389 Heroes in Troubled Times
Red Prince Residence.
Xiao Yu hurled the teacup he was holding to the ground and yelled, "Fuck Ao Yu, that bastard! Who allowed him to send troops at this time!"
"Your Highness, this is the letter they sent today." Long Ye walked in from outside and passed a letter over.
Xiao Yu took the letter, glanced through it hastily, and immediately tore it to pieces. "That fucking bastard!"
Beili border.
The Nanjue army was lined up neatly as they continued marching northward. They had attacked suddenly this time and had already swept through seven cities. Today was the first time they encountered some decent resistance.
Crown Prince Ao Yu was wearing a set of black-coloured soft armour, his hair loose around him and a curved blade hanging from his waist. There was an iron chain attached to the end of the blade and the chain was wrapped around his waist. He sat in a carriage, a cup of wine in his hand and two ravishing beauties hanging off of him. He drank a mouthful of wine, laughing with amusement and remarked, "In this world, he's the only person who has ever beaten me. There’s no way Xiao Yu, that piece of trash, is a match for him."
"Your Highness, who are you talking about?" One of the girls refilled Ao Yu’s cup with wine.
"His name is Xiao Chuhe. He once won a city from me at Grand Golden Terrace in Heavenly Revelations. I heard that he’s changed his name to Xiao Se. I’m looking forward to meeting him again and winning back what I lost back then. You had better not disappoint me, ah." Ao Yu put down the wine cup. "Don't you dare die at Xiao Yu's hands."
In the Red Prince Residence, Xiao Yu walked into the rear courtyard.
"Mister Ye Ya, I’m afraid I have to hasten your deadline," Xiao Yu said coldly.
A sinister smile appeared on Ye Ya’s pale face. "Your Highness, please look forward to it."
Yesterday, Xiao Lingchen was still dressed in white and carrying his long sword in preparation for wandering the martial world but within a day, he had changed into his bright red armour, armed himself with the Dragon Blood spear and was now leading an army to depart Heavenly Revelations City.
Ye Ruoyi rode on a horse to send him off. "I wish you all to return in triumph."
Wang Pichuan, one of the three heavenly generals, smiled bitterly. "General Ye retired and returned to his hometown, and His Majesty is seriously ill yet the treatment isn’t working. Those Nanjue bastards have really picked a good time. Right now, the army is unstable. This war is going to be tough. "
"Enough complaining. It’s going to be tough but we still gotta fight. Were the three heavenly generals afraid of them before?" Xiao Lingchen groused with irritation.
"That was then, this is now. Back then, we rode our horses in a frenzy across the battlefield and it didn’t take much to tear them to pieces. As we are now, you can put us out at the sea and we can also beat them until they flee in defeat. But right now, I’m getting a little horse-sick. Little Prince, do you believe me?" Wang Pichuan quipped.
"Fine, fine. After this war, we’ll go be pirates again!" Xiao Lingchen said loudly.
He was probably the first general ever to say on the eve of a war that afterwards, he was going to be a pirate.
"Enough chit-chatting. Every line we spew, another soldier may be dying. Let's go!" Xiao Lingchen flicked his whip and charged ahead.
"Miss Ye, goodbye." Wang Pichuan also took his leave. "I have a feeling that the affairs of Heavenly Revelations City are not over yet. We’re going to the battlefield now. Please remind everyone to be careful here."
"Don't worry. We’ll be here waiting for your triumphant return!" Ye Ruoyi cupped her fist.
After watching them leave, Ye Ruoyi was about to turn around and head back, but she spotted two strangely dressed people walking into Heavenly Revelations City.
One of them carried a huge sabre on his back. The sabre was nearly as big as a door panel, and only a burly person like him could have carried it. He was dressed in black with fierce-looking eyes and people who walked past him couldn’t help but avoid him.
The other was a monk, with a string of oversized bodhi beads hanging from his neck. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, exuding an air of righteousness from his body.
They were indeed an odd-looking duo but in Heavenly Revelations City, it wasn’t strange for even more odd-looking people to appear. But Ye Ruoyi still noticed them. She got off the horse, patted the horse's rump lightly, and let her run back to the General's Residence by herself, while she quietly followed the duo.
"Shixiong, how many more days to Snow Moon City?" Wushuang asked Lu Yuzhai. They were both riding their horses.
Lu Yuzhai shook his head helplessly. "Shidi, this is the third time you’ve asked the same question. It’s another two days."
"It takes so long." Wushuang scratched his head. "The last time we travelled so far was when we went to… went to that…"
"Khotan Kingdom," Lu Yuzhai reminded him.
"Yes, that's it. Now that I think about it, what happened to the monk we met there? You’ve always mentioned the others we met there, Lei Wujie, Xiao Se, and Tang Lian. I’m really looking forward to meeting this monk again," Wushuang asked.
"I guess he’s gone back to Outerheaven. I haven’t heard any news of him either," Lu Yuzhai said.
"Oh, no wonder. His name is no longer on the Golden Lists and last time, he and I were tied for first place on the Fine Jade List. Now, the name at the top of the Fine Jade List is that… what’s his name…" Wushuang asked again.
"Luo Mingxuan," Lu Yuzhai supplied impatiently.
"Luo Mingxuan… I have no impression of this name." Wushuang thought for a while and shook his head.
"He’s the one who came with Luoxia Fairy to look for shifu that day. You even fought with him for a round," Lu Yuzhai relented and explained.
"Oh, that one. I remember him." Wushuang nodded. "He’s not bad. I also look forward to meeting him again. By the way, shixiong, why has your name never appeared on the Golden Lists?"
Lu Yuzhai's face sank, and he retorted angrily, "Shifu said that all the fortunes of our generation were taken away by you alone. The rest are useless. I’m one of those useless ones."
"Shixiong, you’re so modest, so modest. Although your martial arts is not powerful, you are… very tolerant," Wushuang said ruefully.
Lu Yuzhai was taken aback for a moment, and then shook his head. "I’ve always had my doubts. Can an idiot like you really lead our Unrivaled City to defeat Snow Moon City?"
"Shixiong, what you just said was not right," Wushuang said suddenly.
Lu Yuzhai was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Who said that we will definitely defeat Snow Moon City?" Wushuang shrugged. "That's Snow Moon City, you know."
"A Snow Moon City that has lost its influence," Lu Yuzhai reiterated.
"But they’re still Snow Moon City," Wushuang also reiterated. "If we’ve already decided that we can win before we set off, then we should turn back and go home now."
Lu Yuzhai scoffed coldly. "You’re actually quite logical."
Snow Moon City.
Sikong Changfeng rang the bell to call for assembly. The elders who were training in seclusion at the back of the city came out of their courtyards and gathered in the main hall.
"Now that Citymaster Baili is not here, and Citymaster Li is seriously injured and has not recovered, we’ll have to join in the fight this time."
"They’ve brought a lot of people this time and have many sects on their side. But, we only have ourselves."
"But does that matter? We’re Snow Moon City."
"This Unrivaled City. Looks like they don’t even want to keep their position of second city in the martial world."