Chapter 761: A Resounding Victory!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the members of the Concourse of the Underworld entered the Haunting Temple in a single file, the fog-shrouded gates slowly sealed itself close. The whole mountain shook with a series of quivers, and in no time at all, the Haunting Temple sank into the ground. Not a sound could be heard from it anymore.
Yun Yang was completely speechless. A man as wise as him would never have dreamt that such a thing could happen.
Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan…
Both the leaders of the Merciless Tower and the Hall of the Crimson Blade had been accepted into the ranks of the Concourse, just like that.
They had even taken the initiative to give themselves up.
No matter how magnificent or sincere-sounding their reasons were, Yun Yang still felt that something was not right.
These reasons could not have been sufficient to cause Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan to make such a resolute decision, could they?
What was the real reason behind it?
Yun Yang racked his brains for an answer, but he failed to discover anything conclusive, and was still left in a state as clueless as before.
"Tsk, whatever. This has been delayed long enough. Now that I'm finally relieved of any duties for the moment, I should probably take a look at the ongoing battle in the west immediately. I hope there are no accidents."
Yun Yang took off and headed towards the west.
…
"Hen Bieli, what was the real reason behind this?"
"The real reason? … It's simple. In my recent practice sessions, just as I was pushing myself to the extreme as I attempted to break though my own limitations in order to attain even higher forms of enlightenment, I heard someone whispering to me, as if on cue, 'Life or death — only the Concourse could determine such; if you desire longevity, go straight to the Underworld!'"
Hen Bieli smiled bitterly. "It was like a call from fate itself; initially, I always thought it was just an illusion stemming from my own demons, but Hong Zhan had also received similar news, confirming the existence of such a message. Moreover, after our confirmation, we were sure that the message was not from an external source, but a queer thought that stemmed from within ourselves — it was very much real, and not made up whatsoever. "
"We've had a thorough discussion before we made the decision to seek you out."
"Why didn't you bring this up just now?"
"In truth, we've been here for the past few days already. With our own eyes, we've witnessed how you seized the dragonhide treasure maps, and how you returned the maps to Young Master Yun… We knew that this whole incident was an act that was staged by Young Master Yun…"
"Although it didn't matter how this whole thing started, Young Master Yun was still our savior in the end, but…"
"Well, to sum it up, we were feeling extremely conflicted. We were even worried that this was a secret of the Concourse. If it really was one, and if we somehow revealed it… well, that's why it's complicated."
First Court King Qinguang and the rest broke out in bellowing laughter upon seeing their conflicted expressions.
They finally understood the complicated and conflicting feelings that had been plaguing these two fellows.
If they were in their shoes, they would feel conflicted as well, when faced with such a situation.
"So, do you despise Young Master Yun?"
"If there wasn't an ounce of hatred at all, we'd be deluding ourselves, so… perhaps just a little. Sigh.. just thinking about how we've played right into his hands, or being part of his scheme since the start, only to hustle and die… in the end, we still had to be grateful towards the mastermind of this all, and take our leave in gratitude — it certainly makes one feel out of sorts…"
"Hahaha…"
"We actually did think of eliminating the Mediocre King — the former crown prince — on our own. Alas, we didn't expect to be one step too late, and the former crown prince had been butchered before we could get to him… sigh."
Hen Bieli let out a sigh. "In truth, a void filled our hearts when we got to know that fellow was dead. We don't know what to occupy ourselves with in the future — which was why we had a sudden resolution…"
"Yes, that's the way to put it," Hong Zhan added.
"The Haunting Temple is shaking!"
"We're here!"
Earth Treasury's eyes glimmered with interest.
Everybody came to a stop.
As they directed their gazes forward, a massive temple appeared before their sight, oozing continuously with abyssal fog…
"There are now fifteen positions of the Underworld that have tentatively been filled tm…" Earth Treasury took a deep breath as he recalled the many ranks within the Concourse's legacy, and could not help but mutter, "Heavy responsibilities, and a long way to go..."
…
On the same day, the forty-million strong army led by Wang Yunzhu had already slaughtered their way into the the empire of Ziyou's inner city. Miles and miles of land were ravaged as fire from the battles burned and pillaged through them.
The forces of Yutang's western frontier were unrivaled, wherever they went. They were an invincible, all-conquering force — ever victorious!
Yet, Wang Yunzhu, a marshal who had dutifully guarded the western frontier and had engaged in a decade-long war with the Ziyou empire, was feeling completely perplexed at the moment.
"That's all the strength the Ziyou empire could muster?" Marshall Wang sat upon horseback and scratched against his head, his face wounded up in confusion. "Where was the great army of Ziyou whom I had agonizingly crossed swords with back then? Am I dreaming, or are Ziyou's forces infected by a sleepwalking plague?"
"I clearly remember that there were quite a few seasoned commanders among the ranks of Ziyou's military — where did they go to? This is a war that could wipe an entire country off the map — a total annihilation of a nation we're talking about — are they truly not going to show up?!"
"Perhaps I've been scaring myself all these years by thinking that our opponent was a ferocious tiger— but perhaps they were mere shadows instead?"
What a shame — nobody could answer Wang Yunzhu's question.
In truth, his generals were equally confused and puzzled — they were even feeling quite awkward about it.
It was understable that they were confused or puzzled. Even their marshal was equally perplexed, so how could his men be exempted from such emotions? Why did they feel awkward, though?
This was where it became a little cliche. A battle of this scale could wipe out an entire country, restore peace in Yutang and unite Tianxuan — going as far as guaranteeing the nation's welfare in the coming years. The forty-million-strong army of the western frontier marched into battle, and whilst they were pumped with energy and adrenaline, they were always on their guard, fearful of falling into the enemy's hands at a moment's neglect. After all, the western battalion were very familiar with Ziyou's military tactics after engaging in battle with Ziyou for so many years. Deep down, they knew that victory is a must, but approaching with caution is another matter!
However, as the two forces engaged in battle, the Ziyou military either collapsed upon first contact or had chosen to give themselves up right away. The defeated army was utterly crushed and ravaged beyond the point of no return, and they seemed a little too keen to surrender themselves, making this matter more suspicious than it already was !
Sun Zihu, the general of the western frontier, came to a conclusion swiftly — something was definitely not right about this, something fishy was going on!
Although the battle was progressing in their favor, Sun Zihu still did not dare to make too many drastic advances. It might be a resounding victory, yet for days he kept on his toes, sending out numerous scouts to scavenge for information in fear of being overconfident and falling for Ziyou's set-up ultimately.
It was only after Wang Yunzhu had arrived did they connect all the events prior to the battle with the present state of affairs, amounting to a conclusion: Ziyou's forces were neither feigning their defeat nor staging some devious trickery up their sleeves. They were truly defeated — big time!
Strictly speaking, Sun Zihu's cautious approach and all that holding back had actually delayed many good opportunities to strike — in fact, they had given Ziyou plenty of time to take a breather!
Yet, Wang Yunzhu did not dare to deny that Sun Zihu was not to be blamed for this. If he — or just any marshal in the world — were to bear such a matter upon their own shoulders, they, too, would not simply advance prematurely — there were no exceptions!
Due to this mentality, the present state of affairs was incredibly awkward!
Then, the key question remained — after being at war for so many years, how did Ziyou's forces suddenly become so weak?
If the Heaven's Inquisition was here, he would have said: If your luck is truly bad, you will choke when you just want to take a sip of water. Ziyou's luck had already ceased to exist — of course it would only get worse from here on. A torrent of misfortunes and disasters would plague the nation all at once — is this even really worth mentioning?
Roughly speaking, the present situation could be summed up in this manner; Ziyou's top marshals who were seasoned in battle were either all caught up in a coup, or they were too occupied defending their own turf. Perhaps they might have even been murdered, locked up, or removed from their post for various reasons. Either way, it was extremely rare to find veterans who were still capable of combat on the battlefield!
Just talking about Sun Zihu's first ever battle where he aggressively advanced into Ziyou, was already something to behold!
When they faced off, Sun Zihu did not dare slack one bit. He started to deploy his troops into a battle formation, and at the verge of launching his attack, the enemy forces lapsed into disarray, not even resembling a proper battalion. As a veteran well-versed in combat, how could he not take this opportunity to strike?
The truth was simple — an internal strife had occured within their ranks. The opponent's vanguard was so intimidated by Sun Zihu's ferocious forces — he fled with his troops even before the battle could commence!
A leading marshal fleeing right before the battle — how much more ridiculous could this get?
Still, this was exactly how it played out in the presence of the two armies.
As the two armies confronted each other with the aura of battle lingering in the air, their own vanguard had chosen to make a break for it out of fear… A move like this was a blow to Ziyou's forces — a fatal blow!
Adding on Sun Zihu's incoming assaults, how could Ziyou's army escape defeat, when plagued with the pressure from both internal and external forces?
Of course they would suffer an overwhelming defeat.
However, a victory like this too easily, causing Sun Zihu to hold back his advances. He cautiously scouted around for snippets of information, and only after the arrival of Wang Yunzhu's main forces did he confirm the present state of affairs!
The situation had truly gotten out of hand!
On the battlefield, more and more news poured in, sounding even more preposterous than the one before—
'Yutang's army of a hundred men were chasing after Ziyou's thousand-men forces like they were going after rabbits!'
'Ten or so men soldiers would dare attack a five hundred-strong battalion, and they could even emerge victorious from that!'
'Three to five soldiers, escorting hundreds of captured prisoners from Ziyou's military, approaching from far…'
Say— how would you begin to explain this?
"Bastards… all of them bastards…" Marshal Wang Yunzhu stabbed at each syllable, injecting each word with gloom. "What impressionable feat did we gain out of this situation? Conquering half the empire had taken less than three months, effortlessly…. Damn it, if this were to be reported back to base, do you think they would believe the military? It's better if they don't — if they do, I'll probably be chided to death.
'What-the-fuck Wang Yunzhu — what the hell have you been doing all these years at the western frontier? Spending all your time complaining about a simple opponent like that?' … My good reputation has truly been ruined by these bastards of Ziyou!"
Faced with a situation like this, the western frontier were equally dismal as the marshal who led them; to have been oppressed by their opponents for so many years, they would most certainly be perceived as idiots by now!