"Who do you think you are? You're in the wrong… that's why you're unable to speak; aren't you?" King Level Expert Jun coldly stared at Yin Wu Tian. He was step-by-step closing-in on the man, "If you felt sorry then why haven't you say it already? Can't you feel that you won't be able to explain this to Diwu Qing Rou?"
He saw that Yin Wu Tian was about to open his mouth to say something in reply. He then suddenly roared like a thunder, "Saying anything to you is useless! Yin Wu Tian, you are guilty. You deserve to be punished!"
[Deserve to be punished for what...] Yin Wu Tian was utterly confused, [what am I guilty of? Why won't I be able to explain this? It was you who went missing, okay? But you're making it seem as if it's my fault?]
[Besides, who do you think you are? You wish for me to listen and obey your commands?]
[Why is it that only you're speaking… whether good or bad words...]
"Mr. Jun! You're going too far!" Yin Wu Tian was crying tears of blood in his heart. He then shouted in his heart out of sheer frustration.
"I'm going too far, you say? Humph! Yin Wu Tian; you come with me. I'll go see Diwu Qing Rou. I wish to ask him why he arranged someone like you to accompany me! And you have the guts to say 'I'm going too far'? A f*ker like you should know his place; you don't even know the difference between right and wrong. I must say — you're probably 'number one under the heaven' when it comes to the Art of confusing between right and wrong!" King Level Expert Jun stated furiously.
Yin Wu Tian felt a burst of dizziness in his brain; it was due to extreme anger. His body swayed and he nearly fell to the ground.
He stayed like that for a long time; then, he slowly regained his calm. He sobered-up and murmured, "I feel like vomiting blood ah. I will f*king vomit blood at this rate..." Then he suddenly asked, "Where is he?"
King Level Expert Jun had disappeared by then.
"En, that King Level Expert Jun angrily walked away while our respectable King level expert was lost in contemplation. He said that he is going to see Prime Minister Diwu," a person cautiously related. He had been standing nearby all-along.
He wanted to say 'while you were muddled in anger'… but didn't dare to.
"That fiend 'actually' said that!" Yin Wu Tian coughed and spat out blood. [This bastard plans to bring this matter to Prime Minister Diwu's notice? How can someone be so unreasonably unforgiving? He's a very thick-skinned guy...]
Chu Yang came ashore and saw Jing Meng Hun hastily coming from the front. He seemed to be in a rush. In fact, it seemed as if someone had set his butt on fire.
"King Level Master Jing! Your King Level Expert Yin is extremely arrogant and unreasonable!" Chu Yang followed the principle of 'striking first to gain the upper hand'. He jabbered on-and-on as kept complaining relentlessly.
Jing Meng Hun had come here for an urgent matter, but had no choice in this regard. He kept a smiling face as he patiently listened to Chu Yang's unending blabber. He also apologized again and again...
"I'm extremely embarrassed over this, Brother Jun. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you, but Prime Minister is in the middle of making his preparation to go into the war. I've come here to put together some manpower for the same..." Jing Meng Hun fidgeted anxiously as he practically begged for forgiveness.
"Going into war?" Chu Yang suddenly gawked, "With whom are you going to war?"
"The Iron Cloud!" Jing Meng Hun replied, "The Prime Minister is personally taking part in this expedition. The Iron Cloud Nation will surely be crushed to pieces this time!"
Chu Yang was shocked!
[Diwu Qing Rou is going to war so soon?]
[What's going on? How can this be so different from what happened in my previous life? It had happened three years later then!]
He was still in shock. Jing Meng Hun took the opportunity, and quickly slipped-by his side. Yin Wu Tian and the others were still on that isle. King Level Master Jing shouted towards them, "Come back! Come back quickly! There's an emergency military situation!"
Chu Yang shook his head to jerk-away his own unrealistic fantasies. He bitterly smiled in his heart and thought; [it seems like they aren't going on a military expedition to just deceive King of Hell Chu... instead it's a real war expedition this time!]
[This means that Diwu Qing Rou has changed his mind!]
Chu Yang didn't know why Diwu Qing Rou had done this. But he knew that he didn't have much time to waste. This was an urgent situation, and he couldn't tarry.
He needed to return to Iron Cloud immediately!
Diwu Qing Rou's attack would rage like the angry seas. Chu Yang would need to be present alongside Tie Bu Tian to face it. It was necessary to continue to struggle and fight when faced with an absolutely adverse situation… even when there's a very slim chance of survival ahead.
However, he would need to deal with two matters before he could return to Iron Cloud.
The first matter related to Du Shi Qing. The second matter concerned to the military plans for Diwu Qing Rou's expedition this time! Planning preemptive countermeasures would become easier if he were to get his hands on it.
Chu Yang shook his head. He no longer pestered with Jing Meng Hun and the others. His figure vanished from the shore.
Chu Yang had already disappeared by the time Jing Meng Hun and the others came to shore; there was no trace of him.
"Where did he go? Wasn't he looking for Nine Joints Lotus Root in this lake?" Jing Meng Hun was somewhat puzzled.
"Big Brother, has he really gone to see… Prime Minister Diwu?" Yin Wu Tian nervously asked.
"Let it be. We must hurry back," Jing Meng Hun immediately made a decision.
Jing Meng Hun had been scolded by Diwu Qing Rou only half-a-day ago. Hence, he was stuck in a dilemma. One could clearly see the tangled expression on his face.
[Diwu Qing Rou would explode with anger if King Level Expert Jun opened his mouth. He is already very dissatisfied with the Golden Horse Riders Department… this might become a matter of life and death for us...]
Thereupon, Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian pieced together their remaining 'short' lives and went back…
Chu Yang appeared like a shooting star as he rushed into the Continent Center Citadel. He took two or three turns, and then he finally arrived at a worn-out small courtyard. He looked around to confirm that nobody was watching him. Then, he gently knocked on the door once, and then paused for a second. He again knocked twice on the door; then paused again in a similar manner. Then, he knocked five times on the door once again.
1… 2… 5.
This was the password.
The door made a 'creaking' sound as it opened. An old man stuck out his head and asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me," Chu Yang replied in a 'not too overly polite' tone. Then, his figure flashed and went inside the house.
This was the most secretive Imperial Foothold of the Iron Cloud Nation. It was a top secret place. The old man who opened the door was locally born and bred in Great Zhao. His family tree had already extended up to three generations.
Only the highest hierarchs of Iron Cloud knew of his existence! If not as a last resort — Chu Yang wouldn't have used this option. Iron Clouds sources of intelligence inside Great Zhao had been degraded very seriously in this generation. In fact, there would be nothing but a 'dead-end' awaiting the Iron Cloud's intelligence network if this source was exposed as well...
A distressed looking old man was sitting in the room. He first determined Chu Yang's identity, and then asked, "What should we do?"
This miserable-looking old man was Du Shi Qing; in disguise.
"It's fine. Leave everything to me." Chu Yang smiled, "Relax your heart and calm down. I want to ask you — do you have any plans?"
"Plans?" Du Shi Qing sighed and replied, "What plans could I possibly have?"
Chu Yang pondered for a moment, and then said, "Mr. Du, I have two propositions for you. First, you and your family may continue to live here after I'm done with my work. Diwu Qing Rou is about to set out on a war. You should be safe here as long as he is not in the Continent Center."
"What's the second?" Du Shi Qing raised his head and asked.
"Second… fight the war with us. The casualties will be heavy. Mr. Du can enter the Iron Cloud's military and tend to the sick and wounded. However, I warn you that this one is more difficult. You must pass through 5000km to cross the border. And that would be quite dangerous," Chu Yang insipidly said.
"I choose the second one," Du Shi Qing resolutely said. He heaved a long sigh, "I, Du Shi Qing, owe a lot to Iron Cloud. If I get a chance to make-up even a little… I will surely try my best."
"... good, that's good," Chu Yang pondered for a long time, and finally nodded his head.
Then, Chu Yang entered the bedroom. He opened a secret door, and went downstairs. Two young people lay unconscious in the basement. A nearly 40-year-old woman was looking after them.
This woman was Du Shi Qing's wife. Her name was An Shi.
"Things will be okay now. A Minister has arrived. He has come to deal with this matter. So you don't have to worry anymore," Du Shi Qing had also followed him down.
"Divine Doctor Du and Madam… you two please go outside. Leave me here for the time being," Chu Yang said in a serious tone.
"Yes... but I don't know how you plan to deal with this matter..." Du Shi Qing turned around and asked in a curious tone. He wanted some reassurance.
"I will make them forget a part of their memories. But remember that they'll forget a major chunk of their memories… so when they will wake up… Mr. Du must have great courage. Not much of their past memories will remain… "Chu Yang turned his head to look at Du Shi Qing. He then asked, "Mr. Du, what do you think?"
"Make them forget their memories..." Du Shi Qing stood still. He palpitated with fear. [This is certainly a good method. My son and daughter-in-law have been very thoroughly brainwashed by the Golden Horse Rider Department. The tyrannical and imperialistic ideology of Diwu Qing Rou is deeply ingrained in their minds...]
[If they woke up with their memories intact… they might even be prepared to punish their own family members if justice demands it.]
A loss of memories was certainly the best course of action. However, Du Shi Qing was also a doctor… how could he not know the dangers involved in this method…? A little carelessness might turn his son and daughter-in-law into dumb-witted idiots...
"Are you confident that this will work out fine?" Du Shi Qing nervously asked.
"I will use... the Soul Control Method!" Chu Yang gently replied. [1]
"En... that is good; that is indeed good!" Du Shi Qing was lost in thoughts. [Soul Control Method is an extremely strange technique. It can make a person completely unconscious. Then, the depths of their mind can be opened-up and manipulated by the user freely.]
[This method is easy to learn, but hard to master. It is usually used by high-level detectives to interrogate criminals. But, this method would have no effect on someone whose spiritual power surpasses that of ordinary people.]
However, Du Shi Qing was one of the best Divine Doctors out there. Therefore, he knew that this method is very hard to implement. Speaking proficiently in its name itself… the main function of the 'Soul Control' Method was: Control!
One could unknowingly control a person's mind once this technique was cultivated to a profound level. This would turn a completely independent person into a puppet.
The high-level warriors of Jiang Hu often used this method to murder people or steal treasures. The victims would lose their ability to resist the commands...
This method also had the function to clean memory. However, its only flaw was that... it could not perform selective cleaning. It was only capable of cleaning the entire brain!
Therefore… Chu Yang had said in the beginning itself — they would have to start over from the scratch.
Chu Yang got busy with the preparations as soon as Du Shi Qing went out. He placed several oil lamps in the room. He then lit them. Then, he placed a large mirror on the wall-opposite, and sat down cross-legged. He breathed deeply for a moment, and closed his eyes...
The atmosphere of the room slowly became strange. The smoke slowly got denser and Chu Yang's body became steaming hot; it was as if his body had been set on fire.
The reflective-surface of the mirror became hazy.
Chu Yang suddenly opened his eyes wide and patted that young man's head with his palm...
The door of the secret room opened after some time. Chu Yang emerged wiping his sweat. Du Shi Qing immediately went forward to meet-up with him. Suddenly, a burst of fragrant smoke came rolling out of the room.
"How was it?"
"It was successful." Chu Yang smiled and said, "Good fortune prevented me from failing in my mission."
Notes:
Soul Control Method: The literal translation would be 'Seizing Soul Great Method'. But have tweaked it a little to make it easy to remember for the readers.