Douluo: A Century-old Legend I Am the Second Uncle Chenxin

Chapter 1852 Brothers Through Thick and Thin! No Regrets!
Asking for recommendation votes
……

Zhu Yanfeng narrowed his eyes: "Judging from your tone, your relationship with Barton used to be exceptionally good. You could be considered one of his confidants, right?"

“Confidant…” Dou Jing’s cracked lips uttered these two words, and the floodgates of memory were opened by this question.

…………

Twenty-one years ago, the Soul-Devouring Crystal Mine.

The hiss of the Millennium Crystal Scorpion was like a whetstone from hell, scraping against the eardrums and nerves of the survivors.

Dou Jing, then deputy captain of the Soul Hunting Department, was exhausted of his soul power like a flickering lamp. He leaned against the cold rock wall, with his squadron members, who were also wounded and on the verge of death, behind him.

My vision was filled with dark red carapaces and eerie blue venomous claws; the aura of death was so thick it was impossible to dispel.

"Old Dou! Bow your head!" A loud shout rang out.

A figure covered in dark brown rocky scales, exuding a violent aura, smashed away the three thousand-year-old crystal scorpions that were lunging at Dou Jing like a giant humanoid rhinoceros!
At that moment, a gigantic crocodile phantom, gleaming with cold metallic light, roared behind Barton, its heavy and ferocious crocodile tail hammer swinging in a wide arc, tearing a bloody gash through the surging tide of crystal scorpions.

"Go!" Barton's hand was like an iron clamp, grabbing the almost exhausted Dou Jing and using all his strength to throw him violently towards the relatively safe high platform behind him.

puff!

Just as Dou Jing's body was airborne, a sharp, spear-like crystal scorpion stinger, carrying a deadly blue venomous light, pierced through Barton's left shoulder blade!
Hot blood splattered across Dou Jing's face like spilled ink.

That night, the campfire flickered in the cold corner of the mine.

Dou Jing watched over Barton, who was unconscious from blood loss and poisoning. He looked at the horrific wound that was deep enough to expose bone and had blackened edges. His rough fingers clenched tightly, and his nails almost dug into the flesh of his palms.

He growled at his unconscious brother, his voice hoarse yet carrying the weight of iron: "This life, I owe you!"

After an unknown amount of time, Barton slowly woke up. The excruciating pain made his forehead covered in cold sweat and his face as pale as paper.

However, when his gaze met Dou Jing's guilty eyes, he grinned heartily, struggled to raise his uninjured right arm, and forcefully patted Dou Jing's shoulder. The movement aggravated his wound, causing Dou Jing to gasp, yet he remained unusually open and honest.

"Cough... Men of the Bone-Digging Gang don't talk about debts! To be alive... is to win!"

At that time, Patton only had the sincerity of sharing life and death and the relief of surviving the ordeal in his eyes.

…………

Eighteen years ago.

In a tragic soul-hunting operation in his early years, Dou Jing was injured by a venomous soul beast, which damaged his kidney essence. Although he survived and retained most of his cultivation, he almost lost all hope of having offspring.

This became a deep-seated pain and regret in his heart.

One winter night, Patton braved the wind and snow to reach the residence of Dou Jing's guard unit.

He didn't say much, but silently pushed a chilling jade box in front of Dou Jing.

Inside the box lay a strange, ethereal herb, its entire body ice-blue, its veins pulsating as if alive—the "Mysterious Ice-Born Orchid."

“Old Dou,” Barton chuckled softly, “this thing might… be of some use. Give it a try.”

There were no extra words, and no attempt to take advantage of the situation.

This hope is both heavy and precious.

Dou Jing's hands trembled slightly.

A few months later, his wife became pregnant!

This miraculous herb actually defied fate and restored life to his almost extinct bloodline.

That night, upon receiving the good news, Dou Jing held his wife in his arms, gazing at the darkness outside the window, his heart overflowing with indescribable gratitude towards Patton. Without Patton's life-risking rescue in the mine years ago, and without this precious Xuanbing Yunsheng Orchid, Dou Jing's bloodline would not continue to this day.

…………

Fourteen years ago, the old regimental commander died suddenly.

The position of regimental commander is vacant, undercurrents are surging, and factional infighting is rampant.

Late at night, Patton knocked on the door of Dou Jing, the Minister of the Guard, once again.

Under the dim light of the soul-guided lamp, Patton no longer concealed the sharpness and ambition in his eyes.

He pushed a heavy jade box in front of Dou Jing again. The lid was opened, revealing an amber-colored liquid inside that was filled with the heavy aura of the earth and emitted an astonishing fluctuation of soul power—the Earth Core Jade Marrow, a treasure that could drive any Soul Saint crazy!

“Old Dou,” Barton said, his fingertips tracing heavily across the underground map of the Huagai District spread out on the table, “Tang Hengyu of the Rusty Army and Hahn of Zhicheng have both given their approval… only your Guard Department’s ‘lock of the regiment’ is missing.”

The Guard Department controls the defensive soul-guided array and all defensive forces in the core area of ​​the castle, and is the cornerstone for maintaining the stability of an underground force.

Dou Jing's position was crucial.

Dou Jing looked at the treasure that was enough to greatly improve his cultivation with complicated eyes, and then looked at the area on the map that Barton had pointed to with his finger.

He remained silent for a long time, and finally, instead of pushing the jade box back, he reached out and snapped the lid shut.

"Take your things." Dou Jing raised his eyes and looked directly at Barton. "The time you took that fall for me in the mine, and... about my child. Those two acts of kindness are enough to earn you this position."

Barton looked intently at Dou Jing, a sharp glint in his eyes that eventually turned into a heavy expression of approval.

He nodded emphatically: "Good brother!"

At that moment, the bond of life and death entrusted to each other by the campfire seemed to be relived.

Dou Jing was filled with a sense of loyalty to his "brothers," and he mobilized the guard force to stabilize the situation and ensure the smooth completion of the power transition.

He became Patton's most trusted "lock" in the regiment.

…………

Three months after Patton seized power.

Inside the commander's secret chamber, Patton sat on the bone chair that symbolized power, the metal jaw gleaming coldly under the soul-guiding lamp.

He pushed a list in front of Dou Jing, tapping his fingertips on several names that were tightly circled in red:
“Old Dou, I’ve already spoken to Tang Hengyu. These ‘legacy of the old regimental commander’… should be wiped out. Your guard unit is responsible for ‘coordinating’ with the Iron Brothers to block the exit of the ‘Black Stone Mine’.”

Dou Jing looked at the names of three Soul Emperors and seven Soul Kings on the list—all of them were tough guys who had fiercely opposed Barton's attempt to seize power.

He silently put away the list, and as he turned around, he heard Barton whisper:

“Make it clean. The Brotherhood only helps block the road; when it comes to actually doing the fighting… it has to be our own people.”

That night, Dou Jing personally led his trusted guards, and with the "perfect" "patrol cover" of the Rust Brothers, cornered the ten men.

The deafening explosions of soul skills and the muffled cries of the dying echoed deep within the mine.

When the mission was completed, Tang Hengyu's deputy nodded slightly to him through the shadows of the alleyway, then led his men away silently, as if they had never been there.

Dou Jing wiped away the bloodstains splattered on his arm guard, a chill creeping into his heart for the first time—Barton's collusion with external forces was far deeper than he had imagined.

Patton reciprocated by not only favoring him in terms of cultivation resources, but also entrusting him with many "important" but relatively "clean" matters: such as coordinating with Iron Rust and Zhicheng, smuggling channels for certain special minerals, and even being responsible for liaison with some ground intelligence outposts (these outposts were later confirmed to be the Jin family's lineage rather than the garrison's lines).

(End of this chapter)