Chapter Ninety: The New Army's First Battle

The Wild Sky Wolf was extraordinarily swift and had remarkable stamina; it never once needed to rest along the way. By dusk on the second day, they were already close to the front.

The nearer they drew to the northern line, the more refugees they encountered on the road. This was an inevitable phenomenon born of war. For years, the armies of the Great Summoning Kingdom had never been able to cross that boundary, but now that they had finally broken into the territory of the Great David Kingdom, they were certainly going to vent their fury.

Now and then they also came upon small detachments from the Great Summoning Kingdom that had gone out to plunder villages and towns, but Ye Xin chose not to engage them. He detoured far around.

To fight every battle one encounters is a choice only a madman, and an utterly foolish one at that, would make. Even the young men who had only just left the academy would act cautiously when meeting an enemy.

Why should this battle be fought? What could be gained from it? After the fighting ended, could the enemy who received the warning be made to act according to his intentions? What adverse consequences might it bring? And so on, and so on. There were far too many questions Ye Xin needed to consider carefully.

Perhaps some reckless brutes would think he was overthinking matters. Strike, and that would be that; at the very least, it would raise the prestige of his homeland. But Ye Xin was a qualified commander. If his vision were so shallow, he would never have been able to lead only three thousand soldiers into the Great Summoning Kingdom as if into an uninhabited wilderness, fighting a thousand li across the land, winning every battle and taking every stronghold, and carving out a fearsome reputation for himself.

To take the simplest example: a hunter holds a spear while fishing. Fish of every size pass below him in the water. If he makes a move and strikes one fish, the others will surely scatter in all directions. Since he has only one chance, of course he should choose the fattest one.

To Ye Xin, a great mass of fat was rolling toward him from ahead, some large, some small, some exceptionally succulent. After he made his move, there were usually two completely different outcomes: cut off one piece of meat, and the other pieces would immediately contract toward the center, eventually becoming a mountain of flesh he could not possibly swallow; or else swallow the most delicious piece in one bite, causing all the fatty prey to become terribly frightened and scatter in every direction, leaving him with far more meat to consume.

It took only one day to reach the northern line. Then, for a full seven days, Ye Xin led his men moving laterally along the northern front. He had his reasons. With no scouts and no temporary source of intelligence, he had no idea how the Great Summoning Kingdom’s forces were deployed. All he could do was rely on the speed of the wolf cavalry, observe everything with his own eyes, and then make a comprehensive judgment.

A world-shaking plan had already taken shape in Ye Xin’s mind. Wei Juan had fallen too quickly; this war had erupted too suddenly, beyond his expectations. He hoped to seize the momentum and become, ahead of time, the great hero who rescued the people from misery, establishing a reputation so enormous that even Ironheart Sage would be forced to fear it.

The seven days were not wasted. He saw clearly that the Great Summoning Kingdom had invaded along three routes. Xiao Mozhi was on the northeastern line, crossing the Little Silver River and going straight for Autumn Evening City. Zhuang Buxiu was on the due-north line, attacking Old Dragon Mouth, with his objective aimed at Ironheart Sage’s outer residence. Yu Dao was on the northwestern line; he had first seized the Ten Thousand Ravines Mountain, and now occupied Late Tang City.

What kind of achievement would make his renown blaze like the noon sun? Simple: he had to kill one man, one standing between Xiao Mozhi and Zhuang Buxiu.

But when he thought of Xiao Mozhi, whose strength was unfathomable, and then of Xiao Mozhi’s demonic army, Ye Xin could only give up that idea. As for Zhuang Buxiu, who had once been defeated by Wei Juan, he became his only target.

If there were several thousand soldiers like Xue Baiqi and Hao Fei, he might have dared to test himself against Xiao Mozhi. But how many people did he have by his side now? Xue Baiqi, Hao Fei, Xie En, Lin Tong, Zhou Suying, Yang Xuantong, plus the six men under Fu Shang, and himself. Thirteen in all. On the side of the Wild Sky Wolf Legion, there were Qiu Jiechao, the seven camp commanders, and their family retainers—nearly thirty men.

Would fewer than fifty soldiers really dare to stand head-on against Xiao Mozhi?

In truth, they were no more proportionate to Zhuang Buxiu’s strength either. But there was a glimmer of hope. If he managed his hand well, perhaps he could truly succeed.

On the ninth day, Ye Xin led the group back to the line near Autumn Evening City, preparing to seek his target.

Autumn Evening City was Xiao Mozhi’s route of attack. Ye Xin wanted to greet Xiao Mozhi here. In any case, his target was not Xiao Mozhi, and whatever response Xiao Mozhi made would have nothing to do with him. It would also serve as a small retaliation: since you refuse to keep to the agreement, then do not blame me for tearing a piece of meat from you.

Ye Xin had everyone dismount and rest, while sending two men from the Heaven’s Sin Camp to scout outside. The Wild Sky Wolf had astounding endurance and could gallop for an entire day and night without tiring, but people could not endure the same. After several consecutive days of travel, all the soldiers were already looking somewhat worn.

“People in Autumn Evening City are really unlucky,” Fu Shang sighed. “The military magistrate, Song Zidan, was just taken away by me a few days ago, and now this happens. I bet they’re in complete chaos by now.”

“That depends on how capable they are,” Ye Xin said indifferently. “The military supplies of the Great David Kingdom are usually stored at Double Dragon Beach and Old Dragon Mouth. Now that both places have fallen in succession, the enemy has already obtained what they wanted. If they keep pressing inward, it can only mean one of three things.”

“Oh? My lord, tell us. I love hearing you explain these things,” Fu Shang said with a fawning grin.

“You bootlicker!” Xue Baiqi laughed and cursed.

“No, really, how do you always fail to see what my lord sees?” Fu Shang said, somewhat unconvinced. “Do you deny that you’ve learned a great deal from him?”

From a worldly point of view, Fu Shang ought to count as a petty man. His mind was extremely nimble, and the fact that he had thought of finding an alternative way to recover Ye Xin’s Godslayer Blade was proof enough. But everything he did revolved around Ye Xin. If it had been Xue Baiqi or the others who lost their weapons, he would never have bothered. It was not that he lacked brotherly affection, but that there was no need to flatter deliberately. Everyone stood equal.

Flattery was Fu Shang’s greatest skill. Whether such a person would bring benefit or danger to the group depended entirely on Ye Xin’s control.

“All right, all right. Listen to my lord,” Lin Tong said.

“The first possibility is that they are trying to seize an opportunity. The saying that a hundred-legged insect dies but does not stiffen is apt here. They do not believe they can destroy the Great David Kingdom in one stroke, but they are unwilling to stop without trying, so they choose to advance south. If they see an opening, they will launch a frenzy of attacks. If they do not, they will fight while retreating, and there will be no great loss.” Ye Xin paused. “The second possibility is pure revenge. For so many years, it has always been the Great David Kingdom’s armies invading the Great Summoning Kingdom. Now they have finally taken their revenge, and of course they want to savor the satisfaction of it. At the same time, they can greatly weaken the Great David Kingdom. The refugees in exile must be housed, the ruined homes must be rebuilt, and all of this will cost the Great David Kingdom dearly.”

“And the third?” Fu Shang asked.

“The third...” Ye Xin gave a low sigh. “The third is what I most hope for, and also what I least hope for. Don’t forget the Great Feather Kingdom in the south. Their Blood Mountain Legion has always remained stationed on the border. We have already received word that Ironheart Sage has truly chosen to lead the army personally. The city defense troops and palace guards have all been mobilized, and reinforcements have been dispatched from military towns throughout the realm. Almost all of the Great David Kingdom’s forces have been thrown onto the northern line. If the Great Summoning Kingdom has already allied with the Great Feather Kingdom, and the Blood Mountain Legion takes the opportunity to break in from the south, this whole campaign will advance like a crushing tide. If that happens, the situation will truly rot away beyond saving.”

“Impossible! The Great Feather Kingdom and our Great David Kingdom are allies!” Qiu Jiechao, who had been listening in silence, could no longer hold himself back.

“There is a saying that someone has repeated so many times it has almost worn thin, but it does make sense,” Ye Xin said. “There are no eternal enemies in this world, no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Whether to aid the weak against the strong, or to exploit the weak with the strong, the choice seems obvious enough, doesn’t it?”

“My lord, if the Great Feather Kingdom takes advantage of our plight, what should we do?” Fu Shang asked again.

“I have already made some preparations,” Ye Xin said. “If it is truly the third possibility, it will bring us both great benefit and great harm. Mm... I am rarely indecisive, but this time it is genuinely hard to say.”

“So... my lord, that is why you left Mo Yan behind?” Fu Shang suddenly thought of something. Ghost Master and Mo Yan were the two most important men in the Heaven’s Sin Camp apart from Ye Xin, yet neither of them was here.

“Yes.” Ye Xin nodded.

Just then, sounds came from outside the grove. A Wild Sky Wolf came racing in, and the rider on its back said urgently, “My lord, a battle has broken out at the Wild River south of Autumn Evening City. A large number of civilians are fleeing, and Great Summoning Kingdom troops are following behind to massacre them. I think I also saw the demonic army, though I didn’t dare get too close for fear of drawing their attention.”

“The demonic army? Why would the demonic army do such a thing?” Xue Baiqi asked in surprise. As the saying goes, fine steel should be used on the blade’s edge. Xiao Mozhi would never allow the demonic army to go about harassing civilians. Such thankless tasks, with little gain and much blame, were usually left to mixed and irregular troops.

“They are probably only there to supervise. There won’t be many of them,” Ye Xin said with a faint smile. Then he rose. The small force of the demonic army was exactly what he had been looking for. “Come, let’s go take a look.”

So at last it was time for battle. The soldiers of the Heaven’s Sin Camp, along with the veteran officers of the Wild Sky Wolf Legion, all rallied themselves and leaped onto their Wild Sky Wolves, racing toward the Wild River.

In an instant, the mounted troop surged up the mountaintop and looked down from above toward the Wild River ahead. The river’s drop was immense and the current fierce. Through countless years of erosion, it had forcibly carved a gorge more than ten meters deep into the plain, with precipitous banks on either side.

On both sides of the river there was a stretch more than twenty meters wide, and more than a dozen crude rope bridges. Endless streams of commoners were fleeing across them. Now and then someone would be shoved into the river by the press of the crowd. The distance was too great to hear any sound, but nearly a thousand soldiers were pursuing and slaughtering them from behind.

From their vantage point, those refugees looked like ants, scrambling over one another as they rushed onto the rope bridges. Though they were not personally in the midst of it, they could still feel the tragic and terror-stricken atmosphere.

“Huh? I remember there used to be a stone bridge here. The last time I escorted Song Zidan, we crossed it. Where did the stone bridge go?” Fu Shang cried out.

“That only proves there are still intelligent people in Autumn Evening City,” Ye Xin said.