荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Silence reigned throughout the world; neither the thousands upon thousands of Hu soldiers nor the five thousand Wushang Cavalry said a word. The tension between the two armies was growing tighter and tighter. Li Siye, Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan and the others all had furious expressions, but not even they said anything.

Everyone’s eyes were focused in one direction, on one man.

“Gudu Li.”

The clopping of hooves sounded between the two armies as Wang Chong slowly trotted his horse forward, a smile on his face. He scanned the group of Hu generals fifty zhang away, an inquisitive look in his eyes.

“Defying military orders, going against a divine decree—you should know what that will result in. Disperse the army, put down your weapons, kneel down, and beg for forgiveness, and perhaps I can spare your life. Otherwise... Death! For! Defiance!”

Gudu Li said nothing, but the other Hu generals immediately broke into furious curses.

“Bastard!”

“Impudent!”

“Immature brat, who do you think you are! It isn’t your place to speak such words here!”

Gudu Li couldn’t help but give a smug grin at all this. In this period of time, he had taken full control over the Qixi Protectorate. Without his order, even if Wang Chong had the Sage Emperor’s decree and sat upon the throne of Qixi Protector-General, he would still not be able to do anything.

“Enough!”

Gudu Li extended an arm to halt his subordinates. He slightly raised his head and squinted at Wang Chong.

“Brat, you’re too arrogant. You haven’t even sat on the seat of Qixi Protector-General and are already starting to give orders! Let me tell you, only one person’s words matter here in this land of Qixi. In the past, it was Lord Fumeng Lingcha. You pulled Lord Fumeng Lingcha off his horse, but there are others who can replace him. But no matter who that person is, one thing is for certain: that person will be a Hu. And you! Even if you have the divine decree from the Imperial Court, it’s still! Useless!”

With these last two words, Gudu Li made a gesture.

Roooar!

In an instant, Gudu Li’s twenty thousand men gave a furious roar that echoed across the heavens. Birds fled in alarm, and the entire world seemed to tremble. Buzz! Xu Keyi, Su Shixuan, Cheng Sanyuan, Zhang Que and the others all couldn’t help but pale in shock.

From this unanimous roar, it was clear that the twenty thousand Hu soldiers had been forged into a single whole, a force that would make it very difficult for Wang Chong if he wanted to take the seat of Qixi Protector-General.

Gudu Li’s control over these Hu soldiers was much stronger than they had imagined.

“Lord Marquis, do we need to strike?”

Only Li Siye remained calm and composed, his eyes free of any emotion.

“No rush.”

Wang Chong chuckled and stopped Li Siye. It didn’t matter what ideas Gudu Li had, and showing off this sort of move was truly meaningless against Wang Chong. In no rush, Wang Chong turned to the Hu generals behind Gudu Li.

“Gudu Li is guilty of the unforgivable crime of plotting rebellion. What of all of you? Do you want to join him?”

Buzz!

The Hu generals all felt stifled as Wang Chong’s eyes swept over them. A person’s reputation was like a tree’s shadow. Although Wang Chong was still young, his reputation in the Western Regions was as high as the noon sun. At the battle of the triangular gap, he had even managed to kill tens of thousands of Tibetans, including Dayan Mangban, and even made a Great General like Dusong Mangpoje flee in defeat.

The death of the Black Wolf Yabgu had pushed Wang Chong’s reputation to even greater heights.

In Qixi, Wang Chong’s reputation was no different from that of the god of death. Although they might have all said that they were not afraid, the truth was anything but. But when they looked at Gudu Li, the resolve in their eyes slowly hardened.

“Foul brat, don’t try and sow discord. When did we say anything about rebellion?”

“I advise you to quickly leave. The seat of Qixi Protector-General isn’t that easy to sit upon!”

“It looks to me like you’re the one plotting rebellion! If you don’t leave soon, we might have to get a little callous!”

The generals angrily glared at Wang Chong, none of them showing any signs of backing down.

“Hahaha, see? All your efforts are in vain!”

Gudu Li looked at Wang Chong with a smug and arrogant look on his face.

“I will count to six! If you haven’t retreated by then, I will immediately give the order to attack. When the time comes, you will have yourself to blame for the results!”

The primary fighting force of the Qixi Protectorate was the Hu. If the Qixi Protectorate army experienced severe casualties after he gave the order to attack, Wang Chong might end up being dismissed from the post right after being appointed. If Wang Chong did not counter, then his own soldiers would experience many casualties and he would be bound to lose this battle.

Anyone who did not have the approval of the Hu commanders would only have the appearance of a tiger, but would otherwise have no power. This was the greatest source of Gudu Li’s confidence.

“One!”

Gudu Li raised a finger, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“Two!”

“Three!”

Gudu Li raised finger after finger, speaking each number with brimming self-confidence that his victory over Wang Chong was certain. Who cared if he was the Young Marquis? Who cared if he was the Son of Heaven’s disciple? In the Qixi Protectorate, only Gudu Li’s words mattered.

“There’s no need for all that.”

Wang Chong slowly trotted his horse forward, a smirk on his face.

“I can answer you right now. Gudu Li, you are already dead!”

The word ‘dead’ was like thunder booming in everyone’s ears, and Gudu Li instantly paled, a stifling feeling suddenly weighing down on his heart. But the most terrifying thing of all was what happened next. Up until now, Wang Chong had always had a faint smile on his lips, but at this moment, his expression turned incomparably cold and callous. At the same time, he raised his right hand and then fiercely swung it down.

“Attack!”

That icy voice rang in everyone’s ears, followed by the neighing of horses. The five thousand unmoving and restrained Wushang Cavalry suddenly exploded with a storm of energy. In that moment, the world itself seemed to be tearing apart!

This bastard! He would dare!

Gudu Li was ghastly pale as this thought flitted through his mind. If the twenty thousand Hu cavalry of Qixi suffered grievous losses due to internal strife, Wang Chong would probably not even last the night as Qixi Protector-General. The order would almost immediately be given for his demotion and imprisonment. It was precisely because Gudu Li knew this that he dared to so brazenly defy the Imperial Court.

But he had never expected that Wang Chong would be even more brazen. He didn’t even need to think to give the order to attack.

With his greatest source of confidence lost, Gudu Li would be no different from anyone else. He equally felt panic and unease.

Bastard! You will regret this!

As this thought flashed through Gudu Li’s mind, he immediately issued the only order he could possibly give.

“Attack!”

Rumble! The neighing of warhorses filled the air as sabers, swords, and halberds were aimed at the opposing Wushang Cavalry. But these well-disciplined Qixi cavalry famed throughout the Western Regions were facing the most terrifying opponent they had ever faced. Clangclangclang! A dazzling halo emerged from beneath the hooves of the leading Wushang cavalryman, followed by a second, and a third. With astonishing speed, all five thousand Wushang Cavalry had unleashed their halos.

“Charge!”

The cavalry surged forward. By the time the twenty thousand Qixi cavalry had aimed their weapons, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry had closed the gap to thirty-some zhang.

So fast!

Gudu Li and his Hu generals immediately began to panic. They knew that the Wushang Cavalry of the City of Steel were extremely formidable, elites amongst elites, but none of them had been at the battle of the triangular gap. None of them knew that there existed such a terrifying force of cavalry in this world that could reach charging speed in less than a second!

While the twenty thousand Qixi cavalry were still at zero, the Wushang Cavalry were rapidly accelerating. Amidst these dazzling halos, the Wushang Cavalry seemed like a divine weapon that had descended from the heavens.

Rumble!

Time seemed to stop, and then there was a massive explosion as the Wushang Cavalry stabbed into the Qixi army like a sharp knife. Neeeigh! The Qixi soldiers immediately fell into chaos as they and their horses were flung into the air like they were made of paper.

Not a single one of the Qixi cavalry were able to take a single blow!

“Bastard, kill him! Kill them all!”

Gudu Li’s furious voice rang out over the army, and he was grinding his teeth so hard that they were on the verge of breaking. Wang Chong and his five thousand Wushang Cavalry were too crazy and too arrogant. The regulations of the court and the laws of the army seemed to have no power over them. These bastards were even more arrogant and domineering than he was.

“Kill then! Kill as many as you want! You madman, I’d like to see how you handle the aftermath!”

The other Hu generals at Gudu Li’s side were also anxious, issuing order after order, causing the thousands of Qixi cavalry to charge in from all sides. But none of them were able to halt the advance of the Wushang Cavalry. Rumble! The Wushang Cavalry charged straight through like they were smashing through weeds. In a few seconds, they had completely rammed through the totality of Gudu Li’s army.

But in the midst of this fierce battle, even Gudu Li failed to notice that despite the chaos as the Qixi cavalry were cut down like wheat, the majority of them were only heavily injured, with the number of actual deaths being extremely limited.

And if one looked even more carefully, one would see that a faint and flickering light had wrapped around all the Wushang Cavalry. It was not the Wushang Cavalry that had knocked the Qixi cavalry away, but this unique shroud of light.

The Impregnable Fortress Formation!

This was the greatest defensive formation of the Ten Great Battle Formations from the era of calamity, and a formation that Wang Chong had specially prepared for Gudu Li. This formation was ranked much higher than the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation, but it was much more difficult and time-consuming to train in, and it required several objects to work with it. However, Wang Chong didn’t need his forces to attain the highest level in the Impregnable Fortress Formation to deal with Gudu Li and his Hu rebels. With the strength of the Wushang Cavalry, just the most basic level would be more than enough.