Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 76
Chapter 76: Arrangement
The Valiant Defenders had arrived along the shore of the Great Xia River. They joined forces with some of the soldiers from the West Tiger Barracks to deal with the 300 Longdu cavalrymen that had entered the capital together with Marquess Xianyu.
Xiao Shence sat on horseback at the back of the formation, He pointed at the burning boats on the Great Xia River and ordered, “There are Longdu soldiers on those boats as well. Eliminate them too. As for the Jade Fairy Boat, we’ll watch the situation first. No one is to approach it yet.”
There were two Ki Manifestation martial artists on the Jade Fairy Boat. The Valiant Defenders couldn’t be able to do anything about a battle of that caliber, unless the Jade Fairy Boat returned to shore.
“Yes, Commander Xiao!” The chiliarchs acknowledged the orders.
The Valiant Defenders swiftly boarded the burning boats to deal with the Longdu soldiers.
Just then, Niue Jue pointed to the Jade Fairy Boat and shouted, “Commander Xiao, the Jade Fairy Boat is heading to shore!”
“Prepare for battle. We’re up against a Ki Manifestation martial artist, but there’s no need to fear as War God Fang is also a Ki Manifestation martial artist. We just have to cooperate with him,” Xiao Shence ordered.
Niu Jue and the others grimly nodded. This was their first time dealing with a Ki Manifestation martial artist, so they were nervous about it.
Ye Dongming soon arrived with a group of people too. Upon spotting Xiao Shence, he quickly rushed forward and asked, “Commander Xiao, how is my son?”
“Minister Ye, your son should still be on the Jade Fairy Boat. The Jade Fairy Boat is moving to shore right now, so we should know soon enough,” Xiao Shence replied as he warily eyed the approaching Jade Fairy Boat.
Ye Dongming was nervous. He couldn’t allow Ye Qinghe to die, as the latter was his only heir. Otherwise, their Ye Clan would end with him!
Soon, the Jade Fairy Boat arrived on shore.
The warring Longdu cavalrymen felt a huge morale boost. One of them even shouted, “Marquess Xianyu has arrived on shore! Let’s work harder to massacre these lowly boors of Great Xia! We’ll be handsomely rewarded for our contribution!”
This spurred the Longdu cavalrymen to fight with greater valiance and tenacity.
Shock swiftly rippled through their ranks when they noticed that the person alighting from the Jade Fairy Boat wasn’t Marquess Xianyu but Fang Chen. Even Xiao Shence was taken aback too, as he ordered Niu Jue and the others to hold their grounds so as to figure out the situation.
Fang Chen first alighted with his people, followed by the shocked customers of the Jade Fairy Boat, then a group of flamboyant ladies. Till the end, Marquess Xianyu didn’t appear at all.
They tightly followed Fang Chen, keeping a fixed distance between them as if it was the only way they would feel safe in this time of crisis. If not to avoid hindering Fang Chen, they might have just squeezed close to him.
Only Jade Fairy dared to hold Fang Chen’s arm.
“Where’s Marquess Xianyu?” Xiao Shence asked with doubtful eyes.
Ye Dongming saw someone carrying Ye Qinghe down from the boat, and he suddenly experienced intense vertigo that nearly sent him tumbling from his steed.
“We have claimed Marquess Xianyu’s head,” Xu Ge’s voice echoed loudly along the shoes of the Great Xia River. “You need to work harder to eliminate the Longdu cavalrymen!”
The morale of the Valiant Defenders and West Tiger Barracks’ soldiers were roused, whereas the Longdu cavalrymen fell into a panic. They couldn’t believe what they had just heard, but the conspicuous absence of Marquess Xianyu added credence to his words.
The overwhelming disparity in morale resulted in the downtrodden Longdu cavalrymen swiftly suffering grievous losses.
“Marquess Xianyu is dead?” Startled, Xiao Shence hurriedly led his men up to Fang Chen.
Ye Dongming snapped out of his daze too. He galloped to Ye Qinghe and leaped off his steed. “Qinghe!”
“Minister Ye, Brother Ye is fine. He’s knocked out from being slapped,” one of Ye Qinghe’s friends said.
Qinghe is alive?! Ye Dongming heaved a sigh of relief. His heart slowly regained its composure, and he reflexively glanced in Fang Chen’s direction.
“War God Fang, is Marquess Xianyu really dead?” Xiao Shence asked with a bewildered frown.
“Would I lie about that?” Fang Chen laughed. He pointed behind and said, “His corpse is there.”
A few people were hauling a couple of charred corpses from the Jade Fairy Boat. Xiao Shence and Ye Dongming immediately realized what had happened. They must have died to the Purple Lightning Palm. That was how the Greenpine Ki Control martial artist died back then too.
But this meant that… Marquess Xianyu and his subordinates were really killed by Fang Chen!
Killing a Ki Manifestation martial artist? The Fang Chen from five years ago couldn’t have done that. He failed to even hurt Wolf Marshall Xiao!
“War God Fang, it’s thanks to you that my son survived the ordeal. Please accept my bow!” Ye Dongming clasped his fist and bowed to Fang Chen.
He was a second-grade official, one of the Six Ministers, but there was not a person who thought that his gesture was inappropriate.
Ye Qinghe’s cronies looked at this scene with bizarre expressions. They dared not reveal that Fang Chen had ordered his subordinate to knock out Ye Qinghe…
“Minister Ye is too courteous. I’ll leave things here to the two of you,” Fang Chen said.
“Young master, the Jade Fairy Boat is currently out of commission. Would it be convenient for me to stay in the Fang Manor for a few days?” a woman humbly asked.
The crowd was taken aback. Xiao Shence and the others recognized the woman to be the Jade Fairy Boat’s Jade Fairy, the capital’s number one beauty!
“You may stay in my residence for a few days then.” Fang Chen nodded before taking his leave with Xu Ge, Jade Fairy, Huangfu Jie, and the others.
The other ladies enviously looked at the scene until Madam Liu berated them, “Do you want to stay at the Fang Manor as well? Stop dreaming and help me look for an inn to stay in!”
Madam Liu bade her farewell to Xiao Shence, Ye Dongming, and the others before quickly leaving with her ladies.
“I heard the crown prince once invited Jade Fairy over for a night, only to be turned down…” Xiao Shence murmured as he looked at Fang Chen’s departing silhouette.
“You have to admit there’s a gap between them,” Ye Dongmind blurted out, only to realize that he had said something inappropriate. He quickly bade Xiao Shence farewell and said, “My son has gotten injured. I’ll be bringing him back to recuperate. I’ll leave this place to Lord Xiao.”
“Go ahead,” Xiao Shence replied with an enigmatic smile.
…
It didn’t take long for Fang Chen’s group to return to the Fang Manor.
Fang Chen’s mother and the others heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that Huang Sihai hadn’t lied to them. However, they soon noticed Jade Fairy and frowned.
Fang Cangyou pushed his wheelchair over and assessed Jade Fairy from head to toe, asking. “Are you Jade Fairy?”
“This is my Second Uncle,” Fang Chen explained.
Jade Fairy curtsied. “Paying respect to the Second Master.”
“What Second Master? I’m not that old. What brings you here today?” Fang Cangyou probed.
“The Jade Fairy Boat was destroyed, and I have nowhere to go. I’m grateful to young master Fang for allowing me to temporarily take residence here,” Jade Fairy said.
“That won’t do!” Fang Zhixue immediately voiced her rejection. She marched up to Jade Fairy and stared at her before shaking her head. “It’s inappropriate for you to stay in our Fang Manor. Find an inn instead.”
“Zhixue, don’t be disrespectful,” Fang Chen’s mother said. She smiled at Jade Fairy and said, “Young miss, you may stay for the time being.”
She ordered the maids to bring her to one of the spare rooms.
“Chen’er, have you dealt with the situation over at the Great Xia River?” Fang Chen’s mother asked.
“Mother, it’s getting late. You should rest. It’ll be over by the time you wake up in the morning,” Fang Chen replied.
The crowd was startled. It’ll be over by the time we wake up?
Fang Chen’s mother was baffled, but she soon nodded. “I’ll take a rest first then. Tell your father to sleep in the study room if he returns too late. I haven’t been sleeping well in recent days.”
She then left with her maids.
“Big brother…” Fang Zhixue wanted to say something.
“You should rest too,” Fang Chen instructed.
Fang Zhixue was aggrieved, but Abbess Clearlotus stepped forward and took her away. She knew that Fang Chen was a cultivator and could easily deal with this situation.
When only Xu Ge and Old Huang were left in the room, Fang Chen infused his spirit ki into the Greenwood Puppet and instructed, “Head to the eastern city gates.”
The Greenwood Puppet quietly made his way off.
“What about us, young master?” Xu Ge and Old Huang asked.
“Old Huang, you head to the northern city gates. Xu Ge, you take the western city gates,” Fang Chen instructed.
The two of them turned around and left.
“What about me, young master?” Jade Fairy had returned to the main hall and quietly appeared behind Fang Chen to massage his shoulders.
“Change your clothes and wear some shoes. You’ll be heading to the western city gates too,” Fang Chen ordered.
Jade Fairy nodded before disappearing into the shadows.
Fang Chen drew out his soul to watch everything transpiring in the capital from the sky.
