After Huo Qi Lang ambushed at the main gate and killed seven men consecutively, Liu Mian angrily ordered archers to set up ladders and scale the walls. In the rush, she had only hastily donned a sleeveless scale armor vest that was only the size of a chest guard, leaving everything except her chest and back completely exposed to arrow fire.
When the archers climbed atop the walls, they were surprised to discover that only one person was ambushing behind the gate in the tree shadows, armed with nothing but an ordinary horizontal saber. The personal troops immediately drew their bows and released arrows. Huo Qi Lang suddenly faced enemies on three sides as a rain of arrows flew toward her face, forcing her to turn and flee. Fortunately, the Xu Lai and Xu Xing brothers rushed over with large shields to cover her, preventing her from being turned into a pincushion on the spot.
The Xu brothers were twins, intimately close with perfectly coordinated advances and retreats. After shielding Huo Qi Lang with their shields, the three immediately retreated in quick steps, hastily withdrawing from the front courtyard to the central courtyard behind the screen wall.
Song Yinghui commanded the others to return crossbow fire at the archers on both side walls, suppressing the enemy so they couldn’t climb over the walls. But once Huo Qi Lang abandoned her guard at the front gate, the personal troops swarmed over their comrades’ corpses through the narrow doorway. More than ten men circled around the screen wall, wielding horizontal sabers as they charged fiercely toward the central courtyard buildings.
They saw a tall woman with a scarred face holding a blade under the corridor, with the southern entrance to the buildings directly behind her. The horizontal saber in her hand pointed downward, its blade flickering with moist red light as residual blood dripped slowly drop by drop.
When the first wave earlier encountered the ambush at the front gate, the enemy had hidden behind the wall so no one could see her appearance clearly. Now facing each other directly, the person guarding the south gate was not that bull-beheading guard but actually a woman, stunning all the personal troops.
But their superiors had already issued orders to kill everyone without leaving anyone alive. Whether male or female, all had to be slaughtered. The personal troops shouted and swarmed to attack, preparing to hack her to pieces.
Unlike those wandering martial artists dressed in common cloth, the personal troops were well-equipped, wearing helmets and armor with all vital points covered by iron protection. To disable them in combat, one had to either sever limbs or break through armor directly.
Huo Qi Lang sneered and unleashed her full strength in hacking and slashing. As her horizontal saber danced, blood splattered instantly throughout the courtyard with severed limbs flying everywhere. The blade techniques Chen Shigu had taught were extremely fierce and ruthless. With her natural divine strength, when her blade fell, enemies’ armor, weapons, and bones were all severed together—truly fierce beyond compare, like cutting melons and vegetables.
Though Liu Mian had brought several hundred troops, this outer residence was originally an exquisite small courtyard with decorative walls and groves everywhere, providing no space to accommodate large numbers of men and horses. While many personal troops surrounded Huo Qi Lang, only five or six could approach her simultaneously. The archers on both side walls were suppressed by Prince Shao’s other attendants and couldn’t show themselves, so the enemies pouring into the central courtyard were cut down by her in the blink of an eye—eight or nine dead.
However, this blade technique that could break weapons and armor not only extremely consumed physical strength but also rapidly wore down the weapon’s endurance. When Huo Qi Lang struck another enemy soldier, her blade edge got stuck in his spine. She struggled to pull the blade free, and with a “ding” sound, the blade broke off in the opponent’s flesh and blood.
Seeing her lose her weapon, the personal troops shouted in unison, wanting to seize this opportunity to hack her to death. Huang Xiaoning and Yuwen Rang, who had been suppressing archers on her flanks, had to abandon their crossbows and draw sabers for cover.
Huo Qi Lang ruthlessly thrust the broken blade into someone’s throat, becoming completely bare-handed. She regretted killing too thoroughly earlier, having broken all the enemies’ weapons—now she couldn’t even quickly pick up a complete one from the ground. Though she punched and elbowed to drive back two men, her boxing skills were truly not outstanding in Canyang Courtyard, and with enemies wearing armor, though she could break their bones, it was difficult to kill with one strike.
Seeing the prolonged assault unsuccessful, Liu Mian again ordered men to brave arrows and climb over both side walls, while dispatching spearmen to charge through the main gate. Personal troops continuously poured into the courtyard, assembling behind the screen wall with long spears in formation for attack, advancing like a moving wall of blades. Huo Qi Lang, Yuwen Rang, and Huang Xiaoning were immediately wounded and suppressed into steady retreat until they reached the doorway.
Huo Qi Lang was anxious as fire, about to risk charging into enemy formation to seize a weapon when she suddenly heard Li Yuanying shout from inside the building: “Qi Lang, catch the sword!”
A gentle breeze came from behind. Huo Qi Lang listened to identify the position and grabbed backward, suddenly finding a magnificent jeweled sword inlaid with gold and jade in her hand—he had actually thrown his personal sword to her.
Yuwen Rang cried out in delight: “It’s the Jade Dragon Sword!”
Huo Qi Lang drew the sword from its sheath. Azure light shot forth as the blade hummed and trembled, rippling like deep pool water, reflecting everyone’s faces in a greenish hue.
She knew this must be the masterwork of a top-tier contemporary swordsmith. In terms of sharpness, it was certainly no inferior to the Fish Intestine Sword—using it as ceremonial equipment in daily life was truly overkill.
Unfortunately, sword techniques were much more difficult to master than blade work. Not only did they require profound internal energy support, but without ten or twenty years of bitter practice, one couldn’t face enemies. Even in the expert-filled Canyang Courtyard, only Chen Shigu and Xu Baozhen used swords—even Wei Xun hadn’t learned due to his limited lifespan.
Back then, seeking ease and convenience to graduate quickly, she had chosen easily mastered blade techniques. Now holding a famous sword, she didn’t know how to wield it properly.
Huo Qi Lang smiled bitterly: “I never learned how to use this thing!”
But in this life-or-death situation, there was no other choice. She could only brandish the Jade Dragon and charge toward enemy formation, using the sword like a saber to hack and kill with all her might. Long spears were chopped into wooden sticks under the sharp sword edge. Huo Qi Lang charged ahead with Huang Xiaoning and Yuwen Rang following, cutting gaps in the spear formation so it couldn’t maintain shape.
Liu Mian had learned that Prince Shao’s protecting attendants numbered only about ten, yet his forces dozens of times larger couldn’t break through. He had no choice but to employ battlefield tactics, sending men to flank and attack from front and rear.
The central courtyard buildings now faced enemies on four sides. Prince Shao’s remaining personal troops fought bloodily in resistance, with Song Yinghui wielding a mo dao to guard the north gate as intense battle sounds echoed throughout the courtyard.
Observing the battlefield situation—with only four or five men allocated to each side—Huo Qi Lang shouted loudly: “You two go elsewhere!”
Huang Xiaoning and Yuwen Rang knew she was the strongest individual fighter capable of single-handedly guarding the south gate. Without argument, they split up to rush toward the east and west sides to prevent personal troops from climbing through windows into the buildings.
Huo Qi held her sword and hacked wildly. Blood flowers bloomed on the snow-white screen wall with severed heads rolling everywhere. One could easily slip on scattered limbs and entrails if not careful. Seeing this woman holding the gate alone against ten thousand, the personal troops all felt shock and fear in their hearts. However, military discipline was harsh—Liu Mian’s mo dao squad supervised from outside the main gate, and deserters would be immediately executed before the formation. No one dared retreat and could only steel themselves to charge forward.
Forging swords for the imperial family was both honor and test. The swordsmith had deliberately shown off skill, hammering the Jade Dragon Sword’s blade thin and narrow, light and elegant, much more beautiful than standard horizontal sabers. To balance beauty with sharpness, endurance for sustained battlefield combat was somewhat reduced.
If this sword were in Chen Shigu’s or Xu Baozhen’s hands, channeling true energy through the tip with perfect balance of hard and soft, it would certainly be an invincible divine weapon. But blade techniques relied on strength to dominate, capable of overwhelming ten skills with one force on the battlefield. Huo Qi Lang had never learned swordsmanship and used sword techniques like blade work—slashing horizontally and vertically. Though the edge was extremely sharp, the light sword body continuously bearing enormous force was difficult to support. After she fought bravely for a while, it finally bent and broke.
Huo Qi Lang thought this precious sword was like its master—possessing rare beauty and sharpness in the world, but truly not very sturdy. Both sleeves of her battle robe were filled with fresh blood. She shook them and shouted with mouth wide open: “The sword broke! Give me another durable one!”
Song Yinghui, hit by two arrows, heard her cry and roared: “Use mine!” He immediately threw his mo dao sliding across the ground, then picked up a long spear to continue fighting.
The mo dao, or great long saber, also called horse-cutting sword, was nearly ten feet long with wide blade and long handle—an extremely mighty large weapon. Because of its heavy weight, it was generally only used by charging fierce generals and ceremonial guards. Supervising mo dao squads also used such giant weapons to intimidate potential deserters.
Receiving this weapon, Huo Qi Lang’s spirits instantly lifted. Compared to the easily broken Jade Dragon Sword, this weapon was obviously more suitable for battlefield combat. Having sent away Huang Xiaoning and Yuwen Rang without fear of friendly fire, she wielded the mo dao with both hands in wide, sweeping strokes, mowing down thousands of enemies. Within nine feet she killed like rolling up mats, causing blood and flesh to fly throughout the central courtyard.
Being swept by the heavy mo dao, even avoiding the blade edge would result in being sent flying by the enormous impact force. Dying men on the ground cried out in agony. The personal troops attacking the south side filled with terror—behind them were supervising mo dao squads if they fled, ahead was this demon-like woman warrior. Even battlefield veterans had never seen such heart-stopping brutal combat.
Both sides were fierce warriors skilled in battle. One side fought desperately without surrender in desperate straits, the other had superior numbers in continuous wheel warfare. The quiet, elegant small courtyard in Yandu Ward became a mountain of blades and forest of spears grinding flesh and blood.
Though Prince Shao’s side was fearless of death, they had too few people after all. Enemy troops poured in endlessly—kill one batch and another came. The attendants fell wounded one after another, seemingly destined for total annihilation.
Madam Yu accompanied Li Yuanying inside the central courtyard buildings. Touching his hands that were cold and stiff, he sat like in meditation without making a sound, his gaze vacant. Ever since personally witnessing Noble Consort Xue’s fatal hemorrhaging, he would fall into rigid paralysis at the sight of blood. Now with blood flowing like streams before his eyes, maintaining a sitting posture could already be considered composed. He clutched a dagger tightly in his hand, apparently saved for suicide at the final moment to avoid capture and humiliation.
A crossbow bolt suddenly flew through the chaotic army, passing through the crowd to strike Huo Qi Lang’s shoulder. She fought with rising bloodlust, fierce as a mad tiger, seeming to feel nothing after being hit. Li Yuanying instead trembled all over and called out:
“Remember what I entrusted to you—you must break through alive!”
This shout touched memories buried deep in Huo Qi Lang’s past. Ten years ago, thousands of miles away near Jade Gate Pass in an isolated city, a superior had once said similar words to her. That too was a siege defense with overwhelming enemy superiority, comrades dying one after another in a predetermined defeat, while she was just a new recruit with nothing but luck.
When Guazhou fell, mother and sisters used their remaining wheat flour to cook scalding gruel as weapons to die together with enemies. Her superior left the last surviving war horse for her to ride and break through to seek reinforcements. Huo Family’s Seventh Son had always been tough with good luck—everyone believed she could get out alive.
Li Yuanying urged again: “Go quickly!”
Military orders had been absolute back then, but now she was just a hired worker who could ignore commands she didn’t want to execute.
“Shut up!!” Huo Qi Lang roared back.
The encirclement gradually tightened, retreating from central courtyard to corridor, then from corridor to the doorway. She remained divinely brave with no one able to get close. A personal trooper with severed legs crawled on the ground, dragging his last breath while gravely wounded and dying, slowly crawling toward her.
…
Ten years ago, Huo Qi Lang had ridden into Jade Gate Pass, traveling eastward to seek aid.
However, Suzhou fell, Yizhou was besieged, Ganzhou city was broken… One city after another fell into enemy hands. Fighting alone with bones buried in yellow sand, no one could spare troops to rescue Guazhou—just like today.
All twelve prefectures of Hexi fell successively to Tibetan armies wearing bird-feather helmets. Not a single place could be found with living Tang troops.
Her horse died of exhaustion, her armor wore through. She begged her way in ragged clothes, detouring to avoid enemy forces, passing one fallen isolated city after another, crossing the Hexi Corridor into the Central Plains, taking nearly a year to finally reach Chang’an—this greatest city in the world, the Tang capital for which father and brothers had died fighting to defend.
On Vermillion Bird Avenue, a wedding procession slowly advanced. The war had paused—Princess Dongyi was descending to marry Tibet for peace. Watching the wedding procession, Huo Qi Lang realized that besides the weeping princess in the phoenix carriage, she could find no reinforcements anywhere.
In the human world there is no right or wrong, only victory and defeat.
A fifteen-year-old defeated soldier traveled east from outside Jade Gate Pass seeking reinforcements; a fifteen-year-old girl departed westward from inside Jade Gate Pass to surrender and marry Tibet.
For Chang’an, for Li Tang, loyalty. Those mysterious and grandiose phrases—countless comrades had sacrificed nine generations of family, yet she didn’t recognize a single high official or noble in the imperial court then.
Huo Qi Lang decided never to serve loyally for anyone again in this life.
She would stay in this Chang’an city with distinct four seasons and luxurious prosperity, to see the mountains, rivers, plants and trees that deceased relatives had never witnessed, taste fine wine and delicacies they had never enjoyed, look at exquisite beauties not found outside the frontier, seize the day for pleasure, living only in the present moment.
…
The dying personal trooper pulled out a meat-cutting knife from his waist and stabbed toward Huo Qi Lang’s lower abdomen. Without hip armor or skirt armor protection, she dodged sideways. Several long spears pressed down from above as she raised her mo dao to block, unable to avoid the sneak attack below. The blade sank deep into her inner thigh. The trooper pulled sideways, tearing the wound open with tendons and blood vessels completely exposed, blood instantly spurting five feet away.
Her heart beat violently, pumping large amounts of blood plasma from her body. The harder she fought, the faster blood was lost. Deep in enemy formation, there was no opportunity to look down and treat wounds. Huo Qi Lang clearly knew that after just five breaths, she would collapse unconscious from massive blood loss.
The death delayed nearly ten years had finally arrived… but this time it was not for country or people, nor for any ethereal righteousness. She would fight to death protecting a specific person, someone who could be truly embraced, regardless of his name.
The only regret was having no chance to turn back and look once more at that peerless countenance.
Huo Qi Lang was bathed in blood throughout her body, yet her heart filled with strange satisfaction. She laughed loudly and swept up the mo dao with both hands, bursting forth from her chest a cry of pure joy:
“Huo Qi—duty fulfilled!!!!!!”