Huo Xiao's final cry was like a stone thrown into a raging sea, instantly swallowed by even more savage battle cries.
Qin Yuan, Su Wan, and the others watched the tragic scene through the cell's narrow window, eyes wide with fury. Several Oirat soldiers' curved swords and spears thrust towards Huo Xiao almost simultaneously! Covered in blood, left arm useless, rib wound deep to the bone, he nonetheless burst forth with astonishing strength. His combat knife carved a ghastly arc!
"Thud! Thud!"
The sound of blades striking flesh was grating. Huo Xiao's knife cleaved through the necks of two enemies, blood fountaining! But at the same time, at least three weapons struck his body hard! A curved blade hacked into his left shoulder blade (matching the remains' injury!), a spear pierced through his lower right rib cage (the final completion of the fatal wound!), and a short dagger stabbed into his thigh!
"Ugh—!" Huo Xiao grunted, his massive body kneeling with a crash like a felled giant tree! Blood instantly dyed the sand beneath him red.
"General!!!" The last few Ming soldiers let out heart-rending wails, trying to charge forward like madmen but were firmly blocked by more Oirat and instantly swallowed by the flash of blades.
Huo Xiao used his last strength, trying to prop himself up on his knife and stand again, but his strength ebbed away like a tide. He raised his head, his bloodied gaze turning towards the dune where A Yi Sha had vanished, his eyes filled with endless regret, unfulfilled ambition, and a trace of... strange release? Finally, that unyielding light faded. His head slowly bowed, and the hand gripping the knife pommel finally loosened.
The dark red gemstone inlaid in the knife pommel had shattered under the violent impact and pressure! A few small crystal fragments scattered onto the blood-stained sand.
Garrison General Huo Xiao of the West had fallen in the sea of sand!
"Hahaha! Huo Xiao is dead! Ming dogs! Surrender and live!" The Oirat general laughed wildly, riding up to Huo Xiao's body, using his curved sword to flick off Huo Xiao's helmet, flaunting his power.
The camp's will to resist completely collapsed with Huo Xiao's death. The remaining Ming soldiers were either killed or despairingly laid down their weapons and surrendered. The small camp had become a living hell. The Oirat began frantically looting and slaughtering, searching for anything valuable, burning the remaining structures.
Inside the cell, there was dead silence. Qin Yuan, Su Wan, Chen Feng, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang—the five sat slumped on the ground like puppets with their strings cut, tears flowing silently. Witnessing the tragic fall of a loyal and brave general firsthand was an impact far beyond any historical text.
"He... is dead..." Su Wan's voice was hoarse, filled with boundless sorrow. "We... couldn't change anything..."
"History... is just that cruel." Qin Yuan's voice was low and hoarse, his eyes also bloodshot. "All we can do... is survive, take the truth back."
An unknown amount of time passed. The noise outside gradually subsided. The Oirat seemed to have finished looting, taking prisoners and their meager spoils, and began to withdraw. The firelight illuminated the scene of utter devastation—corpses and broken walls everywhere. The air was thick with the heavy smell of blood and char.
"They... left?" Xiao Liu asked tremulously.
"Maybe just temporarily withdrawn, or gone to pursue A Yi Sha." Chen Feng listened warily to the outside sounds. "We must leave now! Otherwise, if they return, or if subsequent arriving Ming troops (if any remain) find us, we won't survive!"
Qin Yuan nodded, forcibly suppressing the grief in his heart, and began examining the cell. The earthen cell door was barred from the outside with a thick wooden beam, very sturdy. The window was small, with wooden bars. "Find something, pry the door or break the bars!"
The five searched the small cell for anything usable. A few loose adobe bricks in the corner? Too soft. Some rotten straw ropes? Useless. Despair spread again.
"Wait!" Chen Feng's gaze fell on Qin Yuan's waist—during the earlier search, the soldiers had only taken obvious items. The high-strength alloy archaeological probe Qin Yuan had hidden close to his body, concealed in a secret pocket inside his belt, had actually gone unnoticed! "Captain! The probe!"
Qin Yuan's eyes lit up. He quickly pulled out the probe, the thickness of a pinky finger, gleaming with a metallic coldness. "Try this!"
He carefully inserted the probe's tip into the door crack, found the position of the wooden beam, and levered with force! The tough hardwood seemed fragile before the special alloy! With an ear-grating "creak," the thick beam was pried open bit by bit!
"It's open!" Xiao Liu whispered joyfully.
Qin Yuan gently pushed the door open. A wave of intense smell of blood and char assaulted them, making them gag. The five crept out of the cell. The sight before them made them gasp again. The camp was in ruins, bodies strewn everywhere, a shocking sight. Huo Xiao's body had been discarded casually near the collapsed command post. That ruby-inlaid combat knife lay beside his hand, the gemstone socket at the pommel now empty.
Su Wan couldn't bear to look anymore, tears welling up again. Qin Yuan gritted his teeth: "Go! Get away from here, fast!"
The five avoided the main path, using the cover of broken walls, and crept towards the desert depths behind the camp, away from the beacon tower. They had to leave this place of death quickly.
Just as they were about to leave the camp's edge, Su Wan's gaze inadvertently swept over a patch of blood near Huo Xiao's body—something there seemed to reflect a strange light in the faint moonlight. She as if bewitched stopped.
"Su Wan?" Qin Yuan called softly.
Su Wan didn't answer. She carefully approached the half-congealed, dark red pool of blood. Embedded in the sand at its edge were a few tiny, red gemstone-like fragments! They emitted a warm glow. They were the fragments of the dark red gemstone from Huo Xiao's knife pommel that had shattered and scattered! The largest piece was about the size of a fingernail, seemingly still stained with a bit of Huo Xiao's blood.
Su Wan's heart raced. She remembered the strange mirror in the tomb chamber, the white light that had finally consumed them. A strong intuition told her this thing was unusual! She quickly crouched, used a piece of torn cloth to carefully wrap the few blood-stained crystal fragments (especially the largest one), and hid them in her clothes.
"What did you take?" Qin Yuan asked.
"Fragments from Huo Xiao's knife's gemstone... and his blood." Su Wan's voice held a tremor she didn't understand herself. "I think... this might be related to that mirror, a clue for us to get back!"
Qin Yuan and Chen Feng exchanged a look, seeing shock and a flicker of hope in each other's eyes. They asked no more questions, quickly leading Su Wan away from this slaughterhouse.