Chapter 653

: The Board of Military’s Ghostly Yard
Translator: 
EndlessFantasy Translation 
 Editor: 
EndlessFantasy Translation
As his train of thoughts inevitably carried him here, Gu Chaliang could not help but recall his plan to track them; it had been flawless, without a single loophole. From the birth of intention to it’s plotting, execution, ambush, and tracking, the entire process had been smooth and utterly confidential.
How could they have been ambushed instead? This had only happened after the astral providence had been obscured. All in all, this ambuscade was most certainly a premeditated event.
Why?
How could this come to be?
Nonetheless, despite the dire situation, there was at least something that could be confirmed – the other party had long known about Gu Chaliang’s existence. They knew that their scheme would not come to fruition as long as his foreseeing skill was intact; they had to obscure God’s will to interrupt his prophetic abilities in order for the ambush to be successful.
In spite of this, how did the other party find out about their operation? Just the accurately timed attack alone was already a huge suspicion!
Gu Chaliang contemplated for a while before suddenly bursting out in laughter, as he said,
Actually, everyone’s face indicates good things to come. Everyone has the look of good luck, that you won’t be able to die, even if you wanted to…

Even as he spoke jovially, his heart was heavy. The current situation was unusual; it was full of doubts.
As he continued to ponder, Gu Chaliang related to Dugu Chou’s repeated questioning and a slight change of aura towards him.
‘He seems to be suspecting me now…’
‘As for Feng Xiange, he looks easygoing, grumbling and raging and asking me for an augur… Is he trying to push the suspicion to me?’
‘I will have to consider this well…’
Gu Chaliang looked at Ling Xiaozui before looking at Dugu Chou; he wore a relaxed grin but he had made an internal decision.
‘Besides Feng Xiange, I must find an ally among these two in order to be rid of this predicament. Otherwise, it’ll only backfire if I force an argument without any evidence to expose him, despite knowing that he’s playing a trick.’
‘I mustn’t act recklessly right now…’
He thought about it and said,
This mountain that contains the Four Seasons Tower’s men… I guess it has to be where a huge secret lies. Nonetheless, there’s something strange; Mr. Nian, who returned with injuries – two of them – weren’t among the eighteen men.


By deduction, there’s a total of twenty experts from the Four Seasons Tower who could fight a duel with Brother Ling and Brother Dugu!

Gu Chaliang said thoughtfully,
It’s all the more unreasonable if they had a lineup of twenty pinnacle experts. After all, everyone’s capability is similar – who would submit to another? Therefore, there must be one or a few others that possesses the power to easily overcome these people!


Otherwise, this organization would have long collapsed.


If so…


The situation doesn’t allow us to be optimistic at all!
Gu Chaliang exclaimed.
It wasn’t Gu Chaliang alone who had thought about this; both Ling Xiaozui and Dugu Chou had entertained the idea as well. Hearing what the former said, the two men could only sigh softly.

We’ll rest for three days, then we return speedily.
Ling Xiaozui made a swift conclusion.
Regardless, all this had to be made known to Yun Yang as soon as possible. According to the gap in their current capabilities, they could be fatally harmed at any time. The consequences would be grave if such significant information was not delivered.
…
In Tiantang City, Yun Yang was already preparing his next step.
The civil official between the civil and military mandarins of the Four Seasons Tower, Sir Bi, had died. What about the martial mandarin?
Would Wu Ying have committed suicide as well?
It was yet another silent night.
A wisp of a soft breeze that had been absent for some time slipped out of the Residence of King Yun and went gently on its way.
Its destination was the highest place of military importance in the Empire of Yutang – the Board of Military.
In a small, independent court, the yard was surrounded by lush green pines and cedars that arranged themselves tightly together. The emerald green could be seen even on the inside of the court. The pine trees here were rather aged; each of them shot tall into the sky with their canopies overlapping each other. It covered the entire sky above the yard that even when it was noon, where the sunlight was the brightest, there was hardly any light that spilled in.
This caused the yard to feel ghostly all year round, so much so that all the decisions made in this yard were tinged with a hint of cold eerieness.
It was fortunate that every individual who bustled into this yard was an exuberant man who had been through hundreds of wars. They were vigorous and gallant, never at all concerned about the ghostly atmosphere. The year-round habit of visiting the court had even led these people to view the atmosphere as the place’s singular ‘charm’!
The court was vastly spacious, but there was only one man who worked here.
For him to occupy such a massive house alone, there should somehow have been rumors of resource wastage. However, no one in the entire Board of Military had ever said anything of the sort. The reason was fairly simple – it could even be described as brutally direct.
It was because this person’s efficiency was the highest – no one could compare to him! Whatever strategy or tactic could be thought of, it’s chance of victory would increase by at least thirty percent, as long as it went through the man in the yard once.
One should not underestimate the advantage of an increased chance for victory by thirty percent. Changes in the battleground were often the swiftest, and rarely would there be anyone who could have at least sixty percent chance of confidence in their strategy. This additional thirty percent chance of success was, more often than not, the crux that turned tables around and even paved the way to victory.
Moreover, the preceding words of the thirty percent chance of victory must be mentioned – it was ‘at least’!
The man in this house was truly mighty!
Furthermore, this man in the yard was indifferent to fame and fortune; he did what he was asked to and performed his duties superbly. He accepted any promotion or transfer he was assigned, toiling in this yard, day in and day out.
It was based on so many years of quiet contribution that established his valiant reputation in the Board of Military, a reputation that one could hardly compete against.
Wu Ying – other than this house, his presence would never be seen in any other place!
Everyone who passed by this court would glance at it with a wary and respectful gaze. They behaved as if they could almost see an icy, wraithlike figure in the yard who seemed to have come straight from hell. The apparition appeared to be gazing back at them with his eyes that seemed to be glowing with will-o’-the-wisp.
While unauthorized people could not enter such a court, those who had the qualification to do so were reluctant to go in as well. Everyone who made their visit shared the same thought –
I don’t want to come to this place anymore if it’s unnecessary; let others come the next time!

Therefore, the house was quiet most of the time – not even the graveyard was as silent.
Tonight, however, people in the houses surrounding the area seemed to hear strange noises that came from this court. It was like someone was heaving long and short sighs, like a sob, like a lament, like a group of spirits that were calling out in quiet agony!