The great fire illuminated the sky. The battlefield fell into deathly silence…

Guo Xiaoke stood at the highest point, covered in dust. No one knew what he was thinking in his final moments—whether he worried about the battle situation or was concerned for his wife and children, no one knew now.

Zhang Tingyue did not take his old brother down from the wall top. He planned to leave together with his old brother in a while, so he was loudly reprimanding everyone, demanding each person return to where they should be.

The cook brought out all the food. At this point there was no longer any need to store provisions. The soldiers were mending their broken armor—not worried about getting injured, but to be able to kill a few more enemies.

After that brutal battle just now, the consumption of weapons had been astonishing. All the eight-ox crossbows had been loaded with their final round of crossbow bolts. To continue fighting now, they could only rely on their own war blades and the limited number of gunpowder bombs.

Soldiers without crossbow bolts dismantled their powerful crossbows into parts and threw them into the great fire. Eight-ox crossbows that could not be used were also thrown into the great fire. They even threw the corpses of their fallen comrades into the fire, because those impoverished Turks would strip the armor from their bodies.

Zhang Tingyue unfastened his armor and removed his silk undergarment, draping it over Guo Xiaoke’s head. Just now he had seen ash enter his old friend’s wide-open eyes.

The silk undergarment was meant to protect against arrows. Now it no longer had any use.

Listening to the sounds of slaughter near the eastern mountain, Zhang Tingyue shook his head painfully and said to the Wuli Commander beside him: “Sound the horn. Order Cheng Chumo to depart. The current slaughter serves no purpose—it only causes needless casualties among our soldiers. In the future they must still block the Turks’ eastward advance. We cannot afford these losses.”

The Wuli Commander nodded. A subordinate equipped with an ox horn trumpet stepped forward and blew the horn with mournful sounds.

Cheng Chumo, still engaged in fierce battle, heard the horn sound and roared in grief and fury: “Let’s go!” His war blade cut down a Turk attempting a sneak attack. His warhorse neighed and wheeled around, once again leading his subordinates to gallop toward the darkness.

Watching the battle situation stabilize, Tushi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yun Ye’s main army had already reached thirty li away. As long as he eliminated Guo Xiaoke’s remnants, he could engage Yun Ye with peace of mind. Whether dividing forces to advance eastward or bypassing the very slow camel city, he could move freely. Since the three thousand Golden Wolf Cavalry had been completely annihilated, he no longer wanted to clash with the camel city.

Once the great fire in the rear city was extinguished, it would be the moment of these Tang soldiers’ destruction. Thinking of how he had lost over sixty thousand elite subordinates beneath Kucha City, Tushi’s heart felt like it was being cut by knives.

They were all his own tribespeople. Tushi barely dared close his eyes. The moment he closed them, those tribespeople struggling in arrow rain and fierce flames would appear in his mind. Only the final strike remained. After completing this strike, the gateway to the south would open to him.

The tribal chieftains beside him also had varying expressions. Fu Qian of the Xueyantuo barely dared meet Tushi’s gaze, extremely worried Tushi would dispatch his own tribe to attack these Tang who had resolved to die. Although this was the final battle, the resistance they would encounter would absolutely be more than his tribe could bear.

Tushi’s gaze swept across every face, discovering that no one was willing to accept this so-called final glory. With a bitter smile he said: “We planned this eastward campaign. We stirred up the world-wide attack on Tang. At this point, do you all think we still have a retreat? We can only grit our teeth and continue advancing. Only by burning the flames of war onto Tang’s own soil can we truly make that arrogant Tang monarch bow his head and acknowledge our ancestral lands as belonging to us.”

“I know you have already heard some news, that some people have audaciously begun a western campaign, currently conquering Shasha and Lesser Bolu. These despicable villains with rat-like myopic vision—when we return in great victory, we will certainly annihilate their very souls.”

“Now, on this broken city wall there are fewer than two thousand people still struggling in their death throes. As long as we work together with one heart, the time of one incense stick’s burning will suffice to eliminate these creatures. My Turkic tribe will dispatch three thousand troops. What say you all?”

Fu Qian and the others, seeing Tushi had not made their own tribespeople serve as death troops for the siege, also felt relieved. One thousand from you, one thousand from me—they gathered seven thousand death troops. Watching the great fire gradually diminish, the seven thousand death troops once again mustered their courage and slowly pressed toward the city wall.

“Can’t survive anyway. What this old man regrets is why I acted like a good child when I was in Chang’an. Miss Liang had already smiled at me three times with affection. I should have gone to her boudoir in the middle of the night,” Chen Shu said to Guo Ping beside him after preparing his crossbow bolts.

“Good thing you didn’t go, otherwise your father would have already hung you under the eaves to dry for New Year. Would he have given you a chance to regret?” Guo Ping’s expression remained serene. Regarding his father’s death, he seemed completely unmoved.

“What do you know? The Liang family built the young miss’s boudoir in the rear courtyard, directly facing my family’s pavilion. Since childhood I secretly watched her bathe—no fewer than thirty to fifty times. Miss Liang knew about it. Many times she deliberately didn’t close the window. Tsk tsk, that tender skin and flesh could absolutely withstand kneading.”

Chen Shu unconsciously clenched his hands as if Miss Liang’s body was right between his two large hands.

“Now it’s all over. Big brother me has a large gash on his face. After going back I won’t be presentable. Having father go propose marriage is also impossible.”

Guo Ping helplessly patted Chen Shu’s shoulder saying: “You’re overthinking it. Duke E, Duke Yi—people who look like that could all get wives. Why shouldn’t you be able to marry a good wife?”

Having finished this sentence, both men froze. Chen Shu struck his head hard twice, eyes brimming with tears: “We’d need to survive first for that to be possible!”

“Just one day short. If the city wall hadn’t collapsed, if we had held on one more day, we could have lived. The damned heavens won’t give us a chance to survive, so let’s all die together.”

Chen Shu wiped away his tears with extreme embarrassment, lowering his head to rearrange his armor as a cover.

The great fire finally died out. A pale fish-belly white also appeared at the edge of the sky. Zhang Tingyue finally laid down Guo Xiaoke’s body, quietly saying to him: “Day has still broken. How is it I suddenly feel myself relaxing? Damn, looks like I’m about to die.”

He removed his crimson cloak and covered Guo Xiaoke with it, grabbed a jar of fire oil and poured it all over Guo Xiaoke’s corpse, then tossed in a torch and hurriedly walked to the front of the city wall, saying to the Wuli Commander: “If I die in battle and you’re still alive, remember to burn me with fire too.”

The Wuli Commander opened his mouth and laughed once: “It should be this humble officer opening the road for the Great General.”

The two men exchanged smiles. All the past unpleasantness in the army vanished without a trace.

“Elevation three, gunpowder crossbow ready! Three hundred paces, fire!” The commandant put down the telescope in his hand and waved the flag he held.

The familiar humming of the eight-ox crossbows rang out. The crossbow bolts once again shot out like lightning. As always, the eight-ox crossbows never disappointed, accurately delivering the crossbow bolts into the enemy crowds—penetrating, then exploding…

When the commandant once again shouted: “Elevation one, fire oil crossbow ready! One hundred paces! Fire!”

Following his voice, only a sparse dozen or so crossbow bolts shot out. The remaining eight-ox crossbows fell silent once more.

Since the Tang army had equipped eight-ox crossbows on a large scale, Turkic nobles no longer led charges, because they were the best crossbow bolt magnets on the battlefield.

The charging Turks, seeing the sparse fire oil crossbow bolts, froze for a moment, then began cheering: “The Tang have no crossbow bolts left!”

With a roar, the entire force accelerated their charge toward the city. In close-quarters combat with short weapons, whom had the Turks ever feared?

Chen Shu mechanically operated his powerful crossbow, having no idea where his crossbow bolts had flown or which enemy he had killed. Those enemies carrying ladders roared forward, making him feel as if he alone in the world was enduring the impact of thousands of troops and horses.

A tremendous boom startled him from his daze. He saw Guo Ping throwing gunpowder bombs into the crowds. Just as he lit the fuse, an arrow pierced through his shoulder. The gunpowder bomb fell onto the city wall, rolling everywhere with sparks.

A large foot kicked the gunpowder bomb away in one motion. Only then did Chen Shu discover Zhang Tingyue had surprisingly already reached his side. In that instant, both sides of the city wall had already fallen. Western Region men wearing leather armor roared and brandished steel blades, charging along the city wall.

Shooting out nine crossbow bolts in one breath, Chen Shu felt his two arms no longer had strength to pull the powerful crossbow’s bowstring. Discarding the crossbow and looking at the surging crowds below his feet, he gritted his teeth and removed the belt containing gunpowder bombs, lit all the fuses, then threw it down from the city wall. He could not hear the gunpowder bombs’ explosion. His helmet was struck twice by arrows in succession. Although both were deflected by the helmet, his two ears felt like they contained a great bell roaring—he could hear nothing.

Guo Ping lay on the ground, his body bristling with white-feathered arrows, as if feathers had grown all over his back. Each time Zhang Tingyue swung his mo dao, blood spray would burst forth. His entire person looked like he had been fished out of bloody water. Who knew whether it was his blood or the barbarians’ blood…

This was a fight to the death without rest. One side needed to fall completely before it would end. Chen Shu pulled out the plug of a fire oil barrel behind him, watching the fire oil gush from the barrel. He stood in the fire oil, letting white-feathered arrows strike his body with clanging sounds. Just a little more would be good—right where Guo Ping lay there was a cluster of flames.

The Turks retreated in terror, wanting to avoid the fire oil area. For this they did not hesitate to push their own companions off the city wall. A clearing rarely appeared around Chen Shu.

Guo Ping suddenly jumped up. Stepping on the fire oil everywhere, he embraced Chen Shu and tumbled down from the city wall. The great fire blazed up. Chen Shu watched helplessly as the fire oil ignited, watched helplessly as Zhang Tingyue, wreathed in flames, laughed loudly standing on the city wall swinging his mo dao, like the Fire God descended to the mortal world.

A strange thought leaped into Chen Shu’s mind: “Did I take out my own commander?”