Chapter 253 Not Over Ye (1/2)
Chapter 253 – Not Over Yet
Next morning.
Liu Bei and his brothers had been treated by their army physicians last night. Everybody rested in their tent.
Guan Yu sat alone in his tent, staring at the steel blade that was stolen from Tong and contemplating the battle yesterday. He noticed that Tong did not use his blinking magic again after he had displayed it. The same applied to the black weapon he used to kill Zhang Fei's horse.
'There's a limit in his magic. He's not that omnipotent as the rumor said. But his martial art and speed are better than mine. If it weren't because of Yide, I would have been punched to death!'
'And there's also the things he said when he provoked Yide …'
Guan Yu did not 100% believe in everything Tong said yesterday, but a part of it made sense.
People suffered from harsh taxes before Liu Ping took the throne. The bad harvest last year also devastated the peasants, which made them more miserable than the usual. It was natural for them to flock with a lord who was willing to help them.
Zhang Jiao might be one of the kind lords who extended his hands toward these poor civilians, but Liu Ping branded him as a traitor instead.
Conflicted feeling swelled in Guan Yu's heart as he could not find an answer he was looking for by himself.
'Is taking up arms with Xuande the right answer?'
'No, I've sworn that I'll get through this with my brothers! I won't change my mind!'
Guan Yu closed his eyes and reviewed his fight, trying to improve his martial arts.
.
Jiang Man, who managed to scrape for his life, also sat in cross legs inside his tent, cultivating his mind.
There were bandages that covered his left face as his left eye was damaged. Though the empty left eye socket hurt, his mind was calm.
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<[chastity] 2.35%=””>>
<[diligence] 17.42%=””>>
<[humility] …=””>>
The angelic power that Jiang Man was cultivating was different than what Tong had gone through. As the opposite of the [Sins], angels had to accumulate good deeds and righteous mind to increase the chance to awaken their wings.
It looked easier than getting the demonic cultivation method, but it had a significant drawback.
An angel could try to awaken each [Virtue] only once in a lifetime, which the same rules applied to Jiang Man. Should he fail, he would not be able to obtain a wing from the [Virtue] that he tried to awaken.
For example, had he tried to awaken his [Diligence] and failed, the [Diligence] would have been deleted from his soul, and he could not reattempt to awaken [Diligence] again forever.
Therefore, instead of getting rid of the [Sins] by reducing the chance to take over the host's body, Jiang Man had to increase all his [Virtue] to 100% before he could attempt to make a breakthrough.
In the system menu, Jiang Man had 7 virtues, which was the opposite of the 7 sins. As he sat and meditated, his [Diligence] percentage increased every minute passed.
7 A.M.
Liu Bei visited Jiang Man's tent to deliver him breakfast. Seeing that Jiang Man was sitting cross-legs, Liu Bei smiled.
”Little Jiang, have you gotten better?”
Jiang Man opened his eyes and glanced at this status menu.
<[diligence] 17.65%=””>>
”I'm alright. It's just a couple of arrow wounds. No big deal.”
”Good. I've brought you breakfast. You should eat first. We'll continue marching in an hour.”
”What about Zhang Tong and the Yellow Turban? Do you have the scout report?”
Liu Bei narrowed his eyes for a moment, but he returned to his smiling face, ”They're gone. Yesterday, they regrouped with their men at the north of Ji City and withdrew south. I think they're returning to Zhongshan.”
Jiang Man sighed, pitying that Tong had retreated. Without Tong, Jiang Man had to find another otherworlder to kill or attempt to get rid of Tong again in the future.
'Or, I can awaken my first 2 wings. Then, I can absorb life essence from the surrounding and pay the fine to cancel my quest.'
Lilim had given him another bonus. Jiang Man could cancel her mission with a condition. Jiang Man had to pay one million lifespans to the system as a fine for terminating the quest.
It sounded absurd and expensive at a glance, but Jiang Man knew that it was not that unreasonable.
In the note that Lilim had given him, there were details about how he could utilize his angelic wings to acquire lifespans and examples of things and lifespans they had.
A 100-year-old grown tree could generate over a thousand years of lifespans if Jiang Man could absorb it, which there were plenty of such trees in this era in this country. Absorbing the life essence from a living 20-year-old adult could also give Jiang Man 30 to 70 years, depending on the health and the upbringing of the victim.
”That's good. We have to gather more men before we can fight that monster,” Suggested Jiang Man, ”But what about Zou Jing's remaining army? I heard Zou Jing is already dead.”
Liu Bei smiled, ”I've become their temporary commander, so we have the control of the entire army.”
”What? How? I thought there were many nobles in the army?”
”Hahaha! They've fled the moment Zou Jing was killed. I'm the only volunteer commander remaining. Besides, Yide and Yunchang did well in the last battle. They drove that monster Zhang Tong away with their prowess! You, too. Everyone is talking that you've used your stratagem to trap Zhang Tong, and all soldiers respect us!”
Jiang Man scratched his head, ”I did nothing actually. I only suggested a tactic to stop Zhang Tong's cavalry charge.”
”Yes, that's the good stratagem you did! Thanks to you, we all have survived! Thank you.”
Liu Bei smiled as he held Jiang Man's hands. His face and his words sounded sincere, but Jiang Man felt that Liu Bei was acting.
'As expected from the famous [Pretender], he's good at acting. If I were a native, I would have thought that Liu Bei was being naïve or sincere!'