The Struggle of Chaos Chapter Ninety-Four: The Fall of the Han Kingdom (Part One)

“Prime Minister, I’ve just arrived at the battlefield. What’s the situation lately?” Liu Bei had barely sat down before he began to inquire about the state of the war. He’d heard that Bai Qi’s army had been holding back, drawing out the conflict to this point, and an uneasy premonition nagged at his heart.

Cao Cao smiled confidently. “Bai Qi’s forces are no match for ours. He doesn’t dare launch a major assault. I’ve stationed many men to keep a close watch on his territory. If there’s any movement, we can respond flexibly. Rest assured, Xuande.”

But reality had a habit of catching up swiftly; before Cao Cao could even take a sip of water, a soldier burst in, breathless.

“Report, Prime Minister! The Qin army, one hundred thousand strong, is nearly at the city gates!”

“What? The scouts near Yue Ming Pass didn’t report this in advance?” Panic swept across Cao Cao’s face, mingling with a hint of humiliation.

“No news at all,” the soldier replied truthfully.

“Come, summon all the generals. Follow me to the city wall.”

Outside Yue Ming Pass, Shadow effortlessly dispatched the last Han scout. The dying soldier’s face betrayed no fear, only a mundane expression, testament to the swiftness and precision of Shadow’s strike; the enemy never sensed a thing—one blink, one breath, and they were in another world.

A killer materialized out of thin air behind Shadow, bowing respectfully. “Reporting, Chief: all Han soldiers within ten miles have been eliminated. Not a single one escaped.”

“Good. Now, I want to see just what Bai Qi is capable of.” Shadow gazed at the assembled Qin army, one hundred thousand strong and ready to march.

“Chief, have you heard the legend about Bai Qi?” the young assassin suddenly asked.

“You mean the legend of Zhenbei Pass? Of course. But it’s nothing but people’s exaggerations; no one truly knows what happened then.”

“Chief, my father once followed General Bai Qi back from the northern campaign as a soldier.”

“Oh? So you know how Bai Qi slaughtered those three cities back then?”

The young assassin nodded. “My father hinted to me that it wasn’t just three cities—they razed five cities, nearly two hundred thousand from the northern campaign. Before returning to the city, Bai Qi ordered them to conceal the real outcome and swear never to reveal the details of the battle, or else they’d die violently.”

“What was Bai Qi trying to hide?” Shadow asked, puzzled.

“My father, before he died, told me one thing—never to have any dealings with Bai Qi. He recalled with terror: ‘A blood python blocks out the sun, a crimson lotus covers the sky, blood stains the world, the souls of the dead howl.’” The young assassin trembled as he spoke.

“A blood python blocks out the sun, a crimson lotus covers the sky? What does it mean?” Shadow silently pondered these words.

At that moment, Bai Qi was not about to answer such questions. The hundred thousand strong army was now only a few miles from the Northern Wei city; mortal enemies could see each other across the distance.

Upon the city wall, Cao Cao’s face was grim and sullen.

“Prime Minister, I fear the Qin army has mobilized everything,” Guo Jia remarked.

“If they want a fight to the death, we’ll accompany them. Let Xu Chu and Dian Wei each lead a cavalry charge at once. Have the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry ready for battle at any moment.”

“Prime Minister, as I observe, the enemy’s shield bearers are at the front, spearmen hidden behind, cavalry on both flanks, archers supporting with arrows from the rear. It’s a classic battle formation—hard to break head-on. Best to use the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to probe their strengths and weaknesses, with the White-Plumed Troops stationed at the rear as reinforcements,” Guo Jia advised succinctly.

On the smoke-filled battlefield, Bai Qi silently observed the two formidable armies charging towards him. One, wielding dual short-bladed halberds, radiated an unstoppable, fearless aura—Dian Wei, known as the Fierce One. The other, though less imposing in presence, was built like a tiger, equally intimidating—Xu Chu, the Tiger Fool.

Cao Cao, watching from the city wall, seized the moment and ordered, “Loose the arrows!”

A rain of arrows swept toward the Qin formation, but the shield bearers easily blocked the volley. Dian Wei charged the front lines.

His short halberds, brimming with murderous martial force, sliced the giant shields in two. Relying on his immense strength, Dian Wei tore a gap open.

“Qin brats, prepare to die!” He swung his weapons, ignoring the ineffectual attacks around him, charging straight at Bai Qi.

Nearly forty thousand cavalry joined the two generals in fierce combat against the Qin army. Ordinary soldiers could not withstand Dian Wei and Xu Chu; soon, they broke through to Bai Qi at the front of the formation.

Dian Wei leapt forward, a shadowy demon materializing behind him—an aura of Saint Martial rank.

“Bai Qi, today I’ll kill you myself!”

Faced with this forceful assault, Bai Qi finally picked up his weapon—a legendary bronze halberd forged in blood and slaughter, known as Man-Slaughter.

Man-Slaughter radiated crimson martial energy as it met Dian Wei head-on. When their weapons clashed, a sharp, clear sound rang out, and both were forced back several meters. Xu Chu, who had been gathering strength, seized the moment and charged at Bai Qi like a raging tiger.

Bai Qi shook his head helplessly. “Too weak. You’re all far too weak.” Before he finished speaking, a dense, blood-red martial force erupted, and a massive hundred-meter-long python coiled around Bai Qi, its body encircling him. Compared to this, Xu Chu’s tiger seemed no more than a kitten.

“This power—he’s a four-star Saint Martial!” Though Dian Wei’s heart felt no fear, he was utterly shocked. As a Saint Martial himself, he knew what a four-star rank meant—the pinnacle of sainthood. There were at most ten such figures in the entire continent, perhaps even fewer. The most famous were the Heavenly Sword God, Qin’s Sword Saint, the Chaos King Lü Bu, followed by Tang’s King Zhao Li Yuanba and White Tiger Star Xue Rengui, rumored to have reached the four-star level as well. Perhaps a few others at Pure Land Temple and Heaven-Reaching Mountain. But who could have guessed that the legendary God of War Bai Qi was among their ranks?

“Xu Chu, we must retreat. Protect the Prime Minister!” Dian Wei shouted urgently.

But he was still too late. Before Xu Chu could utter a word, the blood python swallowed him whole.

“Xu… Chu…” Rage boiled over in Dian Wei’s heart.

Yet Bai Qi paid no heed to this Han champion. Calmly, he declared, “Now, the war truly begins. Bloodthirsty Sacrifice—rise!”

As soon as he spoke, the blood python’s radiance spread rapidly. Soldiers all around—Qin and Han, living or dead—if touched by the blood light, their blood surged violently, and then, without warning, countless bodies burst apart, one after another, with no exception. The spilled blood did not scatter but instead condensed into small crimson spheres, which floated toward the python’s body.

Strengthened by these offerings, the blood python grew larger and fiercer, its sleek scales thickening, its gaping maw filled with sharper, more terrifying fangs.

Dian Wei, protected by the demon’s martial aura, was spared from Bai Qi’s power, but as the blood light intensified, his own aura weakened.

Just as he was about to falter, a blood-red giant tiger leapt at the blood python, and the two scarlet beasts clashed fiercely.

“Dian Wei, go! Protect our lord. We’ll hold the line here,” cried the newly arrived Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

Dian Wei was clearly reluctant, but swallowing his anger, he turned toward Northern Wei city.

“Take care. Watch out for Bai Qi—he’s extremely powerful,” he warned the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry before departing.

“Understood, General. Go!”

After Dian Wei left, the remaining Tiger and Leopard Cavalry steeled themselves to face Bai Qi’s blood python. Yet, weakened from the battle at Yue Ming Pass and despite replenishments, their numbers were less than three thousand. Their combined strength barely reached the concentration of a three-star Saint Martial. How could they match Bai Qi? Though the four-star Saint Martial’s aura was formidable, it lacked the endurance and stamina of a military formation condensed from thousands. But Bai Qi’s blood python, fighting on and on, only grew more ferocious, while the red tiger faded, its energy waning; the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were nearing their limits.

As the blood python lunged to bite the red tiger, a jade-white longsword slashed at the python’s head, causing it to recoil in pain and release the tiger.

Bai Qi looked over to see a five-thousand-strong infantry unit, their jade-white martial energy focused on the foremost dark-skinned man. The sword-wielding martial formation was the White-Plumed Army under Liu Bei—the Jade Swordbearer.

Yet Bai Qi’s expression remained unchanged. “Good, you’re here. Now I can wipe you all out together.”

“General Zhang Fei, thanks for your help just now.”

“Remember to buy me a drink someday. But for now, let’s cut this fellow down together.”

“Right. Let’s go.” With the White-Plumed Army’s reinforcements, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry’s confidence surged. But Bai Qi was not idle; in that moment, tens of thousands more soldiers had died, their blood nourishing the python.

Soon, the python stretched almost two hundred meters long. The red tiger, only forty or fifty meters high, looked even more diminutive, and the Jade Swordbearer, though at peak concentration, stood nearly a hundred meters tall.

“White Lotus, make your move,” Bai Qi commanded. Instantly, a graceful figure flashed onto the battlefield, and a pure white lotus blossomed amid the blood light.

Centered on this flower, a wave of cold spread, and the thick scent of blood in the air faded somewhat. But the python opened its maw and swallowed the snow lotus whole. Blood light flared, and the speed at which it absorbed the crimson spheres increased dramatically. Its martial power soared.

Zhang Fei swallowed hard, then shouted, “Attack! Cut him down!” The Jade Swordbearer rushed forward, and Zhang Fei, leading five thousand troops, charged as well.

“I am Zhang Yide of Yan! Prepare to die, you wretches!” But before he finished, the Jade Swordbearer was shattered in the python’s jaws, and the entire army was scattered and destroyed.

“I don’t care who you are,” Bai Qi replied coldly. Having annihilated the White-Plumed Army, his deadly gaze turned to the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry raised their blades and shouted, “Tiger and Leopard Cavalry fear nothing! Charge!”

“Tiger and Leopard Cavalry fear nothing!”

“Tiger and Leopard Cavalry fear nothing!” Amid solemn, tragic cries, three thousand men charged at the terrifying god of slaughter and the python that seemed to hold up the sky.