Chapter 210: Empire's Seven Divine Generals

The wind and rain filled the air and the earth was connected to the sky.  They were surrounded in frozen woods and sharp hoofbeats rang out. The sixty Imperial Guards led by Lin Mu Yu pa.s.sed through the frozen woods, stepping onto the Qihai Province border.  Each person had a silver helmet on their head and white cloaks blocking their faces. Their heads and shoulders were already covered in snow and there was even frost congealing on their lashes.  The Qihai Province's border's cold was far from what Orchid Goose City could compare to, it was simply a frozen place.

"Jiu, jiu……"

Suddenly pulling the reins, Lin Mu Yu stopped his horse almost falling off his horse when it stopped from its mad sprint.  He opened his cloak and a face covered in a slight layer of frost from the freezing wind appeared. Looking into the distant mountains, there was a road running through the mountain that led to the Qihai Province.  His eyes located the fortress standing in the middle of the snow and wind.

The Qihai Province border, they were here!

"Sir!"

Wei Chou pointed in front of them and said, "Look quickly, the scout of the Heaven Charging Army is here."

Not long after he said this, there were figures that appeared in the snow.  They were heavy cavalry soldiers wearing the royal army's armor, clanking along as they moved over.  They scouts all drew their swords and surrounded Lin Mu Yu's group. The leader was a middle aged commander who shouted in a sharp voice, "Who are you, actually daring to charge into the Qihai Province border?!"

Lin Mu Yu pulled out his South Guarding General Token and said, "Newly conferred South Guarding General Lin Mu Yu.  I bring his majesty's edict to seek an audience with the Heaven Charging Army's general Du Hai!"

"You are Lin Mu Yu?"  The middle aged commander raised a brow before saying with a smile, "A legendary person in the empire is actually this kind of kid with a white face, it really is strange……Ha, since it's the South Guarding General, then please come with me.  I will bring you back to see our great general."

"Many thanks!"

The scouts turned around and raised the Heaven Charging Army banner in the wild winds as they shouted, "Open the path!"

The sounds of hooves sounded out and a total of two hundred cavalry rode towards the Qihai Province border.

As they came closer and closer to the fortress, Lin Mu Yu looked up and couldn't help marveling at the defenses of this fortress.  The walls were made from giant uniform stones that were laid on top of each other, being around fifty meters tall, it was not exaggerated to call them "natural defenses".  There was a faint casting of iron on the walls and there were sharp knives embedded into the wall, so it couldn't be climbed at all. The only way into the fortress was to destroy the gates, but the large gates were forged from pure iron, with normal attacks not being able to deal any damage to them.

"Open the gates!"  The middle aged commander raised his token high up.

In the wind and snow, the soldiers on the walls waved their hands and the large gates slowly opened.  With the sounds of iron wires moving, this large iron gate that was at least a meter thick slowly began to open.  There was a group of soldiers wielding weapons in battle formation inside the walls and looking at the Heaven Charging Army soldiers, one could see the battle intent on their faces.

"General Lin, come with me!"

"Many thanks!"

Still riding their horses, the group of scouts led them through the main road of the fortress.

Wei Chou and Xiahou Sang kept looking around and their eyes were filled with shock.  What gateway, this was clearly a well reinforced city!

The scout commander seemed to notice their thoughts and with a faint smile, he waved his hand and said, "General, you have also seen it, Qihai Pa.s.s is impenetrable.  This is named the number one fortress in the world. This fort has a large stock of weapons and food, enough to last an army of ninety thousand for seven years. In order to establish this Qihai Pa.s.s, the previous emperor spent over twenty one years!"

Lin Mu Yu said with a nod, "It could be considered a miracle."

"Hei!"  The scout commander had a look of pride on his face as he continued to say, "Great general Du Hai is named the leader of the 'Empire's Seven Divine Generals', guarding this Qihai Pa.s.s for close to ten years.  This fortress hasn't made even half a mistake, hei…..Ten years!"

Lin Mu Yu was stunned, "Empire's Seven Divine Generals?"

"That's right!"

The scout commander awkwardly rubbed his nose and said with a smile, "But this name was thought of by our brothers in the army, his majesty would not permit it.  Hei, just treat it as a joke."

Lin Mu Yu was interested as he asked, "Can I ask which seven generals?"

"According to the listing, in order it is Du Hai, Xiang Yu, Feng Ji Xing, Qin Lei, Feng Tiannan, Ji Yao, and Lin Yu, hei…..My great general is ranked even higher than Wen Tian's descendant Xiang Yu!"

Lin Mu Yu revealed a faint smile and said nothing, but he was more interested in this Du Hai.  What would this person named the current number one general in the empire be like?

At this time, everyone came to the second wall of the Qihai Pa.s.s.  There were the voices of soldiers that rang out from above, "Open the Tiger Gate!"

"Zhi, zhi……"

The iron wire twisting sound was very ear piercing, as the giant gate with a golden lion on it slowly opened.  Lin Mu Yu's group quickly went in and finally they came to the central position of the fortress.

Inside the Tiger Gate was a large hall and although it was silent, it could be considered simple.  There were torches lighting up the entire pa.s.sage and there were soldiers on both sides of the main hall holding their weapons.  Lin Mu Yu looked over there, there were at least three thousand soldiers here, it was very strictly guarded. Inside the main hall, there were officers on both sides, talking and drinking.

The scout commander came forward and announced, "Great general, Orchid Goose City's South Guarding General Lin Mu Yu is here with his majesty's decree."

"Have him come in.  It's been hard on you general Liu, you can leave now!"

"Yes, great general!"

Lin Mu Yu led Wei Chou and Xiahou Sang forward.  Instantly the sharp as sword gazes of the Heaven Charging Army's commanders all looked over, placing an invisible pressure on them.

There were even ten thousand man commanders among them and they had two sets of golden six sided stars on their necks, it was very terrifying.  The general sitting in the middle who was around forty years old had three golden six sided stars and there were seven-eight scars on his face. His blazing eyes looked at Lin Mu Yu before he suddenly stood up and cupped his hands with a smile to say, "General Lin has come from afar, please forgive Du Hai for failing to receive you."

Lin Mu Yu respectfully cupped his hands, "The great general is too kind to this subordinate.  I come bearing his majesty's decree, I ask the great general to receive it."

"Yes!"

Once the emperor was mentioned, the wild and stubborn look on Du Hai's face disappeared.  He quickly came before Lin Mu Yu and kneeled on one knee as he cupped his hands to say, "Subordinate Du Hai asks to receive the decree!"

The over twenty commanders all kneeled down with serious looks on their faces.

Lin Mu Yu took out the decree and read, "The decree reads, great general Du Hai will give twenty thousand elites to South Guarding General Lin Mu Yu who will head to the Cangnan Province to eliminate the remaining Swordsman Hall rebels.  The limit is sixty days and whether they are eliminated or not, general Lin Mu Yu must return the twenty thousand troops to Qihai Pa.s.s. As for the required resources, Du Hai should not slack in providing them. The decree ends here."

Du Hai was stunned as he raised his head to say, "His majesty wants…..wants thi subordinate to give you troops?"

Lin Mu Yu nodded, "Yes.  Will the general accept the decree?"

"Yes!"

Du Hai took the decree and looked over it.  He then said with a smile, "General Lin Mu Yu is a true young hero, something that is truly rare.  Back then, I, Du Hai was just a small soldier when I was your age and general Lin is already a South Guarding General, as well as receiving heavy responsibilities from his majesty, leading twenty thousand soldiers.  Many of the royal army's commanders cannot compare, it really makes one envious!"

His words that weren't too kind or unkind made Lin Mu Yu unsure how to respond.  He could only respectfully say, "Great general is mistaken, I have received his majesty's undeserved kindness.  I wonder, when will the great general be able to prepare the twenty thousand elites for me?"

"No rush, twenty thousand people is not a small number, it needs to be carefully gathered.  Not to mention that there needs to be weapons, horses, and food prepared for twenty thousand people.  It'll be taken care of tomorrow morning, what does general Lin think?"

"Good!  Many thanks great general."

"No need to be polite, we are all doing this for the empire, we are all on the same side.  Come, general Lin and the other two commanders should sit down, it's cold outside, so let's drink a cup to warm up."

"Thanks."

By the time it was dusk, the drunken feeling set in and there were some commanders who were completely drunk.

Lin Mu Yu kept his mind clear the entire time.  At this time, Wei Chou came over and whispered in his ear, "Sir, this subordinate just watched over how they chose the soldiers and it was too simple.  They are only giving us old soldiers and new recruits. There are even some old soldiers who are over sixty years old, how can they fight?"

"Are you certain?"

"Absolutely certain!"  Wei Chou looked up at Du Hai and said, "The empire's great general is only this mediocre!"

Lin Mu Yu raised his hand and said, "Alright, don't say anything.  It's fine if it's old soldiers, it's not anything. Old soldiers are a kind of formless wealth, it's all good.  I was worried at first that they wouldn't give us troops, but it's pretty good that we could get some. After all, these ninety thousand people are all Du Hai's hard work."

"Un, sir is absolutely right."

After drinking some more wine, Du Hai's eyes were glazed over with a drunken look.  He said with a smile, "May I ask general Lin, have you…..ever led troops for the empire before?"

Lin Mu Yu shook his head, "I haven't."

"Oh?"

Du Hai couldn't help smiling as he said, "His majesty actually dared to give twenty thousand troops to someone who hasn't led troops before, he really is thinking too highly of a small general….."

After saying this, he gave a snort before saying with a smile, "General Lin, this subordinate has something I'm unsure about saying."

"Please speak great general."

"Since general Lin doesn't have experience leading troops, how about this old man provide an old commander from my camp to help the little general come up with plans?  What do you think?"

"This….."  Lin Mu Yu thought about it.  Looking at Du Hai's "not giving you horses if you don't accept" appearance he could only helplessly nod, "Alright then, I'll let the great general arrange this……"

"Ha, that is good."

At this time, everyone was filled with liquor.  Du Hai immediately stood up and said, "Various generals, since everyone has had their fill, then everyone should head back and rest!  We'll get up early tomorrow for training!"

"Yes, general!"

The commanders all rose and left.

"General Lin Mu Yu, you stay behind."  Du Hai suddenly said with a smile.

Lin Mu Yu didn't know what medicine he was taking, but he stood there in a daze.  He watched as Wei Chou and Xiahou Sang headed out to the military tents outside.

"Great general, what is it?"  He asked.

Du Hai gave a snort and his eyes turned cold as he said with a cold smile, "The ninety thousand troops of Qihai Pa.s.s, they were all raised by me, Du Hai.  It could be said that each one of them are my blood brothers and to make me give up my blood brothers…..I'm honestly a bit unwilling. Lin Mu Yu, it's fine if you want my twenty thousand troops, but you have to show me, Du Hai your real abilities!"

"How do you want to see it?"  A wild look appeared in Lin Mu Yu's eyes.  He knew that it wouldn't be this smoothly.

Du Hai laughed and raised a blade that cut through the air before saying, "Take three slashes from me.  If you can't even take these three hits, there's no need for you to lead the troops."

"Good!"  Lin Mu Yu raised his Dragon Spirit Sword and a sword cry rang out to the military tents.

"This is bad, you're about to begin….."  Wei Chou said with tightly knit brows.

Xiahou Sang took a deep breath and said, "There's no need to worry.  Although Du Hai is in the third Heaven Tier, our sir isn't certain to lose.  Moreover…..Du Hai wouldn't dare do anything to sir."

"Un, I hope so….."