Chapter 238: Raise the Flag!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"What a bunch of ungrateful people! How could they stand the fact that they actually exist in this world? The heavens have no eyes for them!"
The bearded general did not speak softly, his voice was filled with contempt. "What a humiliation to think that your father is actually serving in the military with such gross people!"
"I can't believe that the northern troops can really do something like this… They’re the most useless ones throughout these years of war, losing the most men and requiring the most help from the Nine Supremes. F*ck, it’s these people who got the Nine Supremes killed in the end!"
"Son of a b*tch… By the looks of it, they can kill even their own parents!"
"Of course! There’s no doubt about it. Come on, let us leave!"
"Wait for the command!"
"Let’s see if these fools can still be as proud when the evidence of their crime is confirmed! If they dare stir up another ruckus, your father will end all these bastards, even if I have to get myself beheaded and my entire family exterminated!"
The bearded general spoke harshly and brought his men away with a wave of his hand.
Drip, drip, drip…
The soldiers on duty refused to raise their heads, their tears falling to the ground drop after drop; the humiliation they felt was overbearing.
Gradually, the sobs grew in volume while outside, whispers floated around among the various troops.
"Our camp has raised the flag of vengeance for the Nine Supremes Lords respectively but why isn’t the flag raised here yet? Do they not hold the Nine Supremes Lords in regards at all? Don’t they want to avenge their lords?"
"That’s the northern troop you’re talking about. They were the ones who sent the Nine Supremes Lords to their doom. Not only do they lack the dignity to do so, I guess that they don’t even want to do it; dare not, at least!"
"So, it’s not just that m*therf*cker Yang Botao, even his subordinates are a bunch of cowards!"
"They don’t even dare erect the flag of vengeance for the Nine Supremes Lords… I wonder whether they are torn by guilt or feel nothing at all…"
"F*ck, don’t these people have the slightest bit of shame?"
"Your father is going mad just thinking about it… How many times have the Nine Supremes Lords saved the northern troops… How can a man be so void of conscience?"
"They aren’t even men. Why would they have any form of conscience? It’s long been devoured by the dogs!"
"Don't insult the dogs. Dogs don’t eat dark, vicious hearts..."
"If we really were to fight, your father shall be merciless! Kill them like the dogs they are!"
"Me too!"
"Here, here!"
"I told you not to insult the dogs! Dogs are the most loyal of creatures, which part of them could be compared to dogs?"
"Right you are..."
All the soldiers before the base entrance hung their heads low, but their necks were tilted harshly to glare at their leader with a side-eye; the hostility and killing intent were immense.
The leader’s head was hung low as well, his eyes rimmed red. He gritted his teeth and said, "Wait here, I’ll go ask about it!"
"Quickly!"
"You should’ve gone long ago!"
Dozens of choked up voices roared in unison.
The leader wiped his tears away harshly and mounted his horse, leaving with an urgent whip to the flanks.
"General! Why didn’t our troop raise the flag of vengeance for the Nine Supremes Lords?"
The leader scrambled to the general’s tent, about to break down as he cried with a loud sob, "The brothers from all other sides have raised the flags… Could it be that we, the northern troop, are really burdened with a guilty conscience?"
"What flag of vengeance are you talking about?" The general was stumped.
"The flag of vengeance to bring justice to the Nine Supremes Lords! Why didn’t the northern troop raise it?"
The leader was weeping openly, snot and tears running free on his face. "Your father has been in the army for so many years, so numb to the life and death in the battlefield that your father has never cried! But your father has had enough today! Your father has been humiliated to the point that I dare not make another sound. I’ve never wished for an immediate death so badly!"
"When I heard that the Nine Supremes Lords were ambushed, your father made a slash on my own face, swearing with blood to avenge the lords’ death… When the time is finally here, it looks like the blame is actually on us!"
"Could it be that the rumors outside are true?"
"Could it be that our northern troop is really ungrateful?"
"Have we murdered our saviors? How could the brothers live with this knowledge?" The leader sobbed, grief wracking his body.
"Flag of vengeance?"
The general’s eyes were red-rimmed as well. "Send some men to find out."
"I’m not going!"
"I don’t want to!"
"Me neither!"
An assistant general was appointed, and he roared with a flushed face, "Why am I the one to go? Why aren’t you going? What pride do I have to go out there? Your father doesn’t even have the face to face my own crotch, how can there be one to face the brothers from all other sides?"
The general’s eyes were spitting flame. "All of you aren’t going out, are you?! F*ck the hell away then, your father shall go out to see it for me!"
The general kicked his horse and went away, coming back furiously almost instantly; his face was flushed, so were his eyes. He growled, "Make the flag! Raise the flag!"
"Set up the altar!"
"Quickly!"
"We, the northern troop brothers, are not ungrateful people!"
"We are not gullible fools!"
"If it had really been Yang Botao who has plotted the Nine Supremes Lords doom, the brothers of the northern troop will be the first to fight him!" The general bellowed.
Once the command was issued, the military base was set into motion. The soldiers went back to make flags, their faces finally a more normal color.
"Gather the men, gather!"
It was the same generals who roared over the din.
A group of men came over coldly. "What is it now? Jiang Chenglong, are you trying to rebel, gathering men on your own?"
These men were Yang Botao’s best janissaries while the one who spoke was the leader of them all.
Jiang Chenglong's bloodshot eyes bored straight into them as he waved his hand.
"Assemble! Ignore them!"
The leader of the janissaries stepped forward in a large stride. "Jiang Chenglong, how dare you make your own decision without the marshal’s order?! It's your choice to brave death for assembling the men personally but how many lives do you have to compensate for once your underlings are involved?"
The janissary was quick-witted, knowing well that not only was forceful suppression useless, it might lead to the opposite effect. Perhaps it would be more effective to shift the aim of the threat to the subordinates.
Jiang Chenglong’s glaring eyes looked as if they could spurt tears of blood anytime when he replied fiercely, "If Yang Botao is really an accomplice of the Nine Supremes’ doom, he’s not worthy to be the marshal of our northern troop! Your father shall fight him to the end personally! So what if this summons of assembly is made by your father? Your father shall pay the price with my own life later! I have to give this order!"
"F*ck your m*ther! The marshal has been wrongly accused! Didn’t he explain everything yesterday?" The janissary leader bellowed in fury.
"If the marshal is wronged when the truth is revealed, I, Jiang Chenglong, would send myself willingly to ask for my penalty – my death! Death is deserved for personally gathering the army, the military is merciless – there shall be no wrongful accusation nor partiality! But now, the northern troop must move according to my command!"
Jiang Chenglong howled, "As the deputy marshal, I have the authority to mobilize the troop while you’re but the head of Yang Botao’s janissaries. What right do you have to come and interfere with how your father works?? F*ck off or else I’ll have you penalized with the military law right now!"
The leader of the janissaries stared at Jiang Chenglong with his chilling gaze, his hand moving to slowly press on the grip of his saber; Jiang Chenglong remained stationary, his gaze equally savage.
However, it was everyone around Jiang Chenglong who unsheathed their swords and sabers with a simultaneous roar. Their gazes on Yang Botao’s janissaries were not unlike those of famished wolves.
Only a glance – perhaps a single twitch, was needed before a battle would ensue.
"F*ck off, will you?" Jiang Chenglong bellowed. "Do you really want to fight?"
The janissary leader took in a deep breath and stretched a finger out to point at Jiang Chenglong.
"Just you wait!"
He then left, bringing his men with him.
"Do what I’ve said right now! Immediately!"
The expression on Jiang Chenglong’s face was as hard as steel.
The janissary leader returned to his tent solemnly, surprised to see that an altar was already set outside his tent and the portrait of Nine Supremes already hung on the wall.
There was a slight waver to the leader’s gaze. The janissaries around him had flitting gazes; some of them huffing and puffing yet everyone looked like they had a lot to say.
"Leader, is it true?" A large-sized man finally asked with a quivering voice.
"I believe the marshal would never do that! It’s all the traitor’s lies that twist the truth!" The leader held out with clenched jaws.
"What if… it’s really the marshal?" Another person asked.
There was a spasm of the facial muscles of the janissary leader’s face. He stood straight without speaking, gazing at Nine Supremes’ portrait and suddenly fell into a kneeling position.
Dejection hung on all the janissaries’ face.
"As the marshal’s janissaries, we’re at the frontline each time we go to war. Each losing battle is when we fought the hardest and the riskiest… so each time the Nine Supremes Lords came, everyone was saved."
"But we’re the marshal’s janissaries!"
"If this is real… the entire northern troop can say that it was the marshal's own hand that directed it... and it’s irrelevant to the entire troop. We can’t!"
"Even if we did say so, no one will believe us!"
"We’re the marshal’s janissaries, we’re people the marshal believes in the most, the closest of confidences.
"The Nine Supremes Lords have been our saving grace for countless times, but marshal’s grace towards us is also immense."
The leader closed his eyes and said quietly, "If it’s true… If it’s true…"
He choked. "If it’s true, no matter which side we stand on right now, on what grounds do we go on to continue living after this?"
Once his words flew out of his lips, his surroundings fell into silence.
…
In the palace, Grand Commandant Fang Qingtian was breathing harshly as he leaned against the chair.
The emperor sat on the large chair in the royal study as he waited patiently for the result, while Qiu Jianhan and Leng Daoyin were observing the old Grand Commandant with wide eyes.
After a long, long time, Fang Qingtian opened his eyes and said, "Yang Botao’s words are lies… lies that he is extremely familiar with like he’s been saying them for many times. Therefore, there must be something up with Yang Botao in this matter."
His Majesty nodded solemnly and replied, "With old Grand Commandant’s skills that distinguish between what is real and what is false, Yang Botao’s treason has now become a smaller issue. The main point should be… the tornado that appeared last night – was it genuinely Supreme Wind? And the attacker who launched an attack while in the manifestation of flame, was it Supreme Flame?"