Chapter 2288: Hyderabad’s Appalling State!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
w.a.n.g Chong felt a stream of warmth in his heart from Xu Qiqin’s words.
“Mm.”
w.a.n.g Chong nodded and said no more.
Xu Qiqin was always so sensible, no matter the occasion. This was one of the reasons w.a.n.g Chong had chosen to favor her with his affection.
Once he had made the arrangements, w.a.n.g Chong headed off toward Sindhu with a small group of people, leaving behind two of his clones to guard the capital and preside over the Xiangliu Formation.
Sindhu was extremely far from the Great Tang, but just like Xu Qiqin said, at w.a.n.g Chong’s current level of strength, even the farthest distance lost its meaning.
Around six days later, w.a.n.g Chong arrived at Sindhu.
Whoos.h.!.+
A cold wind howled.
Atop a grayish-black mountain in Sindhu, w.a.n.g Chong, Young Master Qingyang, Li Siye, and Old Eagle looked down from on high.
Sindhu was as barren and impoverished as he remembered.
Around him was desolation, a land of swamps and bald rock. Even the mountain they were standing on was barren.
The cold wave had ended several months ago, and the ice and snow covering the Central Plains had thawed long ago. All was rejuvenating, and even the plum blossoms had bloomed.
Perhaps because of the intervening mountain range, the spring winds had been obstructed, and Sindhu was still cold, its winds chilly.
“Old Eagle,” w.a.n.g Chong suddenly said.
“Your Highness, I’ve already tried to make contact, but the situation looks dire. We’ve suddenly lost contact with our men in Hyderabad and we have yet to receive any information from them,” Old Eagle sternly said, his expression grave.
Hyderabad was a strategically important location for the Great Tang, as all Wootz Steel came from there.
Long ago, w.a.n.g Chong had garrisoned an army there that could reinforce Hyderabad in a timely manner if invaders attacked.
Hyderabad had complicated terrain, and he had left elite soldiers to guard this place. In normal circ.u.mstances, this would be more than enough to deal with enemy forces below ten thousand soldiers.
Even if they couldn’t hold, the garrison could send a request for aid.
It should not be like this, where there was no news at all. Even the messenger bird w.a.n.g Chong had sent had not received any reply.
w.a.n.g Chong said nothing, but his brow creased. He understood that the situation was dire. If his guess was right, the chances that the garrison at Hyderabad had survived were slim.
“Is there no news from An Sishun or Gao Xianzhi?” w.a.n.g Chong finally said after a few moments of silence.
The closest ones to Hyderabad were Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun, who were garrisoned in Arabia.
Upon learning that something had happened in Hyderabad, w.a.n.g Chong had immediately tried to get in touch with the Hyderabad garrison. At the same time, he had also sent a message to Baghdad, asking Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun to send men to see what was going on.
This was the quickest way to find out what was going on in Hyderabad.
“Lord Gao Xianzhi’s report came somewhat late. From what they’ve heard, there was some sort of incident in Hyderabad. All of the craftsmen fled Hyderabad, and they couldn’t find any of them. They questioned the locals, but n.o.body knew what had happened,” Old Eagle sternly said.
“And then nothing?”
w.a.n.g Chong’s brows creased.
Old Eagle dropped his head and sincerely reported, “Nothing. Their last report was three days ago. Given the time that has pa.s.sed, they should have entered the Hyderabad Mountains.”
w.a.n.g Chong said nothing, but a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. The Hyderabad Mountains were steep and craggy, difficult to traverse. If one had never been there before, they would almost surely get lost.
w.a.n.g Chong had only managed to find the place because the other party had sent someone out to receive him. If everyone in Hyderabad had fled, then it would be truly difficult for Gao Xianzhi’s men to find the place.
“Put them aside for now. Let’s head straight for Hyderabad!” w.a.n.g Chong said after some thought.
Three days wasn’t long, and they weren’t far from Hyderabad. With w.a.n.g Chong’s strength, they could get there in about half a day.
Bang!
A silver barrier emerged from w.a.n.g Chong’s body and enclosed his entire group, and then w.a.n.g Chong shot like a cannonball into the distance.
……
Half a day later…
From the sky, the Hyderabad Mountains appeared like a slumbering primordial giant, its body covered in sharp rocks. This mountain range was far more imposing and erect than many people could imagine.
“There’s a thick burning scent in the air.”
While the group was still in the air, Young Master Qingyang frowned, his nose twitching once or twice.
At their alt.i.tude, they shouldn’t have been able to smell any sort of burning, unless the fire was extremely large.
Even more bizarrely, the Hyderabad Mountains were barren rock. There was nothing to burn, so where was such a strong odor coming from?
As the group continued, a few moments later, they finally understood where the odor was coming from.
“Corpses!” Li Siye said, his eyes flying open.
As the Invincible Great General, the leader of the Wushang Cavalry, Li Siye had been through many battles, and he had long ago grown accustomed to gruesome battlefields. But upon seeing the scattered corpses on the mountaintop, he still couldn’t help but be a little stunned.
There were far more bodies scattered across the mountaintop than expected. Besides the dark-skinned Sindhu miners, Li Siye also spotted bodies in heavy armor.
Those were the Tang elites that had been garrisoned in Hyderabad.
Whooos.h.!.+
w.a.n.g Chong brought his group plummeting from the sky like a meteor, landing atop the Hyderabad Mountains.
The burning odor was a hundred times stronger than it had been in the sky. All of them now understood what its source was.
It was the odor of burning flesh.
“It’s the men in black! They caused all of this!”
w.a.n.g Chong extended a palm, and a black-clothed corpse flew out from a pile of corpses and landed in front of w.a.n.g Chong.
w.a.n.g Chong raised a finger, and a wooden plate the width of two fingers rose from the corpse’s waist and into his hand.
The image of a black idol had been carved into the plate. The idol had extremely sharp and vicious eyes that seemed to look into the soul.
There was nothing else on the plate, not even a single word.
w.a.n.g Chong was no stranger to this style of token. This was probably the symbol of some Divine Lord.
The vast majority of the bodies on the summit were Sindhi, but the farther they went, the more corpses of men in black they saw. Some of these people were still in half–Lu Wu form, their expressions savage and terrifying.
The battle had ended long ago, but it was still possible to see traces of the Fires of Lu Wu, Mara, and Ju Bi.
Though he hadn’t seen the battle play out, he could tell from the traces on the summit that it had been an extremely gruesome battle.
“Your Highness, I found it!”
As w.a.n.g Chong inspected the area, Li Siye came up with something in his hand, his expression grave.
“The force sent by Lords Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun was ambushed and completely wiped out. They all died here. If my guess is right, they probably ran into those men in black,” Li Siye sternly said as he opened his hand. In his palm was a small metal token, and on this token, the words ‘Iron Wall’ had been written in ancient script.
This was an elite army under Gao Xianzhi.
Gao Xianzhi had dispatched members of this army to investigate what was going on in Hyderabad.
Everyone’s eyes widened upon hearing Li Siye’s report.
“Everyone, be careful! The Celestial G.o.d Organization’s men have not entirely left!” Young Master Qingyang said, his expression cold.
The incident in Hyderabad had taken place six or seven days ago, and Gao Xianzhi’s force had arrived three days ago. The battle in the Hyderabad Mountains should have ended by then, and the Celestial G.o.d Organization should have withdrawn entirely.
But given what had happened, this was clearly not the case.
They all released their Stellar Energies and prepared for battle.
But w.a.n.g Chong was unperturbed.
Buzz!
His eyes closed, and a flood of Psychic Energy instantly swept out from w.a.n.g Chong and covered the entire mountain range.
This wasn’t w.a.n.g Chong’s first time at the Hyderabad Mountains, but now that he looked at it with Psychic Energy, he saw something entirely different.
Beneath the Hyderabad Mountains were numerous domains and formations. In addition, deep below the mountains was an enormous energy core that would greatly interfere with w.a.n.g Chong’s attempts to probe with Psychic Energy. However, w.a.n.g Chong had already found what he wanted.
w.a.n.g Chong opened his eyes and said, “Their main force has already departed. It’s only some small fry that are left!”
Whoos.h.!.+
With these words, w.a.n.g Chong extended his silver barrier again and disappeared with the group.
……
In the northeastern part of the Hyderabad Mountains, in a ma.s.sive mine shaft, the ground was covered in corpses. This place had once been an important collection point for Hyderabad ore.
Amidst the debris, one could see the machines that w.a.n.g Chong had designed to mine Hyderabad ore.
“Let’s go! The mission is complete. We have to withdraw at once!” a leader figure of the men in black sternly said.
“The Tang army from Baghdad has appeared in the mountains. It’s clear that they’ve taken note of this place. It won’t be long until that man from the Great Tang arrives.”