Ambivalent Regrets; General Ming Snaps the Hateful Sword 2

Xie Lian needed to shield Hua Cheng with the array and couldn't be distracted, and Pei Ming posed not a single threat to the weapon that he shared such peculiar familiarity with.

Just then, they suddenly heard Ming'guang cuss.

"YOU BLOODY SAVAGE! CAN YOU NOT SMASH WHEN I'M SMASHING?? YOU'VE HIT MY HAND!"

However, Ke Mo completely ignored him. Seeing there was friction between the two, Xie Lian grabbed hold of Pei Ming.

"General Pei! Ke Mo won't believe you mean him no harm, and will keep coming after you! Quick, press the fingers of both your hands together, cross your wrists above your head, then press downwards before opening your arms. This is the hand gesture his people use to ask for truce. Either way, just show him your goodwill and make him stop for now!"

Pei Ming was bewildered. "HUH? You must know that the resentment between Ke Mo and Ming'guang isn't just a small misunderstanding; how can it be pacified with just some hand gestures?"

But Xie Lian paid him no mind, and grabbed hold of him. "Come, do this with me to make him stop!"

However, Pei Ming's hand was injured, and with this grab, the corners of his lips twitched. He was about to follow as instructed, but Ming'guang had already heard everything they said. He charged in front of Ke Mo, then crossed his hands above his head and slid his arms down before opening them. He smirked at the two in the circle.

"As if I'd let you!"

Yet unexpectedly, when Ke Mo saw that gesture, his eyes bulged, and thick lines of veins popped on his iron-dark skin. He opened his palm and swung his hand like an iron cattail leaf fan, sending Ming'guang flying through the air.

The moment that slap swung out, both Pei Ming and Ming'guang still hadn't wrapped their heads around what had happened. It was only a moment later that it dawned on Pei Ming, and he turned to Xie Lian.

"Your Highness, I thought Ming'guang was already cunning, but I hadn't thought you to be more cunning than he is. I'm impressed."

Xie Lian wiped away his cold sweat. "It's nothing, it's nothing, much ashamed."

That speech just now appeared to be said for Pei Ming, but it was actually said for Ming'guang. After Ming'guang heard, in order for them not to do as they willed, he would of course fight to show goodwill to Ke Mo first. However, the gesture Xie Lian taught wasn't for calling truce in the first place, but was instead for provocation. And it was the most insulting kind of provocation in the Banyue tongue, something akin to "chop off your bitch head", "fuck your wife", "murder your whole family", "level your ancestors' graves"; four power attacks all at once, how could Ke Mo not be outraged after seeing it? Under any other circumstances, Ming'guang might have been suspicious of the truth in Xie Lian's words. But because the situation was dire and Pei Ming's arms were almost raised, Ming'guang didn't take the time to think carefully, and fell into this deception.

Ming'guang quickly snapped out of it after Ke Mo sent him flying, and wanted to remedy the situation. But because they couldn't communicate, and his instinctive reaction was to yell, it looked more like he was cursing Ke Mo. He also tried a few other hand gestures, like a thumbs-up; however, this was no different than someone who just used the most malicious, vulgar swears to abuse you suddenly turning around and showing goodwill to beg for mercy. So it didn't feel sincere at all, and he got pounded a few more times for the effort. On top of that, Ke Mo also knew some rough midlands curses, so he swore as he struck, and Ming'guang was becoming a little irked too. The two of them were beating each other harder and harder. Pei Ming almost wanted to cheer them on.

Ming'guang swept a glance over, incredibly irritated. He suddenly reached out and waved in front of Ke Mo. Then he pointed at the other two before doing that forking hand gesture again.

Ke Mo actually did stop, and asked with a frown, "Are you doing this to me or to them?"

Xie Lian became apprehensive, but didn't dare speak recklessly, because he couldn't be sure how to best coax Ke Mo. Seeing there might be a way to turn this around, Ming'guang exerted more effort and turned to Pei Ming to repeat the gestures savagely, but when he turned back to Ke Mo he turned calm. Matching the expression in his eyes and doing this repeatedly, Ke Mo finally understood what he was saying:

They had the same enemies!

Once they were unified, Ming'guang and Ke Mo came charging at the array once more. Xie Lian's mind spun rapidly. He inhaled deeply, and yelled on top of his lungs in the Banyue tongue:

"GENERAL PEI JUNIOR! BANYUE!"

Hearing those two names, Ke Mo stopped abruptly in his steps and demanded sharply, "ARE THEY CLOSE BY TOO?!"

Xie Lian didn't answer him, only focused on continuing his call: "GENERAL PEI JUNIOR! BANYUE! KE MO IS HERE, DON'T COME OVER, HURRY AND RUN AWAY! AND DON'T COME BACK!"

Yelling like this, Ke Mo naturally thought those two were actually nearby, and Xie Lian was telling them to flee. Ke Mo was instantly enraged.

"AS IF I'D LET YOU!"

Then he rushed away.

"OI! BIG GUY! WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING FOR?! HE MUST BE LYING, COME BACK!"

However, Ke Mo was long gone. Ming'guang stomped his foot in anger.

"DUMBASS!"

Xie Lian wiped his cold sweat away for the second time, his heart grateful. "Learning another language is infinitely beneficial for life!"

Seeing Ming'guang was about to continue attacking Fangxin, he raised his hand.

"Stop! Keep this up and we won't be so courteous!"

"And how are you courteous to me now?" Ming'guang countered.

"Did you forget something?" Xie Lian asked.

"Forget what?"

Pei Ming was about to speak but stopped, then dragged an object out from behind him. "How can you forget such a big thing?"

What he was dragging was the two legs of that body's lower half. The moment Ming'guang saw, his expression froze.

"HUH? MY LOWER BODY!"

Earlier, he had been using palms in place of feet, using his arms to prop himself up and jump around. He seemed to have gotten used to moving this way without realizing it, completely having forgotten that he hadn't yet retrieved his lower body. While he and Ke Mo were fighting, Pei Ming took the chance to leave the circle and dragged that deserted, immobile lower half into the boundary.

Pei Ming threatened, "You better not do anything unnecessary."

Only, this threat was obviously very awkward. If a hostage was a complete person, Pei Ming could very well sink his fingers into their neck or skull when making the threat, and the picture would appear much more effective, like he wasn't bluffing. However, right now they only had the lower half of a body in hand, so where could his hands go that wouldn't be awkward and could still strike fear?

Pei Ming couldn't think of a way, so he simply stepped onto the leg.

"Are you shitting me?" Ming'guang said.

Xie Lian also didn't think this looked serious at all, and said courteously, "General Pei, stepping on legs really isn't very convincing, can you maybe…make him think you've got him by something critical?"

"Your Highness, don't say something like that so easily," Pei Ming said. "If it wasn't because I refuse to do something so classless, you think I'd want to step on legs? Why don't you come grab him where it hurts?"

"…"

In any case, neither of them were willing to grab that kind of critical place.

"Nevermind," Xie Lian said. "Then why don't we do this!"

After huddling, the two of them each grabbed onto one of Ming'guang's legs. Now this looked more threatening and unawkward.

"Please back off," Xie Lian demanded. "Otherwise your true body might suffer some breakage."

However, Ming'guang sneered. "Ha! Did you actually believe my lower half is useless?"

Just as he finished, Xie Lian sensed an aura of killing intent that was increasing rapidly. He instantly tossed out the leg in his hold.

"General Pei, watch out!"

That seemingly-dead lower half body suddenly swung out its two legs and kicked without warning. Pei Ming also threw out the limb in time and avoided being struck by those swift legs that churned up blades of wind. Those two legs flipped themselves around in the air and landed with a single knee to the ground. Then they slowly straightened and stood upright.

The moves were clean and impressive, and Xie Lian praised in spite of himself, "Nice!"

But then he immediately changed tune, "NOT NICE!"

Not nice indeed. The protection circle he had so arduously created was made for the purpose of keeping Ming'guang out, but now things had certainly become complicated. Even though Ming'guang's top half was still outside, his lower half had come in!

Pei Ming also realized this and uttered, "We've been had."

Ghosts and demons with their true bodies split in half; some could only move with one half leading, and some could move both parts at will. They couldn't determine which breed Ming'guang belonged to, but that lower half body of his had been rigid like the dead, unmoving even when stepped on, so Pei Ming had thought him the former. It seemed he was only pretending not to move. Ming'guang was clapping in mirth outside the boundary.

"THAT'S RIGHT! THIS IS WHAT THEY CALL 'INVITING A WOLF INTO YOUR OWN HOME', AND 'CATCHING TURTLES IN THE POT'!"

As for the three in the circle, Hua Cheng had his eyes shut meditating, facing a critical time, Pei Ming's sword had long since been broken by Ming'guang, and Xie Lian's Fangxin was acting as the lock to their protection array. The two had no weapons in their hands.

Without any other choice, Xie Lian called, "E'MING!"

Scimitar E'ming, who had been lying on the ground like scrap metal, instantly stood up and flew into Xie Lian's hand. Xie Lian gripped the hilt and slashed. Ming'guang's lower half body raised a leg and kicked; it blocked the strike, but it was pushed back a couple steps, almost falling out of the boundary. The upper half body watched from the outside, expression faltering, looking rather wary. He clapped his hands, and that lower half body returned to its true form, a Verdant Pinnacle sword¹ of nearly three feet, boiling with killing intent as it hung in the air.

Xie Lian didn't use scimitars often, but E'ming was agreeable in his hands. He was about to charge when Pei Ming spoke up.

"Your Highness, I'm not trying to cause trouble at a time like this, but your Hua Chengzhu seems to be having a little bit of trouble?"

Shocked, Xie Lian whipped his head around. Sure enough, Hua Cheng's brows were even more tightly-knitted, and the hands making seals that rested on his knees were also shaking. The moment Xie Lian was distracted, that broken verdant blade instantly seized the opening to lunge. Yet just at the same time, E'ming slipped out of Xie Lian's control on its own and loudly blocked that broken sword in the air!

Xie Lian called, "E'ming, please hang on for a bit!" Then he crouched in front of Hua Cheng. "Why is it like this? What went wrong?"

"Don't look at me, Your Highness," Pei Ming said. "I'm not as familiar with the Ghost King as you are!"

Xie Lian called out to Hua Cheng, "San Lang? Can you hear me? Don't endure anymore, come out!"

Just then, Ming'guang shouted from outside the circle, "A LITTLE BLADE DARE BLOCK ME?!"

During the exchange, the broken sword Ming'guang and E'ming had already parried countless times within an instant, making sparks fly. If this was the usual scimitar E'ming, it would obviously gain the upper hand. Yet now, before the longsword of Ming'guang, the shrunken E'ming really did look like a child getting beaten around by an adult. Although vicious, since its limbs weren't long enough, it was restricted. There were a few instances that were fairly close, and Xie Lian spared glances while keeping his focus on Hua Cheng.

"WATCH OUT!"

After he called out, E'ming suddenly flipped and flashed, becoming a streaming silver whirlwind, and successfully struck the broken sword. The Ming'guang outside the circle "ah"-ed; it seemed that hit wasn't a light one.

Xie Lian praised, "Good E'ming!"

Pei Ming suddenly spoke up, "Wait, Your Highness. I think when you complimented it, it grew bigger?"

Xie Lian looked closely. "Really?"

"Seems like it," Pei Ming said. "Why don't you try again?"

It was only some praise, no big deal. So Xie Lian said, "Very well. E'ming, listen closely: you are handsome and carefree, cute and kind, clever and intelligent, gentle and determined, number one in the world…"

He trailed off, then stopped. Pei Ming started clapping soundly. Outside the circle, Ming'guang had a face full of disbelief, and was crying furiously.

"WHAT KIND OF WICKED SPELL IS THIS? HOW COME I'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE?!"

Indeed! With every praise Xie Lian sang, E'ming's body grew a bit longer. If earlier it was said to look like a ten-year-old child, then now it was a youth of fourteen to fifteen!

That broken sword facing the now-grown E'ming was now in trouble. It could only move awkwardly left and right, whereas E'ming was growing swifter and more unpredictable. With the results of the match growing more obvious, outside the circle, Ming'guang made a hand seal.

The moment Pei Ming saw, he instantly called out, "No good; he's transferred all of his spiritual power into that lower half!"

Sure enough, the black aura surrounding the body of that broken blade blew up. When E'ming struck, it was bounced away by that black aura, and plunged slantingly into the ground. Xie Lian immediately pulled it out.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, watch this," Pei Ming said, then he took E'ming from his hands.

Xie Lian was still puzzled when he suddenly felt cold on his skin. PA!, Pei Ming had tapped the scimitar on his face, and the hilt coincidentally pressed against his lips.

"…" Xie Lian removed E'ming from his face. His lips had been slightly numbed by the taps, and he rubbed at them, baffled. "General Pei, is there any meaning to your actions?"

"Of course. It's very meaningful," Pei Ming said. "Your Highness, please look down."

Xie Lian looked down and was instantly speechless. E'ming had grown even longer!

Ming'guang really couldn't hold back anymore. He yelled from outside the circle: "WHAT THE FUCK, AND WHAT WICKEDNESS IS THAT? YOU MIGHT AS WELL USE ALL YOUR TRICKS AT ONCE!"

"Truth to be told, I also want to know what's caused this," Xie Lian said.

Full of spirit once more, E'ming leapt to its feet and lunged towards Ming'guang the broken sword. One sword, one scimitar, they battled relentlessly in the air. Xie Lian went back to check up on Hua Cheng, and Pei Ming watched the Ming'guang who was bent over not far away. Right now, all of Ming'guang's spiritual power was transferred to the lower half currently battling

E'ming, so the threat of this upper half body was greatly lessened. Everyone was conscious of this and Pei Ming moved in to take him down, however, another series of heavy footfalls came running. It was Ke Mo, who had returned.

He cried furiously, "YOU CUNNING MIDLAND CULTIVATORS! YOU LIED AGAIN! GO COLLECT JUNK FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! THEY WEREN'T NEARBY AT ALL!"

Xie Lian hadn't expected to keep Ke Mo away for long, but he seemed to have returned earlier than expected, and right at an inconvenient time too. Ming'guang was overjoyed, and he pointed at Fangxin.

"BIG GUY! QUICK! KNOCK THAT SWORD OVER! ONCE THE ARRAY IS BROKEN, THE ONES INSIDE WILL BE HELPLESS!"

He hadn't needed to say anything; Ke Mo swung his hand down to chop and Fangxin was knocked over two more inches; another chop, another two inches; another chop, and Fangxin fell!

The protection array was finally broken!

That broken sword stopped fighting E'ming and flew out of the circle, returning to Ming'guang's side. It transformed into two legs, stitching itself back into a complete body. Ming'guang leapt to his feet and patted Ke Mo. He pointed at Pei Ming, then pointed at himself; pointed at Xie Lian, then pointed at Ke Mo. Ke Mo understood—this meant they were splitting the prey. He nodded, his iron-like fists cracking as he walked towards Xie Lian, who was blocking in front of Hua Cheng.

Ming'guang on the other hand, worked out his legs as he smiled savagely. "Pei Ming, are you going to snap me in half again? Come give it a shot."

Pei Ming didn't speak.

Ming'guang sneered. "'The Sword-Snapping General', 'The General Who Snapped His Sword', hehe! What a beautiful tale. That such a thing could become a beautiful tale, it's obvious the world is blind."

"I never took it for a beautiful tale," Pei Ming said.

"Bullshit!" Ming'guang spat. "You know full well just how many you've killed; brothers and subordinates, who followed you for so many years."

Meanwhile, Ke Mo had also drawn close to Xie Lian. Xie Lian gripped E'ming tight; he wasn't afraid of him, but he was worried something would happen to Hua Cheng if he was careless.

Ke Mo saw his eyes were unfocused like he was thinking, and said, "No need to think of any more cunning tricks, I won't be deceived by you anymore!"

"I wasn't lying to you," Xie Lian said. "Banyue and General Pei Junior really were in this area earlier, it's just that after I informed them of you, they fled. Eh? Banyue? Why are you here?!"

Ke Mo raged, "DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL? A DUMB TRICK LIKE THIS…"

Yet before he finished, a voice rang from above him. "KE MO!"

That was said in Banyue tongue, and it was a very familiar voice. Ke Mo instantly looked up, and was faced with a large bundle of something wine-red falling from above. His face instantly dropped, and he hugged his head as he roared.

"GO AWAY!"

What came falling down was that poisonous serpent born only of the Kingdom of Banyue, the scorpion-snake! And the one who threw them out was naturally the Guoshi of the Kingdom of Banyue.

Banyue leapt down from the tree and landed next to Xie Lian's side. "General Hua…"

Xie Lian turned to Ke Mo. "I told you, it was really Banyue…"

Ke Mo wasn't listening to what he was saying at all, and only roared at Banyue, "YOU THREW AT ME!! YOU THREW THOSE SCORPION-SNAKES AT ME!!! YOU KNOW I HATE THE SCORPION-SNAKE BUT YOU STILL THREW THEM AT ME!!!"

Banyue crouched down. "I'm sorry…but, I only know how to throw scorpion-snakes…"

Ming'guang noticed the situation was shifting and was alarmed. "WHO'S THERE?!"

A black shadowy figure leapt down from the tree and obstructed his path, answering: "The former Deputy Martial God, Official of the Palace of Ming Guang, Pei Su!"

Miracle soldiers had come from heaven, and Pei Ming was dumbfounded. "Little Pei? How come you've come, too?"

Xie Lian, on the other hand, asked, "Banyue, weren't you following Lord Rain Master?"

Hearing the name Lord Rain Master, Pei Ming knitted his brows slightly.

Banyue replied, "En. That's why, this time we've come following Lord Rain Master."

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Translator Notes:

¹Verdant Pinnacle Sword: This sword has two separate origin stories. First, it was said to be a weapon that belonged to the legendary warrior god Er-Lang, who was a renowned figure in Daoism and appeared often to defeat evil in classics. Second, it was said to be a double sword set wielded by the emperor Liu Bei during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. One of the two swords was lost during a siege, and it was later said to have become the weapon wielded by Hou Junji, a Tang general during the founding era of the Tang Dynasty.