From the moment Peng Bo led his contingent back to Unnamed Mountain, the Chile people’s attitude was entirely different.
There was no need to analyze whether they had genuinely understood or simply come to their senses — it was enough to see that they had changed.
Peng Bo had made it clear: his return was not because he had forgiven them, but because it served the Ning Army’s interests.
And at this moment, for the Chile people, having the Ning Army back was itself one hope answered — now they needed two more miracles.
The first was that their tribe’s young hero, Shuyangchuan, would somehow rescue their kinspeople. The second was that they could hold Unnamed Mountain until the Black Wu forces withdrew.
The first hope especially had every one of them praying over and over in their hearts each and every day.
Yet they also knew full well that Shuyangchuan couldn’t do it. No one could. Perhaps not even the immortals. Try as they might, they could not imagine how Shuyangchuan might possibly succeed.
Thousands of li of travel, with all those elderly, women, and children in tow — and still having to fight off Black Wu pursuers.
About ten days after they arrived at Unnamed Mountain, with the Black Wu forces unable to detect them and having scraped together a portion of provisions, the Black Wu dared not delay further and launched their assault on Beishan Pass.
Per their agreement, Bulegdi resolved to send troops out to provide relief — but Peng Bo stopped him.
“It’s not time yet.”
Peng Bo said, “What the Ning King needs from you isn’t for you to ride out every time. What he needs is for you to strike at the most critical moment. Your stronghold isn’t finished yet. If you send troops to harass the Black Wu flank right now, the Black Wu will turn their full force on you first.”
Bulegdi naturally understood all of this — but he no longer dared to be seen breaking his word even once.
Peng Bo said, “Since the Ning King sent me here, it means you can trust me. From now on, whether to send troops or hold back, you’d be wise to consult me first.”
Bulegdi immediately declared on the spot that he was willing to defer to General Peng’s command.
After this, the Black Wu dug tunnels, attempting a night raid on Beishan Pass — only to be defeated by the Ning Army once more.
On the night the fire lit up Beishan Pass, Bulegdi hurried to Peng Bo to ask whether they should send troops out.
Peng Bo had already been observing from the high ground for some time and ultimately decided against deploying.
In that moment, Bulegdi finally understood Peng Bo — here was a man who was entirely objective, who would not let past grievances lead him to send the Chile people out to die again and again. For that reason Bulegdi trusted Peng Bo all the more.
Just as Peng Bo had judged, when scouts were sent out at daybreak, Beishan Pass’s defenses remained solid — nothing had gone wrong.
More than twenty days after Peng Bo’s men arrived at Unnamed Mountain, the stronghold was more or less complete. With so many hands available and the local terrain supplying materials, and with the Chile people now understanding that the stronghold was their only chance of survival, the work had proceeded quickly.
With the stronghold finished and Bulegdi’s wounds largely healed, it seemed as though everything was moving in a better direction.
“Report!”
A messenger came sprinting up to Bulegdi and dropped to one knee. “Khan, Shuyangchuan has sent word.”
Bulegdi immediately asked, “Where is the messenger?”
His subordinate presented a letter with both hands. “The brother who carried this collapsed the moment he arrived. He is still being tended to.”
Bulegdi unfolded the letter. It was brief: he had managed to bring out the majority of the tribespeople, but the Black Wu pursuers were pressing relentlessly, and he hoped the Khan, upon receiving this letter, would send troops to meet him.
“I must go in person.”
Bulegdi looked at Peng Bo. “General… those are my people. I must…”
Before he could finish, Peng Bo gave a single nod. “Go.”
Bulegdi said, “But if I leave, I’ll have to take nearly all the fighting men with me. A movement of troops on that scale will certainly be detected by the Black Wu…”
Peng Bo remained as composed as ever. “You go and meet your people — that is your duty as Khan. I will hold Unnamed Mountain.”
Bulegdi said, “But the moment the Black Wu notice us leaving, they will launch a fierce attack on this position.”
Peng Bo said, “The Ning King told you that the men he sends are men you can trust. Just remember that. We of the Ning Army don’t make promises lightly — but when we do, we keep them until the day we die.”
Bulegdi stepped back two paces and gave Peng Bo a deep bow, then led virtually all his cavalry out.
As expected, the movement of tens of thousands of troops was immediately noticed on the Black Wu side.
Before long, Black Wu forces began advancing toward Unnamed Mountain.
Inside the wooden fortress now stood only the several thousand Ning Army soldiers Peng Bo had brought and roughly two thousand or so Chile tribespeople — mostly the elderly, the wounded, and those too weak to fight.
Peng Bo stood at a high vantage point, peering through his spyglass at the dark mass of Black Wu troops drawing closer on the horizon, and released a slow, measured breath.
“This is our other frontier pass!”
Peng Bo called out loudly. “The Ning King says: wherever the feet of our Ning Army stand is Central Plains soil. We stand here now — this is our ground. And on our ground, we yield not a single inch!”
“Fight!”
The soldiers roared back in reply.
At this point, there was no longer any need to worry about concealment. The Black Wu offensive would come swiftly.
The Black Wu general leading the attack was named Nasabu, one of Yefulie’s chief commanders, the Southern Court General of the Black Wu Empire.
None of them had imagined that the Chile fugitives were hiding right there on Unnamed Mountain, seventy or eighty li away.
The Chile people’s brazenness was like a direct insult to their faces.
As proud Black Wu warriors, they could not tolerate such humiliation. Before setting out, the great general Yefulie had told Nasabu that if he failed to slaughter every last one of those Chile people, he should not bother returning.
He had brought one hundred thousand troops — Yefulie’s entire allotment to him — an overwhelming tide.
Another Black Wu general led a separate force to chase down the Chile people who had ridden out. Nasabu’s mission was to cleanse Unnamed Mountain.
Only when they reached the foot of the mountain did they faintly make out the wooden walls halfway up the slope — from far away, they had been impossible to detect.
And in the very moment Nasabu spotted those wooden walls, a vague, uneasy premonition stirred in his heart.
Five days later.
Deep in that vast birch forest, Bulegdi met his people.
Shuyangchuan was gravely wounded and looked terribly frail. Bulegdi’s son, Saosang, stood at Shuyangchuan’s side, and in the moment he saw his father arrive, Saosang quickened his pace to meet him — then dropped to his knees.
Shortly after, Bulegdi pieced together the full account of what had happened.
Shuyangchuan was truly a man of extraordinary gifts. Anyone else sent to rescue the tribespeople would have failed.
As the force neared the grasslands, Shuyangchuan divided the troops into two groups. He led ten thousand men on foot toward the grasslands, leaving their weapons behind.
When they arrived, they were stopped and questioned by Black Wu guards. Shuyangchuan produced a command token and told the Black Wu that they had been ordered back to transport more supplies.
When the Chile people had previously set fire to the Black Wu army’s supply camp, Shuyangchuan’s men had killed the supply camp’s commanding officer and seized this token.
So when the Black Wu guards saw the token, they had no cause for suspicion and let them through.
Once inside the grasslands, Shuyangchuan did not rush to lead the people out. Instead, he dispersed his ten thousand men and quietly passed word to all the tribespeople: break out in the night.
During the day they continued loading carts, counting horses, and prostrating themselves under the Black Wu guards’ whips.
When night fell and deep silence settled, all the tribe’s men acted under Shuyangchuan’s command. They drove horse herds stampeding through the Black Wu encampment.
He led all the fighting men into battle against the Black Wu, buying time for the elderly, women, and children.
By the time the night of fighting was done, the majority of the tribespeople had escaped. Fortunately they had enough horses — and cattle and sheep where horses fell short — and Shuyangchuan told them that anything you can ride or drive, mount it and go.
Shuyangchuan led the cavalry in a fighting retreat, covering the civilians pressing ahead.
Once clear of the grasslands, the Black Wu gave chase, only to be ambushed by the ten thousand cavalry Shuyangchuan had positioned in advance.
Shuyangchuan charged back into the fray, hitting from two sides, and sent the Black Wu reeling in a crushing defeat.
What followed was a desperate flight — racing toward Unnamed Mountain.
Halfway there, Black Wu cavalry caught up with them. As both sides fought to a standstill, another Black Wu force arrived and shattered the Chile column.
At this moment, Shuyangchuan made the decision to abandon the rear section of the column that had been cut off and surrounded. Many people could not understand this call — but Shuyangchuan’s resolution was absolute.
Saosang, who up to this point had raised no objections to Shuyangchuan’s command, now refused to accept it.
He declared that as the Khan’s son, it was his responsibility to rescue the surrounded tribespeople. He rallied cavalry to charge back with him.
Some chose to follow Shuyangchuan; others charged back with Saosang.
With no choice, Shuyangchuan had to bring his troops back to support them. The result was that in the battle that followed, tens of thousands of Chile cavalry became entangled in the fighting, unable to exploit the advantages of cavalry warfare, and were defeated by the Black Wu. More than twenty thousand were killed.
The loss of more than twenty thousand able-bodied fighting men was nearly a catastrophe for the Chile people — for they still had a long road ahead, and without so many of the strong men to protect them, the toll on the elderly, women, and children could only be imagined.
Worst of all, Shuyangchuan was gravely wounded while trying to save Saosang.
In the journey that followed, had Shuyangchuan not repeatedly anticipated which direction the Black Wu would attempt to cut them off and led the tribespeople away in time, they would have been massacred long before they made it.
Even so, no small number among the tribespeople blamed Shuyangchuan. They could not see the Black Wu ambushes lying ahead and therefore had no way of knowing whether Shuyangchuan’s judgments were correct.
All they saw was Shuyangchuan’s decision to abandon part of the tribe. They could not forgive it.
And so it often is — heroes are lonely.
By the time Bulegdi received his people, those who had made it out numbered roughly half of what they had set out with.
In truth, had Saosang not led that charge back in, their losses might have been less than a tenth.
“On behalf of our ancestors, I thank you.”
Bulegdi actually went down on one knee before Shuyangchuan — and in the startled gaze of everyone present, he placed a hand on his chest and lowered his head.
He was the Khan. Such a gesture seemed to say more — it seemed to say he was willing to become Shuyangchuan’s vassal.
“From this day forward, Shuyangchuan is the Khan of our Chile people. I and my son Saosang are Shuyangchuan’s household retainers.”
Bulegdi looked at Saosang, whose face was full of shock. “If you’re not entirely a fool, you’ll be on your knees before your new Khan right now.”
Several more days passed, and the group wound through the birch forest, across the open plains, and back to Unnamed Mountain.
The moment Unnamed Mountain came into sight, every eye went wide.
Black Wu forces blanketed the mountainside, pouring their assault against the stronghold. Yet high atop the fortress, that blood-red battle banner still flew.
“Shuyangchuan.”
Bulegdi looked at the tribe’s new leader. “After this battle, if our people can pass through the pass and enter the Central Plains, I leave the tribespeople to you. As for me and my son — we will spend the rest of our lives keeping our promise. Remember this: if the day comes that my son and I fall in battle, you must continue to keep it.”
“When the Ning Army’s blade is raised against their enemies, our blades must point in the same direction.”
Shuyangchuan refused once more to become the Chile Khan — but Bulegdi gave him no opening to refuse.
“Understand this: while I am alive, I can quickly build your authority among the people, which is why I must do it now. If you were made Khan only after my death, the tribe would fracture — and for our Chile people, that would be the true disaster.”
“Only you understand what must be done to keep our people alive.”
Shuyangchuan asked, “Khan, why me? Saosang, he…”
Bulegdi cut him off before he could finish. “The moment you said we should go and talk with the Central Plains people, I knew — only you understand how our people can survive.”
He clapped Shuyangchuan on the shoulder. “Get well quickly. The future rests on you.”
Then he raised his war blade toward Unnamed Mountain. “Every fighting man of the Chile — follow me, and kill our way through!”
Their sudden assault from the flank genuinely startled the Black Wu, forcing the Black Wu to pull their attack back.
When Bulegdi led his people into the stronghold, what he found there surpassed all expectation.
The defending Ning Army had lost more than half their number — yet not a single one of the elderly and vulnerable tribespeople he had left behind had died.
Because General Peng had said: in battle, soldiers belong at the front.
A promise, once made, is kept with one’s life.
The promise the Ning Army had made, the Ning Army had kept with their lives.
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