Death… and me

The three armies were each led by three famed generals. Saintly General Liu Jian led eighty thousand soldiers which attacked the left flank. Heavenly General yang Lie led another eighty thousand soldiers attacking the right flank. Lastly, valiant General Chen Yu Hu led a force of hundred thousand soldiers and attacked the center!

The total strength of all three armies numbered two hundred and sixty thousand troops. This military operation of Great Zhao could have been considered as massive. Given that winter was coming and the weather was freezing cold, such a massive mobilization of troops would have been considered pure madness!

Iron Cloud's Gold Star Citadel and the surrounding areas simultaneously sent out distress signals! Battle reports flooded in nonstop!

However, at this point in time, due to the recent news of Tie Shi Cheng's passing, the whole of Iron Cloud was in mourning and in sorrow. Thus Great Zhao's military action at this point in time served to inspire the national pride of Iron Cloud's citizens and soldiers!

The hearts of soldiers responded with unprecedented fervor!

Tie Long Cheng who oversaw the armies was unable to go back and attend the funeral! Under such massive pressure from Great Zhao, he had to oversee the battlefront and had no time to take a break from the battlefield.

In Iron Cloud Citadel, the public's emotions were filled with sorrow as they prepared for Tie Shi Cheng's funeral!

…

Cheng Yun He felt the imminent danger as soon as hope appeared.

Tie Shi Cheng's death had caught Cheng Yun He by surprise. However, he now that he was aware that Tie Shi Cheng had died, it would disrupt Diwu Qing Rou's plans and everything would have to be carefully recalculated and reconsidered.

However, the one major advantage of the situation was that they were now finally able to sneak out of the citadel!

The past few days of blockade had caused Cheng Yun He to be extremely anxious about their situation. Without any clear way for them to attain the information or leave the citadel, he watched as Yin Wu Fa virtually turned into a living corpse after consuming the Meng Hun Solution and turned even more anxious!

He had searched more than ten times each week but to no avail. Cheng Yun He had been pushed into a corner but did not dare to act and had even killed the carrier Invisible Falcons to be safe. This was because, if he used them, all they needed to do was trace where they came from all of them would be captured and likely lose their lives.

Losing the means to communicate was much better than losing their lives.

Now that Tie Shi Cheng had died, the curfew was being lifted.

Cheng Yun He heaved a sigh of relief and quickly applied for permission to leave the citadel. After he had arrived, he had made it a point to purchase a large variety of Iron Cloud specialties. Moreover, he specifically chose to purchase nonperishable goods which could be stored for long periods of time.

All of the officials of Iron Cloud Citadel were so preoccupied with the arrangement of the emperor's funeral that no one would even bother about carefully looking through the applications! Therefore when Cheng Yun He put in the request for approval to leave the citadel, he naturally managed to get their approval. The result of this was that Cheng Yun He managed to gather all of his subordinates and left the citadel with a long caravan via the southern gate without a moment's delay.

They were finally out!

Once he had stepped out of Iron Cloud Citadel, Cheng Yun He could not help but look up and admire the snow flowers in the sky. He took in a deep breath. Cheng Yun He felt a huge burden lifted off his shoulders as for the past few days in Iron Cloud Citadel, Cheng Yun He felt as though he was barely able to breathe and the feeling was extremely suffocating.

However, now that they were outside of the citadel, he suddenly felt like a little bird that had escaped from its cage.

From now on, as long as King of Hell Chu is in Iron Cloud Citadel, I shall not go there!

Cheng Yun He quietly swore to himself!

Before he was even able to utilize his intellect, King of Hell Chu was able to block him off completely and not even given a single opportunity to display his skills.

After Cheng Yun He arrived at Iron Cloud Citadel, the people of Hei Mo clan had left after being used by King of Hell Chu.

It was considered a futile effort to that aspect. With regards to making connections with the other officials, Cheng Yun He had thought about it but in the end, did not dare to. After all, all of the officials in Iron Cloud Citadel felt anxious and fearful recently. If his identity were to be exposed and King of Hell gave the order, these officials would probably have ripped him apart and brought his corpse to King of Hell Chu to claim their prize…

This was something that Cheng Yun He was certain of.

To have been able to bring back all of his subordinates safely back to Great Zhao was already considered somewhat of a success.

Cheng Yun He wanted to cry as he looked at the Golden Horse Riders that were by his side. On the way there, everyone was spirited. However, their mood was now extremely gloomy. They had come with more than forty people and now only a measly dozen or so people remained.

Moreover, most of them were Martial Great Masters; there were only three Revered Martial Artists left!

The rest were to remain forever in Iron Cloud Citadel…

As he turned his head back to look at the citadel for the last time, Cheng Yun He gave the place a painful glance and yelled, "Let's go!"

The horse-drawn carriages clicked and clacked as they struggled in snowy weather at a turtle's pace. They were currently still at the border of Iron Cloud so Cheng Yun He did not dare to toss away any of the merchandise; if they were to be stopped, an empty cargo load would certainly raise suspicions.

Therefore, while they were a little slow, Cheng Yun He had to still grin and bear it.

…

Inside Bu Tian Pavilion, Chu Yang frowned, "It's them?"

Sweat poured out of Chen Yu Tong's face as he said hastily, "Yes, it's them."

"After the gates were opened, six groups of people left the citadel? And only two groups went south?" Chu Yang was a little surprised that there were so few.

The merchant should have gone crazy from being stuck in the citadel by the blockade. It did not make sense that so few of them had left.

"There are still many waiting to leave. However, it is just that they are people of our nation. Since they are currently in Iron Cloud Citadel, they would naturally want to attend the emperor's funeral!" Chen Yu Tong carefully explained.

"Ah, that makes sense." Chu Yang nodded, "It's not too far off from the norm. Everyone go and help watch over the funeral procession. Protect the prince cautiously. Don't let anything happen. As for this other issue, let me deal with it personally."

"Yes." Chen Yu Tong hesitated then asked, "The minister is not joining in the funeral procession… this is… a little disrespectful."

"I would not be able to conceal myself fast enough. If the prince were to see me that would be a greater disrespect." Chu Yang smiled wryly. These days, Tie Bu Tian lost his temper every time he saw Chu Yang. Yesterday, he unexpectedly rushed toward Chu Yang and kicked him. Fortunately, Chu Yang was able to quickly get away or else he would have gotten a thorough beating. At this critical time, how could Chu Yang allow himself lose face? He would have no choice but to be a day late for this national funeral in order to avoid being entrapped in the storm…

Even if there were no issues, Minister Chu would have wanted to slip away for a few days; let alone now that this was part of the equation…

Chen Yu Tong's mouth twitched slightly. While he knew well that with the emperor just passing, he should absolutely not laugh, he still could not help it.

The relationship between Tie Bu Tian and Chu Yang was too weird. If Tie Bu Tian was truly unhappy, all he needed was to hand down a decree or use a command and he would have been able to get rid of the minister. However, he adamantly refused to do this; and even took it upon himself to question King of Hell Chu…

This seemed more like a fit of anger!

Chu Yang left a few instructions before slipping away in a flash. He returned to Heavenly Armament Pavilion where were a group of people who didn't care if the ruler of the Iron Cloud Nation died or not. Ji Mo had almost fully recovered from his injury. Chu Yang said a few words, and the five people excitedly changed their clothes and followed Chu Yang out of the citadel.

A few days ago, Ji Mo had been showing off his accomplishments which made everyone extremely envious. They finally had the chance to go out for a change of scenery, in such beautiful weather, no less… snow was fluttering in the wind…

Six people in outfits white as snow rode six horses out of Iron Cloud Citadel's southern gate. When the soldiers stopped them to question them, a sign representing King of Hell Chu was presented to them in front of their faces. The whole bunch trembled with shock and quickly ran to open the gate.

Six horses rushed out like the wind…

"Woo… this weather is so refreshing!" Luo Ke Di showed off a pair of panda eyes as he howled to the sky in excitement. The past few days, young master Luo had not had a good day. Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang went to him to spar whenever they had nothing to do. Moreover, he was no match for them so he could only grit his teeth and bear the beatings.

Almost every day, he endured an average of two beatings. Young master Luo went completely berserk. This morning, he did not wait for Gu Du Xing to find him. He went and challenged Rui Bu Tong… attacking the soft spot first…

Unexpectedly, Rui Bu Tong doled out a series of strange punches that caught young master Luo off-guard. Unable to block, he was punched twice in the face. After a pitiful cry, he turned into a panda…

Now that he was finally able to get out, young master Luo decided to relax and enjoy himself. At the same time, he silently vowed to himself that once he became successful, the first person he would seek to get revenge upon would be Gu Du Xing. He would beat him up ten times a day! No, twenty times!

The second person was, of course, Chu Yang! It was because that set of strange punches had been taught to Rui Bu Tong by Chu Yang! That to him was simply unforgivable.

The third person was, of course, Dong Wu Shang.

Young master Luo grounded his teeth. Every night, he went to sleep with a body ridden with injuries and a dream. If he did not have such a fantasy… he would probably have been unable to hang on…

Ji Mo and company laughed loudly. Even Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang, two famed emotionless people, had to laugh. It was known that these people argued with each other incessantly every day. And while there was always someone covered in bruises each day, their bond had gradually grown deeper.

Six people riding six horses flew with the wind and snow. They followed the tracks on the ground that had not yet been covered up by the snow and gave chase overtly.

Chu Yang was certain of his chances.

The people with him were all Great level masters. Moreover, each one was an exceptional member of their clan. In term of battle strength, they were not weaker than Revered level masters. In fact, they had a good chance of beating second and third grade Revered level masters.

The people of Golden Horse Riders Department were almost completely eliminated. Even if they were to clash, Chu Yang was not at all afraid! Not to mention that he had a secret powerful weapon up his sleeve, Nine Tribulations Sword, at hand!

Therefore, Chu Yang gave chase with extreme confidence.

As they journeyed on, fragments of roads were left behind. After about thirty or forty miles, they saw a big caravan with horses moving quickly in the wind and snow.

Gu Du Xing grunted and waved his arm, "Luo Ke Di, you're up!"

"Why me?" Luo Ke Di said in discontent, "You are all free."

"Are you are telling me to go?" Dong Wu Shang turned and looked at him dangerously.

"No… no…" Luo Ke Di stuttered…

"Then you want me to go?" Ji Mo narrowed his eyes.

"In any case, I am not going." Rui Bu Tong turned away.

"Should I go?" Gu Du Xing looked at Luo Ke Di, "How about the boss? You dare say this?"

Luo Ke Di rolled his eyes and said dejectedly, "I'm going." All of the excitement from earlier had completely disappeared.

Not going was not an option. Young master Luo was angry, but the target for him to vent all his pent-up frustration was the large caravan in front of him!

It's all because of you that I have to lose face! You shall all pay a great price!

Kicking hard against the sides of his white horse, Luo Ke Di flew like the wind and yelled out, "Yah! Yah!… Yah! Yah!…"

In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the caravan. Pulling on the horse's rein, he turned around and remained on horseback. Metal flashed in his hand and a big tree on the side of the road fell down blocking it!

"Ahwooh… I opened this road and planted this tree. If you want to pass, you must pay a fee!" Young master Luo yelled out loudly. His voice reverberated and unexpectedly caused a shockwave in the falling snow in the air.