Chapter 419: Emergence of a New Force (1/2)
= Two Weeks Ago =
While Miaomiao was in the herb plane, the other forces had to deal with the setback and the consequences of war.
Yuan Shaoqing, Zhang Ren, Liu Xuande, and their allies withdrew their troops from Siren City. However, Zhang Liao and Qu Yi remained behind, staying as prisoners of war and being imprisoned in Huangjin Monastery.
The Yuan Clan's lord couldn't keep calm. He kept groaning and spitting as if he was frustrated from the humiliating defeat.
The investment was in vain! He had spent so many essence cores to hire many experts, but more than half of them didn't make it back.
Secondly, this crushing defeat damaged his reputation. He had more soldiers, more cultivators, and more nascent soul experts. He even had several 8th-stage cultivators and Huang Hansheng as helpers.
Yet, he failed!
Yuan Shaoqing didn't feel like he had lost since everything was Ling Tianlong and Uriel's fault. He could have won the war game had Uriel never shown up.
'I need to ask Yuan Hua and Kishin Douji for help. They are dao gods, so they should be able to kill that stupid deity. Once Mao Miaomiao's backer is dead, that immortal will definitely rush back here and kill that brat.'
As Yuan Shaoqing was in deep thought, Yan Liang and Wen Chou whispered to their lord as they wondered about another force, which never come to help them.
”My lord, do you know what happened to Wei Huang and Xu Lanying's forces? They never showed up when we wanted their help.”
Yuan Shaoqing remembered the demon gangs. He gritted his teeth as he also blamed them for his defeat.
”Wen Chou, Yan Liang, scout the north and search for Wei Huang's army! Drag that motherfucker to our city! We'll teach that moron a lesson not to double-cross us.”
”Understood!”
Wen Chou and Yan Liang flew north, heading toward the Red River to look for Wei Huang Army.
…
While Yuan Shaoqing was busy thinking of what to do next, his allies, mercenaries, and followers began sneaking away from the army in groups. Some deserters even stole war supplies with them as they didn't feel like returning home with empty hands.
As the morale of Yuan Shaoqing's men was low, soldiers, cultivators, and servants of the clan lord neglected their duties. Some of them even assisted the deserters and embezzled a portion of army supplies for themselves.
Yuan Shaoqing didn't notice the desertion at first. But after an hour, someone ran into a problem and fled back to the army, making a huge commotion among the troops.
Yan Liang and Wen Chou also returned with a piece of bad news. Both men reported in a loud voice to warn their lord.
”MY LORD!! THIS IS URGENT!! THE WEI ARMY HAS BETRAYED US!!”
Yuan Shaoqing frowned and glared at both 8th-stage cultivators, ”They backstab us? How? And why didn't you destroy their army? Aren't the strongest fighters on their side only nascent soul realm demons? Is your cultivation base just for show?”
Wen Chou bit his lower lips while he clenched his stomach. He slowly pulled his hand out, revealing the broken armor and tattered robe underneath. Yan Liang's expression was also distorted as he glanced at the chipped parts of his scale armor.
Both men were slightly injured, and it hinted the gravity of the situation. After all, only monsters, such as Miaomiao or fellow 8th-stage cultivators, could injure or kill them!
They were showing Yuan Shaoqing that the strength of their opponents was on par with an 8th-stage cultivator or even stronger!
Wen Chou took a deep breath and reported the shocking discovery, ”My lord. Wei Cao took over the helm of the Wei Huang Army. He has become an 8th-stage Oni Lord.”
Hearing that one of Wei Huang's guys got stronger, Yuan Shaoqing peered at both men, ”And you're saying you can't kill one 8th-stage demon? There's two of you, and you're saying that you're weaker than him?”
”That's not the problem!” Wen Chou was frustrated as Yuan Shaoqing hadn't heard everything, three of Kishin Douji's vessels from the Holy Land are here! They have two 8th-stage Onis and their leader was as strong as Huang Hansheng! We have to run for our lives or we would have been dead!”
”Huh!?”
Yuan Shaoqing widened his eyes in shock, ”That's impossible! I never heard of any strong demon on the Holy Land Continent!? Are you sure they're from that place!?”
”We're positive!” Wen Chou nodded.
Yan Liang also reported another piece of grave news, ”My lord, that's not all. The thing is… The Emperor of Blood Orcs were there, too!”
”WHAT!!!?”
”A-A-And… The Emperor's underlings are using THOSE fire-breathing rods!!”
BANG
BANG
BANG
As Yan Liang and Wen Chou had been busy reporting their intel, gunshot sound echoed from the north and the northwest.
At a distance, crimson giant orcs and a hundred 3-meter-tall Onis had been holding anti-material rifles. Some of them also carried a minigun, which should have been used as a mounted weapon on a modern vehicle.
”Those weapons… How!?” Yuan Shaoqing recognized them as he had just bought some of them from Brocell, the mysterious arms dealer.”
BANG
BANG
BANG
Hails of bullets pinned and ended the lives of a thousand human cultivators. Some of the stray bullets even grazed Yuan Shaoqing and his two men.
As Yuan Shaoqing, Wen Chou, and Yan Liang were scared of those deadly weapons, they fled east, jetting away from the airspace to save their skins.
Meanwhile, the followers of Yuan Shaoqing were in chaos. Without a leader to tell them what to do, they ran amok, fleeing in every direction.
As such, they became easy targets for the raiding orcs and onis of Wei Cao. The flying monsters scattered, hunting the humans down one after another.
…