The World Online Chapter 208-209

Chapter 208 - Battle of Muye (10)

Translator: TeamTWO

Editor: Jun

They tracked the ruts that the chariots left behind. Ouyang Shuo and the 1,700 cavalries that survived tracked them down along the Wei River, all the way down to the south. They were very determined to kill or capture the main leaders of the Zhou dynasty in one attempt. 

King Wu and Jiang Shang did not even have the slightest clue that the enemy would have horses like the Qingfu warhorses—horses that had such incredible speed and magnificent mobility. The Qingfu warhorses could catch up and even outrun them. However, they did not know this, so they did not even bother to cover up their tracks.

When it was close to noon, the enemy chariots that had fled were already in the vicinity of Ouyang Shuo and his army. 

Ouyang Shuo suddenly raised his hand to signal for the party to stop. When he signaled them to down, they cavalries that were still traveling at high speeds abruptly stopped. It was like they had pressed down hard onto the brakes of a car. Their movements were united and flawless.

"w.a.n.g Feng!" Ouyang Shuo called to his elite guard captain

w.a.n.g Feng, who had always followed behind Ouyang Shuo, immediately rode to the front and said, "My lord, your orders?"

"Come here."

The always cool captain now had a face of confusion. He had no idea what his lord was trying to do again. Ouyang Shuo whispered something to w.a.n.g Feng. For a quick moment, w.a.n.g Feng showed a surprise expression, but he soon returned to his usual cool expression. Although his face slightly changed, no one saw anything. As such, none of them had any idea what kind of task their lord had given him.

w.a.n.g Feng returned to his position and signaled to the elite guards. Then, he said, "Elite guards, come with me!" Then, they headed toward a small path at the side.

"Yes sir!" said the elite guards. They swiftly followed their captain with no unnecessary thoughts.

All of the other cavalries, including Lin Yi, did not raise a question at all. There were rules in the armies. Things that should not be said shall never be said, and whatever should not be asked shall remain unasked.

As the head of all the Shanhai City's armies, Ouyang Shuo's orders would always be kept as the top secret information at all times. 

"Keep moving. Remember, I want both King Wu and Jiang Shang alive. Capture them and make sure not to hurt them," Ouyang Shuo specifically reminded his cavalries, as he was worried that they might carelessly hurt King Wu and Jiang Shang.

"Yes my lord!"

After a short moment of waiting, the army continued their advance and caught up with the enemies that had fled in front.

The sounds of galloping horses were just like rumbling thunder. It alerted King Wu about his pursuers. The now frightened King Wu turned his head. What appeared in his sight was wave after wave of fierce cavalries that advanced toward them with immense power and incredible speed.

The Mingguang armor on each and every cavalry was just so obvious, as they brightly glimmered under the sunlight. 

The golden rays reflected from the Mingguang armor was just way too iconic. Therefore, King Wu recognized that these cavalries were the ones that had mercilessly slaughtered the alliance forces. The faces of the other lords turned even paler. In their eyes, these cavalries were the shadow of war that rode beneath the fog of war. These cavalries would cut down and trample their foes under their iron hooves, despite the s.h.i.+ny armor that made them resemble holy knights.

"Even the heaven wants me dead!" King Wu lamented.

Right after the lamentations of King Wu,s a non-stop heavy arrow rain traveled toward them at high speeds.

Every chariot had two or four horses pulling it. Among the four horses, the two horses in between were called 'two fu.' They were tied with the yoke used to balance the two shaft of the chariot; the left and right horses were called the 'two can.'  They were tied in front of the chariot with leather, collectively known as 'si.'

Every chariot carried three soldiers that stood in a horizontal line.

The soldiers that stood on the left plays the role of an archer, also known as the head of the chariot, called 'che zuo' or 'jia shou.' The one on the right was the halberdier, his main priority was to cut down enemies with his halberd and clear away any obstacles that blocked the chariot, called 'che you' or 'can cen.' The charioteer stood in the middle, and he only carried a short sword for self-defense.

The cavalries aimed the arrow rain at the che zuo and the charioteers. Their purpose was to shoot down and disable these threats, which would prevent return fire and stop the chariots. Of course, this would really require extremely good archery skills.

As expected, those che zuos' on the chariots tried to retaliate. However, their shooting range was quite a joke when compared to the shooting range of the cavalries equipped with composite bows. The che zuos' arrow just fell down before they could hit any of the cavalries.

"Stop now or die!" Lin Yi loudly shouted under Ouyang Shuo's hint.

When he heard this, it was like Jiang Shang had suddenly grown older. He felt like he had become a weak old man. These players were always doing things outside of his expectations. He was indeed smart and wise, but the amount of information that the parties held was completely different. The existence of his opponents was out of this era's understandings. Although he had tactics and tricks up his sleeves, he could not do much at all.

"My king, we should stop. We can't escape anymore," said Jiang Shang bitterly.

King Wu remained silent, but he signaled for his army to stop.

Ouyang Shuo and his cavalries quickly surrounded the 300 war chariots once they came to a stop. Even so, the cavalries did not let their guards down and remained vigilant. In fact, they raised their bows and aimed at each and every one of the enemies in front of them, preventing them from doing anything stupid. 

"Weapons on the ground, please!" said Ouyang Shuo in a threatening tone.

The surrounded soldiers could only look helplessly at their king with pale faces. King Wu did not dare to look into their eyes. He just looked down and gestured for them to do as Ouyang Shuo had demanded. With that, the soldiers threw their weapons onto the ground and stopped their resistance.

These people were now sheeps in a slaughterhouse. They waited to be slaughtered, leaving their fates in Ouyang Shuo's hands.

Jiang Shang stood on the chariot without any fear, and he said courageously, "Your army and your skills decided that you are not an anonymous p.a.w.n! Tell me your name. Let me die knowing who defeated us."

Ouyang Shuo nodded, and he walked out of his army with Lin Yi and a few other subordinates. Then, he said, "I am the player representative under the Shang dynasty, and my name is Qiyue Wuyi. I am here to take you as prisoners under the orders of the King of Shang! Stop your futile resistance at once!"

Jiang Shang was no ordinary person. Judging by Ouyang Shuo's strange behavior, Jiang Shang could tell that he was plotting something. Otherwise, Ouyang Shuo could've just killed them all in a flash. Instead, he decided to ask them to yield instead.

Jiang Shang suddenly managed to keep his cool, and his heart started to pump at a calm rate. He said to himself that maybe there was still a chance and intentionally said, "Di Xin is a violent, greedy, and unethical king! He has wasted so much of the country's resources on unnecessary aspects! Why is someone like you still willing to work for him?"

Ouyang Shuo smiled and said, "Tai Gong, you must be joking. After all, we are serving different kings." Ouyang Shuo did not budge against Jiang Shang's accusations, as they both served a different king. Because of this, their opinions were fated to be different.

Jiang Shang became speechless for a moment, and he realized that Ouyang Shuo was a man of determination, so he became straightforward with him and asked, "Then, what do you want? Since our lives are in your hands, why not just make things clear to us? Why are you still hesitating?"

Jiang Shang was indeed a true utilitarian. He was able to directly strike the main points

Ouyang Shuo saluted him and said, "The thing is, I came here for you, Tai Gong."

"Oh? I'm just a dying old man. What an battle contribution for you to come for me," replied Jiang Shang with barbed words.

"I am sure that Tai Gong knows that players like us will not be able to stay here for long. Wuyi admires Tai Gong's wisdom and personality. Therefore, Wuyi hopes that Tai Gong will follow me back so that I can listen to your teachings every day," said Ouyang Shuo, as he boldy revealed his intentions.

Jiang Shang remained determined and replied, "A loyal va.s.sal will never serve two lords. Besides, you are an enemy to us."

Ouyang Shuo shook his head and said, "Tai Gong, please don't reject me so fast. Perhaps, after listening to my conditions, you might change your mind."

"Say no more. No matter what your conditions are, I will not yield!" said Jiang Shang without any sign of giving in.

Ouyang Shuo did not feel disappointed, as he had expected such a reaction. Jiang Shang only said these things because he wanted to fight for more benefits and rights. It is unlikely that he would not surrender at all. Ouyang Shuo continued, "What if my condition is that I'll let King Wu escape alive if you joined me?"

Jiang Shang's face immediately changed as King Wu was his weakness. He could die to atone his sins, but he could never let himself see the extinction of the bloodline of the western Zhou in front of him. If this happened, how could he still have the guts to face King Wen when he died?

"You are saying that if I yield and go with you, you will let King Wu go?" Jiang Shang confirmed again.

Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "That's right!"

"Then, how about the others?" Jiang Shang was definitely not satisfied with saving only King Wu.
Ouyang Shuo smirked coldly and said, "Tai Gong, letting King Wu run away alive is the most I can do. I still have to go back and receive the punishments of my king. Please don't force me to do it."

As soon as Ouyang Shuo ended his speech, other than King Wu, the other people's faces turned incredibly pale as if there was no more blood anymore. Without a doubt, Ouyang Shuo has already p.r.o.nounced their deaths. 

Jiang Shang remained quiet, and many thoughts ran around in his mind. He knew that Ouyang Shuo was not a soft-hearted man, "If that's the case, I'll promise you. However, I have already grown tired of all these things and have no intentions of becoming a va.s.sal anymore. I'll just stay hidden away from politics forever."

The first half of his sentence made Ouyang Shuo excited, but the second half made Ouyang Shuo only able to bitterly smile. However, he did not feel frustrated. He knew that such a legendary historical figure was not so easy to recruit.                

It would be a lie to say that the idea of recruiting Jiang Shang did not tempt Ouyang Shuo.

He chose another way of recruiting Jiang Shang in order to realize his wild wish. However, Gaia did not let his wild wish come true after all.

Ouyang Shuo sighed in his heart. In the end, there were still some gains no matter what. Even if he did not help Ouyang Shuo in anyway, as long as Jiang Shang agreed to settle down in Shanhai City, some other historical figures will be attracted to Shanhai City because of his influences. As for the other benefits, it would wholly depend on how Ouyang Shuo manipulated it.

"System notification: Congratulations to Qiyue Wuyi for successfully recruiting Jiang Shang. Due to the fact that Jiang Shang was forced, player does not fulfill all the requirements. Jiang Shang shall remain in the state of retirement."

"System notification: Congratulations to Qiyue Wuyi for becoming the first player to recruit a legendary historical figure. 4,000 battle contribution points and 20,000 reputation points are awarded to him."

This was an unexpected gain. Ouyang Shuo cleared away his unnecessary thoughts. He kept cool and ordered his men to isolate Jiang Shang's chariot from the others. Ouyang Shuo was also worried that Jiang Shang's old body might not be able to sustain the excessively b.u.mpy conditions of the chariot.

As for the chariot of King Wu, Ouyang Shuo allowed it to be released, but King Wu refused to leave. He said loudly, "I cannot let myself get away by sacrificing my prime minister, my people, and my allies for my life! I refuse to yield and I will fight to death!"

Sadness started to spread around the surrounded soldiers and the hearts of everyone.

On his chariot, Jiang Shang bowed to his king and said, "My King! You must secure the royal bloodline inheritance of Zhou. This is your responsibility and your duty! Please do not let us down."

King Wu lamented, "But without you, I can never achieve anything even if I manage to get back alive. What can I do without you?" The young King Wu suddenly felt clueless and perplexed about the Zhou dynasty's future.

"In the country, you still have Zhou Gong. He can help you in many ways. My King, you shall never give up and you must restore the glory of the Zhou dynasty!" said Jiang Shang.

"My King! Please leave us here and get home safe!" all of a sudden, King Wu's soldiers kneeled down and begged their king to escape and stay safe.

Although Ouyang Shuo couldn't stay emotionless about this scene right now, he could not do much about it. This was war and war had always been cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y. Besides, one must have the psychological preparation of losing if they ever started a war against someone.

King Wu let out a long sigh of lamentation and boarded his chariot. Then, he swiftly left.

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Chapter 209 - Battle of Muye (11)

Translator: TeamTWO

Editor: Jun

After King Wu left, a strong sense of despair clearly entangled those who were left behind.

"We fight to the death!" Some did not want to die without trying, so they picked up their weapons and decided to put up a fight before dying.

Meanwhile, along with Jiang Shang and his chariot, Ouyang Shuo had already left the battlefield. He asked Lin Yi to handle the rest. Emotionlessly, Lin Yi raised his hand to signal to the soldiers, "Fire!"

A tremendous arrow rain that seemed like it could blot out the entire sky instantly poured onto the surrounded enemies. After a brief moment, all the grieving shouts and scary moans stopped. None of them had survived. Then, Lin Yi asked his men to check on the bodies one by one to ensure that all of them were dead. If they were not dead, the soldiers were more than happy to deliver another fatal strike. Other than that, they also beheaded the enemies, covered it up, tied it to the back of the horses, and returned to Zhaoge. Di Xin had specifically ordered this.

Jiang Shang lamented on his chariot, as he heard the dying cries of his former soldiers.

At three in the afternoon, the party pa.s.sed by Muye. At the same time, the main forces of Shang had returned to Zhaoge with their emperor, Di Xin. Therefore, Ouyang Shuo decided to not stop at Muye. Instead, he returned to Zhao Ge as fast as possible.

After arriving at Zhao Ge and meeting up with the other members of the Shanhai Alliance, Ouyang Shuo immediately rushed to the palace. He needed to make a report of the situation to Di Xin and claim his rewards at the same time.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Muye had officially ended, and the campaign announcement rang out.

"Campaign announcement: The Battle of Muye has ended. Congratulations to the Shang dynasty faction for successfully reversing the ending of history. Every player of this faction will be rewarded with 500 merit points. Shang dynasty faction player lords' battle contribution points will be raised by an additional 50% based on the original value. Friendly tips: additionally awarded battle contribution points are not counted toward the campaign contribution value board."

The way that Gaia awarded players was still very reasonable. It had awarded 500 merit points as a basic award to the players to ensure that everyone benefited. It also awarded additional battle contribution points to the player lords who had contributed more than anyone else. The more you contributed, the better the rewards, separating them from the normal players.

Lastly, the additional rewards that did not count toward the campaign contribution value board also ensured the fairness for both sides. This avoided scenarios where the losing side got stripped of their chances for getting listed on the campaign contribution value board.

"Campaign announcement: The Battle of Muye has ended. Now, players are now awarded additional rewards based on their contribution on pus.h.i.+ng the momentum of the campaign, their contributions to their own faction, and other contributions."

Right after that, another system notification rang beside Ouyang Shuo's ears.

"System notification: Player Qiyue Wuyi, player representative of Shang dynasty. He contributed 100,000 crossbows to form up the crossbowmen division with the slaves. Ambus.h.i.+ng the enemy players at the southern suburbs of Muye and destroying the enemy's command post. Effective battle commanding; pursuit of the remaining enemies; elimination of enemies that fled. With all these achievements, you are awarded 800,000 points of battle contribution points."

A crucial point of their win in the Battle of Muye was the forming of the slave crossbowmen division, and Ouyang Shuo had handled all of this. He managed to pull it off, and the forming of the crossbowmen had an even better result when compared to the Battle of Zhuolu.

In return, the additional battle contribution points awarded to Ouyang Shuo for this had reached the total of the points he gained in the Battle of Zhuolu. However, chances for special occasions like the Battle of MuYe were going to be hard to come by.

After a.s.sessing the contribution value of all the players, the final top 10 contribution list had also been confirmed and published.

【Position】

【Name】

【Battle Contribution Points】

【1st】

【Qiyue Wuyi】

【240,000 points】

【2nd】

【Bai Hua】

【 55,000 points】

【3rd】

【Feng Qiuhuang】

【50,000 points】

【4th】

【Mulan Yue】

【45,000 points】

【5th】

【Xunlong Dianxue】

【42,000 points】

【6th】

【Di Chen】

【40,000 points】

【7th】

【Siege Lion】

【32,000 points】

【8th】

【??】

【30,000 points】

【9th】

【Hua Huo】

【25,000 points】

【10th】

【Chun Shen Jun】

【15,000 points】

Shanhai Alliance had achieved another great victory again. Ouyang Shuo's battle contribution points had an incredibly huge lead from the second place. After the final a.s.sessment, Ouyang Shuo had achieved 41,000 merit points, and this was before the addition of the 4,000 merit points he acquired by recruiting Jiang Shang.

Till then, Ouyang Shuo had achieved 85,800 merit points, reaching the t.i.tle of 3rd-cla.s.s marquis. He was just one step away from reaching the required points of 102,400 to advance and become a 2nd cla.s.s marquis.

With the help of Zhang Liao, Bai Hua had once again managed to surpa.s.s Feng Qiuhuang and achieved the runner-up position. Also, with the points they had acquired, Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang had both managed to advance into 1st-cla.s.s counts. This advancement raised their town to grade 3, sweeping away their obstacles in one shot.

Other than that, Mulan Yue skipped 3rd-cla.s.s count directly and advanced into 2nd-cla.s.s count. Mulan Yue's main source of contribution in this campaign was from her general, Mu Guiying.

Xunlong Dianxue and Siege Lion had also advanced to 2nd and 3rd-cla.s.s counts respectively. With these, the t.i.tles of all the Shanhai Alliance members had skyrocketed with the two campaigns.

However, those who had chosen the Zhou dynasty faction like Chun Shenjun had completely missed their chance to advance their t.i.tle due to their losses in the Battle of Muye. As for their town level advancement, they would have to wait for a longer time or even until the next campaign. Whereas Di Chen managed to pull it off by obtaining 6,000+ merit points, but it was still not enough to advance to the next t.i.tle.

The Battle of Muye had become an important turning point for all of these higher level players.

Lin Yi brought a cavalry squadron and escorted Ouyang Shuo into the palace. For Jiang Shang, in order to not attract the attention of the other lords, Ouyang Shuo arranged for him to stay outside of the city and had a cavalry squadron protect him.

After a few moments, Ouyang Shuo and his guards stopped somewhere near to the palace. An hour later, w.a.n.g Feng had returned with the elite guards and rejoined Ouyang Shuo and his party.

Then, Ouyang Shuo ordered Lin Yi to return back and hand over the rewards to the elite guards division. Lin Yi needed to lead the elite guards into the palace under the guidance of the palace guards. 

Di Xin summoned and met Ouyang Shuo at the main hall. Without any further ado, Ouyang Shuo immediately asked the guards to present the heads of the alliance's lords. Other than that, w.a.n.g Feng personally handed another head stored in a box to the palace guard.

When the palace guard took the box for examination, they saw the beheaded head of King Wu, which quietly laid in the box.

In truth, Ouyang Shuo did not want to let the rewards for killing King Wu slip away from his hands.

Therefore, even after he promised Jiang Shang that he would let King Wu leave safely, he had secretly ordered w.a.n.g Feng to head to the front through the small path and intercept the chariot of King Wu. Although this was really despicable, he did not regret his decision.

To be honest, Ouyang Shuo had still kept his promise with Jiang Shang. He had promised Jian Shang that he would let King Wu go, but he did not promise that he wouldn't ask his men to chase after him.

When he saw the head of King Wu, Di Xin said happily, "Good, good, good! Well done, Qiyue Wuyi, well done! You did not let me down."

Ouyang Shuo took this opportunity and said, "My king, I have one little request. Could you kindly grant it to me?"

"Speak!" said Di Xin. He was in a happy mood. 

"Could you keep this as a secret temporarily? Not for long, just until I leave this place."

"Why so?" said the confused Di Xin.

Ouyang Shuo said with embarra.s.sment, "Jiang Shang has promised to follow me back to my place, so I do not wish for him  to hear any news about the death of King Wu to prevent unnecessary events."

As a very smart man, Di Xin quickly grasped the main point of this little demand of Ouyang Shuo. After all, all he had to do was just announce it one day later after Ouyang Shuo left, so it really was not a big deal at all.

"Alright, you have my promise on this," said Di Xin directly. Then, he turned to E'Lai who, was standing at the side of the main hall and said, "I will keep my promise as well. From now on, I hand over General E'Lai to you, you must never fail him."

Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "Thank you, my king!"

E'Lai immediately understood the situation. He walked to Ouyang Shuo and kneeled down on one knee. Then, he said, "I am yours to command, my lord!"        

Ouyang Shuo saluted him and quickly asked him to get up, "Rise, my general."

At the same time, a system notification rang in his ears.

"System notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for recruiting an emperor-level historical figure, E'Lai."

Ouyang Shuo took a look at E'Lai's stats.

【Name】：E'Lai（emperor-level）

【Dynasty】：Shang dynasty

【Ident.i.ty】：Shanhai City General

【Occupation】：Special-cla.s.s Officer

【Loyalty】：80 points

【Leaders.h.i.+p】：75

【Strenth】：98

【Int】：50

【Politic】：25

【Specialty】：Power：increases party's attack by 20% ；Evil Blood Aura：increases party's morale by 40%；Earth Shaker：increases party's defense by 20%

【Technique】：《Tiger Si Huang Jing》

【Equipment】：Bronze Armor

【Description】：Famous general of the Shang dynasty，Ancestor of the Qin dynasty，famous for his strength. He is able to wrestle with rhinos and brawl with tigers and bears. 

Although he  was a Special-cla.s.s Officer just like s.h.i.+ Wansui, he lacked proper equipment. But this did not matter anymore as Ouyang Shuo planned to craft better armor and weapons for him. Moreover, Ouyang Shuo planned to get him a proper ride in order to equip him with something good.         

The rewards that Di Xin gave to Ouyang Shuo did not end here. Di Xin personally handed a damask pouch to Ouyang Shuo and said, "In this dynasty, we believe in G.o.ds and demons. We pray to them for protection. In this sack, there are five incense pills that comes from the condensations of our daily prayings. It is really precious, as it has an immense effect on all sorts of temples. I gift it to you now. Use it wisely."

Di Xin's words surprised Ouyang Shuo, as he did not expect that there would be such exceptional items when he came to accept his rewards.

Not only that, Di Xin continued, "Come, follow me. The final rewards I prepared for you are outside of the hall now."

Ouyang Shuo followed Di Xin to the outside. He was very curious about the reward. What kind of reward requires one to head outside? In his mind, he guessed that the reward must be something that was extraordinarily big to be awarded to someone outside the hall.

As expected, Di Xin pointed to a huge bronze vessel and said, "Fan Ding, the symbol of power. I now grant you this to exalt your extraordinary achievements."

Ouyang Shuo took a look at the vessel. This Ding appears to be in rectangular with four legs. It stood on the ground with a lid and two handles. On the body of Ding, were carvings of various G.o.dly animals that looked extremely realistic.

Although he did not know the usage of the vessel, it did not stop him from stowing it away. He bowed and thanked Di Xin for his generous rewards.

Then, Ouyang Shuo and his elite guards headed outside of the palace and his party joined him. After that, they teleported away through the portal.  

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