Chapter 791 (1/2)

Chapter 791: 791

The flames danced on the silver mask and in the black eyes, like lightning in the summer rain .

It was late winter and was snowing . The Qi of Heaven and Earth in Chang'an had been put to rest, so it was not really lightning, but embers of fire .

The snowy field and the beautiful quiet village on the state highway should have made a beautiful scene . However, they were burned by fierce flames and had become a black and bleak wasteland .

Prince Long Qing looked at the scene before him silently and indifferently . He did not look excited and only his hand wrapped tightly around the rope revealed how he truly felt .

After leading the barbarian cavalry into the Eastern Wilderness, he had ordered his subordinates to set fire to the distant Eastern Border and this village .

He had led 2000 of the most elite among his cavalry to ambush Chang'an regardless of any price they had to pay . Both the Tang army and the persistent Valiant Cavalry Battalion would not be able to catch up with him at this point in time .

He was already very close to Chang'an .

Years ago, he had lost to Ning Que at the Academy's entrance exam . He had left Chang'an with the West-Hill Divine Palace diplomatic corps and the Papal Cavalrymen on this particular path .

On the same highway, he recalled what had happened back then and the emotions he felt . Then, he remembered the ambition he had in the past .

”I want to pull down all these ugly houses of the Tangs and eradicate all the rapeseed in the fields . Then I'll burn all of them, with all the sins and the filth, to rebuild into a holy, bright world . ”

He was about to return to Chang'an, a city that had left him with endless humiliation and pain, changing his life in a certain sense . His cultivation state and strength had improved vastly, but his eyes no longer shone with purity .

The rape blossoms in the field by the highway had not yet grown . The houses built by the Tang farmers which had been painted in various colors were not as beautiful or ugly as they had been . Then, he shall burn them all .

He might as well tell those in Chang'an that he had arrived .

It was snowing in Chang'an and the north of the Xiao Mountain, but it was just as cold . The rain soaked through the armor and into the leather coat until it reached the skin, making the days even more unbearable .

The Southern Army marched northwards in the cold rain . The Tang army could be seen throughout the Xiao Mountain and in its forests . There were many of them, making it look like the forest was filled with leaves that had fallen and gathered for a thousand years .

The march was very difficult . The cold weather and rain, the decaying leaves and the trampled mountain path were their enemies . Many had already fallen behind along the way .

There were more people who moved forth even though they were pale, both emotionally and physically tired . They gritted their teeth, lowered their heads and followed the people in front of them, crawling through the muddy wilderness .

They could only continue if they gritted their teeth, and they could only conserve the last bit of their energy by staying silent . Only when they hung their heads could these tired people see where the troops were marching to .

More than 100,000 Tang Army soldiers walked in the mountains . However, they did not make too much noise . Only the occasional sound of heavy objects falling could be heard when the troop's boots struck the mud .

The silence was frightening, and this was also what frightened their enemy the most .

The generals of the Tang army and the ordinary soldiers all firmly believed that even if the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army really had the one million soldiers strong troop told as in the rumors, they would be able to stop them if they could reach Chang'an .

They had to rush to the north of the Verdant Canyon, and the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army did not give them enough time . They did not have time to sleep or eat hot meals as they spent all their time on the road .

They walked day and night, through the snow and rain and through the foggy forests in search of a faster path . They kept walking .

However, the distance was still too long . The Southern Army had tried its best, but it was still a distance away from the northern Verdant Canyon . They were already several days late from the arrival date requested by the Military Ministry .

Theoretically speaking, the Verdant Canyon should have fallen and it was pointless for the Southern Army to rush over . In fact, it was dangerous for them to do so . What they should do right now was to seek information of their enemy, to later retreat and await for aid .

However, the troop still rushed on because they did not receive any new orders . Their mission was still to rush to the Verdant Canyon and defend it because they believed, almost blindly, in the abilities of the Academy's disciples .

Because they could not accept that .

The clouds were thin and the rain light on the other side of the Xiao Mountain .

Raindrops pattered, falling upon the quiet wilderness and were instantly absorbed by the soil . It was impossible to wash away the blood acc.u.mulated during these seven days and only added a certain amount of dampness to the ground .

The ground in front of the Verdant Canyon was harder due to the pressure exerted upon it by the powerhouses' Qi of Heaven and Earth . As such, the rain seeped through it slowly and started to acc.u.mulate in the messy hoof prints on the ground .

There was a booming sound from the far south of the Wilderness and the earth began to vibrate . The shallow layer of water in the prints started to shake .