Chapter 392: Thirst for Blood
“You’re telling me that G.o.dfather, a 6th layer of Radiant Stage expert, actually…”Luo Yunhai widened his eyes.
Dugu Feng nodded gravely, “Yes, Eight Wolf Wardens are all tough, all Radiant Stage experts, all veterans. Never underestimate them on the field of battle.”
Everyone nodded.
If not for the Four Tigers of Tianyu saying it, who were engaged in wars all year round, the eight houses’ youths would’ve never known that the Quanrong had sent a mean bunch this time.
Luo Yunhai turned to the last two, his eyes never leaving the oldest person from his sight. Hair white, small yet sharp eyes, casting a veil of mystery over him.
“Elder brother, who is that?”
Dugu Feng mumbled, “Quanrong Empire’s Imperial Tutor, Han Tiemo. He is our Prime Minister Zhuge Changfeng’s equivalent!”
“Does that mean the enemy has sent his best over?” Everyone was startled, “How could they send someone of such importance to Tianyu? Don’t they fear an a.s.sa.s.sination?”
Dugu Feng shook his head, morose, “Quanrong Empire is unlike ours, who have the Four Pillars to hold up the nation yet each of them is filled with their own designs. Take G.o.dfather and Zhuge Changfeng for example, neither will accept the other. With years and years of constant fights at the border, they say Zhuge Changfeng had planned to go to the Quanrong Empire once, for peace talks, but never carried it out. Do you know why?”
“He feared the old marshal’s betrayal!” The chorus sounded.
Dugu Feng nodded, “G.o.dfather isn’t the type to do this, but it’ll be impossible for the Prime Minister to believe G.o.dfather completely. While Quanrong Empire’s commander Tuoba Tieshan allowed his son to come on this delegation because the Imperial Tutor is here to look after him. Why Han Tiemo has come in the first place is because Tuoba Tieshan has five million troops stationed at the border sending the delegation off. If any danger were to come upon the delegation, the army would march south and the empires would be tangled into a heavy war. This is the general’s accord!”
Everyone felt a shiver run down their spine.
[The enemy emperor’s left and right arm help each other while our Four Pillars are stuck in a conflict. If not for Tianyu’s vast lands and many talents cropping up, as well as the seven n.o.ble houses and the empire’s three guardian sects, we’d have long since fallen.]
Everyone shook their heads…
“What about the babe?” Long Xingyun licked his lips, enraptured as he was, pointing at the girl.
Dugu Feng deadpanned, “She is Tuoba Tieshan’s only daughter and Tuoba Liufeng’s younger sister, Touba Lian’er. Hailed as the number one beauty in Quanrong and owner of impressive beast rearing skills. But she is yet to show up on the battlefield and is of weak cultivation. There’s nothing about her worth mentioning.”
“Oh, brother Dugu, what kind of man are you? How can you use strength to judge such a fine specimen?”
Stomping his feet in admiration, Long Xingyun said, “She and our women are different, but it’s all in the style. I wonder if I can invite her over during her stay in Tianyu. A night in the warm candlelight, a beautiful entanglement, and the war of the nations may very well be a thing of the past!”
[Perv!]
The women rolled their eyes.
The men twitched and sighed. Dugu Feng said, “Brother Long, it’s best that you forget about her. She is the commander’s daughter for one, and although no one has seen her skills, she is no pushover. Don’t test her and turn this into an even bigger issue.”
“No biggie, some flowers you can pick, some you can only admire. This young master has his self-esteem, ha-ha-ha…” The beauty below simply danced in the infatuated eyes of Long Xingyun.
The others merely shrugged.
Veiled Dragon Pavilion’s young Pavilion Lord was a casual romantic, unlike the savage Zhuo Fan. He ought to know when to stop, no?
Meanwhile, Zhuo Fan stared down Tuoba Liufeng in thought. Then he grinned, “Telling you to step back is out of respect for you, far away guests. Do you really want me to do it?”
“Ha-ha-ha, if you must!”
Tuoba Liufeng grinned back and the Quanrong were looking at Zhuo Fan with mockery.
The spiritual beasts under them were their lifetime companions, listening to n.o.body’s orders but them.
As for cowering them, [Ha-ha, like that’s gonna happen!]
These weren’t your average beasts mind you, but comrades in arms as they had shed blood and sweat on the battlefield together. Their wills were tougher than ever.
It came as no surprise that no one believed Zhuo Fan was up to the task.
[Have it your way!]
Zhuo Fan snorted inside, took all the spiritual beasts in his eyes and his grin spread wider and wider.
Tuoba Liufeng’s instincts kicked in and his heart shuddered. As for the cause of the queasiness, he had no idea.
“Shove off!”
Zhuo Fan’s eyes glinted azure along with his bark. It rang louder and louder in the spiritual beasts’ ears.
It was then that a ripple swept across them.
The still cheerful spiritual beasts froze and their riders looked down stunned.
Before the riders could even grab their mane, the beasts were howling away.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone, the thousand spiritual beasts scampered off towards the city gates, running for their lives, paying no heed to the riders’ orders.
Something of incredible dread and terror consumed their minds, driving them insane and leaving them with only the instinct of fleeing. The bond between man and beast, forged in the thick of battle, through happiness and sadness, now laid broken.
“What the h.e.l.l? Stop this instant!”
Tuoba Liufeng’s mount was also frantic, but no matter what he said, it wouldn’t listen.
So he took to the sky, watching the thousand beasts on the ground stampeding for the gates, the six 5th-level spiritual beasts included. It only took a second for them to clear the city.
They left behind a bunch of rattled and sorry-a.s.s riders, with an unlucky few trampled under the horde, ending up with broken bones by the dozen.
There was not a face out there in another state than bugged-out and slack jawed. Except of course Long Xingyun’s gang on the second floor who only chuckled.
They had been through this kind of thing back in the Esoteric Debate, where Zhuo Fan scared away the Blood Crocs with a glare.
Using savage beasts in front of Zhuo Fan, was like asking for a beatdown.
Quanrong Empire, founded on beastmasters, had met their nemesis in Zhuo Fan…
The six people in the air faced this incredulous, inconceivable and preposterous scene with blank minds. Tuoba Liufeng even looked at his sister, “Lian’er, you’re the best at controlling beasts. Just what is going on here?”
“H-how should I know….”
Touba Lian’er soured for a second then recalled something. He squinted at Zhuo Fan for a whole fifteen minutes before crying, “It’s you!”
Zhuo Fan turned towards her, [Someone from Quanrong knows me?]
Zhuo Fan took a single look at her and his heart started beating a mile a minute. She was that same girl he had saved back in Beast King Mountain! The one he had swindled out of the Shaping Spring she had stuck her claim on.
[Oh, so she’s from the Quanrong Empire.]
Perhaps he didn’t care then to look closer, or it’s been too long that he didn’t spot her. When the Quanrong got here, all he cared about was their level. He had no intention to care about some woman’s looks.
Unlike that loaf Long Xingyun, who could tell on the spot how many moles a girl had.
Touba Lian’er hadn’t guessed either since Zhuo Fan now had a thick mane of white hair. But the instant Zhuo Fan scared the beasts off, she was brought back to Beast King Mountain.
On a closer look, she figured him out.
The two stared off, in silence and puzzlement.
[Who is he? What is he doing in the imperial capital? Who’s house’s Steward is he?]
[So the girl is a Quanrong. But what was she doing on Beast King Mountain, at the time of the Esoteric Debate no less? Does it have something to do with the Quanrong delegation’s aim for coming here?]
Zhuo Fan pondered.
On the second floor, Luo Yunchang’s face was hard, “That rotten, stinking p.r.i.c.k! He knows another lady!”
“Sigh, another hottie falls into brother Zhuo’s clutches. I admit defeat.” Long Xingyun sat back with hands behind his head, “Just how many chicks does brother Zhuo know anyway? For him to get close to even the Quanrong Empire’s girls, he is one casanova!”
“Lian’er, do you know each other?” Tuoba Liufeng asked.
Touba Lian’er whispered, “Brother, he is the one I had talked about, the weird one I came across.”
[What?!]
Tuoba Liufeng set his bloodthirsty eyes on Zhuo Fan.
[There’s actually a man in this world with such absolute power over beasts. He is the greatest threat to us. He has to be put down…]