Martial Cultivator

Seeing that Liang Jinjin was not speaking, Chen Chao simply took a long bench from the small stall from earlier, then carried it toward the river not far away.

The commotion here earlier had been too great, and now the common people were all hiding in the distance and secretly watching, not daring to approach. Although they were quite respectful toward this Lord Warden Commander, his action of stepping on that human head just now still made people somewhat shudder.

After placing it by the river, Chen Chao sat down by himself, then watched those paper boats bearing wishes such as hoping Great Liang would become better and better drift downstream, for a moment somewhat lost in thought.

Liang Jinjin thought for a long time before walking over and sitting beside Chen Chao, with one seat’s worth of distance between the two.

It seemed to have always been this way, and it also seemed that only now was it this way.

But no matter what, it seemed that the two of them should be this way.

“Sometimes, when you haven’t seen someone for a long time, when you meet again, it always makes you feel as though they have become incomparably unfamiliar, as though they are completely different from before, but you can’t be certain, and you will always wonder whether you remembered incorrectly.”

Chen Chao was the first to break the silence, he looked at the river before him and spoke to himself, “Like that person named Chen Chao, when you first met him, you traveled through some places together and experienced some things, so of course you thought that Chen Chao was the real Chen Chao. Later, you heard some things, some rumors about that fellow, and when you compared them like this, even you yourself became confused about which Chen Chao was the real Chen Chao. So you thought, when you meet one day, you’ll ask him properly. But when you finally meet, that person has actually become like this, actually completely different from the person in your memories, then there is no need to ask anymore, and you will only feel incomparably disappointed.”

Chen Chao spoke up to this point and asked, ”Would you?”

Liang Jinjin thought for a moment, her expression becoming somewhat complicated. She neither shook her head nor nodded her head, only saying, “I suppose every person is in a different position, at a different stage, and will always do some things that they have no choice but to do, right?”

Chen Chao understood. “Then that means you were disappointed.”

Liang Jinjin did not refute him. If Chen Chao had done this to stand up for her, although she would have been somewhat moved, she would also have been very disappointed, because such a Chen Chao would be completely different from the Chen Chao she knew.

But she was still prepared to ask.

Chen Chao spoke one step ahead of her, “You heard what I said before, it wasn’t fake. I had his father killed, and I’m even going to kill him later, and destroy Luoshui Mountain, none of it is because of you.”

“But I, Chen Chao, haven’t become so bloodthirsty just because I’ve taken this position and killed so many people and demons. There are reasons for killing him and destroying Luoshui Mountain.”

Chen Chao looked at a paper boat on which was written, the Northern Frontier is difficult, gentlemen, you have worked hard, and said, “The fighting in the North has gone on for a long time. Many people died, and only with great difficulty did we stop those demons from going south. The imperial court prepared for a long time to accomplish this, spent a great deal of effort, and paid a great price. During that time, there were of course also quite a few cultivators who were finally willing to stand atop that city wall and do something for Great Liang, for all their fellow countrymen. Of course, that is a good thing. The imperial court will remember such things and repay them. As for those who did nothing, the imperial court will not hold a grudge either. After all, this is something that requires risking one’s life. Not being willing to give up one’s life is perfectly understandable, and no one can say anything about that. “Doing nothing is fine, but while the imperial court is risking its life at the front, he dragged them down from behind, tripped the imperial court up, and even colluded with the demons. Then once he did such a thing, he deserved to die, and he had to be beaten to death alive in front of everyone like that.”

Chen Chao clenched both fists and placed them on his knees, doing his utmost to keep himself calm.

But very clearly, if he could truly remain calm, he would not have traveled thousands of miles from the Northern Frontier to the south himself to deal with this matter.

Liang Jinjin looked at Chen Chao beside her, looking at his resolute profile, and suddenly felt somewhat ashamed.

How could she have thought of him that way?

But immediately afterward, there was still a faint sense of disappointment in her heart.

So it really wasn’t deliberately to stand up for her.

But she immediately let it go. These things were originally just her own wishful thinking. From the very beginning, he had never shown any thoughts in this regard.

Liang Jinjin thought for a moment, then softly asked, “A sect can’t possibly consist entirely of bad people, right?”

Chen Chao nodded, “It will take time to distinguish and investigate them, but the sect itself will no longer exist, and cannot exist. Killing the chicken to warn the monkeys may perhaps go too far, but it can only be done this way.”

In fact, this was precisely the kind of thing Liang Jinjin had been thinking he had no choice but to do.

Chen Chao had never been someone who liked to kill indiscriminately.

Liang Jinjin looked at Chen Chao’s clenched fists, very much wanting to place her own hand on them. But after thinking about it, she still stopped herself from having that thought.

Not knowing what to say, Liang Jinjin finally said, “Still, thank you for what happened today.”

Although... but... she still had to thank him.

Chen Chao said, “You’ve changed somewhat, before...”

He only got halfway through those words before Chen Chao shook his head, not intending to continue. Actually, it was still the same as what Gu Shaofeng had said before.

Liang Jinjin had never left too many traces in Chen Chao’s life. Even though they had once spent some time together, there had been nothing particularly special about it.

Liang Jinjin had originally been waiting for Chen Chao to finish that sentence, but seeing that he remained silent for a long time, she finally asked, “You seem somewhat tired. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Actually, her emotions had been complicated before, but now that she had calmed down, Liang Jinjin finally noticed the fatigue around the corners of Chen Chao’s eyes. She had also heard about many things before, but it was not appropriate for her to ask.

Chen Chao shook his head. Some footsteps could already be heard in the distance. Weng Quan and Song Lian had returned after leaving.

Only then did Chen Chao withdraw his gaze from the river and look toward Liang Jinjin, saying, “I hope that what happened to Pinecreek Mountain and you today will never need to happen again in the future. You and the people of Great Liang both need to be protected. In other words, all the weak should not be casually bullied by the strong.”

“If I can still be alive at that time, I will do this properly.”

Chen Chao stood up and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Accomplishing something like this, at least for now, was not very difficult, at least it was much simpler than the matter of him being able to stay alive.

Liang Jinjin also stood up and said, “I believe you can do this well.”

Chen Chao thought for a moment and said, “As for Pinecreek Mountain, do you want me to have someone send a letter over and explain what happened today clearly?”

Liang Jinjin shook her head.

Chen Chao did not insist any further, merely picking up that long bench and walking toward Song Lian and Weng Quan over there.

There were still some official matters to deal with tonight.