The war ended, and Gao Xianzhi resigned? Furthermore, he did so in front of his subordinates and Gu Hai?
Prince Shenwu showed a sullen expression. If this had happened any other time, he would not let Gao Xianzhi go. He would find an excuse to assign Gao Xianzhi somewhere else and slowly gain Gao Xianzhi’s support.
However, they were in Chaoge City now. In other words, Gao Xianzhi’s home. How could Prince Shenwu try to poach Gao Xianzhi in front of his master?
“Supreme Commander, please grant me this!” Gao Xianzhi said respectfully.
Prince Shenwu remained silent, not wanting to agree.
“Prince Shenwu, now that the war is over, it is time to return Gao Xianzhi, whom I lent you,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“Indeed. Long Shenwu, hurry up. Why are you dragging this out? So many people are waiting for you!” Long Wanyu called out.
Prince Shenwu looked at Gao Xianzhi again. Then, he sighed bitterly, “Since that is so, this commander permits it. This prince’s official residence will always have its doors open to you.”
“Many thanks, Supreme Commander!” Gao Xianzhi stepped forward and handed over the command token.
Reluctance flashed in Prince Shenwu’s eyes. However, he still received the command token.
After resigning from command of the sixth battalion and handing over the command token, Gao Xianzhi felt relieved of a huge burden.
“Baili Zhan!” Prince Shenwu called out.
“Present!” Baili Zhan stepped forward, appearing somewhat bitter.
“Since Gao Xianzhi has resigned as the sixth battalion’s commander, you shall take his place,” Prince Shenwu said.
However, Baili Zhan did not step forward. He looked at Gao Xianzhi with a complicated expression in his eyes.
“Huh?” Prince Shenwu frowned slightly.
“Many thanks for Supreme Commander’s care. Now that the war is over, this humble officer would like to put down my armor and return to civilian life. Supreme Commander, please grant me this!” Baili Zhan said respectfully.
“Put down your armor and return to civilian life? Ha!” Prince Shenwu immediately let out a furious cry.
Even if Prince Shenwu could not tell, Sima Changkong had already mentioned it to him. How was Baili Zhan returning to civilian life? Baili Zhan wanted to follow Gao Xianzhi.
“Supreme Commander, please forgive me. This humble officer has let down Supreme Commander, unworthy of Supreme Commander’s care for me,” Baili Zhan said bitterly.
Prince Shenwu took a deep breath to suppress the anger in his heart. Then, he looked at Gao Xianzhi before shifting his gaze to Gu Hai.
Prince Shenwu felt especially uncomfortable when he looked at Gu Hai. Did you recommend Gao Xianzhi to poach my generals and officers?
“Never mind. Do as you please. Those who are willing to return, just return to Southern Suppression City yourselves. As for those who don’t want to return, just do as you please!” Prince Shenwu said, suppressing the anger and depression in his heart.
“Supreme Commander, thank you for granting me this!” Baili Zhan let out a long breath.
However, Prince Shenwu no longer looked at them. The sight of them made him feel stifled.
On the other hand, Gu Hai showed a faint, satisfied smile when he looked at Gao Xianzhi.
Turning his head, Gu Hai looked at Prince Shenwu and said, “Prince Shenwu, how about you come in and have a seat?”
“There’s no need. This time, I came to escort Princess Wanyu here. His Holy Eminence also issued an edict for you,” Prince Shenwu said.
“Oh?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.
“It’s nothing much. Brother-in-Law, just take a look for yourself.” Long Wanyu immediately took out an edict and shoved it into Gu Hai’s hand.
Prince Shenwu gaped. He wanted to stop this, but it was already too late.
How could one just shove an edict into another person’s hands? At the very least, there should be a salutation of Long live the emperor! However, this was Chaoge City. If Gu Hai saluted the Qian Nation’s edict, it would deal a blow to Gu Hai’s prestige.
Long Wanyu skipped all the steps and directly shoved the edict into Gu Hai’s hands. Long Shenwu could not do anything about it.
Gu Hai frowned as he opened the edict.
“Elite Hall Master Gu Hai, receive this command. Princess Wanyu will be temporarily handed to you to protect. In everything you do, protect Princess Wanyu as the first priority. With this edict, you may command all officials and military forces of the Qian Nation to protect Princess Wanyu. If anything bad happens to her, you will be punished severely!”
The edict did not have much in it. It only wanted Gu Hai to protect Long Wanyu. Furthermore, it named Gu Hai as the Elite Hall Master rather than the Han Royal Emperor, which gave him a lot of face.
“Prince Shenwu, rest assured. Even without this edict, I would not let anything happen to Wanyu,” Gu Hai said gravely.
“Given that, I’ll leave her to you.” Long Shenwu nodded.
Gu Hai nodded back.
“Alright, this prince’s edict should have already arrived in Southern Suppression City. This prince shall take my leave,” Prince Shenwu said.
Gao Xianzhi’s matter dismayed Prince Shenwu. He did not want to remain here any longer than necessary.
“Hurry up and go! Quickly! The sky will turn dark soon,” Long Wanyu said while waving her hand.
Prince Shenwu: “…”
Sima Changkong smiled bitterly. He knew that Prince Shenwu’s patience was already at its limit, so he did not say anything.
Whoosh!
Prince Shenwu’s group returned in disappointment. The one hundred flying ships quickly vanished over the horizon.
Venerable Liu Nian and the people responsible for taking care of Long Wanyu remained.
The grave danger had been resolved expeditiously.
“Great fortune to the Han Nation!” Only then did the Han Nation officials happily salute Gu Hai.
Bing Ji looked at Gu Hai with a somewhat complicated expression. To think that Gu Hai managed to resolve this potentially catastrophic danger without the Great Light Sovereign Deity’s help.
When she was ordered to come, she had felt very dissatisfied at first. However, she had come to accept it. Perhaps this would be a different kind of life for her.
“From today on, Bing Ji will become the Han Royal Dynasty’s Third Corps commander. She will be responsible for rebuilding Chaoge City after this disaster!” Gu Hai instructed.
“Huh?” Many of the officials looked at Bing Ji.
After a moment of startlement, Bing Ji bowed. “Many thanks, Your Majesty!”
Gu Hai nodded.
——
On Chang Sheng’s flying ship, Chang Ming remained standing on the deck, feeling depressed. Clearly, he still could not forget about the two slaps earlier.
“Are you still unreconciled with those slaps?” Chang Sheng asked indifferently.
“No, it is right for a father to hit his son,” Chang Ming replied, feeling peeved.
Chang Sheng turned his head and looked at his son. Then, he showed a bitter smile as he said, “I hit you for your own good.”
Chang Ming remained unconvinced.
“Let’s put aside the matter of Long Wanyu mediating with the Qian Heavenly Emperor for us. Of course, she did so in the first place because she wanted the war to stop, so she could come and meet Gu Hai. While I feel grateful to her, that’s limited. After all, the peace talks between the two nations would eventually come to an agreement. I hit you because you dared to mess around before you even figured out your enemy, ignoring the circumstances,” Chang Sheng said seriously.
“Me? That Long Wanyu is definitely not my opponent, and I previously was not aware of that Great Light Sovereign Deity. I recently cultivated a divine technique. I had already considered the situation in its entirety,” Chang Ming insisted obstinately.
“You considered the situation in its entirety? Ha! What entirety? You still don’t know Long Wanyu’s exact identity, and you want to deal with her? If not for my slaps, who knows if you would be alive?” Chang Sheng said seriously.
“How can that be? I have cultivated a divine technique!” Chang Ming rebuffed confidently.
“What dogshit divine technique? Can your divine technique deal with the Qian Heavenly Emperor?” Chang Sheng demanded coldly.
“Huh?” Chang Ming’s expression turned stiff.
What a joke! Who is the Qian Heavenly Emperor? He is one of the strongest people in the world, right? Not to mention me after cultivating the divine technique, even that wild-looking man who taught me the divine technique would not be his match.
“Do you know how much the Qian Heavenly Emperor treasures Long Wanyu? If you injured her, he might even appear personally to kill you. Do you still feel wronged over my slaps?” Chang Sheng looked at Chang Ming.
“What? That’s impossible, right?” Chang Ming suddenly froze.
However, he knew that his father would not lie to him. That Long Wanyu? Just thinking about it scared him.
“When I first arrived, I heard the people below say that you wanted to drink the blood of everyone in the city when you first brought soldiers to Chaoge City?” Chang Sheng coldly eyed his son.
“Huh? I-I did not…” Chang Ming appeared awkward.
“Who taught you that? Did you drink the citizens’ blood?” Chang Sheng asked coldly.
“I-I-I… The other members of the blood race drank too!” Chang Ming stammered, unwilling to submit.
“You scoundrel! Do you want your father to beat you up again?!” Chang Sheng glowered.
“Father! Why can’t I? Wasn’t our blood race born to drink human blood? The other blood race members drink human blood; why can’t I? You can refuse, but you can’t force me!” Chang Ming said, truculent.
“They are they, and you are you. I told you a long time ago. I can permit you to drink the blood of enemies. However, you are not to touch the blood of innocents. You are not permitted to drink those!” Chang Sheng said coldly.
“Why?”
“Why? Why can’t you drink the blood of innocents? Do you know that we vampires are demons? Demons that heaven and the world loathe? The ideal is to be like water, benefiting all living things and not struggling against them. Heaven favors the kind. We are already demons. If we sin further, even heaven will destroy us. Others might not know that you drink the blood of innocents, but heaven knows. That accumulates vast negative karma. When it reaches a certain level, you will die!” Chang Sheng said coldly.
“Ah? Father, don’t try to scare me,” Chang Ming said, still not understanding.
“Scare you? Well, you should read and look into history more. Which spirit-assimilated race can survive for a long time? When the time comes, and we have accumulated sufficient negative karma, heaven will destroy us,” Chang Sheng said coldly.
Chang Ming said, “But I…I…”
“You are a heaven’s favored? Haha! So what if you are a heaven’s favored? Countless people in the world can kill you. Heaven favoring you is just heaven’s indulgence. It is not an excuse for you to behave as you please,” Chang Sheng shouted.
Chang Ming bit his lips and remained silent.
“The other vampires kill innocents? That is because my brothers from the Chang Clan cannot control themselves. However, I—your father—manage to. I hope you can control this urge too. Otherwise, when the time comes for heaven to destroy us, you will not even have a chance to flee,” Chang Sheng said.
“Huh? Can’t they control themselves?” Chang Ming frowned.
“Them? They are already beyond help. Furthermore, the primogenitor is keeping an eye on them. Ha! The only way I let you down as your father is in passing my bloodline to you, turning you into a vampire. Hah…,” Chang Sheng sighed.
“Father, I don’t think there’s anything bad about being a blood race member. The blood race bloodline gives us innate abilities,” Chang Ming protested, feeling confused.
“Innate abilities? Ha! That came at the price of sacrificing one’s mortal soul. With the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls not intact, you will suffer from a limit,” Chang Sheng sighed.
“Huh?”
“Furthermore, there is a primogenitor above you. If the primogenitor wants you to live, you live. If he wants you dead, you die. Hah…,” Chang Sheng sighed again.
Chang Ming frowned slightly, remaining silent for a long time.
“Remember my words. You can drink the enemy’s blood, but you are not to harm innocents. Heaven favors the kind. You cannot commit great sins. This is Father’s only request of you,” Chang Sheng said gravely.
“Yes!” Chang Ming nodded, feeling shaken.
