Chapter 425: Grave of the Warring States
“Eh, go talk with the Ba Huang City Duke….”
Dong Cheng held up the Tiger Talisman and pouted, “I don’t know what kind of poignant story this will bring out…. but, with a Tiger Talisman, it should be related to wars right?”
TL Note: Tiger Talisman’s represented control over the army in Ancient China. Whoever has the Tiger Talisman, can command the army at will
I opened up my palm, “Come on Dong Cheng, give the Tiger Talisman to me. I’m pretty familiar with Ba Huang City’s Duke. Maybe if I get the quest, we’ll get something extra.”
“Ok Ok.”
Once the Tiger Talisman was in my hands, and Wan Er made me the party leader, everyone had a mutual understanding. I was the Guild Master of [Zhan Long] so I should be the party leader. Besides, all nine of the people in the party were close friends, so there was no need to be polite.
Everyone went through the plaza, and ran straight to the castle. Right after the Battle of Fort Zi Feng, Ba Huang City revived 80% of their NPC armies. Once again, the horses and soldiers were a plenty. One group of sentries were clothed completely in silver armor, and stood in front of the castle. Once they saw all of us coming, one of them immediately raised his sword, “Who are you. Don’t cause a ruckus here. If you want to get the approval for a Guild Prestige Battle please turn right, and find an administrator to approve of it. The Duke hasn’t been feeling well lately, and will not meet any guests!”
Wan Er hesitated, and pouted her lower lip, “Hmph, Ba Huang City’s NPC’s are all so arrogant…..”
I smiled and walked up, “I’m looking for Ba Huang City’s Duke Luo Lei. It’s for something extremely important. I have to see him!”
“You are?”
The NPC sentry looked at the Dragon City insignia on my arm and suddenly jolted. He immediately became respectful, “So it was Mr. Dragon City’s Guardian. I was impolite. Seeing as you want to meet the Duke, then please enter. The Duke is currently in the office discussing some important matters about the Barbarian Tribes. Please come in!”
I nodded, and took Wan Er’s hand in my own and stepped onto the steps of the castle. Wan Er indignantly pouted again, “Hmph. Mr. Dragon City Guardian. Such prestige….”
I couldn’t help but lose my smile, “Little miss, don’t make fun of me, please and thank you….”
Wan Er grinned, “Alright already. Go see the Duke. Time is precious. We need to try and finish this quest within the next 48 hours.”
“Ok ok. Let’s go!”
……
I took the group of people and ran into the castle. Just as the guard had said, Luo Lei had his royal guard, and was standing in the great hall. He stared deeply into the eyes of the officials that stood before him and roared, “The Barbarian Tribes are deep within the Eastern Sea Mountains, on a small island. Even though it’s rather remote, it has time and time again been invading my borders. Therefore, I will not show them mercy. In the next few days, prepare our troops to set out and suppress the Barbarian Tribes in the Eastern Mountains. Does anyone dare to question my order?”
All of the officials were silenced by this. After half a minute one of the officials stood up. It was the Fierce Tiger Army’s commander Lachlan. He was carrying his battle axe over his shoulder as he respectfully said, “My king, I myself am a Barbarian, and I came from the tribes in the Eastern Mountains. On top of that, my injuries from the Battle of Fort Zi Feng have yet to fully recover. Therefore, your general cannot fight in this battle for my king.”
Luo Lei nodded, “General Lachlan, I understand your difficulties. Fierce Tiger army can rest, and is not held to this command!”
“My King, thank you for your consideration!”
Among the people, another person stood up. It was the commander of Desolate Dragon, Forgotten Sea. He softly said, “Desolate Dragon lost too many soldiers at the Battle of Fort Zi Feng, and is not ready for battle. On top of that, the injuries of our generals have yet to fully recover. I also hope that my king will show mercy….”
Luo Lei’s eyes turned cold for a second. He then smiled, “I understand. General Forgotten Sea, go recover your injuries then!”
After that, Luo Lin who stood next to Luo Lei couldn’t help himself. He walked up to the throne and said, “If it must be. My Royal Father, why don’t you have me, your son, take the Desolate Cloud and Imperial Defense armies to clean up these rebellions. There’s almost a total of 10,000 men in these two armies, and is more than enough to stomp down this mountain!”
Luo Lei furrowed his brow, “Lin, you’re the king of Dragon City. You’re just under Ba Huang City’s command for the moment. Are you sure this is ok?”
Luo Lin, “Then, can you still fight?”
Finally, the beautiful princess that stood at the side of the room couldn’t stand anymore either. Angela gripped her Destroyer, and walked out of the line and said, “Royal Father, there’s no need to discuss any further. Your daughter is willing to lead her Blizzard Wind Army to fight. Blizzard Wind was able to stay rather unharmed comparatively, and my injuries have completely healed. I’ll take this as a chance to train myself. I don’t want people to see me as a frail royal highness. I’ll use this as an opportunity to shut them up!”
Luo Lei became excited, “Good. I’ve been waiting for you to say this. Then you’ll be the one to go out to battle. Angela, this battle isn’t just about the pride of Ba Huang City, but also the pride of the Moon Elf Tribe!”
“I understand. Thank you father for fulfilling my wish! I’ll go now to prepare my army. Can you prepare an itinerary and some supplies for my army?”
“Yes, godspeed!”
……
Angela turned around and brushed past my shoulder. At the same time, she glanced at me with a surprised look, and then gave me a beautiful smile and nod.
Wan Er’s eyes widened. She looked at me, then looked at Angela’s receding figure and said, “Eh…. she just….. was she flirting with you?”
Shocked I replied, “It definitely wasn’t. You’re way too sensitive!”
“Hmph. If I find out it was, then you’re dead. You even dare to try and pick up Ba Huang City’s princess? Aren’t you getting more and more daring….”
“Watch what you say, am I really that kind of person…..”
“Hurry up and get the quest, pig…..”
“Alright!”
I majestically walked forward, the army talisman in my hand. I walked past the great hall, and caught Luo Lei’s attention. He immediately smiled, “So it was you, the brave adventurer. Why did you come to this great hall today?”
I nodded and raised the Tiger Talisman as I said, “One of my subordinates found this, and so I have brought it over. I wanted to ask my lord, what is this?”
“This….”
Luo Lei glanced at the Tiger Talisman, and suddenly his enormous body trembled, “This…. this is a pre-ancient item. My god, where did you find this? This…. this is the pre-ancient kingdom’s Tiger Talisman. Could it be…. Could it be that these items have reappeared in the human world?”
In a serious tone, I asked, “What exactly is this?”
Luo Lei’s face was troubled. He muttered, “In the pre-ancient times, China had been split into four or five kingdoms and was torn by war. During that time, Tian Ling City’s territory had been split into seven pieces, and they all fought against each other. That period of time has been known as the Warring States Period. Many heroes rose up during that time. Of them, there were four talented princes that recruited the heroes of the world to help them. They were extremely popular for a time, and were knows as the “Four Noblemen of the Warring States”. Then, when the wars came to an end, the four noblemen died with the heroes they commanded, and their bodies have thus been buried deep in the earth. After the Battle of Gods and Demons, their souls have begun to stir and do not want to suffer from the flames of hell any longer. Once their seals are broken, they will appear on this earth once again. Possibly leading to a massacre”
I was astonished, “The Four Nobleman of the Warring States? Damn, is it Xing Lin Jun, Ping Yuan Jun, Meng Chang Jun, and Qun Sheng Jun, those pieces of trash….”
TL Note: These are all historical figures from China’s actual Warring States Period
“You actually know of them!” Luo Lei was astonished, “Looks like you are also a well educated person that knows his history well….”
I wryly smiled, “My king, you’re exaggerating….”
Luo Lei gripped the Tiger Talisman, then returned it to me, and in a flat voice he said, “Now that the Tiger Talisman has reappeared, the doors of hell have begun to move. Now that it’s like this, then I have an extremely dangerous quest to give to you guys. Take this Tiger Talisman, and go North of Ba Huang City, then east of the Forest of Sword Saints. There, you will find a bleak map filled with danger and an unclear future. It has been called the [Grave of the Warring States]. That’s where the four noblemen have been buried. Go, and before they completely recover their strength, send them back to hell, or else China will be submerged in war and chaos!”
“Ok!”
I nodded, and immediately received a Quest Notification——
“Ding!”
System Notification: Your quest [Warring States Period] has entered its next stage. Please prepare to head towards the northern part of Ba Huang City to the map “Grave of the Warring States” and find the entrance. Bring with you the Tiger Talisman to be able to enter. You will then meet some extremely powerful pre-ancient generals. Kill all of those generals. On top of that, reseal the souls of the Four Noblemen and stop this peril from surfacing.
I turned around and looked at everyone, “Yup, this quest is pretty clear. Let’s head out then. The Grave of the Warring States awaits!”
“Ok, let’s go!” Li Mu raised his longsword and laughed. “Looks like this quest has to do with the Four Noblemen of the Warring States. He he, our General Family is based off of these famous generals. These four noblemen come from the same place as us, so interesting!”
Little Wolf then said, “The Grave of the Warring States. To be honest, of all of the maps of Ba Huang City, I’ve never heard of that name before….”
I explained, “That’s because we’ve only gone as far west as the Glacial River Valley, and as soth as Green Qilin Valley, or Magic Tracking Forest. This Grave of the Warring States and Forest of Sword Saints are all even further east than the Glacial River Valley map. The monster levels aren’t going to be just average, so we’ll have our fair amount of troubles. This time, our journey can be considered pioneering…..”
Dong Cheng pursed her lips, “Don’t be foolishly brave and we’ll be fine….”
Thousand League Spring widened her eyes, “Eh…. here, we have Guild Master Xiao Yao, Beauty Cang Tong and Beauty Cang Yue. With all these top tier experts, we shouldn’t have too much trouble, right?”
Darling Duck grinned, “That’s hard to say. Let’s head out. We’ll talk when we get there!”
“Ok, ok!”
Our ten person party left Ba Huang City, and passed through Ba Huang Forest. After 30 minutes, we arrived just east of Glacial River Valley. But at the place where the quest was marked on the map, there didn’t seem to be the Grave of the Warring States from the legend. There just seemed to be a boundless plain. In there were leaping deer and wild bunnies and a group of Lv 90 wild cattle that looked really strong.
“Huh, this Grave of the Warring States….. Did the quest mark the wrong place?” Wan Er’s mouth formed a big “O”. It was hard to believe that the map in front of us was the place. After that, she tugged on my arm, “Tell me, where’s the Grave of the Warring States?”
I glanced at her, “Why are you so nervous, let’s just look around….”
As a result, we looked for ten minutes, but still couldn’t find the entrance to the Grave of the Warring States.
Nobody had a clue. Annoyed, Thousand League Spring said, “What’s with this?”
Matcha squinted her beautiful eyes, “I think…. we just wait a little longer. Let’s wait for the game to turn to night. Maybe this place will change….”
“Oh?”
Slowly, the sun set behind the mountain and night fell. When the last rays of sunlight vanished and stars began to light up the sky, a ray of light began to interweave across the plains. It slowly began to change, revealing a tall Chinese Totem. A weird ball of fire was dancing around the totem in the air!
It actually appeared, the Grave of the Warring States!