With the Blade

Chapter 295: Chapter 246: Dragons Among the People

After gaining a deeper understanding of the abilities held by the Yu people, Yin warrior Wu Zhao finally had a rough idea of what happened to the Yin people in ancient times.

Clearly, after his time, some Yin people were no longer satisfied with the technique of soldier separation. They no longer wanted to wait until later to confront those strong adversaries—they wanted warriors, more warriors, more enemies, more opponents.

It was at this time that someone figured out a method to make ordinary people also become resolute in will.

This was originally a very difficult task, understanding that ordinary people are ordinary precisely because their resolve is not firm, and their minds are not settled. If they could truly become steadfast in will and decisive in mind, they could become warriors, transform into Yin people—but at some point, someone overcame this difficulty and mastered the method to make ordinary people also become resolute, even become warriors.

This was not a bad thing for the Yin people; after all, those capable of becoming warriors were always few, so even gaining one more was seen as a good thing.

But, was this really not a bad thing?

Wu Zhao could even imagine that scene, where more and more people became warriors, while fewer and fewer ordinary people toiled and labored. Therefore, in order to vie for these ordinary people to serve them, bloody slaughter erupted among the Yin people who originally should not have been at war with each other.

A solid fortress is often breached from within.

And as more warriors emerged, they would actively seek battle, seek opportunities to become stronger, thus the soldier-separated Yin people from the old era were unsealed, joining the fray in the chaos...

"No."

Upon thinking this, Yin warrior Wu Zhao suddenly shook his head.

If all the Soldier Immortals were unsealed, then he himself would not be an exception, yet he happened to be the one who was not unsealed, even completely having skipped that period.

Indeed, there must be something else amidst all this, knowing that even if the Yin people broke out into internal strife, the victors would still be the Yin people. Such battles would not be able to terminate the Yin people’s rule, but in fact, the ancient Yin people had completely perished.

Something else must have occurred amid all this.

"Right, the classics you mentioned before, were those written in the era of the Chu people?"

Feeling a doubt in his heart, Wu Zhao turned his head and glanced at Qian Yu beside him.

"Then where did these books originate? What about before the Chu people?"

"This... I don’t know."

Facing that sharp gaze, Qian Yu still shook his head.

It wasn’t that he was intentionally being evasive; he truly didn’t know. Although the ancient Chu people did not ban these virtuous classics, they did erase all traces from them, including the names of the sages and the states in which these sages resided... What later generations could learn from these books was only that the places where these sages once lived were relatively near the sea, leading to the sages having many insights about water.

As for more content, it was gone; the Chu people of that time did a very thorough job, so that no matter how diligently later generations of scholars tried to search for those ancient classics, they couldn’t find even half a page of content.

However, these words fell upon the ears of Yin warrior Wu Zhao, revealing a different scene entirely.

"Relatively near the sea?"

Roughly searching through his memories of the ancient geographical environment, Wu Zhao vaguely remembered something.

"The Hao people?"

"The Hao people?"

Qian Yu was slightly surprised.

"What is that?"

"That is... a group of slaves."

Wu Zhao’s expression darkened.

The Hao people, one of the tribes conquered by the Yin people in old times, although there were not a few warriors amongst them, they surely had to stand against the Yin people—thus, when assimilation failed, Yin warriors obliterated this tribe, leaving those remaining Hao people either thrown into slavery or sacrificed to the ghosts and deities.

And those places the Hao people once lived were indeed to the relatively sea-facing east.

"So it was you all along..."

Wu Zhao, in his heart, had found some answers.

Of course, this might not be the truth, but in reality, Wu Zhao didn’t need the truth. He only needed to know roughly what happened back then. After all, those weaknesses of the Yin people would also be his weaknesses, and the forces that attacked those Yin people could very well turn into spears aimed at him.

Conversely, that power could also become his weapon.

The Yin people were the best warriors, and the best warriors do not select their weapons. A good warrior should perfectly wield any weapon, so as to handle all unforeseen situations.

So now, he prepared to seek out the power left behind by the Hao people.

But relying on some holy sage books, those were not enough to deal a fatal strike to the Yin people; clearly, the Hao people must have prepared something more special in order to overthrow Yin rule completely—understanding that even if internal strife among the Yin people resulted in numerous warrior deaths, that also meant the warriors accumulated a wealth of experience. What right did the Hao have to prevail against the Yin who emerged from such relentless internal strife?

There must be some kind of power, a power capable of defeating the Yin people—when they were at their strongest, it still dealt them a heavy blow.

After all, facing the unapologetically unbound Yin people, victory could only depend on an upright and bona fide battle.

"So, you should be able to acquire those books, those so-called holy sage books."

With that thought, Yin warrior Wu Zhao beckoned to Qian Yu.

"Get me some books, let me take a look."

"This... alright."

Qian Yu remained silent for a moment, but then nodded.

The stranger’s desire to understand the sage’s way gave him no reason to refuse, especially as even if he didn’t provide them, the other party could easily buy them—perhaps those books might temper this strong man’s mentality a little? After all, those were filled with teachings on goodness, on becoming better human beings.

What Qian Yu didn’t realize was that the swordsman before him was no longer human at all.

After getting the books, Yin warrior Wu Zhao started to peruse them. As a priest, he comprehended through those teachings of humanity, feeling the original customs of the authors, and understanding the insights the writers offered at the time... This way, he could calculate what exactly those Hao people had created in ancient times.

As for Du Chengfeng, who had once opposed him, he had long been cast aside from his thoughts.

Just some capable opponents, who, compared to him in his prime, were still far too lacking. He didn’t even need to pay attention to such trivial matters.

However, just while Yin warrior Wu Zhao was immersed in reading, disregarding the happenings outside the window, a large caravan had already powerfully entered Dengzhou City.

"Let’s take a breather here... huh?"

On the large cart, wielding a large blade, Du Chengfeng suddenly frowned.

"Why does it feel like a familiar presence?"