Nie Zeng received an invitation bearing a list of names. He remembered most of them, so he asked the military advisor for leave and went to the banquet.
To the Western Regions, the Central Plains' influence was like a tide that ebbed and flowed with the seasons, leaving traces each time. Among those traces were the military settlements scattered across the eastern kingdoms.
There were no soldiers left in the settlements. They produced farmers and saber-wielders in abundance. Nie Zeng had grown up in one, and everyone who'd invited him to dinner was a fellow countryman. A few had even left home to make their way in the world after he had.
Nie Zeng had once resented them. When the Dragon King and Tie Hanfeng killed his uncle's entire family, no one had stood up to avenge them. No one had even said a word. The boy had traveled a thousand miles to seek help and received very little. At most, his fellow countrymen had told him the killers' names, then warned him, "Let it go. That's how Jade City is. When he was an assassin, he was already someone you couldn't afford to provoke. Now that he's the Dragon King, he's even more untouchable."
Years passed, and Nie Zeng gradually matured. He began to understand the rules of saber-wielders and saw that his countrymen's seemingly cowardly behavior had its reasons. After witnessing countless vendettas, he, too, let go of his hatred.
Only someone like the Dragon King could let hatred harden in his heart forever. He was at odds with Jade City, and could hardly even be called a man of the Western Regions.
Still, Nie Zeng admired the Dragon King. He knew how painful it was to bear hatred, yet the Dragon King had held on all this