Chapter 8: The Successor

  Gongsun Ce was very tempted to join the Qin camp. Two thousand years ago, the Qin army could sweep across the six states, and two thousand years later today, it should be no problem. Moreover, his parents' families were all in the northwest, which would be the place where the Qin army would come to govern and conquer. Historically, there was no strong political force west of Xianyang, so the northwest region would definitely become part of the Qin territory.

  Dai Ji walked over and said to Gong Sun Ce: "Sister Chengdao in Qin, Qin country can be implemented. Brother's idea of throwing himself into the Qin country is also a good strategy."

  Gongsun Zan obtained the legacy of Lü Bu, and joining a non-Han camp was not greatly restricted. He wouldn't lose his legacy just because he joined the wrong camp; Lü Bu's reputation and character weren't something to be taken lightly. There was another important reason why he decided to join the Qin State camp - that being the twenty-level military merit title system of the Qin State!

  "The First Emperor swept across the six directions, unifying mountains and rivers, driving out the Xiongnu to the north and conquering the Baiyue to the south. Being able to serve the Qin state is indeed a fortunate event for Gongsun Zhi." He had always admired the First Emperor, and his flattery was sincere, with great effect.

  Tun Jiang was delighted to hear that Gongsun Ce was willing to join the Qin army, and said "You are a military family heirloom, I have no power to command. Take this, go find the Xianyang Magistrate, he will arrange your military registration." Tun Jiang pulled out a black wooden waist card and threw it far away to Gongsun Ce.

  Gongsun Ce rubbed his waist token, but couldn't figure it out. He looked at Dai Ji, who nodded slightly to indicate that everything was fine. Then Gongsun Ce asked: "The Xianyang Magistrate? Where is he? How can I find him?"

  "I don't know, the order I received was to clear out the remaining enemies around Xianyang, eliminate the evil spirits, and bring peace back to the great Qin capital. With this token, you can ensure that you won't be harmed by the Qin Wei military within the city. That's all I have to say, take care of yourself!" The commander said, then turned around and left with his troops. It seemed like he didn't have any intention of eliminating the imperial army in the school, which made the middle officer who had overheard their conversation let out a sigh of relief.

  "Don't ask me too many whys, I'm still me, Gong Sun Ce." Xue Ling wanted to speak but stopped herself. At this time, Gong Sun Ce didn't have the heart to explain too much either, and there were other people around, he didn't want to say anything. He took six women out of the school gate and started wandering on the streets. Those four disabled soldiers hastily reported the shocking news of Qin's restoration to their superiors.

  Along the way, they encountered wave after wave of Qin troops, each with a scale of about 100 people. They all ignored Gong Sun Ce, who was holding his waist card. Some even pointed out to Gong Sun Ce where the commander of Xianyang was, and Gong Sun Ce naturally thanked them before parting ways.

  It's not just Xianyang, but also the several major historical capitals within the Divine State, where a large number of military spirits appear. First is Yanjing, where the imperial court is located, with military spirits from the Warring States period of the State of Yan, as well as those from the Ming and Yuan dynasties, and even warlords who once occupied this place have military spirits appearing. They slaughter the current imperial army in Yanjing, and also exterminate various evil spirits. When military spirits of different factions encounter each other, they draw their swords and engage in fierce battles.

  The ancient capital of Chang'an, closest to Xianyang, the Han army and the Sui and Tang armies, as well as various rebel forces, had defeated the imperial court's army and begun to fight each other, killing each other in a chaotic mess. Not far away, Luoyang was also like this, with the Jin army of the Sima family, the Zhou army of Wu Zetian, and the Han army of the Warring States period, various rebel forces fighting fiercely.

  Throughout the entire continent of Shen Zhou, all historical figures were possessed by various military souls on this night. The civilians suffered minimal losses due to the military souls purging the evil spirits. Other places were thrown into chaos and darkness because the awakened military souls were scarce. Even Gong Sun Ce's father, Gong Sun Li, was harassed by a yin spirit, but he beheaded it with his ancestral knife, the Yan Ling Dao.

  The red sun on the horizon exposed half of its head, and Xianyang, this ancient capital, also quieted down. Completely controlled by the Qin army, the imperial court here either died in battle or surrendered as a whole, becoming prisoners of the Qin army. The city also began to quiet down, and residents started to withdraw from this city that might collapse at any time under the command of the Qin army, carrying various supplies. Gong Sun Ce also found Li Si, the governor of Xianyang.

  Li Si was very busy at this time, and first arranged for Gongsun Zhan to wait aside. One after another, the messengers rode on their worn-out war horses, bringing one new situation after another. Li Si made arrangements continuously, and the messengers drove their horses forward to pass on the orders. Gongsun Zhan arrived first, followed by other arrivals who were also inheritors joining the Qin camp.

  They only chatted with a few people who were accompanied by their families, such as a junior lieutenant still in uniform, whose family member was a nurse from the military region. The nurse might have been frightened badly, her eyes dull and unresponsive, no matter how the lieutenant comforted her, it had no effect.

  "A woman's problem is best left to women to handle. My name is Gongsun Ce." He saw that the junior officer was tall and sturdy, about 185 cm, much more muscular than himself. His military uniform was tattered and worn out, with many cuts from cold weapons. Gongsun Ce estimated that the junior officer had fought against the Qin army before, possibly because of the nurse he had joined the Qin camp. The nurse's fright could only mean that their unit had been almost annihilated by the Qin army.

  "I am the successor of Xiahou Lan, my name is Liu Wei." The lieutenant saw Gong Sun Ce approaching, with several women surrounding the nurse, the resistance on the nurse's face disappeared, and she began to calm down. The lieutenant let out a sigh of relief and suddenly felt a good impression of Gong Sun Ce. He walked aside with Gong Sun Ce and spoke directly about his own succession.

  "I obtained the legacy of Lü Bu, and since I have friends who need protection, I had no choice but to join the Qin army." Gong Sun Ce guessed that Liu Wei was roughly the same, speaking straightforwardly yet with a hint of misdirection. On the surface, he indeed had no choice but to join the Qin army, but in his heart, he did not resist.

  Liu Wei's unit may have suffered heavy casualties, to the point where even the nurse was frightened out of her wits. Liu Wei only reluctantly joined the Qin army for the sake of that nurse. In essence, Liu Wei was unwilling to join the Qin army. Of course, all this is based on Gong Sun Ce's own speculation.

  "My god! Brother, have a smoke." Liu Wei took out a cigarette and listened to Gongsun Zhan's inheritance was Lü Bu, he was stunned for a moment, quickly recovered, and handed one to Gongsun Zhan. Gongsun Zhan took the cigarette, when Liu Wei lit it for him, he couldn't help but sigh: "Brother didn't expect to get Wenhou's inheritance, unlike me, who only got Xiaohou Lan's inheritance."

  "You're wrong, my starting point may be a bit higher, but essentially we are the same." Gong Sun Ce looked up at the pale white sky and said with a puff of smoke: "What we get is inheritance, not the full strength of those martial generals. The initial inheritance is all basic experience, which doesn't have high or low distinction. Moreover, Xia Hou Lan's foundation is not bad, the foundation is similar to Zhao Yun, after all they are taught by the same teacher."

  Liu Wei thought for a moment, and it seemed to be the case: "Xia Houlan and Zhao Yun are master brothers, their foundation is the same. Later, due to talent and other reasons, they thoroughly opened up the distance." He also analyzed, suddenly saying: "No, talent! My talent is good, what I should have obtained is Zhao Yun, not Xia Houlan!" He was very disappointed, how could he not know the importance of talent as an adult.

  Looking at Liu Wei's downcast appearance, Gong Sun Ce felt that in the future, when mixing in the Qin array camp, it would still be necessary to have some friends. Although his consciousness had conjured up Zhao Yun, he did not choose to inherit Zhao Yun's legacy. Although Zhao Yun and two other generals were condensed into pearls embedded on his back, he knew this was just a qualification for him to use their avatars. The legacies of Zhao Yun and the others would still be inherited by someone else.

  To encourage the person he was looking at, Gong Sun Ce continued to comfort him: "Every inheritance is unique, you may not be inferior in talent, but just a step late. Besides, this kind of inheritance can't be snatched away!" He didn't mention that inheriting required testing one's character, otherwise it would dampen Liu Wei's morale.

  "A step too late? This is also fate!" Liu Wei said viciously, if it wasn't for the emergency assembly at night to conduct training, he might have fallen asleep early and received the legacy of his idol Zhao Yun! He believed what Gong Sun Ce said, this was an explanation that he could accept and was willing to believe. His heart was filled with hatred towards his original leader, but he also knew that this was a common practice in the army, so he couldn't blame them, and the hatred in his heart dissipated, along with his expression becoming more calm.

  "Our inheritance all originated from the Three Kingdoms, I hope we can help each other in the future. As for the future world, who knows what it will be like, having a few reliable brothers is very important." Gong Sun Ce was very direct, because at this critical juncture of life and death, beating around the bush would not be beautiful.

  "Alright! I, Liu Wei, will follow you, as long as Sweet is safe. I'm willing to go through thick and thin with you!" Liu Wei saw that Gong Sun Ce was still protecting the women at this critical moment, and he spoke directly, so he thought Gong Sun Ce was reliable. Actually, there was another reason, and he said it out loud: "In the future, help me obtain Zhao Yun's legacy, just these two requests. As long as I complete them, I, Liu Wei, will serve you like Zhao Yun served Liu Bei!"

  "Count me in, I'm the descendant of Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms. I was the unlucky devil who got killed by Guan Er after exchanging dozens of blows with him at Beihai." A tall and muscular man, about 1.9 meters high, slightly taller than Gong Sun Ce, appeared not far away, holding a large knife similar to a crescent moon knife, his head higher than that person's.

  "Welcome, I'm Gong Sun Ce, inheritor of Lü Bu's legacy. This is Liu Wei, inheritor of Xia Hou Lan's and Zhao Yun's legacies, not much different from each other." Someone joined in, which was naturally a good thing, Gong Sun Ce had a very good attitude. For some reason, since he obtained Lü Bu's inheritance, his eyes started to become more critical, finding fault with many people.

  "From now on, just call me Guan Hai. In the past, I was a underground boxer, nothing good to introduce." He called himself Guan Hai, and Gong Sun Ce took him as Guan Hai.

  "This is a huge change, it can be said that the sky and earth are turned upside down! It's exactly the best opportunity for us ordinary people to climb up...". The three of them started discussing their own views, they were not afraid because they had this capital.

  There are always successors coming, many of whom are said to be generals from a certain dynasty or generation. Even in existing historical records, their presence cannot be found. However, there are some commonalities among these successors: although they come from diverse backgrounds, their physical quality and courage are all exceptional. Another commonality is that the objects of their succession are not dead loyalists!

  When the sun had fully risen, Li Si gazed at it for a while. The warm sunlight thawed his icy body, and the faint swelling on his face began to dissipate under the sun's rays, restoring his complexion to normal, albeit pale, but with a solemn and majestic air.