Silver Strands

The prisoners exchanged bewildered glances, many setting aside their food. They stared at Du Chen, perplexed. “An enemy Marshal, what could he possibly want to discuss with us, mere captives, besides extracting information? And extracting information invariably involves torture...” A chill crept into their hearts as this realization dawned on them.

Du Chen offered a warm smile. “No need to be nervous. I merely wish to consult with you on the best way to deal with you, my esteemed prisoners!”

The prisoners’ expressions immediately contorted in horror. “Their very destinies were at stake—who wouldn’t be terrified!?” Though Francis had sworn not to kill captives, sometimes, living could be far more dreadful than death itself! Men would be dragged to the deep mountains for arduous labor, condemned to toil under the lash, never seeing the light of day. Women, if fortunate, might be sold to brothels to fritter away their remaining years. But those less lucky would be forced into military brothels, brutalized to death within days…

The common folk of the Valley of Villains in Thornwood knew these cruel methods all too well.

“Why the long faces, everyone? Let’s chat while you eat. It’s a bit inconvenient for so many of you to speak with just one of me. How about this: you yourselves select a trustworthy elder to have a few words with me!”

Trembling, the prisoners quickly put forward an old man of eighty or ninety. The elder chuckled sheepishly. “Your Excellency, my ancestors were hereditary elders of the Valley. Though my family has fallen on hard times, we are still considered nobility and hold a certain degree of prestige. If you have anything to say, please feel free to speak with me!”

“Excellent, old man, please take a seat before me!” Du Chen commanded. “Grand Pontiff Brook, you and your faithful, go join them for their meal. Share the doctrines of my Divine with them, to set their minds at ease!”

Deboning, clad in the attire of a Charlatan, with a retinue of junior Charlatans trained by the Divine Cult in recent years, quickly mingled among the prisoners, striking up “conversations.” Though Deboning was inept at internal governance, he was an absolute master at proselytizing and ideological indoctrination—he was, after all, a fervent devotee of Yetha God!

Du Chen asked with a warm, knowing smile, “So, old man, tell me, how should I best deal with all of you? Don’t hold back, speak honestly, from the bottom of your heart!”

The elder, still trembling, replied, “From the bottom of my heart… Heh heh, Your Excellency, we certainly hope you’ll let us return home…”

“Oh!” Du Chen nodded, then suddenly raised his voice. “Very well! Once you’ve finished this farewell meal, I shall immediately release you all back to Thornwood Valley!”

In an instant, the prisoner-of-war camp fell into a deathly silence, as if an invisible sound-dampening barrier had descended upon it.

As Du Chen was “chatting” with the prisoners-of-war, back in Thornwood Valley, within the high tower of the inner city, lay Valley Master Sena’s bedchamber!

Valley Master Sena was now as frail as a wisp of smoke. Avril kept vigil by her side; though her expression beneath the beast mask remained unseen, her trembling shoulders betrayed her deep sorrow and tears.

Thomas also sat by the bed, his heart a mixture of reluctance to witness Sena’s final moments and simmering frustration. “Second Sister, you’re already… alas, please don’t concern yourself with Ted’s affair. Focus on recuperating!”

“I… I…” Sena gasped, struggling for breath, and weakly raised a hand to point at Avril. “You… you understand what I mean. Speak for me…”

Avril, tears welling in her eyes, said, “Third Uncle, Master’s intention is that Thornwood Valley faces a grave crisis. This is truly no time for internal strife! Master already knows what transpired today; Ted holds no rebellious intentions. We… we absolutely must not allow his heart to grow cold!”

Thomas retorted, “Precisely because Thornwood Valley faces impending disaster, we cannot tolerate a traitor! Zigurd claims he’s gone to find a solution, but who knows if he’s merely abandoned us in the face of battle? Second Sister, we must rely on ourselves, solely on ourselves, and we cannot afford to have a traitor within our ranks!”

Sena, in a fit of anger, pounded the bedframe. Avril anxiously interjected, “Third Uncle, how could you…”

Thomas’s face hardened. “Sha, how dare you speak to me that way? Step outside. I need a private word with Second Sister!”

Avril opened her mouth to protest, but then shook her head helplessly and walked out.

Thomas lowered his voice. “Second Sister, Thornwood Valley is our foster mother’s life’s work. I absolutely will not allow it to be destroyed! Rest assured, I already have a perfect strategy to guarantee Thornwood Valley’s safety!”

A sudden flush spread across Sena’s face, and with an inexplicable surge of strength, she urgently said, “You can still come up with a good plan? Thomas, don’t bring ruin upon Thornwood Valley!”

Thomas pouted. “Second Sister, you simply don’t trust my capabilities! To be frank with you, people from my hometown have arrived…”

Sena’s expression shifted. “Thomas’s hometown—wasn’t that the very lair of the Fiendkind!?” “You… you with the Violet-Bloods…”

Thomas then proceeded to explain the matter of the Fiendkind, smiling. “What do you think, Second Sister? I know you despise me for being a Violet-Blood, but our Thornwood Valley stands apart from both Violet-Bloods and Red-Bloods. Now, the Red-Bloods seek to destroy us. Our only path to survival is to ally ourselves with the Violet-Bloods, don’t you agree?”

Sena pondered for a moment, then nodded and suddenly declared, “Third Brother, summon the hereditary elders of the Valley. I wish to make my will!”

Thomas was taken aback. “Second Sister, you…”

Sena waved her hand, a faint smile gracing her lips. “Third Brother, after all these years, you’ve finally done something that earns my respect! Indeed, the Red-Bloods mean to kill us. Weighing the pros and cons, the Violet-Bloods are our only way out… Why are you so surprised? Our foster mother had three children. Zigurd is the Father of All Battle Gods; he would never contend with you for the position of Thornwood Valley Master. So, upon my death, if not you, then to whom should the Valley Master’s position go? Who among the elders would accept anyone else? My will is simply so that, upon my death, you may open the brocade box and find a legitimate decree of succession!”

Thomas smiled, though there wasn't much surprise in his heart. Truly, besides him, who else was qualified to inherit the position of Valley Master!?

Sena beckoned. “No rush for now! Third Brother, the Valley Master position is yours, but you must swear a blood oath to me: never, under any circumstances, betray Eldest Brother Zigurd’s identity!”

Thomas nodded. “Rest assured, for all these years, Zigurd and I have been locked in continuous covert struggles, but have you ever seen me make a foolish mistake on matters of great importance? Even if Zigurd is at his worst, he is still our foster mother’s child. I, Thomas, am no saint, but I would never betray him!”

Sena nodded, a trace of a sickly smile gracing her lips. “Go summon the elders. Have them come first. But you have one more thing to do; just be back before dawn!”

Thomas paused, taken aback. “Why have the elders come first? It almost seemed like she wanted to send him away to share some private words with them!” His face darkened at the thought.

Sena blushed bashfully. “What are you thinking? I, Sena, am a woman. I don’t wish for my tombstone to read ‘Lived and Died Alone’… Given Zigurd’s identity, he cannot marry me. So, besides you, who else could allow my tombstone to bear a husband’s surname after my death? So I wouldn’t be mocked as an old spinster!?”

Thomas gaped, his mouth falling open. “Second Sister, no, Sena, you… you’ve accepted my proposal?”

“That’s why I asked the elders to come first; they will be my family, escorting me as I leave my maiden home and keeping watch over me for the night! And how can you, the groom, remain in my maiden home before dawn? Is that proper etiquette?”

Thomas felt a rush of warmth surge from his feet straight to his head. He slapped his forehead vigorously. “Right, right, I certainly can’t stay here before dawn! Sena, wait for me. I’ll go find the other Heads to be my matchmakers and groomsmen. I’ll be back at first light!”

The Ice Man, now like a blazing fire, disregarded his still unhealed severe injuries. He frantically unleashed his battle qi and within minutes located all the Heads. Once the news was delivered, the entire Thornwood Valley immediately sprang into action, brimming with joyous excitement!

As dawn broke, Sena heard the joyous wedding music outside. She closed the iron box beside her and instructed Avril to apply the Sacred Artifact Shackles. “My dear old brothers, this is my last will and testament. Open it and read it on the day I die! You are elders, and more importantly, my brothers. This will… I entrust to your joint safekeeping. You have never betrayed me in your lives, and even in death, I will trust you!”

With tears in their eyes, the elders struggled to help Sena into her bridal gown. The main gates swung open, revealing Thomas and several other Heads who had been waiting for some time. However… Third Head Ted was not among them!

Ted had sustained severe injuries yesterday and, in his fury, had even coughed up blood on the spot. After returning to his residence, he immediately entered death seclusion to recuperate, taking a full night to finally regain his composure.

Helen had also kept vigil all night. Seeing her father relax slightly on the bed, she quickly stepped forward to support him. “Father, how is your body?”

“I’m fine,” he replied. “Francis must have held back; that sword strike didn’t pierce my internal organs, only passing through the bone seams. I just need a few days of rest to recover!”

Sulan fumed, “That Francis is truly despicable! Yesterday’s battle was clearly a double-layer alienation stratagem! If not for him, Master, you wouldn’t have been angered to the point of spitting blood, worsening your injuries! Hmph, just wait, I’ll send hundreds of thousands of rats to bite him to death!”

Helen, however, waved her hand. “Sulan, in battle, all means are fair. Francis’s actions are beyond reproach. Don’t cause any more trouble!”

Ted nodded. “I truly envy Dud! Since ancient times, the tragedy of a great General isn’t to die on the Battlefield, but to fall by one’s own Blade! If only Thomas had half of Francis’s skill in deploying people, forget a double-layer alienation, I wouldn’t fear even a hundred layers of alienation… Hmm? What’s that sound outside?”

Helen frowned. “The Valley Master suddenly decided to marry Thomas. That’s the joyous wedding music for the procession. Father, you were invited, but I declined on your behalf!”

“Marry? Hasn’t Valley Master Sena always despised Thomas? How could she…?”

Helen stepped forward to support Ted. “Father, please don’t bother with these Thornwood Valley family affairs. Quickly change out of your battle armor and rest. You’ve been so busy all night, you haven’t even taken off your armor!”

Ted replied displeased, “What do you mean ‘Thornwood Valley family affairs’? Now, we are also Thornwood people. The Valley Master’s marriage is a matter of such great importance…”

*Clang!* A crisp sound interrupted Ted.

It turned out that as Helen was disarming Ted, several small objects suddenly clattered from behind his battle armor cape! Helen, however, paid no mind to these trinkets. After thoroughly searching the armor, she gasped, “Father, your military talisman is gone!”

Ted, however, seemed not to have heard. For a General to lose his military talisman was no less significant than a king losing his scepter, or a wealthy man his treasury! Yet Ted stared blankly at the small items on the ground… *The military talisman?* He didn’t care!

Following her father’s gaze, Helen saw a small wooden token, a clump of silver strands, and a wax pellet on the ground!

Helen didn’t recognize them. “Father, what’s wrong?” Ted abruptly pointed at the clump of silver strands, his face pale as death, his voice trembling. “Su… Sulan!”

Without needing his command, Sulan had already darted forward, placing the silver strands beneath her nose to sniff. Her expression dramatically shifted. “Master, it’s… it’s the Old Matriarch’s scent! But wasn’t the Old Matriarch and the rest of the family already… by Bonis…?”

Helen anxiously asked, “These are Grandmother’s hairs!?”

Sulan nodded vigorously. “Young Mistress, when I was little, I loved nothing more than frolicking around the Old Matriarch, clinging to her neck. I could never mistake her scent! Only… Sulan once heard the elders of our family say that ‘offering hair is like offering one’s head.’ To give someone your hair is to swear absolute loyalty, never to betray them!”

Sulan looked at Ted, puzzled. By now, Ted had picked up the small wooden token and, trembling, handed it to Helen. “Re… remember this wooden token! When our family was still prosperous, you were blind and never saw it. By the time your sight returned, the family was gone… This is the supreme military talisman of my Brockman family—the Kuei Wood Decree!”

Helen gasped in shock. The father and two women exchanged stunned glances. A moment later, Helen suddenly picked up the wax pellet. Crushing it, she found a single slip of paper inside, bearing one line of text: “*I have found a military talisman. Tonight, at midnight, I await the owner’s retrieval at the Sacred Tomb of Divine Emperor Zaro…*”

Ted clenched his fists, his gaze fixed on the silver strands before him. “Helen, announce to the outside world that my severe injuries are unbearable, and I must enter death seclusion for three days to heal! Then, you and Sulan, under the cover of the Valley Master’s grand wedding tonight, will follow me out of the Valley through the secret passages!”

Grand Duke of Durkus’s banquet was, naturally, on a grand scale. Most of the prisoners-of-war were impoverished commoners, low-ranking Soldiers who had never tasted such delicacies before. Upon seeing Du Chen publicly declare their release, they thought to themselves, “Surely a figure as important as Francis wouldn’t go back on his word in front of thousands of people?” With their minds at ease, the prisoners chatted with the various Charlatans around them while feasting on the finest meal they had ever encountered, eating this “farewell dinner” until the break of dawn!

The time for farewell had arrived. Du Chen returned all the confiscated supplies to the prisoners, save for their Weapons, and saw them off at the Barracks Gate. Noticing their hesitance, some even reluctant to move, he couldn’t help but smile. “Beyond this point lies the Thornwood City war zone. Take care, everyone. Francis will see you no further! But let me make this clear: if you choose to remain civilians, I will not interfere. However, if you rejoin the military and cross paths with me, Francis, on the battlefield, then I assure you, I will show no mercy!”

The prisoners chuckled sheepishly, one bolder individual joking, “Your Excellency, we’ll go back to being Soldiers, then get captured by you again, and keep enjoying your late-night meals! Heh heh, they’re truly delicious!”

Du Chen burst into hearty laughter, watching the prisoners depart. Yet, just a few steps away, a somewhat “naive-looking” half-grown lad suddenly turned and rushed back. With a “thump,” he knelt before Du Chen. “Your Excellency, I’m not going back! Do… does your Du City still need laborers? Can I come to your home and work for you?”

Du Chen paused, surprised. “Do you have family in Thornwood City? Don’t you want to go back and see them?”

“I’m a lone wolf, and my parents died long ago! In Thornwood Valley, I toil for over ten hours every day, yet I still can’t get enough to eat. How could that compare to your home, where I could enjoy ‘cradle-to-grave’ welfare benefits!”

This was the unvarnished truth, and one of Du Chen’s achievements this night—to make the prisoners realize that the living standards in Thornwood City were vastly different from those in Durkus, like the difference between hell and heaven!

Indeed, the prosperity of Du City was now rarely seen across the Three Continents!

Du Chen hesitated. “This…” The lad quickly interjected, “I know, I’m from the Valley of Villains, and Du City doesn’t want bad people! But, but from today onwards, I believe in Du Chen, the Divine! Didn’t Grand Pontiff Brook say that our Divine Cult doesn’t require donations, and as long as we perform a few Acts of Benevolence to the best of our ability, we can receive the blessing of our Divine and become good people? I want to be a good person, Your Excellency, please take me in! Du Chen is merciful, praise Du Chen, the Divine!”

Liana, listening from behind, couldn’t help but grin. Yet she had to admit, this was Du Chen’s second greatest gain tonight—the prisoners, or more accurately, the villains of Thornwood Valley, had suddenly discovered a clear path: Du Chen’s Divine Cult could ‘bleach’ evil deeds, allowing villains to see the light of day again!

Once one person took the lead, a dozen more immediately rushed over, demanding to follow Du Chen and not return to Thornwood Valley!

But Du Chen let out a deep sigh. “Alas, it’s not that I don’t wish to take you in! My Divine is merciful, viewing all sentient beings as equal, and would forgive the sins you committed in the past. However… as I just said, this time it wasn’t my decision to attack Thornwood Valley; it was His Holiness the Pontiff’s strict decree, and I had no choice but to deploy troops! If I were to arbitrarily take you in, it wouldn’t sit well with His Holiness the Pontiff. You should still return for now and await His Holiness the Pontiff’s unified arrangements on the day the city falls!”

After repeated deferrals, the prisoners finally departed, albeit reluctantly. But as Du Chen watched their retreating figures, he distinctly heard someone muttering, “Damn it, Thornwood City is under siege, living day to day. I finally caught Francis, this gullible fool, hoping to enjoy his home and ‘bleach’ myself into a good person. But what the hell does that Pontiff have to do with it? That old Sama is truly a piece of garbage!”

This, too, was the unvarnished truth, representing the thoughts of most prisoners, and Du Chen had overheard it! The Thornwood people were unlike the religiously deluded commoners of the outside world, who could be moved to tears with a few pious words. These villains had killed priests, burned churches—what hadn’t they done? Why would they believe in any Divine!?

The only thing that could move them were two words: *Benefits!* Thus, Du Chen had accomplished three things tonight: he had let the prisoners know there was a safer, more prosperous place than Thornwood Valley; he had hinted that Du Chen’s Divine Cult could ‘bleach’ them; and he had ensured that if they ever sought to settle scores for today, they would go to the Pontiff, for *he* was the true culprit!

Liana tiptoed to Du Chen’s side, watching the prisoners. She suddenly shrugged. “In the eyes of the Thornwood people, you’re probably just a big soft-hearted fool, a patsy so kind-hearted he can be exploited…”

Du Chen chuckled. “That’s precisely the effect I want! In the eyes of these utterly unprincipled villains, my words about encouraging good deeds are completely nonsensical. And Du Chen, the Divine, who attempts to persuade people to do good, is nothing but a huge idiot! See how they outwardly treat me with reverence, constantly praising Du Chen, the Divine, yet in their hearts, they only think of using me to 'bleach' themselves and seize benefits…”

Liana nodded with deep understanding. “Indeed! To rule a people with such selfish natures, one can only use the carrot and stick approach. You’ve given them the carrot; when do you plan to give them the stick?”

“Why the hurry? Once these sixteen hundred-plus free propagandists spread what I’ve said tonight throughout Thornwood Valley, and the Thornwood people all believe they can exploit me, thus outwardly submitting to me…”

Du Chen suddenly couldn’t resist patting Liana’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to put you through this, but these people will first come to your home. You’ll play the ‘bad cop’ for me, wielding the stick!”

Liana, in turn, patted Du Chen. “We’re comrades, why be so formal!? Though I suggest you remove your hand, or I’ll accuse you of harassment!”

Du Chen’s eyes widened. “Harass you? Hey, take a look in the mirror. In terms of looks, isn’t my Xue Ji far more beautiful than you? Do I really need to harass *you*?”

Liana scoffed, puffing out her chest. “Is her figure as good as mine?”

Du Chen: “…”

Truth be told, Du Chen had genuinely never seen a woman with a better figure than Liana in this lifetime—her nickname, “Potter,” wasn’t given for nothing!

Stunned into silence for a good while, Du Chen suddenly blurted out, “What are you preening about? Just wait until you see Helen tonight…”

“What about Helen?” Liana had never seen Helen’s true appearance.

Du Chen deliberately annoyed Liana, but he was also speaking the truth. “Tonight, you’ll learn what it means for one smile to topple a city, and three to bring down an empire… There are women in this world whose beauty defies Heaven’s Will, women so stunning that every man who sees them for the first time cannot escape the fate of a racing heart!”

Liana smacked her lips, then suddenly asked, “Is her figure as good as mine?”

Du Chen shook his head, speechless. Liana, grinning, skipped away, taking small, quick steps. She hadn’t gone far when she suddenly turned, let out a provocative snort, puffed out her chest, and then spun away, departing.

For some unknown reason, Du Chen’s heart suddenly began to pound when he caught that fleeting glance back.