Crossing the Iron Cloud Nation’s territory, they trekked in the snow for twenty days non-stop. After strenuous efforts, they reached the Great Zhao border. Then they immediately sent local Golden Horse Riders to bring news to Diwu Qing Rou…
Only the word tragedy could be used!
The entire Golden Horse Riders Department was in shock!
In the prime minister’s manor, Diwu Qing Rou and Han Bu Chu looked at Cheng Yun He, who had clearly lost a lot of weight; they could not help but be momentarily terrified.
A few days before, Jing Meng Hun immediately went to receive Yin Wu Fa after receiving the news. But after a buffer of a few days, they were now hearing the account directly from Cheng Yun He’s mouth, and Diwu Qing Rou was still shocked.
This meeting was bigger than the usual ones. There were two additional people: Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian, he two remaining King level leaders of the Golden Horse Riders Department!
The five sat in a semi-circle facing Diwu Qing Rou. Everyone’s face was downcast.
“Everything… happened like that.” Cheng Yun He had finally finished with difficulty. Currently, Cheng Yun He’s two cheeks had sunken deeply inward. His cheek bones rose high, and his eyes seemed empty.
How arduous the journey was, he could not even tell them everything!
Han Bu Chu and Gao Sheng just looked, completely speechless. Cheng Yun He’s going out this time was to take charge of the situation. But in the end, he was essentially useless. It could be grudgingly said that he was able to bring the rest of the force home during a very dangerous period!
But this force… was truly pitiful!
However, this could not be blamed on Cheng Yun He! Everything was caused by Kong Shang Xin. With one mistake after another, he finally created a failure that was unrecoverable. But currently, Kong Shang Xin was already dead…
Therefore, the person to be held responsible was no more. How could Diwu Qing Rou not be annoyed by this?
“Two King level leaders, three ninth-grade Revered level Riders, more than thirty Revered level and above masters died in Iron Cloud!” Diwu Qing Rou scowled and said slowly, “And they all died in the hands of people not worthy of being their opponents! They died in the hands of people who should not be their opponents! Hahaha…”
Diwu Qing Rou laughed, “Such strange things like this, they should become legendary mysteries.” His countenance was calm, but the oppression in his tone made everyone’s nape hair stand on end.
“Prime Minister, please cool down.” Han Bu Chu spoke up, “This, this really can’t be blamed on the King level leaders, and it can’t be blamed on Brother Cheng. It is King of Hell Chu who is too cunning.”
“King of Hell Chu is too cunning…” Diwu Qing Rou closed his eyes and said, “Three thousand years ago, there was a scholar, a strategist for Sky Nation named Dong Fang Qing Tian! At the time, Dong Fang Qing Tian’s wisdom was unmatched; his strategies were without flaws! He was hailed as the wisest person in all of Nine Heavens! He helped the young ruler of Sky Nation fight and laid claim to vast territory.”
Han Bu Chu and company did not understand why the prime minister was telling an old story at this time. But they knew that there must be some meaning behind it so they just quietly listened.
“Thus, Sky Nation’s power grew quickly! All of the surrounding nations were feeling unsecure. At this time, the nation stood at a stagnant state. The prime minister, Chen Ping, suppressed all internal strife giving way to a prosperous Sky Nation…”
“At its prime, the territories of Sky Nation was equal to that of both Great Zhao and Iron Cloud! But from then on, Sky Nation also started to fall. They suffered one defeat after another. The smaller surrounding nations seized this opportunity and unexpectedly toppled this enormous beast!”
“Do you know why this happened?” Diwu Qing Rou asked at length.
“Perhaps at that time, Dong Fang Qing Tian had died?” Han Bu Chu and the others asked in puzzlement.
“He did not die! Moreover, he maintained control.” Diwu Qing Rou said.
“Then… how did it happen?” Han Bu Chu and company were confused. A nation at peak power with a thorough strategist, how could it be defeated by a group of weak nations?
“When they were fighting to conquer the world, Dong Fang Qing Tian went to battle and directed each battle himself. It could be said that he won all battles within a thousand mile radius of his weiwo. Do you know what a weiwo is?” Diwu Qing Rou asked.
“A weiwo is an army tent! A command center!”
“Yes, army tent… This was key!” Diwu Qing Rou sighed, “After the nation prospered, this leading tactician was, of course, no longer able to go to the battlefront. Instead, he remained at the royal court to assist the emperor! And his strategies, no matter how effective, no matter wise and no matter how exhaustive, once relayed to the battlefront… were not on time. Secondly, if the enemies changed their strategies just a little, those at the battlefront would not know how to respond.”
“He was able to give out precise orders, but those under him could not act as he intended! After all, not anyone could be Dong Fang Qing Tian!” Diwu Qing Rou said slowly, “In the end, Dong Fang Qing Tian had to leave the royal court and go to the battlefront to command the troop himself. But the situation had changed by that time. On one side was a defeated military force, and on the other was a military force ready to take back the world; they were completely different from each other!”
“Fighting to take back the world, even if they were weaker, they had heart. After they won, they would gain territory and wealth! But the Sky Nation’s military force, especially the commanders, were no longer like before. They already had wealth; they only wanted to keep their lives!”
“With Dong Fang Qing Tian’s unrivalled strategies, they were able to restore the situation in one front. But there was fighting in all four fronts at that time! In principle, he could not control everything. He could only control one front so… as time went by, Sky Nation was defeated more and more miserably. In a way, Dong Fang Qing Tian was defeated by his own nation! Therefore, Sky Nation was no more! Dong Fang Qing Tian looked up at the heavens and sighed three times. Standing in the middle of chaos, he pulled out his sword and ended his own life!”
“What did he sigh about?” Han Bu Chu hastily asked.
“At that time, Dong Fang Qing Tian said, ‘Even though I easily conquered the world, but cannot prevent the degeneration that comes with prosperity! Devising strategy and winning in a thousand mile radius. This is true! But in history, has anyone led from inside the palace and win battles more than a thousand miles away? I failed because of power! I failed because of prosperity!’”
When Diwu Qing Rou was finished, everyone remained silent. They did not speak a word as they thought about what he said.
“My ability is far less than that of Dong Fang Qing Tian!” Diwu Qing Rou said, “But I can avoid the mistake that Dong Fang Qing Tian made! Thus, I always remained in the prime minister’s manor so you could demonstrate your strengths and train yourselves. I am not afraid that you will fail; as long as it is not too great, with me here, you still have a chance to recover!”
“Because even if you fail, it would be your failure and not a failure in my leadership. After you fail in battle, you can change that failure to a win with my leadership. Even when I do not say anything, you could still be made to understand your own shortcomings! You can gradually grow this way.” Diwu Qing Rou smiled bitterly, “Right now, most of you are capable of being in charge of your own territory. You are the greatest cards up my sleeves in my quest for the world! Do you understand?”
Han Bu Chu said emotionally, “The prime minister’s thoughts put us all to shame!”
“Kong Shang Xin had added himself to his failure this time!” Diwu Qing Rou gently shook his head, “This is the biggest failure! It is also our first big failure since the creation of the group.”
“The reason is not because King of Hell Chu is too cunning!” Diwu Qing Rou said gravely, “These past few years, we have had it too easy; we did not have to fight!”
Jing Meng Hun sighed sadly without saying anything.
Yin Wu Tian retorted, “In any case, it is still too that King of Hell Chu is very cunning!”
“Not so! King level leader Yin, let me ask you. If Golden Horse Riders Department was just created, and Kong Shang Xin went to carry out such a mission, would he have acted so carelessly like that? Would he dare?” Diwu Qing Rou asked slowly.
“He wouldn’t!” Yin Wu Tian choked and finally dropped his head.
“Exactly! He would not dare!” Diwu Qing Rou said, “But right now, he dared! Not only did he dare, he even took all of the subordinates to take such a risk with him!”
“It is because he had become arrogant! He felt that Golden Horse Riders Department has become powerful! That they would not fail at anything! So he dared! So he died!” Diwu Qing Rou said word by word.
“Kong Shang Xin’s judgement was a long way from that of Dong Fang Qing Tian, and he also had much less power!” Diwu Qing Rou said majestically, “So Kong Shang Xin was deserving of his death! Facing an opponent like King of Hell Chu, he was already a dead person the moment he made such a rash decision!”
“This failure was well-deserved! You people of Golden Horse Riders Department should not have had such a failure!” Diwu Qing Rou said, “Facing with an enemy like King of Hell Chu, if Golden Horse Riders Department remains arrogant thinking that you are superhuman like Kong Shang Xin and Yin Wu Fa, I would not find it surprising that Golden Horse Riders Department gets toppled by the hands of King of Hell Chu one day!”
Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian were soaked in sweat! The two of them had originally intended to dispatch martial experts to take revenge. But without doing anything to stop them, Diwu Qing Rou had caused all of their thoughts about vengeance to dissipate with his words. They finally realized the deep sense of crisis!
Diwu Qing Rou’s words were harsh! In all these years, this was the first time Diwu Qing Rou spoke like this! Especially to King level leaders like them.
For the moment, even a ninth-grade King level leader like Jing Meng Hun felt a chill ran down his spine!
“Your failure is like that of Dong Fang Qing Tian from history. And I am Dong Fang Qing Tian. While I could arrange your tasks for you, if you don’t do your job well, the end result would still be failure!”
Diwu Qing Rou said each word icily, “I hope that Golden Horse Riders Department will not turn me into the second Dong Fang Qing Tian! If that is to be the case, Golden Horse Riders Department’s existence is no longer necessary!” (Walk the Jiang Hu)