The hooves were wrapped in fur, concealing the dense pounding sounds.

But one could still feel the trembling of the ground.

The soldiers and horses surging through the dark night were like a wall, drawing closer and closer, becoming clearer and clearer.

Even with his eyes closed, Liang Qiang could feel that wall almost pressed against the tip of his nose.

He wanted to ask why, but then realized he had no right to ask.

He had witnessed this scene before. That time, at the brink of life and death, the Xi Liang soldiers had reined in their horses and stood solemnly, like a wall.

That time, he had preserved his life beside the wall. But this time—

“What are they going to do?” he heard himself ask in a hoarse voice.

Or rather, he should ask: what are you all going to do?

The guard standing beside him said, “General need not be nervous. They’re merely borrowing a path.”

Borrowing a path, merely that? Liang Qiang turned his head to look at the guard. “You’re all going to betray the nation.”

The guard smiled. “What betrayal of the nation? If we’re talking about that, they’ve long been traitors too.”

Last time, he had only seen the Da Xia soldiers produce a token, and the Xi Liang soldiers at the brink of death had stopped, obedient as the Da Xia soldiers’ right and left arms.

“This isn’t any betrayal of the nation,” the guard continued. “This is merely a transaction.”

A transaction—making transactions with the border soldiers and the people’s safety? Liang Qiang clenched his hands hanging at his sides. “Is this transaction meant to result in defeat?”

The guard frowned, seeming somewhat impatient. Another guard beside him was much more mild-mannered and said, “General Liang is overthinking. How could our Da Xia be defeated? It’s just that sometimes, one needs victories and defeats to follow the way of balance in worldly affairs.”

Two nations at war still need to discuss worldly affairs? Liang Qiang was somewhat stunned.

“What of two nations at war?” the mild-mannered soldier said with a smile. “Nations are composed of people. Since they’re all people, naturally there are ways of conducting worldly affairs.”

“Stop going on about all this with him.” The previous guard impatiently interrupted. “General Liang, someone in Xi Liang needs a victory. Giving Xi Liang this victory won’t affect our strategic situation. That’s all there is to it.”

That’s all there is to it? Liang Qiang felt his palms pierced by his fingernails. “So this time, are you cutting off one of my arms or both?”

At this point, he laughed self-mockingly.

“For failing to defend the pass and allowing enemies to break through, as a military officer, one can only fight to the end and have one’s head severed before it can be over.”

Only this way could he, Liang Qiang, be considered to have died valiantly in battle, and everything he had gained could be preserved.

The guard smiled. “This time you won’t even need to lift an arm. Just stand here peacefully and pretend you didn’t see anything.”

“Everything has been arranged. No one will discover that you directly let them through,” the other soldier added an explanation. “At most, you’ll be charged with negligent defense.”

The previous guard reached out and patted Liang Qiang’s shoulder. “General Liang, losing one arm back then still allowed you to remain valiant in battle, enjoying wealth and honor. Now having a crime is also inconsequential—you can still fight valiantly, and moreover, you can atone for your crimes through merit, gaining even greater renown. Don’t you believe it?”

Whether he believed it or not was irrelevant. Having come this far, did he still have a choice? Liang Qiang looked at the Xi Liang soldiers concealed by the night ahead. If he shouted now, could he stop all this?

What would he use to stop it? In truth, he had nothing.

Perhaps before he could even cry out, these close attendant deputies would kill him.

Liang Qiang watched the night as the dark mass of the black wall moved forward, passing through his line of sight, like quietly rising floodwaters overflowing the embankment and spreading across the vast land behind.

All the open and hidden sentries around were silent.

This wasn’t strange. He had come here to replace the sentries, so naturally the other sentries had also been replaced by the guards he brought.

Liang Qiang didn’t look back. Behind him, the quiet night was peaceful, but he seemed to already hear the sounds of slaughter rising from all directions.

He said hoarsely, “Next time when it’s our turn to win, please let me personally slay them.”

……

……

“Great King—”

“Great King—”

Chi’na the son-in-law charged all the way from the vanguard to the Xi Liang King’s main camp.

The guards of the royal tent were all Xi Liang’s fiercest warriors. Because of the heat, they were bare-chested, robust as mountains, making no one around dare approach.

Even though Chi’na the son-in-law was the Xi Liang King’s son-in-law, he was still stopped outside the royal tent and could not easily see the Great King.

However, because he was the son-in-law, they let him come a bit closer, kneeling at the entrance of the royal tent.

“What are you here for again? Have you come to persuade this king to withdraw troops? You lot, one by one, are greedy for life and afraid of death, and have no patience.”

“Do you know why we Xi Liang have always been defeated? It’s because we only want to fight a bit and then stop.”

“Our valor comes quickly and goes quickly too, which is why Da Xia people have opportunities to exploit.”

“Da Xia people want me to kneel and negotiate peace, cede territory and pay tribute—dream on!”

“This time, I’ll let the Da Xia people know that we too can endure.”

“Even if there’s peace negotiation, they’ll be the ones begging me to negotiate!”

The Xi Liang King’s furious voice transmitted from within the royal tent, shaking the ground.

Chi’na the son-in-law waited until the Great King had vented his anger before calling out loudly, “Great King, the Third Prince has led troops and broken into Da Xia’s Yunzhong Commandery—”

Before his words fell, he felt the ground seem to shake. Thudding footsteps came from inside the tent, then the tent flap was lifted, and the Xi Liang King, likewise bare-chested and robust as a mountain, appeared before his eyes.

“Is this true?” he asked, bending down.

Chi’na the son-in-law nodded repeatedly. “Absolutely true! Right now Yunzhong Commandery has been thrown into complete chaos by the Third Prince!”

The Xi Liang King laughed heartily, deafeningly loud.

“Good, good, Hun is indeed the most valiant,” he praised loudly.

The guards around waved their arms and shouted, “Third Prince is mighty!”

This made the other princes who came upon hearing the news envious and jealous, but they could only join in the shouting.

The Xi Liang King pointed at them. “Don’t any of you idle about either. All of you go charge for me!”

All around, voices shouted in unison again.

The shouting was like a gale.

……

……

The gale swept across Yunzhong Commandery.

Everywhere on the roads of towns, villages, and settlements were fleeing people. Regardless of whether Xi Liang soldiers were actually in their direction, everyone was in panic, hiding in mountain valleys and dense forests, rushing toward the interior.

Galloping soldiers and horses were everywhere.

Soldiers stood solemnly, the atmosphere tense. The commander’s banner appeared once again at Jiezi Pass, and before the banner with the character for “commander,” came the crack of whipping sounds.

Roving General Liang Qiang was receiving punishment.

He knelt bare-chested on the ground while a soldier behind him wielded a long whip, striking down viciously.

Liang Qiang’s back was already bloody. He pressed his hands firmly against his knees to keep himself from collapsing to the ground, his face deathly pale.

“Why did you not garrison the fortress! Why did you lead troops wandering about! Causing the central army to be vulnerable!”

Accompanying the whipping, Zhong Changrong’s roaring voice echoed everywhere.

Liang Qiang gritted his teeth and responded, “This subordinate is guilty!”

“General Zhong, now is not the time to pursue blame,” Supervisor Fu arrived upon hearing the news. Seeing this scene, he rebuked angrily, “Leaving so many soldiers and generals unused to fight the enemy, you’re here watching punishment instead.”

Zhong Changrong directed his roar at him. “Such uselessness, such laxness—what use is empty shouting about killing enemies! Supervisor Fu has been supervising the army for so long, what discipline have you supervised?”

With the military situation unfavorable, was he trying to frame him? Supervisor Fu’s face flushed with anger. “Zhong Changrong! If it weren’t for you competing with this supervisor for authority, doing camp inspections and whatnot, causing the officers and soldiers to be distracted in responding, that’s what gave Xi Liang soldiers the opportunity!”

The two before him started arguing again. Liang Ji, who had come with Supervisor Fu, glanced at the wounds on his son’s body. At this moment, Liang Qiang was already swaying and unable to hold on.

“General!” Liang Ji stepped forward, cupped his fists, and knelt on one knee. “What’s done is done. Liang Qiang is guilty, but currently Xi Liang soldiers are attacking from all sides, and moreover, the Third Prince Hun’s forces have crossed Jiezi Pass and are approaching Shipo City. Please allow Liang Qiang to atone for his crimes through merit—”

The swaying and about-to-fall Liang Qiang struggled to kneel upright and said to Zhong Changrong, “This guilty general requests to kill enemies on the battlefield. Please—”

Zhong Changrong looked coldly at the father and son, about to say something when another messenger came galloping.

“General—Shipo City—has fallen—”

It had fallen.

An uproar rose all around. Liang Qiang also felt his ears ringing. Although he had guessed it early on, when he truly heard it, his mind instantly went blank.

The clamor in his ears was near and far, but some words still came through clearly.

“—Shipo City’s garrison was attacked by poison smoke and couldn’t resist—”

“—Xi Liang soldiers attacked into Shipo City, three hundred thousand people are trapped—”

They said it was merely an exchange of one victory, with no effect on the strategic situation.

They said that when the time came, he could fight valiantly, atone for his crimes through merit, and it would be fine.

For him, it was an exchange, it had no effect, it was atoning through merit again. But for those soldiers and generals who died or were injured, for those people who fell into enemy hands, it wasn’t merely that—it was life.

Once gone, it was gone, irreparable.

Liang Qiang’s body bent lower and lower until he fell heavily to the ground, his head striking the earth.

……

……

The sounds of killing shook the heavens.

Underfoot was like treading on mountains of blades and seas of blood, but not a single person retreated. Sabers flashed, swords gleamed, flesh and blood flew. No one knew how much time had passed when there were no more enemies to cut down. The soldiers that had been about to surge forward like a tide in the distance retreated, instantly becoming black dots and disappearing from sight.

“The Xi Liang bandits have fled,” Xiao Shan shouted, waving his saber.

Xie Yanlai, standing on a corpse, lowered his long blade and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. “Blind bastards coming to young master’s territory to seek death.”

The surviving soldiers also howled and shouted, “Seeking death—” “Forget breaking through the pass, they can’t even touch the pass entrance—”

Xiao Shan was about to bandage his injured arm when he looked up and saw Xie Yanlai’s bandage had come loose. He hurried over to rewrap it for him.

Xie Yanlai kicked him away. “Get lost, take care of yourself.”

Xiao Shan grinned, wiping away blood while nimbly bandaging himself.

Xie Yanlai leaned on his long blade, looking ahead, then turned to look behind. This place was still some distance from the pass they were defending. In other words, when the Xi Liang soldiers came to kill, they had been waiting here in ambush.

Having fought just one battle and annihilated the vanguard, those Xi Liang soldiers had fled.

“Young master, these Xi Liang soldiers are quite cowardly,” Xiao Shan said while bandaging. “How could they have broken through Jiezi Pass?”

“Don’t underestimate the Xi Liang soldiers,” Xie Yanlai said. “Fish and shrimp each have their own ways.”

At this point, he looked ahead, his eyes flickering slightly.

“Xiao Shan,” he said. “Do you dare follow young master to play something big?”