Song of Adolescence

Chapter 223 Leaning on the railing to watch the sea

At the same time, standing on top of the highest platform on the boat was Tang Lian all dressed in black. He sat there with a slight frown on his face, his long robes fluttering in the sea wind, as he thought about all that had happened recently.

He had taken Ye Ruoyi back to Tang Clan to seek medical treatment, but Tang Clan suddenly betrayed the alliance with Snow Moon City and even planned to destroy their former allies, Lei Clan Fort. Caught between the Tang Clan and Snow Moon City, he finally chose Snow Moon City because he wanted to save his friends. Now that they’ve fallen out with the Tang Clan, he would never be able to return to the place where he grew up. Was his choice right or wrong?

His younger martial brothers, Xiao Se and Lei Wujie, survived because of his choice.

But his elder, Grandmaster Tang who’d once carried him as a child, died in that battle.

"Shifu, you’ve always said, move with your heart. But how can a person look into his own heart?" Tang Lian muttered to himself. This was a principle that Wine Immortal Baili Dongjun once taught him, but Tang Lian had never really understood the meaning of these four words, even up till now.

What he didn\'t know was that at the same time, right outside the Tang Clan, nearly a thousand armoured cavalry had stirred up a cloud of dust when they marched in, causing the whole land to quake from the vibrations. One disciple after another came reporting from outside. Those people were wearing light armor with twin sabres strapped on their backs. They were clearly the most famous army in all of Beili - the Ye Banner Battalion.

If this was the Tang Clan of before, even if the Ye Banner Battalion had stormed in, they wouldn’t be afraid. They were well-versed in poison and adept at hidden weapons. People who confronted them directly never ended well. But now, Grandmaster Tang was dead. The person who had propped up the entire Tang Clan had fallen, and there was no one who could take his place.

The present three masters of Tang Clan, Tang Huang, Tang Xuan, and Tang Qisha were indecisive. They did not have the determination to fight the Ye Banner Battalion, but they were unwilling to surrender just like that. As for the young man named Tang Ze, he frowned but he was still too young. Although he was able to use his own means to solve the Tang Clan’s crisis at Lei Clan Fort, the Ye Banner Battalion was a completely different situation.

They were not interested in the morality of the martial world and the law of the land and of heaven and earth meant nothing to them. They operated on their own laws and acknowledged only those who were stronger than their blades!

At this time, a person walked out of his small building. That small building was surrounded by layers of chains, and tens of Tang Clan disciples guarded the building day and night. But, that man walked out easily, walked past the disciples who guarded him, and asked a simple question indifferently, "What’s happened?"

"According to the disciples out front, nearly a thousand men from the Ye Banner Battalion are marching towards the Tang Clan!" The disciple reported with his head lowered, not daring to meet the other person\'s eyes.

"Fine," he replied with a simple word, just as mildly as before.

From the beginning, this small building couldn\'t lock him in, and Grandmaster Tang couldn\'t lock him in either. The only reason he didn\'t come out was because he didn’t want to come out. But now, he walked out on his own, because he had to come. He walked forward one step at a time, walked past many apprehensive disciples, past the three masters of Tang Clan who once joined forces to stop him, past Tang Ze, and walked slowly towards the gate.

The three masters of Tang Clan looked on with dark eyes. No matter how much time had passed, whenever this person appeared, they would always feel ashamed of their own inferiority. In the past, they had resented him but in the end, they understood that this was a fact that none of them could change.

Tang Ze\'s eyes, on the other hand, were very bright. This was the first time he saw this person, this legendary person.

The man walked out of the Tang Clan, and all the apprehensive disciples in line gave way to him as the uneasiness in their hearts settled somehow. The man walked down the stairs one step at a time, then he stood there, his long robes fluttering gently in a gust of wind.

The nearly thousand men of the Ye Banner Battalion arrived at this time. Their leader pulled up with his horse and immediately, the nearly thousand armoured cavalry stopped at the same time.

One man stood before a thousand cavalry.

Golden armour and twin sabres on his back, the burly General-in-chief of Beili, Ye Xiaoying, looked at him and muttered, "Plucking water or plucking the moon, half lost in wind and rivers, and half lost in clouds. It\'s been a long time."

The man bowed his head slightly, and greeted back, "It’s been a long time."

Ye Xiaoying sighed. "Your Tang Clan very nearly caused my daughter’s death at Lei Clan Fort. I’m not like those people in Lei Clan Fort, forced to suffer in silence. That is why I’ve marched all the way here and my intention was to destroy the entire Tang Clan. But, I didn’t expect you would step out."

"The Tang Clan… has already paid the price for our mistake," the man said slowly.

"Very good, Tang Clan Tang Lianyue." Ye Xiaoying laughed loudly. "From today onwards, are you the Tang Clan’s Grandmaster Tang?"

Grandmaster Tang was a title. Every generation, the person in charge of the Tang Clan was given this title regardless of how old he was.

Tang Lianyue raised his head and nodded. "Yes."

He was always so mild like a cloud, and gentle like a breeze, so understated.

Ye Xiaoying still shouted loudly, "With a single order, I can make one thousand men of the Ye Banner Battalion march through and level your Tang Clan. Even if you’re Tang Lianyue, how many can you kill? Two hundred? Three hundred?"

"Just one." Tang Lianyue\'s answer was concise.

Ye Xiaoying started. "One?" Naturally, he knew how powerful Tang Lianyue was. The Ye Banner Battalion could intimidate an ordinary martial expert, but facing Tang Lianyue was not going to be easy.

"You," Tang Lianyue said solemnly.

A crisp and tidy sound of blades being drawn sounded instantly, and the one thousand cavalry simultaneously drew their twin sabres from their backs, their blades gleaming in the sun.

Ye Xiaoying laughed and said, "I’d like to try. It\'s been a long time since anyone has dared to speak to me like this."

Tang Lianyue did not answer.

"If you weren’t Tang Lianyue." Ye Xiaoying answered himself, but he’d already turned his horse around. "Actually, I’m also looking forward to seeing a Tang Clan where you are the Grandmaster."

"Ride!" Ye Xiaoying kicked the horse\'s side fiercely, turned left and rode past the Tang Clan.

Tang Lianyue stood in the midst of the dust stirred up by the thousand cavalry without moving a single step. It wasn\'t until they had all left that he slowly turned around and walked back into the Tang Clan.

Wherever he went, each and every disciple knelt and paid their respects.

This was the new Tang Clan Grandmaster Tang, Tang Lianyue.

At this time, Tang Lian, who was thousands of miles away, obviously didn\'t know of this. He merely thought of his master who had been imprisoned within his home. Tang Lianyue didn’t want to go against his own heart, but he didn’t want to betray his family, so he locked himself up. He would rather lose his freedom than go against his heart. But, what was heart?

Tang Lian looked out at the vast expanse of the sea, and some of the questions that he hadn\'t understood before, suddenly felt as if they’d burst wide open. He closed his eyes, listening to the sea breeze, listening to the waves, and smelling the salty air of the sea.

He raised his hand gently.

He exerted his qi heavily.

The Golden Cross seemed to float and sink for a moment.

In the distance, the fluttering of the wings of a seabird slowed down half a flap.

As soon as he raised his hand, a tidal wave rose with it.

Xiao Se and Lei Wujie were standing on the deck and they were both shocked.

Lei Wujie asked in confusion, "What kind of martial arts is this?"

"Internal strength, Encompass Heaven. Fist techniques, Harness the Sea!" Xiao Se looked at Tang Lian standing at the highest platform. “Created by Wine Immortal Baili Dongjun.”