Chapter 75

Qiantang Mountain and the other five people would only be fools to try to stop Bu Ye; they could only watch as he left.

And the villagers of Dongmang Village, the vast majority of whom had for the first time realized: they thought they had already seen Bu Ye's changes with their own eyes, but in fact, Bu Ye's changes were even greater than what they had seen or even imagined!

Just because he did not accept Lu Qi's attitude and reasons for grabbing him, he not only fought back but ultimately killed five of Lu Qi's officers and scared off the majority of the soldiers.

From beginning to end, he did not show the slightest hesitation or fear. Even his emotions did not fluctuate much; most of the time, his expression was cold. When he did show emotion, it was a cold sneer.

What was wrong with Bu Ye?

Clearly, he had chosen a path of no return.

After tonight, he would become a wanted criminal throughout the Xiao Kingdom, unable to show his face in any public place with his own identity. Once caught, he would have only one way out: death.

In the crowd, even Chai Wangming had completely changed his view of Bu Ye. Watching the enemy who had killed his father step by step into the darkness, he couldn't help but wonder, was this really someone he could scheme against? Compared to a military captain with twelve Heart Cloud stars, what was Chai Wangming? Yet Bu Ye had killed Captain Lu Qi under almost impossible circumstances. So, he and Bu Ye were on completely different levels.

At this moment, what Chai Wangming saw was not Bu Ye's ruthless heart and his ability to kill without blinking, but that from the beginning, Bu Ye had never taken seriously what he and his father Chai Ren cared about. To be honest, Bu Ye had faults, but his contributions were greater. Even Hong Zhongwei was dead, and Liang Xiong had defected in the middle of the battle. It was Bu Ye who, with his own strength, saved the entire Dongmang Village, and even saved all of them except his father.

Just a moment ago, when he saw Bu Ye turn and walk away, his heart had risen to his throat. Because it was he who had secretly reported to Lu Qi, revealing everything about Bu Ye. He thought Bu Ye would come to kill him. But Bu Ye did not; although Bu Ye glanced this way, it was not at him, and then he just walked away.

Chai Wangming's heart was a mess. He didn't know how to view Bu Ye, himself, or all the events that had happened in the past half month.

At the same time, Luo Xiu's feelings were even more complicated.

If Bu Ye accepted her and her son, she would definitely follow him without hesitation. But she knew that if she followed, she would only be a burden to Bu Ye. Most importantly, she knew that Bu Ye's heart was closed; he only had a bit of old affection for her, not much liking, let alone love.

But, should she just let Bu Ye go like this?

Watching him step by step into the darkness, out of her sight, and out of her life forever...

She couldn't let it be like this.

Luo Xiu put down Sheng'er, bent down, and touched his head, saying, "Sheng'er, be a good boy, stand here and don't move. Wait for Mama a moment. Mama will go talk to Uncle Bu."

"Okay," Sheng'er nodded obediently.

Luo Xiu straightened up and started walking in Bu Ye's direction.

Bu Ye was walking, and she was jogging, quickly closing the distance.

"Ah Ye," Luo Xiu called out.

Bu Ye stopped, turned, and looked at Luo Xiu, who was quickly approaching.

Luo Xiu stopped two meters in front of Bu Ye. In the moonlight, her side face looked somewhat haggard, but she was still beautiful.

"Where do you plan to go?" Luo Xiu asked.

Then Luo Xiu heard an answer that completely stunned her. Bu Ye looked at her and said calmly, "I'm not leaving."

After a moment of shock, Luo Xiu exclaimed, "You're not leaving?"

Bu Ye recalled Du Sanhui's evaluation of him and nodded, "Yes. Didn't I promise to wait until you and Sheng'er are settled in Muyuan before I leave? Now it's not convenient to go with you openly, but I will secretly go with you to Muyuan until you and Sheng'er are settled."

Luo Xiu was stunned again, feeling both relieved and anxious. She was relieved that Bu Ye didn't plan to leave for now, but anxious about how Bu Ye, with his current status, could go to Muyuan, even secretly.

"You shouldn't go to Muyuan. I can take care of myself and Sheng'er..." Luo Xiu said seriously.

"It's fine," seeing Luo Xiu's concern, Bu Ye felt a warmth in his heart and said with a smile, "I can take better care of myself than you."

Luo Xiu was stunned for a moment before realizing that Bu Ye was still determined to secretly go to Muyuan.

"Go back quickly. It's best to pretend that you have severed ties with me. This way, it will be easier for you to clear your name later. Even if not for yourself, do it for Sheng'er," Bu Ye added.

Luo Xiu finally fell silent, staring at Bu Ye, rooted to the spot.

"I'm leaving."

After saying this, Bu Ye turned and walked back into the darkness. This time, no one called him back.

His figure grew farther and darker in the night, eventually blending completely into the darkness.

The camp was quiet for a while, and about five minutes later, it suddenly became busy. Under the organization of Qiantang Mountain and the other four, the villagers began to help clear the battlefield and move the bodies...

They worked until midnight before the villagers could return to rest. But at this time, how many could lie down and sleep peacefully?

Qiantang Mountain and the other four worked even later, not returning to their tents until the early hours of the morning. The task of the five was to ensure that the main force could set out normally the next day. Originally, it was a job for two hundred people, but now only five would do it, and even with the help of the villagers, it would be a tough job.

But for them at this moment, the events of the next day were not a big deal. When they each lay on their beds, they had no sleep at all. The mental impact of what happened tonight was too great.

A young soldier named Sun Heng also stayed behind. After finishing his work, he couldn't sleep, so he left the tent, put a blade of grass in his mouth, crossed his arms, and rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

After four years in the army, he had been influenced to some extent, and his behavior and attitude had changed significantly. However, over these four years, he had always been struggling and feeling guilty, which was the main reason he could still stay.

His purpose in joining the army was simple: to fight on the battlefield and protect his country.

But at first, he did not go to the front lines but became a garrison soldier in a small city in the south, responsible for patrolling the city.

The people he dealt with most were soldiers and civilians.

At first, he found the civilians very endearing, like his own family. But when he treated them kindly, they called him "Sir" with respect. At first, there was no change; after ten days, there was still little change; but after a month, his behavior and attitude had changed; after three months, he had completely gotten used to being called "Sir" and the respectful attitude of the civilians, even to the point of accepting small gifts.

He successfully transformed from a common soldier into a "Sir." When civilians dealt with him, if they did not call him "Sir," he felt disrespected, and if small vendors did not give him gifts, he felt cheated. So, when dealing with compliant civilians, he was friendly, but when dealing with non-compliant civilians, he began to get angry and show his power, and it always worked.

It wasn't until a year later, when he returned home for the first time, that he took off his military uniform and found that his neighbors did not look up to him like the civilians in the small city in the south, but treated him as they had before. His father still scolded him as usual, and he was suddenly awakened.

At some point, his purpose in joining the army was to fight on the battlefield and protect his country, but what had he done in the past year? How had he become a "Sir" so easily?

From then on, his self-reflection never stopped. However, his self-control was poor, and after returning to the army, he continued to reflect but still did what he usually did. Another problem was that if he did not do so, he would become an oddity, be laughed at, and be excluded.

In the second year, he began to go to the front lines, but he was still in the rear camp, responsible for transporting supplies and requisitioning military resources. This year, because of the requisitioning of military resources, he still frequently dealt with civilians.

Soldiers fight to protect the country, so civilians have the duty to contribute resources to support the front lines. For a whole year, he requisitioned countless resources. When dealing with cooperative people, he negotiated; when dealing with uncooperative people, he used military power to pressure them; when dealing with unruly and unreasonable people, he might even resort to violence. Anyway, he did what others did. But later, to improve efficiency, or perhaps because he was tired of it, he began to treat all people with the same tough attitude: he would barge in, shout, and smash things, and collect everything he needed in the shortest time.

It wasn't until one time, when he just went to a village to ask for a drink of water, that he subconsciously kicked open the door, smashed the pickled vegetable jar in the courtyard, and then realized he wasn't there to requisition anything...

He rushed out as if fleeing and thought about the same question again: Was this how he protected the country?

If the civilians were all people he could bully and scold, treating them as inferior, what was there to protect?

Why go to the battlefield and fight enemies? Wasn't it for fame and profit, to live a life above others? At least that was one reason. And he had already lived a life above others without killing a single enemy.

So, could he skip the "fighting on the battlefield and protecting the country" part and directly live a "life above others"? Weren't all the officials like that?

Receiving a salary, showing off military and official power, bullying the weak, these were the most enjoyable things. As for fighting enemies and serving the people, these could all be skipped.

This was the conclusion Sun Heng reached, and he indeed acted on it, and what he saw almost confirmed his conclusion.

But deep down, he knew it couldn't be like this.

If it really was like this, who would do the right thing? Directly skipping the right thing and oppressing the people, how enjoyable!

Is this the reality?!

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