Translator: Ink Hub
Editor: Yoog

“You aren’t leaving?”

Xiao Shaoyou reached out with difficulty and patted Luo Yu’s shoulder. “I know your heart is aching because Yang’er is dead. Do you think I don’t feel it too? But the Qiang army has entered the city. Three of the gates have fallen. The situation is already beyond salvation. Staying in the city means nothing but death. We cannot hold it. It is absolutely impossible to hold.”

“If you want to leave, then leave.” Luo Yu’s expression was hauntingly calm. “I am staying.”

“What is the point?” Xiao Shaoyou frowned. “What can you do by staying alone? Do you intend to repel four thousand Qiang soldiers by your own strength alone?”

“I don’t have that kind of ability, but I will do my absolute best.” Luo Yu looked back at the dense, retreating crowd. “If you leave, I will never blame you. But if anyone is willing to stay with me, I thank you.”

“Luo Yu! You are being reckless!” Xiao Shaoyou finally grew anxious. “The gates are broken, and the disparity in strength is too great. How do you expect to repel the enemy?! You are clearly acting on emotion! You are gambling with the lives of our brothers! You are sending them to their deaths! I absolutely refuse to let you stay. Everyone must leave together! Only by surviving do we have a chance to reclaim Yunyang Pass. Only then can we avenge the dead civilians and our fallen comrades!”

Luo Yu’s voice suddenly spiked in volume. “But have you considered how many people will die if we retreat?! Once the Qiang enter the pass, how many will die inside?! The scenes of civilians being massacred will play out over and over again. Have you thought about that?”

Before this, his only wish had been to become a general and fulfill the Five-Year Pact. Influenced by his memories as a mercenary, he could be cold and heartless.

But at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to protect the people of this city.

Yang’er was dead, but how many more children like Le’er or Hu’er remained? How many more youths like him were about to face the slaughter of the Qiang?

Just walk away?

No!

“I know! My parents died right in front of me! How could I not know!” Xiao Shaoyou clenched his fists and cursed. “But the world is in chaos! The commoners are like straw dogs! This is simply how the world is! Do you think I want to watch so many people be killed? Do you think I don’t want to hold Yunyang Pass and protect our home and country? Tell me, how do we hold it! With just a few hundred of us, even if we throw our lives away, we can’t stop the Qiang. Tell me!”

The entire area fell into a dead silence. The sounds of slaughter echoing through the city seemed to vanish, leaving only the argument between the two young centurions in their ears.

It was Han Shuo who finally spoke to break the deadlock, “What time do you think it is? Stop arguing. I agree with Shaoyou’s suggestion. The Qiang are in high spirits and are fierce in battle. We cannot win. Retreating, gathering the routed troops, and waiting for reinforcements is the best choice.”

Han Shuo had fought for many years; he knew what the most correct decision was right now.

“Who says we can’t hold it!” Luo Yu appeared impulsive, but his mind was clear. “The Qiang are busy occupying Yunyang Pass. Their main force has already entered the city. But as the commander, Wanyan Chang must be stationed outside the city. I bet he doesn’t have many personal guards with him. To capture the bandits, first capture their king. As long as we kill him, the Qiang will naturally retreat!”

“Madness, you’ve truly gone mad!” Xiao Shaoyou stamped his feet in frustration. “Even if he has few guards, there must be at least a thousand riders. If you want to launch a sneak attack outside the city, you can only use cavalry. We can’t even scrape together two hundred riders here. You want to use two hundred to break through a thousand-man formation of Qiang cavalry?”

“Why not!” Luo Yu roared. “The clouds are thick and a northern gale is rising. There will be a torrential downpour soon. Once the rain falls, the sky will grow darker, and the torches will be extinguished. The battlefield will be in total chaos. How will the Qiang know we only have two hundred men? They are human, and so are we. They hold long spears and scimitars, but do we hold fire-stoking sticks? We are all men who stand tall; what is there to fear in a life-and-death struggle!”

Xiao Shaoyou froze. He didn’t argue further but instead began to carefully consider every word Luo Yu had said.

“If you ask me why I’m staying, I’ll give you a reason!” Luo Yu looked around at the crowd. “Today, we abandon Yunyang Pass. Yes, we can live on safely. But what about later? What happens the next time we face this situation? Do we keep retreating? Keep running? Fleeing city after city, until one day we abandon Que Prefecture and the entire Longxi? If you are afraid, you will always be afraid! If you run, you will always run! By then, the three provinces of Longxi will be scorched earth, and our families and parents will all be corpses. If a hundred die today, a thousand will die tomorrow, then ten thousand! I, Luo Yu, am cold and heartless, but I am unwilling to see that day! We are soldiers! We are the border army! How can we retreat again and again!”

In his past life as a mercenary, he had seen far too many dead people. Bloody corpses usually didn’t cause a ripple in his emotions. But seeing hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians piled together was something he could not stomach.

These people needed someone to protect them.

“If we don’t talk about the grand principles, let’s talk about the small ones!” Luo Yu waved his hand, gesturing to the entire alleyway. “Look! Look at the corpses around you! Auntie Zhang, Wang San’s wife… Normally, they looked after us with such care, treating you like their own sons. Now they’ve been murdered, and we’re just going to pat our asses and leave? Can we face them? If the people living here were your own families, would you still retreat? I want to avenge them. It’s that simple!”

Silence. A deathly silence.

Suddenly, a bolt of thunder tore through the sky, deafeningly loud. Pitter-pattering raindrops began to fall upon the mortal realm, wetting the robes, armor, horses, and scimitars of the soldiers.

The eyes of these rugged men turned red, their chests heaving. It was impossible to tell if it was rainwater or tears swirling in their eyes.

Luo Yu raised his spear and mounted his horse, shouting coldly, “Those willing to follow me, get on your horses! Those who want to live, protect the civilians, and retreat to the interior as quickly as possible. No one can guarantee survival in this battle, but even if I, Luo Yu, die, I will die on the path of killing the enemy!”

One man, one mount, he rode off into the distance.

The scene remained silent for a long time. No one spoke. Luo Yu’s back, though not particularly burly, looked incredibly resolute.

The first to speak was actually Shen Li. Clutching her small, battered axe, she roared with a voice that was almost a sob, “You’re all men here! Say something!”

“Damn it, let’s fight these bastards to the end!” Meng Hu snapped out of it, his eyes bloodshot as he jerked his reins. “Fuck! Brother Yu, wait for me!”

“I’m going too! Wait for me!” Dong Chuan, Little Wu, and a group of the veteran soldiers who had first followed Luo Yu all turned their horses, chasing after the receding figure.

Then Lu Qingyun raised his spear and mounted his horse, cupping his fists toward Xiao Shaoyou and Han Shuo. “The lives of those from the Slave Court aren’t worth much. Between dying on the battlefield or starving in the wilderness, we’d rather die like men. Brothers, see you in the next life!”

“Let’s go!”

“At most, it’s just one life!”

Roars erupted as all the cavalry under Luo Yu’s command departed, riding further and further away.

The cavalry under Xiao Shaoyou and Han Shuo grew restless, looking at their leaders with expectant eyes.

“What are you looking at me for!” Xiao Shaoyou roared. “Mount up! To battle!”

“Understood!”

With a thunderous shout, the cavalry all departed. The street became empty in an instant, leaving only a large number of infantry behind.

Han Shuo stared blankly. “I’ve fought for half my life, but this is the first time I’ve seen a scene like this. They’ve all gone mad.”

“Luo Yu is right. This battle can be fought. It’s nothing more than seeking victory amid danger.” Xiao Shaoyou clenched his fists. “Commandant Han, you have high prestige. Find the other centurions and commandants. Gather as many troops as possible. I will go mobilize the able-bodied civilians of the city to resist the enemy together. We will collapse all our forces into the city streets. Every alley and every house will be a battlefield. We’ll pin the Qiang down inside the city. As long as Luo Yu succeeds, we can win!”

“Alright!” Han Shuo flashed a savage grin. “Since you’ve all gone mad, I’ll join you in your madness!”

* * *

The rain grew heavier. Inside Yunyang Pass, the cries of battle shook the heavens as the scimitars of the Qiang continued to harvest the heads of the defenders and civilians. Suddenly, a cavalry unit charged across the battlefield, cutting a path in reverse and storming out of the west gate.

The unit was small in number, but a soaring killing intent rose from them.

Raindrops pattered against his face. Luo Yu remained expressionless, leveling his spear forward. “Fight with me!”

“Kill!”

The roar echoed into the clouds.

A hundred riders charged out of the border city, plunging into the enemy ranks under the cover of a rainy night!

NOTES
“Men who stand tall” (站着撒尿的汉子): Literally “men who piss standing up,” a common Chinese colloquialism for “real men” or “brave men.”

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