Nightfall

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

The national master looked above to the sky as he knew someone would leap down from the sky soon.

The powerful figures from the Academy paid no attention to the Duoer Cavalry riding to the south because they were too many for anyone to handle except for Jun Mo when he still had both his arms.

For a single man to stop ten thousand cavalrymen, it happened only very few times throughout history. To some extent, it had nothing to do with one’s level of cultivation, but rather some indescribable momentum Even if Yu Lian and Tang were to show up to the south of Wei right now, they could not make it. In other words, it was not their style to do such things.

Therefore the Academy would do nothing to the Duoer Cavalry. Instead they would take their time when the Royal Court was gambling their last chance to seek for an opportunity to kill the national master and the rest dozen of priests. As for A Da and General Bule, they were definitely the Academy’s targets as well. But in the meantime, it was also the best chance for the Royal Court.

In a brutal battle or before a desperate move, every seeming opportunity could turn out to be a trap. No one would be able to see through the hidden messages unless Haotian was back to the human world. Therefore both sides could only try their luck with the firmest resolution at full speed.

The national master knew clearly that if Duoer Cavalry could succeed before the Academy and crush Xu Chi’s commander’s barrack in Northern Battlefront Army, the encirclement of Wei would be solved.

Even if the most powerful figures of the Academy were to make their strike together and defeat the remaining forces of the Golden Tribe Royal Court, they would never achieve their original goal of wiping out the entire tribe. Their goal would become a joke. That was what Chanyu and the national master was planning.

It seemed that the Golden Tribe Royal Court would have a chance to get out this morning no matter what.

The national master pondered silently. Right then the darkness gradually retreated and a dim light appeared from afar. Although the sun was not rising yet, dawn had come.

The morning glow fell on the national master’s aging face, as if refreshing streams flew into cracking fields. They were immediately absorbed by the fields and nowhere to be found again. The cracking on the fields seemed bottomless.

It had been widely known that Yu Lian, the Twenty-Three-Year Cicada and the Hierarch of the Divine Halls of West-Hill were the two most mysterious figures in the cultivation world. But actually the national master was no less mystical. No one knew his age or his lineage. Obviously he was different from the grassland priests. It seemed his cultivation was a combination of many schools, yet not belonging to either Buddhism, Devil’s Doctrine, or Taoism. It was unfathomable.

In fact even the national master himself was confused from time to time on what he was cultivating on throughout his everlasting life. It was because he grew up on the grassland with the priests. It was the priests of the Right Royal Court instead of the Golden Tribe Royal Court. Therefore his first exposure to cultivation was Buddhism.

When he came to the Golden Tribe Royal Court, he found in a wildmess the severely wounded Xiong Chumo, who was attacked by Yu Lian, or at that time known as Lin Wu who was still the leader of the Devil’s Doctrine. He saved Xiong Chumo, who taught him the secret Divine Skills of the West-Hill as a token of appreciation. Later on he traveled to Chang’an as well.

He cultivated and mastered Buddhism, Taoism, and Devil’s Doctrine. And was no doubt among the most knowledgeable figures in the world. His level was unfathomable. But he had also been trying to figure out what his ultimate goal would be especially after he was enrolled to the Golden Tribe by the previous Chanyu as the national master, he had become more eager to find out his purpose. He knew where that desire came from: it was every human being’s longing for affiliation, or a root.

It was not until many years later when he experienced the mighty will of Haotian and his body and soul was bathed and purified in snow water that he realized that it did not matter which school he cultivated on. The sense of belonging would never come from any lineage. It was all about faith.

As long as the faith was upright, it would not matter even he cultivated on evil means. As long as his goal was upright, it would not matter even if he practiced evil deeds.

Perhaps just because of such conclusions, he had achieved even more unfathomable level of cultivation. No one could figure out where he was heading. During the Rite to Light a few years ago, he did not show his true power because Ning Que was so powerful at that time and had Haotian on his side. The national master did not want the world to know his power.

For the sake of his faith, he had to defeat the Academy. Even as powerful as he was, it was not an easy task to defeat the cunning people from the Academy. He had to prepare and plot really well.

Ever since Yu Lian disappeared in the East Wilderness, he knew that the day was approaching. He had prepared quietly for three years. And those carriages by the wall of the City of Wei had waited in silence for three years.

Even if he could not succeed he would at least be able to trap those two people.

…

…

In this round of attack launched from the City of Wei, there was another very crucial factor apart from the endurance and patience of the national master and his fellow grassland warriors and the powerful figures from the Academy. It would be decisive if the Duoer Cavalry could crush the commander’s barrack of the Tang army.

The morning glow was yet to shine and it was quiet inside and outside the City of Wei. People seemed to be sleeping but rather sleepless. Many were watching the city gate anxiously.

Upon a low creak the gate of Wei was slowly opened from inside. Dust fell from the cracks on the double layered gate, reflected like pearl powder in the morning glory.

A sharp alarm pierced through the silent sky and spread afar. The Tang soldiers in the barracks in the south were awaken. They were well prepared and started delivering various kinds of weapons right away.

The last round of fight between the Tang and the Golden Tribe Royal Court had started unsurprisingly.

While the gate was opened slowly, a grassland cavalryman came forward on his warhorse. Both the cavalryman and the horse was fully armored. Only their eyes could be seen, proudly and indifferently.

The grassland cavalrymen were holding long machetes and wearing white cloaks. The cloaks floated in the wind like white clouds in the sky. Because of their cloud-like cloaks, this cavalry was named Duoer Cavalry. The name Duoer Cavalry was their pride. They were the best, most loyal and horrifying troop of the Golden Tribe Royal Court.

Throughout the past hundreds of years, there had been no more than six thousand of Duoer Cavalry even in the wealthiest generation of the Golden Tribe Royal Court. Those six thousand cavalrymen used to be the biggest threat to the Tang army.

Along with the rising of the Golden Tribe Royal Court, especially with the secret help from the kingdoms in the Central Plains under Taoism, the current Chanyu owned a Duoer Cavalry of thirty-six thousand.

In the brutal field battle outside Guhe, the Duoer Cavalry was the last to join. But it was only because of them that the Golden Tribe Royal Court was not wiped out and was able to retreat. And they had lost six thousands of their best men whose bodies were left to rot on the grassland.

After they retreated to Qicheng Village, Chanyu sent out twenty thousand from the Duoer Cavalry to reinforce Kaiping and Qu City, in order to draw away Tang’s main cavalry force. Only the best and most powerful ten thousand stayed in the City of Wei.

Ten thousand cavalrymen were a huge crowd. They could form a dark mass and cover a huge part of the grassland but the Tang army could not see the ten thousand right now. There was only one. They could only see a single cavalryman at the city gate of Wei, with his cloak floating in the morning breeze.

The cavalryman lifted the reins in his left hand and slightly pushed the belly of the warhorse with his boot heels. The warhorse moved forward. Clip, clop, clip, clop. The sound was slow and distinct. The cavalryman pushed again on the horse’s belly. The horse accelerated. The clip clop quickened. By then they were already twenty miles away from the city gate. The cavalryman pushed on the horse’s belly once again. The horse accelerated once again. So did the clip clop.

Then the man and horse dashed toward the Tang army. By themselves! The cavalryman from the grassland knew that he would be sacrificed. But he did not care.

Inside the city gate of Wei, a black wall vaguely appeared. That black wall was moving forward. And it was followed by a white wall. The black wall was the cavalrymen and their horses, while the white wall was their cloaks. That was a line of Duoer Cavalry. The combination of black and white seemed like tides formed on an ink-black ocean. Countless soldiers from the Duoer Cavalry were getting ready to charge after the courageous cavalryman.

Clip clops were not heard inside the City of Wei. But they would be heard soon.

Once launched, they will be thunder or even like the beats of huge drums. The cavalryman who came out of the city by himself already came onto the meadow. His eyes were not covered by the armor, in which the indifferent look was already replaced mania and brutality. He raised his bloodsucking machete and was about to charge at full speed. The next moment, the ten thousand grassland cavalrymen followed and darted toward the Tang army. By then, ten thousands of white clouds were floating on the grassland.

The clops would intensify and the momentum would be built up. Who could stop them?

…

…

General Xu Chi stayed inside the commander’s barrack. He had six thousand cavalrymen and ten thousand well-trained infantrymen. He should not be worried.

But they pursued the enemies here over the night while their supplies were yet to come. And more importantly, many sappers and workers were still on their way. They rushed to make some trenches which were far from firm enough. If the horrifying Duoer Cavalry charged right now, they were not confident in defeating them.

Ever since the gate of Wei was opened and the cavalryman appeared, everyone inside the commander’s barrack turned to Xu Chi. They seemed worried and anxious.

Xu Chi was not worried because he was a genius in defending. Otherwise he would not have been able to keep the Golden Tribe Royal Court beyond the Qicheng Village for over ten years with his Northern Battlefront Army. But the rest were anxious because the Golden Tribe Royal Court was desperate today. If they were to make a single mistake when confronting the Duoer Cavalry, then it would lead to a horrible result.

The Tang’s only odds of success against the Duoer Cavalry were the Black Armor Heavy Cavalry. However, most of the Black Armor Heavy Cavalry were in the south confronting the cavalry of the Divine Halls of West-Hill. The only several thousands of Black Armor Heavy Cavalry in the North Battalion were sent to Kaiping by Xu Chi to help Situ Yilan. How could they defeat the Duoer Cavalry now?

That single cavalryman was accelerating and the clops had became seamless. The black and white tides of cavalrymen by the gate of Wei were still waiting for the charge.

The cavalryman and his horse drew a straight line on the field in the morning glow. It was a line of courage and spirit. The ten thousand Duoer Calvary would follow the line he drew and charge fearlessly and brutally. That was the momentum the Golden Tribe Royal Court was building up.

It was a resoluteness to fight till the last, and to flood with blood. It started like showering and continued non-stop and unbreakably like storming. If the Tang would let the grassland cavalrymen build up their momentum to the peak, it would put the Tang in a very dangerous situation even if they could kill the first cavalryman.

However it seemed they did not have a better way to break it because Wei was very far from the Tang barracks. Even the best shooter could not take down that cavalryman in advance. As for Tang’s most powerful defending weapon, the crossbow battalion that was formed on arrays, they could never reach that far either.

In that case, they could only get prepared for a frontal attack by the ten thousand Duoer Cavalry.

People stared at Xu Chi and waited for an order. What they should do right now was to call back the crossbow battalions who were sent to the east and west wings last night. There was a possibility that once these battalions were called back the grassland cavalrymen would attack from the wings. But it seemed to be vital to defend the middle way right now.

Xu Chi did nothing. He simply looked at the dusty city in the north under the morning glow, and listened to the increasingly distinctive, lonely but breath-taking clip-clops, emotionlessly.

“General!”

“Chief Commander!”

Everyone in the barracks was worried. They stared at him and could not understand why he kept silent. Did he have any other brilliant plan? Or did he decide to defend rigidly because he was concerned about the wings?

Xu Chi paid no attention to the confusion, anxiety and even anger of his subordinates. He stared calmly at the fields in the north, as well as the approaching soldier of the Duoer Cavalry.

A single cavalryman was charging at the enemy’s barracks. Its clip clops seemed lonely.

It was all quiet between Heaven and Earth. Colors drained from the fields between the City of Wei and the Tang barracks. Green grass turned grey, and the morning glow dimmed a lot. In a flat and grey background the courageous grassland cavalryman was the only moving object in the scene.

The grassland cavalryman had come a hundred miles out of the City of Wei.

The clip clops of the horse became more and more distinct. It seemed like drumbeats and hit on the fields. It shook off the dust from the grass and distorted the morning glow. Even the world seemed to have quaked.

In a short while, the best ten thousand grassland cavalrymen would come out of the city and launch their charge. Until then, drumbeats shook Heaven and Earth, and brought restlessness to the world.

Who could stop this? Who could break the momentum of the charging of the Duoer Cavalry?

It was silent in the City of Wei, so was Heaven and Earth. Suddenly some wind blew. The grassland cavalryman was down. The courageous and resolute grassland cavalryman who darted alone between Heaven and Earth fell off in the refreshing morning glow.

A very thin line of blood seemed extremely distinctive in the morning glow. The world regained its colors. And the chilling lights turned warm.

It was a death but seemed warm, probably because of the color of blood.

The grassland cavalryman fell off the horse and pounded onto the field. The stirrups Duoer Cavalry used were specially designed and would never entangle on the feet. Therefore the warhorse kept darting for another dozen miles before he felt something was wrong and slowed down. It looked back at its master who was lying on the field, raised its head and seemed confused.

The cavalrymen lay on the field in front of the city gate. He was not moving or struggling, not even moaning because he was already dead. He made no sound, and said no last words. He knew he would sacrifice his life but never expected it to be so silently and insignificantly.

The cavalrymen from the Duoer Cavalry always wore firm armor and furs from head to toe. Their eyes were the only parts that could be seen.

His eyes were wide open toward the blue sky but his vitality was gone. Only his blood was still dripping.

There was a wooden arrow in his eye. It was a very ordinary wooden arrow. No one knew where this wooden arrow came from. It was extremely quiet on the grassland. There was the morning glow, the wild flowers and grass, but no human being.

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