Chapter 108: Is my wife trying to hint at something to her husband?
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The Central Plains lie shattered, their shame impossible to dispel;
Who would refuse to take up arms and repel the enemy?
How many hatreds have the realm and the family borne in a single moment?
The river flows on without end, while the moon remains voiceless!
Along the predetermined course of history, amid the great age in which the Song would fall and Jin would rise, Zhao Gou would unquestionably be a pivotal figure.
Though he was harsh, ungrateful, and content merely to cling to life in peace, though he favored treacherous ministers and persecuted the loyal, it was nevertheless through him that the foundation of the Southern Song dynasty was established, ensuring that the robes and traditions of the Chinese civilization would not vanish completely beneath the Jurchens’ wolf-fanged maces.
Yet now, this crucial figure had inexplicably died ahead of his appointed time.
The man impersonating Xi Sheng was naturally not the real Chen Xizhen. Chen Xizhen could never have possessed the White Plum Blood-Branch Saber. The man was, of course, Yang Ye, who had altered his appearance through the Discriminate Form technique granted by his talent of the Immaculate Flesh.
As it turned out, when Yang Ye and Li Zhu had infiltrated the imperial prison that night, the final plan they had settled upon after their fierce debate was for Yang Ye to impersonate Xi Sheng, remain at Wang Qing’s side, and act according to circumstances at the most critical moment.
Yang Ye possessed excellent patience. He waited until the order for the execution had been issued at the execution ground before finally making his move, dealing Gao Qiu and the others a fatal blow and successfully rescuing Wang Qing and the rest.
Gao Qiu had mistaken the Returning-Spirit Seven-Treasure Saber for his family’s White Plum Blood-Branch Saber. Yang Ye had taken advantage of the misunderstanding, once again disguising himself as Chen Xizhen, intending to pin the monstrous crime of assassinating a grand marshal on Chen Xizhen.
Unfortunately, complications arose, resulting in an enormous blunder. By sheer accident, he had killed Zhao Gou—the future Son of Heaven destined to cross the river on a mud horse and establish the southern realm!
Yang Ye stared intently at the yin-yang fish mark and discovered that his supernatural talent had gained a new ability:
Heavenly Imperial Aura: A lawful force possessed only by kings favored by Heaven’s Mandate. An agent of yin and yang. Allows the user to equip and employ special items and equipment exclusive to emperors; ignores compatibility and faction restrictions, increasing the initial favorability of story characters toward the user; increases resistance to all abnormal conditions by twenty points; grants a ten percent chance of receiving an additional reward when opening treasure chests; during battle, grants a small chance of completely nullifying an enemy attack. When activated voluntarily, this ability can temporarily raise the evaluation rank of a selected skill by one tier. Active duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: three hours.
Notice: This talent is currently unawakened. Its grade can be improved by killing story characters who likewise possess Heavenly Imperial Aura.
This talent was extraordinarily powerful, and every one of its abilities was highly practical. The most vicious, especially, was the final one: “temporarily raising the evaluation rank of a selected skill by one tier.” Once Yang Ye voluntarily activated Heavenly Imperial Aura, he could temporarily wield grandmaster-level expertise in hand-to-hand combat or saber and swordsmanship.
With the protection of Heavenly Imperial Aura, Yang Ye could now be considered a truly fortunate man. The True Dragon Son of Heaven was a special vocation that relied primarily on luck, and the talents associated with it were therefore generally connected to fortune.
After killing Zhao Gou, Yang Ye inherited Zhao Gou’s historical mission and, at the same time, triggered this world’s ultimate salvation quest.
To restore the Song and destroy Jin—compared with the salvation quest in the world of the Calabash Brothers, this one was truly far more difficult.
Yang Ye suddenly felt as though he were one of those borrowers from the loan sharks of Earth. Whether it was the White Plum Blood-Branch Saber or Heavenly Imperial Aura, both could actually be regarded as high-interest loans forcibly issued to him by the Hall of Creation.
Did he truly possess the ability to repay such exorbitant interest?
Yang Ye suddenly gave a self-mocking laugh and thought, What’s the use of worrying about all that? Anyone who refuses a bargain is a fool. Tomorrow’s troubles can wait until tomorrow. Besides, a dead pig is unafraid of boiling water. A demon immortal who has survived the second heavenly tribulation is already hunting me down—should I really fear a Celestial Master approaching his third?
“If a man is destined to die, there is not much difference between being cleaved in two by a steel blade and being blasted into ash by a nuclear weapon.”
With that thought, his gaze grew firmer, and the gloom deep in his heart dispersed as well. Yet when he raised his head, he saw that Grand Marshal Gao and Xu Huai had long since fled like rabbits, already scurrying beneath the execution platform.
It seemed his moment of distraction had lasted rather longer than he had realized.
Yang Ye turned his attention back to the fighting around the execution ground. With Wang Qing safely out of danger, the heroes had gradually shifted from a strategic offensive to a strategic retreat.
Timely Rain Song Jiang directed the operation with calm assurance. Assisted by Zhao Min, Hua Rong, Li Zhu, and the others, he led everyone in protecting Wang Qing while fighting their way backward. They divided into three groups and slowly withdrew in scattered fashion toward the gates outside the Eastern Capital.
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Yang Ye’s far-seeing eyes made everything clear. The other retreating routes were proceeding smoothly; only the route through Divine Martial Gate had encountered trouble. The people attempting to break through there were the three women—Zhu Xiaoyu Rou and the others—driving the Thunderbolt Chariot.
Relying on the chariot’s powerful, beastlike handling and combat capability, the three women charged through without obstruction. Any soldiers who tried to block them were either blasted by firearms, pierced by the Repeating Zhuge Crossbows, or, if particularly unlucky, crushed beneath the chariot’s wheels.
No one could slow the Thunderbolt Chariot’s advance in the slightest. The soldiers had no choice but to harden their hearts and lower the thousand-pound gate outside Divine Martial Gate, sealing the city gate completely.
Of all the gates of the Eastern Capital, only Divine Martial Gate possessed such a thousand-pound barrier. Though called a thousand-pound gate, it weighed far more than that, being forged from a single massive slab of thick, solid iron.
The Thunderbolt Chariot’s firepower was fierce, but when it struck the barrier, it did nothing more than send a few sparks flying.
Zhu Xiaoyu Rou and the other women were instantly dumbfounded. Had they just been cut off from all avenues of retreat? At the moment when the girls found themselves trapped, their savior arrived at once—the latest chapter of The Otherworldly Light-Brain Divine Official.
Yang Ye unleashed the Cloud-Drifting Mist-Vanishing lightness technique and descended like a divine warrior from heaven, landing beside the Thunderbolt Chariot.
“Do not panic. Leave this thousand-pound gate to me.”
Yang Ye’s eyes widened. He swung both arms, and in the blink of an eye his body transformed into a giant three rods and three feet tall. His bones swelled explosively, battle aura crackled around him, and power surged through his entire frame.
Giant-Spirit Transformation!
He drove one fist forward. The iron gate, which even the Thunderbolt Chariot’s firepower could not breach, immediately caved inward by a huge section. This was what it meant to overcome every technique through sheer strength. A strength index exceeding seventy had entirely surpassed the limits of the Savage Battlefield.
Yang Ye’s arms were like iron pincers as he gripped the gaps in the barrier. Pressing the tip of his tongue against his upper palate, he summoned heaven-shaking power and threw back his head with a roar that sounded like the thunderous cry of a tiger and leopard.
“Open!”
What did it mean to possess strength capable of uprooting mountains and an aura that dominated the world? This was precisely it. As Yang Ye exerted force with both arms, the thousand-pound barrier slowly began to move. He lifted the several-thousand-pound mass high above his head, leaving a gap large enough for at least one person and one horse to pass through.
Yang Ye called to the women, “Girls, put away the Thunderbolt Chariot and hurry out on foot!”
Zhu Xiaoyu Rou and the others answered in unison. They leapt from the vehicle, and Guan Jiahui took out the Cosmos Cloth Sack. With a flourish, she opened it in midair, and the Thunderbolt Chariot was immediately drawn inside.
This treasure had originally belonged to Zhao Min. It was a small world capable of storing large machinery.
The three women moved with agility, using their lightness techniques and footwork to escape safely beneath the barrier Yang Ye was straining to hold aloft.
At that moment, both of Yang Ye’s hands were raised against the thousand-pound gate, leaving his entire body unable to move. The pursuing soldiers soon caught up, raising their blades and spears to hack and stab wildly at his enormous body.
Yang Ye circulated the protective aura of the Vajra Profound Technique, turning his whole body into steel sinew and iron bones. How could the mundane weapons of ordinary soldiers harm him in the slightest?
The edges of their broadswords curled when they struck him, while spearheads bent outright against his flesh. Watching the ants scurrying helplessly beneath him, Yang Ye activated the sonic technique from the Twenty-Four Formulae of the Heroic Journey, using his voice as a weapon and launching an attack against the imperial troops!
“Roast and devour Zhu Hai!”
A single peal of thunder resounds beneath heaven; one roar leaves the assembled warriors trembling!
If the Azure Sea Tide Melody of Peach Blossom Island in the Eastern Sea and the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon of the Six-Fingered Zither Demon were likened to young ladies of seventeen or eighteen in the realm of sonic arts, holding red clappers and singing of dawn winds and the waning moon along the willow shore, then Yang Ye’s Heroic Journey divine art was a burly man from the western passes, gripping iron clappers and singing of the great river sweeping eastward.
As Yang Ye continued to roar with magnificent and tragic fury, the soldiers’ ears were battered by the tremendous force. Whole ranks collapsed to the ground in dizzy stupor.
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Yang Ye looked toward the open space and once again exploded with strength. He shoved upward with all his might, forcing the entire thousand-pound barrier still higher.
In the instant before lightning could be followed by thunder, Yang Ye’s arms separated from the barrier. Dragging his massive body forward, he simultaneously employed the mysteries of the Cloud-Drifting Mist-Vanishing lightness technique and the body movement of the Heroic Journey.
With a whoosh, the rapidly moving figure left behind an afterimage, but the real Yang Ye had already emerged safely beyond the city gate.
With a deafening boom, the completely unsupported barrier plunged down once more, crushing countless soldiers who lay beneath it in a state of dizziness—the Alternative Elves’ Life.
Once outside the city, Yang Ye recovered from his Giant-Spirit Transformation. This time, he had exerted every ounce of his strength to hold up the barrier, and the expenditure had been immense. The moment he returned to his normal form, he felt utterly drained.
Zhu Xiaoyu Rou and the other two women had all been waiting at the gate. Seeing him escape, they hurried over to support him. The beauties had only just helped Yang Ye to his feet and were preparing to retreat when shouts and cries of battle rose around them. A cavalry detachment of imperial troops had already surrounded them and charged in for the kill.
At their head rode a general in a golden helmet and golden armor, gripping a great mountain-splitting axe and mounted on a Fire Dragon Steed. His bearing was extraordinarily imposing. He was Zhou Ang, deputy instructor of the eight-hundred-thousand-man Imperial Guard and General of Chariots and Cavalry.
Man and horse moving as one, Zhou Ang raised his battle axe and charged forward with tremendous valor. Zhu Xiaoyu Rou stepped out from among the others, gripping the True Tempered Reverse-Edge Saber, prepared to stake her life in resistance. Of all the girls, her temperament was the most resolute. She would rather die in battle than allow Zhou Ang to harm Yang Ye.
At this critical moment, the Liangshan heroes’ cavalry reinforcement finally arrived. This was the last reserve force Song Jiang had stationed outside the city.
Two generals led the detachment. The first wore a helmet and armor, with a bow bent and arrows ready. On the inner sides of his quiver and arrow case were two small yellow flags, each bearing five golden words: “Hero Twin-Spear General, Dashing Lord of Ten Thousand Households.” He held a six-weight steel spear in each hand.
This was none other than Liangshan Marsh’s foremost vanguard warrior, one of the Five Tiger Generals—the Twin-Spear General, Dong Ping.
Dong Ping raised both spears and plunged straight into the imperial ranks. His six-weight spears blossomed into soul-hooking, life-taking flowers of steel. Wherever he passed, the enemy ranks parted like waves before a ship, and within moments he had carved a bloody path through them.
Before Zhou Ang’s axe could even clash with Zhu Xiaoyu Rou’s treasured blade, Dong Ping’s twin spears were already thrusting toward his back. Forced to abandon his pursuit of the beauty, Zhou Ang turned and engaged Dong Ping in battle.
Both men were ferocious generals of formidable skill. They were like a fierce tiger meeting a flood dragon, fighting for more than forty exchanges on the battlefield without either gaining the upper hand.
Another great general, watching the battle and guarding the flank, feared that Dong Ping might suffer defeat. He spurred his horse forward and brandished his spear as he rode to assist.
Yang Ye observed clearly from the side. The mounted warrior entering the fray possessed an even more striking bearing and was truly an exceptional man. He wore a gold-patterned black headcloth with a bluish-green Buddhist-head ornament, a parrot-green battle robe embroidered with blossoms, and held a long silver-hooked spear with a slender shaft. Behind his carved saddle hung a brocade pouch containing the flying stones with which he struck down opponents.
There was only one hero in the world dressed in such a fashion. He was the Tiger Rider from Dongchang Prefecture, the “Featherless Arrow,” Zhang Qing, who had once defeated fifteen Liangshan generals in succession without even moving his shadow.
Zhou Ang had long served before the imperial court and did not know the might of the Featherless Arrow. Seeing the way Zhang Qing held his spear, he thought it plainly lacked the practiced ease of a true spearman, and his expression became deeply contemptuous.
In a duel between experts, an incompetent assistant not only failed to increase one’s strength but might instead become a burden, causing the battle to turn even further against them.
It had to be said that, as a capable instructor of the Imperial Guard, Zhou Ang possessed an exceptionally discerning eye. He had seen through Zhang Qing’s sluggish spear technique and correctly judged that the man was no formidable spearman.
Unfortunately, he had not realized that the Featherless Arrow’s truly unrivaled skill was not his spearwork, but his flying stones.
Zhang Qing’s horse had not yet arrived, but a stone was already concealed in his hand. Then his arm flashed like lightning, his momentum resembling that of the Treasure-Calling Seventh Son. The stone struck Zhou Ang squarely in the forehead, smashing flesh and blood in every direction.
The pain made Zhou Ang’s hands and feet slow for the briefest moment. Dong Ping, the Twin-Spear General, seized the opening and let out a great shout like thunder exploding before the battle lines. His six-weight spears swept up and down together, rising and falling like a strange serpent turning over. With a whoosh, one spearhead plunged straight into Zhou Ang’s throat.
Dong Ping jerked the great spear upward, and Zhou Ang’s corpse toppled from the saddle.
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