Meng Wu was stunned, as she had never seen so many precious items in her life. With the help of a few students, she brought all the things outside and began to distribute them.There were a few second-tier mystic weapons, which were quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed away by Chen Zhen and others. That was their privilege of being in a favorable position, so no one could say anything about that. Meanwhile, the students quickly divided up the rest of the things. Those who did not get mystic weapons or medicinal pills got a great amount of money. As a result, everyone was very excited.
Meng Bai had taken two second-tier mystic weapons; he kept the saber with a tiger-head pommel himself and gave the green sword to his sister. Chen Zhen and Han Bai had also gotten themselves a second-tier mystic weapon each.
Pointing at the father and son, Han Bai asked, "What should we do to them, Young Master Yun?" He made a gesture and said coldly, "Why don"t we just kill them? After all, they are Qin Yang"s men."
"Who are these people? Why aren"t they afraid of His Highness?" Wu Liantian was really scared right now. In a voice thick with fear, he pleaded, "Don"t kill me, little brother! Please don"t kill me! You can take away everything, but spare our lives!"
"Fine, release them," Yunxiao ordered. In his opinion, it was not right to kill them after he had taken away the wealth they had spent so many years to acc.u.mulate. With a smile on his face, he walked before Wu Liantian and patted him on the shoulder, "Remember to work harder. I"ll visit you again in a few more years."
Wu Liantian s.h.i.+vered with rage, but he did not dare to say a word. It was only until Yunxiao and others had left that his eyes flared and his face twisted into a frightening look. "Write a letter to His Highness at once! I want these people dead, dead, dead! Oh, heaven, they have taken away all my treasures and money!"
He sunk on his b.u.t.tocks and burst into tears, looking as if he had lost his soul. Among the robbed wealth was not only the annual tribute to be provided to Qin Yang immediately, but also the money he had acc.u.mulated through years of plundering people"s life-blood. He was truly broke now. And in the end, he still did not know who those young men were.
Meanwhile, a servant trotted over with an urgent look and whispered a few words into Wu Liantian"s ear. When he had heard what the servant told him, Wu Liantian"s eyes lit up, and then he jumped to his feet suddenly, grabbed the servant"s arms, and shook him hard a few times while saying in great joy, "Are you sure? Haha! This is great! Even heaven is on my side! Now quickly report what happened here to General Cang! GO NOW!"
The servant hurried out as Wu Liantian burst into laughter. "Yes! My savior is here! Let"s see what will happen to them!"
Behind him, Wu Guang and Ban Bingbai looked puzzled.
...
Yunxiao took the student army on a tour of the city. Everyone was happy, as the rewards they had just received were even greater than the ones promised by Qin Yue. Like a group of rich people, they bought whatever they wanted before leaving the city.
"We"ll wait here. Continue cultivating the Murderous Air Script!"
After giving out the order, Yunxiao arched his eyebrows suddenly and looked toward Yangpu. He saw clouds of dust rising into the sky and heard the faint beating of hooves and feet on the ground. It seemed that a great army of horses and troops were coming their way.
Chen Zhen said in shock, "We should never have spared that old codger! Look, he has mobilized an army to attack us so quickly!"
Yunxiao cried out in a deep voice, "Everyone, get ready for battle!" Standing at the forefront, he stared coldly at the dust cloud that veiled the sky.
"Something is not right," said Han Bai while frowning. "Yangpu has only a troop of city guards which is less than five thousand men, and they don"t have so many horses. Who is this army..."
Countless horses galloped out of the city gate, spreading into a long straight line. Before very long, there were already thousands of horses gathered in front of the gate. The men on them all looked fierce, and each held in hand a standard military spear. The troops continued to pour out of the gate, and the city rang with loud rumbles, as if there were an endless stream of men in it.
Han Bai"s face fell. "What should we do, Young Master Yun?" he said in horror. "This is definitely a regular army with at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers!"
The army spread out in columns and crowded the land like countless ants. In just the blink of an eye, it had surrounded Yunxiao and the student army. It was only then that a banner erected on a chariot became visible, on which was depicted a large golden lion with bared teeth and claws.
"The Golden Lion Army!" Chen Zhen blurted out in horror. "I thought they"ve lost Whitehead Town! Why do they still have so many horses and troops?"
Han Bai"s face grew dark. "Not only do they still have so many horses and troops, but each one of them is beaming with energy and full of spirits," he sneered. "Look at their horses and equipment, do they look like an army that had just been defeated?"
Chen Zhen was shocked. "Do you mean they retreated without putting up a fight?"
Meanwhile, a general, who sat in a tiger-skinned chair on the foremost chariot with a wine vessel in his hand, said in a lazy voice, "Who are you? How dare you come to Yangpu to rob?" The chariot was luxuriously decorated, and there were two s.e.xily dressed girls pouring wine and ma.s.saging the general"s back.
Yunxiao answered mockingly, "Oh, we"ve just retreated from the front line after being defeated, and we"ve purposely come to Yangpu to show our might."
Bam!
The vessel in the general"s hand broke into pieces and the wine within spilled everywhere while the girls" faces turned pale with fright as they covered their mouths with hands. A vast murderous air spread out of the general as he slowly stood up from his seat and said, with a faint awe-inspiring air emanating from him, "You are looking for death!"
His menacing air and the battle array of the army of hundreds of thousands of troops surrounded and pressed against the two thousand student troops like mountains. As they were all students, the student army had never seen such a battle array, so their hearts were already pounding fast and they felt something weighing down on their chests, making them hard to breathe.
Meanwhile, Ji Meng released his aura of a Martial Lord, which towered mightily into the sky in the face of the enemy, knocking back the threatening air that had struck fear into the students" minds as he stared coldly at the chariot.
"A Martial Lord!" The general"s face fell and his pupils constricted. "Who are you?" he shouted once again.
Ji Meng sneered. "I trust you"ve been in good health since we last met, Cang Liqun. Were you so busy that you can"t recognize me anymore?"
While frowning, Cang Liqun thought for a while, then his eyes lit up suddenly and he said in shock, "You are Ji Meng? You"ve become a Martial Lord too?" He was truly stunned. He remembered when he returned to the capital about a year ago, Ji Meng was just a sixth-tier Great Martial Master. But now, he had stepped into the Four Quadrants Realm and become a Martial Lord, just like him.
Ji Meng nodded. "By luck…What is this, General Cang?"
Cang Liqun gave a cold snort and said reproachfully, "Since we both are serving Prince Qin Yang, why did you rob Yangpu and make things difficult for Wu Liantian?"
With a faint smile, Ji Meng walked behind Yunxiao and stood there, "I"m no longer serving Prince Qin Yang. I"ve vowed to follow Young Master Yun with all my heart. I"ve no business in whatever Prince Qin Yang is up to."
"What!" Cang Liqun was shocked. He had thought the leader of these people must be Ji Meng, but it turned out to be a teenager who was merely a warrior. His face grew dark instantly. "If that is the case, there"s no need for me to be courteous with you anymore. Who is this boy?"
Yunxiao took out a token and shouted aloud, "I"m the chief logistics officer of the Eastern Expedition Army, and my purpose of visiting Yangpu is to solve the shortage of provisions and fodder. By donating all his personal wealth to us, the City Lord of Yangpu, Wu Liantian, has rendered a meritorious service! When I return to the capital, I"ll certainly report his deeds to His Majesty and request a handsome reward for him!"
Startled, Cang Liqun squinted at the token and found that it was indeed genuine. Seeing that, he was somewhat surprised. Although he had received reports a few days ago that the capital had sent the Central Army to reinforce Kunjin, he did not expect he would come across the army so soon. A strange look gradually appeared in his eyes as he said, "The Eastern Expedition Army? Why are there so few of you?"
Yunxiao sneered. "The march of the army is absolutely confidential. We are ordered to gather provisions and fodder."
Just as Cang Liqun"s eyes flickered with suspicion, a man suddenly appeared on the chariot and whispered into his ear. Yunxiao"s pupils constricted at the sight of the man, who was looking back at him with a venomous and hideous smile—it was Li Yi!
When he had finished listening, Cang Liqun"s eyes sparked with killing intent. "You said you were ordered to gather provisions and fodder? You"re lying! You"ve abused your a.s.signment for private gain and robbed a loyal official of the state! You shall be put to death for your crime! Somebody, take all these people down and kill those who refuse to surrender!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The cries of hundreds of thousands of soldiers shook the wilderness and echoed as far as three miles away while causing the faces of the two thousand student troops to change dramatically!
Yunxiao could clearly see Li Yi"s cold face and the slight movements of his lips, which read "Let"s see how you are going to face your death this time!". He c.o.c.ked his head proudly and put on a contemptuous smile as he moved his lips while saying, "It"s been a while, Old Eight. I bet it doesn"t feel good to lose an arm, right? Haha!"
Li Yi"s face flickered. No matter it was "Old Eight" or "lose an arm", they both stabbed into his heart like a sharp blade. His neck flushed instantly, his body s.h.i.+vered all over, and the murderous look in his eyes was so strong that it was more than enough to melt a man directly.
"Attack!"
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison. The few thousand cavalry at the forefront charged out first, galloping across the field with their spears pointing forward.
Yunxiao"s face darkened as he ordered, "Spread out and kill the enemy one at a time!"
The order immediately calmed the two thousand students, and they spread out quickly. In the face of a charging cavalry, it would mean death if they still gathered together. Their advantage was that their individual fighting ability was far better than the enemy"s, and as long as they did not let the cavalry"s advantage come into play, they could deal with them easily.
The student army scattered at the charge of thousands of cavalry. Looking from the sky, it was like a c.o.c.kroach rus.h.i.+ng into a colony of ants. However, the ants were all warriors, but what formed the c.o.c.kroach were just ordinary soldiers. When calmed down, all the warriors exuded a towering murderous air as they began to slaughter the foes.
"Ahh!"
Screams and shrieks rang out without end from all over the chaotic field as students of Jialan Academy ran between the horses, killing the foes as quickly as possible. Jets of blood shot in all directions while men fell from horses after they were killed. In just less than ten minutes, the entire calvary was slain!