Chapter 145: Seeking a Husband (5)

Nangong Wang let out a long breath and said, "Junior Sister, have you truly lost your heart to him? Forgive me for being blunt, but Kong Sheng and you are worlds apart in temperament and background. He is a man who wishes to serve as an official, wholeheartedly pledging his loyalty to the imperial court to achieve greatness and establish his career. In the end, he does not belong on the same path as us greenwood folk. You..."

Before Nangong Wang could finish, Nie Chuchen abruptly interrupted him, "Senior Brother, Master once said that our future paths would ultimately lie beyond the martial underworld. Therefore, even though our bodies remain in Jianghu, we cannot afford to not consider our future retreats. What I see in Kong Sheng is not his valor or literary talent, but his resourcefulness and bold spirit. He is able to wield the Halberd of Heavenly Dipper left behind by Master, and he has also completed the missing verse in Master's brocade pouch. Everything that has happened today falls well within Master's brilliant calculations. I believe this is a match destined by the heavens, and I believe my ultimate destination lies with Kong Sheng."

"Senior Brother, why don't you..." Nie Chuchen's profound gaze fixed upon Nangong Wang. At this moment, this fierce-tempered and bold Red Heroine of the Piercing Cloud faintly revealed another side of her character—one of wisdom and far-sighted vision, a side rarely seen by others.

Nangong Wang curled his lip and said, "Junior Sister, I admit that Junior Brother Kong is indeed extraordinary, adept at both the literary and martial arts, and truly a rare talent of this generation. But his trip to Henan to assume office leaves his life and death uncertain. Even if he manages to preserve his life in the future, how much of a future can he really have? Starting from a petty eighth-rank county magistrate, even if his journey is smooth sailing and he enjoys a meteoric rise, it will still take at least a decade or more before he attains any position of real power and influence."

"Not to mention, in my view, the fortune of the Li Tang imperial court is nearing its end. Even if An Lushan's rebellion can be quelled, there is no guarantee that other regional warlords will not carve out territories and proclaim themselves kings. When that time comes, heroes will contend for the Central Plains, and that will be the true opportunity for people of our caliber to make their mark!"

As Nangong Wang spoke to this point, his voice grew passionate and stirring, the brilliance in his eyes intensifying.

As someone constrained by the ideology and vision of his era, Nangong Wang's foresight was actually superior to most. The An Lushan Rebellion stemmed from the court's misrule and the emperor's lack of virtue. Judging by the current situation, the Tang court might not necessarily emerge victorious in the end. And even if the Tang court did win and successfully recovered the two capitals of Guanluo, the realm of the Great Tang in the aftermath of the An Lushan Rebellion would be left in ruins with a thousand miles of scorched earth, teetering even more precariously on the brink of collapse, ready to crumble at any moment. This assessment was fundamentally correct.

His miscalculation lay in the fact that while the Tang empire would indeed enter a period of decline following An Lushan's rebellion and regional warlords would become too unruly to control, not everyone possessed the conditions and timing to raise an insurrection in the manner of An Lushan.

Ambitious and powerful warlords were everywhere—An Lushan was far from the only one. Yet, An Lushan was the only one who dared to rebel. To raise troops and usurp the Tang empire, aside from military strength, timing was of the utmost importance. To forcefully defy the wind without the proper timing was destined to make one a rebellious traitor condemned by all under heaven; no warlord would easily take that risk.

In other words, Nangong Wang still somewhat underestimated the foundational strength of the Li Tang imperial court, as well as the immense energy unleashed by the mobilization of various resources commanded by imperial authority.

From a certain perspective, the reason for Nangong Wang's miscalculation was primarily due to the influence of his master, Fan Yuncong, which gave him a preconceived and biased negative impression of the Li Tang imperial family and court.

Kong Sheng later learned that Fan Yuncong was originally the son of a high-ranking official, but because he offended a certain powerful figure in the court, the Fan family fell into ruin. Later, Fan Yuncong became the disciple of a reclusive master and mastered unfathomable martial arts. Naturally, Fan's deep-seated resentment toward the Li Tang imperial family and court can well be imagined.

Having been constantly lectured and indoctrinated for more than a decade by his master with values regarding the "lack of virtue of the Li Tang imperial house and the chaos of the court administration," it was impossible for Nangong Wang not to be influenced.

Nie Chuchen's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she understood in her heart that Nangong Wang harbored towering ambitions. Ever since his youth, he had possessed soaring aspirations, pridefully comparing himself to Zhuge Liang of antiquity, along with the grand ambition of assisting a wise ruler to contend for supremacy over the realm.

To make him serve Kong Sheng was practically impossible. Compared to the "heroic and wise lord" of his imagination, Kong Sheng—a minor official yet to assume his post with an uncertain future—was simply too far inferior.

Unwilling to continue the topic with Nangong Wang, Nie Chuchen nodded slightly at him and turned away, drifting off like the wind. Meanwhile, the dozens of bandits arranged by Meng Zan had long since tightly guarded the arched gates and corridors leading in and out of the small courtyard. Any suspicious movement by Kong Sheng inside would inevitably alert the entire stronghold.

Nangong Wang looked up at the sky, where a myriad of stars dotted the vast firmament and a bright crescent moon hung high among the tree branches. A flicker of complex light crossed his eyes before he lowered his head and walked away in haste as if nothing had happened.

Although he and Nie Chuchen shared the same master, their temperaments were vastly different, and their aspirations did not align. Nie Chuchen at most advocated for freedom and chivalrous deeds; as a woman, she ultimately sought an ideal destination for her life. As for him, his heart embraced the entire world; how could he squander what he had learned if he could not gallop freely across the land?

The night grew late.

A northwest wind began to howl and sweep across the mountains, carrying stones and falling leaves in a swirling frenzy. The entire Chemenshan Stronghold was plunged into a dark and profound silence, save for the front courtyard where the Justice-Gathering Hall stood, casting a faint, dim glow. Several bandits wrapped in thick cotton coats acting as night sentries rubbed their hands and paced back and forth, stamping their feet from time to time to keep warm.

A dark figure flashed swiftly across a mountain trail, occasionally scaling trees and rocks like a soaring dragon against the wind, before quietly slipping into the Chemenshan Stronghold shortly thereafter.

Before the tall and sturdy wooden gates of the stronghold, the dark figure paused momentarily, then stamped fiercely on the spot. His body surged upward into the air two or three zhang high, and with a light tap of his feet against the stronghold gate, he propelled himself even higher, vaulting over the gates like a soaring bird with a soft, muffled thud.

"Who goes there?!" barked one of the sentries angrily.

A dark shadow flashed swiftly past his eyes, and another bandit chuckled, "Just a wild cat, what are you fussing about?"

Little did they know, the dark figure had already scaled the flagpole on one side in the blink of an eye, leaping like a shooting star across the rooftops and flying eaves deeper into the stronghold. His movements were so light and feather-like that he landed without a sound; even if there was any slight noise, it was completely masked by the howling wind of this night.

Kong Sheng sat alone on the blue stone slabs at the doorway of Nie Chuchen's bedchamber, wrapped tightly in a thick cloak, gazing up at the boundless starry sky with a slight stirring of vexation in his heart. Nie Chuchen had intentionally yielded her room to him, which was clearly a "trap." If he were to spend the night inside Nie Chuchen's bedchamber, he would likely never clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

He raised his head to look at the high courtyard walls and flying eaves, thinking to himself that if he possessed lightness and leaping skills like Mu Changfeng, capable of vaulting high and soaring through the air, how could this tiny Chemenshan Stronghold possibly trap him? He would have long since let out a defiant roar and flown away.

Yet, all of this was ultimately wishful thinking.

Feeling annoyed and restless, he stood up, picked up the Halberd of Heavenly Dipper specially crafted by Fan Yuncong, walked out into the courtyard, and began to brandish it haphazardly. This halberd felt extremely natural in his hands, as if it had been tailor-made specifically for him. With such a coincidence, it was no wonder Nie Chuchen kept insisting it was a match destined by the heavens.

The wind blew with reckless fury as Kong Sheng brandished the heavy Halberd of Heavenly Dipper, twisting and turning in the courtyard. From an initial clumsiness and stiffness, his movements gradually grew smooth and effortless.

To his pleasant surprise, while wielding the halberd, he subconsciously circulated the inner breath technique taught by Sima Chengzhen. A surge of warm Qi immediately welled up from his meridians and coursed through his entire body, making the 238-jin halberd feel as light as a feather in his grasp.

He tested rotating the halberd with a single hand, and it spun as fast as flying. The heavy halberd felt light, nimble, and as obedient as an extension of his own arm between his five fingers, engendering a seamless sense of unity. A look of wild joy gradually appeared on his face.

If he were to use the halberd relying solely on brute force, he would have to rely on a mature and complete set of halberd techniques to maintain endurance and unleash maximum combat power and lethality. However, aided by internal energy, the halberd invisibly transformed into a divine brush in his hand that he could direct at will. What need was there for any established halberd technique? He could wield the long halberd to execute any practical moves of unimaginable complexity and bizarre angles beyond ordinary imagination, and at a startling speed.

Kong Sheng even felt that he could improvise an abstruse set of halberd techniques right on the spot. This sudden smugness of turning into a martial arts master overnight did not last long, however, and he gradually began to calm down.

He attempted to guide the increasingly fierce currents of Qi circulating within his meridians toward his right arm holding the halberd, channeling them into a single meridian. When he felt the meridian in his right arm swell like an inflated balloon on the verge of bursting, he suddenly let out an explosive shout and threw his entire body's strength into a mid-air downward slash with the halberd in his hand!