Hearing his daughter’s answer, Chieftain Constantine was not surprised.
The reason was simple. Because she was moved by Lanling, she wanted to kill him.
This reason sounded absurd, but it was true and normal.
Because Ninian had to win in every aspect. She was filled with a desire for control over everything, especially in matters of romance between men and women.
What she needed was others’ fanatical adoration of her. And she would play with others’ emotions with ease, ordering them to do this and that. This would fill her with a sense of superiority.
But with Lanling, this set of tactics seemed unusable.
Because her feelings for Lanling meant she could not maintain absolute calm when facing him. So she was not at such an advantage emotionally.
Therefore, if Lanling were killed, that would settle everything once and for all.
Constantine thought for a moment, then said, “This demonic genius is truly too rare. Obtaining him truly exceeds thousands of troops and horses. So let us give him one more chance.”
“Even if you give him another chance, he probably still will not betray Suomo.” Ninian said.
“Not necessarily.” Constantine said, “How long has he been in contact with Suomo? Merely a dozen or so days. The so-called blood kinship is still very faint. The reason he is unwilling to betray Suomo is because Suomo has made sacrifices for him. To rescue his daughter, Suomo went alone to distant lands to capture griffins. And to give Lanling a meeting gift, he even captured three griffins at once. Just a few hours ago, Suomo chose to demonise to save Lanling. We all know, the price of demonisation is enormous. It is an overdraft of both vitality and martial power.”
Ninian nodded, admitting her father was right.
Constantine said, “But if Lanling’s feelings for you exceed those for Suomo, then he might betray Suomo.”
Hearing these words, Ninian could not help but narrow her eyes. She was very displeased.
In her view, any man’s love for her should be unconditional, and incomparably profound, exceeding any other emotion.
Constantine said, “Lanling’s current feelings for you stem only from male desire. Very intense, but not deep. But with your methods, I believe you can certainly make him unable to stop himself, and finally betray Suomo for your sake. So, I want to give him a chance, and also give ourselves a chance. After all, such a demonic genius, killing him just like that would be too much of a pity.”
Ninian said, “Father, you want me to seduce him?”
“Yes, seduce him.” Constantine said, “We will give him twenty days.”
Ninian said, “Why twenty days?”
Constantine said, “Because Suomo’s weakened state only lasts about twenty days to a month. After twenty days, Suomo will have recovered sixty to seventy percent of his martial arts. By then, wanting to eliminate him will be difficult.”
Ninian’s beautiful eyes trembled, “Father, you, you still want to eliminate Suomo?”
Constantine said, “This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. Suomo’s martial arts are too high. After demonisation, they are even more astonishing! Right now, we happen to encounter his post-demonisation weakness. This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity to eliminate him. Once missed, it will never come again.”
Ninian thought for a moment. Indeed, this was so.
Though Suomo was just to the point of being almost pedantic, his martial arts were heaven-defying. And his alertness was extremely high.
Under normal circumstances, wanting to kill him was very difficult. And the price would be enormous.
This time, his post-demonisation weakness, with his martial arts greatly reduced, was completely the best opportunity.
Constantine said, “This person Lanling is too heaven-defying, too demonic. And his battle achievements will certainly spread. Will other tribes come to snatch him?”
“They will!” Ninian said, “The most likely to snatch him is the Wild Horse Tribe.”
Constantine nodded, “Yes, the Wild Horse Tribe chieftain felt Lanling’s demonic nature the deepest. Right now, the Wild Horse Tribe has encountered its greatest crisis. This is precisely when they most need Lanling. And once the Wild Horse Tribe proposes that they can completely accept the foreign army, and marry the chieftain’s daughter to Lanling, do you think that would be attractive?”
“We absolutely cannot let Lanling go to the Wild Horse Tribe. Even if we destroy and kill him, we cannot let the Wild Horse Tribe obtain him.” Ninian said, “Kill him. Kill him now.”
Constantine said, “And once we kill Lanling, we must certainly kill Suomo as well.”
Ninian did not ask why. The current situation was already very clear. Suomo not only viewed Lanling as his successor, but also as his own child.
Once Lanling was killed, Suomo would certainly fight desperately.
So these two people, if they were to be killed, must be killed together.
“This demonic genius Lanling is truly too rare.” Constantine said, “So we give him twenty days. If he is willing to make the correct choice, completely pledge loyalty to me and sever ties with Suomo, then not only can he live, he can also marry you. Otherwise, he can only die together with Suomo.”
Ninian said, “Father, if Lanling is willing to pledge loyalty to you, how do you plan to use him?”
Constantine said, “A commander with no troops. Absolutely do not let him hold military power. We will let his martial arts improve to a certain extent. But more importantly, we must firmly suppress his martial arts. Absolutely do not let him grow powerful. Ensure that we can kill him at any time. We only need him to become a killing machine on the battlefield. Just like a dog. Being fierce and formidable is of course important. But even more important is being obedient, controllable!”
“I understand, Father.” Ninian said.
Constantine said, “Twenty days. Strive to make him utterly captivated by you, unable to stop himself, make him completely betray Suomo. Apart from not truly letting him succeed, everything else can be done.”
At these words, Ninian could not help but flush slightly, also turning slightly cold.
Father Constantine truly placed interests above all else. To achieve his own goals, he completely treated his own daughter as a tool.
The underlying meaning was, apart from not truly letting Lanling obtain her body, even the greatest sacrifices did not matter.
“I know what to do.” Ninian said.
…
Inside Suomo’s tent!
After Du Yan saw Lanling enter Constantine’s chieftain tent, he did not dare barge in to demand answers. So he came to his foster father Suomo to inquire.
“I don’t know what’s going on.” Suomo said straightforwardly.
Du Yan was about to withdraw.
“Stop.” Suomo said, “I have something to say to you.”
Du Yan stopped. But his gaze carried impatience. Right now, he was burning with anxiety, only wanting to know why Chieftain Constantine had let Lanling enter the tent. He had no patience to listen to Suomo’s lecturing.
“At the final moment, fighting had already stopped. Why did you kill the Wild Horse Tribe young chieftain?” Suomo said coldly, “Doing this is very dishonourable, very lacking in glory.”
Du Yan’s actions were indeed disgraceful. At the time, the Wild Horse Tribe young chieftain had already ceased fighting, already turned to leave. As a result, Du Yan used a bloodline power critical strike and killed him.
Putting it bluntly, this counted as a sneak attack from behind.
“This is the battlefield, not a martial arts arena.” Du Yan said coldly.
“Even so, it should not be like this.” Suomo said, “Moreover, this was a battle of contention. At the time, the Wild Horse Tribe chieftain had already conceded defeat. The Chimera Tribe had already obtained the Fallen Horse Mountain Range. We had already won. Why still kill the Wild Horse young chieftain?”
Du Yan’s face twitched, “Foster Father, could it be that you despise me for rendering too great a service, for having too many head count merits, that I will block Lanling’s path? You are truly too partial.”
At these words, Suomo’s heart instantly felt incomparably pained. His face twitched repeatedly.
He truly wanted to tell Du Yan that in his eyes, Lanling and him, Du Yan, and Dina held exactly the same weight. He viewed them all as his own children. In his eyes, there was only right and wrong, no partiality.
But he knew, the child had grown up. Lecturing was no longer useful. His character was already set.
But towards this foster son Du Yan, he was truly very disappointed.
How could this be? The previous Du Yan had been fine. Though somewhat utilitarian, he still understood the bigger picture. He was also righteous.
Why had he now become so selfish, so calculating, so disgraceful?
Jealousy was truly an original sin!
Instantly, Suomo waved his hand in sorrow.
Seeing the disappointment on his foster father Suomo’s face, Du Yan grew even more furious. He laughed coldly in his heart, “Now you can’t even be bothered to lecture anymore? In vain I called you foster father for so many years. All that parental affection was fake. If one does not act for oneself, heaven and earth will destroy him. I, Du Yan, must consider for myself.”
Then, Du Yan let out a cold snort and directly left Suomo’s tent.
He ran head-on into Lanling. He did not slow down in the slightest. Instead, he directly charged towards Lanling.
At this moment, Lanling had massively overdrawn his spiritual power. His body was no longer sharp. He was directly knocked several metres away by Du Yan’s great force, almost sent flying. He fell to the ground. His chest ached fiercely, nearly vomiting blood.
Du Yan’s action was no longer a collision. It was a deliberate attack.
“A good dog does not block the road!” Du Yan laughed coldly, “With such a waste, you still want to inherit the foreign army?”
With that, he directly swaggered off!
“Du Yan, you bastard!” Suomo inside hurriedly rushed out, helping Lanling up. He massaged Lanling’s back with his palm, helping him channel his blood qi. He gazed at the departing Du Yan with anger yet helplessness.
And at this moment, Lanling clearly sensed Suomo’s weakness. His cultivation was already less than thirty percent of his usual level!
“Uncle, you should not have demonised.” Lanling sighed.
Suomo smiled and shook his head, saying nothing.
…
After entering the tent, Lanling used his spiritual power to probe the surroundings, confirming no one was eavesdropping.
“Uncle, how long is your weakened state after demonisation?” Lanling asked.
Suomo said, “It should be about twenty days. By then I can recover seventy percent of my power. To completely recover one hundred percent of my power, that will require a very long time.”
Lanling said, “Then we still have twenty days!”
“What do you mean?” Suomo’s expression changed slightly.
Lanling carefully told Suomo what had happened in Constantine’s great tent.
Suomo did not say anything like “How could you be so foolish, why didn’t you agree to the chieftain” and such.
He knew Lanling harboured lofty ambitions. He was not at all for riches and honour, but to create his own empire. So the seed of the foreign army was especially important to him.
However, Suomo still could not help but sigh with emotion.
Du Yan had tried every possible means to marry Ninian, tried every possible means to become Chieftain Constantine’s son-in-law, attempting to rise to the heavens in one step.
Yet Lanling had cast aside this opportunity like a worn-out shoe.
Comparing the two men’s ambitions, they were truly worlds apart.
“My acting skills are solid, making Constantine believe in my obsession with Ninian. Plus I used some methods, making Ninian also feel my fanatical love for her.” Lanling said, “If I am not mistaken, this should have won us about twenty days. During this time, Constantine will certainly try his best to win me over, make me betray you, completely pledge loyalty to him.”
Suomo was also very clever. He nodded.
Why twenty days? Because after twenty days, his martial arts would recover to over seventy percent, making him very difficult to deal with.
Lanling said, “Twenty days later, we must give Constantine a response! I either betray you, or die!”
His intelligence was truly frighteningly high. He had completely guessed Constantine and Ninian’s plan without the slightest error.
Suomo said, “Uncle believes in you. No matter what stance you take, I will stand on your side. The foreign army, I will also forever hold for you.”
Suomo’s meaning was very clear. Even if Lanling publicly announced he was drawing a clear line with the foreign army, severing ties with Suomo, he could understand, and would still support him.
Lanling said, “Constantine’s scheming runs very deep. Once I marry Ninian, he will let Du Yan become the foreign army’s great chieftain successor. Because this is a good dog.”
Suomo said, “Rest assured. As long as I live, Du Yan can forget about taking charge of the foreign army. I will certainly hold this portion of the seed for you. So, twenty days later you can safely agree to Constantine, publicly stating your severance from me.”
“No!” Lanling said, “No matter what, I will not state my severance from you, nor draw a clear line with the foreign army!”
Suomo said, “But if this is so, Constantine will not let you go. He will certainly kill you, and also kill me. These twenty days of my weakness are a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity for him.”
Lanling said, “So, these twenty days are especially precious. Uncle, you could not make up your mind before. But now you must be prepared to rebel and establish yourself, to create your own tribe.”
At these words, Suomo’s face instantly twitched.
Lanling said, “In individual martial power, we have you. In military strength, we have me. My existence is worth thousands of troops and horses. One could say that within suitable distance, my killing power is completely unsolvable.”
Suomo said tremblingly, “It’s not enough. The foreign army is truly too weak. And in pure martial power, I alone am also insufficient.”
Lanling said, “What about adding the Wild Horse Tribe? The Wild Horse Tribe chieftain, and the berserkers beside him, and his daughter!”
Suomo looked at Lanling in disbelief. He had actually set his sights on the Wild Horse Tribe.
“You, you plan to go join the Wild Horse Tribe?” Suomo said.
“No!” Lanling said, “It is to make the Wild Horse Tribe come join us!”
Suomo was instantly completely speechless.
Lanling said, “Uncle, the Wild Horse Tribe is finished. They merely have four thousand defeated remnants returning to their main force. They are destined to perish. If I am not mistaken, before long, the Wild Horse Tribe chieftain will lead his last remaining forces wandering everywhere in exile, like a stray dog.”
Suomo said, “You mean to make the Wild Horse Tribe completely despair, with no road to take, and finally we become their only hope?”
“Yes!” Lanling said, “The Wild Horse Tribe will not possibly join our mere foreign army until they have reached their final moment of despair.”
In “Water Margin”, when Song Jiang wanted to recruit certain chieftains to Mount Liang, he also drove people to the end of their rope, with no other choice, forcing them to ascend Mount Liang.
After a long while, Suomo stared at Lanling, “Stinking brat, you have also driven me to a dead end.”
Lanling nodded, “Yes, Uncle. Unless I sell myself as a dog, otherwise Constantine cannot tolerate me. Of course, he also cannot tolerate you!”
Indeed, Lanling had also driven Suomo to a dead end.
But… he had not used any conspiracies or tricks. He had used his own life!
The reason was simple. Suomo could not watch Lanling die with open eyes. He could only follow him down one path to the end.
Of course, fundamentally, it was still because Suomo’s own heart was also stirring with desire, hoping that the brothers of the foreign army could live with dignity.
To rebel and establish oneself, to build one’s own tribe. This ideal, even in dreams, made one tremble!
“Haha…” Suomo laughed heartily, forcefully patting Lanling’s shoulder, “Since there is no road to walk, then mountains of blades and seas of fire, we can only walk through them once. Brat, my three hundred plus jin are sold to you!”
…
At night, Lanling was meditating, resting with eyes closed!
His most immediate task right now was to recover his spiritual power!
Heaven-defying spiritual power was most important to him, even more important than martial arts.
One had to admit, Lanling’s golden bloodline was truly heaven-defying!
He had overdrawn and consumed his spiritual power like this. After several hours of meditation, he had actually recovered over thirty percent.
At this rate, in a few more days, his spiritual power would be completely recovered.
“Not good, someone has intruded!” Lanling was abruptly startled, instantly alert.
But… it was already too late!
His spiritual power had only recovered thirty percent after all. And the intruder was an expert who concealed their energy aura. By the time Lanling discovered her presence, she was already within twenty metres.
Twenty metres was merely an instant’s distance for this intruder.
The next second, a sharp scimitar pressed against Lanling’s neck. A fierce female voice rang out, coldly saying, “Lanling, I give you two choices. First choice, die! Second choice, sell yourself to me, become my person!”
This woman’s voice was very familiar.
It was the woman who had nearly killed Lanling yesterday, the Wild Horse Tribe chieftain’s daughter!