Chapter 726 - Fumeng Lingcha's Warning (III)
Chapter 726: Fumeng Lingcha’s Warning (III)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
One could easily imagine just how thick the baleful air around Fumeng Lingcha was. This was an aura tempered through countless battles, obtained through endless killing, through stepping over mountains of bones. No normal person could stand against it.
But Wang Chong was at most seventeen, yet he dared to meet his gaze without the slightest fear. Fumeng Lingcha had never encountered such a situation before.
No matter what, this was something no seventeen-year-old youth could have.
If this boy isn’t removed, he’ll definitely be a big problem for me!
Fumeng Lingcha’s eyes chilled, and his killing intent flared up. Wang Chong’s display had not only failed to engender any admiration, it had made Fumeng Lingcha even more intent on killing him.
The more outstanding and formidable this youngest son of the Wang Clan was, the more Fumeng Lingcha feared him, wanted to kill him.
At just seventeen, he had already been capable of stirring massive waves. A single memorial from him had been enough to throw hundreds of thousands of Hu into extremely passive positions. If he were allowed to mature, wouldn’t the Hu commanders be pushed into the periphery, eventually forced out of all the higher levels of the army?
“Brat, listen to my words: it is the hard that are easy to break!” Fumeng Lingcha suddenly said. “Your edge is shining too brightly!”
Buzz!
The moment Fumeng Lingcha spoke, the atmosphere instantly became a hundred times more solemn. On the walls of the City of Steel, the more than one hundred thousand workmen and guards paled.
“Fumeng Lingcha is acting too brazenly! He’s clearly trying to bully Wang Chong!”
On the wall, Bai Siling was fuming, but these words had barely left her mouth when a slender and soft hand grabbed her arm.
“Siling, don’t say another word!”
Bai Siling turned in shock and saw that Zhao Yatong was looking forward, a look of unprecedented gravity on her face.
Bai Siling’s face froze in confusion, but then she quickly sensed something and turned grim as well. She pursed her lips and said no more.
The City of Steel was so quiet that it was possible to hear a pin drop. Other than Wang Chong and Fumeng Lingcha, everyone was as quiet as a cicada in winter, not even daring to breathe too loudly, much less make a comment.
One of these was the Young Marquis of the Great Tang, the Son of Heaven’s disciple, while the other was a lord of the Great Tang’s western border, an extremely respected and influential Imperial Great General.
Everyone present could only look up to their lofty positions in fear and awe.
“Might I ask what Lord Protector-General means?”
Wang Chong’s eyes half-closed, and his expression was much colder. Since Fumeng Lingcha had come with such an aggressive and threatening air, there was no need for him to be polite.
“You are a smart man. You didn’t think that I had so quickly forgotten about the Regional Commanders incident, no? If I were you, I would immediately withdraw from Wushang and end this City of Steel!”
Fumeng Lingcha’s gaze was frigid, his expression brooking no objections.
No matter how brightly Wang Chong’s edge shone, no matter how welcomed he was in the capital, he would always be a young boy before Fumeng Lingcha.
In terms of seniority, there was a gap of ten thousand li between him and Wang Chong, and an even greater one when it came to age.
Thus, Fumeng Lingcha had never even thought about being polite to him.
“That is impossible!!”
Before Fumeng Lingcha could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Wang Chong’s even more determined voice. It suddenly felt like the temperature had plunged, and the troops both parties had brought with them began to feel a numbness in their skulls, a tension that made their bodies tremble.
No one had imagined that these two major personages of the empire would be so hostile on their first meeting. When people at this level grew angry, anyone would pale in fear.
“Lord Protector-General, do you know what you are saying? Wushang is my territory, and it does not seem like I need Milord’s permission to build a city on my own territory, much less Milord’s concern!” Wang Chong coldly said.
The two were already at odds during the Regional Commanders incident, and Wang Chong had long expected that Fumeng Lingcha would not rest on his laurels as Wang Chong built his city in Wushang. But Wang Chong had never expected that he would come so early and with such ferocity.
“Brat, you are being too insolent!”
There was a gust of wind as Fumeng Lingcha suddenly urged his mount forward. At the same time, he began to exude a majestic energy. At this moment, he seemed as vast as a mountain, and his energy continued to rise, causing the air in a radius of several dozen zhang to grow hazy.
This powerful pressure was utterly stifling.
Neigh!
Even Cheng Sanyuan and Su Shixuan found it hard to resist Fumeng Lingcha’s pressure, and their mounts were strenuously backing away.
“Milord!!”
The two paled in fright.
Warhorses in the army had all gone through intense training so that they would not retreat, even in the face of a sea of blood or mountain of blades. But the pressure of Fumeng Lingcha’s baleful aura was so thick that not even warhorses could endure it.
Neigh!
On the other side, the Qixi elites and their warhorses were in a similar situation. But since these were Qixi elites who had served Fumeng Lingcha for a long time, they had urged their horses back in advance.
The only people left were Wang Chong and Fumeng Lingcha, the two commanders.
When enemies met on a narrow path, the more courageous would emerge victorious. The energy Fumeng Lingcha had unleashed was not something ordinary warhorses or soldiers could endure. This was enough to highlight the discrepancy between the two.
Although Wang Chong had already reached the Imperial Martial realm, he was still far from Great Generals like Fumeng Lingcha. The difference in strength was recognizable at a glance.
“Bastard!”
Wang Chong’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. He knew what Fumeng Lingcha was up to, and if he had still been the Grand Marshal of the World, Fumeng Lingcha’s move would have been useless.
But that was then and this was now, and he was still very lacking when compared to the supreme Great Generals of the empire.
Even so, Wang Chong did not panic. He extended the index and middle finger of his right hand and thrust them into the thick mane of his horse, pressing them against an obscure acupuncture point. The neighing and nervous warhorse suddenly calmed down, its eyelids drooping.
Let alone the Qixi soldiers, even Fumeng Lingcha was stunned by this sight, completely surprised by this development.
Fumeng Lingcha could never have known that though Wang Chong was weaker than him, Wang Chong knew countless ways to calm a warhorse.
A horse had a certain acupuncture point that could induce drowsiness. If the appropriate amount of strength was applied, one could use this point to calm down a horse.
This was one of the simplest methods.
“Brat, a good trick!”
Fumeng Lingcha gave a furious smile, even more intent on killing Wang Chong.
“Not even your father or older brother would dare act so insolently before me! I will give you another chance! I will let you carefully think about it for ten days. If this city is still here, don’t blame me for being rude! Remember! This isn’t your capital!”
Leaving these words ringing in the air, Fumeng Lingcha turned his horse around and galloped off.
“Withdraw!”
Shouting out this single word, Fumeng Lingcha took off into the distance. Behind him followed the elites of the Qixi Protectorate, stirring a thick cloud of dust, leaving just as quickly as they had come under the respectful gazes of those in the city.
“Bastard!”
Not long after Fumeng Lingcha left, Bai Siling and Zhao Yatong rode out of the city.
“This is your fief, awarded to you by the Sage Emperor. What right does he have to act this way!”
Bai Siling’s face was red from rage.
“Fumeng Lingcha truly is acting above his station, and he clearly came this time to deal with Wang Chong. But this really is his territory, so it will be very difficult for us to overcome him,” Zhao Yatong said. She was much calmer than Bai Siling and much more rational, but her brow was similarly fraught with a deep concern.
In the end, Fumeng Lingcha was still a Protector-General of the empire and one of the supreme Great Generals. Whether in prestige, strength, or status, he was far above Wang Chong.
And this place was very far from the capital, so the Wang Clan had much less influence. In contrast, Fumeng Lingcha wielded the real power here. If Wang Chong offended him, he would find it very hard to make any progress in this place.
“He would dare!” the furious Bai Siling said with an air of indignation.
“Can a Protector-General ignore the laws of the land? I don’t believe that he would dare to act recklessly! The Imperial Court has so many imperial censors, and the spittle from a single one is enough to drown him to death. And even if he really was so bold, would the Sage Emperor forgive him?”
“He wouldn’t dare to do anything in plain daylight, but it’s hard to say what he would do from the shadows.”
At this voice, Bai Siling’s brows rose in anger, but when she turned her eyes, she saw a familiar face.
“Wang Chong?!”
Bai Siling looked in a daze at Wang Chong.
“If Fumeng Lingcha really wanted to move, then that’s what he did just now. This was a warning, and also a threat. As one of the supreme Great Generals, he truly has far too many methods available to him. It seems like the existence of the City of Steel really is a threat to his status, making him uneasy,” Wang Chong said.
“But can we really just ignore it?” Bai Siling angrily said.
Wang Chong fell silent. He wasn’t completely ready, making this a poor time to break into hostilities with Fumeng Lingcha.
“Lord Marquis, why don’t we report this matter to the Imperial Court? Perhaps this will make him more restrained?” a voice softly said.
Wang Chong turned and saw that Cheng Sanyuan and Su Shixuan also had anger burning in their eyes.
“It’s useless. Without any actual influence and only our side of the story, the Imperial Court can’t do anything. In addition, Fumeng Lingcha only made verbal threats, but he hasn’t actually done anything. Not even the imperial censors can reprimand him for that.”
This was not Wang Chong’s first time involving himself with the politics of the court, and his big uncle Wang Gen had been earnestly giving him advice this entire time with a mind to nurturing his political intuition. As a result, Wang Chong was well aware that it would be hard to pin any charge on Fumeng Lingcha for his conduct today.
After all, he was the Qixi Protector-General, a Great General of the empire!