On the seventh day after he left, a large number of soldiers from the Kingdom of Haozhou suddenly appeared in Luocheng.

The commander leading this batch of soldiers was Feng Yuan, one of Haozhou’s renowned generals.

The deputy commander left behind by Lu Tingyu could not withstand the enemy’s assault and attempted to launch a flanking attack.

Leading 5,000 elite soldiers, the deputy commander arrived at a small border town surrounding Luocheng.

Before he could make his way around to Luocheng’s side, he was ambushed there.

Though the number of Haozhou soldiers was fewer than theirs—only about half of the total number of Da Hui’s soldiers—because the enemy had already set up an ambush in advance, the deputy commander and his 5,000 soldiers were trapped in a narrow pass.

Huge stones were thrown down from the top, and many arrows were shot, causing heavy casualties for Da Hui.

With the cover of his soldiers, the deputy commander barely managed to escape the pass.

However, he never expected that once he left the pass, he would run into Feng Yuan’s son, Feng Xi.

Seeing the nearly endless army of Haozhou soldiers behind Feng Xi, the deputy commander felt a deep sense of despair.

There were only about 3,000 soldiers left with the deputy commander, including the wounded.

Feng Xi’s forces outnumbered them almost threefold.

Looking ahead, the enemy had nearly 10,000 soldiers.

Feng Xi was infamous for his cruelty.

Haozhou generals had different fighting styles, but many, like Feng Xi, were known for their brutality.

After a victory, they would not stop their assault when the enemy raised the white flag in surrender; instead, they would massacre all the soldiers.

Feng Xi’s cruelty was well known, and his soldiers admired him for it.

Every time they captured enemy soldiers, they were invigorated by the slaughter.

They were a notorious killing legion on the frontier.

In the past, when captured soldiers fell into his hands, even just a few hundred, they would be tortured in front of his army, weakening the morale of the whole force.

Now…

The deputy commander, Liu Yi, looked at the more than 3,000 remaining soldiers behind him, and his heart sank.

If they fell into Feng Xi’s hands today, these soldiers would likely face a terrible fate.

The Da Hui soldiers, who had already suffered from the ambush, grew even more despondent upon seeing that Feng Xi had arrived.

At this moment, they saw the general who had been in charge of the ambush, leading the remaining 1,000 soldiers, joining Feng Xi’s camp.

During the earlier clash, Liu Yi and his soldiers had fought back and killed many of the enemy, though they had suffered more casualties due to the terrain.

However, the enemy had been repelled and did not pursue.

Now that they had joined Feng Xi, that general wore a smug expression.

Standing before the army, the general spoke loudly to Feng Xi: “General, if we capture Liu Yi, may I deal with him as I wish?”

Feng Xi glanced at the injury on the general’s right arm and scoffed, “What, do you want revenge?”

The general murmured, “I want to break Liu Yi’s arms and legs!”

The officers under the Feng family were just as brutal as their leaders.

In Haozhou, such ruthless generals were feared on the battlefield.

They were vicious toward the enemy, and no one ever questioned their actions, as their victims were always the enemy soldiers.

“Go ahead,” Feng Xi said with a sneer. “As long as you don’t kill him, do whatever you like.”

He turned to look at Liu Yi’s soldiers, his eyes cold and dark.

Liu Yi’s face had turned ashen.

He said in a low voice to the soldiers around him, “If we lose today, do not let yourselves fall into Feng Xi’s hands.”

The meaning behind his words caused the surrounding commanders to fall silent.

They were outmatched, both in strength and in leadership on the battlefield.

In this brutal situation, the only thing they could do was end their own lives before Feng Xi had the chance to torture and kill them.

Such was the fate of a weak nation: from the generals to the soldiers, and even the common people, they were all at the mercy of others.

They had weapons in hand and could die with some dignity if defeated, but what about the defenseless civilians of the borderlands?

Would Feng Xi spare them?

In the midst of this heavy atmosphere, a sudden sound of galloping hooves came from behind.

A messenger soldier hurriedly arrived, dismounted, and whispered to Liu Yi, “Deputy Commander, reinforcements from the capital have arrived!”

Upon hearing this, the soldiers around them brightened.

Liu Yi exclaimed, “Reinforcements from the capital?”

They had planned to launch a flanking attack from the western town, and although the commanders in Luocheng knew about it, the situation there was already dire.

With their limited forces, they simply couldn’t spare anyone to come to their aid.

Moreover, it would have been too late to send a messenger, so Liu Yi had not sent anyone to Luocheng when they encountered Feng Xi.

But now, the reinforcements from Luocheng had not arrived, and yet reinforcements from the capital had reached them.

Liu Yi felt a huge sense of relief.

He quickly asked, “Which general has arrived with the reinforcements? How many soldiers?”

The messenger soldier paused briefly before answering, “I have not seen the general, but the reinforcements number… 1,000.”

At the mention of this number, the soldiers who had been filled with hope now looked pale.

1,000 soldiers?

How could that be enough?

They were facing Feng Xi, one of the fiercest generals of Haozhou, whose troops were all battle-hardened and ruthless.

With only 1,000 soldiers, it was hard to say whether they were coming to reinforce them or to die alongside them.

Liu Yi’s expression also changed.

He had heard from Lu Tingyu a few days ago that reinforcements were coming from the capital, but they had no details about what that would entail.

Now that they had heard only 1,000 soldiers were arriving to assist them, his mood sank, and in that moment, he made a decision:

“Send word to the reinforcements to retreat.”

The messenger soldier was taken aback. “General?”

“Quickly!” Liu Yi urged.

They still had a chance to save the reinforcements, and leaving now was better than everyone dying at Feng Xi’s hands.

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Xi had also received the news.

“1,000 reinforcements?” Feng Xi laughed loudly. “It’s been a while since we last met on the battlefield, and Da Hui has already fallen this far?”

He swung his large sword and shouted, “Haozhou soldiers, hear my orders!”

“Destroy all Da Hui soldiers, and capture their commanders alive!” He licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. “No one leaves here alive today!”

“Yes!” The officers responded in unison.

Without further delay, Feng Xi’s army surged forward, charging madly toward Liu Yi and his soldiers.

The sudden onslaught left Liu Yi no time to react.

He hadn’t even had a chance to send the messenger soldier away when the battle erupted.

During the retreat from the pass earlier, Liu Yi had also sustained an injury to his right arm.

He tried to lift his weapon, but his arm was almost too weak to do so.

He gritted his teeth, relying solely on his breath and determination to hold his ground and prevent retreat.

However, the soldiers of Hao Zhou swarmed forward.

The sight was like a dark mass of creatures emerging from the ground, like snakes and insects, one wave after another, endless and relentless.

They attacked him in succession, slashing down at him.

Liu Yi was struggling to keep up, his movements growing slower and more sluggish.

By the third wave of attacks, when they surged toward him again, he found that even the strength to raise his weapon was nearly gone.

Liu Yi and the soldiers behind him were being pushed back by the encirclement of the Hao Zhou forces and the soldiers of Fengxi.

They were about to be driven into the narrow passage that had once dealt them a heavy blow.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves echoed from behind.

Thud, thud, thud!

The sound was orderly and powerful, like a storm, startling all the soldiers in the chaotic battle to look up.

Among those soldiers was Fengxi.

Fengxi, riding a tall horse, cut his way through the soldiers of Da Hui, his sword cleaving through countless heads.

In the midst of his enjoyment, he suddenly heard the sound, looked up, and saw, to his surprise, a woman in black riding toward him.

Yes, it was a woman.

Fengxi was momentarily stunned, then his gaze fell upon her beautiful face.

For a moment, he was distracted.

He quickly decapitated the soldier next to him and pulled his horse back a few steps to stand by his deputy, but his eyes were still fixed on the woman riding toward him—Wen Yue Sheng.

Fengxi, excited, asked, “Who is this woman?”

The Hao Zhou deputy turned to look at Wen Yuesheng riding swiftly toward them and furrowed his brow.

Previously, when the new emperor of Hao Zhou went to Da Hui, they did not follow him, so they had never seen Wen Yuesheng.

But… a woman? A general?

The deputy’s expression changed immediately.

He shouted, “This is bad!”

Fengxi, hearing this, sneered.

“During the previous campaign, General Tai Lan specifically warned us to be extra cautious if we encountered a woman of extraordinary beauty from Da Hui.”

The deputy, shaken, replied loudly, “This woman must be Princess Si Ning of Da Hui!”

Princess Si Ning!

This name, which had been circulating for months since they decided to attack Da Hui, finally appeared before them.

Fengxi’s gaze shifted from Wen Yuesheng’s face to her slender figure.

He raised an eyebrow and said mockingly, “She’s just a woman. Does Tai Lan really fear her this much?”

Fengxi had always been dissatisfied with the so-called five great generals of Hao Zhou, and now hearing that Tai Lan was so wary of this seemingly delicate woman, he couldn’t help but laugh.

He didn’t even consider the deputy’s warning seriously, raising his voice instead: “Everyone, listen up! Capture that woman alive!”

He raised his bloody sword, pointing directly at Wen Yuesheng. “Tonight, I’ll make this woman serve me!”

As his crude words echoed, the surrounding soldiers laughed in agreement, shouting loudly, “Yes!”

The deputy, who had tried to warn him, never expected Fengxi to behave so recklessly, even provoking the enemy general in the middle of the battlefield.

The Hao Zhou deputy’s expression turned serious.

He quickly backed away, no longer caring about Fengxi, and sent a message to the Hao Zhou army, informing them of Wen Yue Sheng’s arrival.

The deputy’s reaction was quick, but unfortunately, it was nowhere near as fast as Wen Yuesheng’s blade.

Wen Yuesheng, leading a thousand soldiers she had trained in the Guard Camp, met up with Liu Yi and the others, then coldly ordered:

“Guard Camp, listen up.”

“Yes,” came the unified response from her troops, who were far fewer compared to the black-clad soldiers of Hao Zhou, but their voices were firm.

As soon as the command was given, Fengxi immediately noticed, his smile fading.

Soldiers who had fought on the battlefield for years had an instinctive awareness of danger, and when he sensed the change in momentum, he realized something was wrong.

Despite this, because his soldiers were known for their ferocity and seldom lost battles, he remained calm, though more cautious than before.

At that moment, Wen Yuesheng, without any expression on her face, spoke again, her voice as cold as steel: “Break through and kill the enemy—”

“Anyone holding a weapon and unwilling to surrender, kill them on the spot!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

With her command, Fengxi had no time to react before she and her thousand Guard Camp soldiers rushed into the battlefield.

There was no formation.

As soon as they received the command, they scattered into a swarm of small dark dots, plunging into the battle.

These soldiers, wielding their long swords, seemed to go mad.

The moment their blades fell, they cleaved through the Hao Zhou soldiers, quickly taking their lives, like mowing down grass.

Wherever they went, the Hao Zhou soldiers were cut down, one after another, without mercy.

Fengxi’s face turned pale. He shouted, “Change formation! Shield-bearers, forward! Everyone else, kill the first wave of Da Hui soldiers!”

He was quick to change formation, but in the brief moment it took, Wen Yuesheng’s Guard Camp soldiers had already claimed the lives of a large number of Hao Zhou soldiers.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

As Fengxi rushed to change formation, Wen Yuesheng, who he had earlier belittled, held a long sword.

She rode a horse, the blade so long that it almost touched the ground.

Normally, such a large, unwieldy weapon would have no advantage in battle, but in her hands, the Hao Zhou soldiers couldn’t even tell if it was a sword, whip, or a blade before it had already claimed their lives.

She wielded it with one hand while holding the reins with the other, yet the blade seemed to leave afterimages in the air.

Fengxi looked up, and all he saw were the afterimages of her blade and the fallen soldiers.

None of the Hao Zhou soldiers who rushed at her ever managed to touch her.

Not even her blade’s tip.

She rode forward with cold, emotionless eyes, directly locking her gaze onto Fengxi.

At this point, Fengxi had already retreated to the center of his army.

In front of him were rows of Hao Zhou soldiers.

But Wen Yuesheng ignored them all.

She cut her way through the masses, creating a bloody path directly toward him.

Her speed and decisiveness were unmatched by any general Fengxi had ever seen.

He was stunned by the sight, retreating in panic while calling for his soldiers to change formation.

As he retreated, his voice grew weaker, and soon, fear was evident in his tone.

Even as his soldiers continued to strike at Wen Yuesheng, their swords were blocked by her long blade, which seemed to have a divine power, stopping anything that came her way.

After cutting down three generals who had blocked her path, Fengxi was finally overcome with fear.

He no longer cared about the battle around him, focusing entirely on retreating further away from this god of death.

But the more he fled, the faster she pursued.

The distance between them was still great, but Wen Yuesheng, having lost the reins of her horse, reached out with her left hand.

She swung her blade with her right, instantly killing a Hao Zhou general and snatching his spear from his hand.

She casually tossed the silver spear into the air and caught it with her left hand, all while cutting her way through the crowd.

Fengxi, still fleeing, felt a chilling gaze and immediately urged his horse to speed away, trying to escape her line of sight.

But in that instant, he heard a deafening roar.

Wen Yuesheng had thrown the spear with such force that it flew through the air like a sword.

It pierced through countless soldiers, its sharp tip striking Fengxi’s heart.

With a “thud,” Fengxi fell, pierced by the spear as he tried to flee.

The sound of the spear’s impact echoed, and the battlefield fell into an eerie silence.

In the very first moment this Da Hui general appeared, she had used a spear taken from another’s hand to kill the main general of Hao Zhou!