Free Web NovelChapter 2057: Chapter 1831: A Missed Opportunity
The sword light that stretched over a hundred zhang, emerging from the dim twilight, surged in momentum all the way to its peak, sharp enough at its zenith to rend the heavens and earth.
However, at the very moment when its momentum reached its peak and the sword force was at its strongest, the sword light, though not tangible, shattered like glass in an instant, abruptly halting its once-world-shaking presence.
That kind of earth-shattering momentum appeared and vanished in an instant. The impact caused by the full-force of the Breakthrough Level hadn’t even spread beyond Chang’an before it began to dissipate, leaving only the increasingly fierce firelight of Weiyang Palace, causing near chaos throughout Chang’an.
"What’s wrong, Yunchang?" Liu Bei, who was having a candlelit night conversation with Guan Yu, suddenly noticed Guan Yu looking back at Chang’an and naturally asked.
"Uh, it was probably just my imagination." Guan Yu frowned, and upon further sensing, could no longer perceive anything.
As an expert at the Divine Boundary Break level, his perception of powerful entities was very precise. He vaguely sensed an aura just now, but it slipped away upon closer inspection.
"Yunchang is probably just tired," Liu Bei said with a smile. When he decided to impartially give the spot to Huang Zhong, he specifically sought out Guan Yu at night to offer some early reassurance. His second brother had always been inwardly proud due to past experiences.
Of course, Liu Bei also knew that with the smooth sailing over the years and the protection of himself and others, Guan Yu was no longer like before. Liu Bei was merely habitually offering reassurance, genuinely worried about a potential conflict between Huang Zhong and Guan Yu.
In fact, Liu Bei was unaware that because Huang Zhong, at just over forty years old, possessed extremely strong abilities, both in terms of skill and capacity, and was also competent at commanding troops, Guan Yu, although proud, wouldn’t utter something as demeaning as refusing to serve alongside a veteran soldier.
Guan Yu even admired Huang Zhong for sustaining treatment of Huang Xu with Inner Qi for over ten years, still maintaining combat prowess on par with his own. Therefore, Huang Zhong’s genuine ability to take down an Inner Qi Manifestation expert and a Northern Huns Chanyu left Guan Yu with no objections.
So when Liu Bei hinted that he would pick Huang Zhong to accompany him, Guan Yu only felt regret that he hadn’t taken down enough experts this time, resolving to try harder next time, without any other special thoughts, actually agreeing with the decision.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yun, who was resting, suddenly sat up. Unlike Guan Yu, Zhao Yun was very confident in his perception. When the faint aura came, he instantly identified even the direction.
However, Ma Yunlu, still sleepily groggy, didn’t even open her eyes. When Zhao Yun pulled the quilt, she reached out to feel for the blanket beside her.
Zhao Yun decisively laid the quilt flat and continued resting, leaving the disturbance to whoever cared, as he certainly wasn’t going to interrupt his sleep.
Speaking of which, Zhao Yun is a young man, appearing eighteen, yet actually quite a formidable youth or even middle-aged man by age.
Furthermore, Zhao Yun was a very upright person, but Ma Yunlu and Lyu Qiling, both from the Hu Lands, despite efforts to raise them as aristocratic young ladies, eventually veered back to Hu people’s tendencies. This was something Zhao Yun could refuse once or twice, but not indefinitely.
Ultimately, Zhao Yun decisively feigned sleep, unconcerned with what they wanted to do. Should a fight ensue, he’d just sleepwalkingly drag one in each hand back to their respective tents.
From Xuu Chu and Dian Wei’s tent came thunderous snores. When the faint aura passed by, Dian Wei turned over and continued sleeping. Even with excellent danger perception at the Refined Realm Breaker level, his aura detection was honestly average.
Huang Zhong, unable to sleep with excitement, simply ignored the faint aura, much like Guan Yu. His mind was fully occupied with the forthcoming journey with Liu Bei, dismissing any other concern as irrelevant.
Therefore, the fleeting momentum from Wang Yue’s sword light shattering barely traversed a hundred li before completely dissipating. Within this range, those who could perceive it all overlooked it due to various reasons, leading to nobody noticing the initial surge of information.
It wasn’t until the fire at Weiyang Palace blazed into the sky, unextinguishable, that the returning northern army’s night patrols noticed something amiss.
Yet, due to a distance of several dozen li, the firelight from Weiyang Palace, though intense, appeared merely as a slightly larger red dot from there.
If not for the experienced veteran soldiers handpicked from three families conducting the patrols, it might have gone unnoticed.
"Notify the Garrison Commander to observe from the Arrow Tower," the veteran ordered upon realizing something odd about the firelight.
Upon receiving the report, the Garrison Commander pondered a moment before climbing up the Arrow Tower. As an expert skilled in Qi Refining to Gang, his vision was several times better than a regular person’s. Naturally, he immediately noticed the implication of the red light and was taken aback. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"I’ll go inform General Yu and General Cao, telling them that there’s a fire in Chang’an. You continue the patrol." After jumping down from the Arrow Tower, the Garrison Commander remarked, though less shocked than earlier since recalling, upon descent, that the fire in Chang’an had little to do with them.
Hearing this, the soldiers on patrol inquired no further and continued their rounds, while the Garrison Commander proceeded to report to Yu Jin and Cao Ren, the generals on night watch.
"Oh, there’s actually something to report tonight. Let’s hear what it’s about," Yu Jin, seeing the entering escort, said to Cao Ren with a smile. The two, in the darkness, had laid out a feast and a jar of water, eating and chatting.
But despite saying this, Yu Jin gave it little thought. Since they didn’t rush into the camp, the matter couldn’t have been significant.
"What? A fire broke out in Chang’an?" Cao Ren and Yu Jin, both a bit stunned, glanced at each other and then burst into laughter.
"It must be due to dry weather causing a fire. Alright, continue the patrol and grant each a bowl of rice wine to warm up. In this cold and dry weather, fires are normal, and Chang’an isn’t our responsibility," Cao Ren waved off their concerns, saying.
Yu Jin nodded in agreement, acknowledging its logic. They were several dozen li from Chang’an. Rushing there to fight the fire would indeed be absurd.
Thus, Yu Jin and Cao Ren casually brushed the incident aside, as did the other patrolling soldiers, and when morning came, with no issues within the camp itself, naturally, no one specifically inquired whether anything happened the previous night.
Hence, the several dozens of Inner Qi Manifestation experts from the Northern Frontier, capable of reaching Chang’an in a very short time, all missed out on the prominent event of the previous night.
