CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 122: WAR GOD, DAUGHTER, DOGHOUSE, 100,000 SOLDIERS

The two elders walked into the Jinbi Grand Hotel.

The one in front was leaning on a cane and wearing a fisherman’s hat, while the one behind followed respectfully, arms crossed in front of him, ready to take action at any moment.

The staff of the Jinbi Grand Hotel, experienced and sharp-eyed, noted the dress of the two elders was ordinary, yet the air of nobility emanating from their bones—the arrogance cultivated from staying above others for a long time—was nearly integrated with their spiritual power.

"Would you like a private room on the third or fourth floor?" the staff promptly approached to greet them.

"No need, just find us a spot in the Great Tang," the elder with the cane said casually.

The staff led them to the second floor, looked around, and showed a difficult expression: "I’m sorry, there are no extra tables now... Would you mind sharing a table?"

The staff was already prepared for them to refuse or even get angry, yet the elder with the cane nodded, "That’s fine."

Anyone who knew the two elders would surely be stunned to see this scene.

Because these two were none other than Jing Family’s patriarch, Jing Qingfu, and his most loyal henchman, the old butler!

Countless people thought that Jing Qingfu, who should be lying half-dead on a hospital bed, incontinent and on the brink of death at any moment, rendering the whole family’s efforts futile, could actually walk out of the Jing Garden!

Even though he leaned on a cane, even though he walked slowly... he maintained perfect physiological functions!

A clear-minded Jing Qingfu who could still live for some time and a Jing Qingfu who gave up thinking and lay waiting to die presented a huge difference enough to change many business families’ attitudes towards the Jing Family. No one dared to underestimate Jing Qingfu, who had once dominated Xuanzhu County for decades.

Jing Qingfu and the old butler sat down, and sharing the table with them were a few elegantly dressed youths. After all, spending at the Jinbi Grand Hotel was not cheap, and those who came here to chat over tea didn’t come from poor backgrounds.

"... If it were me, my choice would probably be like ’Shikamaru,’" the youth in white sighed, "I’d spend a day climbing a mountain, lying quietly on the grass at the peak, waiting alone for the end of the world to arrive."

"’We shall die alone just as we were born alone,’" another youth in blue shook his head, "Your thoughts are too dark; I think ’Luffy’s’ answer is the best—singing joyously the day before the world’s end, partying all night, welcoming future hardships or challenges with friends."

Jing Qingfu and the old butler exchanged a glance, and the old butler asked, "Are you discussing the ’Knowledge Discussion Area’ topic in the Youth Daily?"

"Yes," the youth in white looked at them, "The discussions and answers in there are quite enlightening. You two might not be interested in end-of-the-world topics, but the responses to ’When did you realize you had grown up?’ should resonate with you deeply."

Another young man in a black robe said, "Especially that friend mentioned in the ’Anonymous Answerer’s’ response, truly... it struck a chord with me, I thought it was describing me."

"Anonymous answerer? Which answer?" the blue-clad youth asked.

The black-robed youth said, "That answerer is a military academy student; he had a classmate who disliked studying and loved gambling. Even in the academy, he’d sneak out every night to gamble, and the answerer got used to him climbing over the wall to leave school every night."

"Later, one day, the answerer found that his classmate returned to the dorm shortly after leaving with a strange expression, refusing to say what happened. After that, the classmate studied hard in combat techniques and no longer indulged in gambling, eventually graduating with excellent grades."

"The answerer later found out that the classmate, after climbing the wall, saw his father who had come to bring him living expenses. The father, who arrived at the academy at night, couldn’t afford to stay in a hotel, so he leaned against the wall outside the academy all night. Witnessing this scene, the classmate turned over a new leaf, growing from a child to an adult."

The blue-clothed youth made a sound of realization, "Oh, so it’s that response..."

"Alas, you might not feel much, but I was also once a student addicted to gambling," the black-robed youth sighed, "But that classmate of the answerer was much luckier than me. I realized I had to grow up only after my father died and saw my mother bravely negotiate with relatives through her grief..."

The youth in white softly said, "’When people are present, there’s always the illusion of having time; in reality, life is subtraction, each meeting is one less.’"

Jing Qingfu was slightly taken aback by this sentence, picking up the hot tea poured by the old butler, feeling a myriad of thoughts surging in his heart.

The blue-clothed youth’s eyes brightened, "Is that the phrase by ’Beidao’?"

"Exactly," the youth in white said, "In the topic ’Words that left a deep impression,’ I like this sentence the most. The idea that life is subtraction can be extended to various aspects. Often, we don’t cherish things because we don’t realize it’s subtraction."

The blue-clad youth laughed, "I prefer the line from Dostoevsky, ’I only fear one thing: I fear not being worthy of my sufferings’—compared to the alchemist’s ’equivalent exchange,’ this one is more genuine. How often in this world do people get rewarded for their efforts? More often than not, we simply endure suffering for nothing, ending up achieving nothing."

The black-robed youth shook his head, "The sentences you all like are too pessimistic. I think the line by ’Wilde’ is the best: ’We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’"

The youth in white said, "Is this sentence not very similar to ’Tomato’s’ line ’I am merely ordinary dust, yet my heart still looks towards the sky’?"

As their discussion grew more heated, Jing Qingfu sipped hot tea and opened the Youth Daily to the ’Unusual Curiosities’ page. The old butler immediately understood the patriarch’s intention and asked, "What do you think about..."

"Hey, Old Huang!"

A roar suddenly echoed in the hall, making the old butler tense up instinctively, but when they looked over, they saw a strong man walking up to the second floor.

The sturdy man waved, responding, "Old Liu, why are you shouting so loudly?"

"Come over, we want to ask you a question," said a man sitting inside, Old Liu, loudly, "Weren’t you a veteran of the Youyun District Ta Bai Army?"

"What do you mean ’were,’ I still am a veteran of the Ta Bai Army," the stout man grumbled as he walked over, his voice loud enough for the entire hall to hear, "Why ask me this?"

Old Liu gestured for him to sit down, chuckling as he asked, "I want to ask you, do you know who the War God of the Ta Bai Army is?"

The guests who initially wanted to scold them to keep it down perked up their ears upon hearing this question, waiting for the strong man’s answer.

"War God? Hmm..." the strong man scratched his head, "I seem to have heard that several generals had this title, but I’m not very familiar with it."

"Not familiar?" Old Liu’s face fell instantly, "Then you surely don’t know about the ten thousand soldiers following the War God for revenge, do you?"

"Ten thousand soldiers? Revenge?" the strong man was bewildered, "What are you talking about?"

Old Liu picked up a copy of the Youth Daily and shoved it in front of the strong man, saying, "You don’t know? This newspaper records a past event in Youyun District—"

"The War God retired home to find his whole family harmed by enemies, his five-year-old daughter forced to live in a dog kennel. With one order, ten thousand Ta Bai Army soldiers came over to avenge him!"

The strong man was shocked, "What, this happened?"

"Yes!" Old Liu said, "The War God, loyal to the country and unmatched in the army, yet his enemies took advantage of him resisting the northern bandits to harm his whole family, even forcing his daughter into a dog kennel, it’s utterly inhumane!"

Others chimed in, "Truly beasts!" "Not killing them won’t appease the people’s anger!"

Old Liu continued, "Seeing this, the War God was naturally indignant, but his enemies were powerful. He had to seek assistance from his former comrades. Youyun has always been a place of generous and sentimental men; how could they tolerate such a fate befalling the military War God? The whole army must have mobilized to avenge the War God!"

Others nodded, "So it should be!" "Youyun is full of good men!" "The backbone of soldiers must not break!"

War God, daughter, dog kennel, ten thousand soldiers, when these keywords combined, they generated a wondrous chemical reaction.

In an instant, guests in the second-floor hall praised the fiery and genuine spirit of the Youyun men, moved by the War God’s plight, as if eager to become one of the ten thousand soldiers themselves, ready to build a dog kennel... no, seeking revenge for the War God!

All eyes in the hall were fixed on the burly man, suddenly making him tense up under the hot gaze. "Did this really... possibly happen?" he hesitated for a while before saying.