Free Web NovelChapter 325: Xiaozhin War [1]
An overgrown green mountain reflected in their eyes. While the soft breeze slammed onto their skin, the group in the second phalanx of a ten-thousand army talked with each other. As they were on top of a cone-shaped mountain, they stopped as the person in command ordered them to have a pause in their journey.
The person in command, the second prince, Jaspher Dan, wore simple battle gear, but in a different way of defining simplicity. His gears still had golden linings, which shouted extravagance and arrogance, as they didn’t have any contribution to his defense.
He had the same face as the Crown Prince but was slightly younger and more innocent. However, despite his face being like the Crown Prince’s, he had a different aura, one that anyone could tell as "arrogant."
He gazed at a person that arrived and questioned, "Distance? Are we still that far? We have already traveled for three days and we still haven’t arrived. My horse is now tired, and our force is also facing fatigue. We should take a rest."
"Your Highness, I hope that you put the idea to rest as we are already near." Peigh Lai, a handsome young man with simple gears, lowered his head in front of Jaspher. He was the navigator and also the guardian of the second prince.
"And why is it?" Jaspher asked.
"It is because we are near a settlement. We’d be there in a few minutes, but we still don’t know what to do because no information about that location was available."
"I see..."
After traveling through mountains and rivers, Jaspher and the rest of the army felt tired of the unending scenery and walk. They had never had a rest, even just a second, since they walked nonstop. Although Jaspher and the rest of the high-ranking people were mounted on their horses, they could still feel the fatigue from the faces of their soldiers.
Jaspher thought of saving energy for the soldiers, not because he cared for them, but for the reason that he didn’t want to have them fight in a war with weak bodies. It was just a small difference in any average leader, but Jaspher saw them as tools, not as subordinates.
"Brother, my scouting squad had already arrived and they reported to me everything they learned about the settlement." Another person arrived, slightly similar to the second prince, but his gears had a silver lining. He was Husaf Dan. Although he was the third prince, he was the son of the second wife, which made his position less than the second prince, although they were born on the same day.
"Hmm... what is it, Brother? Tell me everything."
"The settlement was huge, as it appeared on the map. But what is more, is that this settlement had almost 5,000 people living there. It was a city." And Husaf continued to share the report he got from his subordinates. After it, Jaspher looked at Peigh Lai to confirm its similarities, and he nodded.
"Your Highness, it is what the map has. Seems like the city still didn’t disappear even after the whole Xiaozhin Province was captured."
Jaspher then faced his brother and smiled at him. "Thank you for that, Brother. You are really a trustworthy person. Without you, I think our journey will be long again."
"Your Highness, if you will just give me a chance to share my thoughts with you, I think I have a good idea." Zack Thieu, the guardian of the Crown Prince, whom he trusted to protect his younger brother, talked in a respectful tone. He had a calm face but a fierce aura, something that contradicted and made his appearance weird. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Let us listen to it," Jaspher suggested.
"I think it will be good to capture that city. If things don’t go well, we can use them as hostages, and also, we can use that city as our base for a moment. We can have a rest if we get to that city."
Everyone was put into silence as they gave thought to what Zack said. It wasn’t odd, and the most possible thing they could think of, but, as Zack continued, he gave his thoughts on how they would plan for it. Everyone liked it. Jaspher was happy with his suggestion. After getting others’ agreement to it, Zack closed his eyes.
’Yes... my office work goal won’t be blocked in this mission.’
"I agree with what Sir Zack was suggesting. Furthermore, as the scouting squad’s information had, it would be better if we used this place since it is located on uphill, and it would be easy for us to watch out for our enemies." Mick Shan said, a guardian of the third prince.
"Indeed. Even though not knowing who were part of the enemies, we could just keep them on one side. And I think that killing them wouldn’t be advantageous since we still need to use their lives." Mike Shan added, the twin brother of Mick and also a guardian of the third prince.
Apparently, the team that was formed around Jaspher was cooperative. They didn’t hide any ideas that could come from their brains to help the army as well. And as their force realized they’d be able to rest if they won this one, adrenaline seemed to rush into them, temporarily replenishing their energy.
Jaspher deemed the plan as something perfect, but, unlike his brother, he didn’t have the experience or the perfect knowledge to assess things like this. In fact, this was his major mission and something that was important for him since this would be his debut in a huge war.
Jaspher then faced Leon Thum, the Right Guardian of the Emperor, who was nearly as powerful as a Supreme General. He had a huge body and also had thick armaments. His aura seemed dark, and his eyes were deep and sleepy. Anyone would be afraid to look at him as he looked angry every time behind those expressionless eyes. However, Jaspher wasn’t even bothered by it, as he grew nonchalant before the Right Guardian.
"What do you think about it, Right Guardian? Would it be a good plan?" Jaspher asked.
Leon simply nodded. Without talking, he gave them his insight into the plan, and it made everyone proud. It was not just because he was a reputable person, but his consent was also something they would be proud of.
"Your decision would be what’s important. In that way, His Majesty will be happy with you."
"You think so? Then let us attack that city right away. What are we wasting?"
***
"They are going to attack the city. But, would it be okay if they were to be used as sacrifices, Lucas?" Fiona asked, feeling a little nervous about what would happen next in the city that was on the northern side of Xiaozhin Province.
Lucas scoffed, then gave the army an eye. A small smile appeared on his face, but it wasn’t because of delight. He was piqued by it. He didn’t think of them as something significant as their energies weren’t that exponential, except for the person a prince called "Right Guardian."
"Don’t worry about it. The people that were living in that city won’t even die if they want to. They were the people who were opposed to us, and with a little parasitic shadow, they will move according to my plans."
"Then, what about your people? Didn’t you mean you wanted to train them? In what way could you train them if you wanted them to face stronger foes?"
Lucas sighed, and he faced Fiona with his eyebrows furrowed. "I already said that they are not that strong. What do you mean by that?"
Fiona shook her head. "That huge person is bad news."
Then, after hearing it, Lucas paused, then looked back at the imagery. He focused on the person they were talking about, the "Right Guardian."
"You think so? I also think he is strong, but why do you think he is bad news?" Lucas asked.
"Because of his unique cultivation. It is dark."
"Darker than my darkness affinity?"
"You could say."
It would always be better if you took measurements when facing a stranger. That was the kind of nature a person should have and recalling it, Lucas stared at that man and tried to focus on sensing his aura. However, he couldn’t get a feeling of his "darker" unique cultivation.
It seemed that his senses weren’t that good. And knowing that, he looked back at Fiona.
"How can you say that his unique cultivation is darker than mine? Perhaps, do you have a Celestial Sense?" Lucas asked in a confused tone.
"Celestial Sense? What do you mean? Every Divine Beast is born with good senses that can at least feel strange fluctuations of Qi from a distance."
"Is that so? That’s interesting. I have been doing something similar to that, practicing enlarging the scale of my senses. It is like an imitation of Celestial Sense. A thing that I discovered from a companion long ago."
