Chapter 644: Fire

It was June 29th, Year 289 of the Norland calendar. The people of the prairie would always remember this day for years to come.

The old Khan had died, and the news was spreading. The residents of the Royal Court, who always thought that the chaos would stop at the last moment, had finally given up all hope. Some fled, some joined in the killing and looting, and many more became a sumptuous feast for the chaos.

In this feverish atmosphere where they were still trying to confirm and find their enemies, the kings lost their coolness and accused each other of being the chief culprit of the old Khan’s death, and launched a merciless massacre.

Two kings died from assassinations. The tribes of King Kuari and King Rizhu became sworn enemies. And another three kings died in the chaos caused by war, sowing more hatred.

Aside from all the chaos, it was particularly hot that day. Even in the early morning people felt that the air was suffocatingly hot and irritable. Even if there were no chaos of war, many people would have ridden out into the wilderness on the outskirts.

The flames leaped rapidly from one dry tent to another, and had soon spread from the noble area to the surrounding areas until it finally devoured the entire Royal Court, including even the Khan’s main tent.

The Royal Court had become scorched earth before noon but the fire wasn’t over yet. It spread into the wilderness for dozens of miles before it finally came to an end.

The big fire left a deep impression on the survivors, who naturally associated it with the death of the Khan. They even inadvertently distorted the sequence of the events to form the narrative that the Khan had died as a result of the divine fire.

Countless rumors were flying left and right at the beginning of the chaos. A great clamor had gathered around these rumors and the idea of enchantresses was quite eye-catching. Many people believed that not only had they killed the Khan but they had also spread hatred and anger everywhere.

In the end, the enchantresses failed to fight off the divine fire, and the rumors gradually melded into one consistent story: The Khan was the divine fire of heaven and when he returned to his original form, he took away all the people he liked.

The image of the old Khan became loftier, and the transition from demigod to god was complete. The people of the Norland preferred this rumor to the truth and treated it as a fact. From then on, many tribes even burned the living as a sacrificial offerering to the Old Khan every year on that day.

This rumor was more lethal than the big fire in the Royal Court. The five surviving kings felt the mounting pressure. A month later, one of them committed suicide in public to prove that he was a son that the Khan liked.

In the series of events, few people knew of or followed the skirmishes that took place in the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Although the female soldiers were inevitably labeled as ‘enchantresses,’in a few rumors, this special army from a faraway country had also been engulfed in the conflagration.

Occasionally someone would talk about that dual between top-notch experts, and the audience would listen with gusto and then laugh in disdain, “How can a man run while on fire? You are so good at making up stories. The Dragon King is also a mortal. It’s possible if you are talking about the Khan, but the Dragon King… Haha, don’t drink too much. You are already drunk.”

Old Man Mu spared no effort in publicizing the duel but no one believed him. He was very angry because he had seen it with his own eyes.

The surrounding fire grew more and more intense but it hadn’t yet reached the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Lotus had challenged the Dragon King but at the same time didn’t. She then turned to Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei instead. “Choose.”

Without saying a word, Old Man Mu poked Shangguan Fei’s leg.

“Ah, choose now?” said Shangguan Fei, flustered, “Can’t I wait until you’re finished?”

Shangguan Fei wouldn’t have said that if he had time to think twice. He was very clever but always became bewildered when he was nervous, and he would blurt out his true thoughts when confused.

Compared to him, Old Man Mu was much more tactful. He pretended to seriously consider it before firmly saying after Shangguan Fei opened his mouth, “Dragon King, it has always been the Dragon King. Even when I was forced to join the Waning Moon Hall’s side, my heart was still with the Dragon King.”

“Me too.” Shangguan Fei found that he had made a mistake and quickly followed it up with another statement. Feeling that it wasn’t enough, he added on, “Lotus is ruthless, there won’t be a good ending for me if I follow her.”

Shangguan Fei relaxed a bit, but when he looked down and saw Old Man Mu’s surprised eyes, he immediately knew that he said the wrong thing again. It was enough to show his loyalty to the Dragon King, but had he offended Lotus for no reason? If the Dragon King was defeated, he wouldn’t even have any room to maneuver.

It was too late to correct it now. The Dragon King and Lotus had already drawn their swords.

A few men came out of the tent, who had been waiting for Lotus to come into the trap, but there was no need to hide now.

Long Fanyun walked in the front with a grandsword in his hand. He had finally come back in time with the reinforcements and lived up to the Dragon King’s trust.

The opportunity Gu Shenwei had been waiting for was precisely him.

The most important purpose behind Long Fanyun’s escape from the Royal Court with the Flame Foal was not to avoid King Rizhu, and neither did he run back to the Western Regions to remind Prince Duodun to guard against the assassination of Golden Roc Castle, but rather to bring in the reinforcements previously arranged by the Dragon King.

The reinforcements had set out on the east road almost at the same time as the Dragon King, saved Han Wuxian, and then slowly moved to the prairie before waiting for the Dragon King’s orders.

Gu Shenwei wanted to make sure that Han Wuxian was really under his control.

Although Lotus had said it very casually, Han Wuxian was related to her life and death for several years to come and therefore, was a powerful weapon that he could use to balance out the advantage that Lotus had gained and the hostages she had seized.

Gu Shenwei had to have a well-thought-out plan before he could unsheathe his sword unperturbed. He didn’t want to bear the pressure that the hostage might be killed during his duel with Lotus.

The two were equal in their martial arts skills, and even the slightest fluctuation in their mind could determine the outcome.

The two struck at the same time, one aiming at the heart while the other targeted the throat. They had learned the same kind of swordsmanship but took different ideas away from the very beginning. The difference had eventually grown so large that it seemed like they were using two different sword techniques now. The only similarity was that both of them were incredibly fast.

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Shangguan Fei rarely had a chance to stand aside and watch the Dragon King use his sword without taking any personal risks, but he didn’t see anything special about it. “Did they even strike? Who do I feel like they only shook the sword a bit?”

Although the two had been circling around after exchanging one move, Old Man Mu was still fascinated by it. “You know nothing. This is the best sword technique in the world. They are looking for each other’s flaws but both of them have no flaw so they could only shake their swords a bit. Do you know how hard it is to ‘shake it’? A little more is too much, and a little less is too bad, both are deadly…”

Old Man Mu’s incessant talk was interrupted by Lotus’s successive attacks.

Shangguan Fei’s face turned pale. “I’m doomed, the Dragon King is going to lose. One, two, three, four… Ah, I can’t even count how many times she’s thrusted out.”

“Fourteen.” Old Man Mu’s face turned stiff, not in fear, but in envy.

“Why didn’t the Dragon King make a move?” Long Fanyun also came to ask. Amongst all the people, only Old Man Mu could answer this question.

“He did. You just didn’t see it.” Old Man Mu’s eyes were fixated on the two locked in the duel with a gleam of greed.

He had fought against them before. At that time his power was intact, and not only was he able to escape from their swords but he also sure that he could kill them in a surprise attack. Now, more than a year later, even if his power was restored to its former glory, he wasn’t sure if he could do it.

Lotus’s swordsmanship pursued swiftness and fierceness to the extreme. With a heavy killing aura, each of her strokes seemed to be exerted with all her might. Another person might have to take a breath to perform a second stroke, but she had stabbed fourteen times in a row with almost no interval in between.

With the same kind of sword technique, the Dragon King had gone the other way, and restrained all his killing aura. Lotus attacked fourteen times and he also counterattacked fourteen times. It was just that each stroke he made disappeared before reaching its extreme like an everchanging cloud. Shangguan Fei and others saw the ‘cloud,’ but only Old Man Mu saw the ‘change’.

“How could it be so different?” Old Man Mu’s eyes still didn’t blink even as sweat oozed down from his forehead.

The female soldiers guarding the camp also couldn’t help but look on. And what they saw was much less. They could only see two people jumping and barely touching the ground like two whirlwinds clashing into together.

“There are enemy soldiers coming! A lot of people!” shouted a female soldier.

Neither of Gu Shenwei and Lotus could stop, nor did they have time to listen to the cries of anyone else. They had never paid this much attention to each other, only having the other person in their eyes and nothing else.

Han Fen felt sad for the first time as if a child had realized that her two best friends had gone their separate ways, and she could only follow one of them.

The choice had already been made. She swung her arms with force, and from her sleeve a thick dark smoke shot dozens of feet into the air which lingered in the air and lasted for a long time. Even though it was surrounded by countless flames, it was still clearly visible.

Old Man Mu, who was the first to react, shouted, “Kill her!”

Long Fanyun swung his sword and rushed out, several sabermen following. Shangguan Fei hesitated a bit and also followed. Old Man Mu moved but his eyes were still on the Dragon King and Lotus. He was really reluctant to stop watching the duel.

Han Fen was like an experienced conjurer. Colorful smokes came from her sleeves, hemline, mouth, and even from nowhere. Soon the pursuers behind her had fallen into a fog, coughing and hurriedly retreating for fear that it might be poisonous.

The flamboyant smoke formed a circle and surrounded the Dragon King and Lotus. Han Fen then disappeared.

“It’s the female soldiers of the Flower Camp!” The female archers of the Land of Fragrance felt a little relieved, and then dozens of them cheered in unison, “The instructor! It’s the instructor!”

The one thousand female soldiers immediately turned their attention from the smoke and the duel. The instructor Shangguan Ru was the one they cared most about.

Gu Shenwei and Lotus hadn’t yet reached the level of turning a deaf ear to the surroundings. Upon hearing the word ‘instructor,’ both of them were surprised and even their sword moves slowed down.

The swordsmanship that lost its killing momentum was no longer the Death Sutra Sword Technique.

Old Man Mu sighed but then cheered up. “Good girl has escaped by herself. The bad girl is going to bite the dust.”

Outside the camp came a familiar voice that was not loud but carried far, “Retreat, retreat now, the big fire is coming!”

Most people’s attention had been attracted by the Dragon King and Lotus’s competition. Upon hearing the reminder, they finally came to their senses and found that there were flames in all directions which, though still some distance from the camp, would become a catastrophe once it reached the camp.

The appearance of Shangguan Ru greatly increased the morale of the female soldiers, who jumped down the wooden ladders, led the horses, and lined up to retreat to the outside of the camp, busy but in good order.

Old Man Mu shouted towards the center of the smoke, “Stop fighting and start running for your life.”

Both Gu Shenwei and Lotus refused to stop. The sword moves, which had slowed down, soon became deadly again. Both of them wanted to end it today.

A group of female soldiers tried to rush into the smoke to help but retreated as soon as they got close. A blazing fire flared up inside the colorful smoke, which crackled and looked very frightening.

Looking from afar, Shangguan Ru saw two small figures jumping and moving swiftly over the gorgeous fireworks, who seemed less like enemies fighting to the death and more a pair of spirits dancing in unison.

“Dragon King…” Shangguan Ru cried out.

The spirits fell into the flames.