Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1145 – The Straightforward You and Me, Him and Her on the Paper

After Wang Po and the Demon Commander’s clash of blades, the first to move was not the Prince of Xiang leaping out of the sun, nor was it Black Robe hidden behind all her schemes. It was Divine General He Ming.

He rubbed his tired face and walked to the gate of the camp, looking into the distance.

The wolf cavalry had stopped their assault. Like several streams of black water, they retreated into the dark path at the base of Mount Nuorilang.

The Demon Commander left in defeat, the Prince of Xiang followed, and the Mount Li Sect Master chased after him.

Huai Ren was sitting on the ground, treating her injuries. Mao Qiuyu was blocking the Third and Eighth Demon Generals. Wang Po was still standing at his original position, not moving a muscle.

The duke from Xuelao City landed on the plains, sending dirt flying into the air. He could barely stand, and his body was covered all over in wounds. He seemed to be on the verge of death.

“You are the human commander-in-chief?”

The duke looked at He Ming, a crazed expression appearing in his eyes. “Then your luck today is truly awful.”

Even though he was about to die, even though Divine General He Ming was a Star Condensation expert, the threshold of the Divine Domain was truly very high. He truly did have the ability to kill He Ming.

The disciples of South Stream Temple surrounded the Central Army Camp like scattered white flowers.

They had not expected this expert of the Divine Domain to drop from the sky, so they fell into a panic.

Ye Xiaolian was unperturbed, crisply calling, “Draw in!”

Divine General He Ming shouted, “Disperse!”

His voice was calm but firm.

Ye Xiaolian was very confused, even a little angry, but she recalled the temple master’s orders and gritted her teeth. “All disciples, disperse!”

The white flowers drifted away, the surrounding tents collapsing in their wake.

Several hundred crossbowmen pointed their Sacred Light crossbows at the blood-covered duke.

The several hundred crossbows fired their Sacred Light arrows as one, forming a beam of light several feet thick that pierced through his body.

More than half of the duke’s demon body vanished.

He lowered his head to examine his body, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

A dense clattering of footsteps broke the silence as the soldiers returned from the battlefield.

Before the soldiers could digest the shock and astonishment brought by the sight before them, they heard an order that was even more stunning.

Divine General He Ming declared, “We move out in sixty seconds.”

A deputy general asked in shock, “Commander, where are we going?”

He Ming replied, “Xuelao City, of course.”

He spoke these words as if there was no other answer.

Ye Xiaolian was shocked. This sight made her recall the young master of the Tang clan on the Divine Avenue many years ago, and also that Senior Su Li that the temple master occasionally mentioned.

The specific arrangements were left to the staff officers and generals. Divine General He Ming returned to the main tent. He went to that gloomiest corner and softly said, “I must trouble the Holy Maiden.”

Xu Yourong opened her eyes and asked, “How confident are you of success?”

She had not closed her eyes for quite a few days and was thoroughly fatigued.

She had originally planned to have a good rest today, but she ended up being dragged to the storage tent to chat with the Mount Li Sect Master. Once the Mount Li Sect Master finally left, she hid in the main tent, leaning against a box in the hopes of getting some rest. But the battle ended before she had much time to rest, and yet again, another person came to bother her.

She had not slept well, and her mood was not very pleasant, so her tone was naturally quite rude.

Divine General He Ming pondered this question and replied, “Thirty percent.”

Xu Yourong contemplated this answer. “That’s enough.”

Divine General Holy Maiden sighed, “Speaking with the Holy Maiden is truly straightforward.”

Xu Yourong agreed, “This statement is correct. If it were Chen Changsheng, it truly would be troublesome.”

She took an object made of bronze out of her sleeve.

It was the magical artifact that Shang Xingzhou had forged from the Clear Sky Mirror.

She was not intending to communicate with the capital, as the other magical artifact was not in Chen Changsheng’s hand, but Xue He’s.

She told Xue He two things.

One: the Prince of Xiang was heavily injured and would not be able to return to the nine camps of the Western Army in the short term.

Two: Commander-in-Chief He Ming was ordering the entire Western Army to move out. In three days, they needed to enter the heartland of the Bunun Highlands and conquer Suluo City.

Xue He probably well understood the meaning of these two pieces of information.

And he had the guarantee of both Divine General He Ming and Xu Yourong.

Just as expected, Xue He went to the Right Camp on the same night and seized the Prince of Xiang’s martial authority, upon which he ordered all nine camps of the Western Army to begin moving north.

The Central Army and the Eastern Army began to move out at the same time.

The fastest was North Third Camp of the Eastern Army’s vanguard.

They marched throughout the night, bypassing Starstrewn Gorge, breaking through the Wutai River, and seizing the most important military pass on the southern border of the Bunun Highlands.

Using this as the breakthrough point, the human armies advanced with unimaginable speed, slicing the steely second defense line of the demons into three.

The most important factor was time. The seventeen days lost in the first phase of the campaign were completely seized back in this process.

Black Robe’s strategy could be considered to have completely failed.

……

……

Chen Changsheng put down the document in his hand and fell into a daze.

He felt like the words on the paper were too shallow.

The North Third Camp of the Eastern Army had marched overnight, bypassing Starstrewn Gorge and breaking through the Wutai River.

Just what sort of heroic epic of courage was contained in this short statement?

“The most important reason is that the North Third Camp suffered no losses in the demon attack.”

Gou Hanshi recalled the first three names on the list of meritorious soldiers and smiled.

…Not because they had accomplished a great feat and gained honor for Mount Li, but because they were still alive and well.

But the crucial question was why those several thousand vultures flying out of the cliff had suddenly dropped to the plains and burned themselves to death.

This was a question that none of the officers on the front line could solve. In his private letter, Liang Banhu had also expressed his doubts.

Seeing Chen Changsheng’s expression, Gou Hanshi vaguely understood what the truth was, but since Chen Changsheng was not mentioning it, it was not convenient for him to bring it up.

The story between the Pope and his Protector was not exactly the talk of the town, but everyone that should have known did know.

After all, no one had seen that black-clothed girl standing by Chen Changsheng ever since the autumn of that year.

Chen Changsheng felt rather mixed when he thought about how she had left the warm isles of the Southern Sea and gone to the snowy plains once traversed by her father.

Then, he noticed that Gou Hanshi was smirking at him.

He felt rather embarrassed, but he thought of one matter that let him change the topic.

“What was that demon freak in the cliff shouting before they died?”

“‘Didn’t Su Li leave?'”

“Hm?”

Gou Hanshi smiled and explained, “I’m saying that this was what that demons was shouting. They were probably a demon of the Ghost-Driving Tribe, experts in controlling monsters. They’re even more frightening than the shamans of the south. I heard that Martial Granduncle pursued them for many years and rendered them extinct. I didn’t expect that one of them was still alive.”

Why had Su Li hunted down the members of the Ghost-Driving Tribe?

There were no records in the Mount Li Sword Sect, Gou Hanshi didn’t know, and Chen Changsheng couldn’t guess.

They glanced at each other and thought of a possibility.

Perhaps, several hundred years ago, Su Li had seen the important role this tribe had played in the war?

Perhaps that really was the case.

Because before he left this world, Su Li had always been fighting with the demons.

It wasn’t a battle, but a war.

And where was that fellow who had fought the demons ever since he was born?

Chen Changsheng really wanted to know where Zhexiu was.

Gou Hanshi was also very concerned, because Zhexiu was currently the son-in-law of Mount Li.

The front line had methods for recording military merit.

All they knew right now was that Zhexiu had killed ten-some demon soldiers since the start of the war.

This was an achievement to be incredibly proud of for an ordinary soldier, but it was rather strange for Zhexiu.

This was not the extent of his abilities.

Just where was he? What was he doing?

“It looks like I’ll have to leave early.”

Chen Changsheng said to Gou Hanshi.

In the spring, Gou Hanshi had told him that only when they could see Xuelao City would he be allowed to leave the capital.

Although those three cavalrymen could now see Xuelao City, the main human army was still very far, so why did he want to leave now?

It was because though the human armies had obtained victory in this battle, in other aspects, the demons had barely managed to achieve their objectives.

The vast majority of the Human race’s experts of the Divine Domain, Wang Po included, were severely injured, and they wouldn’t be able to fight in the short term.

At this moment, problems in the morale of the soldiers could easily crop up, as the experts of the Divine Domain symbolized their confidence.

Chen Changsheng’s appearance on the front lines now would assist greatly in stabilizing morale.

And if he appeared together with Xu Yourong, the effect would be even greater.

Chen Changsheng said, “As long as His Majesty is in the Imperial Palace, the capital will remain in order, and the hearts of the people will remain calm.”

This time, Gou Hanshi did not object.

Because the situation now was completely different from the one in the spring.

It was truly summer in the capital.

The wind blew through the city. The filtering of the Luo River and the willows growing on the banks somewhat cooled it, but it heated up once more immediately upon meeting the red walls of the palace.

Mo Yu’s cheeks were slightly red, and there was a little sweat on her brow. Her left hand was fanning a handkerchief and her collar had not been buttoned up fully, revealing a portion of her pure white skin.

Chen Changsheng sat across from her, staring at his cup, feeling like a flower was about to bloom from within.