Part 3: Reunion with an Old Mentor
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, he encountered no further resistance until the fourth floor. However, the stairway leading to the top floor was suddenly guarded by three or four soldiers, and the sound of hurried footsteps was rising from below.
His retreat was cut off! Li Junce made a snap decision, violently pushing open a nearby wooden door carved with intricate patterns, flashing inside, and then gently pulling the door shut behind him.
The room was darker than the corridor. Just as his eyes were struggling to adjust to the darkness, an old man's voice, like a bolt of lightning, sliced through the silence.
"What ill-mannered fellow dares to trespass in my room?!"
This aged yet authoritative voice was like an invisible set of shackles, instantly binding Li Junce's every movement. Since infiltrating the villa, this was the first time he had truly felt that such a weighty personage was still lurking here.
Li Junce pulled out a Tinder Tube and lit the oil lamp in the room.
The old man before him was an acquaintance from the past.
He softly uttered the name, his tone carrying an undeniable respect.
"Lord Cheng…? Cheng Dongqing, the former Black Sheep Lord Boss?"
"Oh?" A subtle ripple appeared in the old man's voice.
"You know the name of a dying man like me? Though I was once privileged to hold the position of Elector, participating in some state affairs, I am now just a rotting piece of wood who cannot see. Yet you still refer to me as Lord Cheng… Who are you?"
Li Junce, using the faint light filtering from the window, clearly saw the figure sitting in the armchair: it was indeed the former Black Sheep Lord, Cheng Dongqing.
He immediately returned his long sword to its sheath, stood straight, and bowed with impeccable courtesy. He stated solemnly:
"Junior, Li Junce. Long ago, Lord Cheng was gracious enough not to abandon me, teaching me for half a year in scholarship and the art of war. You… don't you remember?"
"Li Junce…?" The old man's voice, which had been withered and dry, suddenly gained a spark of life, as if a fire had been tossed into it. "I remember, it is you…"
Li Junce took a step forward and respectfully and gently clasped the old man's outstretched hand, which was thin as a tree branch. After briefly exchanging greetings, Cheng Dongqing naturally asked Li Junce why he had intruded so late at night. The former disciple concisely explained the reason.
The old man listened, then let out a deep sigh, filled with profound weariness and self-mockery.
"To think what I was looking at when my eyes were not yet blind… I actually mistook an inferior fool like Cheng Mubai for a promising youth! That boy is best at only one thing: feigning capability with superficial posturing!"
"Seriously, he's just an unrefined piece of trash!"
Cheng Dongqing's long-since unfocused eyes seemed to radiate a cold light of chilling clarity after comprehending everything.
"Now that I am blind, I no longer need to see those false appearances, nor do I need to pretend with anyone."
"Hmph… truly a treacherous wretch. However, as I 'see' with my blind eyes, whatever shallow wickedness he had was already exhausted when he usurped the Lordship. Now, he is merely using the power he finally obtained, thread by thread, to tighten the noose around his own neck."
The old man's words sounded calm, but they held an unsettling and uncanny insight. Li Junce didn't know how to respond and remained silently standing. He finally understood why this room was darker than the corridor—since the master was blind, what use was light to him? Perhaps this was the servants' insignificant convenience.
"When my eyes were not blind and my body was still strong, you saved my life." The old man fell into memory, referring to the border conflict between the Empire and a neighboring country many years ago.
That year, a rare avalanche triggered a landslide, changing the battlefield terrain. After a fierce battle, the Empire's left flank collapsed, and Cheng Dongqing, then the Black Sheep Lord, had his mount shot out from under him and was in mortal danger. It was a young man in a Tiger Wing Duchy uniform who, alone, cut down three enemy soldiers and rescued him.
"You were only fifteen then, on your first campaign." The old man paused, his empty gaze seemingly directed toward Li Junce.
"I began teaching you scholarship and the art of war, partly to thank my young savior, and partly because I truly admired your talent…"
Part 4: Confrontation
Just then, a noisy clamor erupted outside the door, involving more than one person. Li Junce's muscles instantly tensed, his hand on his sword hilt, entering a state of alert.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Cheng Mubai's harsh, desperate voice, accompanied by fists violently pounding the heavy wooden door, sounded urgent and out of control. Judging by this utterly disrespectful behavior, the current Black Sheep Lord clearly felt he no longer needed to show any outward respect for his retired uncle.
"What's the rush? Speak quickly, don't disturb my sleep." Cheng Dongqing's voice was filled with disgust.
"The guards report that a suspicious person has infiltrated the tower! Are you unaware, Uncle?"
"I am a blind old man. How would I know?"
"Open the door, Uncle! Even if you refuse, I will break it down!"
"Impudence! What grand authority, Cheng Mubai. The courage you normally lack suddenly appears when you are flanked by armed soldiers, does it not?"
The old man's sarcasm was immediately met with force. The wooden door burst open with a crash under a fierce impact. Cheng Mubai, flanked by five or six armed soldiers, stomped into the dim room with aggressive momentum.
"What a grand show, Cheng Mubai. Is this the conduct of the Black Sheep Lord?"
"That's right! I am the current Black Sheep Lord! Uncle, this was your own decision years ago! If you want to resent anyone, you can only resent your own foolishness! I won the Lordship fair and square." Cheng Mubai's voice was shrill with excitement.
The old man did not reply. Cheng Mubai let out a self-satisfied, victorious snicker, but his laughter stopped short when he caught sight of the other figure standing silently in the room.
His wicked gaze locked onto Li Junce:
"You rude intruder, state your name!"
"Lord Cheng should already know who I am." Li Junce's voice was steady as a mountain. "I am that child's father. The father of the child who was with Princess Mont Angelina."
At these words, Cheng Mubai's face instantly changed color, as if he had truly swallowed poison. The images of being toyed with and humiliated by Mont Angelina resurfaced in his mind. Jealousy and rage intertwined, contorting his features.
"Y-You! So it was you! You are the adulterer who made that vile woman Mont Angelina bear a bastard! It's you after all!" he shrieked. "I will not let you get away with this!"
"Adulterer?!" Li Junce was taken aback. He immediately inferred from Cheng Mubai's furious words and twisted expression that Mont Angelina must have been wildly speaking, saying things that led to misunderstanding.
"I am not an adulterer."
"Then the child's father is not you?!"
"The child's father is indeed me. As for the mother…" Li Junce's words stopped abruptly on his tongue. He suddenly realized the foolishness of his action—what obligation did he have to explain this to Cheng Mubai? Whatever Mont Angelina said was merely a quick wit to cope with the situation, and if Cheng Mubai chose to believe it wholeheartedly, it was his own fault.
His abrupt pause in the middle of his attempted denial was perceived by Cheng Mubai as the ultimate contempt and insult.
"Adulterer and slut indeed! It seems I must cleanse the name of the Empire's nobility today."
"You shameless adulterer, trespassing in my residence makes your crime twofold!" Cheng Mubai shrieked out an order. "Take him down and kill him on the spot! I want that slut Mont Angelina to see the separated head and body of the man she values!"
As he gave the command, he himself nimbly retreated behind his soldiers.
Six soldiers drew their swords in response, the cold steel flashing in the dim room. It was in that instant that Li Junce moved! His figure was like lightning, and the moment his long sword left its sheath, it transformed into a chilling silver arc!
Blood splashed!
One soldier's sword-holding right hand was severed cleanly at the wrist, flying into the air with gushing blood. Another had his jugular vein precisely sliced, blood spurting out in an arch onto the walls and floor.
Li Junce's sword was not only fast but also combined offense and defense masterfully. Every block that deflected an opponent's weapon was immediately followed by a deadly counter-attack. The sword light flashed back and forth, and within just a few breaths, all six soldiers had fallen to the ground. The heavy scent of blood instantly filled the entire room.
Cheng Mubai froze, dumbfounded. The scene before him, a veritable field of slaughter, was far beyond his capacity to comprehend. When he finally regained his senses, he realized he was all alone. He let out a shriek of terror, scrambling on all fours to Cheng Dongqing's armchair, desperately clinging to the old man's robes. All his previous arrogance was gone, replaced by the subservience of a cringing dog.
Seeing Cheng Mubai's disgraceful behavior, Li Junce thought to himself: has the quality of the Empire's Electors really fallen this low? Perhaps the Empire truly needs the Dipper Aureus Duke or Mont Mentiel to clean house and thoroughly reorganize it to prolong its life.