Chapter 332: Destruction of the Yang Family
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Witnessing another seven members of the NanGong family fall into pools of their own blood, filled with innumerable sword slashes, and turning into minced meat in a flash, Yu ManTian who was standing by the side could bear it no longer. With a loud roar like a tiger, he rushed into the battlefield, the greatsword in his hands waving around wildly, carving out a circle around him. He could not bear the loss of talents the most, and decided to jump into the battle. Besides, the Heavenly Blade Troops would not care if he was the third in command of the Yu Family or not, or whether he was an esteemed XianTian realm expert. They would just throw themselves forward without any hesitation!
Ling Chen sighed. For someone of Yu ManTian's character, it was only a matter of time until he interfered. However, since he had come into the scene, her plans could not follow her optimal schedule any longer. While Yu ManTian was a XianTian realm expert with rich battle experience, the battlefield was after all an unpredictable place. If anything happened to him, how would Ling Chen account to Yu BingYan? As such, Ling Chen raised up her right hand. Those of her side, upon seeing this, would know that she had set the order for complete and utter annihilation of the other party!
Shouts sounded from all four directions, followed by the swift sounds of wind breaking as shaft after after of black-colored spears rained down upon the Heavenly Blade Troops, without any sign of stopping! The closely clustered spears seemed to block off every single ray of light from the skies as they descended!
Under the light of the torches, the blood spurting out from various injuries took on a rose-red hue, accompanied by the lengthy screams of the victims in pain. A multitude of Heavenly Blade Troops had rushed over without concern for their lives, but in an instant, they had become fodder for Ling Lei, Ling Dian, and Yu ManTian!
The rain of spears continued for a good hour, to the point that while the spears were still raining, there were no longer any more screams of pain below!
After a "Halt!" command from Ling Lei, all the soldiers on duty straightened themselves in attention. Not a single noise could be heard then! Such a huge area, but without a single survivor! The 3,000 members of the Heavenly Blade Troops were uniformly turned to human mush, completely unrecognizable!
Only now did the perpetrator of this entire event, Ling Chen appear. Upon seeing the gore in front of her, her face blanched as she wobbled a little, before forcing herself to speak to Ling Lei, "Get all your men to disarm and advance into the palace, while reassuring the public. As for Yang KongQun's and Long Xiang's groups, we'll wait for the young noble to make a decision." The moment she finished, she quickly returned to the residence before throwing up incessantly.
Yang KongQun stood mutely on the spot, seeming like a living corpse as he stood there. At this moment, anyone could see the despair in his eyes. Suddenly, he burst into a fit of insane laughter.
Staggering along, he pointed to Ling Zhan and laughed, "Old Ling, it seems like I, Yang KongQun, have lost! I've completely been defeated! Hahaha…"
Ling Zhan sighed and waved his hands to stop Ling Lei who was about to pounce on Yang KongQun. He solemnly declared, "That's right, you've lost. Old Yang, you have no way to rise back up again!"
Yang KongQun gave a hollow laugh, as his face regained some semblance of calmness, "While I might have lost, I still want to know. How was I defeated? I planned far ahead, every step carefully constructed for a whole twenty years in secret! However, while I was beaten, I still don't understand it at all, and I can't rest in peace without knowing! I believe that my schemes and plots were not able to be easily seen through, because even my wife knows nothing about them! So tell me, in whose hands did I lose? Was it that I've never been able to tell your true colors? Or was it that I've always been making a mistake?!"
Ling Zhan slowly shook his head, his eyes full of pity. "Old Yang, the one who has defeated you is not me, but my grandson, and my only grandson, Ling Tian! Three years, ago, he was already waiting for you to carry out this plan to ambush you! Which meant that, three years ago, Ling Tian already had absolute confidence in routing you! However, you delayed your plans by three years, so how could you not lose?"
"Ling Tian? Three years ago??" Yang KongQun called out in disbelief, "Stupid Old Ling, are you trying to swindle a dying man?"
Ling Zhan shook his head instead, coldly remarking, "Old Yang, why would this old man still lie to you at this time? While you had been meticulously planning for the past twenty years, your target in the end was just my Ling Family and within Sky Bearing! From the start, my Tian'er never saw you as an opponent, for his goal was merely to use you as a stepping stone to conquer the entire world! Compared to him, how could you still think of victory? But you need not feel depressed, as even I was unaware of my grandson's ambitions. This is what is called 'ambition does not restrict itself to the old!"
"Turns out that you were really muddle-headed for your whole life, to not even know that your grandson was so outstanding, with such foresight!" Yang KongQun stood in shock for a while, before he finally realized! He let out a hearty laugh, "That's right! How could I be compared to someone who wants to hold the entire world in his grasp! While I am running along, he is already flying in the sky! How could I not lose? Haha, this old man admits his defeat wholeheartedly! I'm no longer unresigned to it!"
"Clang!" Yang KongQun withdrew his sword from the sheath, and it rippled like the water on a river. Holding it before his chest, he gazed at it with a sentimental expression as he muttered, "This old man has lived for a long time, spending a lifetime warring under the heavens. I've always believed my intelligence to be superior, that there was no one my equal. Even when I was older and had to resort to planning instead of being in the frontlines, I always made sure I made no mistakes due to negligence, but to think that I've lost to a boy of fifteen-odd years, to the point that I have no way to make a comeback! Hahaha, what a joke! Respect, I've only respect for him!" After his laugh, he threw his head back to the heavens and screamed, "From today onwards, there will no longer be a Yang Family!" and blood spurted. He had chosen to commit suicide! He hit the ground with a straight back. Even in death, he chose not to bow!
Ling Zhan gave a deep sigh. After all, this was still a person whom he had fought with for over a decade. He turned his back, unable to keep watching, but sudden screams alerted him once again. Turning his head, he saw a group of archers shooting arrows into the remaining Yang Family members, and before those kneeling Yang Family members could escape, they had all been killed!
"You…!" Ling Zhan roared, "Since they have already surrendered, why are you not sparing them?"
On one side, Ling Lei and Ling Dian bowed as they replied, "Elder Ling, please forgive us, young noble said that even a prairie fire cannot destroy the grass — it grows again when the breeze blows. The Ling and Yang families have too much hatred between them, and against the Yang family, if we were ever to move, we have to pull them out by the roots! We cannot leave behind any possible cancers!" As he spoke, he waved his hands, "Hurry up, why are you guys so slow?!"
Ling Zhan was furious to the point that he could not speak! While he was aware of such a reason, Old Man Ling was still an emotional person at heart and could not bring himself to do such a thing. He could only sigh loudly and return to the residence, while saying, "Kid RuHu, come and accompany this old man for a talk."
****
Dawn had broken!
Ling Tian led his troops together with the surrendered soldiers, creating an eye-catching sight and filling people with a strong sense of desolation. On the battlefield, wisps of smoke could still be seen, quickly dispersing under the gentle morning breeze. It resembled the lost souls of soldiers, being carried to another place of paradise for them, or it could actually be the hopes and wishes of parents and wives towards these men, disappearing with the wind, helplessly vanishing into nothingness….
Ling Tian's snow white robe had splotches of blood everywhere, as though there were plum blossoms growing on his robes! It was only at this time that the battle had ended!
The clearing of the aftermath had just begun!
Han TieXuan could be lauded as a military genius of his time. He did not display any indecisiveness, immediately choosing to chase after the escaping Wei ChengPing! Because they had discussed the spoils earlier, that all captive and warhorses would belong to Ling Tian, Han TieXuan could only pioneer a new territory in the Northern Wei if their imperial family collapsed! He wanted to rely on his role as a military servant to obtain a merit so huge that his name would be immortalized forever in the lands of Western Han! Thus, he did not bother with any wounded or captives on the field, charging forward with only the intent to eliminate Wei ChengPing, while capturing all the Northern Wei cities along the way! Never had he been embroiled in such a thrilling battle, where he had the absolute advantage!
Northern Wei had thoroughly lost this time around, ending with Wei ChengPing escaping in defeat. The remaining escaping survivors of the Northern Wei army did not even add up to 20,000! A 400,000 strong army, reduced to less than a tenth, was as good as being defeated! Han TieXuan, who was looking for even more profit, had chased them down all the way, ambushing at mountain passes and taking even more lives. From today on, in the stage that was the Heavenly Star Continent, there would never be a Northern Wei flag! In this battle for supremacy, Northern Wei had become history, never again to be seen as a threat!
The leftover provisions of the Northern Wei were all taken by Ling Tian, and just the leftover weapons were enough to fill a good 500 wagons! Furthermore, each wagon was so heavy that it required four horses in order to move them! If one were to look at it from afar, it would seem like a field of spears and swords on the plains moving!
After further arrangement, the 200,000 captive soldiers were split into twenty groups, each group consisting of 10,000 men. Ling Tian knew that time was pressing, so he only called his trusted aides to his side, commanding them, "You guys are to take 10 wagons of weapons each, and 10,000 of the surrendered soldiers each with three days worth of rations. How to settle their meals will be completely up to you. There must definitely not be any mutiny, and neither are any of you allowed to kill them indiscriminately. They will all be under your direct command in the future, so how you are going to lecture them will be up to you.
Lastly, Ling Tian emphasized this point, "I don't care what methods you use. In one year, I want to see the most loyal and battleworthy soldiers before me! Right now, all of you are to settle your teams and bring them back to your own bases! Wait for my next command!"