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Chapter 517: Meeting

But due to the brazen group of the Men of Machetes, he changed his mind at the last second. He decided to protect the bridge and serve the Dragon King instead. He seriously explained to the generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom, “To be frank, this was the Dragon King’s clever plan all along. Now, you have two choices: surrender to me, and I will let you join the Dragon Army, or kill me, and the soldiers outside will come in and kill all of you.”

Beyond the checkpoint, the shouts of the Men with Machetets became increasingly louder. It seemed that they would break through the checkpoint at anytime. Besides, Shang Liao had become their hero after all he had said and done. Facing this seemingly life-and-death situation, the leader of the guards removed his hand from his sword, and the soldiers he commanded immediately knelt down and surrendered.

Shang Liao breathed a sigh of relief, but thought, “I cannot revive Xiaoyao Lake relying on these men.”

He commanded the soldiers to open the checkpoint, and a hundred of the Men with Machetes came in. At the sight of them, Shang Liao immediately realized that he had been fooled. He flushed with shame, but in the darkness, no one noticed.

He could not change his plan again, though. After all, he had changed his mind once, shocking the generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom. They did not kill him, but only because they feared the so-called “Dragon Army”.

Shang Liao could not show his embarrassment. For an ambitious king, a farce was more destructive than a hundred defeats.

Therefore, he had to seriously receive these men who claimed to be the Dragon King’s soldiers. He told them that he was the Right General of the Dragon Army and required them to follow his orders.

The Men with Machetes did not realize that Shang Liao was a better actor than they were. Since their plan had succeeded, they were surprised and delighted. In fact, a dozen of the Men with Machetes had run away out of fear before even reaching the bridge.

When they met him, they felt that they were on the same level as Shang Liao. But the Men with Machetes did not know Shang Liao’s real intent, and so they unwittingly believed the Right General. They greeted him warmly, and became the first force of Shang Liao’s army.

Soon Shang Liao realized that he could recruit more soldiers for himself in the name of the Dragon King. A big group of deserters from the Golden Roc Army flooded to the checkpoint. Shang Liao also accepted these army deserters. He claimed that they would not be taken as prisoners, as long as they surrendered to him and joined “the Dragon Army”.

The deserters had almost been driven crazy by the Dragon Army, who had pursued them closely. Now, they only wanted to survive. Upon hearing that they could join the Dragon Army, they knelt down to surrender immediately.

Within a single day, Shang Liao had built his first army, bringing him closer to his dream.

He quickly realized what a wise decision he had made. He gave up his plan to leave the Dragon King for now. Instead, he continued to recruit more soldiers in the name of the Right General of the Dragon Army.

The royal families in Hui City made their choices. Some, including the King of the Hui Nation and the old Kings of the Sha Nation and An Nation, fled to Jade City. As for the rest, they eagerly surrendered to Shang Liao.

Before long, Shang Liao occupied Hui City. Next, he sent people to convince the Sha Kingdom to surrender. Meanwhile, he did the same to the Kang Kingdom, but his men were forbidden from entering. Thousands of the Dragon King’s Army had already taken the capital of the Kang Kingdom, and they coldly refused to let his men in, saying, “Show us the Dragon King’s decree.”

Shang Liao did not dare to occupy his homeland by force. Instead, he pretended to draft troops in the Hui Kingdom. Soon after that, he received an invitation from Zhong Heng.

“Five kings gather together to mourn the fallen generals and soldiers,” Shang Liao repeated with a sneer. He was sure that it was a trick by the Dragon King. He came up with several excuses to decline the invitation: the new recruits were not yet stable, there was still danger at the border, and the civilians’ fears needed to be pacified. However, in the end, he made up his mind to attend the memorial service after all.

Shang Liao was afraid of the Dragon King, even though he was several years younger than him. The Dragon King seemed like an easy-going person who always entrusted his subordinates with important matters. But in actuality, he was a cold-hearted, ruthless man. Shang Liao had never seen the Dragon King kill people, but he had heard rumors about it. At first, he did not take these rumors seriously, but after meeting the Dragon King several times, he began to believe them.

Gu Shenwei never expected what happened in the Hui Kingdom. Except for sending a large army to the Kang Kingdom, he had only sent his messenger to the Second Young Master Meng to order him to protect the bridge. He had never imagined that Shang Liao had planned to destroy the bridge.

He had a lot to consider. Shang Liao was just one of his many problems.

So, when Shang Liao came to meet the Dragon King, it was clear that they both feared each other.

The memorial service was grand, yet grim. A trapezoidal platform was built on the battlefield of the seaside slope. Thousands of soldiers’ corpses were placed on the platform. The bodies were surrounded by firewood, and three warlocks from the Great Snow Mountain sacrificed horses and cows. Then, they chanted an incantation that no one understood.

Gu Shenwei ignited the platform on fire himself.

Then, he knelt down on one knee. Following suit, thousands of generals and soldiers behind him knelt down to pay tribute to their dead comrades.

A wise man read an impassioned memorial essay that he had composed. Gu Shenwei thought that the writing was not as good as that of Fang Wenshi, but he kept silent. He repeated these words in his mind, “The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth. The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace.”

After the memorial ceremony, the Dragon King awarded the soldiers according to their achievements. He had discussed the rewards in advance with his ministers.

The female archers from the Land of Fragrance received the highest reward. No one disputed it. Even Dugu Xian, who thought the main force in the battle was the male soldiers, agreed to this arrangement.

After awarding them accordingly, the Dragon King announced an unexpected decision – the nearly 10,000 female archers would return to the Land of Fragrance the very next day.

Upon hearing this, the generals and soldiers let out a sigh of disappointment.

Gu Shenwei could not keep these female archers in the army. He had previously reached an agreement with Shangguan Ru to not allow the female archers join in hand-to-hand combat, but let them return to the Land of Fragrance once the war was over.

The female archers had only been given a small amount of training. They could be a surprise force to assist the Dragon Army in the battle, but they could not be expected to play a similar role in future wars.

Besides, male and female soldiers living in the same barracks had given rise to many problems. There had been too many incidences of harassment and misbehavior happening between them. Gu Shenwei could ignore this for now, but he knew if he allowed it to continue, it would become a serious issue in the future.

Gu Shenwei only hoped that Shangguan Ru would not be too angry when she discovered all of the pregnant female archers once they returned back to the Land of Fragrance.

The following afternoon, Gu Shenwei met many people, including Old Man Mu.

“You want me to return to the Land of Fragrance? Honesty, Dragon King, I would be of greater use to you here,” Old Man Mu tried to convince him.

In her letter to Gu Shenwei, Shangguan Ru had decribed how much Old Man Mu had changed. Gu Shenwei did not agree, though. “Although he is less skilled in martial arts than before, he is still talkative and likes to speak in riddles, just as Han Fen does,” he thought to himself.

Gu Shenwei did not believe that Old Man Mu would be of any use to him, so he sent him back to the Land of Fragrance. “Now that Shangguan Ru wants to keep him alive, let her be responsible for him,” he thought. He replied, “Maid Lotus will be back soon. If you stay here, I will hand you over to her.”

Old Man Mu became uneasy, for he had a complex past with the New Moon Hall. “Unlike Shangguan Ru, Maid Lotus is an insensitive and ruthless woman, and I have still not recovered my strength. If I was left in her hands, I would suffer great pain,” he thought to himself. He grinned at Gu Shenwei and said, “The good girl doesn’t even have anyone to talk to her there. I’d better go back to keep her company. Do you have any letters or gifts for her? The good girl would be excited if I took those to her. Then perhaps she would not always be drinking alone, depressed.”

“No, I don’t,” Gu Shenwei answered coldly.

At nightfall, the Dragon King summoned Shang Liao.

The others were eating and drinking at the feast, but he had to meet the Dragon King alone and hungry. He walked into the tent anxiously, realizing only then that it was not a private conversation. Left General Dugu Xian, Prime Minister Zhong Heng and another unknown young man were there, too.

Shang Liao became more anxious, but he pretended to stay calm, slightly bowing his head to the Dragon King.

The Dragon King did not introduce the unknown young man to Shang Liao, nor did he offer him a seat. Rather, they stood around a table that had a map on it.

“Nice to see you, Your Grace. We are discussing how to incorporate the soldiers from Golden Roc Army who surrendered. Now you can give us some advice,” said Zhong Heng.

Shang Liao understood now, thinking, “The Dragon King is interested in getting my army. Without troops, my goals can’t be achieved.” He said to Gu Shenwei, “Dragon King, I thought we had a deal.”

Gu Shenwei had been staring at the map. At Shang Liao’s words, he raised his head and asked, “What did you say?”

Shang Liao became slightly more anxious, thinking, “I only have an oral agreement with the Dragon King. If he denies it, I have nothing to prove it.” He said, “You allowed me to recruit soldiers freely.”

“Yes. I said that to you,” replied Gu Shenwei.

Shang Liao was very relieved, and thought, “The Dragon King is a man of honor. He might plot against the enemy, but he would never break his promise to his own men.” He said, “Actually, it was you who made them surrender, not me.”

“I see. Are you still my Right General?” asked Gu Shenwei.

Shang Liao was so afraid that he almost knelt down. He answered in a panic, “Of course, I am. Why would you ask that?”

“Don’t worry. Since your soldiers belong to the Dragon Army, and you are my Right General, I need you to carry out an important task for me,” Gu Shenwei went on.

“As you command,” Shang Liao replied with a sense of dread.

“This is the Crown Prince from Shu-lik,” Gu Shenwei introduced. The young man was Tie Linglong’s half brother. He had managed to escape during the the collapse of his homeland. Like others, he had kept an eye on the war across the lake. After the war ended, he immediately paid a visit to the Dragon King.

Shang Liao nodded at the man and said, “Your Highness.” He mused to himself, “Why did the Dragon King summon this man? Shu-lik used to be the strongest kingdom in the Western Region, but it collapsed a long time ago. Even if the King of Shu-lik was resurrected from his grave today, he would still not be able to revive Shu-lik.”

“I want you to lead the army and help the Crown Prince retake Shu-lik,” Gu Shenwei said plainly, as if this were a simple task.

Shang Liao was stunned. He could finally see just how cunning the Dragon King really was. “I’m from a royal family in Xiaoyao Lake. Taking Shu-lik does me no good. On the contrary, it will greatly slow down my expansion and influence in Xiaoyao Lake,” he thought.

“I…” he began, but at the sight of the Dragon King’s serious expression, Shang Liao did not know what to say.