Chapter 15: Pointing at the Tiger and Cursing the Old Dog

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It was over. It was all over.

Yang Feng had never imagined that the men he thought he was robbing were actually the private soldiers of a great clan. Instead, he had kicked an iron wall, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

Even less had he expected the man charging through the ranks on horseback to be so ferocious that he seemed no mortal being.

One man and one horse, yet he dared to storm straight into the formation...

In an instant, it was as though Mount Tai had collapsed before his eyes.

Yang Feng did not dare think any further. Taking advantage of the chaos around him, he hurriedly slipped from his horse.

He removed his helmet and threw it to the ground. With no time to undo his armor, he rolled several times in the blood-soaked mud, barely concealing the broken armor on his body. Then he snatched up handfuls of dirt and frantically smeared them across his face.

When it was done, Yang Feng glanced toward Xu Huang, who was still fighting in the distance. He wanted to call out for him to run, but he did not dare make a sound. As the Flying Bear cavalry thundered past, he quickly pressed himself against the crowd and knelt.

Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, a thick scent of blood filled the air.

The next instant, a bloodstained halberd nearly touched his face.

Yang Feng was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. He did not dare look at the man on horseback and hurriedly lowered his head.

Chen Cong asked, “A White Wave bandit—Yang Feng?”

The man’s identity was not difficult to guess. Xu Huang, Lord Gongming’s first master, could only have been the White Wave bandit Yang Feng.

“G-General Lü, hear me out. Life has been unbearably hard, and I was forced into banditry. I surrender! I willingly surrender!”

Chen Cong asked in bewilderment, “What General Lü?”

Yang Feng’s reasoning was simple. That brawny man had claimed to be Hua Xiong, a great general under the Grand Tutor. The man before him looked even fiercer than Hua Xiong and wielded a halberd. He could only be the Flying General, Lü Bu!

He immediately began kowtowing and said repeatedly, “I have long heard that among the Grand Tutor’s commanders, Marquis of Duting Lü Fengxian is the most valiant. His Heaven-Fang Halberd is wielded with supernatural skill. He fought the Three Heroes beneath Hulao Pass, and his fearsome reputation spread throughout the realm. Had that fellow Chen not resorted to trickery and wounded the general with a hidden arrow, the title of the realm’s greatest warrior would surely belong to you!”

Uh...

The surrounding Flying Bear cavalry instinctively reined their horses back a little.

They had seen people allude to one person while cursing another. But they had never seen anyone bold enough to point at a tiger while cursing a dog.

They feared being caught in the backlash when Chen Cong lost his temper.

Chen Cong laughed in sheer exasperation.

It was true that he had learned deceit from that scoundrel Cao, and perhaps he deserved a few accusations. But that certainly did not give anyone the right to condemn him without cause!

Most absurd of all, even when Lü Bu boasted to others, he had never dared claim that his defeat by Chen Cong had been caused by a hidden arrow!

Chen Cong promptly reversed his halberd and tapped Yang Feng on the shoulder with its butt.

“Very well said. Now, with Chen the Invincible standing before you, do you dare repeat those words?”

Yang Feng kept his head lowered and could not see the mockery on Chen Cong’s face. He merely assumed that he had flattered the right man.

He immediately raised his voice. “Every word this humble one speaks comes from the heart! I would say the same in anyone’s presence. General Lü is peerless in valor and deserves to be called the greatest warrior beneath Heaven!”

“Excellent! Tell this fool who I am.”

The cavalry struggled to contain their laughter as they shouted in unison:

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“Chen the Invincible!”

“Chen the Invincible!”

“Chen the Invincible!”

Yang Feng’s eyes slowly widened. He turned his head and glared viciously at Hua Xiong, wishing he could devour his flesh and sleep upon his skin.

That man was clearly one of Chen Cong’s subordinates, yet he had introduced himself as a gallant cavalry commandant under the Grand Tutor!

Shameless! Utterly shameless!

Chen Cong paid no attention to any of it.

With a wave of his hand, Cheng Zhuo immediately led over the thin horse Yang Feng had abandoned earlier and forced the reins into his hands.

After hesitating for a moment, he also handed Yang Feng the cavalry spear in his grasp.

Then he slapped Yang Feng heavily on the shoulder and quietly said, “Take care.”

Chen Cong raised his Flying Tiger Halberd and pointed it forward.

“So you are Yang Feng? This general will fight you one-on-one.”

Yang Feng burst into tears. He dropped the cavalry spear and knelt stiffly on the ground.

“General, I was wrong! I failed to recognize your noble countenance and mistook the great invincible general for that petty scoundrel Lü. I deserve to die. I beg the general to spare my life!”

“You are wrong again. Lü Bu is the Flying General, the Fierce Tiger of Jiuyuan. How dare a bandit who preys upon the common people call him a petty scoundrel?”

Only an idiot would elevate himself by denigrating his opponent.

If Lü Bu was a petty scoundrel, what did that make Chen Cong?

Besides, a man’s character was one matter, while his achievements were another.

Had the Bingzhou Wolf Riders not stabilized Bingzhou for a time back then, this magnificent land might have fallen entirely into the hands of foreign tribes.

And what were the White Wave bandits?

Guides who had joined forces with the Southern Xiongnu and led them south—mere lackeys.

Whether the mastermind had been Guo Tai or Yang Feng, anyone with even the slightest sense of shame could not call Lü Bu a petty scoundrel.

Xu Huang grew frantic. He knocked Hua Xiong’s blade aside with the shaft of his great axe, hauled on the reins, and galloped to Chen Cong’s side.

With the tide of battle lost, he naturally did not dare display his ferocity before Chen Cong.

He immediately dismounted and knelt on one knee.

“General Yang spoke rashly for a moment. Please do not take offense. Yet while struggling merely to survive, we have not committed many atrocities. I beg the general to leave us a path to live.”

“Oh?” Chen Cong sat upon his horse, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger. He asked, “Xu Huang, why did you join the bandits?”

Xu Huang braced himself and clasped his axe.

“May I ask the general—what is a bandit?”

There were no absolute rights or wrongs in worldly affairs.

What people called right and wrong was often nothing more than a difference in perspective.

From the White Wave bandits’ point of view, they were merely desperate refugees who could no longer survive. Even when they joined forces with the Xiongnu and marched south, one could argue that the only person they attacked was the demon king Dong Zhuo.

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Where was the absolute right or wrong in judging a matter?

However, Chen Cong had never intended to debate the issue with Xu Huang.

He merely said, “The White Waves rose from the Yellow Turbans, and the Yellow Turbans were defeated by the Han court. Once defeated, they became bandits.”

The speech Xu Huang had prepared caught in his throat. He could neither spit it out nor swallow it, and the sensation was deeply uncomfortable.

Chen Cong’s answer was simply too overbearing.

He distinguished righteousness solely by victory and defeat. The unspoken meaning was clear: Chen Cong, seated upright upon his horse, was ‘righteous’; he and Yang Feng, kneeling on the ground and begging for their lives, were ‘bandits.’

When Xu Huang failed to answer, Chen Cong said, “Then let me put it another way. Why did you sell your life to Yang Feng? He hardly looks like a worthy lord.”

“In the fifth year of the Zhongping era, I was a minor official in Hedong. At that time, the White Waves were advancing south in overwhelming force. I went alone to persuade them, sparing an entire city’s population from disaster. Grateful for General Yang’s kindness, I naturally felt obliged to repay him.”

Chen Cong laughed.

“Today I am sparing Yang Feng’s life, which means he owes me a debt of gratitude for saving it. Since you already owe him a favor, I will use you to settle his debt. That is perfectly reasonable, is it not?”

Yang Feng was the first to kowtow.

“Gongming’s talents are too great to be buried by following me. If the general is willing to accept him, I offer him to you! I offer him gladly!”

Xu Huang was straightforward enough. He clasped his fists firmly.

“I am willing to serve the general.”

He had long known that Yang Feng was no worthy lord. He had followed him only because circumstances had left him no choice. Now that he could repay his debt and secure a better future, there was no reason to refuse.

Chen Cong looked at Yang Feng once more.

This “Sheep Dung” fellow might have had no eloquence, but he had knelt far too quickly and shown no backbone whatsoever. If Chen Cong insisted on taking out his anger on him, it would only make him appear petty.

It was far more profitable to trade him for a capable warrior.

Chen Cong raised a hand, and the surrounding Flying Bear cavalry immediately opened the formation.

After passing through the extremes of joy and terror, Yang Feng needed three attempts before he finally managed to mount his horse.

He cupped his hands toward Chen Cong, did not dare linger, and wheeled his horse around. A moment later, he vanished at full speed into the distance.

Chen Cong withdrew his gaze and turned to Xu Huang.

“Gongming, your martial skill is somewhat lacking. From now on, stay at my side as a personal guard.”

“Yes, General.”

Hua Xiong had been laughing gleefully for a while when, all of a sudden, he could laugh no longer.

So...

What, exactly, was the basis for saying that “Gongming’s martial skill is somewhat lacking”?

Xu Huang had not even fought anyone else!

Was it simply because he had failed to defeat Hua Xiong within thirty exchanges?

The bandit Chen was truly vicious.