Volume 1, Chapter 27: The Doom of the Blood Wolf Cavalry

The snow in the Northern Frontier is colder than a blade.

The watchtower at Hufeng Pass was packed with soldiers seeking shelter from the gale. New recruits huddled in the corners, shivering, while the veterans sat with eyes closed, their calloused fingers subconsciously stroking their sword hilts. It was a habit etched into their bones by years of slaughter, as if they were ready to spring up and kill at any second.

At the foot of the city wall, Su Ying and eighteen young men from Zhang Village stood as still as iron, their gazes fixed intently on the main command tent.

What of the Great Liang Empire? What of the Jingbian Army’s regulations? In their hearts, they recognized only one name: Zhang Muyang.

When Shi Changming was dragged away earlier, Gousheng’s hand had already been on his hilt. Had Su Ying not held his shoulder with a death grip, these hot-blooded youths would have charged long ago.

The snow fell harder, frosting everyone’s eyebrows white.

Suddenly, the tent flap lifted.

Zhang Muyang strode out and reached out to brush the accumulated snow from Su Ying’s brow. The lingering warmth of his fingertips made her tremble slightly.

"Is it done?" Su Ying’s voice was barely a whisper.

"It is done." Zhang Muyang nodded. "This time, it is the Blood Wolf Cavalry of Helian Jue from Northern Yan."

Blood Wolf Cavalry? Helian Jue?

Su Ying’s pupils contracted sharply, and the arrowhead she held in her hand snapped in two.

Three years ago, when the Northern Yan Wolf King snapped her father’s neck, Helian Jue had led the Blood Wolf Cavalry into the Su estate. The image of her mother hoisted upon a spear, her younger sister’s head crushed by warhorses, and her clansmen still twitching as they were nailed to wooden stakes—all these memories surged forward, the heat of them stinging her eyes.

"I want his life in payment."

Su Ying’s voice was soft, yet it caused the surrounding snow to cascade from the eaves.

Zhang Muyang said nothing, only squeezed her hand firmly.

"Sister-in-law, count me in!"

"And me!"

Zhang Xiaobei, Gousheng, and the others crowded around, their eyes shining with a terrifying intensity.

Su Ying’s ears turned beet-red, and she kicked Gousheng in the backside. "Who is your sister-in-law!"

These simpletons! It turned out they had seen through her secret all along but had simply kept it to themselves.

Zhang Muyang laughed and scolded, "Enough, stop messing around. Go and chip the ice."

The group followed Chen Xiucheng to the frozen river, where the sound of iron chisels rang out incessantly.

On a distant hilltop, sentries wrapped in cloaks stood like snowmen. Along the cliffs on either side of Hufeng Pass, two hundred soldiers were prying at massive boulders with iron bars. Even at the base of the city wall, a layer of sesame oil mixed with sulfur had been spread and covered with snow.

"Squad Leader Chen, why are we chipping ice in this freezing weather?" Wei Wutong sidled up to Chen Xiucheng and asked, feigning casual interest.

"Chipping for fish! It's near the end of the year; we’re adding a meal for the brothers."

Chen Xiucheng did not look up; his iron pick struck the ice, sending shards flying.

Wei Wutong’s eyes darted about, and he suddenly clutched his stomach. "Ouch, my stomach is hurting something fierce. I need to go relieve myself."

He had just ducked into the snow-covered brush when Zhang Xiaobei and Gousheng followed, holding up their trousers, and squatted down on either side of him.

"You two..."

"Squad Leader Chen sent us to protect you, sir." Zhang Xiaobei grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "It’s a desolate wilderness out here; we were worried a wolf might snatch you away."

Wei Wutong’s face turned paler than the snow, his hands clenching inside his sleeves. He had intended to use the opportunity to flee toward the upper reaches of the river and signal the Northern Yan cavalry, but he hadn't expected these two simpletons to follow so closely.

Could it be that he had been exposed? Wei Wutong’s heart filled with sudden tension and panic.

One hour. Two hours. They worked until dusk.

A gap two fathoms wide had been chiseled in the center of the river. The water churned, rising with cold mist, like the gaping maw of a giant beast. The soldiers quickly covered the hole with dried branches and hay. As the heavy snow fell, it buried the traces in an instant, and the surface became as flat as before, as if no one had ever touched it.

Wu Kexiong had been watching from the wall. When he saw Chen Xiucheng, Zhang Muyang, and the others return, he personally brought out hot food and shouted, "Eat! Everyone eat your fill!"

The brown rice steamed, and cabbage and potatoes stewed in giant iron pots, with large chunks of fat floating in the broth, the oil glistening temptingly in the snow-light. Everyone knew a battle was imminent. Wu Kexiong had emptied his reserves; he needed his men to have a hearty meal.

After all, they were facing the notorious Blood Wolf Cavalry of Northern Yan.

Five thousand strong.

Five hundred against five thousand? The disparity was enough to make one’s scalp crawl.

Wu Kexiong had told no one that the Northern Yan cavalry, in order to pin down the main force of the Jingbian Army, had launched a frenzied assault on Zhenbei Pass. Xiao Lie could not possibly send reinforcements to them, and the true killing blow was, in fact, Hufeng Pass.

Once Hufeng Pass fell, the Northern Yan cavalry could bypass it to the rear of Zhenbei Pass and cut off the supply lines.

At that point, Zhenbei Pass would become an isolated city. The ten thousand troops would either starve to death or be forced to charge out and become prey on the grasslands. In the vast, snowy plains, no one could outrun the hooves of the Blood Wolf Cavalry.

Survival depended on tonight.

"Men!" Wu Kexiong turned suddenly, his voice filled with unquestionable resolve.

Personal guards stepped forward with jars of wine, pouring a bowl for each man. The liquid swirled in the bowls, reflecting the dancing light of the bonfires.

"Look behind you!" Wu Kexiong raised his bowl high and roared. "That is the land of Great Liang! That is where your fathers, mothers, wives, and children live! Do you want the hooves of Northern Yan to trample your doorsteps? Do you want your children to become slaves?"

"No!" five hundred men roared in unison.

"Good!" Wu Kexiong threw his head back and downed the fiery liquor, the liquid running down his beard. "After tonight, we will either write our New Year’s couplets in the blood of the Northern Yan, or... I will join you for a drink on the road to the afterlife!"

"To the end!"

The clinking of wine bowls sounded like the clashing of blades.

The fiery liquor slid down their throats like molten iron, instantly igniting the blood in their limbs.

Wei Wutong’s hands trembled as he held his bowl. He finally realized: the ice, the boulders—it was all for the Blood Wolf Cavalry. He hurriedly reached for the fire-starter in his tunic to signal the Northern Yan, but a searing pain exploded in the back of his head.

Chen Xiucheng had slammed the hilt of his blade into his skull. Wei Wutong slumped to the ground without a sound.

*Ptooey!*

Chen Xiucheng spat. "I've been enduring you for a long time."

"All squads, take your positions!"

Wu Kexiong drew his long sword with a jerk. "Kill!"

Four hundred soldiers surged out of the pass like arrows released from a bow, dispersing into the mountain hollows on either side of the valley. They built snow barricades and buried themselves in snow pits, leaving only their eyes and their nocked bows exposed. Snowflakes settled on their armor, creating a thin layer that blended their forms into the landscape.

Zhang Muyang and Su Ying hid behind a massive boulder, with Zhang Xiaobei and the others scattered nearby. Every heartbeat sounded like a war drum, pounding against the silence of the night.

Time felt like frozen ice, passing with agonizing slowness.

Finally, the midnight watchman’s clapper sounded from the direction of Zhenbei Pass.

Chen Xiucheng whispered, "Watch the walls!"

Zhang Muyang peered out and saw a row of torches flare up on the battlements of Hufeng Pass—exactly ten of them, flickering in the wind and snow like ghost fires.

Everyone held their breath, their gazes locked on the darkness at the end of the river valley.

At first, there was only the wailing of the wind and snow. Gradually, the earth began to tremble, and snow cascaded from the cliff walls.

It was not the wind. It was not an avalanche.

It was the sound of hooves.

Closer and denser, as if a thousand armies were surging out from the darkness.

*Awoooo!*

A wolf’s howl pierced the night sky, followed by a second, then a third...

The drumming of hooves accelerated, shaking the earth like thunder.

Zhang Muyang’s Hanling Blade hummed in its scabbard, and the frost patterns on the hilt began to glow with a faint, blood-red hue.

[Ding!]

[System Prompt: Large-scale war condition detected. "Legion Mode" unlocked.]

(For every ten enemies slain, strength of commanded troops +1%)

(Hanling Blade has tasted the blood of fifty men; trait "Blood Rage Slash" unlocked.)