The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 334- 336

Chapter 334: The Start of a War

Yuwen Tong had come and left in great haste. The two of them had only had a few romantic moments before parting.

In the wake of this visit was more frequent pre-war deployment of troops. More than half of the garrison in the headquarters inside the city were drafted out, leaving the rest guarding the border city in the rear.

On the day of the battle, although the infirmary in the city was very far away from the battlefield beyond the city walls, Ling Zhang could still faintly hear the thunderous beat of war drums, the quaking of the ground caused by numerous galloping horses and the battle cries of countless troops. Residents and soldiers in the city had all become used to it, their faces grave but not panic-stricken, appearing much more composed than Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang’s mind had been wandering frequently since morning. What with his sense of hearing which was much sharper than that of a common person, every time he heard something that sounded out of the ordinary, his back tensed and he looked in the direction of the battlefield.

His reaction didn’t escape the notice of people around him, though he maintained a poker face.

“Don’t worry, Childe Ling. The Marshal will surely win. We will surely win,” a wounded soldier before him told him. This soldier’s leg was hurt. There was a very deep slash in his thigh, and he was unable to walk right now, but the look on his face was one of deep faith, and he, surprisingly, offered some words of comfort to Ling Zhang who was changing his dressing and bandaging him.

Ling Zhang pulled himself out of his half-trance. At the sight of the assertive expression in the wounded soldier’s eyes, he briefly paused. Touched by the unfaltering look in the soldier’s eyes, he thought of something, twisted his head aside to look at the others and found that all those around him were gazing at him with the same expression in their eyes. It was only then that he came to realize the distant look on his face concerned them.

A warm glow slowly rose inside him. These people had an unswerving belief that the army of the Great Yue under the command of Yuwen Tong would win this war. He should’ve had as much faith in Yuwen Tong as they had.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like this.”

“Ur…” The wounded soldier embarrassedly scratched his head. “You don’t have to say that, Childe Ling. We’re a bunch of boors, but we know you’re worried about the Marshal. What is it they say…”

“That although Childe Ling is here, his mind is with the Marshal!” said someone on the side immediately.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. All of us could understand,” said the first wounded soldier.

Ling Zhang’s face, which was somewhat ashen with stress, slowly returned to normal. He gave a little cough. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Alas, don’t be shy, Childe Ling. You and the Marshal get along well. We get it.” The speaker dissolved into chuckle, and so did the others.

Amid the laughter, a pink flush slowly spread over Ling Zhang’s cheeks and to his ear lobes. Faced with these men who talked in a frank and direct way, he was unable to extricate himself out of this situation and could only keep a poker face. Seeing this, the others continued chuckling friendly. When they had enjoyed it enough, they stopped and someone brought up another topic, trying to strike up a conversation with Ling Zhang, who, naturally, wouldn’t ignore him. As the chat went on, his tense back gradually relaxed considerably.

Ling Zhaowu who was not far away saw this and gave a smile. Although on the surface, these soldiers seemed to be uncouth fellows who knew nothing, they actually could be quite considerate sometimes. With some quips, they successfully diverted Ling Zhang’s attention away.

…

Outside the city.

The two armies had engaged. All of a sudden, a contingent of the Great Yue retreated towards somewhere else, leaving Yuwen Tong and his men in front alone. This change happened in a rather peculiar fashion.

Distantly, Dong Gao saw Shao Feng lead his men elsewhere and smacked his hand down onto his lap. “Good! Shao Feng has retreated as promised. Hurry. Send word that all units are to take action as planned!”

“Yes, General!”

The allied forces of the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom also made their move. Cooperating with Shao Feng, they outflanked Yuwen Tong’s men.

“Trap them to death!” yelled Dong Gao smugly. “Not so cocky now, huh, Yuwen Tong?!”

Yuwen Tong’s unit was pinned down by the army of the Wan Kingdom and at the same time outflanked by the Luohai Kingdom’s troops. He was trapped completely and there seemed to be no way out.

Staring at Dong Gao in the distance, Yuwen Tong gave a sneer and ordered, “Jiang Xi, take some men and hold them back. All the others are to come with me. Together we’ll drag Shan Congwen off his horse!”

“Yes, Marshal!”

The large unit quickly split into two groups. The main force, led by Yuwen Tong, charged at the army of the Wan Kingdom. The smaller group stayed with Jiang Xi to defend against troops of the Luohai Kingdom who outflanked them.

At the sight of Yuwen Tong charging at the army of the Wan Kingdom, heedless of the odds which seemed heavily against him, both Dong Gao and Shan Congwen were stunned for a moment. When Dong Gao came to himself, he felt humiliated and cursed loudly. “Yuwen Tong! You snot-nosed brat don’t even have the balls to face me?!”

“What’s the hurry, Dong Gao? I’m still here. Your death wish will be granted,” jibed Jiang Xi on his horse, eyeing Dong Gao coldly.

“Who do you think you are? You want to stop me? Dream on!” spat Dong Gao.

“What if we give him a hand?” A sonorous voice was heard amid deafening noises coming from behind.

Dong Gao gave a start, jerked his head around and saw that Shao Feng and his men, who should’ve retreated along another route, had returned and were now charging at him. Meanwhile, another two forces were advancing towards him from his flanks, besieging him.

“H–How could you…” Dong Gao was both astounded and furious. “Shao Feng, you’re going back on your word?!”

“This is ridiculous. I’m a general of the Great Yue’s army. Why should I follow the orders of you, a general of the opposing army? You’re soft in the head and daydreaming too much,” replied Shao Feng.

It was at this moment that Dong Gao came to realize what was going on. “You fooled me!” he bellowed.

“It seems you’re not that stupid after all,” Shao Feng snorted flintily, then twisted his head aside and shouted at his comrade-in-arms, “Jiang Xi! Waste no more time and get this over with!”

“Can you not see that’s exactly what I’m doing?!” bawled Jiang Xi.

On the other side, Shan Congwen had a sense of foreboding at the sight of Yuwen Tong suicidally charging at the Wan Kingdom’s army. It was only when he noticed the increasing distance between Yuwen Tong’s army and the Luohai Kingdom’s army commanded by Dong Gao that he came to realize that Dong Gao was trapped, that they had fallen victim to the enemy’s ruse!

Shan Congwen clenched his teeth. “Despicable!”

“Your Highness, Yuwen Tong’s men outnumber us. What should we do?” a general beside him asked anxiously.

“What else do you think we should do?! Fleeing like cowards?! Advance, all of you! The war is not lost yet!” railed Shan Congwen.

“Yes, Marshal!”

…

On the gate tower.

Ling Zhang was watching the vast sheets of dust and the sea of troops in the distance, his twenty-four bodyguards standing beside him. They could faintly hear the beat of war drums and the battle cries, and could feel the slight quaking of the ground, but what with the long distance, they were unable to see how things were going on the battlefield.

He had promised Yuwen Tong that he would stay in the city waiting for him to come back, but he was unable to get anything done when staying in the infirmary, so eventually his father, rather resigned, had chucked him off and had him come to this gate tower.

Looking in the direction of the distant battleground, Ling Zhang clenched his fists, staring unblinkingly. Although he couldn’t tell which one of those countless figures was Yuwen Tong, he still didn’t want to blink his eyes for fear of missing anything.

After Yuwen Tong specially sent him into the city on that pretext, he had had Wang Dashan and the others keep watch on the other sides during the past few days. So far there hadn’t been any particular news from the encampment, and the day before Yuwen Tong had acted normally when he was in the city, so Ling Zhang couldn’t fathom out why Yuwen Tong had had him leave the encampment. Right now, apart from the situation on the battlefield, this matter also concerned him.

…

On the battleground.

The Wan Kingdom’s army, under attack from Yuwen Tong’s troops, suffered heavy casualties, losing ground steadily. Shan Congwen’s eyes were red with resentment, but there was nothing he could do.

“Your Highness, we’ve landed in Shao Feng’s trap. This is Yuwen Tong’s pre-planned subterfuge. As things stand, we won’t be able to last long. Are those killers Dong Gao planted in Yuwen Tong’s army still an option for us? If they manage to kill Yuwen Tong, maybe we could still save the day!” said the general who was by Shan Congwen’s side protecting him.

Gazing at Yuwen Tong’s figure in the distance, Shan Congwen responded through gritted teeth, “Dong Gao was the one who made those arrangements. He couldn’t have planted those killers in Yuwen Tong’s army without Shao Feng’s assistance. Given that Shao Feng double-crossed us, those killers probably have already been disposed of!”

“No matter what, we have to give it a try. Maybe General Dong did it without Shao Feng’s knowledge! We still have a chance!” maintained the general.

“But Dong Gao has been surrounded. How the hell are we supposed to make contact with him?!” raged Shan Congwen.

“Let’s shoot a signal flare and pray Dong Gao will see it!” suggested the general.

Shan Congwen gave it some thought and agreed, “Do it!”

Before long, a signal flare went off from the army of the Wan Kingdom, which rose into the sky and exploded into a cloud of blue smoke.

In the distance, Dong Gao who was trapped saw the flare and knew Shan Congwen was trying to send him a message. From the color of the smoke, he could faintly guess what Shan Congwen meant. However…

“What is Shan Congwen thinking? Does he not know that we’ve all been tricked by Shao Feng? He still thinks Shao Feng has really planted some killers in there for us?!”

Dong Gao was beside himself with rage, but considering the current circumstances, if he couldn’t figure something out to make a difference, not only Shan Congwen but also he and his whole army would meet their ends in this place. As a result, Dong Gao summoned a general of his and commanded him to take a small detachment of crack soldiers, figure out a way to approach Yuwen Tong and kill him.

“I’ll create an opportunity for you to make a breakthrough. Do whatever you can to kill Yuwen Tong!” bellowed Dong Gao.

At the cost of a large number of his men’s lives, Dong Gao managed to breach the encirclement of Jiang Xi’s troops and help a small group of crack soldiers, who had secretly changed out of their uniform, break through.

Although Jiang Xi promptly restored the encirclement, those who had made a breakthrough were pretty good at kung fu, and common soldiers couldn’t stop them. With their lightness skills, they zigzagged their way through the crowds.

“Archers! If any of them emerges from the crowd, shoot him!” commanded Jiang Xi.

The archers focused their attention on the targets in sight. At first they did shoot several of them to death, but the rest of the targets had wormed their way into the sea of troops. They were not wearing their original uniform, which made it very difficult to identify them. In addition, after infiltrating into the army of the Great Yue, they didn’t kill anybody and were just sneaking around. If the archers tried to shoot the targets, a lot of their comrade-in-arms would be killed by friendly fire.

Jiang Xi clenched his teeth in fury, fished out a signal flare and shot it into the sky.

This was a code they’d agreed on some time ago. Distantly, Yuwen Tong saw it, came to know what was happening and instructed an officer beside him, “Form up. Everybody stay alert.”

“Yes, Marshal!”

Since he had taken precautions already, there was no way he would fall for the enemies’ underhand methods. Shan Congwen and Dong Gao must die today, along with each and every single one of their troops! He had to wipe them out in one fell swoop, so that the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom wouldn’t dare invade again.

Chapter 335: The Death of Shan Congwen

Ling Zhang was standing on the gate tower, looking in the direction of the battlefield in the distance, his hand clasping the edge of the city wall. Just now his heart had suddenly raced for a few moments. He was not sure whether it was some kind of portent or not, but it made him feel a little perturbed.

“Brother Wang, I want to go to the battlefield,” said Ling Zhang.

Wang Dashan was taken aback. “Young Master, the battlefield is not only dangerous but also chaotic. There’s no telling what might happen there. If you get hurt, both the Marshal and your father will be very sad.”

Ling Zhang’s lips clamped tightly together. After a few instants’ silence, he said, “I suddenly feel somewhat disturbed. It concerns me. I have to go there and take a look. I’m okay with waiting at the front gates of the encampment outside the city first and not going onto the battlefield, but I can’t stay here any longer.”

“But Young Master!” Wang Dashan went anxious. “The Marshal said that you’re not to leave here. Also, your father is still in the city and he will definitely be very worried when he comes to know about your exiting the city.”

Ling Zhang said in a deep voice, “I know. I’ll keep myself safe. There’s no doubt that right now something is happening where Yuwen Tong is. I have to be there.”

He trusted his instincts. Considering the divine power contained in the Blood of the Phoenix Clan in him, maybe sometimes his hunches were prophetic. If he didn’t go there and something happened to Yuwen Tong, he would rue it to the end of his days.

“I’ve got to go right away. Please explain it to my father for me.”

After saying this, Ling Zhang spun around and made towards the staircase. When he had reached the city gates, he whistled and with that Snowflake the horse ran over from not far away. Ling Zhang mounted up and galloped towards the encampment outside the city.

All soldiers on guard duty at the city gates knew who he was and, naturally, none of them tried to stop him.

Seeing this, Wang Dashan and the others, without further ado, hastily got on their horses to follow Ling Zhang.

Ji Donglin, who was standing not far away, furrowed his brows at the sight of this scene, instructed a man to go back and inform Ling Zhaowu, then followed Ling Zhang out of the city with the other four men.

…

On the battleground.

Jiang Xi had failed to stop the group of soldiers and shot a signal flare. After seeing it, Yuwen Tong had had some of his men form up into a formation and on full alert.

But he wouldn’t have all his troops cluster around him just to help him defend against potential assassination. These invaders from the Wan Kingdom must die! Shan Congwen must die as well!

Gradually, the army of the Wan Kingdom were reduced to unorganized, dwindling groups of panic-stricken troops. Shan Congwen, guarded by some soldiers, kept backing away.

“Your Highness, we can’t continue fighting. Dong Gao still hasn’t broken out of the encirclement. Even if he breaks through, he wouldn’t have enough time to stop Yuwen Tong. For the sake of your safety, we have to retreat!” All officers around Shan Congwen were trying to convince him to give the order to retreat.

Shan Congwen was bitterly unreconciled to the situation, a murderous look on his face. Originally they could launch a surprise attack on this border city before the enemy knew it, and the Great Yue happened to be undergoing civil strife, which had seemed to be a godsend for them. As long as they managed to break into this border city of Youzhou, they might be able to advance straight south to the capital city! But unexpectedly, the border city of Youzhou had immediately reacted, shut the city gates, strengthened the defense and, against all odds, managed to stall them until Yuwen Tong’s arrival. Worse still, Yuwen Tong had got all his military powers back!

Why? The capital city of the Great Yue was clearly in turmoil. How come Yuwen Tong could spare the time?!

They had already advanced to the border city of Youzhou, but Yuwen Tong had inflicted several defeats on them consecutively, forcing them into backing away fifty miles, pushing this war between them and the Great Yue into a stalemate.

When that scout of the Luohai Kingdom had suddenly sent back a message, he had disbelieved it at first, but after they put out feelers several times, the scout’s responses had been beyond their expectations. In order to lure them into this trap, Yuwen Tong had actually gone to such great lengths as to play along with their plan! And then there was also that Shao Feng guy!

Shan Congwen was full of hate. He hated himself, because he had clearly been suspicious of it and fully aware of what kind of person Yuwen Tong was, but when Dong Gao had dared him to make his move, he had still failed to retain his senses and succumbed to the prospect of defeating Yuwen Tong immediately, which was why he carelessly fell victim to Yuwen Tong’s scheme and was reduced to retreating helter-skelter!

“Shan Congwen, why are you hiding among your solders like a coward? Are you scared of me? I always knew you were nothing but a wimp. Even if your big brother put you in command of all his troops, you wouldn’t be able to achieve anything big. Right now, faced with me, you must’ve wet your pants and are considering fleeing with your tail between your legs!”

Yuwen Tong’s loud, sarcastic comments were heard by the whole army of the Wan Kingdom. Shan Congwen, who was retreating under the protection of his troops, suddenly paused. Gripping the reins with all his might, he jerked his head around, his eyes flashing in the direction of Yuwen Tong galloping towards him, clenching his teeth so hard that his gums were bleeding. “YUWEN TONG!” he bellowed.

“Your Highness!” The one beside him went anxious. “Don’t fall for Yuwen Tong’s trick. We need to leave before it’s too late!”

If Shan Congwen still had his senses, he would know that what he should do at this point was flee as quick as possible, but he had lost his marbles. Those words of Yuwen Tong’s were like a knife through his heart. He was overwhelmed by rage and almost vomited blood.

“The Wan Kingdom is my defeated opponent. You should have stayed at home instead of coming here to bark like a dog. However, you not only barked but also fled with your tail between your legs. Are you not afraid you’ll become the laughing stock of the whole world if word gets out?!”

Yuwen Tong’s voice was heard again and with that Shan Congwen heavily turned his horse around, staring squarely at Yuwen Tong. The one beside him tried to stop him but wasn’t quick enough. He helplessly watched Shan Congwen turn around to face Yuwen Tong, as though intending to charge at him and fight to the death.

“YOUR HIGHNESS! NO!”

“GO, GO, GO! PROTECT HIS HIGHNESS!”

Shan Congwen stared at Yuwen Tong, the deepest hatred in his eyes. “Cut the shit, Yuwen Tong! Today I’ll fight you to the last breath! Listen to me, soldiers and officers of the Wan Kingdom! Yuwen Tong is the biggest foe of our country. Countless brothers of ours died at his hands. Today none of us is to retreat. Together, we’ll avenge the deaths of our brothers or die trying!”

The army of the Wan Kingdom were losing ground steadily and there weren’t many surviving solders left. All of them knew in their hearts that they had lost the fight, and the only thing they could think of right now was to save their skins. After hearing Shan Congwen’s words, they hesitated, neither continuing to retreat nor advancing.

Shan Congwen’s eyes coldly swept across the faces of those around him. “What are you waiting for? Are you not men of the Wan Kingdom but a bunch of cowards who don’t have the backbone to die for your country?!”

Maybe because these words produced the desired effect, the rest of the soldiers gathered behind their commander one after another.

“Advance! Kill all people of the Great Yue! Kill Yuwen Tong!” bellowed Shan Congwen.

“Your Highness!” said his henchman anxiously. “Your Highness, stop being stubborn and retreat immediately. I’ll take some men and hold them back. You and the others should re–”

The man abruptly broke off in the middle of a sentence, because Shan Congwen suddenly whipped out his saber and slit the man’s throat with a lateral slash. “Anyone who utters a single word about retreating dies where he stands!”

Everybody else’s insides went cold at the sight of this and nobody dared say anything. With a murderous look on his face, Shan Congwen raised his saber and bawled, “Everybody advance!”

In the distance, Yuwen Tong sneered, “Only cowards lag behind!”

All the surviving soldiers of the Wan Kingdom charged at the army of the Great Yue. Eyeing Shan Congwen frostily, Yuwen Tong said, “Shan Congwen is mine.”

“Marshal?!” The general beside Yuwen Tong was startled, but Yuwen Tong had already smacked his hands down onto his saddle and took a flying leap, swooshing towards Shan Congwen like a roc.

Shan Congwen was taken aback. “Shoot him! Hurry!”

Panic-stricken, the archers fired arrows at him repeatedly, but none of them hit the target. The arrows either missed him or were deflected by him.

“You do have some balls, Shan Congwen. I’ll give you that. And your reward for not being a wuss is for me to personally take your head on this day,” said Yuwen Tong, landing on the top of a Wan-Kingdom soldier’s head.

Shan Congwen’s face twisted in fury. “Yuwen Tong, I swear to God I’ll kill you today!”

After saying this, he raised his saber and galloped towards Yuwen Tong. Yuwen Tong leaped upwards, spinning, wielded his long knife and, with a gleam, ferociously gave a slash, generating a powerful blade of internal energy which instantaneously took the lives of several Wan-Kingdom soldiers, leaving a deep, wide crack in the ground. Shan Congwen failed to rein in his horse in time and the forelegs of his horse were caught in the crack, causing the horse to topple forward. Taken aback, Shan Congwen hastily jumped off his horse. He had some kung fu, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Yuwen Tong’s.

Yuwen Tong landed on the ground and slashed at Shan Congwen with his long knife. Shan Congwen hurriedly dodged it, pulling a saber out of a body beside him, and then adopted a fighting stance, holding a saber in each hand with the points facing backwards, staring fixedly at Yuwen Tong.

“Two sabers?” said Yuwen Tong flintily. “It surprises me that you have some acquaintance with saberplay, King Ming’en.”

Shan Congwen blustered through gritted teeth, “My saberplay is more than enough for me to take your life.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he charged forward. Yuwen Tong’s face went grave and with that he also made his move, brandishing his long knife.

Troops of the two opposing sides, as though by some tacit agreement, stayed out of the fighting between their commander-in-chiefs, but fought tooth and nail against each other.

Clashes of sabers were heard constantly, each accompanied by a shower of sparks, which showed how intense the fighting between the two of them was. It turned out that Shan Congwen had been keeping his proficiency in kung fu a secret all along. His saberplay was pretty good, but what with his average internal energy, he was not at all a match for Yuwen Tong who had very powerful internal energy. There were several occasions when his sabers were almost sent flying from his hands by Yuwen Tong’s sword, and he was forced into backing away one step after another.

Yuwen Tong, who had no intention to spare Shan Congwen’s life, naturally was attacking without mercy. Shan Congwen knew that he would surely be dead if he didn’t go all out, so he was also attacking madly with gritted teeth.

But no matter how hard Shan Congwen tried, he still couldn’t get the better of Yuwen Tong. After they exchanged dozens of blows, the saber in his left hand was first broken and then sent flying. He had only one saber left and was showing signs of exhaustion that he couldn’t concealed, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth, which was a symptom of injured internal organs.

“Yuwen Tong, even if I die here today, some day my brother will avenge my death!” bellowed Shan Congwen.

Yuwen Tong looked at him flintily. “I’m not sure whether or not I’ll let him live long enough to do that!”

After saying this, he intensified his attack, forced his opponent into backing away several paces and snapped Shan Congwen’s other saber. Finally, Shan Congwen uncontrollably spat out a big mouthful of blood, his face ashen and lifeless, barely having enough strength to dodge Yuwen Tong’s blows.

“Yuwen Tong, one day troops of the Wan Kingdom will flatten every inch of the Great Yue and take everything!” yelled Shan Congwen in the knowledge that his death was certain, unreconciled to his defeat, spitting out another mouthful of blood. Then he failed to dodge Yuwen Tong’s long knife, which hit him hard on the back, a violent surge of internal energy rampaging from the flat of the long knife into his vital organs, shattering them. Shan Congwen was sent flying sideways before landing on the ground, unable to stand up again.

“Brother, brother…” Shan Congwen abruptly puked up another big mouthful of blood and placed his hands upon the ground to push himself on to his knees but to no avail. Drained of energy, he thudded to the ground. “You must avenge me…” he trailed off.

“Your Highness!” At the sight of Shan Congwen’s death, soldiers of the Wan Kingdom were devastatingly demoralized and soon clobbered.

Chapter 336: The Defeat of the Luohai Kingdom and the Resolution of the Crisis

With Shan Congwen’s death, the morale of the Wan Kingdom’s troops thoroughly collapsed and they were soon trounced by the army of the Great Yue.

Yuwen Tong was walking through a crowd of soldiers, and Yao Yi was hurrying towards him, followed by a group of men. All of a sudden, the situation took a turn for the dangerous.

“Watch out, Marshal!”

Several men in black appeared out of nowhere and came at Yuwen Tong from different directions with sabers in their hands.

Eyes going cold, Yuwen Tong did a twirl like greased lightning, brandishing his long knife, generating an elemental outward wave of internal energy which deflected the couple of sabers and at the same time forced away all soldiers within a several-dozen-meter radius around him.

The four black figures flew at him once again. The expressions in these people’s eyes were obviously different from those of common solders. They were apathetic and ruthless and were aiming to kill with their every blow, and they didn’t seem to care about their own lives at all, as though determined to achieve their ultimate goal of taking Yuwen Tong’s life at all costs. These people were neither solders nor common kung fu experts. They were professional killers who would stop at nothing to get the job done.

Yuwen Tong could tell at a glance what these four men were capable of. The reason why he had used his long knife to force the others away from him was because he didn’t want any innocent soldiers to get trapped in this ring of encirclement. Then he heavily stuck his long knife into the ground, causing a violent quake with his powerful internal energy, throwing the four killers backwards once again. While they were uncontrollably backing off, Yuwen Tong gave his long knife a kick, which was sent rotating and shooting towards one of the killers. Meanwhile, Yuwen Tong launched himself forward, grabbed the hilt of the long knife, gave a downward slash and with that the blade went into that man’s shoulder!

When the long knife approached him, the man was moving backwards and, unable to dodge the blow, he had no alternative but to raise his saber and swing it at Yuwen Tong’s long knife. However, his countenance changed drastically as he felt the dauntingly potent internal energy spreading from the knife. His saber was snapped in two and he himself received a downward slash from Yuwen Tong and died of the grievous wound on the spot.

A companion dead, the three surviving killers were evidently much more cautious, their attacks growing quicker and more callous. They were not scared of Yuwen Tong’s long knife, and neither was any of them afraid of death. All they wanted was to deliver a lethal blow to Yuwen Tong. Faced with this kind of suicidal fighting style, Yuwen Tong, naturally, wouldn’t let any of them get close to him. Fortunately, his weapon was a long knife, and when he brandished it, an airtight shield of internal energy was formed, keeping the three killers from closing in on him.

At this moment, Yao Yi and some others had hurried over and joined the fight.

The three killers’ kung fu skills were pretty good, which showed that they were top-notch professionals hired at high prices, but there was not much they could do when the opponent was Yuwen Tong. In addition, Yao Yi and some others had arrived in time. Under their concerted attack, all the three killers were disposed of.

“WATCH OUT!”

As the last killer was seriously wounded and the crisis was about to be resolved, an urgent voice came from rear of flank and at the same time a long knife was heavily hurled over!

CLANK!

An almighty clang was heard.

An arrow was violently parried by a saber thrown from a distance. The sharp arrowhead hit the flat of the saber, making a harsh scraping sound.

Yuwen Tong jerked his head around just in time to see the saber deflect the arrow, and then he caught sight of a Luohai archer sitting on the back of a tall horse far away, who was staring at him coldly. Meanwhile, the second arrow had been fired, heading squarely for his heart.

“MARSHAL!” Yao Yi yelled.

Yuwen Tong’s eyes fell cold and he wielded his long knife and fended off that arrow. “Yao Yi, parry his arrows,” he instructed.

Yao Yi finished off the killer with a cut and then turned around to deflect the arrows shot from the distance with the others. Yuwen Tong jabbed his long knife deep into the ground, conveniently took the bow and the quiver of arrows from a dead archer lying on the ground, and then fixed the Luohai archer in the distance with a glacial stare.

“Marshal, he’s that marksman of the Luohai Kingdom,” said Yao Yi anxiously.

Gazing in the direction of that archer, Yuwen Tong said flintily, “Stand still.”

Yao Yi and the others, though confused, subconsciously braced themselves by adopting the Horse Stance. Then Yao Yi felt a gust of wind soar up behind him and with that someone stepped onto his shoulders and almost at the same time fired three arrows in rapid succession, all of which whizzed towards that Luohai archer with unstoppable momentum at an amazingly great speed!

The Luohai archer gave a start and abruptly tried to dodge. However, he had just sidestepped the first arrow when the second and the third ones arrived, leaving him no time to dodge. There arrows were far faster then he had expected!

“ARGH!” An anguished cry issued from the distance. Two of his vital parts pierced by the two arrows, that crack shot of the Luohai Kingdom breathed his last and fell off from his horse.

Twirling in mid-air, Yuwen Tong shot all the arrows in the quiver before he landed on the ground. His last arrow was aimed at Dong Gao, the general-in-chief of the Luohai Kingdom who was in the farthest part of the battlefield.

Dong Gao was besieged and still unable to extricate himself from the ingenious formation of the Great Yue’s army, not a shred of pride or arrogance on his face. At this moment, an arrow whizzed over from the distance, ripped into his back and through his chest. It all happened in an instant and he didn’t have the time to react at all.

“Who…did…this…” Dong Gao started from head to foot, looking incredulously at the arrowhead protruding from his chest which was bleeding profusely, his eyes growing unfocused. Even in the last moment before his death, he still wondered who was the one that fired this arrow which claimed his life.

On seeing that Dong Gao was hit by his arrow, Yuwen Tong coldly shouted, “Dong Gao, the general-in-chief of the Luohai Kingdom, is now dead. Kill all the others.”

His icy voice resonated through the whole battleground. The morale of the Great Yue’s troops were boosted and they started to steamroller their way to victory. The army of the Luohai Kingdom, which didn’t have many surviving soldiers, were demoralized to such a degree as though they’d been reduced to puppets abandoned by the puppeteer, and it didn’t take a genius to know how they would end up.

After landing on the ground, Yuwen Tong tossed the bow back to the body of its original owner, pulled his long knife out of the ground and looked in the direction of a blue-robed figure standing in the distance, his icy eyes instantly becoming so fervent as though they were as hot as the noon sun. Staring fixedly at that person, he made towards him.

It was Ling Zhang who was standing in the distance. After he had taken Wang Dashan and the others out of the city, they had made a beeline for the encampment, his anxiety deepening as he got closer to it. Eventually, heedless of his bodyguards’ efforts to dissuade him, he had insisted on going to the battlefield. By the time he had arrived, Shan Congwen had died, the army of the Wan Kingdom almost wiped out, that of the Luohai Kingdom ringed, battle cries filling the air on the battlefield strewn with corpses. His heart hammering, he had searched for Yuwen Tong constantly.

Wang Dashan and the others had also anxiously helped him look for Yuwen Tong. It had been only when the fight between Yuwen Tong and the four killers caused the ground to quake and his occasional upward leaps arrested their attention that they located Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang, after seeing Yuwen Tong safe and sound, had felt a sense of relief, intending to go to his help, but unexpectedly, he had just started walking and his feeling of relief hadn’t ebbed yet when his heart suddenly fluttered as though warning him something very bad was about to happen. He had subconsciously jerked his head aside to look in the direction of the source of his intense foreboding and seen a man in Luohai military uniform on a tall horse aiming his bow at Yuwen Tong in the distance. Having a very strong premonition that that person was the very reason for the unease that he’d been feeling all this time, Ling Zhang had unhesitatingly yelled, warning Yuwen Tong to be careful, and at the same time whipped out Wang Dashan’s saber, concentrated all his internal energy in his arm, leaped forward with all his might and then hurled the saber at the arrow that had just been fired.

Fortunately, he had successfully intercepted that arrow. After that, he had unblinkingly watched Yuwen Tong perform the series of subsequent actions, not daring to lower his guard for a split instant. It hadn’t been until that Luohai archer was shot to death and Yuwen Tong walked towards him with his eyes fixed on him that he abruptly heaved a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, he had just relaxed when he buckled at the knees and, not even having enough strength to remain standing, limply sank to the ground, as though drained of energy. Meanwhile, all his meridians were aching dully, and so was his Dantian.

“Young Master?”

“Young Master!”

Taken aback, Wang Dashan and the others hurriedly clustered around him. Qiu Bing quickly held Ling Zhang’s wrist to feel his pulse.

At this time, the countenance of Yuwen Tong who was in the distance also changed drastically and with that he took a flying leap forward, making a beeline for Ling Zhang like the wind. “Brother Zhang!”

On landing, Yuwen Tong caught sight of Ling Zhang who was pasty and feebly sitting on the ground. His insides did a horrible somersault and he tossed his long knife aside and pulled Ling Zhang into his embrace from Wang Dashan’s arms. “Brother Zhang! What happened to you?”

On seeing that Yuwen Tong didn’t look very well, in order to spare him the worry, Ling Zhang hurriedly replied, “I’m not dead, just a little exhausted.” However, his voice was rather weak, which concerned the others even further.

Qiu Bing’s brows were knitted as he said, “Young Master overused his internal energy by hurling the saber just now. It almost drained his Dantian of internal energy instantaneously. Right now he’s suffering from overfatigue, and some of his meridians were damaged as well. We need to get him back to the encampment and let him take a medicated bath as soon as possible.”

Yuwen Tong hastily scooped up Ling Zhang and said to Yao Yi and some others who had followed at his heels, “Brother Zhang is hurt. I’m bringing him back to the encampment. You are to cooperate with Jiang Xi and handle the rest of the Luohai troops.”

Yao Yi was startled. He didn’t know any details about Ling Zhang’s injury, but he could tell from the grave expression on Yuwen Tong’s face that the situation was serious, so he immediately answered, “Yes, Marshal. Please just take Childe Ling back right away.”

Shan Congwen was dead, and the Wan Kingdom had suffered a disastrous defeat, with their whole army annihilated. Dong Gao had also kicked the bucket, and the main force of the Luohai Kingdom was as good as exterminated. Even without Yuwen Tong directing the troops, Jiang Xi and the others could also handle the rest.Visit website ReadNovelFull.com

Carrying Ling Zhang in his arms, Yuwen Tong quickly returned to the encampment and streaked into the main tent.

Qiu Bing directly went to the infirmary to get required medicinal herbs. An hour later, the preparation for a medicated bath was finished. Yuwen Tong carried Ling Zhang into the “bathroom” that Jiang Xi had specially pitched for Ling Zhang. The bathing barrel in it had already been filled with medicated bathwater.

“It’s a little hot, but Young Master still needs to get in there straight away, because it’ll be useless when the water cools down. I’ll go and prepare some herbal medicine. When it’s ready, I’ll bring it here and let Young Master drink it,” said Qiu Bing.

Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “Go. Right now Xie Shi is on the battlefield. Tell him to come here to see me when he comes back.”

Qiu Bing nodded. “Okay.”

After saying this, Qiu Bing took his leave. Yuwen Tong undressed Ling Zhang and put him into the bathing barrel.

Ling Zhang gave a start from the scalding water, clenching his teeth, enduring it, some color back in his previously pallid cheeks because of the heat. He gasped in pain and said, “‘A little hot’? This is boiling! Qiu Bing is such a liar.”