“What?” Ashina Heli stood up in shocked suspicion, pursuing the scout with questions: “You’re saying they’re really only doing these things?”

The scout nodded and replied: “We disguised ourselves as local mountain folk and observed outside their military camp for a long time. Xiao Du leads those people in drinking and making merry every day, showing no signs of urgency at all. Although they drill daily, we can’t see any intention to attack the city.”

“What about their provisions? Have their provisions decreased? Are they drinking porridge or eating rice?”

“No, all the soldiers still have three meals a day, each meal with white rice, not reduced in the slightest.”

Ashina Heli frowned and sat down heavily. After asking a few more questions, he dismissed the scout and turned to Dianyun: “Second Prince, don’t you find this very unusual? After all these days, the grain and provisions Xiao Du brought should have run out long ago. Without supplies, they’ll starve to death outside the city sooner or later. Yet they can remain so composed, showing no worry about food at all. Do you think they’re waiting for reinforcements?”

Dianyun also found it somewhat strange. He lightly tapped the table with his finger, pondering: “Perhaps this is just a diversionary tactic by Xiao Du. Even if reinforcements came from the capital, how could they bypass Pingdu Pass and deliver supplies directly outside the pass? We should observe for a few more days before deciding.”

Ashina Heli nodded but still felt somewhat uneasy, continuing: “Also, these past few days soldiers in the city keep getting killed. Until we find those people, I can’t rest easy.”

Just then, a scout hurried in and whispered something in Ashina Heli’s ear. Ashina Heli’s expression changed dramatically. Dianyun recognized this as one of their agents assigned to watch Zou Wu, and his heart sank with an ominous premonition. Then he saw Ashina Heli’s face darken as he said: “Good! Bring him in! And where’s Zou Wu? Bring him to me too!”

So the bewildered Zou Wu was escorted to the hall and pushed to the ground. When he saw clearly that beside him stood a wounded soldier wearing Xiao family army uniform, he immediately turned pale with shock and asked: “Great King, Second Prince, what is the meaning of this?”

Ashina Heli looked at him coldly and said: “I should be asking you what this means! This man was found in your room, hiding there to deliver you a secret message. He was caught red-handed by my men – the evidence is irrefutable. What do you have to say now!”

Zou Wu was so frightened he prostrated himself on the ground, crying out tremulously: “Great King, I’m wrongly accused! I don’t know him at all, nor do I know anything about any secret message!”

But the soldier showed a regretful expression and said: “Adjutant Zou, since things have come to this, why beg them further? I only blame myself for being too careless and implicating you.”

Zou Wu stared wide-eyed, pointing at him with trembling hands: “You! You’re slandering me! Great King, you must not believe him!”

“Oh?” Dianyun took out a piece of paper from beside him: “Then how do you explain this letter in your own handwriting!”

When Zou Wu saw clearly the handwriting on it, he was so terrified he screamed: “This isn’t what I wrote! It really isn’t what I wrote!”

“Silence!” Ashina Heli angrily stepped forward and slapped him hard, knocking him to the ground. Grabbing his collar viciously, he said: “The handwriting on this letter is identical to the secret messages you sent us. How do you explain that!”

Zou Wu was slapped dizzy and spat out a bloody tooth, but ignoring the severe pain, he cried out hysterically: “Someone must have deliberately imitated my handwriting to frame me! They want to harm me – Great King, you must not fall for their scheme!”

“Enough!” Dianyun coldly waved his hand: “Whether it’s a frame-up or not, hand him over to the Eagle Camp for interrogation and we’ll know!”

Zou Wu collapsed completely on the ground, his face contorting with extreme terror. The Eagle Camp was a special unit in the Wu army responsible for interrogating and torturing spies. It was said their methods were extremely vicious – no one who entered ever came out alive.

At this moment, the soldier cried out and rushed over, bumping into him: “Adjutant Zou, save me! I don’t want to die!” Zou Wu was already terrified out of his wits and curled up on the ground in a daze after being bumped. Looking up, he saw the soldier’s blade-like gaze fixed fiercely on him, mouthing word by word: “Dog traitor! This is your fate!”

Zou Wu trembled uncontrollably all over and was dragged away before he could cry for help. Ashina Heli and Dianyun waited for a long time before finally seeing an officer from the Eagle Camp enter and report: “Both couldn’t endure it – they’re dead!” Remembering Zou Wu’s incontinence at death, he couldn’t help but wrinkle his brow in disgust, then continued: “But we got something. That Xiao family soldier wanted to commit suicide but we stopped him. Unable to withstand the torture, he revealed the content of the secret message.”

“What was the secret message?” Ashina Heli hurried forward to ask.

The officer stepped closer and said word by word: “When the beacon smoke rises, the great deed is accomplished!”

While Ashina Heli was racking his brains trying to decipher the meaning of these words, Luo Yuan stood with hands behind his back, solemnly addressing the fifty soldiers before him: “Remember everything clearly. Groups of ten, ambush at the locations I just told you. When you see the beacon smoke, act simultaneously – there must be no mistakes!” He fell silent for a moment, then continued: “Once discovered by the Black Cavalry, you must hold them tightly and not let them see our true numbers. Even if it costs your lives, you cannot retreat for a moment. Do you understand!”

“We understand!” The fifty Xiao family soldiers stood tall with heads high, their voices ringing like great bells. This was a battle they knew would lead to death, yet their faces showed no fear or retreat – only unwavering determination to forge ahead.

The civilians in the cellar silently watched this scene. An elderly man tremblingly stood up, removed a string of prayer beads from his neck, and tied them around a warrior’s wrist, saying: “Brave child, may this protect you and bring you back safely.”

Then others also rose, taking out personal items to give to the Xiao family soldiers’ hands, chattering words of prayer and blessing. These soldiers who had never cried even in life-and-death situations finally couldn’t hold back, lowering their heads and biting back tears in their eyes. Luo Yuan also felt his eye sockets burning, but he knew now was not the time to cry. He roughly wiped his face, walked to little Zhuzi’s side and crouched down: “Do you dare take uncle to find where those bad people store their grain?”

Zhuzi stared straight at him with his dark pupils, then nodded vigorously. Luo Yuan gratefully patted his head, saying gently: “Don’t worry, uncle will definitely bring you back safely!” Then he straightened up and called out loudly: “It’s getting late – depart!”

The soldiers who had just been in sorrow immediately composed their expressions. They gripped their curved sabers tightly and stood before Luo Yuan in orderly formation. Luo Yuan looked at them approvingly, then pointed to one group: “You follow me to the grain depot. The other teams ambush at the city gates according to plan.”

Just as he turned to lead his team out, he suddenly heard a voice softly call: “Little Master.” Yuanxi put down her work, walked to him, untied her hair ribbon and fastened it around his wrist, saying earnestly: “Little Master, you must come back!”

Luo Yuan touched the soft silk ribbon on his hand, stepped back two paces, bowed deeply, and showed her the same elegant smile as always.

Yuanxi’s vision blurred. She remembered when she first met Little Master, he had smiled and bowed to her just like this – like the clear moon and pure breeze, untainted by dust.

Several hours later, Ashina Heli, who was still discussing matters with Dianyun, finally received a report from outside the pass – Xiao Du had led his army to destroy their camp, smash all cooking utensils, and plunge into the mountains. Ashina Heli’s heart was filled with trepidation. Just as he was filled with suspicion and uncertainty, he suddenly heard someone shouting outside: “Beacon smoke! Beacon smoke is rising from the mountains!”

Ashina Heli and Dianyun turned pale with shock and quickly spurred their horses to gallop to the city tower. Indeed, they saw green beacon smoke rising from distant mountains. At the same time, several loud explosions rang out in the city, with fires igniting everywhere. Someone hurried up the city tower to report: “Disaster! The grain depot is on fire!”

But before they could send people to investigate, more soldiers kept running up, clamoring that several city gates were on fire. They claimed soldiers in Xiao family army uniforms were ambushing at the gates and grain depot, charging and fighting like ghosts regardless of their lives, catching the Black Cavalry off guard. In the chaos, they couldn’t determine the enemy’s numbers.

Ashina Heli slapped his thigh and said to Dianyun: “Aiya! We’ve been tricked! There really are ambushes in the city!”

Dianyun was also somewhat flustered: “What should we do now? What’s their purpose in luring us into the city?”

Just as Ashina Heli was about to speak, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw rolling yellow dust rising in the distance, gathering into a black cloud moving rapidly toward them. He gaped and murmured: “Impossible, this can’t be just thirty thousand men. Where did the others come from? What’s happening!”

Dianyun also broke out in cold sweat and kicked a scout beside him: “Go quickly! Go scout again – how many men does Xiao Du really have!”

The scout fled in panic with his men. Then someone finally made out the commander’s flag held by the vanguard troops and cried out: “It’s the battle flag of Nanyue Kingdom!”

Only then did Ashina Heli and Dianyun notice that banners symbolizing the Nanyue tribes were flying high in the wind. They couldn’t help but step back in fright. They never expected Xiao Du to have allied with the Nanyue people to attack the city together. Now they couldn’t determine the number of enemies ahead, and if the Xiao family army from Qingzhou attacked from behind, they would be caught between two forces – not to mention how many enemy soldiers might be hidden in the city. Ashina Heli sighed darkly and pounded the city wall fiercely: “Abandon the city! Kill our way to Qingzhou!”

“No!” Dianyun still retained some rationality and shouted: “We cannot abandon the city!”

Ashina Heli pointed at the fires blazing throughout the city: “Second Prince, can’t you see we’ve already fallen into their trap! This is called ‘catching turtles in a jar’! Now our only chance is to fight our way to Qingzhou City. There are only sixty thousand Xiao family army remnants there – our forces are double theirs. If we can break through, we can kill our way straight into the Central Plains. If we stay here any longer, I fear we’ll suffer total annihilation!”

Dianyun gritted his teeth and sighed. Finally, he could only reluctantly order: “Beat the drums and relay commands – abandon the city immediately and attack Qingzhou with full force!”

Just as Dianyun and his men finally decided to abandon the city, Luo Yuan was leading ten soldiers in a fierce battle at the grain depot. They wielded short sabers, charging left and cutting right, creating carnage with blood spattering everywhere. In the thick smoke, roars and screams constantly rang out. This suicidal fighting style actually threw the Black Cavalry formation into great disorder, making them hesitant to advance.

Just then the retreat horn sounded from within the city. Though the Black Cavalry were reluctant to let them go like this, military orders were like mountains – they had to immediately turn their horses toward the main army to assemble. Seeing the moment was ripe, Luo Yuan quickly held little Zhuzi tightly in his arms and whispered to the few remaining men: “Go!”

But as the thick smoke gradually cleared, the last group of Black Cavalry finally discovered there were only a few remaining soldiers before them, so they roared: “They only have a few men left! Quick, kill them all!”

But they soon regretted it. The soldiers before them were like evil spirits crawled out of hell, completely ignoring blades cutting into their own bodies, only red-eyed and fighting until they used their last ounce of strength to plunge their short sabers into their enemies’ chests. Even when their blade edges curled up, they still desperately bit with their teeth and tore with their hands, using their lives to strangle enemy after enemy.

Finally, after this brutal battle, an entire squad of Black Cavalry was completely annihilated, while only one Xiao family soldier remained. He dragged his wounded body to protect Luo Yuan and Zhuzi as they fled toward a hiding place. Who knew a Black Cavalry soldier who had luckily survived would come around from behind, swinging his blade at Luo Yuan. The soldier shouted loudly and threw himself over Luo Yuan and Zhuzi, using his body to take the blow for them, then with his other hand fiercely clamped the attacker’s throat until the man stopped breathing.

Luo Yuan quickly turned over and supported his falling body. He tried to use his hands to plug the bloody holes in his body, but couldn’t stop them no matter what – he could only cry anxiously.

The soldier spat out blood and said: “Master, don’t worry about me. Today I killed so many Black Cavalry – this life has been worth it.” His body began to grow cold, and his gaze gradually scattered. “I only ask Master to remember that my name is Meng Qi, from Tongcheng in Xuzhou. I hope someone can tell my parents that their son died on the battlefield, that he was a hero who protected many common people. Also, please give them the salary I’ve saved over these years…”

His voice grew weaker and weaker until it disappeared entirely. Luo Yuan wept and nodded continuously, closing his staring eyes for him. Then he took a deep breath, turned around and embraced the trembling Zhuzi, carrying him as he ran to a haystack. But at this moment, he suddenly heard Black Cavalry voices shouting in the distance, getting closer and closer, about to reach them…

At this time, accompanied by the towering flames at the city gates, Xiao Du had already led thirty thousand soldiers to successfully fight their way into the city. Behind them were actually thousands of stampeding oxen. This was Xiao Du’s strategy – he had long heard that the Murong leader Ashina Heli was naturally suspicious, so he deliberately acted as if victory was assured, making Ashina Heli suspicious. Then he used spies in the city to frame Zou Wu, making the Black Cavalry think their easy capture of the city was actually falling into Great Mu army’s trap. He then had the spies contact Luo Yuan in the city, and when the time was right, lit beacon fires for coordinated action. He sent a team carrying Nanyue banners charging at the front, then used the dust raised by thousands of oxen to make Ashina Heli unable to determine the attacking army’s numbers. Worried about ambushes set in the city, in his panic he decided to abandon Pingdu Pass and directly attack Qingzhou.

Xiao Du recaptured Pingdu Pass without losing a single soldier, yet he dared not relax in the slightest. He first commanded several teams to firmly guard the city gates, then dismounted and rushed up the city tower. Looking at the dark mass of retreating Black Cavalry, he took the iron bow passed by his deputy general behind him, nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and roared with all his strength: “Those who dare invade our territory…” The soldiers below the city tower raised their long halberds high and responded in unison: “Kill!”

Xiao Du shouted again: “Those who humiliate our compatriots…” “Kill!”

“Those who murder our brothers…” “Kill!”

The soldiers below the city tower, thinking of those compatriots and brothers who died under enemy blades, felt their blood boil and continuously shouted loudly: “Kill! Kill! Kill!” The deafening shouts surged like tide, rushing straight into the clouds above. The Black Cavalry who were already fleeing the city in panic were so frightened by this earth-shaking roar that they lost their nerve, momentarily forgetting their formation and constantly colliding with their own men.

Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Ashina Heli quickly waved his hand to order the drums beaten and the formation reformed. Xiao Du coldly curved his lips, aimed at a black shadow beside the fluttering commander’s flag, drew his bow with full strength, and shot two arrows in succession. The iron bow in his hands weighed over ten catties and required full strength to shoot, but its range was extremely impressive. The black arrow shafts whistled through the air – just as the first arrow was about to fall, it was struck by the second arrow, then actually pierced through Ashina Heli’s armor and knocked him violently from his horse. Fortunately, his personal guards rushed over in time to pull him up, or he would have been trampled to death in the chaos.

Seeing their opponent could shoot down their leader with one arrow from dozens of li away, the Black Cavalry were frightened out of their wits. But even more desperate events awaited them. Zheng Long had secretly sent people to break the dams upstream of the Wei River, raising the water level by a full meter – ordinary horses could hardly cross. Then the Qingzhou City across the river began continuously shooting fire arrows. Having suffered major setbacks today, the Black Cavalry had no strength left to resist and were surrounded and massacred, losing tens of thousands of men. Fortunately, Dianyun personally shouldered the commander’s flag and directed the Black Cavalry to reform and retreat to the mountains beside the Wei River, avoiding total annihilation.

Seeing the overall situation decided, Xiao Du finally relaxed slightly. Just as he walked down from the city tower, he saw that longed-for figure. He quickly strode forward and embraced her tightly. Held in his arms, Yuanxi’s heart, which had been suspended for several days, finally settled somewhat. Then she said with a crying voice: “Little Master led people to the grain depot and hasn’t returned!”

Xiao Du’s expression changed. He gripped her hand reassuringly: “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back!” Then he personally mounted his horse and galloped toward the grain depot. Yuanxi was escorted back to the Prefecture Governor’s mansion by two personal guards but remained restless, anxiously looking outside.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly heard waves of crying in the distance, and her heart immediately clenched. She quickly rushed outside and saw Xiao Du leading his horse slowly walking toward them under the setting sun’s afterglow. Little Zhuzi sat on the horse, but on Xiao Du’s shoulder lay that person – his green shirt had long been dyed bright red, and those gentle eyes would never open again.

Yuanxi felt her body go weak and had to grip the door frame tightly to keep from falling. But she still refused to believe it, only staring at Xiao Du with hopeful eyes, hoping he would tell her that Little Master hadn’t died – he was only severely wounded.

Xiao Du’s eyes were red and he dared not look at her. He gently laid down Luo Yuan’s corpse and lifted Zhuzi from the horse’s back: “He hid this child in a haystack and used himself to lead the enemy soldiers away. I searched for a long time before finding him in a pile of corpses…” His throat choked up and he could say no more.

Yuanxi felt everything go black before her eyes and finally couldn’t support herself, softly collapsing to the ground. Xiao Du quickly rushed over to help her up, letting her bury her face in his chest to vent her grief. At this time, little Zhuzi, who had been standing to the side, suddenly walked before them and tore open his outer garment. On his undergarment, written in blood, were names one by one – each stroke bold and vigorous. This was the last thing Luo Yuan had done before the Black Cavalry arrived.

In his final moment, he wrote down each fallen soldier’s name. This was the only thing he could do for them, and the promise he would not forget even in death.