Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 79
Chapter 79: Immemorial Mausoleum
It was late at night, but the battle outside the city walls continued to rage on.
Longdu’s key strategy behind this operation revolved around ‘surprise’, with Marquess Xianyu and his forces wreaking havoc from the inside to slow the deployment of troops and eliminate key personnel.
Marquess Xianyu was a Ki Manifestation martial artist, after all. Once Fang Chen was suppressed, he would be able to march into the imperial palace to have a heart-to-heart talk with the emperor.
If things had gone down as they had planned, they would have Great Xia’s capital under their control within two hours.
Unfortunately, Marquess Xianyu had fallen in defeat, and the Ki Control martial artists under his command died out. Their strategy had failed. Great Xia had no trouble mobilizing their troops to the four city gates, and with their turf advantage, they easily warded off the Longdu cavalrymen.
The Longdu cavalrymen never received the promised signal from the inside. Instead, their commanders were slowly being picked off by Xu Ge and the others. This crushed their morale. They began to retreat while fending against Great Xia’s soldiers, leaving many corpses in their wake.
Fang Chen continued combing the capital bit by bit with his soul.
I don’t see any Blood Spirit Cultists, and the key suspects are moving normally. I can’t tell who the spy is, or whether those colluding with the Blood Spirit Cultists played a role in orchestrating this invasion.
Fang Chen brought his soul toward the imperial palace.
A group of officials were gathered outside the Imperial Library. From time to time, a servant would arrive to deliver updates on the battle, and the knowledge that they had managed to push back Longdu for now made them heave a sigh of relief.
In the Imperial Library, a grim-faced crown prince eyed the emperor in his peripheral vision before hesitantly speaking up, “Father, Marquess Xianyu died in Xu Ge’s hands. Mysterious experts also appeared at the four city gates. Xu Ge and Huang Sihai were among them, which suggests that these people are Fang Chen’s subordinates…”
“Yu’er, get to the point,” the emperor placidly said.
“Father, Fang Chen has been lying low for the past five years, but in truth, he was secretly nurturing a group of experts. Xu Ge even has the power to kill a Ki Manifestation martial artist! This shows that he harbors wild ambitions!” Xia Yu said.
Fang Chen chuckled under his breath.
The emperor was silent for seconds before replying, “The Fang Clan is one of the founding clans of our Great Xia, and they have loyally served our Great Xia for many generations now. Are you insinuating that Fang Chen might stage a rebellion?”
Xia Yu clenched his teeth. “There’s no need for Fang Chen to be so secretive about this if he isn’t planning to rebel! I suspect that his martial cultivation had never been crippled, and maybe his blindness might be a lie too!”
He paused for a brief moment before adding, “Even if Fang Chen has no such intention, he’s slowly regaining his prestige. After this incident, it won’t be long before he returns to the height he reached five years ago. It took a crushing defeat in the Three Realms Mountain to unravel the huge influence of the Fang Faction. If the Fang Faction makes a comeback, Fang Chen would pose a major threat to our foundation even if he has no official position or soldier under his name!”
“Your words make sense, but I don’t have the means to deal with a martial artist of his strength. Many people in the imperial court won’t turn a blind eye if I attempt to make a move on him too. Li Guozhu is one, and there’s also my Fifth Brother and Jiang Yushu.”
The emperor chuckled softly before adding, “You must be worried about Fang Chen bringing your Third Brother back and threatening your position, so you anxiously hope that I’d deal with him as soon as possible.”
Horrified, Xia Yu quickly kneeled down and exclaimed with a lowered head, “I wouldn’t dare! I’d be overjoyed if the Third Brother returned to Great Xia!”
The emperor massaged his temples and said, “You may take your leave now. Tell those fellows outside to head back and rest. We’ll continue the discussion in the morning.”
Xia Yu dared not to say anything. He respectfully backed out of the Imperial Library and relayed the emperor’s intention to the officials outside.
“Your Highness, we can’t possibly rest when Longdu is besieging our city!” an official cried out.
“You still don’t get what’s going on? Marquess Xianyu is dead. Longdu’s invasion is doomed. The battle will be over by tomorrow morning,” Xia Yu coolly pointed out before taking his leave.
The officials exchanged looks before turning to Li Guozhu.
“Head home.” Li Guozhu waved his hand and took his leave.
Fang Chen continued observing the emperor inside the Imperial Library, but the latter simply browsed through the memorials he had received earlier today.
The following morning, the battle finally ended.
Great Xia’s soldiers chased Longdu’s cavalrymen over twenty kilometers before returning to the city victorious. By then, there were only 20,000 survivors left in the 100,000-men strong Longdu cavalrymen.
The civilians passionately discussed this matter. Some of them headed out to take a look, and the soldiers urged them to help clear the corpse. It was summer, so the corpses could rot if they were not quickly disposed of. That would put them at risk of a plague.
Some things simply couldn’t be hidden.
The happenings on the Great Xia River’s Jade Fairy Boat had spread throughout the capital. Martial artists, scholars, and peddlers; hardly anyone hadn’t heard about it yet.
“Yesterday was incredible! I was on the Jade Fairy Boat with my old master last night when the Longdu envoy revealed that he’s Marquess Xianyu. He’s a Ki Manifestation martial artist, and he claims to be stronger than War God Fang. Their plan was to stall War God Fang at the Jade Fairy Boat while the Longdu cavalrymen besieged our city. Yet, Marquess Xianyu ended up dying in the hands of War God Fang’s subordinate, Xu Ge!”
“Xu Ge? You’re talking about Windcloud Sword Xu Ge? He’s able to deal with Ki Manifestation martial artists?”
“Shocking, right? We didn’t expect it either. Who would have thought that even a Ki Manifestation martial artist like Marquess Xianyu isn’t qualified to cross blows with War God Fang?”
“I heard that there were several mysterious experts fighting alongside our soldiers at the four city gates. They slew quite a number of Longdu’s commanders, firmly keeping the enemies at bay till reinforcements finally arrived.”
“Those people are likely War God Fang’s subordinates too. It’s only normal for our War God Fang to have such powerful experts under his command!”
The discussions among the civilians left Tao Yu and Ye Qinghe with bizarre looks. Ye Qinghe rubbed his swollen cheeks as his eyes grew increasingly sharper.
“Qinghe, you’re lucky to have survived despite being on the Jade Fairy Boat,” Tao Yu said with a smile. “Though I heard that you were slapped by Xu Ge?”
“Don’t mention it again. I’ll remember those slaps,” Ye Qinghe sneered. “My father wants me to thank Fang Chen. Are you coming with me?”
“Of course,” Tao Yu’s eyes glimmered.
The group made their way to the Fang Manor and relayed their intention to one of the Fang Manor’s servants.
“Our young master has gone to the Immemorial Mausoleum. Please look for him there if you have urgent business with him,” the servant shook his head and replied,
Immemorial Mausoleum? Ye Qinghe and the others were taken aback.
