Lord of the Desert

Chapter 364 Meaning
Two days later, it was October 5th.

The sky over Duanli City was just getting bright, and the world seemed to be covered with a haze.

Outside the south city gate, the official road goes southwest for thirty miles and runs parallel to the Xianshu River, which is decorated with reeds.

A large carriage carved with the Tang family emblem moved forward at a rapid pace, with Tang Xingqing's mother and maid sitting on it.

A hundred meters behind the car, she and Hong Fan walked side by side.

After the city was broken, the Tang family retreated to Xun County, a hundred miles away. As the core of the new generation of the family, Tang Xingqing could not stay in the empty shell of the beautiful Tang Mansion.

As the person who originally captured her, Hong Fan saw her through to the end, accepting Qiu Yuankui's commission and escorting her out of the city.

When they just left the city gate, the atmosphere between the two was still tense - the two armies fought fiercely, and the Tang family suffered a lot of casualties, and it was possible that some of them were Tang Xingqing's relatives.

So Hong Fan tried his best to just pick out gossip.

For example, the Baisheng Army and the Tianfeng Army had many clashes along the Yao River, and the Baisheng Army gained some advantages.

For example, the influence of the Duanli battle gradually spread, causing the rebels to increasingly despise the royal court, leading to more than ten conflicts of varying sizes within half a month.

After he finished saying all this, he fell silent.

Tang Xingqing is just the opposite.

In her stomach, so many emotions and thoughts were like millions of cattle and horses, galloping wildly in the wasteland between winter and spring.

Autumn is drawing to a close.

The cool west wind caressed the girl’s long black satin hair.

On the swaying reed leaves, a katydid died at some point and was swept away by the wind.

Hong Fan caught a glimpse of this scene and slowed down his pace.

Tang Xingqing suddenly spoke sarcastically.

"Chisha, this is a mortal."

She said it resolutely, like flying a sword.

"As endless as insects, even if they die, they die silently."

Tang Xingqing glanced at Hong Fan sideways with a provocative sneer.

The latter glanced back and was not angry.

"Not silently."

"They shouted, but the wind was so strong that you couldn't hear them."

Hong Fan replied softly, looking at Yun Lan beyond his sight.

Tang Xingqing was suddenly thrown into disarray.

But the dignified Qiandianxing could not accept losing the third duel with Chisha so easily.

"Conquer cities and win people's hearts; the whole world knows that your Hundred Victory Army is trying to overthrow the royal court."

She calmed herself down and launched another offensive.

"The king's court is still alive because of Feng Jianke. You are powerless to defeat him head-on. You can only bully him and make him unable to get down from Fengyun Peak. Break through Yunlan's forbidden blood sacrifice."

"But how easy is that?"

"Even if we exclude the Tang family, the Baisheng Army is only equal to the Tianfeng Army in terms of military strength, and at the Yuanci level, it is one against three."

"What's more, Yunlan City has a population of 400,000, and its regulations are even more beautiful."

Tang Xingqing expressed restrained disdain.

"In the final analysis, the success or failure of the Feng family depends entirely on Feng Jianke's success or failure. You are risking your lives in vain, just to create momentum."

Hong Fan listened carefully and nodded generously.

Tang Xingqing seemed to have punched into the air.

"You think this is ridiculous?"

She demanded, speaking faster.

"Then I will take a step back and assume that the Hundred Victory Army can overthrow the Huaiyang Kingdom. Believe it or not, there will be no changes in the three counties."

"The war is going on now because the Leng family just watched and the Gong family just ignored the situation, and the Feng family messed up the situation themselves."

"Even so, you are only slightly superior to my Tang family."

“With Duan Tiannan’s talent and domineering nature, it is not impossible for him to establish his own surname in the three counties and take a share of the pie.”

"But if he wants to subvert the family's rules, he will become the target of public criticism."

Tang Xingqing narrowed her eyes, as if she had seen that situation, and shook her head unconsciously.

"Chisha, do you think the only difference between ordinary people and noble families is martial arts?"

"The aristocratic family has a stable inheritance and a vast amount of resources. Through the practice and research of countless people, they have accumulated killing methods, martial arts, tricks, weapons, and a spider-web-like network of interests."

"To change it, to suppress it, is not something that can be done by one person or even one generation..."

Tang Xingqing's voice trembled, and there was a faint morning light in her black eyes.

She looked at Hong Fan expectantly, but seeing that he was still nodding earnestly without saying anything, she was completely at a loss.

"Then I will take another step back and really change the world in the three counties of Huaiyang!"

Tang Xingqing casually pulled off a diamond-shaped leaf from a hibiscus tree on the roadside and crunched it into a ball in her palm.

"Let Duan Tiannan realize his ambition and create a martial art that everyone in the world can practice!"

"and then?"

"Within a few decades, those with extraordinary talents will grow into new Yuanci celestial beings, and then they will establish new families and make the same decisions as their predecessors..."

"To raise one's status and monopolize the martial arts canon."

Tang Xingqing spoke rapidly, throwing the half-broken green leaves onto the ground and crushing them hard with her black silk boots until the mud stained the gold thread on the boots.

"Because people are always selfish;"

"For a man who can get more will not be willing to get less;"

"Because strength itself is the qualification to run rampant..."

She said this hatefully, her heart filled with regret.

She regretted why she had the audacity to start another verbal dispute with Hong Fan, and why she had said these words for which she had no idea what the motive was. Seeing this, Hong Fan extended his hand with a little pity, as if he wanted to pat the girl's shoulder.

But he took it back in the end.

"You really don't look like you're nineteen."

Hong Fan sighed.

"Oh, do you look like me? Are you qualified to say that about me?"

Tang Xingqing laughed in anger and retorted.

She tried to suppress her emotions, put her hands behind her back, and spoke again in an exceptionally cold tone.

"Chisha, go and persuade Duan Tiannan and Gu Yixin, just like I am persuading you now."

"You should leave Huaiyang State."

Hong Fan did not reply, but just looked at her with a little surprise.

Tang Xingqing turned her eyes away as if she was burned by fire, and the anger burning in her heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Hong Fan, you are such a smart person who can easily defeat me, why are you doing this stupid thing?!"

She screamed softly, scaring a few birds in the reeds into flying.

"In this world, those who have power will rule, and those who are powerful will run rampant."

“Birds can fly into the sky, but who allows them to do so?”

Tang Xingqing raised her hand excitedly and pointed at the black spots flying into the air.

“Just because they can!”

The sound spread, bringing tears to my eyes.

The official road fell into silence for a moment. Tang's mother, who was far away, heard the noise and looked back from the car.

Hong Fan pondered over Tang Xingqing's words and smiled.

"Miss Tang, you are absolutely right!"

He studied the girl's flushed profile.

"Compared to my two brothers Duan Gu, I'm afraid I'm more of the same kind as you."

Seeing this, Tang Xingqing turned her face away and forced herself not to wipe away her tears, as if nothing had happened.

“I don’t think they can do it either.”

Hong Fan nodded first.

"So you just watch them die for nothing?"

Tang Xingqing interrupted angrily, as if she had found an outlet for her anger.

“It’s not meaningless.”

But Hong Fan shook his head again.

"Xiao Tang, you are a concubine's daughter, and you depend on your mother for everything. What you want, what you do, and what you insist on is to stand out and change your situation. I don't want to meddle in other people's business."

"So why are you trying to persuade me?"

"Why are you crying?"

Hong Fan asked back in a gentle voice.

"I didn't cry."

Tang Xingqing snorted coldly and reached out to smooth her already neat hair as if nothing had happened.

Hong Fan took the trouble to walk around to her and took a closer look.

"What's wrong with you?"

Tang Xingqing sniffed and cursed, gritting her teeth and wiping away her tears.

Hong Fan did not laugh at her stubbornness.

"We are actually the same kind of people, pragmatic and even selfish."

He sighed softly.

"I often think that I may never become a person as determined and pure as Duan Tiannan and Gu Yixin in this life."

"Ms. Tang, compared to you, I have more arrogance and more secret calculations in my heart."

Hong Fan said this, casting a melancholy look at the girl.

"But even for me, after getting to know these two, I wanted to do something for the weak."

"But even you, seeing what these two saw and did, even worried about them."

“So, regardless of success or failure, their actions have meaning.”

The voice was leisurely.

This time, it was Tang Xingqing who fell into silence for a long time.

In the distance on the official road, there was the sound of dull horse hooves. It was the cavalry team from the Tang family who came to support them.

"Miss Tang, your family has arrived; I'll drop them off here, be careful on the way."

Hong Fan smiled lightly, turned around and left in a carefree manner.

After being left behind, Tang Xingqing stood there stubbornly, forcing herself not to look back.

The outline of heaven and earth is so clear at this moment.

It turned out that the two of them had been walking along the road for a long time without realizing it, until they arrived at a place where bright light spread from the northeast, and the morning glow on the back of the mountain melted the iron-like edges of the cold clouds.

Until Tang Xingqing could no longer hear the footsteps behind her.

At this moment, she finally couldn't help looking back - unfortunately, Hong Fan's figure had been hidden behind the white reeds along with the winding road.

The autumn wind is cold and chilly.

Only the sunlight rolled on the surface of the river, like a layer of gold floating.

(End of this chapter)