The battle standards of Xiandu marched out of Beiting, heading all the way south. The gaunt, sinewy man sat silently inside his carriage, his expression far from pleased.
Power among the Shanyue had always been fragmented. Only during the reign of Jianixi had the entire land bowed in unison, prompting the Shanyue on the western slopes of Mount Li to scale the ranges and pledge allegiance. All other Shanyue royal lineages, large and small, ruled jointly with the nobility and were further compelled to share power with the shamans.
In his hands, the shamans had been thoroughly brought to heel, yet across thousands of li lay scattered thousands of stockades. Now that Xiandu wished to mobilize troops, few answered his summons.
‘They are all testing the waters... waiting for Mount Wu’s reaction.’
Aside from his own five thousand elite troops, Xiandu had managed to scrape together a mere three thousand irregulars. By his reckoning, even a week’s march might not bring them to Moonlight Valley, leaving him sick with anxiety.
‘I must never underestimate that Dahe Mingfang’s abilities! With the nobility wavering, they will likely indulge him deliberately. Although there are five thousand troops in the valley, I must stay on high alert.’
Having seized the throne through sheer cunning and ruthless resolve, Xiandu was by no means a mediocre ruler. He leaped down from the carriage, summoned a burly warrior, and said in a grave voice, “Lead the army forward. Do not miss the deadline!”
He then led out a striped tiger-beast, mounted it, and swept forward like an arrow with a retinue of cultivator bodyguards, galloping swiftly to the south.
As the Shanyue were all cultivators, their mounts traveled at extraordinary speed. In merely half a day, they arrived at the large town before Moonlight Valley, Zhongwu Town. Xiandu seized the chieftain before him and demanded coldly, “Have the troops of the Six Towns reinforced Moonlight Valley?!”
Sure enough, the Shanyue chieftain hemmed and hawed, drenched in cold sweat. He had never imagined that Xiandu, who should have been at the royal court, would appear before the valley overnight. Stuttering, he replied, “Without... a royal order... we did not dare move troops.”
Xiandu’s face turned livid, and he nearly laughed in fury. With a sharp clang, he drew the saber at his waist and cursed, “To hell with your ‘did not dare’!”
When he issued summons himself, it took repeated decrees and stern warnings, yet they still dragged their feet and refused to budge. Now that enemies were storming the pass, they conveniently hid behind the excuse of having no royal order! His fury still unquenched, Xiandu swept his blade-like gaze across the faces of the assembled Dili chieftains and barked, “You dogs won't mobilize—are you waiting to taste my blade?!”
Flushed with rage, Xiandu raised his saber high. Before the man could react, his head flew into the air, spraying crimson blood. Xiandu kicked the corpse aside, lifted the severed head, and ordered coldly, “Parade this head through the Six Towns! Order all tribes to dispatch troops at once!”
The subordinate commanders dared not wipe the blood from their faces as they followed Xiandu out. After more than half a double-hour, they barely managed to muster two thousand troops. With a grim, dark expression, Xiandu drove the men forward, dispatching scouts to check on the situation in the valley while personally galloping out of the town.
Yet after riding two li, seeing the road ahead empty, the scouts yet to return, and the rear forces of the Six Towns utterly motionless, displeasure stirred in his heart. He called one of his subordinates forward and said in a deep voice, “The Six Towns are dragging their feet. If I leave, they will only stall further. Zhongdui! Take troops to reinforce Moonlight Valley while I gather the remaining forces.”
Zhongdui nodded. Xiandu added, “We know nothing of what is happening at Moonlight Valley. Be careful on the road.”
Seeing this subordinate nod repeatedly and considering that the man was always steady, Xiandu set his mind at ease. Taking his confidants, he returned to the settlements and burst into another town. True to his suspicions, he found that chieftain sitting in hushed deliberation with tribal leaders, stalling for time. Xiandu flew into a rage. “Worthless curs!”
“Cowards waiting to die!”
Xiandu had naturally planted confidants within the Six Towns, but the Six Towns were originally converted from large tribal settlements where each town formed a single unified clan, making them exceedingly difficult to subdue. His rage mounted; he drew his saber again and spoke with chilling cruelty. Those men were caught off guard—they had only just caught sight of the severed head before Xiandu kicked down the door and stormed in. As King of Northern Dili, he brooked no excuses; blood pooled across the ground, and heads rolled.
While Xiandu was overwhelmed with trouble, Zhongdui remained loyal. He galloped toward Moonlight Valley, leading a chaotic rabble gathered from the tribes, forced to drive them forward under strict orders, muttering to himself, ‘Dili reinforcements are truly pathetic.’
Moonlight Valley was garrisoned by numerous cultivator troops, located deep in Northern Dili territory. On the heights was a fourth-layer Embryonic Breathing cultivator who had unlocked spiritual sense and could probe cultivation levels. Thus, Li Zhouwei had held Li Wushao back from striking directly, opting instead to launch two probing assaults first.
The defenders had sent out two detachments, both completely wiped out. Afterward, they holed up and refused to emerge, turning the fight into a grueling stalemate. Watching the skirmishes in the valley, Li Zhouwei was unwilling to waste time grinding there. Taking advantage of the standoff, he led his cultivators on a quiet detour through the mountain paths to reach the rear of the pass.
This detour naturally relied on the guidance of the Dili clan. Li Zhouwei had ordered Chen Yang and Dili Youjie to pin down Moonlight Valley, while he personally led troops to lay an ambush on the road for two days. Calculating the timing precisely, he ingested the talisman pill to break through to the sixth layer of Embryonic Breathing.
Because the mountain paths were treacherous, he brought only five hundred elites, allowing several days to wait and stabilize his cultivation. To his surprise, he had to wait a full two days before a disorderly rabble came stumbling along without any semblance of formation.
Zhongdui had traveled only ten-odd li and was halfway through the forest when a thunderous crash erupted. Troops surged out from both flanks. Zhongdui never imagined an ambush on his own territory. Shocked and alarmed, he shouted, “Dahe Mingfang!”
Before his words faded, a flash of cold steel glinted ahead. A dark shadow swept in like a gale, iron armor glinting coldly in the night. The halberd flickered in the distance and was already thrusting before him in the blink of an eye.
Zhongdui was terrified beyond speech. He was only at the third layer of Embryonic Breathing—how could he withstand such a charge? He barely raised his weapon before he was sent flying as though riding the clouds. A crushing agony tore through his chest, and through the stars flashing before his eyes, he caught a glimpse of his mortal horse torn to shreds.
The five hundred elite warriors fell upon them like tigers into a flock of sheep, churning up waves of blood. Zhongdui lay dazed and dizzy from the fall when—clang!—a dark iron halberd plunged into the earth right beside his neck, making his skin prickle with terror.
Blinded by the cold gleam, Zhongdui lay soaked in blood, not daring to move, feeling the chill radiating from the halberd. A resonant voice sounded above:
“I thought Xiandu himself had come, so I came out to welcome him in person. Who knew it was only a minor general.”
Li Zhouwei looked down quietly. Around them, wails echoed and blood stained the ground, but the youth seemed indifferent. A faint smile touched his face as he pulled the halberd from the earth and turned it in his hand. “Look at me.”
Zhongdui had no choice but to look up. Beneath long brows, a pair of dark brown pupils contracted slightly, glittering with fine golden light. The terrifying youth tilted his chin and spoke words that chilled Zhongdui to the bone: “You are a loyal one. No wonder Xiandu sent you. But your cultivation is too low to fool me.”
Zhongdui struggled to his feet. Glancing around at the Dahe armored warriors standing in silent formation amidst a field of twisted corpses, he dropped to his knees. “I am willing to serve the Great King.”
A savage look flashed across Zhongdui’s face for a split second, but he was nowhere fast enough for the halberd. Cold light flashed; his head flew high into the air, and his headless corpse thudded to the ground. Crimson blood gushed forth, dyeing the only clean patch of earth deep red.
Li Zhouwei only lowered his brows, reined in his horse, and rode a few paces before the head plopped into the forest.
The halberd pointed toward the ground, blood dripping along the blade to trace a red-and-white line in the dirt. He rode forward, thinking to himself, ‘Only this young general was somewhat decent. I do lack a capable royal court Shanyue under my command, but unfortunately, he could not be kept.’
He pondered for several breaths. His men had already pried information from the captives, and Dili Youjie bowed and reported, “Great King, Xiandu is in Zhongwu Town.”
As the five hundred troops regrouped, Li Zhouwei did not march straight north toward Zhongwu Town. Instead, he unrolled the map in his hand and said in a low voice, “Xiandu will surely assume I have broken through the pass and am marching north with an army. If he panics and flees, he will head either east or west...”
“Will he defend or flee?”
Dili Youjie hurried forward, speaking in his Dili accent, “Great King, why not advance at once and capture the ruler of Northern Dili?”
Dahe Mingfang seemed intrigued, his voice clear as he smiled. “If he abandons the Six Towns, Northern Dili’s heartland will be hollowed out. With no word from Mount Wu, it would be no different from suicide! Xiandu is no fool—he will naturally defend.”
“I calculated Xiandu’s forces. The Six Towns might muster two thousand men, and his main division has not yet arrived. It would actually be possible for him to hold the Six Towns.” Li Zhouwei smiled and looked at Dili Youjie. “Besides, we do not truly have five thousand troops breaking through the pass. If he flees, we could naturally pursue and break him, but if he holes up to defend, how could we take the Six Towns? Let us take Moonlight Valley first, and then make our move.”
His thoughts churned, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. “Take Zhongdui’s banners, wash them clean with the Clothes Cleansing Technique, and head south.”
“They still have some use. Posing as reinforcements to trick open Moonlight Valley won’t be a problem.”
Meanwhile, back at the Six Towns, Zhongdui had been crushed, and a few survivors fled back. As Xiandu stepped out of his tent after sheathing his blade, a bloodied rider came galloping toward him. Xiandu’s heart seized. The rider tumbled from his horse, clasped his fists, and cried in grief, “Great King! Moonlight Valley was lost silently long ago! That Dahe Mingfang... ambushed us on the road across the gorge! Our lord’s thousands of troops were wiped out... only a few hundred escaped...”
Xiandu’s knees went weak. There was no time for sorrow, no time to wonder how such an impregnable pass had fallen in mere days. The next question already loomed:
‘Dahe Mingfang will surely strike here... Do I fight, or do I flee?’
Xiandu gritted his teeth and ordered immediately: Fortify the Six Towns! He frantically reorganized the settlements, arranging defenses and erecting layers of stockade walls. He breathed a slight sigh of relief, repeatedly asking for news from the south, but received nothing.
All the scouts he sent out vanished without a trace, like blind men groping in the dark. Xiandu could only wait.
It was not until his main division of five thousand elite troops arrived from Beiting that the realization struck him: ‘I fell for this Dahe Mingfang’s trick! He snuck past via the mountain paths!’
Xiandu was filled with regret. It wasn't that he was foolish; mountain paths were treacherous, and in merely a day, at most a hundred or two could make the crossing... How many cultivators could a petty tribe possibly have? Who could have guessed they could crush Zhongdui!
‘Hahahahaha! As expected! No wonder he went to such great lengths to avoid our scouts!’
‘Having no news at all is where the problem lies! Dahe Mingfang painstakingly intercepted my scouts so that none returned, all because something was happening at Moonlight Valley—he hasn't captured it yet!’
‘Good! I knew it! That is the nation’s strongest pass, guarded by Sidu Xun at the peak of Embryonic Breathing! How could it fall so easily?!’
“Mobilize the entire army! While his footing is unsteady and his troops are exhausted, attack Moonlight Valley!”
He acted decisively, stepped out with spear in hand, mounted his tiger-beast, and charged out like the wind as the army filed steadily out of the town. Xiandu was anxious and drove his forces forward with great haste.
Meanwhile, Li Zhouwei had already taken his five hundred men back south to Moonlight Valley.
He accelerated his pace, and Moonlight Valley appeared ahead. He stored the halberd in his storage bag and halted beneath the pass. The five hundred troops rested briefly before quietly ascending the mountain.
Moonlight Valley was still holding out against the southern forces under Chen Yang. But besieged for days, its troops and mounts were exhausted. Now, instead of reinforcements, an enemy force struck from behind, plunging the pass into jeopardy.
At that moment, the troops from the north arrived, carrying Zhongdui’s banners. “Zhongdui, by royal order, comes to reinforce!”
“Reinforcements have arrived!”
The garrison thought salvation had come. But the defensive commander had not lowered his guard, keeping a close watch on the rear as well. When the troops had advanced only a short distance, someone quickly hailed, “Are you reinforcements? Which unit? Where is Zhongdui?”
A man came down and said, “I do not recognize you, sir. General Sidu set a rule that he must personally invite you. Please wait a moment.”
Dili Youjie found himself at a loss, unsure how to reply. He looked toward Li Zhouwei, and seeing him nod, Dili Youjie drew his blade and cut the man down!
They unfurled Dahe Mingfang’s banners, and the troops charged forward, assailing the watchtowers!
Dahe Mingfang drew his halberd, crimson light flaring, and shattered the stockade gates with a single blow. The halberd swept across, mowing down Dili warriors like grass. Like a tiger among sheep, he carved a path toward the south.
Chen Yang seized the opportunity to launch a furious assault. A chain reaction followed; though the defending commander was capable, his troops were spent, and he could no longer hold the line. The pass fell.
Immediately after taking the pass, Li Zhouwei set up the ruse to lure Xiandu in.
Xiandu marched south in haste. On the road, he caught sight of several Dahe squads—undoubtedly those sent to intercept scouts. Their leaders possessed high cultivation, which was why none of the scouts had returned, but seeing the royal army, they scattered and fled.
Xiandu’s doubts lessened. Soon, Moonlight Valley came into view. Looking into the distance, he saw flames rising in the valley. About two hundred men were attacking the stockade below—plainly elite warriors, but fighting with waning strength, clearly exhausted from prolonged combat.
Inside the pass, defenders seemed to be at their wit’s end, on the verge of falling.
Xiandu had arrived just in time! Overjoyed, he shouted, “Reinforcements are here!”
With his main division, he rushed to relieve the pass, ordering, “Form up the array! Advance steadily!”
His soldiers raised triumphant shouts, their battle cries shaking the heavens. Xiandu charged beneath the walls for a pincer attack. The two hundred attackers were forced to turn and fight back, while cheers rang out from atop the pass: “Reinforcements are here!”
Xiandu slashed and hacked for several moments when suddenly, earth-shaking war cries erupted from behind!
Thousands of troops surged from the woods on both flanks, severing Xiandu’s army in two.
Atop the pass, dense ranks of figures appeared, raining down arrows and raising a glaring banner: Dahe Mingfang!
Xiandu felt as though plunged into an icy abyss. Reining in his tiger mount, he turned back to look.
Troops poured from the woods. On the opposite slope stood a black steed. A youth clad in armor glinting with cold light stood holding a halberd, gazing at him from afar with the ghost of a smile.
“Li Zhouwei!”
Chapter 507