Chapter 183: Palpitation

“General, there’s something wrong.”

whispered one of Wang Tao’s guards.

“What’s wrong?” asked Wang Tao. He didn’t understand. He hadn’t noticed anything.

“An hour ago, there were many people passing, and now there aren’t anymore.” said the guard pulling a long face.

Wang Tao suddenly looked worried. He wasn’t ignorant and incompetent, he wasn’t the kind of hedonistic son of rich parents. On the contrary, because of his father, he had always dreamt of becoming a general and he had always studied very hard for that.

He initially wasn’t worried because he was with Mu Yi and the giant but now he understood what was wrong.

The road in front of them was probably closed, that’s why nobody could come from there anymore. And the reason why it was closed was obvious.

Someone wanted to attack either Mu Yi or him.

Besides, those people had power, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to close a whole road. And if they knew that Mu Yi was there, they were either stupid or very confident.

“Are you sure?” asked Wang Tao immediately.

“Definitely.” replied the guard nodding. Wang Tao was worried.

He took a deep breath. He finally held his spear. Then, he got closer to Mu Yi and said, “Master, there’s something wrong. Maybe that there are some enemies waiting for us.”

Mu Yi had already heard them talk. He knew there was something wrong there.

“What? Are you afraid?” asked Mu Yi.

“I’m not afraid.” said Wang Tao without hesitation.

“Since you’re not afraid, let’s continue. Of course, if you’re afraid, you can leave, nobody will hold you back.” said Mu Yi, and then he continued walking forwards.

Actually, Mu Yi could also feel there was something wrong, and this time, the enemies would probably be even scarier than in Western Ji Hill. But Mu Yi didn’t make a detour, he didn’t run away either. He knew that if he did make a detour or run away, that’d be a way of telling the enemies that he was afraid.

And then, many people would start attacking him again.

Therefore, Mu Yi didn’t retreat. He didn’t like killing people but he had no choice. Therefore, he would consider anyone who tried to hinder him on his way as an enemy. That was the reason why he had decided not to travel by carriage.

He wanted to show everyone he was there!

At the same time, Mu Yi also understood that he needed to spill more blood for people to understand how scary he was. He needed to show all his enemies he didn’t fear them. That way, in the future, less and less enemies would dare cause trouble.

He did that out of absolute necessity, otherwise, he wouldn’t have made that decision.

Wang Tao looked at Mu Yi’s back. He was just staring blankly, he was lost in thought.

“General.” said one of the guards. He wanted to say something.

“No need.” Wang Tao knew what the guard wanted to say, he just shook his head, “I’m sick and tired of hiding, are you afraid?”

After that, Wang Tao continued walking. He made big steps.

The two guards glanced at each other and then followed Wang Tao silently. Since Wang Tao had made up his mind, no matter if it was the right decision or not, they had to follow him. Wang Tao, a tall and strong man, and a Mu Yi, a Taoist priest holding a bamboo stick, were walking side by side in the front.

Mu Yi had destroyed the Octagon Organization alone. He had made lightnings fall from the sky. The two guards couldn’t help but recall what had happened on the boat, Mu Yi standing on the deck, at the front, and lightnings descending from the sky and striking that creature. He had saved their lives.

And a moment before, they wanted to escape, thinking about that, they both felt ashamed.

Actually, they weren’t afraid of dying, they were just worried for the young general, they wanted to do Wang Tao’s father justice. If they died before, they wouldn’t die content.

Very quickly, Mu Yi, Wang Tao and the two guards knew what kind of enemies they were going to face.

“The army!” At the top of a hill, Wang Tao could see an army flag fluttering in the wind. He suddenly sounded hopeless.

The two guards’ faces also changed drastically. They both pulled a long face.

They were from the army themselves, they both knew what it meant.

There was a whole army in front of them, at least five-six hundred people. They were not from the Eight Banners who were on the verge of collapse, they were elite troops from the Green Standard Army (translator’s note: standing infantry during in the Qing Dynasty, originally formed from Ming and other Chinese army units). Even if there were only foot soldiers and not cavalry units there, the two guards were still very worried.

They were different from fighting travelers. Such troops were like mountains on battlefields, especially elite soldiers. They were even braver and even more fearless than ordinary fighters. They had incredible fighting abilities.

If a second-class traveling fighter could easily kill one, five, or even ten elite units, a dozen second-class traveling fighters couldn’t compete with a hundred elite troops. And a hundred traveling second-class fighters couldn’t compete with a thousand elite units.

That was how scary such an army was. Even a top-class fighters couldn’t fight against such an army.

Therefore, when they saw that army, even Mu Yi looked grave and serious.

Those five hundred units weren’t like the hundred fighters of the Octagon Organization. The elite troops in front of him were at least ten times stronger.

Mu Yi wasn’t surprised to see such an army, the Qing Dynasty was a titan, there were many people, including great fighters and armies. Mu Yi just hadn’t thought that even those at the top would start getting involved as well.

And for a first time, it was a huge army they had sent to him.

Yang Yin was at the very front of the army. He gazed into the distance and saw those people. He didn’t really need to come personally. He knew that this time, some people were paying close attention to what was happening there, including the provincial governor.

He had brought an army without having received any order, it was obviously going to draw many people’s attention and criticism. But thinking of the key, he felt even more excited.

Even though he didn’t believe the legends, he still preferred being cautious.

Even though he didn’t need to come personally, he had the impression it was better.

Just in case. He had brought his best troops this time. That army was his trump card. He had spent much, much time and made great efforts to create it. He had created that army to guarantee his progress in the chaotic world.

He had heard that Mu Yi had killed a hundred members of the Octagon Organization in Kaifeng, but he didn’t care. The Octagon Organization was just a random influential group in the world for him. How could a hundred members of the Octagon Organization be compared to his elite troops?

Besides, Yang Yin wasn’t the kind of official who didn’t understand martial arts. He wasn’t a boorish fellow either. On the contrary, he was very strong, even though he wasn’t a top-class fighters, back in the days, he had fought and defeated three second-class traveling fighters who were about to become top-class. Therefore, Yang Yin was very confident.

He despised travelers and independent influential groups. He was convinced people just exaggerated about Mu Yi’s strength. He was so young and he was a Taoist priest, how could he be so strong? Even if he was a cultivator, so what? Could he summon wind and rain? Did he have magic powers? Could he plant bean seeds which could turn into an army?

No. Yang Yin couldn’t help but giggle when he thought about that.

Yang Yin gazed into the distance. Mu Yi asked Wang Tao for some information. Wang Tao was a young general and he understood martial arts, so he probably understood the situation better than him.

“How strong is that army?”

Mu Yi already knew the answer but he asked anyway. Even people who didn’t understand anything about the military could see that that army was extremely strong.

“Elite troops. They’re rare.” said Wang Tao deeply and forcefully.

“In comparison with Westerners’ armies?” asked Mu Yi.

Wang Tao shuddered and said, “If the opposite army didn’t use firearms, then that elite army would definitely win.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, but if things don’t change, Westerners have big guns, artillery and cannons, even if you send millions of elite troops, it’s useless against such weapons.”

said Wang Tao. He closed his eyes and looked sad, he could imagine what a tragedy it would be. A whole army of Westerners would easily be able to crush them with their firearms.

“Maybe.” said Mu Yi. He suddenly raised his head and gazed into the distance. His heartbeat accelerated. The palpitations almost made him panic.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Yi was convinced that he didn’t have palpitations because of the elite troops, was it because of what Wang Tao had said?

Mu Yi stared at Wang Tao, unfortunately, he couldn’t see through people. He couldn’t predict the future either.

Of course, he had to survive against the army he was facing if he wanted to see what the future would look like.

Mu Yi wasn’t sure he could win against five hundred elite units… Luck would play a big role this time it seemed.