荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“Haha, that won’t be necessary. Lord Protector-General only needs to continue doing what you were before. The walls of Talas truly are high and tall, serving as an excellent vantage point. Standing atop them, one can look in all directions and clearly make out the movements of the Arabs. In this aspect, I need Milord to work with me.”

Wang Chong grinned.

“Mm, very well.”

Gao Xianzhi nodded, looking at Wang Chong in a new light. The Anxi Protectorate army was not like the other armies of the Great Tang. In this army, Gao Xianzhi wielded absolute authority and prestige. Even if he passed the authority of this army to Wang Chong, Wang Chong would find it very hard to smoothly command them.

Moreover, although both armies belonged to the Great Tang, they operated on different systems. Forcefully mixing them together would only engender conflict and achieve exactly the opposite of the desired result. Refusing Gao Xianzhi’s offer and having the two armies operate independently was actually the best option, as it preserved Gao Xianzhi’s status and allowed both armies to display their maximum power.

Gao Xianzhi’s impression of Wang Chong was even further improved.

“Wang Chong! I’m going to kill youuuu!”

Just as the two were talking, they were engulfed by a fierce gale, and a roar like that of an enraged lion came from the city gate. So sudden was this roar that everyone instantly turned to look, Wang Chong being no exception. Buzz! In a flash of light, an enormous figure charged out of the gates.

“Hand over your life!”

Waves of energy surged and fierce winds blew. Before anyone could react, that massive figure had already raised that giant iron axe in his hands and swung it down, unleashing a flood of Stellar Energy as it cleaved toward Wang Chong. Such was the power of this storm of Stellar Energy that the surrounding Tang soldiers were all forced back.

Raaaah!

A bellow that seemed like that of both man and beast rang out in the air. Light deformed and space twisted behind the giant figure as a bull-headed man manifested in the air, his nine-foot-tall body equipped in armor and sprouting long fur. This strange being fused with the giant man, allowing him to exude a terrifying and intense aura that was bursting with a desire to destroy.

“Stop!”

“Wanhe Peiluo, stop right there!”

“Have you gone crazy? He’s Qixi’s Protector-General!”

Shouts came from all around. Everyone was shocked at the actions of the Karluk Chief Wanhe Peiluo.

“Wanhe Peiluo, stop this right now. No rudeness is permitted in the face of a Protector-General!”

Cheng Qianli stepped forward, a cold light in his eyes and his sword pointed straight at Wanhe Peiluo’s Barbaric God Axe. But Wanhe Peiluo appeared to have already predicted this move from Cheng Qianli, and he twisted away in a flash of light, smoothly bypassing Cheng Qianli.

“You!”

Stunned, Cheng Qianli froze for a moment. He was a peak Brigadier General of enormous strength, and though Wanhe Peiluo was not stronger than him, the difference in strength was not large. More importantly, Wanhe Peiluo had led the Karluks in fighting together with the Anxi Protectorate army for ten-some years, so he was extremely familiar with the army and its officers, and could easily avoid Cheng Qianli’s strike.

After bypassing Cheng Qianli, Wanhe Peiluo had no more obstructions, and his Barbaric God Axe swung toward Wang Chong with the strength to cleave mountains.

“Hmph, Wanhe Peiluo, you came at just the right time!”

A furious roar came in response. While everyone else had been astonished, Wang Chong had maintained his calm, as if he had long expected this assault.

Buzz!

Cold light exploded out of Wang Chong’s eyes, and the space in a three-zhang radius around him began to twist, the air began to freeze, and the images of the sun and moon appeared at his side.

“Vast Heaven Earth Art!

“Great Yinyang Art!”

Wang Chong immediately used the two supreme techniques of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, colliding them against Wanhe Peiluo’s ‘Barbaric God Cleaves the Heavens’. Boomboomboom!

All the air in a radius of several dozen zhang exploded outward, sweeping toward the horizon.

In a few short moments, Wang Chong and Wanhe Peiluo had rammed against each other like primordial beasts, exchanging several dozen techniques. Boom! In the final clash, Wanhe Peiluo went flying outward while Wang Chong remained like a rock standing obstinate against the raging sea.

The winds died down as Wang Chong withdrew his techniques, and everything calmed down once more.

The Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art far surpassed other techniques in its ability to control the environment.

“Bastard! I’m going to tear you to pieces!!”

Meanwhile, Wanhe Peiluo’s eyes were red, his teeth clenched. After staggering back a few steps, he stomped his foot against the ground and charged forward once more.

“Halt!”

A thunderous roar, suffused with a boundless majesty, rang out in everyone’s ears. Before Wanhe Peiluo could get very far, a stream of energy tore through the air and locked onto Wanhe Peiluo’s body with the weight of a mountain. The furious Wanhe Peiluo and his seething killing intent instantly sank to the ground, his speed drastically dropping.

Sensing the rage in this stream of energy, Wanhe Peiluo quivered and came to his senses, finally coming to a complete stop. Only one person in Talas could exert this sort of pressure: Gao Xianzhi!

“Lord Protector-General, this bastard took the people of our tribe that we had left behind captive! No matter what, I must kill him today! If Milord still remembers our friendship, you will help me kill him so that the hatred held by all the tens of thousands of Karluks can be released!”

Wanhe Peiluo turned to Anxi Protector-General Gao Xianzhi, loathing in his eyes.

The Karluks were brave fighters, and all the tribes of the Western Regions respected them. Under Wanhe Peiluo’s leadership, they had become allies of the Great Tang, their position rapidly ascending until no one dared to lightly provoke them. But Wanhe Peiluo had never imagined that while he was fighting beyond the borders, someone in the rear would attack his home.

All the members of his tribe—the old, the women, the children, even the cows, sheep and horses—had been captured by the Tang as hostages and brought to the battlefield. The principal culprit behind this? None other than this teenaged Qixi commander right in front of him. Wanhe Peiluo had always been a proud man, so he could not possibly accept this sort of humiliation.

“Wanhe Peiluo, hold on a minute. Don’t act rashly,” Gao Xianzhi sternly said. “Wang Chong is the Young Marquis of the Great Tang as well as Qixi’s Protector-General. Someone of his high status is not someone you can touch. If something really does happen, not even I will be able to protect you. Moreover, Lord Protector-General is not an unreasonable person. I am confident he has his reasons for his action. There is no harm in hearing Lord Protector-General’s explanation.”

Wanhe Peiluo was a powerful man with a savage appearance, and no one in the Anxi Protectorate army besides Gao Xianzhi was capable of fully repressing his rage. As for the matter of the Karluk people being taken hostage, Wanhe Peiluo had come to him five or six days ago complaining about it, and the matter had caused quite the stir within the army.

During today’s fierce battle, Wanhe Peiluo had even led his tribesmen in turtling up within the city, refusing to do battle. Because Gao Xianzhi himself was in Talas, he could not determine what the situation was in the rear, so he had no means of allaying Wanhe Peiluo’s worries. In addition, now that Wang Chong had led his more than one hundred thousand soldiers to save the Anxi Protectorate army from its plight, this matter became even more awkward to handle.

On one side was the ally he had fought with for ten-some years and on the other side was the Qixi Protector-General who had saved his soldiers. Gao Xianzhi found it very difficult to choose. But regardless, Gao Xianzhi was confident that Wang Chong had a reason.

“This bastard! What reason could he possibly have? I definitely won’t be able to forgive him!”

Wanhe Peiluo’s eyes were red with rage as he glared at Wang Chong. If looks could kill, Wang Chong would have died hundreds upon thousands of times.

“Truly, you’re stubborn to the bone!”

With a wave of his hand, Wang Chong slowly began to walk toward Wanhe Peiluo. His actions were relaxed and dignified, and as he strode forward, a storm of pressure exploded out of his body, forcing all the surrounding Great Tang generals and soldiers to back away. The only people around the gate who could endure this pressure were Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, and Wanhe Peiluo.

Wang Chong was growing stronger by the day, and though his time in the Western Regions was brief, he had already killed two elite experts of the Brigadier General level. Wanhe Peiluo might have been renowned for his savage strength, but he was not any more formidable than Dayan Mangban or Agudu Lan. In a duel, Wang Chong was eighty percent sure that he could personally kill the Karluk Chief.

“Wanhe Peiluo, you’ve gone back on your word and taken Arab bribes, attempting to sell out the thirty thousand soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate army. Did you think that I did not know?”

Wang Chong’s chilly eyes suddenly locked onto Wanhe Peiluo as his mouth spat out harsh rebukes.

Bang!

These words immediately unleashed an explosion! All the people in the area were struck dumb by these words.

“Wanhe Peiluo was colluding with the Arabs? How could that be?”

“We’ve fought alongside the Karluks for ten-some years. We’ve never abandoned each other, so how could they betray us?”

“Lord Protector-General, could you have made a mistake? Might this just be a misunderstanding?”

All the Anxi soldiers stared at Wang Chong, finding his claims to be simply too absurd. They didn’t believe that the Karluks would collude with the Arabs and betray the Great Tang. After so many years fighting together, the Karluks were incredibly close with the Anxi Protectorate army. Emotionally, none of the Anxi soldiers could accept the possibility that the Karluks might betray them. But none of them noticed that Wanhe Peiluo had twitched at these words, as if he had been stabbed.

“Bastard! Cease your slander! This old man will kill you!” Wanhe Peiluo bellowed, his eyes red and his entire body trembling with killing intent. Whoosh! His black Barbaric God Axe trembled as if prepared to leap into the air once more. This time, however, Wanhe Peiluo was apparently ready to use one hundred and twenty percent of his strength.

“Zi-an, pass on my order. If Wanhe Peiluo makes a reckless move, kill all the Karluks, along with their cows, sheep, and horses. Leave no one alive!”

Wang Chong smiled scornfully, not even trying to dodge.

“Yes, Milord!”

Bang!

As if he had been struck by lightning, Wanhe Peiluo froze, the breath sucked out of his body and a chill gripping his heart. His axe trembled in his hands, but it did not fall. Even that seething killing intent seemed to deflate, draining away until nothing was left. Wang Chong’s simple words had seized at his Achilles’ heel, stopping up all of Wanhe Peiluo’s rage and preventing it from being vented.

“Wang Chong, you would dare!!”