The Demon Swordsman 2
Ch. 344 - For His sake
Xin Chen looked at the letter lying in the middle of the table, like it had just been delivered. Even just by looking at the quality of the paper he was sure that the item came from the center of government. There was no one in the room but him. Xin Chen approached the table. Just touching the scroll someone came in a hurry. Xin Chen immediately withdrew his hand and returned to his original seat. General-18 came in with a deep breath.
He sat down without much ado, "You didn't touch anything, right in this place?"
"No."
"Good." He looked around and found nothing suspicious. The man cleared his throat, his loud voice as if echoing throughout the room. "I've heard of you from Yan Xue, the fellow I trust the most in this place."
For a moment only silence happened. The man took a breath for a moment. "Just get to the point because I don't have much time. I will ask the same question that Yan Xue once said. How loyal are you to the Empire and the government?"
"Price for my life."
There was no doubt in his every word. General-18 nodded briefly. "What's your purpose in coming here?"
"Being a soldier."
No matter how many times Xin Chen lied to the man, he did not open his eyes at all because he was sure the man was now definitely looking at him sharply.
"What college are you from?"
"We're just ordinary people. Never applied to any college."
The 18th general did not believe what had just come out of his mouth. Not without reason, he was able to sense a mysterious power from Xin Chen's body. There are only two possibilities. The first Xin Chen hid that power or the second, the talent had not been honed or even known to Xin Chen himself. But General-18 believes Xin Chen's situation is now leading to a second possibility.
Because if Xin Chen had such power he could use it fraudulently like Yung Qi did in the arena of warfare. The atmosphere around turned dark, only the sound of the General-18's index finger being heard. He was still continuously analyzing the person in front of him. The male's eyebrows continued to unite. He thinks very hard.
"I don't really want to bring up your clan if you think this is something that is not worth telling others about. Maybe I'll get some people to confirm the information you gave me."
Every tone of speech was accompanied by emphasis, the man had a firm disposition. To the extent that Xin Chen thought it was better for him to shut his mouth tightly so as not to mispronounce. He knew every word that came out of his mouth would be taken seriously by the man.
"No need to send people. I might be able to answer your question."
"We were informed that the clan that possessed the power of the Cursed Eye was a plot from the Shang Empire. They had never sworn allegiance to the Qing Empire despite living in this region."
This time the way General-18 spoke was more like a man who wanted to kill.
"Is that true? Which side are you standing on?"
Xin Chen didn't even know which clan this person was referring to, he should have heard what his father said; don't lie. But not even answering the situation would be more difficult than this. General-18 does have a different aura, his manner of speech shows how high his power is in this district.
"I'm not asking for any evidence or anything. If you dare to swear that you're on our side then I'll spare you from this conjecture."
It seemed that General-18 had indeed suspected him from the start and had intentionally told Xin Chen to take the oath. Not to mention Xin Chen considering he was again making a sound.
"Survive to be loyal to the Emperor and never betray the trust he has been given."
Xin Chen was somewhat distracted. "Are we not just soldiers? Does everyone have to do this? I can't risk doing this."
Clearly he was just an intruder who happened to be caught by the lord of the cage. How could he swear allegiance to the enemy Empire while now fighting for his own empire.
"Is your answer just nonsense? Your loyalty is worth your life?"
Of course for the Shang Empire he would do it all with pleasure. Serving the Empire in his father's footsteps is nothing new. Since childhood both himself and Xin Zhan have been taught about it. Xin Chen admitted this man was good at trapping her.
"Actually to which Emperor did you serve?"
And the question has widened in that direction. Xin Chen felt that soon his conversation would be even more dangerous therefore he immediately cut in.
"Are you testing how much of a loyalty I am?"
"You understand, too, this is all because you don't have complete data and clear origins so suspicion is inevitable."
"If I'm not trusted anymore means I don't have to keep that oath, right?"
Suddenly a bodyguard came, waiting for General-18 to let himself in. The man did not quite catch what Xin Chen said and he simply nodded.
"Yes. Think carefully because this is your last chance."
General-18 spoke to the man in secret. Only the problem of the guests who will return to their respective places tomorrow. He had to prepare a few things in order to leave a good impression towards the 18th district. Because so far the 18 districts include districts with a fairly bad military development.
There are many things that make District-18 useless. The first thing is the structure and military development in this place which is much weaker than other regions. In this place, there were only ordinary soldiers - even weak ones when juxtaposed with other district warriors who had great strength and physical power. They trained non-stop.
It was the achievements of the other 19 districts that made the Qing Empire respected as a powerful Military Land. Not once or twice did the 18-General get a warning from the center regarding the declining quality of the soldiers employed. Probably almost every year. Even up to this second, they could only select 77 people from the supposed 100. And it only has a few people who are superior.
Xin Chen quietly opened his eyes seeing that the paper scroll was still there. He could not take it because even if he managed to take it now, the 18th General would suspect himself to be the culprit. He must gain trust first. And for now he should not take out a paper roll that likely had the information he had been searching for all this time.
***