Chapter 1416: Seizing the Bridge, Blowing Up the Waterway (Part 7) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
Here's the question: A warhorse is 1.8 meters tall at the shoulder and weighs over 1,500 kilograms. It is wearing a 40-kilogram horse armor. Someone has scratched its hemorrhoids. In its panic, how much force can it exert when it kicks?
Shen Tang remained silent, only focusing on calculating how many ribs were broken.
Time seemed to have been slowed down at that moment.
No one expected their lord to be kicked two miles away by a warhorse, nor could they imagine that an ordinary warhorse could injure their lord who had charged through enemy lines seven times without breaking a sweat, let alone that their lord would be injured and in such a sorry state. However, the superior hearing of the warriors made it impossible for them to ignore the crisp sound of the horse's hooves breaking ribs.
"My lord—"
The guard on duty today almost went crazy.
Few of the soldiers on the front lines, exchanging stones with the enemy's catapults, had been injured yet, but their lord, who was under tight protection in the rear, was seriously wounded and unable to get up. This absurd scene startled many soldiers, who didn't even have time to react. They were a beat too slow before hurriedly rushing forward.
"Protect the Emperor!"
"Protect the Emperor!"
"Quickly, come and protect the emperor!"
There is definitely a mole plotting against the leader!
Shen Tang's current state was undeniably pathetic, arguably the most humiliating moment of her entire campaign! She was kicked by her warhorse and couldn't get up; her right hand, covered in horse dung, was raised above her head, while her left hand lacked the strength to support her as she coughed up blood and gasped for air, inhaling dust from the ground through her nostrils and mouth, making her choke even more. To make matters worse, a group of people, as if to emphasize her shame, shouted for her protection, infuriating Shen Tang so much that her blood pressure spiked to 180 on the spot.
"Shut up, what are you shouting for! Cough cough cough—"
She calmed her breathing, suppressing the dizziness caused by high blood pressure.
The warhorse, mistaken for a suspect by the charging general, was pinned to the ground and neighed incessantly. Shen Tang knew it was innocent, but she felt even more wronged, especially with a clump of foul-smelling horse manure on her hands…
"Get me some water!" The sticky feeling clinging to her hands made Shen Tang want to chop them off. Waaah, her hands were filthy. Shen Tang suspected that every time she used this hand to eat, she might be reminded of the experience of squeezing horse manure and poking her hemorrhoids today.
Even the most exquisite delicacies have lost their appeal.
The thought of this bleak future sent Shen Tang's blood pressure soaring. She gritted her teeth and said, "Kang! Ji! Shou!"
He's just waiting to get his neck clean when he gets back!
The most important thing now is how to avoid this social disaster.
"My lord?"
Until Chu Yao's panicked and chaotic voice reached her ears, and several familiar auras approached, Shen Tang closed her eyes in near despair. For the first time, she sincerely prayed to the heavens—regardless of whether she was a god or an immortal in her past life, whether she was guilty or innocent, and regardless of whether she was undergoing tribulation or being tormented by the heavens in this life, she just wanted to fast forward to the end of the world.
Destroy this bird-like world!
"Who's watching the warhorses?"
Shen Tang wanted to respond, forcing a smile to reassure Chu Yao that she was alright, but then the warhorse caused trouble again. It was terrified by the sudden turn of events and started farting in Shen Tang's direction, defecating as it farted.
She vaguely sensed that her blood pressure was somewhat dangerous.
His temper was incredibly volatile: "Do you know it's getting diarrhea?"
Warhorses formed from martial energy naturally don't have the problems of eating, drinking, or relieving themselves, but live warhorses do. During battle, the feeding and care of warhorses is no small matter; the grooms who raise them must be extremely careful to ensure they are in peak condition during combat.
The selection of warhorses involves not only physical attributes but also emotional stability. Through generations of selection, only horses capable of consistently passing on various superior traits are chosen as warhorses.
It is almost impossible for them to have a timid or easily startled nature.
With proper care within the army, it's impossible for someone to develop diarrhea on the battlefield.
Even the bad luck brought by Kang Shi, the plague god, could not have come out of nowhere. Rather, it was the combination of various low-probability accidents brought together by the slump in fortune, and then the quantitative change led to the qualitative change. The eldest son's hemorrhoids did not appear all at once, nor did his diarrhea appear suddenly. There is always a reason behind everything.
Shen Tang angrily said, "Summon the military commander here!"
Damn it, make her find out what happened, and make sure the culprit is thrown onto a catapult and then sent flying at the other side!
Chu Yao's heart rate spiked several breaths from the sight of Shen Tang's pitiful state. He immediately ordered the arrival of a physician and mobilized manpower to protect the area and prevent any further accidents. Meanwhile, Qi Shan, realizing that something was wrong with her own condition, was also rushing over.
I experienced a sudden, unexplained, sharp pain in my chest, and my ribs snapped.
It looked as if he had been kicked by a warhorse.
The external injuries are minor; the real problem is the internal injury caused by the lord's emotions: "Wu Hui, the lord is consumed by rage!"
In all our years as ruler and subject, we have rarely seen our sovereign so enraged.
Chu Yao looked up upon hearing the sound and immediately recognized that Qi Shan's expression and condition were off. This was not panic or worry, but clearly a sign of blood rushing to his head. Considering the special connection between Qi Shan and the master, Chu Yao made a decisive move that could be described as treasonous—before everyone, including Shen Tang himself, could react, he directly knocked Shen Tang unconscious with a chop to the neck!
Shen Tang was completely unguarded around Chu Yao, and naturally never expected him to be so ruthless towards her: "My neck—"
Staring with her almond-shaped eyes wide open, she fainted unwillingly.
Qi Shan felt a sharp pain in her neck and staggered forward a few steps. As she lost consciousness, the negative effects she had been experiencing were alleviated. A chill ran down her spine, and waves of fear washed over her. Her forehead broke out in a cold sweat—she had never felt so anxious even when she first went to the battlefield and watched thousands fight. Today, she was truly experiencing what it meant to be "frantically flustered": "Is my lord alright?"
Meanwhile, the physicians from the medical community rushed over immediately upon receiving the news from the king.
He was an old acquaintance, Fang Yan.
Even Fang Yan, who had weathered countless storms over the years, lost his composure upon seeing Shen Tang's pitiful state, though he didn't show it on his face. He knelt on one knee and opened his medicine box, asking, "Who on earth could have injured our lord to this extent?"
This guy is a total bug who's beaten people who are way above his level quite a few times.
Based on Fang Yan's understanding of her, even if a rank 20 Marquis were to break through the enemy lines, they probably couldn't make her look so disheveled and haggard; he simply couldn't imagine the scene. Look, her breastplate has been violently ripped open, and she's vomiting blood all over her face.
How could a duel of this caliber be considered a small event?
I didn't feel the earth shaking or the energy of heaven and earth being in chaos just now.
Chu Yao didn't reveal who it was, only urging Fang Yan to treat Shen Tang quickly. Fang Yan didn't dare delay any longer, fearing he might miss the best opportunity to treat her. After a diagnosis, Fang Yan's anxiety subsided, but more questions arose—the seven or eight broken ribs hadn't damaged any internal organs, and were all firmly enveloped by a thick, pure martial energy, which made the treatment easier for Fang Yan. He only needed to guide the broken bones slightly, aligning them one by one to promote healing—the martial energy in his dantian hadn't been depleted at all.
In other words, the injury was not caused by a strong enemy.
Chu Yao noticed the doubt in his eyes: "It was kicked by a horse's hoof."
Fang Yan asked in surprise, "Was it kicked by a horse's hoof?"
Qi Shanyang raised his voice: "It really was a horse kick?"
Only a heavenly horse raised by the stable master could have this ability, right?
Chu Yao changed the subject: "Is Your Majesty unwell?"
Fang Yan said, "My ribs are fine, but I suffered a severe blow to the back of my neck. Plus, my cervical vertebrae were already dislocated, so—"
It was a very coincidental coincidence that her cervical vertebrae were broken.
Qi Shan: "..."
No wonder my neck hurts so much.
Chu Yao's face turned even paler than a vengeful ghost, and Fang Yan even suspected that Chu Wu Hui was about to get up and draw his sword to commit suicide. He thought that Chu Yao was worried about Shen Tang's safety, so he quickly comforted him, "But it's okay, it's just a minor injury and it didn't damage the spinal cord."
The cervical vertebrae do sound scary, but which martial artist who survives in chaotic times hasn't had a broken bone at least once in their body? An ordinary person needs a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, but a martial artist can fix their bones with martial energy and be a man or woman again.
Chu Yao let out a long sigh of relief, his hands on his knees stopped trembling, and he kept muttering, "Very good, very good."
Fang Yan added, "But—"
"Fang Laoliu, can't you just say it all at once?" Qi Shan couldn't stand the feeling of his heart being suspended in mid-air, so he maintained the strange and comical posture of holding his head up with his hands, hoping that Fang Yan could say everything in one go and not torture him.
Fang Yan earnestly instructed: "Your Majesty's meridians have been scorched by heart fire, causing restlessness in the dantian, and the stagnation of qi has transformed into fire. This fire has depleted the yin of the liver and kidneys, resulting in damage to the heart and brain vessels. When Your Majesty wakes up, you must remind him to remain calm and not to lose his temper again."
He had served as Shen Tang's imperial physician for many years and was very familiar with her medical records. He knew she was an emotionally stable person who could control herself even when angry. However, today's pulse diagnosis revealed something unusual. Fang Yan couldn't fathom what earth-shattering event could have caused her to lose control like this. Was this the effect of someone plotting to usurp the throne?
Fang Yan cautiously added, "Our lord cultivates both literary and martial arts, and his meridians are constantly nourished by the energy of both, making them far more resilient than those of the same level... It wouldn't be easy to damage them to this extent. Perhaps you two could investigate this secretly?"
He was implying that Chu Yao and Shen Tang might have been secretly harmed.
Otherwise, it simply doesn't make sense.
Leaving aside martial arts masters, scholars are all physically strong and healthy—not to mention anomalies like Gu Chi—the anger that could infuriate an ordinary person would at most cause a few pangs of heartache in a scholar, and would have even less of an impact on a martial arts master.
Fang Yan suspected that some members of the Chinese community had used underhanded tactics to harm people.
It is time to carefully investigate the background of those who serve the Lord.
"...Sigh, show this to Yuanliang too." Seeing his lord in such a wretched state, he knew who the "traitor" was, and couldn't utter a word to refute Fang Yan's reasonable guess. At times, Kang Jishou really did seem like a savior brought in by the enemy.
"Qi Zhongshu was also injured?"
As Fang Yan spoke, he flicked a red thread from his sleeve, which nimbly and precisely wrapped around Qi Shan's wrist. He carefully sensed it, and in a short while, he felt the exact same pulse on Qi Shan's body as that of Shen Tang.
Fang Yan: "..."
Alright, that saves him the trouble. Just write a prescription.
Stones continued to fall from the sky towards Chen Tang's location, but they were all shattered by the guards who were keeping a close watch. Chu Yao and his group knew that the commotion of "protecting the emperor" earlier had been too great and had shaken morale, and that continuing to confront the Changqiao Stone Fortress was indeed an unwise move.
Reluctantly, they had no choice but to call it a day.
Meanwhile, the enemy suspected that this was a trap set by Kang State to lure them in.
The two sides had been facing off across the long bridge for two or three days, engaging in about ten clashes of varying sizes, each lasting a considerable amount of time. Why was Kangguo withdrawing its troops today, before achieving its objective? Suspecting a trap, the allied forces in the central region dared not make any rash moves.
"...I think this so-called Kang Kingdom is nothing but a rabble. I really don't know why they're going to all this trouble." The general's voice boomed, his words laced with contempt. Today, the two sides were testing each other across the bridge, and the Kang Kingdom's air force defenses had a glaring gap. How could such a large stone leak through? Were they blind? If not blind, then the Kang Kingdom did it on purpose. I wonder who's behind them, trying to harm us like this. The general, having lived for many years, could immediately guess at the countless schemes and intrigues unfolding from this situation.
The others didn't verbally agree, but they secretly felt a degree of agreement.
Kangguo's performance certainly did not resemble that of a skilled military force.
"...Perhaps it's a show of weakness to the enemy?"
"Hmph, isn't showing weakness to the enemy now just demoralizing ourselves?"
Even a novice on the battlefield shouldn't make such a basic mistake.
"...What kind of foundation could Kang Kingdom have, situated in such a wild and uncivilized place as the Northwest? Just a bunch of brutes." The first military officer to speak had a serious stereotype of Kang Kingdom, or rather, a dislike for the various kingdoms of the Northwest continent. "The branch office is overestimating them. Even if Kang Kingdom unifies the Northwest and Southwest, so what? Over the years, how many kingdoms have been able to pass on their power smoothly?"
They mostly die suddenly in their first life or die in their second.
To him, calling it a nation was just child's play, a way to indulge in the fantasy of being a ruler. Kangguo would be no exception.
"Because Shen Youli is young and strong enough. How old is she this year? Not even thirty yet! Kangguo has only been established for a few years and it has such a prosperous scene. If she continues to sit on the throne, it will be really difficult to deal with her in twenty or thirty years." She is powerful, and it is not easy to make her die suddenly. This is also one of the main reasons why the Central Society is taking this seriously.
If she's already this hard to kill, how can we expect her to maintain her martial arts stability?
Another reason is that the special bloodline still exists only within the Kingdom of Kang, and the Kang royal court would never allow the central factions to send people to search for the target among the common people. Conflict between the two sides was inevitable. All of this forced Kang to be eliminated!
"It's not easy to deal with now," someone chuckled sarcastically. "I wonder who raised a tiger that has become a menace?"
A few years ago, conquering Kang would have been a piece of cake.
However, there are always some people who fail to see the situation clearly and underestimate their opponents.
From its inception, the members of the Pantheon have taken pleasure in manipulating the world. They always believed that it wasn't that they lacked the ability to conquer other territories, but rather that these territories were unnecessary for their central branch. Their inherent arrogance placed them above all others.
If all nations were unified, where would the gods find a place to stand?
The more core members there are, the clearer they are about how much hatred the gods will attract.
The continent has always remained divided, a result of the tacit agreement between the inner society and its major branches; the more divided, the safer. Once a truly unified or relatively unified nation emerges, and both become powerful enough, their first target will be the Gods Society.
"Hmph, everyone says she's hard to deal with, but I'll personally take her head. The antique shelf is missing a woman's head!"
(=￣ω￣=)
Tangmei: You guys are missing a Kang Jishou as a teammate~
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