In Du Chengfeng's eyes, Yang Sanlang was probably like Qin Wuyang.
That Qin Wuyang, who was alongside Jing Ke in the story of Jing Ke's assassination of Qin, was said to have killed someone at the age of ten and was quite famous locally—this point was quite similar to Yang Sanlang, who also dared to kill, was brave and ruthless, and gained considerable fame around Yang's fortress.
Once upon a time, when he first arrived at Yang's fortress, he revered such figures as a refugee; most of the time, he couldn't even see "a local hero" like Yang Sanlang, except when the barbarian Hu attacked, and he was pulled out as a strong laborer, only then could he see Yang Sanlang amongst the crowd, witnessing his heroic stance leading the troop.
Yet within just one night, Du Chengfeng had already realized that the so-called "local hero" was ultimately just a mortal.
Compared to the great reputation, the real Yang Sanlang was far less heroic; this person would lose reason out of anger, panic out of fear, and when facing death, even this ruthless man would lie paralyzed, losing control of his bowels.
So-called heroes are ultimately like this.
In the past, Du Chengfeng might have cared about Yang Sanlang, but now, his opponent was He Xiqing from the north desert, a human-like monster who could kill a giant bear at a young age.
"Don't block the way."
Reaching out to grab Yang Sanlang's shoulder, Du Chengfeng lifted his hand and tossed him to the roadside, then parked the cart at the door and began to unload.
As for Yang Sanlang's demands, he ignored them; once the sword was in his hand, it was his. This sword was his strongest combat asset now, also his trump card against He Xiqing, and part of the compensation from the Yang family for the previous feud.
Moreover, since the Yang family had no issues with this matter, what did Yang Sanlang count as?
However, as Du Chengfeng was unloading some bedding and started to carry them inside the house, something at his feet made him frown.
It was that heavy great saber.
"Huh?"
Du Chengfeng only then realized, that Yang Sanlang wasn't here to kowtow from the start but was clearly here to steal the saber. However, this great saber, having cut down over two hundred Hu people before, had an even more ferocious aura than before, so Yang Sanlang couldn't even pick it up, perhaps paralyzing upon first touch.
Therefore, seeing his theft fail, Yang Sanlang simply knelt down and resorted to begging.
"This..."
Du Chengfeng was speechless for a long time.
He's seen shameless people before, but never this shameless; for someone to stoop so low, Du Chengfeng could only say that he hadn't seen anything so outrageous in both of his lives.
"You really are seeking death..."
Grabbing the great saber, Du Chengfeng rushed out.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll oblige you!"
"Come! Kill me!"
Watching Du Chengfeng coming closer, Yang Sanlang wasn't scared but rejoiced instead.
"Kill me! Since I can't reclaim the ancestral sword, I accept dying at your hand!"
"Fine! You brought this upon yourself!"
Speaking, Du Chengfeng had already raised the great saber high.
But at this moment, Du Chengfeng suddenly smelled something.
Looking down, Du Chengfeng's face instantly darkened. He saw that although Yang Sanlang spoke bravely, he was curled up on the ground, and the hem of his clothes was already wet with a pale yellow liquid, even emitting a distinct smell of a latrine.
This time, not only did he hesitate, but even the saber in his hand seemed somewhat unwilling to strike.
Primarily because it was dirty.
Grabbing Yang Sanlang's shoulder, Du Chengfeng tossed him into the darkness beyond, then fetched a shovel from the cart and dug up the ground where Yang Sanlang had been sitting, and took out a few bottles of cheap alcohol from the cart, pouring them on the ground until the entrance to the courtyard smelled only of alcohol before he felt relieved.
But it wasn't over yet, returning to the courtyard, Du Chengfeng found that Unlucky Curved Saber, threw it out over the wall.
Feeling a long-lost peace within him, Du Chengfeng finally confirmed that there were no problems anymore.
No wonder whatever he did today went wrong and he met no good; looks like some deadly weapon is indeed best not kept—although theoretically, he still believed in science, but the reality of weapons infused with deadly aura laid before him, and these manifest facts seemed more scientific.
So the fact that blood was appearing all over his body must also be part of science.
"Are you starting too?"
Recalling the story of the kitchen knife told by Carpenter Li earlier, Du Chengfeng directly opened his shirt.
Indeed, amidst those many short knives, a blood-stained kitchen knife was gushing blood, like a fountain.
"Behave."
Looking up at the moonlight, Du Chengfeng decided to take the knife from his chest and polish it while he was still awake.
However, what Du Chengfeng did not expect was, even though the knife was in his hand, the bloody hallucination had yet to stop.
In just a moment, Du Chengfeng's right side was entirely soaked with blood stains, sticky, even dripping all the way down, dyeing his clothes red.
"Hmm? You're pushing your luck?"
Seeing the blood hallucination persist, Du Chengfeng simply took up the heavy great saber beside him.
In an instant, all the blood stains vanished.
Only the old kitchen knife lay in Du Chengfeng's hand, seemingly trembling.
"Should've done this earlier."
Seeing the hallucination disappear, Du Chengfeng no longer intended to strike the kitchen knife.
Having retrieved the grinding stone, Du Chengfeng sat on the stool made by Carpenter Li, soaked the stone in well water, and picked up the kitchen knife, began sharpening it under the moonlight.
Every inch of rust is a mark left by time, every spot of blood a tale of the knife's past.
And as Du Chengfeng painstakingly sharpened the knife, he gradually perceived the knife's past experiences.
He saw blood, a lot of it.
Though in his perception, the kitchen knife's aura seemed slight, yet upon deeper grinding, the pungent blood smell was profoundly thick, which made even Du Chengfeng who had personally killed over two hundred people frown.
Fortunately, as Du Chengfeng continued grinding, he finally sensed the memory beneath the thick blood scab.
Unexpectedly to Du Chengfeng, the knife's original owner was a woman.
And she was a beautiful woman.