Chapter 194: Chapter 193: Blue Flame, think carefully about your past actions
Of course, Le Yuxin and the others couldn’t just walk up to Lan Jianbo and start drinking and feasting; they still had to go through a layer of security.
He didn’t know about other armies, but the three allied armies consolidated by Lan Jianbo had almost fused together without delay, strictly disciplined and heavily guarded.
Although the Linhai Army’s three defensive lines all wore deep blue-themed uniforms, there were slight differences between them—about as much difference as sweet tofu pudding, spicy tofu pudding, and salty tofu pudding. Naturally, Le Yuxin’s group could easily tell that the camp was a mix of all three lines.
"Mixing armies was a major military taboo," he thought, "I still remembered how in Heroes of Might and Magic 3, mixing races in armies would reduce morale. In real life, it could only be much worse."
"Accents, factions, habits... there were just too many reasons for conflict, not to mention how the three defensive lines had always been rubbing each other raw fighting over supplies in the past. Even if the Linhai Army started a mutiny right now, I wouldn’t be surprised."
Though unifying the three armies required a whole organizational structure and not just Lan Jianbo’s individual effort, the fact that he’d achieved this after taking power was enough to prove his leadership ability.
"Le Yuxin felt a little conflicted inside."
After all, he used to just think Lan Jianbo was a bit of a scheming upstart, betraying Ding Yi in every possible way to throw in with Lv Zhong. A guy who grabbed power like that, with neither talent nor prestige, would never last long—even if he made it to the top, he might get dragged out and beheaded one day just for, say, ’stepping into the hall with his left foot first.’
Yet, he never imagined that after taking power, Lan Jianbo would really keep getting better and show even more abilities.
"Instead of saying good men die young and bad men live a thousand years, isn’t it more like, damn, if you’re this capable, why do you insist on taking the hardest route to promotion? Are you leveling up in the kiddie pool for fun?"
"Maybe that’s why everybody thinks about rebelling? The class rigidity in Glory has gotten to the point that even someone like Lan Jianbo has to become a lackey and traitor just to have a shot at power?"
As they handed over their items for inspection, Le Yuxin suddenly asked, "Captain Yin, I remember that the old Linhai military ranks were Xiehai Lieutenant, Deputy Haimaster, and Zhenghai General, but they seem different now?"
Yin Guyue gave a smile that never touched his eyes, "To be precise, what you mentioned are just the ’Hai’ ranks of the Suncoast Defensive Line. Besides that, there’s the ’Lin’ ranks of the Swallow Dock Line, and the ’Deng’ ranks of the Sirius Lighthouse... General Lan is now heading up a reform to unify all ranks as ’Xuan’ ranks."
Le Yuxin exclaimed, "Truly, the scattered Chenfeng lives up to its name."
Suddenly, Yin Guyue stepped forward, pinched a strand of black hair between his fingers from Chen Chenchen. "Hey, why are you two gentlemen over there staring at Young Master Chen’s long hair? Hm, smells kind of funny..."
Chen Chenchen replied coolly, "I haven’t showered in two days."
Qin Le Yin said, "Honestly, they’re not looking at the hair; they’re looking at Young Master Chen himself. He isn’t really close with our circle, and he hasn’t talked to us at all on the way here. We’re pretty curious about him."
Just then a soldier pulled out a purple veil, thin as cicada wings, from Chen Chenchen’s pocket. Yin Guyue gave it a look, and everyone tensed up inside.
Chen Chenchen didn’t react at all, just waited for the soldier to put the veil back in his pocket.
"Forgive my rudeness," Yin Guyue let go of the strand, "Once we’ve confirmed you’re not carrying any dangerous items, General Lan will dine with you. After all, there’s no mountain and sea delicacies here, just some rabbits and wild boar at best. Hope everyone doesn’t mind."
"No problem."
Watching Chen Chenchen pass the inspection, Le Yuxin and the others all quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"They’d been wondering before they set out: how would the white-haired assassin get into the camp? Hiding his hair wouldn’t work, the Linhai Army wasn’t filled with idiots—white-haired assassins were famous through the ages, of course they’d check your hair color."
"Buzzcut? That could work, but Le Yuxin knew a big part of a white-haired assassin’s power came from their hair—in a way, it was their mana bar. The more and longer the hair, the more explosive they were in the dark."
"Being bald was basically a death sentence for a white-haired assassin. Of course, plenty of white-haired assassins never lived long enough to lose their hair anyway, some even died before they grew a full head."
"So when they saw Chen Chenchen actually show up with a head of black hair, everyone was totally stunned."
"You guys can dye your hair?!"
"Though dyeing hair wasn’t exactly high tech, you could dye fabric, so of course you could dye hair too. But this was a mental blind spot, because in everyone’s minds—Silver Blood Association included—the stereotype about white-haired assassins was ’hiding their identity,’ ’staying undercover.’ But if a white-haired assassin dyed his hair black, he could strut around in plain sight!"
"Some people even felt a deep fear of white-haired assassins—Silver Blood Association trusted them not only because they were big clients, but because they understood them."
"But Chen Chenchen’s fresh new trick had destroyed the white-haired assassin’s biggest survival obstacle. Even if you check everyone’s hair, there’s no way to guarantee the person beside you isn’t a white-haired assassin!"
But Chen Chenchen also explained: basically, hair dye technology was still really bad—unless you were out of options, no assassin wanted to dye their hair, because it trashed the hair quality. There were some assassins who lost eighty percent of their hair after three dye jobs, basically ending their careers in advance.
For jobs like assassinating a general, dyeing hair was a must—otherwise you literally couldn’t get close, which meant very few assassins were willing to take these missions.
But the Silver Blood Association was offering just too much money this time.
Even though Chen Chenchen explained clearly, anyone from Silver Blood left a mental sticky note about it. Though of course, the Assassin Organization had factored that in—you knowing about it didn’t help you anyway.
The only real weakness of white-haired assassins (short lifespan didn’t count) was their white hair; apart from that, no one else could reliably identify them.
"Before, dyeing just wasn’t an option; now it was—maybe that’s what technology’s done for the assassin business."
The group reached the center of the camp, and even the gutsy Luo Zhen broke into a cold sweat just standing there.
"No matter who you were, walking past rows and rows of soldiers with real guns would make anyone nervous staring down the barrels."
"Especially since this time, they were here to cause trouble."
If that kid who peed himself before came here, he’d probably drop a load too.
"Not bad, right?" Yin Guyue said calmly, "Linhai Army isn’t eyeing Dongyang, just temporarily stationed at Nanyang Pass, Tongling Town, and Sun Shadow Valley. Only a third of our strength is here, but it’s more than enough to turn this position into a fortress."
"I don’t mean to target any of you, but if the Heyang Army came at us full force, we’d still be confident in making sure they’d suffer heavy losses."
"No argument here," Ting Chaozao replied, not the least bit angry, "Heyang Army really should learn from Linhai Army—hopefully after this joint exercise, they’ll actually take away some lessons."
"Lessons are learned too slowly," Yin Guyue laughed, "Why not have General Lan teach you some advanced military training methods?"
"Is that General Lan’s official stance?" Quan Xin’s tone grew serious.
Advanced military training methods?
How is that any different from a guy telling a woman, ’Let me pass on some ancestral chromosomes to you’?
Does Linhai Army want to swallow up Heyang Army?
"No, that’s just my opinion," Yin Guyue shrugged, "Chenfeng is so boring, I want to hang out in Xuanzhu County for a while... By the way, I’ve been following Youth Daily for ages—Young Master Jing, can’t you do a daily edition? Weekly is just not enough!"
Le Yuxin shot back, "How about three times a day?"
"Oh hell yeah, absolutely!"
"I’m not so sure about that."
Chatting as they walked, they arrived at what was clearly a renovated old factory building. Yin Guyue made a gesture, and the two soldiers at the door swung open the gates.
Lan Jianbo exclaimed, "General Lan actually works here?"
Yin Guyue showed a wry smile, "Works? General Lan eats, drinks, sleeps, and...does everything here."
"Isn’t there a manor in town? Why not..."
"Actually, I did suggest General Lan stay in Xuanzhu County as a guest—I hear the Xuanzhu Xiangxue Sea is pretty amazing, wanted to check it out with General Lan... But, he’s strict with himself, doesn’t touch a drop on campaign, eats and sleeps with the soldiers."
"Thanks to you all visiting, General Lan finally gets a decent meal tonight."
Yin Guyue read off flatly, "We all deeply admire General Lan."
The Silver Blood Association guys traded looks, a dark feeling bubbling up inside.
"Guys like this, disciplined to a fault, were always the toughest nuts for Silver Blood to crack—you liked money, they’d throw money, you liked women, they’d hook you up with one a day for a year until you dropped from kidney failure."
"But guys who only chased success and ambition? Silver Blood had nothing to offer them."
Because those people, they had to reach the very top—nothing less would do.
Though the factory was big, it didn’t feel empty—there were more than ten armed soldiers, and with Le Yuxin’s group, there were enough people for a party.
A man wearing glasses with a friendly smile, clad in the deep blue uniform, sat at the twelve o’clock of the table, facing the door, beaming as he welcomed his guests.
"Welcome, friends of the Silver Blood Association."
Lan Jianbo adjusted his glasses, speaking warmly, "I’m Lan Jianbo, Commander of Linhai’s First Division, Zhengxuan General. Silver Blood Association agreeing to my bold request is truly touching and deeply appreciated. Please, have a seat."
The table was rectangular—those on the sides sat closer to Lan Jianbo, and the seat directly opposite was the farthest away. Le Yuxin, being assertive, took that C position without hesitation. No one cared about his little plot—or rather, they were too distracted to bother.
To be fair, Lan Jianbo didn’t emit any ’aura,’ ’spiritual pressure,’ or ’vibes.’ He just sat there, plain and ordinary. But that alone made the wealthy, inexperienced Silver Blood sons feel suffocated.
"Back in Xuanzhu County, they were always top dogs. Even the Heyang Governor of Xuanzhu could only punish—never kill them."
"They had the privilege of saying, ’Do you know who my father is? You can’t kill me,’ and others really did keep their distance."
Now, though, the man sitting before them could decide their life and death as he pleased.
Just knowing that was enough to leave them gasping for air.
"Someone who’s never been an ant before will be terrified at the moment they realize how small they are."
"Please, take a seat," Lan Jianbo repeated. His voice seemed to have some magic—everyone gradually calmed down and obediently sat where they were told.
Ting Chaozao took a long breath and said slowly, "General Lan, we are here on behalf of the Silver Blood Association president, as you invited. May I ask..."
"Business can wait," Lan Jianbo replied, "You’ve all traveled far and must be tired. Chenfeng always had a tradition of talking business over a meal. I hope Silver Blood won’t mind?"
"Not at all, not at all."
Lan Jianbo snapped his fingers, "Then serve the food."
Le Yuxin looked at Lan Jianbo, feeling unusually calm inside.
"He’d thought that seeing Lan Jianbo again would stir up all kinds of emotions. After all, Qian Yuliu and Yin Yinyin’s deaths were tied to him; he was the biggest winner of the city-capture plot, the schemer who made Star Engraving and White Night’s efforts go to waste."
Hatred?
Resentment?
Fear?
No, none of that.
"The only thing left in Le Yuxin’s mind was—how to work with Chen Chenchen to kill Lan Jianbo!"
"It had nothing to do with hatred or gain. Le Yuxin just wanted to stir things up for the hell of it. There were so few things in this world that actually interested him—like the Divine Demon Well, divine weapons, overturning Silver Blood, flipping the Imperial Court, liberating humanity, Qing Lan... and now, Lan Jianbo."
"If anything, his mood should be, ’Damn, this kid’s terrifying, let me up the difficulty for him a little’?"
"He was really curious whether Lan Jianbo would survive this assassination attempt!"
"Old grudges and present interests just gave Le Yuxin an excuse to act. But his real motivation was that he just wanted to have fun... no, to challenge Lan Jianbo to a duel!"
"Like playing Battle Cards—if you don’t duel better opponents, how are you ever going to improve?"
"Lan Jianbo, you better think hard about everything you’ve done before!"
"Every effect has its cause—your disaster is me!"
During the downtime as dishes arrived, Lan Jianbo started chatting about the business association. He never put on airs, curiously asking about business operations, factory experience, trade routes—the sort of stuff everyone had heard before. Ting Chaozao and the others soon got into the swing of the conversation, and in no time they were laughing it up with the general and the atmosphere lightened up.
When the subject turned to White Night burning down half of Half City, Luo Zhen grumbled, "Those Backlight Particles are just a bunch of pests! No matter how many you kill, there’s always another nest—take your eye off ’em for a second and they cause us this much trouble!"
Qin Le Yin asked, "I heard, General Lan, that you were previously head of the Star Engraving County Statistical Department?"
"Yes," said Lan Jianbo, "Is there no Statistical Department in Xuanzhu County?"
"It was merged into the Patrol Execution Guard, never established independently," Quan Xin said. "Although the Half City attack was really serious, it’s the worst Backlight incident we’ve had in over a decade. Before, Backlight Organization wasn’t a real threat, so there was no need for a special department."
"The real reason, of course, was that Silver Blood Association never wanted more government units with unchecked powers like the Statistical Department—nothing scared merchants more. So, they stomped out any chance of one before it started."
"Le Yuxin remembered how, back when he was in the Statistical Department, he’d even led the raid on a business group himself."
"And as Quan Xin said, Backlight Organization was a mess in Dongyang. There was no reason to create a special department just for them."
"General Lan, what’s your view of White Night?" Le Yuxin asked curiously.
"White Night..." Lan Jianbo narrowed his eyes and was silent for a moment, then he suddenly asked, "Have you heard the tale of Chuanyun chasing the sun?"
Everyone looked startled, then nodded.
Chuanyun chasing the sun was a lot like the Icarus story from the previous world, but the difference was, Chuanyun’s story was real, not a myth.
A little more than a thousand years ago, a Combat Technique Grandmaster named Chuanyun invented the ’treading on light’ skill, all because he was obsessed with the sky.
After teaching the ’treading on light’ skill, Chuanyun announced to his students he was going to chase the sun, get close to it—to touch the great sphere that gave humanity life and strength.
No one could stop a Grandmaster, so, one noon when the sun was brightest, he set out from the highest peak in Glory, Tienhui Mountain, and walked on light toward the sun, literally climbing into the sky.
Several Martial Artists skilled in ’flying flower Combat Technique’ risked permanent blindness pushing their vision to the limit, and watched Chuanyun disappear into a ball of flames, finally falling and turning to ash.
In Glory, ’Chuanyun chasing the sun’ became a synonym for dying in search of truth.
"To me, White Night is like Grandmaster Chuanyun chasing the sun," Lan Jianbo said, "They wanted to get too close to the sun, so they ended up burned by it."
Qin Le Yin narrowed his eyes, "General Lan, it doesn’t seem right to say that to us."
"Don’t worry, you won’t be telling anyone," Lan Jianbo laughed.
Because you’ll all be dead soon... Le Yuxin added that half of the sentence for Lan Jianbo in his mind.
At that moment, plates started piling up on the table. Just as Yin Guyue had said, there weren’t any fancy ingredients—mostly big slabs of fish, pork, and wild mushrooms. The soldiers’ cooking skills were nothing to write home about either; even princelings like Luo Zhen and Quan Xin wrinkled their noses at the spread.
Except, the last dish to arrive was a beautifully presented big fish. The servers were sharp enough to put it in front of Lan Jianbo, more than two meters away from Le Yuxin.
But Lan Jianbo spoke up, "Move the fish into the middle—otherwise, our distinguished Silver Blood guests won’t be able to enjoy it. By the way, what kind of fish is this?"
"Oh, this one? It’s a local specialty called the dagger fish."
Lan Jianbo said curiously, "Dagger fish? But this thing is huge!"
"It’s called dagger fish because..."
"Because it actually has daggers!"
The server slapped the fish’s belly—two daggers shot out, one into his hand, one into Chen Chenchen’s!
In the blink of an eye, the huge factory plunged into pitch darkness.
"Suspicion, doubt, rage, terror—endless emotions erupted behind the veil of darkness!"
Veil of Strife, activated!
PS: Some readers have been asking why white-haired assassins have such weird names, so I’m going to (nonsense) explain (babble) a bit...
First, I always liked to play around with names for this kind of character—it helps differentiate types. Like the serene blue Silverlight guys (Ge Wen Gun), or the Daedra Demons in their little world (Ysuda Technique/Sega Technique).
Second, the reduplication shows how assassins live to kill and die with no name, with streaks of self-abandonment. Their mission might be AAA this time, BBB next—it’s not like they need a real name.
Lastly, if you don’t buy the above explanations, I have a trump card—Glory is an alternate world, and they don’t use Chinese. All these "repeated" names are normal over there!
Honestly, names like Ting Chaozao, Ting Wan Jian, Ting Gu, and Ting Jiu are the wildest—some even have curse words in them.
And finally, here’s a jumbo 5000-word Chapter—hope you all enjoy it!