Chapter 653: Quite the Bearing of a King

The shouting outside stopped at once.

Shi Sheng's roar died in his throat. Master and disciples alike stared blankly at the command arrow stuck in the grass.

The cultivators from the Western Three States who had seized the three men froze as well, their eyes fixed on that arrow.

Anyone with even the slightest common sense knew what it meant once a command arrow like that was thrown.

Immediate execution!

The army's executioners rushed in from both sides.

"Master!"

"Master!"

Shi Sheng's two trusted disciples felt every hair on their bodies stand on end. They cried out repeatedly, jolting their stunned master back to awareness.

Shi Sheng truly had been stunned.

Shang Chaozong dared kill him?

Only after hearing the warnings beside his ears did his gaze leave the command arrow. Then he saw the executioners charging toward him.

Figures flashed before his eyes.

The executioners had already taken the three men from the cultivators of the Western Three States.

Those cultivators had released them voluntarily. After letting go, they all backed away. There was no real schadenfreude on their faces, only shock and uncertainty.

This was an Elder of Xiaoyao Palace.

Shang Chaozong truly dared kill him?

In the blink of an eye, master and disciples were forced to their knees, their heads shoved down.

Only then did Shi Sheng finally realize what was about to happen.

Never even in his dreams had he imagined such a day would come. A dignified cultivator like him was actually going to die at the hands of a pack of ants.

His eyes gradually reddened to the point of splitting. At last he roared in grief and fury, "Shang Chaozong, you ant of a petty man! What are you trying to do? I order you to release—"

His voice stopped abruptly.

Military law stood like a mountain.

The executioners swung their blades without the slightest hesitation.

Three flashes.

Three sprays of hot blood splashed across the lush green grass.

Three fine heads rolled to the ground under the eyes of everyone present.

"Hiss!"

No one knew how many people sucked in a sharp breath.

The cultivators from the Western Three States stared dumbly, rooted in place.

Inside the tent, Huang Lie's face twitched again and again.

A man of Shi Sheng's standing was someone who, in ordinary times, could make Dachan Mountain bow and scrape simply by arriving at its gates.

Yet Shang Chaozong had actually beheaded him just like that.

Really beheaded him?

More than anything, Huang Lie wanted to claw at his own head.

Who had given this Prince such enormous nerve?

Niu Youdao was not here. Surely Xiaoyao Palace would not decide Dachan Mountain had been the one supporting Shang Chaozong from behind?

Ga Miaoshui's eyebrows had risen high and stayed there.

His gaze slowly shifted to Shang Chaozong's face.

He had wanted to stop the execution earlier, but after thinking it over he had abandoned the idea.

Conflict between this side and the three major sects was not necessarily a bad thing for the imperial court.

Even so, the shock in his heart was difficult to describe.

He could not help wondering: if it had been His Majesty, would he have dared do the same?

Meng Shanming sat in his wheelchair with lowered brows and eyes, silent throughout.

Inside, he gave a soft sigh.

Like father, like son indeed.

Feng Ruonan, standing nearby, slowly turned to look at Shang Chaozong. Her heart was pounding violently.

Today she had truly experienced what the words "decisive in killing" meant.

In a corner, Gongsun Bu was equally shaken.

"Send the heads to Su Qitong!"

Shang Chaozong's heavy command finally pulled everyone back to themselves.

Men outside immediately picked up all three heads.

The corpses were carried away as well.

Then Shang Chaozong issued another military order.

"Twelve orders in succession. Send one every six hours until every army obeys!"

...

Inside Haozhou's central command tent, three trays covered in white cloth stained with blood were carried before Su Qitong.

He looked at the three Nanzhou soldiers, then at the trays in their hands.

One glance at the scene told him the trays held severed heads. He simply did not know whose.

He was not a man who feared such things, nor would he show fear even if he did.

He walked over slowly, reached out, and casually lifted the white cloth from the center tray.

Not lifting it would have been better.

The moment he saw what lay beneath, his eyes widened.

He blinked once, then again.

Finally, with a startled "Ah!" he stumbled backward several steps and collided with the desk behind him.

"You..."

His face had gone pale. He pointed at Shi Sheng's head and truly did not know what to say.

He had never imagined Shang Chaozong would use such a brutal opening move against him.

Shi Sheng had actually been killed.

This was an unmistakable warning from Shang Chaozong.

Look carefully.

This is what happens to those who stand in my way.

Just before leaving, Shi Sheng had still been saying things about going over to make Shang Chaozong answer for himself.

Now only his head had returned.

Before long, the Sect Leaders of the three sects stationed in Haozhou all rushed over after hearing the news and stared at those three horrifying heads.

Several Xiaoyao Palace disciples stationed here grew even more furious, shouting endlessly before storming out and declaring they would go settle accounts with Shang Chaozong.

Yet after leaving the camp, none of them ultimately dared go.

Shang Chaozong had even killed Shi Sheng.

Would he fear them?

All they could do was urgently send word back to their sect.

...

"His Highness killed Shi Sheng?"

In a valley neither especially far from nor especially close to Nanzhou's army, Niu Youdao stood beneath a great tree with his sword planted before him and turned around in surprise.

He had actually been following Shang Chaozong's force all along.

He simply maintained some distance and never appeared publicly beside the army.

No one knew exactly what he was thinking.

He kept detailed track of developments in the army through Wuliang Mountain's people.

The distance between them was not great, so news could reach him quickly whenever anything happened.

Guan Fangyi looked uncertain as well. She raised the message in her hand. "That's what Gongsun Bu sent. Master Dao, has His Highness lost his head? An Elder of the three major sects isn't someone he can move against lightly."

"Lost his head?" Niu Youdao chuckled.

He looked toward the far end of the valley and sighed.

"Our Prince is no muddleheaded man."

"I've heard that when he was first released from prison in the capital years ago, he endured every humiliation in the streets without reacting. Once he left the city and the men coming to receive him arrived, he immediately drew his blade and killed the gate commander without hesitation."

He turned back to Guan Fangyi with a smile.

"That was in the capital itself, right under Shang Jianxiong's nose."

"When the upheaval in Nanzhou came and Feng Lingbo tried to seize power, he was still under Tianyu Sect's control, yet right in front of Tianyu Sect he shot Feng Lingbo's son dead without hesitation."

"When has he ever been timid?"

"Is it strange that he killed Shi Sheng? Not in the slightest."

"He understands perfectly well that, under the present circumstances, the three major sects cannot possibly do anything to him."

"And the first thing the three major sects will suspect is that I am backing him. If they come looking for trouble, naturally I will be the one standing in front."

"Our Prince knows how to judge the times and weigh the situation. When killing must be done, he never hesitates. His heart is as clear as a mirror."

"He truly has quite the bearing of a king."

Guan Fangyi frowned. "You mean..."

"Ah." Niu Youdao turned back toward the distance.

"Shang Jianbo could gather so many capable men around him in life and make them willingly serve him. How could he have lacked ability of his own?"

"Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes; a mouse's son knows how to dig holes."

"Born into a household like that, watching and hearing such things from childhood, how could the son possibly remain untouched?"

...

Inside the imperial palace of Jin, Shao Pingbo entered the hall wrapped in a silver-fox cloak.

Taishu Xiong's face revealed nothing.

Shao Pingbo stepped forward and saluted.

Taishu Xiong motioned for him to dispense with ceremony.

At another gesture, Tao Lue presented Shao Pingbo with a memorial.

Shao Pingbo glanced at Taishu Xiong's expression, suspicious about what the report contained.

He opened it.

His pupils abruptly contracted.

Word by word, he murmured, "Suppress the regional lords, not the rebels..."

Taishu Xiong sighed. "Exactly. Suppress the regional lords, not the rebels."

"This Nanzhou strategy is truly extraordinary."

"With Nanzhou's ability to execute it, the strategy will certainly work. It appears Yan's internal rebellion is not far from being pacified."

"I wonder whether those several sides will still manage to fight one another."

Shao Pingbo closed the report and looked up. "Your Majesty wishes to recall Jin's cultivators?"

Taishu Xiong nodded. "That is precisely why I summoned you. I am indeed considering it."

The logic on Jin's side was simple.

Yan could not be allowed to suppress the rebellion too quickly.

Otherwise Han and Song would never be forced into attacking.

If Han and Song did not enter the war, Zhao would never be forced to intervene either.

That would ultimately undermine Jin's own objective.

Now that Yan's rebellion-suppression momentum had suddenly become so fierce, why should Jin's cultivators continue helping?

Shao Pingbo disagreed.

"Your Majesty, in this minister's view, they still cannot be recalled."

"Oh?" Taishu Xiong said. "Tell me your thinking."

Shao Pingbo replied, "Pulling them back now would make Jin's intentions too obvious. It could alert the various parties and cause them to stop."

"Do not recall the men. Simply have them show up without exerting themselves. Let them go through the motions."

Taishu Xiong pondered. "Would that truly keep the others from seeing through us?"

Shao Pingbo said, "There is an excuse available."

"Previously, the several Yan regional lords deceived our side and caused Jin's cultivators to suffer grievous losses. If we say those losses left us apprehensive and therefore more conservative, the explanation is perfectly reasonable."

"Mm!" Taishu Xiong nodded. "A fine plan."

What he did not know was that Shao Pingbo had another intention as well.

Jin's cultivators had already gained Yan's trust.

Some of them were even stationed beside Shang Chaozong.

So long as those men remained there, if an opportunity appeared, they could seize it to eliminate Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming.

When Shao Pingbo left the imperial palace, he walked quietly across the great palace square, feeling somewhat conflicted.

Nanzhou's sudden move had disrupted his plans.

From his perspective, Jin's cultivators had still suffered far too few losses.

Yet the change in the situation meant they now had no choice but to begin pulling their blows.

But the next change on the battlefield rendered that intention irrelevant.

It could even be said that it never had a chance to matter.

What followed surprised everyone.

After Luoxia Ridge was broken and Haozhou's army formally launched a full offensive, the rebels suddenly began retreating with astonishing speed.

Calling it a retreat was generous.

They were fleeing.

Shang Chaozong's decision even proved mistaken.

Because he had ordered Su Qitong to stop and hold once he reached Qianli River, Haozhou's force missed the best opportunity to pursue.

The rebels' sudden flight was something even Meng Shanming had not anticipated.

...

A great force raced urgently eastward.

At its head was Wu Gongling, who had already ordered all rebel forces to contract.

During a rest along the way, Quan Taifeng and the others approached to ask the reason.

"Grand General, why are we heading east?"

Wu Gongling answered, "Naturally, to maneuver against the enemy."

Quan Taifeng asked, "How?"

Wu Gongling sighed. "Elder Quan, even if I explain it, you won't understand."

"Relax. I have no intention of throwing away my life. I have my own strategy."

Quan Taifeng was speechless.

When it came to moving and deploying armies, he truly did not understand such things.

Shan Dongxing, however, had known Wu Gongling for many years.

Their long association gave him some understanding of the man's habits, and he could tell something was wrong.

Once he found a chance to avoid the others, Shan Dongxing approached Wu Gongling and asked quietly, "Grand General, are you planning something else?"

Wu Gongling quickly looked left and right.

Only then did he lower his voice.

"Has Elder Shan still not seen it?"

"We were deceived by those dog bastards."

"'Nanzhou has been held down'—bullshit!"

Shan Dongxing naturally saw it now too.

The moment Nanzhou marched, nothing could have been clearer.

He sighed. "Things have reached this point. We have nowhere left to retreat. What can we do?"

A vicious look flickered across Wu Gongling's face.

"Han and Song want to use us as sacrificial pawns to stir up chaos while they stand aside and watch?"

"Dream on!"

"I will not let them stay out of it."

"We keep breaking east. We break all the way to where the armies of those two states are confronting Yan and throw the whole situation into chaos there."

"Then I want to see how Han and Song continue standing on the sidelines!"

Put plainly, he was afraid.

He no longer wanted to fight Yan's rebellion-suppression armies at all.

He intended to run.

[End of Chapter 653]