xymnovel Chapter 12 With strength to uproot mountains and an aura that overshadows the world, with wisdom to
Chapter 12 With strength to uproot mountains and an aura that overshadows the world, with wisdom to
Mount Kuaiji is shrouded in mist and haze.
Ancient trees reached for the sky, blocking out the midday sun. From the depths of the forest, a desolate and tragic song faintly drifted out—the dialect of Chu, carrying the mournful and indomitable tone of a fallen kingdom.
Ying Zheng, draped in an inconspicuous gray cloak, stood in the bushes behind a cliff. Han Xin, gripping the standard Qin army longsword, stood protectively beside him, his breathing noticeably rapid despite his efforts to remain calm.
Through the gaps in the branches and leaves, the valley below is clearly visible.
Hundreds of people gathered there, all strong and muscular men. Although they dressed in different ways, some as farmers and others as hunters, their fierce and murderous aura was undeniable.
In the center of the crowd stood a huge bronze cauldron. The cauldron weighed a thousand catties, and its body was covered with Taotie patterns, making it look ferocious and ancient.
"Little G," Ying Zheng muttered coldly to himself, "translate what they're singing."
The light screen flickered slightly on the retina, and the text appeared:
[Dialect translation in progress (Chu dialect - Qin Mandarin)...]
[Lyrics gist: Though Chu has only three households left, it will surely be Chu that destroys Qin. Blood debts must be repaid in blood; we will reclaim our land.]
[Sentiment Analysis: Extreme hatred. This is a typical illegal anti-government gathering.]
[Suggestion: Your Majesty, the Black Ice Guard's signal flare is in your sleeve. With just one piercing arrow, Meng Yi's three thousand iron cavalry can raze this place to the ground in half an hour.]
Ying Zheng's fingers rubbed the cold signal tube inside his sleeve, but he hesitated to pull the trigger.
"No rush."
His gaze swept across the crowd and locked onto the young man standing beside the bronze cauldron.
The man was over eight feet tall, with a broad back and a muscular build. He wore a short-sleeved shirt, revealing bulging, muscular arms that looked as if sculpted from granite. Most chilling of all were his eyes—he had double pupils. The two pupils overlapped, radiating an eerie and domineering pressure, as if a single glance from him would steal one's soul.
Xiang Yu.
At this time, he was twenty-two years old, the prime of his life.
"Is this the one who... sacked my 200,000 Qin soldiers?" Ying Zheng's voice was so low that only he could hear it.
He was scrutinizing. Not as an old man, but as the ruler of the Qin Empire, scrutinizing this future gravedigger.
From the valley floor, a middle-aged scholar (Xiang Liang) shouted, "Ji'er! Today we offer sacrifices to the flag, let this cauldron be our witness! Let heaven and earth see the divine power of the sons of the Xiang clan!"
Xiang Yu laughed loudly, his voice like a booming bell, startling the birds roosting in the mountains and forests into flight.
He strode up to the giant cauldron, and without even warming up, he suddenly bent down and grabbed the cauldron's legs with both hands.
"rise!"
A loud shout, like a thunderclap from a clear sky.
Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of enthusiastic viewers, the massive cauldron weighing a thousand pounds actually lifted off the ground!
Xiang Yu's veins bulged all over his body, and his face turned as red as blood, but he did not stop. He exerted his strength in his waist and abdomen, and with a sudden push of his arms, he lifted the giant cauldron high above his head!
"Overlord! Overlord! Overlord!"
A deafening roar erupted from the valley. The remnants of the Chu people waved their weapons wildly, their eyes filled with fanatical worship. At that moment, Xiang Yu, wielding the giant cauldron, was no longer a man in their eyes, but a god, a totem of the Chu's revival.
Han Xin stood behind Ying Zheng, stunned by what he saw.
Although he was confident in his unparalleled military strategy, the visual impact of this pure and brutal physical strength was enormous.
"Is this even human?" Han Xin muttered to himself, his palms sweating profusely as he gripped his sword.
Ying Zheng remained expressionless, even showing a hint of contempt in his eyes.
"The courage of a common man."
He coldly uttered four words.
[System notification: Your location may have been detected due to the excessive sound wave vibration just now. Xiang Yu's hearing is 1.5 times that of an average person.]
Before he finished speaking, Xiang Yu suddenly turned his head, his terrifying double pupils like two sharp swords, precisely piercing the bushes where Ying Zheng was.
"Who's lurking around there? Come out here!"
With a roar, Xiang Yu actually lifted the giant cauldron with one hand and grabbed a millstone-sized rock from the ground with the other, then hurled it fiercely toward the cliff!
call--
The stones came hurtling down like cannonballs, accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound.
"Not good!" Han Xin reacted quickly, lunging at Ying Zheng and pinning him to the ground.
"boom!"
The stone struck the spot where they had just been standing, sending shards flying and snapping a pine tree as thick as a person's embrace in half.
Ying Zheng pushed Han Xin aside, dusted himself off, and instead of panicking, straightened his clothes and slowly stood up.
"We've been discovered," Ying Zheng said calmly, his tone as steady as if he had just finished a cup of tea. "Since we've been discovered, there's no need to hide anymore."
"Sir!" Han Xin cried out anxiously, "They have hundreds of men! That Xiang Yu is a monster! Let's retreat quickly, I'll hold them off!"
"Withdraw?" Ying Zheng glanced at him, his expression one of imperial arrogance. "I... I, Zhao Zheng, have never yielded the way to anyone in my entire life. Not even to Jing Ke's dagger, nor to these barbarians of Chu."
Instead of running away, he stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the commotion of the crowd below.
Xiang Yu was even more furious when his attack missed. He slammed the giant cauldron in his hand onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble.
"You scoundrel! How dare you spy on my Xiang clan's sacrificial rites! You're courting death!"
Xiang Yu casually picked up a long halberd as thick as a rafter, and with a burst of speed, he charged up the steep hillside like a tiger descending a mountain!
The speed was astonishing; with each step, the rocks crumbled.
"Han Xin." Ying Zheng looked at the approaching menacing star, his voice still calm, "Didn't you say you had a million soldiers in your heart? Today, this will be your first battle."
"Block him. Three moves."
"Three...three moves?" Han Xin's scalp tingled as he looked at Xiang Yu charging at him like a demon. "Sir, this could kill people!"
"If you can't stop it, you'll die too," Ying Zheng said coldly.
Han Xin gritted his teeth, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
Since there is no way to retreat, let's put ourselves in a do-or-die situation and try to survive!
At this moment, Xiang Yu had already rushed close, his halberd carrying the force to split mountains and shatter rocks, and cleaved down!
"Die!"
This strike was devoid of any fancy moves; it was pure power and speed. The air itself was torn apart, emitting a piercing whistling sound.
Han Xin did not take the blow head-on. He knew that if he did, he and his sword would be cleaved in two.
Just as the halberd was about to strike, Han Xin twisted his body strangely, using the terrain to step on a protruding rock, and slid to the side and backward.
"Zheng—!"
The halberd struck the rock, sparks flew, and pebbles flew like bullets.
Taking advantage of the momentum of his retreat, Han Xin wielded his Qin sword like a venomous snake, not aiming for Xiang Yu's vital points, but instead darting towards Xiang Yu's wrist with extreme cunning!
Attack where the enemy must defend!
However, Xiang Yu's reaction was faster than expected. With a flick of his wrist, he swept his halberd horizontally, making the heavy weapon as light as a wick in his hand.
"roll!"
The halberd shaft swept towards Han Xin's waist with a gust of wind.
Han Xin had no choice but to raise his sword to parry.
"when!"
A deafening crash. Han Xin felt an overwhelming force, the Qin sword in his hand instantly bent, his tiger's mouth split open, blood gushing out. He was sent flying two zhang away as if struck by a charging wild bull, crashing heavily into a tree trunk.
"Pfft!" Han Xin spat out a mouthful of blood, his internal organs shifting.
one move.
With just one move, the future military genius was rendered powerless by the future overlord.
This is not even in the same league.
Xiang Yu ignored the ant that had been knocked away and, carrying his halberd, walked step by step toward Ying Zheng.
A violent flame burned in his double pupils: "Old man, you're also a spy for Qin dogs? Judging from your demeanor, you don't seem like a nobody. Tell me, who are you?"
Ying Zheng stood there, facing this ferocious beast capable of tearing tigers and leopards apart, without the slightest fear on his face.
He didn't even put his hand on the hilt of the sword.
Little G is frantically calling the police:
[WARNING! 1 meter away. 99.99% chance of death. Immediately use the "beg for mercy" or "play dead" tactic.]
[Xiang Yu's adrenaline has surged; he is in a "frenzied" state. Communication success rate: 0%.]
Ying Zheng ignored the noise from Little G.
He looked at Xiang Yu, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
"Young man, you have good strength." Ying Zheng spoke, his voice not loud, but with a strange penetrating power. "To be able to lift a cauldron weighing a thousand catties is indeed rare in this world."
Xiang Yu was taken aback. He hadn't expected this old man, on the verge of death, to still be commenting on him.
"But do you know," Ying Zheng's tone shifted, his eyes turning as dark as an abyss, "that lifting the tripod is easy, but lifting the entire world is difficult."
"I see a dark aura between your eyebrows, and although you have an air of dominance, you lack nobility. Your eyes can see the cauldron in front of you, but you can't see the path beneath your feet."
"If you only know how to act rashly, you won't even be able to save your uncle's life, let alone restore Chu."
Xiang Yu was furious: "How dare you curse my uncle?!"
The halberd was raised again, ready to stab down.
"stop!"
A sharp shout came from below.
Xiang Liang, panting as he caught up, felt a jolt of fear when he heard the words "couldn't save his uncle's life." He was a seasoned veteran, his judgment of people far more astute than Xiang Yu's.
The middle-aged man before me, though simply dressed, possessed an unwavering composure even in the face of imminent danger—a quality no ordinary person could match. Moreover, the guard behind him who had been knocked away, though his swordsmanship was rudimentary, was still rooted in military tradition.
If we kill this man now, and he happens to be a high-ranking official of Qin, attracting a large army to surround and annihilate him, the Xiang clan will be wiped out today.
Xiang Liang rushed forward, grabbed Xiang Yu's halberd shaft, and looked at Ying Zheng with suspicion and uncertainty: "Who are you? Why are you spying on us?"
Ying Zheng glanced at Xiang Liang, straightened his cuffs, and said calmly, "My name is Zhao Zheng, a merchant from Guanzhong."
"A traveling merchant?" Xiang Liang sneered. "Would a traveling merchant have such skilled assassins by his side? Would a traveling merchant dare to remain unfazed under the Overlord's Halberd?"
"When business gets big, you naturally need to be bolder." Ying Zheng took out a token from his pocket—it was a forged "Royal Trade Permit of the Great Qin Dynasty" with the seal of the Imperial Household Department on it.
"I came here hoping to find some local specialties from Jiangnan. I was passing by when I heard a mournful song, so I came out of curiosity to take a look."
Ying Zheng pointed at Xiang Yu: "I never expected to meet someone like him... If he hadn't died young, he might have been a great general."
Xiang Yu sneered, "General? What I want to do is..."
"Ji'er! Shut up!" Xiang Liang shouted at him.
Xiang Liang stared at the token, his eyes gleaming. A special permit from the Imperial Household Department—this meant the man before him was a powerful imperial merchant. Such a person was greedy for money, but also valued his life.
"Since Mr. Zhao is after money, then today's matter..." Xiang Liang's tone was threatening.
Ying Zheng smiled and took out a piece of "Qin paper" that he had just folded from his sleeve.
"I'm only interested in money. Whether you're practicing martial arts together or plotting something sinister is none of my business."
He handed the paper to Xiang Liang: "This is my 'toll.' As for what happened today, keep quiet about it."
Xiang Liang took the paper, intending to just glance at it before tearing it up, but when his gaze fell on the contents of the paper, his pupils suddenly contracted.
That's not a banknote.
That was... a simplified version of the "Recent Grain and Trough Mobilization and County Defense Deployment Map of the Great Qin Dynasty".
Of course, this was "false intelligence" fabricated by Ying Zheng through Xiao G. It was seven parts true and three parts false; the truth was enough to convince them, while the falsehood was enough to cost them their lives at a crucial moment.
"This..." Xiang Liang's hands trembled slightly. This thing was priceless to rebels!
"A small gift to mark our meeting," Ying Zheng said meaningfully. "Judging from your appearances, you two are destined for greatness. In this chaotic world, having a friend is always better than having a dead one. What do you say?"
Xiang Liang took a deep breath, the murderous intent in his eyes receding, replaced by greed and calculation.
With this map, he could avoid the main Qin army and contact various rebel forces...
"Mr. Zhao...impressive skills." Xiang Liang cupped his hands in greeting. "I apologize for any offense caused today. Ji'er, step back!"
Although Xiang Yu was unwilling, he obeyed his uncle's words. He glared fiercely at Ying Zheng, put away his halberd, and his eyes seemed to say: Next time we meet, I will take your dog's life.
Ying Zheng didn't care at all. He turned around, walked to Han Xin's side, and extended a hand.
Han Xin clutched his chest, staring blankly at the outstretched hand.
"Can you still walk?" Ying Zheng asked.
"I...I won't die." Han Xin gritted his teeth and used the momentum to stand up.
Ying Zheng helped Han Xin up and walked down the mountain without looking back.
"I've remembered." Ying Zheng's voice drifted over, addressed to Xiang Liang, and also to Xiang Yu.
"The cauldron is too heavy; be careful not to slip and fall."
……
It wasn't until we had walked five miles and gotten back into the carriage that the suffocating sense of oppression completely disappeared.
Inside the carriage.
Han Xin slumped in the corner, panting heavily, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Ying Zheng, who was resting with his eyes closed, and his expression changed.
It was no longer doubt, but a deep awe, even tinged with a touch of fanaticism.
"Sir..." Han Xin's voice was hoarse, "You knew all along... he wouldn't kill us?"
Ying Zheng opened his eyes, poured a cup of water from the small table beside him, and handed it to Han Xin.
"I don't know," Ying Zheng said calmly. "If Xiang Liang had arrived a moment later, or if Xiang Yu had slipped up, we would be two corpses by now."
"Then why..." Han Xin asked, puzzled. He couldn't understand why someone could be so cheerful and even turn the tables on someone in a life-or-death situation.
"Because I'm a gambler," Ying Zheng pointed to his head, "but I only gamble on games where the odds of winning are high."
"Although Xiang Yu was brave, he listened to Xiang Liang. Although Xiang Liang rebelled, he was even more greedy. As long as the bait offered was big enough, greed would overcome the intent to kill."
"But that map..." Han Xin said with some worry, "That's a crucial military map! If we really let them..."
"It's all fake." Ying Zheng's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Except for those few grain transport routes, which are real, the rest of the troop deployments were all ordered by me... I made them all up."
"If they actually fight according to that map, they will only run headlong into Meng Tian's encirclement."
Han Xin's mouth gaped open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that this man, who hadn't even drawn his sword, was far more terrifying than Xiang Yu, who possessed the strength to uproot mountains.
That is the cold and cunning wisdom of manipulating people's hearts.
"Han Xin," Ying Zheng said, looking at him, "you lost that last move."
Han Xin lowered his head, overwhelmed with shame: "Yes. Your subordinate is incompetent. That Xiang Yu... his strength is too great, beyond human capability."
"No, you haven't lost," Ying Zheng suddenly said.
Han Xin suddenly looked up.
"You survived a fatal blow and were even able to counterattack his wrist. This shows that you're quicker-witted and have sharper eyes than him."
Ying Zheng leaned forward, his gaze fixed intently on Han Xin.
"Xiang Yu was a peerless sword. But he was only a sword. He could kill ten, a hundred, or a thousand people, but he could not kill all the people in the world."
"And you..." Ying Zheng pointed to Han Xin's chest, "Your swordsmanship is third-rate now, and your strength is mediocre. But once you learn how to 'use' a blade like Xiang Yu's, you will be top-tier."
"That's the difference between 'general' and 'general'."
"What I want you to learn is not how to fight Xiang Yu with bayonets. That's something only a brute would do."
"What I want you to learn is how to stand on high ground, use formations, supplies, and people's hearts to trap this tiger in a cage, let it starve to death, or... make it work for me."
Upon hearing these words, Han Xin felt as if his mind had been struck by lightning.
Previously, when he studied military books, he only learned about troop deployment and formation. Today, Ying Zheng taught him a lesson in military strategy called "The Art of the Emperor's Mind."
"Your subordinate...is grateful for your instruction!" Han Xin disregarded his injuries, turned over and knelt down in the carriage, kowtowing heavily.
If he was motivated by money before, now he's truly convinced.
Ying Zheng nodded in satisfaction.
The training of the eagle was successful.
"Little G," Ying Zheng asked in his mind, "Have you prepared a backup plan for Xiang Yu?"
Of course, Your Majesty.
The paper you just handed to Xiang Liang was coated with a special fluorescent powder (though it's not visible in this era, the 'tracking dogs' trained by the Black Ice Guard can smell it).
Furthermore, I wrote a very interesting prophecy in the lining of the paper, using water-soluble ink.
[When it rains in Jiangnan one day, Xiang Liang will see that sentence: "Even if Chu has only three households left, will it surely be Chu that destroys Qin? Not so. It is Ji who will destroy Chu."]
"The one who destroyed Chu was Ji..." Ying Zheng laughed.
This is the most vicious tactic of sowing discord.
Xiang Liang was determined to restore Chu. If he were to suspect that his nephew was the one who caused the downfall of Chu, then a rift would be created between the uncle and nephew.
"very good."
Ying Zheng pushed open the carriage window and looked out at the misty rain of Jiangnan.
"Xiang Yu, I will not kill you. I will keep you alive."
"I want you to be a whetstone, sharpening the sword of Han Xin for me. I also want you to be a catfish, stirring up the waters of the remnants of the six kingdoms."
"After you've eaten up all those unruly fry, I'll come back... and reel in the net."
"Back to Xianyang!"
Ying Zheng lowered the carriage curtain, concealing his eyes, which were filled with ambition and calculation.
The Eastern Tour has ended.
But for the Qin Empire, the real transformation had only just begun.
Because Ying Zheng brought back two things:
It is the same "eye" that can see the world clearly.
It is also a "sword" capable of pacifying the world.
As for the so-called "dying after two generations"?
Ying Zheng smiled dismissively.
"As long as I live, I will set the rules of this game."