Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Military flags lined the walls of Yunyang Pass, and the sound of war drums shook the heavens. A massive number of garrison soldiers climbed the battlements with weapons in hand, creating an aura of grim solemnity.

With all the outer fortresses abandoned, it was expected that the Qiang would drive deep into the territory and reach the city gates. However, they arrived faster than anyone had imagined.

The three generals ascended the walls, their expressions tense. But after seeing the Qiang force outside, they breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was not a full-scale invasion; only a troop of five hundred scouts appeared outside the city.

Even with only five hundred men, these Qiang soldiers let out constant, ghostly shrieks. Insults echoed incessantly, and they even dared to gallop their horses close to the walls to provoke the defenders. This behavior caused the faces of the soldiers across the city to turn red with fury.

With nearly 5,000 defenders inside the city, the Qiang treated them with utter contempt.

“Damn it! This is too much!” Kong Xian roared in fury.

“They are but a small vanguard. How dare they be so arrogant? If we do not crush their spirit, where is the dignity of our Great Qian Border Army!

“General Jun, General Li, what do you think?”

Being asked in public, the two naturally found it hard to disagree. They cupped their fists simultaneously.

“We await General Kong’s orders!”

“Good!”

Kong Xian gave a grand wave of his hand.

“Beat the drums! Meet them in battle!”

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Amid the rumbling drums, the gates of Yunyang Pass swung wide. Three military formations were deployed outside the city. Kong Xian, along with the Jun and Li families, each sent five hundred men. They were mostly infantry, supported by a small number of cavalry.

The three formations supported one another. Kong Xian’s troops were at the very front, while the Jun and Li families guarded the flanks.

Despite the Qian army’s superior numbers, the Qiang soldiers were not afraid at all. After circling the perimeter twice, they charged straight at the central formation. Tall horses galloped at high speeds, their shouts never ceasing.

Before the horses arrived, a rain of arrows preceded them.

Every Qiang soldier drew their bow and loosed. The first wave of arrows rained down. The Qian soldiers raised their shields high to block the barrage, but some were still struck and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

“Counterattack! Loose arrows!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Qian soldiers did not simply take the beating lying down. The troops hidden behind the shields constantly loosed arrows at the Qiang, but it was almost futile. The Qiang moved with extreme speed, making it difficult for the volley of arrows to hit them.

The Qiang did not charge the formation directly. Instead, they circled several times, making full use of their horse archery to whittle down the soldiers. For some reason, they focused entirely on Kong Xian’s troops, ignoring the formations on the flanks.

Watching the casualties of his own formation increase, Kong Xian’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Generals, should your men not close in toward the center?”

Li Chengxiao spoke up quickly, “General, the Qiang are masters of horse archery, and their cavalry moves fast. The enemy’s full strength is unknown. The formation must not be moved rashly. Let us see what the Qiang do first.”

Kong Xian cursed their treachery in his heart. The two families clearly intended to sit on the sidelines and watch the tiger fight.

After several rounds of horse archery, the Qiang finally launched a frontal assault. Hundreds of elite riders surged forward. In a single charge, they pierced through the shield wall at the front. The frontline soldiers screamed as blood and flesh flew. The ferocious Qiang riders charged into the formation, slaughtering everyone in their path.

Watching from the side, Luo Yu’s brow was tightly knit. This was the first time he had seen a large troop of Qiang attack an infantry square. Even with five hundred men, cavalry was far stronger than infantry.

In only a short time, Kong Xian’s troops had lost over a hundred men, but the Jun and Li forces remained motionless. Kong Xian paced in circles with anxiety. Although he was the commander in name, the troops of the two families did not listen to his orders.

Xiao Shaoyou said coldly, “You asked me before if the three forces could work together with one heart. Do you have your answer now?”

Luo Yu fixed his gaze. He could see through the Jun and Li families’ intentions at a glance. They clearly wanted to let Kong Xian exhaust the Qiang’s strength first. Once the Qiang were tired, they would charge in to snatch the credit.

After fighting for a long time, the Qian soldiers finally could not hold. The formation showed signs of collapsing. If the square broke completely, what followed would be a massacre.

Kong Xian glared at Li Chengxiao and Jun Yi and shouted in rage, “How much longer do you two intend to watch! Do you plan to disobey orders on the battlefield?”

“Ah, General Kong, do not be anxious. We are moving now!”

Li Chengxiao stood with his hands on his hips and roared with righteous indignation.

“Soldiers! Slaughter these Qiang rebels and restore our military might!”

“Kill!”

Only then did the two wave their command flags. The left and right formations moved toward the center simultaneously, using their absolute advantage in numbers to surround the Qiang.

The Qiang were not made of mud either. Even while surrounded, they continued to fight. Soon, the three formations were tangled in a mess. Nearly two thousand men were engaged in a chaotic melee on the plains outside the city. Although the Qian soldiers had the numerical advantage, they were unable to kill many Qiang.

Luo Yu’s brow furrowed slightly. A three-to-one advantage, and they were fighting like this? It was embarrassing.

“Something isn’t right,” Xiao Shaoyou murmured.

“With only five hundred riders, how do they dare to fight us like this? Even if they win, what could they achieve? With such a small force, they surely don’t expect to break Yunyang Pass. Based on the nature of the Qiang, they should have broken out after a single charge.”

“There is only one possibility,” Luo Yu said coldly. “These five hundred men are bait.”

Rumble!

Boom!

Sure enough, as soon as his voice fell, the earth in the distance began to vibrate. An endless tide of Western Qiang cavalry appeared in everyone’s sight, their momentum unstoppable.

The faces of the three generals changed instantly. If so many cavalry surrounded them, the soldiers outside the city would be slaughtered to a man.

“It’s over! We fell for a trap!”

Before Kong Xian could give the order, Li Chengxiao shouted sharply, “Retreat! Retreat immediately!”

“Withdraw!”

The troops of the Jun and Li families were on the outer edges, so they could leave easily. They turned and fled, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Kong Xian’s five hundred men were left in a dire situation, trapped by the Qiang and unable to leave. 

Kong Xian roared in fury, “Li Chengxiao! How can you fight like this?! You ignore the lives of your comrades! Your men have left, but what about mine!”

Li Chengxiao said with a cold face, “General Kong, losing five hundred men is better than losing fifteen hundred, is it not? This is a battlefield, not a place to talk about sentiment!”

“You—!”

Kong Xian was speechless with rage. Luo Yu’s face was dark. He had finally witnessed the chaotic state of Yunyang Pass; these three were not of one mind at all.

“General, I will go rescue them!”

“Good! Be careful!”

Faced with such a crisis, Xiao Shaoyou actually stepped forward. He led his hundred cavalry out, charging headlong into the battlefield.

Luo Yu watched the battle with his arms crossed, quite interested. This was the first time he had seen Xiao Shaoyou lead men into a fight.

Xiao Shaoyou’s troops were all cavalry, and every man wore iron-clad armor on their chest. Their horses were powerful. In terms of equipment alone, they were far superior to Luo Yu. Luo Yu could not help but drool at the sight.

“Hah!”

Xiao Shaoyou took the lead, thrusting his spear and knocking a Qiang rider off his horse. The spear tip pierced through the chest and came out the back. The corpse fell heavily to the ground. He was incredibly brave.

“Carve a path! Infantry, retreat!”

A hundred elite riders followed closely behind him, circling the battlefield for half a turn. They slammed into the Qiang from the left. Every man held a long spear, and the unit formed a long dragon as they charged, covering the retreat of their comrades.

Two Qiang soldiers saw the situation and fixed their eyes on Xiao Shaoyou, flanking him from the left and right. Xiao Shaoyou did not even look at them. He swept his spear, striking the Qiang until they spat blood and retreated. He followed up with two more thrusts to their chests. The entire movement was fluid, and two more corpses fell beneath his spear.

Just as he finished on the left, Xiao Shaoyou turned and circled to the right. He crashed through their ranks, and the Qiang cavalry formation, which had held for so long, began to collapse. Combined with the fact that they were already exhausted from the long battle, they could not withstand this desperate charge. They were forced to retreat to their main army.

“A true talent.”

Luo Yu nodded repeatedly as he watched the charge. Xiao Shaoyou’s spear technique was excellent, and he fought with his brain, knowing where the Qiang formation was weak. He used his strength perfectly. His cavalry could be considered elite; at least they were much better at fighting than any other cavalry in the city.

A moment later, the battlefield returned to silence. With Xiao Shaoyou’s protection, the remnants finally retreated into the city, but they had already lost over half their numbers. The casualties were heavy. Kong Xian’s face was iron-blue, and he looked as though he wanted to slap Li Chengxiao to death.

Wooo!

Wooooo—!

Amid the loud and shrill horn blasts, thousands of Qiang soldiers finished their deployment. The dark, vast formation exuded a suffocating pressure.

In the eyes of the defenders, a force of several thousand cavalry was enough to trample everything.

In the center of the formation, a military flag stood against the wind. On it was written the name “Wanyan.”

The three generals were shocked at the same time.

“Wanyan Chang! It’s actually him!”