Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  Seated on his imperial throne, wearing the royal attire, and holding the royal seal in his hand the emperor waited patiently for Li Meilin to enter. The side of the large hall was filled with officials, nobles, and anyone who had a high ranking in the Siban Empire. All of them were excited to hear what Li Meilin had to say. She was the only human who had ever managed to leave Shenyuan.

  Chapter 47 – The Imperial Palace

  Li Meilin was escorted by a large group of knights, all of which were dressed in the emperor’s red colors showing that these experts were from the Royal Guard. The most elite guards in all of Siban. For Li Meilin to be escorted by his force, one could tell just how much the emperor valued her.

  Li Meilin was picked up within one of the marketplaces in the commoner part of town, and now she was escorted by twenty red dressed men. Their speed slowed down, and it took them around two hours for them to make their way through the lively city. Even the usually uncrowded areas where family compounds were located turned crowded as news of Li Meilin had spread through the capital like wildfire. Everyone wished to get a look at this woman. This woman who was the first person to ever leave Shenyuan.

  Finally, after hours of moving at snail’s pace, Li Meilin saw the imperial palace in front of her. Her heart squeezed tightly in worry about the subject she was about to bring up with the emperor. Although the emperor was far inferior in power when it came to cultivation, he was none the less the head of the entire Siban Empire a man whom Li Meilin looked up to and would do anything for.

  Walking through the many different corridors and halls, they finally reached the hall in which the emperor greeted his subjects. As soon as the guards noticed Li Meilin, the two of them opened the doors and with loud voices proclaimed, “Lady Li, Senior Overseer from the Shenyuan Delegation.”

  As soon as her name was called, a murmur rose from within the hall as neither nobles nor officials could keep their voices down. They all felt excitement after having an expert return, yet although she had returned many were curious as to why she survived when even the Saint leading the delegation seemed to have died. He was by far the strongest of the group, yet despite that it seemed like he had succumbed to the lands of Shenyuan.

  Entering the room the murmur grew louder and louder, but no one could hear what exactly was being said as everyone spoke at the same time. As soon as she reached the middle of the hall she stopped and kowtowed in front of the emperor whom she greatly admired.

  As the emperor lifted his hand the room descended into silence, no one dared say a word. Everyone was breathing as quietly as they possibly could, they were doing anything in their power to not attract the attention of the emperor.

  “Lady Li Meilin, we are greatly pleased to see that you have managed to escape the borders of Shenyuan. We assume that you have a lot of information to share with us.”

  Hearing his words, Li Meilin nodded her head as she slowly rose to her feet. Her upper body bowed deeply to the emperor in front of her. The woman dared not lift her head as it might make her seem disrespectful.

  “We entered Shenyuan according to plan, however the first thing we came across was a village with humanoid magical beasts.” She started from the beginning and was ready to explain everything which had happened. “The lord decided that we were to take slaves and destroy the city. After that, we were to execute anyone who was not worth being a slave.”

  “The beasts we came across were not capable of putting up a fight, and so the battle took a lot less time than what we had expected. As soon as the slaves had been tied up, we kept marching through the forest.”

  “Shenyuan is a forest?” The emperor asked and Li Meilin gasped as she had forgotten that detail, “Shenyuan is one massive jungle. The entire country is a forest. I apologize for leaving that out,” She said as her heart was racing in her chest.

  “Continue,” The emperor said as though he did not care too much. Hearing this, Li Meilin let out a sigh of relief as she continued.

  “The only thing we saw was a forest and magical beasts. Within the vast forest no ordinary beasts were visible, only humanoid beasts and magical beasts lived within. We slowly moved forward, but then we ran into a group of humanoid beasts. All of them were Kings or emperors apart from their leader who was a Saint. After they attacked us, she just played around with the lord. Killing him was simple for her and releasing the slaves was also a walk in the park. I was the only survivor and for some reason these beasts brought me to their capital where I was permitted to live. If I hate to guess why they let me live, it must have been because I was against the lord taking slaves.”

  “The capital of Shenyuan is much like one of our cities, but instead of humans, it is filled with humanoid beasts. They all looked similar to humans but with distinct beastly features. I was allowed to live at the castle where the Queen of Shenyuan stays. I soon uncovered quite a bit of disturbing information. Shenyuan is divided into sixty-four prefectures, and each prefecture is controlled by a Lord of the Forest. For one to become a Lord of the Forest one needs to be a Saint ranked expert.”

  “What?!” Disbelief was visible in everyone present. Everyone forgot that they were supposed to be quiet. They were all too shocked to hear that there were at a minimum of sixty-four Saints within Shenyuan. Having sixty-four Saints was far more than what the Siban Empire current had. The Siban Empire had at most half that amount. Although it was half Shenyuan’s amount, they had been arrogant recently as they had more Saints than any of the other three Kingdoms within the continent. Hearing that Shenyuan had this many experts, shock and terror filled everyone present.

  “Your majesty, it gets worse,” Li Meilin said with a low voice. Her words instantly bringing the entire hall to silence. Everyone was looking at her with terrified eyes.

  “The reason they allowed me to leave Shenyuan was because they were starting things which they did not wish for me to know about. There is within Shenyuan a person who is a half beast half human. This person warned me that Shenyuan is preparing for war. That they will either attack the Taiyang Kingdom or our Siban Empire. He is from the Taiyang Kingdom, and the reason he told me and helped me escape was for the sake of warning the Taiyang Empire. It is obvious that Wan Qiao, the beast known as the Queen of Shenyuan, plans on starting a war against us, humans, to expand their empire.”

  Hearing this the face of the emperor turned pale, but it was not only him everyone in the building was now worried. If Sixty-four experts were willing to go to war, then who would be able to block them? According to their knowledge no one could do so.

  “I doubt that they will take all sixty-four experts of Shenyuan to fight in the war,” She continued. “Shenyuan was always the target for the Taiyang Kingdom and us. If they were to leave it empty then the kingdom they do not attack is likely to go and attack them; however, their army will not only consist of Saints.”

  “Each of these experts have ten thousand guards. These guards are not soldiers, but I imagine that they could easily be forged into soldiers. Let us assume that half the Saints will be used for the war then they will still have a lot of guards following. Although these guards are not soldiers, and although our army is more than four times as big, all their guards are either Kings or emperor ranked experts. When it comes to quality, theirs are far better than our army. We also have to remember that these experts are not human cultivators, all of them are magical beasts.

  Li Meilin was very worried about their current circumstance. Her heart was beating erratically, and her eyes were closed shut as she wondered what punishment she would get given the bad news she was brought. However, when she snuck a peek at the exalted man in front of her, what she saw was not horror at these events instead he seemed to be pondering.

  Silence prevailed within the hall, no one dared to speak After a short while with only silence, a few sobs could be heard here and there. Clearly the ladies of the upper class were terrified by the information Li Meilin just provided. Li Meilin, herself, felt her heart bleeding with
worry and fear.

  Finally, a long time after Li Meilin had finished her speech, the emperor spoke with an even voice and clear determination.

  “We thank you for the information you have brought us.” He said. His voice booming through the silence of the hall, completely overshadowing the few sobs that were heard here and there. “We will meet with our generals and discuss how to handle this matter with these magical beasts. Although they are more numerous than us, we will not back down from the responsibility of protecting our citizens.” Hearing the emperor speak such words, all the nobles and officials within the hall felt elated. If those guards of Shenyuan chose to fight against their Siban Empire, it was not certain who would emerge victorious. Guards were not soldiers, and as stated previously although they were stronger, they still had more experts on their side. Even if the opponents were kings, although they were far stronger than Dukes, how would they win if twenty or thirty Dukes attacked them at the same time? Although most Kings would prevail, a battleground was no ordinary place. The emperor was betting on their ability to overrun the smaller army.

  “Generals, heed me!” The emperor called out as he stood up, and around twenty men from the audience stepped forward; their backs straight and their faces serious. It was obvious that they understood just how important the meeting they were to attend would be. Stepping forward, each and every one of them bowed deeply to the emperor. After the men waited for the emperor to stand, all of them bowed deeply once more. The officials and the nobles standing in the room all kowtowed to the emperor, waiting for him to leave the room.

  “Oh,” Standing, the emperor looked back for a moment as his eyes fell on Li Meilin, the woman who seemed young but who was an exalted expert. “Li Meilin, you are to follow Us. You are the only one who has ever been inside the Shenyuan jungle. Having your assistance will be a great help to Us.” He said with a steady voice before he went towards the door behind his throne. Leaving the room, the Generals and Li Meilin who were bowing, all scrambled to follow behind the emperor. Their heads lowered so that they would not look at the emperor in front of them.

  Although this emperor was nothing but a Duke ranked expert, he was feared even by most Saints in Siban. The reason behind this was not only because of his high rank and his royal blood but also because behind him were two shadows. Shadows that no one would recognizes unless they themselves had the rank of a Saint. These two shadows were the emperor’s personal aides. When it came to strength, no Saint within Siban was their match. Even when it came to Shenyuan, the emperor had faith in his two shadows were capable of dealing with quite a few of their opponents. Although Lord Song whom he had sent to Shenyuan before was a Saint, he was nothing but the weakest amongst all his Saints. That he did not make it out was not shocking in the least for the emperor. What was shocking was that Li Meilin had made it out, and this was something which caught the emperor’s interest.

  Chapter 48 – The Army Commanders

  Waking up the following morning, Hui Yue felt both exhausted and excited. He spent quite a few hours preparing to meet the many experts and start preparing for war. He was going to speak with a whole training ground filled with Emperor ranked experts; experts who proved to

  be stronger than their peers, and he felt slightly nervous thinking about how he should go about it.

  Dressing himself, the young man left the elegant rooms he had been given. As he left the room he found that the hallway outside was not empty as he expected, instead Lord Pan was standing there with Wan Qiao and a small group of lords. This took Hui Yue by surprise; it was completely unexpected.

  Looking at them, he cleared his throat, “Excuse me; I am in a hurry this morning. How can I help everyone?” He asked perplexed. He was not certain why this many experts awaited his departure, but now that they were here, it would be rude not to hear what they wanted.

  “Don’t mind us,” Lord Pan said with a hearty laugh when he saw the perplexed expression on Hui Yue’s face. “We are just here to see what you plan on doing with the many Emperors that are awaiting your arrival,” He continued his words showing the intent of all the experts by his side.

  Hearing why the experts were here, Hui Yue felt slightly sour as he grumbled to himself, ‘I already have to deal with a lot of pressure, and now these lords think that they can come watching as though this is some sort of entertainment.’

  ‘This is a good thing,’ Lan Feng pointed out as he heard the grumbling Hui Yue. ‘When the lords are here they are most likely backing you with their strength. Having them observe what is happening likely none of the Emperors would want to test your strength. Well, to be honest, I don’t think that this would happen. I do think that some of the Emperors will be jealous of you and your position, but they cannot show their jealousy as long as their lords are present.’

  ‘I guess you’re right,’ Hui Yue sighed as he looked at the guards. With a nod to Lord Pan, Hui Yue turned around and quickly left behind the group of lords who followed. The group was chatting amongst themselves with smiles on their faces. All of them were excited to see just what Hui Yue had planned for this group of guards that were waiting for him.

  Walking through the castle, Hui Yue quickly made it to the training ground. Swallowing his saliva, his throat suddenly went dry when he saw just under a thousand Emperors standing in front of him. All of the emperors were looking at this young man. Some of them had a gentle smile on their faces, other of them appeared spiteful. Some looked serious while others looked as though they were being made fun of. But one thing they all had in common was that all of them were watching Hui Yue. Some of them started speaking together while others were quiet, yet as Hui Yue made his way towards the top of the arena, he could see all the Emperors and all the Emperors could see him.

  “I am glad to see you all made it here today,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face. He did not try to enhance his voice, all he did was speak. Not all the Emperors had quieted down, making it impossible for some of them to hear what was being said.

  Hui Yue paid it no attention instead he continued, “I want everyone to split up. Thousand man commanders go over there. Two thousand man commanders move over here.” Both times he pointed to various places within the training ground; however considering that the Emperors were still speaking amongst themselves many did not hear what he said. The young man paid no attention to them and kept pointing out the locations for five thousand man commanders, and finally ten thousand man commanders. While he told the Emperors to find their location, only a few of them actually moved. Most of the others were still busy chatting amongst themselves, not paying attention to what he wanted them to do.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue’s eyes darkened, and with a voice that was the same strength as before he opened his mouth, “Those experts who ignore me, I will just tell your lords that I have no use for you. If you cannot even follow a simple order, then there is no way I can make you into army commanders.”

  Although this was said with the same strength voice as before, it instantly caused everyone who was mumbling amongst each other to quiet down and stare at Hui Yue. Some of the experts opened their mouth, their expressions were filled with disbelief, but as they looked at the young King that was standing on the arena, they saw a hard face which showed no signs of remorse. It was clear that he was completely serious.

  Seeing this a sudden rush appeared in front of the stage and after only a few moments, all the experts had sorted themselves so that they were grouped together by which rank they had in the army.

  “This young man is quite skilled,” One of the lords said as he saw how Hui Yue managed to make all the experts get in order. “Although our Emperors are unaware that we are watching, he is fully aware of it. To threaten them in such a way while knowing that we already are aware of what is going on. I cannot wait to see what he is going to do next.”

  Hui Yue’s ice-blue eyes were merciless as they looked at the experts in front of him. Hui Yue was fully aware that these experts all looked do
wn on him, and they were clearly unhappy that they had to follow his orders. Hui Yue, on the other hand, was unhappy that he had to deal with these so-called experts who had no knowledge about what it meant to go to war.

  “I am here to teach you what it means to go to war,” Hui Yue said. This time, when he spoke no one else dared to interrupt him. They all shared the emotion that even though Hui Yue was weaker than them, he was someone who had been ordered here by their lords. If he were to say that they were doing badly, was that not the same as losing face for their lords? None of the guards could accept losing face for their lords. Due to this, they all listened to what Hui Yue was saying.

  “In war what matters is not your personal honor, nor is it the honor of your lords. In war it is Shenyuan you are fighting for, and for Shenyuan you will become chess pieces who will make sure that we win the war.”

  “Thousand man commanders, below you all the men will be split into groups of five. The main job of these groups is to make sure that they survive. Survival and teamwork are what they need to remember. In these groups of five, they are to work together to destroy the human waves that will be pushed towards us. By having five experts looking after each other, it should be impossible for the human wave to get even one of them with the others watching their back. Even if this feels like the powerful bullying the weak, this is war. At such a time there is no room for honor and dignity. Anything goes in war, as long as you can win against your opponent then anything is allowed.”