Chapter 192: Future Great General!
There were many people on the mountain, be it the participating examinees or the Imperial Army guards. Thus, it wasn’t easy for Wang Chong to find the instructor he had set his eyes upon among the huge crowd.
“You fool! Didn’t you hear what I just said…”
Just as Wang Chong was searching for the hidden instructor, he suddenly heard a slightly harsh and suppressed voice.
“But gongzi, this is my only chance…”
A pleading voice responded.
“Hmph! I don’t care whether this is your only chance or not. Don’t forget that my father is in control of your father’s livelihood. If you refuse to follow my commands, you can start packing up for your return to the countryside. At that time, don’t blame me for not warning you in advance!”
“That fellow is extremely powerful so you better keep this in mind. No matter what happens, you must severely injure him for me. I know what you’re capable of so you can definitely do it…”
The harsh voice from before threatened menacingly.
“Hmph! Just another scion bullying those who come from humbler backgrounds. It is one thing if it is somewhere else, but to dare to do it within the Three Great Training Camps, he sure is brazen!”
Wang Chong sneered coldly within.
He had heard of some people making use of their family’s authority to force others to act as they please so as to give themselves an edge during the examination.
As it was hard to trace down these methods and they weren’t explicitly forbidden in the rules either, the instructors had no way of dealing with them.
Wang Chong didn’t expect to really stumble by such an incident.
Wang Chong quickly turned around and looked toward the origin of the voice. There were many people walking about Kunwu Training Camp, but there were very few who paid that group any attention.
Across the crowd, Wang Chong saw three haughty figures standing before a shabbily-dressed teenager. The teenager was kneeling on the ground, grabbing onto the leg of one of the men, pleading earnestly with all of his might. Despair could be seen in his eyes.
Initially, Wang Chong didn’t pay it much heed, but after seeing the other party’s appearance, he suddenly jolted.
“Why… is it him?”
Wang Chong stood there in a daze as some memories surfaced in his mind. In his previous life, the Kunwu Training Camp became the birthplace of countless rising generals.
The number of great generals who walked out of Kunwu Training Camp was more than enough to light up the skies of Great Tang for a very long time. That was the era in which Great Tang was at its greatest, as well as the era which Great Tang showed the final glimpse of its greatness.
Back then, while all those brilliant stars were lighting up the skies. Wang Chong was only an ordinary civilian.
By the time Wang Chong’s era came, they had already fallen. This was why Wang Chong had never really met or interacted with them.
This was also one of the deep regrets in Wang Chong’s heart.
Despite being the final Grand Marshal of Great Tang, he didn’t have many talented generals who could hold their own ground on their own. This had proven fatal in the catastrophic war.
Unable to prop up the situation by himself, Wang Chong could only hold on for a little over a decade before complete defeat.
If he could alter history and rise during the era of these great generals; if he had so many great generals under his command, perhaps everything would have been different.
This was the main reason why Wang Chong paid particular attention to the future great generals from the Three Great Training Camps, especially toward those from Kunwu Training camp.
Among those rising generals in Kunwu Training Camp, there was a person who was unique even among the group—That person specialized in surprise attacks.
Even among the many rising generals in Great Tang, there were very few great generals who possessed aptitude in that field.
When Great Tang fell into an era of darkness and chaos, when the Great Tang military was often in a disadvantageous position, his surprise attacks often created opportunities for his allies.
In that era, there were many who pinned their hopes on him.
But just like a comet, his brilliance only shone for a short moment before disappearing altogether.
His inferior martial arts had become his Achilles’ heel.
And one inappropriate command ordering for a ‘frontal assault’ had become the direct cause of his death. If one were to trace back the main reason for his death, it would tie back to the fact that he had followed the wrong master.
Because of this, countless people had sighed in lamentation!
“Sun Zhiming!”
Looking at the kneeling examinee, a thought flashed across Wang Chong’s head.
The other person who commanded Sun Zhiming to forcibly injure his potential contender so as to pave his way into Kunwu was most probably ‘Deng Mingxin.’
He was also the one whose flawed command directly resulted in Sun Zhiming’s death.
“To think that it would be them!”
It was one thing if Wang Chong had never encountered them, but now that he had, he couldn’t simply just let things be. If he didn’t recall wrongly, Sun Zhiming would fail the first round of recruitment due to Deng Mingxin.
It would be another six months before he finally manages to enter Kunwu Training Camp.
Even though it was only a difference of six months, this small time difference made a world of a difference.
Many instructors chose to take on only a single batch of recruits so the future recruits lost the opportunity to come under them. On top of that, most of the instructors who took multiple batches of recruits chose to focus a majority their efforts on the first batch, thus neglecting the others. On top of that, some of the better instructors were also promoted in the meantime.
Furthermore, as the Three Great Training Camps initiative had only just begun, the royal court was paying particular attention to it so a huge quantity of resources was devoted to the training camps. That would not be the case for future batches.
Thus, for those who craved for success, getting into the camp in the very first batch was of paramount importance!
“Enough! Get up!”
As these thoughts flashed across Wang Chong’s head, a glint flashed across his eye as he strode over.
“Sun Zhiming, get up. There’s no need for you to plead with him. As a man, how can you plead with this kind of despicable scum?”
Wang Chong grabbed Sun Zhiming’s elbow and pulled him up from the ground.
Dumbfounded, Sun Zhiming stared blankly at the youth who had suddenly appeared before him. He had never seen this person before, and he had no idea why the other party knew his name.
“What is going on?”
“Bastard, who the hell do you think you are? How dare you interfere in our affairs?”
“Who the heck are you? This has nothing to do with you so I advise you to not get involved and just scram!”
…
While Sun Zhiming was dazed by the abrupt happenings, Deng Mingxin and the others had already flown into a rage. The trio was in the midst of teaching Sun Zhiming a lesson and Wang Chong’s intervention had displeased them.
The Three Great Training Camps were of utmost importance to them as well, and anybody who tried to wreck their plans would be their mortal foe.
“If I were you, I would leave at this very moment!”
Deng Mingxin stepped forward and glared at Wang Chong furiously. His voice dripping with hostile intent.
“Deng Mingxin, if I were you, I would scram at this very moment! I am not someone you can trifle with!”
Wang Chong sneered coldly.
“Bastard, how dare you talk to Young Master Deng like that?!”
One of Deng Mingxin’s lackeys couldn’t hold himself back anymore and shot a punch straight toward Wang Chong.
Hong long long!
A cloud of dust rose and cloaked the area. No one saw what Wang Chong did, but Deng Mingxin’s lackey spun in the air before crashing heavily onto the ground. The immense force of his fall caused the entire ground to tremble for a short moment.
Putting aside Deng Mingxin, even the examinees in the area were stunned.
Only then did Sun Zhiming finally come to a realization. He stared at the youth before him in shock, realizing that the other party probably came from a lustrous background.
“Who in the world are you?”
Deng Mingxin narrowed his eyes in fury.
“Guards, guards! Someone is attacking other examinees!”
Deng Mingxin’s other lackey reacted swiftly to the situation and shouted loudly to the top of the mountain. This was the first day of the training camps, and anybody who dared to make a move on the other examinees would have to face the wrath of the imperial guards. In fact, it was even possible for one to be even stripped of one’s qualification as an examinee.
“Who is it? Don’t you know that fighting is forbidden here? “
The commotion had already attracted the attention of several Imperial Army members. They rushed up to the group like ferocious tigers, encircling the group in an instant. Every single one of them had an impatient look on their faces, and it was clear that they wouldn’t hesitate to get physical if they had to.
“Hmph, it’s him! I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he just suddenly rushed forward and attacked us!”
Upon seeing the arrival of the Imperial Army members, Deng Mingxin’s lackey pointed to Wang Chong and sneered coldly.
Deng Mingxin didn’t say anything, but his eyes shone with glee and excitement.
“I had already told you to scram but sadly, you simply refuse to listen to me and chose to get involved instead.”
Deng Mingxin sneered coldly.
Against an oaf like Wang Chong, there was no need for him to make a move at all. All he had to do was to play some underhanded tricks to teach him a harsh lesson.
Without this bit of wits, how could he possibly maintain a firm grip on Sun Zhiming such that the latter would never dare to retaliate?
“Is that so? I’ve already told you that I’m not someone you can trifle with.”
Wang Chong sneered coldly and before everyone’s gazes, he whipped out a token from his waist.
Two simple words were inscribed on the token, but it made the faces of the spectating crowd lose their color.
“King Song! This is King Song’s token!”
Shocked exclaims echoed in the area.
The arrogant Deng Mingxin and group suddenly felt as though their eyes were being pricked with needles. Their complexion swiftly turned awful.
“I know who he is, he is Wang Chong!”
“My gosh! He really came to Kunwu Training Camp!”
An uproar broke out. There was someone who finally put everything together and identified Wang Chong.
Upon realizing that the person before him was Wang Chong, Deng Mingxin’s heart abruptly turned cold.
He finally understood why the other party dared to interfere in his affairs. However, it was already too late.
It was as though someone had placed a mountain on his heart, weighing him down.
“So it’s Wang gongzi!”
“Given Wang gongzi‘s character, it is impossible for him to attack other examinees. ——What is wrong with you all? How dare you all make a move in Kunwu Training camp? Are you all dying to get disqualified?”
“Take him away. How could he be so brazen as to make a move on Chong gongzi in the training camp! Strip him of his qualification as an examinee!”
…
The words of the Imperial Army members made the faces of the duo turn even more awful. Even in front of such a huge crowd, the Imperial Army members were blatantly siding with Wang Chong. The guards grabbed the unconscious lad on the ground and dragged him down the mountain.
Just like that, he was kicked out from the first round of recruitment!
“Gongzi?”
The face of the other lackey beside Deng Mingxin turned livid.
“Right, gongzi, if you have the time, please try to make a few more Wootz steel swords! One sword a month is really too little.”
After walking a dozen zhang away, one of the Imperial Army members suddenly turned around and said impassionately.
In the Imperial Army, regardless of which squadron one was in, be it whether one was stationed in the royal palace or outside, there was not a single soldier who didn’t know of the Wootz steel sword. After all, even the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army had spent his money to buy Wang Chong’s ‘Death Abyss’.
“I understand.”
Wang Chong smiled and nodded his head. Abusing his authority for the first time… it felt kind of refreshing!
‘The number of great generals who came from here was definitely more than sufficient to light up the entire sky.’
It is a Chinese superstition that one can determine the fate of a country or such via the skies. For example, the emperor would have a star belonging to him, and if it dims, it might mean that disaster is going to befall the empire. Similarly, generals have a star themselves as well.