Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path-Chapter 831 - 643: Correct Mistakes + - 644: Thunder Axe, Wind Knife
Chapter 831: Chapter 643: Correct Mistakes + Chapter 644: Thunder Axe, Wind Knife
"Sir, does Great Grandfather no longer need us?"
Children’s minds are not so convoluted. Concepts like splitting forces into two or covert maneuvers like secretly crossing the warehouse—they can’t comprehend such things.
Moreover, there are individuals who don’t wish to see the Heavenly Martial King’s Golden Thunder Axe lineage continue to dominate the court. Such schemes, even if explained to these little ones, they likely wouldn’t understand.
But at the very least, they can sense whether the external situation is friendly or hostile to them, whether their lives are going to improve or worsen.
This is merely an instinct.
At this moment, eight-year-old Zhao Yuanshou stared with his big shiny black eyes, his face carrying traces of unease, as he asked while clutching tightly to Zhou Ping’an’s hem, much like he always did whenever encountering danger during their journey.
Because he knew that only by staying close to Zhou Ping’an did he have the greatest chance of survival.
Similarly clutching like him was a seven-year-old little girl, Zhao Yuanke. With a temperament softer due to her young age, though equally gifted, she’d also excelled in picking up a few archery skills during the trip. At this moment, she keenly perceived the grim fate awaiting her group, her face twisted like a bitter melon, nearly breaking into tears.
"Sir, why don’t we just go back? Ke’er misses Mommy..."
The other Zhao Family second-branch grandchildren, slightly older in age, all wore pale, ghastly expressions.
They understood.
From the outset, they knew they had been selected to be nurtured and trained by the Golden Thunder Heavenly Martial Prince Mansion, with the choicest among them to be activated with the Heavenly Thunder Bloodline and inherit the Golden Thunder Axe Secret Technique.
Among them, one would inevitably receive the royal legacy, from then soaring to the heavens, their statuses forever transformed.
As for the others, they would not leave empty-handed either; they would later become the main pillars of the Heavenly Martial Zhao Family, elevated to heights they could never have dreamed of before.
While both the Yujing Heavenly Martial Zhao Family and Southern Lake’s Zhao Family descended from the same ancestors,
through Zhao Tiangang’s military campaigns, his enemy-slaughtering prowess, the deterrence of surrounding nations, and nearly six decades of service since his royal ennoblement, the Heavenly Martial Zhao Family had become a colossal entity, its magnitude far surpassing that of Southern Lake’s Zhao Family.
Over these decades, the hierarchy between the main family and branch family had already flipped.
The children of Southern Lake’s Zhao Family naturally wished to join the Heavenly Martial Zhao Family and secure promising futures.
This explains why, upon hearing the news that the Heavenly Martial Zhao Family was planning to adopt some of the second-branch descendants for the main branch’s incense-keeping lineage,
Southern Lake’s Zhao Family spared no effort to send their most outstanding offspring to the capital.
Even if past grievances had fostered bitterness and vows of permanent estrangement, despite grueling distances and risks of mishap for these children along the way,
no matter what, blood ties transcended estrangement; a shared lineage was their bond, separated by only a few generations. Though estranged, they remained kin—it represented an immense hope.
This gamble was worth staking everything on.
Not only did the elders and youths of Southern Lake’s Zhao Family share this sentiment, but even the recruited Yin Yang Sword couple and Four Seasons Saber brothers harbored similar intentions.
If they lost the bet, they would gain nothing. But if they won, the rewards would be immeasurable wealth and prosperity.
For the rest of their lives, they’d no longer scrape and suffer in Jianghu; instead, they could hold high office and ride fine horses.
A Prince Mansion—how many officials and generals could it allocate, and how many benefits could it provide?
This hardly required deliberation.
Should they succeed, apart from the immediate gains, the position would be incredibly advantageous for their children and grandchildren.
With this incense-offering obligation and the blood-stained bond from a thousand-mile escort on their shoulders, should the chosen Little Prince fully mature, elevating them all would no longer merely be a metaphorical saying.
However, everything—every aspiration, every thought—was shattered by a single statement from Third Elder Zhao, leaving them as mere dream bubble shadows.
’So all this hardship, all this bloodshed and battles, was for nothing?’
’Worse still, we may have ended up as thorns in someone’s side, annoyances for others—what’s the point of this anguish?’
Zhou Ping’an chuckled lightly: "What a clever ploy to play—old, near death, and still able to lay down such lethal plots with ease. It’s no wonder he could acquire military merit repeatedly, rise from poor origins to a royal title, and sustain wealth and power for decades. If not for lacking offspring, or perhaps antagonizing certain influential figures excessively, he wouldn’t have been reduced to his current predicament."
No further speculation was necessary.
A bastard child raised externally for decades, never invited back to the ancestral halls—
the only reason for recognizing them on his deathbed would be that Heavenly Martial King Zhao Tiangang had unmistakably discovered that the battlefield deaths of his two sons were somewhat dubious.
Thus, he opted for the safest course of action.
Though such action stained his reputation and dealt an injustice to Southern Lake’s Zhao Family.
"However, no matter how brilliant his schemes are, what does it have to do with me? I only want to claim the rewards entitled to me for completing the mission."
He waved his hand, issuing orders for the convoy to push through the crowd and proceed straight toward the Heavenly Martial Prince Mansion.
"Mr. Zhou..."
Mr. Yu’s face turned pale.
The Yin Yang Sword couple froze, their minds numbing, their expressions unnatural. Even Peng Qiuyan, usually the epitome of a strong, bold woman, now appeared devoid of her usual valor, murmuring hesitantly: "Won’t this visit be seen as provocation? Wouldn’t it be like uncovering Third Elder Zhao’s wounds?"
On the contrary, Four Seasons Sword Xia Yiming, as reckless as ever, remained unperturbed and unthinking: "Just follow Mr. Zhou’s lead—why overthink? Surely we won’t just stop outside the gate, right? We’re entitled to our compensation for the trouble, and staying out here is even worse. If we’re attacked or exploited again, it’ll only complicate things further."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺
