Vol 6 Chapter 36 (1/2)

VOLUME 6 CHAPTER 36: DON’T TELL ME THIS INTERMISSION IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF VOLUME 6

Meng De POV

By the time I rushed over to where she was, Feng Xiao was lying on the ground peacefully with her eyes shut.

“Feng Xiao!” This scene gave me a fright, “Oi! Go and check what she’s like now!”

I hurriedly ordered the physician by her side to check her pulse at which that person anxiously went forward to do so.

“So Meng De’s here huh.”

“Ah!”

Feng Xiao suddenly spoke up just as the physician went up to her, which thoroughly scared the physician and knocked my feelings out of whack.

Hu… So she’s still alive.

“Don’t scare me like that, will you! That crime alone is enough for me to sentence you to death.”

“Kill me then.”

“Look at you now. I don’t even think there’s enough time to haul you off to the guillotine.”

I followed along with her jokes and jabs but the content hurt me deeply. I knew it eas a joke but I also knew that it was the truth.

I looked at Feng Xiao, who still had her eyes shut and didn’t seem to have any intention of opening them, “… You really can’t make it?”

“Un, probably.”

“… Can’t you just hold on for a few more years? At least wait until I die before you go.”

“That’s clearly impossible.”

As she said so, Feng Xiao gave a faint smile but fresh blood seeped out when she opened her mouth. I was used to this by now and calmly took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth.

“No need to wipe it, you can’t wipe it clean anyway.”

“It’s the last time already. You should go in a clean state.” I said as I sighed, “It was really difficult on you. I even let you follow along on this expedition.”

“I wanted to come from the very beginning.” She said as she covered her mouth with her sleeve, “I also wanted to see how Meng De looks when she’s thoroughly thrashed.”

I can’t believe how vicious that mouth of hers is even until the very last moment,

“I haven’t been thrashed, Yi state city is within our grasp.”

“You think I can’t tell what’s going on from the back?”

Looks like I can’t hide it from her.

“… I’m sorry, I wasted all your efforts.”

“Yes, I, Guo Feng Xiao, outsmarted an innumerable number of people in my life but I never imagined that I would fall so badly in my final battle. Looks like I’ll be laughed at by the world.”

Even though I knew she couldn’t see it, I still shook her head at these words.

“Feng Xiao has an uncanny foresight and is a genius at commanding and managing troops. How could the world laugh at you?” I couldn’t help but get agitated as I said so, and reached out to grab Feng Xiao’s cold, thin hand, “If anything, I, Cao Meng De, will be spat at by the world.”

“Kekeke,” Feng Xiao gave her usual provocative laughter and applied strength into her grip on my hand.

“Things are ever-changing in this world so sometimes you win, others you lose. Losing this battle doesn’t mean that you have lost the war, nor does it mean that you, Cao Meng De, have failed… Ah!” Feng Xiao gasped a couple of times with difficulty as she said so and only continued after her breathing normalised again, “This pyrrhic win is to let my lord understand that my lord’s path is difficult beyond imagination. On the outside, you have the Man, Yi, Rong, Di barbarians surrounding us, and on the inside you have feudal lords who oppose your rule. My lord is not a just lord either as seizing the Son of Heaven to control the feudal lords is not a just route. Until the day you achieve absolute victory, my lord must always bear the cross as one who is known as an evil and treacherous person, and must endure the resulting condemnation and criticism of various people. Even after hundreds and thousands of years after my lord’s pa.s.sing, no one will step up to clear your name. Should you happen to fail, your name will be recorded in history for your mistakes and that will be all that you will be known for. Dare I ask, even so, is my lord ready? Even if I’m not around, can my lord face all this?”

Feng Xiao’s words all hit very close to home, and as she continued on, I could feel her applying more strength into her grip. At the same time, I could also feel her powerlessness and weakness.

The reason why she is using the last of her strength to revisit what she has mentioned before is probably because she wants to reconfirm my answer once more.

If it was how things were like usually, I would have replied immediately and resolutely. But at this moment, I was feeling a little lost because of Feng Xiao’s impending pa.s.sing.