Oil barrels had appeared on the Green Grass Plains!
Yan Chi’s gaze sharpened as he immediately looked westward. “Bai Feng! Take men and pursue them immediately! This fire was deliberately set!”
Upon this command, Bai Feng stepped forward and soon led a hundred men westward. However, at that moment, a cry of alarm came from the troops behind them. In the southwestern direction, another towering flame had erupted!
This fire started a step slower, but riding the southwestern wind, it was rapidly spreading toward Yan Chi’s position!
Yan Chi’s brows furrowed deeply. Beside him, Xiao Cheng said, “Who could have done this?! Only we knew our defensive positions. They chose these two locations to set fires to disrupt our formation and cut off our retreat route. Your Highness, what should we do now?!”
Chu Fei Sheng stepped forward. “Your Highness, the fire will reach us in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick! We must move further west!”
If they didn’t circumvent it, the two fires would merge into one. On these Green Grass Plains, with its accumulated dry grass and thick shrubs, the fire spread almost a thousand li in an instant. Yan Chi knew they had been stabbed in the back, but rather than dwelling on who had done it, he focused on finding a solution.
“Going west would take too long a detour. Once the two fires connect, it will be even harder to pass. We should go east instead!”
Yan Chi made his decision immediately. Upon hearing this, Chu Fei Sheng hurriedly said, “The Rong barbarians are to the east—”
The east led to the Falling Phoenix Slope. Going that way meant they might face both the fire’s assault and encounter retreating Rong barbarians.
Hearing this, Yan Chi’s brows knitted sternly. “That’s perfect. Now that we’re cut off by the great fire and unable to reinforce Gu Ling and Yu Qi, we might as well head east to meet the enemy!”
Chu Fei Sheng understood – Yan Chi was taking a calculated risk to rescue Gu Ling and Yu Qi!
Chu Fei Sheng took a deep breath. “Very well, we’ll follow Your Highness’s command!”
With the decision made, the flag bearer waved the wolf-emblazoned military banner, and all Shuo Xi troops hurried eastward. Fire lay ahead and behind – if they wanted to avoid casualties entirely, they would have to abandon Yu Qi and Gu Ling and retreat west. But the word “retreat” had never existed in Yan Chi’s dictionary!
As they rushed forward, before long, the wood ash carried by the night wind became choking. Many sparks flew far with the night wind. Soon, small fires had started sporadically on the grassland where the Shuo Xi army was marching. Such plains were even more flammable than forests. Despite this, none of the remaining forty thousand troops fell behind. Their formation remained neat and disciplined, even though they were about to face Rong barbarians who outnumbered them!
Chu Fei Sheng’s estimate was correct – they had traveled less than five li northeast when they encountered the retreating Rong barbarians!
Some had just descended from Falling Phoenix Slope, while others were still regrouping. Facing the sudden appearance of the Shuo Xi army, these Rong barbarians panicked. Those nearby had no choice but to engage, while those further away fled toward their main force’s direction. Yan Chi’s spear severed a Rong warrior’s left arm as he roared, “Kill them all!”
The night was originally pitch black, but the massive fire to the west illuminated the entire Green Grass Plains in a blood-red glow. The flames reflected in Yan Chi’s eyes as blood flew through the air. In an instant, more than ten Rong barbarians fell to his hand. Enemy blood splattered between his brows, adding to his fierce and murderous aura, making him appear like a descended demon king that struck fear into hearts!
Seeing Yan Chi fight like a war god, Chu Fei Sheng and Xiao Cheng also fought with increasing vigor. All Shuo Xi soldiers were greatly encouraged. Combined with the element of surprise in their attack, the Rong barbarians were initially completely routed. However, this was just the smallest contingent of the Rong forces.
Yan Chi charged at the front, leading everyone northward in pursuit. Soon, he saw the main Rong army.
Looking out, Rong barbarians filled the view densely. They hadn’t retreated as quickly as Yan Chi had imagined, as if they had intended to withdraw but were attracted by something and stopped. Though the rearmost troops showed no fighting spirit, Yan Chi could see that the entire front half of the Rong army was already engaged in battle. As for who they were fighting, it was almost needless to say! Yan Chi’s eyes instantly turned blood-red as he swung his spear. “Yu Qi and Gu Ling are ahead – charge!”
The flag bearer quickly waved the command flag, and all Shuo Xi troops charged toward the Rong barbarians!
In the encompassing firelight, the Shuo Xi soldiers burst forth like caged leopards finally released. However, the Rong barbarians, who had already noticed something amiss behind them, quickly reacted. The plains were illuminated by firelight, and such open combat didn’t advantage the Shuo Xi army. Casualties soon appeared.
One after another, Shuo Xi soldiers fell to the Rong barbarians’ ferocity, while the Rong barbarians fell at almost the same rate!
War inevitably brings casualties, but Yan Chi cherished his soldiers and, outside White Wolf Pass, never led his warriors in reckless charges. Today, the three armies had originally planned a strategy of intelligent capture, but now, two mysterious fires had placed the Shuo Xi army in an unprecedented crisis!
Behind the Shuo Xi army lay a sea of fire, with the southwestern wind carrying the flames to the foot of the Falling Phoenix Slope. The fire spread from the plains to the forest, and soon the northwestern face of Falling Phoenix Slope was also ablaze. The fire approached the Shuo Xi army’s backs, yet their forward progress remained slow. Moreover, Yan Chi worried about Yu Qi and Gu Ling ahead – he still had forty thousand troops here, but Yu Qi and Gu Ling had only ten thousand. How could they resist the Rong enemy?!
With these thoughts in mind, Yan Chi let out a roar of rage as his spear sent another six-foot-tall Rong warrior flying. The silver spear pierced through the man’s abdomen, blood spraying through the air. Yan Chi galloped and leaped on horseback, sometimes charging into enemy formations to kill, sometimes racing to save imperiled soldiers. Blood soaked his armor, even wetting the safety charm that Qin Wan had placed on his chest before blessing him. Yan Chi gradually grew numb to the killing, deaf to the sound of his silver spear breaking flesh and bone. He continuously ended the lives of enemies around him while issuing command after command. The formation changes helped the Shuo Xi army avoid many unnecessary casualties, but Yan Chi still couldn’t see Yu Qi and the others!
It seemed as if more than sixty thousand men stood between them. Yan Chi felt this slaughter was endless!
“Your Highness! The fire behind us is less than half a li away!”
Xiao Cheng shouted. Hearing this, Chu Fei Sheng cursed, “Which son of a bitch plotted against us like this?! The brothers who died today must be counted on this bastard’s head!”
Yan Chi’s eyes were extremely cold, reflecting blood and fire, with a terrifying murderous aura that made one’s heart tremble. He said nothing, only thrust his spear again to sever another person’s neck. That thrust cut the main artery in the person’s neck, hot blood instantly spraying all over Yan Chi, yet he didn’t even flinch!
It wasn’t that Yan Chi wasn’t angry – when a person’s anger reaches its extreme, it becomes difficult to express in words.
His rage was all concentrated on his spear tip.
“Fight fast!” Yan Chi roared these two words as he stabbed toward the next person!
Yan Chi didn’t know how many he had killed until he noticed there was no one left to kill around him, only then spurring his horse forward again.
It had been many years since he’d experienced such a deadly battle. An indescribable rage fermented in his chest. This feeling of betrayal, of being schemed against, of knowing his soldiers were falling one after another while he was powerless to stop it, had awakened the bloodthirst in his bones. Even after killing countless enemies, this rage hadn’t diminished in the slightest!
“Your Highness! The Rong barbarians’ vanguard is in chaos, they’re retreating north!”
The Rong barbarians were retreating! Yan Chi’s phoenix eyes narrowed as he gave a cold laugh. “Keep pursuing!”
As the Rong barbarians’ vanguard began to retreat, those still fighting at the rear naturally panicked as well. This panic gave the Shuo Xi army an even greater advantage. Their advance speed increased, and soon the visible ground was filled with kneeling Rong barbarians who had thrown down their weapons in surrender. Yet as Yan Chi looked around from horseback, he couldn’t see Yu Qi or Gu Ling anywhere!
Just then, Xiao Cheng brought over a Rong person who could speak the Zhou language!
“Your Highness! This person says Yu Qi and the others were defeated!”
The person Xiao Cheng held had a cunning, evil smile. While many were kneeling here, there were still a few Rong barbarians who refused to kneel!
These people harbored bone-deep hatred for the Zhou people, preferring to die here rather than surrender.
This person, recognizing Yan Chi’s noble status, spoke in an arrogant tone with some accent, “Hahaha, so this is the Shuo Xi army? Not much at all. If you hadn’t ambushed us, we would have cut off all the ears of your ten thousand men…”
As he spoke, he shook his sleeve, and more than ten bloody human ears fell to the ground!
Those around trembled, immediately understanding what this meant.
In Rong warfare, they liked to cut off enemy ears as trophies. The one who collected the most ears would be revered as a warrior by the entire army!
Yan Chi looked at this person’s proud and pleased expression and asked coldly, “Where are they?”
Hearing this, the Rong person laughed even more heartily, “Where? Hahaha, they’re over there—”
He pointed toward the sea of fire southwest of Yan Chi.
Yan Chi’s body suddenly froze. The place this person pointed to was three li north of where Gu Ling and Yu Qi had originally laid their ambush. Judging by the timing of the Rong barbarians’ descent from the mountain and when the fires started, they must indeed have just reached that location when the fires began.
The fire started to their south. Once it began, any attempt to retreat would have exposed them, and the Rong people in front of them wouldn’t have missed such an opportunity.
Sixty thousand troops against ten thousand was an overwhelming advantage, especially with the prairie fire at their backs.
Yan Chi stared at that sea of fire, silent for a long time.
Just then, Chu Fei Sheng rode over from the west, breathing heavily. “Your Highness! We can’t find them. We haven’t seen Gu Ling and Yu Qi – they must have retreated west!”
With fire behind and enemies ahead, if there was any chance of survival, the only hope would have been for Yu Qi and Gu Ling to make a quick decision before the Rong barbarians discovered them, abandoning the battle and heading west directly. But would Yu Qi and Gu Ling be the type to so decisively abandon a battle? And after consecutive defeats, how could the enraged Rong barbarians give them such a chance?
After Chu Fei Sheng finished speaking and saw Yan Chi’s silence, he looked toward Xiao Cheng, only to see this six-foot-tall man standing rigidly with reddened eyes. Chu Fei Sheng grew anxious and slapped his thigh. “What’s happening?! Your Highness, the wind has died down! Should we continue pursuing or go look for Gu Ling and the others?”
Yan Chi glanced at the tassel on his long spear and noticed it had indeed stopped moving.
The wind had died down, but it was too late…
Yan Chi’s face was covered in blood, making his expression unreadable to Chu Fei Sheng. Yet in that instant, Chu Fei Sheng felt that Yan Chi, sitting on horseback, seemed heavily weighed down by something, his shoulders and back slightly hunched. He started to speak but stopped, then heard Yan Chi suddenly say:
“Don’t pursue. Wait.”
Chu Fei Sheng didn’t understand at first. “Wait for what?”
He looked at Yan Chi, then at Xiao Cheng, and finally sensed something was wrong.
Just then, that Rong person laughed again, picking up a blood-covered ear from the ground. “This is your general’s ear. I can’t tell which is which anymore, but let’s say it’s this one. Oh, and this too…”
The Rong person pulled out a wine flask from his body, his laughter growing more arrogant.
“He killed dozens of our brothers before we finally killed him with our blades. We’ve taken our revenge…”
When Chu Fei Sheng saw the silver wine flask, his eyes nearly popped out. “What did you say?! This is—”
Chu Fei Sheng dismounted and snatched the flask!
He examined it carefully, then looked up at Xiao Cheng. “This belongs to Little Seven Yu!”
Xiao Cheng remained silent, his eyes only growing redder. Chu Fei Sheng looked between Xiao Cheng and Yan Chi, suddenly understanding the situation. Rage erupted across his face as he stepped forward, grabbing the person’s collar and roaring, “Tell me! Where is this person now?! Even if he’s dead! I must know where he died!”
The Rong person, frightened by Chu Fei Sheng’s anger, stopped laughing and pointed at the sea of fire. “There! Right there! They could have fought originally, but the fire came and helped us. The fire came too fast – we escaped quickly, but some of our men were left behind too…”
Chu Fei Sheng roared, “I’ll kill you, you scum—”
As he spoke, he landed a punch on the person’s face, sending him flying. Chu Fei Sheng was truly enraged, drawing his sword to strike, but just as he raised his hand, he seemed to hesitate and glanced at Yan Chi. Yan Chi, still staring in the direction of the fire, said, “All prisoners, leave none alive. Let them be sacrificed to our Shuo Xi army’s banner.”
Yan Chi’s voice was very calm, but this calmness was like an airless net, making it hard for people to breathe!
Chu Fei Sheng followed his heart, roaring as he ended the most arrogant one with a single stroke. Xiao Cheng, having recovered his senses, finished off the other prisoners one by one with reddened eyes. Soon corpses littered the ground, the smell of blood permeating the air. The firelight illuminated both the raised wolf-pattern banner and Yan Chi’s desolate eyes. The Shuo Xi army had won this battle, but it was a victory that pained Yan Chi deeply.
The wind diminished, and the prairie fire couldn’t last much longer. Within an hour, after the weeds and shrubs burned away, scorched earth was exposed. By then, a streak of azure blue pierced through the night sky – dawn was approaching.
Yan Chi rode southwest, his horse’s hooves kicking up clouds of black ash. Suddenly, he pulled his horse to a halt.
Within his sight, scorched corpses still wearing Shuo Xi army armor lay curled in various positions on the ground.
Some had steel blades stuck in them, some were missing limbs, some lay sprawled over their comrades as if protecting their brothers, and some were curled together, their postures still showing the agony of being burned alive…
The morning breeze touched his face as a chill permeated Yan Chi’s body, his heart bleeding.
The Shuo Xi army had won this battle, but he had lost!
He had never experienced such a devastating defeat!
Yan Chi stared at this endless expanse of blackened prairie. He just kept looking, even starting to examine the nearest charred corpses one by one, as if trying to identify who they were despite their features being burned beyond recognition, or as if wanting to engrave every person lying here deeply in his heart.
In his mind, like turning pages in a book, many faces appeared.
These faces were smiling and alive, impossible to match with the charred corpses before him.
Yan Chi looked for who knows how long until his eye sockets began to ache and something wet threatened to spill out…
Suddenly, his pupils contracted as if pierced by a needle, and he sharply turned his head away.
On the still-warm scorched earth, more and more heavy sobs began to rise. Gradually, some began to cry out loud. These Shuo Xi warriors, though accustomed to war and having bid farewell to brother after brother, had never wept so bitterly over war casualties despite their steel-forged will.
The crying spread in waves, like a dirge sending brothers to the yellow springs of the underworld. The sky, which had just shown dawn’s light, darkened at this moment. The wind rose again, carrying a penetrating chill. Soon, a white lightning bolt split the sky, and amid rolling thunder, raindrops as large as beans poured down like a deluge.
The rain wetted every soldier’s face as if even the heavens wept for the fallen sons of Shuo Xi.