The night of May 14th.
The weather remained stifling and oppressive — even now that night had fallen, it offered no relief. The dark canopy of sky had swallowed even the sparse scattering of stars, leaving nothing but a thick, suffocating blanket of cloud.
Inside the Feng army’s royal tent, several lamps burned bright, filling the space with light as clear as daylight. Feng Xi sat with focused concentration before a pile of documents, while Feng Chang lounged at ease on the opposite side of the table, an unhurried smile on his face as he turned a red jade lion paperweight over in his hands.
“How are Jiurong’s injuries?” Feng Xi asked suddenly, her eyes still fixed on the documents.
“My medical skills may not match Jun Pinyu’s, but he won’t die.” Feng Chang gave his fingers a casual flick. “Though…”
“His face is destroyed, isn’t it?” Feng Xi glanced up at him for a moment, then returned her gaze to the documents.
“What a pity — such a handsome face.” Feng Chang sighed with what sounded like regret, though his expression held not a trace of it.
“Being alive is the best outcome,” Feng Xi said lightly.
“Being alive… certainly a fine thing. Though for some people…” Feng Chang’s words seemed to carry a hidden meaning, “perhaps they may feel that death would be preferable.”
Feng Xi paid him no attention and continued reading with full concentration. Feng Chang also fell quiet, his gaze settling on her with an expression of subtle scrutiny — though whenever Feng Xi happened to look up, his eyes would shift at once into something fathomless and unreadable.
At last, Feng Xi set down the document in her hand, pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose, and leaned back into the chair.
“Well?” Feng Chang looked at her and asked.
“This battle cost the Feng Cloud Cavalry two thousand five hundred and eight wounded, five hundred and twenty-five dead.” Feng Xi let out a long sigh, the furrow between her brows deepening. “That Huang Chao.”
“But you reduced his fifty thousand Golden Armor troops to forty thousand casualties — you still won.” Feng Chang gave a light, easy smile. “The ten thousand broken remnants he has left are hardly a match for you.”
“He accomplished two-thirds of his objective.” Feng Xi pressed a hand to her forehead. “He eliminated the Golden Armor Cavalry, he probed the Blood Phoenix Formation, and he dealt a minor blow to the Feng Cloud Cavalry’s fighting strength. What comes next—”
Just as she spoke, Qi Shu’s voice rang out from outside the tent: “Your Majesty, an urgent report from Yan City!”
Feng Xi’s eyes flickered. She sat up straight. “Enter.”
The words had barely left her mouth when the tent flap was thrown open. Qi Shu came striding in, his arm supporting another man.
“Your Majesty — Yan City has been overrun by the Imperial army!” The moment the man entered the tent, he had no time for formalities — he simply threw himself to his knees on the ground and called out in a rushed, ragged voice.
“What?” Feng Xi rose from her seat. Her eyes burned as they fixed on the man below, whose body was drenched in what appeared to be blood. “Yan City was overrun by the Imperial army?”
“Yes!” The man dropped his head, his voice hoarse. “The Imperial Nation sent fifty thousand troops against the city. General Bao… General Bao died in the line of duty.”
“Bao Cheng…” Feng Xi swayed slightly. Then she crossed the space in a single movement and was before the man. Her voice came out rough and low. “Rise and speak.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The man stood, glanced briefly up at Feng Xi, then lowered his gaze again.
That single glance was enough for Feng Xi to read his face clearly — he was one of Bao Cheng’s close subordinates. His face was covered in blood and dust. His eyes burned with a raw, anguished light. The wounds all over his body had been wrapped only roughly and hastily.
“Even if the Imperial Nation deployed fifty thousand Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry, Yan City had five thousand Cloud-Piercing Cavalry and fifty thousand Imperial Guards — they should never have been able to take it easily!” Feng Xi’s gaze fixed hard upon the man. “How did the city fall?”
“Your Majesty, originally both General Li and General Bao were holding Yan City together — the Imperial army would have had no way in. But General Li heard that Your Majesty had been pressed back to the Valley of No Return by the Hua army’s hundred thousand troops. So he led the fifty thousand Imperial Guards away from Yan City, intending to come to the Valley of No Return and lend Your Majesty aid. No sooner had General Li departed than the Imperial Nation sent fifty thousand Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry in a fierce assault on our Yan City. General Bao knew we were outnumbered, so he held the walls and refused to give battle. But… but… who could have known that the Imperial army’s commanding general was a master of archery — General Bao was struck by an arrow while directing the defense from atop the city walls. General Bao… General Bao…” The man’s throat was raw, his voice laden with grief and fury, his shoulders shaking without pause, his hands convulsing with anguish.
“Bao Cheng…” Feng Xi murmured the name. Her eyes shimmered. Her fists clenched tight, tighter. “Li Xian — how dare he defy my military orders.”
“General Bao’s dying wish was to ensure I reached you with this report before the Imperial army broke through the city. Your servant… your servant had no choice but to abandon the city and carry the message. On Yushan, I caught up with General Li. When he heard that Yan City was under siege, he turned back in a panic. But along the way he ran headlong into the Imperial Nation’s Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry, who had already taken Yan City and were giving chase. The Imperial Guards… the fifty thousand Imperial Guards were almost entirely annihilated.” The man got all this out in one breath before collapsing again to the ground, prostrating himself and knocking his head against the floor again and again. The ground before him soon grew dark and wet with blood. “Your Majesty, your servant could not hold Yan City. Your servant could not protect the General. Your servant knows ten thousand deaths would not be punishment enough. But your servant… your servant begs Your Majesty… begs you to avenge General Bao. He was struck by the enemy’s arrow and yet still held his post on the city walls for a full day and night. He sent your servant riding at full speed to report to Your Majesty, hoping to hold out until Your Majesty sent troops to relieve the city. But… but who could have known… who could have known…” The man’s voice broke at this and he could no longer continue, and the tent was filled only with the sound of his grief-stricken sobbing and the harsh drawing of breath he kept forcing himself to suppress.
“Li Xian.” Feng Xi spoke those two words with heavy weight. Both hands closed into fists without her realizing it. The light in her eyes was like a snow-cold sword — sharp and frigid.
A dense, heavy silence settled over the tent. No one dared make a sound.
After a moment, Feng Xi spoke again. “How far is the Imperial army from the Valley of No Return? Do you know who their commanding general is?”
“In response to Your Majesty, your servant leads them by roughly one day’s journey.” The man remained kneeling on the ground. “The Imperial army’s commanding general wears a bronze mask — his face is unknown. But the banner behind him bears the character ‘Qiu,’ and he is a skilled rider and archer, every arrow finding its mark.”
“Half a day?” A brief flicker crossed Feng Xi’s eyes. “Qiu? A skilled rider and archer? Then it must be Qiu Jiushuang — the General Hanfrost, one of the four generals of Wind, Frost, Snow, and Rain.”
“Qi Shu!” Feng Xi called out sharply.
“Here!” Qi Shu, who had been standing with fists clenched and head bowed, answered at once.
“Take him away and see to his wounds.” Feng Xi said this in a low, firm voice. “And summon Generals Lin Ji, Xu Yuan, and Cheng Zhi to come immediately.”
“Yes!” Qi Shu helped the man up and led him out.
“What a formidable Huang Chao.” The quietly seated Feng Chang, who had not spoken a word through all of this, now said lightly.
“I calculated a thousand possibilities and ten thousand contingencies — and the only one I miscalculated was Li Xian.” Feng Xi stood with her hands clasped behind her and her gaze fixed on the ceiling of the tent, her voice heavy and low. “He has long been a great general of Feng, and yet for nearly ten years his name has been overshadowed by the generals of the Feng Cloud Cavalry. He could not stand to remain in obscurity. When he heard that I had ‘fled’ to the Valley of No Return, he thought to lead the Imperial Guards here and ‘lend his support’ — defeat the Hua army, win the credit, and rebuild his reputation as great general. I… I forgot how fiercely people cling to fame and glory.” At those last words, her voice shifted into something self-mocking and self-reproachful.
“The Golden Armor Cavalry may only number ten thousand now, but their commander is Huang Chao — and Yu Wuyuan has yet to make any move. The Feng Cloud Cavalry has also taken some damage. Any reckless action now could lead to…” Feng Chang paused here, swept a glance over Feng Xi, and then shifted the direction of his gaze. “Moreover, the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry bearing down on us numbers fifty thousand. If the Feng Cloud Cavalry does not move to stop them, there is nothing that can. And time is pressing — if they reach this place and join forces with Huang Chao…”
“Draw ten thousand troops from the forty thousand Feng Cloud Cavalry at the Valley of No Return!” Feng Xi’s voice was ice cold. “As for Yan City — I will personally ride out to intercept the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry. They must not be allowed to set foot in the Valley of No Return.”
Feng Chang’s brow arched at this. “You’re going personally? Though the five Feng Cloud generals are outstanding, matching either Huang Chao or Yu Wuyuan is still a stretch.”
“Of course I know that. I never said I was leaving the Valley of No Return in their hands.” Feng Xi’s gaze settled on him pointedly.
Feng Chang felt her eyes land on him, and could not help but sigh and smile with rueful resignation. “I should have known better than to come to Feng.”
“Ha — you were the one who clung to me shamelessly and insisted on coming. I never invited you.” Feng Xi gave a cold huff. “So while I am away, the Valley of No Return is in your hands.”
“What makes you so certain I can hold it?” Feng Chang gave another faint smile.
“If you want the Feng Cloud Cavalry — if you want Feng — then you had better hold it properly.” Feng Xi’s tone was just as unhurried.
The words had barely fallen when Qi Shu arrived leading the three generals — Xu Yuan, Lin Ji, and Cheng Zhi. Evidently they had already heard about Yan City, for every one of their faces was etched with grief and fury.
“I imagine Qi Shu has already told you about the fall of Yan City — and that Bao Cheng died in the line of duty.” Feng Xi drew a deep breath, raised her head, and looked at each of her generals in turn. Her eyes were clear and calm.
“Your Majesty, please send me to intercept the Imperial army!” All four stepped forward together to volunteer.
“I understand how you feel — but you are needed here to hold the Valley of No Return.” Feng Xi’s voice was clear and quiet. “The Imperial Nation’s Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry — I will personally ride out to stop them.”
“Your Majesty…” Qi Shu could not hold back the words.
Feng Xi raised a hand and cut him off. Her gaze swept briefly to Feng Chang, then she raised her voice in command: “Qi Shu, Lin Ji, Cheng Zhi — attend to my orders!”
“Your subjects attend!” The three bowed in response.
“From this moment forward, whenever I am absent from this camp, you are all to follow the commands of Young Master Lanxi without question.” Feng Xi said this in a low, firm voice.
The three generals exchanged a glance, then bowed together in answer. “Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Xu Yuan.” Feng Xi called next.
“Here!”
“Muster ten thousand of our finest soldiers. In half an hour, you ride with me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Dismissed.”
“Yes!”
Once all four had withdrawn, Feng Chang spoke up: “Ten thousand soldiers — is that enough? Bear in mind these are fifty thousand Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry, not Golden Armor troops.”
“Ha… are you worried about me? Or are you worried that ten thousand Feng Cloud Cavalry will ride out and never return?” Feng Xi cast him a sideways glance, her expression somewhere between a smile and not a smile.
“Naturally, I am worried about those ten thousand Feng Cloud Cavalry.” Feng Chang answered without a moment’s pause, his gaze sliding sideways to Feng Xi in kind. “As for you — why would I need to waste worry on you?”
Feng Xi curved her lips as though she might smile — but ultimately did not. She turned and lifted the tent flap and stepped outside, tilting her head back toward the pitch-black night sky. She rubbed gently at the bridge of her nose and let out a quiet sigh.
“The weather may bring rain,” Feng Chang said from behind her.
“Rain?” Feng Xi gave a faint smile, then beckoned a nearby soldier forward. “Carry my order to General Xu — every soldier is to bring two weapons.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Inside the Hua army’s camp, Huang Chao read the letter in his hand with a slight smile on his face.
“It seems as though everything is unfolding exactly as you calculated.” Yu Wuyuan said lightly, cradling a cup of clear tea.
“Because I must — I will settle for nothing less.” Huang Chao raised his gaze, his golden eyes glowing with a fierce, bright light as they fixed on some distant point ahead.
Yu Wuyuan heard this and let his gaze rest on Huang Chao for a moment of quiet study. Then, with perfect ease and calm, he spoke: “What you wish to possess… perhaps it is too much.”
Huang Chao fell silent at this without responding.
“Huang Chao…” Yu Wuyuan lowered his gaze to the tea leaves drifting and sinking in his cup. “Sometimes human calculation cannot match heaven’s. And sometimes — when one schemes too much, one can become ensnared by the scheming itself.”
“What are you trying to tell me?” Huang Chao’s gaze locked onto Yu Wuyuan. “Or is there something you find amiss?”
“I only want to remind you — they are not merely Feng Xiyun and Feng Lanxi. They are also Baifeng Heixi.” Yu Wuyuan’s gaze grew distant and hazy once more, as if he were looking through the cup and into some faraway world. “They are… nothing like the opponents you have faced before.”
“Of course I know they cannot be underestimated — it is precisely because of that that I have spent so much effort.”
“Your Majesty, all preparations are complete!” Xu Yuan announced from outside the tent.
“Mm.” The voice sounded, and at the same moment, the tent flap was lifted — and Feng Xi stepped out, clad in silver armor.
Outside, standing alongside Xu Yuan, were the three generals Qi, Cheng, and Lin, along with ten thousand battle-ready soldiers. At the other end stood Feng Chang — and compared to the stern, sober expressions of everyone else, his manner was so relaxed and unhurried it seemed almost absurd. The faint smile on his face was that of a man watching someone else’s children play house, finding it rather amusing.
“Your Majesty…”
“Your Majesty…”
Qi Shu and Lin Ji stepped forward, but before either of them could get out more than two words, Cheng Zhi surged ahead in large strides, his booming voice drowning them both out: “Your Majesty—”
Feng Xi in her full armor carried a natural royal authority. A single glance at Cheng Zhi, and he swallowed the rest of his words on his own.
“What is it?” Feng Xi asked lightly.
“Your Majesty…” Cheng Zhi glanced sidelong at Xu Yuan standing behind Feng Xi, scratched his head, then steeled himself and blurted it all out in one go. “Your Majesty, why aren’t you taking old Cheng with you? Why take this sluggard Xu instead?”
“Hm?” Feng Xi was briefly taken aback. Then, despite herself, a soft laugh escaped her. She glanced back at Xu Yuan — who remained expressionless, not even lifting an eyelid.
“Your Majesty, that dead sluggard does everything at a snail’s pace! If you’re going to intercept the Imperial Nation’s Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry, you should take old Cheng — I guarantee we’ll leave none of them breathing!” Seeing that Feng Xi had only laughed and not scolded him, Cheng Zhi grew bolder and raised his voice again.
His booming voice carried with perfect clarity to every soldier in the formation. Some pressed their lips together and suppressed a quiet knowing smile. Others could not help but let out a brief laugh. What had been a cold, solemn atmosphere lightened just a fraction because of those few words.
Everyone in the Feng Cloud Cavalry had long known it: the outspoken, hot-tempered General Cheng and the cool, deep-thinking, methodical General Xu were the pair of sworn rivals in the Feng Cloud Cavalry — perpetually unable to see eye to eye.
One found the other too rash and impulsive, always letting hands move faster than the brain, always charging forward without a thought for consequences, utterly lacking the composed, gracious bearing that a great general of a nation ought to carry. The other found the one too cold and calculating, always turning a matter over and over in his head before deciding, then moving with maddening deliberation every step of the way — utterly lacking the boldness and forthright spirit that ought to belong to a real man.
“Cheng Zhi.” Qi Shu beside him reached out and gave his sleeve a quiet tug, signaling him not to defy orders.
But Cheng Zhi saw that both Feng Xi and Xu Yuan were already ignoring him and mounting their horses, and he grew frantic. With a sweep of his arm he shook off Qi Shu’s hand, strode forward, and seized Xu Yuan’s horse by the reins. “Dead sluggard — your hands and feet are always slower than everyone else’s. You’ll probably get shot right off your horse by that Qiu Jiushuang woman. Just get down and let old Cheng take your place.”
“Step aside.” Xu Yuan said nothing more than those two flat words — and his face showed not the slightest trace of anger.
“Your Majesty!” Cheng Zhi swung around to look at Feng Xi, all his hope pinned on her changing the order.
“Cheng Zhi. This is a military order.” Feng Xi, high on horseback, offered nothing more than those flat words.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Cheng Zhi bowed his head and answered, releasing the reins with something of a helpless air.
Feng Xi sat high atop her horse. Her gaze found Feng Chang across the distance. Both of them were composed and untroubled in their expressions. Finally Feng Xi raised her right hand slightly. Seeing this, Feng Chang gave a faint smile, stepped forward, and came to stand before Feng Xi’s horse. He extended his right hand in the same way. Their two hands clasped together, and Feng Xi lifted her voice in clear announcement: “While I am absent from the camp, all generals and soldiers of the Feng Cloud Cavalry are to follow the orders of Young Master Lanxi without question. Any who dare defy my commands as Li Xian did…” Feng Xi’s gaze swept across all the assembled troops with a weight of stern authority. “Will be executed without pardon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The assembled troops bowed together in one voice.
“Move out!”
Feng Xi flicked her whip. The white horse leapt forward ahead of all others, and in an instant, those ten thousand soldiers released their horses and followed.
“Look at you — dead sluggard’s a dead sluggard — everyone’s already gone and you’re still lagging behind!” Cheng Zhi saw this and immediately began hollering. He raised one of his massive hands and delivered a thunderous slap to Xu Yuan’s horse’s hindquarters. In an instant, the horse let out a sharp whinny and shot forward at a gallop.
“Brute.” Xu Yuan’s horse was already far away — but those two words still reached them, clear as anything.
“What?! You dead sluggard, you dare call me a brute?!” Cheng Zhi exploded, jumping in place and bellowing at the top of his lungs. “Dead sluggard, stop being so slow! You’d better not let that Qiu Jiushuang put an arrow through you! Keep your life intact and come back — old Cheng still has scores to settle with you!”
“If you care about someone, could you not express it with a little more subtlety? Did you really need to make sure the entire army heard you?” Lin Ji’s voice drifted in from behind him, neither warm nor cold.
“What?! I don’t care about that dead sluggard at all!” Cheng Zhi immediately yanked his far-gazing eyes back in, and turned a fierce glare on Lin Ji behind him.
“You don’t care about him? Then why ask him to keep his life intact and come back?” Lin Ji’s voice remained just as it always was — neither cold nor warm, neither loud nor soft.
“I… I want him to keep his life… because…” Cheng Zhi’s dark complexion — whether it flushed red or not in the lamplight, no one could tell — but he sputtered for a long moment before finally seizing on a reason. “I want him to keep his life to come back and look after his wife and children!”
“Have you lost your mind?” Lin Ji cut him off without waiting for him to finish, a look of undisguised amusement in his eyes. “Of the Feng Cloud Six Generals, I believe you are the only one who has — a wife — and children.” He placed particular emphasis on those last two words.
“I… you… you little weasel…” Cheng exploded in embarrassed fury, both of his enormous hands landing on Lin Ji’s shoulders — as though he wanted to crush the man who stood more than a full head shorter than him.
“A brute is a brute… can’t think around a corner to save his life.” Lin Ji brushed at his shoulders, shrugging off those two enormous hands. “I can’t be bothered with you.”
He turned, gave Feng Chang a bow. “Young Master, Lin Ji takes his leave.” Receiving a faint nod from Feng Chang, he turned and strode away.
“You… you little weasel!” Cheng Zhi called after his retreating back — but Lin Ji paid him no mind whatsoever.
“Though he is not as large as you, compared to the average person his build is quite normal,” Qi Shu stepped forward, raising his arm high to pat Cheng Zhi on the shoulder — even he had to tilt his head back to speak to him. “There is nothing wrong with being a brute, you know. People are very fond of oxen — because they are straightforward and easy to push around.” He finished his own bow to Feng Chang, then turned and walked back to the camp.
Cheng Zhi, who always processed things a beat behind, was still working through that last remark when it finally hit him. He let out a loud cry: “Chief — you’re mocking me too!” But there was no one left to hear him.
“None of them were actually mocking you,” came Feng Chang’s easy voice from behind him.
“Young Master… I… hmm… they…” Cheng Zhi turned back to find Feng Chang smiling at him, and sputtered for quite a while without finding anything useful to say. He scratched his head with considerable embarrassment.
“Go and rest. It is very late,” Feng Chang said lightly, and did not press him.
“I — yes!” Cheng Zhi answered at once with a proper bow, then turned and strode back to the camp.
“It must be past the Hour of the Ox by now.” Feng Chang raised his head and looked around him. Every Feng Cloud soldier had long since settled into their tasks — some on watch, some at rest. The vast encampment had quieted all at once. Then a breath of breeze stirred, carrying with it a thread of coolness.
“The wind is rising.” Feng Chang lifted a hand and spread his fingers as if to block the wind — or perhaps to catch a strand of it. “Perhaps it really will rain. I wonder whether this sky means to help you, or him.”
In the deep of the night, what rang out was not the chirp of crickets nor the chorus of cicadas. What wound toward them from the far distance was not the drifting light of fireflies — but growing closer… the peal of thunder from ten thousand soldiers marching in unison, iron cavalry beating the earth. The serpentine river of fire in the distance was the torches held aloft in the hands of those soldiers.
“Xu Yuan — pass the order. Stop the advance.” At the very head of the army, Feng Xi suddenly reined her horse to a halt.
“Yes!” Xu Yuan answered and turned to pass the order down through the relay riders.
Feng Xi dismounted. By the light of the torches she surveyed the terrain around her, then crouched down and pressed her hand against the earth.
“Your Majesty, this is Lumen Valley,” Xu Yuan reported the name of the place.
“Mm.” Feng Xi stood. “What hour is it now? How many li has our army covered?”
“Past the midpoint of the Hour of the Yin,” Xu Yuan answered. “Our army has covered two hundred and fifty li.”
“The Hour of the Yin… two hundred and fifty li… the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry will not be moving any slower than us.” Feng Xi thought briefly, and then all at once a gust of violent wind swept through, blowing out every torch the soldiers were holding. In an instant everything was pitch black — but not a single soldier in Lumen Valley showed even a flicker of panic. They all remained standing in place, motionless. Were it not for the occasional whinny of a horse, the valley was so silent one would never have known that ten thousand cavalry had halted here.
“Your Majesty, a great wind has risen. It looks as though rain is coming.”
After a moment the wind eased somewhat. Eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and in the faint trace of night-light one could just barely make out the nearest figures standing beside one.
“It doesn’t merely look as though rain is coming — there will absolutely be a torrential downpour.” Feng Xi’s voice was steady and calm. The night sky above showed not a single star, yet her eyes glittered bright as stars — blazing with fierce light in that ink-black darkness. “A violent rain comes fast and goes fast.”
She crouched down and gathered a fistful of earth, rubbing the soil between her fingers, then brought it close to her nose and inhaled. “The terrain on both sides of this Lumen Valley sits a little higher. When it rains, all the water flows inward to the center, leaving the central ground soft and loose… Light two torches for me!”
She gave the order sharply. Two soldiers immediately lit torches and handed them to her. Feng Xi took them and leapt to stand atop her horse’s back, sweeping her eyes across the full length of Lumen Valley. Then she swung her arm — the torch arced through the air tracing a streak of red flame, and landed squarely in a spot on the eastern side far ahead. She pivoted, swung her arm again — the second torch arced through the air and landed squarely at a corresponding point on the western side.
“Xu Yuan — pass the order. Five thousand soldiers light torches. The other five thousand use their secondary weapons to dig and loosen the earth in the central low-lying ground — using these two torches as the boundary markers, length to span their limits, width of ten zhang. Half an hour — work quickly!” Feng Xi leapt down from the horse and issued the instructions in rapid succession, her voice fast and sharp.
“Yes!” Xu Yuan took the order and passed it down immediately.
Moments later, all soldiers dismounted. Half moved to light torches; the other half took up their secondary weapons and began breaking the earth — all in perfect order, movements clean and precise. The wind came and went in gusts; whenever it blew out a torch it was immediately relit; the soldiers digging did not pause their hands for a moment, determined to complete the queen’s order within the allotted half-hour.
Roughly half an hour later, large raindrops began to fall in sparse and scattered drops — landing on faces with a cool, sharp sting. Most of the torches had already been soaked and extinguished. In the darkness, there was only the sound of soldiers turning the earth, and the howling, raging roar of the wind.
“Stop digging. Restore the surface and fall back ten zhang to cover.” Feng Xi’s voice rang out again in the darkness — clear and bright, reaching the ears of every soldier.
By the time the order was given, the rain had already become a full deluge. Carrying the violent wind with it, it swept across every one of the ten thousand soldiers in the valley — Feng Xi included — soaking them through in seconds. In the darkness, there was only the sound of great raindrops beating the ground, the rush of water flowing fast over the earth, the shriek of the wind, and the cries of the warhorses. Aside from these, Lumen Valley was still — and the only other thing that was passing was time.
When the storm and the gale finally began to ease, the sky, as if washed clean by the rain, at last showed a faint strip of pale light. Shapes became hazily visible around them. Every one of the Feng Cloud Cavalry stood motionless in the rain — not stirring a single step — only gripping tightly to blades and spears, every gaze trained on the figure at the very front: the white silhouette standing tall atop a horse, letting the storm batter her just as they did. Their queen.
“What hour is it now?” Feng Xi asked Xu Yuan beside her.
“In response to Your Majesty, it is just past the first quarter of the Hour of the Mao.” Xu Yuan wiped the water from his face as he answered from behind.
“Are the flints stored safely?” Feng Xi turned. Those eyes seemed to have been washed clean by the rain — extraordinarily bright and deep. At the corner of her lips rested the faintest smile, one of confidence and quiet pride.
“Your subject has not forgotten Your Majesty’s instructions.” Xu Yuan pressed a hand against the flints he had kept protected beneath his armor.
“Good.” Feng Xi stilled herself and listened intently, reading what the wind carried to her — until at last those bright eyes suddenly lit up, and she issued the order: “Pass the order — the moment my fire arrow is loosed, ten thousand arrows fly as one.”
“Yes!”
Clop, clop, clop, clop… The sound came from far away. The sky held the faintest pale light — the world at this moment was dim and indistinct. Ten thousand Feng Cloud Cavalry lay quietly concealed within this murky darkness, eyes sharp and fixed forward. Far ahead, torchlight was already visible. The beat of hooves was nearly upon them. In a moment, a great dark cloud appeared sweeping toward them — with breathtaking speed, with surging, powerful momentum. The Imperial Nation’s Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry — they had finally arrived.
“The more fiercely you come, the better.” Feng Xi’s voice was barely a murmur. Her eyes were locked on what lay ahead. When the first agonized cry of a warhorse rang out, she calmly extended her hand. “Fire arrow.”
Xu Yuan, who had long been ready, immediately lit the fire arrow and handed it to her.
She took the arrow, drew the bow, released — the three movements clean and seamless. A streak of fire split the dark sky and shot forward. And at the same moment, a wave of screams from horses and riders erupted ahead, the crashes of men toppling from mounts piercing the air.
The faint early light seemed to be lit up by that single streak of fire. Several dozen zhang ahead — the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry were mired in the pit: the earth that the Feng Cloud Cavalry had loosened and the downpour had turned to deep, clinging mud, and they had ridden straight into it in droves.
The fire went out in an instant. In the darkness, the Feng Cloud Cavalry’s arrows shot out — as sudden and fierce as the torrential rain that had just passed — driving into the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry across from them. In an instant there was nothing but a chorus of agonized screaming. Whether they were mired in the mud or galloping in from behind — the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry, which had surged toward them with such imposing force, were cut down by more than half in a single volley of arrows.
Before the screaming had even died away, fire arrows blazed out again toward the other flank — and the downpour of arrows followed them immediately — and again came waves of anguished cries. The fire arrows kept flying, the arrow volleys kept pouring out — and in the darkness, the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry — unable to register what had happened, unable to orient themselves — fell in great swaths. And every single one of those who had plunged into the mud did not survive.
As the volleys of arrows eased, dawn finally broke. Lumen Valley emerged gradually into clear view before both armies. In the low-lying stretch of earth tens of zhang wide, warhorses and soldiers lay mired and tangled — helmets and blades tilted and floating at the surface. Crimson blood mingled with yellow mud, and upon the mud floated a layer of purple. The rain still trickled slowly down, washing the color of blood thinner and thinner.
And across that stretch of several dozen zhang, on one side stood the white-clad Feng Cloud Cavalry, on the other the purple-clad Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry. What both sides shared was armor washed gleaming bright by the rain. What they did not share was this: the white army stood composed and still, every blade and sword out of its sheath, their killing intent severe and absolute — as though a single order would unleash them to leave none of the enemy standing. The purple army, by contrast, wore expressions of shock and stunned disbelief — unable to believe what they saw before them, unable to accept that their undefeated Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry had met with such a crushing defeat on this day.
Turning to survey his own formation, the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry’s general reckoned that of the fifty thousand troops who had ridden out, fewer than twenty thousand now remained.
At the very front of the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry stood one general who had not expected any of this — had not expected the Feng army to arrive so quickly, had not expected them to set an ambush in Lumen Valley, and had not expected the gift of heaven’s rain. His gaze swept across the vast numbers of his fallen troops below, then fixed with sharp intensity on the Feng Cloud Cavalry opposite. His sword rose high in his hand and swept forward in a clean, decisive arc.
In an instant, the remaining Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry charged forward all at once. The muddy ground had been filled in by their fallen brothers — they rode across it and came, raising blades and spears high, not a word spoken between them, and yet with a momentum that could shake the very sky. Their actions declared their fury and their hatred. Every single one of them had their eyes wide and blazing, fixed unblinking on that expanse of white ahead — only when that white was stained in vivid crimson could their rage and grief be answered.
The front rank of the white Feng Cloud Cavalry parted to either side. Feng Xi rode forward alone. Her gaze was cold as she fixed it on the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry bearing straight down on her — and on the commanding general at their very forefront. The general’s face was indeed hidden behind a bronze mask.
“In this battle, heaven stands on the side of Feng Xiyun.” Feng Xi said this in a quiet voice, low and firm. Then she drew the bowstring taut with full force, aimed at the charging Imperial general. “Qiu Jiushuang… Bao Cheng — watch as I avenge you.”
“Whoosh!” The arrow shot out like a bolt of cold lightning, splitting the light of dawn, cutting through the morning wind, driving straight for the Imperial general. That general kept his eyes fixed on that streak of cold lightning, kept riding at full gallop, raised his sword high — and brought it sweeping down through the air in a slashing arc, cleaving the oncoming arrow in two. But — this arrow carried the full force of Bai Fengxi’s power. The number of people in this world who could cut short an arrow of this force was very small indeed.
The tail of the arrow was cut away and fell — but the arrowhead kept flying with its full momentum. While the tail was still drifting through the air, the tip — had already pierced through the bronze mask and struck the man between the eyes.
“Let this be the end of the Imperial Nation’s fifty thousand Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry.” Feng Xi lowered the bow. Her hand swept down in a swift, clean signal.
In an instant, every one of the Feng Cloud Cavalry burst forward, charging headlong into the remnants of the Conqueror of Heaven Cavalry still bearing down on them.
The Imperial general who had been struck by the arrow swayed — once, twice — but at last did not topple from his horse. Then slowly, he raised his head. Slowly, his gaze shifted, and came to rest — across the muddy earth, through the arrow shafts still falling, across vast stretches of time and space — quietly, peacefully, settling on Feng Xi.
In that instant, all the battle cries around her, all the screaming, vanished. Something crashed and collapsed inside her head, chaotic and deafening. Her ears filled with a sound like thunder. As though something terrible were about to happen, a sudden, bone-deep dread seized Feng Xi’s heart.
No… that is… that gaze… no… it cannot be…
The ugly bronze mask split slowly down the middle — and finally — slid apart — and finally, the face behind the mask was revealed. That calm face, that peaceful face, that face without resentment, without regret — even bearing the faintest trace of a contented smile — finally fully exposed. Eyes gentle, looking forward. Looking at Feng Xi ahead. The blood at the brow trickled down, down along the nose, down along the face, down along the lips…
“No…” The bow slipped from Feng Xi’s hand and fell to the ground. Her eyes flew wide open. Her gaze locked forward, motionless. Her face drained to ash white. Her lips trembled without cease. Even her hands — those hands convulsed. “No…”