The Dust Settles

The Dust Settles

Bang!

In the end, as Ghost Spider, commander-in-chief of the Cloud Empire, dragged Gama Empire's grand marshal Mo Ya into self-destruction, only a charred black lump fell from the sky.

It was Mo Ya's corpse, blown to pieces and dead beyond any doubt.

Thus, the fierce battle between Battle Kings finally came to an end.

And as for the outcome, there was no winner.

As the supreme commanders of the war between the Gama Empire and the Cloud Empire, both of them had perished in the small Black Rock Mountains.

The one who had orchestrated it all was Xiao Lin, who concealed both his achievements and his name.

To outsiders, he was merely a Nine-Star Dou Spirit with a little strength.

"Th-this is over?"

Even though he had witnessed everything with his own eyes, Mu Chen still found it hard to believe.

He felt as though he had done something, yet also as though he had done nothing at all.

Then, Gama Empire's grand marshal Mo Ya and Cloud Empire's commander Ghost Spider had started fighting, only to perish together so hastily in the end.

Why did it feel like a dream?

Mu Chen was not the only one who felt that way. Everyone else felt the same.

Had they just come here to play a supporting role?

"Wake up. Though seeing may not always mean it's real, Mo Ya's corpse has turned into charcoal. That can't be faked. Now, we should go rescue Nalan Jie and the others."

The first to recover was naturally Xiao Lin.

Although the result before him was indeed somewhat unexpected, it had not exceeded his expectations by too much.

After all, the other two possible outcomes were nothing more than Mo Ya barely surviving with grievous injuries, or Ghost Spider having the last laugh.

But regardless of which outcome it was, even if one of them survived, they would surely have paid an unimaginable price.

At that time, if their group of more than thirty charged together, even if Xiao Lin only used the strength of a Nine-Star Dou Spirit, they could probably overwhelm and kill whoever had barely survived.

Therefore, the outcome would not have changed much.

Now that the two had perished together, it had saved them the trouble of acting.

Of course, Xiao Lin had not forgotten why they had come to the Black Rock Mountains in the first place!

"Oh, right, right, right. I almost forgot about that."

After smacking his forehead in annoyance, the group headed toward the deepest part of the Black Rock Mountains.

Along the way, they also collected Grand Marshal Mo Ya's corpse, which had already turned into charcoal.

Although Mo Ya's treason was now an established fact, since his corpse remained, they still had to bring it back for the emperor of the Gama Empire to deal with.

Soon afterward, the group arrived at the place Xiao Lin had seen earlier, blocked by a mass of purple miasma.

Next, everyone began displaying their own abilities, preparing to disperse the miasma before them.

At the same time, some of them shouted toward the depths of the Black Rock Mountains.

The purpose was to have those inside act as well, dispersing the miasma from both sides at once.

Very quickly, after the people on the other side of the miasma confirmed the identities of those outside, they too began dispersing it.

After less than half an hour, with the joint efforts of both sides, the miasma deliberately set up by the Cloud Empire was completely dispersed.

The people who emerged from the other side of the miasma were all sallow and emaciated, their facial muscles sunken in.

It was obvious that they had been starving for quite some time.

Fortunately, none of them were in any danger of dying.

That was not strange.

After all, the original plan between Grand Marshal Mo Ya and the Cloud Empire had been to use Nalan Jie and the others to lure another group of young Gama Empire elites here to rescue them—namely Xiao Lin, Mu Chen, and the others—before wiping them all out in one go.

Therefore, before Xiao Lin, Mu Chen, and the others came to rescue them, Nalan Jie and the rest naturally would not be in mortal danger. At most, they had suffered a little.

But as soldiers, that amount of hardship was nothing to them.

At that moment, Xiao Lin also saw his close friend, Nalan Jie.

Likewise, Nalan Jie saw Xiao Lin.

Just as Xiao Lin smiled and was about to greet Nalan Jie, the latter suddenly rushed forward and gave him a huge bear hug.

"Brother, I knew you'd come save me! No words can express my gratitude. Although we both have sons, if I have a granddaughter someday, I'll definitely have her marry your grandson!"

Nalan Jie made the promise with immense excitement.

But as Nalan Jie's words fell, the smile on Xiao Lin's face froze.

Thinking of the classic broken-engagement scene from the original story, Xiao Lin felt that this matter needed further consideration.

If possible, he did not want to screw over his own grandson.

"No, Nalan—"

"It's settled, then!"

Xiao Lin had wanted to argue, but Nalan Jie gave him no chance to refuse. After saying that, he simply walked away, leaving Xiao Lin alone in the wind, thoroughly bewildered.

It was only a minor interlude, and it passed for the time being.

Afterward, the group left the Black Rock Mountains and hurried back toward the Gama Empire military camp.

Along the way, Nalan Jie and the others learned from Xiao Lin, Mu Chen, and the rest about Grand Marshal Mo Ya's treason, as well as how he had ultimately perished together with Ghost Spider, commander of the Cloud Empire.

When they learned that the Cloud Empire's ambush against them had all been Grand Marshal Mo Ya's scheme, everyone was filled with indignation and lingering fear.

After all, if Xiao Lin had not seen through Grand Marshal Mo Ya's plot, they might all have been finished today!

Because of this, Xiao Lin once again received countless admiring looks.

And perhaps it was just Xiao Lin's imagination, but he always felt that Nalan Jie wore an expression of shared pride.

To Nalan Jie, Xiao Lin was his close friend, and they would become in-laws in the future. Since that was the case, if everyone respected Xiao Lin, did that not mean they respected him too?

Yes, that was how Nalan Jie's mind worked.

It had to be said that Nalan Jie himself was quite simple-minded.

When the group returned to the Gama Empire military camp, they also told the others about Grand Marshal Mo Ya's treason.

At first, some people did not believe it. But when they failed to find Grand Marshal Mo Ya in the camp, only for Xiao Lin and the others to bring out his corpse, everyone fell silent.

At that point, even Grand Marshal Mo Ya's most loyal followers began to waver.

In the end, after discussing it, everyone decided to set the matter aside for now and wait for the Jia Ma Royal House to handle it later.

As generals of the Gama Empire, their responsibility was naturally to win the battle before them!

Unlike the Gama Empire's generals, who already understood everything, everyone on the Cloud Empire's side was still completely in the dark.

Thus, when the Gama Empire generals jointly launched a surprise attack on the Cloud Empire, they immediately beat the enemy's army of hundreds of thousands into utter confusion.

After all, the Cloud Empire still did not know that their commander, Ghost Spider, had already self-destructed.

Although Grand Marshal Mo Ya did not appear on the Gama Empire's side, once all the generals unanimously issued orders, the ordinary soldiers naturally followed them.

Therefore, there was no suspense whatsoever in this battle. The Gama Empire won.

Afterward, the Gama Empire generals jointly submitted a memorial, reporting everything that had happened to the Jia Ma Royal House.

Less than two days later, a Battle King from the Gama Empire royal family arrived at the front lines and took over command of the army.

Meanwhile, because the Cloud Empire did not know what had happened, it suffered defeat after defeat in the ensuing war and was driven out of Gama Empire territory.

Under the leadership of that royal Battle King from the Gama Empire, they even seized quite a bit of Cloud Empire territory in return.

In the end, the fighting only ceased once the Cloud Empire sent envoys to seek peace.

By this point, the war between the Gama Empire and the Cloud Empire had essentially run its course.

Both sides had suffered considerable losses.

In the early stages, the Gama Empire had suffered defeat after defeat because Grand Marshal Mo Ya had been a traitor in their midst.

Later, because the Cloud Empire did not know that its own commander had died, it had been caught off guard by the Gama Empire and suffered enormous losses as well.

On top of that, both sides had lost a Battle King grand marshal. It was already a severe blow to their strength.

What finally forced the Gama Empire and the Cloud Empire into peace talks was that the surrounding nations, seeing how greatly both countries had been weakened, had begun to stir.

To avoid a situation where the snipe and clam fought while the fisherman profited, the Gama Empire and Cloud Empire had no choice but to cease hostilities!

As for the later peace negotiations, they had little to do with Xiao Lin and the others.

After both sides decided to negotiate peace, Xiao Lin, Nalan Jie, Mu Chen, and the other generals who were merely gaining experience in the Gama Empire army rather than serving the royal family permanently all returned to the Jia Ma Imperial Capital.

This war had finally settled into the dust.

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