by Tony Tran
“If you all follow me from now on I’ll help you get the cure.” Zhang said as he walked with the group of men.
Chapter 56.5: Messenger
Hi there my name is Yu Yao. Let me tell you a bit about myself. This year I’m thirty-five years old. I've yet to find a woman to settle down with and that goes to tell you that I have no children.
I’m a member of a sect that ruled over the Tiger’s Peak located in the Heilong Kingdom. Our sect is the strongest force on the nourish and everyone who lives on it must submit to us or else.
Ever since I joined the sect I’ve had the time of my life. Everything I wanted I took and no one could do a thing to me. The only thing those weakling villagers could do is plead for mercy.
There were plenty of people forced to join the sect but I was one of those who chose to. Why live a regular life as a farmer when I can stand on top of people and look down from above.
Could you imagine someone as awesome as me sowing the fields as a farmer? Ha fat chance right?
Earlier the sect master Yu Zhao had assembled the sect’s forces and we were sent on a mission. I was told that we were going to rob some rich brat that is loaded with gold and treasure. The sect master mentioned some necklace but who cares about that, not like I’d even get to touch it.
Well he led thirty thousand of us down the mountain and to a thick grove of trees that ran along the road. It was a marvelous sight with thirty thousand of us all dressed in the sect’s uniform and armed with bows and arrows. Anyone who saw us would probably run with their tails between their legs.
As we laid in wait a ground of men came riding down the road dressed in black armor escorting a very extravagant looking carriage. I did not recognize who the banner they carried belonged to though.
That was when the sect master Yu Zhao yelled. “Fire!!!”
After which we shot thousands of arrows toward the road. I kept firing arrow after arrow with a silly grin on my face as the arrows connected to their targets.
Those guys didn't even know what hit them as our arrows turned them into porcupines. That's what happens to those who go through the sect I thought when this happened.
After shooting thousands of arrows the sect master ordered us to move on because it seems that our arrows did not finish the job. There were still many armored men alive despite being shot full of arrows.
Sigh why wouldn't they have just died I thought as I pulled out my sword and charged in.
That was when the doors to the carriage popped open and this guy wearing some super fancy looking armor jumped out wildly swinging a halberd around. At that instant I said to myself if I kill this rich fuck, I'm taking that armor for myself. I thought I'd look entirely badass in that armor and all the chicks would fall for me.
At that time, I decided to play it smart and not get killed by staying at the back and letting the idiots in front of me charge in and get killed. Maybe after that monster we are facing get worn down I would jump in and finish him and then claim all the credit for myself I thought at the time.
As the battle raged on some crazy ass giant spiders appeared out of nowhere and began attacking. I was not going to have any part in that so I moved even further back.
From back here I could see the whole battle play out since I managed to climb up on this conveniently placed boulder.
From here I saw three gorgeous goddesses climb out of that carriage. Man what I would give to have a night with those three I thought after laying eyes on them.
Man that guy in the fancy armor is lucky, fuck him… I cursed. Yes, fuck him getting to spend time with three goddesses I thought.
All of a sudden some weird shit happened and blue orbs began floating into the sky. Following that black fire appeared. At that point I wish I had stayed behind at the headquarters of the sect.
Moments after the black fire appeared the sect master got blasted by it and fell to the ground. And to make things worst an army of god knows how many horsemen the appeared and began slaughtering us. That was when I decided it was time to get the fuck out of here.
“Retreat!!!” I yelled out. There was no way I would have made it out alive if I ran away alone. So I had to get more people to run away with me. As we ran away the horsemen chased after us. One of the horsemen even almost got me but I jumped out of the way and let him stab some other guy in the back.
Well somehow we managed to run back into the thick grove of trees and then made it back to the headquarters.
I made sure to be part of the last group to get back. Because god knows what the grand elder will do to us once he finds out his son is dead.
And my decision was right. Some idiots went and broke the news to the old man and well one of them is lying dead on the ground and the other has a sword sticking out of his throat. Phew better then than me I thought.
Chapter 57: Pact with a Demon
In front of Zhang laid an open wooden chest, contained within the chest were hundreds of jade bottles filled with small pellets. Standing in front of him were rows of men wearing white robes with the word Yu sewn onto them. These men were the same men who did not plea for mercy when Zhang was out for blood. Unlike everyone else, these men accepted their fate and decided to die with the least shred of dignity. Thanks to this, they were spared.
“I have enough bottle of pills here to cure you all of the heaven’s rebirth poison.” Zhang said magnanimously as he pointed the chest in his front.
“However, I’ve already spared your lives once today and I’m not feeling very charitable at the moment. But, since I have no use for these anyway, I would like to propose a trade.”, Zhang paused for a while as he looked for any reaction conveyed on their faces.
“Pledge your allegiance to me and you will get the antidote.” Zhang shouted.
However, none of them dared to look at each other nor conveyed their thoughts. To these men, Zhang was akin to a demon donned with the skin of a human. He mercilessly slaughtered everything and everyone who was in his way and now he’s asking them to swear allegiance to him?
“If you wish to live then make a pact with me and pledge your allegiance.” Zhang spieled.
“A pact with a demon.” The surviving members of the Yu Sect thought. However, no one voiced any objections because, of course, they all wanted the antidote to the heaven’s rebirth poison.
“All who want the antidote and swear their loyalty, step forward. Anyone who doesn’t may leave and I wish you the best of luck.” Zhang said sternly.
Almost in unison, all of the members of the Yu Sect stepped forward and bent their knees.
“We swear loyalty to you my lord.”, they said simultaneously, declaring their allegiance.
“Good, as long as you are loyal you will be saved.” Zhang said as he nodded to Yuying hinting her to start.
Zhang moved closer to Yuying who quietly stood behind him. He channeled the energy stored in the Dragon Heart necklace into Yuying.
Once the energy entered her body, Yuying began chanting. Soon, a greenish energy swirled around her body making her hair sway as if it was being blown by a gentle wind. Runes began to appear all over her body, covering her snow white skin.
As Yuying continued to chant, the runes on her skin moved and flowed onto the stone tiles where she stood. Thousands of mysterious runes crawled from the stone tiles and onto the former disciples of the Yu Sect.
The disciples of the Yu Sect were taken aback of what was happening. However, no one dared to say anything or even moved a step back. Fearing that Zhang might kill them on the spot.
As the runes reached them, it began to swirl about on their bodies, many of the disciples yelled and screamed in terror and began rolling on the ground. It was as if they were being consumed by fire that cannot be extinguished. Then in an instant, all of the runes condensed into their chests and flash of black light blinded everyone.
Zhang silently stood, with both arms crossed over his chest, watching as his new army was being formed.
All of the magical runes ha
d condensed into an image of black flame etched on the chests of these disciples.
“Now that the spell has been completed. Welcome to the Aurora army.” Zhang said with an evil grin flashed across his face.
“Wha-what did you do to us?” One of the newly acquired soldier asked as he looked at the flame mark on his chest.
“This is just some reassurance. If any of you even think of betraying me, then something terrible will happen to you. If you are good perhaps I’ll have her remove the mark one day.”, Zhang said with a smile on his face.
“Re-rest assured my lord we won’t betray you.”, the representative disciple of the former Yu Sect said.
“Alright distribute these among yourselves then rest, we will move out tomorrow.”, Zhang said as he waved his hand and a large pile of black armors appeared.
“Lu Xun, make arrangements to integrate them into our current forces.”, Zhang said to Lu Xun who had been standing a short distance away.
“Right away my lord, I’ll arrange for someone to go and acquire horses for these six thousand former Yu Sect disciples.”, Lu Xun said.
Of the thirty thousand men Yu Zhao mobilized to attack Zhang, roughly fifteen thousand had been killed as they fled back to the Yu Sect’s headquarters. And of those fifteen thousand, nine thousand were executed by Zhang and his men. Leaving only roughly six thousand, who pledged their allegiance and were spared.
“Also my lord, we have just received a correspondence from Lord Jian Wei. The message was sent by courier pigeon and only arrived not too long ago.”, Lu Xun said as he pulled out a letter from his robe and handed it to Zhang.
Zhang then took the letter and stuck it into his robe without reading it.
Although the Yu Sect suffered heavy losses, the army of Aurora only lost roughly a thousand or so soldiers. Together with the Yu Sect disciples, Zhang had now a total of nineteen thousand cavalry soldiers and six thousand archers. Since the Yu sect’s disciples were all skilled in using the bow, they were assigned to be archers of the army. That being said, they of course would be given their own horses so they could travel alongside with the rest of the army.
“Okay, take this gold and get whatever is needed.” Zhang said, waving his hand as a small pile of gold appeared on the ground and gestured to Lu Xun.
“Yuying let’s go, it’s getting late, time to get some rest.” Zhang said as he faced Yuying then walked towards the carriage.
“Alright let’s go.”, Yuying said as she followed suit Zhang.
Once Yuying arrived beside Zhang, the two began to make their way to where the magical carriage was waiting. Ai, together with Ling, were currently resting inside the carriage and patiently waiting for them to return.
As the two walked a short distance away from where Lu Xun and the new soldiers were, Yuying asked, “brother Zhang do we really have to pretend to cast a curse on them?”
“Of course we do, they cannot be completely trusted. There is a high chance of them betraying us later if we did not have that little show. A little fear is needed to keep people in line. Now, although the mark you left can’t harm them, they won’t even think about betraying us believing that it is a curse. Also, it will help our men not to be vigilant of the new arrivals.”, Zhang explained.
“Also, the way you casted it made it seem so much more realistic.”, Zhang said with a chuckle, putting his arms on Yuying’s waist as they walked and arrived where the magical carriage was.
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Before the sun had completely risen to the east, the entire army was mobilized and in a well-coordinated manner they were set, ready to march.
Nineteen thousand soldiers dressed in black armor were mounted on their horses in an orderly manner awaiting orders from their superiors. In front of them were their six thousand new comrades, also clad in black armor, standing in neat rows with bows in their hands and quiver of arrows on their backs. All of them were waiting in a huge courtyard that used to belong to the Yu Sect.
There had not been enough time to gather adequate amount of horses for the six thousand new arrivals, so Zhang had decided to simply slow the pace of their march as they tried to get more horses along their way as they proceed.
Zhang’s soldiers that had travelled with him before and came from Aurora did not show the slightest aversion to the new arrivals. This was, of course, because of the “curse” Yuying placed on them. Thanks to this “curse”, they were able to be at ease with each other.
In front of them, Zhang stood solemnly clad in black armor and behind him were Yuying, Ling, Ai and Lu Xun who were all also fully dressed in armor.
“Today, we will begin our march back to the Red Mist province and into the Red Mist city. But for many of you, we will not be returning using the same route we used to make it here. Yesterday, we received a correspondence from Lord Jian Wei ordering us to proceed to the Black Wind province. According to the correspondence, all the communication we have with our allies in the Black Wind province has been cut.”, Zhang said to his men as he pulled out a letter from his robe.
As Zhang was talking to his soldiers, one of his sentries ran into the courtyard screaming.
“My lord! My lord! The mountain has been surrounded!”, the sentry yelled.
“How many of them are there?”, Zhang asked calmly. If the other side had around the same number of soldiers as he did, then he was certain he could break out of the encirclement or perhaps wipe them out regardless of who they were.
“My lord I'm not sure on the exact number, but most likely they tripled our numbers, no quadruple.” The sentry replied.
“All of you, fortify our position and prepare for battle! I will personally go down and see if they are friend or foe.” Zhang bellowed.
Although Zhang had an idea of who the forces below the mountain belonged to, he still had to make sure. The population of the continent was immense and a lot of forces had thousands of soldiers under their command.
“Bother let us come with you.” Three voices broke out behind Zhang.
“No stay here, we do not know if they are friend or foe and I can't guarantee your safety if we face too many enemies at once. What would I do if you three were captured by the enemies?” Zhang said as he looked at the three beauties that had stood behind him.
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At the foot of the mountain were many thousands of soldiers clad in blue armor.
“Your majesty, shall we ascend the mountain? All preparations have been completed and we are ready to begin the attack my King.” A man clad in blue said while kneeling to a man in golden robes who happened to be standing on a platform.
“General, please tell the men, we will begin the attack shortly on my order. I've turned a blind eye on the Yu Sect for too long. For them to act so brazenly and attack the guests of the kingdom.” The man dressed in golden robes said. This man would be recognized by Zhang as King Huang He of the Heilong Kingdom.
“Yes we will await your orders my King, to think they had the gall to attack a member of the alliance.” The general said.
“Sigh* have we found the whereabouts of the soldiers of Aurora yet? If he's alive we must find him and if he's dead, we must have a corpse. Or else, I will not know what to say to the lord of Aurora.” King Huang He asked.
“Just majesty rest assured, as soon once as we find their whereabouts, you will be immediately informed. As for the lord of Aurora, I believe he will not cause a war over this matter if we explain the situation to him.” The general said.
As King Huang He and the general where conversing, two men rode up to the platform on a pair of stallions.
“Your majesty has my daughter been found!?!!” One of the men said frantically.
“What about Zhou Zhang!!” The other man asked equally as frantic.
These two men were Wu Tong who happened to be Ling’s father and Zhou Cheng who happened to be Zhang’s father.
“Rest assured we are
doing all we can to find your daughter minister Wu. His majesty already mobilized all of the soldiers that were stationed to guard the capital to search for them. And shortly we will wipe out the Yu Sect.” The general said.
Once King Huang He was told the news of the attack on Zhang, he mobilized the army that was meant to guard the capital. It had taken quite a while for the news to get to the capital and to the ears of the king, then it took some time for the army to be mobilized. Which explained why it took so long for King Huang He to respond to this issue.
“I will personally lead the search.” Zhou Cheng said.
“It's alright minister Zhou we are doing all we can. No need to worry, nothing bad will happen to the kingdom regardless of the outcome, we will explain and take care of the issue properly.” The general clad in blue armor said.
