The brutal sounds of slaughter came from ahead. He Xiao ran back with bloodshot eyes, shouting, “My Lady, Cheng Yuan’s army is blocking the path at Minxi Mountain. His Majesty’s troops have already passed through, and General Zhuge is at Thousand-Fathom Lake.”
The cold wind grew increasingly fierce, and bestial howls filled the land. Chu Qiao pressed her lips together, looking down at the blood-soaked He Xiao, and said slowly, “He Xiao, can you clear a path for me?”
“My Lady,” He Xiao knelt firmly on one knee, his tone resolute as he slowly said, “Our lives are yours. Please go with confidence. The two thousand warriors of the Southwestern Garrison will not let you down.”
An overwhelming wave of emotion suddenly rose from her heart. Looking at the determined soldiers behind He Xiao, Chu Qiao felt as if her heart was being boiled in scalding oil.
She had only saved their lives once before, and even that was because she feared Yan Xun would lose public support otherwise. Yet they had followed her without complaint ever since, rescuing her from desperate situations multiple times. Whenever she gave an order, right or wrong, they executed it without hesitation. They were her subordinates, her battle blades, her most loyal family. No matter what she did, they never betrayed her, always standing firmly behind her, pointing their blades at all enemies who threatened her.
This debt of gratitude was too heavy, weighing on her until she could hardly breathe. Chu Qiao jumped down from her horse, grasped He Xiao’s hand, and fighting back tears, said from the bottom of her heart, “He Xiao, thank you.”
“My Lady, to us, your safety is more important than the entire Western Continent. Even if heaven and earth are destroyed, mountains and rivers topple, as long as you remain, we have the confidence to persevere. So for our sake, please take care of yourself.”
Chu Qiao nodded silently. Her gaze swept across the faces of those inarticulate warriors one by one. Finally, she looked determinedly toward Minxi Mountain. At the snowy peak stood a majestic sacred temple where two goddesses stood back-to-back, their distant gazes watching over the entire Yan Bei territory, like two sacred beacons.
Chu Qiao leaped onto her war horse and saluted with her fist, her tone firm: “Everyone! I’m counting on you!”
The soldiers shouted in unison: “Take care, My Lady!”
The desolate wind lifted their flying fur coats. Chu Qiao gave a sharp command, and her war horse instantly galloped away. He Xiao led the soldiers closely behind, charging forward without hesitation toward that vast snowy plain.
The mournful sound of horns echoed across the land. Cheng Yuan led the Black Hawk Army, standing on the embankment outside Thousand-Fathom Lake, surrounding General Zhuge Yue’s forces of less than ten thousand. Countless arrows, like an erupting volcano, shot like lightning toward the troops on the ice in the middle of the lake.
Those crossbow bolts had all been modified and improved by Chu Qiao, with terrifyingly powerful force. Yue Da led the Yue Guards gathered around their commander. Those standing in front instantly became riddled with holes. Screams and wails spread across the land. Yue Nine raised his sword, wanting to charge forward and fight, but Cheng Yuan merely disdained him, continuously giving the order to shoot.
The Yue Guards’ bodies fell like toppling stalks of rice, row after row. Facing such power, they could not fight back. Yet despite this, the warriors continued to charge forward wildly, without shields, without cover, using their bodies to buy survival time for their commander.
Blood dyed the snow at the center of the lake, winding across the entire ice field. Because of Huo An’s intelligence, twenty thousand Black Hawk troops had set up an ambush here early on. This was no longer a battle but had devolved into a bloody massacre. Arrows flew like locusts, with sharp whistling sounds filling the entire space. The overwhelming disparity in strength and disadvantageous terrain left the Yue Guards completely unable to fight back. Death came like a tide, bodies gradually piling into a small mountain. Those not yet dead lay on the ground making tragic moans. Gradually, the figures inside were exposed, shadows becoming visible.
Cheng Yuan slightly licked his lips. He turned his head slightly, secretly looking at Yan Xun standing among the crowd.
Overwhelming military glory was before his eyes. The Great Xia Military Marshal who had dominated the northwestern continent was about to die by his hand. Cheng Yuan was so excited that his palms were slightly sweaty.
Just then, a sharp neigh of war horses suddenly came from the distance. A breach appeared in the southeast corner. Loud alarm bells rang in their ears. Someone had broken through, wielding a battle blade, dressed in black armor – the uniform of the Elegant Army.
“Southwestern Garrison!” someone in the army cried out in alarm. Cheng Yuan’s gaze instantly grew cold, and he said fiercely, “It’s them again!”
Just as he was about to order his archers to deal with the Elegant Army, a low voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Yan Xun had somehow walked forward, slowly saying in a deep voice, “Surround them, but don’t annihilate them.”
Cheng Yuan’s heart stirred, and he immediately bowed, saying, “As you command.”
“Stop!”
A clear, sharp voice suddenly rang out. Everyone looked up in surprise. In the southeast, a war horse suddenly reared up, leaping over the heads of the fighting soldiers, and landed on the battlefield with a thunderous sound. The young woman jumped down from her horse with a nimble movement and ran between the two armies, shouting, “Stop!”
Every warrior in the Black Hawk Army recognized her. Afraid of hitting her, they all stopped at once, turning to look at Yan Xun in fear.
“Yan Xun! Stop!” Chu Qiao stood in the center, her eyes fixed on him, shouting.
Yan Xun’s gaze was somber. After a long while, he slowly said, “A Chu, step aside!”
Chu Qiao slowly spread her arms, looking at him with clear eyes, saying firmly, “Kill me first, then.”
“Xing’er, step aside.”
A low, cool voice came from behind. Chu Qiao turned around quickly and saw Zhuge Yue standing in a pool of blood. The wound on his chest was bandaged with white cloth, but crimson blood continued to seep through. He looked at her, his gaze so calm, showing neither the heroism of facing death nor the anger of being ambushed. He still stood coldly and proudly among his decimated troops, fearlessly facing the Yan Bei soldiers.
Her eyes suddenly reddened. She stubbornly shook her head and said softly, “I’ve let you down.”
Heaven and earth were shrouded in endless flying snow, the vast whiteness highlighting the tragic red, like a dazzling, enchanting flower, blooming coldly on the icy plain.
The wind sounded behind her, and arrows pierced through the continuous snow mist. She turned back in panic, finally seeing Yan Xun drawing his bow behind her. The golden arrow came swiftly, and in the dim light, she could even hear the sound of it cutting through the air. She had nowhere to hide, no way to stop it. The cold wind penetrated her clothes, her entire heart freezing with piercing coldness. She watched helplessly as he shot this arrow of no return, like the hand of fate, cruelly grasping the figure in the wind and snow.
The scene burned her eyes slowly. The arrow grazed her neck, leaving a strange trail of blood, and struck Zhuge Yue’s freshly bandaged chest. A spray of blood instantly erupted, bursting with dazzling brilliance in mid-air. The scalding temperature of those blood droplets could even touch her cold face. Her breath stopped instantly. She stood there in a daze, looking at Zhuge Yue’s lonely figure in the cold wind. Blood filled her eyes, and everything before her turned crimson.
The sound of crossbows came again from behind. She turned back sharply, only to see Yan Xun’s iron-gray face. The man’s hand was like a sharp knife, held steady at his chest, seemingly about to swing down with force at any moment.
No longer caring about anything – dignity, and pride, all paled in comparison to the overwhelming terror and fear of this moment – she fell to her knees with a thud, frantically kowtowing to him. After just two bows, her forehead was already covered in blood. Tears streaming down her face, she cried out in grief, her hands outstretched in mid-air, vainly trying to block him.
“Yan Xun, please, please, no, Yan Xun, I beg you…”
Yan Xun looked at her, at her bloodied forehead, feeling a knife-like pain in his heart.
This woman had been the only comrade who followed him to death when he was lonely, desperate and had nothing. She was A Chu, who had accompanied him for eight years in that imperial city prison. He had once sworn to protect her for life, to give her a happy and peaceful life, to fulfill the wishes and dreams in her heart. Unfortunately, his past vows were ultimately to be broken by his hand.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, forming a faint smile, just like many years ago when she returned from outside and saw him bent over his desk writing. He raised his head and smiled gently at the young woman standing at the door, his smile under the lamplight as warm as spring water.
A Chu, I have never changed, but you never knew what I truly wanted.
And now, I must tell you my beliefs and aspirations in this way.
“Fire!”
The world suddenly became so quiet. Even the wind and snow seemed to have stopped. She could no longer hear any sound in her ears, only the birds flying through the sky, flapping their wings, passing over their heads, so light and free.
Twenty thousand Black Hawk soldiers mounted on horseback released their arrows simultaneously. Dense arrows covered the sunlight like clouds, and the sky instantly fell into darkness. A metal waterfall slid through the air, descending from the heavens. Arrow tails were tied with long ropes, arrowheads flashing with sharp barbs, shooting fiercely toward Zhuge Yue.
“Protect the General!” Yue Da, his body covered with arrows and one leg already cut off, leaped up like a fierce tiger, throwing himself in front of Zhuge Yue. The remaining Yue Guards, covered in blood, even if they had only one finger left, were crawling with all their might.
The arrows did not hit them but instead, like iron hands, plunged deep into the hard ice layer, barbs piercing the ice surface, gripping tightly. At Yan Xun’s command, twenty thousand war horses suddenly turned, rearing up with long neighs. Thousands of whips lashed down urgently, and the horses galloped away quickly, whinnying.
The ropes at the arrow tails instantly tightened, with continuous loud cracking sounds. The solid ice layer immediately collapsed, the surface shattered, and cold water surged up. Chu Qiao turned back in despair and, through the blood clouding her vision, watched helplessly as Zhuge Yue’s figure flashed and fell into the freezing water. The red water’s solid ice pierced into his skin with a ghastly crimson. His eyes looked at her, so calm, without hatred, without resentment, without joy, without despair. Just like many years ago, he looked at her expressionlessly, watching her move away again and again, betray him again and again, stand opposite him again and again, holding bow, crossbow, and sword, cutting toward his forehead.
She was a wound in his heart that could never heal, a wound breeding poison, already festering, decaying, penetrating to his marrow and flesh, incurable except by death.
Time was so urgent, too fast to catch by the tail. Chu Qiao opened her eyes wide in terror, kneeling on the ground, large tears silently rolling down. She feebly crawled forward two steps, like a panic-stricken doll, helplessly watching everything before her. Their gazes intertwined, slowly moving, sinking. The cold wind howled like a beast, sweeping across the snow on the ground, raising patches of tragic white mist between them, like white banners of departed souls.
The cold water covered his figure in an instant. She could no longer see those cold, indifferent eyes, no longer see that proudly raised chin, even his black hair flashed and disappeared, vanishing under the immense icy lake in this frozen world.
Chu Qiao opened her mouth wide, wanting to shout, but could make no sound. The cold wind filled her throat, and she began to cough violently. She struggled to stand up, staggering forward in large steps, and with a splash, jumped into the freezing lake.
So cold, cold like sharp ice spikes, stabbing fiercely into her feet and calves, into her waist and neck. She bent down and dived in, swimming with all her might, opening her eyes wide to search underwater. Sunlight shone from above into the deep water, struggling shadows constantly floated past her eyes, with the smell of blood echoing between the water waves.
No, no, still not him. She wept in despair, tears flowing down, mixing with the icy water and blood. Her face turned ashen, her body gradually stiffened, her movements no longer nimble. She felt someone grab her waist, someone pulling her up.
No, she didn’t want to go up. She drew the dagger from her waist, turning back to cut the rope that had somehow wrapped around her. But just then, a pair of cold hands suddenly pressed her wrist, so powerful, colder than the water, resolutely stopping her action.
Turning back as if by instinct, a handsome face suddenly appeared before her eyes: black eyes, pale lips, high nose. He looked at her intently, holding her hand, pushing her upward with force. Blood continuously flowed from his wound, entering Chu Qiao’s nose and mouth. She wept with joy, opening her arms to embrace him, gripping his hand tightly, wanting to pull him up with her.
Taking her dagger, Zhuge Yue pulled her hand, his fingers stroking her palm, repeatedly writing in disarray:
“Live on… live on… live on…”
“Come with me!”
She opened her mouth to shout vainly, only releasing a string of broken bubbles.
He shook his head slowly, continuing to write:
“Live on.”
Her tears fell madly, shaking her head desperately, holding onto him tightly.
Come with me! Come with me! Come with me and live!
I don’t want to go up alone, I don’t want to live my entire life in debt to you, I don’t want you to die, I don’t want it, I don’t want it!
The force around her waist continuously pulled her up. She was already frozen, only her fingers still tightly grasping him. She never knew that his death would make her so panicked. She never knew that he had already, unknowingly, penetrated so deeply into her heart. She never knew that so-called hatred was just an excuse she found for herself to avoid facing the truth. She never knew that seeing his departure would make her feel as if her heart was being cut by a knife, her body dismembered.
Zhuge Yue, Zhuge Yue, I beg you, I beg you, don’t be so cruel, don’t make me bear this burden of pain for a lifetime. If I cannot repay you, then let me use my life to accompany you in death, better than living in this world that has already made me despair!
The light grew stronger. She wept silently, tears blurring her vision. She could only see his gentle eyes, her fingers desperately hooking onto his arm. All the unspeakable words were transmitted through those straining fingertips. She continued to shake her head desperately, pleading in despair. In her daze, she regretted so deeply, regretted why she had spoken those words hidden in her heart for over a year to Yan Xun. Why had she provoked him? Why couldn’t she have humbled herself and pleaded earlier? If so, Zhuge Yue might not have died.
Pain and fear, like an endless abyss, gradually swallowed her. She held onto him, refusing to let go.
Zhuge Yue was still so handsome. For the first time in his life, he looked at someone so gently. Years of wishes, like a brief, pitiful dream, received a shallow response in an instant. He swam forcefully, gently upward, extending his arms to embrace her thin back, and then, at the corner of her mouth, left a gentle, cold kiss.
Tears burst forth instantly, mixing with the water and sticking to the corner of Zhuge Yue’s lips. Despair seemed to pierce her heart at that moment, cold water rushing in, filling the tunnels of her heart.
Her body was already completely stiff. The force on her waist continued to come, she slowly rose, slowly rose, her arms gradually straightening. Zhuge Yue slowly pried open her fingers that were gripping him tightly. The two hands finally separated, crossed, and grew further and further apart. Chu Qiao extended her arm feebly, watching him sink bit by bit, bit by bit. His clear gaze was submerged by the water waves, his warm lips as white as paper, darkness and cold all around.
In her heart was a wrenching pain. Daylight shot into the water, she could not see anything around, only his eyes remained, looking at her with gentleness and determination, seemingly still saying over and over: live on, live on…
Live on, don’t forget, you still have many wishes.
Once upon a time, she had said this to others, but suddenly looking back, she realized that another pair of eyes had been silently watching her from behind.
The moment she broke through the water, she felt she was already dead. Sunlight shone on her face, making her so dazed for a moment. Yan Xun anxiously held her, shouting her name loudly, but she could not hear anything at all. Everything about her had died in that icy lake below. What walked out now was just a cold body of flesh and blood.
The wind blew quietly on the snow plain, pale birds flew across the sky, the sun was about to set, the snowstorm had stopped, and the sun was as red as blood, casting ten thousand rays of red light in the direction of the setting mountain, so beautiful, so gorgeous.
But all of this, he would never see again.
She suddenly began to panic, her body miraculously gaining strength in an instant, making her push Yan Xun away without hesitation, staggering toward the broken ice. Yan Xun was greatly alarmed, catching up in a few steps to hold her tightly. She was less than five steps away from the shattered opening but was held tightly, unable to move forward even one step. Her despair and heartache came like an overwhelming tide, finally making her fall to her knees, unable to control herself, crying out in grief: “Come out! Come out!”
A mouthful of fresh blood suddenly spurted out, falling onto Yan Xun’s wrist. She collapsed to the ground in despair, her body trembling violently like a leaf in the autumn wind.
“A Chu!”
Yan Xun called her name by her ear, but she found that voice so grating at that moment. She suddenly turned back, stopping her grief, looking at him with cold eyes.
What kind of gaze was that?
Anger, hatred, disappointment, and sorrow, all slid past, finally leaving only ash-like despair and heartache. She looked at him, tears flowing down line by line, years of hope completely shattered, all perseverance and dreams turned to ashes.
Yan Xun’s previous worry, fear, and heartache finally cooled under this snow-cold gaze. He awkwardly released his hand, standing up, and looking down at her from above.
The earth raised a bitter cold wind, gradually covering her eyes with a pale color. Her consciousness gradually flew away. In her daze, she seemed to see those black eyes in the deep lake again.
Live on, live on, live on…
In the dimness, a deep voice sounded in her ear. She closed her eyes in despair, collapsing to the ground, falling into boundless darkness, only wishing for one long dream, never to wake again.
The cold wind continued, snowflakes were lifted up, slowly covering the broken ice surface. Heaven and earth were desolate, death was but a step away.