# Chapter 324: The Heavens Are Heartless
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The news that Qiong Biluo had challenged the one-armed Wen Aoxue and the others had already spread throughout the academy.
Many people were discussing this matter, and Lin Feng was naturally among those being talked about. However, at this moment, he was simply lying quietly on a stone chair in the courtyard. Beside him, Meng Qing still wore that indifferent expression, her gaze fixed ahead, lost in thought.
At the same time, Lan Jiao, Jing Yun, and Yi Xue were also in the courtyard. Lan Jiao was instructing the two girls on some cultivation matters, occasionally shooting a glare at Lin Feng. The three of them seemed to be getting along quite harmoniously.
Just then, a knocking sound came from outside the stone gate.
"Come in," Lin Feng said.
The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a figure wearing a bamboo hat.
The figure lifted its lowered head slightly, looking at Lin Feng. A bronze mask came into Lin Feng's view, and beneath the mask, a pair of eyes gleamed with sharp light.
"Brother Feng!" the figure called out.
Lin Feng's eyes trembled, and he immediately stood up.
"Po Jun!"
"Brother Feng, it's me." Po Jun stepped into the courtyard, and the stone gate slowly closed behind him.
"Po Jun, when did you arrive in the Imperial City?" Lin Feng's gaze congealed as he walked over to Po Jun. On that day when the Snow Moon Kingdom underwent its great upheaval, Liu Canglan had left the elite troops to Lin Feng, but Liu Canglan had taken Han Man and Po Jun with him.
Po Jun should have been at Broken Blade City, yet now he appeared before him.
"Brother Feng, we arrived in the Imperial City three days ago, but the Heavenly One Academy doesn't allow outsiders to enter. I tried many ways over the past two days and only managed to sneak into the academy today to come here."
"We?" Lin Feng said in a low voice. "Who else has come to the Imperial City?"
"Han Man and the General have also come. Brother Feng, the General wants to see you." Po Jun spoke solemnly, causing Lin Feng's eyes to flicker. Liu Canglan had traveled a thousand miles from Broken Blade City to the Imperial City just to see him. This matter was clearly extraordinary; otherwise, Liu Canglan wouldn't have risked danger to personally set foot in the Imperial City.
Lin Feng naturally understood that the Imperial City was a dangerous place for Liu Canglan, filled with peril.
"Let's go." Lin Feng didn't say another word, speaking indifferently.
"Alright." Po Jun nodded, then turned and stepped out, swift and decisive.
The four women in the courtyard were momentarily stunned, while Meng Qing quietly stood up and followed behind Lin Feng.
"Meng Qing, stay here. If nothing happens, I'll be back soon." Lin Feng turned and said to Meng Qing.
Meng Qing's eyes flickered for a moment, then she nodded.
Only then did Lin Feng and Po Jun step out of the stone gate together. Lin Feng's strength was now continuously approaching Meng Qing's. If there was truly great danger that he couldn't handle, Meng Qing going along might also put her in danger.
Po Jun directly led Lin Feng to a tavern. The tavern's furnishings were simple, but it was very quiet, with only a few tables of customers.
At the middle table, two figures wearing bamboo hats sat quietly. Seeing the figure entering the tavern, they lifted their heads.
"Brother Feng!" Han Man stood up and called out to Lin Feng.
"Han Man." Lin Feng glanced at Han Man, then his gaze fell on that clean face. Liu Canglan looked even more haggard than before.
"Uncle Liu!" Lin Feng called out.
Liu Canglan nodded slightly and said to Lin Feng, "Xiao Feng, come sit down."
Lin Feng nodded slightly, walked over to sit opposite Liu Canglan, and asked, "Uncle Liu, why have you come to the Imperial City?"
"To chat with you," Liu Canglan said softly. "Xiao Feng, how are Qing Kuang and the others?"
"Uncles are all well. They're all in Yangzhou City now."
"That's good. It's a pity that Crimson Blood is no longer with us." Liu Canglan sighed. "Perhaps I should go and accompany Crimson Blood as well."
"Uncle Liu, you..." Lin Feng revealed a bitter smile, not knowing what to say. It seemed that the last incident had dealt too great a blow to Liu Canglan. Although he wore a bamboo hat, his silver hair still hung down from his temples. Liu Canglan now looked far older than before.
But anyone who had experienced such an event wouldn't have fared better than Liu Canglan. His brothers had died for him, and he himself had been crippled of his cultivation.
And all of this was on trumped-up charges. He had devoted his entire life to the Snow Moon Kingdom, yet the Snow Moon Kingdom had treated him like this.
"Xiao Feng, the Crown Prince of the Moyue Kingdom, Mo Jie, broke through to the Mysterious Martial Realm after that battle. Now, it's said he has already reached the Second Layer of the Mysterious Martial Realm, or even higher. Not long ago, the Moyue Kingdom once again sent troops to Broken Blade City. At the same time, on the Broken Blade City side, there are only old, weak, and wounded soldiers, plus a ruined city that hasn't been fully repaired after being burned, and a waste like me. As long as Mo Jie is willing, he can easily break through the Heavenly Blade Horizon."
Hearing this, Lin Feng's gaze congealed. Mo Jie was attacking Broken Blade City again?
"Isn't the Snow Moon Kingdom sending reinforcements?"
Liu Canglan shook his head. "After that incident, although the Snow Moon Kingdom enfeoffed me as a noble, they rejected my requests for reinforcements several times. They even refused to repair Broken Blade City. In other words, the Snow Moon Kingdom had long abandoned Broken Blade City and the millions of miles of plains behind it. They abandoned both the city and the people. As long as the Moyue Kingdom comes, they can march straight in and slaughter wantonly."
Lin Feng's eyes trembled. Rejecting requests for reinforcements, refusing to repair Broken Blade City—the Snow Moon Kingdom had abandoned Broken Blade City, delivering it into the tiger's mouth of the Moyue Kingdom.
"However, I'm not too worried about the people of Snow Moon. Mo Jie has issued a strict order on the other side of the Broken Blade Horizon: after the Moyue army crosses the Broken Blade Horizon, they are not to burn any cities or slaughter any civilians."
Liu Canglan's words made Lin Feng's heart stir once again. Mo Jie had actually ordered that they not breach the city or disturb the people.
All of this seemed somewhat ironic.
"Xiao Feng, I'm sure you've also noticed the irony in this. The people of Snow Moon—the Snow Moon royal family doesn't care about them, sending them to be slaughtered. But the Moyue Kingdom, known as barbarians, has ordered no slaughtering of cities or killing of people. It's simply laughable." Liu Canglan laughed self-deprecatingly, then raised the wine glass on the table, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.
"Cough, cough!"
He coughed a few times, his body heaving, seeming somewhat weak. Seeing Lin Feng wanting to approach, Liu Canglan waved his hand to stop him.
"Come, Xiao Feng, drink. I came to the Imperial City today for nothing else. I simply wanted to chat with you a bit and have a few drinks."
Liu Canglan's voice carried a hint of desolation. In that battle long ago, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been buried in foreign lands. The remaining elite troops had followed Lin Feng to Yangzhou City. Now, the only one truly still by Liu Canglan's side was his daughter, Liu Fei.
But there were some things Liu Canglan was unwilling to tell Liu Fei. He didn't even have anyone to talk to.
That proud general who once soared to the nine heavens had now been ground down by the cruel and heartless reality until he had no edge left, only endless sorrow and desolation.
"Drink." Lin Feng also raised his glass and downed it in one gulp, then refilled Liu Canglan's glass. He didn't know how to console Liu Canglan, nor was there anything he could say to console him.
As cup after cup of strong liquor went down, Liu Canglan's face grew increasingly pale, but he showed no sign of stopping, still pouring cup after cup into his mouth.
"Xiao Feng, if one day I'm no longer here, remember to take good care of Fei Fei for me. She grew up without a mother, raised by me. She hasn't received much care, and her temper isn't very good. I hope you can be tolerant of her."
Although he had drunk a lot of strong liquor, Liu Canglan was still clear-headed. He raised his head and instructed Lin Feng.
"Uncle Liu, why don't you stay in the Imperial City and not go back?"
Liu Canglan shook his head, a meaningful smile appearing in his eyes. "There are some things that must be done. And Uncle Liu wants to do something for you before he leaves."
"Do something for me?" Lin Feng didn't understand what Liu Canglan meant.
"You'll understand one day. The reason I came this time is just to tell you one sentence." Liu Canglan paused here, then stared intently into Lin Feng's eyes and slowly said, "The heavens are heartless, treating all creation as straw dogs."
"The heavens are heartless, treating all creation as straw dogs!"
Lin Feng's heart trembled violently. He had naturally heard this saying before, but he never expected it to come from Liu Canglan's mouth.
For this righteous general to utter such words—how shocking it was!