Chapter 404 Destiny Gathering
However, Li Keyong could not counterattack Li Ye for he had no soldiers or horses.
Not long after Li Keyong killed Li Cunxiao, the guards wrapped his body in a straw mat. Just as the guards were about throw away the body, Kang Junli, who went to the grasslands to borrow troops from the Tartar clan, had returned.
However, there were no Tartar troops with him. He came back alone.
Li Keyong saw him in his study.
As soon as Kang Junli entered the door, he fell to his knees and began crying.
He came back alone on his horse, without even a guard.
The guards had all lost their lives at the steppe. Kang Junli himself was also covered with blood. His hair was all messed up and he looked utterly awful.
After listening to Kang Junli’s story, he froze on his chair and his eyes were dumbfounded.
There was a change of climate with the Tartar clan. More precisely, the entire grassland had changed. When the Tang Dynasty was in chaos and Li Ye attacked Hedong, battle fire also erupted in the grasslands, it was also in a state of war.
A name was associated with every single battle and the victor of every war was, Qidan.
To be more accurate, it was the Qidan tribe that was supported by the religion of God. It took only a few years for the Qidan tribe to expand from the tribe of the Eastern Steppe to sweeping the surrounding areas and defeating the other tribes.
But now, Qidan’s borders had been pushed to the middle of the steppe, which had originally belonged to the Tartar clan. They were supposed to be the largest tribe in the steppe. Now, they had been defeated by the Qidan army.
When Kang Junli went to the Tartar clan to borrow troops, he was caught up in the Qidan invasion of the Tartar clan. Under the iron hooves of the Qidan elite cavalry, the Tartan’s territory in the radius of 500 kilometers had become a blood-fire purgatory. Before Kang Junli had a chance to see the leader of the clan, he encountered an army of Qidan elite cavalry.
So they battled, Kang Junli fled as he fought, eventually only he managed to flee back to the inland.
“The Qidan cavalry is exceptionally elite, and there are many high-level cultivators among them. I thought the guards I had brought along were already strong enough, but they couldn’t even escape, much less battle with them....” Kang Junli knew that he had made a big mistake, so he was begging on the ground for mercy. Of course, it was not entirely his fault.
At this point, Kang Junli’s eyes showed fear. “The opposing general is very young, but his cultivation is incredible, at least reaching the Spiritual Master Realm. The official of the tartar tribe recognized him, if I remember right, his name...Yelv Abaoji!”
The room was silent, the only sound that could be heard was Kang Junli’s uneasy heartbeat. The candlelight was swaying gently and the shadows under the curtains were shaking from time to time. It seemed that ghosts were hiding in the dark corners of the beams and were about to swallow the frightened people in the room.
After God knows how long, Li Keyong stood up suddenly, but he stumbled and his face turned black. Then suddenly a burst of blood sprayed out several steps.
“Lord!” Kang Junli was frightened and hurriedly got up to help.
Li Keyong shoved Kang Junli away and screamed in his face, “Destiny! This is destiny!”
Having said that, he spat out a mouthful of blood again and fell on his chair.
“Lord!” Kang Junli could not bear to see this, and he quickly advised, “Don’t worry my lord, even without the Tartar reinforcements, we can recruit troops from Daizhou, Shuozhou, Yunzhou, and Weizhou. The rebels will not be able to breach the city with the Thirteenth Grand Guardian present. In time, we will still be able to regain our rule! My lord, we now need to consider the long-term, the outcome is still unknown!”
Li Keyong was fine before, but after hearing Kang Junli’s words, he spat out several more mouthfuls of blood.
Kang Junli was at a loss. “My lord...”
Li Keyong’s face was bleak, and his eyes became desperate. “I can no longer think about the long-term...the Thirteenth Grand Guardian is already dead...”
Kang Junli’s face changed drastically. With the situation at hand, without Li Cunxiao at the battle-front stabilizing the Imperial Army, Li Keyong and others would not even have time to recruit warriors, much less think about future development. But Li Cunxiao was fine before Kang Junli left, how could he just die?
Who could kill Li Cunxiao? He was a senior general of Militarism, not even Immortal Realm cultivators could do anything to him when he was in the Military Formation. So who could kill him?
Could it be Li Ye?
But if Li Ye had come and killed Li Cunxiao, how could Daizhou City be so peaceful? How could there not be any traces of battle in the Inspector General’s Manor? And how could Li Keyong be unscathed?
Kang Junli suddenly remembered that when he hurried back into the house, he saw a group of armored men rushing out with a bloody body wrapped in a straw mat. He shockingly saw a piece of the body fall out of the straw mat. It seemed to be a broken hand...
Kang Junli had suddenly realized something. A chill immediately rose from the soles of his feet, and his back was suddenly cold. This had made him shocked, bewildered, frightened, and flustered, like sitting on a blanket full of needles. He looked at Li Keyong with disbelief, remembering the rumor that Li Cunxiao had given his allegiance to Li Ye.
He then asked in an awkward voice, “Is it... Could it be that the bodies that were carried out were that of the Thirteenth Grand Guardian?!”
Li Keyong replied with tacit understanding, because he could no longer hear Kang Junli. With his spirit stunned, he was already out of his mind.
He had a good relationship with the Tartar tribe. During the Huang Chao Uprising, Li Keyong had borrowed troops from the Tartar tribe even after he had left the tribe. So Li Keyong was confident that there would not be any mishaps this time. That was why he chose to kill Li Cunxiao.
Now without the support of the Tartar army, there was no way their remaining troops could match up with Li Ye’s army. Without Li Cunxiao, they couldn’t even defend the city.
Only Li Keyong himself could know his own feelings at present.
He might not regret killing Li Cunxiao, but he must be regretting killing him so early.
However, it was done. What else could Li Keyong do apart from regret?
Li Keyong now understood better than anyone what it felt like to cut your own arms off and destroy the Great Wall.
And how difficult it was for a country to seek a good general amid chaotic times and how difficult for a poor family to find a good wife.
Li Keyong was disheartened and slumped on the chair. The majesty of a ruler had all but disappeared on him. Now all the disguise and pretense had lost its meaning.
“It’s long been rumored that Li Keyong, lord of the Longxi County of the Tang Dynasty, is a generational hero. Not only is he handsome with extraordinary cultivation, but also has a wealth of talent. But from what I can see, it is disappointing.”
An arrogant voice suddenly came like a ghost, full of ridicule, “This body is not dead, the army is not dispersed, thus, success or failure remains unknown, but the lord of the county is so desolate.”
After being ridiculed, Li Keyong suddenly became furious. So he looked in the direction of the voice, and screamed, “Who is talking such wild nonsense?”
Li Keyong quickly saw the opponent for he was already standing in the yard.
A 2-meter man was standing alone in the courtyard. He had a sharp-looking face with striking features and was dressed in the aristocratic clothing of the steppe. He had the kind of casual temperament that he could stroll in the courtyard even if he were in the enemy’s camp, full of self-confidence.
Li Keyong did not know the man standing before him, he had never seen this person. But the Daizhou Inspector General’s Manor was his territory, how could a prairie man appear here? How dare he break into the manor without saying word?
Li Keyong then shouted in a deep voice, “Men, take down this savage!”
No one responded, there was silence all around, like a deserted wilderness.
Li Keyong’s heart sank, and realized that something was wrong.
After his army was defeated, Li Keyong placed great importance to his own safety. So there were thousands of guards in the Inspector General Manor. When he gave out the command, he had used his cultivation-power, which meant the whole manor should have heard, but no one responded.
“What’s going on?”
There could be only one answer.
Li Keyong felt a chill down his spine.
At this time, one figure after another appeared on the courtyard walls and roofs on both sides of the courtyard, and dozens of people gathered. They were silent and placed in different directions, forming a defensive barrier.
Among these cultivators, there were those wearing the common grassland clothing, as well as those wearing black robes.
Judging from the pressure that was emanating from them, their cultivation were all above the Spiritual Master Realm.
There were at least a dozen Spiritual Master Realm cultivators among them! Not ruling out a few with even higher cultivation!
Li Keyong’s hands and feet were all cold.
Such a force, if they wanted to kill him, his head would separate from his body in the blink of an eye.
He stared at the steppe aristocrat standing in the courtyard.
Li Keyong didn’t recognize him, but Kang Junli certainly did. When the latter saw the opponent, his face changed greatly. Kang Junli immediately said to Li Keyong, “This person is the Qidan Senior General who defeated me...Yelv Abaoji!”
There were eight Qidan tribes, each of which had its own sect. A few years ago, they took turns to be the chief. Yelv Abaoji was a young member of the Diela Sect. His name was relatively unknown, hence, Li Keyong had never heard of him.
But like the chaotic Central Plains, nobody knew who Li Maozhen was years ago. But now, he was placed at Chang’an City, and even dared to ask the emperor to come to Fengxiang, and he helped the emperor name the feudal prince!
After learning he was the Qidan senior general who swept the grassland, Li Keyong calmed down because he didn’t want to lose his confidence in front of outsiders. Even if he was going to die, he had to die with dignity, so he asked in a deep voice, “What is your intention here, Your Highness?”
Yelv Abaoji, who had not yet reached the age of 30, was born with a wealth of good looks. When he heard Li Keyong’s words, he revealed a bright smile.
As he stepped into the house, he said sincerely, “Trust me, my friend, I’m here to help you. I apologize for accidentally hurting your subordinates in the grassland before. You know we Qidans are hospitable people and I don’t want to have an enemy for no reason. So I want to make up for it. It just so happens that I heard that you’ve encountered a little... trouble. So the high priest asked me to bring someone over to help you.”
He entered the room in a stately manner, relaxed and unguarded, as if walking into his own hall, and sat down naturally in Li Keyong’s chair. To an outsider, he looked like he and Li Keyong were the best of friends.
Li Keyong sneered and said, “I’m afraid you don’t know what you are about to face, that’s why to dare to be so confident. You only came with a dozen Spiritual Master Realm cultivators, even if that number were doubled, it would be useless to the current situation!”
Yelv Abaoji shrugged his shoulders to signify that he heard Li Keyong. And then he said seriously but without losing his casual manner, “Trust me, my friend, I know better than you how... difficult your enemies are to deal with. Otherwise why would I come here in person? What you need to know now is that God is the one you should truly worship, not some Buddhist sect that has been of no help to you!”
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