Nightfall Chapter 510: The Fallen Knight

Chapter 510: The Fallen Knight

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

"Get them! Don’t let them escape!"

"Don’t let them enter the mountain! This bunch of robbers are all bastards!"

"Kill them all! We won’t take any prisoners!"

A fierce battle had taken place in the mountainous border areas of the South Jin Kingdom. In the dim twilight, one would occasionally hear the whistling of arrows and the sounds of swords crossing as well as the desperate roar one made before death.

The two parties engaged in the battle numbered less than 500. However, the battle in the south, which had been peaceful for a long ti, was intense enough as dozens of bodies littered the ground.

One party was the cavalry of the South Jin Kingdom. They were trained and held the upper hand in the battle. They also had more n and quickly gained victory. They began to pursue after their enemies.

Those being pursued scattered into the mountains in fear. An occasional arrow would hit soone, and he would yell in pain before falling in the forest. Fortunately, it was dark and the mountain path was dangerous. Most of them escaped.

The sky darkened, enveloping the mountain. Deep in the dense forest, crows cawed occasionally. This mountain was part of the mountain ranges of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom but was within the territories of the South Jin Kingdom.

Beside the bonfire laid a few n. So of them had been shot by arrows, and so had their arms taken off by axes. They groaned in pain intermittently.

There were so n in steel armor. They sat close to the bonfire nearest to the warst spot. It was evident that they were superior to others. Their armors were engraved with patterns and looked expensive. These were not objects that mountain thieves could possess.

Their faces grew weary as they heard the painful groans of their companions and the cawing of the crows. They could not help but turn to look at their silent leader, wanting to receive so comfort from him.

Their leader was a middle-aged man dressed in the sa black armor except for the more complicated gold patterns on it that emitted a vague talisman power.

The middle-aged man was called Zi Mo. He was once the cavalry commander of the West-Hill Divine Palace Judicial Departnt. The n by the bonfire were like him. They were all forr commanders of the Divine Hall’s cavalry.

When Ye Hongyu killed the forr Great Divine Priest of Judgnt and ascended to the black jade throne, these powerhouses who had accomplished great deeds in the na of West-Hill Divine Palace had had to rid themselves of their cultivation powers for a trumped-up reason. Then, they were banished from the Peach Mountain.

In the past few years, they had led Papal Cavalryn, the strongest military force of the Divine Hall’s Judicial Departnt. They were the ones who had gone after followers of the Devil’s Doctrine and extremists. They were rembered most because of the bloodshed caused by the Judicial Departnt and their cruelty.

In other words, these commanders had too much blood on their hands and no holand to return to. There was no one else who would dare take them in at the risk of provoking the ire of the Divine Priest of Judgnt.

This was the heaviest punishnt Ye Hongyu had given them. She took away their rank and cultivation power. She had also taken away the wealth that they had hoarded, leaving them with only an old horse and two hundred taels of silver. Their retinues, the glory and power that their armor once represented could not even bring them back to their past and only brought them sha and fear.

They did not dare to return to the West-Hill Divine Kingdom and had nowhere else to go. They could only mill about in the periphery countries of West-Hill. When they had spent almost all their money, these commanders suddenly realized that they had to think about where to get their next al and shelter just like the lowly commoners.

These Divine Hall commanders were not unskilled. However, they were extrely proud. How could they work as laborers?

The most troubleso was that their experience in the West-Hill Divine Palace had made them used to giving orders. They placed themselves on pedestals and looked down upon commoners. This behavior could be called being dignified in the past. But now since they had beco ordinary folks after leaving West-Hill, their behaviors beca a hindrance to their lives.

One day, the forr commanders’ team got into a tussle with a bully from the Kingdom of Song. One of the commanders could not repress his anger and ordered his retinue to cut off the man’s head. Then, they barged into the man’s house and took all his gold.

They stayed in one of the town’s luxurious inns and enjoyed fine wine and won with the money. Suddenly, these downtrodden forr commanders found that they could live without humbling themselves. The thod was rather simple and direct, and they could get money quickly.

Even though they had lost their cultivation power and were not as strong as ordinary n, they were once commanders of the West-Hill Divine Palace’s cavalry. They were good at plotting and giving commands. Their retinues were also good at fighting. At least the guards in the mortal realm were no match for them. Naturally, they began to plunder for a living. In a short ti, they had consecutively robbed several clans in the countryside.

Everyone, including Zi Mo had kept silent. They did not say anything, but they knew that they, who had once vowed to protect the light and righteousness, were falling into the deep dark abyss. They felt extre sha and pain deep in their hearts.

Fortunately, they now had plenty of gold and could buy strong alcohol and won to numb themselves. They would live each day as it ca. Unfortunately, this numbing also sped up their fall from grace. They grew more violent when they stole and began to rape and kill.

Zi Mo knew that problems would arise should they continue on like this and tried to end it. However, the Divine Hall commanders who had fallen into despair were like tigers released from cages. They had fallen from the lofty Peach Mountain and into the muddy dirt. This aggravated their madness and Zi Mo could not stop them.

One day in sumr, when they were plundering in the middle of the night, either one of the commanders or soone from their retinue went mad. The head of a noble who had already surrendered was cut off. This atmosphere of madness spread and a massacre occurred. Everyone in that noble family died amidst the desperate cries of the night.

Death would naturally co with plundering. Rape wasn’t rare either. However, they had gotten into deep trouble by massacring an entire family of nobles of the South Jin Kingdom, especially since their estate was not far from the capital.

This tragedy that had robbed the lives of an entire family did not alarm the powerhouses in the Sword Garret, but was enough to alarm the imperial court of the South Jin Kingdom. During the investigation, the imperial court found that the attackers wore the armor of the Divine Hall’s cavalryn commanders. They were ticulous, and sent a letter to the West-Hill Divine Palace to ascertain that the n were criminals who had been exiled from the Divine Hall and were no longer protected by them. Then, the imperial court’s prudence evolved into anger.

The South Jin Kingdom began to send out arrest warrants, providing hefty rewards to those who provided information. And on these warrants, these criminals were given a new na— The Fallen Knights.

South Jin Kingdom was powerful and was second only to the Tang Empire. Even though the Fallen Knights were sharp-witted and good commanders, the South Jin Kingdom’s serious treatnt of this incident ant that they had been plunged into turmoil and had to flee in all directions.

While on the run, many died or were separated from the group. One of the commanders had died and many were seriously injured. They had over a hundred n when they left the West-Hill, but now there were only dozens of them. They had almost been completely eliminated today, after being surrounded and attacked outside the forests.

Groans continued to reverberate beside the bonfire. Everyone looked like they had lost all hope and were in despair.

"Are we waiting for death here?"

A robust follower stood up and walked to the bonfire. He looked at his companions. Most of them were injured because they did not have any armor. He said loudly, "Why don’t we leave?"

These followers were like servants of the knights. They honored loyalty and no one would take them in if they betrayed their masters. So the man’s intention to leave proved that the situation was extrely dangerous.

A cavalry commander looked at the man gravely. He bellowed, "Guo Nu, I treated you well. If not for , would you have beco who you are today? How dare you betray ? Don’t forget, all of you retinues are listed on the arrest warrant. Where would you go?"

The follower called Guo Nu looked at his master and smiled coldly, "I have slaved for you for so many years. And yet, at this mont, in our dire state, you say that you have treated well. As for the arrest warrant... Other than the pictures of you generals, who would recognize unexceptional people like us? We have gotten many taels of silver these days. If we all go our own ways and hide, who would find us?"

The commander said angrily, "Don’t forget that the silver is with ."

Guo Nu looked at him and said indifferently. "I know that you won’t give us the silver. Masters like you would prefer us to die than to live well. But rember, your cultivation state has been destroyed by the Great Divine Priest. You are all invalids now. Do you think you are as strong as before?"

He looked to the other retinue mbers around the bonfire and yelled, "Why are you all hesitating? We were the ones who worked hard to steal those taels of silver. These people are already useless. They can’t even pick up their knives. Would any of them be a match for us?"

The bonfire did not burn brightly. The forests around them were completely dark, and the expressions on the retinue mbers’ faces could not be made out clearly. However, one could see that they had lifted their heads.

The commanders were once high and mighty. They were free to be kind to their retinues or treat them like beasts. Now that the retinues had incited a rebellion, they could not accept this sha. However, they had to admit that the situation they were in right now was especially precarious. They might die here if they were not careful.

Then, Guo Nu’s voice suddenly stopped.

An extrely thin tal thread appeared around his neck and swiftly contracted!

The tal thread dug into his skin and blood spurted out.

Guo Nu’s eyes widened in fear and his hands clawed at his neck desperately, trying to dig the tal thread out. However, his efforts were in vain. The more he struggled, the deeper the tal thread dug in. It sliced through, layer by layer. It cut through his windpipe, his gullet and all his blood vessels.

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