Chapter 1151

Therefore, Hearing Ying Zheng's first thought was of Cheng Jiao and the others from Despair Shanzhuang, who had vanished without a trace.

"Cheng Jiao?"

Hearing Gai Nie was taken aback and looked toward the high platform.

He found that, at some unknown moment, only that white-haired old man remained on the high platform.

Cheng Jiao and all the others from Despair Shanzhuang had vanished without a trace.

"Earlier they appeared on that high platform and said something to that old man.

Then the old man used them as the Lu Li tribe's... heh, perhaps they can no longer be called the Lu Li tribe's language-instructing army.

Then these green-skinned army marched out.

What happened after, Your Majesty should already know."

Hearing Gai Nie recounted faithfully everything he had witnessed before.

While speaking, he suddenly recalled.

Not only had the people of Despair Shanzhuang vanished, even Miss Xiao Li and Miss Feixue, the two women, were now nowhere to be found.

Hearing Ying Zheng frowned in deep thought, then suddenly looked past the high platform and saw that the valley was still very deep.

Inside the valley, there seemed to be quite a few buildings.

His heart stirred, and pointing toward the inside of the valley, he said,

"Hearing Gai Nie, I have a perilous mission for you. I wonder if you dare to carry it out?"

"Your Majesty may speak freely without hesitation."

Hearing Gai Nie held his broken sword and solemnly accepted the order.

"Eh? Your Yuan Hong sword..."

Only now did Hearing Ying Zheng realize that the Yuan Hong sword, forged by the famed craftsmen of Yu Daqin and gifted by him to Hearing Gai Nie, was now broken to such a sorry state.

"Sigh... let's not mention it! Your Majesty, please quickly tell me the mission, then hurry and rescue the Shadow Guard!

These loyal and brave brothers dying here is far too regrettable."

Hearing Gai Nie sighed softly in his heart, thinking of Miss Xiao Li.

He wondered where this holy maiden of the Lu Li tribe was now.

Before the seal was lifted, she was still agonizing over the question of the Lu Li tribe's stance versus her own.

After the seal was lifted, seeing these green-skinned people who looked like wild beasts and demons, surely by now she must be deeply regretting it?

"To protect Yu Daqin, to protect the common people, they died a worthy death."

Hearing Ying Zheng was deeply pained by the Shadow Guard's continuous tragic deaths, but at this moment there was clearly something more important,

so he pointed toward the deeper part of the valley and said to Hearing Gai Nie,

"Shang Jun and others have deduced that this unsealing of the Lu Li tribe is truly a calamity that will throw the world into chaos."

He then pointed to the high sky above, where Qinglong Summit had remained suspended without departing,

"Added to that, this sudden appearance of Qinglong Summit, and Seeing Di Shitian himself showing up in person.

Clearly, this matter is not so simple."

If it were only this green-skinned army, for Hearing Ying Zheng, for Yu Daqin, it would indeed be simple.

After all, he had already dispatched various contingents to summon armies from all directions.

Added to that, the Qinglong Society was holding the line.

As long as Yu Daqin's elite troops arrived, this green-skinned army could be wiped out in a day!

"Therefore, I suspect that in the deeper part of that valley, some earth-shattering secret is hidden.

That is the key to this great tribulation!

It's just that at present I lack manpower at hand, and only you, Hearing Gai Nie, can go.

I wonder..."

Hearing Ying Zheng and Hearing Gai Nie were both sovereign and minister and also mentor and friends, having met in times of peril.

Originally, Hearing Ying Zheng being able to ascend to the throne could be said to owe much to Hearing Gai Nie's efforts.

Therefore, compared to ordinary people, Hearing Gai Nie was not only his chief swordsman, but also his closest friend.

If it weren't truly that there was no other manpower to dispatch, Hearing Ying Zheng would not have been willing to open his mouth on this matter no matter what.

"Understood!"

Before Hearing Ying Zheng could finish, Hearing Gai Nie finally reacted.

Indeed, this time Despair Shanzhuang, Cheng Jiao, even Mud Bodhisattva, the Qinglong Society, and many other forces and experts had cast their eyes here.

Even the deductions of Shang Yang and others in the Yu Daqin court indicated that this tribulation was no small matter.

Clearly, these green-skinned people were not the true source of the tribulation.

What Cheng Jiao and even Wei Zhuang and others were seeking was the true calamity.

At this moment, Hearing Gai Nie cupped his fist toward Hearing Ying Zheng and said,

"Your Majesty, rest assured. On this trip, even if Hearing Gai Nie is reduced to a pulp, I will still put an end to this tribulation."

Actually, in Hearing Gai Nie's view, these ferocious, beast-like green-skinned people charging out of this wasteland were already a tremendous tribulation.

Now there was an even greater tribulation behind it, and he had already resolved that, to stop the tribulation, he would spare no cost.

"No..."

Hearing Ying Zheng's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and he said,

"Hearing Gai Nie, you must promise me that no matter how great the tribulation, you must not gamble with your life.

The strength of one person always has its limits.

I have already summoned the Golden Flame Cavalry, the Hundred-Battles Armored Soldiers, and even issued orders to the Northern Corps and the Southern Border Corps.

As long as forces from all directions gather here, no matter how great this calamity, with us ruler-and-subject and soldier-and-civilian working as one, we will surely overcome the crisis.

On this trip, you only need to find out what Cheng Jiao and their lot's true purpose is, and what the calamity itself is.

I do not wish for you to throw your life away into disaster.

This is an order, do you understand?"

Hearing Ying Zheng had never before spoken to Gai Nie in a commanding tone, but this time he sensed that Gai Nie harbored the resolve to die, so he spoke these words with force.

Gai Nie heard this, warmth flooding his heart, and nodded as he said,

"Understood! Gai Nie understands. Your Majesty, take care."

After saying this, Gai Nie activated the Ghost Valley Vaulting Art, leaping past countless green-skins, and headed toward the depths of the valley.

Hearing Ying Zheng watched Gai Nie's retreating figure and could not help but sigh.

He truly feared that Gai Nie would not return from this trip.

But he also knew that Gai Nie had to go.

With no choice, he could only turn his attention to rescuing the remaining Shadow Guard.

Gathering the Great Qin's dragon qi around his body, Hearing Ying Zheng charged resolutely toward where the Shadow Guard were surrounded.

Along the way, although the green-skin army kept sending men to block him, before the Great Qin's dragon qi they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

A casual sweep of dragon qi would blast apart several, even a small squad of green-skins.

But these green-skins were not afraid of death; instead they shrieked and jeered, continuing to throw themselves at Hearing Ying Zheng wave after wave.

Hearing Ying Zheng remained calm and unhurried, almost killing several with every step—no one could stop his advance.

Even those green-skin blade-swordsmen who had earlier attacked Gai Nie with eerie stealth had now vanished without a trace.

As if those green-skin blade-swordsmen had all just been blasted to nothing by Hearing Ying Zheng.

For the moment, apart from these cannon-fodder-like green-skins, not a single decent expert emerged to stop Hearing Ying Zheng, making him seem to have entered a realm of no men.

On a distant high platform, the green-skin elder who had been drenched in sweat from Di Shitian's lesson of the Frightening-Gaze Calamity now saw Hearing Ying Zheng charging toward the Shadow Guard.

The corner of his mouth curled slightly, full of mockery.

Suddenly, not far from him, a green-skin with a head full of braids muttered a couple of words at him.

Hearing this, the elder immediately swept his gaze toward a corner of the battlefield.

He happened to see Gai Nie's lightning-swift figure racing toward the valley.

A flash of vicious cruelty crossed the elder's eyes; he pointed at Gai Nie's figure, and a string of commanding words drifted out.

That green-skin, upon hearing his order, slowly faded from sight!

Another green-skin blade-swordsman!