astral apostle
545 Recognition and Falling Out (1)
The soldiers advanced along the path and marched in silence.
Huang Ping led the route at the front with a solemn expression.
“Now, I’ve already dug out the Dingbo Mouth dike and caused a flood. The flood will soon sweep through the territory of Huyang. The longer it lasts, the wider the disaster. I’ve dug up the foundation of the bandits. This expedition seems to have been a defeat but is actually a victory… When I return to the Imperial Court, I wonder if I can obtain more rewards for my contribution.”
He knew that this would attract criticism from the court, but as a general who led the troops, he only cared about how to win the war. He would do anything to achieve this.
In Huang Ping’s opinion, being able to severely injure the enemy was better than exhausting a large amount of manpower and resources to return empty-handed. That would make the emperor even more dissatisfied.
“What’s done is done. As long as I warn these soldiers to watch their mouths when they return to the army, they should be fine.”
Huang Ping looked back at the soldiers and shook his head silently.
The main reason for silence and secrecy was to not be interrupted before completing the mission.
Now that his goal had been achieved, even if the bandits knew, it would be difficult to fill the gap. Therefore, he did not care too much about whether it was leaked or not. As for silencing his soldiers, it was easy to cause a mutiny, so it was not appropriate to do so.
“It’s a pity about this opportunity to lead the troops… The current Emperor is stingy and unwilling to invest in military expenses. It wasn’t easy for him to lead the troops to war. If he could delay for a year or two, we would have earned a lot. A pity we have no choice but to end the war early…”
Huang Ping secretly felt that it was a wasted opportunity.
However, at this moment, a burly figure suddenly appeared in front of him. He stood in the middle of the road, blocking the way. His appearance and characteristics were extremely clear.
“Villain Chen?!”
Huang Ping’s pupils constricted, and his expression changed. He hurriedly reined in his horse.
The soldiers got a bad fright upon seeing him as well. They held their weapons tightly as all kinds of rumors about Chen Feng flashed through their minds, and their bodies could not help but tremble.
“This path is barred from entry.”
Zhou Jing crossed his arms and spoke coldly.
His legs were stronger than others, so he directly rushed in front and appeared before the group of soldiers to block their way.
Zhou Jing stared at the soldiers. When he saw Huang Ping’s appearance, he paused for a second.
Why did this high-ranking general suddenly appear nearby? He was probably plotting something.
While he was thinking, Huang Ping did not hesitate. He immediately drew his sword and shouted,
“Quickly escape!”
When the soldiers heard this, they hurriedly turned around to escape.
However, at this moment, many figures appeared behind them. It was the Dragon King’s soldiers who had rushed over to block their escape route during their standoff with Chen Feng.
Just as the soldiers were in a dilemma, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded.
Whoosh!
Zhou Jing threw out a large spear that pierced through the bodies of the soldiers along the way, stabbing deep into their formation and scaring the surrounding soldiers so much that they fell to the ground.
“Throw down your weapons. Those who surrender will not be killed!”
Zhou Jing’s shout exploded, but in the ears of the soldiers, it was like the sound of heaven.
Without any hesitation, the soldiers decisively threw away their weapons and surrendered on the ground. They did not care about Huang Ping’s orders at all. Even a portion of the officers did the same.
It was really because Chen Feng had left too deep an impression on the soldiers during this period of time. He was infamous, and the soldiers present were also humans. No one wanted to be torn apart for no reason… Even in the camp where thousands of people were stationed, Chen Feng had entered just like that and fought. No one present thought that they could match him with their numbers.
If one violated the military law, they would die, but if they resisted, he would die even more miserably. They might as well attempt for a chance to live!
With just his ferocious reputation, he directly let this group of soldiers escape Huang Ping’s control. It could be seen that Zhou Jing’s actions during this period of time had been quite effective. Whenever any soldiers faced him, they basically lost their fighting spirit.
“Giddyup! Let’s go!”
Seeing this, Huang Ping knew that there was nothing he could do, but he did not want to sit back and wait for death.
However, Zhou Jing did not intend to let him leave. His figure flashed, and he moved even faster than a galloping horse. In a few moves, he caught up.
He simply did a simple Leaning Mountain Stance and sent Huang Ping and his horse flying.
Bam!
Huang Ping fell from the horse, and his legs were pressed down by the fallen horse. He immediately let out a painful cry.
“It’s over, it’s over…”
Huang Ping was sweating profusely from the pain, and his heart sank in despair.
He had dug a river and broken the dike to flood the entire Huyang. Now that he had fallen into the hands of his enemy, wouldn’t he be tortured?
He could not fall into the hands of the bandits!
He gritted his teeth and turned his blade inwards, wanting to commit suicide.
However, this did not happen. Just as he raised his sword, it was casually kicked away by Zhou Jing.
“You want to cut your neck? There must be something fishy about this intense reaction.”
Zhou Jing frowned at Huang Ping’s actions. He pushed the horse away and pulled Huang Ping out. He then directly broke the bones and snapped the tendons of the other party’s limbs to prevent any unforeseen problems.
This was one of the generals appointed by the Imperial Court, and he was even a descendant of a noble. His value was not low at all, so it was not worth it to let him die so easily. He had to bring him back as a sacrifice.
“What’s your motive for bringing troops around?”
Zhou Jing asked Huang Ping in a deep voice.
Huang Ping’s face was pale, but he remained silent.
“If you don’t answer, someone else will.”
Zhou Jing did not mind. He got his lackeys who had caught up to control the surrendered soldiers and interrogated them.
It did not take long for everyone to obtain information from this group of soldiers. They were all furious when they heard about the broken dike.
“Chief! This group of soldiers secretly ran to the Dingbo River Mouth and tore down the dike there!”
“These sons of b*tches actually want to cause a flood and drown Huyang!”
“The Imperial Court doesn’t dare to fight us fair and square, and actually used such a vicious and sinister plan. They really deserve to die!”
Many of the outlaws cursed non-stop.
Most of them were locals of Huyang. When they heard that the soldiers wanted to harm their hometown, they were furious. They wished they could draw their blades and kill this group of surrendered soldiers, scaring them so much that they all cowered in fear.
Zhou Jing’s face also darkened. He slapped Huang Ping, sending him flying as he yelled,
“Alright, looks like we’ve overestimated your bottom line. If we don’t kidnap your families and exterminate your bloodlines in the future, it will seem that we’re too benevolent.”
Huang Ping’s head drooped, and blood flowed from his mouth and nose. He was dizzy from the slap and could not even muster up the energy to refute.
Zhou Jing threw him into the hands of the lackeys and said in a deep voice, “Take care of this guy and bring him back to the stronghold. Don’t let him die halfway. That would be letting this dog off too easily.”
There was no news from Bill, so this should be a secret operation.
This time, the court’s actions would definitely cause an uproar in the world. He had a bunch of witnesses in his hands, so he could make it public and completely destroy the legality of the Imperial Court’s rule in Huyang.
However, before that, he had to resolve the flood caused by the soldiers.
If they allowed the flood to spread, not only would the people drown, but the farmlands would also be submerged and the agricultural production destroyed. There would be endless problems that would follow. The basic structure of Huyang would be severely damaged as well… This was the outcome that the Imperial Court wanted, and it was naturally something the stronghold could not accept.
Zhou Jing quickly divided the troops into two groups. One group escorted Huang Ping and the surrendered soldiers back to the stronghold, informing him of the situation and asking for help.
The other group followed him and headed straight for the Dingbo Mouth.
…
While Zhou Jing decided to turn around and travel, the flood had already spread to many areas and was still expanding further.
Moreover, it seemed as though the heavens were not on their side this time. The previous few days were full of heavy rain, resulting in the river water overflowing more, and the flood was worse than usual.
As the flood spread, the news of the water disaster quickly spread throughout the Huyang area, causing the local people to inevitably panic. They could not even care less about the war.
The imperial soldiers also discovered the flood and quickly sent the report back to the main camp.
In the central military tent.
“Hahaha, the heavens are really helping us!”
“Our army is in a deadlock with the bandits, but at this juncture, a flood has erupted. It will definitely disrupt the bandits’ formation. As expected, the heavens are blessing the orthodox line of our Great Xia. These rebels are not supported by the heavens at all!”
“This is the meaning of injustice will experience its own demise!”
The officers and soldiers were overjoyed.
They thought that this flood was a natural disaster and gloated at the misfortune of the bandits.
“I’ve long said that a traitor like Chen Feng will definitely suffer the wrath of the heavens!”
Ma Zhen’s expression did not change as he spoke solemnly.
He did not publicize his plan for the time being and planned to take credit after the dust settled. Therefore, the soldiers did not know that causing the flood was the commander’s plan.
However, although it was a secret for the time being, Ma Zhen was still a little smug.
However, at this moment, Ling Fengzi, who was listening in the tent, suddenly stood up and walked to the center.
Under everyone’s puzzled gazes, he slowly spoke,
“General Ma, I have something to report.”
“Please speak, Perfected One.”
Ma Zhen frowned and suppressed his annoyance.
Ling Fengzi flicked his horsetail whisk and slowly said, “The flood will cause endless calamity and affect the myriad lives. This Daoist has devoted himself to perfecting his cultivation and can’t ignore it. Therefore, this Daoist has to go and deal with the water disaster and try his best to save the people. I hope General Ma can understand.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the soldiers changed.
Ma Zhen’s expression instantly darkened as he said coldly,
“Perfected One, do you know what this is? The flood can severely injure the bandits, but you want to go and deal with the flood and help the bandits survive this calamity. If word gets back to the capital, what will His Majesty think of this?”
Ling Fengzi’s tone did not change, “This poor Daoist has a clear conscience. Regardless of whether General Ma agrees or not, I have to go.”
With that, he turned to walk out of the tent.
“Ling Fengzi! Don’t be ungrateful!”
Ma Zhen slammed the table. He could not stand Ling Fengzi’s behavior anymore.
“You’ve repeatedly disobeyed my orders and missed opportunities time and time again. That’s fine, but now you even want to help the bandits. Are you a friend or foe? Don’t think that just because the Emperor favors you, you can do whatever you want. Today, if you dare to walk out of the camp and ruin my battle situation, I’ll definitely impeach you. The loss of this battle will be all your fault!”
Ling Fengzi ignored him and walked out of the main tent without stopping. He rode the wind and quickly left.
The soldiers retracted their gazes and looked at the furious Ma Zhen. They all wisely remained silent at this juncture.
They did not expect their commander and Perfected Master Windwalker to fall out in public.
Ma Zhen’s chest heaved. After a while, he suppressed his anger and growled,
“You’ve all heard what Ling Fengzi said. If the flood is stopped, the villain Chen can recuperate and harm the country again in the future. It’ll be all because of what Ling Fengzi did today. I’ve already done my best, but he doesn’t listen to my advice. I can’t stop him.”
The soldiers hesitated, knowing that he wanted them to testify.
“Marshal, don’t worry. We saw it with our own eyes. Ling Fengzi ignored the country and helped a group of traitors. No matter what he says, it’s an unloyal and unrighteous act!”
Yuwen Yan immediately expressed his stance.
Everyone looked at each other and could only express their stance.
Ma Zhen nodded and did not dwell on this anymore. He coldly addressed the crowd,
“That’s good. This will save the chancellor from impeaching me for leading the troops. Since Ling Fengzi has helped the rebels, we don’t have to care if he lives or dies… Inform the entire army to retreat!”
“… We understand.”
Everyone’s expressions turned cold as they agreed.