Chapter 25

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Could these vagrants’ target be Chang’an Fortress? A thought floated in Wu Qiong’s mind.

The vagrants could not have possibly known the location of Chang’an Fortress, so someone was certainly guiding them.

Is it the work of Chang’an Fortress, or do other people have other intentions?

When Wu Qiong thought about the harvest from farming outside Chang’an Fortress, he guessed that the fortress had made preparations long ago.

Accepting rebels was akin to challenging the Eastern Tang Dynasty…

But then again, with so many Tang Dynasty troops dying or surrendering, the conflict between the two sides was already intense.

Should the Thunderclap Sect completely shift toward Chang’an Fortress? Wu Qiong was hesitant as he looked at the distant mountains in Dragon Ridge.

The rebels were dragged down with having to feed their families, so they helped each other along the way to Dragon Ridge.

With their fates unknown, they only knew that a glimmer of hope might exist there to allow them to fill their stomachs.

Wu Qiong’s eyes flashed as he noticed a small conspicuous team outside the surging crowd.

It was a team formed by martial artists that were totally different from the stream of vagrants in the distance.

Wu Qiong saw a few familiar faces in that team.

They were from the Cold Mountain Sect.

As Wu Qiong looked at them, he fell silent.

The Great Xuanwu General Du Kun’s army was following the vagrants’ migration to this place.

The Cold Mountain Sect had been too active earlier and had deep ties with Chang’an Fortress.

An ordinary person could only turn a blind eye to the locals in Qinzhou Prefecture and secretly remember this grudge.

However, the Great Xuanwu General Du Kun was certainly going to annihilate them with his army.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the Cold Mountain Sect was sensible to have cut losses quickly.

At the very least, it was moving most of the elites and disciples into Chang’an Fortress to seek shelter and avoid the Tang Dynasty army’s attack.

Whether or not it could make a comeback would depend on the outcome of the Tang Dynasty army’s attack on Chang’an Fortress.

But all this was still very risky.

Even if the Tang Dynasty army suffered a crushing defeat again, it was still uncertain whether the Cold Mountain Sect could reoccupy Qinzhou Prefecture outside the mountains.

Everything that had happened to the Cold Mountain Sect seemed to be a warning to the Thunderclap Sect.

Wu Qiong looked at the tide of people from afar, pensive and silent.

The one-eyed young man of Cold Mountain Sect looked calm. “Master, Sect Master, we’re about to enter the mountain ahead.”

Hui Tianyu said, “When the Tang Dynasty army sent troops to suppress Chang’an Fortress previously, it opened a simple and crude road leading to the White Cloud Abyss. Uncle-Master Zhao and the rest are waiting in the fortress.”

He looked at the tide of vagrants in the distance. “I’ll keep an eye on that side, lest these people become scattered.”

One of the few elders of the Cold Mountain Sect said, “Bring some more people with you. Since we have chosen to believe in that fortress, we have to get the task done well.”

Then they split up into two groups.

One group escorted the young disciples and the families up the mountains.

The other group led the vagrants together with Hui Tianyu.

Although the tide of vagrants was scattered and chaotic, they had gradually formed a core over the past days and had their own backbone.

Thanks to their leader’s leadership, they were able to keep moving, avoid being besieged by the Tang Dynasty army, and look for rare rations to sustain themselves.

A burly man among them looked around as he walked.

When he saw an old woman who seemed like she was about to fall, he quickly went forward to help her up.

“Everyone, press on. We’ll have good food after we reach the mountains!” the burly man shouted. “Look out for each other and don’t fall behind.”

Upon his shout, the numb gazes of many people around him seemed to have a little more radiance. Their exhausted bodies regained their energy as they hurried on their journey.

Hui Tianyu rushed to the burly man’s side and helped the old woman up.

She thanked them with a nod, “Thank you, brothers.”

“You have extraordinary cultivation, and I am ashamed of my inferiority.” Hui Tianyu looked at him indifferently. “It is rare that you have such a chivalrous heart and are willing to help the poor and suffering and lead them to seek survival.”

The burly man shook his head. “What I’ve done is nothing. Without you pointing out the way, they would have either starved to death, died from illnesses, or been killed by the Tang Dynasty army.”

Hui Tianyu smiled slightly. “It’s all because you have convinced everyone, or they wouldn’t have believed me, and we wouldn’t have been able to escape from the besiegement of the Tang Dynasty army due to the delay caused by the dispute.”

The burly man looked at the other people of the Cold Mountain Sect. “Your sect has risked your entire ancestral heritage and become enemies with the Tang Dynasty army to save everyone. How can I not believe you?”

Upon hearing that, Hui Tianyu smiled slightly.

The other party’s word, despite praising the Cold Mountain Sect, was actually a disguised answer to his earlier probing.

This burly man had an exquisite cultivation base and certainly had some inheritance, yet he concealed them carefully.

Hui Tianyu and the other elders of the Cold Mountain Sect could not tell what the background of his master’s tutelage was.

The burly man had just praised the Cold Mountain Sect for taking a risk, but he had also vaguely expressed that he did not wish to reveal his master’s tutelage, lest he caused trouble for his master.

After all, they had gone against the Tang Dynasty army.

Even though he was helping the vagrants out of indignation and pity, he did not want to implicate his sect.

“Based on our sect alone, we’re unable to resist against the Tang Dynasty army and keep all the people safe,” Hui Tianyu added. “We can only depend on the lord of Chang’an Fortress.”

The burly man looked at the continuous mountain range up ahead. “You’re being polite, brother. Without your help, we wouldn’t have been able to find the way to Chang’an Fortress…”

As the two of them were conversing, they heard cries and screams coming from the distance.

When they turned their head, they saw a burst of smoke and dust on the plains behind.

The Tang Dynasty army had come!

The expressions on Hui Tianyu and the burly man changed.

Those of the people of the Cold Mountain Sect did so as well.

The vagrants let out desperate cries as they immediately became chaotic.

With thousands of horses galloping behind, the Great Xuanwu General Du Kun was expressionless, just like a cold, hard bronze statue.

“General, do we attack now?” the vice general beside him asked.

Du Kun replied, “Gao Qi and Yifan have two thousand soldiers under them and haven’t returned. That strange fortress indeed has some ways.”

The vice general came to a realization. “By attacking now, you want to drive these vagrants to run ahead and impact the enemy’s battle formation so that our soldiers can make a surprise attack.”

“That’s just one aspect. If we use these rebels to build up our killing aura, when we go up the mountains to attack the fortress, our power will be at the peak, and we’ll be able to restrain our enemy.”

Du Kun waved his hand, and the Tang Dynasty army immediately rushed toward the vagrants at the foot of the hill to kill them.

But at this moment, a fast, powerful figure rushed out from the rebels.

He hacked the Tang Dynasty troops who rushed to the front.

The Great Xuanwu General Du Kun focused his gaze.

Without needing his orders, Martial Dao experts from the troops under his command rushed forward.

He was agile and attacked the army with speed and ferocity, killing many of them.

But he finally could not handle them when all the martial artists surrounded him.

With one careless move, he suffered a wound under the enemy’s blade.

When a flaw appeared, the collapse became a chain reaction, and multiple slashes soon cut the man.

The elite troops were like killing machines, attacking constantly until the other party was mutilated.

A puddle of flesh suddenly exploded and scattered.

Blood rain filled the air and instantly devoured the nearby Tang Dynasty troops.

Some elite martial artists were caught off guard and became covered in the blood rain.

Their skin eroded right away as they became badly mangled.

A huge amount of blood spurted out of their wounds before gathering into a blood river in the air.

A silver skull ring flashing with a bloody glow was in the blood river.

“It’s a Demon Dao expert?”

The troops immediately shot the blood river with their strong bows and crossbows.

The whistling hail of arrows ripped apart the blood-red river water, bursting large holes in the blood river.

However, the blood river did not dissipate. Although it resembled a tattered rag full of holes, the thick, filthy river water did not disintegrate. It maintained its original form and kept flowing.

As the blood water flowed, a mournful phoenix cry rang out faintly.

Although it was not as overbearing as Zhang Dongyun’s Blood Phoenix Transformation, which devoured the arrows and refined them as its own, the old bloody shadow demon’s transformed into a continuous hail of arrows around the martial artists.

The blood phoenix was reborn from blood. It flew out of the blood river and avoided the power of the sharp arrows that destroyed demons.

While the troops were drawing their bows and arrows, the phoenix flapped its wings and sent blood rain down to attack them.

The blood rain hit the shields held up by the Tang Dynasty troops, causing smoke to erupt.

At this moment, a tall, bronze-skinned man suddenly descended from the sky.

His body seemed to be steaming like a furnace.

He seemed to be a small volcano.

The exuberant and powerful blood of a Martial Dao expert made it easy to ward off evil and hard for supernatural beings to approach.

Just as the old bloody shadow demon’s blood rain approached the other party, the steam wiped out the rain before it could touch them.

It was none other than the Great Xuanwu General Du Kun of the Tang Dynasty army.

“Yifan and Gao Qi’s last report mentioned someone of the Demon Dao, and it seems to be you.” Du Kun was expressionless. “Tell me honestly if you have other accomplices.”

The old bloody shadow demon sneered. “You’re unworthy to ask for His Majesty’s name.”