Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Shangguan Ru glanced back as she was riding away and happened to see the roc fall from the sky. Even from afar, it was still a magnificent sight to behold.
‘It’s really an ominous sign that my father killed the two rocs,’ she thought. And she had actually been the instigator behind it. Now, she had really became the ‘accomplice’ behind the destruction of Golden Roc Castle.
A deep sense of predestination filled her, which diluted her melancholy that came from parting ways and her uncertainty towards the future. At that moment, she thought that the Dragon King’s decision really was wise and that the secluded Land of Fragrance was the best place for her to rest.
Red Bat. who was riding side by side with the instructor, complained, “Why was the Dragon King so anxious to send us away? Does he think that the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance cannot fight?”
Shangguan Ru smiled. She had experienced so much betrayal that she sometimes neglected the shows of loyalty around her. “The Norland is in chaos now and the Western Regions will also soon become a dangerous place. The Dragon King is hoping that we can return to the Land of Fragrance while the journey is still safe.”
Red Bat’s eyes lit up. “And then we’ll march out and join hands with the Dragon King to flank and conquer Golden Roc Castle, right?”
“Maybe.” Shangguan Ru knew that that scenario was almost impossible.
Red Bat, who had just regained her power, was eager to fight. “Maybe we can fight against Golden Roc Castle when we pass through the Thousand Horsemen Pass. And we won’t be afraid even if there are only a thousand of us.”
Shangguan Ru shook her head and said, “The Dragon King has kept Third Brother with him and ordered the golden roc killers to go with us. He’s actually threatening Golden Roc Castle through these measures, so there will be no fighting.”
Red Bat had gotten used to the idea that Golden Roc Castle was an enemy and always forgot that the instructor was actually the Unique King’s daughter. It took her a while to realize that ‘Third Brother’ was actually referring to Shangguan Yun. Then she fell silent and thought that she might have accidentally said something wrong.
Shangguan Ru slightly bent over and glanced at Red Bat, then consoled, “Just rest assured. I’ll let you be the messenger, and you’ll always have the chance to see that Big Snow Mountain swordsman again.”
Red Bat blushed, raised her head and said with pride, “He doesn’t want to betray his wife in the Big Snow Mountain. So I told him that I would wait for him even if I were seventy or eighty years old.”
Red Bat was usually very bold, but what she said still surprised Shangguan Ru. “Long Fanyun is a good man.”
“I know,” Red Bat smilingly replied.
There were signs of a commotion coming from the front of the troops in the distance, but it was not indicative of a battle. Shangguan Ru turned the horse’s head and continued on her way. Although the future remained murky, she did not want to just wait here passively.
A few carriages ahead, Queen Ju dropped the curtain. The ‘Queen’ of the Land of Fragrance had also left the Norland, which made her feel a bit relieved, but not yet completely at ease.
Xu Yanwei complained in a low voice, “The Dragon King is so heartless that he didn’t even send us off. It’s as if we are all burdens and can be driven away whenever he desires it.”
“The Dragon King is not as heartless as you say,” Queen Ju said as she leaned against the pillow. She hated this boring journey. This was the second time that she returned to her homeland from afar, but this time she had quite a different mindset. She had been a puppet the first time, and the only thing she possessed was her bloodline. This time, she was still a puppet but she had gained a possibility of obtaining some real power.
Although they were not yet out of sight, none of the women were able to influence the Dragon King anymore.
Gu Shenwei had planned to defeat the Court Attendants Army step by step, but the process was dramatically sped up since an opportunity had come ahead of time. It was a big risk. If the shamans were more experienced or the soldiers more defiant, he would have suffered a crushing defeat.
But the 100,000 horsemen of the Court Attendants Army had laid down their bows and arrows and bowed to the Dragon King and the red-crowned roc.
The roc had grown taller compared to last time, the feathers on top of its head and its eyes had become a dazzlingly red, and the feathers all over its body now glowed black in the sunlight.
This was an incredible creature; it was dignified, proud, and awe-inspiring, but not like a devil in any sense.
The forty or so swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain knelt down on one leg in front of it like they were paying their respects to a king.
The roc seemed to still remember these people. It jumped over the Great Shaman’s head and shook its head hard to accept the worship before it jumped to the Dragon King and folded its wings.
Instead of pecking Gu Shenwei carelessly as it did when it was little, it gently rubbed its sharp beak on the man’s shoulder.
Gu Shenwei drew his saber and pointed at the Great Shaman who had collapsed on the ground by now, then said, “Now you can clearly see his true face. This is the divine punishment for abusing the Khan’s title.”
The Great Shaman broke down. “Please spare my life. I’m a liar and I’ve never received any decree from the Khan. It’s her, it’s all because of her…”
Gu Shenwei winked, and Long Fanyun immediately pressed down upon the Great Shaman with several swordsmen and turned him into a prisoner.
Shulitu arrived with several officers and stared at the red-crowned roc in amazement, but he dared not get too close to it.
Gu Shenwei loudly said, “The old Khan has ascended to heaven but the new Khan has not ascended to his throne yet. Thus, the Court Attendants Army has no lord to serve at the moment. I present to you now the great-grandson of the Khan who has already inherited the titles of King Riying, King Riyao, and King Kuari. All of you shall pledge loyalty to him.”
The response of the Court Attendants Army was a whistling sound. It slowly grew from weak to strong and from low to high, which sounded a bit frightening but was actually Norland Cavalry’s way of expressing their approval.
Shulitu was still in shock, but he knew what to do. He jumped off of his restless horse and walked slowly towards the red-crowned roc, approaching that alluring but dangerous source of power.
The red-crowned roc coldly stared at the little man walking towards it.
Even Gu Shenwei could not order it to do or not do anything. During its stay at Big Snow Mountain, it had learned to live in harmony with humans and had rarely injured anyone since then. However, it had never once lowered its vigilance towards human beings.
When he walked within ten paces of the roc, Shulitu felt a strong hostility lock onto him. It was like as if there was an invisible wall which made it hard for him to take even a single step forward. He slowly took off his helmet and saber, and then carefully placed them on the ground before he steeled his heart and continued moving forward.
The hostility disappeared. The red-crowned roc looked away and started grooming its feathers with its long sharp beak, occasionally patting Gu Shenwei’s back with its wings as if it were testing how strong he was.
It was true that not many people could bear its pats.
Not daring to stand too close to the roc, Shulitu stood besides the Dragon King and raised his right arm to accept the protection of the divine bird and share in its power.
The whistling of the Court Attendants Army became more and more intense. The roc raised its head and suddenly flapped its wings and shot into the sky, circling the area at a low altitude before returning to Gu Shenwei’s side.
The two opposing armies roared at the same time.
By the time Gu Shenwei had put everything in order, the female soldiers were long gone.
The red-crowned roc received special treatment. As it jumped and walked awkwardly into the camp, a swarm of people knelt and kowtowed to it. Old Man Mu tried to stroke its feathers casually, but was pushed back dozens of paces by a single flap of its wings. Since then, no one dared to approach within ten paces of it.
It wasn’t as tall and big as the legends told but after seeing it, nobody, from the generals to the servants, believed that it was a devil bird that had come to destroy the prairie.
The Dragon King’s reputation in the Prairie had peaked. He had finally found a foothold in this strange land and felt a sense of security, which used to come from the thousands of swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain.
Fang Wenshi didn’t agree with the Dragon King’s risky move at all, but he was more excited than anyone else about the great victory that the Dragon King had just won. “The Divine Bird appeared at just the right time. The Dragon King must have arranged everything beforehand, right? Hehe, but if this kind of situation is to occur again in the future, could you let me know in advance…”
The counselor was also the first to calm his excitement and offer sober advice to the Dragon King. The two then quickly issued a series of orders under Shulitu’s name. With the Court Attendants Army joining them, the power balance of the Royal Court had been completely broken, and they had to take advantage of the opportunity to destroy their enemies as soon as possible.
Shulitu watched from nearby, rarely interrupting. He was starting to take the Dragon King seriously, hoping to learn something from this foreigner. Even if certain orders seemed unnecessary to him, Shulitu did not express an opinion and instead carefully considered the reasons behind them.
Gradually, he came to understand the Dragon King and the Counselor’s intentions, and it caused him to suddenly shudder
‘My father may not have done this,’ Shulitu thought as he made a comparison in his heart. ‘But my grandpas would have probably done the same thing as the Dragon King.’ He wasn’t familiar with his great-grandfather, the Khan. But if the rumors were true, then the Khan was even more ruthless than the Dragon King.
The orders were carried out one by one. Fang Wenshi took his leave, though Gu Shenwei was still standing in front of the table, staring at a simple map. All of a sudden, he raised his head and said to his puppet, “What do you want to say?”
Unlike his grandad and grandpa, the Dragon King always encouraged those around him to speak up even though he himself was a man of few words. Shulitu, who was not used to it, awkwardly looked down at his knees, “I wonder if there’s a better way to deal with the hundred thousand Court Attendants.”
“You have an idea?”
Shulitu shook his head and said, “My grandad and grandpa once told me that it was acceptable for subordinates to make mistakes and behave disrespectfully and unruly, but resistance was never allowed. That was a bottom line, and the line would become meaningless if transgressors were not punished properly.”
He paused for a while as he suddenly felt that he wasn’t qualified to preach to the Dragon King. Instead, Gu Shenwei praised him, saying, “King Rizhu was quite skillful at commanding his soldiers. Amongst all the kings, his subordinates were the most faithful.”
Shulitu revealed a rare smile. “But I was thinking that since the Dragon King has the roc and also has a high prestige among the soldiers, he might create a miracle.”
“There are no miracles in this world,” Gu Shenwei patiently explained to the young puppet, believing that the other side would one day become an ally who could act on his own. “I didn’t expect the roc to really answer my call. I wasn’t even sure if it was really in the Royal Court. That was just a surprise, not a miracle. The soldiers felt overwhelmed and didn’t know who they should fight for. They needed instruction from Heaven’s Will, so I gave them the Will of Heaven.”
“Like the Great Shaman?”
“Hmm, similar. But I think I did it better than him.”
Shulitu smiled. “Much better. Compared to the Dragon King, the Great Shaman was like a crown who could barely juggle.”
“If possible, I hope to never use such tactics. But when things come to a head, it’s no longer up to me.”
Shulitu understood that that was it. “So the 100,000 Court Attendants must be destroyed.”
“Yes.”
One hundred thousand people! Shulitu’s heart trembled at the thought.
Gu Shenwei was not as calm as he looked. He had never decided the fate of so many people before.
