novelraw Chapter 35 : The Gambling Table
Chapter 35 : The Gambling Table
Chapter 35: The Gambling Table
The Aduo Army Leader’s eyes nearly split apart in rage.
Realizing that a head-on charge was nothing but suicide, he immediately let out a hoarse roar.
“Scatter! Scatter! Don’t clash with them directly!”
The remaining cavalrymen swiftly dispersed, attempting to rely on the mobility of the prairie riders to maneuver around the Black-Armored Army.
They no longer charged head-on but began to circle and flank, trying to strike from the sides.
However, just as they scattered, a sharp whistle suddenly tore through the air!
Aruba raised his curved blade high, a cruel smile curling on his lips.
“Queshe Army, loose the arrows!”
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
In an instant, a rain of arrows poured down like a storm!
The Queshe Army’s light cavalry moved like ghosts along the edges of the battlefield.
Their arrows were deadly precise — each one pierced either the throat of an Aduo rider or the eyes of his warhorse.
One Aduo rider had just turned his horse when an arrow shot clean through his back, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Another horse was struck in the eye and reared up in agony, violently throwing its rider.
The Aduo Army was forced to huddle together, attempting to use dense formation to block the arrow rain.
Yet just as they gathered, the iron hooves of the Black-Armored Army thundered forth again!
Cheng Yaojin and Aruba exchanged a glance — both grinned coldly.
“Black-Armored Army, charge!”
“Queshe Army, provide covering fire!”
The cooperation between the two forces was flawless.
The Black-Armored Army advanced like a moving wall of iron, forcing the Aduo Army into a deadly corner.
Meanwhile, the Queshe Army continued their deadly barrage from afar, precisely cutting down every enemy who dared to break through.
The Aduo Army cavalrymen were driven back step by step, their formation crumbling into chaos.
Unable to break the iron wall of the Black-Armored Army or escape the arrow rain of the Queshe, they could only swing their curved blades in despair — a final, futile struggle.
“Kill! Kill them all!”
The Aduo Army Leader roared in madness and personally led his guards charging toward Cheng Yaojin.
“Rumble—”
The ground suddenly split open as countless sharp spikes of rock burst forth, stabbing toward the Black-Armored Army like the fangs of a giant beast!
Dozens of armored riders were impaled along with their steeds, and blood instantly dyed the earth crimson.
Seeing this, Cheng Yaojin snorted coldly.
The Xuanhua Axe in his hand ignited in blazing flames.
“Just a petty rebel, and you dare act fierce before me?”
He spurred his horse and leapt high, sweeping his Xuanhua Axe.
A scarlet wave of fire surged forth!
“Boom!”
The fire wave crashed into the rocky spikes, erupting in a deafening explosion.
The blazing flames heated the spikes red-hot before shattering them into countless fragments.
The Aduo Army Leader’s pupils shrank.
Before he could react, Cheng Yaojin had already charged before him, his flaming Xuanhua Axe cleaving down!
“Clang!”
He hastily raised his blade to block, but the weapon was instantly seared red-hot, the force splitting his tiger’s mouth.
“Damn it!”
He gritted his teeth and leapt back, forming hand seals.
The ground surged upward, raising a thick wall of earth to block Cheng Yaojin temporarily.
Just then, a cyan shadow flashed ghost-like across the battlefield.
“Your opponent… isn’t just one!”
Aruba laughed loudly, wind roaring around him.
His entire body turned into a streak of blue lightning, instantly circling behind the Aduo Army Leader.
His curved blade, wreathed in slicing wind blades, swung down!
“Slash!”
The air split apart — the Aduo Army Leader’s back split open in bloody streaks!
“Ahhh!”
He howled in agony, slammed his palms to the ground, and shouted, “Earth Dragon’s Reversal!”
“Boom!”
Within a hundred-meter radius, the ground surged like waves.
Countless massive hands of earth and stone rose up, clawing toward Aruba!
But Aruba, moving like the wind, darted nimbly between the giant hands while shouting, “Old Cheng!”
Cheng Yaojin understood instantly.
His Xuanhua Axe lifted high, flames raging over his entire body.
“Whoooosh!”
A tidal blaze erupted from him, forming into a dragon of fire that lunged at the Aduo Army Leader!
At the same time, Aruba clapped his hands together, and a furious gale exploded outward.
“Rumble—!”
Wind and fire intertwined — the fiery dragon swelled to triple its size, devouring the earthen barrier the Aduo Army Leader hastily conjured!
“No—!”
The searing flames engulfed him, burning through his protective spiritual force with a sizzling hiss.
He frantically tried to invoke his earth-element arts to burrow underground, only to discover that the scorched ground had been hardened by Cheng Yaojin’s flames — it was as solid as iron!
He could not escape!
“It’s over.”
Cheng Yaojin’s cold voice rang out as he and Aruba struck simultaneously!
A crimson arc of flame and a cyan wind blade crossed mid-air, forming a massive blazing cross!
“Slash!”
The Aduo Army Leader’s protective aura shredded like paper, his body instantly severed into four pieces!
His head flew high into the air, eyes still wide with disbelief.
The battlefield fell into dead silence.
The remaining Aduo Army soldiers stared blankly at their leader’s severed head before finally collapsing into despair, throwing down their weapons and kneeling in surrender.
Under the setting sun, the banners of the Black-Armored Army and Queshe Army fluttered in the wind, proclaiming their victory in this divine-power battle.
One of the Beiting rebel factions — the Aduo Army — had been completely annihilated!
The Aduo Army’s destruction was like a heavy hammer, striking fear deep into the hearts of the other Beiting County rebel forces.
One such group, stationed along the border between Cangbei and Beiting, saw the unstoppable might of the Black-Armored Cavalry and Queshe Army.
That very night, they broke camp and fled with their remnants into Cangbei County, seeking refuge with the Cangbei Rebels.
The final Beiting rebel force, which resisted stubbornly, was eventually surrounded by the combined armies of Beiting, Black-Armored, and Queshe, and completely wiped out in early March.
Thus, within just one month, Jiang Zhaoming had crushed the majority of the rebel forces in Beiting County with overwhelming force.
The scattered bandits and marauders were hunted relentlessly by the three armies — less than one in ten survived.
After years of chaos, Beiting County finally welcomed complete peace by the end of March, in the year 398 of the Shaosheng Era.
The recapture of Beiting County brought two great benefits to Anxi Prefecture:
First, the second trade route leading to the Central Plains — the “Canglong Pass Trade Route” — was finally opened, allowing caravans to reach the heartlands directly.
Compared to the “Zhenlong Pass Trade Route” in eastern Yili, the Canglong Pass route avoided the three-thousand-li desert stretch, greatly improving transport safety.
Second, Beiting County’s vast grasslands were rich in fine horses.
Anxi Prefecture, long starved of war-horse resources, now had a stable supply.
Although the county’s livestock industry remained weakened from years of banditry, with just a few years of recovery, they could form a formidable cavalry force.
Yet, just as Anxi Prefecture rejoiced, an urgent report arrived from the frontlines.
The allied army advancing toward Cangbei County had encountered fierce resistance from the Cangbei Rebels!
By now, the Cangbei Rebels were no longer the same as before.
With covert support from the Blue Wolf Army, they had absorbed the remnants fleeing from Beiting and recruited numerous private troops from local noble clans.
Their cavalry numbers had swelled to fifty thousand — many equipped with third-grade warhorses and heavy armor.
Even more troubling, through Great Liao’s secret mediation, the Cangbei Rebels had merged the rebel forces of several neighboring counties, forming an additional twenty thousand elite heavy infantry.
Seventy thousand troops now massed in southern Cangbei County, confronting the Prefectural City alliance across the Cangbei River.
In the rebel ranks, banners fluttered in the wind as cavalry galloped back and forth, raising clouds of dust.
The light cavalry, clad in leather armor, held their curved bows with murderous eyes, while the heavy infantry stood in ranks like mountains — their spears forming forests of steel, glinting coldly beneath the sun.
Faced with such an army, the Prefectural City Alliance dared not act rashly.
Cheng Yaojin stood at the front line, gazing at the dark tide of enemy troops across the river, his brow furrowed.
“These bastards are far tougher than the Beiting ones.”
Aruba narrowed his eyes, gently stroking the edge of his curved blade.
“Fifty thousand cavalry, twenty thousand infantry… Seems we shouldn’t have let that Beiting rebel band escape.”
Cheng Yaojin sighed as well.
He hadn’t expected that group to retreat so decisively — abandoning their base and joining the Cangbei Rebels with over ten thousand cavalry.
With that addition, Cangbei County’s rebel cavalry had ballooned from thirty thousand to fifty thousand — a massive pressure on their side.
The two armies faced each other, dark clouds of war hanging overhead.
Everyone knew — once this battle erupted, rivers of blood would flow.
This would be the decisive clash that determined the fate of the Eastern Ten Counties.
Inside the Prince of Anxi’s mansion, Jiang Zhaoming stood before the sand table, hands clasped behind his back, fingers tracing the terrain map of Cangbei County.
Under the flickering candlelight, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“My lord, the rebels are strong. Our army…” Fan Kang hesitated.
“The stronger, the better,” Jiang Zhaoming interrupted, his eyes sharp.
“These rebels have wagered everything in this battle — exactly what I wanted. I’ll crush them completely.”
Indeed, the Cangbei Rebels were no longer what they once were.
With the Blue Wolf Army and Great Liao’s covert networks operating behind the scenes, every so-called ‘hero’ from the Eastern Ten Counties had gathered beneath their banner.
Those long-hesitant fence-sitters, those ambitious schemers lurking in the dark — all now flocked to the Cangbei Rebels and the stronger Blue Wolf Army.
It could be said that half of the rebel power of the Eastern Ten Counties had converged under their joint banner.
If Jiang Zhaoming could severely cripple both the Cangbei Rebels and the Blue Wolf Army in this battle, then rebellion across the Eastern Ten Counties would no longer pose a threat.
The traitors within those lands would scatter once they realized the rebel cause was lost.
Fan Kang knew this reasoning but still couldn’t stop his lips from trembling.
“My lord, but if we lose this battle…”
“If we win this battle,” Jiang Zhaoming cut him off, “then the rebellion across the Eastern Ten Counties will be nothing but cleanup work.”
He turned toward the window — beyond it, the lights of Anxi City flickered beneath the twilight.
This war was a grand game of chess.
The rebels believed they held a killing move, unaware that it was precisely what granted Jiang Zhaoming his chance at absolute victory.
As night deepened, the candles within the royal residence burned ever brighter.
Both Jiang Zhaoming and the rebel forces had placed all their chips on this Cangbei gambling table.
The difference was — the rebels’ wagers were transparent, while Jiang Zhaoming could still keep raising his stakes.