Chapter 632 - 262: The Fiercest Spear Thrust
"Master Guo, for now, we’ve only concluded that Chu Lingguang has been bewitched by a demon. If he stubbornly refuses to give us information on this demon’s identity, then he will be branded as a collaborator. When that happens, forget being a Captain—he won’t even have the right to live as a common citizen."
"He might even have his cultivation crippled."
Lin Jiangkun declared, his voice ringing with finality.
Guo Wei shuddered and stumbled back two steps.
He had placed great hopes in Chu Lingguang, his most prized Disciple. He had even come to see Chu Lingguang as he did Guo Xiaotian. Hearing Lin Jiangkun’s choice of words, he fought to suppress a boiling rage.
"I am his master. I want to know everything. How did you come to believe he colluded with a demon? Why would the Court go so far as to... to demote him to the West Warehouse?"
Guo Wei said, forcing himself to remain calm.
"Chu Lingguang led a surprise attack on the Turkic Headquarters with ten thousand men. He not only won a decisive victory but also returned with two thousand survivors. Don’t you find that a little strange, Master Guo?"
A man in a white official’s hat standing beside Lin Jiangkun spoke up.
He was Lin Jiangkun’s subordinate, yet he held a position of significant power within the Demon Suppression Bureau—even higher than that of Hu Yanlin’s master, He Mingxuan.
"What’s so strange about that?"
Guo Wei asked, baffled.
"The Court never believed for a second that Chu Lingguang’s ten thousand men could eliminate the forces at the Turkic Headquarters. He only achieved such a decisive victory because he had help from a Wolf Demon,"
the third man, who had been silent until now, explained.
"If that’s the case, then this Wolf Demon also indirectly helped resolve the crisis in Yunchuan City. Why would the Court make trouble for Lin Guang and the Wolf Demon?"
Guo Wei finally understood.
’The Court had initially treated Chu Lingguang as cannon fodder. They never expected him to win, merely sending him and his ten thousand men to their deaths to buy time against the Turkic Army’s advance.’
’But against all odds, a Wolf Demon helped Chu Lingguang achieve a decisive victory.’
’After the Yunchuan City crisis was averted...’
’...instead of rewarding Chu Lingguang immediately, the Court held him accountable for colluding with the Wolf Demon and demoted him to Captain of the West Warehouse.’
As he pieced the entire sequence of events together, Guo Wei was overcome with a murderous rage.
He knew Chu Lingguang’s character.
’Fiercely loyal, honorable, and always one to repay a debt of gratitude.’
’To repay his master’s kindness, he had cultivated diligently to become an Advanced Scholar, which in turn allowed Guo Wei to be smoothly granted the title of Martial Arts Grandmaster and secured Guo Xiaotian’s freedom.’
’To repay Yan Zhen for saving his life, he had abandoned his own chances for advancement during the Imperial Examination, turning back alone to come to Yan Zhen’s aid.’
One righteous, honorable deed after another surfaced in Guo Wei’s mind.
’Just imagine,’ he thought, ’if a Wolf Demon truly did help Chu Lingguang achieve a decisive victory, allowing him and over two thousand of his men to return to Wolf Valley Pass alive... with Chu Lingguang’s character, how could he possibly betray the identity of his benefactor?’
At that moment, Guo Wei could almost see it: Chu Lingguang, fresh from his decisive victory, eagerly awaiting the Court’s reward at Wolf Valley Pass, already planning which Cultivation Technique he would practice first upon entering Yuanchu Mountain.
Then, at the peak of his excitement...
...officials from the Court appeared before him. They didn’t come bearing rewards, but two prepared edicts. The first demanded he reveal the Wolf Demon’s identity.
’Cooperate obediently, do as you’re told.’
’A limitless future awaits. Entry into Yuanchu Mountain.’
’Obtain immortal Cultivation Techniques, transcend the mortal coil.’
But his disciple, who had always valued honor and loyalty, refused these temptations. He remained tight-lipped, refusing to divulge the Wolf Demon’s identity. And so, the Court issued its second edict, demoting him to Captain of the West Warehouse.
In that instant, Guo Wei seemed to have aged decades.
’He knew Chu Lingguang was young,’ he thought. ’He might not be able to withstand such a blow. I wonder how he is now.’
He couldn’t stop himself from heading toward the stables. He had to go to the West Warehouse now and find Chu Lingguang. He was worried his disciple would be so disheartened that he might do something reckless.
’My disciple has been wronged.’
’As his master, if I can’t stand up for him and demand justice, the least I can do is go and comfort him.’
As for writing a personal letter, siding with the Court, and advising Chu Lingguang to betray his own principles by revealing the Wolf Demon’s identity... Guo Wei couldn’t bring himself to do it.
"Master Guo, where are you going?"
Lin Jiangkun blocked Guo Wei’s path.
"I’m going to see my disciple. Move!"
Guo Wei said grimly.
"You’re going to persuade Chu Lingguang to reveal the Wolf Demon’s identity in person?"
Lin Jiangkun asked, pleasantly surprised.
"My disciple is no liar. If he says he doesn’t have any information on the Wolf Demon, then he doesn’t. A letter from me would be useless."
Guo Wei sneered.
"Master Guo, do you intend to defy the Court as well? To push Chu Lingguang into a position beyond redemption?"
Lin Jiangkun said sternly.
Guo Wei flinched.
’Beyond redemption?’
’Does that mean the Court will kill Chu Lingguang if he persists in his refusal to reveal the Wolf Demon’s identity?’
A sharp pain lanced through Guo Wei’s heart.
"HAHAHAHA!"
He couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh.
"A demon? What is a demon?"
"A being that averted the crisis in Yunchuan City and saved countless people from disaster—that is what you brand a demon? Even if a Wolf Demon did assist my disciple in his great victory, what crime has he committed?"
"If you want to know who the Wolf Demon is, why don’t you investigate it yourselves instead of forcing my disciple? What are your true intentions? And now you’ve come here to me? Do you take me, Guo Wei, for a pushover?!"
Guo Wei roared, his anger finally erupting.
He spun around, and with a pull of his will, a nine-foot black Long Spear flew from the Soldier Landing Platform into his hand. He immediately unleashed his Flying Leaf Lotus Spear technique, its phantom strikes blanketing all three men.
"Guo Wei!"
"How dare you!"
The three men were enraged.
But Guo Wei still had his uses.
Lin Jiangkun quickly ordered his men to fall back and keep their distance from Guo Wei. He then said in a grave, earnest tone, "Master Guo, that Wolf Demon may not have lost its humanity yet. But once it transforms into a true monster, the repercussions will be endless. The death toll will only climb higher."
"Spare me your nonsense!"
"If Yunchuan City had fallen, the vast plains of Mazhou Prefecture and Qiling Prefecture would have been turned to ash beneath the hooves of the Turkic Iron Cavalry! That is what you call an incalculable death toll! My disciple saved all those people, yet the Court repays kindness with malice! Is there any justice left in this world?"
Guo Wei demanded.
He didn’t believe a word of that crap about a demon bringing disaster to the world and causing endless trouble. ’Even if it weren’t a lie, what does that have to do with Chu Lingguang?’
’How could the Court be so malicious? It’s one thing to deny him a title and promotion, but to demote him to Captain of the West Warehouse? And now they come to incite me to force a confession out of him.’
Guo Wei knew that if he actually wrote that letter, it would be tantamount to plunging a knife into Chu Lingguang’s heart.
Guo Wei couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.
"Master Guo, do not speak so recklessly. The Court’s rewards and punishments are fair and distinct. If not for Chu Lingguang’s obstinance, a brilliant future would have already been his for the taking."
"Now, because of him alone, the families of the more than seven thousand soldiers who died at the Turkic-held Wolf Valley Pass will receive no compensation. The two thousand-plus soldiers who returned with him have been stripped of their military rank and deprived of all pay. All of this is because of Chu Lingguang’s selfish actions. I hope, Master Guo, that you can see the bigger picture and persuade him to pull back from the brink. It is not too late to mend the damage!"
Lin Jiangkun urged.
He hoped that by invoking the futures of those two thousand men and the restless souls of the seven thousand dead, he could make Guo Wei understand the gravity of the situation and stop being so stubborn.
"What did you just say?"
"PTUH!"
But for the ever-loyal and righteous Guo Wei, it would have been better not to have heard it. The instant he heard how cruel and ungrateful the Court was—daring to punish those soldiers as well—he couldn’t control the roiling of his Qi Blood. He was so enraged that he let out a choked cry and spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Before, he had thought that Chu Lingguang alone had suffered this injustice. He imagined his disciple leaving Wolf Valley Pass, seething with resentment, feeling that the Court had acted indiscriminately, wronging and misunderstanding him.
But now, imagining Chu Lingguang discovering that the families of the seven thousand dead and the two thousand victorious survivors had all been abandoned by the Court because of him... what heights would his disciple’s resentment and fury reach?
Guo Wei was terrified that Chu Lingguang, unable to contain himself, had already done something extreme.
’If it were me,’ he thought, ’with my temper... if I had suffered such injustice, seen so many others implicated because of me, seen the Court I served prove itself worthless and the emperor I revered reveal himself to be inhumane... I’m afraid I would have carved a path of bloody destruction.’
’I might have even charged all the way to the Imperial City, ready to die and never retreat!’
"Master Guo, calm yourself. Chu Lingguang’s life is in your hands now. Will you write the letter or not?"
Not wanting to waste any more time on Guo Wei, Lin Jiangkun demanded.
As he spoke, he began to gather his power. It was clear he had been given an order: if Guo Wei refused to cooperate, he was to be struck down on the spot.
Guo Wei could feel the fluctuations of Lin Jiangkun’s power.
He also knew that the two men behind Lin Jiangkun were both stronger than him. He stood no chance of winning against even one of them, let alone all three.
’But so what?’
He rose to his feet.
He wiped the tip of the spear with his sleeve. ’This is the spear Chu Lingguang used in his training. Today, I will use this very spear to demand justice for him.’
"HRAAAGH!"
Flying Leaf Lotus Spear, First Form: Thrust—a blanketing attack!
The White Tiger within his Dantian roared.
A single thrust of his spear enveloped all three men at once!
In the final round of the Palace Examination’s Martial Arts Examination, Chu Lingguang, at the mere Qi Sea Realm, had unleashed his ultimate spear thrust against three True Martial Realm masters. Now, Guo Wei, his master, would do the same for Chu Lingguang’s sake—and unleash this very same, vicious thrust!