荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“Master, your disciple understands!”

Wang Chong nodded, his expression earnest.

“Chong-er, your master is confident that you will one day break through the peak of the Saint Martial realm and reach the Subtle realm, doing what your master never could.”

The Demonic Emperor Old Man’s voice began to dwindle away. He had taught everything he could, so now, Wang Chong would have to rely on himself.

Time slowly passed. Wang Chong spent four hours in the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s room before finally leaving, late in the night.

The moment he stepped out of the room, Wang Chong saw the Wushang Village Chief and immediately gave a heartfelt bow.

“Village Chief, thank you!”

“Haha, this was your own fortune and is because of your incredible comprehension abilities. What does it have to do with me?”

The Wushang Village Chief faintly smiled. Wang Chong was still at the peak Brigadier General level, and his cultivation level had remained unchanged, but the Wushang Village Chief could clearly tell that the aura around Wang Chong was denser and more exuberant. It was like grass growing in the summer sun, a thriving vitality that brightly blazed. This was not something that could be described simply through one’s cultivation level.

It felt even more incredible when one realized that Wang Chong was just seventeen but had already reached this level and possessed such incredible reasoning ability.

Wang Chong quickly departed.

“Lord Marquis!”

Wang Chong had barely left when a figure rushed out of the shadows and blocked his path.

The messenger bowed and hurriedly said, “We received a letter from the scouts. The eagle team discovered Arab soldiers twenty li from Talas. It is exactly as Milord expected. These Arabs, Tibetans, and Western Turks did not leave. Lord Gao, General Cheng, and the other generals have already gathered in the reception hall. Only Lord Marquis is missing. Lord Gao has ordered this lowly one to immediately invite Lord Marquis to go!”

“I understand!”

Wang Chong’s brow rose, and without another word, he set off.

......

If one moved west from Talas, crossing twenty-some li to set eyes upon an unremarkable place, one would be able to see tiny spots of fiery light. At this moment, the Tibetans, Western Turks, and Arabs had gathered in this place.

In this battle, the three-party army had lost more than one hundred thousand people, while the remaining one hundred thousand had fled in defeat to this spot.

Even though the battle was over, the day was far from over for the Arabs in their camp.

“I object! I will never allow us to withdraw at a time like this!”

A heated argument was taking place in the tent. Aybak slammed his fist against an iron table, his face red with agitation.

“This war is far from over. We still have one hundred thousand men, enough to fight a battle, and we still have my Mamelukes, the Tibetan Mutri Great Cavalry, and those Turkic Celestial Wolf Cavalry. We still have the strength and the soldiers! We can still fight, so why should we withdraw!

“And remember, the Caliph ordered us to destroy Talas and pacify and unite the eastern world. If we withdraw now, then we have to prepare ourselves to receive the Caliph’s fury! Have all of you thought about how the governors will think of us, how the ministers will think of us, how the Caliph will think of us? It will be the end of our days!”

Aybak’s expression became even more agitated, and the table of Deep Sea Xuan Metal finally gave in, the deep impression of a palm appearing on its surface.

Everyone else in the tent fell silent. Aybak’s rage was understandable, but there was nothing that could be done.

“Aybak, you saw what happened today. These Tang are far stronger than we imagined. Your Mamelukes haven’t sustained too many losses and still have the strength to fight, but my Beheader Army and Tiber Army had been almost completely wiped out. Even Abu Muslim’s Ironblood Army and Fearless Army have taken heavy losses, and I myself have been heavily injured.

“If we persist, have you thought about what the result will be? Will you only be willing once our army has been completely wiped out!?”

Osman’s face was pale and he was still wearing the remnants of the armor that had been shattered by the black-armored guard. His wound-riddled chest was clearly visible underneath the shattered armor, and even though it had been wrapped with bandages and treated with medicines, blood was still oozing out.

The black-armored guard’s palm had not simply jolted him away. It had sent many shocks through the insides of his body.

“Aybak, I know that you want to defeat the Tang, and believe me when I say that Osman and I desire this just as much as you do. But we need to think long and hard about this matter. Right now, when it comes to both soldiers and number of Great Generals, we have no advantage whatsoever. Even if we continue, it will be very difficult to produce any kind of breakthrough.”

Abu Muslim mentally sighed as he spoke. If it were possible to defeat this foe, he would not have been willing to withdraw.

“In addition, we are just withdrawing, not giving up. Once we gather more soldiers, we can come back and still be in time to have another decisive battle with the Tang!”

“A disgrace!”

Aybak’s eyes were bloodshot.

“If we withdraw, we will suffer eternal disgrace that we will never be able to wash away. Abu Muslim, think about what happened when you were defeated last time. You want to experience that again?”

“Aybak, we all understand what you’re saying, but have you thought about what will happen if we attack again in our situation but don’t win?” Abu Muslim said.

Aybak instantly froze, but making him give up was far easier said than done.

“Regardless, I will never retreat! Qutaybah, what about you? Are you going to follow them and run off without even fighting?”

Aybak’s voice resounded through the tent, plunging it into an eerie stillness, and Ziyad turned to look in alarm. In this battle, although Abu Muslim and Osman had sustained heavy casualties, the greatest losses had actually occurred in Qutaybah’s forces. After all, he had brought far more soldiers than anyone else.

The Blood Beast Army, Death Army, and Revelation Army were Qutaybah’s top-class armies that were known throughout the empire, his core forces. This battle had had an enormous impact on his army. Without these core forces, Qutaybah’s army would probably not even be considered one of the ten strongest armies of the Arabian Empire. This was why everyone had done their utmost to avoid mentioning Qutaybah during this quarrel.

In addition, Qutaybah had incredible prestige within Arabia and his words could not be defied, so no one dared to offend him. No one had expected a furious Aybak to suddenly bring in Qutaybah. If Qutaybah were provoked, they didn’t dare to imagine what would happen.

Buzz!

The mood in the tent grew tense, and Abu Muslim appeared a little uncomfortable. But Aybak was too angry to care about anything else.

“Aybak, this truly is not the right time to withdraw.”

To everyone’s surprise, Qutaybah replied with none of the rage they had imagined.

Let alone Abu Muslim and Osman, even Aybak was struck dumb. Upon calming down, he had realized what he had done and his back was now drenched with cold sweat.

“This war is far from over. I injured that old man from the east, and I’ve already discovered his weakness. His body has a major problem that prevents him from fighting a long battle!” Qutaybah coldly said.

These words immediately stunned everyone in the tent. All of them had seen just how powerful that black-robed Tang elder was. He was able to control the energy of the world and fight on par with Qutaybah. If he didn’t exist, then with Qutaybah’s strength, the battle might have ended with a completely different result and they wouldn’t be having an argument in this tent.

The failed surprise attack was also inextricably linked to this matter. If it had been Qutaybah and not Osman to attack the Nine Dragon Blood War Banner, than it might have been the Arab army that carried the day.

Everyone turned to look at Qutaybah, upon which they realized that up until now, Qutaybah had been in deep thought.

“In tomorrow’s battle, I will personally kill him!” Qutaybah sternly said.

Abu Muslim immediately frowned and the mood in the tent took a turn for the strange.

Osman had been heavily injured in the last battle and his soldiers had sustained heavy losses. This was why he wanted to retreat. But now that Qutaybah said he wanted to keep fighting, Osman was immediately placed in an awkward situation, where both leaving and staying were inappropriate.

“Reporting!”

At this moment, a voice came from outside the tent, after which an Arab messenger strode in with a lowered head.

“Reporting to Milord, the Tibetans and Western Turks are outside seeking a meeting!”

The tent fell quiet. Abu Muslim hesitated a moment, before replying, “Invite them in!”

Whether it was the Arabs, Tibetans, or Western Turks, all three parties had sustained terrible losses. Although the Arabs had initially criticized their allies, the Tibetans and Western Turks had proved themselves in the daytime and won the respect of the Arabs. Moreover, in this situation, there was no need to continue quarreling with the Tibetans and Western Turks.

Hwooo! A cold wind entered as the tent flap was raised. Dalun Ruozan led the way, followed by Huoshu Huicang, Dusong Mangpoje, and Duwu Sili.

“Lord Governor, Lord Qutaybah, gentlemen, my respects!”

Dalun Ruozan immediately began to speak in fluent Arabic. He was the only one amongst both the Tibetans and Western Turks that could understand Arabic, so there was no question about him being the one to lead this meeting.