Chapter 574: The Yellow Sand Division
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
Along the way, the Fish Bone did not cause too much of a commotion. People thought that it was a God-subduing Peak. In the past, the appearance of a God-subduing Peak would evoke alarmed cries from onlookers. Nowadays, however, everyone was used to seeing this.
In the past, the God-subduing Peak was seen as the mightiest war machine. From its name, one could tell how much hope the Elders Guild had placed in it.
At the beginning, the God-subduing Peaks were indeed quite useful. The enormous role that they played was what allowed the Wall of North Sea to withstand the blood elementalists for such a long time. Currently, however, those who had some rationality clearly understood that one or two God-subduing Peaks would not overturn the present situation.
Ai Hui sent the Pinwheel Sword out on patrol to allow everyone to have a feel for wartime tension. The Sword of Lightning consisted of a bunch of brand-new rookies and paled in comparison to the current Spear of Heavy Cloud. The core members of the Spear of Heavy Cloud had had a lot of real combat experience.
The only battle that the Sword of Lightning had experienced was merely dealing with sneak attacks from a distant mountain peak.
Ai Hui was very worried about placing a bunch of rookies on the cruel battlefield. As such, he decided to give them a warm-up first and let them experience the atmosphere of the battlefield. Ai Hui did not know whether or not this method would work, but he had no other ideas currently.
Luckily, the Pinwheel Sword flew very fast, so it was very easy for it to escape.
The patrol mission continued as usual. However, this time around, Gu Xuan brought back an unconscious captive.
"Boss, we discovered that many combat divisions are retreating from the front line. Something huge seems to have happened. This fellow was bad-mouthing Big Sister, so we captured him," Gu Xuan reported to Ai Hui.
"Good job! Be brave and don’t restrain yourself. Interrogate him first," Ai Hui praised Gu Xuan.
He let Gu Xuan be the vice division leader the Sword of Lightning because he knew Gu Xuan was a veteran. Other than having experience, a veteran was bold and cunning. Everyone else was pure and naive like Shi Zhiguang.
Gu Xuan carried the captive into a room and slapped him repeatedly until he woke up. Initially, Gu Xuan just wanted to ask him about the current situation, but it just so happened that this fellow was bad-mouthing Shi Xueman. Without hesitation, Gu Xuan knocked him out and brought him back.
When the captive woke up, he was at a loss. After seeing that he was surrounded by unfriendly gazes, he returned to his senses and stuttered, "Who… who are all of you? May I know how have I offended you…"
"Which combat division are you from?" Gu Xuan interrupted with a scowl on his face.
"The Yellow Sand Division! My division leader is Sir Hei Yan. You must have heard of him…" the captive replied hurriedly.
The captive feared that the other party might kill him. Since the other party asked him about his background, his chances of surviving were higher.
A look of realization dawned upon Gu Xuan’s face. His ice-cold face defrosted as he became extremely amiable. "Oh, so you are the subordinate of Sir Hei Yan of the Yellow Sand Division. I met Sir Hei Yan a few years ago. Even now, I still have a deep impression of him. Sorry for this misunderstanding!"
The captive could not help but smile. In his heart, he heaved a sigh of relief.
So they are familiar with Sir Hei Yan… It seemed like it was a misunderstanding after all…
Even though he was knocked out for no reason, he did not dare to pursue the matter. All he wanted was to safely return to his combat division.
The captive beamed and said, "The moment I saw you, I knew you were an extraordinary and friendly individual. So you’re a friend of Sir Hei Yan. I will not hesitate to swim through water and tread on fire just for you!"
The captive did not know the other party’s intentions. However, since he was in other people’s territory, he did not dare to try anything funny.
Gu Xuan smiled and replied, "May I know what the current situation is at the front line? I heard that the Spear of Heavy Cloud is very domineering. Can Brother tell me more about this?"
Previously, the captive found this person in front of him to be slightly familiar. He seemed to have seen him somewhere before, but couldn’t recall where. When the captive learned that Gu Xuan was a friend of his division leader, he began to trust him more.
Upon hearing Gu Xuan’s words, the captive became agitated and said, "That’s right! She’s arrogant, really arrogant! Pagoda Cannon Alliance my foot! I think she just wants a group of obedient dogs! I couldn’t take it anymore and denounced her in front of everyone. Can you guess what happened next? She attacked me! Everyone left on the spot. If we were to enter the Pagoda Cannon Alliance, wouldn’t we be ordered around by her every day? Sir, you better not get tricked by her. All of us have seen through the Pagoda Cannon Alliance’s true colors."
The smile on Gu Xuan’s face became wider. He nodded his head and asked again, "I have seen many combat divisions retreating. What’s going on at the front line?"
"What’s going? We have suffered countless defeats! The blood elementalist combat divisions are too powerful for any of us. They boasted so much about the Pagoda Cannons, but they are bloody useless in reality. Five combat divisions were defeated in one day! How are we going to continue fighting? Aren’t we seeking death if we fight? Since the Spear of Heavy Cloud has God-subduing Peaks, who can do a better job defending the front line than them? From the look of it, I don’t think they can defend for long…"
The captive was talking nonstop with excitement. He did not know the elementalists behind him had murderous looks on their faces.
Gu Xuan nodded his head and replied, "Brother, your words hit the nail on the head!"
Then, he patted the captive’s shoulder and continued, "Brother, please wait here for a while more."
The captive looked on blankly as Gu Xuan walked out of the room. When he saw everyone else looking at him fiendishly, he became slightly nervous and did not dare to move at all. Following which, he bowed in a servile manner to everyone, but none of them bothered with him.
Gu Xuan returned to Ai Hui and told him everything that the captive said.
Ai Hui touched his bandage-covered chin and muttered, "It seems like the situation is running amok."
Gu Xuan did not dare to say anything for the fear of disrupting Ai Hui’s thought process. Even though he had travelled extensively and had a lot of worldly experience, he knew nothing about fighting a war.
After thinking for a short moment, Ai Hui suddenly asked, "He said a lot of combat divisions are retreating?"
"Yes, there are a lot," Gu Xuan replied hastily.
A cold glint flashed across the red crystal chips that covered his eyes. He smiled and said, "Let’s pay a visit to the Yellow Sand Division."
…..
At the Yellow Sand Division.
Hei Yan was listening to a report from his subordinate. When he was told that a unit leader had gone missing, he did not care all. That unit leader might have run away or encountered a dire beast. Even if he encountered bandits, that was normal as well. Even though Hei Yan particularly admired this unit leader, who was very keen-eyed and often took the initiative to share his worries, he had no time to care about him at this critical moment.
Due to the "righteous speech" he gave at the camp of the Spear of Heavy Cloud Division, he now had a slight reputation.
The division leaders of a few small combat divisions had already paid him a visit.
Hei Yan was actively promoting his plan. "The Spear of Heavy Cloud definitely can’t hold back the blood elementalists. The combat divisions of the Blood of God are too powerful. They are attempting the impossible. Previously, the blood elementalists were not familiar with them and that was why they managed to secure a victory. This time around, the Blood of God has fielded all of their forces, and they are coming forth with invincible might. There is only one Spear of Heavy Cloud, so how would it be possible for them to overturn the situation?"
A worried look appeared on other division leaders’ faces. Hei Yan’s words had hit the nail on the head.
"That’s why we need to make preparations sooner rather than later!" Hei Yan said profoundly.
"Brother Hei Yan is shrewd and insightful. Speak your mind," one of the division leaders said.
Upon seeing that it was the right moment, Hei Yan replied with a glib tongue, "Since Beyond Avalon is bound to be defeated, why must we hang ourselves on a single tree and wait for our deaths? A shift of environment makes a tree dead, but a person prosperous…"
A division leader’s face flushed with anger as he roared, "Brother Hei Yan, don’t tell me you want to surrender to the enemy forces? I rather die than to become a blood elementalist!"
Hei Yan was shocked. He replied angrily, "Sir, what kind of person do you think I am! I would be the first one to object to surrendering to the blood elementalists!"
Upon hearing these words, the facial expressions of the others relaxed.
"We definitely can’t surrender to the blood elementalists. Elementalists and blood elementalists can’t exist together!" Hei Yan declared with righteousness. Then, he changed his tone and continued, "However, has everyone thought about the other side?"
All of them looked at each other. The person who previously chided Hei Yan hesitantly asked, "Is Brother Hei Yan talking about the Jadeite Forest?"
Hei Yan clapped his hands and exclaimed, "That’s right! Everyone, Grandmaster Dai was still born in the Avalon of Five Elements at the end of the day. He parted ways with the Elders Guild merely because of ideological differences. From the look of it, Grandmaster Dai was indeed wise. He knew the Elders Guild was decadent and incompetent. He did not want to follow them and established independence for the Jadeite Forest. Grandmaster Dai is the only Grandmaster left among the elementalists. He is the last hope for our war against the blood elementalists! The Ye Family is incompetent. Right now, Beyond Avalon is on the verge of collapse, but does that mean we have to die with it? Why can’t we seek another way out?"
Everyone hated the idea of surrendering to the blood elementalists. Many of them had deep grudges against blood elementalists. However, none of them rejected the idea of surrendering to Grandmaster Dai, unlike before.
Then, someone said hesitantly, "Of course, everyone knows about Grandmaster Dai’s greatness. However, he is someone beyond our reach. If we want to surrender to the Jadeite Forest, we must find the right connection."
Hei Yan did not say anything, but merely smiled confidently.
"Brother Hei Yan has the right connection?" Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Hei Yan remained silent and kept on smiling.
Immediately, everyone became excited.
Hei Yan saw everyone’s reaction and felt pleased with himself. He shook his head and said, "I can’t answer your question. I can’t answer your question."
Everyone broke into a commotion.
"Brother Hei Yan, don’t be so selfish!"
"Don’t tell me Brother Yan wants to see us die?"
Everyone talked at the same time.
When Hei Yan saw that it was the right opportunity, he began to talk, "It’s not that I don’t want to help all of you. I have to respect all of your opinions as well. Even though I have the right connection, and there won’t be any problem with me going over, I am not willing to stay there as a mere decorative item. After all, two heads are better than one What can I achieve by going there alone? As a matter of fact, I called everyone over to devise an idea together. There is success and safety in numbers. With more people going over together, we have a larger say as well."
Some people nodded their heads while some looked hesitant.
Upon seeing this, Hei Yan continued, "Everyone has to seize the moment and identify where the wind is blowing. We are not the only ones who want to join the Jadeite Forest. If someone else does it first, our value will drop significantly. If you feel that the Spear of Heavy Cloud can stop the blood elementalists, then I have nothing to say."
The few hesitant individuals were convinced by Hei Yan as they looked each other in the eye.
"All right, I will listen to Brother Hei Yan!"
"Since everyone is here, Brother Hei Yan should tell us what’s the plan now."
"That’s right!"
When Hei Yan heard everyone’s words, he knew the matter was half accomplished. He coughed softly and said, "The Pagoda Cannon Alliance is a joke. However, the concept of an alliance is still rather useful. We can create a combat division alliance. Of course, I am too ignorant and uneducated for the position of alliance leader. I don’t deserve it…"
He was purposely retreating for the sake of advancing. Therefore, he wasn’t worried at all.
At this moment, a soldier suddenly barged into the tent with a look of panic on his face. "Sir… Sir… God… God-subduing Peak…"