759 Possession (1/2)
With his cheeks flushing red and his chest being pushed down upon, Shulitu had never felt so tired, and neither had he ever been so persistent in resisting.
He refused to enter the tent, and stubbornly insisted on facing the unpredictable Court Attendants soldiers right in the open, together with several dozen officers. The torches were blazing all around them, and these soldiers were arguing about the fate of the hostages right in front of them.
The Court Attendants Army were not as united in mind as a piece of iron board as many believed. The other 10,000 men corps had returned and every corps had their own opinions that differed slightly from the others. The key issue revolved around whether the young king Shulitu and the wing guard Silver Condor should be killed or spared. Some soldiers insisted on killing them because Shulitu had protected those aristocratic military officers and Silver Condor was partly responsible for the fiasco with the counterfeit remains. Others thought they shouldn't kill more people without a righteous reasons. Especially so regarding the young king – who was the great grandson of the Khan and who hadn't reached adulthood yet – his blood shouldn't be spilled.
Shulitu believed that his presence would offer some confidence as well as pressure to his advocates, so he refused to enter the tent. Once the parties involved were no longer present, people were more prone to making cruel decisions – this was one of the lessons he had learned in life.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.
His grandfather had once held the intention of killing him, and it was only at the last moment when he saw Shulitu's eyes that he had changed his mind. The same went for the Dragon King's military counselor. He always refused to observe the battlefield himself, and one of the reasons for doing so was that this was the only way he could continue to make decisions that affected the lives of thousands of soldiers without hesitation.
Shulitu had a sense of duty. He turned his head to glance at the officers behind him. ”I heard that the Dragon King's back. He'll figure something out.”
Azheba and the others bowed to pay their respects – this was not a cowards' impulsive act of allegiance but rather their respect for a member of the Khan's family, and this twelve-year-old kid was qualified to be an excellent member of it.
Mo Lin looked at the crowd of soldiers who were whispering furtively to each other, believing that their denate was coming to an end. He bent at the waist and whispered to Shulitu, ”Stay close to me.”
”But…” Shulitu wanted to believe that the Court Attendants soldiers would come to their senses, but he soon understood that Mo Lin was right – those soldiers who had hoped to spare the young king were now turning away to avoid eye contact with him.
”It won't be necessary,” he said. He had made up his mind, yet he was grateful for Mo Lin's favorable intention. ”I've always been prepared for death. I'd rather die together with a group of the most outstanding officers on the grassland than die from a cup of poisonous wine alone.”
Mo Lin was surprised. This kid, whose fate was to be a puppet, still carried a kind of noble dignity within him and didn't abandon his sanity. He bent forward and whispered, ”Your Highness remind me of the Khan.”
Shulitu was slightly surprised, then he smiled.
Azheba and several other officers walked in front of the young king. They all sensed danger and they couldn't let a kid be the first one to face it.
Someone in the crowd said, ”Your Highness, are you willing to leave by yourself and leave the officers behind?”
”No,” Shulitu uttered one terse word.
Rather than persuading him hypocritically, the officers whipped out their sabers simultaneously – but regardless of however many sabers they had, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves against a torrential rain of arrows. They were just symbolically showing their uncompromising attitude.
The groups of soldiers started backing away like the tide, then they drew their bows and nocked their arrows all at the same time.
Gu Shenwei arrived right at this moment, only followed by Han Fen and Fang Wenshi.
The look in the Court Attendants soldiers' eyes made Fang Wenshi nervous. It contained a unique apathy that was liable to change at any moment – either into a friendly smile or into a hostile grimace, totally unpredictable and undetectable.
That was why Fang Wenshi admired the Dragon King so much – his response was to merely lower his head slightly and continued walking without looking at anyone; if someone was in his way, he would just gently push him aside, and then slowly continue making his way through the crowd. All the while, the soldiers who were touched by him would always jump aside like they had been burned by fire and then started whispering and pointing with their comrades.
Han Fen had dressed herself in a standard soldier's uniform and she was like the Dragon King's shadow, imitating his manner and expressions at every twist and turn.
The impact brought by the Dragon King rippled through the crowds, and those bows which had just been raised were lowered, but none of the soldiers put their arrows away.
Gu Shenwei stood between the soldiers and the officers. First, he nodded at Shulitu and the others, then he turned and faced the soldiers. He was just about to speak when someone on the opposite side asked, ”Is it true that the Khan burned an arrow in your hand?”
”You should asked those who saw it with their own eyes.”
The crowd went silent. Then an arrow was shot at the Dragon King. The arrow was not fast and lacked strength, so Gu Shenwei easily grabbed it with his hand. That man spoke up again, demanding, ”Show us one more time.”
Gu Shenwei held the arrow stick in both hands before snapping it in half gently. ”Neither the Khan nor I are juggling entertainers.”
That man was awed. Then another man yelled out, ”It's true. I saw it with my own eyes. The fire was burning right in the Dragon King's hand, yet he remained unharmed.”
All the soldiers looked at the Dragon King's hands – they were indeed unharmed.
”Please allow us to send these men to Heaven, Dragon King. This is the Khan's command. We must obey,” the next man said in a more respectful tone.
”Don't believe the rumors so easily. If the Khan issued a command from the Heavens, there should have been a vision, but I saw nothing.”
”The fake body was a vision, and the officers' turning themselves in was also a vision.”
The voice received a lot of responses and Gu Shenwei felt that the crowd was about to go out of control. His influence was not powerful enough to manipulate the minds of tens of thousands of soldiers.
He opened his arms and decided to speak about the giant roc, yet a shrill cry suddenly came from behind him.
Gu Shenwei turned in surprise, and saw that the officers were running towards the young king Shulitu in panic.
Shulitu was twitching and screeching, and even several strong officers couldn't hold him back.
”Vision, this is a vision!” a soldier yelled loudly. All of the soldiers' faces flushed with excitement, and they raised their bows and nocked their arrows again.