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Chapter 279
Chapter 279 - Two Tigers, One Mountain
A spirit of a young man emerged from Tong's back. The soul had a similar face with Tong's Sloth, but he appeared in his 20s. It wore sunglasses, gold rings, black pants, leather shoes, and an expensive glossy suit.
Friday whistled by reflex, impressed by the outward look of Tong's [Greed].
Jia Xu widened his eyes for a moment before he sighed and nodded.
"As long as this spirit isn't harmful to our Lord and his allies, then all is well."
Tong was confused by the sudden change. His vision blurred, and he staggered back and forth.
It took Tong another minute to readjust his sight and his five sense before he realized what happened to himself.
"I awaken a soul again."
"Yup, you monster. That's a new record for getting the third soul in less than a hundred years, " Friday smiled, but her eyes revealed a tinge of envy. It took her hundred thousands of years before she could obtain her four wings, but Tong gained three in a few years. Friday could not help but want to regain her wings as well.
Friday scanned the soul from head to toes, "But I have to admit. He looks impressive with good clothing. Is he your previous life form?"
"Previous life?" Jia Xu heard the keyword and was intrigued. He kept his mouth shut to listen to their conversation.
Tong turned around to see his third soul. Upon seeing the smug look of Greed, Tong laughed.
"Yeah, that swag look is definitely me in my dream the last life. That is the custom tactical suit from John Wick movie I always wanted to have."
"You have a strange taste of luxurious."
"It was the dream of poor detectives or field cops in my time. We want to look good while we were doing our job too."
"Is that your Pride or your Greed?"
"Greed."
The more Jia Xu listened, the more confused he became.
"Excuse me, young master. Can you tell me what has happened?"
Friday narrowed her eyes as she dissatisfied of the busy body. However, Tong tapped her head.
"It's fine. Explain to him."
"Right. He'll mutate into one of us soon enough. Also, it's about time I teach you about the curses of each sin that you can use."
...
Lu Bu heard that Tong had returned. He rushed out of his tent to confront Tong so he could display his strength and suppress Tong by force. If he could beat Tong in front of his men, everybody and Julu soldiers would respect him more.
The goal of Lu Bu was to steal Julu's authority.
'This time, I'll beat you black and blue, and I'll make Xiao Wu mine! Ha! I'll make you give her to me willingly!'
Lu Bu straddled to where Tong, Friday, and Jia Xu were. Upon seeing Tong, Lu Bu bellowed.
"BRAT! I CAN FINALLY SEE YOU!"
The right punch of Lu Bu came at Tong's face, but Lu Bu's right wrist was caught by Friday's hand.
"Haven't you learned your lesson?"
Friday tightened her grip. Lu Bu felt as if his wrist bone would shatter if he allowed her to continue, so he pulled back his hand.
Jia Xu, who was listening to Friday's lecture, frowned in an annoyance because of Lu Bu's interruption.
"Sir Lu Bu, if you don't behave in front of the young Lord, we will have to cut your salary as a punishment."
Tong glanced at Lu Bu and asked Jia Xu, "Are we paying for his service?"
"Yes. We are using the rate of a grand commander of a legion."
Tong walked to Lu Bu to confront him.
"What's your problem this time, Fengxian? We're giving you the highest rate of our standard wage, but you seem pissed. Tell me honestly, I'm listening."
"My soldiers died because of your war! That's why!"
"How many men?"
"Over 10, 000!"
Jia Xu inserted, "A total of 12, 000 soldiers."
Tong sighed, "And what is the casualty of Julu men?"
Jia Xu answered, "22, 000 men, my Lord."
Tong glared at Lu Bu, "Is that what you're angry about? We both lost our men, but you're pissed because I used your soldiers?"
"You've been manipulating my father and my army for a long time now. It was fine when you fought Liu Ping, but this time, you used us as your pawns. How can I tell their families that I brought them to their death!?"
"I'm compensating their families. Their families won't ever have any more trouble with their food or money again!"
"Your compensation won't bring their lives back!"
"But if we didn't make a stand, Yuan Shao will do worse to Jinyang and them! Do you even know what's inside Nanpi? I saw slaves! Yuan Shao encourages slave-trade, Fengxian! Do you want slave merchants to roam around to border, capturing villagers and sell them as slaves?"
"That's for our future to decide. We are not your subordinates!"
"You're not my subordinate, but you're accepting the wages from us? Doesn't that make you our hired mercenaries?"
"I never said that I'll work for you. I only came here because my father told me to. The payment we received from you is what we deserve to get from our past works. It is your job to tribute Jinyang soldiers with your gold for our protection, but you can't command us!"
"You're not making any sense. Do you realize that your words sound like a third-rate thug in a slum? And, what the fOOk do you mean [Gold for Protection] or [Tribute]!? Both Jinyang and Julu are allies, not a vessel of another city."
"Your words contradict yourself. We're not Julu's lapdogs! We're not your vessel, but why are you commanding my army?"
The atmosphere grew awkward.
Lu Bu and Tong glared at each other without holding back their killing intent.
Friday readjusted her breathing as she was getting used to the demonic power that Tong had. She was ready to kill Lu Bu at any time if a fight were to break out.
Jia Xu, Gao Lan, and Te Langpu sweated bullets as they were in the middle of a cyclone of collided murderous auras.
The red eyes of Tong were glowing, "Back to the original question, what's the point of beating me?"
"Someone needs a beating to understand his place."
"After beating me up, what's your plan? Going home and pretend that nothing has happened?"
"I'm taking my men back home. Afterward, you will tribute me with 100, 000 gold a month as a service fee for using my men in the past."
"Going home? After sowing discord among us and ask for a tribute!? Do you even have an exit plan after this? Our alliance will break off if that happens. All my subordinates will hunt you down, and war will break out between my Yellow Turban and Jinyang Army. More death to your soldiers is ensured."
"Foolish scum. If you die here by my hands, I'll be the supreme commander of both Yellow Tuban and Jinyang Army."
"Kill me? Of course, kill me to take over my forces. You never planned anything good. You've never thought of the big picture, and you have never been grateful for what I've done for you since the day we met!" Tong turned to Jia Xu, "Can you get us weapons? Unless we beat the hell out of the other, this matter won't end."
Jia Xu hesitated. From the conversation, it was as if Tong wanted to kill Lu Bu as well.
Friday leaned and whispered to Jia Xu, "Go get it. I'm here as well, so Lu Bu can't kill Tong."
"... Understood."
At this moment, Zhang Liao, Li Feihong, Xu Huang, and others noticed the vortex of killing intent. They rushed to the site and found Tong and Lu Bu. It was not difficult for them to figure out what had happened.
Zhang Liao stood in front of Lu Bu, whose eyes were already red from anger.
"Fengxian, stop."
Gao Shun also walked to the front of his boss.
"Boss, please stop."
Li Feihong gulped as he could not stand in front of Lu Bu as Zhang Liao and Gao Shun. The killing intent from Lu Bu was the same when he fought Wen Chou and Yan Liang. He wanted blood.
"You three..." Lu Bu muttered, "Fetch me my weapon."
"You!" Zhang Liao wanted to punch Lu Bu in the face to wake him from this insanity.
"Go get it, Wenyuan. Unless we duke it out, this won't end with just a simple quarrel. We might have to break off the alliance between Ding Yuan and us."
Hearing Tong's words, Zhang Liao's heart sunk. The alliance between Jinyang and Julu benefitted both cities as they supported each other in both military and domestic. Losing Julu's support would harm Jinyang's economy as well.
Gao Shun gritted his teeth and nodded. He gestured the onlooking soldiers, which one of them ran to Gao Shun with Lu Bu's crescent halberd.
Jia Xu sent a soldier with an iron halberd to Tong as well, but he did not dare to return to Tong's side as the killing intent was bad to Jia Xu's heart.
...
One hour later.
Bloody wounds covered Tong's body, but he still clung on his halberd with the right hand, standing with trembling legs. His dislocated left arm was dangling by his side.
Lu Bu, however, knelt on one knee. His chest revealed a deep cut from his left shoulder to his right waist. His broken armor pieces scattered on the ground.
Both men were panting as if they had been running a marathon race for an entire day.
"Are you guys done?" Asked Friday, who did not seem to panic despite the injuries both men had. Instead, she smiled as she knew that Tong had not even used his [Time Stop] or [Create Food] in this fight.
Tong matched Lu Bu's strength with his pure abilities without relying on active system skills for the first time.
The onlookers were restless, shocked, and astonished, fearing that the friendly relationship between Jinyang and Julu might be over as of today. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun wanted to rush in and stop the fight, but Friday stopped them from interfering.
No word came out of Tong or Lu Bu's mouth. They were exhausted to the point that standing still had become difficult.
"Let's end this with a draw. None of you can move anymore."
The suggestion of Friday finally got Tong and Lu Bu's attention. Tong nodded and dragged his feet away from Lu Bu, while the latter wanted to pursue, but he did not have enough strength.
'Since when has Tong gotten this strong!? Why did his speed similar to that girl!?'
During the fight, Lu Bu almost killed Tong several times. However, when he heard Tong roared [Time Alter: Triple Accel], he was slashed a dozen times with the speed that Friday had displayed on the other day.
After the [Triple Accel], Lu Bu could not keep up with the speed and was unable to continue fighting.
Lu Bu muttered with a dried voice, "Fine. I'll be sure to kill you next time, Tong!"
Tong turned around and gave Lu Bu a middle finger.
The sweating Jia Xu turned to Friday again, "Will this be alright?"
Friday shrugged, "It's just two kids fighting over a toy. Actually, it's better this way. We can finally put Lu Bu in his place and teach him that he's not the king of this world."
"Well, I agree on that. I'll rob his men in my way, then."
"Please do. If possible, isolate Lu Bu to the point that he has no authority over Jinyang men. A stupid brute without an army is just a simpleton."
| ← Ch. 278 | Ch. 280 → |