Chapter 115: Many Minds, Many Agendas

Qiu Xiang took Ye Xin into the tent alone and questioned him about a few matters. The warhorses had already been prepared. After entrusting the withdrawal arrangements to the other camp commanders, he mounted up and galloped alone toward Nine Cauldron City, pursuing Tie Xinsheng.

Ye Xin had become the core of the Martial Valor Camp. In the space of only a few hours, his name had been repeated tens of thousands of times. Almost every student was discussing Ye Xin and his Wolf Riders with his companions.

Ye Ling, Wen Rong, and the others appeared remarkably calm. Though accompanying Ye Xin on this campaign had perhaps done little to increase their strength, it had broadened their horizons immensely and opened their minds in ways they had never imagined. For the first time, they understood that sheer force could not solve everything. Zhuang Buxiu had been powerful enough—within the nine great kingdoms, at least, he could have ranked among the supreme experts. Yet after Ye Xin set his sights on him, Zhuang Buxiu had been led around by the nose from beginning to end, only to be assassinated by his own people in the end. It was both pitiful and lamentable.

The excited screams of the Martial Valor Camp students seemed childish in their eyes. In less than a month, they and the other students had become lives existing on entirely different levels.

When they returned to the Fifth Camp’s tent, the students led by Li Chonglou had accompanied Wen Rong and the others all the way there. Their eyes were filled with awe. After all, Ye Xin had slain Zhuang Buxiu, the commander-in-chief of Great Zhao’s army, in the midst of battle. Even the dullest person could tell that luck alone could never account for such a feat.

Once inside, Ye Xin set the Godslayer Saber aside, then lifted the little purple marten from the pouch at his waist. The fighting should be coming to a temporary end. Zhuang Buxiu’s death would leave Jiang Neng, ruler of Great Zhao, utterly stunned. For the next few months, all his energy would be spent licking his wounds and rearranging the pieces on the board. It was impossible for him to launch another war.

He simply did not know how the Blood Mountain Legion of Great Yu was faring, or whether Mo Yan had made any mistakes. There were still many matters for him to assess and plan.

“With this great victory, His Majesty will certainly reward you handsomely. At last, the clouds have parted and you can see the moon,” Shen Miao said softly. Her use of “you” clearly included Ye Xin and Ye Ling, though it was impossible to know whether Wen Rong was included as well.

“That’s right. Marshal Wei has earned guilt without merit in this battle, and the Grand Tutor accomplished nothing of note either. Only the Wolf Riders have won extraordinary honors,” Shao Xue said. “I doubt it will be long before Brother Xin reorganizes the Heavenly Wolf Legion.”

Ever since Zhuang Buxiu’s death, the way they addressed Ye Xin had changed. Even Xiang Wangmeng now called him Brother Xin. Partly, this was to express their closeness to him; partly, their former manner of address had been too disrespectful. True experts had to be treated with proper reverence.

“Brother hasn’t even turned twenty. I’m afraid that’s unlikely,” Ye Ling said, shaking her head.

She was somewhat worried. Before long, Ye Xin would become a household name and a great hero throughout the entire Great Wei kingdom. His rise had been too swift, too astonishing. Although she had long known that her brother possessed extraordinary strength, she still found it difficult to adapt.

“Great aspirations are not measured by age. So what if he hasn’t turned twenty?” Shao Xue curled her lip. “The Grand Tutor may be old enough, but he contributed not the slightest thing to this battle. He merely led the army on a tour of the northern front. Not a single battle was fought!”

“That’s right. If His Majesty still refuses to let Brother Xin command an army after this, would that not chill the hearts of everyone under heaven?” Shen Miao said.

“Brother, what do you think?” Ye Ling asked, turning to Ye Xin.

“How do you see it, Wen Rong?” Ye Xin opened his eyes and smiled at her.

“It is virtually certain that Brother Xin will be given command of an army. Great Zhao has the vigorous Xiao Demon Finger and the younger Yu Dao, while among Great Wei’s young generals, no one can stand against either of them. Brother Xin’s emergence has filled that gap. This is no longer something His Majesty can decide on his own. No matter what, he must employ Brother Xin. Before such an overwhelming tide, even His Majesty will have to yield.”

Seeing that Ye Xin had deliberately asked for her opinion, Wen Rong’s face flushed faintly.

“However, Brother Xin’s future will not be easy.”

“What do you mean?” Ye Ling asked, startled.

“There are things you understand without my having to say them. The Wolf Marshal is the cause behind it all. How could His Majesty possibly feel at ease? He will certainly send someone to counterbalance Brother Xin,” Wen Rong said. “Besides, when there are more people, there are more conflicting hearts. Let me give the simplest example. When my father served as Military Inspector, he was once trapped at Two-Dragon Shoal. Only the Wolf Marshal led his troops to rescue him. The battle was exceptionally fierce. In truth, Marshal Wei could have dispatched another relief force and easily broken the encirclement, but he was angered that the Wolf Marshal had disobeyed his orders and refused to move. He did not merely wish to sit back and watch the Wolf Marshal make a fool of himself—he may even have intended to kill two birds with one stone. Alas... the human heart is the most frightening thing of all.”

“Exactly!” Shao Xue said solemnly. “The reason we managed to kill Zhuang Buxiu in battle was mainly because Brother Xin achieved victory through surprise. Besides, the Wolf Riders are all dependable, and we would never undermine Brother Xin. But once there are more people, quality becomes uneven. Someone might not want to see Brother Xin earn another great achievement. They might even deliberately send word to Great Zhao and plunge him into danger!”

“Yes,” Wen Rong said, nodding repeatedly. “Such things will certainly happen one after another.”

“There were even spies among the Wolf Riders!” Ye Ling could not help saying.

Wen Rong and the others grew grave. The matter had long since been brought into the open, and Qiu Jiejian had blamed himself for it for a very long time. He had never imagined that one of his old comrades could actually be a spy for Great Zhao. Fortunately, Ye Xin had discovered him. Otherwise, the losses inflicted upon everyone would have been incalculable. Quite apart from anything else, the ambush they had designed for Zhuang Buxiu might not have gone so smoothly. They might even have fallen into Zhuang Buxiu’s trap instead, and Yu Dao’s situation would have become perilous as well.

Ye Xin watched with a smile as Wen Rong and the others discussed the matter. Everyone said that truly gifted people were rare, but in Ye Xin’s view, as long as one knew how to discover and cultivate talent, talented people could be found everywhere. What was rare were talented people who could be trusted.

The soldiers of the Heaven’s Punishment Camp were still too few. If he wanted to control the national artifact and, through it, control Great Wei, he would need assistance from every direction—and he would have to have reasons to trust those people.

Behind Shen Miao stood Shen Wangji. Behind Shao Xue stood the largest merchant consortium in Great Wei. If he could bring Shen Miao and Shao Xue onto his side, he would gain two powerful sources of support.

Wen Rong’s position was somewhat special. Though the Wen family had cast her out, Wen Hongren and Wen Rong were both trendsetters whose stances influenced others. When Tie Xinsheng had humiliated the Ye family during the court deliberations, Wen Hongren had stepped forward, stripped Tie Xinsheng of his dignity, and publicly declared his intention to marry Wen Rong to Ye Xin. From a certain perspective, whether Ye Xin treated Wen Hongren and Wen Rong well had become a symbol of whether he himself adhered to righteousness.

Of course, these conclusions had been reached on a cold, purely logical level, without the slightest personal emotion involved. But Ye Xin was a man with feelings. In truth, he could have endured a little longer, and there was a good chance he could have accepted the national artifact peacefully. The reason he was acting with such urgency was not merely the involvement of the sects. More importantly, he had already guessed what Tie Xinsheng would do next.

Ye Xin could not bear it.

At that moment, a commotion rose outside. Then Xiang Wangmeng charged into the tent. He hurried several steps toward Ye Xin, reached out, and struck him heavily in the chest with his fist. Then, as if possessed, he shouted, “Brother Xin, you’ve done something incredible! Something incredible! How could you leave me out? Damn it, if I’d known, I would have followed you long ago!”

Tie Shudeng entered soon afterward. His gaze swept over Wen Rong, his expression darkening briefly, before he turned toward Ye Xin. A smile once more appeared on his face.

“Little Xin, you’re truly amazing! Our First Camp admits defeat wholeheartedly!”

“Hehe. I was merely lucky,” Ye Xin said with a smile.

“To hell with luck! Are you taking us for fools?” Xiang Wangmeng shouted.

“Little Xin, Wangmeng is right,” Tie Shudeng said with a sigh. “If it had been us, let alone whether we could have pulled it off—even if the opportunity had been placed right in front of us, we would never have dared touch the tiger’s backside. Wouldn’t that be courting death?”

“Brother Xin, tell us. How exactly did you do it?” Xiang Wangmeng’s eyes were as wide as brass bells. He had originally intended to question Ye Xin privately when no one else was around, but after seeing Ye Xin, he simply could not restrain himself.

“It really was luck,” Ye Xin said with a smile. “At first, I merely wanted to take the Wolf Riders into Great Zhao’s interior. With their homeland left empty, I planned to wander about and take advantage wherever I could. I never expected to capture an enemy general while taking Old Dragon Pass. Only after interrogating him did I learn that he was Zhuang Buxiu’s most beloved grandson, Zhuang Shanyuan. I heard that Zhuang Buxiu treasured him as the jewel of the Zhuang family, so I came up with an idea. I wanted to see whether I could lure Zhuang Buxiu out. As it turned out, he really did fall for it.”

“And what could you do after luring him out? That was Zhuang Buxiu!” Tie Shudeng let out a long breath. Although he already knew the outcome, he was still astonished by the absurdity of Ye Xin’s idea at the time.

“Since he cared so much about his grandson, I had nothing to fear,” Ye Xin said, looking entirely relaxed. “Besides, I had the Wolf Riders beneath my command. If we couldn’t beat them, we could always flee. Those few Crimson Steeds were only capable of swallowing our dust from behind. What did I have to worry about?”

That was exactly what he had told Qiu Xiang when the latter asked him for the detailed account. Logically speaking, it barely held together.

“Your courage was truly excessive,” Tie Shudeng said with a wry smile. “We grew up together, after all. I never imagined you could be this reckless!”

“What does that count as? I think bullying Tie Renhao when we were children was the truly insane thing. We even dared provoke the Crown Prince,” Ye Xin said with a laugh. “Besides, I was already in an invincible position. If I didn’t even dare try, I would have brought shame upon Father Marshal.”

“And that one attempt won you an achievement that will be remembered for ages!” A flicker passed through Tie Shudeng’s eyes. “But getting Zhuang Buxiu executed can’t have been that easy, can it?”

“Now that I think about it, it was rather hair-raising,” Ye Xin said. “I led the Wolf Riders in alternating between negotiating with Zhuang Buxiu and running from him. We wore them down for four whole days and nights. I refused to release his grandson, so Zhuang Buxiu had no choice but to follow us. The Boundless Heaven Wolves were much faster than the Crimson Steeds, which meant we always had time to catch our breath. But during those four days and nights, Zhuang Buxiu never even managed to close his eyes. By the end, he was utterly exhausted.”

“Brother Xin, after earning such a tremendous achievement, His Majesty will certainly let you command an army independently,” Xiang Wangmeng said ingratiatingly. “Could you save a place for me? From now on, I’ll follow you!”