Chapter 529: Moonless and Windy Night (I)
Sheng Yue snorted coldly, “You think I don’t know about your revolting ideas? Do you know why I have always been against your idea of surprise attacking the demons? That’s because we cannot afford such losses. It will be good if you succeed, but what if you fail? Do you plan on leaving a terrible mess of handicapped soldiers to defend my granddaughter’s Assassin Temple?”
Sheng Lingxin had a bitter smile, “But grandfather, don’t you believe that what Haochen just said really makes sense?”
Sheng Yue replied, “Times are changing. Our battle tactics should be adjusted.” Reaching this point, this Heroic Knight had a dense killing intent coming out of his eyes.
Sheng Lingxin was greatly excited, “Grandfather, are you agreeing?”
Sheng Yue slowly straightened his posture, looking up to the sky, and spoke indifferently, “Killing on a moonless and windy night will always work better than in the day. And the time has come today. Immediately gather the whole Hidden Knight Hall in the courtyard on my order.”
Lan Yanyu had a sudden fright, “Grandfather, are you sure you are not being too hasty? Shouldn’t we operate after having a good discussion?”
Sheng Yue proudly replied, “An assassination must be performed when expected the least. That’s the true power of the assassins: in any situation, they plan out things effectively. There is no unvarying situation, only unflexible persons. If these brothers of mine needed to ask for such minor preparations for an assassination, they wouldn’t deserve being called persons of outstanding talents in our Assassin Temple. You and your wife will make good the troops’ mobilization , and prepare the defense for when the enemy’s reprisals come. Haochen, Han Yu, Cai’er and you will aid me.”
Long Haochen straightened his posture, “Great-grandfather, please bring me along. I think that you seniors will need a shield.”
Han Yu and Cai’er also stood up, looking at Sheng Yue with determined eyes, showing their own intentions.
After pondering briefly, Sheng Yue replied, “Okay, then come along.”
Lan Yanyu seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by Sheng Lingxin’s look. How could one act on impulse in such a big matter? Long Haochen and Cai’er weren't delicate flowers to be kept safe.
Sheng Yue raised his head, and took a look at the deep night, his eyes surging with coldness. Long Haochen could sense an intangible enhancement of his aura. This wasn’t might but a kind of extraordinary special quality that gave Long Haochen terrible shivers.
Outside of the ten heroic assassins of the ninth step that Long Haochen had seen the other day, another twenty-one Hidden Assassins came besides. They were all Assassin Emperors of the eighth step.
Sheng Yue shifted his glance toward Long Haochen, Cai’er, and Han Yu and after a little thought ordered, “Han Yu, don’t come along. Stay with Lingxin in the Exorcist Mountain Pass to guard the city. The main point on this operation will be speed. Your cultivation is rather lower and speed isn’t your field of expertise.”
Han Yu really wanted to fight alongisde Long Haochen and Cai’er, but he knew that Sheng Yue was right. Giving his agreement, he withdrew with some unwillingness.
Sheng Yue looked at the bright-golden, dazzling Golden Foundation Armor, but beforehe even had the chance to open his mouth, Long Haochen had taken out a black cloak that draped over his whole body as psychic fluctuations forming ripples instantly concealed his whole aura.
Sheng Yue had a thin smile on his face, thinking secretly Ah, this brat has already been making good preparations for the time to have affairs.
Eleven Heroic Knights, plus twenty-one Hidden Knights, Long Haochen and Cai’er made up a total of thirty four people.
Sheng Yue declared, “The demon offenses have been coming for a long time already, and now should be the time for us to show them what we can do. We are going to launch a surprise attack. It will have a single objective, and that is to kill as many higher-ranked demons as possible. I have to emphasize two points. First, no one is to insist on fighting too long, everyone must immediately listen to the orders of retreat. When they come, the Heroic Assassins will form the rear. Second, do not attempt to kill the demon gods. They are under the protection of their demon god pillars and will be very hard to kill. Our goal is the demons of the fifth step and above. As assassins, we are expert in surprise attacks, not prolonged battles. During this operation, take good care with your concealment. There’s not much else that I have to say. Start off!”
Sheng Yue waved his hand, and his figure flashed, taking the lead before the other assassins disappeared one after another.
Long Haochen and Cai’er dashed out simultaneously, but just after leaving, he muttered some words to Lan Yanyu. Then he pulled Cai’er’s hand away.
Looking at their departing figures, Lan Yanyu let out a light sigh, “Haochen is really a pretty good boy.”
Sheng Lingxin asked, “What did he just tell you?”
“He said that if someone wants to hurt Cai’er, he’ll have to do it over his corpse.”
Sheng Lingxin had a smile, “As a mother-in-law, are you starting to like him gradually?”
Lan Yanyu replied with a cold stare, “I’m not the one who chose this son-in-law. Your daughter made the decision all alone.
What can I even say about a couple that lives together starting from the age of fourteen?”
“*cough, cough*. Let’s go, we have work around the city’s walls as well. I already gave the order for the armies to gather. Ai, I really wish I had joined grandfather’s group. What a shame!”
With Sheng Lingxin’s cultivation, the resources that were put at his disposal, and his Spiritual Stove of the Return to Childhood, becoming an assassin of Hidden Knight grade was no issue to him. But the thing is, as the military commander on duty here, how could he afford to leave his post?
Han Yu nodded to Sheng Lingxin’s last remark. He also wanted to come along! Although their 64th commander-grade Demon Hunt Squad was not reformed yet, he was really itching to once again fight together with Long Haochen and Cai’er.
The distant demon camps were extremely calm. The seven demon god pillars that were lit just before had become a lot more dull in color. After Sheng Yue stealthily brought everyone outside the Exorcist Mountain Pass, they gathered to a dark corner to arrange the details of the attack.
“In a bit, we will be all acting independantly, fighting on our own. When you hear my signal, retreat, understood! You have to remember that the goal of this surprise attack is to kill enemies while doing our utmost to preserve our own resources. If in the end we all return alive, it will be a great achievement for us.”
The group of powerful Hidden Knights lifted up their right hands, tapping lightly on the space between their eyebrows, before making a gesture of throat cutting. This was their way to express their resolution to Sheng Yue.
This method was specific to assassins. When operating, they wouldn’t communicate with words. Gestures and movements become their greatest means of communication. The previous movement signifies that they will fight the enemies smartly, and get rid of them.
Sheng Yue shifted his glance to Long Haochen, looking at him and then at Cai’er. Long Haochen immediately nodded to him, expressing his understanding. Sheng Yue was warning him to protect Cai’er and himself well.
Sheng Yue waved his hand and everyone started off at the same time, scattering soundlessly to all directions, before disappearing under the cover of night without a single trace.
Just as Long Haochen said, the assassins’ fields of expertise are infiltration and assassination, not just and honorable battles. In the dark, an assassin is like a fish in water. These powerhouses all had the same feeling of thrill at that very moment. No one pondered over how much they could do during this operations, all of them were focused on giving vent and slaughtering to their fill.
“Cai’er, hide yourself and follow me.” Long Haochen spoke low.
“Yeah.” Cai’er acquiesced, and disappeared from Long Haochen’s side in a flash. If his mental force wasn’t gathered specifically in her direction, he would also be unable to detect her presence. Compared to a year and a half before, Cai’er really had became more powerful.
Long Haochen’s speed was quite a bit slower than the powerhouses from the Assassin Temple, but he didn’t show the slightest sign of hastiness. Making a detour to the side without changing his speed, he headed to the demon camp by an indirect route.
“Haochen, just where are we going? Aren’t we supposed to attack the demon camp by surprise? This detour is too slow. Although great-grandfather and the others shouldn’t find out about that, if we fall too far behind, I’m afraid that we won’t come back with the slightest harvest.”
Cai’er did not become anxious because of a desire to kill the enemies, but on Long Haochen’s behalf. Haochen was the only one from the Knight Temple participating, so in case his results were too lacking, wouldn’t his reputation as Saint Knight Head be in danger? That’s especially the case after his great power was displayed so brazenly just before.
Long Haochen replied in a low voice, “Don’t make any sound. Follow me and that’s all. We will strive for the greatest accomplishments.”
The demon camps were still not aware that a slaughtering operation was aimed against them. Almost the entirety of the greatest powerhouses at the Assassin Temple’s disposal was coming at them, formally coming up.
The gap between the demon side and the human side in this regard was very wide.
The Dragon Resisting Mountain Pass was really full of demon elites, including three Demon Emperor Legions. From this could be pointed out the wide gap in global strength between the Knight Temple and the Assassin Temple. And while facing so many demon elites, the losses was still far fewer than the Assassin Temple.
The demons standing in garrison outside the Exorcist Mountain Pass far exceeded the ones outside the Dragon Resisting Mountain Pass in quantity, especially the seas of Dual Bladed Demons. These low ranked demons had limited fighting abilities, to the extent of being no match in one versus one combat against a trained grown man. But their quantities were unmatchable! So most of the demons in garrison outside the demon camps were these Dual Bladed Demons of low grade.
Dual Bladed Demons had very low positions among demonkin, to the extent that when they were used as food, no other race would be willing to consume their corpses, so they were mostly used to feed each other. Let alone them, even the Deep Green Dual Bladed Demons would not necessarily be treated as luxurious food in such a demon army.
The best tents were all transferred to the north, used by the armies laying siege against the Dragon Resisting Mountain Pass. Within the demon armies outside the Exorcist Mountain Pass, only those reaching the sixth step at least were qualified to lodge in tents. This was the reason why Sheng Yue said they were mostly aiming at the demons at the fifth and sixth step. No one even bothered asking for a way to find the good targets. Just identifying some tents was enough. As long as they were living in tents, they wouldn’t be a bad target.