Chapter 130: The General’s Son!

"I have a friend," the old man said.

Tang Fei glanced at the old man sideways. Creating a friend out of thin air?

No matter what topic a man is discussing, if he starts with this sentence, the matter is almost certainly about himself.

Tang Fei suspected that the old man was spinning stories again. If it truly turned out to be just a made-up tale, he would walk away without looking back and never believe him again.

He had already listened to two of his stories and had no desire to hear a third...

"Since he was very young, his dream was to become a general."

"Unlike him, I was afraid of death and bloodshed, and I didn't dare step onto the battlefield to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy. Therefore, I wanted to work behind the scenes, designing tactical armor or weapons to provide support for his battles."

"The two of us made an agreement long ago, striving toward this goal. He would charge forward and bathe in blood on the front lines, while I built the most formidable weapons and mechas for him in the rear."

"He was a martial arts prodigy who entered the Grandmaster realm at a very young age. He was the youngest Minor Grandmaster in the history of the Phoenix Empire and the man with the highest hopes of becoming a Major Grandmaster and reaching the pinnacle of martial arts. Those so-called Three Moons and Seven Stars of today cannot compare to him in the slightest; they aren't even worthy of carrying his shoes."

"The New Star was still relatively turbulent back then, and wars between countries broke out quite frequently. Especially when our country and the Astra Empire fought bitterly for resources and territory, resulting in several nationwide mobilizations."

"To be born in turbulent times is precisely the moment for heroes to emerge. That friend of mine started out as an ordinary mechanical soldier and quickly rose to become a battalion commander, leading the mechanical battalion to achieve successive meritorious deeds and creating astonishing military miracles time and time again."

"His promotion speed was also extremely rapid. He commanded a regiment, then an army, and before the age of forty, he had already become the Grand Marshal commanding all the empire's forces—one person below tens of thousands."

"Although he came from a prestigious background, he didn't have the arrogance or airs of those aristocratic young masters. He treated every soldier like a brother, always charging to the front during battles and staying at the back during retreats."

"He never abandoned a single member of his team, constantly telling everyone: 'You are also your parents' children and your children's parents. A general is human, and so are you. A general has a family, and you do too.'"

"Doing this was actually a very foolish act, because the battlefield changes in the blink of an eye. A moment of carelessness could easily place one in mortal danger. Yet, for decades, he stubbornly persisted in doing this very foolish thing, saving countless lives. No matter where he served as commander, the soldiers there adored him and felt immensely proud and honored to be his men..."

"My wife was a medical soldier. During one of her dashes to the front lines for rescue, their medical transport plane was intercepted by forces from the Astra Empire, and all the doctors were captured."

Tang Fei looked at the old man in astonishment and asked, "You're married?"

The old man had never mentioned his family, let alone his marriage.

Tang Fei had once asked him where he came from, and he had only replied that he came from a very distant place.

At that time, Tang Fei didn't have an exact concept of the word "distant," thinking that Lingyang City was already extremely far away.

The old man did not answer Tang Fei's question. As if completely immersed in memories of the past, he said in a deep voice, "Everyone knew that given the hostile relations between the two countries at that time, falling into the hands of the Astra military meant those medical soldiers would find it difficult to survive, and even worse, they would suffer inhuman torture and humiliation, wishing they were dead."

"When he found out, he led his mechanical battalion in pursuit, completely slaughtering the Astra forces—which outnumbered them several times over—and rescued that medical team intact."

"I asked him why he did it. He said that as a battalion commander, doing so was extremely risky and irrational. But as my brother, he could not stand by and watch his brother's family fall into enemy hands, their home destroyed and lives lost, while doing nothing."

"If nothing could be done, so be it. But if something could be done and he chose to look on with indifference merely out of concern for his own safety, it would leave him with a guilty conscience for the rest of his life."

"At that time, I was only a mechanic in the Equipment Department, and I thought that since I didn't have to go to the battlefield, I wouldn't need to practice cultivation or study those boring ancient martial arts physical techniques. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how insignificant and fragile I truly was."

"On another occasion, a batch of supplies in the Equipment Department developed a problem. Weapons that were supposed to be equipped by our military unexpectedly appeared on the black market and were put to use by the Galaxy Mercenaries first. The Ministry of Military Affairs was furious and began investigating who had handled and sold these supplies. The investigation eventually pointed directly to me, and my signature was on every single supply sales manifest."

"I was arrested. The eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, and those signatures all pointed to me. During wartime, privately trafficking in military weapons and ammunition is a capital offense. Waiting for me was nothing short of a death sentence. The verdict came down quickly: within three months, I was to be executed by lethal injection."

"At such a critical moment, to avoid suspicion and protect themselves, my family couldn't possibly step forward to save me, because some people at the time believed it wasn't the act of a single individual, but rather the collective behavior of our family..."

"He stood up and said he was willing to stake his life to guarantee that I could never have done such a thing."

"Then he personally charged into the black market, arrested a large number of mercenaries, and subjected them to severe torture and interrogation. Using this most barbaric yet most direct method, it took him two months and twenty-seven days to peel back the truth layer by layer and find the real mastermind who had trafficked in arms and possessed the clout to pin the crime on me: a prince of the imperial royal family."

"Three days! Just three days! If he had paused to catch his breath or taken a nap, I would already be dead, and my bones would have turned to ash."

"The Emperor still wanted to protect that prince, commuting his death sentence to twenty years of imprisonment. He refused, stating that the country has its laws and the family has its rules, and if national and military laws varied according to the individual, they would become meaningless. He forced the royal family to execute that prince using the exact same verdict that had been passed down for me."

"Perhaps this was also one of the fuse points for that disaster. The royal family had long harbored deep apprehension toward him and extreme fear of his family, wishing to uproot them entirely and be rid of them."

Speaking of those old events of his past, a red glow surfaced in the old man's eyes once again, and the hand holding the cup began to tremble slightly.

"Later... later, he was killed. Not just him alone, but his family, his wife, his newborn child... Everyone in their entire clan was slaughtered."

"The night of bloodshed in Phoenix City. Catching people by day, killing people by night. They slaughtered relentlessly for thirty-nine days straight."

"I heard that the groundwater of Phoenix City was dyed red, and that year, the rats and cockroaches underground grew much fatter than in previous years."

A vicious smile appeared on the old man's face as he spoke in a cold, mocking tone, "Do you know what crime he was charged with when he was executed?"

Tang Fei did not answer.

He knew the old man didn't need his answer.

He only needed to be a quiet listener; what he needed most right now was an audience.

Tang Fei could tell that these words had been pent up inside him for far too long.

So pent up that his temperament had drastically changed, so pent up that he had become withered like dead wood, with a head of white hair and a face covered in wrinkles.

He was a formidable cultivator! Given his actual age, his vital energy and spirit should have been exceedingly robust, and his appearance should have looked a dozen or two years younger than it did now.

Yet, he truly looked unimaginably old now...

He looked even more aged than an ordinary person of that age.

"Treason," the old man burst out laughing, laughing until he was hoarse, laughing until he rocked back and forth, laughing until his tears and mucus mixed together. "Treason... Enlisted at sixteen, served in the military for twenty-three years, fought over two hundred battles big and small, and bore over three hundred scars on his body. He came close to losing his life a dozen times and was hauled back from the gates of hell by his brothers dozens of times."

"The arrogant and overbearing Astra Empire had its backbone broken by him, unable to lift their heads in front of the people of Phoenix. Those seventeen minor states, eager to fish in troubled waters, were beaten by him until they lost all ability to defend themselves, ultimately forced to form the Caman Federation."

"Such a man... A man who lived and died for the empire and gave everything—was executed on charges of treason. How humiliating is that?"

"Even more ridiculously, to make an example of others, they used burning at the stake to execute him and broadcasted it live to the whole world via video equipment."

"Hahaha, those creatures as stupid as pigs and dogs, they actually believed it! They actually genuinely believed he had betrayed his country, genuinely believed his family wanted to rebel."

"They slandered and humiliated them in every possible way, cursing them for getting what they deserved. How shameful, how hateful!"

"They were burned alive, reduced to ash... Those to whom he had dedicated his loyalty raised their butcher knives against him. Those he had fought to the death to protect hurled endless slanders at him."

"Tell me, how absurd is this world?"

"Should these people die?"

"Should all of them die?"

By the end, the old man's eyes brimmed with hot tears, and he covered his face, sobbing bitterly.

He was harboring a deep, burning hatred in his heart.

After so many years, it had not vanished; it had not diminished.

Like aged wine, it grew richer with time, and every time he recalled it, it broke his heart and burned his entrails like fire.

How many times had he wanted to shout it out recklessly?

How many nights had he wanted to cry his heart out?

Yet, he could not.

He had to protect Tang Fei, to safeguard Tang Fei like a fragile sapling.

Before Tang Fei grew into a towering tree, any slight leakage of his own identity information would deal a devastating blow to the boy.

He knew all too well what that feeling of powerlessness was like, how agonizing and soul-crushing it was to desire revenge yet have no way to exact it...

Day after day, it would devour a person's sanity, turning them into a violent, twisted monster.

The best course of action was to let Tang Fei grow up freely and live a carefree life.

He gave all his gentleness to Tang Fei, keeping all the suffering to endure in silence by himself.

What he hadn't anticipated was that Tang Fei would pick up a phoenix while out hunting...

Was this the arrangement of fate? Was this an opportunity for revenge bestowed by the heavens?

Originally, he had wanted to wait a little longer. He felt that Tang Fei was still too fragile and insignificant, not yet ready to step forward and shoulder all these responsibilities.

However, he hadn't expected Tang Fei to run into Lu Siyu in the mechanical department, leading both of them to grow suspicious of him:

Lu Siyu suspected whether he had returned, while Tang Fei suspected his relationship with Lu Siyu...

As a result, Tang Fei tracked Lu Siyu and ended up being led straight into the Ban-lu Array.

At that point, trying to hide his identity was no longer realistic.

Given that kid's ghost-like cunning, he had probably already figured out the answer.

Tang Fei poured a cup of tea for the old man, then sat down beside him and waited quietly.

A long time passed.

A long time.

When the old man finally finished venting his emotions, Tang Fei handed over the tissue he had prepared.

The old man didn't take it, wiping his tears with his own sleeve instead.

"That friend you mentioned..." Tang Fei looked at the old man and asked, "Was it Tang Li?"

For some unknown reason, when uttering this name, Tang Fei's heart experienced a surge of palpitations.

There was a very bizarre sensation, as if the two of them were old acquaintances, or shared some kind of connection.

He felt as though he should have seen him before...

Perhaps it was out of admiration for his character and a sense of sorrow for his tragic fate...

Or perhaps it was because of the brotherly bond between the old man and him; if the old man hadn't been implicated by him, he wouldn't have fled to the Old Soil.

And if he hadn't fled to the Old Soil, he wouldn't have found such... family.

The old man looked at Tang Fei with a peculiar gaze and asked, "You know him?"

"I do," Tang Fei nodded and said, "Back in the Old Soil, Phoenix also said he wanted to become a general, saying he wanted to become a great general who shook the world like Tang Li..."

"I learned the name Tang Li from her, and I've also heard some stories about him... After coming to the New Star, I often saw that name as well. However, I could never find the footage of that execution by fire from back then."

"How ironic," a trace of sarcastic amusement appeared at the corner of the old man's mouth. "The traitor personally denounced by their ancestors actually became a role model for the younger generation."

"So..." Tang Fei looked at the old man's grief-stricken and indignant expression and said, "Because of that friend, you left the New Star and fled to the Old Soil..."

"Yes," the old man picked up his tea, drank it down in one gulp, and replied.

"That doesn't make sense," Tang Fei shook his head and said, "Given the strength of the Gongshu family and their trajectory of development over the years, obviously, in that incident, they shouldn't have been involved; they might even have been among the beneficiaries."

"Since that's the case, it should have been more than easy for them to shelter a direct descendant of a family. There's no reason why a talented mechanic would be forced to go into exile in the wasteland."

Tang Fei thoughtfully sized up the old man and asked, "What did you do that even your family couldn't protect you from? Something so grave that you had to leave—that you couldn't stay no matter what?"

"Yes," the old man nodded and said, "I took Tang Li's son away."

Tang Fei suddenly felt his heartbeat accelerate, and even his breathing became heavy. He stared wide-eyed at the old man and said, "What do you mean?"

"Tang Li's son didn't die; the one who died was someone else's son," the old man looked at Tang Fei with a solemn expression and said in a deep voice.

"His son..."

"Is you," the old man said with absolute finality. "Tang Fei, you are Tang Li's son."