“You…!”
Marquis Mo truly didn’t dare to kill anymore. He had killed officials because they were fence-sitters who played both sides, so killing them was acceptable. But these commoners – if he truly slaughtered them all, his future uprising would lose all legitimacy.
Shen Du was clever, and he wasn’t a fool either.
Moreover, he knew Shen Du intended to spare him, but the grudge of his murdered wife and children was irreconcilable. Now, with reinforcements yet to arrive, it was the perfect time to attack.
Shen Du looked up to the sky and laughed bitterly, “I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me. The deaths of my Sister-in-law and the children – I bear full responsibility. If you want to fight, I’ll open the city gates and face you.”
It seemed he had grown weary of this back-and-forth, and Shen Du formally issued a challenge.
Jing Lin exclaimed in shock, “Commander, you mustn’t!”
Yingzhou City now only had the few hundred Imperial Guards they had brought and the remaining few thousand garrison troops. If they opened the gates to battle, there was no chance of victory, especially since these commoners all supported the one outside the city.
Shen Du waved his hand, his mind made up.
On the other side of the moat was Yingzhou City. Mo’s men were battering at the city gates. Mo sneered mockingly – even if Shen Du hadn’t said those words, Yingzhou City wouldn’t hold out much longer.
As long as they entered the city and killed Shen Du, he would reclaim Yingzhou and formally declare war on the capital against that person.
“Lord Mo, why are you hesitating? The Chief is waiting for news of your victory,” shouted a nearby Half-Face Ghost, casually picking up a bow and arrow to shoot a commoner. The other Half-Face Ghosts also nocked arrows, aiming at the commoners.
“Ah!”
Mo raised his blade and decisively cut down the Half-Face Ghost who had led the killing. He roared, “I am your leader. On the battlefield, those who try to overstep their authority will meet this fate.”
The other Half-Face Ghosts were frightened by Mo and lowered their bows.
The seemingly refined and easily controlled Mo was as resolute as a demon king in his heart.
This was what the Half-Face Ghosts thought.
Shen Du narrowed his eyes, not at all surprised by this. If Mo was as easy to control as he appeared, how could he have been part of the Fire Moth Party for so many years without being bewitched in the slightest?
Foolish.
The city gates opened wide, and Shen Du rode out on horseback. Zhu Yan ran a few steps after him but was stopped by Jing Lin.
At that moment, Shen Du turned his head on horseback to look at her. The wind whistled, and Shen Du wore a purple general’s robe with a blue fish sword at his waist, cutting a heroic and dashing figure. Zhu Yan’s eyes grew hot at the sight, and the tears she had been deliberately suppressing burst forth.
Jing Lin was at a loss, “Madam, please don’t be like this. The Commander’s martial arts are superb; he will surely be fine.”
Zhu Yan nodded, but still couldn’t stop crying. She also felt this wasn’t very auspicious, but she just couldn’t help it.
In her heart, this man had finally taken up residence, ever since her youth.
The leaders of the two armies faced each other. As the horns sounded, Jing Lin stood guard firmly at the city gate, ready to go to the rescue at the first sign of trouble.
Zhu Yan also calmed herself. The more perilous the situation, the more Zhu Yan needed to steel herself. So she persuaded the commoners to come down from the city walls and return home, but they refused to leave, gathering at the battlements to watch.
Hooves clattered and horses snorted. The two men on horseback looked at each other, and suddenly Shen Du cupped his fist in salute:
“Elder Brother, I’ll give you three moves. I won’t strike back.”
Mo did not accept, coldly laughing as he raised his golden spear to attack, “Why do I need you to give me anything? Do you truly think I’m just for show?”
With his wife and children just dead, Mo had no outlet for his anger. His attacks were fierce, and Shen Du, true to his word, kept dodging without counterattacking, causing Zhu Yan and the Imperial Guards on the city wall to watch with trepidation.
The sun blazed overhead, the moat sparkled, and in the distance, green leaves swayed while the mountains were like ink.
Two figures intertwined, the sound of hoofbeats constant, dust rolling up. The clash of weapons was unceasing, to the point where everyone could barely see how the two were fighting, only seeing two shadows on horseback in the center of the battlefield.
Just as Zhu Yan’s heart was in her throat, the two shadows revealed their true forms. Shen Du’s sword flicked Mo’s spear away, seizing it and reversing it to point at Mo’s face.
“Elder Brother, you’ve lost.”
Mo’s dark eyes narrowed then opened wide, that pent-up frustration impossible to release.
“Hand over the antidote for ‘Breaking Out of the Cocoon’,” Shen Du said again.
Mo shook his head, spitting out a mouthful of blood before grinning, “What if I don’t give it to you? Are you going to kill me?”
“Then come on.”
With that, he straightened his neck, seemingly unafraid of death.
If Shen Du reached forward just an inch more, he could pierce Mo’s throat.
Seeing this, the Half-Face Ghosts all retreated.
Shen Du saw this and glanced at Mo, without a trace of joy at his victory. He tossed the spear back to Mo and said gravely:
“Chen Huoe is not a good person. I hope Lord Mo will consider carefully and provide the antidote.”
With that, he turned and rode away, the long bridge over the moat raising to separate them.
The commoners discussed among themselves.
“Will the Lord return?” a young man asked.
This earned Jing Lin’s disdain, but Zhu Yan was still happy to converse with him. “He definitely will,” she said, giving a faint smile.
The commoners soon dispersed.
Shen Du saw Zhu Yan waiting for him at the city gate. He bent down to scoop her slender waist onto the horse in front of him, resting his chin on her black hair, silent.
Nestled in Shen Du’s embrace, feeling his body heat, Zhu Yan finally felt warmth return, her limbs regaining sensation. She turned to hug Shen Du back, burying her face in his chest.
Thankfully, he was alright. She wasn’t afraid Shen Du couldn’t defeat Mo; she feared those Half-Face Ghosts would swarm and scheme against Shen Du. Fortunately, Mo had intimidated those Half-Face Ghosts, and Shen Du had defeated Mo. Everything had gone smoothly.
Shen Du’s lips curved upward, warmth suffusing his heart.
Only Jing Lin couldn’t bear to watch. It was already early autumn with the “autumn tiger” heat wave. On such a hot day, weren’t they afraid of overheating, pressed so close together?
—
Mo led his men back to the stronghold they had chosen earlier, immediately burying his wife and children.
A Half-Face Ghost suggested first treating the bodies with honey to make them into preserved corpses, so Mo could ask the Chief to help revive them quickly, but Mo refused.
He had never believed in the resurrection – only ignorant fools believed in such things, like these crazed Half-Face Ghosts.
After burying them, Mo stood silently at the graves for an hour before returning to his room to study new battle plans.
He admitted he had gone easy on Shen Du today; otherwise, Shen Du likely wouldn’t have returned to Yingzhou City so easily.
But after fighting Shen Du for half a day, another idea suddenly occurred to him.
He wanted to make Shen Du lose convincingly, and not only that but to make Shen Du submit and join his camp.
Shen Du was a rare talent. If the Shen family hadn’t been wiped out, any of Shen Du’s achievements wouldn’t be surprising. But with the entire Shen clan exterminated, for Shen Du to still rise to become the Empress’s right-hand man showed his exceptional ability.
It would be too wasteful to kill such a talented individual. He wanted to win him over. Then, overthrowing the Great Zhou Dynasty would just be a matter of time. Of course, he could succeed without Shen Du, but having one less formidable enemy meant one less thorn in his side.
His time was running out.
His wife and children had died unjustly. Overthrowing the Great Zhou could only succeed; failure was not an option.
The image of his wife and children jumping to their deaths lingered in his mind. Mo’s eyes darkened. Rather than say they were forced to death by Shen Du, why not say they were first abandoned by him?
If he had taken them away immediately, how could today’s events have happened?
But to achieve great things, sacrifices were always necessary. He also knew he was on a path of no return, so he attacked without hesitation, not considering his wife and children were still in the city.
Thinking of this, his resolve to overthrow the Great Zhou grew even firmer.