Chapter 338: Chapter 287: More Brilliant Than Warriors
The story that Swordsman Wu Zhao brought up, Du Chengfeng also knows.
It is about the last thing Swordsman Wu Zhao did before being defeated, which is also something that has puzzled Du Chengfeng all along—that is, the Yin people clearly possessed such strong powers, yet inexplicably headed towards extinction. This is something that seems incredibly unbelievable from any angle.
"After all, you know, all Yin people are warriors."
Swordsman Wu Zhao pointed to the two Wu Zhao beside him, then pointed to himself.
"No matter what happens, no matter what form I take, even if you break my legs or cut off my arms, as long as I can still move, as long as I am not dead, I will continue to fight. I am still a warrior."
Although what Swordsman Wu Zhao said was a bit convoluted, Du Chengfeng still understood what the other person meant.
In the context of the Yin people, a warrior is not considered a profession but a way of thinking, a lifestyle. Regardless of strength, if one is willing to fight against the forces of nature and dare to charge into the unknown dangers, they would be regarded as a warrior—of course, this is within the context of the Yin people themselves. Every Yin person is a warrior, and every warrior can be seen as a Yin person, so warriors are naturally described in extremely glorious terms.
But setting aside the self-aggrandizing parts, some practical aspects can still be observed here.
For example, the method of selecting warriors.
The way warriors, or Yin people distinguish each other, is more like a form of identity recognition. Anyone who can fight and does not show cowardice will be called a warrior and then absorbed by the Yin people—indeed, compared to the later generations where families or even dynasties are connected by blood ties, this kind of loose structure may seem extremely unstable, but conversely, it ensures the continuation of warriors, or rather, the Yin people.
As long as one is a warrior, they are considered a Yin person. Even if someone defeats the Yin people, the one who can defeat powerful warriors must be even stronger, which means they will also be regarded as a Yin person.
Although it sounds a bit convoluted, from the perspective of the Yin people, all wars can be viewed as internal conflicts among them. In the end, no matter who wins, it signifies the birth of another strongest warrior, and the ruler is still a Yin person.
It sounds extremely abstract, and this line of thought is very odd, but when applied to the Yin people who value strong individuals, it surprisingly makes sense.
After all, these Yin people who know how to harness their inner demons have long been able to wipe out an entire city on their own. This level of strength creates a real divide between them and ordinary people.
So, the problem lies here.
According to this strange self-sustaining logic, the rule of the Yin people cannot be overthrown. After all, no matter who beats the other Yin people, the new warrior in power will also be seen as a Yin person. The individual warriors may disappear, but the warrior tradition will continue to persist, never severed.
"But the rule of the Yin people still ended. Do you know what this means?"
Swordsman Wu Zhao held up two fingers.
"From my judgment, there are basically two possibilities. One is that a certain warrior suddenly went mad. He didn’t acknowledge himself as a Yin person, nor did he see himself as a warrior. He abandoned everything about being a warrior and then killed all the other warriors."
This is an extremely ridiculous situation, but it might actually exist. After all, warriors walk with death every day, and the pressure they face is imaginable. Who knows if a warrior suddenly loses it, opts out of seeking formidable enemies, and first runs to slaughter all his comrades... Although fights among warriors usually emphasize stopping before it’s too late, what if someone breaks the rules?
"In other words, there were too many warriors, and things got out of hand."
Du Chengfeng roughly understood what Wu Zhao was trying to say.
Even those who perform comedy look forward to their colleagues’ demise, so it’s the same for warriors. Perhaps, when warriors are few, everyone abides by the rules of stopping before it’s too late. However, as the number of warriors grows and the enemies dwindle, whether for more resources or to continue honing their skills, these warriors will inevitably break the rules and challenge their own kin to life-and-death duels.
According to Wu Zhao’s explanation, after several rounds of life-and-death duels, the last surviving strongest warrior king went mad, using his unmatched formidable power to completely end the warriors’ rule, side along with himself, too.
"This..."
Du Chengfeng started scratching his head, as this explanation indeed seemed unreliable.
"You’d better tell me the other one."
"The other one... it’s something I mentioned to you before."
Swordsman Wu Zhao drew a circle on the stone table beside him.
"You should be able to understand, right? Suppose this circle is the sun, representing us Yin people, that is, warriors..."
"Hmm..."
Du Chengfeng nodded, indicating he could understand.
What Swordsman Wu Zhao said was a bit convoluted but not too complex—in simple terms, during the era of the Yin people, warriors were the strongest, they were the best. People might have had various ways of living and surviving, but in their understanding, the best direction was to become a warrior.
Just like the sun Swordsman Wu Zhao drew on the table, the scorching sunlight falls on everyone, and when they look up, all they see is that one high-hanging sun.
But some will always think the sun is too scorching.
The warriors’ wanton use of violence will eventually lead to many people’s dissatisfaction, so they also tried, attempted to imagine something that could rival the sun to vent their grievances—but without exception, their attempts all failed. Even if those monsters they imagined really appeared in the world, the Yin warriors could easily kill them.
"How can the light of glowworms compete with the sun’s brilliance?"
Swordsman Wu Zhao then dotted numerous points on the table.
"Like these stars, though they indeed shine, when the sun rises, they will still be completely obscured... only because the sun’s light is much brighter than those so-called stars, their little glimmering light doesn’t even have the right to be seen."
"In other words, these new beliefs cannot shake the status of warrior traditions in people’s hearts."
Du Chengfeng roughly summarized what Swordsman Wu Zhao was saying.
"So what you mean is..."
"Something brighter appeared."
Swordsman Wu Zhao drew a larger circle on the table.
"Something more brilliant than the warriors appeared, so brilliant that even the warriors lost their shine."
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