The Kan Plains had changed overnight.
Just five days ago, Qin had been desperately holding the line with seventy-five thousand men against Zhao's overwhelming one hundred twenty thousand.
Now...
The situation had completely reversed.
The banners of Qin stretched across the plains like an endless sea.
One hundred seventy-five thousand soldiers.
Against Zhao's one hundred twenty thousand.
The hunters had become the hunted.
Even the Zhao soldiers couldn't hide the unease on their faces as they watched wave after wave of Qin reinforcements arrive.
General Ouki's sixty thousand.
General Mou Bu's forty thousand.
The once-outnumbered Hyou Army now stood alongside two of Qin's greatest military forces.
The tables had truly turned.
With the arrival of the reinforcements, the battlefield was reorganized.
The left wing would remain under Hyou Ren.
His seventy-five thousand battle-hardened soldiers would continue facing the combined armies of Shou Mou and Kouson Ryuu.
The center would be entrusted to Mou Bu's forty thousand elite troops, who immediately marched toward Ri Haku's defensive line.
On the right, Ouki personally commanded sixty thousand men, his destination obvious to everyone.
Hou Ken.
The Bushin.
The commanders agreed that the previous five days belonged to an entirely different battle.
This...
Would be the beginning of a new campaign.
The battle count was reset.
Day One.
The left battlefield became strangely... quiet.
Far too quiet.
Seventy-five thousand Hyou Army soldiers stood perfectly still.
Every spear remained planted.
Every banner fluttered lazily in the wind.
Every horse waited patiently.
No drums.
No horns.
No shouting.
Nothing.
Across the field, the armies of Shou Mou and Kouson Ryuu stared at them.
"..."
"..."
"...Why aren't they moving?"
One Zhao officer swallowed nervously.
"General... are they waiting for us?"
Shou Mou frowned.
"Impossible."
"Then... are they preparing an ambush?"
"No."
"Then what are they doing?"
"..."
No one knew.
An hour passed.
Still nothing.
Two hours.
Nothing.
By noon, even the Zhao scouts had begun reporting nonsense.
"They blinked."
"What?"
"The Hyou Army..."
"They blinked."
"..."
"Anything else?"
"...No."
Shou Mou resisted the urge to strangle the scout.
By afternoon...
The paranoia had truly begun.
"They're definitely planning something."
"They've been standing there for six hours!"
"No army just... stands there!"
"Maybe they're waiting for nightfall."
"No..."
"They're waiting for us to make the first mistake."
"What mistake?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
One nervous Zhao captain suddenly pointed toward the Qin lines.
"They moved!"
The entire Zhao front tensed.
Thousands of bows were raised.
Spears lowered.
Generals reached for their weapons.
"..."
A Hyou Army soldier had simply scratched his nose.
"..."
"...Stand down."
By evening...
The rumors had become increasingly ridiculous.
"They're digging tunnels."
"They're summoning ghosts."
"Hyou Ren can apparently see the future."
"I heard he already knows which one of us dies tomorrow."
"My cousin's friend's brother said the Hyou Army doesn't even sleep."
"That's impossible!"
"...Is it?"
Even veteran officers were beginning to doubt themselves.
Kouson Ryuu stared across the battlefield.
"...This is wrong."
Shou Mou gritted his teeth.
"I'd rather they attack."
"This..."
"This silence is driving everyone insane."
He looked toward the distant Hyou banner.
"What exactly are you planning, Hyou Ren...?"
Inside the Hyou command tent...
Hyou Ren was drinking tea.
"..."
Ri Yue looked up.
"My lord."
"They seem... nervous."
Hyou Ren took another sip.
"I noticed."
"My lord..."
"We really aren't doing anything today, are we?"
"No."
"..."
"So the terrifying strategy that has frightened sixty thousand Zhao soldiers..."
"...is literally doing nothing?"
Hyou Ren smiled.
"Sometimes..."
"The enemy creates a better strategy than you ever could."
Ri Yue couldn't help laughing.
As night fell, reports from the other battlefields finally arrived.
A messenger entered first.
"Report!"
"General Mou Bu has begun testing Ri Haku's defenses."
Another arrived.
"General Ouki's forces have begun engaging Hou Ken's army."
Then came the third messenger.
"My lord!"
"Urgent report from General Ouki's battlefield!"
Hyou Ren nodded.
"Speak."
"The Shin Unit has broken through Zhao's left flank."
"Their commander, Shin, has personally slain General Fuu Ki!"
Several officers looked impressed.
Hyou Ren merely nodded.
"As expected."
Ri Yue smiled knowingly.
"I had already assumed Shin would appear once General Ouki entered the battlefield."
She unfolded another report.
"It also appears his unit has officially received a name."
"The Hi Shin Unit."
Hyou Ren blinked.
"..."
"...The what?"
"The Hi Shin Unit."
"..."
"...Why?"
Ri Yue tilted her head.
"Because... his name is Shin?"
Hyou Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...His name is Hyou Shin."
"Couldn't he have called it the Hyou Shin Unit?"
Ri Yue laughed.
"Perhaps he doesn't want people thinking his achievements came from the Hyou Family."
"He wishes to become a Great General through his own merit."
Hyou Ren considered that.
"...That's actually respectable."
A pause followed.
Then Hyou Ren suddenly frowned.
"...Wait."
Ri Yue looked at him.
"...Come to think of it."
"Does anyone actually know..."
"...that Shin is from the Hyou Family?"
Silence.
The officers looked at one another.
One slowly raised his hand.
"I... thought his surname was Shin."
Another nodded.
"I did too."
A third officer blinked.
"I've only ever heard him introduce himself as Shin.'"
Ri Yue stared blankly.
"..."
"...My lord Husband."
"I believe..."
"...literally no one knows."
The tent became deathly quiet.
Hyou Ren leaned back and sighed.
"Our son..."
"...accidentally erased his own surname."
Ri Yue covered her mouth to suppress a laugh.
"He really has spent years introducing himself with only half of his name."
Hyou Ren shook his head, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.
"So all this time..."
"The Hyou Family has been wondering why nobody recognized him..."
"…. No wonder he always escapes the house arrest from mother…."
"...while Shin has been running around shouting only 'I'm Shin!'"
Ri Yue finally burst into laughter.
"...Well..."
"It may have been an accident..."
"...but it has protected him."
"The fame of the Hyou Family would have painted an enormous target on his back."
Hyou Ren nodded.
"I suppose that's true."
He smiled faintly.
"For once..."
"Our idiot son stumbled into the correct decision."
Far away, Shin proudly celebrated defeating a Zhao general.
"...Heh! The Hi Shin Unit sounds awesome!"
Not once...
Did it occur to him...
That he had forgotten to tell the entire world his family name.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Qin...
An official quietly wrote another report.
Commander: Shin.
Surname: Unknown.