Chapter Sixty-Three: Who Will Take The Sword
This general faced the wind, the cold energy coming off the scripts on his scaled armor flying behind him like long tail feathers.
Tang Mei first saw this man’s scaled armor, then the person’s face. He could not help but be startled. “It is you? I did not expect it to be you.”
The fresh wildflower’s petals all withered and the branch fell from the general’s hand like frost. He and the cavalry stopped. He looked up expressionlessly at Tang Mei and said, “Over seventeen battles have occurred yesterday. The Yangshan Commandery has not moved, and all the battles are occurring in Yin Mountain in the middle and the north. The vanguard led by Xiao Yan under the command of Wei Wujiu have come the deepest. There are from three thousand to five thousand. They broke through Yutian Pa.s.s, and General Che Chi died in battle.”
“Other than this, we have lost around the stone forest. The Chen Jiazhai Granary was taken.”
“The army from Sima Cuo has already entered the borders of our dynasty, and advanced twenty miles. There are about two hundred thousand in the army.”
“Wei Wujiu himself is in the valley area near Yutian Pa.s.s. He probably wants to take the Green River Meadow, control the wild horses and the tribes in that area.”
“… …”
This general ignored Tang Mei’s expression. He spoke, reporting much of the newest military news.
The news would likely take dozens of days to reach Changling and then to Yan and Qi. Transmission of news was forever separated by time. When the outside world was still waiting to see who would attack first, in reality, the Qin Dynasty and Chu Dynasty’s war had silently started.
The general did not speak after reporting the military information, just looked silently at Tang Mei.
Tang Mei was not in a hurry. He thought for a moment, then looked at the general, and said simply, “And then?”
“You are the person with the seal coming to be the commander-in-chief. I have finished reporting the information, and the seat is empty. But it depends on whether or not you can get onto the seat.” The general looked at Tang Mei and said coldly, “Many people do not believe in you.”
Upon those words, the six riders behind Tang Mei exuded coldness. But Tang Mei smiled faintly. “Xi Fenghe, many people do not believe me, but you do. Otherwise, since you knew of my whereabouts beforehand, you would not have come with these people, but set up a situation to kill us as soon as possible.”
“Xi Fenghe?”
The six riders around Tang Mei all had surprised and shocked expressions.
Xi Fenghe was one of the most important generals in the north. They had heard of this person before. But what shocked them the most was strictly speaking, this man had once been Tang Mei’s subordinate, and their superior official.
But as the six of them started to follow Tang Mei, Xi Fenghe had been demoted to the border army.
Xi Fenghe looked at the faint smile on Tang Mei’s face and did not immediately answer. After a moment of silence, he nodded. “You are right. While I was at odds with you in the past, and you demoted me to the border, I have no objections to your ability to lead.”
Tang Mei stopped smiling and looked at the other, saying, “I have no objections to your ability to lead. But my subordinates have to completely follow my orders and rules. It will be the same this time. Not just me. Even those people in higher positions than you have to follow my military orders and rules.”
“Strictly speaking, since then, I have always been General Li Mu’s subordinate. I understand General Li Mu more. I trust in his opinion. But the position of commander in chief of the entire army is too important. You dying after you sit in that position, and you dying now means completely different to the situation of the war,” Xi Fenghe faced the gaze, and said coolly. “At least, you have to display that you have the ability to live well.”
“Pity that you are a friend and not an enemy. Blood cannot be used to sharpen the blade.”
“Tang Zhefeng, since you are on the battlefield, do you fear there is no flesh and blood to sharpen the blade?”
When Xi Fenghe’s voice was still lingering in the air, the cultivator behind Tang Mei who liked to talk to himself said two things.
This time, Xi Fenghe and the cavalry behind him heard the conversation, and many a expression changed.
A powerful seal essence came from Xi Fenghe’s fingertips. Several powerful gray energies were released into the air. Numerous small pieces of debris flew along the gray seal lines, and fell on Xi Fenghe’s fingertips.
As though time flowed backwards, the withered flower that had disappeared from his fingers appeared again. The cold energy from his scale armor flowed into the flower like it was given new life.
This flower turned from a withered flower to a gray flower of ice.
Sensing the powerful presence coming from the ice flower, even Tang Zhefeng, who kept on saying that he was going to use blood to sharpen his blade, had a serious expression. The cloth bag behind him exploded.
There was nothing else in the broad bag except a blade, one that was a little too wide. This blade was not even sharpened, like a piece of door taken off a shop, and felt very old.
“I know that you have learned the Dull Blade.” Xi Fenghe glanced at Tang Zhefeng and then at Tang Mei. “I did not expect you to have such an expert under your command. But I do not want his blade to take my flower, I want you.”
“This is not fair.” A rider in front of Tang Mei said coldly. “You are wearing the Extinguishing Snake Scale Armor, a seal weapon of the previous emperor. You are borrowing its power.”
Xi Fenghe looked scornfully at him, and did not respond, but everyone understood his meaning.
On the battlefield, there was no fairness. Those people that could appear and a.s.sa.s.sinate Tang Mei would not pursue absolute fairness. They may have even more powerful and deadly seal weapons.
Tang Zhefeng sighed deeply, touched the back of the blade, but his body moved back.
Tang Mei looked up and said simply, “I will take it.”
Xi Fenghe did not waste words, and released the flower.
With a boom, a door seemed to open. The primal energies of the universe moved and gathered rapidly from all directions and flew out through the ice flower in Xi Fenghe’s hand. The flower immediately took form above Tang Mei’s head.
A grey pillar of light immediately fell down on Tang Mei like the gaze of a giant from the stars. He got off his horse. The moment his feet touched the ground, the soil on the ground started to move like they were rippling outwards.
All the horses did not have time to be terrified because the speed at this moment surpa.s.sed their reaction times.
Tang Mei’s palms turned upwards. His palms lit up.
Strangely, while ordinary people had clear palmprints, his palms only had one clear line each. The two lines seemed to fly out of his palms like lightning to collide with the grey light pillar coming down from the sky.
The air filled with a burning smell. There was no sound. The two lights and the grey pillar of light disappeared at the same time. A circle of air was compressed into all kinds of crystal patterns by a powerful force and spread through the air. Then, countless ice beads fell down from the air, reflecting the sunlight and turning the wasteland here into a variety of colors.
In this moment, there were many explosions, the ice beads releasing bursts of grey icy energy into the air.
Xi Fenghe got off his horse. He silently lowered his head, and then bowed to Tang Mei.
Many years ago, Tang Mei had been stronger than him. Many years later, he had grown stronger, but Tang Mei was still stronger. He bowed, acknowledging Tang Mei’s strength.
But just one person alone was not enough for many people.
“I want to see other than General Tang yourself and the Dull Blade, are there any others?”
A domineering voice came from the cavalry behind Xi Fenghe. “Who will receive my sword.”
When the voice sounded, a sword light was already surging.
This sword light was burning like a volcanic eruption.
Everyone felt the light was dazzling and the heat scorching. They found this terrifying, but they could not see this sword and where the murderous intent was gathering.