MTLNOVEL Chapter 562: 312 Mysterious Passage
He might have been frivolous, but he was not foolish. Upon detecting Wang Tao's abnormal behavior, his mind was suddenly flooded with recent changes in the army. The trusted aides of the Liu Family were gradually being sidelined, while the direct legions of Wang Tao began to take complete control of the military.
"Wang Tao, you dare!" He raised his head in disbelief, looking up at Wang Tao with vehement words. He wanted to spring forward and confront Wang Tao, but two trusted aides firmly held him down.
"You ungrateful wretch, without the support of my Liu Family, how could you, a peasant-born, climb to your current status? Moreover, my Liu Family did not disdain your humble origins and married my true-born daughter to you. Instead of being grateful, you harbor rebellious thoughts. You're worse than a beast!" Liu Xiang struggled with all his might, his eyes wide open as he glared at Wang Tao and roared loudly.
Wang Tao looked down at Liu Xiang kneeling on the ground, with his anxious demeanor and hysterical reaction, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips as he said, "A favor as heavy as a mountain? If it weren't for the bandits running rampant, and the Liu Family's generation losing their talents, would you kindly let me command an army? This position of General isn't charity from your Liu Family; it's something I, Wang Tao, earned through blood and sweat, with every sword thrust and spear jab."
"Just now, the bandits have barely been quelled, and the Liu Family is already eager to seize back my military power. You all lack any real learning and spend your days cockfighting and dog walking. When you entered my army, each of you wanted to hold high positions. Do you realize these spots were bought with the lives of my brothers?"
Wang Tao spoke and slowly approached Liu Xiang, grabbing his hair and coldly said, "Ungrateful? I, Wang Tao, consider myself a learned man, adept in both letters and martial arts. Upon entering the Liu Family, I was humiliated, and even a mere house slave dared to defecate on my head. Is this favor? Don't forget, had it not been for my father risking his life to save you, the head of your Liu Family would have long been lying in a coffin."
Perhaps intimidated by Wang Tao's chilling words and cold stare, Liu Xiang appeared lost, stammering without knowing what to say.
Wang Tao looked at Liu Xiang's current state and smiled, saying, "This is the courage of the Liu Family? A bunch of waste. You stray dogs think you can command a lion—it's a fool's dream."
After finishing his statement with a forceful shove, Liu Xiang involuntarily lay on the ground. At that moment, his heart went cold. Wang Tao had clearly come prepared, and from the instant they tore off all pretense, he understood that the large army once provided by the Liu Family had completely fallen into Wang Tao's hands.
"My lord, how shall we deal with this man?" a trusted aide whispered.
These people held not a shred of good feeling toward the Liu Family members. When it was time to shed blood and fight heart and soul, those children of Noble Families hid behind others; yet when the time came to claim merit, they all rushed to the forefront. Therefore, they were always held in contempt by Wang Tao and his men.
"Drag him away. In a few days, I'll use their heads to signal the start of my campaign," Wang Tao said lightly, as if their lives were of no consequence, entirely failing to stir any emotion in him.
Liu Xiang, pale as death, was pulled away by the trusted aides. He no longer possessed his prior arrogance. Completely limp, he was dragged off by the trusted aides. Only at death does one realize life's value. Now that the halo of being children of Noble Families was stripped away, his inherent weakness was laid bare.
And this night was destined to be extraordinary. The military camp was filled with wails as countless Liu Family scions were captured. The backing that had empowered their arrogant behavior had now become their death warrant with Yama.
Inside the great tent, Wan Tao looked at Liu Xiang, who was dragged out like a dead dog, and he laughed heartily. From today onwards, he no longer had to bow his head to these worthless individuals.
"Weren't you planning to extort another batch of supplies? Why the sudden change of heart?" Mr. Wu, with a fierce face, asked.
"There's no choice. Those old men are a bunch of sly foxes. Keeping us at a distance, they are loath to provide supplies, especially since tonight, the spy who went to the Liu Family returned with orders from that old wretch to eliminate me," Wang Tao said coldly.
"It's a pity that his every move was under my control, and it was easy to obtain the intelligence. That's why I made up my mind."
"However, this works out for the best. Continuing as we were would only drain our strength. It's better to take advantage of the moment, riding on the momentum of suppressing the bandits, and resolve the Liu Family affair once and for all. The world is in great turmoil, and every moment wasted puts us further behind, not conducive to our struggle for dominance," Mr. Wu said, his eyes unusually bright. Freed from familial bonds, he hoped to achieve greatness, as recorded in history.
Wang Tao, too, was full of vigor. They were children of the tide of their times, and standing at the crest of the era's waves meant retreat was not an option. Princes and generals, would they have the seeds of greatness or not?
In just a few days, news of great upheaval in the Central Plains spread throughout the land. Wang Tao, in just a short period, had utterly destroyed the Liu Family, and with the momentum of thunder, quickly brought the remaining smaller Noble Families of the Central Plains to heel, vaulting his domain and power to become the strongest force in the world.
All perceptive people realized this was just the beginning. After a lengthy period of consolidation, the pattern of the world was shifting from countless intricate small forces to a clash between several major powers.
And among these, the victor would come to rule the nation anew. A grand era of heroes contending for supremacy had begun, while the ordinary people could only drift with the tide, unable to master their own fate.