Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Gu Shenwei abruptly realized that nearly half of his spear had been destroyed, and that he had lost the spearhead a long time ago. The end of the spear was now dyed black by congealed blood. With this headless spear, he had still killed many enemies.
He threw his spear away and whipped out his Five Peaks Saber instead. Vigilance suddenly rose in his mind – the sounds of bugle horns and yelling seemed to be much weaker than before. He turned his head back and saw that only a small procession of about 3,000 men at the most remained.
Long Fanyun was still among the troops, holding the Red Crow Flag. The look on his face was so firm and persistent that it almost seemed a little numb, as if he had forgotten everything besides holding the flag and marching on.
The wind was blowing hard and the air was filled with sand, which made these soldiers feel that their enemies were everywhere. Those in the front were trying to dodge, but those in the back were pursuing and shooting at enemies. The formation of the Dragon Army was like an unwinding thread, growing thinner and thinner with every passing second, even as it became more and more disordered.
He was leading his soldiers to their deaths.
But Gu Shenwei remained composed. He didn’t change their direction right away, but instead kept charging and fighting. Gradually, in a curved route, he started moving in what he deemed to be west.
A faint image of a giant flag emerged in the front. It was taller and bigger and was fluttering in the wind like a strange bird fighting against the furious gusts of wind.
That was where Luoluo was.
Groups of soldiers were rushing out from under that flag, and both their uniforms and weapons were markedly different from that of common soldiers.
The distance was so short that Gu Shenwei was greatly tempted. There was no deep resentment between him and Luoluo, and he wouldn’t even necessarily be the greatest beneficiary even if he managed to kill him. However, it was as if he had been possessed by a demon, and he felt an irresistible compulsion to charge at Luoluo and Zhang Ji just to show them the saber in his hand.
After turning his head back to glance at his army, he ultimately chose to change directions instead of charging directly at that flag.
But that urge was still there, so he put away the Five Peaks Saber, grabbed a short cavalry bow out of the sack on his left side, and nocked an arrow.
Even though he didn’t have a good view of the target, Gu Shenwei lowered the bow. After steadying himself by pressing his left hand on the saddle, he slowly stood up on the horse’s back, reloaded the bow, and aimed for that giant flag which almost seemed to be intentionally provoking him.
Although Gu Shenwei had learned some simple archery in Golden Roc Castle, he had never been a master. And he had no previous experience of shooting from horse’s back, but he had to give it a shot.
Though the Luoluo’s giant flag was erected on a pole as thick as an adult’s thigh, it looked like a small wooden stick from a hundred steps away, and an arrow couldn’t even reach that far if it was shot by an ordinary person.
But the soldiers behind the Dragon King suddenly understood his intention. The Bugle sounds and yells instantly doubled in volume as if there were not two or three thousand there, but tens of thousand of men.
Luoluo’s soldiers, who were flocking over to intercept their enemies, also suddenly understood the Dragon King’s intentions, and almost all of them started shooting at the Dragon King who was standing on his horse’s back.
The gusts of wind changed the trajectories of the arrows, but also made them more difficult to dodge, since nobody knew where those arrows were aimed at.
Standing on his horse’s back like a statue, Gu Shenwei ignored the sharp arrows that shot past him constantly. He wanted to draw the bow with his full strength, but he was worried that the string would break, so he instead steadied his breath, kept it at the same pace as the gallop of the horse. He then imbued that fragile arrow with his Qi as he gauged the influence of the wind.
After the battle, the soldiers on both sides would deem this scene a miracle, claiming that there were hundreds of thousands of arrows shooting at the Dragon King, as if there had been more than half of Luoluo’s troops near the flag. And there would also be some people who said that the reason why those arrows missed their target was because a giant hand had appeared in the air and pushed the arrows aside. In those rumors, even the giant roc – which actually had never shown up – had joined the battle and parried those arrows aside for the Dragon King.
All of these people who spread these rumors were soldiers who had actually been there, and their remarks sounded positive and untenable. But in fact, the strong wind made the greatest contribution towards the Dragon King’s survival. The more desperately those cavalrymen who were trying to protect the flag tried to shoot their target, the wider those arrows flew off of their mark. The wind was constantly changing, and even experienced cavalrymen were not able to respond appropriately.
Also because of the strong wind, Gu Shenwei’s first shot missed and the arrow disappeared into the dusty air, nowhere to be found.
As soon as those yells which were either disappointed or delighted sounded out, Gu Shenwei took another shot, after slightly adjusting his aim, and before the wind changed.
The second arrow left the string and shot forward with a whooshing sound. It was said that the Dragon Army slowed down, and that the enemies stopped shooting while the arrow was flying. Almost everybody was looking at that arrow and their eyes were still fixed on the flag even after the arrow disappeared into the dusty air.
Every survivor said that they had had a strong premonition at that moment.
Gu Shenwei sat back into the saddle and never turned his head again, so he was the only one who didn’t see the giant flag tilt and fall down at an extremely slow speed.
The Ying and Yang Qi he had imbued the arrow with had shattered the flagpole.
The scene of Luoluo’s giant flag falling down was engraved in many people’s mind. In fact, when the Dragon King loosed his arrow, nobody had expected that the arrow would hit the target, much less break the thick flagpole.
The volleys of arrows shooting down from all directions were not as fierce as before, but the enemy didn’t stop shooting. Gu Shenwei knew this better than anyone because he had been shot in the waist.
The giant flag was a symbol. Even if most of the soldiers in the distance couldn’t see it, this didn’t make it any less important. Before the flag fell, the chaos had come from the enemies – the unexpected invasion of the Dragon Army. As the situation became clearer, the chaos had started subsiding.
But after the flag fell, the chaos spread out from the inside. The generals lost their aim, and they didn’t know where their centerwas , so the chaos rippled throughout the whole army. It was unstoppable and irreversible.
Even as the chaos expanded, the Dragon Army troops were still in danger. The enemies were outflanking and shooting at them, and their casualties increased with each passing moment.
It was at this time that Dugu Xian and the Middle Corps arrived.
In the rear of the allied forces, nobody had any hopes of winning this battle. All they could remember was the conflicts between the Commander-in-chiefs. In Duodun’s eyes and the encampment of the Left Corps, there was only destruction and crushing defeat; he couldn’t believe the truth before his eyes.
“Impossible!” his voice was still so resonant that it drowned out the roar of the wind. “Luoluo cannot circle around the Naihang Tribe. It must be that the troops in the front failed to handle things appropriately and started a conflict with the Naihang Tribe’s army. Liman! It was him! The Dragon King must have bribed him, and so he deliberately ruined my big plan.”
Liman had never been at the front at all, but nobody dared to pointed out this contradiction.
Mo Chu was also startled, but he didn’t lose control of himself. “Apparently, the Naihang Tribe’s slier than we thought. They made way for Luoluo. I think – ”
Duodun abruptly turned around, grabbed a companion by the neck, and questioned him with a ferocious look. “You said that the Naihang Tribe surrendered. You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?”
It was this companion who had delivered the good news to the prince before the scouts could, and that was why he had been allowed to stay by the prince’s side, but he didn’t expected that his fortune would change so soon. “Yes, yes. I saw it myself – I heard – Liman – the scout – ”
Duodun squeezed his neck harder and harder as he question, “Did you – or did you not – see it yourself!?”
Nobody dared to speak any more. Mo Chu gave out two coughs and said to Mo Lin, “I think that there’s no more need for us to stay here. The die have been cast. After the Left Corps were defeated, the Right and Middle will undoubtedly be defeated as well. Just give the order to retreat.”
Mo Lin didn’t reply. He jumped off of his horse, walked to Duodun’s side, and forced his arms open, letting that companion limply fall down. “He’s already dead. Please come with me, Your Highness.”
The ferocity in Duodun’s eyes didn’t weaken a bit. He struggled, but couldn’t move at all. “Let go of me!” he ordered.
Staring back at him, Mo Lin enunciated each word. “Please come with me, Your Highness. Let’s go back to Heaven’s Pass.”
“Ha.” Duodun finally understood the old Khan’s wing guard’s intention. “If you want to save your family, you have to do what I tell you to – Ah!”
Mo Lin exerted a greater strength.
Duodun screeched, and felt that his arms were about to break, but he soon managed to suppress the pain. “Guards…”
Mo Lin released his right hand’s grip on Duodun and struck his acupoint, then he propped the limp prince up. “Get the Second Consort.”
If the bad news hadn’t come, the guards would have stopped Mo Lin before he could even walk in front of Duodun. But now everybody was panic-stricken, nobody had come to Duodun’s help when he was humiliated.
“His Highness has ordered that the Second Consort be imprisoned in the tent. She’s not allowed to come out,” a general said in a low voice.
Mo Lin pointed at the sky. “Before a new Khan is elected, the Second Consort is the Second Consort. No prince has the power to imprison her. And now, she is the master of the Left Corps.”
The old Khan’s wing guard’s explanation sounded reasonable, so a group of soldiers immediately went to release the Second Consort, and some of them even never came back.
Riding a horse, the Second Consort hurriedly arrived. She jumped off the horse like a man and ran to Duodun.
“His Highness panicked and passed out when he heard that Luoluo’s army was coming. He’ll be fine,” said Mo Lin.
The Second Consort was slightly relieved. She tried to pull Duodun to her, but failed. Staring at old Khan’s wing guard who refused to loosen his grip, the Second Consort loosened her own. “If you the one protecting Prince Duodun, that’d be for the best. I think that the prince should be away from any danger.”
“He will,” Mo Lin answered solemnly. “You’re the Second Consort, and you’re also the master of the Left Corps.”
Watching the several thousand surviving troops around her, the Second Consort was not very excited about her identity of “master”. She had been informed of the general situation, so she asked, “How’s it going at the front? Where are they fighting? Why don’t I hear any – ”
Before she could finish her sentence, distant sounds of fighting were heard.
The Second Consort walked around and then got back onto the horse again. “Mo Chu! You’re the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces. This army should be under your command.”
Mo Chu coughed again. “All right. Then I’ll do it. The most pressing issue is to figure out the enemies’ strength and the casualties we have suffered.”
Immediately, a general volunteered to do the scouting.
After issuing a few extra orders to strengthen the troops’ confidence and morale, Mo Chu said to the Second Consort, “What’s done is done. Our Middle and Right Corps have entered the battleground, and I’m afraid that the odds are heavily stacked against them. And right here, the enemies will soon arrive. No matter how strong our army is, we can only hold them back for a little while. So, retreat is the only option we have, and the sooner we retreat, the better. Heaven’s Pass, Xiaowan Kingdom, both are available temporary shelters.”
The look in the Second Consort’s eyes was severe. “What about the soldiers at the front?”
“Nobody can save them.”
“Wait. I want to know the battle situation at the front,” the Second Consort said stubbornly. She knew what armies meant. Without those troops, she and Duodun were nothing but two useless items left behind by the old Khan, and like most of his other sons and grandsons, soon, nobody would remember them.
A scout rode over hastily. “Three 10,000-men armies have been defeated at the front. General Liman’s 10,000-men army is the only one left and they’re fighting the enemies now. We don’t know how long they can hold the enemies back for.”
Upon hearing this, Mo Chu said no more, planning to let the Second Consort make the decision herself. He believed that there wouldn’t be a second option and that the Second Consort would choose to flee if she still had a trace of her sanity left.
After glancing one more time at Duodun, who was unconscious, the Second Consort finally made the most important decision in her life.
