Chapter 635: Black Arrow!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Although the war of the southwest was over, remaining vigilant after the war was of utmost priority. But when Wang Chong was brought up, everyone on the summit looked silently toward him.
The southwest was still in chaos, and the threat of Duan Gequan and Dalun Ruozan still existed.
If there was one person who could stabilize the southwest and calm the hearts of its people, at the same intimidating Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang, that person was not Wang Yan or Xianyu Zhongtong, but the seventeen-year-old Wang Chong.
Neither Wang Yan nor Xianyu Zhongtong could deny this.
"Generals, you are too kind."
Wang Chong's eyes widened. He had been listening on the edge of the crowd, not thinking that the flames of battle would catch onto his clothes.
"But all of you can be at ease. Until His Highness King Song arrives, I will not leave this place."
Upon seeing these expectant gazes, Wang Chong suddenly realized that he now had an extremely high position in all their minds. Everyone was treating him like the pillar that propped up the southwest.
"Wonderful, with Young Master here…"
The generals rejoiced at Wang Chong's words, one general even shouting in excitement.
Buzz!
Wang Chong's mouth was open in preparation to speak when his eyes suddenly widened. He felt a danger that he had never felt before.
This danger was so intense that Wang Chong felt like his skull was going to explode, and goosebumps rose up over all his body. This feeling was like that of walking through a scorching summer day and then suddenly being plunged into an icehouse.
What is this?
Wang Chong was stupefied. At this moment, he could smell the thick scent of death on his nose.
Not during the entire southwestern war had he ever felt such a terrifying pressure.
Buzz!
Wang Chong's mind had barely touched upon this thought, and the southwest generals before him still had the expressions on their faces from just a moment ago, when Wang Chong immediately sensed a dark shadow enveloping him. The stench of death instantly thickened.
"Not good!"
Wang Chong paled and he immediately leaped to the side. A second later, a strange pitch-black arrow that Wang Chong had never seen before brushed past his ear.
Wang Chong had never felt so close to death before.
Boom!
A massive shockwave burst out by his ear. Time seemed to stop. Wang Chong turned his head and saw a sight that he would find hard to forget. That black arrow had landed several zhang away, in the chest of Luo Ji.
Luo Ji's mouth was agape, his eyes filled with disbelief. Around him, the generals were pale as they stared at that arrow in shock.
Sudden!
Too sudden!
No one had expected this sort of thing to happen after the war had concluded.
"Who is it? Who's there!!"
Lin Wushou was the first to rush to Luo Ji's side, hugging Luo Ji as he looked around with a savage expression.
Bzzt! Wang Chong's pupils constricted as he twisted his head in the direction the arrow had come from. But the area for several dozen li around was empty.
Impossible!
Wang Chong suddenly looked toward the horizon. There, he could faintly make out a black silhouette, but it was there for only a brief moment before vanishing without a trace.
"Luo Jiiiii!
Tearful cries rose from behind him. Wang Chong's heart turned cold as he turned his head to be greeted by an extremely bizarre sight. In the few seconds that had passed, Luo Ji's body had turned as black as ink and as stiff as a board.
Crack! In the space of a single breath, the Luo Ji who had fought so courageously on the battlefield and been so alive just a few moments ago had transformed into a sculpture of black glass, which then shattered into pieces on the ground.
And those shards began to decay under the influence of some mysterious energy, carbonizing until they were just dust in the wind.
All the southwest generals were dumbfounded.
Wang Chong felt like his heart was a block of ice.
Because this arrow had been meant for him.
If he hadn't reacted quickly, noticing the danger beforehand and dodging, he would be the one whose body turned to dust.
"Bastard! Who did this?"
Furious roars began to rise from the mountain. The generals began to rush down the mountain toward the place the arrow had been fired from.
Nearby, the convalescing Wang Yan and Xianyu Zhongtong had been alarmed and rushed from the summit, needing only a few seconds to span the distance.
"Luo Ji, Luo Jiiiii!!"
The most agitated and vengeful of the generals at this moment was Lin Wushou. The two were bosom friends in the Annan Protectorate army, and they had managed to survive the war of the southwest together.
No one had thought that Luo Ji would die here!
"Who is it?! Who did this?"
"Too shameless! Is it Mengshe Zhao, or is it Ü-Tsang!!"
"They can't win a proper battle, so they resort to tactics like this!"
The generals of the southwest returned from their fruitless search, and when they saw what had happened to Luo Ji, they were both shocked and furious. All of them were deeply affected by Luo Ji's end.
"It's too shameless! Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang must pay a price!"
Although no one had seen the assassin, there was no doubt that if they weren't from Mengshe Zhao, they were from Ü-Tsang. At this moment, only they had the chance to commit this sort of deed!
"It's not them!" Wang Chong suddenly declared. His eyes narrowed, shining with a cold light.
"They've already lost the war of the southwest, and killing Luo Ji or any other random person wouldn't change this. Dalun Ruozan's the kind of person who would view such tactics with contempt. As for Mengshe Zhao… Until Geluofeng's safety is assured, Duan Gequan will pay attention to nothing else. And besides him, no one else could do such a thing.
"And besides, look around you. Our soldiers surround the entire mountain. Do you think the Mengshe-Ü-Tsang army could hide assassins here?"
Wang Chong's voice was very cold!
Extremely cold!
Luo Ji had died for him. There was no disputing this fact. Wang Chong had never anticipated such a thing happening in the final moments of the war.
"But, Young Master, if it's not Mengshe Zhao or Ü-Tsang, who could have done it?"
"In addition, what is with that arrow? Everyone saw it! Could it have appeared out of thin air?" several red-eyed generals asked. Although they were agitated, they still maintained a great deal of respect for Wang Chong. But anyone else who said such words would not have received the same reception.
"It's precisely because of this arrow that I say that it couldn't have been Mengshe Zhao or Ü-Tsang!"
Wang Chong suddenly took two steps forward, bending down and taking up that pitch-black arrow. After piercing through Luo Ji, it had struck the ground.
The head of the arrow had ceased to exist, leaving behind only the black arrow shaft, which seemed most strange and bizarre.
When they thought about Luo Ji's wretched death, all the generals shivered.
"Ü-Tsang doesn't have the skill to forge such an arrow, and the arrow-making art of Mengshe Zhao was inherited from the Central Plains. Their combined abilities simply aren't enough to craft this level of arrow! …If they had such abilities, today wouldn't have ended up like this," Wang Chong said.
He carefully inspected the arrow in his hands. Never in all his life had he seen an arrow of this level. Although only the arrow shaft was left, it still contained a dreadful energy, purely destructive in nature. Just by gripping it, Wang Chong felt a deep shock.
And this wasn't all. The arrow shaft, arrow tail, and its extremely simple arc that seemed to be one with the principles of the world… Not even the greatest smithing clans of the capital could craft such an arrow.
The craftsmanship reflected in that trajectory was practically divine, surpassing any other arrow that Wang Chong had ever seen.
No normal person could create such a thing.
In addition, as his gaze swept over a symbol on the shaft, Wang Chong's heart shivered and he stopped speaking.
The other generals fell silent as well.
Wang Chong's conclusion was correct. In terms of craftsmanship, the Great Tang of the Central Plains truly reigned supreme. If Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang could create terrifying black arrows like this, the Tang would have been facing a dreadful unit of master archers today as well.
A general finally couldn't help but ask, "But, Young Master, if it's not Mengshe Zhao or Ü-Tsang, who could it be?"
Although Wang Chong's argument was very reasonable, it was a clear fact that Luo Ji had been killed. If it wasn't Mengshe Zhao or Ü-Tsang, who assassinated him? What reason would there be to assassinate him?
It was too absurd and unreasonable.
Wang Chong said nothing, but his mind recalled the image of that blurry silhouette on the horizon. He could guarantee that this mysterious black arrow had not been fired anywhere within a ten li radius of this area.
Because it was impossible for someone to fire such an arrow in a ten li radius and remain undiscovered by the Tang army.
But if it was as he thought, if it was at that distance… then his opponent's strength was far too terrifying!
Hiss!
Wang Chong took in a deep breath and stopped pondering the matter.
If it wasn't Dalun Ruozan or Duan Gequan who fired that arrow, it must have been a third party. Why had they done this, and why had they chosen this moment?
And more importantly, why had they been after him?
Wang Chong quickly felt like the entire war of the southwest was covered in a thick fog. There seemed to be something else beyond Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang that he didn't know about.
"Leave this matter to me. No matter what, I'll definitely find out who shot this arrow!"
Wang Chong's right hand suddenly clenched itself over the arrow.
In the coda of the southwest war, Luo Ji died to a mysterious black arrow. No one could have imagined this, but this was also a matter that only a few people knew about. The vast majority of the Annan Protectorate army soldiers knew nothing about it, let alone other people.
And to the people outside the southwest, today was bound to be an unforgettable day of celebration.