I'm near the eighth peak now. I wouldn't even have dared to imagine achieving such a cultivation base in the past!"

"Me too, me too. The bottleneck is loosening. If there were another battle, I'd definitely manage a breakthrough. I just don't know when another big battle will happen..."

"F*cking hell, can you fellows not discuss these..." The one speaking now was Qiu Yunsan, whose cultivation base had remained at a standstill. "Why isn't your father progressing at all? Has God gone blind?"

"I'm actually happier hearing that you're making no progress. Why is God blind? God is obviously bright-eyed..."

"It doesn't stop at being bright-eyed. God's eyes have finally opened. Otherwise, why would the heaven bless the kind and not the cunning?"

"Who are you f*cking calling cunning? All of you are gloating over my misfortune! Can you all be any more shameless?"

When Yun Yang arrived, these four fellows were having fun at each other's expense. To be precise, three of them were jubilant - Dong Tianleng, Xia Bingchuan, and Chun Wanfeng were chuckling merrily, while Qiu Yunsan was fuming alone.

"Congratulations, my four brothers." Yun Yang said grinning, "All four of you have contributed great merits in this war, killing thousands, at the very least. This is solid military merit; by reporting it, you will surely earn the title of general. As your boss, I am honored. I shall congratulate the four generals here first!"

Once Yun Yang's words were uttered, the four people looked aghast, the initial jocular mood dissipated and gone with the wind.

"Generals? What generals? Why are we generals? What are you talking about?" Dong Tianleng sounded like he was on the verge of panic.

"I'm leaving at once! Who in their right mind would want to become a general?" Qiu Yunsan cried out in despair.

"Me too, me too! This isn't a man's life, even peeing is assigned a time... I'd rather die than to stay here..." Chun Wanfeng was beyond agitated.

"Go be a general, whoever wants to end their life; I'm definitely not in for it..." Xia Bingchuan looked mournful. "Once I think about how I'm supposed to live like this every day in the future, your father feels like... dying more than living."

"I'd rather be chased out right away before earning any merit. I wouldn't want to go through such a life anymore..." Dong Tianleng said like he had nothing to lose.

Yun Yang chortled in amusement. "Alright, alright. Do you think I do not know what you all are thinking? Just be gone on your way. Don't' worry, you rascals won't be forced to enlist anymore in the future. Look at how fearful you all are! So f*cking useless..."

Yun Yang was genuinely gleeful. These four jokers were always bringing him genuine joy.

"Really? Boss, are you serious?" Qiu Yunsan stared at Yun Yang. "But my uncle..."

Yun Yang smiled, shaking his head and said, "Leave your uncle to me. Actually, all of you didn't do as badly in this war as you would have imagined. At the very least, even when you're in deep danger, you all didn't run away but have done your all to protect Old Marshal Qiu, fighting on the frontline throughout the entire war. Everyone saw this, no one will take you think of you all as the popinjays you were in the past..."

Yun Yang said seriously, "We are brothers, so I will speak plainly. I truly understand your thinking. You all have been calling yourselves popinjays but... my four brothers, you are all great men! I am genuinely honored to have you folks as brothers."

The four of them were shocked when they heard him. They suddenly lowered their heads together quietly.

Dong Tianleng chuckled without humor. "I didn't think... that in boss' eyes, we're all great men, and that you would feel honored. You think too highly of us..."

Yun Yang chortled and said, "I know what you all are thinking but after expanding your point of view, you'd realize that a mere family's' power isn't much. I believe what you all will have in the future will be something much greater than the so-called family reputation you regard so highly now."

"The crux now is that if you all want to have those things, you all will have to move from where you are now to complete them. That is all."

"It's just like participating in this eastern border war. If you didn't personally join in, would you have known that you could actually be so courageous and aren't any weaker than the soldiers?"

The tent was fell into a pin-drop silence after that. Yun Yang exited quietly.

Just like Yun Yang had said, the four noble young masters were not as frivolous and whimsical as they had seemed. They might be sly or timid, they had their various weaknesses, but there was one thing that Yun Yang admired a lot, a trait for which he was willing to become close to them.

Their blood had yet to become cold.

Their hearts had yet to turn to ice.

They still had dreams, and they had the strength of brotherhood!

"If you fellows have figured it out... then maybe... I can give you all an entirely different life." Yun Yang thought, "If you all remain in your old ways of thinking and don't want to leave it, I can't do anything. Nonetheless, I'd still give the most help I can when you all need it the most."

"I used to think that I wouldn't take anyone as my brothers anymore, but I see now that this world still has friends that I can acknowledge and are worthy to be close to!"