Chapter 47: Revenge 7

  In the Luotian continent, the situation of heroes vying for power has continued for nearly a hundred years.

  Disputes between countries have never stopped, but no one has ever dared to unify the thirteen countries, because in people's eyes, this is simply an illusion. At that time, almost every country had an army of millions, who could fight against a hundred with one?

  Even if allied, it will be a fight to the death in the end.

  There can only be one king.

  At that time, the Sheng Jin Guo was like the current Luo Tian Guo, and it was the strongest country among the thirteen countries. At that time, Father Emperor took the lead in establishing a national alliance, and the surrounding countries all became our allies.

  The Sacred Kingdom of Gold was chosen as the leader of the Allied Nations due to its strength and became even more powerful as a result.

  At that time, Luo Tian was also a member of the alliance. At that time, my father had a good relationship with the Nan Gong family and the ruler of Luo Tian at that time, who was Nan Gong Jin's father, they were old friends.

  Although the strength of Luo Tian at that time was relatively weak, the surrounding countries did not invade either. His father had declared to the world that Sheng Jin and Luo Tian would be forever friendly and never start a war.

  Luotian is near the northern desert and often suffers from barbarian disturbances. Every time this happens, my father would send me and my third brother to lead troops to provide support together.

  It wasn't long before I met Nangong Jin at that time. My third brother and I were brothers born of the same mother, but we were also illegitimate, so our status was not as high as that of my eldest brother and fourth brother, which is why we rarely stayed in the palace.

  After getting to know Nan Gong Yu, we quickly became good friends and often went out hunting and having fun together.

  Thanks to our relationship, the two countries have become even closer.

  Once, the barbarians invaded the border of Luotian again. I and my third brother led troops to support Nan Gongjin. Unexpectedly, we fell into the barbarians' trap, and only a few dozen people were left from our army.

  My third brother was seriously injured and on the verge of death. Just when I had almost given up hope, Nangong Jin led a cavalry of less than a hundred men to break through the enemy's defense line and rescued my third brother and me.

  At that time, he was also on the line between life and death. After that, we became real-life-and-death friends.

  Luotian was plagued by natural disasters year after year, and Father Emperor had us send some supplies together. But once, my third brother and I were busy outside, so the task of sending supplies fell to Big Brother.

  My eldest brother is called Dugu Lie, his mother was the empress who married my father in a proper ceremony, and he is a full brother to my fourth brother Dugu Han. His nature is arrogant and domineering, and as the eldest son of the emperor, he often leads his men to cause trouble in other countries. No one dares to report this to the emperor, they can only swallow their anger and remain silent.

  The emperor was unaware of this and handed over a large number of troops for him to command. Since he had the power of the army in his hands, he became even more arrogant.

  That year, he took goods to Luotian and fell in love with Princess Nangong Yan of Luotian. At that time, Nangong Yan was only twelve years old and had not yet reached the age of marriage. He returned, clamoring to marry her.

  He also said that if Father Emperor did not agree, he would go and abduct Nan Gongyan, and also wanted to destroy Luo Tian. How could Father tolerate such arrogant words? I remember that at the time, Father Emperor was furious and locked him up in prison.

  Other small countries that had been bullied by him heard about this and sent envoys to recount the elder brother's crimes, seeking justice. The Emperor Father did not expect his elder brother to be so evil outside.

  In a fit of anger, he not only took back his military power but also ordered severe punishment for him.

  That storm lasted for several months, and after the eldest brother was released, he indeed restrained himself a lot. However, what we never expected was that he actually led people to Luotian and committed such heinous crimes.

  At that time, we were all unaware and no one mentioned it. It wasn't until later that Nangong Jin's attitude towards us changed, and when we asked him repeatedly, he refused to say more.

  At that time, looking at his expression, I had a very bad premonition. Something must have happened, but after several investigations, there was no result.

  We became increasingly estranged from Nangong Jin. Later, the thirteen countries began a chaotic war.

  The divided situation has lasted for too long, years of contradictions and disputes have made people tired, countries have begun to form alliances and prepare to unify the continent, and the strongest Holy Golden Alliance has become the common target of attack by other alliances.

  At that time, there were three major alliances: the Shengjin State Alliance led by the Shengjin State, the Chuyuan State Alliance led by the Chuyuan State, and the Lianxiang State Alliance led by the Lianxiang State, dividing the world into three parts.

  That war lasted for many years. Later, the Lenovo National Alliance and the Chu Yuan National Alliance re-allied, and their power increased greatly after the alliance, and the Shengjin country was at a disadvantage.

  At the same time, we and Nangong Jin had a new intersection, because at that time the Lenovo National Alliance and the Chu Yuan National Alliance merged to form the Luo Tian Alliance, which was led by him.

  Big brother insisted that Father Emperor make a decisive alliance with Luo Tian and go to war.

  At that time, it wasn't a hopeless situation, but we were all surprised that the final opponent would be him. None of us wanted to reach the day of the decisive battle, the friendship between Father Emperor and the Nan Gong family, our friendship with Nan Gong Jin, made us hesitate.

  That's because we didn't know that Big Brother had done such a thing to them. The bond between us was also severed by him after that incident, and he only had hatred left for the Dugu family.

  On the eve of the final battle, I and my third brother secretly went to see Nan Gong Yu. He warmly received us, just like when we were fighting and playing together in the past. We told him that if he was willing, Sheng Jin would keep its promise and never fight with Luo Tian again.

  He readily agreed, and at that time he must have been secretly laughing in his heart, thinking us very shameless. And I, when recalling the scene at that time, also want to laugh coldly, laughing at my own foolishness and naivety.

  After returning, I and my third brother strongly persuaded the emperor to withdraw his troops, and promised that Nan Gongyu would also retreat, and the two countries would live in peace. The emperor did not want to be an enemy of the Nan Gong family at all, and under our persuasion, he agreed.

  We thought everything was fine, we thought we could go back to the past like that, it was the happiest time in our lives, but as I said, all of that no longer existed after what happened.

  Just as we were about to let our guard down and retreat, Nangong Jin led a million-strong army to encircle us from all sides. Before I could even realize what was happening, I saw my third brother being surrounded by Nangong Jin's high-ranking generals not far away.

  I went up to stop them, I tried to explain that there must be some misunderstanding, and also tried to explain that we were bound by a life-and-death friendship with Nan Gong Jin, but he said this was Nan Gong Jin's order, not a single person from the Dugu family is allowed to stay.

  Just then, a general rushed over from afar, and with an unexpected slash of his sword, Third Brother pushed me away with all his might. That precise slash sliced towards his neck, and as I watched the blood gush out from his throat, I felt that it was I who had died in that instant.

  No, it should be us.

  I, San Di, Nangong Jin.

  We are no longer the us of the past, we are all dead. What's left is just the already deceased Du Gu Jiao, Du Gu Yan, and also Luo Tian Da Di, Nan Gong Jin.

  I don't know how many knives have been stabbed on my face, I held the head of my third brother who was about to fall down, I fed him the lifesaving medicine, and at the moment when we were almost dead, I felt that I should live.

  At that time, I hated him.

  We trusted him, but what did he give us? I couldn't accept such a betrayal. At that time, I simply couldn't believe that all of this stemmed from our trust in him.

  Unexpectedly, the worst was yet to come. The elder brother was torn apart by them, and the empress and the younger sister who was still in her swaddling clothes were also brutally killed. They did not kill the emperor or the fourth younger brother.

  They tied up my fourth brother and the Emperor on one side, making them watch as their family members died miserably. All the women of the Dugu family were taken away by his soldiers, who humiliated them in every way possible in front of the Emperor and my fourth brother. At that time, I thought he was simply a beast.

  He later became the Great Emperor of Luo Tian.

  My third brother and I survived, we knew about that matter. Alas, the price he said was the price the Dugu family had to pay.

  At that time, I was speechless. My brother did such a thing to them, the cost is heavy, but it also makes people have nothing to refute. I think, if I were him, I would do the same thing too?

  But this does not mean we can forgive him.

  I and Third Brother barely made it out alive, drifting outside for nearly ten years before returning again. He became the Emperor of Luo Tian, Father Emperor was still the ruler of Sheng Jin Country, Fourth Brother Du Gu Han became the Crown Prince of Sheng Jin Country.

  When we arrived at the Kingdom of Sheng Jin, when we said that we were Dugu Qiu and Dugu Yan, the gates of the kingdom were tightly closed. The Emperor and Fourth Brother stood atop the city gate, gazing coldly at us.

  They said that the second prince and third prince had died ten years ago.

  I know they still recognize us, only unwilling to acknowledge us. In their hearts, we are the creators of that tragic event. If it weren't for us persuading the Emperor to retreat, Sheng Jin wouldn't have suffered such a disastrous defeat.

  Third brother wanted to explain, but I left, I know, some things explained what's the use?

  That sharp sword has deeply pierced everyone's chest, and even if it is pulled out, the pain cannot be erased.

  Later, I became an assassin. My third brother defected to the Qiang people and we never contacted each other again. It was as if he had really died. But in our hearts, we knew that those people were dead, but the hatred remained.

  Hatred has replaced blood ties and become the only medium connecting us.

  Later I met you, and you defeated me with two moves, but didn't kill me. Do you know that for me, I should have died under your sword. Not killing me was a mistake.

  Later I found out that you are Nan Gong Jin's person. You should have killed me even more. So I said, I won't let Nan Gong Jin go, that day, I was giving you the opportunity to kill me, and you still didn't kill me.

  Later, I thought, perhaps that affection was never severed.

  In front of his mighty army, my third brother and I are like ants, how can we survive until now.

  Maybe he let us off easy.

  But we won't be grateful. He spared our lives, only to truly cut off this emotional bond.