Chapter 402
Chapter 402
"My love, this is the greatest merit you could achieve for the least effort. All you have to do is open the gates from the inside; it requires no strength from you. When the State of Wu takes Raging Tide City, you will be hailed as the foremost contributor."
Jin Shiying's voice trembled, and he took a deep breath.
"I... I have one condition."
Wu You's voice began to tremble as well.
*'I'm finally going to succeed.'*
She had lost count of how many times she had tried to persuade this man. She had truly said everything and used every means possible.
"After this is done, you must let the people of the Jin Clan go. You must not kill innocent people indiscriminately."
"Oh my, I never knew my love was such a sentimental man. Couldn't you spare a little of that sentiment for me?"
"This is no joke."
The woman climbed back onto Jin Shiying's body and spoke in a coquettish voice.
"Alright, I'll do as you say. You and your irritating sense of sentiment and righteousness!"
* * *
The Great Snow Mountain.
Despite being fully prepared for the ascent, the thirty to forty thousand troops under King Kang shivered from the cold. King Kang Arutai and the allied forces of the Great Calamity Temple had now reached the first of two plazas below the Great Calamity Palace. The palace itself was situated three hundred meters higher, and looking up, one could faintly see its magnificent silhouette. However, they still had another ten *li* to travel before reaching it.
This first plaza was the primary line of defense for the Great Calamity Palace. A fortress wall had once stood here, but it was now completely dismantled, leaving only ruins of crumbling ramparts and broken walls. Gunan Douta caressed the ruins, the corners of his eyes turning slightly red. The battle of the Great Calamity Palace had taken place decades ago, but the scene was still vivid in his eyes.
It was a great general under Jiang Li who had come to annihilate the Great Calamity Palace. At Jiang Li's call, the states of Gan, Yue, Chu, and Wu had formed an allied army of sixty thousand, attacked the Great Calamity Palace, slaughtered all twenty thousand of its warrior monks, and reduced the incomparably beautiful palace to ruins. What a glorious status the Great Calamity Temple had once enjoyed in the Eastern world. Many kings were its disciples, and even the Grand Tutors of royal courts were its High Masters. If the Great Calamity Temple drew a circle on a map, that mountain became its property, and the fertile lands and people below it would belong to the temple as well.
The Great Calamity Palace before them had a history of several hundred years. When it was built, five nations and dozens of nobles from the Eastern world had contributed funds and manpower. It was all because of Jiang Li, that damnable man. He alone had brutally uprooted the Great Calamity Temple's power from the Eastern world and driven them to the Western Regions. After Jiang Li's fall, the Great Calamity Temple had tried to recover its strength and make a comeback in the Eastern world. But then, to their surprise, even the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty had issued a decree to hunt down the remnants of the Great Calamity Temple, stabbing them in the back.
Gunan Douta rummaged ceaselessly through the ruins. After searching for a full quarter of an hour, he finally found a stone engraved with the two characters for 'Gunan'. He had carved it himself as a young warrior monk. Tracing the characters on the stone, Gunan Douta shed silent tears.
"Spirits of my martial brothers, return to this place! Master, Your Majesty the Monk King, your disciple has finally returned to the Great Calamity Palace. I swear I will restore its glory!"
Witnessing the poignant scene, the two thousand warrior monks under Gunan Douta observed a moment of solemn silence.
"Let us return to the Great Calamity Palace! Let us restore the glory of the Great Calamity Temple!"
In contrast, Grand Master Prajna explored the ruins out of curiosity. She had no feelings for the Great Calamity Palace; in fact, she had clapped and cheered when it fell. This was because she, too, was an admirer of His Highness Jiang Li.
*'Whatever His Highness Jiang Li opposed, I, Prajna, oppose as well.'*
She suddenly recalled that when her senior sister, Lin Shang, had betrayed and fled the Devil Rock Dao Palace, she had intended to build the Snow Mountain Palace upon the ruins of this Great Calamity Palace. However, Lin Shang had given up on building it here after just one month. The place was simply too far from any major city, making life incredibly inconvenient. Even to buy a single piece of straw paper for the latrine, one had to travel hundreds of *li*.
Although Prajna had led people to annihilate the Snow Mountain Palace several times, she actually felt little animosity toward Lin Shang; rather, she felt a sense of pity. The Old Demoness of the Snow Mountain was incredibly formidable, but she had never won a single fight in her life. Thus, a saying spread throughout the entire martial world of the East.
"Old Demoness Lin, who fights only to lose again and again."
* * *
Unlike them, King Kang Arutai felt something entirely different upon seeing the Great Calamity Palace. It was a feeling of magnificence and grandeur. He decided he would definitely rebuild it. It couldn't serve as his royal palace, but it could be a temporary one.
*'I must ascend the highest peak, to see all mountains dwarfed below.'*
Arutai, of course, did not know the poem, but his current feelings were likely similar. To live in a palace atop this Great Snow Mountain was like reaching the pinnacle of life. Compared to his father Arujiang's hideous palace, the Great Calamity Palace was a miraculous feat of human architecture.
*'Once I have Tianxi Province, this entire Great Snow Mountain will belong to me, Arutai. The Great Calamity Palace will be the jewel in my crown. Aruna, once I eliminate that false king, I will be the sole king of the Qiang Kingdom. The Su Clan will grovel at my feet, and Tianxi Province will become my hunting ground. No, that's not all! I don't just want Tianxi Province; I want half of the State of Yue. I will become the hegemon of the Eastern world.'*
*'My coming to the Great Calamity Palace must be the will of heaven! This is the closest place to the gods, so it must be heaven's will that I kill that bitch Aruna here! My path to becoming a hegemon begins with killing Aruna! As for Shen Lang? He's just a clown, not even worth mentioning. He may be cunning, but he's a clown nonetheless.'*
"All troops, prepare for battle! We will slaughter the false king Aruna and Shen Lang!"
As Arutai's roar echoed, a fierce wind whipped up, and heavy snow began to fall relentlessly from the sky. Arutai laughed heartily and said,
"Such is the majesty of this king. My roar pierces the heavens and brings down the heavy snow."
Seeing this, Su Jianting's anxiety reached its peak.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! This subject's heart is filled with extreme apprehension and unease. There must be a scheme of Shen Lang's at play here! Your Majesty must not proceed any further up. Perhaps it would be better if I led the troops to eliminate Aruna and Shen Lang?"
Arutai, whose heart was filled with grandeur at the sight of the Great Calamity Palace, harshly rebuked Su Jianting for his unease.
"Are you even worthy of killing Aruna? Only this king is worthy of taking the head of the false king Aruna! This Great Calamity Palace is a human miracle. It has guided me here to execute Aruna, which is as good as the will of the gods. My path to achieving the great work of a hegemon begins here. The civil war in the State of Yue is the greatest opportunity heaven has given me. What I want is not just the southern part of Tianxi Province, but to become one of the hegemons of the Eastern world! The gods and the Great Calamity Palace will bear witness!"
The three peerless beauties, Su Mo, Su Ying, and Su Xiao, knelt and pleaded.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Shen Lang is cunning; you must be on your guard. He has surely laid a trap."
King Kang laughed loudly and said,
"Then tell me, what kind of trap has he laid? Where is it?"
Su Mo said,
"This servant does not know where the trap is, but that man is as cunning as a demon. He has surely set a snare within the Great Calamity Palace. Your Majesty must not fall for it."
King Kang Arutai shifted his gaze and asked,
"What if High Master Gunan's warrior monks lead the attack on the Great Calamity Palace?"
The meaning was crystal clear. Just as before, Gunan Douta's warrior monks from the Great Calamity Temple were to take the lead, to spring any snares or traps that might lie ahead. Gunan Douta laughed boisterously and said,
"King Kang, you have the heart of a mouse. Even without your suggestion, I was planning to take the initiative and be the first to charge into the Great Calamity Palace. Great Calamity Palace, I have come! Great Master Prajna, will you join me?"
Grand Master Prajna reluctantly tossed aside the stone fragment she was holding. Exquisitely and beautifully carved, the stone depicted two figures in coitus, embossed in relief. Surprisingly, the two figures on the stone were androgynous, possessing both male and female characteristics.
Grand Master Prajna said,
"Let us go. Our Devil Rock Dao Palace has a grudge with that man that does not allow us to live under the same sky!"
Gunan Douta roared.
"Warrior monks of the Great Calamity Temple, charge with me! Let us slaughter all the dogs and pigs that have infiltrated the Great Calamity Palace!"
At his words, the two thousand warrior monks charged forward with unparalleled, frenzied enthusiasm. The heavy snow swirled around them. This Great Calamity Palace was their sacred ground, their home. As if blessed by the gods, the warrior monks felt their strength surge endlessly as they sprinted forward. In a single breath, they charged all the way to the Great Calamity Palace at the summit.
* * *
Shen Lang could only sigh. He had originally planned not to fight at the Great Calamity Palace, but the cunning King Kang Arutai had sent the warrior monks of the Great Calamity Temple ahead to clear the way, instead of advancing with his main army. Under these circumstances, he had no choice. He had to fight them.
The allied force of over three thousand, led by Aruna and Shen Lang, stood fully armed behind the ruined walls of the Great Calamity Palace. The warrior monks of the Great Calamity Temple drew closer and closer, so close that Shen Lang could see their expressions of unparalleled, ecstatic fervor. They showed no fear of death. Below the snow mountain, the warrior monks had not been so brave, but now they fought as if they were all under divine protection.
"Kill! Kill...!"
The two thousand warrior monks looked as if they had lost their minds. Gunan Douta screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Great Calamity Palace, I have returned! Master, Your Majesty the Monk King, I have returned to the Great Calamity Palace I have so longed for in my dreams!"
"Kill the enemy! Fire the arrows!"
At Aruna's command, the allied forces of Shen Lang and her unleashed a volley of arrows. The warrior monks of the Great Calamity Temple fell continuously, yet they still charged fearlessly and madly toward the enemy lines. After three or four successive volleys, the warrior monks reached the allied forces of Shen Lang and Aruna. The two armies immediately engaged in close combat, clashing in a frenzied melee, fighting and killing one another. Bright red blood spurted in all directions, and severed limbs flew through the air. As the heavy snow fell endlessly, the battle cries of the soldiers at the Great Calamity Palace pierced the heavens.
The allied forces of Shen Lang and Aruna instantly felt immense pressure. Though the warrior monks were not numerous, their morale was incredibly high, and their combat prowess was formidable. They fought as if possessed, completely fearless of death, and casualties quickly mounted among the allied forces.
"Kill! Kill! Slaughter all the wretched dogs and pigs hiding in the Great Calamity Palace!"
Gunan Douta also looked as if he had lost his mind. The two armies fought a fierce battle of mutual slaughter atop the snow mountain. Shen Lang was burning with anxiety.
*'Why haven't King Kang Arutai's main forces come up yet?'*
The inescapable net Shen Lang had prepared could only be sprung in one specific location. The amount of chemicals he possessed was limited, allowing him to trigger an avalanche on only one side of the Great Snow Mountain. Arutai had spread his army out as they marched, with tens of thousands of troops covering a breadth of about twenty *li*. This Great Snow Mountain was truly massive, so a single avalanche would not be enough to annihilate Arutai's entire army. He had to trigger it when the enemy forces were at their most concentrated to achieve maximum lethality.
Just then, a sky-shattering roar erupted from below. King Kang Arutai's main army was finally charging.
*'They're here! They're finally here!'*