Which One Is the Target?

"I am General Chongwu of the Yao Kingdom! I can work with you to pursue our enemy!" Regardless of whether they would actually cooperate, Chongwu could make grand promises first. Besides, he had a hunch that this black-armored leader's objective wasn't much different from his own. The gilded brand of the Yao Kingdom was usually effective across the Shanjin Plain, so there was nothing wrong with announcing his allegiance like this. But hiding in the shadows, He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: *Well, damn. That saves me some trouble.* For some reason, certain words struck a chord with the black-armored leader. His movements abruptly paused, and he tilted his head. Dong Rui even praised General Chongwu: "This fellow is pretty sharp. He assessed the situation and immediately saw you wanted to pit the snipe against the clam. He doesn't want to be the snipe, nor does he want to be the clam—he just wants to capture the great demon Three-Tails and bring it back." At the same time, he poked fun at He Lingchuan: "Still hoping they'd slaughter each other? Looks like your plan backfired, eh?" The Yao army had indeed smashed quite a few rock puppets, and the black-armored leader had killed many Yao soldiers, but that was still far from enough. General Chongwu still stood firm, and the bulk of his forces remained intact. This brief, tentative skirmish hadn't dealt him any severe damage. General Chongwu had probably deduced what was going on with this black-armored leader that had suddenly appeared in Mount Jing. Yet he harbored no greed, remaining focused solely on his immediate task. Assessing the situation without greed—it seemed the Yao Kingdom produced no shortage of capable men. He Lingchuan gazed at the cluster of torches ahead. The two opposing forces looked completely incompatible—ha, this was truly the difference between the living and the dead. "Is that so? Just wait and see." In his view, General Chongwu had just made a colossal mistake. The black-armored man stood as still as a sculpture, but his red-glowing eyes looked at General Chongwu, then shifted toward the distant darkness. His target was hiding right there, watching from the dark. Though he couldn't see it, he could sense it clearly. More accurately, it was the Luosheng Armor's perception, having merged into one with him. No, why was that his target? Why pursue him? Whose target was this, anyway? Then what was his own target? It should be— He turned his gaze back onto General Chongwu. Two voices seemed to bicker back and forth in his mind without a moment's rest! Seeing the hulking black figure offer no response, seemingly hesitating, General Chongwu spoke again: "How about you fall back to the col ahead? We can pass each other there. Then you chase your enemy, I chase my target, and we can regroup afterward. How does that sound?" He even took the lead in sheathing his weapon to show good faith, though he dared not part his ranks to let this entity pass—after all, they had just been locked in a fight to the death moments ago. He was no novice on the battlefield. Sigh. If they hadn't crossed paths on a narrow road and blocked each other's way, he would have led his troops away long ago. Why would he waste his breath dithering with this black freak? While the two forces stared each other down, the black-armored leader slowly shifted his gaze from the night sky back to General Chongwu and the Yao army, the red glow in his eyes flickering. "We bear no grudges or enmity. There is no need for us to fight to the death!" The look in the creature's eyes oozed heavy malice; General Chongwu had never spoken so fast. "I promised that whatever your target is, I can help you hunt it down!" "However..." The black-armored leader's voice was hoarse and heavy, a single line plunging General Chongwu's heart to the depths of despair. "You are Yao!" Even as he and his rock puppets stood directly before the grand Yao army, he still uttered those words. *You are Yao.* That was the greatest original sin! The black-armored leader tilted his head once more, every word dripping with bone-deep hatred: "You... are the root of all suffering." The wind blowing between the two commanders seemed to freeze in an instant. General Chongwu stepped back pace by pace and drew a deep breath. He hadn't expected this sudden twist—the battle was still unavoidable. He had fallen for that monstrous bird's devious scheme after all! The black-armored leader flicked the tip of his spear, pointing straight at him with a muffled roar: "Kill! Leave none alive!" At the command, the rock puppets behind him surged into motion. *** He Lingchuan remained hidden in the woods, watching the battlefield ahead. "Fierce, isn't it? Both sides are going for the throat again. Now that looks like a battle to the death," Dong Rui remarked safely from the sidelines. "Hey, how did you know this big black fellow would switch to targeting the Yao?" Originally, the black-armored warrior's targets were the two of them, but now he was bent on slaughtering all the Yao! How did He Lingchuan's impassioned words cause it to redirect its target toward the Yao army? "In the central and western parts of the Shanjin Plain, which region or power doesn't detest the Yao? Which faction doesn't bear a deep-seated grudge against them?" He Lingchuan said with an air of profound mystery. "Don't forget: what kind of person sought out the Luosheng Armor in the first place?" "Those driven to a dead end?" "Do you think just any beggar or farmer could wander into the mountains and the Luosheng Armor would pay him any mind? It had to be at least a prominent military commander," He Lingchuan said leisurely. "And who drove them to a dead end?" The answer was obvious. "I'm not saying everything revolves around the Yao Kingdom, but the odds of guessing right this way were very high." Did General Chongwu really think that as long as the black-armored leader could understand human speech, they could just shake hands and make peace? If he knew the identity of this black-armored leader, he probably wouldn't have announced his allegiance. Which just goes to show: studying history is crucial. Of course, there was one thing he wouldn't say out loud: if things went south, he could always hop on his bat and slip away with fantastic mobility. Why not try shifting the trouble onto someone else? What if it actually worked? And look at that—that "what if" had actually paid off! Damn it, his luck tonight was bloody miraculous. Still, that the black-armored man could forcibly suppress the Luosheng Armor's impulse and turn around to deal with the Yao first proved that his hatred for the Yao Kingdom was truly deep to the bone. He Lingchuan asked Dong Rui, "Do you remember the stories Fu Liushan told us?" "The ones about the Luosheng Armor? Of course I do." Realization dawned on Dong Rui, and he let out a drawn-out "oh." "Right, right! This particular master of the Luosheng Armor was quite unique." Right at that moment, the black-armored man suddenly glanced toward the forest where He Lingchuan was hiding, a red flash glinting in his eyes. Something seemed to be behind him. He Lingchuan reacted instantly, rolling aside just as two rusted sabers slashed into the spot where he had been hiding. Their sharpness was utterly mismatched with the rust on their blades; several shrubs were cleanly cleaved in two at mid-height. Two rock puppets had somehow slipped behind him, or perhaps the black-armored man had summoned them on the fly. Even while fiercely battling the Yao, he hadn't forgotten that there was another target here. Soil churned behind him as more puppets appeared to be taking shape. He Lingchuan swiftly leaped onto the bat demon puppet, taking off with a few bounds back into the sky. This thing was massive, so its takeoff was a bit clumsy and sluggish. Several rock puppets hurled weapons, all of which He Lingchuan parried away. He Lingchuan steered the bat demon puppet more than forty zhang into the air, ensuring he was well beyond the army's firing range. As it circled, both forces on the ground noticed the unusual sight in the sky. General Chongwu's eyes burned with fury. That bastard really had been hiding behind them, using them as shields!