Martial King's Retired Life

“Brother Ming, may I ask what you wanted to see me here for?” Abels always showed Ming Feizhen respect and treated him as a close friend, so this was an atypical tone. His cold gaze wasn’t for Ming Feizhen but someone else. “If you want to speak up for someone, you can save it. I will never shake his hand. I did say I would not bring up old matters before we take down the beasts, so I will help in any way I can. You need not worry about my mood affecting my abilities.”

Luo Ming didn’t say a single word, choosing to wait for Ming Feizhen to pull the curtain back on his reason for inviting them to the mountaintop.

Though Abels wasn’t going to go for Luo Ming’s jugular until Nieyao’s campaign was over, asking him to share the same space as Luo Ming would’ve been impossible if Ming Feizhen wasn’t the one who invited them.

Ming Feizhen smiled at the reactions of the two. “We only have three days left before we enter Nieyao. No one knows if we’ll make it out alive. How often does North and South join hands to go on a suicide mission? I called you all here just to cherish this rare chance of fate.”

Only after hearing “you all” did Abels notice Moyan Luohou was also present. It certainly did make him feel better that he wasn’t going to be dealing with just Luo Ming the entire time.

“Brother Bodhi, please sit. You shouldn’t let your host feel bad, right?”

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Abels chose to sit at the table farthest from Luo Ming. “Brother Ming, what did you want to tell us?”

“Wait a little longer. The good stuff is coming.”

The bitter aroma coming closer made skin crawl. Feng Xue soon appeared within their sights, carrying three big vats of wine on his back. There was enough wine for a family of five to drink over a fortnight, yet he had no problems lugging it all up a slope.

“Hoho, here’s the wine you requested, Feizhen. Nobody ever drinks this with me. If you didn’t coerce me with this wine, I wouldn’t have accepted this job.”

“Hahaha, among the alcohol I’ve drunk in my lifetime, nothing is bitterer than Nanjiang’s Oblivious, yet its taste is unforgettable. I invited you all here purely for a drink.” Ming Feizhen filled up five big bowls to the brim, one for each man.

Luo Ming frowned. “How can you indulge in drinking when the war is right around the corner?”

Abels scoffed, “You don’t have to drink if you’re scared” and then knocked back his bowl, only to shiver and scrunch his face up. When he shot a glare at Ming Feizhen, he saw the latter having the same reaction, indicating that Ming Feizhen wasn’t messing with him.

Since Moyan Luohou and Feng Xue continued drinking, Luo Ming gave in to peer pressure.

“Gentlemen,” Ming Feizhen set his bowl down, “these next three days may be our last. Are you four sure you have no unfulfilled wishes or lingering thoughts?”

Moyan Luohou was the only one to shake his head. Abels had A-Lan and his brothers. Feng Xue had old grudges, debts and family back in the Central Plain. Luo Ming had a lot of things he couldn’t set down.

Ming Feizhen smiled at the silence of Abels, Feng Xue and Luo Ming. He filled up another bowl and continued, “I’m in the same boat. You only realise how much you don’t want to let go of when you’re at the junction of life and death. Brother Bodhi, can you bear to leave behind Miss A-Lan?”

“A man dies on the battlefield. There is nothing I cannot bear to leave behind.”

“Uncle Feng Xue, you thinking of your ten-year grudge again?”

“You trying to make me talk, brat? Don’t forget who’s treating you to drinks.”

“Patriarch Luo, have you figured out how to end your tragedy?”

Luo Ming had a nip of tea and then stared into his bowl. “… How many people are struggling in the world? Am I the only one struggling? What right do I have to speak of dao if I can’t treat life and death lightly after all my years studying swordplay and dao? Why is resentment hard to forget if one can even forget life and death?”

“I hope that’s true,” Abels slighted.

“You want to find out for yourself?”

As a lightning bolt began to connect between Luo Ming and Abels’ eyes, Ming Feizhen raised a hand to stop them. “In that case, let’s finish this bowl.”

Moyan Luohou left after the drink since he wasn’t good at holding his liquor, while the four who stayed behind slogged cups back faster and faster over the next four hours.

Unable to stand straight, Luo Ming chugged from his bowl and then whacked the table upon returning it to said table. “I’ll butcher it! I’ll maul it! I’ll slice and dice it! It killed my three sons! I’ll kill it, then kill its parents, its grandparents and even its great grandparents! If my sons were still alive, Mount Daluo wouldn’t be s%#t!”

Abels bawled his eyes out. “Kindly shut the hell up. Have you forgotten how many of my brothers you killed? How dare you complain?!”

Startled, Ming Feizhen had another drink.

“I’ll let you do with me as you wish after I murder it!”

“I don’t need your pity. Once I’ve finished my training, I’ll splatter your head. If it wasn’t for the sake of restoring A-Lan’s home, I’d bounce your head off the ground right now. A-Lan, I don’t want to leave you…”

Feng Xue performed Luohan Fist taolu, then performed a hybrid of Tiger Fist and Crane Fist whilst repeating, “Sorry. Sorry. Are you doing well in hell?”

Ming Feizhen just continued drinking in silence all night.

Can none of you three be honest?! Did someone spike my food?! Why in the world did I ask these three alcoholics to drink with me…? God damn.

While it sounded unproductive, that night was more purposeful than anyone could predict, especially for Luo Ming. Thanks to it, Luo Ming had the chance to discover his true feelings.

Luo Ming: Why should I do what people judge is right? Let my impulse drive me. Let my sword take me to the forefront. If I must die, I will die taking revenge.

Luo Ming caught Baidizi.