Chapter 662: Never Seen Anyone This Brazen

He made it sound convincing.

Had that really been his plan?

The Elders exchanged glances.

Xiang Tianguang, Elder of Han's Wushang Palace, asked, "If this was your plan, why didn't you tell us beforehand?"

"Pah! You really think I'm an idiot?" Wu Gongling spat on the ground.

Xiang Tianguang's expression changed, a dangerous light entering his eyes.

Wu Gongling did not care in the slightest. He waved a hand toward Quan Taifeng and Hui Qingping.

"You two were the ones urging me to raise troops. Did you really think I couldn't tell you were fooling me?"

"What bullshit benefits? You only wanted to use me to throw Yan into chaos."

"Would any of you care whether my Cangzhou brothers lived or died? You only wanted us to risk our lives making a mess of Yan so Han and Song could sweep in afterward and pick up the benefits at the smallest possible cost."

"If I'd told you beforehand, would you have agreed? You would only have forced me to fight to the death!"

"Once all my Cangzhou brothers were dead, you'd wipe your asses and walk away. We wouldn't even have anywhere left to cry."

"Tell you? Like hell I could tell you!"

He had torn away the paper over the window and spoken the hidden truth aloud.

The six Elders all wore different expressions, but none said anything.

Their silence was as good as admitting it.

Wu Gongling lifted the wine jar again and drank. Wine ran down both cheeks and soaked the front of his clothes.

Shan Dongxing, Tongxian Pavilion's acting Sect Leader and now firmly tied to Wu Gongling, glanced left and right, studying the reactions on both sides.

Inwardly, he was sweating for Wu Gongling.

He genuinely did not want anything to happen to the man now.

Tongxian Pavilion's fate had become tightly bound to the Cangzhou rebel army.

The Cangzhou force was now openly in rebellion. Conditions on the run were harsh, and clashes that meant fighting for their lives could break out at any time.

If something happened to Wu Gongling, no one else possessed enough prestige within the rebel army to keep the troops under control.

The force would scatter in no time.

And if the Cangzhou rebels dispersed, Tongxian Pavilion would truly have nowhere left to cry.

They could not return to Cangzhou.

Yan would never tolerate them.

And the powers of other states would never allow them to push in and claim a share of local interests.

Cao Yong, Elder of Han's Baichuan Valley, spoke angrily. "Even if this really was your plan, how do you explain the five hundred thousand men you left behind to cover the retreat?"

"Pfft!" Wu Gongling sprayed a mouthful of wine to one side and set down the jar.

"What five hundred thousand troops?"

"I think Elder Cao isn't mourning those five hundred thousand men at all. You're mourning the disciples the six sects lost!"

"What kind of five hundred thousand troops were those? They were a pack of rabble. Could we possibly run while dragging people like that along?"

"With several regional armies chasing and blocking us from every direction, and with Yan having cut off the supplies coming from Han and Song, where were we supposed to find food for hundreds of thousands of extra mouths?"

"Can you produce it? Or can Elder Hui round up a bunch of women and squeeze enough milk out of them for everyone to drink?"

The final line made the expressions of every man present turn peculiar.

Several of them looked as though they were struggling not to laugh.

Hui Qingping's eyes widened in fury. "Wu Gongling, watch that filthy mouth before I tear it off your face!"

Wu Gongling ignored the threat and continued.

"So some people from the six sects died. What of it?"

"If no cultivators had been there to hold the position, would those five hundred thousand men have dared stay behind as a rear guard?"

"Without those five hundred thousand men covering our retreat, would you, me, and everyone standing here have made it this far safely?"

"That rabble bought us one full day."

"Only because of that day's gap did we have the leisure to maneuver our way here."

"Without them holding the rear, once we were entangled, once Yan's armies surrounded us, the six sects would have lost far more than those men."

"Count for yourselves how many of the people you brought would still have been alive to return home!"

"I planned and calculated until I nearly vomited blood from the effort. Instead of gratitude, all I get is hatred from you people. What kind of reason is that?"

"If you have objections, then all of you can leave."

"I don't want to keep playing this game with my head in my hands either. I don't want to watch more of my brothers die."

"At worst, we disband the army and everyone runs for his own life!"

Disband?

That was impossible.

The six sects of Han and Song had paid too great a price. They could not allow the entire affair to end without result.

Quan Taifeng said, "Stop feeding us useless nonsense. You only need to tell us one thing. What do you plan to do next?"

"Easy!" Wu Gongling pointed at the map, directly toward the border where the heavy armies of Yan and Song confronted one another.

"My objective is simple. The army drives straight to the border and joins up with Song's forces!"

The six Elders went still.

After all this turmoil and after circling around for so long, that was what the bastard had been aiming for.

Mo Ancong, Elder of Blood God Hall, warned, "We supported your uprising so you could create disorder inside Yan and make it easier for Han and Song to send troops. We did not support you so you could run and hide in Song."

"Let me make this clear. You have no road of retreat left."

"Only if Han and Song defeat Yan will you have any place to stand!"

Smash!

Wu Gongling swept the wine jar to the ground.

It shattered at Mo Ancong's feet, splashing wine all over him and instantly enraging him.

Wu Gongling shot back, "Not run? I only have three hundred thousand men left now, and we're still on Yan's territory. Supplies are a problem. Local forces constantly harassing us are another problem."

"Can three hundred thousand men hold against nearly a million troops from the regional lords?"

"If we keep dragging this out, where will my three hundred thousand brothers find food?"

"When the time comes, we'll collapse without even fighting. What fucking disorder will we still be creating then?"

"Can Han and Song somehow get supplies to us now?"

The question left them all without an answer.

Under present conditions, moving large quantities of supplies into Yan truly was difficult.

In fact, it was effectively impossible.

Mo Ancong said, "And whose fault is that? If you hadn't lost the route to the sea, how would your supplies have been cut?"

"Pah!" Wu Gongling spat. "I lost it?"

"Which useless bastard kept ordering me to contract my forces?"

"He rushed me like a ghost demanding my life, again and again without end. Does he know how to fight a war at all?"

"Now somehow this becomes my fault? Do any of you still understand what it means to reason with someone?"

Luo Zhao had been the one urging him to contract his forces, and the six sects of Han and Song had pressured him to obey.

Once again, the six Elders had nothing to say.

Wu Gongling pointed at the map.

"If none of you are blind, then open your eyes wide and look properly."

"Yan has heavy troops guarding the border. Do you really think I can simply slip into Song whenever I please?"

"Am I running?"

"I'm going there to fight for my life."

"I'm also going to put Yan's border army under attack from front and rear!"

"The moment my army reaches them and attacks, Yan's border deployment will fall into disorder. Song can seize the opportunity and launch a full-scale assault."

"With our two forces attacking Yan's border army from front and rear, that defensive line can be torn apart with ease!"

His hand moved back to the position of the pursuing armies.

"Yan has already fallen into my trap."

"I have successfully driven a wedge between the Yan court and Nanzhou. Now the Yan court has arrested Shang Chaozong."

"The Yingyang and Wulie Guards are no longer enough to worry about. Meng Shanming is no ordinary opponent, but I've forced him away too."

"And they've replaced him with that giant fool Shang Yongzhong as commander."

"The Yan court itself couldn't properly command the five regional lords. You think Shang Yongzhong can?"

"That useless fool only knows warfare from books. He's followed armies around before but has never truly commanded a great army in battle."

"And now he wants to command Yan's heavy border forces too?"

"If he doesn't command them, perhaps they'll be fine. If he does, the more he commands, the more chaotic they'll become."

"I have exhausted myself creating a situation this favorable."

"Now all we have to do is drive a knife into the back of Yan's heavy border army. Han and Song can immediately advance like splitting bamboo and divide Yan with ease!"

"Such a magnificent opportunity is right in front of your eyes, and you people somehow cannot see it."

"I've worked myself half to death, yet you treat all my effort as useless."

"Do Han and Song still want to send troops or not?"

"If not, say it now. We can split up now and be done with it!"

His speech drew all six Elders closer to the map.

After studying it and turning his words over in their minds, their eyes gradually brightened.

Quan Taifeng tried asking, "Will this really work?"

Wu Gongling nearly sprayed spit into his face.

"I turned Yan's interior upside down and Han and Song's armies never moved."

"Now I've also pinned down Nanzhou's forces and am going to help Han and Song stab Yan's heavy army in the back."

"Don't tell me you still plan to sit there and watch!"

"What exactly do you people want?"

"Contact that brat Luo Zhao immediately. Tell him to prepare and fully cooperate with my army's attack."

"If he still dares sit on the sidelines, then he's leaving me no road to live."

"If I'm dying either way, then fuck it, I'm done playing. Can I at least die free?"

This time, the six Elders truly had nothing left to say.

Not only had their anger vanished, their thoughts had actually become much clearer.

Without further discussion, they turned to leave one after another.

They intended to report Wu Gongling's plan upward and let those above decide whether it was workable.

Shan Dongxing released a heavy breath of relief.

Secretly, he shook his head.

This could work too?

He had to admit defeat before Wu Gongling.

Then the situation changed in the very instant everyone turned away.

Smack!

"Ah!" Hui Qingping cried out and whirled around.

The other five Elders looked back.

Wu Gongling raised one hand to his nose and sniffed it, wearing a lecherous grin.

Hui Qingping stood frozen in shock, one hand clapped over her backside.

The five Elders immediately guessed what had happened, yet could hardly believe their own conclusion.

Shan Dongxing, who had seen the entire thing clearly from the side, was utterly horrified.

For a moment, he wondered whether his eyes had deceived him.

Wu Gongling had actually dared put his hand on Hui Qingping's backside!

Even the two soldiers holding the map nearly dropped their jaws.

The scene fell completely silent.

Then Hui Qingping erupted in a scream of almost inhuman fury.

"Wu Gongling, I'll kill you!"

Shan Dongxing flashed forward in alarm and blocked her.

"Elder Hui, calm down!"

The other five Elders finally confirmed that what they had guessed was true.

They rushed forward as well and held Hui Qingping back, preventing her from acting recklessly.

Even they were stunned.

They had seen arrogant men before.

They had never seen anyone this brazen.

The man was simply insane!

"Let go of me! I'll kill him! I'm going to kill him!" Hui Qingping struggled and roared.

The disciples of Tiannü Sect were immediately drawn over by the commotion.

The moment they saw their Elder's state, they moved to attack Wu Gongling.

"Stop them!"

The five Elders called out one after another to their own disciples.

In an instant, people from the other sects, including Tongxian Pavilion, crowded around Wu Gongling and shielded him, blocking Tiannü Sect's disciples from reaching him.

Internal fighting was on the verge of breaking out.

Yet Wu Gongling stood behind the crowd as though none of it had anything to do with him.

A crafty gleam flashed through his eyes and vanished.

"This General lost his wife years ago and has never remarried. Ever since I saw Elder Hui, my heart has been stirred beyond restraint, and my feelings have been difficult to control."

"I hope Elder Hui will take pity on me and give the matter proper consideration."

"Beast! I'll kill you...!" Hui Qingping screamed in unbearable humiliation, her whole face flushed red.

Never in her life had she imagined she would suffer humiliation like this, much less at the hands of a rough brute like Wu Gongling.

Quan Taifeng turned and shouted at Shan Dongxing, "What are you standing there watching for? Get him out of here!"

Shan Dongxing came back to himself.

Together with a group of Tongxian Pavilion disciples, he grabbed Wu Gongling and hurriedly dragged him away.

Only Hui Qingping's furious roars remained behind them.

The two soldiers still holding the map watched Wu Gongling leave with expressions of outright worship.

They practically regarded him as a divine being.

His nerve was so enormous that he even dared molest an Elder of Tiannü Sect.

The only thing they lacked was the courage to shout aloud:

Grand General, mighty indeed!

[End of Chapter 662]