Chapter Ninety-One: Origins

"Yes," Xue Baiqi said with a nod. "If the stone bridge is destroyed, those common people will have a way to live. Once they cross the Roaring River, they can cut the rope bridges and use the natural barrier to hold the enemy back. That should buy them some time."

"I'm just afraid they won't have the chance to cut the rope bridges," Xie En said. "The enemy's on them too tightly."

"You are right, my lord. Among the warriors of Autumn Evening City, some are organizing a rear guard. It should be the leader they chose for themselves after Song Zidan was taken away by Fu Shang," Hao Fei said.

Behind the tide of fleeing people, there were indeed many warriors desperately blocking the enemy's advance, fighting while retreating. But the truly powerful ones had all chosen to enter Nine Cauldron City in search of opportunities. There were those who would rather be a chief among men than a second-in-command under another, but not many. Only with opportunities could resources continue to flow. Staying in Autumn Evening City meant very limited progress.

Fortunately, the pursuing army of Great Summons was also a mixed rabble, with almost no innate warriors among them. They could not sense the fluctuations of vital energy; they fought by brute force, colliding body to body.

"Look! Demon soldiers!" Fu Shang suddenly widened his eyes.

Behind that ragtag army was a black tide, warriors clad in black armor. Their numbers were not great, and though the distance was too far to see clearly, one could estimate there were about sixty or seventy.

Ye Xin was somewhat stunned. It was not the situation on the battlefield that was wrong, but his own state of mind. The instant he saw the demon soldiers, an inexplicable hunger rose within him, so intense it nearly seized his emotions and made him want to charge out at once.

What was going on? Ye Xin could not understand it. His vision blurred; in the distance, the demon soldiers seemed to be giving off threads of invisible smoke, and that smoke was the most exquisite feast imaginable to him.

Time passed little by little. At last, most of the common people had crossed the rope bridge. But Xie En's prediction came true: the army of Great Summons clung tightly to the Autumn Evening City warriors who stayed behind to cover the retreat and forced their way across the bridge. The warriors who had been preparing to cut the ropes hesitated when they saw their own people still on the bridge. By the time they made up their minds to act, it was already too late. The Great Summons troops had already surged across and seized the bridgehead.

Several of the more than ten rope bridges were cut down, but nine remained. For the army of Great Summons, that was enough.

The crowd continued to flee forward, while the Great Summons troops continued to press hard behind them. Gradually, cries of anguish from the people could already be heard faintly from the hilltop.

"Young Marshal, we should act now!" Qiu Jiecai could not hold back any longer.

Ye Xin turned sharply, staring coldly at Qiu Jiecai. The hunger from moments ago had made him somewhat irritable, and Qiu Jiecai's words only drove that irritability higher. He was a commander, not a bodhisattva sent to save the suffering. In the eyes of ordinary people, the two should be one and the same. But reality would never allow that.

A battlefield was not merely a clash of strength, but also a contest of state of mind. The two supported one another; neither could be absent.

The mixed army of Great Summons numbered nearly a thousand, and with sixty or seventy demon soldiers standing by, if they rashly threw themselves into battle, it would be a bitter struggle and casualties would surely follow.

As commander, one should be thinking about how to achieve the greatest victory at the smallest cost. Everything else was outside Ye Xin's consideration.

Seeing that the Great Summons troops had already crossed the bridge, the warriors of Autumn Evening City were thrown into chaos. One figure after another collapsed to the ground and never rose again. The more quick-witted ones turned and plunged into the fleeing crowd, desperately running for their lives, with no more courage left to guard the rear.

In a short time, half of the Great Summons army had crossed the rope bridge, and the formation of demon soldiers was also slowly drawing near.

"They're armored demon troops," Xue Baiqi said softly, letting out a breath. "Demon cavalry raids like fire; armored demons stand unmoving like mountains. This is a hard nut to crack."

Ye Xin slowly leveled his long blade. Xue Baiqi and the others suddenly fell silent.

"Qiu Jiecai, the Heaven Wolf Army has been formed for many years. We understand you, but you do not understand us. For the sake of future cooperation, you need not take part in this battle," Ye Xin said calmly. "I would only have to worry about you getting in my way."

"This..." Qiu Jiecai could not quite tell what he was feeling. Yet Ye Xin had already issued the order, and he could only obey.

"Go!" Ye Xin swept his long blade, and the Boundless Heaven Wolf beneath him sprang forward in an instant.

Xue Baiqi and the others moved at the same time, vanishing into the woods in a flash.

A moment later, the Boundless Heaven Wolves had charged down the slope and appeared abruptly on the plain.

Autumn winds roared. Every Boundless Heaven Wolf was galloping at full speed, and the fierce wind in their faces had pulled Ye Xin's hair straight back.

Ye Xin narrowed his eyes. The battlefield was a place of terror beyond measure. During the two years after he left it, he often woke from nightmares. But now that he had returned to the battlefield, he found the air here so fresh, so free, that his heart pounded madly and his blood surged. Coupled with the exhilaration brought by their lightning speed, a deep sense of delight poured straight into his soul. Compared with this, Nine Cauldron City was nothing more than a playground. Perhaps this was the world that truly belonged to him.

There were thirteen riders in all, forming a single line. Yet the distance between them was gradually widening, as though each of them wished to break through the formation alone.

Xue Baiqi gripped the long spear in his hand tightly. He had already locked onto his point of entry.

Hao Fei drew his long sword, his expression icy. He had experienced too many battles and had become somewhat numb.

Xie En looked the most relaxed. His gaze even crossed the Roaring River and fell upon the demon soldiers. As the distance closed rapidly, he could already see clearly that the commander of the demon formation was actually a woman, clad in a black battle dress and holding a halberd upright while standing atop a war chariot. Their eyes met from afar, and Xie En sighed inwardly. Truly beautiful. What a pity...

Lin Tong held a massive five-pronged trident in his hand and waved to indicate that Zhou Suying should not stray too far from him. At the same time, he muttered to himself: if only this were a boundless ocean, how wonderful that would be. I could deal with them all by myself!

Zhou Suying saw Lin Tong's gesture and slightly adjusted her direction. Her hands, gripping the pair of cicada-wing blades, seemed somewhat damp with sweat. She had only begun cultivating after entering the Heaven Punishment Camp. Though she had received Ye Xin's care, her progress was not outstanding. She was the weakest link among the thirteen riders, and among the elite survivors of the Heaven Punishment Camp, she was the only innate warrior still at the initial level.

Yang Xuantong slowly rolled the short beard at his chin between his fingers, his eyes narrowed to slits, murmuring under his breath. If anyone had approached him, they would have been astonished to discover that he was actually chanting poetry.

Fu Shang brandished his long staff, laughing and shouting without pause, looking like a madman.

The thirteen riders unexpectedly spread into a fan-shaped formation, causing the old generals on the hilltop to shake their heads again and again.

"Old Qiu, what are they even doing?" one old general said in a low voice. "To hand the Boundless Heaven Wolves over to them and let them fight like this—what a waste! Wolf cavalry should form a proper battle array so their impact can be maximized. Acting in such a disorderly fashion, how is that any different from a band of thieves?"

"We should go too. If anything happens to the Young Marshal, what face do we have left to see the Wolf Marshal?" another old general said urgently.

"Exactly. There isn't even anyone protecting the Young Marshal's flanks!"

The old generals' criticism was fully shared by Qiu Jiecai. But the gaze Ye Xin had just given him had been too cold and indifferent, and it left him too afraid to make the decision on his own.

"Stop talking nonsense," Qiu Jiecai said in a low voice. "After all, the demon soldiers have not yet joined the battle, and among the Young Marshal's former subordinates, there are at least two pillar-level experts. Dealing with those rabble should not be a problem. Wait a little longer. If the Young Marshal suffers at the hands of the demon soldiers, it will not be too late for us to join in then."

"Old Qiu, tell us the truth!" The first old general who had spoken fixed his gaze on Qiu Jiecai. "Where did the Young Marshal recruit these people from?"

"My eyes haven't gone bad yet," another old general sighed. "The baleful aura around them is too heavy. That can only be tempered in mountains of blades and seas of blood. Old Qiu, the rest of us old brothers really can't hold it in anymore. Give us the bottom line. What are they really?"

"You lot..." Qiu Jiecai suddenly laughed, almost happily. "You are all skilled when it comes to charging into battle, but your thinking is a little lacking. In fact, the answer is right before your eyes."

"Right before our eyes? I don't see anything before my eyes," one old general said suspiciously.

"Have you forgotten where the Young Marshal was sent when he had just turned fourteen?" Qiu Jiecai said.

"The Heaven Punishment Camp?" The old general's eyes went wide, nearly popping out of his head. "Could it be that the Young Marshal has been working with the Heaven Punishment War God all these years?!"

"No wonder... no wonder the Young Marshal has changed so much!" The guess was immediately accepted by the others.

"Yes, even I can't tell just how strong the Young Marshal is," another old general said. "It's only in military formations that the Young Marshal still needs tempering. How can he charge and fight like this? Heh... still, it's no great matter. After taking a few losses, he'll learn. We were the same when we were young."

"You people..." Qiu Jiecai shook his head helplessly. "There can only be one tiger in a mountain. The Young Marshal won the allegiance of these wolfish men in the Heaven Punishment Camp. As for 'working together'—if it were truly just that, how could the Heaven Punishment War God tolerate the Young Marshal?!"

"What? That Heaven Punishment War God would dare mean harm to our Young Marshal?!" one old general roared. "I have always held him in high esteem because he led only three thousand condemned men and still pinned down the main force of Great Summons. If not for him, the northern front should have fallen three years ago. But if he dares harbor malicious intent toward our Young Marshal, I swear I will be at odds with him until death!"

"You all think it impossible, so you never even considered that possibility, right?" Qiu Jiecai sighed. "The Young Marshal is the Heaven Punishment War God. Otherwise, why would I remain here to watch the formation? Even if it enrages the Young Marshal, I cannot simply let him go and take that risk!"

The hilltop suddenly fell silent. In truth, Qiu Jiecai was right. They had believed it impossible, and so they had never guessed the true answer. Now that Qiu Jiecai had personally revealed the secret, it sent stormy waves crashing through their hearts.

"Look! The Young Marshal has already charged in," Qiu Jiecai said, pointing ahead.

"Thank you to Zhuangding, Spinning His Life Away, and Mosquito for becoming patrons of this book. Thank you also to Dian Dian, Pang Ye, Xiao Ni, Zebra Fish, May You Have Lifelong Happiness, Gold Medal Rookie, Household Cat Xiao Miao, diabio111, West Chamber Courtesy, 570037602, Cold Ice Stone Heart, Lonely Traveler from Beyond the Heavens, Wang Xuan Xuan Ce, Lin Yu 1974, and Book Friend 151119213944237 for today's tips.

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Xiao Ni once said that when a new patron appears, a bonus chapter is customary. I never managed to do that before. I remember that in the beginning I loved chatting in the group, but later I gradually grew afraid to do so. Looking back now, I think it was simply shame. Back during Assassin and Chaos, there was often only one chapter a day; I truly had no face to speak of. Every time I started chatting, someone would bring up the matter of extra chapters, and I would feel unbearably embarrassed.

After being down for so long, to still receive everyone's support, I am deeply moved.

Well then, it's time to fight with everything I have!"