Chapter 761

Inside the grand and spacious Council Hall of the Xiazhou Governor's Office, the warm sun of late autumn spilled in diagonally through the half-open carved window lattices, but it could not suppress the scorching battle intent boiling to the extreme in the hearts of the proud soldiers and fierce generals filling the hall.

The fifty thousand supreme-grade Hequ warhorses just added to the accounts, along with the hundreds of old blacksmiths who had mastered the core forging techniques of the Western Regions, were like injecting the hottest, most violent fresh blood into this massive northern war machine.

The low, rumbling roar produced by the thundering of ten thousand hooves in the temporary pasture outside the city still echoed faintly through the thick city walls; that sound was transmitted all the way into the Governor's Office along the dry, hard yellow earth, pushing the military confidence of the entire Xiazhou general group to an unprecedented, inflated peak.

Those generals who had followed Chen Yan in battles south and north for years and licked blood from the edges of their blades were lined up on both sides of the hall; the iron armor on their bodies rose and fell with their rapid breathing, emitting a series of crisp, ear-piercing metallic clashing sounds.

In the eyes of Xiazhou Sima Gu Yuci, which were bloodshot from lack of sleep, surged terrifying ambition and fanatical light; his broad palms repeatedly rubbed against the pommel of the sword at his waist, and his palms had long since been forced into a layer of slippery sweat by his excitement.

This young, fierce general, who had always been known for his composure, was ultimately the first to be unable to suppress the raging war fire in his chest; he strode out from the right side of the military formation.

His heavy official boots stepped on the polished stone slabs, bringing up a gust of wind carrying the killing intent of weapons; Gu Yuci's tall body, like a golden mountain toppling and a jade pillar collapsing, slammed his single knee heavily onto the ground below the steps in front of Chen Yan's seat.

His hands clasped together forcefully, the knotted muscles on his arms bulging, supporting his thick sleeves; even his cupped hands were trembling slightly due to extreme excitement.

Gu Yuci raised his face, which was filled with the desire to achieve great things, and his loud, rough voice was like a giant bronze bell struck in a temple, reverberating back and forth between the beams and pillars of the hall.

"Pillar of State, now that those two grassland wolves, Rouran and the Turks, have just fought until their flesh flew and both sides were heavily injured at the foot of Jinshan, the corpses piled up on that Asura field are more than even the vultures on the grasslands can eat."

He swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva, raised his tone several degrees, and his hands gestured forcefully in the air as his words became more intense.

"The Rouran Royal Court was even flanked by our Commander Lu, and all their warhorse foundations and iron weapon sources were completely hollowed out by us. That Nuhe Ti is now nothing more than a stray dog that has lost its teeth!"

Gu Yuci's eyes were wide open, the red light in the depths of his eyes growing stronger; he continued to advise in a tone that wished he could swallow the enemy alive immediately.

"This once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity to destroy a nation is simply a heaven-sent grace specifically bestowed upon our Xiazhou by the Eternal Blue Sky. If we let them recuperate in that sand nest, it would be a waste of Heaven's gift, and we absolutely cannot miss this heaven-sent opportunity!"

When he reached the point of excitement, this Xiazhou Sima simply knelt his other leg heavily on the ground and held his head high.

"The subordinate boldly requests the Pillar of State to immediately issue the tiger tally military order to mobilize the iron cavalry to go out of the pass in a massive way again!"

"As long as the Pillar of State gives the order, the subordinate is willing to be the vanguard to destroy the Rouran, this barbarian tribe that has plagued the northern border for hundreds of years, in one fell swoop, and achieve that unparalleled, history-making feat for the Pillar of State!"

This impassioned declaration of war, like rolling oil falling into a sea of fire, instantly ignited the already restless atmosphere in the hall completely.

Lu Ming, the Xiazhou Marshal Governor who was nearly two meters tall and as sturdy as a black iron tower, followed closely behind; he took his two thick legs, which were like pillars, and crossed the formation in two steps.

Lu Ming's broad martial robe, used to cover his killing intent, could not hide the violent ferocity on his body at all; he stood beside Gu Yuci, his huge body completely blocking the sunlight slanting in, casting a heart-palpitating, broad shadow on the ground.

He pounded his chest, which was as solid as a rock, with force, emitting a dull, thunderous sound like a drum; his muffled voice revealed an extreme craving for blood.

"Sima Gu's words are very true. The subordinate didn't get enough killing at the Heishui Horse Grounds a few days ago. Those Rouran barbarians are even weaker than we imagined; they don't even have much strength left to lift their blades."

Lu Ming grinned his wide mouth, revealing white, interlocking teeth, his smile full of a bandit-like, barbaric desire for plunder.

"The subordinate is willing to lead another three thousand elite cavalry as the vanguard of the main army. We don't need the Pillar of State to allocate too much grain and grass; we will just take what we need locally from the cattle and sheep on the grasslands."

"In just half a month, the subordinate dares to sign a military pledge to definitely chop Nuhe Ti's head off his neck for the Pillar of State, peel the scalp, wash it clean, and use it as a wine bowl for the Pillar of State to drink from in his daily life!"

These cruel and violent boasts, which were very much to the taste of the generals, completely ignited the bloodthirsty wolf nature in the bones of all the fierce Xiazhou generals present.

Ye Zhuxi, who was temporarily acting as Xiazhou Governor, wore a well-tailored dark red battle robe; her heroic face, which had a healthy wheat color, was also filled with a longing for war.

This female general, who had always been known for her bravery, walked out of the formation without hesitation and stood shoulder to shoulder with young generals like Wang Xiong; accompanied by a uniform sound of iron armor friction, a large group of them knelt down with a clatter.

These sharpest border blades of the Great Zhou Dynasty cupped their fists in unison, and the overwhelming sound of their request for war gathered into a violent hurricane capable of flipping the roof of the Governor's Office.

The pro-war sentiment in the hall was like a raging fire to which countless firewood had been added; they had the crazy posture that as long as Chen Yan nodded, they would launch the entire army today and flatten that vast grassland completely.

Facing this group of indignant, flushed, and eager-to-fly-to-the-desert-immediately-to-start-a-slaughter-feast proud soldiers and fierce generals, Chen Yan, who was sitting high on that broad purple sandalwood main seat, remained as steady as a ten-thousand-foot-high mountain that had weathered the winds and frosts of eternity.

Chen Yan was wearing a set of dark-colored casual clothing today that was soft in texture and unstained by dust, with low-key yet luxurious cloud patterns embroidered in dark gold silk thread at the collar and cuffs, revealing an introverted and deep gloom that was out of place with the generals below.

His slender, powerful fingers were playing with a mutton-fat jade tea cup, the pad of his thumb rubbing back and forth along the edge of the cup extremely slowly; in those deep and dark eyes, there was not even a hint of the impulse and irritability brought by this fanatical emotion.

He did not immediately open his mouth to respond to the deafening calls for war below, but instead picked up the tea cup extremely leisurely, brought it to his lips, and gently blew away a piece of tender green tea leaf floating on the surface of the water.

Chen Yan remained silent like this, slowly lifting his gaze from the cup, and like a dark-night king patrolling his territory, he swept his gaze over the faces of the generals kneeling and requesting war extremely slowly, carrying a weight that made people breathless.

This absolute superior pressure, which did not contain any words but was terrifying to the extreme, was like an invisible and huge cold palm, tightly strangling everyone's throat.

The calls for war in the hall, which had originally been boiling and noisy and seemed to want to pierce the clouds, actually subsided strangely and rapidly under the gaze of this cold look.

In just a few breaths, the huge Council Hall fell into a terrifying deathly silence where a needle could be heard dropping, with only the sound of water dripping from the clepsydra in the corner being infinitely amplified in everyone's ears.

Those fierce generals who had just been clamoring to use the enemy's skull as a wine bowl only felt a cold chill rising from their backs straight to their foreheads; even Lu Ming, the most irritable and warlike, subconsciously closed his mouth tightly, holding back even his heavy breathing into his chest.

Everyone maintained a kneeling posture under this substantial pressure, waiting for the final verdict to be dropped by this young but unfathomably deep Xiazhou ruler.