Chapter 1084.1: Start to Finish (II) - Part 1

Chen Chao dismissed the crowd, taking only Mao Jiacao and Xiao Du with him into the dilapidated courtyard.

No one had lived here for a long time, and the courtyard had fallen into disrepair, with weeds growing everywhere. One of the walls had even collapsed, and there was an enormous hole in the roof of the house.

An old bamboo chair sat beneath the eaves.

Perhaps it would not be long before this little courtyard completely became a ruin.

Yet who would have thought that such an ordinary little courtyard was actually the old home of that Great General of the Northern Frontier.

Xiao Du frowned and muttered, “Impossible. It’s simply impossible!”

Chen Chao turned to look at the boy and asked, “Impossible? What’s impossible? Do you think someone who became a Great General should have a mansion so enormous it has no end, and should have the house piled high with gold and silver?”

Xiao Du had no way to answer that question. He merely shook his head and muttered, “But, but... he didn’t look like a Great General at all!”

Back then, when he had come in to retrieve his kite, that old man had been lying in the chair. Where was there even the slightest trace of the imposing bearing of a Great General who had slaughtered countless people?

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and said, “What? Does a person have to look like someone you wouldn’t dare provoke at first glance to be a Great General? In other words, you’re not a member of the demon race, so why should he look at you as if he were going to eat you the moment he saw you?”

After a pause, Chen Chao said softly, “Besides, when the Great General retired and returned to his hometown back then, he already knew he had only a few days left to live. He simply wanted to return to his roots.”

Xiao Hezheng had devoted most of his life to the imperial court and the people. By the time he left the Northern Frontier, he actually had less than half a year left to live.

There was no way for him to live out his old age in peace. He could only return to his hometown while he was still alive.

Mao Jiacao said softly, “The old man... the Great General, was far too easygoing. If I had known, I shouldn’t have taken his money for those drinks.”

Chen Chao looked at the bamboo chair beneath the eaves and said calmly, “The Great General never thought about receiving any special treatment. He only wanted to keep the demon race from coming south, so that you wouldn’t have to worry about being treated as food one day.”

If one wanted to become an official, to hold power over the entire imperial court, why would there be a need to go to the Northern Frontier?

That place was so dangerous, and he endured such bitter cold there for so many years. If he wanted fame and fortune, that was not the way to seek them.

“Miss Mao, I want to ask you something. If Wang Xi were to die in the north, would you never marry for the rest of your life?”

Chen Chao glanced at Mao Jiacao and suddenly asked her this question.

Mao Jiacao had just been about to answer when Chen Chao shook his head. “Actually, the answer I want to hear is no. To love someone at twenty and not end up together is nothing. You can keep the memories in your heart, but don’t let the person you become after twenty spend the rest of her life unhappy because of it.”

Chen Chao said, “He doesn’t dare come to see you because he has this worry as well.”

Mao Jiacao looked at Chen Chao and hesitantly asked, “Lord Warden Commander... will he really die in the north?”

“I don’t know.”

Chen Chao came beneath the eaves and shook his head. “I don’t know how severe the fighting in the Northern Frontier will become. But if one day the situation deteriorates to the point where he has to go north before he is ready, that means many people have already died.”

Mao Jiacao’s eyes dimmed. “Then... can we... win?”

Chen Chao looked at this woman whom he was meeting for the first time and who might very well be someone he would never meet again in this lifetime, and said, “Do our best.”

Xiao Du, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, “I’m going to the Northern Frontier to kill demons too!”

Chen Chao looked at him and shook his head. “I hope that day never comes.”

Xiao Du did not know what to say. Chen Chao patted him on the shoulder instead. “Take good care of that wooden saber.”

Xiao Du nodded vigorously.

Chen Chao raised his head and looked toward the sky. A streak of flowing light swept past directly above him.

Mao Jiacao said, “There have been streaks of flowing light like this all these days.”

Chen Chao smiled and did not speak.

......

......

Only after Mao Jiacao and Xiao Du had left did Chen Chao withdraw his gaze. He came beneath the eaves and sat down on the old bamboo chair.

Then the young Lord Warden Commander raised his head and looked toward the roof, saying something from the heart, “Great General, although I have the resolve to die for the country, I do not have the confidence that we will surely win.”

“If we really fail to hold the defenses...”

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “If we can’t hold it, I won’t have the face to come see you.”

......

......

After the previous great battle in the Northern Frontier came to an end, quite a few cultivators there actually chose to head south and return to their sects to have a look.

They had left their sects to head north, and then nearly lost their lives in that battle in the Northern Frontier. Without a doubt, it would be an especially profound experience, and would naturally make them begin reassessing their lives.

The Northern Frontier did not stop the large number of cultivators from making their brief journey south. Instead, before they left, the Northern Frontier even held a farewell banquet for them.

But although a large number of cultivators went south, there were always exceptions.

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