When Chen Sheng returned to his tent, Wang Yi had already been waiting for more than fifteen minutes. Seeing Chen Sheng enter, he suppressed his roiling emotions, stood up, and bowed.
"Vice Commander Chen, congratulations on your promotion." His voice was hoarse, betraying little genuine sentiment.
"Did you seek me out just to say that?"
Chen Sheng shot him a glance and casually sat down on a stool.
Seeing this display, the jealousy and hatred in Wang Yi's heart intensified, but he had no choice but to force a smile.
"Chen Sheng, I've treated you well all this time, haven't I? You refused to lend me silver, and I don't blame you for it. But why did you have to snatch this Vice Commander position from me? Don't you feel… even the slightest bit of guilt?"
Chen Sheng stared at him and scoffed.
"Treated me well? If I hadn't saved you on the battlefield, you'd be a wandering ghost by now. As for the silver, lending it is a kindness, not lending it is my right. Why should I feel guilty?"
"You…!"
Wang Yi's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected the usually reserved Chen Sheng to be so sharp-tongued. He dropped the pretense entirely and lowered his voice.
"Fine, let's speak plainly! I'm here to borrow some silver to tide me over. I know you're flush with cash—how else could you have bribed Commander Wu? Help me this one time, and I'll owe you a favor!"
"And if I refuse?" Chen Sheng's tone was placid.
A vicious glint flashed in Wang Yi's eyes.
"Do you think I'm asking you? I saw you meeting with the Quartermaster in private with my own two eyes! You haven't bought a single portion of Blood Qi Powder in months, yet you managed to achieve Acupoint Opening and Foundation Establishment in such a short time. You must have secretly purchased Blood Qi Pills!
"Those are Cultivation Resources allocated to commanders; purchasing them privately is a violation of military law! You wouldn't want me to report this to the Captain, would you?"
Wang Yi then took a step forward, his voice laced with malice. "One hundred taels! Just give me one hundred taels, and I'll take this secret to my grave. Otherwise, if I get transferred to the border, I'll make sure you don't have it easy either!"
Chen Sheng remained perfectly calm, showing no signs of panic.
"Privately purchasing Blood Qi Pills would, at most, get me a reprimand. If you want to make threats, you should be looking for that Quartermaster. Have you got the wrong man?"
"Chen Sheng! Don't force my hand!"
Wang Yi snarled, "At a critical time like this, if you're caught violating military law, you'll be skinned alive even if you aren't killed! You might even get transferred to the border! Why risk it? You don't need that one hundred taels, so why insist on a mutually destructive fight? If you don't give it to me, I'll blow this whole thing wide open, and neither of us will walk away unscathed!"
Looking at Wang Yi's contorted face, Chen Sheng suddenly laughed.
"You're wrong about one thing. The fish will die, but the net will not break."
"And another thing… The only people in this world who can keep a secret forever… are the dead."
"You… you'd kill me?"
Wang Yi was startled at first, then forced himself to remain calm. "Kill someone inside the camp, and you won't escape death either! Besides, with your meager strength, do you really think you could kill me?"
He didn't believe Chen Sheng would dare to make a move in the camp, much less that he had the ability to succeed.
"When did I say I would do it myself?" Chen Sheng scoffed, then suddenly raised his voice and called out toward the tent flap.
"Zhou, did you hear all that? Tell me, should we let this man live to become a future problem, or should we deal with him once and for all?"
The color drained from Wang Yi's face. He whipped his head around to look outside.
The next moment, the tent flap was thrown open, and several figures filed in. The man in the lead was portly and clad in light armor. His narrow, sinister eyes fixed on Wang Yi as he sneered.
"What a venomous little bastard! Vice Commander Chen, I owe you one for this."
When Chen Sheng had approached him yesterday, he had been skeptical. His illicit selling of military supplies was an open secret, but no one had ever dared expose it. He hadn't imagined this Wang Yi would actually be foolish enough to try and blow the whole affair wide open!
"You… you set me up!"
Aghast, Wang Yi frantically tried to explain himself to Zhou. "Zhou! Zhou! I had no such intention! I was just trying to scare Chen Sheng, I…"
Zhou couldn't be bothered to listen to his excuses. With a sharp look, several Mingxi Realm Martial Masters at his side immediately swarmed forward. Though Wang Yi resisted fiercely, he was no match for so many, and he was quickly overpowered and restrained.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zhou drew a short blade from his waist and plunged it into Wang Yi's neck.
"GURK…"
Wang Yi was thrown to the ground, blood gushing from his neck. His eyes stared intently at the figure that was growing increasingly blurry, and in his daze, he thought he saw the hint of a cold smile touch Chen Sheng's lips.
In that moment, he desperately wanted to know how Chen Sheng had known he was going to threaten him. But as his consciousness faded, the thought dissolved into nothing.
"Lord Zhou is truly decisive," Chen Sheng commented, his voice calm.
The men Zhou had brought with him quickly began to stage the scene. The commotion had been loud, so they had to be thorough. Murdering a Centurion was a capital offense, but they had already prepared for this—several items from the military stores were swiftly planted under Wang Yi's bedding.
Now, the official story would be that Wang Yi had been caught stealing military supplies, had put up a desperate resistance, and was executed on the spot.
"Vice Commander Chen, I took care of this little problem for you. How do you plan on thanking me?"
Zhou sat down with an imposing air, his eyes narrowed as he sized up the new Vice Commander. His tone held a mix of appraisal and recruitment.
When they had first met yesterday, he had sensed that this man was no simple character. He was patient, but more importantly, skilled at using others to do his dirty work—prime material for surviving in the military and the court.
"You're mistaken, my lord," Chen Sheng said, shaking his head.
"It wasn't you who solved my problem. It was I who eliminated a hidden threat for you."
"Hahaha! Good lad, you're a real piece of work!"
Instead of getting angry, Zhou laughed. He casually tossed Chen Sheng the coin purse he had just taken from Wang Yi's body. "Are you interested in coming to work for me?"
Chen Sheng caught the purse, took the silver taels from within, and tucked them into his own robes. He then stuffed the empty purse back inside Wang Yi's clothes before calmly declining, "I only wish to be transferred back to the Prefecture City and live a peaceful life. I have no military ambitions for now."
"So be it. If you change your mind in the future, you know where to find me."
Zhou sounded somewhat regretful, but he didn't press the matter.
Once the scene was arranged to his satisfaction, he ordered his men to carry out Wang Yi's body and strode out of the tent.
Chen Sheng followed close behind. A crowd of soldiers, drawn by the noise, had already gathered outside the tent. His expression darkened as he announced in a booming voice:
"Centurion Wang Yi of the Sixth Squad was brazen and his crimes unforgivable! He dared to steal Cultivation Resources from the military stores and, upon being discovered, had the audacity to resist with a weapon! He has been executed for his crimes!"
His gaze swept over the crowd, and his tone turned sharp.
"Let this be a warning to you all! Abide by military law! Any who dare to break the rules will meet the same fate!"
"Yes, sir…"
The crowd responded in grim unison. Only after Chen Sheng and Lord Zhou's party had left did they dare to surge into the tent. They were greeted by a scene of utter chaos, the blood still wet on the ground. A murmur of shocked whispers rippled through the crowd as they took in the sight, their hearts filled with dread.
As for those who had lent silver to Wang Yi, they stared at the scene and then at each other in dismay, their faces turning pale—their silver was gone for good.
As for Chen Sheng, after seeing off Lord Zhou's party and admonishing his soldiers, he returned to the training grounds and resumed his practice, as if everything that had just occurred were but a minor interlude.
To Chen Sheng, Wang Yi's death was a minor episode, but to the soldiers of the Fourth Company, it was a major shock. Soon, one person told ten, and ten told a hundred.
And so, the news spread.
However, Commander Wu didn't seem to be in the camp, so no one came to trouble him.