Chapter 703: Curtains to War Open

Yu ChaoWei had just launched his movement techniques and was in the midst of speeding up. In addition, all his attention was placed behind him, so how would he even pay attention to the flat expanse of snow in front of him?

The two were hidden in the snow, and they were completely white as though they had merged directly with the snow. Even their hair and brows were colored white. If one did not observe closely, they would not be able to discover them even if they had walked straight up to them!

The two of them not only excelled in martial arts, but their ability to judge the opportunity to assassinate was also at the peak!

Yu ChaoWei only sensed that a large clump of snow pounced at him all of a sudden. Panicking he twisted his body, ready to immediately retreat, but during that instant he felt an icy cold numbness spread through both sides of his chest. Two swords just like venomous snakes had dug through his chest into his heart in that instant! Two streams of vicious inner qi surged forth from the swords, destroying his body from within.

Yu ChaoWei did not even have the chance to let out a shout before he dropped like a rock.

The vanguard general of the Yu Family, Yu ChaoWei, had died!

The two white-robed men pulled out their swords with a ‘shua’ sound. During that moment, their wrists seemed to vibrate, before pulling out the gleaming sword shaft untainted by blood. What was left were only two bloody holes.

Amid the flying snow, Yu ChaoWei’s corpse was buried under the snow in a blink of an eye, as though he had just evaporated from the human realm itself. A great general from the Yu Family died under the hands of the duo without any fanfare, as though it was the most ordinary soldier that had perished!

The duo exchanged glances before suddenly using their mouths to produce a series of chirping sounds. It sounded like a flock of hungry birds foraging for food. Following the sounds, countless white shadows blurred into existence, appearing soundlessly from the tent in the distance. Everyone orderly proceeded to another tent in the distance.

The killers were precisely Ling Feng and Ling Yun! While Yu ChaoWei’s martial skills might be above the masses, having stepped into the XianTian realm, he was still severely lacking compared to them! For these two killers to set such a trap to assassinate him, it was not out of expectations that Yu ChaoWei had fallen so quickly. It was within reason for him to have died so quickly!

And this was only a start…..

Within the tent, it was a hubbub of noise, creating a din. Everywhere in the tent, all the soldiers had a look of impatience or discomfort. Those who had just lost in gambling looked sad, lying on their beds or covering their heads, forcing themselves to sleep. Some were cursing under their breath.

This group of soldiers was the reason why Ling Feng and company’s operation was so successful this time. With this sort of weather, those who were adjacent to these tents were long ago in dreamland, and to block out the noise they had all stuffed their ears before sleeping! Also, the number of soldiers in the southeast area here was the least! Why? Because this place was facing the Divine Prefecture Empire.

No one would have thought that at this critical juncture, someone would launch a sneak attack!

This was the reason behind the success of the operation!

Naturally, the noise made by all the profligates was also an important reason behind it.

To have over 3,000 elites take action in this operation, with 200 of them being victors of over a hundred battles and two of them being killing gods, it was no challenge to face off against such soldiers who were defenseless and without a hint of battle intent! Only Yu ChaoWei’s guards had some measure of potential, causing them some delays in their movements. However, with the ghostly speed that Ling Feng and Ling Yun had displayed so far, it was a mere inconvenience.

The success of the operation led by Ling Feng and Ling Yun was hard to imagine, so this group of brats started to suspect that their operational details had been exposed, leading to the enemy setting up a trap for them. This was because the whole process went so smoothly that it was unbelievable!

The lead general Feng Mo waved his hand once, and the soldiers behind soundlessly proceeded forward. A pair stationed themselves outside every tent with their weapons at the ready. Meanwhile, a team of twenty positioned themselves encircling each tent, before slicing their way in. These people could not be more familiar in regards to the position of beds placed in such a tent, and this showed as they calmly sliced their way in to immediately cover the enemy’s mouths while mercilessly stabbing down with their blades. “Pu! Pu!” sounds continuously rang out, along with a random muffled groan or stifled scream now and then. After a moment, the twenty men would walk out orderly, giving a thumbs up to indicate success, before moving to the next available tent.

The 3,000 people noiselessly carried out their actions this way, reaping life after life simply and easily. As they moved deeper in, a couple of hundred men deviated from the group to occupy the stables and the warehouses. All of these places were important resource points, be it for themselves or their enemies.

Under the orders of Feng Mo, they purposefully avoided the rowdiest tents. This was because Feng Mo also discovered that it was the best form of concealment for them! To make so much noise that the surrounding men were forced to cover their ears as they sleep… just based on this point, they could be said to have made the most contributions! It would only be fair for him to let them live the longest as a form of thanks…

Furthermore, even if they spared this bunch of gambling addicts, how much battle power could they muster? However, if they decided to alarm the snake by beating the grass, deciding to kill them off along the way, that would spoil their otherwise perfect plans!

Feng Mo did not forget in the end that a force of over 30,000 was resting within this army camp! This was a good 10 times more than his own forces! He never thought before the operation that things would end up going so smoothly. Thus, it was even more crucial that he did not do anything that could potentially frighten the enemy, causing him to pay a huge price using the lives of his troops! After all, the disparity between their troop strengths was just too huge!

The best-case scenario would be if we can kill off all these soldiers here just like slaughtering pigs in their sleep, Feng Mo thought nastily to himself.

Ling Feng and Ling Yun floated along together with the snowflakes in the sky. The sentinels along the roads in the army base were all taken care of by them. Behind the duo, the 3,000 strong army noiselessly followed their footsteps. They were akin to a horde of grim reapers, expressionless and killing without emotions!

Heavily outnumbered, they were ready to kill what could be killed, without leaving any alive! Even the slightest pretext could cause unforeseen circumstances! To be merciful to the enemy meant plotting the deaths of their brothers! This was the motto Feng Mo gave the team before they were activated.

In the southeast direction, a troop that was wearing lambskin furs was rushing forward in the middle of the huge snowstorm with snow like goose feathers. This was the extra 10,200 soldiers that Feng Mo had left behind in advance!

However, Feng Mo’s wish was destined not to be fulfilled, as killing one, two, maybe 10 enemies would not cause any problems, but there were after all over 30,000…

“AH—— Enemy attack…” Following a scream of misery, the silent assassinations came to a halt. The dead silence of the army camp finally showed some form of chaos.

“What sound is that?”

“They said there’s an enemy attack…”

“Ah——”

Feng Mo’s troops immediately came to a discussion, to stop hiding their tracks. They rushed like the wind towards each tent, stabbing those who had just awoken from their dreams. But this caused more of them to start screaming out, throwing the entire camp into chaos!

Many soldiers ran out of their tents with their padded clothes only draped over their shoulder and still exposing their chests. From what they saw, all around them were the enemy, with no sense of the strength of the enemy. With the addition of miserable screams resounding everywhere, this caused even more people to be frightened…

Right when the alarms sounded, Feng Mo immediately pointed towards those tents that were engrossed in gambling without any expression on his face. Immediately, a group of over 10 people brought their blades, still dripping with fresh blood, and pounced into the tents. Miserable screams sounded…

“Kill!” Feng Mo raised his arm high as he shouted, “This camp is my army’s occupied territory, kill them all for me! Leave no one alive!” His voice rang out like thunder, shaking the surrounding air so hard the snow all fell off the tents!

“Divine Prefecture Empire, unrivaled beneath the heavens!” all 3,000 soldiers recited loudly, their influence imposing.

The Yu Family soldiers that were thrown into chaos rushed up one after another like headless flies, only to find out that their people actually had no one to give the commands! The originally calm and composed Marshall as well as Vice Generals had vanished into thin air, and they only sensed that the enemy was everywhere. Like a group of dragons without a head, no one could develop a sense of resistance, and immediately started fleeing in all directions. Bright gleams flashed around the camps as the light reflected off the blades that chopped down time after time…

There might be a few that existed with quicker minds who immediately ran towards the stables, thinking of snatching a few horses to better aid their escape. However, when they made it to the stables with much difficulty, what greeted them was the gleam of blades chopping towards them!

At this time, the frontier defense for the Yu Family’s barracks began to panic and scream like they were being fried in a wok. While surrounding most of them were their own fellow comrades, most of them were too busy escaping to even notice. If they had stopped to carefully observe, they would have noticed that the number of their troops far outstripped that of Feng Mo’s 3,000. However, in the chaos, without a rallying call, there was no fighting strength of the enemy to speak of. Coupled with the unified will of the soldiers on the Divine Prefecture Empire’s side, even if the Yu Family’s army was like a herd of antelopes, how would they dare to fight against a fierce tiger?

Originally, the defensive army for the Yu Family’s camp would of course be comprised of elite troops. They could be considered as disciplined troops, but once they were attacked, without a head to command them, the morale of the soldiers plummeted to rock-bottom. They were no different from a horde of wild boars. From them not to engage in slaughtering their teammates in their rush to escape was already good enough, let alone put up resistance! So what if their numbers overwhelmed the enemy? Being surrounded by them right now, survival was the most important task at hand!

From the southeast, a muffled sound of orderly footsteps could be heard, and following that, a group of snow-white troops walked out from the snowstorm, akin to a dragon appearing from the darkness.

“Our reinforcements are here! Kill with all your might!” Feng Mo brandished his blade, conveniently disposing of a Yu Family soldier who aimlessly ran towards him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Those who surrender will be spared! Throw down your weapons, hug your head and kneel!”

“Those who surrender will be spared! Throw down your weapons, hug your head and kneel! All the soldiers from the Divine Prefecture Empire chorused.

Ling Feng and Ling Yun employed their movement techniques, coming and leaving like the wind as they left bodies in their wake, shouting now and then, “Those who surrender will be spared!”

At this point, their foresight of hiding Yu ChaoWei’s body came into use here. Feng Mo bid someone to raise high a pole with the Yu Family Marshall’s body hung atop it. This destroyed the final barrier of resistance the soldiers had within their hearts, and in their despair they all obeyed the words and threw down their weapons, kneeling on the ground. Even their marshall had been strung up, why bother to throw away their lives needlessly?

Feng Mo ignored those who had surrendered, leading the rest to storm the remnant pockets who were putting up their final resistance!

He had to ensure that the supplies here were accounted for, as this was what he and his 15,000 strong army were counting on to survive. If this plan was wrecked by overzealous resisting soldiers as their final retaliation, then the consequences would be unimaginable!

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Following the cries of “Those who surrender will not be killed”, huge swathes of soldiers knelt on the ground. The resisting pockets were completely killed off, and only about 1,000 enemies managed to get hold of the warhorses and escape. The Divine Prefecture Empire had thus utilized 15,000 men to overcome 30,000 with overwhelming success! Only 100 of their men had perished, with 300 suffering from light injuries. This could be considered a glorious achievement.

Strictly speaking, the 12,000 soldiers that appeared at the end did not play much of a part. It was only the first 3,000 that were responsible for a big part of this defeat for the Yu Family! 3,000 soldiers defeating 30,000! Who would even believe that?!

After taking possession of Yu ChaoWei’s tent, Feng Mo was gulping down the enemies’ wine with big gulps, chowing down on their food with big mouthfuls, thinking about how good life was.

After occupying the camp, he had commanded the corpses to be buried, followed by giving his troops a brief moment of respite before they moved further into the Yu Family’s territory.

Their time of enduring the hunger and cold weather on the journey over to attack had temporary come to a halt, and their difficult days were also considered over. Everyone burst out into smiles. Only Feng Mo was aware that the entire operation had just begun, and there were still tougher problems and more dangers to face later!

“We have occupied the camp, and obtained sufficient supplies to last us. Let’s hear what opinions all of you have on how we should proceed.” Feng Mo had on a solemn expression as he spoke to the 10 odd people seated in a circle around him. “Our position now is precarious. We might have won a great victory by taking down a huge encampment of the Yu Family with close to no casualties, but by doing so, we have started a blood feud with them. I believe the Yu Family will retaliate soon, and in our current circumstances, without half a month or more, we cannot return to the empire! We can choose to infiltrate deeper, but we might end up being annihilated by the Yu Family soldiers, or we can turn turtle and defend, but with our current strength we definitely cannot endure the retaliation! We will only have a single outcome, that is to be completely routed.”

“What are we scared of? If they send soldiers, we will use our generals to block; if they send water, we’ll use the earth to shield us! If they dare to come, we’ll utterly defeat them!” One of the Blood Iron Warrior had stuffed himself completely full, and in addition to the great victory they achieved, was full of confidence. He immediately spoke without thinking.

“Stupid! We have 15,000 brothers here, of course we’re not scared if the Yu Family sends out an equal amount. But what if they send out a force of 100,000? How are we going to withstand it? They can charge at us in waves, and we cannot retreat as well. Without reinforcements coming from behind, how long can we hold out? Do you wish for all our brothers to throw away their lives here?!” Feng Mo snapped in anger.

“Since over 1,000 of the enemy troops escaped previously, our operation here will be exposed very soon. It is a given that the Yu Family will come and seek revenge,” Ling Feng coolly replied. “This time, we acted before thinking and killed off almost the entire generation below the current heads, how would they rest after hearing this? There’s only one path left ahead of us, and that is to engage in bloody slaughter to the end. What else is there to say?”

“How could I not know of this point? But, even a bloody slaughter needs to have a method to go about doing that! Do we just hunker down and wait for them to attack us, or do we take the initiative?”

“Even if it’s risky, it would be better to take the initiative to meet them in battle! Kill till the heavens turn upside down!” Ling Yun slowly spoke. “Take today as an example, where we cannot retreat and are also short of reinforcements. Let’s use war to breed war! We’ll stab deep into the Yu Family with all our strength, wantonly destroying them. At the same time, we can split ourselves into small teams. If we encounter an encirclement by the Yu Family, we still divide and conquer, each team seeking their own way out. No matter what, even if we were to die here, the Yu Family will have to pay the most painful price to take us down.”

After pausing for a moment, Ling Yun then stared at Feng Mo as he icily continued, “Now that matters have reached this point, none of us should harbor thoughts of leaving alive. Since it will be a road of death no matter what, then we’ll cut off all our means of retreat and gamble! If we huddle here, it will be a death sentence. Instead, if we take the initiative there is still a slim chance to survive and maybe even narrowly escape!”

Feng Mo snorted. “For us, we can all choose not to return, but not the two of you! If not, how will I, Feng Mo, account to Young Noble and Ling Jian?” While Ling Tian had already become the monarch of a nation, Feng Mo and the rest still stuck to their old habits of addressing him as ‘Young Noble’.

“If we wanted to go back, then we would have long returned!” Ling Feng coldly remarked. “Do you think this bullshit snowstorm could actually hinder us? However, to have 15,000 of our brothers die here, even if the two of us make it back, will our hearts still be at ease? We’ll conquer and retreat with you guys!”

“But if you were to die, then what would happen to Ling Jian and Young Noble? You need to think of the big picture!” Feng Mo was infuriated, stubbornly standing his ground. “Do you want me to die knowing that in the end, I’ve let Young Noble down? If you guys really end up dying, do you think I can rest easy as well? Young Noble spent so much effort and resources to nurture you two, was it just for you to throw your lives away here?!”

The two of them glared daggers at each other like cocks about to fight, neither wanting to give way.

“Truth be told, it is not confirmed that we have no hope of survival. Didn’t I say that just now, to take the initiative to attack would be like having a 90% chance of dying? We still have hope, and going out to attack doesn’t necessarily equate to sending ourselves into the enemy’s stomach!” Ling Yun was strangely calm as he stared at the battlefield map, slowly saying, “Look at this, from the start we only thought of occupying other camps of the enemies or to huddle in. But we never thought of other possibilities. If we retreat back to the mountains, then what will happen? Right now, our supplies are enough to feed 30,000 men for a month, or maybe even more. If we were to bring all these supplies and retreat back into the mountains, we will be able to last for at least three months! Furthermore, if needed, we can still kill the horses for sustenance! The mountain is also full of snow, we can always melt the snow to get clear water. Also, look over here,” Ling Yun pointed at one of the mountain tops. “This place is easy to defend, hard to attack. The cliffs are also precipitous. Behind us is also our previous encampment, which is familiar ground to us. So long as we defend this mountain pass, then we can wait till its spring. At the very worst, we just need to retreat out of the mountains.”

After hearing his plans, Feng Mo and Ling Feng no longer argued, immediately crowding around the map. After a while, the three of them finally exchanged glances, nodding their heads.

Ling Feng fist-bumped Ling Yun’s shoulder as he praised, “What a good lad, how did you even come up with this?!”

Ling Yun’s face was red from the praise as he bashfully replied, “Young noble always mentioned, that so long as it is a situation, then there will definitely be a method to break out of the situation. To find a path of survival from an impossibility, one has to seek life amid death. Don’t you guys remember?!”

Ling Feng’s face turned red in embarrassment. “I do, but I never went to think deeper behind the reasoning in his words!”

“Since that’s the case, then let’s not delay any longer. We’ll put the plan into operation!” Feng Mo was decisive.

“The first group and third group will stay at the current location and arrange all the logistics for transportation, especially the bows, clothing, and medicine. Everything must be done in two days, and those that are unable to be transported on time must be destroyed. No error is permitted! The second and fourth groups will use the warhorses and send the injured to the mountains. When they arrive, they are to chop down all the surrounding trees and use them to create traps. The point is to cause the enemy cavalry to be unable to display the full scope of their capabilities. Employ our archers to locate shooting areas as soon as possible! Also, bring all the accumulated snow to the mountain pass, and set up fires there to melt the snow and mold them into walls to obstruct the enemy. The moment the entire army retreats, that will be the time we go fully on guard! The five groups will build a makeshift camp at the valley. With so many supplies, there should be no problem surviving for a while!”

Everyone stood up together, receiving the command before moving out to give instructions.

Feng Mo, Ling Feng, and the rest walked out of the tent. As they stared at the snow flying around them, with the accumulated snow already past their knees, they exchanged smiles. Ling Yun spoke, “While the closest army of the Yu Family is about 25 kilometers from here, their strength is not high, and consists of less than 20,000 people. If they really come here then they’re just seeking death! But if they wait for the main headquarters of the Yu Family to receive the news before sending reinforcements, more than two days would have passed. This time will allow us to fully retreat.”

Feng Mo smiled, but his expression was grave as he replied, “This makes sense. Kid, your brain is indeed quick. This will be an unprecedented tough battle for us, so everyone must prepare adequately, there’s no room for carelessness.”

Ling Feng and Ling Yun exchanged a smile as they sensed the killing and battle intent on each other’s body. The two of them had killed countless people, and seen through life and death. Towards this scenario they of course did not worry about it in their hearts at all!

A black messenger falcon took off from the hands of Feng Mo, and after circling the air once, let out a clear screech, before diving into the endless expanse of white.

At this moment, Bright Jade City had already been thrown into chaos!

A good half of the heads from the younger generation had been killed off! This shocking news shook the entire Bright Jade City.

Nobody thought this would happen. This was the time when winter was the harshest, along with the snow sealing up all the mountain passes, this should be the time where everyone was the most peaceful. But they actually suffered such a huge blow to their forces! The Yu Family elders who were absorbed in wishful thinking felt like they were hit in their heads by a huge hammer! All of them felt a burning rage in their hearts as well as a fervent desire to attack!

Previously when they allowed their own children and nephews to go to the front lines, it was part of their ingenious ideas to groom them. But now that such a disaster happened, would that not mean that it was them who had sent their younger generation straight into the den of the grim reaper? To have those with white hair sending off the black-haired ones in a final journey [1. It is considered a taboo for those who are younger to die before the older generation, as their elders would need to send them off], and furthermore to be the originator of this evildoing, who would understand their emotions?

There was even quite a number of the elders whom, having heard of the news, immediately fainted on the spot!

The group of elders in the Yu Family who were experts immediately made a racket, clamoring to be the one whom would lead the troops out to battle, exterminating those arrogant pricks from the Divine Prefecture Empire. That very same night, Yu ManLou sent out a military order commanding the surrounding army camps to encircle and annihilate the troops from the Divine Prefecture Empire, ensuring that none of them would be able to retreat to Sky Bearing!

At the same time, he commanded all the officers and men on the front line to pressure the battlefield, especially the area around Yan County, to ensure that no reinforcements would be able to aid the troops in their retreat.

The elder generation who had lost their younger generation of the Yu Family in this war numbered more than ten and were all clamoring to be part of the battle. Yu ManLou did his best to approve their petitions and so more than 100 experts made haste towards the front lines as well…

At the same time.

In the Imperial Palace of the Divine Prefecture Empire.

Ling Tian was seated at the window admiring the snow had his brows furrowed as he finished reading the message brought by a panicking Ling Jian. He did not hesitate, immediately sending down a group of orders in succession.

In less than an hour, the Sword Duke of the Divine Prefecture Empire, the previous Head of the First Pavilion, the number one assassin Ling Jian took off on horseback, bringing with him 30 brothers on horseback, as they rushed like a tornado into the snow, disappearing past the north gate.

This was followed by three consecutive grey messenger falcons being released, carrying with them the newest instructions from Ling Tian, as they flew towards the main camp of the Divine Prefecture Empire consisting of over a million soldiers.

The 15,000 soldiers that Feng Mo had commanded were mostly comprised of those who had originally been inside the Ling Family Courtyard. With the addition of the 20 Blood Iron Warriors as well as Ling Feng and Ling Yun, this loss was something Ling Tian did not wish to see, neither could he afford to!

Upon seeing that the news contained reports of large swathes of the Yu Family descendants dying, Ling Tian could sense the great danger within! How could the Yu Family not rage when they receive this news? What would they do in their rage, Ling Tian could naturally guess, because it was exactly the same as what he would do if his brothers were injured!

Thus, Ling Tian did not hesitate, sending Ling Jian as well as 30 other brothers to act as reinforcements for the expeditionary army.

This was destined to be a fight between the greatest experts!

Unprecedented, and never to be matched!

This was also the prelude to the all-out war between the two empires! Although, they had brought it slightly forward than the expected timing.

Furthermore, Ling Tian sent out a harsh military order regarding the situation in the North. No matter what happened, they were to report immediately! Be in during the day or night, there was not to be any delay in reporting!

The dark clouds of the war were finally drawing near.

While this was not in agreement with Ling Tian’s plans, he was not afraid at all! If not for this dragon robe he was clothed in, Ling Tian would have long ago personally led the troops to battle…