On the first day of the battle of Verdant Canyon.
The skies were clear.
It was a day for mourning and nothing else.
In contrast to the miserable howls and the cries of the fallen that rang from time to time in the wildlands, the exit of the Verdant Canyon had remained very quiet. Usually instrument strings quavered and flutes sung, but they never made a sound.
Then, a muffled sound rang out in the quiet tent.
It was the sound of the vertical bamboo flute.
Fourth Brother suddenly looked up at Ximen Buhuo’s pale face and his beaded sweat. His right hand, which was holding a brush, trembled, and his expressions gradually turned solemn.
There was a clang.
Another instrument sounded.
Seventh Sister looked up, and her fingers, which were holding on to an embroidery needle, began to tremble. She looked at Beigong Weiyang and the string instrument in front of him that was stained with blood. A worried expression appeared on her face.
The instruments rang occasionally.
This meant that Beigong and Ximen were really tired. There was no way they could perform tunes that were full of spirit and energy as before. Their control was no longer precise and as such, they required even more Psyche Power and energy to go against the charging army and war-horses.
Those under the canopy all looked up at Beigong and Ximen, their faces filled with worry.
Second Brother who stood beyond the canopy in the wilderness did not turn around. Instead, he reached his right hand out for the hilt of his iron sword.
Beigong and Ximen were not aware of the eyes that were on them. Their energy, focus and soul were directed completely at their instruments.
They had discovered the problem the earliest.
They were not willing to retreat from this battle.
The disciples of the Academy under the canopy all knew that the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army did not care how many of their troops would die. They would continue to attack, even if it was considered suicide. All they wanted to do was to defeat the Academy, and to be more precise, they wanted to defeat Second Brother.
Because Second Brother was the final line of defense for the Verdant Canyon.
That was why all his Younger Brothers and Sisters had to buy him time so he could rest and fight against the true attack that could happen at any time.
Beigong and Ximen were indeed tired. Their bodies and fingers were tired, and they were bleeding from their fingers, staining their instruments red. Even the sounds coming from the instruments were beginning to sound hoarse.
But their hearts were not tired.
At least at this very moment, they were still determined.
Beigong Weiyang’s finger that was plucking at the strings suddenly stopped.
He looked up toward the wilderness and the cavalry that came in floods and suddenly smiled.
Then, he called out, flicking his wrist.
His bleeding fingers strummed the instrument from the back to the front, looking extremely elegant.
A crisp sound emerged from his instrument, like that of water flowing from a stream.
Ximen Buhuo heard the true sound of the instrument, and a resolute smile appeared on his face. A sharp clear sound that sounded like a shepherd blowing leaves burst out of the flute.
The instruments no longer played a soundless music, but played true sounds instead.
The bubbling of a spring became a forceful attack!
The shepherd blowing at the leaves became a mournful howl!
The sounds carried with them a powerful aura that spread throughout the wildlands.
They were a dagger-axe and fence!
The fierce music of the Qin and flute stirred up the charging cavalry and war-horses. To the cavalry of the Divine Hall and South Jin Kingdom, the music was like several sharp blades that pierced through their brains!
Several charging cavalries fell off their horses, shouting in pain as they were trapped by the stirrups and dragged through the wildlands. They became covered in blood and broke many bones.
Their hands were empty, but they had made no attempts to release their feet because they were covering their ears. To them, the music brought pain that was several more times painful than the wounds and broken bones from being dragged by warhorses.
Even more cavalries paled when they heard the music. They instinctively threw away their weapons and covered their ears.
Even so, they could not stop the music from drilling into their ears and minds, shattering their consciousness into a blight of pain.
Painful groans, moans and cries rang out in the wildlands. The usually orderly cavalry had all become mad as they covered their ears and writhed painfully on the ground.
The cavalry could not charge in such a situation, and the war-horses, having lost directions leaped up and down, running up and down on the wildlands, looking especially lost.
The zither and flute were soundless earlier because they were attacking the horses.
Beigong Weiyang and Ximen Buhuo were truly incensed now, and their instruments finally sounded against humans.
The moment the instruments sounded, the expression of the Academy disciples all suddenly changed.
It was because they knew what price the two had to pay for playing such music.
Fourth Brother reached out, wanting to stop Beigong from playing. However, when he saw Beigong’s dancing black hair and his maniacal and pleased expression, he could not bear to stop him.
There was a semi-circle about a hundred feet wide outside the Verdant Canyon.
Second Brother stood inside it.
Outside of the semicircle, laid countless cavalry soldiers of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army. They were a crowded black mess, looking like the famous levee of the Kingdom of Song. However, this black levee moaned and howled in pain.
Several war-horses fell to the ground and died; cavalries were crushed to death by heavy war-horses. There were many other cavalry and war-horses that lived on, but were so broken they were better off dead.
Some horses and cavalries had stuffed cotton balls in their ears, but obviously, these cotton balls did not have the desired effect. They were stained with blood, their eardrums had probably been shattered.
This was really a tragic scene.
Many tragic wars had taken place in the world over the past decades, but scenes like this rarely occurred. And this, was because of a Chinse zither and a vertical bamboo flute.
Even the Academy’s disciples under the canopy felt bad when they saw that.
Second Brother, who stood at the forefront and was closest to the remains of the armored cavalry, remained expressionless and calm. His eyebrows were just as straight as before.
The West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army cavalry was still attempting to charge forward to the Verdant Canyon. However, the terrain was littered with bodies of their fellow soldiers and it was difficult to find space to maneuver.
Then, there was a shout that emerged from the pile of moaning bodies!
A burly military general from the South Jin Kingdom yelled violently and pushed the bodies crushing him away. He held an iron spear in his hand and charged toward Second Brother.
In the rear, were several Martial Arts powerhouses who had not been impacted by the music. When they heard the angry yell, they stepped on their saddles and flew into the air, attacking Second Brother like a hailstorm of rocks.
The commander of the South Jin Kingdom was the strongest and reached the earliest. He thrust the iron spear in his hand forcefully, forming a straight line in the air, and forcing the air away. A thunderous roar emerged from the head of the spear!
Second Brother reached out expressionlessly and held on to the hilt of his iron sword.
Then, he struck at the commander of the South Jin Kingdom troops.
He did not cut, cleave or even swipe at the man.
He smashed down on him.
The iron sword was square and straight and looked like a very thick piece of iron. Second Brother took it in his hands and smashed down, causing a strong wind that blew the gravel on the ground around wildly.
The iron sword hit the head of the iron spear.
The head of the iron spear was smashed.
The iron sword continued downwards.
The iron spear bent.
The trajectory of the iron sword continued forth, as if it would never stop.
And it smashed upon the commander of the South Jin Kingdom troops.
His armor was shattered into pieces.
Second Brother ignored him and looked at the Martial Arts powerhouses leaping towards him in the air.
His right hand shook, and the sword cut from left to right.
This time, however, he did not smash down but did a smacking action.
Just like how one would smack a housefly.
The Martial Arts powerhouses that flew through the air like rocks encountered the wind caused by the sword. They turned into real rocks and were tossed in all directions through the wildlands before falling heavily to the ground.
Moments later.
The Martial Arts powerhouses stood up with some difficulty, propping themselves up with their swords.
The South Jin Kingdom commander regained hold of his bent spear.
Second Brother glanced at him expressionlessly.
A trace of despair and incredulity appeared in the commander’s eyes.
There was a sudden puff as he coughed out all the blood in his chest.
Then, like a flaccid water pouch, he toppled over limply.
He laid out on the ground and spread out like a puddle.
All his bones had been shattered by the iron sword.
Then, the Martial Arts powerhouses in the distance fell one by one. Their bones had all been shattered as well.
Second Brother was covered in blood.
It all belonged to the enemy.
The blood trickled down the edge of his armor and gradually merged into a single flow, flowing to the five swords inserted in the ground of the wildlands. Then, the flow slowly seeped down the ground where the swords were plunged into.
Those swords were his booty.
So was the blood.
It was unknown how many swords he would plant before him and how much blood he would use to water them in this battle of the Verdant Canyon.
He ignored the blood on his body. Instead, he just quietly looked at the wildlands ahead.
Because the attack of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army was still ongoing.
It was such a boring battle.
Killing people, and killing even more people.
The hoofbeats of the war-horses were so monotonous, the miserable shouting of the allied cavalry was so monotonous, and the sound of flute and zither that was no longer beautiful was so monotonous. It was monotonous because it was on repeat.
The sun in the sky gradually moved westward and gradually grew red.
The sun rays that shone upon the wildlands grew redder and warmer as well. On the wildlands of the Verdant Canyon, there were piles of corpses. The miserable crying in the pile gradually quietened, and all was silent.
Wildland in twilight looked as if it were painted blood red.
In fact, it was covered in blood.
From noon to dusk, the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army had put in at least 1,000 cavalries.
The sounds of the zither and flute had never been cut off.
Because Beigong and Ximen knew that Second Brother did not have to move as long as the sound of instruments continued.
Second Brother did not move indeed.
He remained still.
Standing in his spot.
He did not take a single step back.
Because the Verdant Canyon was behind him.
And behind the Verdant Canyon, was the Tang Empire.
The sound of metal clanging suddenly sounded in the south of the wildlands.
The West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army had finally called for its cavalry to stop charging.
It was not that they could not take the loss.
But the generals of West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army had grown tired.
The disciples of the Academy were tired out physically.
The Divine Palace Coalition Army was mentally tired.
It was a tiredness called fear.
But there were people who never knew what fear was.
Ning Que had always thought that she was well suited to enter the Academy.
A figure clothed in red appeared in the wildlands drenched in the twilight.
Ye Hongyu’s voice called out in the wildlands.
“Jun Mo, fight me.”
Second Brother looked at the blood red robe in the south. It looked as if it were about to catch fire.
“You are no match for me.”
With that, he picked up his iron sword and walked into the exit of the Verdant Canyon.
The shelter at the exit of the Verdant Canyon was littered with arrows.
Under the shelter, on the hob, was a boiling pot.
The water was boiling.
It was almost time for dinner.