Nightfall

Li Yu trusted in Crown Prince Chong Ming whom she had known for many years. That was the reason why the betrayal and slaughter raging in the Capital of Yan Kingdom tonight would happen. Xian Zhilang trusted Li Yu, but he was an able general of the empire who was known for his resourcefulness; besides acting in concert with Yan Kingdom’s move according to Li Yu’s demand out of his confidence in Li Yu, he did not forget to make his own arrangements.

For the sake of safety, he arranged a way out for thousands of Tang Empire black-armored cavalries to sneak into Chengjing City. The way out lied in the relatively least eye-catching Eastern City Gate.

The military orders were spread from restaurants to everywhere in Chengjing City via fireworks and the loyal cavalries. The cavalries of Tang Empire fought their enemies bravely and made their killing towards Eastern City Gate desperately, gradually gathering.

If Chong Ming and Long Qing were to allow the Tang Cavalries to converge their military strength together into one spot and to burst out of the city gate, finally making their way into wilderness, with the then deadly position transitioning into a position of origin, it would be extremely difficult for them to annihilate thousands of armored cavalries.

It was through years of patience and disguise that Chong Ming and Long Qing, the two brothers, finally obtained such a good opportunity. How would they allow this kind of situation to happen? At the time when the battle initiated, they had ordered the city gates in all the directions to be closed off.

The measures the Yans adopted were extremely cruel and relentless. The city gates were not closed as usual; instead, they were directly sealed with 10 thousand tons of stones and bulky iron gates. Thus, after the war ended, many civilian workers and forced labor would be employed to reopen the city gate. Even though the Tang Army would have made their way to the city gate, they would not be able to leave the city at all.

The only variable would be in the Eastern City Gate where the way out Xian Zhilang had arranged for the Tang Army lied and where he had naturally made some arrangements. A few strong militants in the Tang Army had taken control of the Eastern City Gate via leading hundreds of valiant fighters of the Tang Army.

The bulky iron gate hung in the air. The 10 thousand tons of stones were only a few feet away from the tunnel. Blood ran all over the floor of the city gate while the bodies of Yan Kingdom’s city defenders lay amid pools of blood.

One could imagine how staggering and bloody the previous fight had been.

Gazing far into the city enveloped by the cover of night, hearing the sound of screaming and fighting drifting from afar and the sounds of buildings collapsing, the Tang Army soldiers stood at the waist of the city wall, with anxiety written all over their faces.

Meanwhile, the part of the Yan Army inside the city was caught up by the strong Tang Cavalries right now. Even though some of them noticed the on-goings in the Eastern City Gate, they would not be able to transfer a powerful enough army.

But all in all, it was impossible for them to fight on to the end.

All they hoped was to see the figures of their comrades as soon as possible.

Sounds of hoofbeats gradually rang out.

Looks of surprise were revealed on the Tang Army’s faces.

But a short while later, the surprise on their faces all turned into anger and disappointment.

A lot of people dressed in black-priest clothing and cavalries showed up at the Eastern City Gate.

The one at the forefront wore a silvery mask.

It was Prince Long Qing and his fallen knight commanders that were coming.

A black peach blossom was in full bloom.

A powerhouse in the Tang Army quickly threw a punch, hitting that black peach blossom brutally.

Petals of the black peach blossom quivered slightly.

Another powerhouse in the Tang Army swept down from the city wall.

Several strong powerhouses in the Tang Army launched a synchronized attack at Long Qing.

The Tang Army did not concern itself with the fallen knight commander and focused only on the man wearing a silver mask.

All of a sudden, the aura and breath of the world became turbulent.

The thick city wall peeled off rustlingly.

Even the ancient city tiles began to shudder.

As for how long it had been going on, nobody could tell.

There was a sudden boom.

The 10 thousand tons of stones rolled down.

The iron gate slammed into the ground heavily.

“The Eastern City Gate has fallen.”

A subordinate was staring at the firework warning rising from the east with a ghastly pallor.

Xian Zhilang stopped walking, looking just as calm as before.

After a few moments’ silence, he said, “Since we can’t leave, then we shall stay.”

“Give my command to all the camp generals that the Forward Camp is now in direct conflict with the Papal Cavalrymen of the West-Hill Divine Palace. Tell them that if they do not want to miss out something that fun, they all should go to the Archway Square and then to the Imperial Palace after all that is set.”

“Tell them that the goal of the battle has now changed. We currently have only two goals. The first one is to annihilate the cavalries of the West-Hill Divine Palace completely and the second one is to burn the Imperial Palace of the Yan Kingdom down and to kill the Yan Emperor.”

After a moment’s silence, Xian Zhilang said then, “If we can achieve both these two goals, then even though we may die here in such an idiotic way, we will have done our part for all the fellows in our Tang Empire.”

For the whole night, Chengjing City had been shuddering.

The iron gate falling in the Eastern City Gate was shaking continuously as well. Crashes, sounds of beating, kicking and hacking went off from time to time. It was until a long time later before everything went quiet.

Dawn broke.

Chengjing City in daytime finally became much quieter. It is only from some places that sound of chasing and fighting was still heard. The local authority started to get the civilian workers and local government runners organized to clean up the streets and alleys.

The iron gate at the Eastern City Gate was eventually pulled up at noon.

Corpses were seen everywhere in front of the iron gate, with remains of the Tangs and the Yans included, among which there were some others dressed in peculiar black-priest clothing. As the gate was lifted up, the blood which was not completely frozen flooded out like streams.

Seeing such a horrifying sight, the Yan Kingdom’s civilian forces and soldiers all wore extremely pale looks on their faces. Especially when they saw those deep-cut palm prints and scars from the knife wounds embedded on the iron gates, they felt more terrified. They wondered inwardly, ‘Is the Tang Army human or not? How can they be still filled with such frightening resolution even in such a desperate a situation?’

Having been hostile to Tang for many years, the Yan Kingdom had never won a victory in the battlefield. And it had always been in a position of being humiliated and bullied. The battle last night was no doubt the biggest victory that the Yan Kingdom had gained over all the anti-Tang battles in history. And it deserved to be recorded in the books and sent to all to appease the resentment the Yans had suffered for years.

Faced with such a great victory, normally all the people in the Yan Kingdom would have held a national celebration. But actually, there was no such atmosphere in Chengjing City at that time. The ones who had gained a victory felt no happiness at all.

People cleaned up the dilapidated corpses on the street with fear and revulsion. And they swept the scattered guts with brooms. For how many Yan Soldiers and grassland cavalries had been stampeded into muddy flesh, nobody could tell.

There was still sporadic fighting going on in some street alleys which none of the Yans dared to be close to. Only the Yan Army and barbarians coming from the grassland took their weapons and searched around with terror in their hearts. A young Yan Soldier found a Tang Empire cavalryman who was barely alive in a street corner; he hacked at him continuously in an extremely mechanic and numb way.

The Tang Soldier had long since been on the brink of death. He did not feel any pain at all with so many cuts across his body. Instead, he looked up at the young Yan Soldier with indifference and ridicule in his eyes.

He spat on the Yan Soldier. But there had been numerous holes pierced through his chest and lung, consequently, his breath was on the point of dying out and his spittle was bloody. The saliva he spat out could not be thrown out far away in the end and ended up landing on his own chest. He died then.

However, the young Yan Soldier was taken aback. Throwing away his knife, he escaped while screaming and shouting.

In the north-eastern direction of Chengjing City.

Outside the residence previously owned by Prince Long Qing.

Hundreds of Yan Soldiers and grassland cavalries besieged the princely residence to a watertight extent.

There were many corpses of the Tang Army lying dead in front of its gate, with most of them strewn fully with feather arrows all over their bodies. A few Tang Soldiers attacked forward to the upper stone stairway, however not being able to move any further.

There were also a few other Tang Soldiers standing on the street, engulfed in layers of tight encirclement.

They placed Xian Zhilang amid their protection.

With blood all over his body, Xian Zhilang’s face was devoid of any expression.

Moments later, there were a few other Tang Soldiers falling to the ground out of exhaustion.

Now there only remained Xian Zhilang and two generals from the guards camp.

Looking at the enemies pressing on from their surroundings, the general commander asked all of a sudden, “Great General, if we die at this time, would we fail to live up to the domineering reputation of the Tang Empire?”

Xian Zhilang said, “All of the mistakes were made by Her Highness and me, and have nothing to do with you.”

That general said, “Then all is good. Kindly see me off, Great General.”

Xian Zhilang laughed till he coughed and said, “Is it not you who will see me off?”

With a grave expression, the general said, “According to the military rules set up by the Tang Empire laws, I must die before you, Great General.”

Restraining his smiles, Xian Zhilang drew out his sword and said, “You know how terrible my swordsmanship is, kindly forgive me.”

The general then said, “After the Great General came to Tuyang City, we held too much disrespect toward you. Kindly forgive us.”

Giving the general a nod, Xian Zhilang hacked off his head with one sword slash.

Then he looked towards the direction of The Royal Palace of the Yan Kingdom, with a somewhat regretful expression written on his face.

With the main gate of the Prince’s residence opening up, Crown Prince Chong Ming walked out shorly after.

Prince Long Qing walked over from the outer-ring as the military groups were dividing up gradually.

They both looked at Xian Zhilang who stood with a sword in his hands. It was exactly them who had succesfully schemed against this grand general of the Tang Empire, who was known for his resourcefulness. It was also them who had eventually won. But they just could not feel any sense of joy at all.

Staring at the frail-looking general, Long Qing felt even somewhat cold.

His shoulder suffered from a grievous knife wound from the battle last night.

The strength of the Tang Cavalries was so horrifying. Their final irrational and fitful counterattack had almost ruined all of his plans, to his surprise.

Even fighting to the end, when the situation for the Tang Army had all gone awry, Xian Zhilang still successfully organized a head-hacking activity in such an extremely short time. If there had not been two powerful Martial Arts masters sent out by the West-Hill Divine Palace who had been by their side and who had protected him with their own lives, he could have died during the assassination. The whole battle situation would have definitely changed again then.

Looking at Crown Prince Chong Ming, Xian Zhilang asked, “How do you feel about being a traitor?”

Of a graceful bearing as before, Crown Prince Chong Ming said, “Anyone is qualified to say I am a traitor except for you the Tangs. For years, the Yan Kingdom has been bullied and beaten. Till the time of Xia Hou, the Yan Kingdom was at an even more miserable status that no words could describe. For how many innocent civilians had died under the cruel oppression of Tang Cavalries, nobody can tell. It would be an authentic betrayal if I had teamed up with you.”

Walking toward Crown Prince Chong Ming, Long Qing looked at Xian Zhilang and said, “Your Tang Army’s bravery and strength are indeed extraordinary. But what I do not understand is why you haven’t commited suicide yet. What are you waiting for?”

Xian Zhilang said, “I just want to ask a few questions.”

“What questions?”

“The same ones as those in the beginning. I cannot understand why Crown Prince Chong Ming would team up with you to set up such a trap. I believe that Her Royal Highness in Chang’an City will feel the same as I do once she knows the truth.”

“You the Tangs always like to flaunt great harmony all across the world. You believe that by accepting people from other countries to take official positions in your dynasty, and do some teaching in your Academy, you can disregard the countries differences genuinely. Actually, it is just due to the fact that you have been powerful enough in these passing years that you can hold such an attitude. You have no idea as to what other people are thinking about in their hearts at all.”

Crown Prince Chong Ming said, “After so many years of being a hostage in Chang’an City, I had been well acquainted with sister Li Yu. There were even some Tang Officials who had persuaded me to stay in Chang’an to take a government position. But have you ever thought about all the time spent in Chang’an City mean to me on earth? Have you never thought that I am a Yan person at the core?”

Xian Zhilang said after being silenced for a while, “The reason why I would believe the Her Highness’ plan was that I was willing to trust you, because I clearly knew that you could not co-exist with Prince Long Qing. Whether for the throne position of the Yan Kingdom or for survival, you should have liked him dead.”

Crown Prince Chong Ming said, “All of these were just fake illusions. As brothers, we had been on good terms ever since our childhood; even when the families on our mother’s sides were hostile later, it was none of our concern. We both had known exactly what we wanted for each other from our early childhood. What I wanted was the throne position from the worldly perspective, but what he wanted was something far beyond the world and the earth. There was one thing we, as two brothers, both had been yearning for, that was to root out the Tang Empire.”

Shaking his head, Xian Zhilang said, “There is no limit to lust and desire. The fact that Crown Prince Long Qing sees beyond the world does not necessarily mean that he is willing to give up all prosperity in the earthy world. Otherwise, why does the West-Hill Divine Palace have to meddle around on earth? Moreover, your clansmen have been in too bloody a feud to forgive each other at all. One day, you will regret your own decision today.”

It was not until this time that Long Qing spoke up, after being in silence all the time. He said, “You are indeed worthy to be the smart general in the Tang Empire, who is famous for his wisdom and cleverness. You won’t leave a chance to plant one prick between us brothers’ hearts, even while on the brink of death.”

Crown Prince Chong Ming said, “Even though there will be someday when we meet each other with swords, I won’t regret over the current decision I have made. For thousands of years, you the Tangs have never been defeated and you have no idea as to how this kind of humiliation will drive people crazy. The humiliations you have been imposing on us for hundreds of years will now turn into power that will destroy you. To make this goal come true, we both are willing to give out all we have, whoever it is Long Qing or me.”

“Exterminating the Tang Empire?”

Xian Zhilang began to smile. He looked at this pair of Yan Kingdom Brothers with signs of emotion and said, “After all, you have overestimated yourselves too much. The Papal Cavalrymen who came from the West-Hill Divine Palace and backed you up all have died. I believe that all of the strength you have been collecting over the years has been gambled on this battle as well. What you can do finally is to perish together with us.”

The face of Crown Prince Chong Ming became somewhat dull. He knew that there was no mistake in Xian Zhilang’s judgment. To annihilate all of the cavalries of the Tang Empire’s Northeast Border Army, the Yan Kingdom had paid an extremely heavy price.

After last night’s battle, though the possibility that thousands of dreadful Tang Empire’s Black-Armored cavalries would show up again on the earth was small, the death toll on the Yan Army and the grassland cavalries was actually almost ten times larger than that of their enemies.

What was more shocking was the fact that, in the final decisive battle, the thousands of Papal Cavalrymen from the West-Hill Divine Palace whom Long Qing and he both had regarded as the determinining factor for victory or defeat were all completely wiped out by the relentless Tang Cavalries who had been going through the long-timed war!

Could a victory that bitter be really counted as a victory?

“I know what you want to say. What you want to say is that there still remain a lot of soldiers of the Northeast Border Army who have not entered Chengjing City, but I have to tell you in regret that I did not bring all the grassland cavalries into Chengjing either. Now the grassland cavalries are teaming up with the United Armies coming from the Song Empire and the Chen Empire to root out your armies.”

“Moreover, you now should have calculated that the number of Papal Cavalrymen from the West-Hill Divine Palace is far much more than a thousand. That’s right, the total number of Papal Cavalrymen exceeded 10 thousand as early as five years ago.”

“Now with the people and the armies in the Yan Kingdom being of one mind, moreover with the additional help of such strong back-up, how can’t we root Tang out?”

Looking at Xian Zhilang, Prince Long Qing said, “For thousands of years, with powerful armies and strong horses, you the Tangs have been bullying the weak around and fully enjoying all the glory. Did it ever come to your mind that there would be day when you would beaten this badly?”

“People will all die in the end. Even the most powerful empire will be doomed one day. I do not know on which exact date the Tang Empire will end, but it will never be now, and it is impossible that it will be you the Yans who will put an end to the Tang Empire.”

Xian Zhilang said, “People all refer to the Tang Army as the Invincible Army… As a matter of fact, that is wrong. Tang Army will also go through some failure; there will also be some taste of defeat while battling with you Yan Kingdom. Unlike what the hearsay has been gossiping, we have never been that invincible. However… it will always be us who will gain the victory in the end.”