Chapter 1550: The Royal Standard of My Father's Army!

Niu Youdao and Zhao Xiongge exchanged a glance.

Both had read the Demon Canon and understood what was happening.

Niu Youdao smiled. "That's exactly right. Behind this stone door is a Yin-Gathering Formation. It has some effect on the Commandery Princess's body. Commandery Princess, Prince Ning left behind a way to remove the ugly birthmark on your face all those years ago. It's behind this sealing stone. Today, your face should finally be restored to normal. Are you happy?"

Some of the others understood. Others stared at Shang Shuqing in surprise and uncertainty.

Shang Shuqing raised a hand once more and touched her cheek with her fingertips.

Of course she was happy. What woman did not care about beauty?

But she could hardly believe it. The ugly mark that had accompanied her for so many years could truly be removed?

Niu Youdao said, "Of course, that also means responsibility. This is probably why Prince Ning planted the ugly mark on your face in the first place. From the moment you remove it, you'll have to shoulder the responsibility Prince Ning left to you."

"I don't want to force you, so I need to explain everything clearly. Are you willing to open this door and accept that responsibility?"

The claim that he would not force her was mostly nonsense.

He had already brought her all the way here. At this point the matter had to be done. How could he allow Shang Shuqing to refuse?

Of course, he truly would not force her.

The reason he could say that was because he already knew Shang Shuqing would certainly agree and was extremely unlikely to refuse.

Asking for her opinion now was simply meant to gain her willing consent.

If she later acted reluctantly or resentfully, he feared it might affect matters.

What had been sealed inside was no ordinary thing.

Once someone grasped power of that magnitude, who knew whether their state of mind might change? Ordering Shang Shuqing around directly would be inappropriate and might even provoke resistance.

Far better for her to accept it willingly.

Hearing Niu Youdao speak so gravely, Shang Shuqing became uncertain.

She had been obedient and sensible since childhood and had never been the sort to boast or casually agree to something she could not do. With Niu Youdao making it sound this serious, how could she dare agree blindly?

She asked tentatively, "Master Dao, what's behind this sealing stone?"

Niu Youdao answered with ringing force.

"An army of thousands upon thousands left behind by Prince Ning!"

"..."

Shang Shuqing was speechless.

Why did it sound like Master Dao was joking?

Yet she also knew he would not make such a childish joke.

Even Lü Wushuang looked doubtful.

Shang Shuqing tried asking again, "Father left an army here?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "They should all be old troops who once served under Prince Ning. He left them for you to command."

Before Shang Shuqing agreed, he did not want to tell her directly that there were a hundred thousand Crow Generals here.

If she absolutely refused, perhaps he would never let her know.

Shang Shuqing remained puzzled.

Could there be some hidden paradise beyond this place?

She thought of that secret mountain village and felt it was not impossible.

"Master Dao, it isn't that Qing'er doesn't want to accept the responsibility. I'm afraid I'll mishandle it... I don't even understand the basics of commanding troops and fighting wars. If Father truly left behind an army, wouldn't it be more suitable to hand them over to Elder Brother? Even Sister-in-law the Princess Consort would be more suitable than Qing'er."

Niu Youdao shook his head. "His Highness would be useless here. He can't command this army."

"I've already told you: Prince Ning left them for you. From the moment he planted that ugly mark on your face, this surviving army was destined to belong to you alone. Beneath all Heaven, other than you, Commandery Princess, there is no second person who can command them."

Zhao Xiongge added, "Only you, Commandery Princess, can truly awaken this army and make them obey."

What kind of explanation was that?

Shang Shuqing's bright eyes widened.

Never in her life had she imagined she possessed such an ability.

And it was related to the ugly mark on her face?

She could not help touching her cheek again.

Lü Wushuang looked around.

Her cultivation might be gone, but her experience remained. Hearing this, and feeling the heavy yin qi around them, she could not help asking, "Could it be that this isn't an army of living men at all, but some ghost army Prince Ning left behind?"

More or less.

Niu Youdao gave a small grunt of acknowledgment.

A ghost army?

Shang Shuqing stared in surprise. She looked toward the stone door, her gaze pausing on the four words "Loyal Heart, Martyr's Blood."

With some unease, she said, "Master Dao, Qing'er is willing to accept the responsibility. I'm only afraid that because I don't understand these things, I'll ruin something important."

Niu Youdao said, "In wars of the secular world, His Highness and Marshal Meng command Yan's armies. They need not fear anyone, and there's no reason this force must be used in ordinary warfare."

"When Prince Ning prepared this army, it was probably meant to deal with cultivators."

"After I learned this place existed, the reason I didn't bring you here to awaken them immediately was because I did not dare expose them lightly. It also was not yet time to use them."

"Now eight of the Nine Saints have fallen. Only Wu Chang remains. That brute is difficult to deal with, and ordinary methods are useless against him."

"Now the time has come."

"The time has come to finish everything in one stroke. The time has come to use this army."

"I need your cooperation, Commandery Princess. I need this army to deal with Wu Chang. I need to use them to decide victory or defeat against him."

"So you don't need to worry. They aren't going onto an ordinary battlefield. I'll be beside you and tell you how to use them. You don't need to carry too many concerns."

"Of course, fighting Wu Chang will certainly involve enormous danger. Commandery Princess, are you afraid?"

These were things he still had to make clear to Shang Shuqing.

Now she understood.

Shang Shuqing answered without hesitation, "I'm not afraid! So long as Master Dao believes it can be done, Qing'er is willing to go through fire and boiling water to shoulder this responsibility."

"Good!" Niu Youdao nodded with satisfaction. "The Commandery Princess understands righteousness. You are indeed Prince Ning's daughter."

He turned and personally walked to the enormous sealing stone.

Yun Ji took Shang Shuqing by the arm and led her farther aside.

Yuan Gang and Zhao Xiongge moved away as well.

Niu Youdao placed both hands against the huge stone and exerted spiritual power, pulling it backward.

The round boulder began rolling with a deep, grinding rumble.

The instant a gap opened in the sealed entrance, a howling gust of yin wind burst out.

Those who had never been here immediately became highly alert.

The enormous stone continued rumbling backward until it reached the wall behind it.

Niu Youdao drew over a rock Yun Ji had left here on their previous visit and wedged it beneath the boulder so it would not roll loose.

Then, robes fluttering in the cold wind, he walked toward the black entrance where the yin wind wailed.

Yun Ji led Shang Shuqing forward.

Zhao Xiongge followed, along with Yuan Gang carrying Lü Wushuang on his back.

From inside came a faint, hollow rustling sound, as though something were drifting in the dark.

Niu Youdao reached one side of the doorway and began feeling around with his hand.

The others, however, were drawn toward the strange sight in the darkness ahead.

Countless eerie red lights, each no larger than a mosquito, drifted uncertainly in the blackness with an almost bewitching quality.

Pop!

Niu Youdao pulled something beside the entrance.

A gurgling flow immediately sounded.

Then the sharp smell of lamp oil drifted out on the wind.

A spark appeared.

With a whoomph, flame suddenly blazed.

The light grew brighter and brighter.

Those who stepped forward saw a line of fire extending continuously through a winding trench, following the flowing oil deeper and deeper into the darkness.

As the fire spread, the outline of an immense underground chamber gradually emerged.

Before them stood what looked like a gigantic armory.

Weapons and armor reflected the flames with a cold, murderous majesty.

Even more shocking were the crows perched upon one weapon after another, each weapon planted upside down into the ground.

Black mist clung to every crow, impossible for the wind to disperse. It hovered around their bodies like congealed smoke.

The countless mosquito-sized red lights came from narrow slits in the crows' eyes.

There were too many crows to count.

No one could tell how many there were.

Every feather seemed to gleam with a dark, ghostly sheen.

Whoomph!

A great fire pit in the center of the vast chamber ignited.

Several large banners stood planted around it.

One great banner bore the embroidered character "Shang."

Perhaps because of decades saturated in yin qi, the character itself had taken on a darkened cast.

The same was true of the weapons and armor around it, all carrying a gloomy black tinge.

Shang Shuqing's gaze locked onto the great banner.

Her eyes reddened.

She recognized it.

Softly, she murmured, "The royal standard of Father's army!"

At this moment, she finally believed completely that this truly was something her father had left behind.

The others were focused on something else.

Lü Wushuang seemed stunned for a long moment before she suddenly cried out, "Crow Generals!"

She had seen Crow Generals before and knew what they looked like.

The Wuliang Garden had once been guarded by them.

Zhao Xiongge drew a deep breath.

He had long known more or less what was here, yet the scale before his eyes still shocked him.

Word by word, he said, "A hundred thousand Crow Generals!"

Only seeing it with one's own eyes could make the number real.

The scale was truly vast and magnificent, enough to shake the heart.

One could imagine how much effort Senior Brother Dong Guo and the others had poured into this all those years ago.

A grave look appeared on Yuan Gang's face as well.

At last he understood what Master Dao had meant by broadening his horizons.

He had to admit this truly qualified.

Most people in the world could live lifetime after lifetime without ever seeing such a sight. Missing it would indeed have been a pity.

Yun Ji's reaction was calmer.

After all, this was her second time here.

Niu Youdao nodded and swept one hand toward the chamber. "Correct. These are the hundred thousand Crow Generals Prince Ning left behind!"

The words "hundred thousand Crow Generals" brought Shang Shuqing back to herself.

She had never seen such creatures before and had not known what they were. Only now did her attention truly shift to the ghostly black-feathered crows.

These were Crow Generals?

Something occurred to her.

She looked at Niu Youdao and asked, "Master Dao, then what Mister Lan said all those years ago about a hundred thousand Crow Generals was true? It wasn't a rumor he invented?"

Niu Youdao said, "Lan Ruoting only happened to overhear a conversation between his teacher Luo Shaofu and Prince Ning. He caught only a few fragments and thought they were merely speaking idly. He didn't know these forces truly existed."

"Of course, that conversation inspired him later and gave him an excuse to protect His Highness while he was imprisoned."

"Lan Ruoting only stumbled onto the truth by accident."

Lü Wushuang suddenly looked deeply alarmed. "How is this possible? How many years have these things existed?"

Niu Youdao said, "They should have been prepared not long after the Commandery Princess was born. Their age should be roughly the same as hers. At least thirty years."

"More than thirty years?" Lü Wushuang looked appalled. "I heard the rumors about a hundred thousand Crow Generals too, but this shouldn't be possible."

"Wu Chang himself knows how to refine Crow Generals. If they could truly persist like this, why would Wu Chang have done nothing?"

"The Crow Generals that guarded the Wuliang Garden had to be personally killed by Wu Chang after a certain period. Otherwise, once too much time passed, even he would no longer be able to control them."

Niu Youdao said, "They're standing right in front of you. What is there left to call impossible?"

"Wu Chang should have refined quite a few Crow Generals in secret at Xianyin Mountain."

Lü Wushuang snapped her gaze toward him. "You mean Wu Chang deceived us?"

"Impossible!"

"At Xianyin Mountain, he might have hidden something from us for a while. But with so many people constantly coming and going there, there is no way he could have concealed something on this scale from us for so many years."

[End of Chapter 1550]