I Only Marry Widows-Chapter 118 - 106: Reforging the Divine Skill, Red Dragon True Intent
Du Mengyan could no longer stand it, so she gave a pretentious cough. Du Xiaoyue met her eyes and then pursed her lips, refraining from speaking further.
"Junior Brother Lu, you must be weary from your journey. I’ve arranged accommodations for you to have a bath, change clothes, and rest for a while."
"By evening, I’ll arrange a banquet to welcome you, Junior Brother."
Lu Chengfeng heard Du Mengyan’s words and did not refuse, smiling as he nodded in agreement: "Then I thank you greatly, Senior Sister."
Tan Xiong, too, did not wish to linger with the two female disciples and directly pulled Lu Chengfeng out the door, "I haven’t seen Junior Brother Lu in a long time, we should catch up."
Then the two headed out the door, and Tan Xiong called on the servants in the courtyard to tidy up the room and replace the bedding with new ones.
He then asked them to prepare wine and dishes, leading Lu Chengfeng to have a conversation.
The two brothers hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and the sect had encountered such a major upheaval, leaving Tan Xiong with a lot of pressure and confusion. After a few drinks, he couldn’t help but open up.
"Ah, Junior Sister Xiaoyue might be blunt, but what she says isn’t without reason."
"The Celestial Patrol Department initially assigned an elder to liaise with us, but after a while, we couldn’t even see a soul, just excuses and some fancy but empty words every day."
"Blatantly, they want our Yuncang Sword Sect to join the Celestial Patrol Department."
Tan Xiong took a harsh swig of wine, "Our Yuncang is a thousand-year-old sect that has subdued Liangzhou for millennia. How old is this Celestial Patrol Department that dares to make us bow and scrape?!"
"It’s not just the Sect Elders who disagree; even I am unwilling!"
"But with the Lord of Youdu personally pressing down on Yuncang, who can stop him? Who can stand against the 200,000 cavalry of You State?"
"I, Tan Xiong, owe a great debt to the sect. Dying in battle for the sect would be only right, but must Yuncang’s thousand-year inheritance be destroyed just like this?"
Lu Chengfeng quietly drank his wine; now it was unknowingly already May, with only two months left until July 15th.
In the guise of Handsome Yama, he initiated a killing spree, even forcing the Celestial Patrol Department to send an army to besiege the Three Immortals Mountain. It seemed like quite a stir, yet nothing had truly changed.
Everything he did seemed like child’s play in the eyes of the Heaven-Suppressing King and the Lord of Youdu, hardly taken seriously.
The great trend of the world was like a river flowing relentlessly in a set direction. No matter how desperately he struggled, it seemed in vain.
After a long silence, he asked, "Senior Brother, do you know how the alliance between our sect and the Sunset Sect is going?"
In Lu Chengfeng’s view, with the Lord of Youdu now exerting heavy pressure on the Northern Lands, the alliance between the Sunset Sect and the Yuncang Sword Sect should be proceeding smoothly.
Upon hearing this, Tan Xiong sneered angrily, "Those useless people from the Sunset Sect are just like ostriches, thinking they can bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing happened."
"They naively hope that Youdu is only targeting the Yuncang Sword Sect and might not move against them, so they are unwilling to form a direct alliance."
"Though there are many in the Sunset Sect who are clear-minded, the conservative forces in the sect have the upper hand. After several negotiations, they finally decided to come to Yuncang in the name of observing the ceremony on July 15th."
Lu Chengfeng was utterly dumbfounded; with Youdu surging through the Northern Lands, everyone knew its intent to swallow the world, yet the Sunset Sect still harbored such naive and ridiculous thoughts.
He was truly speechless, just feeling that reality was absurd and laughably ridiculous.
Yuncang’s leadership, unwilling to sever their inheritance, clung to their interests, and were too proud to bow to the Celestial Patrol Department.
This indecisiveness and constant hesitation made him feel disgusted.
But the actions of the Sunset Sect were even more astonishing, like what Tan Xiong described—ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
Lu Chengfeng couldn’t help but lament that the so-called thousand-year-old sects have long become rotten and corrupt, riddled with factions, tangled in a web of interests and complex relationships.
Even when facing a crisis of life and death, their responses were clumsy and laughable. Truly pathetic!
"Perhaps this is the difference between individuals and organizations!" Lu Chengfeng shook his head and refilled both his and Tan Xiong’s cups.
Any force that lasts long enough becomes bloated and cumbersome. In such a web of interests, many decisions become utterly ridiculous.
Lu Chengfeng really wanted to contribute to his sect, to prevent this thousand-year-old sect from collapsing, but now he saw not a glimmer of hope.
Yuncang is indecisive, reluctant to part with its benefits or lose face, nor does it wish to cut off its legacy.
The Sunset Sect harbors unrealistic hopes, unwilling to face Youdu’s threat head-on, merely hoping to muddle through, deceiving themselves.
The Celestial Patrol Department guards its small territory, unwilling to interfere in the Northern Lands, only scraping by in its own domain.
The momentum of Youdu sweeping through the Northern Lands seems unstoppable, even if he achieves the Half-Step Celestial Human state, so what?
Could he withstand the Lord of Youdu? Can he hold against the 200,000-strong army of You State?
Lu Chengfeng drank his cup dry, feeling an indescribable pressure and bitterness.
Originally, after a long separation, the two brothers should have had a joyous chat, but after the initial joy, Lu Chengfeng and Tan Xiong were left only with anxiety and frustration.
The two brothers drank in gloom, even forgetting about Du Mengyan’s banquet to welcome Lu Chengfeng, getting drunk until late at night.
