The three armies were led by three famed generals. Saintly General Liu Jian led eighty thousand soldiers attacking on the left flank. Heavenly General Yang Lie led eighty thousand soldiers attacking the right flank. Valiant General Chen Yu Hu led an army of one hundred thousand soldiers attacking the center!
Three armies with three famed generals made a total of two hundred sixty thousand troops deployed. This military operation of Great Zhao could be considered massive. Given that winter was coming and the weather was cold, this action of Great Zhao could be considered madness!
Iron Cloud’s Gold Star Citadel and the surrounding areas simultaneously sent out distress messages! Battle reports flooded in nonstop!
But at this time, because of Tie Shi Cheng’s passing, Iron Cloud was covered in a veil of sorrow. Great Zhao’s military actions only served to inspire Iron Cloud’s national pride!
The hearts of soldiers responded with unprecedented fervor!
Tie Long Cheng was overseeing the armies and could not go back for the funeral! Under the massive pressure from Great Zhao, he could only oversee the battlefront without any time for rest.
In Iron Cloud Citadel, the public’s emotions were boiling as they prepared for Tie Shi Cheng’s funeral!
*****
It could be said Cheng Yun He was feeling imminent danger when hope appeared.
Tie Shi Cheng’s death gave Cheng Yun He a great shock. He knew that now that Tie Shi Cheng had died, it was a total disruption to Diwu Qing Rou’s plans, and everything would have to be carefully reconsidered once again.
But there was one major advantage in this; it was the fact that they were now finally able to leave the citadel!
These days of blockade had caused Cheng Yun He’s hair to whiten with worries. Without any way to get information or leave the citadel, he watched as Yin Wu Fa turned into a virtual corpse after taking Meng Hun Solution and became even more anxious!
He searched many times each week, more than ten times even. Cheng Yun He was pushed into a corner; not only he did not dare to act, he even killed the carrier Invisible Falcons. Because… they only needed to flap their wings, and everyone could lose their lives.
Losing the means to communicate was much better than losing their lives.
Now that Tie Shi Cheng had died, the curfew was lifted.
Cheng Yun He let out a sigh of relief and quickly asked for permission to leave the citadel. After arriving here, he immediately made a point to buy many Iron Cloud specialties. He especially chose nonperishable goods that could be stored for a long period of time.
All the officials of Iron Cloud Citadel were so busy with arranging the emperor’s funeral, so who would bother caring about this trivial matter? When Cheng Yun He asked to leave the citadel, he naturally got the approval. The result was Cheng Yun He gathered all of his subordinates and left the citadel with a long caravan via the southern gate without a moment’s delay.
They were finally out!
Once he had stepped out of Iron Cloud Citadel, Cheng Yun He could not help but look up and watch the snow flowers in the sky; he took in a deep breath. These few days in Iron Cloud Citadel, Cheng Yun He had the feeling that he could barely breathe; it was utterly suffocating.
Now that they were outside of the citadel, he suddenly felt like a little bird that had escaped from its cage.
From now on, as long as King of Hell Chu is in Iron Cloud Citadel, I will not go there!
Cheng Yun He quietly swore to himself!
Before his intellectual mind could make its move, King of Hell Chu had blocked him completely and not given him any chance to show his skill.
After Cheng Yun He arrived at Iron Cloud Citadel, the people of Hei Mo clan had left after being used by King of Hell Chu.
A futile effort on that front. As for making connections with the other officials… Cheng Yun He thought about it, but he did not dare. These days, all of the officials in Iron Cloud Citadel were feeling anxious and fearful. If his identity got exposed and King of Hell gave the orders, these officials would probably rip him apart and bring his corpse to King of Hell Chu to claim their prize…
This, Cheng Yun He was confident of.
Being able to bring all of his subordinates back to Great Zhao was already not bad.
Looking at the Golden Horse Riders at his side, Cheng Yun He wanted to cry. On the way there, everyone was spirited, and now, they were all gloomy. They came with more than forty people; there were currently a measly dozen or so people.
And most of them were Martial Great Masters; there were only three Revered Martial Artists left!
The rest were to forever remain in Iron Cloud Citadel…
Turning his head back one last time, Cheng Yun He glanced at this painful citadel and yelled, “Let’s go!”
The horse drawn carriages clicked and clacked as they struggled in snowy weather at a turtle’s pace. They were currently still at the border of Iron Cloud so Cheng Yun He did not dare to toss away the merchandise; if they got stopped, that would certainly raise suspicion.
Therefore, while they were a little slow, Cheng Yun He had to still grin and bear it.
***** (walkthejianghu.com)
Inside Bu Tian Pavilion, Chu Yang frowned, “It’s them?”
Sweat poured out of Chen Yu Tong’s face as he said hastily, “Yes, it’s them.”
“After the gates were opened, six groups of people left the citadel? And only two groups went south?” Chu Yang was a little surprised that there were so few.
By the time, the merchants should be going crazy being suffocated by the blockade. It did not make sense that so few left.
“There are still many waiting to leave; it’s just that they are people of our nation. Since they are currently in Iron Cloud Citadel, they would naturally want to attend the emperor’s funeral!” Chen Yu Tong carefully explained.
“Ah, that makes sense.” Chu Yang nodded, “It’s not too far off from the norm. Everyone go and help watch over the funeral procession. Protect the prince cautiously. Don’t let anything happen. As for this other issue, let me deal with it personally.”
“Yes.” Chen Yu Tong hesitated then asked, “The minister is not joining in the funeral procession… this is… a little disrespectful.”
“I can’t hide fast enough. If the prince sees me that would be a great disrespect.” Chu Yang smiled wryly. These days, Tie Bu Tian lost his temper every time he saw Chu Yang. Yesterday, he unexpectedly rushed toward Chu Yang and kicked. Luckily, Chu Yang got away quickly or else he would have gotten a beating. In this critical time, how could Chu Yang let himself lose face? He would have to be one day late this national funeral to avoid being in front of the storm…
Even if there were no issues, Minister Chu still would have wanted to slip away for a few days; let alone this justifiable reason…
Chen Yu Tong’s mouth twitched slightly. While he knew well that with the emperor just passing, he should absolutely not laugh, he still could not help it.
The relationship between Tie Bu Tian and Chu Yang was too weird. If Tie Bu Tian was truly unhappy, he only need to hand down a decree to get rid of this minister. But he adamantly refused to do this; he even took it upon himself to question King of Hell Chu…
This was more like a fit of anger!
Chu Yang left a few lines of instructions and slipped away in a flash. He returned to Heavenly Armament Pavilion where were a group of people who did not care whether the ruler of Iron Cloud Nation died or not. Ji Mo’s injury was almost completely recovered. Chu Yang said a few lines, and the five people excitedly changed their clothes and followed Chu Yang out of the citadel.
A few days ago, Ji Mo was proudly showing off his accomplishments making everyone extremely envious. They finally had the chance to go out for a change of scenery, in such beautiful weather, no less… snow was fluttering in the wind…
Six people in outfits white as snow rode six horses out of Iron Cloud Citadel’s southern gate. When the soldiers stopped them to ask questions, a sign representing King of Hell Chu fell in front of their faces. The whole bunch trembled with shock and quickly ran to open the gate.
Six horses rushed out like the wind…
“Woo… this weather is so refreshing!” Luo Ke Di showed off a pair of panda eyes as he howled to the sky in excitement. The past few days, young master Luo had not had a good day. Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang went to him for matches whenever they had nothing to do. And he was no match for them so he could only grit his teeth and bear the beatings.
Almost every day, he had to endure an average of two beatings. Young master Luo went completely berserk. This morning, he did not wait for Gu Du Xing to find him. He went and challenged Rui Bu Tong… attacking his soft spot first…
Unexpectedly, Rui Bu Tong doled out a series of strange punches that caught young master Luo off-guard. Unable to block, he got two punches in the face. After a pitiful cry, he turned into a panda…
Now that he was finally able to get out, young master Luo decided to relax and enjoy himself. At the same time, he silently vowed to himself that once he became successful, the first person he would seek to get revenge upon would be Gu Du Xing. He would beat him up ten times a day! No, twenty times!
The second person was, of course, Chu Yang! Because that set of strange punches was taught to Rui Bu Tong by Chu Yang! He was simply unforgivable.
The third person was, of course, Dong Wu Shang.
Young master Luo was currently grinding his teeth. Every night, he went to sleep with an achy body and a dream. If he did not have this fantasy… he would probably not be able to hang on…
Ji Mo and company laughed loudly. Even Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang, two famed icy people, had to laugh. It should also be known that these people argued with each other incessantly every day. And while there was always someone in black and blue each day, their bond had gradually grown deeper.
Six people riding six horses flew with the wind and snow. They followed the tracks on the ground that had not yet been covered up by the snow and gave chase overtly.
Chu Yang was truly certain of his chances.
The people with him were all Great level masters, but each one was an exceptional member of their clan. In term of battle strength, they were absolutely not weaker than Revered level masters. In fact, they had a good chance of beating second and third grade Revered level masters.
The people of Golden Horse Riders Department were almost completely eliminated. Even if they were to clash, Chu Yang was not at all afraid! Not to mention that he had a super weapon, Nine Tribulations Sword, at hand!
Therefore, Chu Yang confidently gave chase.
As they journeyed on, fragments of roads were left behind. After about thirty or forty miles, they saw a big caravan with horses moving quickly in the wind and snow.
Gu Du Xing grunted and waved his arm, “Luo Ke Di, you’re up!”
“Why me?” Luo Ke Di said in discontent, “You are all free.”
“You are telling me to go?” Dong Wu Shang turned and looked at him dangerously.
“No… no…” Luo Ke Di stuttered…
“Then you want me to go?” Ji Mo narrowed his eyes.
“In any case, I am not going.” Rui Bu Tong turned away.
“Should I go?” Gu Du Xing looked at Luo Ke Di, “How about the boss? You dare say this?”
Luo Ke Di rolled his eyes and said dejectedly, “I’m going.” All of the excitement from earlier had completely disappeared.
Not going was not an option. Young master Luo was angry, but the target for his venting was the large caravan in front of him!
It’s all because of you that I have to lose face! You will all have to pay a great price!
Kicking hard against the sides of his white horse, Luo Ke Di flew like the wind and yelled out, “Yah! Yah!… Yah! Yah!…”
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the caravan. Pulling on the horse’s rein, he turned around and remained on horseback. Metal flashed in his hand and a big tree on the side of the road fell down blocking it!
“Ahwooh… I opened this road and planted this tree. If you want to pass, you must pay a fee!” Young master Luo yelled out loudly. His voice reverberated and unexpectedly caused a shockwave in the falling snow in the air.