Chapter 143: Zheng the Scholar Enters the Fray

On the deck, Kou Zhong burst into an uncharacteristically gleeful laugh once again.

Seeing Dugu Ce driven to such a state of infuriation, Kou Zhong felt an indescribable rush of pure satisfaction. It was simply delightful!

Zheng Jian chuckled and said, "What? What's wrong with me? Is it because I'm a bit too handsome? Or perhaps because my martial arts skills surpass yours? Or maybe because my kidneys are healthier than yours? Or could it be that my size is longer than yours? What on earth do you have to be insecure about?"

Dugu Ce felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to his brain!

Grievance value from Dugu Ce +1999.

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◢▆▅▄▃COLLAPSE╰(〒皿〒)╯CRUSH▃▄▅▇◣

"I'll kill you!" Dugu Ce roared, drawing his sword as he lunged furiously toward Zheng Jian.

"Hold on!" Zheng Jian raised a hand. "You want to kill me... Let me ask you first: Who... am I?"

"???" Dugu Ce's momentum instantly stalled, his train of thought completely derailed. "Who, who cares who you are?!"

Zheng Jian chuckled inwardly while maintaining a deadpan expression on the outside. "No, you must care! This all begins with the relationship between mankind and the universe. Take you, for instance; there has always been a question plaguing your mind."

Dugu Ce brandished his sword high, looking completely bewildered. "What, what question?"

Zheng Jian the Scholar officially entered the arena, offering a faint smile. "Who... am I?"

Dugu Ce shook his head. "I... am Dugu Ce."

Zheng Jian the Scholar stepped forward a few paces, pressing right up against Dugu Ce's sword point. "No, you are not Dugu Ce! 'Dugu Ce' is merely a code name. You can be called Dugu Ce, I can be called Dugu Ce, and everyone here can be called Dugu Ce. But once you strip away this code name... who... are you?"

Dugu Ce's eyes glazed over slightly, feeling as though his words carried a strange sense of logic... Then, snapping back to his senses, Dugu Ce shook his head vigorously. "I... I don't know, and I don't need to know."

Zheng Jian the Scholar stood right before the tip of Dugu Ce's sword, still maintaining his ethereal demeanor. "Very well, let me ask you again: Who... am I?"

The surrounding onlookers looked utterly paralyzed, staring blankly like wooden chickens.

Dugu Ce asked, "Didn't you already ask that question?"

Zheng Jian the Scholar shook his head. "No, no, no. Earlier, I was asking about the true self; now, I am asking about the ego."

Dugu Ce said in a daze, "What absolute gibberish is this? This question has no meaning whatsoever!"

Zheng Jian the Scholar pressed forward step by step, his speech accelerating. "Then let us ask a few meaningful ones! Where do I come from in life, and where do I go in death? Why must I exist in this world? To this world, what does my appearance signify? Did I choose the world, or did the world choose me?"

Dugu Ce retreated step by step, his mind now a complete blank, no longer knowing where he was.

Grievance value from Dugu Ce +999, +999, +999...

"Is there a causal connection between myself and the universe? Does the universe have an end? Does time have a duration? Where does the past vanish to? Where does time in the future stop? Is the question I am asking at this very moment the same question you heard just a moment ago?"

Dugu Ce roared, "I'll kill you!"

Zheng Jian the Scholar shouted back with an even louder voice, "Who killed me, and whom did I kill?"

Dugu Ce's head was left buzzing from the shock, his grievance value steadily ticking up by another +999.

He muttered as if in a trance, "I... killed myself..."

Zheng Jian the Scholar clapped his hands in gratification. "Congratulations, you finally got the right answer!"

Having accomplished his mission, Zheng Jian the Scholar concealed his merits and fame, exiting the arena.

"Ah..." Dugu Ce abruptly raised his sword and swept it toward his own neck...

At that very critical juncture, Yun Yuzhen let out a sharp scream. Snap-waking from her trance as if jolted from a dream, she lunged forward with reflex-like speed and knocked Dugu Ce's sword flying with a single palm strike.

"Damn it... What a pity."

Zheng Jian, Kou Zhong, and Xu Zilu all let out a collective sigh of regret. They had been this close to talking Dugu Ce into committing suicide.

That Yun Yuzhen was far too meddlesome!

"Hahahaha..." A deafening burst of wild laughter echoed from the stern of the ship.

At the sound, the crowd turned to look and spotted a tall, slender figure appearing in the distance, walking over step by step with wide robes and billowing sleeves, radiating an extraordinary bearing. It was none other than Du Fuwei, the General of Liyang.

"Such a sharp tongue! If old man hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I never would have believed that the son of the Dugu Clan's Master was nearly tricked into committing suicide!" A rare smile actually surfaced on Du Fuwei's stiff face. "You two boys see your father here, why aren't you hurrying over to pay your respects and confess your wrongs?"

Kou Zhong and Xu Zilu exchanged glances. Kou Zhong then cast a quick look at Zheng Jian before flashing a cheeky grin. "Your sons have already broken away from the family, and our father-son relationship was severed a long time ago. You should just go home and enjoy your blessings instead of exhausting yourself running all over the place for us."

By this time, Dugu Ce had finally snapped out of his daze. The mere thought that he had almost taken his own life moments ago filled him with a humiliating rage that made him want to throw himself into the sea.

Du Fuwei showed no surprise whatsoever at Kou Zhong's manner of speaking, smiling instead, "This is all because we lacked communication. Rest assured, once Dad beats these irrelevant people away, we can sit down together, eat meat, and chat heartily."

Dugu Ce had recovered his wits by now. Proppped up by his usual towering arrogance, he convinced himself he was back in top form. He stepped forward with a footwork laden with hidden lethality and sneered, "General Du, you are being far too arrogant."

Hearing this, Du Fuwei whipped around, fixing his icy gaze squarely on Dugu Ce. "You unconvinced?"

Dugu Ce was in no way a match for Du Fuwei. Under that piercing stare, a chill instantly crept straight up his spine. Though he wanted to retreat, his pride held him back, leaving him awkwardly frozen in place.

Du Fuwei sneered, "Your footwork incorporates esoteric escapism—it must be the 'Azure Sky, Red Dust', a supreme art of the Dugu Clan. Young master of the Dugu Clan, you are still too green."

Realizing his background had been laid bare, Dugu Ce fell silent.

"Well? Children, the Dugu Clan and Clan Leader Yun dare not protect you any longer. Are you coming back with me now?" Du Fuwei turned back to the twin dragons, a gentle smile in his eyes.

Zheng Jian stepped forward, blocking the path in front of the twin dragons. "The Dugu Clan and Clan Leader Yun may not be able to stop you, but I certainly want to test the General's 'Universe in the Sleeve'!"

Du Fuwei narrowed his eyes into slits. "I was wondering why these kids had the guts to rebel—so you're the one backing them up! You've got guts, son of Dugu Feng, barking like a dog! State your name."

Zheng Jian pondered for a moment, then removed his mask. "Care to guess? If you guess correctly, I'll acknowledge you as my father; if you guess wrong, you acknowledge me as yours. How about that?"

Du Fuwei replied without a moment's hesitation, "Judging by your unfamiliar face, you must be a newcomer to the martial arts world! Carrying a sword on your back with an ancient, eccentric scabbard... Several months ago, during a naval battle involving the Sandbank Gang, a swordsman emerged from nowhere and executed Han Gaitian that mudfish on the spot! I wager you are that sword-wielding hero who turned the tides, Zheng Jian. Am I correct, or has Du misguessed?"

Yun Yuzhen and the others were instantly struck with astonishment. None of them had figured out Zheng Jian's true identity, yet Du Fuwei had pierced through it with a single sentence. Such discernment and intelligence—he truly lived up to his reputation as the Overlord of Huainan!

"Clap, clap, clap..."