Night fell.
Tang Shuntian was alone in a room specially prepared for him, drinking in low spirits.
Because there were no readily available means to control an eighth-order esper like him, and his imprisonment was akin to a self-inflicted wound, they had simply let him be.
Three knocks sounded at the door. Tang Shuntian, without needing to use his [Steel Heart's Eye], knew who it was, so he called out without turning his head, "Come in, the door isn't locked."
Mo Chuan, holding several grilled fish in one hand and a metal plate in the other, sat down opposite Tang Shuntian and said, "Fish from the river, quite plump. Old man, have a taste?"
"Huh?" Upon hearing Mo Chuan's words, Tang Shuntian almost dropped his cigarette. He pointed at himself and asked, "Young man~ Uncle might have misheard... What did you call me?"
"Father-in-law," Mo Chuan smiled slightly. "I've decided to marry Jingjing after the war ends."
"Ah... I never imagined Uncle's son-in-law would be so formidable... Uncle, I can hardly believe it~"
"You flatter me. How could I possibly lie to you?" Mo Chuan poured wine for both Tang Shuntian and himself and asked, "Has Tang Jingjing still not spoken to you?"
"Sigh... Those three children of mine... let them be..." Tang Shuntian shook his head and began to drink.
"Did you have something you wanted to say to Tang Jingjing this morning?" Mo Chuan asked, watching Tang Shuntian drink his wine. "What exactly happened to you? Given your personality, this shouldn't have happened."
Perhaps it was due to the alcohol, or perhaps because he had Mo Chuan as a listener, Tang Shuntian, with a flushed face, spoke without reservation:
"I don't want to be like this! But... but I couldn't even protect the mother of Tang Jingjing and her two siblings... How can I protect the three children... And I still have to endure Gan Jiang's curse... Because whenever my emotions fluctuate, my brain feels like it's being violently stirred with a stick..." Tang Shuntian said, gesturing towards the wine bottle. "Only by drinking can I numb my brain and alleviate my pain..."
"Gan Jiang? Don't you always use a sword?"
"My ability is Gan Jiang, one of the Ten Great Swords."
"Those whose ability is Gan Jiang are essentially set for life."
"Gan Jiang and Mo Ye can sense each other's existence, and their combination can greatly enhance each other's abilities. Therefore, wielders of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye almost always choose to marry each other."
"Back then, I was just in my early twenties. I married her, had three children, and became the Sword Master of Qingyun Pavilion through my swordsmanship. I also became a strong candidate for the Tang family head. Those were truly glorious times..."
"But later, when the Pavilion Master of Qingyun Pavilion decided to abdicate and travel, intending to choose the next Pavilion Master from the Four Sword Masters, everything changed."
"The strengths of the four Sword Masters were not far apart, but Gan Jiang's weakness was too obvious..."
"Madam Mo Ye?"
"That's right... They, no, it was that bastard Gu Che... He was Zhuanxu's dog planted in Qingyun Pavilion. And Zhuanxu, to control Qingyun Pavilion through Gu Che, dealt a blow to each of the three Sword Masters one by one... They sent people to... poison Mo Ye while she was in confinement..."
"Wait a moment... If Madam Mo Ye is dead, then Ye Ling is..."
"She was something given to me by those idle elders of the Tang family, under the guise of being a stepmother for the children."
"At that time, the eldest of the three children was only one year old, and the twins Tang Xing and Tang Jingjing were only three months old. How could they possibly remember who their birth mother was."
"After losing Mo Ye, I became utterly dejected, neglecting everything and letting those minor collateral branches wreak havoc. Gan Jiang, which was once an advantage, became the biggest burden. I would feel my soul tremble even when using the most basic skills, let alone ultimate techniques."
"Wait a minute." Mo Chuan seemed to sense something. "You mean, you could reach that level of combat power using only basic martial arts and spiritual energy manipulation?"
"Precisely..." Tang Shuntian finished his wine. "Young man~ your path is still long."
"...And then what happened?"
"I withdrew from the competition, and that's how I saved my life." Tang Shuntian laughed self-deprecatingly. "Because the other two were found dead in their homes or usual haunts."
"Then why are you here now?"
"Because I'm no longer the family head. That brat Tang Ye thought he could oust me by allying with a few elders and gaining Zhuanxu's support, but he didn't know I was just too lazy to deal with the Tang family's mess... Now, I'm just a good-for-nothing in the Tang family..."
"But you still hold military power?"
"That's my trump card, of course I wouldn't let it go."
"The troops?"
"They are in Yuzhou... These are my personal guards, only defending Tang Family City."
"So, all the troops we encountered before reaching Yuzhou were enemies?"
"Precisely."
"Father-in-law, here's a plan I have to reduce the enemy forces along the westward advance on the Yangtze River. It requires your help. What do you say?"
"I knew you had something to say at the end." Tang Shuntian seemed pleased and grinned. "Go ahead, Uncle will listen to your bad ideas."
...
The next day, Yuzhou.
On Tang Ye's desk appeared a message from the Ba Dong Dam garrison:
"Three reconnaissance personnel were captured the night before last in the mountain forests north of the Yangtze River. After a full day of interrogation, it was learned that an army of approximately 200,000 troops dispatched by the Zhong (Xuanyuan Qi) faction has been stationed sixty kilometers east of Ba (Ba Dong City). The three were conducting reconnaissance for a tentative offensive within the week.
Security has been strengthened. We request that Tang (Tang Family City) dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible."
"As expected... I knew the other side wouldn't stubbornly attack Hankou." Tang Ye rubbed his temples and said, "Zhuanxu is really starting to struggle..."
Two days prior, before the first large-scale engagement, both sides engaged in duels and small-scale skirmishes.
He Lanxin, under Xuanyuan Qi, lived up to her title of "Female Hegemon," taking down four opponents consecutively and killing half of Zhuanxu's named seventh-order espers.
The frontline had also advanced significantly westward from Ankang.
Zhuanxu's offensive in Taiyuan suddenly weakened as he had to redeploy troops for defense. There were even internal rumors that Zhuanxu had begun seeking cooperation with the Southeast Alliance.
"Someone, get me the phone to Wanzhou and a reinforcement unit." Tang Ye said, then began to draw and write on the map.