A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 2251 - 1524: Retire (Deciding to Save Stones for Tingyun)
Compared to Zhang Sanfeng’s hundredth birthday, Liu Zhengfeng’s retirement ceremony was much more lively. This wasn’t because Liu Zhengfeng was more well-connected than Zhang Sanfeng, but because he indeed invited a lot of people. As for Zhang Sanfeng, since he wanted to celebrate quietly, he didn’t invite anyone, and even those who knew about his hundredth birthday didn’t dare to disturb the celebration.
After all, if someone doesn’t invite you, it’s clearly impolite to show up, it’s like barging in uninvited.
Of course, someone as powerful as Duanmu Huai wouldn’t care about such matters. He takes pride in showing up uninvited as a form of giving face to the host.
In contrast, Liu Zhengfeng extended invitations widely and turned his retirement ceremony into a large-scale event. As a result, besides the sect leaders, people from all walks of life were significant in number, making Liu Mansion overcrowded and incredibly noisy.
However, when Duanmu Huai arrived with Wang Yuyan and Little Dragon Girl, the originally noisy Liu Mansion quickly quieted down.
The reputation precedes the person; Duanmu Huai had been in North Martial Arts for a while and caused many earth-shattering events. Not to mention, he recently killed Yu Canghai, the Qingcheng Sect leader, and burned down Qingcheng Sect, erasing it completely from North Martial Arts. Once again, people realized the title of "Undying Slaughter God" wasn’t for nothing.
Therefore, despite the martial arts disciples gaping at Wang Yuyan and Little Dragon Girl, no one dared to cause trouble, fearing a mishap that would lead their sect to follow Qingcheng Sect’s demise.
Still, a few Jianghu people had somewhat odd expressions. These people had attended Master Zhang’s birthday feast, and their minds were now in a whisper. In fact, Duanmu Huai attending Zhang Sanfeng’s birthday isn’t entirely incomprehensible, since Zhang Sanfeng is a symbol of North Martial Arts, highly respected, making Duanmu Huai’s visit to honor him rather understandable.
But Liu Zhengfeng is only the vice sect leader of Heng Mountain Sect; his fame and status are nowhere near Master Zhang’s. Strictly speaking, Duanmu Huai’s fame and status in Jianghu far exceed Liu Zhengfeng’s. Even at Liu Zhengfeng’s retirement ceremony, the Five Mountains Sword Sect only sent their vice sect leaders, with Huashan Sect leader Yue Buqun attending in person, which could be considered a gesture of respect to Liu Zhengfeng.
Why would Duanmu Huai attend Liu Zhengfeng’s retirement ceremony?
What was he here for?
Even Liu Zhengfeng himself was puzzled by Duanmu Huai’s arrival, feeling a jolt of anxiety upon hearing of the Undying Slaughter God’s visit.
Could it be that some aspect of Liu Mansion or Heng Mountain Sect had offended the Undying Slaughter God, and he was here to make trouble? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
It shouldn’t be. Even during Master Zhang’s incident, Heng Mountain Sect didn’t participate, as they weren’t interested in the Dragon Slayer Saber, and Xie Xun hadn’t killed any of their members. Sect leader Mr. Mo stayed out of it, and Liu Zhengfeng naturally didn’t want to get involved in such matters.
Upon hearing later about the events at the birthday feast, Liu Zhengfeng sighed in relief, thankful he didn’t go to Master Zhang’s feast to stir trouble, or else it would have been troublesome to provoke this sinister star.
Yet now, the Undying Slaughter God shows up?
Suppressing his inner anxiety, Liu Zhengfeng quickly went out to welcome him in person.
"Your arrival, Undying Slaughter God, is an honor. I apologize for the lack of a proper welcome, please forgive me..."
"Mr. Liu, no need to be so courteous."
Looking at Liu Zhengfeng, Duanmu Huai laughed heartily and waved his hand.
"I’m here to see the spectacle. I’ve never witnessed a retirement ceremony like this before. Mr. Liu, hopefully, you won’t mind my uninvited visit."
"Not at all, it’s an honor you have graced us with your presence, truly a privilege..."
Realizing Duanmu Huai was there for the spectacle, Liu Zhengfeng sighed in relief. Indeed, a retirement ceremony isn’t commonly seen in martial arts circles, and this Undying Slaughter God, being young, probably never witnessed such an event, making it understandable for him to come out of curiosity.
With this in mind, Liu Zhengfeng finally felt at ease, akin to the relief felt when someone calls out "spare from the blade" during execution hours, preventing the final strike.
Such is the oppressive presence Duanmu Huai has.
Consequently, Liu Zhengfeng immediately arranged seats for Duanmu Huai and the two ladies. Wang Yuyan and Little Dragon Girl were also quite curious about the retirement ceremony, as they had never seen such scenes.
Duanmu Huai sat in a chair, merely sipping tea and watching the show, while the two women whispered to each other. People nearby dared not approach to make conversation with Duanmu Huai, intuitively giving him space, allowing him some peace.
Soon after, an official arrived with the government entourage, bringing an imperial decree appointing Liu Zhengfeng as the Assistant General. This scene left many heroes and figures at the ceremony with complex expressions, unsure what to say. After all, martial artists and officials traditionally don’t get along, and Liu Zhengfeng, as the Heng Mountain Sect’s vice sect leader, was set to climb ranks after retiring, leaving many martial artists feeling betrayed, holding some disdain for Liu Zhengfeng himself.
However, from Duanmu Huai’s perspective, Liu Zhengfeng’s decision was quite smart. After all, which martial artist doesn’t have a few enemies? Although theoretically, retiring means not involving oneself in Jianghu affairs, it doesn’t completely sever ties with previous feuds. It’s much like gang vendettas, where killing the rival boss and then serving jail time doesn’t automatically stop revenge.
