Firmament Sword

”When we get back, we can’t let him off the hook!” Little Fatty said furiously. ”I refuse to believe he’s truly untouchable!”

”Actually... he *is* untouchable right now,” Huangfu Chongzhi said with a sigh of resignation. ”As long as my father, the Emperor, is on the throne, no one can bring him down.”

”Screw that. Let’s deal with the scum in front of us first,” Little Fatty said, puffing out his chest. ”That goddess already took care of the strongest one for us. Don’t let a single one of these bastards get away!”

In truth, he didn’t even need to say it. Xu Jie and Sui Yan had been cutting down enemies the entire time. A single charge from several hundred cavalrymen had shattered the formation of over a thousand elite soldiers, leaving them in disarray. The cavalry then began a merciless slaughter of the scattered troops.

This cavalry unit was clearly composed of battle-hardened veterans. Every one of them possessed a wealth of combat experience, and their attacks were steady, precise, and vicious. They completely stunned the elite soldiers.

Infantry already faced an inherent disadvantage against cavalry. Compounding this, the terrain was open and they had no defensive preparations. The blow was devastating. No matter how hard the infantry commander tried, he found it impossible to rally his elite troops.

When Xu Luo, Huangfu Chongzhi, and Little Fatty rejoined the fray, the situation immediately became a complete rout.

The enemy was routed, fleeing in disarray. Some had already started throwing down their weapons and kneeling on the ground to surrender.

Once one person started, others followed. This battle was simply unwinnable. Aside from the very beginning when they had caught Xu Luo’s group of five off guard and posed a minor threat, the entire engagement had been a one-sided beatdown delivered by the smaller force.

Their most powerful expert, the middle-aged Sword Venerable, had been killed with a single hairpin by a woman who appeared out of nowhere. From that moment on, their morale had completely evaporated.

By the end, the few hundred cavalrymen had killed more than half of the thousand elite soldiers. Blood stained the ground beneath their feet, and the thick stench of gore filled the air. Nearly everyone had lost the will to fight, and they threw down their weapons to surrender.

When Tang Yong and his men tallied the casualties, they found their side had suffered only one injury: a cavalryman who was accidentally crushed by his own stumbling warhorse. Of the enemy’s thousand elite infantrymen, over five hundred were dead. Another fifty-plus had died from the group of two hundred that the middle-aged man had led.

All the rest had surrendered.

Before long, Tang Yong and his men found the commander of the infantry unit and brought him before Xu Luo.

Tang Yong and Li Yu looked ashamed as they bowed deeply to Xu Luo. Li Yu spoke first, ”Young Master, we’re sorry. We arrived late.”

Xu Luo smiled and waved his hand. ”It’s alright. The important thing is that you’re here. I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it. If that had been the case, our only option would have been to retreat.”

The situation moments ago had been truly perilous. The enemy simply had too many men. Although Xu Luo and his friends were powerful, the True Essence within their bodies was finite. Once it was exhausted, they would have been in grave danger.

This was especially true when the Sword Venerable, realizing he couldn’t kill Xu Luo, had turned his attention to Huangfu Chongzhi and the others. If anything had happened to them, Xu Luo would never have been able to forgive himself.

”We didn’t expect this either. These people were hidden deep,” Tang Yong grumbled. ”We sent men to scout this area before and found nothing. Who would have thought that in just a few days, they’d show up here pretending to be building a city for you, Young Master. So cunning!”

At this point, the brothers Yuan Ren and Yuan Yi came forward to pay their respects. With looks of shame on their faces, they both knelt before Xu Luo. ”Young Master, we were ignorant that day and nearly brought you harm. Please, punish us!”

”Get up, get up. Why would I punish you?” Xu Luo stepped forward and helped the two brothers to their feet, smiling. ”If you hadn’t arrived in time today, we would have been in real danger. If anything, I should be thanking you.”

”Young Master, please don’t say that. This is just our duty,” Yuan Ren said. He then pointed to the cavalrymen who were busy tying up prisoners. ”These are all the brothers-in-arms we’ve gathered recently. Heh heh, they’re all seasoned old vets from the battlefield. As soon as they heard your call, Young Master, they all eagerly answered.”

Yuan Yi chimed in with a smile, ”These soldiers practically worship you, Young Master. A while back, they were all clamoring to go to the Southern territories and fight alongside you!”

”There will be plenty of opportunities in the future,” Xu Luo said, then turned his gaze to the captured infantry commander. ”Are you going to talk? Or should I give you a knife so you can kill yourself?”

The infantry commander flinched. He had been anxiously awaiting his fate, but Xu Luo’s words sent a chill down his spine. He understood instantly. ’They aren’t even interested in interrogating me. They either already know where I come from, or... they just don’t care!’

”Young Master... what is it you want to know?” After a moment’s hesitation, the infantry commander raised his head. His face was a little pale.

He didn’t look very old, perhaps in his thirties, with a fair, clean-shaven face. A flicker of terror shone in his eyes.

”About you, your army, the person behind you... I want to know everything,” Xu Luo said coolly. ”Of course, you can also choose to say nothing. That’s fine too. I can’t be bothered to ask. I’ll just give you a knife and grant you the mercy of an intact corpse.”

”I... I’ll talk!” The young commander spoke up with almost no hesitation. ”After I’ve said everything, will you spare my life, Young Master?”

”That depends on whether you’re worth it,” Liu Feng interjected coolly. ”If our reinforcements hadn’t arrived today, the outcome of this battle would have been... quite different. If we had been the ones captured, would *you* have spared *our* lives?”

”Fine, I’ll talk. After I’m done, my life will be in your hands, Young Masters!” The young commander knew that in this situation, talking might offer a sliver of hope for survival. Staying silent was a guaranteed death sentence.

”My name is Cheng Gang. I’m part of the Northern Army’s Lion Legion. I came here today under a secret order from Prime Minister Wei to assassinate Young Master Xu and all of you,” the young commander stated directly, selling out Wei Feng without a second thought.

”Oh? And what is your relationship with Wei Feng?” Xu Luo asked.

”Three years ago, I was secretly recruited by Wei Feng. He promised to get me promoted as long as I worked for him. Three years ago, I was just a Squad Leader. Now, I’m a Commander in charge of a thousand men,” the young man answered obediently.

”And how did you coordinate this time?” Xu Luo asked coolly, glancing at the corpse of the middle-aged man a short distance away, his eyes still wide open in death.

”He was a high-level retainer of the Wei Family who lives in the northern regions and rarely makes a move. This time, Prime Minister Wei contacted him and had him lead a large group to wait here and launch a surprise attack when they saw you, Young Master. We were to remain hidden. If his men succeeded, we weren’t to show ourselves. If they failed, then we were to strike,” the young commander explained.

”Heh, is that so?” Xu Luo gave the kneeling, seemingly honest young commander a wry smile. ”You’re not telling the truth. Was that... really how it happened?”

”Young Master, my life is in your hands... What would be the point of me lying now?” the young commander asked, his expression full of sincerity.

”No, you’re not telling the truth.” Xu Luo shook his head with absolute certainty. ”For a start, you are definitely not one of Wei Feng’s men.”

”I really am one of Prime Minister Wei’s men!” the young commander said frantically. ”Besides Prime Minister Wei, who else hates you so much, Young Master...?”

Xu Luo waved his hand, cutting the young commander off. He spoke coolly. ”First, when you mentioned Wei Feng, you showed no emotional response. If you were truly his man, then even if forced to surrender, mentioning his name should have provoked some kind of reaction—fear, respect, guilt... But you? You felt nothing. It was like you were talking about a complete stranger.”

Xu Luo smiled faintly. ”Second, from the moment you charged out of hiding to the moment the Sword Venerable was killed, there was a fair amount of time. It was certainly enough for you to communicate. Yet, the two groups acted as if you were complete strangers. You didn’t even exchange a single glance.”

”Furthermore, when you mentioned the identity of that Sword Venerable, your eyes shifted. You clearly weren’t certain about what you were saying; perhaps it was just something you’d heard. On the other hand, his group wasn’t surprised when you appeared. This... at least proves that you had some prior contact.”

Xu Luo chuckled. ”Therefore, you... are not Prime Minister Wei’s man at all. In fact, before this operation, you were completely unacquainted with anyone from the Wei Group. You were total strangers! Am I... right or wrong?”

The young commander stared at Xu Luo, utterly dumbfounded. He remained silent for a long moment before saying with a bitter expression, ”You might as well just kill me, Young Master. I haven’t lied, but you don’t believe me. Then I have no choice but to prove my innocence with my death.”

”Heh, you want to die?” Xu Luo’s eyes crinkled into a smile as he looked at the young commander. He then turned to Yuan Yi and said, ”Then let’s oblige him.”

Yuan Yi was taken aback. He felt they could still pry more useful information from the young commander’s lips and didn’t understand why the Young Master suddenly wanted him dead. In the past, he might have questioned the order. However, having heard so many stories of Xu Luo’s deeds over the past year, he and his men had developed a deep-seated reverence for him. He believed their Young Master’s future accomplishments could even surpass those of the Grand General of National Guardian, Xu Ji. So, despite being filled with questions, Yuan Yi simply nodded and grunted in acknowledgment before ordering his men to drag the commander away.

The young commander had never imagined the youth before him could be so ruthless and decisive, offering no quarter whatsoever. Shocked, he blurted out, ”You’re really going to kill me?”

”You were the one who said you wanted to die. Why are you asking me?” Xu Luo shot a look at Huangfu Chongzhi. ”Kill him!”

”You can’t kill me! I’m—” The young commander cried out in terror, but before he could finish, Huangfu Chongzhi’s sword pierced his chest. The rest of his words were swallowed back down his throat.

”Noisy,” Huangfu Chongzhi said flatly as he withdrew his sword.

The young commander collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot, his eyes still wide in shock.

Little Fatty, Xu Jie, and the others exchanged confused glances. They had never seen such a ruthless and decisive side to their leader. They were all surprised, wondering why both Xu Luo and Huangfu Chongzhi hadn’t let the commander finish what he was saying.

Xu Luo glanced at Huangfu Chongzhi and smiled, then waved his hand wearily. ”Clean this up. We still have a city to build here. What a mess.”