Chapter 12: The Battle of North Sea, Ji Fa's Loyalty to the King

  As for the admiration of Chong Houhu, Zhang Disxin smiled and dismissed it. This was just the first battle in Beihai, and Yuan Futong could rebel, so how could his strength be underestimated?

  "Report! His Highness the Crown Prince, Evil Bi is dead." Just as everyone had sat down in the camp tent, a soldier came to report. Zhang Emperor's eyebrows furrowed, originally intending to capture Evil Bi alive and probe into the emptiness of the North Sea Army, but unexpectedly, after a long journey, Evil Bi's blood flowed non-stop, and by the time they arrived at the Da Shang Camp, this person was already completely out of breath.

  "Alright, I know. Let's just bury the evil then." Zhang Di Xin had barely finished speaking when the soldier added: "Reporting to Your Highness, the head of E'bi has already been hung at the gate by Master Hou's younger brother!"

  Hang the enemy general's head on the gate, to show off military power and boost morale, there is nothing wrong with that. However, these two princes did not get Zhang Emperor Xin's permission before doing so, which has a hint of disrespect, that's why the lower official came to report.

  Zhang Emperor's eyebrows rose, and he got up and walked out of the camp. A group of soldiers were surrounding the gate at this time. Among them, one person had a face like a pot bottom, with a red beard under his chin, two white eyebrows, eyes like golden bells, wearing a nine-cloud fierce flame beast crown, wearing a lock-linked armor, a big red robe, and a white jade belt around his waist, with a red gold gourd in the middle. His appearance was very majestic.

  That man saw Zhang Emperor Xin come forward and cupped his hands, saying: "Armor is on the body, it's not convenient to pay respects, please forgive me, Your Highness."

  With armor on my body, it's not convenient to pay respects. I think you don't want to pay respects, right? In the original work, Chong Hei Hu killed his entire family for the position of North Bo Hou and even bound Chong Hou Hu and presented him directly to West Zhou in order to curry favor with them. Emperor Zhang Xin saw that Chong Hei Hu had a treacherous look on his face and was displeased in his heart, so he opened his mouth and said: "Are you Chong Hei Hu, the younger brother of Chong Hou Hu, Caozhou Hou?"

  "Your Highness is clear and bright, it's right below!" Chong Hei Hu bowed his hands and said, pointing to the evil head on top of the gate, with a very arrogant tone, "This thief died too early, if I had waited a little longer, I would have beheaded him under the horse!"

  "Haha…… Lord Hou is indeed brave and fierce, but it's a pity that he's come to his demise. The battle was intense, with winds and waves rising." Zhang Disheng saw Chong Hei Hu's arrogance and felt displeased by his words, which seemed to imply that he had stolen the credit for himself. He left behind a sentence and turned to leave.

  Ignorant little brat! If it weren't for the young master's permission, I would have taken your life! Chong Hei Hu's face sank, and he pointed at the crowd, saying: "Hang him a bit higher..."

  Two days later, scouts came to report that Xi Bo Hou Ji Chang was seriously ill and unable to lead the army, so he specially sent his two sons, Ji Fa, to come and rescue the king!

  The princess of Western Zhou, King Wu! Zhang Emperor Xin did not expect that he would be able to see his "arch-nemesis" so soon!

  Zhang Di Xin hated that the Zhou Wu Wang of Western Zhou couldn't disappear from this world earlier. Now, even if Ji Fa is eliminated, it's still impossible to eliminate the threat of Western Zhou to Great Shang. Especially, in case Ji Fa dies, Xi Bo Hou Ji Chang will be furious and might use this as a pretext to start a war, which would be a loss for both sides!

  Ji Faqin Wang, Zhang Di Xin's heart was filled with resentment, but he couldn't afford to be slow. He led his men out to greet them. Ji Fa was over eight feet tall, and although he was leading the army, he wore a plain white cloud-patterned long gown. This man in his early twenties had a clear and elegant appearance, with a hint of heroic spirit. His speech was warm and refined, humble and courteous, making him seem like a very pleasant person to get along with.

  "King Zhou of the Ji clan pays homage to Crown Prince Qiansui." Ji Fa sees Emperor Zhang Xin personally welcoming him, and leads his troops in bowing their heads in respect. "His Majesty King Ji Chang is newly ill and cannot lead the army, so he has ordered your humble servant to lead an army of 100,000 to come and assist Your Highness, and also begs Your Highness to pardon his father for not being able to come personally."

  What a King Wu of Zhou, indeed his words are as dense as the air! Zhang Emperor Xin secretly thought that the purer and more harmless people were, the greater their ambition. This layer of elegant disguise was truly extraordinary: "General, you have worked hard to come here, please take a short rest, this battle still needs to rely on Zhou's efforts."

  "Report! The letter of war from Beihai has arrived!" Just then, the scout rushed in hastily, holding a letter of war in his hand, and handed it to Zhang Disheng. Zhang Disheng took a glance at it and directly showed it to everyone: "The Northern Duke's army has been fighting for a long time and the soldiers are exhausted. Although I won a small victory earlier, I also suffered a minor injury. The Beihai army has come seeking battle, who will go out to resist?"

  Chong Hou Hu saw that the Crown Prince had the intention of protecting himself and not allowing the Northern Army to go into battle, and he was overjoyed in his heart. He stood aside, furrowing his brow and pretending to be deep in thought, but did not speak. Ji Fa listened to Zhang Emperor Xin's words and knew in his heart that this meant he had to go into battle. The principle of shooting the bird that sticks its head out is well-known, and everyone knows that the Northern Sea Army is powerful. He too stood aside, with a clear understanding in his mind, but pretended to be foolish on the outside.

  Wow! When did people here become so clever! Zhang Di Xin cursed inwardly, if no one came out to fight, wouldn't he have wasted his breath.

  "Your Highness, do not worry! The Caozhou army is willing to go to battle!" Chong Heihu had been ridiculed by Zhang Disen for only being able to fight against the dead, and he had been holding back his anger. Now that there was a chance of victory, he immediately volunteered.

  Zhang Dixing heard this, but his brow furrowed in thought for a long time before he slowly said: "The Northern Sea Army is powerful, and the Caozhou Army may not be enough to resist the enemy. Coincidentally, the Western Zhou Army has just arrived, what do you think if we join forces with them?"

  As soon as he arrived, he was about to deprive Xizhou of his military power. Ji Fa knew it was impossible and immediately stepped forward: "Your humble servant is willing to go into battle with General Chong Heihu!"

  "This... the young master has just arrived, and the journey was arduous, I'm afraid..." Zhang Emperor Xin said with feigned concern, but in his heart he thought, no fight? Who can run away from this, you can't either!

  Although he knew that Zhang Emperor Xin was pretending, Ji Fa had no choice but to hastily agree. In his heart, he felt a sense of being forced to swallow bitter medicine: "Your Highness need not worry, I will definitely achieve success and not bring shame to the army!"

  "Good!" Zhang Emperor Xin was overjoyed, ordering someone to bring up a brocade silk, on which he wrote a bold and unrestrained "war" character, and directly threw it at the Northern Sea envoy. "This is a declaration of war! Take it to that traitor Yuan Fu Tong!"

  It was night, Chong Hei Hu went to Ji Fa's place to discuss military affairs and returned after a long time...

  The next day, the armies of Bei Hai and Xi Zhou faced off. Ji Fa stood on a six-horse chariot, wearing a silver armor with tiger patterns, his hair tied up in a nine-clouds double-dragon crown, holding a long red sword with intricate carvings, pointing directly at Yuan Fu: "The great merchant emperor treated you kindly, why don't you recognize the heavenly grace, yet become a rebel!"

  Yuan Futong furrowed his brow, thinking that this person was quite unfamiliar. In front of the two armies' formation, without even exchanging names, he opened his mouth to question him, fearing it was the Crown Prince himself: "Heaven's favor has its own saintly successor, Yin Shang is not benevolent, I will take Heaven's place to punish him!"

  The princess only said that talking too much is useless, so she made eye contact with someone, who patted the horse and went out. The Fire-eyed Golden Eyed Beast, holding two golden axes in his hand, shouted loudly: "I am Caozhou Hou Chong Hei Hu! Who dares to stop me!"

  As soon as Chong Hei Hu's voice fell, a man jumped out of the Northern Sea Army, but he didn't mention his name. The wolf-toothed club directly attacked Chong Hei Hu's gate!

  The black tiger wielded an axe to welcome him, and the golden axe clashed with the wolf-tooth club, producing only a "clang" of metallic ringing. Both men retreated several steps!

  If it were an ordinary person, Chong Hei Hu's axe would have sent their opponent's weapon flying. But unexpectedly, the Northern Sea Army's warrior was able to exchange blows with him on equal terms. His battle intent surged, and his twin axes danced like a fierce gust of wind!

  That man was also unambiguous, the wolf-toothed club was dancing like the wind, and the two men's moves were big and open, fighting each other as if they were chopping wood, cutting straight through with sparks flying everywhere, dust swirling!

  Suddenly, Chong Hei Hu's wrist shook, and his hand loosened, the Azure Gold Axe "Dang" fell directly under the Fire-eyed Golden Beast!

  Chong Heihu saw this and turned his horse to leave, but that person was unwilling to give up, and chased after him on horseback!

  Chong Hei Hu saw that person chasing after him, but in his heart he was secretly delighted. His hand involuntarily reached for the red gourd at his waist, just as a black-robed old man with a goat beard from the Bei Hai army suddenly shouted: "Be careful, Xiao Shun!"

  Evil Shun listened, suddenly stunned, turned around and walked away. Chong Hei Hu burst out laughing, clapped his hand on the gourd, and a black air burst out from the edge of the red gourd wrapped in gold. It opened up like a net, and in the dark mist, there was a hissing sound. Covering the sky and sun, flying over, it was the Iron-beaked Divine Eagle, opening its mouth to bite down!

  Wu Shun dodged and weaved, but was not quick enough to avoid the iron-beaked eagle's pecking at his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in front of him and fell directly to the ground. The Fire-eyed Golden Beast quickly picked up Wu Shun with its mouth and rushed towards the Shang army!

  "Come and save Wusong!" Yuan Futong saw that Wusong had been captured, and he was unwilling to give up. He loudly shouted, and two of his generals rode out on horseback. However, they did not expect that Chong Heyu would use the same trick again, standing still in the original place, relying solely on the Iron Beak Divine Eagle to capture the two men!

  "Kill!" Yuan Futong saw that the two were not working, and suddenly his anger ignited. You Chong Hei Hu was a person who practiced witchcraft, but not everyone could practice witchcraft, so he waved his long sword and directly ordered a charge!

  Thousands of war horses neighed, on the back of the war horses were warriors wearing leather armor, holding long bows, skilled in riding and shooting. The cavalry of the North Sea Army was fast, and in an instant, they had already charged to within a hundred paces of the Shang army!

  The Northern Navy arrived here, and they all set up their bows and shot arrows. In an instant, the sky was filled with a dense layer of arrow feathers!

  The Xiqi army had never fought against the Beihai army before, and this battle came suddenly, for a time they couldn't react in time. With the sound of horses' screams, the Xiqi army fell one after another, with many being shot in the shoulder, head, and chest.

  What's more, people and horses were nailed to the ground alive, and for a time, blood rained down, corpses lay scattered all over the fields, and the scene was even more gruesome!

  "Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Even the mighty Chong Hei Hu, Iron Beak Eagle was only a match for a few men, but facing thousands of soldiers, he was powerless, and could only shout retreat!

  Who would have thought that between Chong Hei Hu's turning his head, he saw that Ji Fa had already disappeared without a trace. The empty commander's chariot only had a big drum left on it!

  "Shameless! You're utterly shameless!" Chong Heihu burst into a loud scolding, himself fighting desperately with the enemy general in front. Ji Fa saw that things were not going well and had long since slipped away unnoticed. It's really unknown how Xi Bo Hou, who is always talking about benevolence and morality, could have taught such an unworthy person!

  "Kill!" Yuan Futong saw a battle and showed his might, he was overjoyed in his heart, and ordered the whole army to attack!

  "Master Hou! Don't be rash!" The man who had just reminded Wu Xun shouted again, but at this moment, Yuan Futong, who was already enraged, wouldn't listen: "You dare to speak nonsense again, don't blame me for killing you!"

  Yuan Futong's horse galloped forward, and as soon as his voice fell, he had already charged out of a hundred feet. Cang Jue's heart was not good, secretly ordering his guards to stay still, while he followed Yuan Futong alone. Others could die, but Yuan Futong absolutely couldn't get into trouble!

  "Kill!" At this moment, a loud killing sound suddenly came from the northwest, and a man wearing a silver armor, holding a red long sword with intricate carvings, led tens of thousands of iron cavalry to surge out from behind the North Sea Army!