1071 Back To The Verdant Canyon (1/2)
Hengmu Liren frowned. He recalled something and could no longer feel calm and cheerful. Instead, his face got distorted and he seemed extremely enraged, especially when he lowered his head and looked down.
His divine gown was very loose so that he could easily see his own chest when looking down.
Although he was the son of Haotian, he was after all a mortal in the human world. Therefore he had two nipples. But right now there seemed to be a third one, which was a black chess piece.
The black chess piece was deeply implanted in his flesh which made him feel sick.
”I'll kill you all.” Hengmu Liren growled, ”I will kill you all for sure!” His young and sharp voice resounded above the lake. The cavalrymen from the Divine Halls and a dozen of red-robed divine priests fell onto their knees in fear and did not dare to say a word.
Hengmu Liren was indeed enraged. He thought he would have broken into Chang'an, or at least arrived at Chang'an by then. But actually he was … still in Qinghe Prefecture! He had powerful subordinates, many cavalrymen from the Divine Halls and over a hundred thousands of troops. Yet he was blocked to the south of the Verdant Canyon… by the Tang people!
The Verdant Canyon again. Just like many years ago.
Hengmu Liren used to sigh over the fact that Jun Mo had lost one arm and could no longer defend the Verdant Canyon by himself. He had lost his chance to defeat Jun Mo at his full glory.
At the same moment, Jun Mo was in the West Wilderness. The Eldest Brother was not here, nor was Yu Lian, Chen Pipi or Ning Que… However he was still blocked to the south of the Verdant Canyon!
The troops from the Divine Halls of West-Hill fought against the Southern Battlefront Army of the Tang on the fields to the north of Qinghe Prefecture for dozens of days. There were ups and downs on both sides. Then Hengmu Liren himself joined the battle only to be ambushed by the Academy and got wounded!
His previous sighs seemed like slaps in his face now. Whenever Hengmu recalled this, he felt sharp pains on the face and could not help becoming extremely enraged!
”A few nobodies at the level of Seethrough… how could you stop me?” Hengmu Liren kept looking down at the black chess piece. His distorted face was enveloped in disgust and his teeth were grinding, which sounded chilling.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again. The layers of gauze around his sacred sedan danced violently in roaring wind while the air above the lake was completely inhaled into his chest.
His chest raised slightly and the divine gown fluttered. But this time he did not cough.
An unworldly power came to the human world and was charged into his body.
Upon a low bang the black chess piece implanted in his chest was smashed.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the Verdant Canyon. There was nothing but distinctive killing intent in his eyes.
His wound was healed. And those people were doomed.
...
...
Ever since the Qinghe Prefecture defected, the Verdant Canyon had actually become the gateway of the Tang Empire and the Academy. Because to the south of the Verdant Canyon it all belonged to Taoism. They had to defend the Verdant Canyon no matter what.
During the universal war against the Tang many years ago, the empire had activated the array they concealed in the Verdant Canyon for hundreds of years, and sacrificed Professor Huang He and the array masters from the imperial court. This led to the failure of their countless enemies and powerful cultivators. In the following years, Tang was rebuilding and restoring the channel through the Verdant Canyon.
To block the Verdant Canyon was a simple way to keep their enemies outside the gateway. But the Tang people were planning to get out of the Verdant Canyon, defeat all the enemies and reclaim their territories.
But when confronting the allied forces from the Divine Halls of West-Hill, especially Hengmu Liren, the Yulin Royal Guards and the Southern Battlefront Army was refrained from proceeding further south. They stationed deep inside the Verdant Canyon to defend the southern gateway of Tang. Making good use of the favorable location and long distance, they successfully kept the powerful enemies outside the Verdant Canyon.
The battle had lasted for dozens of days and exhausted the Tang troops. It became much quieter in the barracks deep inside the valley. Only in one particular barracks it was still noise at midnight.
Some people were quarreling.
”I've told you. In terms of playing chess, I'm definitely number one in the world. Younger Brother, how could you beat me? But you just refuse to admit it. Don't you ever get bored after so many years?”
”Elder Brother, if it was something else I would definitely give up. But for this I will never surrender. Throughout the four hundred and ninety two rounds we played these years, I obviously have won one more round than you. How the hell am I inferior to you?”
”That was a triple K.O! How could that count?”
”According to the rules I learned when I was a kid, that was definitely a loss. You lost that round for sure.”
”Pooh! You are inferior to me in chess anyway.”
”Why?”
”Because when Hengmu wandered into our chess array the other day, it was my black pieces that hurt him! Not your white pieces!”
”If it was not because of my ingeniously placed white pieces, how could we have trapped him?”
”What about a few years ago? Don't forget that it was me who defeated Xiong Chumo!”
”Pooh! If it was not because of our Senior Sister you would be long dead!”
In the dim barrack, Xu Jialun kept his head low and focused on decocting the herbal medicine, as if he never heard their conversation. He was too bored of their quarreling lately.
The Fifth Brother Song Qian from the Academy stared at the stubborn Eighth Brother and felt extremely angry. Yet unexpectedly there came two even more angry yelling from the side.
Beigong Weiyang lifted his wrapped hand as if he was showcasing or demonstrating. He yelled, ”If it was not me who stopped those cavalrymen from the Divine Halls, your useless array would have been destroyed long ago, not to mention to trap Hengmu!”
”And how could you forget me…” Ximen Buhuo also raised his bandaged hand and reminded the rest. Then he turned to the Fifth and Eighth Brother and scorned, ”How can you forget it is my second time guarding at the Verdant Canyon? In terms of ranking and achievements, I am far ahead of you guys.”
None of the rest agreed with him. He was so blunt that the others were immediately irritated and could not stop from questioning and cursing. Everyone was sputtering in the barracks.
”Come on, stop fighting and take the medicine first.” Wang Chi came and stopped them from talking nonsense.
The lamp light got brighter. It turned out that the four of them were all lying on the bed wrapped in bandages. It smelled bloody and herbal. They were obviously badly wounded and could no longer join the battle.
Upon finishing the smelly herbal medicine that their Brother made, they calmed down and became quiet. After a long while Beigong asked all of a sudden, ”The Eleventh, can you try poisoning Hengmu?”
There was another long pause.
Wang Chi shook his head. ”I never heard that a great cultivator above the Five States could be poisoned.”
Song Qian seemed indifferent about life and death.
”Hengmu is already above the Five States. If he was not too arrogant and got accidentally trapped by the four of us in the Verdant Canyon, no one would have stopped him.”