1071 Back To The Verdant Canyon (2/2)
It became very uninspiring. They had been proud and cheerful these days because someone above the Five States like Hengmu was defeated by them… However, he would recover soon. What could they do next?
The situation was different now. Hengmu would never be trapped in the same array for twice. Who could ever defeat him again? If no how could Tang defend its gateway?
Wang Chi whispered unexpectedly, ”It has been days… The troubles in the north should have been settled.”
Ximen Buhuo frowned and said, ”It should be settled according to the Senior Sister's plan. But… how powerful is the Golden Tribe is? How could they finish them in such a short time? I do not have much hope in it.”
”It's no longer my business.”
Beigong Weiyang was annoyed and said, ”The four useless us, plus the flower fanatic Eleventh, how could we fight any longer?! If Ning Que is not coming, there's nothing we could do.”
Wang Chi felt offended and said, ”Bother, the Flower Fanatic is a woman. Mind your words.”
Ximen Buhuo was also annoyed and said, ”How could we leave it all to the Youngest Brother?”
Beigong Weiyang covered his head with the quilt and murmured, ”How I wish we could leave it to the Eldest, the Second Brother and the Senior Sister. But would they come? Anyway I could never defeat the damn Hengmu.”
The light dimmed again upon his words.
In the ambush inside the Verdant Canyon, the four students from the Academy had spared no efforts and made use of the array intent left by the previous masters. Despite the favorable situations they could only hurt Hengmu with minor wounds whereas they themselves were severely wounded.
If Hengmu were not too arrogant, or if they did not have the favorable situations, they could have never hurt him the slightest. Whenever they recalled Hengmu's tremendous power when he broke through the array, they were stunned and awed. They could feel nothing but restlessness and anxiousness.
Xu Jialun prepared a second round of herbal medicine and came to his bed. He slightly lifted the quilt. This former servant boy had become a handsome young man with fine features.
Beigong Weiyang removed the quilt and seemed annoyed, ”What good would this medicine do?”
”Will it do any good if you don't take them?”
Xu Jialun stared at him and said sincerely, ”The young master used to say, even if there is nothing you can do, you have to keep doing something. Because only by doing something you could find the solution. Otherwise there would be no hope.”
It became quiet again in the room. The depressed or even desperate conversation was instantly revived by his words.
Wang Chi helped Beigong Weiyang to sit up. He took the bowl and toasted the medicine. Song Qian and the other three toasted it too.
They had to recover soon. Even if they could not defeat Hengmu, as long as they could fight, they should at least help exhausting him.
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Upon dawn, the mist dispelled and the morning glow shone over the Verdant Canyon.
A horse came from the north. The clops sounded distinctive in the silent valley.
The Tang soldiers on night shift peeped from the seemingly shabby but very firm arrow mounds. They did not prepare to shoot because they saw clearly that it was coming from the north.
The horse was black, so was the person's clothes. It was Ning Que and his big black horse. Ning Que's black uniform of the Academy was dust-stained. The big black horse already got rid of the fat it put on while living in the Great Swamp. It looked strong and firm but somewhat exhausted.
He and his big black horse never took a decent rest along on the thousands of miles from Wei to the Verdant Canyon. They never slept a whole night but only took a nap and had some porridge when passing by Yang Erxi's home.
Throughout these years, the Academy was no longer the mystical place to connect the human world and the world beyond. Via the publicity of the imperial court as well as descriptions by people like Beigong, the Tang people were already very familiar with Ning Que, his weapons and his horse. Upon seeing the distinctive big black horse and the iron arrows and blade he carried, they immediately realized who he was and the words were instantly spread.
Along the lush valley, more Tang soldiers stood up from the hidden barracks and arrow mounds. They stared at Ning Que. Some were merely awaken and kept rubbing their eyes and yawning.
Mr. Thirteen finally arrived.
Along the steep cliffs the Tang soldiers' conversation turned into hail. Tens of thousands of Yulin Royal Guards and the Southern Battlefront Army hurrahed sincerely. Some even shouted to greet him.
Ning Que looked above along the valleys and waved to greet back. Then the hail became deafening and soared into the morning sky, as if it would overturn Haotian's Divine Kingdom.
They finally came to the entrance of the Verdant Canyon.
Ning Que lifted the rein to stop the big black horse.
The Verdant Canyon narrowed into a small path of a few meters wide. Standing inside the canyon people could see the fertile fields in the northern part of Qinghe Prefecture through the entrance. It was already dark green in early spring.
There were traces of the previous and recent wars in and outside the canyon. Dark blood stains, broken arrows and intensive scratches on the rocks depicted how brutal the wars were.
This was the gateway of the Tang. In the previous war as well as the current battle, it had been a decisive battlefield right inside the Verdant Canyon. The results of the wars decided the fate of Chang'an.
Ning Que had been in and out of the Verdant Canyon for many times. Today he came again. He stood inside the canyon while staring at the outside, pondering on something. Before he noticed Wang Jinglue came to his side and looked together to the south. He seemed extremely solemn and did not bother to hide the killing intent in his eyes.
”We have to kill Hengmu.”
Ning Que paused and then answered, ”Definitely.”
Since he was expelled from Chang'an by Master Yan Se, Wang Jinglue joined Xu Shi's army and got a lot thinner. Now he was even more skinny like a dead tree, which surprised Ning Que.
”You are already above Knowing Destiny. What happened to you?”
Wang Jinglue recalled the night of slaughtering in Qinghe Prefecture and thought of the courageous young men he gathered from the clans. They were thrown onto the ground, smashed like unripe fruits falling off the trees. He looked pale and said, ”Grief brings maturity, as well as fear.”
Ning Que turned to him and asked, ”Are you scared?”
”Indeed.” Wang Jinglue said after a pause, ”You never confronted Hengmu and have no idea how powerful he could be. I know. Therefore I'm scared.”
Ning Que turned to look toward the south again and said smilingly, ”And you still hope that I can kill him?”
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