Yan Hui gazed at Loulan City, which had fallen into jubilation, and let out a gentle sigh, slowly saying, “This is the first time the allied forces have joined hands, and such a major flaw has appeared. From now on, there can never be any trust between us again. Zhuang Qing Xia—I truly underestimated her. When she served in Xichuan’s army, I personally let her go. Xichuan lost a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for revival.”
In the pitch-black night, the black dragon banner of Southern Chu howled in the vast sky.
The war indeed became deadlocked. Yan Hui no longer held any hope of eliminating Chu Li. A month had already passed, and the casualties of the three-way allied forces at the foot of Loulan City had reached a full seventy thousand, yet that Loulan City still stood there stubbornly and unyieldingly.
They could no longer simply leave, for if they did, the various generals leading the armies would completely and utterly lose all military morale.
They had already become the laughingstock of the entire world. Now what mattered was only how big this joke would become.
However, after the previous first joint operation, large-scale battles could no longer be organized. Each side could only fight independently against that elusive new-generation war god.
At this very moment, inside Loulan City, the Chu army had been without food for three days.
Five days ago, Mo Zhaonan had raided Loulan’s grain supplies. Qing Xia was outside confronting the Qi forces at the time, and by the time she rushed back, Loulan’s granaries had already become a sea of flames. With no other choice, they had to search for food from various households, but this was merely a drop in the bucket. By now, they had no grain left to eat.
Left with no alternative, Qing Xia was forced to issue an absolute order—slaughter the horses!
The Chu army immediately erupted in uproar. Without horses, it meant they would have to fight to the death here, with no chance of escape. Though they knew their chances of survival were slim, when the moment arrived, everyone still fell into panic. The joy that had come from previous victories vanished without a trace, leaving only overwhelming bewilderment and desolation.
Qing Xia said nothing, only raised her blade first and struck it down on her war horse’s neck. The black horse fell to the ground, with large teardrops slowly falling from its eyes as it gazed steadily at Qing Xia, motionless.
This horse had been given to her by Chu Li that day and had followed her for many years. She bit her teeth, her face showing not a trace of expression. The silver-white helmet on her head covered her tightly furrowed brow, and scalding hot blood surged in her chest, so very sweet and fishy. She forcibly suppressed all emotions, no longer thinking of anything, only resolutely turning away and walking toward the city wall, her spine straight like an ancient pine.
All the Southern Chu soldiers watched their commander. Through these days of contact, she was no longer that frail Southeast Grand Marshal, but had become their true and genuine war god in their hearts.
The dull sounds of horse slaughter echoed in the air. Qing Xia stood atop the city tower, looking at the battlefield stained blood-red before her, slowly clenching her fists.
Chu Li, are you still well? Everything I could do, I have already done. Now, let me continue using my last bit of strength to clear away those stones blocking your path.
With a whoosh, another wave of attack surged upward. Qing Xia’s eyes immediately sharpened. She raised her head, looking at the dark mass of enemy forces before her, and a trace of desolate atmosphere suddenly rose.
After more than ten days of silence, the opposing allied forces had finally, under Yan Hui’s efforts, once again completed this joint military deployment.
And this time, she no longer had the strength to counterattack.
“Warriors! Light the cooking fires, boil the horse meat, and after a hearty meal, eliminate those people across from us!”
Violent howling sounds thundered forth. All the Chu soldiers roared at the top of their lungs, drawing their bows and nocking arrows, waiting for the allied forces’ next siege.
Yellow sand flew, bloody mud splattered. After three hours, the tottering gates of Loulan City were finally beaten down. The allied forces cheered and charged in on horseback like a flood.
Qing Xia led her troops to meet the enemy, her long spear stained with blood, her eyes already bloodshot from killing. The soldiers beside her grew fewer and fewer. Those familiar faces fell one by one, like autumn wheat, spraying hot blood as they collapsed into the yellow sand.
Qing Xia’s consciousness was even somewhat muddled. Much of the time she was even dozing, and only when wounded did the sharp pain remind her of what she was doing at that moment. She thought that this time, she might truly have reached the end of the road. This was the vast desert, Chu Li had already returned to the capital, Qin Zhiyan was already dead, Yang Feng had long since disappeared—there was no longer anyone who would risk their life to come save her.
She thought of her entire life, from when she was very, very young until she gradually grew up. She thought of Tang Yu, of Li Yang, of Yang Feng who had selflessly treated her well, of Xi Linchen who was like a younger brother to her, of Xu Dalie whose whereabouts were unknown, of the upright Jin Shaohuang in white, of Qi An who had repeatedly schemed and framed her, of Qin Zhiyan in green robes among the crisp bamboo groves, and finally, of that man in black robes with desolate eyes.
In this life, many people had wronged her, and she had wronged many people, but at the final moment of her life, she suddenly no longer wished to think about it. When one was about to die, why bother calculating so much? At the very least, in this final moment, she could still die with value.
In her life, she had seen many sunsets over long rivers, many beautiful scenes of various kinds, many human feelings both warm and cold. Fortunately, she still possessed a pair of bright eyes that allowed her to engrave everything in her heart—whether it was hatred, traps, threats, or care, friendship, and love.
Nothing mattered anymore. She had always been very tired—it was time to rest.
The Chu army had already retreated to the city tower. Qing Xia fought bloodily, retreating under the Chu army’s protection to defend the corner tower. The allied forces surrounded them on one side. The Qi and Xichuan forces were first to charge up the city tower, while the Xiongnu were still below confronting the remaining Chu forces.
Qi An’s expression was grim as he looked coldly at Qing Xia and said in a deep voice, “Zhuang Qing Xia, it’s you again. You truly deserve to die. Only this time, no one will come to save you anymore.”
Qing Xia looked at him coldly, smiled indifferently, and slowly said, “With my strength alone, I’ve made a hundred thousand allied troops bury their bones in the desert. My death is worthwhile. As for you, I’ll keep my eyes open and wait to see how you clean up this mess.”
Yan Hui smiled lightly, saying with unruffled calm, “What, do you think someone will still come to save you?”
“A gentleman’s revenge may take ten years—why would I争 for this brief moment? Sooner or later, someone will avenge me.”
Yan Hui said, “Who? Chu Li? Or the dead Prince Xuan of Qin? Since he could abandon you and flee alone back to Southern Chu today, do you think he’ll have the ability to avenge you in the future?”
Mockery flashed in Qing Xia’s eyes as she sneered, “Even a dying insect still speaks of spring winds. You brought three hundred thousand troops and couldn’t do anything to him—what will you accomplish in the future? A rebellious subject who murders his own clan, a homeless dog whose country is destroyed and family ruined, who can only bare fangs and brandish claws here with forces dozens of times greater than mine—simply shameless!”
Qi An snorted angrily and said sternly, “What a sharp tongue! I only regret that I was soft-hearted back then and didn’t kill you. Today, you can go join that dead ghost Qin Zhiyan!”
Qing Xia suddenly raised her head, lifting the war blade in her numb arms with no trace of fear on her face, looking coldly at this ungrateful wretch before her.
Qi An sneered and raised his hand, saying to the guards beside him, “Cut this woman into a thousand pieces!”
With that, he swung his hand down sharply.
However, at that moment, the sound of something breaking through air suddenly rang out, howling and stirring the ancient winds of the vast desert. Time and years flowed past, the war gods in heaven gazed down silently, and an arrow carrying tremendous force suddenly shot forth, piercing with a whoosh right through the silk-clad Crown Prince Qi’s head with a thunderous impact!
Everyone’s eyes immediately widened. Qi An stared in shock, seeming to want to say something, his eyes filled with unspeakable terror and panic, but the next second, his body suddenly crashed down heavily, tumbling down the high city wall to fall into the rolling yellow sand.
Yan Hui and the others turned around in terror, only to see at the far end of the desert, overwhelming masses of black-armored soldiers howling toward them, expanding from a single point to a broad front, like a tide of darkness, violently thundering and trampling, crushing the allied forces’ brief fantasies of victory like heavy war drums beating on everyone’s hearts.
The Southern Chu soldiers still fighting in the city looked at that flaunting black dragon battle banner in the distance and suddenly burst forth with earth-shaking wild roars that could not be suppressed. Their Great Emperor had come! At the most critical moment, at the final instant of life and death, their Southern Chu’s eternally standing banner, the ancient king who reorganized the world, cleansed the remnant blood, and broke the old to establish the new, the savior deity who rescued all living beings, had finally, after a brief slumber, in this moment of wind and rain, come thundering once again!
Across the nine heavens and ten lands, through the nether realms and ghostly courts, all the deities howled in unison: The King Returns!
Qing Xia stood atop the high city wall, her dark hair disheveled, her battle robes fluttering. She completely forgot the danger beside her, completely forgot the exhaustion on her body. She only gazed at that black-armored man who had broken through the stars, carrying the light of hope, looking at his slanted sword-like eyebrows, his sharp eyes, and finally, unable to suppress it any longer, shed tears that could no longer be hidden.
Piercing through too much time, condensing intense love, breaking through that final layer of ice, at the final moment of life and death, the twin binary stars of male and female finally once again focused their gazes together.
Yellow sand rolling, heaven and earth dark and yellow, time had long since lost all concept. In the celestial fields above, the star charts were in great disorder. For thousands of years, the Shen and Shang stars had finally converged!
A full month of marching, from the southernmost Southern Chu capital of the Chinese continent all the way to the westernmost northwestern desert, had achieved the Southern Chu Black Guards’ demonic reputation that would illuminate future generations. That Chu Li could arrive silently and undetected all the way to beneath Loulan City before being discovered by the allied forces was truly no coincidence. The price paid behind this was sufficient to be recorded in history as the most bloody example.