Chapter 43: The Nobility of Longdu
"My lord, we'll enter the fiefdom of the Grand Xia Empire in half a day. Are we heading straight to the capital?" Tie Ma, who was driving the carriage, glanced at the terrain before turning to ask.
"Yes.” came Fang Chen's voice from inside the carriage.
Tie Ma nodded, ready to whip the horses. But, all of a sudden, the ground trembled, and the carriage trembled with it. His brows furrowed. He was familiar with the frequency of these vibrations. This was most definitely caused by a troop of cavalry, and they were of a substantial number, at least a hundred soldiers.
Huang Sihai also sensed it, causing his expression to grow serious. "This is the border. Why would there be cavalry here?"
"The world is in chaos. They might be bandits," suggested Tie Ma. "We shouldn’t poke our noses into their business. Let’s hurry back to the capital city as soon as possible.”
Huang Sihai found the suggestion reasonable, and the two of them urged the horses to run faster. They galloped across the road.
Unfortunately, the vibrations turned more frequent, and soon, a large group of panicking figures appeared in their sight. They exchanged a glance and decided to stop the carriage to see what’s going on.
The fleeing group seemed to be a merchant caravan, and they were protected by a group of guards. The caravan had several wagons of goods.
The next moment, a pursuing troop approached from behind. A voice rang out in excitement, "Quick, get me a bow. Today, I’ll achieve a hundred kills!"
Following that, an arrow whizzed through the air and at the caravan. It narrowly missed one of the fleeing guards.
"They’re the calvary from the Longdu Empire," Tie Ma said with a stern expression. "This is the border of our Grand Xia. Why is there Longdu Cavalry here?"
"It seems they’ve come from the hunting plains in Longdu. These nobles of Longdu... They are hunting the merchants of our empire for sport," Huang Sihai said, his voice turning cold.
"My lord?" Tie Ma called out.
"Go ahead and handle it." Fang Chen's voice came from inside the carriage.
Tie Ma and Huang Sihai immediately jumped off the carriage and rushed toward the commotion. They weren’t worried in the least about Fang Chen’s safety.
In the skies above, Fang Chen’s divine soul observed everything that was happening. He was expressionless.
There were more than a hundred soldiers from the Longdu Calvary, and they surrounded a luxurious carriage. With a bow in his hand, a young man who was seventeen or eighteen stood atop the carriage, and sadistic greed flashed in his eyes. He took aim at the merchants from the Grand Xia Empire.
It was clear from a glance that the youth was nobility from the Longdu Kingdom. Only the nobles had the ability to command calvary, and those soldiers weren’t exactly weak. All of them were in the mid Qi Condensation Stage and with more than a hundred of them. They should be an elite squad.
The merchant caravan of the Grand Xia Empire was obviously no match for them. They barely had a dozen or so guards and the strongest among them was at the late Qi Condensation Stage.
Huang Sihai and Tie Ma arrived on the scene a moment later. They didn’t hesitate a second and dashed at the calvary.
“Wait a second!” a voice rang through the skies. It came from the merchant caravan. Suddenly, everyone who was running away turned to stare at Huang Sihai and Tie Ma, who were charging at the enemies. Shock appeared on their faces.
“Young lady, we have to hurry and run. We’re about to pass the border of the Grand Xia Empire soon.”
“With the experts of the empire making a move, we have no need to escape any longer.” A lady emerged from one of the carriages. She was calm. Not a trace of panic could be seen on her face as she looked at Tie Ma and Huang Sihai.
“Young lady, they’re just two people. Even if they make a move, they can’t possibly—” one of the maidservants beside her spoke. The words barely left her lips when Huang Sihai descended on the battlefield like a war god. With a wave of his arms, two soldiers were hurled to the side. The horses they rode weren’t spared either. Everything and everyone was sent flying.
Elsewhere, Tie Ma’s sword danced like lightning. However, he seemed to be conserving his energy and inner qi, he didn’t waste any energy on superfluous movements. Every time he swung his sword, he would strike at the vitals. In an instant, holes appeared in the space between the eyebrows of six soldiers.
“How... How strong!” the maidservant gasped in shock as her jaws dropped. Fright could be seen in her eyes.
The head of the guards rode over to the young lady and yelled in joy, “Young lady, this is great! Those two seem to be martial artists in the Qi Detonation Stage!”
A martial artist at the Qi Detonation Stage could hold back a hundred soldiers. That was common knowledge among the citizens of the empire.
“Do you recognize them?” the young lady asked.
With a bitter smile on his face, the head of the guards chuckled. “Even though Qi Detonation Stage martial artists are rare in the Grand Xia Empire, my cultivation is merely at the late Qi Condensation Stage. I don’t know who they are.”
The Qi Detonation Stage was a threshold that solidified one’s position in the Grand Xia Empire. Those who were in the Qi Detonation Stage only mingled around with people of the same stage. It was difficult for lower-level martial artists to get to know them.
“It’s fine. I’ll thank them personally when this is over,” the young lady said.
When the youth from the Longdu Empire saw Huang Sihai and Tie Ma killing a bunch of his subordinates, he roared with rage, “Kill them! Kill them all! How dare they get in the way of my entertainment?! I’ll take their heads as chamber pots!”
Several figures shot out from the Longdu Calvary. They rushed towards Huang Sihai and Tie Ma, their inner qi surrounding them. They were unmistakably in the Qi Detonation Stage.
Both the head of the guards and the young lady felt their expressions freezing.
"Qi Detonation Stage!"
"Who on earth are they?! Why do they have Qi Detonation Stage martial artists?"
"Young lady, that young man must be a noble from the Longdu Kingdom, and his status doesn't seem to be low. He has Qi Detonation Stage experts as his subordinates. Several of them, in fact. He... he has to be a viscount at the very least!” A grave expression formed on the head guard’s face. That was a viscount they were talking about!
That wasn’t a low position in the Longdu Empire at all! Even though the royal family was the true leader of their empire, their land was split among various noble families!
On the other side, Old Huang and Tie Ma, facing the incoming Qi Detonation martial artists, revealed a trace of excitement. These were not ordinary martial artists; they were at the level of Qi Detonation, a significant threshold that marked a considerable level of strength.
With a baron as their lowest rank of nobility, every noble family would be given a plot of land to lord over. It could be said that nobles of the Longdu Kingdom were considered kings in their territory.
“Young lady, we should just run...” the maidservant's face was completely pale as she tried to persuade her young lady.
“Are we really going to escape when they made a move to help us?” The young lady frowned. Turning to the head of the guards, she commanded, “Bring the rest away! I’ll stay here on my own.”
“We can’t do that! I accepted your payment. That’s why, I need to send you back to the Grand Xia Empire safely. How can I abandon you here?” The head of the guards rejected her order immediately.
Unfortunately, the rest of the guards weren’t exactly people of principle. Glancing at each other, they started to escape, leaving them behind.
“You assholes!” the head of the guards roared at their fleeing backs.
Turning back to the battle, he saw the Qi Detonation Stage martial artists from the Longdu Empire locked in combat with Huang Sihai and Tie Ma. One of those from the Longdu Empire was sent flying tens of feet after receiving a single punch from Huang Sihai. He was dead by the time he hit the ground.
“This...” The head of the guards and the young lady revealed flabbergasted expressions.
The members of the caravan who didn’t escape saw what had happened, and their excitement rose. There was hope for them!
“Damn it! Kill them! Don’t let them get close to me!” the youth on the carriage screamed in panic.
Soldiers swarmed Huang Sihai and Tie Ma. However, these soldiers were nothing. They were mere trash that could be slain on a whim. It didn’t take long before they were beaten half to death. The other guards crowded beside the youth, frantic. Suddenly, the predators turned into prey, and despair overtook them.
“Are you a noble from the Longdu Empire? What’s your rank?” Tie Ma asked while staring at the youth on the carriage.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦