87
In this battle, the rebel army was utterly defeated.
Mu Peixuan had originally intended to capture Liu Ziyi alive, but unexpectedly, Liu Ziyi had some backbone. Unwilling to surrender, he slit his own throat with a sword, his blood splattering in the forest. As for the other rebels, Mu Peixuan didn’t leave any alive. As he had said, these people were the remaining dregs of traitors. Yun Zhuo and Sun Qing were on the run, and once they returned, these people might very well turn against him.
Heretical cults bewitched people’s hearts. Rather than leaving such a hidden danger, it was better to eradicate them completely.
Mu Peixuan ordered Zhou Zijin and Fu Yue to lead men to search for the fleeing Sun Qing and Yun Zhuo and to clear the battlefield. Then, he led his men back to Anyang City. By this time, Anyang had been captured. Hearing that he had returned, Xu Ying excitedly rode out to meet him. Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close, he saw the dried bloodstains on Mu Peixuan’s face and was greatly startled. He quickly grabbed his arms and looked him up and down, saying, “Your Highness… are you alright?”
Mu Peixuan glanced at him and said, “I’m fine.”
Xu Ying said, “Your face…”
Only then did Mu Peixuan react. He raised a hand and rubbed the arrow graze on his cheek, saying, “Scraped by a crossbow bolt.”
Xu Ying quickly told the personal guard beside him, “Hurry and fetch the military physician!”
He grumbled, “You make it sound so simple. What if the arrow was poisoned? How do you know those treacherous rebels didn’t resort to such tricks—”
Mu Peixuan said nonchalantly, “If the arrow was poisoned, you would be seeing me being carried back already.”
“Pah, pah, pah,” Xu Ying said crossly, “What kind of talk is that?” Looking at Mu Peixuan’s expression, he finally felt reassured. He tossed him a waterskin made of sheepskin and said, “Wipe the blood off your face. It’s terrifying.”
Mu Peixuan hummed in acknowledgement. Using the water from the waterskin, he took a cloth and slowly wiped his cheek. The dried blood, upon meeting water, spread out, making the wound look even more gruesome. Xu Ying looked at the jagged scar where the flesh was split open and couldn’t help but gasp, saying, “Looking at this wound, it doesn’t seem like the standard issue used in the army.”
Mu Peixuan said, “Indeed, it isn’t. How is the city?”
Xu Ying replied, “The rebels within Anyang City have all been imprisoned, and we’ve seized quite a lot of things.”
“What about Liu Ziyi?”
Mu Peixuan said, “Dead.”
Xu Ying pursed his lips and whispered, “What about Lan Duo and Sun Qing?”
Mu Peixuan’s gaze fell on Xu Ying. “Lan Duo was killed by me. Sun Qing escaped with a descendant of the Yun family.”
Xu Ying’s eyes widened. “Escaped?”
“I’ll go after them!”
Mu Peixuan said, “He took an arrow in the back from me; he shouldn’t survive. Fu Yue and Zhou Zijin have already gone after them.”
He continued, “Xu Ying, do you know why I kept you to attack the city here?”
Xu Ying was taken aback. Before attacking Anyang, Mu Peixuan had already laid out the plans for both the siege and the ambush in the command tent. Xu Ying had originally wanted to go with Mu Peixuan to ambush Liu Ziyi and Sun Qing, but Mu Peixuan hadn’t agreed, so Xu Ying had no choice but to drop the matter.
Xu Ying hesitated for a moment, then whispered, “You were worried that if I faced Sun Qing, I would act impulsively.”
Mu Peixuan said, “That’s one reason. Xu Ying, you will be a general who stands alone in the future, so you must always prioritize the overall situation and not let hatred cloud your judgment.”
Xu Ying was stunned, looking at Mu Peixuan without speaking. Mu Peixuan’s eyes were calm, his sharply defined face carrying an added touch of cold sternness due to the new wound. Mu Peixuan said, “In the army, the ones I can trust now are you, Fu Yue, and Commander Zhou. Fu Yue leads the Black-armored Iron Cavalry, skilled in charging and fighting but not good at sieges.”
“Anyang City has four gates. Commander Zhou alone is ultimately lacking in strength, not to mention the many matters after the city is breached,” Mu Peixuan said slowly, looking into Xu Ying’s eyes. “Zhou Zijin lacks battlefield experience, and without military rank or merits, it’s difficult for him to command respect. How could I entrust the east gate to him?”
Xu Ying suddenly understood. After a long pause, he whispered, “I see.”
Mu Peixuan smiled, raised his hand, and gently punched his shoulder. “However, now that Sun Qing and that Yun family descendant have become stray dogs, you and Fu Yue can go and bring them back.”
Mu Peixuan said, “Sun Qing is injured. They won’t be able to run far unless that Yun family descendant abandons him.”
Xu Ying scratched his head, chuckled a few times, and then, remembering something, said, “I’ll stay in the city to help you.”
Mu Peixuan said, “No need. You go and tell Zhou Zijin to return.”
Xu Ying shouted loudly, “Yes, I will definitely bring them both back!”
Yun Zhuo had ridden his horse for a while, leaving the imperial troops behind, when he noticed Sun Qing’s exceptionally pale face. He abruptly pulled on the reins, turned back, and saw the arrow in Sun Qing’s back.
The white feathers trembled, and blood flowed.
Sun Qing raised his eyes, looked at Yun Zhuo dazedly, and then fell straight off his horse. Yun Zhuo’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly dismounted, rushed to Sun Qing’s side, and helped him up. “Sun Qing!”
Sun Qing’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. After a few breaths, he opened his eyes, looked at Yun Zhuo, and said, “Shengzun, you should go.”
The twenty or thirty people who had escaped with them all dismounted and warily scanned their surroundings. Yun Zhuo didn’t say a word, but his palm was covered in sticky blood from touching Sun Qing’s back. He lowered his eyes, looking at his fair hand stained red with blood. He had an attendant support Sun Qing and then reached out to unfasten his armor.
Yun Zhuo said, “I’ll pull the arrow out for you first.”
His voice was as calm as usual, and his fingers were nimble, clearly very familiar with the armor used in the military. In just a moment, he tossed the armor aside, making a heavy thud. The dark undergarment was pulled open, revealing the Tianqian’s firm and lean chest. Yun Zhuo took out a small knife and carefully cut away the fabric around his wound. Being so close, the rich Tianqian pheromone in the blood rushed into his nostrils. Even though Yun Zhuo had been trained since childhood to be insensitive to Tianqian pheromones, he was still slightly overwhelmed.
Sun Qing didn’t speak. He looked at the Kunze, who was frowning in front of him. Yun Zhuo was beautiful, especially the small mole between his eyebrows, it was striking and exquisite. Sun Qing had never been this close to Yun Zhuo before. He watched as Shengzun’s hands were stained with his blood, watched him carefully pulling out the arrow for him, and in a daze, he actually had a thought that he would have no regrets even if he died right now.
Mu Peixuan’s arrow had been shot with great force, wedged into the gap in the armor, and deeply embedded in the flesh. After bouncing around all the way, pulling it out now, with the slightest carelessness, could cost Sun Qing his life on the spot.
Sun Qing was clearly aware of the danger. Injured and weak, he said, “Shengzun, don’t waste time on me. You should go.”
“Any later… Mu Peixuan’s Black-armored Iron Cavalry will… will catch up.”
Yun Zhuo said, “Don’t talk.”
He lowered his eyes to look at Sun Qing and calmly said, “I’m going to pull out the arrow.”
Yun Zhuo’s pupils were light, with a translucent quality like glass, seemingly focused yet also cold and indifferent, his gaze not lingering on anyone. Sun Qing was stunned. Before he could react, Yun Zhuo had already leaned close, his arms around Sun Qing’s shoulders, the two of them in an almost embracing position.
Sun Qing’s entire body stiffened. He even forgot the pain. He wondered if it was an illusion, but he seemed to smell a faint, sweet scent unique to Kunze, like the milk cakes cooked by foreign merchants that he had tasted when garrisoned in the northern border.
He only felt Yun Zhuo’s hand on his shoulder. Sun Qing held his breath. In the next instant, a piercing pain struck. Sun Qing’s vision went black, and a few muffled groans escaped his lips as he fell forward into Yun Zhuo’s arms.
Yun Zhuo had never been this close to a Tianqian before. He paused for a moment, then tossed the blood-soaked arrow aside. The close attendant waiting by his side immediately offered a towel and wound medicine. Yun Zhuo steadied himself and skillfully bandaged Sun Qing’s wound.
Yun Zhuo hastily treated Sun Qing’s injury and didn’t linger. He continued their journey with him. Yun Zhuo was no stranger to such escapes. Ever since he could remember, it seemed like he had been constantly fleeing and hiding. Even after he was presumed “dead,” the old servant of the Yun family had taken him to many different places out of caution, and every day he lived carefully.
Originally, his elder sister and twin brother had also escaped, but unfortunately, the escape was arduous, and they didn’t survive.
He was the only remaining bloodline of the Yun family.
Later, the old servant also died, and Yun Zhuo became a complete orphan.
It wasn’t until he was adopted by the previous Shengzun of the Jiulian Sect and brought into the sect that Yun Zhuo experienced what it was like to sit down and eat a meal peacefully.
The imperial court’s people did not let them go. Fortunately, they only encountered small groups, which Yun Zhuo could still handle. But even so, of the thirty people who had escaped with him, only a few remained.
Most importantly, perhaps because they had been constantly on the run, Sun Qing’s injury had not healed and had even begun to fester and cause a fever. Sun Qing was sometimes awake and sometimes unconscious. Yun Zhuo looked at that resolute face, his slender fingers slowly caressing the arrow he had pulled from Sun Qing’s back. His fingertip pressed against the arrowhead, turning it several times, but in the end, he did not stab it into Sun Qing’s neck.
The people around Yun Zhuo grew fewer.
One day, they hid in a dilapidated temple. Sun Qing’s wound was swollen and red, oozing white pus. Yun Zhuo stared at the arrow wound, the blade of his knife heating over the fire. He was going to cut away the rotting flesh.
Sun Qing was awake at this moment. His gaze fell on Yun Zhuo’s face, his voice hoarse and weak. “Shengzun, Sun Qing’s life is worthless. It’s not worth you putting in so much effort.”
He said, “I’m done for.”
Yun Zhuo remained silent.
Sun Qing said, “Shengzun, if I reach the Pure Land after death, I will also pray for your well-being…”
The tip of Yun Zhuo’s knife was glowing red from the fire. His expression was indifferent. Suddenly, he said, “There is no Pure Land.”
Sun Qing was slightly taken aback.
Yun Zhuo said, “There is no Pure Land, and there is no Avici Hell. When a person dies, they die. Those are all lies used to deceive all of you.”
After a moment, Sun Qing actually smiled slightly and said, “I know.”
Yun Zhuo was slightly stunned. Such an expression rarely appeared on his face. Sun Qing looked at it and only felt joy. He took a breath, leaned against the mottled, peeling red pillar, and said softly, “But from the first moment I saw Shengzun, everything you said has been true for me.”
In his youth, Sun Qing was proud and arrogant, clashed with his superiors, and looked down on those who held positions without merit. Later, he was demoted when his superior seized upon a mistake he made. Sun Qing was unwilling to accept this humiliation and left the military camp, becoming a bandit in the mountains. He saw Yun Zhuo in a tavern. The tavern was lively, and he and a few brothers had come down the mountain to drink and have fun. He leaned against the railing, and when he looked down, he saw Yun Zhuo sitting and eating.
At that time, Sun Qing found the way this person ate very interesting. Just a few ordinary dishes, yet he ate them slowly and meticulously, with a rather enjoyable and tranquil demeanor.
The Kunze in plain clothing seemed to notice his gaze. He raised his head and met Sun Qing’s eyes directly.
Sun Qing immediately saw the small red mole between his eyebrows. His plain and simple face suddenly became vibrant because of that red dot, making him unforgettable at first sight.
Sun Qing had once seen a deity statue in the shrine of a household.
Yun Zhuo looked very much like that statue, as if a deity had descended into the world. Sun Qing later learned that it was the Holy Lord statue worshipped by the Jiulian Sect, and Yun Zhuo was the Shengzun of the sect.
Sun Qing, like every other believer of the Jiulian Sect, revered the Holy Lord and knelt before the Shengzun.
No one knew that what Sun Qing truly believed in and revered was never any Holy Lord, only Yun Zhuo.
Yun Zhuo looked at Sun Qing and said, “You don’t know.”
Yun Zhuo continued, “When I first brought you into the sect, I already knew about you, knew about everything you did in the Northern Garrison Army. A wise ruler conquering the world needs talented generals, and you harbored hatred for the Daliang court and would never be content with being a bandit for the rest of your life.”
Sun Qing hadn’t expected Yun Zhuo to confess these things so frankly. Yun Zhuo’s gaze was calm and almost cruel as he stared at Sun Qing and said, “Sun Qing, when a person dies, they die.”
After a long moment, Sun Qing smiled slightly and said, “To die for Shengzun, Sun Qing has no regrets.”
Yun Zhuo looked at Sun Qing for a long time, then knelt up, holding the knife against the festering arrow wound, and said calmly, “It doesn’t matter anyway. Everyone will die, sooner or later.”
Having said that, the blade cut open the wound.
The next day, the weather cleared up, and Sun Qing’s low fever actually subsided. He looked much more awake.
As they were about to set off, Yun Zhuo heard the attendant report that the Southern Army had found them. Yun Zhuo’s brow furrowed tightly. Suddenly, Sun Qing said to Yun Zhuo, “Shengzun, you should go.”
Yun Zhuo lowered his eyes and looked at Sun Qing.
Sun Qing whispered, “Sun Qing is willing to fight one last battle for Shengzun.”
After a long while, Yun Zhuo quietly looked at Sun Qing for a long time and then handed him three needles. By inserting these needles into vital points, it could numb the pain throughout his body, allowing him to fight until his last breath.
However, it would only last for half an hour. After that, the person’s meridians would inevitably rupture and lead to death, beyond any medical help.
Yun Zhuo was cunning and skilled at concealing his tracks. Under the pursuit of Fu Yue and Xu Ying, they couldn’t catch him even after several days, he was as slippery as a fish. Later, Xu Ying discovered a villager’s house on fire. A family of five had died in the blaze. Xu Ying, on a whim, asked one more question and learned that the deceased was the village physician.
Xu Ying immediately thought of Sun Qing taking an arrow from Mu Peixuan. He thoroughly searched the area and indeed discovered traces left behind by Yun Zhuo and his group.
Following the tracks, Xu Ying and Fu Yue found the temple. The temple was very dilapidated, the wooden door not closing properly, creaking and swaying gently. Xu Ying cautiously led his group inside. Within the temple, they saw the Modao lying to one side and Sun Qing sitting on the stone steps, playing with a small grasshopper woven from palm leaves in his hand. Apart from his pale face and the lingering smell of blood, along with the fresh blood on his armor, he showed no signs of serious injury.
Xu Ying stopped in his tracks, staring at Sun Qing and the few people behind him. Sun Qing seemed to notice the gaze searching for someone else, smiled slightly, and said, “Shengzun has already left.”
Xu Ying fixed his gaze on him and scoffed, “What kind of bullsh*t Shengzun? He’s just a charlatan who deceives people’s hearts. Sun Qing, that you would be fooled by such a person and risk your life for him is simply laughable.”
Sun Qing’s tone was leisurely. “You wouldn’t understand. Shengzun is the hope of all of us. To die for Shengzun is our glory.”
He carefully placed the grasshopper inside his chest, held his Modao, and stood up. He lowered his arm, using the tip of his blade to touch the ground, and said to Xu Ying, “Don’t you want to kill me to avenge that young Qianhu?”
“Come.”
Seeing that he still dared to mention Li Yue, Xu Ying’s expression suddenly darkened. He raised his spear and charged forward. His spearmanship followed a traditional, wide-open style, while Sun Qing’s Modao was known for its fierce and powerful attacks. When the two fought, it seemed as if they could sweep across the six directions. The doors of the mountain god temple were wooden and connected one after another. As the fierce force of their spear and blade swept over them, they emitted unbearable groans of pain.
Suddenly, a door was split open.
Xu Ying had originally thought that Sun Qing, having taken an arrow wound, was at his limit. However, once they exchanged blows, he realized that was not the case at all. He had fought Sun Qing before, and now he felt that Sun Qing was no less formidable than he had been in his prime. But no matter what, Xu Ying thought, he had to kill Sun Qing. Xu Ying’s mind was filled with Li Yue’s severed arm, his pale face, and the bloodstained amulet hanging around his neck. Hatred and grief surged in his chest, making his attacks even more ferocious. Every move he made was aggressive, and Sun Qing also aimed to take Xu Ying’s life. Xu Ying was a major general under Mu Peixuan, and without Mu Peixuan, they wouldn’t have suffered such a crushing defeat.
The two came bearing deep hatred, both fighting with their lives on the line. Xu Ying feinted and took a blow from Sun Qing in exchange, managing to drive his spear tip into Sun Qing’s chest. Yet Sun Qing gave him a strange smile, and his Mo Dao didn’t falter in the slightest, on the verge of striking Xu Ying’s shoulder. At the last moment, a personal guard of Xu Ying rammed into him, throwing the blade off course so that it only grazed past Xu Ying’s shoulder.
Seizing the opportunity, Sun Qing pressed forward, forcing Xu Ying into the temple. A fierce close-quarters battle ensued inside. Xu Ying swallowed the blood in his mouth, his gaze fixed on Sun Qing. He could smell the thick stench of blood emanating from Sun Qing. The blood flowing on the ground clearly indicated that Sun Qing was indeed injured, yet he seemed oblivious to the pain.
It was too strange.
A fierce resolve hardened in Xu Ying’s heart. He fixed his eyes on Sun Qing’s neck and eyes, took a few forceful breaths, and charged forward with his spear — no matter how strange it was, if he gouged out his eyes and severed his head, he didn’t believe Sun Qing wouldn’t die.
Suddenly, Xu Ying smelled a pungent burning odor. The temple was on fire.
Sun Qing’s blade swings had become slower, but he clung to Xu Ying relentlessly, clearly intending to trap him in the burning temple and perish together. The two were disheveled from their fierce struggle. Xu Ying was covered in Sun Qing’s blood as well as his own. Their weapons had been knocked away. Sun Qing choked Xu Ying’s neck, pinning him to the ground. Xu Ying struggled to throw him off, but Sun Qing’s grip tightened even more. He hissed fiercely, “Come with me to Avici Hell!”
Xu Ying’s vision went black, unable to breathe. His hand groped around and surprisingly grabbed a broken wooden splinter, which he fiercely plunged into Sun Qing’s neck.
Blood splattered.
Sun Qing’s fingers slowly loosened, and his whole body collapsed. Xu Ying laboriously pushed him away, his mind still blank, only the thick, viscous smell of blood at his nostrils making him want to vomit.
A surviving personal guard crawled over and shouted, “Qianhu, hurry, it’s on fire!”
The fire burned fiercely, igniting the tattered cloth banners and the wooden pillars with a rather unstoppable momentum. Xu Ying suddenly came back to his senses, picked up his spear from the ground, and rushed out of the temple with the personal guard.
Away from the inferno, he turned back and stared blankly at the temple where the fire was growing larger. Now that Lan Duo was dead and Sun Qing was also dead, for some reason, Xu Ying still felt empty inside, without the slightest joy of revenge fulfilled.
The personal guard’s face was half-blackened by smoke. Seeing him stunned on the side, he hesitated and asked, “Commander, what do we do now?”
Xu Ying fiercely wiped his face and said, “Continue searching. The remaining rebels shouldn’t have run far.”
The personal guard replied, “Yes!”
On a distant low hill, Yun Zhuo, dressed in plain white robes, stood tall and slender, watching the land temple that had been completely engulfed in flames from afar. There was no expression on his face.
After a long while, he held up the arrow in his hand, turned, and walked away.
It was a long arrow. The white feathers were already soaked through with blood, faintly tinged with black. The arrowhead glinted coldly, like a venomous snake waiting to devour its prey.
The author has something to say:
Congratulations to Sun Qing for getting a boxed meal with extra chicken legs.
T/N: Just realized I’ve been using ‘Yun Zuo’ this whole time, it’s actually ‘Yun Zhou,’ not ‘Yun Zuo,’ everyone.
