Late Night Tales Of The Capital - Chapter 161

Chapter 161 Joint Learning of Saber Techniques
Xichuan Town was a small ordinary town at the western border of Tang State, but it was renowned far and wide. This was because it was situated at a position that was nearly as far away from each of the six neighboring nations at the western border. During a normal day, cargo and trade flowed in and out of the town, as did merchants and travelers.

A teahouse was located at the entrance to the town, and two elders sat at a table near the windows. Both of them had white hair, and a chess set was placed right in front of them. The black and white chess pieces were engaged in a titanic battle, and the moves they made were so complicated that it was hard to tell who would emerge as the victor.

The elder on the left of the table pinched up a white chess piece with his fingers. “The Tang State has sent out 30 thousand light cavalries to Western Xia. Looks like they are expecting a quick victory.”

The other elder at the opposite end of the table laughed coldly. “They are planning to strike fear into the other invaders by destroying a nation before them. What wishful thinking.”

The black piece was placed on the board and 13 white pieces were removed from it. “They are the biggest nation after all. How could it possibly take this lying down? They do not think much of the small border nations.”

“We’ll bring this dying lion back to reality then. It’s no longer as strong as it was. After all, age has caught up with it.”

“I’ve heard that the Crown Prince, who is about to be crowned, has great ambition.”

“Humph, humph…”

More cold laughter.

“Far-fetched dreams, yet life is so fragile!”

“All 30 thousand light cavalries from the West will die in Xia State. The Crown Prince will not last longer than a year after being crowned Emperor.”

The battle between both elders raged on within the chess board, and their speech was incredibly haughty in nature. Neither of them felt that they were boastful, however, as if anything they said would turn out to be true, just like a prophecy.

It was gloomy and dim in Luoyang City for the entire day, reflecting the feelings of its citizens.

Thunder rumbled faintly in the skies as lightning shot past the roofs. Rain pattered down on the houses and windows, sounding as if tens of thousands of silkworms were feasting and wind was blowing through a bamboo plantation. Soon, rain turned into snow.

Luoyang was usually much warmer than Northern You, but the temperature in the city was drastically falling overnight.

A bone-chilling cold was arriving.

Li Chunzhi’s head ached as he stood before the bulwark of the royal palace and watched the snowfall. “It’s said that such snowfall is an omen of a prosperous year. Why does it not understand my heart, then!”

If there was no impending battle, it would have been a prosperous year ahead indeed.

Wolves were gathering at the western border, however. How would the 30 thousand light cavalries advance in such weather? How could supplies be transported to them in the mush? Would their steeds be able to sprint? Where would they get winter clothing to keep away the cold?

Li Chunzhi gazed skyward only to observe that the clouds were becoming denser, as if they were about to cover Luoyang City. It was completely silent except for the slushing of vast amounts of snow. It fell unhurriedly and an interval that was just right. The entire ground of the city looked as though a thin veil had been laid out carefully over it.

He clenched his fists tightly together. “Only Heaven knows if the Tang Empire is about to meet its doom? Or am I, Li Chunzhi, merely an eyesore and unfit to take over the throne?”

Huang Shan arrived at just the right time with a huge umbrella.

Li Jianqi shielded her father from the snow with the umbrella.

Li Chunzhi took a few steps forward slowly, leaving the shelter of the umbrella. In this way, he was completely under the falling snow.

“Jianqi, do you think Dad’s worthy of becoming Emperor?”

“Am I fit for the job?”

“You’re most suited for the role of Emperor, Dad. You’ve worked so hard and put all your effort for our nation. Of course you’re the most suitable candidate,” Li Jianqi replied to her father without any hesitation.

“The Heavens do not seem to agree with you, however,” Li Chunzhi replied slowly.

“Why do you think so?” Li Jianqi asked.

“It’ll probably be hard to spring a surprise attack on Xia State now. This snow will cause many problems for our cavalry,” Li Chunzhi replied, frowning.

“In that case, this snowfall will also create problems for our enemies. Wouldn’t they have to hold off their attacks on our western border as well?” Li Jianqi replied after thinking for a moment.

“But we don’t have time to wait!” Li Chunzhi continued. “The Six Nations of the West can afford to choose when to attack or wait but what about us? Should we send more troops to defend our western border? What should we do if the demons from You Prefecture advance southward? What about the Great Demon Army of the Immemorial Copper Gates? We’ll be most likely to achieve victory at the West, but we wouldn’t be able to raise the peoples’ spirits if we fail there.”

Their conversation ended. Li Jianqi was not well versed in military or political matters, nor was she good at consoling others. She had been living in Silent Monastery since a young age and tasked herself with cultivation since then. She loved to ride fishes and eat swords, and the conversation was heading to uncharted territory for her.

As Li Chunzhi’s daughter, however, she would accompany him at the bulwark and act when he needed her help.

Li Chunzhi finally returned to Serenity Palace the next day. A bright piece of fine writing paper was placed on the imperial memorial. It was scrawled with dense, small characters.

Li Chunzhi was puzzled to find the parchment and walked up to his table before picking it up and bringing it before his eyes. The first line said, “The old governor donated 50 thousand taels of gold…”

Li Chunzhi grew increasingly alarmed as he read the parchment up till the very last line. An insane amount of donations had been sent to the royal palace over the last day and they consisted of everything from gold, silver to material resources. Even more than a hundred blacksmiths of Luoyang City had donated ten thousand weapons.

The falling snow increased the difficulty of the advancing troops launching their surprise attack.

The citizens of Luoyang and the pillar of the city, had given Li Chunzhi much needed motivation, however.

“Items are incapable of autonomous thought but people are. As long as all citizens of the Tang Empire unite, there will not be any obstacles that we can’t overcome together.”

The city was shrouded in a haze and snow was falling everywhere. It was going to be another cold morning.

The streets of Luoyang were covered in a layer of white. It was freezing cold.

Thousands of civilians were queuing up neatly along Yong’an Street between the Bridges of Long Life and Stone Transport. They wore uniquely different clothing and hawked all sorts of wares, but all of them carried sabers. Some of the weapons were homemade ones of steel, wood and even bamboo.

The Divine Sect Seminary was still not opened. Normally, everyone would wait quietly outside its gates, but today was a little different. No one knew made the initial suggestion, but everyone began to practice the three saber strokes Ye Que taught them on their one accord. The Mountain-Slashing First Stroke, Water-Ceasing Second Stroke and Heaven-Splitting Third Stroke.

The strokes were uncomplicated but hard to master.

There were some unexpected benefits, however, when it was paired with the Divine Sect’s cultivation technique.

Thousands of them raised their sabers and practiced the first stroke. A force of about 500 kilograms was concentrated at their saber tips as they slashed with it. At the same time, they shouted subconsciously in unison, and a breath of hot air escaped from their mouths and shot up into the sky.

The snow on the ground trembled a little.

They began making the second move after completing the first one. It was a horizontal slash, and they created an arc with their weapons, as if slashing at a stream of water.

The snowflakes that were sent flying back up into the air followed the trail of their sabers, moving entirely without the aid of wind.

After the Water-Slicing Technique, they unleashed the third stroke, which carried enough force to split open Heaven and Earth, with another round of orderly shouting. Someone among the civilians, however, shouted, “Kill!”. A faint ray of energy emerged from the tip of his saber.

A stream of Spiritual Force, that was invisible to ordinary people, directly emerged as thousands of civilians wielded their sabers and channeled the Divine Sect’s cultivation technique within their bodies. Ye Que, who had just arrived at the Bridge of Long Life, however, felt as though his Spiritual Sea was exploding.