Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The iron bow was right in front of Ning Que, and the mess all around the human world had already tightened the string. Just like what happened in the Wilderness, conflicts were everywhere and the battle could happen at any time. No one knew when the world would be destroyed.
A Da was a devout follower chosen by Sangsang and the most outstanding young power of Golden Tribe Royal Court, so he could sense the gaze of Ning Que who was standing on the city wall of Chang’an thousands of miles away. Hengmu Liren shared his experience, but he couldn’t sense Ning Que’s gaze, for Ning Que was not looking at him at this moment or for there was too much attention on him right now.
The sacred sedan was moving slowly on the street of Yangzhou City, with sacred music playing. The people of Qinghe Prefecture kneeled down on both sides of the street and looked at the sacred sedan ardently and humbly, for they were either pious or frightened. Hengmu was happy to see this.
Seeing the seven masters from the noble clans of Qinghe Prefecture behind the curtain and thinking about the conversation he had with them before, Hengmu couldn’t help but smile grimly and thought that these ants were not worth worrying about.
No matter what you are thinking, there is no need to continue thinking, because the Divine Halls will help you think. What you need to do is to carry out the will of Haotian.
This was the only thing that Hengmu Liren had said to the seven masters previously, and he waved these people away like they were ants. Then he walked towards the outside of Yangzhou City under the guards of dozens of divine priests and more papal cavalrymen of the West-Hill.
He led the mighty navy of South Jin and the powerful papal cavalrymen of the West-Hill to Qinghe Prefecture which was soon re-stabilized under his undisguised contempt and killing intent. Due to the manhunt of the deacons of the Divine Halls, those young people who were hidden in the dark and prepared to cooperate with the Tang people had either died or fled away.
At this point, his sacred sedan left Yangzhou City and headed for the north. Chang’an was in that direction.
Chong Ming was also looking at Chang’an, but from a different direction. Chang’an was in the west of Chengjing City, which was the direction that the sun went down.
He was no longer the Prince Chong Ming who had been a hostage in Chang’an for ten years, but the emperor of the Yan Kingdom. But his feelings for the city didn’t change a bit. No nostalgia, no regrets, but only incomparable disgust and fear.
The Palace of the Yan Kingdom, which was destroyed by the army of Great Tang several years ago, was being rebuilt, and the budget came from war reparations paid by the Great Tang. At this point, the capital of Yan Kingdom was thriving, and all people, from officials to normal citizens, were all extremely proud.
But he was still afraid. After living in Chang’an for so many years, Chong Ming knew clearly how powerful the Great Tang was and also that the Tang people never forgot their hatred. Besides, he knew what Li Yu was thinking.
He knew more clearly that Yan Kingdom wouldn’t stand a chance of warding off the cavalry of Great Tang if the Tang could ever catch a breath. The newly rebuilt palace behind him would fall into ruins in a short time, and Li Yu would definitely seek her revenge.
Three years ago, the Tang re-established the Northeast Battlefront Army and still placed the General’s Mansion in Tuyang City. Everything seemed to be the same as the past, but Chong Ming knew that the only mission of the new Northeast Battlefront Army was to destroy the Yan Kingdom.
Chong Ming never dreamed that he could stand up to the army of Great Tang relying on the weak strength of his own country, but pinning all of his hopes on the Divine Halls of West-Hill and his brother.
For this reason, he firmly carried out the orders of the Divine Halls of West-Hill despite the opposition of the domestic subjects, and continued to send provisions he had extorted from his own people to the Wilderness and to the nobles of Left Royal Court who had been enemies of Yan Kingdom for generations.
If only the cavalry of the Left Royal Court could become stronger would they be able to defeat the Wild Kingdom in the north and help Yan Kingdom ward off the Tang if the war were to break out.
Chong Ming had expected that Left Royal Court could at least help Yan Kingdom deal with the Wild Kingdom after his country and he had sacrificed so much. But the situation surprised him.
How? How did the Wild Kingdom survive to this day after being defeated by allied forces of the Divine Halls and even become more powerful?
The question plagued the Yan Kingdom and also alerted the Divine Halls. But the mystery would soon be unveiled as more and more information was being sent back from the Wilderness.
There was a specter. The specter was haunting the Wilderness. The specter was petite, but as horrible as a devil. Even the blizzard and sandstorm couldn’t stop the specter.
The most powerful priest of the Left Royal Court died by the Crescent Moon Sea two years ago, and then several priests also died mysteriously. At this point, there were no priests who dared to walk out of the territory of Left Royal Court.
Every once in a while, there would be a horrible message that a cavalry squad was wiped out in the depths of the grassland, or that a power in the army was cutting into pieces.
People on the grassland kept dying, including those who were sent by the Divine Halls of West-Hill to perform the rescue mission. And even the degenerate commanders Long Qing brought to the Royal Court couldn’t survive the curse of the specter.
At this moment, no one had ever seen the true face of the specter, but the Divine Halls of West-Hill and all the countries already knew who she was.
She was a devil. Although she was petite, she was undoubtedly the most frightening and coldest devil in the human world. She was not afraid of killing, and she killed people like she was mowing.
Her name was Yu Lian, or Lin Wu. She was Ms. Third of the Academy. And she also had a more famous and frightening title, Master of Devil’s Doctrine and the most mysterious Twenty-Three-Year Cicada in the cultivation world.
Even though many powers popped out after that spring rain, no one believed that one cultivator could change the outcome of a war.
People gradually realized that this kind of thing really happened after Yu Lian started to kill people in the Wilderness and wiped out hundreds of powerful Taoists within a few years.
This was a chilling situation.
Chong Ming felt cold and tightened his collar subconsciously. Turning his eyes away from Chang’an, Chong Ming looked deep into the Wilderness and found himself feeling colder.
There was a frozen wind coming from the Wilderness, mixed with a strong smell of blood.
…
…
Snow was falling in the depths of the west of the Wilderness. The snowflakes came from the grey clouds and fell on the ground, gradually covering the messy footprints.
Countless footprints of horses and of human beings spread forward in the Wilderness, and the sound of stepping on the snow seemed to tear the clouds apart.
Under the request of the Xuankong temple, Chanyu of the Right Royal Court ordered his tribes to give everything they had and formed an expedition composed of tens of thousands of cavalrymen as reinforcement.
The Buddhist monks who used to ignore the affairs in the human world were seeking help from the ordinary followers at this point, which was very pathetic. However, those tens of thousands of cavalrymen might die in the cold wind and snow. Who would feel sad for them?
Some of the snowflakes fell on the ground in the Wilderness, while others fell below the ground where the dark Giant Sinkhole was located.
It was daytime and the snow reflected the light, so there should be light. But the Giant Sinkhole was darker than ever at this moment, and everything down there was blurred.
That was because the wilderness of the underground world was burning. The highland barley field was ignited, and so were the woods by the steam, the waterwheel outside the golden pit, the nobles’ tents. And an inconspicuous temple under the Prajna Peak was gradually falling apart in the blazing flame.
A single spark could start a prairie fire. The serf uprising in the underground world that started several years ago had finally spread to all tribes and could no longer be extinguished.
Beacon-fires were everywhere in the Buddha Land, bringing hot temperatures and dirty black smoke, destroying the gorgeous gold vessels, and covering the divine yellow temples among the mountain peaks.
The sound of killing echoed around the Wilderness, overwhelming the devout chanting and the call of the morning bells.
The beacon-fires and killing sounds had not yet affected the Giant Peak turned by the body of Buddha. The monks in the mountains were desperate and then ordered the Right Royal Court to reinforce at top speed.
The most important reason for this was that the specter was wandering around the underground world. The specter was the shadow of the iron sword and never stopped traveling between dirtiness and holiness.
Jun Mo was fighting. He was horribly injured, but he did not stop swinging the iron sword for a moment. He had kept fighting nonstop for a few years. He would not leave before tearing the Light of Buddha apart and leading people out of hell.
…
…
The capital of Song Kingdom was adjacent to the sea. It was still warm in the early winter, and the snow would melt while falling from the sky, hardly attracting people’s attention.
Like the man who was preaching in front of the square, he wore an ordinary robe and held a West-Hill literary canon, looking like an ordinary priest.
But what he preached was quite different from what other priests of the Divine Halls of West-Hill would say.
Ye Su looked at the crowded followers and said, “Everyone is guilty and commits different sins, so does it mean that we need to atone?”
“If we want to atone for your sins, should we pin our hopes on the Divine Kingdom or ourselves? The Great Haotian will naturally respond to our call, but what have we done?”
“Don’t say that you can’t do anything, and don’t think that it’s impossible to change the world. The world is made up of countless ordinary people. As long as people are able to change themselves, the world will change too.”
“We are witnessing that one person could change the outcome of a war and that one person could rectify the injustice which had lasted for tens of thousands of years. Then why can’t we change ourselves and change the world?”
