Two days later.
Beyond the Great Wall.
The scattered barbarian soldiers had managed to regroup, gathering just over a thousand men. But none of them dared to take a single step back toward the Wall. Instead, they retreated dozens of li into the grasslands and set up camp. The two scouts they had sent out never returned, and no one dared to go again.
"Rumble—"
The thunder of hooves shook the earth.
That day, the reinforcements forcibly pulled from the Liangzhou main front finally arrived—far more than expected. The army was over forty thousand strong.
"Useless fools!"
The main commander, Wuliangha, who had already stepped into the Meridian-Connecting Realm, lashed his whip across a soldier's body. "You were supposed to be besieging the city—what are you doing here?!"
At the strike of his whip, the soldier's body was split clean in half.
Those with keen eyes would have seen that the whip hadn't even touched him. An invisible force clung to the weapon, slicing through the man like a blade of air.
"Spare us, my lord!"
The surviving soldiers dropped to their knees, trembling, stammering out everything that had happened two days earlier.
"Nonsense!"
"Sun Xiangzong is still at the Liangzhou front! Even if he started moving now, it'd take at least half a month to reach Yunzhou! How could he possibly appear at Poyang to kill some minor tempering organs general?!"
Wuliangha roared in fury. "Form ranks! March on Poyang! I'll see for myself who it was that scared you cowards witless!"
When the forty thousand soldiers arrived at the city walls—
They found only an empty city.
No soldiers. No civilians. Not even a dog.
"Idiots! Brain-dead fools!"
Wuliangha's face twisted with rage. "Tens of thousands of people, and you just let them escape?! I told you not to attack, but you couldn't even hold the siege? Search the city! Now!"
Barbarian soldiers poured through the gates.
Wuliangha, however, walked alone into the wilderness beyond the walls and waited.
Before long, figures cloaked in black robes began to appear—members of the Witch God Sect.
The leader was also a Meridian-Connecting Realm expert. He held a long black awl in his hand and spoke coldly. "General Wuliangha, why have you brought me an empty city?"
"U Muer was a complete waste!" Wuliangha snapped. "The number of tempering organs warriors he brought was no less than the Great Sheng Dynasty's forces, yet he managed to get slaughtered until only two thousand men remained!"
He restrained his anger with effort. "What do we do now? Do we give up on Poyang?"
"No."
The Witch God Sect's branch master, Amugu, spoke solemnly. "We planned for 600,000 troops in Yunzhou. Every county should contribute at least 30,000 people. If we let this one go, what if we can't meet the required number?"
"Then we chase them."
Wuliangha's tone dropped low. "The garrison here is insane—they fled the city with the civilians. That means their pace will be terribly slow. I'll lead the army down the main road. The cavalry won't need more than a few days to catch them."
"Send out 3,000 light cavalry," Amugu said calmly. "Have a few tempering organs experts lead them. I'll take another detachment to Hengkang Prefecture—the population there is larger. Once that's settled, I'll personally join the pursuit."
He continued giving orders methodically. "As for the rest, you'll take all remaining troops and march on Anding Prefecture."
Above tempering organs was Transforming Strength, and above Transforming Strength was Meridian-Connecting.
"Anding Prefecture?"
Wuliangha frowned. "Are you certain? I thought we agreed that Anding would be surrounded but not attacked—and that once the main task was done, we'd withdraw immediately."
"That was the plan," Amugu replied. "But this is the High Priest's order. Hengkang Prefecture is about to fall. If we can seize Anding as well, even if we can't fully occupy Yunzhou, we can demand far greater rewards."
"Fine."
Wuliangha nodded heavily. "That's enough for me. The defenders of this city were weak—their strongest were at best tempering organs. Probably not even that. I'll leave the rest to you."
The orders went out.
Within the hour, barbarian cavalry were galloping southward, following the tracks left by the fleeing Poyang forces.
…
"Hu—"
Chen Sanshi exhaled deeply, driving his spear point-first into the earth to steady himself. He had finally finished digesting the effects of the Tiger Blood Wine.
[...]
[Technique: Unified Spear Technique (Uninitiated)]
[Progress: 45/100]
[Effect: Blood of the Dragon and Elephant; Nine Dragons Temper the Tendons; Body of Vajra]
[...]
Ever since he started tempering his organs, his efficiency at absorbing the essence of spiritual grain had improved significantly. Combined with the powerful Tiger Blood Wine, his cultivation speed was anything but slow.
It had been two and a half days since leaving Poyang.
In another two days, he estimated, he would officially enter the tempering organs stage.
Once he reached that point, even if he faced another tempering organs general, as long as they weren't at Perfection, he wouldn't have to fight for his life again like before.
However—
The barbarian pursuit force was likely closing in.
"My lord!"
Wang Li came galloping on horseback, urgency written on his face. "Lord Wang's reinforcements have arrived—two thousand men strong!"
Chen Sanshi raised his spear, mounted his steed Qianxun, and rode hard toward the fork in the road ahead.
He'd decided to rename the horse. Once called Little Xun, now it was Qianxun—'one that seeks across a thousand li'—a fitting name for a steed that could find its master across such distance.
At the designated meeting point, he saw a disciplined force arrayed neatly before him.
At the front was a deputy commander of tempering organs level, mounted on a red-maned horse, spear in hand.
"So you're Hundred-Household Chen," the man said with a nod. "To lead just over a thousand survivors to defeat six thousand barbarians—truly a hero in his youth. I, Du Rong, am impressed."
Wang Zhi introduced him. "This is Deputy Thousand-Household Du Rong, sent by Commander Ma to meet us."
"Lord Chen," Du Rong said from horseback, "Hengkang Prefecture is in dire peril. I ask that you ride with me immediately to reinforce it."
"We can't return directly," Chen Sanshi said firmly. "Xu Wencai, bring the map."
He pointed with his spear. "Lord Du, I ask that you lead your men along this small route. Send a smaller detachment down the main road toward Hengkang to confirm the situation. Once it's verified, we can circle back from the mountain pass."
"There's no need for that. This detour will cost us at least a day and a half," Du Rong argued, eyes narrowing. "Lord Chen… don't tell me you suspect that Hengkang Prefecture has already fallen?"
Chen Sanshi stayed silent, but his lack of denial was answer enough.
"Impossible!" Du Rong's face changed sharply.
"Lord Du, Hengkang Prefecture is built against the mountains—easy to defend and hard to attack. Even under siege, it could hold for at least five months. How could it possibly fall in just a few days?"
"Please, Lord Du, grant my request."
Chen Sanshi clasped his fists. "There are tens of thousands of civilians ahead. I can't gamble their lives on assumptions. This is the safest course."
Easy to defend, hard to attack?
Hadn't Poyang County also been "easy to defend"? And yet it fell from within.
The strongest fortress often collapses not from the outside—but from betrayal inside.
He remembered what Xue Yuping had told him. And he couldn't shake the unease.
Du Rong frowned, hesitating between anger and doubt. "If what you say is true, then I must return at once. I can't afford to waste time here!"
"Lord Du, caution is our best weapon."
Chen Sanshi made one final attempt. "Let the main force take the small path. In at most two days, we'll know for sure. Then we can decide."
"No!"
Du Rong had already made up his mind. "Wang Zhi, leave a few of your nephews to follow Lord Chen's route. Everyone else—ride with me! We're returning to the prefecture city now!"
He wheeled his red-maned horse around and galloped off, his men following in a storm of dust.
Moments ago, they had been a grand force of two thousand; now, within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, fewer than two hundred remained.
Chen Sanshi sighed softly.
He couldn't stop them.
After all, when one's home was in danger, who wouldn't be desperate to return?
He too hoped that Hengkang Prefecture was safe. But if not—Du Rong was as good as dead.
At least he had gained two hundred more men willing to fight.
"Uncle Tang!"
"General Tang!"
The three leading martial officers, all at the tempering bone stage, saluted respectfully to Wang Zhi.
"Alright, enough of that. Get up."
Wang Zhi quickly went forward to help them stand.
"You've got this many nephews in Hengkang Prefecture?" Chen Sanshi asked curiously. "Old comrades of yours?"
"Reporting to Lord Chen," one young soldier spoke up first. "Our fathers were all officers of the Xuanwu Garrison back in the day. After the disaster, General Tang took us in and settled us in Hengkang Prefecture. All our training resources came from him. Without the general, none of us would've reached our current level."
"Don't listen to them flatter me," Wang Zhi said with guilt. "It's my debt to them. I was the one who recklessly led an assault without reporting to the Heavenly Strategy Camp. Unauthorized mobilization—caused the whole garrison to be wiped out. Because of me, every officer above the tempering bone level was dismissed to make an example."
Now Chen Sanshi understood where all of Wang Zhi's money and connections had gone.
"Report—!"
Wu Da came galloping in from the rear scout line, shouting breathlessly. "My lord! Bad news! Fifty li behind us—three thousand barbarian cavalry! All elite troops!"
"Wu Da!" Chen Sanshi barked. "You and Zhuang Yi's squad stay back. Wait until we're ten li ahead, then set the forest on fire!"
The small road they were on wound between dense mountains and forests.
It was autumn—dry leaves everywhere. A spark would spread like wildfire.
Soon, the flames roared up into the sky. The firestorm surged across the slopes, merging into a sea of burning red. Within moments, black smoke rolled for miles, turning everything within a hundred li into scorched earth.
The pursuing barbarian cavalry were forced to make a long detour.
"It's only a temporary fix," Chen Sanshi muttered. "The road ahead is long and dangerous. I can only hope my worries are misplaced—if we can reach the mountain crossing safely, we'll head toward Hengkang Prefecture to resettle."
But before long, bad news caught up with them.
"Hengkang Prefecture has fallen!"
Silence.
A day later, the survivors arrived—fewer than twenty riders out of the two thousand who had left before.
"Three days ago," one of the men choked out, "Deputy Commander of the Vanguard betrayed us—he colluded with the enemy! He ambushed and killed Commander Ma, then opened the gates. The barbarians have entered the city—massacring everyone inside!
"The few of us who escaped scattered in every direction… we're all that's left."
"Traitors?!"
"How—how could this happen?!"
Wang Zhi lunged forward, grabbing the soldier by the collar and yanking him down from his horse. "Commander Ma—he's dead?!"
"Dead," the man whispered hoarsely. "His head's hanging from the city gate…"
"Lord Wang, Yunzhou is finished!"
Chen Sanshi's heart sank like a stone.
The fall of Hengkang Prefecture meant disaster.
Anding Prefecture and the other two prefectures had already closed their gates—cutting off any retreat. The entire Yunzhou region would soon be trampled under barbarian hooves. Hundreds of thousands—maybe even over a million civilians—would die, all offered up in the Witch God Sect's so-called blood sacrifice.
Worse yet, their own situation was dire.
Yuzhou lay northwest—close, but still at least half a month's journey away. That was more than enough time for the barbarian pursuit to catch up.
"Cuckoo… cuckoo…"
From the forested hills nearby came the faint cry of a cuckoo.
The signal of the Grand Commander's Office.
News had arrived.