Book 11: Chapter 19: Don't Make Us Die For Nothing
Book 11: Chapter 19: Don’t Make Us Die For Nothing
Those who achieved enough military contributions to become a major fourth ranked high ranking military officer in the border army had already experienced who knew how many battles. Their wills were long sharpened to the point of becoming sturdy like steel.
In the entire Thousand Sunset Border Region, there was only one person who could make Chen Gong, this type of border army commander’s heart tremble.
This person was Wenren Cangyue.
The only one who could immediately release a mountainous pressure, was naturally only Wenren Cangyue as well.
This meant that right now, that Great Mang leader who was dressed in demonic god like armor, was only someone whose appearance looked similar to Wenren Cangyue.
The true Wenren Cangyue already secretly rendezvoused with a Great Mang army, arriving here!
When Yunqin royal court’s people had just begun to feel that Wenren Cangyue would lead an army to attack Thousand Sunset Mountains and cross over, Wenren Cangyue himself had long already completed all preparations to cross over Thousand Sunset Mountains!
The instant Chen Gong’s eyes met Wenren Cangyue’s, Chen Gong immediately understood many things, and also thought of many extremely terrifying consequences.
In this instant, in front of Wenren Cangyue’s body, a streak of sword radiance already flew out.
This streak of sword radiance was just like a silver meteor that burned with black and red flames. In the amount of time normal cultivators couldn’t react to at all, it charged viciously, blasting more than ten Yunqin black-armored soldiers between the two of them to muddled flesh and blood, instantly arriving in front of Chen Gong.
Chen Gong was also a powerful cultivator. He already saw this sword’s trajectory clearly. In the instant of despair and terrifying consequences he felt towards the other party’s strategy, the golden runes of the green long blade he drew suddenly shone. A brightly colored fierce tiger rushed out from this blade.
His blade hacked into the incoming flying sword with incredible accuracy, yet he couldn’t stop this flying sword in the slightest.
With a crack noise, his shoulder’s bones first shattered. Then, the flying sword pressed against his longsword, continuing forward, crushing down on his body like a mountain.
Chen Gong flew out, many cracks appearing on his body. This didn’t seem like the strike of a flying sword, but rather like instantly being hacked at by over a hundred swords at the same time.
Under this type of injury, Chen Gong naturally had no chance of living.
However, because this unforeseen event was too sudden, the amount of time that passed too short, when Thousand Leaf Pass’ highest ranked officer was struck down by a single sword, his body falling heavily to the ground, all of these Yunqin’s soldiers still didn’t react yet.
When the close to thousand membered ‘ruined army’ suddenly changed their auras, releasing low roars like wild beasts, Wenren Cangyue’s flying sword continued forward, sending the officers behind Chen Gong flying as well, only then did most of Thousand Leaf Pass’ soldiers react. Only then did an officer, through this flying sword’s domineering might, understand who this person was.
Countless miserable shouts sounded.
Sorrow, anger and collapse, these auras instantly suffused this entire city pass.
“Meteor Crossbows!”
The eye sockets of a Yunqin high ranking military officer were about to split as he screamed out this military order with everything he had.
Thousand Leaf Pass was an important checkpoint in Thousand Sunset Mountain. Behind it were several important Yunqin border routes. Originally, there were twenty thousand troops stationed here, but after most of Thousand Sunset Border Army’s troops were transferred to the southern war, even though there were only eight thousand soldiers left here, the reason why Yunqin Empire’s might intimidated the world was because of Yunqin’s heavy armors and powerful military equipment.
There were a hundred sets of Stone Catapult Carts that were permanently fixed to Thousand Leaf Pass. Outside the city gate, there were three hundred crossbows, as well as more than seventy cave towers that were equipped with Meteor Crossbows.
Permanently fixed city guarding crossbows didn’t have to worry about the issue of transport. Because there were less weight restrictions to consider, the power of city defending crossbows, compared to crossbow carts and crossbow arrows, were more powerful. Meanwhile, Meteor Crossbows were named in commemoration of Principal Zhang’s past battle in Meteor Lake. These were the crossbows with the greatest power among all city guarding crossbows!
Stone Catapult Carts cannot hit close range targets, and the speed of falling boulders, for cultivators of Wenren Cangyue’s level, didn’t pose too great of a threat either. However, Meteor Crossbows posed enough of a threat to Sacred Expert cultivators.
Dang!
When this Yunqin officer released the order, he also heard a giant bell-like ringing sound.
This sound was like that of a large bell suddenly being struck, but it was actually the combined noise of countless pieces of metal striking together.
This noise was precisely the noise of more than seven Meteor Crossbows being activated at the same time!
During these days, the minds of all Yunqin soldiers in Thousand Leaf Pass were in a state more tense than usual, more vigilant. Even though they suddenly faced this unforeseen change, these elite Yunqin soldiers still immediately carried out the military orders.
Upon hearing this type of sound, this Yunqin officer’s mind loosened slightly. He knew that even if he was immediately cut down by Wenren Cangyue, his death was still already valuable.
However, right at the next moment, his breathing instead completely stopped.
Crossbow arrows that were the thickness of arms descended from the heavens like iron rods, flying out from the cave towers on the mountain.
However, there was one group that actually didn’t fire fiercely into the city gate region where the enemy forces were most concentrated, instead firing towards other towers!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the crossbow arrows’ terrifying impact, the cave towers that had Meteor Crossbows arranged began to explode one after another like pumpkins.
Endless rubble scattered across Thousand Leaf Pass’ skies, because of the damage to the cave towers, some heavy crossbow machine foundations even began to come crashing down. In that instant, the entire Thousand Leaf Border Pass had a type of heaven falling earth rending scene.
In that instant, that Yunqin officer who gave the orders also only felt as if his body fell into an endless ice-cold abyss together with these crossbow machines.
In this type of urgent time, these Meteor Crossbows didn’t have time to carefully aim. They originally only planned to carry out a single wave of sweeping strikes.
Right now, only twenty or so Meteor Crossbow arrows entered the thousand membered army Wenren Cangue brought in. Meanwhile, more than twenty other arrows deviated, firing at the city walls, blasting open deep and terrifying holes there. Moreover, the remaining twenty something cave towers’ collapse was extremely precise. This only meant that those crossbow machines originally aimed at other cave towers!
Spies and undercover personnel, this was something unavoidable for both sides of the army.
Wenren Cangyue was someone with tremendous authority in Yunqin to begin with, having many hidden forces in Yunqin… However, this was Thousand Sunset Border Army, and it wasn’t just controlling one set of crossbow machines, but rather instantly controlling more than twenty in one go!
Just how much scheming and hidden moves was required before he could plant this many of his own forces here?
This type of attack on Thousand Leaf Pass, just how long ago did its planning begin?
This Yunqin officer watched as cave towers collapsed one after another. He first felt shock, and then because of these types of thoughts, he then felt fear, despair and helplessness.
Under the collapse of these towers, some towers also reacted, adjusting their crossbow machines to fire at each other.
Some officers that were near these cave towers also released fierce shouts, bringing some soldiers with them and charging at those cave towers that were controlled from within.
However, those crossbow machines that were hurriedly adjusting to the situation had no way of being faster than those crossbows that had long been adjusted beforehand. Under a single round of mutual firing, those cave towers that still belonged to this border pass, belonged to Yunqin Empire, exploded, collapsing.
Under this chaos, there was already no one who could stop Wenren Cangyue.
Wenren Cangyue’s troops began to break up into small groups, making Thousand Leaf Pass more and more chaotic.
Meanwhile, Wenren Cangyue began to climb up Thousand leaf Pass’s city gate tower step by step.
His flying sword smashed through all things in his way.
He was a Sacred Expert who could face a thousand alone, as well as the one who was unrivaled within the Sacred Expert level.
That was why no one could stop his advance.
He ascended Thousand Leaf Pass’ city gate tower, and then faced the wasteland in Great Mang’s direction, standing with his hands behind him.
The Seven Planets Devil Sword descended from the city pass, cutting through the Yunqin soldiers inside the city like mowing grass.
“Plotting and military strength are equally important. If you only know how to march and set up formations, what use is that?”
While looking at this twilight wasteland, Wenren Cangyue’s face produced an expression of mockery because of Hu Piyi. He said quietly to himself in ridicule, “You do not understand, nor do you have enough time to use conspiracy against me in Great Mang. Your military strength is below mine, your ability to transfer and command troops are inferior to me, in which aspect can you win against me? From the very start, out of discontent with Yunqin’s evaluation of you, you betrayed Hu Family, serving as this type of Commander-In-Chief to fight it out against me, but you were already destined to lose… People like us who already have a ‘sacred’ added to our titles purely from cultivation, if we care too much about those ordinary people’s opinions who are far inferior to us, that is precisely asking for defeat.”
…
Hu Piyi knelt on one knee in the wasteland’s dirt. While facing Yunqin’s direction, he released a groan of pain.
The heavy and massive golden war chariot behind him no longer seemed as brilliant as before.
When facing Great Mang’s already overwhelming military force and pursuit, even if it was him, moreover, even if he already took action, he still couldn’t be like how he was at Moon Seizing City, only needing to coldly watch as his subordinates carried out his will.
He was one of the people Wenren Cangyue referred to, one of the people with the word ‘sacred’ in their titles, moreover, he already oversaw Thousand Sunset Border Pass for a long time. He was one of the empire’s three great generals as well, so he naturally had many powerful cultivators around him. Just the amount of Spiritual Sacrifice Priests on this war chariot was already unimaginable. That was why in these battles following Moon Seizing City, he was only exhausted, he still didn’t suffer any injuries.
For the sake of allowing as many Yunqin soldiers to return to Thousand Sunset Mountains as early as possible, he already paid a tremendous price, doing his best to force himself not to think about his defeat at Moon Seizing City. However, news from Thousand Leaf Pass already arrived, Wenren Cangyue already occupied the Thousand Leaf Pass they wanted to retreat to.
More and more rapidly advancing Great Mang troops would arrive at Thousand Leaf Pass. Was he going to carry out a final thorough pincer attack before Yunqin’s reinforcement troops arrived?
What was he supposed to do now?
Was he supposed to tell his army that was already extremely beaten to change their itinerary, move towards a different place? Then what other plans did Wenren Cangue prepare during this trek?
How many of the army behind him would he ultimately be able to bring back to Thousand Sunset Mountains?
The current Hu Piyi only felt like everything was within Wenren Cangyue’s plans, only feeling like there were endless possibilities, yet none of them were within his grasp.
The current him only felt like he had nowhere to go.
…
“You all can go.”
Hu Piyi stopped the groan of pain. He stood up from the ground and then said this to the officers behind him.
“General?” The breathing of the high ranking military officers behind him who couldn’t hide their weariness suddenly stopped, their bodies suddenly going rigid.
“Otherwise, the entire army might be wiped out here.” Hu Piyi swallowed with difficulty. “The Wenren Cangyue in Great Mang’s main army is fake. If I command a portion of the troops, I should be able to delay them until you all return to Thousand Sunset Mountains.”
“General, you must not! Even if someone needs to stay behind to bring up the rear, it should be us!”
“This is an order. As the final order of your Commander-In-Chief, you all must obey.” Hu Piyi looked at these officers, adding with a quiet voice of self-mockery, “Or perhaps I should say, this is to give me a bit of final dignity as a great general.”
These high ranking military officers’ bodies all began to shake intensely from unbearable pain.
“If one wishes to die, it is easy, but if one is to admit they are inferior to another, it is extremely hard. Meanwhile, in this type of situation, bearing humiliation to save one’s skin is also indeed quite hard.” Right at this time, an aged voice interfered, sounding from behind Hu Piyi.
All of the Spiritual Sacrifice Priests dressed in their special priest robes came out of the war chariot, gathering behind Hu Piyi.
“Great general, please reconsider. Even if your death can allow more people from your army to return to Thousand Sunset Mountains alive, what about afterwards?” The leading aged Spiritual Sacrifice Priest showed Hu Piyi a bow of respect, slowly saying, “Do you feel like the officer who rushes to Thousand Sunset Mountains will know that region better than you? Would they be able to stop Wenren Cangyue from breaking through Thousand Sunset Mountains? Even if you similarly cannot… You are a Sacred Expert, at the very least, you at least have a chance of killing Wenren Cangyue in the future. You have more opportunities than others… in that case, why can’t you continue living?”
“We will bring up the rear for great general.”
This aged Spiritual Sacrifice Priest gave Hu Piyi whose entire body began to tremble a look, pleading, “Great general, please continue living… Even if it is a life without purpose, please do not make us die for nothing.”