Chapter 576: Reaching the River
Translator: DavidT Editor: DavidT, Rock
The Xiao Family army met with countless troubles along the way. Their supply outposts along the way were continuously ambushed by the enemy. However, the enemy was extremely crafty and would retreat after a single round of assault!
These little skirmishes weren’t enough to make the Xiao Family lose anything and they weren’t capable of causing any true damage to the resupply route. However, it was extremely annoying!
After a few rounds of ambushes, Second Master Xiao was enraged! As such, the Xiao Family army sent out their forces to suppress the enemy forces. With the Xiao Family army chasing and the Ling Family troops escaping, time passed day by day…
Just when the battle in the Sobbing Ghost Mountain began, Ling Tian had already taken the 150 elites that Ling Jian had picked and sprinted towards their target in the vast mountains.
Ling Tian had never ceased his communication with the Ling Family Courtyard. Apart from the Courtyard sending news and analysis of the battle, there was a memo that Miss Li Xue had inserted. After Ling Tian opened it, he let out a bitter laugh before crushing it and throwing it aside.
Ling Chi was extremely curious. Picking it up, he realized that there was only a single word written on it.
It was a strange word that didn’t seem like a word! In actual fact, it was the word ‘slice’ that was written in simplified Chinese. However, only Ling Tian and Miss Li Xue recognized this word!
Scratching his head, Ling Chi was completely puzzled.
What was the meaning of this word? A special signal? Could it be a special signal that Miss Li Xue used to communicate with their young noble? What exactly was that scribble? Why did this secret code look so strange? Why did their young noble throw it away after seeing it?
In a puzzled state, Ling Chi plucked up his courage and asked Ling Tian about those scribbles with a humble attitude. Mmm, I am afraid that young noble will forget about it… if matters were to be delayed… While Ling Chi was indeed a little nosy, it was also out of good intentions.
The moment the words left Ling Chi’s lips, Ling Tian’s face darkened down completely and he glared as Ling Chi as though he wanted to swallow Ling Chi alive, “Those words mean that this daddy here is going to slice off your little bird! Scram afar for this daddy, you darn dog egg!”
Ling Chi trembled slightly and felt his whole body turn cold. He then sped away as quickly as he could.
Just when Ling Tian was feeling frustrated, Ling Chi had to be the one to trigger Ling Tian and become the innocent punching bag.
Li Xue’s meaning was simple and filled with disdain: Since you won’t allow me to use it, why do you still make it on your own? Do you mean to say that only the governors are allowed to set fire to things but the commoners are not allowed to light lamps? If this Miss isn’t going to slice it up, what is the point of keeping it?!
Actually, Ling Tian had also been pondering about this matter over the past few days. Without a better idea, he clenched his teeth and decided to go all out! Who asked the Xiao Family to have an impenetrable natural fortress? If this daddy isn’t going to use gunpowder, am I going to tolerate its existence? This action of mine is also for the lives of the millions of Ling Family soldiers. Besides that, as long as I am the only one who has the recipe and not allow anyone to know of its existence, can’t I just say that the mountain was struck by lightning? Who asked this daddy to have lived through two lifetimes? Glory to the knowledge of my previous world!
After finding an excuse for himself, Young Noble Ling felt better in his heart.Dammit, as long as Li Xue that lass does not expose me, who would know that this daddy went back on my word? Even if she exposes me, who would believe her?!
Hehehe…
After venting his anger on Ling Chi, the frustration that Ling Tian felt from Li Xue’s ‘slice’ word made all of his frustration fly away. At the same time, he comforted himself in his heart, This is for the livelihood of the commoners! I am doing this for the commoners of the world! This is for the peace of the world and happiness of the commoners…
Looking at the matter from such a viewpoint, not only did Ling Tian not feel bad, he even felt that his actions were extremely noble…
As such, when the army was advancing rapidly, Young Noble Ling’s delighted and strange laughter would sound from the dark forest… Even Ling Jian and the rest who were extremely familiar with Ling Tian could not help but have their hair stand up on edge. Especially in the depths of the night, Ling Tian’s laughter caused all of them to be covered with goosebumps and cold sweat…
After a day and two nights of weaving through the mountains and ridgelines, the fifty or so kilograms of weight on the soldiers’ shoulders had taken a large toll on their bodies. Even the Blood Iron Warriors who were battle maniacs weren’t able to endure the arduous journey. Along the way, the times when they stopped for meals were the happiest times of the journey.
This was for no other reason except that their young noble Ling revealed his masterful barbecue skills during their journey. Along the way, although the soldiers did not bring many rations to reduce their load, they had their fair share of mountain delicacies.
For a few hundred years, people rarely entered the forest and wild beasts roamed around everywhere. As long as a martial arts expert entered the forest, he would not have to worry about starving to death but would worry about choosing between which to eat instead.
Young Noble Ling Tian had also taken out a unique fragrance incense to attract a large number of venomous snakes. Even after a series of killing, a large number of snakes were still left and all the soldiers were stuffed with delicious snake meat to the point they were unable to even walk.
As for the brat Ling Chi, he had even remarked that he hoped for the road to be never finished. With the endless delicacies in the mountain such as bear paws, tiger’s heart, snake meat, deer antelopes and wild rabbits, even though Ling Chi was extremely fatigued from the journey, not only did he not slim down but he had even put on some weight.
From not too far away, an ear-deafening rumbling sound could be heard. It was the sound of the rushing river crashing onto the rocky mountain before being reflected out again. Even if one was a couple of miles away, the commotion of the rushing river was like the mountain collapsing and a tsunami rushing. Anyone who was in the region could not help but be awed by the irresistible might of the heavens and earth!
Including Ling Jian, none of the soldiers knew just what they were carrying or what Ling Tian had in mind. However, none of them even had the thought of questioning Ling Tian. They only lowered their heads and weaved through the mountains without a single complaint!
They had finally arrived!
Ling Tian let out a long sigh. Along the way, it was uphill after uphill and there wasn’t any proper path that they could take. It was impossible for them to think about riding a horse and even Ling Tian had a gigantic bag on his shoulders. The hardship of the journey could be easily imagined. Looking at the plump appearance of his subordinates, Ling Tian could not help but feel a sense of imbalance in his heart.
These subordinates of his seemed to be on a vacation and all acted in a leisurely manner. If he allowed his subordinates to roast the meat, it would either be half-cooked, burnt black, or half-cooked on one side and black on the other. How could any of this be eaten? So all of his subordinates were completely useless and the task could only fall on Ling Tian’s shoulders.
Even experts like Ling Jian and Ling Chi could only act as delivery men…
Looking at how these fellows ate the burned meat eagerly and with pleasure, Ling Tian could no longer take it. In order to preserve the strength of his troops, Ling Tian could only personally take the position of head chef and be in charge of the meals of his soldiers!
Young Noble Ling let out a depressed sigh. Was there any master who was like him? Could there be a master more pitiful than him?!
Seeing the 150 burly men throwing and flinging their baggage around without a care in the world, Ling Tian could not help but be amused. If these fellows knew that the baggage that they were carrying was capable of blowing all of them up without leaving them a complete corpse, who knows how they would feel? One thing was for sure, they definitely wouldn’t dare to fling it around casually like a toy for sure…
Climbing up the mountain peak in front of them, all of the soldiers took in a breath of cold air!
Even though they had heard the thunderous sound from afar, they didn’t truly take it to heart. Now that they were in the face of the majestic nature, they finally understood that the boundless river was truly something that wasn’t easily described.
After climbing up the mountain, they were at the downstream portion of the river. If they were to go further upstream, they would be at the most narrow region of the river. The torrential waters smashed at the sides of the cliffs like thunder and the splashing water shot up a hundred feet to the sky!
At this moment, Ling Tian suddenly thought of the Yangtze River!
The Yangtze River from his previous life!
Even if this river wasn’t comparable to the Yangtze River of his previous life, there wasn’t too big of a difference. In fact, the speed of the river channel was even faster than that of the Yangtze River. There were two tall cliffs on both sides of the river and the river was like a heavenly blade splitting the huge mountain into two.
Ling Tian looked around and pushed a gigantic boulder by his side into the river. After the huge boulder created a large splash, it quickly sank into the river and disappeared completely.
“It is really too… damned deep!” Young Noble Ling cursed under his breath.
Ling Jian asked, “Does Young Noble really intend to dam up this river? How can this be accomplished with human might?!”
As Ling Jian said those words, all the other soldiers looked over. Since even Ling Jian who trusted Ling Tian the most said so, it would be a lie if the others didn’t have any doubts in their hearts! The large river in front of them couldn’t be compared to the other small rivers. How could it be such an easy matter to dam up the river? Everyone immediately looked at Ling Jian who asked this question with an ‘are you idiotic?’ look.
Just when everyone thought that Ling Tian was about to give Ling Jian a good beating for asking such a silly question, Ling Tian replied as though everything was normal, “Dam up this river? Naturally. If we don’t dam up this river, how will we be able to drown the Heavenly Water Ravine Pass? If we aren’t going to dam up the river, what is the point of spending so much effort to climb up here?!”
“Siii…” All the burly soldiers took in a deep breath together and felt their innards cramping up. Dammit, if you ask us to kill and plunder, that would be within our specialty. However, isn’t it too unreasonable of a request for you to ask us to dam up this river? Not to mention the 150 of us. Even if we have 15,000 people, it would be completely useless!
That gigantic boulder that was flung into the river had disappeared with a splash in just a short instant! Not to mention what the few of us could do!
Ling Tian watched the two lonely peaks facing each other from afar like they were two peerless swordsmen. Their height had also far surpassed the surrounding peaks and they looked like two cranes in a flock of chickens.
Pointing at the two peaks, Ling Tian narrated calmly, “If we are going to talk about damming up this river, wouldn’t it be an easy matter? We just have to push down those two mountains.”
Everyone felt their heads spinning!
Master, you are truly our master! You truly dare to say anything!
We just have to push down those two mountains?! While this plan is indeed simple, simple to the point that even we can think of it… but you have to know that these are two mountain peaks and not two people. Push them down? If we had the strength to push them down… My goodness, from the ancient times until now, we have never heard of anyone capable of pushing down a mound, not to mention this tall peak…
“Everyone follow me!” Ling Tian dashed forward and headed towards the two peaks.
Everyone could not help but gasp to themselves, It seems like their young noble wasn’t rational… He is probably seriously ill. Helpless, they could only drag their fatigued bodies forward to follow their young noble, hoping that their young noble would quickly come to his senses… Such a gigantic mountain peak was not something that a human would be able to push down.
“Put down everything on your backs. Ling Jian, Ling Chi, and a few others with better movement techniques should remain behind here. The rest of you follow me. I will find a place for all of you to dig a hole. Take a look at how I push down this mountain.” Ling Tian chuckled.
Only now did Ling Tian realize that collapsing two mountain peaks was just like the story of The Arabian Nights. Why? With a large river in their way, it was impossible for them to pass! If they were to go around the river, even half a month wouldn’t be enough and it would be a waste of their time. They had no choice but to turn their attention to the mountain peaks by the side.
After a series of careful exploration, Ling Tian finally picked a spot and ordered a hundred burly men to begin excavating five different areas! Ling Tian glared at them and ordered that if anyone did not meet his expectations, they would have to suffer the board!
This mission was truly a little unreasonable. After all, Ling Tian did not tell them the depth which he expected and it was difficult for the Blood Iron Guards to have a proper estimate. They could only use all of their strength to dig as deeply as they could.
After giving his orders, Ling Tian came to the peak.
He tied a long rope by his waist and descended a thousand feet before he found an appropriate ledge. There were obvious traces of water rushing onto this ledge and it was obvious that this ledge was created after centuries of friction.
The water level of the river was more than a hundred feet beneath Ling Tian and the splashing water had drenched Ling Tian completely.
After adjusting his inner qi, Ling Tian began taking action.