One Year

One year later. In military affairs, speed was prized above all. Prince Dongyang took command of Prince Zhenshui's forces, merging their armies into one, and swept forward with irresistible momentum. In just one year, they conquered Yingnan Commandery; now the spearhead of their forces pointed directly at Pingshan Commandery and Zhaoming Commandery, with eyes set upon Xitai Commandery as well. After Prince Dongyang raised his banners to subjugate the false emperor, the court was forced to deploy troops south. Powerless to suppress unrest elsewhere, the four northern commanderies, which had previously shown signs of stabilizing, descended into total turmoil. If Prince Dongyang could smoothly take the three commanderies of Pingshan, Xitai, and Zhaoming, he would encircle the three commanderies surrounding the Imperial Capital. With nowhere left to retreat, the false emperor's court would essentially be doomed. Pingshan Commandery, Jiang Prefecture, Hening County. A large portion of the refugees fleeing southward from the north had settled in Jiang Prefecture. Never did they expect that after enjoying only a brief spell of peace, Jiang Prefecture would also be engulfed in the flames of war, forcing them to flee north once more. It was not just the refugees; a vast number of local Jiang Prefecture residents also chose to leave their homes behind. Bandits combed through the land like a coarse comb; soldiers scraped it clean like a fine-toothed comb. For common folk, aside from fleeing, how else could they survive the onslaught of natural disasters and man-made catastrophes? A long dragon of people wound along the main road. With a stalk of grass dangling from his mouth, Qin Sang sat upon a roadside boulder. On his feet were hole-ridden straw sandals, and he wore coarse cloth clothes covered in patches. His face and hands were pitch-black with grime, his gaze dull and vacant, and his unwashed hair hung in greasy strands, giving off a sour, foul stench. Water Monkey Zhou Ning and another man slumped against the boulder, dressed much the same as Qin Sang—three pitiful refugees sharing the same plight. This other man was named Zheng Kun. He had practiced martial arts under Bai Jianglan for years and was one of the men Qin Sang had met aboard the ship back then. Now, like Water Monkey, he had joined Blood Cloak Tower and become Qin Sang's subordinate. Over the past year, Qin Sang had adhered strictly to his principles. The merits he achieved were not particularly numerous, but his intelligence was undeniably precise. On several crucial occasions, his reports had helped the army breach enemy passes, earning him recognition before the prince. With the princess shielding him from above as well, he climbed rapidly within Blood Cloak Tower in just a single year. He was now one of the Vice Hall Masters of the Military Altar, and the position of Hall Master remained vacant, kept open expressly for him. Qin Sang looked up at the sun, silently calculating the hour. Behind his seemingly vacant gaze, his eyes never truly left the city gates of Hening County. This thoroughfare led straight south to Duling County. The refugees thronging the road were not only from Hening County; even more had fled along the road from Duling County to escape disaster. Prince Dongyang's forces were split into two routes. The western army was led personally by Prince Dongyang, commanding the main force of Prince Zhenshui alongside the troops recruited and surrendered in Yingnan Commandery; they had already secured significant victories in Zhaoyang Commandery. The eastern army, however, was stalled beneath the walls of Duling County, locked in a two-month standoff against the false emperor's garrison without making an inch of progress. Duling County possessed perilous terrain and had been contested by strategists since ancient times, hailed as the throat of both Pingshan Commandery and Jiang Prefecture. Once Duling County fell, all of Jiang Prefecture would have no natural barriers left to defend. As the largest and wealthiest of Pingshan Commandery's three prefectures, if Jiang Prefecture changed hands, it meant the fall of Pingshan Commandery was not far off. The false emperor had mobilized troops like a madman, concentrating all of Pingshan Commandery's military might into Duling County. After dozens of fierce assaults ended in failure and countless casualties, the attackers devised a strategy: repairing the plank road in plain sight while secretly crossing at Chencang. The military tents beneath the city walls did not diminish, and the siege maintained its momentum. Yet in the dead of night, two detachment forces quietly slipped away, scattering into the mountain forests to sneak along rugged paths, penetrating deep into the heart of Jiang Prefecture to launch a surprise attack on Hening County and cast predatory eyes toward Jiang Prefecture City. Hening County lay in the hinterlands of Jiang Prefecture. Because all of Jiang Prefecture's military might was now concentrated in Duling County, the rest of the prefecture was left vulnerable and empty. Once Hening County fell, the defending troops trapped in Duling County would find themselves in a dire dilemma. Southern Jiang Prefecture was densely forested and mountainous; Blood Cloak Tower had scouted the trails long ago, giving this surprise assault a high chance of success. The two detachments numbered substantially. If the army in Duling County stubbornly refused to fall back and reinforce the rear, the attackers could simply bring up reinforcements, hold Hening County, and raid the enemy's supply lines, which would still put them in a stranglehold. Qin Sang had blended into the refugee masses alongside Zhou Ning and Zheng Kun. His mission was to reach Hening County as swiftly as possible, assess the situation, and coordinate from within when the two surprise forces arrived, throwing open the gates of Hening County to seize the town in one stroke before any chaos could brew. Hening County was evidently on guard as well. In front of the gates, the local militia and yamen runners acted as if facing a formidable enemy, grips never leaving their blades. Any refugees of uncertain identity were shouted at and driven off the moment they approached, to say nothing of entering the city. "It's almost the hour of the sheep. Why hasn't that kid Liu Ji shown up yet?" Hearing Water Monkey complain, Qin Sang glanced down at him. Thin and scrawny, with one arm missing, plus this getup, Water Monkey looked about as miserable as a beggar could possibly get—more like a refugee than the actual refugees. Ever since losing his arm, Water Monkey had grown considerably more composed, which was why Qin Sang had agreed to take him under his wing. Still, old habits died hard, and he still liked to chatter whether he had something to say or not. Water Monkey knew his boundaries, so Qin Sang did not reprimand him, saying merely, "We wait another two hours. Old Zheng, go keep an eye on the wealthy households distributing porridge. We must enter the city before dark." Liu Ji belonged to Blood Cloak Tower. His ancestors were registered in Hening County, but his branch had split off from the main Liu clan when they ventured elsewhere to do business. After he joined Blood Cloak Tower, arrangements had been made for him to return to Hening County to reclaim his ancestral roots, leading a group to lie dormant within the city. After reaching Hening County this morning, Qin Sang had immediately sent out the secret signal for Liu Ji to escort them into the city, setting the hour of the sheep as the latest agreed time. "Right away!" Zheng Kun grinned, rolled over on the ground to scramble to his feet, and hunched his back, limping his way into the refugee crowd to wait in line for the porridge handout. Sensing that sitting on a boulder was a bit too conspicuous, Qin Sang hopped down to sit on the dirt. He told Water Monkey to keep a close eye on the city gates while he closed his eyes to doze. Mingling among the refugees and traveling day and night had severely disrupted his cultivation. Qin Sang knew what mattered most. Although joining Blood Cloak Tower brought a flurry of duties, he had never interrupted his practice, having gone almost the entire year without proper sleep. Over this year, Qin Sang constantly lingered around battlefields, hiding on the outer fringes and letting Yanluo harvest the souls of the deceased. However, not knowing the true depth of the jade Buddha, Qin Sang dared not give Yanwang free rein. Each time it collected a certain number of souls, he recalled it. With a continuous supply of Soul Pills, Qin Sang progressed at a flying pace. He had reached the peak of the second layer and would soon break through to the third layer of the Nether Scripture. As for the Bright King Art, Qin Sang had tried it several times but failed to cultivate true qi, confirming his suspicion that the 'qi' generated by the Nether Scripture and true qi or internal force were completely different things. Since cultivating internal arts would eat into the time meant for the Nether Scripture, Qin Sang had no choice but to abandon it. The Soul-Snatching Spear and Shadowless Steps, on the other hand, he tempered constantly. His mastery of them was already quite proficient. Combined with several other martial arts he had chosen for himself, even without the Yanluo Banner, he could now be considered a first-rate expert. Just then, Qin Sang suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching him. Alert, he opened his eyes and spotted someone else disguised as a refugee. Once the man reached his side, Qin Sang furrowed his brows and demanded in a low whisper, "Zhang Wenkui, weren't you told to stay close to General Wang? Why have you left without orders?"