Chapter Forty: A Burial and Return to the Three Kingdoms

"What do you mean by that?" Hearing Su Tong's words, Wei Yan was both shocked and furious. His eyes shone like bright stars, his face was red as a date, and he immediately prepared to charge forward and kill.

Su Tong's legs trembled uncontrollably. This was a formidable general from the most tumultuous era in the history of the Great Qin Empire—the Three Kingdoms. He had stepped onto the battlefield and slain countless enemy officers and soldiers.

When a scholar meets a soldier, reason cannot prevail. It's not just that military men are rough and straightforward; their overwhelming killing aura also disrupts a scholar's thoughts and peace of mind, making it hard for them to express profound truths.

"A day in the mountain is a thousand years in the world below. Now, it has been two thousand years since the Three Kingdoms. All history has turned to dust, and nothing remains," Su Tong said with trembling voice before Wei Yan could attack, struggling to suppress his fear.

To face brute force head-on was certain death, but the system would not set him up in a hopeless situation; there had to be a sliver of hope.

This Wei Yan's greatest obsession was returning to the Three Kingdoms, killing that scoundrel Yang Yi, and truly defecting from Shu.

Though he himself barely possessed the physique of a national-level athlete, in front of Wei Yan, he was still a frail scholar with no strength to bind a chicken. The difference was too great; there was no way to fight by force.

Thus, intellect was his only option.

Sure enough, upon hearing Su Tong's words, Wei Yan halted mid-stride, his face filled with disbelief.

He had lived and died for the Three Kingdoms.

Wei Yan only wished to return—he did not want to leap into the future, nor wander through any other era or place.

"Is this true?" Wei Yan opened his mouth, and after a long pause, managed to utter these few words.

Su Tong's heart settled. He had gambled right—every hero harbors dreams of heroism. Who does not yearn for the Three Kingdoms?

That was an era of heroes, its glory as brilliant and everlasting as the Milky Way.

"Our ancestors are long gone, resting beneath a mound of yellow earth. All we, the later generations, can do is admire and mourn. Alas, the rolling Yangtze flows east, washing away all the heroes. Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing in the end..." Su Tong sighed deeply from the heart—a scholar's ambition also yearns for the tombs of heroes.

With a dull thud, Wei Yan collapsed to the ground, as if he had suddenly aged decades. He murmured, "The rolling Yangtze flows east, washing away all the heroes... A jug of cloudy wine and a happy meeting—how many stories of old and new are all but idle talk."

A wave of sorrow rose in Su Tong's heart, as if he were witnessing a hero fading into old age and quietly withdrawing from the stage of history—a stage that once belonged to that very hero.

No matter how unwilling, even a hero cannot resist the erosion and cruelty of time.

Abruptly, Wei Yan broke down and wept, his sorrow overwhelming. The pain of loss is the deepest wound in this world. No matter how glorious or mighty, all heroes eventually pass away with the years.

Time does not age, but heaven and earth are merciless.

After a long time.

"Tell me everything. I am all ears." Wei Yan sat on the ground, hunching his body. He was truly old now, his spirit broken, the fire of life fading.

Su Tong felt a pang of sympathy, but still sat down cross-legged.

"With no great general in Shu, Liao Hua became the vanguard. Not long after your death, Yang Yi was demoted to commoner and hanged himself at home. Jiang Wei then stepped onto the stage of history, but his nine Northern Expeditions ended in failure. In 263 AD, twenty-nine years after you and the strategist died, Shu fell. Ten years later, so did Wu..." Su Tong recounted the history in a low voice, sharing only what he liked. He held no particular bias toward any of the Three Kingdoms; Shu, Wei, and Wu all had figures he admired.

Fortunately, he had merged with the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms. The system was not without purpose, nor was it designed to kill him outright.

Every mission left a glimmer of hope.

Wei Yan had hung his head in silence, but when he heard about the fall of Shu, his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

That was the nation to which he had devoted his life, and now it was gone.

"The waves wash away all the heroes... what joy is left in life? Better to return with my comrades." Wei Yan slowly raised his head, gazing into the darkness. There, it seemed, was the golden age of the Three Kingdoms—heroes rising one after another, all in their prime.

Alas, that golden age birthed too many heroes, too many dazzling lights. Though Wei Yan was not counted among the very greatest, he was at least near their level, not far below those ten mighty generals.

But to stand at the very forefront of that brilliant stage required not only martial prowess, but also luck. Wei Yan was destined to be buried, only rising to power in the late Three Kingdoms, dominating what remained.

By then, the once-resplendent heroes had all taken their final bows—many slain in battle, others fading into twilight.

Wave upon wave of soul energy drifted from Wei Yan, automatically pouring into Su Tong's spirit, which grew rapidly in strength.

Yet Su Tong felt no joy, only a heavy sorrow.

Wei Yan's life story, and the glorious scenes of the Three Kingdoms, imprinted themselves one by one in his mind.

Armored horses, thunderous war drums, and heroes appearing before him, only to fade away.

After the blood boiled, what remained was mostly a sense of reluctant farewell.

"My heart belongs to the Three Kingdoms, to live and die with Shu. Prime Minister, forgive me, I am ashamed... Heroes all, I come to join you." At last, Wei Yan's entire form dissolved into countless points of light, vanishing along the Road of White Bones.

Strictly speaking, he merged into Su Tong's soul.

Now, only Su Tong remained, standing alone on the Road of White Bones.

Wei Yan faded away on his own, his once-overbearing resentment and killing intent gone, leaving Su Tong calm. Otherwise, he would have been writhing in agony.

"Side quest completed. Strength +10. Agility +10. Intelligence +10. Endurance +10." At this moment, the cold, mechanical voice of the goddess sounded again.

Then, a beam of white light rose from Su Tong's soul.

At the same time, all the resentment in Wei Yan's soul faded away, and nearly all negative effects vanished.

"You were merely proud and dissatisfied, brooding over not having displayed your skills at the height of the Three Kingdoms. You were not truly rebellious. Later generations misunderstood you." With Wei Yan's memories, Su Tong sighed.

During the middle period of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang never fully employed Wei Yan. Only in the later years did he have no choice, and this was the main reason why Wei Yan could not become one of the leading figures of the golden era.

Wei Yan's combat ability was not inferior—he was conservatively at the threshold of the top tier.

"Now, the power I gained should be enough to qualify me as a real strongman." Su Tong muttered softly, clenching his fists. Because of Wei Yan's lingering regrets, he did not feel overly joyful.

In fact, gaining power was not his greatest reward.

His true gain was acquiring Wei Yan's martial prowess.

Brute strength alone, without skill, does not make one powerful.

Thinking of Wei Yan on the battlefield, wielding his Golden Blade and reaping enemy lives, Su Tong could not help but feel a surge of excitement.

Wei Yan's signature weapons were a composite bow and a Golden Blade with a demon-head design. The blade was neither especially heavy nor long; compared to the weapons wielded by generals like Lu Bu, Guan Yu, or Zhang Fei, which were often enormous, Wei Yan's was much shorter.

"In the modern era, there are no blades shaped like that, and my physique, compared to Wei Yan's, though not worlds apart, is still far inferior. I can never unleash his full power," Su Tong thought regretfully. Still, he felt that even barehanded, he could easily knock down five or six special forces officers without taking a scratch.

Any more opponents, though, and he would be in trouble.

Fighting takes strength; even if others just stood there and let him hit them, he couldn't go on forever—eventually, he would tire.

Still—

"Ha ha..." Su Tong laughed smugly. Next time he met that bodyguard, he would have nothing to fear. Even if his physique was lacking, his mind was now filled with a lifetime of General Wei Yan's combat experience.

Wei Yan excelled not only in close combat; even his archery ranked among the best in the Three Kingdoms.

This side quest had been a windfall!