Chapter 1386 - 338: Succession

Chapter 1386: Chapter 338: Succession

Shi Yuantang’s corpse had been placed on the command carriage, without a white shroud, just covered with a Chu military banner.

Xue Three had already come up to the command carriage by now. His hair was a bit disheveled, his face full of exhaustion, and there were several wounds on his body. In the chaos of battle, even with Liang Cheng shielding him, and even though he could rely on his mental force and willpower, it was still impossible for him to come out completely unscathed.

After all, even the Sword Saint ended up with his clothes soaked in blood—how could anyone else expect to maintain their gentlemanly poise without so much as a hair out of place?

It was also because, from the very start, the Chu troops had focused their killing and assaults on Lord Zheng’s command carriage. In this sector, the corpses of both sides’ soldiers lay layered on top of one another, piled up high. Especially during the back-and-forth, both sides’ soldiers had to trample over mounds of bodies as they fought.

Lord Zheng sat directly on the planked deck of the command carriage, now and then lifting his head to glance at that corpse of the Chu Zhuguai over there, his brows occasionally knitting slightly.

"My lord, he did it on purpose," Xue Three said in consolation. "From the beginning he never intended to beg mercy for these defeated troops. He had already decided to have us slaughter them, to kill off any thought of surrender in future Chu people."

As a Zhuguai of Chu, he naturally refused to be humiliated. Just like Qu TianNan back then, he hadn’t begged for his life either. When Prince Jingnan gave the order to execute the prisoners, he straightforwardly killed himself.

The Chu people still value honor and integrity.

Besides, although Chu has this domestic tradition where warring nobles can be ransomed back, it also has the custom that when a commanding general loses, he commits suicide.

After losing the battle, he already wanted to die. To do a bit more for Chu State before dying was only proper.

Lord Zheng listened to Xue Three’s words and only nodded casually, saying, "Of course I know all that. I just feel... his death was a bit too simple, too clean."

He gestured, tilting his head back, signaling A Ming standing at his side to pour water from the skin over his face.

Then,

Lord Zheng rubbed his face vigorously with both hands,

and said:

"He’s a Zhuguai at least, a figure of some renown in his own region. I can’t help feeling he ought to have said more, done more—at the very least, given me a bit more screen time."

Because of the drugs, Lord Zheng’s mind was increasingly showing signs of crashing; he was even slipping into using terminology from his previous life’s profession.

Dead, he should be.

Though capturing a Zhuguai alive sounds like an enormous achievement, that’s only if the man himself is willing to let you take him alive. Chu people like raising demonic beasts, and at a higher level they can even control "spirits." At that tier, if they want to die, there are simply too many ways to do it.

Since he’d decided on death, he could at least have chatted a bit more. Even if he didn’t talk with me, he could’ve talked with Liang Cheng, or Xue Three, or even Jin Shuke. Stretch out the final glimmer of his life as much as possible, make it fuller, more substantial.

This kind of thing—just a few lines of dialogue and then he goes off, dirties his own hand and cuts his own throat—really is a bit too rushed, not satisfying at all.

You’re one of Chu’s four great Zhuguai, you ought to give yourself a bit more of a role.

Others likely wouldn’t be able to guess that Lord Zheng’s reaction to Shi Yuantang’s death would actually be something like this;

not coming at it from an angle of profit, nor from weighing the overall war situation, but simply that this great victory’s finale felt botched to him because Shi Yuantang exited too cleanly, leaving him with a sense of a bad ending.

But Xue Three did understand My lord’s way of thinking.

Even so, Xue Three could also feel that My lord’s mood seemed somewhat off right now; his facial expressions were a bit too animated.

You have to know, over the past few years, My lord had been privately studying acting. "Joy and anger not shown on the face" is a basic course.

"My lord, that Chu Zhuguai probably felt the defeat came too suddenly, caught him too off guard, so he hadn’t prepared at all.

Well, not just ’not beforehand,’ not even ’before the battle.’ It may be he had never, in his whole life, done the mental work to imagine he might be defeated in front of a foreign general.

So, whether in terms of experience or mentality, he hadn’t laid any groundwork or made any forecasts. When it really came to this moment, everything else was fake. Whatever he said, whatever he did, there was no need to take it seriously—they were just excuses to end himself a bit earlier, with a shred of dignity.

By dying early, he saves himself from having to keep facing a situation he’s unfamiliar with. Naturally, his death ends up too simple and too clean.

Besides, from ancient times to now, those loyal and brave men truly bent on sacrificing themselves for righteousness probably can’t be bothered to play out that whole routine of the enemy coming to persuade surrender, then him rejecting them, shoving the offer back and forth for drama, right?"

Lord Zheng reached up and grabbed a handful of wet hair,

and said irritably:

"How can he be this selfish."

Xue Three quickly used his mental force to "knock" on A Ming,

asking inwardly:

"Doesn’t My lord seem a bit off?"

"Earlier, during the counterattack, My lord had been possessed by the Mo Wan, which left him mentally exhausted and drained, so he had me give him one of the pills Xue Three refined back then."

"You’ve got some nerve. Stuff San’er refines, you think you can just feed it to people? That guy only makes tiger-and-wolf medicines—the side effects are totally unpredictable. If we actually feed My lord something that goes wrong, or makes his temperament suddenly flip, how are we supposed to lick him in the future?"

It’s already hard enough licking My lord as it is. If you add a ’mental illness’ tag on top of that, then...

"I don’t think it’s a big problem. My lord might be fine after a nap."

That was what he said, but A Ming was still a bit spooked. He deliberately lowered his head to study his own lord carefully.