The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 520- 522

Chapter 520: Making Out with Restraint

The others in the tent spotted Ling Zhang and rose to their feet with the intention to pay their respects to him but were spared the formalities by Ling Zhang. At the sight of Yuwen Jin’s pallid face, Ling Zhang came to know that although the injury was not severe, Yuwen Jin was indeed suffering a lot from it, so he consoled Yuwen Jin, “Rest well and nurse yourself back to health. I brought you a bottle of high-quality vulnerary. It’ll quicken the healing process. If you expect to fight another battle, you must not hop around in the next few days.”

While saying this, Ling Zhang handed a porcelain phial to the army physician, who took it, removed the stopper, sniffed at it and with that his eyes brightened. “This is good stuff! W–Was it Mr. Mu who prepared this?”

Ling Zhang replied with an inclination of the head, “Yeah.”

The army physician immediately tucked the phial into his bosom, so excited his eyes were narrowing for smiling.

“What do you think you are doing? Use it on my arm already! Don’t hide it!”

On hearing this, the army physician said, “This is not a styptic drug. I’ll stop the bleeding for you first and use this drug on your wound when it’s time to change your dressing. So take it easy. I won’t deprive you of the opportunity to benefit from this drug, Okay?”

Yuwen Jin was rendered speechless by the physician’s words, strongly feeling that he deserved better than that.

Ling Zhang, inwardly snickering, patted Yuwen Jin’s shoulder and said bracingly, “Don’t worry. Our physicians are consummate. I’m sure you’ll make a full recovery from this injury.”

“Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness,” said the army physician.

Yuwen Jin twisted his head aside, inwardly rolled his eyes upwards but knew better than to retort in the knowledge that he still relied on this geriatric to treat his wound.

…

Having checked that Yuwen Jin’s main arteries and bones were fine, and that it would take only a couple of days’ rest for him to recover, Ling Zhang took his leave after giving the vulnerary to the physician.

Mr. Mu examined the cut in his chest and, seeing that it was healing well, changed his dressing and bandaged it again.

The wound had just been dressed when Yuwen Tong returned. “Why did you redress the wound? It reopened?” he asked.

“No. I just changed the dressing,” answered Mr. Mu calmly.

“It really didn’t reopen. Mr. Mu checked it and then changed the dressing and bandaged it again. What about you? Why are you back so soon? Everything’s done?” Ling Zhang hastened to ask Yuwen Tong in an attempt to change the topic, fearing that he might overthink the situation.

Yuwen Tong leaned his head closer and took a look. Having checked that Ling Zhang was indeed fine, he said, “Yeah. I’ve got the information I need about the enemy’s defenses and battle plans, so I told them to regroup our troops, reward them with good food and wine and see to it that they rest well tonight. We’ll have another meeting tomorrow.”

Ling Zhang nodded, feeling that the soldiers had indeed had a tough day and could use a good rest.

After a full night’s sleep, all the soldiers were refreshed. Early in the morning, He Xiao, Yuwen Jin and the couple of newly appointed officers started drilling them. Yuwen Jin, wearing splints on his arm which was now hanging from his neck, was in no fit state to fight for the moment, so he took on the duty of inspecting the encampment.

Ling Zhang, having finished his morning meditation, walked out of his tent and caught sight of Yuwen Jin, who was walking around on a height in the distance, supervising his men drilling.

Ling Zhang turned his head and said to Yuwen Tong who had come out of the tent with him, “It seems he couldn’t bear to sit idly for a single moment.”

Yuwen Tong glanced in that direction and said, “Let him be. It’s not like he’s severely wounded.”

In Yuwen Tong’s eyes, Yuwen Jin’s injury was indeed nothing, and it was unnecessary to regard Yuwen Jin as someone grievously wounded.

And he subconsciously ignored how nervous he had been about the minor cuts of Ling Zhang’s.

Ling Zhang’s chest and wrist were both injured. In the past few days – ever since Ling Zhang had rendezvoused with him, to be precise – the two of them had never made out.

Yuwen Tong was worried about the cuts in Ling Zhang’s chest and wrist, and Ling Zhang was also worried about the wound in Yuwen Tong’s chest. Yuwen Tong’s constitution was strong, so the cut in his chest had healed quickly, and even the scab was about to peel. It had been itching for a couple of days, and Ling Zhang from time to time had to remind him not to scratch it.

“Mr. Mu has antipruritic drug. I’ll ask him if it’s okay to administer it to your wound to help with the itch,” said Ling Zhang.

“I’ll go with you,” said Yuwen Tong.

The two of them went to Mr. Mu’s tent. After they stated their intentions, Mr. Mu gave them a porcelain phial, a very small one.

“Use it sparingly. A tiny amount of it will do. You’ll also be needing it after your cuts heal,” Mr. Mu said to Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang bobbed his head, took the porcelain phial, returned to their own tent with Yuwen Tong and then told Yuwen Tong to undress so that he could administer the drug to his wound.

Yuwen Tong thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll do it myself.”

Ling Zhang looked surprisedly at him. “Why? It’ll be easier if I do it for you. Hurry. Take off your clothes.”

Yuwen Tong took a deep breath and looked at him, the expression in his eyes abruptly becoming longing. “It’s been a long while since the last time we made out. I might lose control of myself if you do it for me.”

Ling Zhang, “…”

He would be merely administering a drug to his wound. Why was Yuwen Tong making it sound like something erotic?!

“You’ll have to tough it out!” he said through gritted teeth.

Yuwen Tong gave a chuckle and then started unclothing himself.

Ling Zhang had originally felt that it was no big deal, but what with those words of Yuwen Tong’s, looking at Yuwen Tong taking off his clothes, he couldn’t help but picture some romantic scenes, a warm flush spreading over his cheeks in spite of himself. And then, as he noticed that Yuwen Tong was disrobing rather slowly, he involuntarily urged irritably, “Hurry up!”

Yuwen Tong had observed the faint blush on his face and the flickering look in his eyes, feeling feverishly aroused. After stripping, he said, “I’m ready.”

Ling Zhang looked at the scar on his chest and finally managed to dismiss some of those images from his mind. He opened the porcelain phial, carefully got a small amount of the drug out of it by dipping his finger into it, lightly pressed it to a spot beside the scar and then carefully spread it over the scab.

A cool and comfortable sensation instantaneously dispelled the various pictures in Yuwen Tong’s head, cooling him down somewhat.

However, Ling Zhang, gingerly applying the ointment to the scar on his chest with his white-skinned fingertip, looked as though he were silently seducing him. The very sight of it turned Yuwen Tong on, not to mention the touch of Ling Zhang’s finger.

Yuwen Tong suddenly put his arms around Ling Zhang’s waist, sat him on to his lap, lowered his head and kissed Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang, who was carefully applying the ointment, was caught unawares. When Yuwen Tong kissed him, he hastened to move the phial aside for fear of accidentally breaking it. At the same time, he responded to Yuwen Tong’s action. The two of them were very familiar with each other’s bodies, especially so when they were kissing. They had an intimate knowledge of how to kiss their lovers properly, and how to better turn their lovers on. Their movements were almost subconscious, their body temperatures rising, their breathing growing heavier, their chests heaving more and more frequently, saliva oozing from the corners of their mouths, which in turn further aroused them.

Ling Zhang exhaled deeply. When in an intimate moment like this, both Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang felt as though time were going significantly slower or faster than usual. When they came to themselves, they found themselves panting heavily. It struck Ling Zhang that his lips were numb and might even be swollen. Not until he could barely hold the porcelain phial steady did he slightly recover himself. “Be careful not to hug me too tight. I still have the drug in my hand … “

After hearing this, Yuwen Tong slackened his embrace but was still keeping Ling Zhang in his arms. He took the phial from Ling Zhang’s hand, put it down on to the table beside them, and then resumed cuddling Ling Zhang. Their foreheads against each other, they could feel one another’s breath, both their body temperatures different than normal. There were fine beads of tear clinging to the corners of Ling Zhang’s eyes. Were it not for their injuries, he would have put his arms around Yuwen Tong’s neck again and continued. Unfortunately for him, that was not an option. His eyes were faintly red from the effort of restraining himself. He stared at Yuwen Tong with an intent look in his eyes like a little wild beast. He was filled with desire. He wanted it but had to resist the temptation, which was why he felt upset.

Yuwen Tong looked back at him, leaned over, kissed his eye and said, “Close your eyes.”

Ling Zhang obediently did what he was asked.

Yuwen Tong felt a sense of relief. He would lose control of himself if Ling Zhang kept looking at him like that. It was so torturous.

He kissed Ling Zhang’s eyes for a while, and then the two of them quietly cuddled in an effort to help each other calm down.

“I want so badly to go back to the capital city, where we could do anything we feel like doing,” said Ling Zhang languidly after recovering himself. “I miss the kids.”

Yuwen Tong gently stroked Ling Zhang’s back to console him. “Your father and grandfather have been taking care of them. And there are also my great-uncle’s family and those servants, so there’s no need to concern yourself.”

But the company of parents was irreplaceable. Besides, Ling Zhang missed his children very much. This separation had lasted a long time. It was almost as long as his stay in the Luohai Kingdom, and there was still a lot of days before he could return home to see the children.

“I’m sure Crescent has been crying every night,” said Ling Zhang.

At the mention of his adopted daughter, an uncharacteristically tender expression appeared in Yuwen Tong’s eyes. Crescent’s eyes, which looked the same as Ling Zhang’s, had frequently made him wonder whether or not Ling Zhang had been as naughty and adorable as Crescent was when he had been a little boy. Therefore, at the thought of Crescent piteously crying for parents with tearful eyes, Yuwen Tong’s heart ached as though he were seeing a young version of Ling Zhang crying for parents.

“Alas. Let’s drop this. Crescent is almost three. She’s staying in the Ling Mansion where there are a lot of middle-aged handmaids, and my aunt is there as well. I think she probably could barely remember us, so she certainly wouldn’t cry for us.” Ling Zhang gave a little cough and then added, “Don’t overthink it.” Before leaving the capital city, he had told Yuwen Tong not to worry about anything in the capital city, but now he himself had failed to keep from missing his children.

Caressing Ling Zhang’s back, Yuwen Tong said, “Um. She still has his brothers, and there are a lot of relatives keeping her company, so she’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, need to be careful not to get hurt again lest the children be worried about you.”

Ling Zhang gave a smile, twisted his head aside and planted a kiss on Yuwen Tong’s cheek. “They don’t know, and we should make sure they never find out. Rest assured, for your sake I’ll stay safe and never get wounded again.”

Yuwen Tong, whose heart was melted by the kiss and the words, carefully edged Ling Zhang slightly deeper into his embrace and hugged him tighter.

Ling Zhang said, “Put me down. Is your leg not tired?”

He had been sitting on Yuwen Tong’s lap for quite some time.

Yuwen Tong didn’t slacken his embrace. “I’d like this hug to last a little while longer. My leg won’t be tired even if you sit on my lap for a whole day.”

Eyes narrowing for smiling, Ling Zhang rearranged Yuwen Tong’s robes with his uninjured hand, gave him a kiss and then said, “But the morning drill is almost over, and the generals will soon come. It’s about time we got something to eat. You’re supposed to meet them in a few moments.”

Yuwen Tong gave an “Um” of agreement. It was a while before he reluctantly let go, allowing Ling Zhang to rise to his feet and get out of his embrace.

Chapter 521: That’s an Illusion

RAT-TAT –

It was not fully light yet, and the mountain pass in front of Jifang City was still cloaked in mist when the ground started quaking.

An experienced general immediately caught on to what was happening. “ENEMIES CLOSING IN! GET READY TO FIGHT–!”

The army of the Great Wen arrived before daybreak, and this time around they were in appreciably larger numbers than they had been during the last offensive. The quake of the ground alone threw the Wan soldiers into panic.

However, the mountain pass was still shrouded in thick fog, and none of the sentries on watchtowers could get a clear view of the enemies. They only had a feeling that there was a sea of them outside the mountain pass!

TOOT – TOOT –

Soon a bulge blared out.

The garrison had mustered already when Chen Jing heard the bugle call, an ugly look instantly appearing on his face. They had not even bothered to send a soldier to inform him!

When he arrived at the ramparts with all haste, the commander of the garrison was already there, flanked by his lieutenants and advisers. Face darkening, he was just about to dress them down when he observed that the thick mist outside the mountain pass still had not dispersed. It was fully light, and theoretically the fog should have lifted. Why was it still so hazy?

Chen Jing knitted his brows, gazing fixedly out of the mountain pass.

As the large army of the Great Wen approached, the Wan soldiers guarding the mountain pass began to have difficulty breathing.

Though aware that this mountain pass was impregnable, troops of the Wan garrison, faced with such a formidable army of the Great Wen, still felt fear sweeping over them in waves in spite of themselves.

There had been once a time when the Wan Kingdom had almost subjugated the Great Yue; if Yuwen Tong’s grandfather had not managed to have his men withstand the attack of the Wan army, if Yuwen Tong, an up-and-coming young general, had not driven the Wan army out of the Great Yue with unstoppable momentum, the Wan cavalry would long since have flattened the Great Yue and subjected it to the Wan Kingdom’s rule, and the Great Wen would not have been founded.

Unfortunately for them, the Yuwen family was destined to be a mortal enemy of the Wan Kingdom. First there had been Yuwen Tong’s grandfather, and then there was Yuwen Tong. The Wan Kingdom had not only failed to annex that richly endowed country but also been losing one battle after another to Yuwen Tong’s army. The shoe was now on the other foot. In a rivalry for world supremacy, the competitors either won or died. In that year the Wan Kingdom had let the opportunity slip away, and now they were facing the danger of being annexed.

But it was no good dwelling on these, for the enemies were almost in sight.

“The weather is not very favorable to us,” commented the commander of the garrison stationed in Jifang City, a frown on his face.

“This is so weird. How come the mist still hasn’t lifted?”

All officers of the garrison were somewhat bewildered by the unusual weather conditions.

After about half an hour, the fog veiling the mountain pass finally cleared, and the soldiers could now see the situation outside distinctly. All of them gasped in alarm at the sight of the enemy.

There were too many of them …

The Great Wen actually had an army of this scale?!

The sea of enemy troops stretched as far as the eye could see and the total number of them seemed to be thrice what it had been the last time they had attacked.

“The North-Western Army led by Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi has joined forces with Yuwen Tong’s army, which is why Yuwen Tong has considerably more men under his command.”

The garrison commander had an apprehensive look on his face. Only yesterday, when the army of the Great Wen had been attacking this mountain pass, he had had a disagreement with Chen Jing, accusing him of exaggerating the enemy’s strength and disparaging their own. Was he going to suffer a defeat on this day which would surely feel like a slap across his face?

No. He couldn’t afford to let that happen. The mountain pass of Jifang City must not fall. He would end up dead if it was taken by the enemy.

The garrison commander clenched his teeth, his eyes raking Yuwen Tong’s army advancing towards the mountain pass. The army had finished mustering before the mist dispersed. Though in significantly larger numbers, they were in the same formation as they had been yesterday. The beat of war drums came from the opposite side and with that the attacks began.

RAT-TAT –

“Eek? Why are they attacking the same way they did yesterday?” said an officer beside the garrison commander in an astonished tone of voice, his face etched with bemusement.

The garrison commander perked up, cocked an eye at the enemies and found that they were indeed attacking exactly the same way they had done the day before. It seemed that their battle plans had not changed at all.

At the sight of this, he was numbly surprised at first, but then he was overjoyed and gave two derisive laughs. “People keep saying Yuwen Tong is an unequaled strategist, but now it seems he’s at the end of his rope. If this is how he plans to take our mountain pass, none of his men will make it out of the battlefield alive.”

“That’s true. Is Yuwen Tong soft in the head? Yesterday his strategy didn’t work, but today he’s doing it all over again. He must’ve exhausted his bag of tricks.”

“They call him the God of War, but it seems he’s unworthy of his reputation. Ha-ha … Lord Chen suggested His Majesty dispatch the northern garrisons south, but the way I see it, that’s totally unnecessary.”

Chen Jing looked coldly at them. He had been a high-ranking officer for many years, and the commanding air he emanated was far more intimidating than that of any of those people, all of whom immediately shut their mouths embarrassedly.

“Do not underestimate him. Yuwen Tong’s reputation is by no means unearned. I’m sure he’s doing this for a reason.”

After Chen Jing said this, a couple of officers inwardly rolled their eyes upwards, taking no heed of his words whatsoever.

Chen Jing, who sensed their disregard for him, was naturally consumed with anger.

At this time, the army of the Great Wen, following the same battle plan they had adopted yesterday, reached the foot of the mountain pass. The Wan soldiers standing guard immediately tensed up and the first salvo of arrows were fired.

…

Ling Zhang was standing not far away from the ramparts of the mountain pass, but none of the Wan soldiers had spotted him. The Illusion Formation had been activated before the fog lifted.

As the activator of the Formation, he was standing at one of the key Eyes of Formation and had been keeping a close watch on each and every move of the Wan soldiers guarding the pass.

With the Illusion Formation functioning, the Wan soldiers were indeed unable to see where Yuwen Tong’s army were actually going. Ling Zhang couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.

Now the Formation was in working order, and they had at least an hour to carry out their plans without the enemy noticing!

Yuwen Tong was directing the troops in person. Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi, leading two regiments respectively, covertly moved up to the flanks of the enemy guarding the mountain pass …

At the same time, Yuwen Jin and He Xiao, leading another two units respectively, followed in their wake.

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi, leading crack troops, secretly climbed up the flanks of the mountain pass and immediately started slaughtering the enemies, clearing the way for Yuwen Jin’s and He Xiao’s men.

Yuwen Jin and He Xiao quickly led their men through the gaps in the enemy’s defenses on the two sides and entered the heights flanking the valley in which Jifang City was located …

Not until Jiang Ke’s and Jiang Xi’s men almost wiped out the defenders in the two positions did the other defenders noticed that something was wrong.

Chen Jing was the first one to detect the strong smell of blood carried over by the wind. The wind was blowing from the east and thus was not carrying the smell of blood from outside the mountain pass to the ramparts, which meant that the only possible source of the smell of blood in the wind was the soldiers guarding the east wing.

“Shit! Someone need to go and check the east wing right away!” cautioned Chen Jing, the middle of his forehead twitching.

The others still had not caught on to what was going on, for there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary at the east wing.

“Go! You dare defy an order from a superior?!” railed Chen Jing, furious.

It was only then that an officer took some men and hurried to the east wing to help.

Jiang Xi and his men had wiped out the soldiers at the easy wing. Taking advantage of the terrain, they were lying in ambush, waiting for the enemy’s reinforcements to walk into the trap.

As a result, when the assistant garrison commander who had gone to the east wing with some men had not sent any messages back after quite some time, the others, including the garrison commander, began to panic.

“What’s going on? How come he still hasn’t sent us any messages?!”

“Send another backup unit! Now!”

“Commander––We–West wing’s under attack … “

Right at this moment, a soldier rushed over and reported that the west wing was under attack. The soldier, grievously wounded, appearing to have fled to the ramparts in a great hurry, breathed his last and sank to the ground the moment he finished speaking.

The west wing was on the leeward side, which was why Chen Jing had not detected any smell of blood from that place or found out about it immediately. It was at this moment that he came to know that not only the east wing but also the west wing was in danger, but none of them had any idea when that had happened. They hadn’t even noticed anything out of the ordinary. This was so weird!

“Send backup to the west wing! We must stop them, whatever the cost!” bellowed Chen Jing, who then gritted his teeth.

This time the garrison commander did not dare raise any objections and hastened to have his lieutenant lead a backup unit to the west wing.

Chen Jing twisted his head aside and looked in the direction of the enemies at the foot of the mountain pass. The longer he observed, the more suspicious he was. How come the bodies of enemy soldiers had hardly increased after such a long time? Had their arrows been missing their targets all the time? Impossible – it was a sea of enemy troops down there, and the archers did not need to take aim at all!

“Something’s not right. Why are those hit by arrows not going down?” Chen Jing fixed an unblinking stare at the enemies.

“Your Lordship, those men are moving as stiffly as though … as though they are the undead!” his henchman suddenly exclaimed in horror.

The undead? That kind of creatures did exist? The garrison commander’s face turned ghastly white from fright. Did Yuwen Tong have some non-human soldiers under his command, by any chance?

Chen Jing was also astounded. He had several times fought Yuwen Tong’s army during its northward advance, but never once had he seen any enemy soldiers like this.

“Your Lordship, that master requests an audience with you,” a soldier suddenly reported.

Chen Jing frowned. Why did that Gu master come here at this point in time?

He wanted to turn the Gu master down and had opened his mouth already when he caught sight of those zombielike enemy soldiers and held back the words on the tip of his tongue. Eventually, feeling that the situation was rather eerie, he granted the Gu master’s request.

“This place is too dangerous, master. What is it you want to see me about?” Chen Jing asked the Gu master without preamble.

Unexpectedly, the Gu master directly replied, “I detected smell of blood so strong as though death was descending on this city. I would not live to see another day if I continue my closed-door cultivation.”

“What do you mean?” inquired Chen Jing, the look on his face instantly becoming ugly.

The Gu master walked up to the parapet, glanced down and was shocked. “Why do these men look so eccentric?” he said.

Chen Jing gave him a sketchy account of the events and then asked, “Can you tell what might be at play here, master?”

The Gu master’s countenance changed several times in a row and then, looking resentfully in the direction of the heavily guarded imperial carriage outside the pass in the distance, said, “I’ve never seen any living dead before. There are no such creatures as the undead in this world. This must be some kind of subterfuge of theirs.”

Chen Jing furrowed his brows. “Why have we still not received any messages from either of the two wings?” he suddenly demanded.

All others on the ramparts felt the hair on the backs of their necks rise at these words, cold sweat breaking out over their foreheads.

“Your Lordship! There!” someone abruptly yelled, pointing in the direction of somewhere outside the mountain pass.

Chen Jing immediately turned his head and observed that those “undead” soldiers suddenly started flickering. In addition, their bodies were slowly disappearing as though melting because of the wind …

“Wh–What the hell are those things?!” shouted the garrison commander in terror.

“Those are not men. It’s an illusion. You were fooled,” the Gu master suddenly said. “My grandfather once told me that several hundred years ago, in a previous dynasty, there used to be a Formation genius capable of deploying some kind of Illusion Formation made of images so vivid they looked exactly the same as real objects and creatures; he once projected the image of a whole city onto the Formation, misleading people into believing that the city was real when actually there was nothing there.”

What?

“Th–That kind of thing does exist in this wor–” exclaimed the garrison commander, who was interrupted in midstream by an arrow brushing past his sideburn. More than half of the “enemy soldiers” outside the pass had disappeared into thin air by now, and that arrow would have gone into his eye had he not subconsciously dodged it!

At the foot of the ramparts, the areas where there had hardly been any enemy soldiers a moment ago were now seething with them. Even the outside of the rampart was full of enemies climbing upwards!

Battle cry and the rumble of war drums making the welkin ring suddenly smote their ears. The Wan officers were unable to tell whether those enemy soldiers had just started shouting without warning or some kind of mysterious force that had been keeping them from hearing those sounds had just disappeared, along with whatever it was that had been deceiving their eyes …

“Thi–This can’t be happening! Guards! Guards!” the garrison commander cried out, panic-stricken.

He was in a state of stupor, powerless to distinguish the illusory enemies from the real ones, as though he had not woken up from sleep yet, as though what he was seeing was happening in his dream.

All of a sudden, a sharp long saber appeared out of thin air in front of him and was swung downwards at him squarely. The glaring Saber-light as piercingly cold as upper-air wind abruptly jogged him back to his senses and, flustered, he turned aside dodging the hack, whipped out his saber and parried the next slash almost reflexively but was knocked backwards several paces by the attacker’s powerful internal energy. Before he could regain his balance, the long saber came at him once again!

After several clashes of sabers, the garrison commander, still in a dreamy state, received a ferocious slash in the face which blinded him instantaneously, causing him an excrutiating pain in the eyes. He let out an anguished cry but the next moment an icy cold blade went through his heart, instantly silencing him, and with that he limply sank to the ground.

“Who … are … you?” The garrison commander jerkily asked a question and then breathed his last.

Ling Zhang, who had released his grip on the hilt of his saber, flintily glanced at the body on the ground and then withdrew his eyes.

Bringing this saber with him had been a spur-or-the-moment decision. As he had expected, it was not as handy as his sword.

He turned on his heel. Behind him were his bodyguards who had charged up the ramparts with him. They had surrounded Chen Jing and his subordinates, including that old gray-robed man whom he had heard of on that day but had never seen before.

Ling Zhang’s face went even colder. He whipped out his sword fastened to his belt. “Chen Jing, today your life ends.”

At the sight of Ling Zhang, Chen Jing felt as though he were experiencing once again the pain he had suffered when his ear had been cut off on that day. “You! Who the hell are you?!”

He had fought Yuwen Tong’s army many times, but he had never seen anybody like this man, whose kung fu was consummate, whose eyes were so intimidating that when making eye contact with this man, he felt as though he were being weighed down by a mountain. A top-ranking official in the Wan Kingdom for many years as he had been, he still found himself trying to avoid this man’s eyes in spite of himself!

“I guess there’s no harm in telling you who I am, given that you’ll soon meet your end. I’m Ling Zhang.”

Ling Zhang? Chen Jing was numbly astonished, but the next moment he caught on in shock. “You’re Yuwen Tong’s consort!”

Chapter 522: Get Through the Mountain Pass

“Now that you’ve come to know about my identity, I can’t let you leave here alive. Do it. Take no prisoners,” said Ling Zhang.

“Yes!” chorused Wang Dashan and the other bodyguards.

“That’s some tough talk. I’m not going to let you harm a hair of Lord Chen’s head, not when I still draw breath. So you’re Ling Zhang? Do you know who I am?” the old gray-robed man beside Chen Jing suddenly said.

Ling Zhang looked at him with an inscrutable expression in his eyes. “You’re nothing but an opinionated Gu master. I could tell you’ve suffered severe internal injury. Have you still not learned your lesson? Don’t worry. Today you’ll meet your Maker as well. As for who you are, I don’t see there’s any necessity for me to know.”

“You!” The old man instantly blushed scarlet and, heedless of Chen Jing’s safety, mobilizing his internal energy, took a flying leap in an attempt to get out of the surrounding circle of Ling Zhang’s bodyguards to kill Ling Zhang.

“Down!” However, Wang Dashan and the others would by no means let him get through that easily. Otherwise it would be an absolute disgrace to the twenty-four of them, and the reputation of the trap-and-kill formation in which they had developed a high degree of proficiency after so many years’ practice would be ruined.

The old gray-robed man had not bargained on being held back. In terms of lightness skills, he was among the best in South Xinjiang, and he was confident that even in the three countries, he was almost without equal, but on this occasion he was actually stopped by a group of bodyguards?!

“Hey, old man, we are your opponents. A nobody like you doesn’t get to fight our empress,” Qiu Bing said to the old man after giving a sinister chuckle.

The old man trembled with anger. Then he suddenly sneered, “Since you people are so anxious to die, I shall grant your wishes.”

With that he fished a clay jar out of a bamboo basket he carried with him.

Ling Zhang’s countenance slightly changed. This man was an expert at using Gu worms and poisons. Ling Zhang could tell at a glance that what was in the clay jar was something evil.

“What’s in that jar? I’m quite curious. How about you open it and let me take a look?” someone suddenly said.

Ling Zhang turned aside and found that Mr. Mu, with Yao Yi’s help, also came to the top of the ramparts, arriving just in time to see the old gray-robed man produce the pottery vessel.

The old man, unaware of who Mr. Mu was, believed that the latter was yet another ignorantly fearless man coming to get himself killed. “You’ll find out after you die,” he replied.

Then he dashed the clay jar to the ground!

The jar smashed into pieces, leaving a pool of black liquid on the ground in which countless black worms were wriggling. Some of the worms even splattered across the front of Wang Dashan’s and some others’ clothes.

The old gray-robed man gave an evil grin, waiting to see the worms devour his enemies. However, after a long moment, everybody on the scene was fine, those bodyguards surrounding him unaffected. The old man was dismayed, his grin instantly vanishing.

Those black worms of his which were like a small carpet, instead of burrowing into the people around them, all rolled up into balls as though dead. Even those that had been spattered across Wang Dashan’s and some others’ clothes, fell to the ground and lay motionless as if they had died.

“So this kind of blood-sucking Gu worms are like leeches, which not only suck people’s blood but also look so ugly. I heard that many Gu masters in South Xinjiang hate this kind of Gu worms, that there are very few willing to raise them. Have people there started to raise this kind of creatures again in the past few centuries?” said Mr. Mu, looking disappointedly at those black worms on the ground which appeared to be dead, his face registering distaste.

It was only then that the old gray-robed man came to realize that Mr. Mu was no common person. “Who are you? What have you done? Why are my Gu worms too scared to move?”

Mr. Mu said, “Nothing special. I have something on me, something that scares all Gu worms.”

“That’s ridiculous. Nothing in this world scares all Gu wor–” The old gray-robed man didn’t believe Mr. Mu, but the next moment Mr. Mu produced a crystal pot which contained a living thing. At the sight of the creature, the old gray-robed man paused in midstream, eyeing it incredulously. “Impossible. This kind of things have become extinct. How come you still have one?!”

Mr. Mu said, “Nothing’s impossible. Just like Affection Gu – I thought they had become extinct, but you still have some. Do you have any other Gu worms on you? If you have some that pique my interest, I may be able to have them spare your life and allow me to take you back to do some research on you. If you don’t have any, you’ll really have to die here.”

Research? Most people present were confused, but Qiu Bing who had suffered a lot when learning from Xie Shi, his master, suddenly felt a cold shiver of fear run through him, not daring even to look at Mr. Mu, inwardly shedding tears. ‘These guys are all psychos!’ he thought.

“It was you who killed my Affection Gu,” said the old gray-robed man, instantly cottoning on, looking resentfully from Mr. Mu to Ling Zhang and back again. “I have some serious old scores to settle with Yuwen Tong. If you are just a Gu master hired by them, stay out of this, or there will be consequences.”

“You’re too kind, but right now you are in no position to make demands. What you should do is figure out how to beg me properly. My patience is limited, and so is the value of your life. If you let this opportunity slip away, you’ll have to wait until your next life to get a second one,” said Mr. Mu matter-of-factly.

The old gray-robed man ranted, “What a megalomania you are! Although that thing in your hand deters my Gu worms, nobody here can stop me!”

Mr. Mu, who clearly couldn’t be bothered to say another word to the old gray-robed man, shook his head, walked out of the surrounding circle and told Wang Dashan and the others, “His Gu worms are now useless, and you don’t have to be afraid of his poisons. I can detoxify them all.”

After hearing this, Qiu Bing, with a grin, said to the old gray-robed man, “You hear that, old wretch? Nobody can help you now.”

Wang Dashan glanced at Ling Zhang, who instructed, “I want him taken alive and thrown into a pit full of worms.”

Wang Dashan inclined his head. That remark of Ling Zhang’s sealed the old gray-robed man’s fate. Chen Jing and the others were disregarded.

“Ling Zhang, you’re so supercilious!” bawled Chen Jing.

“You don’t deserve my attention,” said Ling Zhang coolly.

He was neither a military officer nor a politician, and he felt no sympathy for Chen Jing, who, like him, was also a leader. In his sight, Chen Jing was just someone standing in his way, someone who deserved to die.

Ling Zhang’s bodyguards, without further ado, made their move with the intention to restrain Chen Jing and the others. The old gray-robed man, as expected, resorted to poison, but he had just cast poison when Mr. Mu scattered some medicinal powder over the scene. The poison slightly lowered the visibility, but nothing else happened.

At this time, the ramparts were teeming with soldiers shouting battle cry. Xiao Jiangyue and some other officers, along with their men, were attacking the gates. On top of the ramparts were crack troops with very good kung fu skills, each one of whom could fight ten common soldiers at the same time. Though outnumbered by the Wan defenders, they did not let the enemies get the upper hand and kept them from going to Chen Jing’s rescue.

What threw the Wan defenders into despair was that soon another two teams of men charged over from the flanks, all of whom were soldiers of the Great Wen, given their uniform. They had no idea why the enemies were coming from the flanks, and they had still not received any messages from either of the two backup units led by two assistant commanders, who had been sent to the two wings.

“Kill them!”

“Kill them all! Our victory’s in sight!”

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi, along with their men, hurtled over, wormed their way through the mountain pass and engaged the enemies in there.

Chen Jing and the other officers on the ramparts saw little hope of backup.

Chen Jing had only a couple of bodyguards protecting him, all of whom soon died to the sabers of Wang Dashan and the others. Having been a civil official for many years, he was not as good at kung fu as he had been when young, and thus was no match for Wang Dashan or any of the others; also, he was vastly outnumbered, so before long he was captured.

“There’s no need to keep Chen Jing alive.” Ling Zhang’s wintry voice was heard by his bodyguards.

Panic-stricken, Chen Jing shouted, “I want to see Yuwen Tong!”

Qiu Bing cackled, “You can scream all you want. No one will hear you.”

All the others, ” … “

“Chen Jing, I’m giving you a last chance to save your dignity by dying with your men, yet you have the nerve to think of leaving here alive?” said Ling Zhang.

Chen Jing gave a violent shudder at these words and looked at Ling Zhang, a mixed expression on his face, clenching his fist with tremendous force. Eventually, he heavily closed his eyes, grabbed the saber of his dead bodyguard beside him and slit his own throat with it, blood spattering. Thus, Chen Jing took his own life in the end, dying on the ramparts with the other soldiers defending the city.

“What a wimp,” sniffed the old gray-robed man as he saw Chen Jing commit suicide. He refused to surrender and continued fighting Wang Dashan and the others.

His kung fu was indeed consummate, but Wang Dashan and the others had improved beyond all recognition in the past five years. Eventually, with their joint efforts, they overpowered him and tied him up.

Bound, the old gray-robed man was unreconciled to his defeat and tried to struggle free, but Wang Dashan and the others who had restrained him naturally wouldn’t let him have his way.

The old man was different from Chen Jing, who had had a line in the sand and the guts to slit his own throat to save his dignity, but the old man would never do that. Having being caught, he was trying to make his escape instead of taking his own life.

Ling Zhang found him ridiculous but did not drop his guard. People like this man were masters of tricks. There was no telling whether or not the old man had recourse to something which would enable him to escape.

He walked up to the old man and ruthlessly shattered his Sea of Chi, neutering him of his kung fu.

“AAARGH!” The old man, who had not bargained on Ling Zhang doing it so quick and mercilessly, had not had enough time to stop Ling Zhang. He let out an anguished cry and limply sank to the ground, powerless to move an inch, his face blanching, his hair turning white instantly as though he had aged over ten years. He fixed Ling Zhang with a quite fierce stare. “You … Curse you … You’ll die a violent death!”

Ling Zhang smiled, “Curse me? It seems you’re playing the trick of a thief crying ‘Stop thief!’. I mean, you tried to kill me, so I’ll kill you. What’s wrong with that? You’re such a sore loser. You should have stayed in the mountains instead of coming here to seek so-called revenge, you know?”

The old gray-robed man was on the verge of vomiting blood with fury. “You killed my apprentice. What’s wrong with me trying to take revenge on you?!”

“Your apprentice? Oh, so you’re here to avenge the death of that Gu master? This whole thing’s getting even more ridiculous. Your apprentice assisted Yuwen Zhi, a treasonable official, with his conspiracy to usurp the throne, and he also tried to kill Yuwen Tong with Gu. Given his actions, don’t think it’s only fair that we killed him? It seems Gu masters of South Xinjiang are all unreasonable. And since you’re unreasonable, you’re in no position to curse anybody. You deserve every bit of what you’ve suffered. The providence won’t hear you, and your words serve only to make us laugh,” said Ling Zhang flatly.

This time the old gray-robed man really spat out a mouthful of blood with rage.

“One way or another, our karma will always find us. You used Gu worms on us, trying to kill us, so I’ll be giving you your just deserts by having you experience the pain of being bitten by a bunch of worms. Lock him up. When the war is over, find somewhere, dig a hole, put some worms in it and then throw this man into it,” said Ling Zhang.

Mr. Mu smiled, “There’s no need to go to that much trouble. Those blood-sucking Gu worms on the ground are still alive. He tried to kill us with those worms, and now we could return the favor.”

Ling Zhang looked at Mr. Mu, his eyes brightening. “Let’s do it your way, Mr. Mu.”

Mr. Mu had Wang Dashan and some others took the Gu master to the spot where the blood-sucking worms were, scattered some kind of medicinal powder over them and with that those worms instantaneously revived and wormed their way into the old man’s clothes and then his body. The old gray-robed man’s countenance changed drastically. He wanted to flee but soon started yelling in pain. Those blood-sucking Gu worms, on entering his body, started sucking his blood quickly. Before long, lumps began to appear on his skin one after another – those were Gu worms that had had their fill of blood. The old man quickly desiccated and after a few moments was reduced to something like a mummy, his complexion deathly pale. After another short while, he breathed his last.

Ling Zhang knitted his brows. Having no intention to waste any time on this matter, he said, “Burn him lest anybody else fall victim to those worms in his body.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Wang Dashan and the others soon gathered some wood after taking apart a couple of wooden frames, collected some hay, made a fire and then threw the Gu master’s body into it. Mr. Mu scattered some kind of black powder over the flames and they instantly flared up. Soon the Gu master’s corpse was consumed by fire. It burned fast and had been reduced to a pile of ash when the defenders on the ramparts were wiped out.

Although Chen Jing and the garrison commander were dead, the battle still lasted quite a long time.

There were many defenders in Jifang City, along with officers of different ranks. Also, there were some mechanical defenses at the mountain pass, and getting through them would take a lot of doing. When the unit led by Yuwen Tong launched a frontal attack on the Wan defenders guarding the pass, the troops led by Yuwen Jin and He Xiao detoured around the pass and engaged the Wan soldiers who were trying to go to the pass to help defending it, Jiang Ke’s and Jiang Xi’s units fighting another group of defenders.

The Wan defenders knew in their heart of hearts that once the mountain pass was taken, the Wan Kingdom would really be faced with the fate of being subjugated, so they were all determined to fight to the last breath, and none of them surrendered.

The army of the Great Wen encountered the heaviest resistance since their entry into the Wan Kingdom. When night fell, the fighting was still ongoing. There were lighted torches everywhere. In the end, most soldiers became desensitized to blood and death, attacking anybody not wearing the same uniform as theirs on sight.

…

The next morning, the sun rose as usual.

The mechanical defenses deployed at the mountain pass had now been destroyed, and the army of the Great Wen stormed through the gates, pushed deep into the city with unstoppable momentum and eventually wiped out the last team of defenders. Thus, Jifang City was taken and the great battle came to an end.