“This goddamn Tiger Leaping Gorge is freezing!”

Er’hu’s face had gone pale as he clutched the collar of his jacket tightly, his exhaled breath condensing into a white mist in the cold air.

He sat huddled before the campfire, his trembling hands instinctively reaching for the folding fan at his side. The moment he drew it out and snapped it open, the cold gust that fanned out made him shudder violently.

“G-goddamn it… I-I never should have come here…” Er’hu muttered, his body shaking as he folded the fan shut again.

Niuwang, who had grown a fuzzy tuft of new hair on his head, picked up a stick and poked at the branches and dry leaves beneath the campfire, then laughed heartily. “Er’hu brother, you really can’t handle the cold at all. We’re not even at the worst of it yet — the very top of Tiger Leaping Gorge is the coldest place. We’ve only reached the halfway point up the mountain!”

Er’hu stared at Niuwang with undisguised envy and resentment. Niuwang was wearing half as many layers and didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. “H-how are you not even cold…”

“Where I’m from is way colder than this. This is nothing!” Niuwang said with a carefree wave.

“H-how much colder?” Er’hu’s teeth were chattering. “C-can you describe it?”

“Describe it?” Niuwang pondered deeply, then organized his thoughts with great seriousness, gesturing with both hands as he spoke. “The cold here is like an icy wind blowing from outside, you understand? But back home, the cold seeps into your body like freezing pond water soaking right through you — now that is real cold…”

Niuwang thought of his hometown winters and shuddered at the memory, rubbing his arms.

“This is nothing… Back home, the cold is like dunking your family jewels into a bucket of ice water.”

Niuwang’s vivid and colorful description only made Er’hu tremble all the more violently.

“D-damn it all… No wonder Da Hu and Xiao Hu ended up in the main forces. I haven’t even been killed by the enemy yet, and I’m going to freeze to death out here in the middle of nowhere…”

“Er’hu brother, just bear with it. At least you’re sitting in front of the campfire — look at our general. He moved himself outside to make sure more soldiers could have a spot by the fire!” Niuwang said earnestly.

Er’hu shut his mouth in sullen silence and stopped complaining.

Niuwang held both hands toward the flames to warm them, rubbed his palms together vigorously, then stood and walked toward a tent at the outer edge of the temporary camp.

The tent was far from the central campfire, and the air inside was bitterly cold. On the frozen ground, a rough map had been carved out of stones, its outline vaguely resembling the shape of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Li Wu sat before this crude map, deep in thought, idly turning a sharp triangular stone over in his hands. His two younger brothers flanked him on either side, sitting like a pair of dedicated door gods.

The tent flap was lifted, and cold air rushed in. All three raised their heads at once.

Niuwang said in his gruff voice, “Master, I’ll take your place. Go inside and warm yourself by the fire.”

“I don’t need to.” Li Wu looked at the frailer of his two brothers. “Que’er, you go.”

“I’m not cold.” Li Que shook his head and squinted with a grin. “There’s a giant furnace right here.”

Li Que slipped his hand under the neck of the drowsy Li Kun. Half-asleep Li Kun startled awake, but seeing it was Li Que trying to steal his warmth, he simply closed his eyes again and went back to dozing.

“Go do a circuit of the outer perimeter,” Li Wu said. “See who can’t hold on any longer and let them come warm up by the fire. Once it’s light, we move out again. Not a single person gets left behind.”

Niuwang sighed, accepted the order, and left.

Li Que looked down at the rough map on the ground and picked up where they had left off.

“If the reinforcements just needed someone to guide them, a small detachment would have been more than enough. Fu Xuanmiao specifically sent Li Qia’s trusted aides to serve as escorts — that was entirely unnecessary. I think there may be a Liao army ambush waiting at the summit. What does Elder Brother think? Should we send a few scouts ahead to test the waters?”

Li Wu shook his head. “We already have scouts at the front. Sending more men is unnecessary.”

“I keep feeling… this operation is not straightforward.” Li Que’s expression grew grave. “Fu Xuanmiao’s intent seemed to be to draw away Li Qia’s most trusted men. He may be planning something during the counteroffensive.”

Li Wu said nothing, his gaze fixed intently on the map.

Assuming this was not Li Qia’s paranoia running wild, assuming he hadn’t been flattering himself — if Fu Xuanmiao’s string of actions truly had him as their target, then what was Fu Xuanmiao’s real objective?

Fu Xuanmiao had singled out Li Qia’s trusted subordinates at the military council, ordering them to lead their troops to escort the reinforcements. The immediate consequence was that Li Qia grew wary and pulled his trusted forces in tightly around himself.

On the surface, it appeared that Fu Xuanmiao’s plan had failed.

But considered from the opposite angle — what if this had been his true intention all along?

If Fu Xuanmiao’s first intent was genuine, then his goal was to divide and strike. If his true intent was the latter, then his goal was to sweep up everything in a single net.

…At a moment like this?

Emperor Yuanlong had appointed Fu Xuanmiao as the supreme commander of the allied forces. If the allied forces were defeated, he could not escape responsibility. The Zhenchuan Army was the backbone of the coalition and wholly loyal to Li Qia. If Li Qia were to meet with misfortune, morale would inevitably crumble, and the already uncertain outcome of the battle would become even more unpredictable.

If Fu Xuanmiao was in his right mind, he would absolutely not move against Li Qia at a time like this.

“Is there something…” Li Wu stared hard at the map, his brow deeply furrowed, almost murmuring to himself. “Something that could strike at the enemy while also eliminating the thorn within one’s own ranks… a way to achieve both at once?”

He had posed an unanswerable question.

Li Que fell into silence, a deep crease forming between his brows.

Without either of them noticing, a faint light began to creep across the sky.

The ten-thousand-strong force packed up their gear and set out once more on the treacherous ascent.

No one knew what awaited them at the top — reinforcements, or an enemy army.

Tiger Leaping Gorge was barren of all vegetation. Its sheer cliff faces were like the blade of a great sharp sword, its point aimed at an unreachably distant blue sky. Dust swirled beneath the soldiers’ feet, kicked up before it could settle, only to be thrown aloft again by the footfalls that followed — like a long, narrow column of smoke, trapping the weary and uneasy troops within.

The vast sky was clear and dry, without even a trace of mist or cloud, yet the soldiers’ faces glistened with moisture. Great drops of sweat ran down foreheads and chins, vanishing into the cracked, parched earth below.

Li Wu had lent his horse to a soldier suffering an asthma attack and was making his way through the column on foot, raising his already hoarse voice to call out words of encouragement.

In the distance, range upon range of mountains shifted color under the ever-climbing sun — first dark blue-green, then a vivid emerald, and finally fading to a smear of burnt orange brushed at the edge of the sky.

The light was beginning to die.

After the long and grueling march, the army finally crested the highest point of Tiger Leaping Gorge just before the sun sank below the horizon.

An endless, sweeping plain stretched out before them. Empty. Not a soul in sight.

The soldiers who had toiled so hard to reach this point exchanged bewildered looks.

Li Que led a detachment of cavalry forward to scout. Half a shichen later, he came riding back and approached Li Wu at the head of the column, his expression grave as he shook his head.

The army waited at Tiger Leaping Gorge for a long while. They waited as the sun sank fully behind the mountains, as moonlight spilled across the earth at their feet. Still no reinforcements came.

The temperature dropped lower and lower. Soldiers standing in place could not help but bring their hands to their mouths, blowing into them for warmth.

No reinforcements. No enemy.

It was like summoning all one’s strength to throw a powerful punch, only to shatter nothing but air. All that awaited them at Tiger Leaping Gorge was emptiness.

Li Wu left the column and walked alone to the edge of a cliff not far off.

“Elder Brother…” Li Que rode up. “There are clearly no reinforcements coming. Should we start heading down before it gets completely dark? We need to at least make it back to the halfway point — it’s too cold at the summit. No one can hold out much longer…”

“That’s wrong…” Li Wu stood motionless at the cliff’s edge, seemingly deaf to Li Que’s voice, his brow knit tight.

Li Que paused, then simply dismounted and strode quickly to Li Wu’s side.

He followed Li Wu’s gaze outward. In the dim light of the changing of day to night, the faint outline of a town flickered in and out of view.

By now, the allied forces should have already launched their counteroffensive.

“Elder Brother, we…” Li Que started to speak, then stopped.

Li Wu stared fixedly at the distant forests and mountains, running back through the map of the area around Tiger Leaping Gorge in his mind.

He searched within it for the missing link.

What was there that could both strike at the allied forces and pull out the thorn that was Li Qia?

If it were him… if it were him…

The map in his mind expanded rapidly, widening and widening, until —

A bolt of clarity split through the fog in his mind like a thunderclap.

Li Wu’s expression changed violently.

“This is bad!”

“Elder Brother, what’s wrong—”

Before Li Que’s words were out, a deep, rolling thunder swallowed them.

Every soldier on Tiger Leaping Gorge looked up in unison. Yet overhead, the sky was a vast and cloudless expanse, utterly calm. Where could thunder be coming from?

The thunder came from the ground.

The rumbling sound surged and heaved like a sea in upheaval. Tiger Leaping Gorge trembled under the roar that rose from deep within the earth.

Soldiers stumbled and fell to their knees in panic, one after another.

Li Wu and Li Que still stood at the cliff’s edge. Neither spoke. Neither blinked.

They watched as a silver band came plunging down from above, and in an instant, swallowed the town that had still been glittering with lights a moment before.

In the span of a single breath, the town became a vast expanse of water. Its lights and its rooftops vanished together beneath the waves.

Wind swept across Tiger Leaping Gorge.

From the silent gorge, it blew out toward the silent dark.

…

“The dam has broken! Run——”

The soldier’s cry was cut short as the rushing torrent swallowed him whole.

Xiao Hu clenched her teeth and clung with all her strength to a tree that was half-buried under the water’s surface. Within moments, the surging waves had swept away two Liao soldiers and one Yan soldier from around her.

The floodwaters made no distinction between friend and foe, sweeping away every life in sight with absolute impartiality.

The sky had already turned dark. This was supposed to be the hour of the planned counteroffensive.

The sudden deluge tore across the battlefield. Waves reeking of water weeds and mud swallowed the golden fields, crested over the heads of soldiers on both sides, crashed over the towering city gates of Shangzhou, and surged on with unstoppable force toward whatever lay beyond.

No one knew what had happened. Before they could think to find an answer, their breath was cut off by the rocking, churning water.

The bark that Xiao Hu had been gripping suddenly gave way. She plunged into the water before she could even cry out.

River water carrying a faint, rank smell poured into her mouth. Xiao Hu swallowed several mouthfuls helplessly before she managed to fight her way back to the surface, only to find she had been carried far from the tree she had been clinging to, which was nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Hu was like a rootless drifting weed, swept along by the current with nowhere to turn.

Darkness descended over everything. Screams of despair rose from all directions.

A thunderous crash rang out — the sound of Shangzhou’s city gates collapsing under the force of the flood.

Xiao Hu was being carried closer and closer to Shangzhou’s gates in the torrent, the sounds from within the city growing louder with every moment.

A wave crashed over her. Xiao Hu held her breath and sank, then rose and fell several times before surfacing again. She flung the water from her face and opened her eyes. Through the drops still raining down, she could make out the half-standing crimson city gates of Shangzhou.

Every candle flame that had ever been a symbol of human civilization was extinguished.

A cold, solitary crescent moon looked on from the night sky without expression.

Women’s cries, children’s wailing, men’s howling, the pleading of the elderly — all sounds merged together, composing the music of hell.

“What are you staring at?! Give me your hand!”

A great shout pulled Xiao Hu back to her senses.

Da Hu was wrapped tightly around a large tree, eyes wide and blazing as he stretched out his right hand toward her.

Xiao Hu hesitated for a moment, then, before the current could carry her away, seized Da Hu’s hand with all her strength.

Da Hu heaved with all his might and hauled her up into the tree.

“Hold on tight — don’t you dare let go!” Da Hu’s face had gone ashen. He shouted, “Have you seen any of the others?”

Xiao Hu, her own face white as a sheet, shook her head.

“Damn it all!” Da Hu swore.

In this counteroffensive, the Qingfeng Army had sent five thousand soldiers — and of those five thousand, more than three thousand had come from his mountain stronghold. They were people connected to him by blood and bond!

Xiao Hu caught her breath and asked, “Why… did you save me?”

“At a time like this, who has the leisure to think that far ahead!” Da Hu scowled. “You’ve got more than your share of quick thinking — save it for figuring out what we do now!”

“…What use is quick thinking in a situation like this?” Xiao Hu gave a bitter smile.

Da Hu fell silent, his expression dark.

The rumbling continued at the edge of the sky. The furious current showed no sign of weakening, as though it would go on forever without end.

The water level at their feet kept rising. There was no safe ground anywhere.

The great tree they had climbed was already swaying under the assault of the current.

The trunk could not bear the weight of two people. Cracks had already begun to appear beneath Xiao Hu’s feet.

“Elder Brother… is there anything in this life you regret?”

“What kind of time do you think this is to say something like that!”

“Does Elder Brother have any regrets?” Xiao Hu pressed.

Waves and spray beat relentlessly against both their faces.

Da Hu bellowed, “My only regret is that I didn’t leave behind any offspring before I died!”

Xiao Hu broke into a grin. “Elder Brother, if you survive this, you absolutely must remember to find yourself a woman with good hips and father plenty of children, just to be safe.”

“That depends on whether I live through this…” Da Hu muttered, then looked at his drenched younger sibling, hair half-tied and half-loose. “What about you? What do you regret?” he said. “Whichever one of us survives, let that one fulfill the other’s dying wish. If I die, you help me find a good-hipped woman and have children. If you die, Elder Brother will make sure your wish comes true. What is your wish?”

“…Elder Brother’s wish is a bit beyond my power to fulfill. You’ll have to handle that one yourself.” Xiao Hu smiled, her right hand moving to the sachet at her waist. “You help me…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She paused, and the hand resting on the sachet fell back to her side.

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

A sudden, bad feeling crept over Da Hu. “You…”

Before he could finish, Xiao Hu released her grip on the tree trunk.

“You saved me once. I’ll save you once.”

“Xiao Hu!”

Da Hu’s hand shot out by reflex, but what remained in his palm was only the damp air.

With her back to the savage, merciless torrent, Xiao Hu grinned at him as she fell through the air. Her half-bound topknot was half-undone, wet black hair clinging to her delicate jawline — and in that moment, Da Hu caught a glimpse of something in her that was entirely a young girl’s softness.

He was instinctively startled into stillness, and in that split second, the waves closed over his younger sibling’s figure.

The sounds at the surface gradually receded from her.

Waves churned above Xiao Hu’s head. The bodies of people and animals floated all around in the murky darkness. One rooftop after another sank below the waterline. She stared at it all in a daze, the sachet she had never managed to deliver clutched in her hand.

The sachet contained a slip of paper bearing her name, but no safe address.

For her, no such place existed in the world.

Even if she were reduced to a letter of condolence, there was no one to deliver it to. If she died, it seemed no one would weep for her.

What a shame…

Xiao Hu gazed upward as the light above grew dimmer and dimmer, a look of quiet melancholy on her face.

It was a pity that even now, on the eve of death, she still had not figured out whether she was a man or a woman.

If people had another life to live…

The water rippled before her eyes. All at once, she gave a self-mocking laugh.

This life had been too exhausting. Better not to have another one.