ChangNing’s Imperial Army

A man, wearing Bai Shangnian’s soldiers’ uniform, leapt over the wall of the courtyard. He was very swift. The moment he landed on the ground, a couple of crossbow arrows struck the wall. If he was just a second slower, he would have been shot.

The young man turned around and looked. There was worry in his eyes.

He was not worried about whether or not he would die – he was worried about whether or not he would be able to disseminate such an important information…he did not expect to reap such a big harvest. If this news were to get out, Bai Shangnian would definitely die without a doubt. Hence, Bai Shangnian would not let him go no matter what.

No reinforcements.

At that time, when he entered Garrison B, Liu Yun Sect’s head told him before that in order to keep it an absolute secret, he would not arrange for any reinforcements for him. Thus, without any contact, any mistakes would not be made.

He had been hiding amongst the troops in Garrison B; his only mission was to disseminate any major news or information. If it was not major enough, there was no need for him to expose anything. He understood that right now was the time for it. Having been in Garrison B for five to six years, the thing that he had been worried about and also looking forward to had finally happened.

In the year that the Navy was in the midst of being set up, he entered Garrison B. This was something that Liu Yun Sect was doing for His Majesty.

He remembered that when he left Changan city, big brother Hei Yan sent him off. They walked side by side, as they made their way out of the city. At that time, Hei Yan had not risen to a position of power – he was not one of the Hei Bai duo yet. Hence, when he was walking on the streets, he was not worried about being recognized by other people.

“We are taking different paths.”

Hei Yan lowered his head and walked. He said in a glum manner, “No matter what, people like us will never be in the light. But, we are in different parts of the dark too. I am destined to remain in Liu Yun Sect and become a person that strikes fear in every single person in the underworld. In that way, who would expect me to be one of the messengers of the inside intelligence box? As for you, you’re in a more dangerous predicament. You will be alone in the place you are heading to. At least I have our brothers by my side; Duan, She, Li will be following me.”

The young man started laughing; his laughter was very bright. “Perhaps, there might not be anything major over at Garrison B. If nothing happens, wouldn’t that mean that my entire life will be easy and comfortable? So big brother, you don’t have to comfort me this way. I might climb my way up to the top in Garrison B and become a general in the future…thinking about it feels

Hei Yan laughed. “Indeed…based on your abilities, nothing will be too difficult for you. I also hope that nothing major will happen in Garrison B forever…at that time, all seven of us were selected by the head himself. The four of us remained in Liu Yun Sect and the three of you were sent out. Feng, Xue, Ren…I don’t know when the seven of us will reunite with one another again.”

“Nothing will happen to me.”

The young man patted Hei Yan on the shoulder. “I am Feng (Note: it means wind). The fastest wind.”

Hei Yan grunted. “Yeah, nobody is faster than you.”

Feng was in a daze for a while. He turned around and looked at the soldiers who were pursuing him; he had not increased the distance between them. What was even scarier was that in the general’s residence, people could appear at any time to intercept him. However, he believed in his speed.

“Big brother Hei Yan, I am the fastest Feng.”

All these years, he thought about his farewell with Hei Yan on multiple occasions. That was his only consolation in Garrison B; he had no friends and no companion. He was all alone, like a pair of eyes fixating their gaze on Bai Shangnian all these years in the dark.

“I will go back. My mission is to keep an eye on him. Once I get the information out, Bai Shangnian will definitely die without a doubt. I will be able to complete my mission and return to your side. I will drink the strongest wine there is and sleep with the most beautiful woman.”

Feng gritted his teeth as he muttered to himself. Once again, he flipped himself over a short wall.

He used two years’ worth of time to get recognized by Bai Shangnian for his abilities and became a guard in the general’s residence. Thereafter, he used a few years’ worth of time to convince Bai Shangnian that he was someone who was worth nurturing and trusting. All he was waiting for was today’s moment.

He had already familiarized himself with the general’s residence several times before. Even if he closed his eyes, he would still be able to navigate out of it. Even though he did not know when he could start to flee, nothing bad must happen to him when he was escaping.

In front of him was the garden of the general’s residence; it was the best place for him to seek cover. The trees, flowers and plants would shield him from the arrows at the back.

There were other people charging over from the other directions too. Amongst them were men in black. Those people were courageous soldiers who were willing to fight to the death. They were nurtured by Bai Shangnian himself. Every single one of them was very powerful.

Feng started to calculate his own physical strength. He lowered his head and dodged one of the arrows before he suddenly exerted force and charged up the wall of the general’s residence. Even if he was any faster, he would not be able to dodge every single arrow since there were way too many people. One of the arrows shot him in the back; he fell off the wall.

Six to seven men in black gave chase and leapt over the wall. There was blood all over the ground. Feng was already a hundred meters away from them.

“Give chase!”

The men in black started to exert more strength. The more the injured person in front ran, the more blood he lost. Hence, ultimately, he was unable to flee.

Bai Shangnian, who was behind the men in black, carried a long lance in his hand and leapt over the wall. His eyes widened. “If he escapes, all of you will die!”

Behind him, more soldiers and men in black charged out. They pursued Feng relentlessly.

About a mile away from the general’s residence, it was Huangni River. There was a small boat by the river bank of Huangni. It was a boat that Feng had prepared for himself. As long as he managed to get to the boat, he would be able to get rid of his pursuers. On the opposite bank of the river, there was a backyard belonging to a fisherman. There was a horse hidden there. It had not ran in several years. He hoped that it did not eat too much and grown too fat to the extent it could no longer run.

The wound on his back hurt a lot; it was extremely painful. Feng felt as though his physical strength was dwindling. Over the past few years, he had been planning for this. He was absolutely sure that he would be able to get through it.

Just at this moment, the sound of the wind was heard coming from the back. For him to be able to judge the sound of the wind behind his back under such circumstances, it showed how capable and powerful he was. His ears could sense danger lurking behind him hence he immediately dodged. It was a long lance!

The long lance grazed his shoulder and pierced the ground. Because Feng dodged the attack, his speed was compromised as a result. A sea of arrows followed relentlessly…he was shot in the back once more. Even under such circumstances, he was glad that his legs were not injured.

As long as his legs were fine, he would be able to run.

However, he heard the sound of hooves.

A few hundred meters ahead of him was a river channel, but he probably was unable to run that far.

Feng turned around and looked at the distance between him at his pursuer. Thereafter, his pupils immediately contracted!

Bai Shangnian!

Bai Shangnian dragged the cavalry that overtook him off his horse and took over his horse. He took a dagger and pierced it into the horse’s butt. The horse started charging in a frenzy due to the pain and ran a lot faster than it normally did!

Halfway there, Bai Shangnian lowered his body and pulled out his long lance. The long lance was hanging low, remotely aiming at Feng’s back.

“I admire your courage!”

Bai Shangnian yelled loudly, “But you are too naive!”

Feng suddenly turned around and charged over towards the woods. But that would allow the soldiers who were pursuing him to catch up even faster.

“Trying to use the woods to shake the horses off?”

Bai Shangnian snorted. “Too naive indeed.”

Feng charged into the woods. Indeed, the horses could not be as fast as they could within the woods. However, the group of soldiers had charged in to. The wound on his back was still bleeding. His energy was dwindling extremely fast. In that instant, his vision was blurred for a moment. All he could see was darkness. Fortunately, it was only for a split second.

However, he stumbled on the roots of a tree. Feng fell to the ground; both his hands landed right into the thick pile of dead leaves. He struggled to stand up but it was too late – the long lance had already pierced right into his back.

Feng gritted his teeth and drew his sword. However, the sword struck the tree next to him and got stuck there.

The long lance pierced Feng in the chest.

“Die!”

Bai Shangnian’s arms exerted strength and he lifted the long lance up. Feng’s body was being lifted; he was suspended from the lance. His legs were still moving slightly.

The long lance pierced through his chest and came out from his back. His consciousness quickly vanished.

“Who are you working for?” bellowed Bai Shangnian.

Feng narrowed his eyes. He started to lose consciousness.

“Still barely enough…big brother, I’m actually not that fast.”

He seemed to have seen Hei Yan running towards him from afar; he also saw his six other brothers. Xue was still as expressionless as before – it seemed as though he would never smile. Ren was still as agile as before. Apart from himself, Ren was the fastest out of the seven of them. The three fellas – Duan, She, Li were always as extraordinary as their big brother Hei Yan.

“Phew…”

Feng exhaled a long breath. He struggled with difficulty to take out a flying dagger. In the moment he pointed it at Bai Shangnian, the latter’s wrist flicked all of a sudden. The long lance made half a turn in his chest. Feng spat out a mouthful of blood. The flying dagger dropped onto the ground.

That was Li’s gift to him. All these years, he had only been using it to pare fruits. What a waste.

Feng’s corpse slid down the lance. Bai Shangnian looked at the face he was extremely familiar with, making him more furious. “How can you repay me like this after I nurtured you all these years!”

He flung his long lance and the corpse flew over a distance before landing onto the ground. It rolled over a couple of times before it finally stopped.

“Search his body to see if there is any letter or anything to prove his identity.”

The few men in black went over and stripped Feng of his clothes. However, they could not find anything.

“There is nothing,” reported someone.

Bai Shangnian finally heaved a sigh of relief. He thought about how fortunate he was to have detected it in time. If the news got out, the entire situation would be overturned. By then, he would not the only person facing death.

“Search once more, skin him and see if he’s hiding anything beneath it.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was such a horrific and cruel sight.

After half an hour, the couple of men in black stood up. All that was left on the ground was a bloody corpse that had been brutally mutilated with its flesh ripped apart.

“General, there is nothing.”

“Rip his flesh apart and shred it. In that way, if there is anything, it will be useless. Even if he swallowed anything earlier, it will no longer matter. Rip him apart even more.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sounds of swords slashing were heard.

When darkness ensued, the stench of blood had completely dissipated. The blood and shredded flesh on the ground were still there. A man in white landed on a branch lightly. He squatted there like a cat. He swung by once every few days to take a look, like he usually did. Initially, he thought that everything was still fine. But…

Pop!

The twig that his hand was holding on to snapped. The veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

Very quickly, his face was entirely covered in tears and they seeped through the cloth covering it. The sound of his teeth grinding against each other made one’s pores open up.

Li jumped down from the tree. He looked at the blood all around him; his body could not stop trembling.

“I’m sorry.”

He fell to his knees, and placed two hands on the ground. Thereafter, he started to kowtow forcefully.

The dead leaves in the woods were very thick. His forehead was red from the impact.

After kowtowing three times, Li stood up. He took a deep breath, turned around and left. The speed at which he vanished at was extremely fast.

At the same time, in the general’s residence, Bai Shangnian was still feeling rather uneasy. He beckoned a few of his elite soldiers. “Go to the woods and take a look once more. Wait for a night and see if there’s anybody there.”

The few soldiers left swiftly and disappeared into the darkness of the night.