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Chapter 277
Chapter 277 - Kill or Not
When Tong departed from Zhongshan, he did not travel back using the previous Julu and Zhongshan road. Instead, Tong thought that he could arrive at Anping faster if he took a shortcut by moving southeast directly instead of taking a detour road to Julu.
Unfortunately, without a GPS or a system map, Tong was clueless when it came to traveling alone in the ancient world.
He could not pinpoint the right direction of Anping, so he kept heading southwest, using the direction of the stars and the sun. Unknowingly, he was moving east instead of southeast.
Tong wanted to ask a direction in the clan chat, but he was afraid that Jia Xu and his wives would have made fun of him. Therefore, he tried to find a local to ask for a direction.
A few days passed after his departure, he finally saw a caravan. However, as Tong approached them, he saw a familiar face.
A familiar looking scholar was being rescued by a group of soldiers.
Even if Tong was drunk, he could still recognize this person as it was the guy who trapped his father in Nanpi two years ago.
"Feng Ji!"
Tong glanced left and right, scanning through the caravan. He thought that it was odd for Feng Ji to be captured or locked inside a cage.
Then, he found another familiar face.
"I must have been blessed with plot armor! Hell, why are Te Langpu and Feng Ji doing here together?"
Tong hid and observed the group for a while. It did not take long for the change to develop.
Feng Ji led the men to kill Te Langpu!
Tong held back his laughter as he was enjoying the show.
'Oh wow! Come on, kill faster!'
He cheered for Feng Ji to kill everyone faster. When Feng Ji got Te Langpu and his bodyguards surrounded, Tong recalled about the things Hua Shi had asked him.
Hua Shi had to kill one otherworlder before the end of the year 190.
'Does she have to kill the person herself or I can kill it for her? Well, this won't do! I need that Te Langpu with me alive! Sorry, Feng Ji. I actually rooted for you, but I need that fatso with me. '
Tong jumped off the bush he was hiding, pointing his gun at the back of Feng Ji.
BANG.
The gun fired a bullet while Feng Ji was mumbling about something, but Tong did not care.
"Err... I'm lost. If you don't mind, can you tell me which way leads to Anping or Julu?"
Tong smiled at Te Langpu and his bodyguards.
Silence.
None of Feng Ji's followers or Gao Lan's subordinates could think straight as they knew about this person's identity.
There was only one man in this world that wielded a black boomstick, Zhang Tong.
Gao Lan hesitated if he should ask Tong for help. Before Tong appeared, he could break through the encirclement and escorted Te Langpu to Nanpi by himself. However, encountering Tong complicated everything.
Te Langpu gulped as he fixated his eyes at Tong's gun, calculating how he could get out of this situation.
Tong squinted his eyes. A wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Oh well. Everybody is mute. This is not good at all. I only wanted a direction."
Tong lowered his gun, but his other hand drew a sword from the sheath behind his back.
[Time Alter: Double Accel]
Tong disappeared from where he stood. The next second, he reappeared within the den of archers with traces of slashes, and five archers collapsed on the ground.
The sudden rush of blood pumping in his vein was under Tong's control. After the fight with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Tong had been practicing using it. He could use it for a minute before he had to rest.
"K-Kill him!"
A cry of a soldier snapped all men from the trance. Feng Ji's remnants pointed their crossbows at Tong while Gao Lan's bodyguards rushed at the archers, killing their way out.
Darting his eyes around and counting the troops, Tong was thinking if he should grind his [Time Stop] skill using these men as EXP or he should save it for the emergency.
'I haven't grinded this skill for a long time. I'm also stupid for not using it each day before midnight. Eh, 10 EXP per kill and 1 EXP peruse... I'll be reckless for once. '
"[Time Stop]"
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[Time Stop] LV. 3 EXP (10/400)
- Stop time and space in your current universe for 15 seconds.
Skill Cost: 15 years of the host lifespan.
Skill Upkeep: 2, 000 Lifespans per year.
Skill Restriction: Can only be used once per day. Skill resets at midnight.
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The skill level increased to three after all these years. Tong still felt stupid for not grinding it when he had abundant of lifespans.
As [Time Stop] activated, Tong continued his killing while he maintained his boosted perception.
Fifteen seconds later, the time resumed. Fifty of eighty soldiers found themselves unable to move and fell on the ground, dead.
Gao Lan and Te Langpu did not know if they should feel relieved or panic from Tong's help. On the contrary, Feng Ji's remnants screamed in fright.
Gao Lan gritted his teeth and whispered Te Langpu.
"Run away when you can. I'll stop him here."
Gao Lan believed that they had fallen into Tong's ambush and there would be more troops coming for them. For the sake of their safety and to deliver this news to his Lord, Gao Lan planned to sacrifice himself so that Te Langpu could live.
Meanwhile,
>
>
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[Time Stop] LV. 4 EXP (111/800)
- Stop time and space in your current universe for 20 seconds.
Skill Cost: 20 years of the host lifespan.
Skill Upkeep: 2, 000 Lifespans per year.
Skill Restriction: Can only be used once per day. Skill resets at midnight.
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Tong frowned upon seeing the change of his skill. It did not improve as he had designed when he created it.
When he designed this skill at the Netherworld, the amount of time he could stop should increase by double for each level up. However, it increased by five seconds in reality.
'Why is my skill not the same as when I designed it?'
Tong wanted to stop and question Lilim about it, but he had not finished with the crowd of Yuan Shao's soldiers yet.
He regulated his breath and stopped moving to regenerate his damaged blood vessels in his brain manually. Tong sheathed his sword and switched his weapon to an ordinary bow.
As Tong was taking his times, Gao Lan and Te Langpu made quick work on the rebelling soldiers and ran away. Gao Lan kept looking back in fear.
'He's not chasing?'
Gao Lan saw Tong drawing his bow at his direction, but the bow did not have an arrow. His eyes met with Tong's stare which sent a chill down his spine. For a second, Gao Lan could feel Tong's piercing killing intent which was stronger than Li Feihong's untamed aura.
A sharp whistling noise followed as light arrows emerged from nothingness. They chased after the surviving soldiers, including Gao Lan and Te Langpu.
Ding
Gao Lan parried three light arrows which came for his head and torso, but Te Langpu's right calf was pinned by an arrow. As for the rest of the soldiers, glowing arrows either dug into their brain or throat. None of them stood on the ground.
Tong took small steps toward Gao Lan and Te Langpu as he drew his sword again. His flushed face recovered to natural color at a visible rate, and his breathing had calmed.
Gao Lan gulped. Sweat covered his face while his legs were shaking from the pressure of Tong's killing intent.
Unable to withstand it anymore, Gao Lan knelt on both knees.
"Please don't kill us! We surrender!"
Te Langpu, who was rolling on the ground because of the pain, also cried, "I surrender, too! Don't kill us!"
Tong stopped his feet, "Ordinary people can't parry my arrows. What's your name?"
"G-Gao Lan, sir!"
Tong tilted his head as he was familiar with this name.
In history, Gao Lan was a colleague of Zhang He. They served Yuan Shao and worked together when Yuan Shao rose to power after the coalition against Dong Zhuo failed.
Gao Lan displayed his talent when he led Yuan Shao forces against Gongsun Zan Army. He participated in many battles and ultimately gained merits after Yuan Shao eradicated Gongsun Faction.
At the Battle of Guandu, when Yuan Shao was at war with Cao Cao, Zhang He and Gao Lan defected to Cao Cao together as they could not stand Yuan Shao's unreasonable dictatorship and the infighting between Yuan Shao's strategists.
There was no record of how he fared under Cao Cao Army. However, in the novel version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he battled against Liu Bei forces in the year 201, when Liu Bei attacked Cao Cao at Xuchang while Cao Cao was dealing with Yuan Shao. Gao Lan killed Liu Pi, a general under Liu Bei, before he pursued Liu Bei main forces. But Zhao Yun appeared and attacked his rearguards, which Zhao Yun ultimately killed Gao Lan in the battle.
Gao Lan appeared to be one of the talented generals in this era, but because of the lack of achievements, he seemed mediocre when he was compared with others such as Wen Chou, Zhao Yun, or other famous generals under Cao Cao.
Tong rubbed his chin, thinking, 'It shouldn't hurt taking him in. At least, he's a capable officer. I could let him assist Zhang He or Xu Huang since he's also a cavalry general. But... '
Tong sighed. He remembered about Li Feihong's quest that he had to kill Gao Lan in a few days.
'Paying 2 million lifespans to get this general or kill him. What to do?'
Seeing the struggle of Te Langpu, Tong slapped his forehead as he recalled that he was lost.
"Okay, I accept both of your submission, but you have to tell me what Yuan Shao is doing."
Gao Lan took a deep breath and narrated about Yuan Shao's plan, their movements, Liu Yan's offer, and their provision status. He ratted everything he knew, hoping that he could survive.
Seeing the shaking and the desperation of Gao Lan, Tong sheathed his sword and withdrew his killing intent, relieving the pressure on Te Langpu and Gao Lan.
"Both of you will come with me to Anping."
"Err, what about my family?" Asked Gao Lan.
"For now, I want Yuan Shao to think that both of you are already dead. Once we get to my camp, I'll send a secret letter to your family and invite them to Julu. Is that alright with you?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you!!"
Tong shifted his gaze to Te Langpu.
"You too, Mr. President. Do you have a family at Nanpi?"
A wry smile appeared on Te Langpu's sweating face, "It's been a while that I heard that nickname. I don't have a family there. But first, can you treat my wound?"
| ← Ch. 276 | Ch. 278 → |