Chapter 506: Mines
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Han Fen’s greatest pleasure was arguing with Han Xuan because she was able to say whatever she wanted. She dreamed of thisfor many yearsand finallyhad a chance to achieve it.
She did not care even if it meant being locked up in a dark and abandoned mine surrounded by nervous tribal soldiers.
“What about Maid Lotus? Wasn’t she coming to save people? It’s almost a day past, why isn’t she here yet?” Han Xuan carried the Miss in her arms as she looked warily at the soldiers afar. The three of them, including the other disciple from the New Moon Hall, were the only ones there.
Han Fen was not worried at all and said, “the Managing Master couldn’thave forgotten if he didn’t have something occupying him.”
“Forgotten? Then we’ll die here?” Han Fen asked incredulously.
“Isn’t itgood here, where even the graves have been saved.”
Ming Zhen trembled. Han Fen hugged her tightly and glared at Han Fen saying, “you are not allowed to scare the miss, besides the words you spoke at the New Moon Hall do not count at all. You are traitors.”
“If what was said counted, wouldn’t we be tired?” Han Fen said looking steadily back without flinching, her eyes ratherfilled withcheeriness than anger and asked,”I said that I was going to have noodles in the afternoon. I’m changing it to rice now, can’t I?”
“This… this is not the same,” said Han Fen who was a little reckless but her mindset however, the same as most people’s. She continued,”we are not going to have rice because The Maid Lotus treats you like a meal. Are you happy now?”
“Happy,”Han Fen answered.Other people might have thought that Han Fen was taking advantage of the situation, but after allthose days of getting along, Han Fen had understood that the only disciple who was fond of talking, had not understood what lying meant. She said,”this means that I am still of some use to the Managing Master. It would only be upsetting if she didn’t lookat me or find me when she needed help. The Managing Master I tell you, shelikes me. When practising her kungfu, she was very strict with me to the extent that there are still some scars left on my body by her. Do you want to see ?…”
Han Fen’s happiness seemed to come from her heart butHan Xuan pursed her lips because she would turn against her immediately if the Miss dared use that method to express her “love”. She turned her head to look at a disciple of the New Moon Hall who wa.s.silent and asked, “Is she speaking the truth?”
The disciple did not expect that she would be speaking to anyone as she looked very awkward.She swept a lateralglance, before she nodded her head in silence.
“You two. One of you never stops talking yet theother is like a mute. Are you both disciples at all?” Han Xuan was very interested in the New Moon Hall but nowfelt like backing out.
“Of course,” she said. Only Han Fen would reply. “She was a disciple butwas eliminated. She is no mute. She just doesn’t like to talk. I was almost eliminated too beforeI left her, b.u.t.the Managing Master brought me out. More proof that she bears preference for me.”Han Fen added.
“You are so good at the martial arts, do you also want to be eliminated?” she asked, surprising Han Xuan. The other party’s kungfu was not only better, but the occult sciences that she dabbled in were incomprehensible to others.
“I love to talk. The masters dressed in red said I didn’t follow the teachings and almost threw me into the pit of corpses. Have you smelled the pit? It’s strange, a bit like…”
“Shut up.” Han Xuan ordered angrily as the Miss in her arms trembled. A few soldiers around them looked on embarra.s.singly. It was thanks to the defence of Wu Zongheng and Long Fanyun that they had not dashed over.
The a.s.sa.s.sination plan the previous night had not seemed to differ too much from what had been agreed in advance.
Han Fen and his companions sent the Miss out of the house andtold the guards that they were sending the general to his residence. They pa.s.sed the border successfullyand whateverhadgone on was history.
Han Xuan did not kill Wu Zongheng like according to plan. After forcing him to scream, she took him into the hut where outside, Long Fanyun had already slain a few guards. Seeing Wu Zongheng wa.s.still alive, he could not help but be dazed.
On the other side, the Maid Lotus pushed Shangguan Fei to Shangguan Yun yetshe herself had run away and disappeared.
There were two other disciples of the New Moon Hall and onthe orders of the Managing Master, instigated some soldiers to revolt. This was very easy. Saying “Fort Jin Peng” would prompt the three young masters to hide in a mine. Moreover, Ha Chilie was also killed by Shangguan Yun.
Facts had proven that the disciples of the New Moon Hall were not always gloomy as ghosts. As long as they had orders, they would do something out of the ordinary, including winning the trust and favour of others.
Afterwards, these two disciples, including Chu Nanping, who also had another task, along with Maid Lotus, never appeared again.
The two disciples of the New Moon Hall though, were only in time to gather a small number of troops. Shangguan Yun had made preparations early andimmediately ordered guards to seal the entrance, and kill the dissidents outside.
Most of the soldiers were in the blue of what went on around them. They wereunable to know the facts and to decide thus whether to join the mutiny, before they were stuck inthehole.
Han Xuan and the others had also entered the cave andinitially, had wanted to merely seek shelter from the wind, they did not expect the enemy to react so quickly.
The cave was blocked by boulders that had been prepared earlier on andlater rammed with earth. Unlessthey werea deity, no one would be able to open it.
Wu Zongheng hoped that he could be able to be a small official in peace and quiet because he had revealed his leaders.h.i.+p urgings early on in front of the rioting crowdandhence had been picked by the Dragon King. But from then on, he had had to face unexpected events which caught him off guard everytime and this time, he was forced into a life-and-death situation.
This army was made up of tribes from Wushan and small groups of mine thieves. The formerwasloyal towards the Ha familybut not the Dragon King and the latter, only to profit. Wu Zongheng hadn’t been deeply involveddespite taking over the task. There were over four thousand troops in total,with several hundreds of hiddenspies so even though he felt something wasn’t right, he did not have any solution at all.
When the mine was first sealed, the troops had treated him as a vice commander of the thousands. However, notmuch later, someone from outside shouted. “People on the inside, Ha Chilie is already dead. He was killed by the guard Maid Lotus, who was beside the Dragon King. Before he died, Ha Chilie had already pledged allegiance to the Dragon King. I’ll let you out if you make the same decision as he did, killing everyone loyal to the Dragon King.”
This was an obvious attempt to sow discord and was indeed effective. The troops descended into panic, not even knowing who the Cloud King was. They separated themselves into factions and were eager toget towork.
Wu Zongheng could only stand up, and persuade others not tokill each other. He said,”Shangguan Yun wouldnever let us out. Listen, the people outside are still filling the hole. He would not reopen the hole even after killing one person.”
“What should we do? Die?” They asked angrily.
“I’d rather die early andbe happier.”
“Wait for the Dragon King.” This was Wu Zongheng’s reply to every question. “The Dragon King will come and save everyone, I guarantee you. This was the captain of the guards of the Dragon King, Long Fanyun. He had come in the name of the Dragon King.” He continued.
Long Fanyun nodded authoritatively at his surroundings, expressing hisident.i.ty was real albeit not seeing the Dragon King in a long time and defying his orders.
The soldiers hadcalmed downslightly, not in the mood to consider their loyalties and only thinking of one thing, that whoever saved him, would be their master.
Wu Zongheng concentrated everyone in the deep part of the mineshaft that was also slightly s.p.a.cious, in case they formed secret groups. He then walked through, answering every one of the soldiers’ questions.
Long Fanyun kept following him and rarely spoke. Thisgentled the people around him as the captain of the Dragon King’s guards was also trapped there. Hopes for his rescue immediately rose.
It was pitch-dark in the cave and everyone felt that time pa.s.sed very slowly thus their uneasiness increased considerably. Wu Zongheng observed carefully and spoke few words of encouragement, usually of the Dragon King’s arrival in mind. He did not know for how long his promises would hold.
The cave was rather humid and most of the resources of the military were trapped outside. In a few days, the people would starve.
Hunger sored tempers, better than Shangguan Yun’s 10,000 words.
“What if the Dragon King was defeated?” Suddenly a voice rang when the crowd quitened down.
The soldiers knew a decisive battle was about to take place outside of the mountains. If the Dragon King were to be defeated,he would either be killed or be forced to flee and no one would bother about their lives.
“The Dragon King will not be defeated.” Long Fanyun rose, his voice bright. He was not easily shaken.
But still, some lacked belief. “The army of the Dragon King is small and greatly outnumbered by the Fort Jin Peng Army. I heard that we were going to launch a surprise attack. Now without us, how would the Dragon King win?” One shouted.
Everyone nodded, their hopes gradually diminis.h.i.+ng. Wu Zongheng racked his brainbut could not think of anything to increase his and their confidence.
And suddenly, a faint voice spoke,”If the Dragon King were to be defeated, he would come and save us.”
Ming Zhen did not know when she stopped crying and said this.
Wu Zongheng understood whatshemeant and said immediately, “The Dragon King has plans of his own. He will definitely win the battle and even if he loses, he will come to save us. Becausewe would be the last of his army.”
There were many loopholes in this statement. Even if the Dragon King had wished to save this army. He had to pa.s.s Shangguan Yun. b.u.t.the crowd was panicked,they heaved a sigh of relief and calm wasrestored.
Han Xuan looked at the two men’s backs and asked softly. “Miss, which one do you like? Long Fanyun is taller and more handsome. I don’t know if he already has a wife. Wu Zongheng…”
“Stop spouting nonsense orI will never carefor you again.” Ming Zhen flushed and cried uncontrollably.
Wu Zongheng only thought about calming people down andneglected an important link- torches.
Poof, one torch went out, andsoon, many more torches followed. When everyone had realised that the cave had gotten darker, it was too late to save the remaining torches.
Darkness was an excellent provocateur. Wu Zongheng wanted to say something in advance before asound emerged from behind. It was Fan Fen. “Wow, it would be spectacular if everyone were to die together. No one would dare provoke us in our graves.”
However, just then, when several torches had gone out, the darkness and Han Fen’s strange words came into effect. Suddenly, a band of soldierscharged uncontrollably towards the tunnel, screaming, “I want to get out! Let me go! I don’t want to die!”
There was no worse example than this, of whathad not been easy to calm down. The soldiers be that as it may, panicked for an instant and ran towards every tunnel as if the exits had already been opened.
“Listen to me!” Wu Zongheng’s voice drowned in a sea of voices, not even able to hear himself.
Outside, Shangguan Yun did not care about the lives of the people living in the cave and he hesitatedwhetherto leave or not. The Dragon King would not throw himself into the trap and neither would Maid Lotus. He could only climb to the top of the mountain now and watch Shangguan Jianyi’s army triumph.
The spies at the top of the mountain said that the two armies had begun to line up outside. The war was about to begin.
Shangguan Yun wa.s.satisfied but he thought to wait because when the war was over, he could walk out of Wushan from the seaside slope, saving him a lot of time.
No way the Dragon King would give up like that, Hide and wait for a come back. Shangguan Yun still felt by this time, that this was not the usual Dragon King.
Unexpectedly, there was a cry outside of the valley, as if someone had been attacked.
Shangguan Yun rose up, jumpinga few steps of the mountain top and looked outto seeTen or moresentinels running towards him, falllingone by one as they were shot by the deadly arrows from behind.
Finally one reached near and shouted, “the enemy is coming”.
“Who? The Dragon King?”Shangguan Yunasked fl.u.s.tered, and wondered from where the Dragonking could get an another army.
“No, I don’t know. All women, all women… tens of thousands of them.” The sentinels said, still in theirshock.
Shangguan Yun’s heart skipped, he understood where his mistake and that of the others lay. The Dragon King had secretly prepared a force to fight back the enemy and no one had expected it.