Chapter 207: Who Is the Mastermind?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
w.a.n.g Yutang breathed in deeply as his expression turned unprecedentedly glum.
A few of the more authoritative generals looked grim as well, while fury clawed its way out of their souls.
One of the generals said with barely contained rage, "If this lowly general remember correctly, that eerie youth dressed in black who’s been following Han Sanhe is from the School of Spring and Autumn!"
"That’s right. I remember Han Sanhe mentioned it that day when some of us had gone gambling while the others kept the old sirs company to talk. He was rather proud of it at that time..." Another general chimed in with his thoughts.
"How did the School of Spring and Autumn’s Soul-Sealing Spike come into our midst?"
w.a.n.g Yutang’s brows locked into a deep frown.
"How else?" Another general said impatiently, "Han Sanhe encourage the culprit to secretly make his deadly move. G.o.d of war, my foot..."
"Shamelessly contemptible!"
"Return to the country first. This lowly general must report this to His Majesty and send troops to Dongxuan to seek justice!"
"Agreed. We must seize that despicable Han Sanhe and avenge our marshal!" The generals were agitated, every one of them worked up with a burning rage.
If this incident was the brainchild of the Empire of Yutang, they would probably have been less enraged. After all, they were enemies; it was destined that they stood irreconcilable. It would have been more acceptable for them to tackle the enemy with whatever contemptible or tasteless tactics they could conjure, without giving much thought to honor and integrity.
However, things were entirely different if the perpetrator was Han Sanhe, an impeccable ally!
This was like dying on the battlefield; killed by an unexpected arrow from one’s own comrade!
Being betrayed by one’s own comrade or ally was the biggest battlefield taboo of all militants; it would only stir feelings of rage and hatred from generals and leaders alike.
w.a.n.g Yutang spoke loudly, "Let us not act rashly now. Right now, it"s more important that we save our marshal and brother"s lives than to seek revenge against Han Sanhe. Everything comes after we return to the capital. Those with connections, quickly figure out how we can obtain the antidote for the Soul-Sealing Spike. Check yourselves carefully. Seeing as to how cunning Han Sanhe is, he might have more than this trick up his sleeves. Be careful; we might not have seen the last of his treachery!"
w.a.n.g Yutang’s grey beard swayed. "n.o.body does anything rash for now. Even if we want revenge, moving rashly will only add to our casualties. It does nothing other than wreaking havoc on our side!"
"Since Han Sanhe dared to pull this off, he must have set it up in advance. Making any move blindly will only put us deeper into his trap. It’s better to stay put and act only after we’ve thought things through!"
"We’ve all gone through countless battles. I believe all of you understand what I mean and need no further elaboration!"
w.a.n.g Yutang’s beard was still fluttering as he issued his commands, "Let’s first head back to the capital as fast as we can to remedy those spiked."
"Yes!"
The Empire of Ziyou’s troop then fled homeward hastily.
In the horribly shaky carriage that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, w.a.n.g Yutang had bitten his finger, drawing blood to write his message on a white handkerchief, "Your Majesty, Marshal Zi’s poison…"
The group frantically rushed home, refusing to stop for a break regardless of whether it was day or night.
The four physicians kept their worries under wraps. They had heard that the Soul-Sealing Spike had no antidote; those spiked would inevitably die as the poison would run its course and erupt in approximately ten days. Even if it never reached the heart, it would destroy the meridians and corrode the bones; one would die since the body would perish. However, despite the critical state the five men were in – paralyzed and tinted a greyish-green, their organs consumed by the poison as well, they did not show signs of dying on the spot. They could at least stay alive for ten days or up to half a month.
Could it be that the Soul-Sealing Spike"s reputation was overinflated?
There was also the sound of the Eclipse Panther before it left.
"Meow…"
The four physicians were not very far away, they had heard it clearly. It had indeed come from the Eclipse Panther.
Mewling?
What was that?
Besides the four physicians, the leading expert of the Empire of Ziyou, a Tenth Perfection master, had heard it as well. It was a given that his senses were sharp but he, too, was puzzled, thinking he had heard it wrong.
How could an Eclipse Panther mewl? This was very peculiar.
…
The Empire of Dayuan’s troop that was making their way home had arrived at a forest.
There were also three people who had succ.u.mbed to the poison. After some panic, they had found out that it was also due to the Soul-Sealing Spike!
Dayuan’s old marshal wore an ugly expression.
"Han Sanhe! Everyone can see that you have a man from the School of Spring and Autumn. Why are you doing this to your ally? Why so brutal? Is it to suggest an alliance of empires to attack Yutang? Dayuan has suffered the most losses in this trip to Yutang; even Sir Liang has perished within the Residence of Nine Supremes. Dongxuan’s damage is the least significant among the nations and only Han Sanhe stayed behind when everyone else left together. If he hadn’t planned it long ago, how could this happen?"
The rest of the generals were disheartened as much as they were infuriated.
It was when they were frantically trying to soothe those poisoned men that an Eclipse Panther suddenly emerged from the forest and charged into the crowd, slaughtering the hapless men to its heart’s content!
When the guards and experts finally counter-attacked, the Eclipse Panther, that was the size of a calf, had long gone up a tree, fleeing high and far through the dense jungle like a fleeting flash of lightning.
Looking at the mess and the dozens of casualties caused by the Eclipse Panther, the Empire of Dayuan’s generals could only feel the agony churning inside them.
Who could have thought that they would be ambushed by a ninth level mystical beast at this acknowledged safe s.p.a.ce, just as they were about to reach home?
"Go back. Get the antidote from Han Sanhe at once!"
"If he refuses, we will declare war!"
"He will bow in apology; otherwise, this matter shall never be put to rest!"
…
The same catastrophe struck the Empire of Tianci’s troops as well.
Their situation was more or less similar to that of Dayuan and Ziyou – three people were spiked with a Soul-Sealing Spike while an Eclipse Panther appeared to ambush them. Their casualties were the lightest though; it was probably because the Empire of Tianci’s relay troop had long been waiting in place.
Although the Eclipse Panther was a ninth level beast, it could not take on an entire army. It had left after causing a brief interlude of chaos.
However, the rage of Empire of Tianci’s troop burned like a prairie fire.
"Han Sanhe!"
"Despicable! How dare he poison us?"
It was the same for all three empires; what had transpired was clear in everyone’s eyes, there was no way it could be concealed. Word about Han Sanhe’s schemes spread far and wide, the militants boiling with anger.
…
Despite the three empires suffering casualties, most of them had still returned safely.
Han Sanhe and his group’s journey back to Dongxuan, however, was the epitome of chaos.
Dongxuan had sent five thousand men to Yutang; when Zhan Ge and the rest left, they had only brought one thousand men from the troop with them to ensure Han Sanhe’s safety.
Therefore, Han Sanhe and the rest of the four thousand men – guards and experts planted within included, should be of superior capabilities. If there were no actual military troop blocking them, there were not many forces in the world that could hinder them.
In spite of this, Han Sanhe’s troop was stricken with ceaseless roadblocks and ambushes since the second night of them leaving Tiantang City even as they rushed home, running the entire day and night.
It was worse when Han Sanhe swiftly concluded that the intensity of attacks was actually not from Yutang!
The perpetrators were all men of the martial arts world. There were various killers, different clans, an a.s.sortment of forces, a mult.i.tude of organizations, plenty of…
Sometimes, there was only one man who charged into the throng for a solo ma.s.sacre before leaving abruptly; sometimes, they were a group who a.s.saulted the troop and simply killed whoever they pa.s.sed by.
The most outrageous one of all had to be bandits setting checkpoints on their route to specifically block their way.
Their homeward journey saw the spilling of blood on each inch of the path they walked on. Before they were even halfway through their journey, the four-thousand-man troop was left with less than seven hundred people – three thousand and three hundred people had lost their lives along the way.
Such casualties gave chills to even Han Sanhe, who had long experienced the brutality of the battlefield. He vaguely knew that these along-the-way a.s.sa.s.sinations were arranged by none other than the old scholar in Tiantang City, He Hanqing!
No matter how Han Sanhe thought of it though, he could not figure out who this old scholar was. How could he be so influential in the martial arts world? Other than his personal influence, he had even lavishly hired top-tiered a.s.sa.s.sins to ambush him!
Along the way, men from The Merciless Tower had appeared thrice while members of the Concourse of the Underworld had popped out several times as well.
As for the local combative force, they were crème of experts as well. The damage they dealt and the terror they caused could not have been handled by any ordinary troop. Of course, no matter how mighty these people were, they could never be opponents of an experienced troop that was well disciplined in warfare. Unfortunately, Han Sanhe had too little disposable manpower right now.
"If I had twenty thousand men, this marshal is confident that we could bury them all in the army whatever experts or a.s.sa.s.sins they may be. It"s just too bad…" Han Sanhe could only sigh at the high heavens.
He was right. It was a sure victory if a martial artist were to face a militant but it would have been a definite loss if a thousand martial artists were to face a thousand militants! There would hardly be an exception even if the martial artists’ cultivation base was much higher than the militants’.
Even if it were a master of Tenth Perfection, if he had landed himself among thousands of skilled cavalrymen, under the command of a marshal like Han Sanhe, only death would await him.
However, what happened was that these people never fought up front with Han Sanhe’s troop in their ambushes. They left immediately after killing a few militants; there was no longing for more kills nor were they foolishly engrossed in the battle.
They were like a pack of wolves taking down a lion – pouncing to take a bite and leaving while a new pack of wolves would replace the previous one. Even though Han Sanhe was a mighty warlord, he was helpless against such a situation. No matter how ferocious the lion was, it would still be exhausted going against packs of wolves; eventually, it would serve as the wolves" next meal.
"Who exactly is this He Hanqing? How can he wield such immense influence?" Han Sanhe’s face was drained of color as he thought to himself, "Also, who is that that asked Bai Yixue…"
"There must be a mastermind directing everything."
"But who is this mastermind?"