Chapter 193

The troops from Yan Bei had surrounded them; the close combat between the two armies was unbelievably intense. Blood stained the snowy plains a bright red; the frontline troops from Yan Bei fought fiercely with Zhuge Yue’s troops, akin to two waves colliding head to head. Their swords were shiny. Amidst the fighting, blood splattered everywhere, like molten lava mixing with the snowy ground.

The sounds of the wind and shouts to kill were deafening. The warhorses’ cries of agony blended together with the soldiers’ as they fell off their horses. The battlefield was chaotic, like a pot of boiling water – any strategy was no longer useful. Having clashed head-on, it was down to a battle of survival of the fittest. At this moment, everybody behaved as if they were crazy, swinging their swords at their enemies, their eyes bloodshot. Severed limbs, blood, severed brains… the soldiers collapsed row by row like the wilted grass during autumn. The victors in one-to-one combat were immediately killed by other people. Before they died, they grabbed onto the enemy’s legs, in the hope of buying some valuable time for their comrades to attack.

Although the army from Yan Bei outnumbered the opposition, they could not break through the formation adopted by the Guards of Yue. When the outer layer of soldiers collapsed, the empty spots were reinforced by the soldiers inside. They stood there, resolute, as they waved their swords. Their horses, seemingly about to collapse from the repeated waves of attacks, stood tall. They were as sticky as a medicine patch; although they were on the verge of defeat, they did not give up. Despite seeing the comrades around them collapse, they fought on alone for themselves, killing the enemies non-stop. They were not afraid of blood, nor having their limbs severed. Even till their last breath, they resolved to continue fighting; even if they took a stab, they would bite off a piece of flesh from their enemy!

These people had followed Zhuge Yue since young. As he was the eldest son of the first family, the senior figures of the family had attached tens of martial arts experts to his side, along with over 500 personal bodyguards. Over ten years, they had fought with Zhuge Yue from south to north, experiencing countless battles without retreating. Presently, they demonstrated this passion again, in front of the soldiers of Yan Bei.

Yan Xun’s newly appointed guard commander, Nie Gu, hollered as he waved his sword, “Kill! Kill them all!”

Yue Jiu had blood splattered all over him as he stabbed an enemy in the neck. He no longer had any calm airs. He wiped off the blood on his face and shouted, “Brothers! Let’s create a trail of blood!” Corpses and swords littered the ground everywhere; there was seemingly no space. The warriors waved their swords and kicked the corpses to the side. The shouts to kill and cries of agony were deafening as blood, together with human flesh, splattered everywhere.

One soldier from Yan Bei severed the leg of one guard of Yue. The young soldier did not make a sound and instead, stabbed the soldier from Yan Bei in the chest. Before the soldier from Yan Bei collapsed, he grabbed onto the waist of the guard of Yue. Both of them rolled on the ground, on the verge of death, like two wild dogs biting at each other. It seemed like they had a deep feud with each other. However, before they had bitten each other to death, over ten warhorses sprinted to their side. The soldiers on the warhorses were still engaged in combat as the two people below were trampled to death. Their bones were crushed as their brain juice splattered onto the horses’ hoofs.

The battlefield transformed into a crimson red whirlpool, centered around the 300 guards of Yue. The formations of both parties were disorganized. The troops of Yan Bei outside could not break through, and stood outside as their horses let out loud neighs. Whenever their comrades were killed, other soldiers took their places at the frontline. At this moment, the northwest portion of the Yue guards’ formation was breached. Nie Gu let out a cry of joy as the warriors raised their swords to follow behind him, letting out a deafening warcry.

“Protect the general!” Yue Jiu hollered. His young face had been stained red by blood, causing his looks to be indistinguishable. The guards of Yue, with bloodshot eyes, turned around to patch the hole, but were delayed by the enemies at the side.

Nie Gu echoed loudly, “Charge! Kill the traitor named Zhuge!”

Swoosh! As he finished his words, a sword slashed across his neck, creating a trail of blood. The next second, the young commander’s head flew high up in the air. His body arched backward and he collapsed in a pool of blood. Zhuge Yue stood upright holding his sword. His green cloak enhanced the fair complexion of his face. The look in his eyes was deep as he stared at the chaotic battlefield with fire in his eyes. A drop of blood trickled down his forehead, across the contours of his face. Behind him lay a mountain of corpses; further back, the city burnt up in smoke. Even further back, it was the main battlefield between Yan Bei and Xia.

The war was raging on; the civilians were crying for help. The continent of West Meng was shaking; the heavens and earth were bleeding. He stood ferociously in the pool of blood as the massacre continued around him, standing tall like a mountain.

“General!”

“Nicely done!” Thunderous cheers followed subsequently. Zhuge Yue stood in the center of the pool of blood, echoing out in a loud voice, “None of you are to die! Charge!”

“Yes!” the warriors echoed in unison. Zhuge Yue stood at the front and led his troops personally. His agility blurred the vision of other people. He appeared like a white wave; wherever he went, people flew into the air. It was a messy sight.

There were only 100 guards of Yue left. Their morale was boosted as the shouts to kill increased in volume. The self-proclaimed invincible troops of Yan Bei, faced with this intimidating sight, were forced to retreat. The battlefield turned into a stalemate. The officials at the back cursed and swore, but no matter how much they did, they were unable to conquer the piece of land high up. No matter how many troops they threw to the frontline, they were unable to overcome the dense army of 100 people.

Yan Xun’s expression was unchanged, but his eyes squinted. Zhuge Yue had finally come out. He stood at the frontline, wearing his green cloak and holding his knife, slashing with agility. In that instant, Yan Xun seemingly saw the radiance emanating from him. It was blindingly bright; no one could look at him straight in the eye. A cold look flashed across his eyes. Yan Xun ordered with a low voice, “Bring my crossbow.”

His servants retrieved his golden crossbow for him. It was unbelievably shiny. Yan Xun was wearing a black cloak; the look on his face devoid of the warmth that it used to have. Presently, he was a killing machine amidst the chaos; his black cloak was stained with blood. His fingertips brushed against his crossbow slowly as he tightened his grip around it. He felt for his arrow and loaded it into the crossbow, pulling it back along with the strings of destiny. The memories of the past flashed across his eyes again as he gathered his strength to fire the crossbow.

The wind was raging on, brushing past the battlefield and cooling down the corpses. Dark clouds hovered over the sky; snowflakes floated around in the air. A group of warhorses approached from behind. The look in Yan Xun’s eyes was cold. He stood upright, surrounded by 10,000 troops. He steadied himself; with an upright posture and perfect precision, he loosened his finger which was holding back the arrow! The shiny arrow left his crossbow and flew at full speed towards the body on the battlefield!

Thousands of eyes were fixated on the flying arrow. In the blinding, bright sunlight, the arrow of destiny flew out towards Zhuge Yue’s chest, thirsty for blood.

Zhuge Yue hacked at one Yan Bei soldier, causing blood to splatter all over the back of his palm like burning oil. There was no need to see what was coming towards him. He used his sense of hearing to detect the arrow flying towards him. With unparalleled agility, he dodged to the side to avoid the arrow. The arrow brushed past his arm, taking away with it a part of his clothes and a big lump of flesh. Before he had time to get back to his feet, another arrow came flying towards him.

Successive attacks! A technique renowned and perfected by Chu Qiao of Yan Bei! In the banquet on that snowy night way back, and on the northwestern battlefields, he had seen Chu Qiao use this technique. He was no longer a stranger to it. However, at this moment, this arrow was fired by Yan Xun. The technique was not as exquisite, but his strength far exceeded hers.

Yan Xun fired a succession of seven arrows, all aimed at Zhuge Yue’s vital organs. Zhuge Yue dodged all of them, managing to get to his feet amidst the flurry of arrows, with a jerk of his body. They looked at each other for merely a split second, but it seemed to encapsulate their lifelong rivalry.

In that instant, Zhuge Yue twisted his body and dashed towards Yan Xun. His shiny sword was like a flash of thunder as he retaliated with moves of his own. Short gasps sounded out from not far out. The man who was about to be struck by the sword smiled lightly. He did not dodge it, nor did he seem fazed. Instead, he took out his last golden arrow, pulled the crossbow back, and let it leave his hand.

Time seemed to stand still at this instant. The two of them looked at each other in silence, separated by thousands of troops. They mustered all their strength for one final blow, not avoiding each other’s attacks, leaving it to destiny to decide who lived or died.

“Your Highness, be careful!”

“General!”

Before the shouts had reached their ears, a warhorse let out a long neigh. The shiny sword was like a shining star in the darkness. The sharp sword pierced through the air, towards Yan Xun’s back. In the instant where Zhuge Yue’s sword was about to pierce through Yan Xun’s heart, it hit the back of Yan Xun’s sword! That was but an ordinary sword used for combat. How could it compare to the precious sword Yan Xun had? The force of the impact caused Zhuge Yue’s sword to shatter, while Yan Xun’s sword advanced towards him, seemingly not affected by the impact. Yan Xun’s arrow flew towards his chest; his sword followed tightly behind and landed in the rear end of the arrow. It flew vertically downwards, landing in Zhuge Yue’s chest. Blood oozed out from his chest onto the sword, all the way to the end. The word “Poyue” could be faintly seen.

Blood splattered out of Zhuge Yue’s mouth as he fell backward, losing his balance. However, he did not collapse on the ground. The guards of Yue dashed forward and defended him. Yue Jiu’s eyes were bloodshot as tears streamed down his face. The young swordsman turned back, his eyes full of madness and rage, as he looked at the army in black standing amidst the snow.

Chu Qiao sat on her horse’s back, with 2,000 troops from the Xiuli Army beside her. The horses’ hooves made a deafening impact with the snowy ground. Her eyes widened as she finally saw the familiar face in the snow. Her heart sank as her limbs became numb; her heart had seemingly been gouged out and thrown onto the snowy ground.

Yan Xun smiled plainly as he reached out his hands to flick a stray snowflake away. He walked to her side and reached out his hand as he said gently, “You’re here.”

Zhuge Yue was stained with blood as the wound at his chest bled profusely. The look in his eyes was dark. The truth totally dissipated his airs of arrogance and pride. He raised his eyebrows and stared at that person, suppressing the blood that was gushing up his throat.

“Zhuge Yue, how much more do you want to trample on yourself?” The man laughed coldly, his voice low and hoarse as he mumbled, “It was one-sided after all.”

He stared coldly at Chu Qiao, causing her to feel breathing difficulties. She was unable to move nor speak as she slumped on her horse’s back. She could no longer see Yan Xun’s hypocritical smile, the heaps of corpses, the city of Yuegong which was burning up in smoke, or the snowy winds in front of her. She only saw Zhuge Yue and the crimson-red blood which stained his green cloak; the sight in front of her was like a sharp arrow which had pierced through her chest.