Chapter 22: Yao Shi and Huan Hai (Part One)

  "Hey, Gao! Don't get reckless!" Hong Feng's heart sank abruptly. Oh no! The initiative was lost, and he might really be done for this time. There was no other way out, so he decided to go all out with him. For the sake of survival, Hong Feng steeled himself and ignored his body's immense pain, charging towards Gao Yi in an instant. As expected of a renowned Yaoke warrior, his speed had reached a shocking realm.

  "Fierce Tiger Roar Fist!" That one punch, containing all his strength, heavily struck the defenseless Gao Yi's chest.

  "Hongfeng was overjoyed at his success!"

  "Hong Feng, is this all the power you have?" Gao Yi's words, filled with strong ridicule, also rang out at this moment. Fool, don't you understand yet? In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy or trickery is extremely childish and laughable!

  "How could this be?" Hong Feng couldn't believe what was happening in front of him, the opponent had taken his strongest blow without even flinching. True, the opponent's strength was greater than his own, but it shouldn't be to such an absurd degree!

  "The strength of Yosei Musha is on a completely different level compared to Yosei Bushi! Hongfeng, I don't even need to use my combat skills to deal with you!" Gaoyi's hand shot out like lightning and grabbed Hongfeng by the throat.

  In the midst of his opponent's terrified gaze, Gao Yi smiled slightly and exerted a bit of force. With a "crack" sound, Hong Feng's head slumped down powerlessly.

  "Hong Feng, the leader of the Penglai Mountain bandits, and his cohorts have committed countless evils, bringing harm to the people. Even if they were to die a hundred times, it would not be enough to atone for their sins! But today, I, Gao Yi, have finally rid the people of this scourge!" With an air of righteous indignation, Gao Yi wiped his blood-stained hand on Hong Feng's clothes.

  "General Gao, do you think you can deceive the whole world by doing this?" Ding Heng suppressed his inner anger after watching Gao Yi's performance.

  "Shut up, Ding Heng! Do you think I want to be like this? Do you think I want to live in a world where officials and bandits collude and are despised by others?" Gao Yi said angrily. "Do you know? As the imperial court's official army, my brothers and I have not received a single coin of salary for many years! Deputy General Ding, your family is wealthy, so you don't care about this small amount of money, but I and my brothers are all from poor families, we rely on our salaries to make a living, we rely on our salaries to support our families. Without salaries, my brothers and I, our families will all starve to death!"

  "Ding Heng was speechless, he knew what Gao Yi said was all true."

  "Since the imperial court doesn't provide us with silver, we can only think of a way ourselves. As long as I can let my brothers and their families live a good life, I can do anything!" Gao Yi closed his eyes, "Deputy General Ding, since you've already discovered this matter, I have nothing to say. You can kill or plunder me as you please, but I only have one request: don't implicate my brothers, because they are all innocent!"

  "This..." Deputy Commander Ding was stunned. Ding Heng was very clear that not only the officers and soldiers under Gao Yi, but also all the government troops of the Great Yan State, had not received their salaries for several years. In name, they were all supported by the imperial court, but the vast majority of government troops in the Great Yan State lived in a state of destitution, with clothes that did not cover their bodies and food that was not enough to fill their stomachs. They were even more miserable than ordinary civilians (after all, ordinary people could still dig up something from the land).

  Under such circumstances, Gao Yi did this, and he himself had no reason to blame him.

  Ask the imperial court to pay back the silver? Don't be ridiculous, the biggest interest of the current officials is how to grab more money, as for whether they can remember that you are still alive or not is another question!

  "If Your Majesty would no longer be indulgent, and could shift your thoughts to state affairs, be diligent in governance, and strive for self-improvement, how wonderful that would be!" Ding Heng's heart was also filled with endless emotions. Murong Yan, the current Emperor of Great Yan, was just over twenty years old, and was at an age where he was full of energy and vigor. Unfortunately, however, Murong Yan was unwilling to take on the responsibilities of being a ruler, and still indulged in pleasure-seeking and infatuation with beauty, causing the imperial court to be shrouded in darkness and chaos.

  "General Gao, as long as you truly repent and swear not to do it again, I'll consider keeping your secret!" After hesitating for a moment, Ding Heng finally relaxed his tone. Upon hearing this, General Gao's body was initially stunned, but quickly calmed down.

  "Thank you!" Gao Yi nodded at Ding Heng.

  "In that case, I'll take my leave!" Ding Heng also slightly bowed his head.

  "Not sending!" Gao Yi nodded. But just as Ding Heng turned around, the silver-white stone between Gao Yi's eyebrows stood out again, and the silver-white stone emitted a dazzling light once more. Suddenly, a kind of aura that made people feel like it was crushing Ding Heng came pressing down on him.

  "Silver Wolf Descends, Demon-Slaying Smash!" This is a powerful force that makes one's heart tremble with fear. It is wild and violent, like a massive flood bursting forth and rolling forward relentlessly. The enormous power directly sends the latter flying several dozen feet away.

  "Gao Yi, you...you..." Ding Heng struggled to lift his head, a trickle of fresh blood seeping out from the corner of his mouth. After uttering these words with great difficulty, Ding Heng fell silent once more.

  "I'm sorry, Ding Heng. To be honest, I trust your character very much. However, in my heart, only the dead can truly keep secrets. You can rest assured and go now, after all, we've worked together for so many years, I'll burn some extra paper money for you." Gao Yi said coldly as he looked at Ding Heng who was motionless on the ground.

  It's all good, all the people in the know have been taken care of, and I'm finally safe. Wait a minute, there's still that silly kid named Xiao Chen. He was with Ding Heng, who knows if Ding Heng didn't slip up in front of him. As the saying goes, it's not the big waves that are scary, but the small ripples. To avoid any future trouble, I'll just take care of him once and for all. Gao Yi steeled himself.

  But poor Xiao Chen had no idea that danger was approaching. When the gentle-looking Gao Yi appeared in front of him, Xiao Chen actually felt a sense of being favored. "You're Xiao Chen, right?" Gao Yi smiled and sat down, "This time, you've made great contributions by eliminating those bandits from Panlong Mountain. Don't worry, I'll definitely report to the higher-ups and ask for rewards on your behalf."

  "General Gao, you're too kind, the greatest credit should go to you!" Xiao Chen said hastily. Xiao Chen's face turned a bit red. What great achievement did he have? At that time, he was just caught up in the heat of the moment. Now that Xiao Chen had calmed down, thinking about it made him feel a little scared. If it happened again, even if you killed him, he wouldn't dare to take the lead rashly.

  "Ah, Xiao Chen, little brother, you're so young and yet you've managed to single-handedly take down so many fierce bandits in the Duolu Dragon Mountain. It's truly impressive! If I'm not mistaken, I think you've already awakened to the Fantasy Sea. I reckon your current strength is among the top-notch even among the Yao Stone Warriors!" High Yi found a topic to chat with Xiao Chen to put him at ease.

  "General Gao, what is this 'Awakening of the Fantasy Sea'? What is a 'Yao Shi Wu Zhe', I don't understand what you're saying?" Gao Yi's words left Xiao Chen bewildered.

  "Xiao Chen little brother, I genuinely regarded you as a friend, how could you mock me like this?" Gao Yi barely suppressed the anger in his heart.

  "General Gao, I didn't mean to mock you at all, I really don't know what you're talking about?"

  Gao Yi could no longer hold back the anger in his heart and was about to erupt, but when he saw Xiao Chen's eyes, his anger slowly dissipated. The other person's eyes were so clear, so pure, that not a single trace of pretence could be seen.

  "Wow! I, Gao Yi, have lived for so long and have never seen anyone as pure and kind-hearted as you, Xiao Chen. I'm guessing your hometown must be in a very remote and secluded place?"

  "Hmm!" Xiao Chen nodded vaguely. In fact, he had already forgotten where he came from and what he was doing here due to his partially sealed memories. To put it bluntly, he was now a muddle-headed person.

  "Alas! Xiao Chen, little brother, if others were to find out that you don't even know about Huan Hai and Yao Shi, wouldn't they die from laughter? Never mind, since we have some free time now, I'll tell you about it!" Gao Yi chuckled and pulled over a chair to sit down.

  Mentioning Fantian and Yaoke, it is inevitable to mention Tiānshén and Zhēnshén. They are the most powerful beings in this world and also the most respected beings.

  More than a hundred years ago, humans were still very weak and often had to worry about attacks from ferocious beasts. Those huge and ferocious creatures liked nothing more than to feed on humans. So if humans encountered ferocious beasts and couldn't escape, death was a minor matter, the most terrifying thing was that their corpses would be gone. It's precisely because of these ferocious beasts that people's lives in this world are no longer happy or perfect.

  The turning point of the matter was the arrival of the Heavenly Gods. The all-knowing, all-powerful Heavenly Gods told people about the existence of Mirage Sea. Mirage Sea is a mysterious thing that exists in the human body and also provides great power to humans.

  However, for ordinary people, the Phantom Sea within them is always in a dormant state. And to obtain powerful strength from it, the only way is to awaken the Phantom Sea that has been dormant in one's own body as well. The greatest thing about the Heavenly Gods is that they told people about the existence of the Phantom Sea and taught people how to awaken it.

  The gods indeed did not lie, and when the illusionary sea was awakened, people indeed gained great power, and finally no longer had to fear threats from the barbaric beasts.

  "It's a pity that not long after, the gods and humans had a falling out. In their anger, they left this world." At the thought of this, Gao Yi couldn't help but shudder. After the gods left this world, people who were no longer constrained gradually became dominated by their own greedy hearts and began to fight and kill each other.

  The struggle between people can be a big deal or a small matter. However, when more and more people are involved and the scope of involvement becomes wider, the struggle evolves into war, and it is an unstoppable and brutal war.

  The main theme of war has always been destruction and slaughter. To put it bluntly, it's about exposing white bones in the wilderness, with no rooster crowing for thousands of miles.

  But what's even more deadly is that after the gods left, people discovered that they no longer had the blessings of the gods. Using the power of the Illusory Sea may result in being counterattacked by this power, lightly resulting in spiritual frustration and physical injury, heavily resulting in spiritual collapse and physical destruction.

  On the one hand, we must be on guard against harm from others, and on the other hand, we must also be vigilant against the backlash of the power of the Illusion Sea. In such a situation, what was originally a beautiful world suddenly turned into a hell on earth. And the era when the Heavenly Gods left also became the most terrifying era for humans.

  Although Gao Yi was lucky and had not been born in that most miserable, most terrifying era of humanity, his elders would often inadvertently mention that era when he was very young. Their words cast a shadow of terror on Gao Yi's young mind.

  "The gods left this world because humans were dominated by their own greedy hearts, and thus were despised by the gods! This is also a retribution that humans brought upon themselves!" Xiao Chen said listlessly with a very heavy heart.

  "Xiao Chen, little brother, your words are not quite right! In this world, what can be simply divided into right and wrong? You and I have not experienced that era, we don't know what happened back then. So we cannot easily say who is right or wrong!" Gao Yi let out a soft sigh, shaking his head slightly.