Chapter 271 - The Gift of the Saber (2/2)

In the past, Gu Shenwei had dis a teaht the Golden Roc Fort as unrealistic Little did he know that Tuo Nengya would have brought his men to save him and the entire Great Snowmountain from annihilation today The little bit of admiration he always had for the ya had stuck to his word and acco-saber was le nick or drop of coagulated blood on it, even after Gu Shenwei had used it to slay many enemies Anyone could see that it was a weapon of rare quality

Tuo Nengya went down on one knee and received the long-saber with both hands At the sa He believed in the killer’s ability and wisdom, and he placed even more trust in their hatred of the co killer when they o, but it was only recently that he knew they had the saya up and raised his voice as he addressed the entire camp “These are the sixth brothers from the Great Snowmountain—Luoshen Peak, Danduo Peak, Greatsword Peak, Smallsword Peak, Canopy Peak, and noe have the Machetemen Peak as well”

The men from the Great Snowmountain cheered loudly as they welco them as their own tribesmen

After that, ca to the customs of the Great Snowmountain, the corpses were sent deep into the Snowmountain and buried under the ice and snow to preserve the looks of the dead However, they were now far from the Snowmountain now, and there was not much snow or ice around them Therefore, they had to break from tradition andon a slope in the valley, where the Gu family’s round and the corpses were placed on top of the firewood They continued stacking layers of firewood and corpses in the same manner until a tall tower-like structure was foran praying to the heavens for its blessings and laid curses on their ene set fire to the pyre and they watched as it burned to ashes

“The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss The living grief, while the dead rest in peace,” he chanted continuously as the ashes spiralled up into the skies

More and , and these words soon becay for their dead

The Golden Roc Fort sent e the Great Snow ordered his men to not react

After the first battle, Gu Shenwei understood the difference betarfare and assassination Dugu Xian, who reht him a valuable lesson that he could not have learnt in the past few ainst the small forces that Shu-lik sent to suppress the Great Snowht, he suized sincerely to Fang Wenshi+, and said that he should have listened to his counselor’s advice The Dragon King kne that contending for power in Western Region was different fro up his strength and consider killing as a means to that end Whereas the latter spurred hiether with the ene won over this master, even if he felt pleased with himself “There are always a victor and a loser in warfare,” he said Even though 700 of the swordsmen had perished in the first battle, their leader was still alive and they had new allies in the s were still looking good for the We didn’t lose, and displayed our strength for all to see The Golden Roc Fort, however, rave mistake”

“Their cavalry which caether at the last minute They ell trained, and in his haste, the Supreth to everyone to see This would in turn give us an opening for suggesting a peace deal,” the counselor continued

As he began giving serious consideration topeace with the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei realised how hard it was to go against his original conviction He had struggled and survived till now, fuelled by his need to exact vengeance To ask hiht up, even temporarily, made him feel extremely uncomfortable

“Fine” He felt a heavy burden was lifted from his soul as he said it He could not re who had told hiy, one should control it and not be controlled by it instead He trusted in his ability to consider the big picture and keep his own hatred of the Shangguan fain the peace process now,” he continued

He suet his opinion on the issue The hu, and i’s motives once he heard what he had to say He made no co to , and I’m afraid Shu-lik would be displeased as well”

Upon hearing this, Fang Wenshi+ iya He felt that the ht!” he exclai found a soul ya a little “This is the crucial part of our plan to gain a foothold in Western Region,” Fang Wenshi+ continued

Gu Shenwei decided to listen instead of speaking up, sensing that his counselor was eager to express hi would definitely not want to make peace with us The Golden Roc Fort has the upper hand now, and even a few thousand of our swords in his eyes Besides, it would di into a peace deal with us On the surface, this negotiation is between the Golden Roc Fort and us, but in fact, we’ll involve the Central Plain as our negotiation partner”

Tuo Nengya wrinkled his eyebrows, puzzled at how the Central Plain was in the picture at all

“The Central Plain has been consolidating troops to the east of Jade City all these years, but it’s a very slow process, and they’re not able to conquer the entire Western Region in one go as yet Therefore, it would want to maintain the status quo, and would especially not wish for Shangguan Fa to beco to contend with the Great Snowuan Fa’s conspiracy with Norland and coronation would definitely be delayed and affected Using this fact, I’ the Central Plain to step in and force the Supre to make peace with us Furtherathering under the na’ and is anti-war Its leader is the Four Truths Temple, and from our current situation, I feel it’s also an i peace”

“What about Shu-lik? Wouldn’t our actions anger theya asked

“Never,” said Fang Wenshi+ triumphantly He e of Shu-lik is a sheep in wolf’s clothing He’ll support the winning side If we lose badly, he’ll definitely take advantage of our weakness and inflict greater losses on us, to earn the forgiveness of the Golden Roc Fort If in the support of the Central Plain, he won’t dare to react The strong get stronger, and if Shu-lik wants us to do their dirty work, we’ll ai Wenshi+’s strategy and he split the duties with the Dragon King after concluding theofficial froion, while his lord would sneak into Jade City and link up with the anti-war factions It would be the first time in three years Gu Shenwei re-entered Jade City, ever since his rebellion

The only problem left was to convince the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain