荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Chong had never felt such a ferocious energy. The man’s saber energy was thick and boundless, like a toppling mountain, yet all of it was restrained, gathered up in a single point.

At this moment, Wang Chong had a feeling that if his answer did not satisfy this man, he would be immediately cleaved in two.

What a frightening expert!

Wang Chong’s heart shivered as he prepared to state his identity. But then, he heard a completely different tone of voice, one of pleasant surprise.

"Young Master Chong! How could it be you? How did you get here?"

Zing! Before Wang Chong could react, there was a metallic whistle as the saber expert turned his saber around and put it back in the sheath.

"You are?"

While Wang Chong watched in bewilderment, the tall and muscular man took off his helmet and shook his head, revealing a bearded and sharp-eyed face.

"Uncle Chen!"

Wang Chong’s heartbeat quickened as he suddenly recognized the man.

This bearded man was one of his father’s old subordinates, Chen Shusun. Both brave and wise, he was one of his father’s trusted aides and had apparently been a follower from the start of his father’s military career. Wang Chong’s father had always been a most harsh and demanding person. It was normally very rare for him to bring his subordinates into the capital.

The Wang Clan guards had all been soldiers whose injuries on the battlefield made them incapable of participating in any further wars. As a result, Wang Yan had come and recruited them for his own residence so that they could make a living. But other people wouldn’t even be able to dream of getting a meeting with the people of the Wang Clan.

As for this Chen Shusun, Wang Chong had met him once, when he was a child. It had only been that one time, yet Wang Chong had always had a very good impression of his father’s old subordinates. Chen Shusun had even given him a gift once. Back then, his father was very harsh and didn’t permit him to have any toys. Thus, Chen Shusun had used his saber to carve a flying bird as a gift for him. This had been Wang Chong’s first toy, so it had left a very deep impression.

Of course, the most important thing here was that Wang Chong clearly remembered that, many years ago, his father had placed this old subordinate at his big brother Wang Fu’s side. His father hadn’t done this to promote him, as most people would imagine. Instead, his father was worried that his big brother would use the name of the clan and his own influence to make the army show him favoritism, so Chen Shusun was dispatched as a supervisor.

Of course, his big brother ended up using his own strength to prove himself, to prove that he didn’t need to rely on the clan’s resources and influence to make a very good name for himself. Thus, Uncle Shu became a through-and-through subordinate of his big brother.

"Young Master Chong, weren’t you in the capital? How did you get here?"

Chen Shusun rushed over with several messengers and held Wang Chong. As he looked him over, his face was both nervous and concerned.

"This is no game, and it’s certainly no place for you to lose your temper. Why did you come here? Are you crazy?"

This was simply too surprising!

This was no longer any pleasant surprise, but a surprise scare! The southwest battlefield was already a land of certain death. He couldn’t even remember how many soldiers of the Annan Protectorate army had died here, and even a few of his own comrades had died. The 300,000 soldiers of Mengshe Zhao and the 200,000 soldiers of Ü-Tsang presented a suffocating pressure.

Every day, they were living on the edge of the line, none of them knowing if they would be able to make it, none of them knowing when they would die.

The situation was already awful enough, but Chen Shusun had never expected Wang Chong to arrive at this time and in this method.

"Young Master, your attitude is too impulsive!" Chen Shusun said with exasperation.

"Uncle Chen, there’s no time to talk about this. Why isn’t Big Brother commanding the army? What’s happened to him?"

Wang Chong pushed away Chen Shusun’s hands and began to stride toward the golden-armored figure under the banner. That banner was Wang Fu’s emblem, so there was no doubt that his big brother was commanding the army on this mountain.

"Big Brother..."

The massive banner flapped in the storm, battered to and fro by the wind and rain, but the golden-armored figure seated under the banner was unmoving, apparently unaware of all the ruckus going on behind it. Wang Chong walked over, circling around to the front of the figure, but as he passed that person’s shoulder, the words on Wang Chong’s lips froze, and he stared at the person in a daze.

The figure under the armor was very young, certainly below the age of twenty, but though he looked very similar to his big brother, Wang Chong was sure that this wasn’t Wang Fu.

"You aren’t my big brother. Who are you? Where’s my big brother?"

After a few moments of silence, Wang Chong suddenly reached out his hand and seized that person’s clothes.

This was clearly his big brother’s army, and his banner was the one being raised, but the one leading it wasn’t his big brother. For a few moments, Wang Chong’s mind had been completely blank as he struggled to understand what had happened. For a second there, Wang Chong’s mind had even dwelled on the worst-case scenario.

The siege of Lion City had lasted for almost a month now. Had something happened in that long period of time? Or had his big brother not actually succeeded in breaking out of Lion City with the rest of the army... Countless ideas flew through his mind. Although Wang Chong did his utmost to keep calm, his wan complexion betrayed his true emotions.

"Eldest Young Master is fine, Young Master Chong. Don’t make things difficult for him. It was I who had him wear Eldest Master’s armor!"

Chen Shusun’s voice came from behind as the old officer strode over with a grim expression.

"Young Master Chong, my apologies. In truth, I also didn’t want to do this."

The young-looking officer spoke up soon after Chen Shusun finished talking, his expression a little nervous and embarrassed, though it quickly returned to normal. But it was still possible to tell that he was struggling over whether he should leave or stay.

"Zhang Qi, you keep sitting there for now. Don’t move! Morale is still unsteady, so without my order, you’re not allowed to do anything reckless."

Chen Shusun seemed to understand what the young man was thinking and immediately put a stop to the idea.

"Yes, Milord."

The young man obediently sat back down.

"Uncle Chen, what in the world happened?"

Wang Chong’s solemn gaze rested on Chen Shusun.

"Ah, Young Master Chong, follow me!"

Chen Shusun sighed and gestured for Wang Chong to follow him. Wang Chong followed him to the white commander’s tent at the summit of the mountain. This was the only such tent on the summit, and the rain battered its white canvas walls.

However, the canvas had been coated with a layer of grease, so no water was able to leak in.

Within the tent, a tall and thin young man dressed in his inner clothes was lying on a bed. He had a rather stubbly beard and a handsome face, and his pursed lips were imbued with coldness, perseverance and resolve. His eyes were shut, and he wasn’t moving. Several bodyguards were attending on him, their eyes filled with worry.

"Big Brother!!"

The moment Wang Chong stepped into the tent and saw the cold and handsome youth, he shivered and hastened to his side.

"How could this happen? What’s going on here?"

Wang Chong gripped his big brother’s hands as he turned to Chen Shusun.

In Wang Chong’s mind, his big brother Wang Fu had always been a persistent, determined and extremely decisive existence. He would never hesitate or be slow to act, and it seemed like there was nothing in this world that could hold him down. As a result, Wang Chong had worshiped his big brother from a very young age.

Even Wang Chong’s rebellious second brother Wang Bei would act more obediently around Wang Fu.

It was commonly said that the eldest son was like the father, and Wang Chong had always been of the opinion that his big brother almost perfectly matched this phrase.

But this time was completely different.

Wang Chong had never seen his big brother like this. His palms were icy cold in Wang Chong’s hands and his complexion was as white as paper. He was exhaling more than he was inhaling, and even more chilling to Wang Chong’s mind was that a part of his chest had clearly caved in.

This was definitely not normal!

"Aye!"

Chen Shusun sighed and gazed toward the canopy of the tent as he began to recall.

"With things at this state, there’s no need for me to hide anything from you. As you see, Eldest Young Master has been injured and is currently unconscious. There are no military doctors in this army, and a military doctor wouldn’t be able to cure his illness. As a result, we’re at a loss for what to do!"

"What sort of person managed to injure Big Brother?"

Wang Chong clenched his fists until they cracked, and his eyes glowed scarlet as he spoke words of ice.

Brothers were joined at the heart. In this world, those who he was closest with and he most cherished were his parents, his two older brothers, his younger sister, and his other relatives in the Wang Clan. No matter what, he would never let those close to him be injured.

"It was a general under Huoshu Huicang: the Swordfang Beast Jiaosiluo, the second-ranked general of Ü-Tsang’s Ngari Royal Lineage! Eldest Master was pursued by Jiaosiluo during the breakout from Lion City and was injured when trying to cover for the rest of the army."

Chen Shusun paused as he glanced Wang Fu’s collapsed chest, then he continued, "However, the true person who injured Eldest Master was Huoshu Huicang! While defending Lion City for these ten-some days, Eldest Young Master was heavily wounded by Huoshu Huicang, but he had kept it hidden all this time. Otherwise, Eldest Young Master wouldn’t have been injured while fighting Jiaosiluo. Eldest Young Master managed to hold for more than an hour before his injuries finally broke out and he fell unconscious. There was no commander on the front line, so I took matters into my own hands to prevent morale from collapsing. I found a soldier who looked similar to Eldest Young Master, and I had him wear Eldest Young Master’s armor and sit beneath the banner.

"As long as Eldest Master is present, morale will be maintained. Otherwise, disaster is certain to occur!" Chen Shusun profoundly said.

Only those people who had held the fort in Lion City, who had advanced and retreated, fought and died with the army, would understand what significance Wang Fu’s existence held toward this beleaguered army. The combined armies of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang were many times the size of the Great Tang army. In this situation, a staunch and passive defense was practically the only choice, but the only ultimate result was still death.

There were many times when the oppressive mood caused the army to collapse before the battle had run its full course.

The only reason Lion City had not fallen, but had persisted until now and been able to maintain a vigorous fighting spirit against several times their number, was his Eldest Young Master, Wang Fu.

Unlike Xianyu Zhongtong and the other generals of the Annan Protectorate, Wang Fu was the only commander in the entire army who would command the army to attack while defending a city. When he was commanding the defense, the army would never passively defend, waiting for the enemy to attack. At set intervals, he would sally forth and kill the Mengshe Zhao and Tibetan soldiers.

It was precisely because of Wang Fu’s existence that the army in Lion City was not passively accepting a beating, that it had always been able to maintain its morale and will to fight. Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao had also become apprehensive, not daring to act too rashly!

Xianyu Zhongtong could not do this, and not even Wang Fu’s father, Wang Yan, was able to do this.