Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  Hui Yue knew that Wan Qiao was curious, and he could not help but chuckle slightly. “It does not matter if she knows I am the one controlling the army. If anything it will make both her and the army worried as they know that I warned them intentionally. That I have the guts to warn them must mean that I have a plan of some sort, and everything they have done so far has been according to my plan. Although they have no other option, it is still something that will make them uncomfortable,” Hui Yue explained.

  “About allowing them to see the machines, well the scout definitely fears them. Many of these machines are not from this world, and they will not know what they are used for, nor how they were made. If anything a rumor will go through their entire army. A rumor that we having killing machines no one can stand against. That will benefit us because some of the soldiers will be defeated before we even start the battle,” Hui Yue said with a laughing voice. To him, allowing the scout to leave was definitely worth far more than his death.

  “If the scout spreads the word of our army consisting solely of Kings and above, that we have machinery he had never seen before, and that we are led by a half human half beast then it’s likely that their fear of us would reach an all time high, maybe even make some desert. It might make some think that they have already lost. Even if they stayed, experts who were filled with fear were far easier to kill than those who were filled with strength and confidence.”

  “She knows your name. You will never be able to go by your own name in the future,” Wan Qiao said worriedly, “By the time our war is finished, everyone will know that Hui Yue was the young man who sided with the beasts. Your features are quite easy to distinguish too. In a world filled with black haired people, someone with white hair will stick out like a sore thumb. How will you deal with this?” Although Wan Qiao was grateful for Hui Yue and all the plans he had made, she was worried about her human friend. She knew that he planned on returning to his human friends within Taiyang as soon as the war ended.

  “Dying my hair black won’t be hard,” Hui Yue said with a shrug. “And if I use another name, no one will notice anything.” He was completely certain about this. Although he was a very recognizable young man, he believed in his knowledge of herbs to change his appearance. Much like back in his old world, there were many different herbs here that allowed for the coloring of one’s hair. Although this was not their main purpose, they would work just fine, especially because it was impossible to see through it. It was not an illusion created by Qi; it was real hair dyed black.

  Hearing this, Wan Qiao felt calmer, but she was still worried and wondered whether or not she should order his two shadows to follow him, even when he leaves Shenyuan. She would be much more comfortable if she knew that he had two Saints by his side, ready to protect him or assist him in an escape should he be noticed.

  “No need to come to a decision now,” Wan Qiao sighed to herself. Her voice so low that Hui Yue heard nothing, “Let us focus on the war for now,” She continued. “We’ll see what happens afterwards. For all we know, An He can appear out of nowhere and kill us all.” Having said this, Wan Qiao lifted her hand and drew a circle in front of her chest as she prayed to the four divine beast gods that this would not be the case.

  Hui Yue finished the final inscription and sat down while leaning against a tree trunk. His forehead was filled with beads of sweat, and his breathing was a little labored. His strength had been sucked dry as this was the most difficult inscription he had ever made. Within the scroll was the massive wolf-head attack he had learned from the wolf Hui Yue. The attack which, when released to it’s fullest power, would be able to cause the entire continent to be devoured, yet Hui Yue’s strength was far from being able to do anything that intense.

  Instead, the inscription in his hand was now a lifesaving remedy which could be used to instantly kill one, perhaps two, King ranked experts. This was astonishing for an inscription made by a King, and Hui Yue was greatly satisfied with how it turned out.

  Looking at the army in front of him, Hui Yue let out a whistle sound and a few moments later all the Saints had gathered around him. Some looked annoyed while others looked excited, but no matter how they looked all of them politely showed up to see what was happening.

  “Tomorrow morning we will break up the camp and start moving,” Hui Yue said with determination that left no room for questions, nor any room for complaints. Hearing how determined the young man was every Saint nodded their head. The ones who had seemed annoyed finally sprouted smiles, the ones who had been excited seemed to have their emotions increased tenfold.

  Hui Yue smiled at their eagerness but he was still exhausted and as soon as the Saints left, he once more leaned against the tree trunk and slowly fell into a deep slumber. During the sleep, Hui Yue found himself locked in a dark room. The room was filled with darkness, and no light shone inside. No windows nor doors could be seen, and not even the slightest crack in the wall was visible next to him to show even the tiniest fragment of light.

  Hui Yue touched the walls and found that they were rugged. They felt very much like a mountain wall, and as he followed the wall, he found that it was as though he was within a very small but completely sealed cave. How he arrived in this cave, Hui Yue had no idea, and as to whether or not this was truly a dream he was as clueless. Coming to the conclusion that he could do nothing about it, Hui Yue sat down and leaned against the rugged wall.

  The stones were chilled, but it felt as though energy ran through the entire wall. Unfortunately, this energy was impossible to interact with. No matter what kind of energy Hui Yue placed on the wall it vanished into thin air before it had a chance to interact with the energy which seemed to run within.

  Right when Hui Yue was about to give up and just wait for whatever was going to happen to him, he suddenly got blinded by a white light which filled the entire cave. The light was so white and bright that Hui Yue could see absolutely nothing.

  Adjusting to the light, Hui Yue closed his eyes. Only after the white spots in his vision had vanished did he dare to open his eyes once again. The light had now dimmed in the room, and although it was still there, it was far from as strong as it had been moments earlier. Something Hui Yue was grateful for.

  Looking around he found that he was within something that seemed like a mountain cave, but right in front of him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before. Right in front of him was a star hanging in the air. Although the light that it emitted greatly diminished, it was still very sharp. The sharp light hurt Hui Yue’s eyes whenever he looked at it, it would cause white spots to appear in his vision.

  “What are you?” He asked before he could stop himself. He felt as though the star in front of him was not a normal star because something about it seemed human. He felt as though it was a beautiful woman, and as the question was asked the star trembled slightly. The light seemed to vanish completely for a few moments before it returned as strong as before.

  “You cannot speak?” He continued asking, and it once more trembled, but no matter how many times Hui Yue looked at the star, it felt alive; it felt real. Time quickly passed by. Hui Yue asked no more questions; he just sat with his back against the cave and his eyes observed the beautiful star in front of him.

  Time seemed to turn into nothingness. He felt as if he had sat in front of the star for an eternity, yet it also felt like only moments had gone past. It was simply impossible for him to determine how long had passed by the time he saw one wall of the cave crumble. Slowly, light could be seen through the wall. Light shone into the cave and mixed with the light from the star, and one stone after another crashed to the floor where they strangely enough vanished into thin air. As the final stone fell, Hui Yue was completely gobsmacked as he walked out of the cave and into his dantian cave. The cave in which his Qi Spiral was constantly swirling. The place where one strange phenomena after another appeared. He turned around and saw the star shining brightly as its gentle light exited the cave itself, shining into his
dantian cave.

  Looking around, Hui Yue was stunned to see that the cave he had been in was actually a new phenomenon. As for what it did, he had no idea, but he suddenly understood why he felt as though the star had a consciousness and was capable of reacting to speech. Every phenomena was a previous life, and looking at them, he felt a strong connection to them all. Even the greedy and difficult green pearl.

  Seated down within the dantian cave, Hui Yue looked at all the open caves. There were the two with whom he had already merged; the blue cloud and the red mist. There was the green pearl which only helped when it wanted to. There was the wings which required Wu Wei to work, and then there was the gemstone which constantly pulsated energies. And now, Hui Yue had finally seen a mysterious star. In total, six of the nine caves had now been opened. Though although they were open, there was still a long way to go before he could merge with them. Merging with the phenomena of his past lives required him to interact with them, something he had not done in quite a while.

  Opening his eyes, Hui Yue saw that Wan Qiao was by his side seated patiently and waiting for him to wake up. The camp was gone, and all beasts were standing in line, looking at Hui Yue patiently waiting for him to awaken.

  A sheepish smile appeared on his face before he slowly rose to his feet and stretched his body. “Sorry about that,” He laughed feeling a little embarrassed, “I had a meeting with a star.”

  Chapter 66 – Beast Horde

  Hui Yue slowly rose to his feet as he sheepishly laughed fully aware that he had made an entire army of over four hundred thousand beasts wait for him to wake up. “Why didn’t they wake me,” he mumbled to himself as he felt a slight redness appear on his face. After clearing his throat, he once more entered his dantian cave, and he headed straight towards the Wu Wei wings. These wings were golden and clearly made from Wu Wei, but as for why he had them, he had no idea. He was very curious about what kind of life these wings had. He felt an overwhelming strength but also a tranquil calm from these wings, and due to the gentleness he felt from them, he had named them Angel.

  Activating these angelic wings, a golden light appeared behind him, and slowly the wings started to form from these rays of light. A few moments after the golden wings spread out behind him, Hui Yue allowed for the wings to suck in his Wu Wei as he took to the skies. From high above, he took a long look at the army he was leading to war.

  Beneath him, all the beasts were standing straight in their human shape, and although they looked different from humans with their various shapes and sizes, they were still standing in a straight line. All their eyes were glued to the man who was hovering right above them. The man they knew as a wolf, yet now he was flying high in the sky with majestic, golden wings. His white hair was fluttering in the wind, and his eyes sharp as he looked below him. His light blue robe was rustling around his body, and anyone who looked at him got the impression that he was a celestial being descending upon their world. The entire army held their breath in astonishment and surprise; their eyes were glued to the handsome man unable to look away.

  It was not only the soldiers who looked at him this way, but all the Saints and commanders were also just as astonished. None of them knew that he was able to fly, only Wan Qiao was not surprised. She too sprouted wings following straight behind Hui Yue as though she dared not leave him alone.

  “What a magnificent sight,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he slowly descended in front of the army. Most army commanders would be riding on magical beasts, either ferocious cat beasts, wolves, winged horses, predatory unicorns or other scaled horses.

  Although it was possible for Hui Yue to tame and ride a magical beast, he would never do so. His entire army was a horde of beasts, and none of them would be transforming to their beastly form on their way, all of them would slowly walk towards the other army. The only beasts who had changed were a group of five hundred Blood Maned Buffaloes who were tasked with pulling the heavy machinery. The weapons which would help them greatly in the war.

  Hui Yue landed gracefully on the ground in front of the entire army with Wan Qiao by his side and within moments the guide and the rest of the forty Saints arrived at his side as well. Lifting one arm, Hui Yue smiled as he looked out at the many beasts who were waiting in front him.

  “We go to war!” He yelled, his voice reverberating throughout the whole area. The yell cause every beast behind him to roar out loudly, releasing their excitement. Their shouts traveled hundreds of kilometers, and the ground shook, and the skies seemed to tremble. Hui Yue had a great smile on his face, and slowly he started to move towards the Imperial Capital. Behind him the sound of footsteps and clattering of weapons was heard as the massive horde of beasts began to follow right behind Hui Yue.

  At first, they were walking on dry ground where almost no plants could be seen. The sandy ground was cracked in many places showing that it had been a very long time since it had gotten water, The few plants which could be seen were all withered and dried out, long since dead. This area was devoid of humans; however, from time to time they would see a solitary cabin. Though, on closer inspection, one could easily see that these cabins were abandoned long ago, most likely when the drought started.

  Marching through the grounds no one spoke. Everyone was busy looking around, observing their surroundings and sucking in every new thing they saw. This landscape was so different, so foreign, from the one they were used to inside Shenyuan, and all of them felt as though they were in an entirely different world. Slowly the dry lands turned sandy, but even though it was sandy, some plants were visible. They sprouted from the harsh grounds, and one could see just how sturdy these plants were.

  The beast horde, walking past the ground, did what they could to avoid these plants. Not because they were pacifists but because they respected anything which struggled to live. They respected any living being who fought that hard for survival.

  Many of these plants were medicinal plants. Some of them had been in the ground for hundreds of years while others were not even one year old yet. These plants were filled with energy, bursting with the essence of the heavens and the earth. Golden rays shone from some while silvery liquid dropped from others. These plants would benefit anyone who cultivated but even still, no one from the army stepped up to harvest them. Everyone showed due respect to the plants as though they were equals.

  The pace with which they were moving through the ground was slow; it was impossible to run when they were to keep in neat, straight lines, but Hui Yue was in no hurry so for him it did not matter if it took a long time for them to reach their destination. The longer they took, the more soldiers on the opposing side would worry about what was going to happen and who their enemies truly were.

  Hui Yue knew that being slow also gave the army more time to prepare. They now knew that the beast army was arriving with massive machinery, but even so, Hui Yue decided not to rush. For the enemies war machines, he planned on having the Saints destroy them. If he could have some Saints tangling up the opponent’s Saints and then have the rest destroy the massive weaponry, then everything would be exactly what he wished for.

  When the battle started the beasts were not going to stay in their current form, all of them would return to their original shapes which meant that many of the beasts would take to the sky. They would constantly hover above to find their targets and then with a swift descent attack them. Some would burrow under the ground and make traps for the humans to fall into, and yet others would become ferocious killing machines with sharp teeth, claws, tusks, or fangs. In many ways, these Emperors and Kings would be vastly superior to the humans, yet they were only beasts. They could be overrun, and they all had weak points. If a spear fortified by some Qi or spiritual energy arrived at their weak point, it was possible the enemy would be lucky and defeat the beast they were facing.

  At first, when thinking about this problem, Hui Yue was going to create armour to give to the beasts, much like human armor, but he quickly stopped that line of thought. Al
though humans were capable of fighting with armor on, it was quite different for beasts. They needed to rely on their nimbleness, their ability to swiftly change direction or other sudden movements; however, if they were wearing armor it would instead hinder them.

  Sighing, Hui Yue kept walking at a steady pace as he lifted his head and looked at the blue skies above. The sun was scorching hot allowing its rays to fall on the beasts who were moving under it. Although these beasts and Hui Yue were all Kings and above, they soon started to find the sun quite hot. Sweat appeared on their foreheads and thirst started to make their throats uncomfortable.

  “We better take a break,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he looked around where they currently were. The sandy lands with few plants seemed to go on forever, yet in the distance, he saw a small area where there seemed to be bigger plants. He had a feeling that they could hide in that shade and enjoy some of their provisions while waiting for night to fall before they continued their march. As said before, Hui Yue was not feeling any pressure about rushing towards their enemy.