Chapter 1749: A Gruesome Game of Chess!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Whoos.h.!.+
A messenger bird descended from the skies and flew into the Eastern Palace.
“How is it?”
A questioning voice came from the raised platform.
Kim U-Seok released the messenger bird as he reported, “Your Highness, there is still no movement from the King of Foreign Lands Residence!”
In the silence of the hall, the First Prince slightly frowned. The armies on the border and in the capital were under his control, but still he feared the youngest son of the w.a.n.g Clan.
w.a.n.g Chong had only revealed twelve hundred soldiers, but there was still no estimate on the soldiers he had hidden. Even though Kim U-Seok had done his best, he had still failed to find them.
This was undoubtedly an enormous threat to the First Prince’s ambitions.
“d.a.m.n! d.a.m.n! d.a.m.n! Why! Why do you insist on opposing this prince!?”
The First Prince slammed his fist down three times on the desk in front of him, the veins on his forehead bulging as he fumed.
If he didn’t handle w.a.n.g Chong, he would never be able to rest easy. He did not wish for any unknown factors to appear behind him while he was in the middle of his operation.
“Imperial Brother, in my view, there’s nothing we need to fear. Just give your imperial brother thirty thousand men. I’ll stamp out this troublesome w.a.n.g Chong for you!”
Third Prince Li Ju stepped forward, his fists clenched.
Second Prince Li Yao also stepped forward. “That’s right. While Third Brother speaks coa.r.s.ely, his argument is sound. Imperial Brother, in my view, there is truly no need to fear the w.a.n.g Clan too much. Your foolish brother believes that we should seize this moment while w.a.n.g Chong’s forces are scattered to suppress and deal with him.
“The only person in the empire who can threaten Imperial Brother is the King of Foreign Lands. Once we kill him, no one will be able to stop Imperial Brother!
“As long as Imperial Brother is willing, Li Yao is willing to go with Third Brother!”
The words of the two Princes were greeted with silence.
This was the mighty King of Foreign Lands, the new War G.o.d who had killed one million people! How could he be as easy to deal with as the Second Prince and Third Prince claimed? Despite how many birds and spies the Eastern Palace had mobilized over the last few days, they had still not been able to eliminate w.a.n.g Chong’s subordinates, let alone the man himself.
“Your Highness, patience.”
At this moment, the Ghost King interrupted the two Princes and changed the subject, his hands held behind his back and a relaxed look on his face.
“I have a plan. Let me deal with the King of Foreign Lands. Your Highness only needs to wait to be crowned tomorrow.”
These words exuded a powerful persuasiveness.
“Kim U-Seok, it’s about time. Is it ready?”
Hou Junji suddenly turned to Kim U-Seok.
“Ready to move out at any time!”
Startled, Kim U-Seok hurriedly lowered his head.
“Go!”
Hou Junji waved his hand and said no more.
……
A few moments later, as w.a.n.g Chong was inspecting the map in his estate…
Rumble!
The ground abruptly began to shake, and then there was a cras.h.i.+ng sound as a swath of ceramic roof tiles slid off the roof and shattered against the ground.
“What’s going on here?”
w.a.n.g Chong raised an eyebrow as he stood up from his seat.
But before he could say any more, he sensed a boundless surge of destructive energy rising up from a nearby area.
Swis.h.!.+
w.a.n.g Chong immediately flew out of the hall and was soon at the gate of the residence.
“This is…!”
Even though w.a.n.g Chong had somewhat prepared himself for what he was about to see, he was still shaken by the sight.
To the northeast, in the Imperial Palace, a vast energy was stirring to life like a fierce gale and rising to the heavens.
Above the Imperial Palace, light was coalescing into a complicated golden design.
A formation!
w.a.n.g Chong’s mind trembled in instinctive realization.
In the several decades he had lived in the capital, w.a.n.g Chong had never witnessed such phenomena in the Imperial Palace, but he was no stranger to this energy. This was the energy of a large-scale formation.
w.a.n.g Chong had sensed this kind of ancient energy before, at Talas. However, the Myriad Rakshasa Earthen Stronghold Formation buried deep under Talas was just a minor trick compared to the Imperial Palace’s formation. The two weren’t even on the same level.
The phenomenon in the Imperial Palace was continuing, the dazzling light illuminating the palace almost as brightly as day. As that ma.s.sive and ancient formation began to turn, w.a.n.g Chong sensed that the Imperial Palace was being slowly enveloped in a giant curtain.
Slowly, the light began to fade, and the Imperial Palace seemed to become a silent and lifeless world.
Buzz!
In the courtyard, Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, and Zhang Que all turned to the Imperial Palace, their mouths agape. They had also been drawn over by the shaking, but what they saw had been completely unexpected, and none of them understood what was going on.
It’s finally begun!
w.a.n.g Chong understood more than anyone else that the isolation of the Imperial Palace signaled that the Eastern Palace was ready to start its rebellion at any moment.
Whoos.h.!.+
At this moment, when countless eyes were drawn to the Eastern Palace, no one noticed a messenger bird flying into the King Qi Residence, to the southeast of the Imperial Palace.
Here, everyone was silently waiting.
Creee!
Several thousand meters above the Imperial Palace, a small rock eagle opened its wings, circling at a speed not at all befitting its body. Its sharp eyes looked down, taking in the dark Imperial Palace.
But a few moments later, several dozen shrieking gyrfalcons and golden hawks flew over.
The little rock eagle shook its wings and immediately soared to a higher alt.i.tude, at the same crying out, alternating between long and short cries.
One flock, two flocks, three flocks…
In the darkness, flocks of eagles were approaching from various directions, all of them trying to get at that small and valiant rock eagle. However, this rock eagle managed to agilely dodge them, and no matter how many attacks it came under, it stubbornly stayed and observed the situation below.
Crack! Its steely claw seized and snapped the left wing of a gyrfalcon, causing the gyrfalcon to plummet from the skies.
Down on the ground, a general exuding a vast sea of energy held a bow with his left hand and nocked an arrow with his right. Pulling back on this bow that weighed nearly one hundred jin, he aimed at the small rock eagle in the sky.
The energy he exuded was clearly that of a top-cla.s.s master archer.
Bang!
The air exploded with a peal of thunder as the Imperial Palace general released the string. The arrow that was more than five feet long shot into the air like a lightning bolt, instantly rising several thousand meters. The small rock eagle cried out as if it sensed something, and at the last moment, it managed to turn around and just barely avoid this fatal arrow.
“Beast!”
The curses from the general could be heard in the distance, but in the end, he was forced to give up.
The rock eagle’s alt.i.tude had already exceeded his firing range.
To the southwest of the heavily guarded palace, several thousand meters away, a slim figure was standing in a dark corner of the King of Foreign Lands Residence, silently listening.
“Little Sha, it all depends on you!”
Zhang Que looked up into the night sky, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with worry. With all the spies of the King of Foreign Lands Residence suppressed, Zhang Que had been forced to let the Eagle King, Little Sha, go out alone to survey the Imperial Palace.
Those long and short cries were Little Sha’s way of sending information, allowing it to notify him as quickly as possible of any developments within the palace. This was the only option they had.
If anything happened to the Sage Emperor, the entire empire would be destroyed. No one could accept the responsibility for the consequences!
But not even Zhang Que knew just how long this method could last. He could hear the countless harsh screeches of the Imperial Palace’s numerous birds. The Eastern Palace had already sent many birds to deal with Little Sha, even calling back a significant number of birds from the estate. Little Sha was in great peril.
To be caught by all these birds would be certain death for Little Sha.
“If only Master were here!”
As he looked up at the great flock of eagles in the sky, Zhang Que couldn’t help but think about his master, Old Eagle.
Zhang Que had learned everything about raising birds from his master, and if his master had been present, he would have definitely had a way of dealing with that Goguryeon Eagle King!
Zhang Que quickly shook his head and cast aside these thoughts.
“Report to His Highness that everything remains fine in the Imperial Palace. There’s still no sign of movement from the Eastern Palace!”
“Yes!”
A Golden Guard behind Zhang Que quickly turned around and strode toward the main hall.
A red candle that had originally been more than one foot tall had now more than half melted away. With each pa.s.sing second, Zhang Zheng’s Beiting Protectorate army was getting closer. w.a.n.g Chong didn’t have much time left.
Where is it? Just where will it begin?
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes were half-closed as he solemnly pondered over that board of white and black pieces.
w.a.n.g Chong and Hou Junji were both ready. Everyone was waiting for the right moment, but n.o.body knew what form it would take.