Chapter Sixteen: Long Yu's Strength
The Second Prince fought desperately, but the Fifth Prince’s forces were far greater, and the Second Prince’s own strength fell short of his brother’s. Soon, his resistance waned, and wounds began to mar his body; defeat seemed inevitable.
Suddenly, another voice echoed through the darkness: “Well done! Truly splendid.” The speaker applauded as he praised.
“The First Prince? Why is he here?” The Fifth Prince was furious, realizing he had been outmaneuvered.
His face darkened in the night, his expression twisted with rage and confusion—thank heavens it was too dim for others to see.
Cornered, the Second Prince burst into laughter. “Ha! Fifth Brother, it looks like you’ll be keeping me company tonight.”
The battered remnants of the Second Prince’s men, along with the Fifth Prince’s soldiers, ceased their fighting, watching as the First Prince’s forces encircled them. None knew what to do.
“What’s your aim? Are you plotting against me?” The Fifth Prince’s voice was strained and distorted by his anger.
The First Prince laughed, triumphant. “I should thank you both for your rivalry; it saved me a great deal of trouble.”
“Fifth Brother, just give up. Now you can taste the bitterness I felt moments ago. The heavens truly do mete out swift retribution.”
The Second Prince seized the moment to mock him; he had just been betrayed by the Fifth Prince and his indignation burned with nowhere to go. Now, seeing the Fifth Prince ensnared, he felt the thrill of vengeance.
The Fifth Prince, driven to madness, lost all reason and lunged at the First Prince. Yet as he stepped forward, a cold sensation pierced his abdomen—he looked down to find a bloody wound had appeared.
“You… you’re… working together?” He clutched his stomach and collapsed.
“Fifth Brother, don’t be ridiculous—I don’t even know this man,” the First Prince replied.
“Oh, by the way, the blade was poisoned. It will suppress your internal energy—you won't be able to resist. Give up,” the First Prince said to the dying Second Prince.
“Aren’t you afraid of Father?” The Fifth Prince struggled to speak from his soldier’s arms.
“I already said I have nothing to do with this soldier. It was his own act—why should I fear anything?”
The soldier began his performance, pointing at the Fifth Prince and cursing. “You scoundrel, do you know why I killed you? My sister—she was only thirteen—you, you…”
His rage mounted; tears spilled from his eyes.
Witnessing this, the Fifth Prince was overcome and spat blood, dying on the spot.
The soldier continued his act—worthy of an Oscar—before taking up the blade and committing suicide.
The Second Prince watched, his earlier satisfaction at vengeance now vanished.
He stammered, “Big Brother, can I surrender?”
The First Prince smiled. “What do you think, Second Brother? They say you’re the cleverest among us—I’m sure you understand.”
No sooner had he spoken than a blade sank into the Second Prince’s body.
The First Prince leaned over him: “The Fifth Prince ambushed the Second Prince and killed him. One of his centurions, whose sister was wronged by the Fifth Prince, avenged her and slew the Fifth Prince. When I arrived, both were already dead.”
No one would know the truth here—the image projected to the Skywatching Terrace would be exactly as he described. It was a precious artifact he’d acquired from outside.
“You… how ruthless…” The Second Prince could not finish his words before he breathed his last.
With the Second and Fifth Princes eliminated, only a few brothers remained. They would be easy to deal with—by tomorrow, he could eliminate them all. The First Prince already tasted the joy of impending victory.
“What about the rest of the First Prince’s men?” a centurion asked.
“I fed them venomous insects to ensure obedience. If any refuse, I'll deal with them.”
Long Yu spent a peaceful night in the forest, but at dawn he received alarming news: both the Second and Fifth Princes were dead.
He was stunned. What had happened? His plan had been to let them fight and then reap the spoils, but now the clam and the fish were gone—there was nothing left for him.
He wondered if, by sleeping another night, the rest of the princes might all be eliminated, leaving only himself and one other. If so, he would lose!
No, he must act quickly—Long Yu was genuinely anxious.
He had barely begun moving when a centurion approached, delivering the same message previously given to the Fifth Prince.
Without hesitation, Long Yu—unaccustomed to the scheming ways of this world—believed the centurion’s sincerity.
Everything went smoothly. In less than an hour, Long Yu encountered another team—the Third Prince’s squad.
He was delighted to have found opponents so quickly.
But the First Prince was even more pleased; his victory was within reach. As soon as Long Yu and the Third Prince’s forces exhausted each other, he would emerge and claim the throne.
The Third Prince’s squad was excited as well to finally meet another group.
Nevertheless, the Third Prince remained cautious, watching Long Yu’s group intently, his thoughts unreadable.
“Fourth Prince, what should we do?” a centurion asked.
What should we do? Attack them head-on.
Long Yu was confident in his own strength—his body had a fitness level of 100, giving him over two thousand pounds of force. He had mastered numerous formidable martial techniques; why fear these people?
It was not just raw strength that increased between levels of ten and twenty; the internal energy—known as “qi” in this world—grew as well.
For example, if an ordinary person’s limit was 150 pounds, someone with a fitness of 20 could reach 400 pounds, and with the proper use of qi, their power would rise dramatically.
“I’ll lead; you follow. Charge straight in and crush them.”
Long Yu shouted to his soldiers.
“Yes, crush them!” they echoed, then paused, suddenly realizing what they’d just said.
Was the Fourth Prince mad? Did he really have the strength for this?
On the Skywatching Terrace, ministers and the old emperor were bewildered.
The Fourth Prince’s strength was laughable—he must be insane.
But then, they froze in astonishment.
In their hearts, they whispered, “Is that really the Fourth Prince? Good heavens, how is he so fierce?”
Long Yu crashed into the crowd like an armored truck, hurling one opponent after another into the air and eliminating them.
His soldiers surged forward, only to find no one left to fight.
The Fourth Prince had swept all obstacles aside; those remaining fled faster than ever.
The Third Prince ran while shouting, “Fourth Brother, stop chasing—I surrender!”
He had no wish to witness such ferocity, let alone be thrown about himself.
Long Yu finally halted, muttering, “You surrender already? I haven’t even shown my true strength yet!”
The Third Prince inwardly retorted, “You haven’t shown your true strength? Careful, your boasting will bring thunder upon you.”
And so, the Third Prince was eliminated in a most dramatic fashion.
The ministers were dumbfounded, remembering their earlier words and feeling the burn of embarrassment.
The First Prince was shocked as well. “What use is my scheming now? Has he taken leave of his senses?”
The old emperor, meanwhile, clapped his hands in delight, as if he foresaw a bright future for the Song Dynasty.