Chapter 336: Bai Siling"s Astonis.h.i.+ng Strength!
"Lord, be careful!"
"Stop him!..."
A huge pandemonium broke out amidst the group. The sudden emergence of the cold gleam had left the army of forty panicking.
w.a.n.g Chong and Bai Siling were the leaders of this operation. If they were to die in this mission, the soldiers would be subjected to the punishment of the Bureau of Military Personnel, and this incident would be placed in their records as well.
As the saying went, "Shoot the mount before the rider. Capture the chief before the other bandits."
In a war, the commanders and marshals were always the priority targets. This was the reason why all soldiers would always fight to the death to protect their commanders.
It would be considered a major breach of duty if one"s commander were to be killed before their eyes. But at this moment, everyone was already in the midst of battle. On top of that, there was no one in proximity to save w.a.n.g Chong and Bai Siling.
With this sudden situation, the both of them were plunged into danger.
"Hmph!"
With a wry smile, w.a.n.g Chong drew his sword, and just as he was about to execute the Eight Steps of the Furious Flood Dragon to kill this True Martial realm a.s.sa.s.sin, a metallic chime suddenly sounded beside him.
Following that, with a speed surpa.s.sing even w.a.n.g Chong"s, a snowy figure suddenly charged forth like a raging dragon rising from the ground.
Boom!
This was the first time w.a.n.g Chong had witnessed Bai Siling making a move.
In just an instant, her disposition changed entirely. A powerful aura burst into the surroundings. Beneath the moonlight, layers of Stellar Energy of extreme yin circled around her, exuding the cold gleam of a thousand razor edges.
Facing the slash of tremendous might, Bai Siling simply raised a single finger. At this moment, her fair and smooth finger was emanating a silver glow reminiscent of a sword.
Hong long!
That slim finger came into contact with the crescent blade, halting its movement altogether. At the same time, Bai Siling leapt into the sky and sent a kick straight into that a.s.sa.s.sin.
Those who hadn"t witnessed the scene would never believe that such fearsome strength could actually be packed into a body as slim as hers.
Even in the dark of night, w.a.n.g Chong could still clearly see how Bai Siling"s sharp kick had knocked the other party"s abdomen in, and for an instant, her leg actually sank into his body!
Peng!
The bandit’s ninety-kilogram body was sent flying back as if hit by a cannonball. Cras.h.i.+ng through numerous small trees, he crashed heavily into a huge banyan tree in the forest. Wooden splinters flew into the air as the man was lodged into the tree by the sheer force of his momentum.
For an instant, the entire den fell silent. Even the battle seemed to have halted momentarily. The fearsome kick from Bai Siling had stunned everyone, including w.a.n.g Chong.
w.a.n.g Chong didn"t expect Bai Siling to possess a fearsome might comparable to a dinosaur in that slim body of hers.
Gulong!
Even though there wasn"t the slightest expression on his face, he still couldn"t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
As expected of an offspring of the Bai Clan, she"s formidable!
That was the only thought remaining in w.a.n.g Chong"s mind at this moment. To think that he had intended to utilize his Eight Steps of the Furious Flood Dragon! Bai Siling"s kick had already far exceeded the limit of the might of his ultimate technique, reaching a level comparable to his Second Sister and Marquess Yi.
To think that he was ignorant of it despite constantly being together for the past few days.
If that kick were to fall on him instead, it was unlikely that he would fare any better than that a.s.sa.s.sin.
Bai Siling gracefully landed with one foot before turning around to glance at w.a.n.g Chong with a proud look on her face. "How is it? Not bad, right?"
There simply weren"t too many opportunities to get the better of w.a.n.g Chong. The ones who had been feeling the frustration over the past few days weren"t limited to just Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, and she had been wanting to return the favor for some time.
"Not bad, truly not bad at all!" w.a.n.g Chong offered a generous compliment while making a mental note to stay away from this woman as far as possible in the future.
"Lord, the a.s.sa.s.sin is a Hu!" At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded from the woods. w.a.n.g Chong immediately gathered himself and headed to the huge tree the a.s.sa.s.sin was sent flying into.
Several cavalrymen were gathered beneath the tree. One of them was holding a torch, providing w.a.n.g Chong with the illumination to clearly discern the appearance of the a.s.sa.s.sin.
The a.s.sa.s.sin was a tall Hu with a large stature. What was distinctive about his appearance was his long, curly full beard, as well as the black cloth wrapped around his head.
The bloodied Arabian scimitar beside him was also particularly conspicuous.
He is from the Abbasid Caliphate!, flashed through w.a.n.g Chong"s mind.
When the person first appeared, w.a.n.g Chong already deduced that he wasn"t from the Central Plains. After all, very few people from the Central Plains would use a scimitar as their choice of weapon.
Of the bandit dens that w.a.n.g Chong had raided, this was the first time he was seeing an Arab.
"The situation here sure is complicated. Arabs robbing their own men, who would believe that?" Bai Siling said from behind.
"Often, there is no distinction in ethnicity when it comes to plundering. Besides, there are other ethnicities who are using this path as well. His conscience might hinder him from robbing his own countrymen, but I doubt the same would apply to Han merchants." w.a.n.g Chong replied with his back to Bai Siling.
Bai Siling"s forceful kick had pulverized the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin"s internal organs, leaving him gasping weakly for life. It was unlikely that he had much time left to him.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" a cavalryman from the side bellowed sternly.
"Hmph!" Despite his severe injuries, the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin was incredibly obstinate. A bunch of Arabic words came out from his mouth before turning his head to the side, clearly expressing his refusal to cooperate.
"Foreign language? Does anyone recognize what he is speaking?"
The cavalrymen in the area were surprised by the foreign tongue, and looks of confusion surfaced.
It seemed like this fellow didn"t understand the Han language at all!
Bai Siling frowned. "It"s Arabic."
Located in the far west, the Abbasid Caliphate was a great distance from Great Tang, so there were minimal interactions between the two countries. Thus, very few men of the Central Plains could speak Arabic.
"I held back a little so as to have him speak, but it seems like my effort was wasted. I doubt that we"ll be able to get anything out of him like that. Kill him!" Bai Siling said as she gestured to the cavalryman beside her. She thought that she might be able to procure some precious intelligence from this Arab, but her efforts turned out to be in vain.
"Wait a moment!" another voice abruptly interjected, just as the cavalryman"s blade was about to fall on the a.s.sa.s.sin"s head. Following which, another less fluent voice sharing the same distinctive traits as the tongue of the a.s.sa.s.sin sounded out.
"Arabic? You can actually speak Arabic?" Bai Siling widened her eyes in shock as she stared at w.a.n.g Chong with a look of incredulity, as if she had just discovered new horizons.
Even though w.a.n.g Chong hadn"t spoken a word about it, she was certain that he was a scion of the capital. Living in a sheltered environment within their clans, there should be no way he should be able to speak a remote language in the Central Plains like Arabic. No one would believe that!
This was inconceivable!
At this moment, Bai Siling realized that she should rea.s.sess the fellow before her.
To Bai Siling"s exclamation, w.a.n.g Chong simply turned around to flash a smile at her before turning his efforts back to interrogating that Arab a.s.sa.s.sin. Both of their words sounded extremely bizarre to everyone else"s ears, leaving them perplexed as to the conversation going on before them.
But even fools could tell that the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin was unwilling to cooperate. Just by his gestures, they could deduce that his responses were likely to be "I won"t speak", "Don"t even think about trying to pry open my mouth", "Just give up, you won"t hear a thing from me", something along those lines.
Just as Bai Siling was about to give up hope, thinking that the interrogation was a failure, w.a.n.g Chong suddenly uttered some words that left the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin"s face colored in shock. In fact, a slight hint of fear could even be in his eyes, and he stared at w.a.n.g Chong as if a bona fide demon was standing before him.
Following which, a series of shocking events occurred. w.a.n.g Chong took out a recovery pill and stuffed it into the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin"s mouth. At the same time, the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin, who had clearly preferred death a moment ago, suddenly began to reply to w.a.n.g Chong"s questions actively, informing him of everything he knew.
"What in the world did you tell him to make him speak?" Curiosity bubbled within Bai Siling to the point that she couldn"t hold herself back any longer. A moment later, when w.a.n.g Chong was finally done with his interrogation, the Arab a.s.sa.s.sin finally succ.u.mbed to his injuries and died. In the end, w.a.n.g Chong"s recovery pill only granted him a few more minutes of life. However, that wasn"t what Bai Siling was asking about.
"It"s nothing much. I only told him that if he refused to cooperate, I"d conduct a grand funeral ceremony of a heathen for him." w.a.n.g Chong replied calmly.
"Ah!" Bai Siling was taken aback for a moment before a chuckle burst from her lips. She didn"t know whether she should praise w.a.n.g Chong or criticize him. She might not know much about the Arabs, but she did hear that most Arabs were devout believers of their religion.
Most likely, the fear of being labeled as a heathen was too frightening a thought for him, even when he was breathing his last. The grander such a ceremony was, the more terrifying it was for him.
"To be able to trigger his deepest fears so easily, it is no wonder he was staring at you as if you were a demon." Bai Siling shook her head as she chuckled.
"Thank you for your compliment," w.a.n.g Chong replied calmly. As long as he could achieve his goals, what did his reputation count as?
His goal was to save Great Tang. In face of that, nothing else seemed to hold much significance.
"You sure are shameless!" Bai Siling burst into laughter.
"Once again, thank you for your compliment." w.a.n.g Chong performed a slight bow for her, an action that looked extremely peculiar in Bai Siling"s eyes, before turning his head away to look in a specific direction.