ChangNing’s Imperial Army

After drinking three cups of wine` , Mr. Shen eased up a little. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Chu Jianlian. “When are you planning to leave?”

Chu Jianlian put down his cup of wine and replied in a serious manner. “After I’m done doing what I have to do.”

Mr. Shen, who had just eased up a little, had a cold look on his face again. He tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically. “Last time, you called me Prince Liu’s lackey but you still considered me a good friend. Later on you insulted me by calling me a stray dog. Yet you still considered me a good friend. Right now…you can’t do that anymore?”

Chu Jianlian asked, “Did I keep telling you that I like eating dog meat?”

Mr. Shen stopped tapping his fingers against the table. The joints of his fingers went slightly pale.

“Actually, I have never eaten it before.”

Chu Jianlian stood up and his glance swept around the courtyard. “This place is not big, but it doesn’t need to be that big in the first place.”

He walked to the center of the yard and stood there before gesturing to him to go first. Mr. Shen was about to make a move but Shen Leng stopped him. Master Cha took down her sword as well, but Shen Leng pushed it back into its sheath.

“Actually, I’m not done eating.”

Shen Leng walked over to Chu Jianlian and stood in front of him. “Why the rush? Even prisoners in the prison cells eat till they are satisfied, and even get to drink some wine with their food, before they get executed. Besides, I’m the one who prepared these dishes, and the wine is also mine.”

Chu Jianlian thought about it and replied, “In that case, I will be as fast as an executioner when the time comes.”

Shen Leng cupped his fist. “Master Cha said that when she was at Mount Tingtai, you took good care of her. You taught her sword techniques and gifted her a sword. So, when I fight against you, I will deal heavier blows.”

Chu Jianlian could not understand what he just said. “I was nice to her, so you will deal heavier blows?”

“You taught her too well. In the future, when we fight, I won’t be able to win her. So it will be your fault.”

Chu Jianlian was slightly dumbfounded. After that, he shook his head and sighed. “You actually intend to fight with her.”

Shen Leng replied, “Indeed, the older people get, the craftier they become.”

Chu Jianlian gestured to him with his finger, beckoning him. “Come.”

Shen Leng said somewhat apologetically, “Please wait for me for a minute.”

He undid his outer garment and took down a small sandbag. There was a row of sandbags on each arm. But that was not all – he pulled up his trousers and there was also another row of sandbags on each calf. After he took them off, he stretched his body. Thereafter, he touched his belt; it seemed as if he was thinking of reaching in. Upon seeing that, Chu Jianlianwas taken aback. “You…even placed sandbags in there?”

At this moment, Shen Leng was in a daze. After two breaths, he realized what Chu Jianlian was trying to say. Thereafter, he burst out laughing to the extent he could not keep his balance. He squatted and supported himself with his hand against the ground. It did not seem as though they were about to fight to the death.

Mr. Shen and Shen Chayan looked at each other; they were wondering if Leng truly did not consider this fight a life or death one.

Chu Jianlian was a little spooked by his laughter. After he was certain that his conjecture was truly preposterous, he was slightly furious. “Can you be more serious?”

Shen Leng grunted and stood up. “Elder, you have to be more careful. I am very fast.”

Chu Jianlian thought about how that youth was unable to make a single attack at the manor in Dongchi not long ago. At that time, he removed the sandbags too. It was rather recent, so where did his confidence come from?

Suddenly, he heard a sound. Shen Leng stomped his foot onto the ground, causing the dust to fly up. Thereafter, he threw a punch towards Chu Jianlian’s throat…that punch was extremely ferocious and swift, as well as violent. However, Chu Jianlian was a person who conserved his energy while waiting for his opponent to exhaust himself first, after all. Hence, he only made a move after Shen Leng made his. He placed his index and middle finger together, aiming at Shen Leng’s throat.

Shen Leng threw the punch first, but it did not mean that it would strike Chu Jianlian. His two fingers were akin to a sword – regardless of how Shen Leng moved his sword, they were pointing at his throat.

But when Chu Jianlian tried to attack him with his fingers, he realized that his judgment was wrong – Shen Leng was actually aiming for his fingers.

The young and strong had more physical strength, after all.

Chu Jianlian’s fingers were like a sword but they were not truly one. Hence, naturally, his fingers could not withstand his fist.

He realized that, that young man was becoming smarter and smarter. He had only exchanged blows with him once before, and it was extremely fast. After he left, all he could think about was how to get past him the next time they met…hence, a young man as such was destined to make it big, if he did not die.

Hence, his fingers separated, brushed against Shen Leng’s fist and headed straight for Shen Leng’s heart.

Regardless of whether it was the throat or heart, they were both fatal points. Hence, no matter how one looked at it, it seemed as though Chu Jianlian was bent on killing Shen Leng. Shen Chayan, who was standing at the stone table, was already pale with fright. She hoped with every fiber of her being that Chu Jianlian’s fingers would miss.

“Stop!”

Master Cha drew out her sword.

Chu Jianlian stomped hard and a small rock flew up; when it was in mid air, Chu Jianlian flicked it with his finger and it struck Master Cha’s sword. Just when she was drawing the sword out of the sheath, it was forcefully pushed back into it.

Master Cha’s hands hurt for a bit. Be it her right hand, which was used to draw the sword, or her left hand, which was holding onto the sheath, both wrists no longer had any strength left after they started hurting.

At the same time, the two fingers of Chu Jianlian’s other hand headed straight for Shen Leng’s heart.

During the last time they exchanged blows, Chu Jianlian’s critique of Shen Leng was that he used too much strength, to the point he had no more energy left. This was the biggest difference between underworld assassins and soldiers. Assassins normally leave some leeway to change attacks, whereas soldiers go all out to kill – every single attack would be executed at full strength. Hence, there was absolutely zero leeway at all. If they could not kill their opponent, they risked getting killed instead.

Underworld assassins were more flexible, and they go through a more thorough thought process. If they could not end their enemy’s life in one attack, they were prepared to use another form of attack. This was the difference between the two groups of people, who led two different lives and took on two different approaches when it came to attacking..

In the split second when Chu Jianlian forced Master Cha’s sword back into the sheath, his delivered the fatal blow to Shen Leng’s heart at the same time. Shen Leng’s fist swept across and struck Chu Jianlian’s arm; his arm moved upwards. His fingers swept across, while Shen Leng swiftly retreated. When he lowered his head and looked, he saw that his clothes were ripped open.

Fortunately, there was no blood. His outerwear was cut open and the tear was long enough to the point that he could have taken his life.

Chu Jianlian’s eyes seemed to have lit up. When Shen Leng struck his arm hard, he took a huge step forward and pursued. He bent his arm in midair and tried to use his finger to strike Shen Leng in his temples. Shen Leng should have quickly retreated or dodged his attack, but instead, he did the same thing as Chu Jianlian…he took a step forward.

He lowered his head and body before ramming his shoulder up against Chu Jianlian’s arm. At the same time, he threw his fist towards Chu Jianlian’s lower abdomen.

Chu Jianlian grabbed Shen Leng’s wrist with his left hand and struck Shen Leng in the nape with his right elbow. Shen Leng’s legs exerted force. He rammed his shoulders forcefully into Chu Jianlian, pushing him backwards. When Chu Jianlian had finally stopped, Shen Leng had already taken the opportunity to retreat. They were about three meters away from each other now/

Those movements were extremely swift, like electricity in the wind. From the time Chu Jianlian attacked, till they separated, it only took three breaths.

“Better than the previous time.”

Chu Jianlian curled his lips. After that, he slowly put down his right hand. His put down his finger, as though he was putting his sword back into its sheath.

Shen Leng frowned slightly, “Not fighting anymore?”

Chu Jianlian grunted. “20,000 taels can only make me do so much.”

Shen Leng thought about how it was probably the coolest thing he had ever heard…20,000 taels could only buy an attack, but what if one attack could not take away that person’s life? They would then have no choice but to pay him more.

Shen Leng finally relaxed his body. He felt somewhat terrible. He gathered all his strength and was prepared to fight to the death, and yet Chu Jianlian stopped fighting after their first attack. Absolutely void of professional ethics.

Chu Jianlian returned to the stone table below the eaves and sat down. He lifted his cup of wine and drank everything at one go. “The wine burns. It’s not nice to drink at all.”

With much difficulty, Shen Leng managed to recover some energy. He walked back to where he was originally at and sat down. “Saves money. The stronger the wine is, the more money I get to save.”

Chu Jianlian looked at Mr. Shen’s pale face, before looking at Shen Chayan’s face, which was equally pale.

“I said before that I would pay him a visit. If he’s not good enough for you, I would kill him. There is no point in keeping a person who is not good enough for you and yet distracts you from learning sword techniques at the same time. You can’t bear to kill him, and neither can Shen Xiaosong. So I will be the one who does it.”

Chu Jianlian ate a mouthful of food. Even though it was slightly cold, it still tasted as good as before. Perhaps, it could be attributed to the compatibility of the two young people.

“Barely.”

He looked at Shen Leng. “But you’re good enough for her.”

Shen Chayan was still as tense as ever. “What if he couldn’t block your earlier attack?”

“Then I would have killed him.”

Mr. Shen was very furious. “Don’t you know how important he is?”

Chu Jianlian spoke in a calm tone, “What has how important he is got to do with me?

Mr. Shen could not say a single word all of a sudden. In truth, Chu Jianlian was right – what did it have to do with him?”

“But…actually, I did not have to attack him.”

Chu Jianlian spoke as he ate, “Because of the tasty food you made, it somewhat reduced my desire to kill you…at the very least, you will be eating well for the rest of your life. Good food, beautiful clothes and a nice house; bearing and raising children; becoming a harmonious married couple. “

He felt that even when the food was paired with the strong and harsh wine, it was still extremely flavorful. Hence, he decided to stay for two more days.

“But you still attacked anyway.”

The look on Shen Chayan’s face was still as cold as ever.

“So what? I don’t think it was wrong of me to do that. I don’t want you to only be happy and blissful, I want you to be successful as well…do you think my disciple will bear and raise children for a man because of good food alone? I personally find that hard to accept. That sort of bliss is not good enough for you either.”

Shen Leng sat there without saying anything the entire time. All of a sudden, he started laughing.

Chu Jianlian asked, ‘What are you laughing at?”

Shen Leng laughed and said, “All of a sudden, I feel that I’m really awesome.”

Chu Jianlian thought for a moment. “Indeed.”

Shen Chayan replied, “Of course!”

Mr. Shen added, “Bullshit.”

Mr. Shen did not expect the three people to respond to what he said. Thereafter, he laughed heartily.

Mr. Shen asked, “Did you consider what would happen if you really killed him?”

“If I really want to kill someone, is there anyone in this world who can stop me?

Mr. Shen answered without hesitating, “If one on one, no.”

Chu Jianlian said, “There is.”

“Who?”

“Myself.”

After Chu Jianlian said that, he took out a few sheets of kraft paper and placed it on the desk. “My disciple, who has been staring at me, hurry keep these. Perhaps in the future, I might not be able to attend your wedding feast. However, a congratulatory gift is a must. After all, I am your teacher…If Shen Xiaosong cannot be counted as the maternal side of the family, I can. Hence, this can be considered to be your dowry.”

“What…are they?”

“The title deeds.’

Chu Jianlian said plainly, “After I earned 20,000 taels of silver, I could not think of where to spend it on. I heard that the land in Changan is the most expensive, so I went to look for some bigger houses. Initially, I wanted to choose one and purchase it as your dowry. The few houses I went to looked rather decent. I could not decide which one, so I bought them all. In the future, if I go to Changan, I’ll have a place to stay. I’ll take it as I’m staying at my daughter’s house…Anyang is too small, and so is the Navy. Ultimately, you will have to move to Changan.”

He tapped his finger on the table. “Why are you not pouring the wine?”

Shen Leng stared blankly.

Master Cha asked, “Why are you not pouring the wine?!”

Shen Leng replied, “Ok, ok, ok, ok!”