Chapter 860: Chapter 154: Winning Strategy
“The South Ridge ancestral graves have not been touched, while the opposing faction guards patrol day and night. Yet, in the past three years, not a single member of the Mi n has gone to pay their respects. Instead, it’s the Tang n Chief who goes to the Mi n cemetery each year during Qingming Festival to offer a stick of incense. Since the Mi n is united in their resolve, the Tang n Chief’s bit of kindness is truly superfluous. Elder advises him to level the graves, which might further inspire the Mi n’s ambition. What does Tiger n Chief think?”
Victors rise and losers fall, this has always been so since ancient times. In war, there’s no reasoning that allows only one side to win and not to lose. Crying out for revenge is actually just an incentive for the descendants of the Mi n, urging them not to forget the enmity of their n’s destruction and the hatred for the ughter of their kin. This serves to remind these scattered descendants how remarkable the Mi n once was.
But in fact, the surviving Mi Martial Ancestors all know that the Tang n has now be a colossal entity. In less than a year after eradicating the Mi n, they gathered the Lingjiang Seven Cities into their grip and the number of warriors from the Fierce Realm controlled by the Longxi Alliance has already broken a thousand.
This is a force that even the top ns of Longzhou must watch out for. Now with the addition of a Grandmaster like Xiao Jinlin, who stands unparalleled in his era, although they continually use revenge as their faith, with the gathering of intelligence, this desire for vengeance gradually fades.
Because every few months, there’s big news from Longzhou West, and all these news belong to the Longxi Alliance.
The corner once forgotten after the downfall of the Yun n has, because of the Longxi Alliance, returned to the sight of the families of Longzhou. Moreover, it’s growing at an astonishingly savage pace.
...
Unless there’s some great upheaval, the rise of the Longxi Alliance is unstoppable, something Mi Hu, knowledgeable about n development, is well aware of.
Facing such an enemy, the most rational decision is to give up on revenge. It’s easy to understand, after all. The Tang n gained such momentum simply because they emerged victorious in the battle of Longxi. If the victor were the Mi n, aided by seven great families and the Xiao Family, they likewise could have quickly dominated the Lingjiang Seven Cities.
It’s just a loss, after all. If there were any deep grudges, it would only be that their closest kin died at South Ridge, but hatred isn’t hereditary.
The members of the Mi n now residing in Kunwu County itch with hatred at the mere mention of the Tang n, wishing they could die together with them. But in twenty years, when they have children of their own, they can only pass down this hatred verbally.
What they must tell their children is nothing more than that they should train hard in martial arts, so that one day they might reim what the Mi n lost.
But can this loss, which doesn’t even have a video or audio record and can only be described verbally, really be understood by the next generation of children?
After three or five generations, who would still take revenge seriously? In other words, when this generation passes away, there would no longer be anyone to carry out the act of revenge.
But what is the true object of Mi Hu and hisrades’ unshakeable determination for revenge? It is the family burial ground filled with their Mi ancestors, the lineage that has been passed down from a thousand years ago, the spirit of those sages of the n who forged a path in the most barren times of Longzhou.
The Mi n of Longzhou did not start out as a group of losers from Kunwu. The reason they stayed in Kunwu is because of their roots buried in the South Ridge mountains, tens of thousands of miles to the west!
The greatest resentment the Mi n has toward the Tang n is not the defeat in the battle of Longxi, nor is it the countless n members who died fighting in South Ridge, but rather the fact that the Tang n destroyed the Mi n’s roots and broke their pride. But now, Xiao Jinlin says that the Mi n’s ancestral graves remain untouched.
But how could this be possible? The Mi n’s most elite Celestial Bird Guards slew how many members of the Tang n during their retreat from North Mountain. Such a deep blood feud cannot be appeased without digging graves and leveling mounds.
This must be a trap, one intended to lure the remaining Mi n masters into a snare. Mi Hu concluded this at once. But even if it is a trap, it’s one he cannot refuse. Right now, he wants to rush to Longxi, to see with his own eyes whether the Mi n’s family graves still exist.
If it’s still possible, can you think of a way to retrieve at least a small part of the n tomb?
A top martial artist who had achieved a divine soul, stood frozen in ce for a whole quarter of an hour before finally raising his head, seemingly having made some significant decision, asked in a raspy voice, “What does Tang Zhi want?”
With enemies who held deep-seated blood feuds, n tombs that could be destroyed with a mere wave of the hand, and the prospect of exchanging Mi Hu for Tang Zhi’s position, he truly couldn’t think of any reason that could stop the anger of his nsmen.
There was nothing more satisfying than desecrating the ancestral graves of others. It signified aplete victory, not only defeating the enemy’s present but also erasing their past.
Tang Zhi had been able to stand against popr opinion and keep the Mi n’s tomb intact, which must mean he had bigger schemes in mind. Just now, he had been trying to persuade himself without any effect. If the price for exchanging back the n tomb was his own life, he wouldn’t even frown.
However, he knew that this was certainly not what Tang Zhi wanted. Therefore, he wanted to know, what exactly did the man who single-handedly orchestrated the downfall of the Mi n over a millennium want?
“The head of the Tang n once asked me to convey a message if I encountered a descendant of the Mi n. ‘If you wish to take back the n tomb, please have the current leading member of the Mi ne to Fuling for a discussion.’”
Xiao Jinlin watched as Mi Hu’s expression went through a multitude of changes and couldn’t help but marvel at Tang Zhi’s political acumen. Over the years, he had seen numerous exceptional martial artists throughout Longzhou in his quest for the exceptional fire, but when it came to exceptional n leaders, he had only seen Tang Zhi.
After speaking, he didn’t wait for Mi Hu to respond and simply transformed into a ray of Spiritual Light and escaped, leaving only the former n leader of the Mi n standing by the Han River for a long time.
The Spiritual Light Escape Technique was a top-level Escape Technique that could be cultivated after spiritualizing the physical body, only attainable by Grandmasters. Its most significant feature was its incredible speed. In no time at all, Xiao Jinlin had crossed half the city from the edge of the Han River and returned to the Longxi courtyard behind the Wansheng Building.
As soon as he materialized, he saw Tang Luo sitting in the pavilion.
“n Head Xiao has worked hard.”
“Did Minister Luo see it all?”
“Such a unique Green-Wood Rakshasa is hard to overlook,” Tang Luo said, looking at Xiao Jinlin with curiosity, “I’m just curious, why did Grandmaster Xiao let the other two go?”
“Because keeping them alive is more useful than killing them,” Xiao Jinlin said with a smile. “In victory and defeat, one must maintain moderation. Winning everything from your opponent only forces them to desperate measures. Even if there’s a very small chance they could harm you, you must avoid it at all costs. Therefore, leaving the defeated some capital to make aeback in another world is always better than having a venomous snake by your side, constantly thinking about biting you.”
“It sounds like the rules of a slick politician,” Tang Luo asked with a smile, “but I wonder, where exactly does the n Head intend for these homeless curs to waste away?”
“Beimang.”