Chapter 1266: Retaken

The handful of cultivators protecting Huyan Bao were trapped in the chaotic battle and struggling to break free when a figure suddenly dropped from the sky.

He struck the encircling cultivators aside like a stone smashing into water and throwing up a wave.

The newcomer was Zha Hu, steward of the Huyan household and Huyan Wuhen's trusted personal guard.

He snatched Huyan Bao into his arms and immediately struck backward with one palm, blasting away a group of Jin soldiers who came roaring toward him.

Yet his intervention was only like a stone thrown into a river.

The splash was violent, but the current did not stop.

Jin's troops all around him ignored everything else and continued charging madly into Qi's army.

The eyes of the Qiyun Sect Elder beside Gao Pin flashed.

He abruptly shot forward.

While still in the air, he formed an enormous astral hammer with one grasp and smashed it down with tremendous force.

Zha Hu had already leapt into the air with Huyan Bao in his arms when he suddenly heard wind and thunder roaring overhead.

He snapped his head up.

The massive hammer was already descending like a thunderbolt toward his skull.

With no time to do anything else, Zha Hu freed one arm and drove an elbow diagonally upward to meet it head-on.

Clang!

Hammer and elbow collided in midair with a deafening crash.

The astral hammer was knocked aside.

Zha Hu was also blasted downward.

The moment he landed, he swept one arm across and sent the soldiers thrusting spears at him flying away.

The Qiyun Sect Elder twisted in the air, gathered force, and descended again, swinging the hammer down for a second strike.

Zha Hu looked upward, coldness flashing through his eyes.

Then he glanced at Huyan Bao, who was barely breathing.

He hesitated no longer.

With a violent burst of force, he smashed through the men blocking his way, tore free of the cultivators trying to entangle him, and leapt above the chaotic army with Huyan Bao in his arms.

In moments, he had escaped the battlefield.

The Qiyun Sect Elder chased for a short distance.

Then he looked back toward Gao Pin.

Afraid something might happen to the commander, he abandoned the pursuit and flashed back to Gao Pin's side.

He landed and said, "Shamefully, Huyan Bao still escaped. But several arrows struck vital points. I fear he will not survive."

Gao Pin gave a slight nod.

Almost immediately, he put the matter aside and returned his full attention to commanding the battle.

What did it mean for an army to collapse like a mountain?

The moment the order to retreat spread, men trampling men became unavoidable in this region.

There were simply too many people.

When Jin's troops on both flanks reached their positions, they appeared atop the mountain ridges on either side of Three Slopes.

Groups of archers drew their bows and loosed high into the sky.

They did not shoot directly downward.

The Three Slopes area was broad. Even if archers on both mountains shot toward one another, ordinary powerful bows did not have enough range for the arrows to meet across the entire width. Shooting downward would only shorten the effective distance still further.

The mountain paths were difficult as well.

There had been no time for Jin's men to race far enough ahead on both flanks.

Gao Pin's order had been only to choke the middle section of the retreat.

That was enough.

In the next instant, a torrential storm of arrows climbed high into the sky and then fell in sheets across the battlefield.

Qi's retreating troops in the middle of Three Slopes immediately fell into chaos again.

Jin's army was charging after them from the rear, while the men ahead were all fighting one another to flee first.

The retreating Qi army lost all order.

Huyan Wuhen urgently established a defensive line at First Slope.

That prevented the men fleeing from the front from crashing directly into the troops farther back and throwing the entire army into complete disorder.

Only after the rear formations had withdrawn did he open the line and allow the men trapped ahead to pass through, while the troops on the defensive line covered their retreat.

As he continued falling back, Huyan Wuhen urgently reorganized the disordered units, preventing Jin from simply charging into the collapsing Qi-Wei allied army and cutting it apart.

The troops left behind at First Slope then withdrew gradually as well, abandoning the position.

There was no choice.

Jin controlled the favorable terrain.

Once the Jin forces on both flanks reached First Slope, they could attack inward from the mountains while the main force struck from the front.

First Slope simply could not be held.

Only after the Qi-Wei allied army had retreated onto open plains did it finally re-form its ranks and prepare to fight again.

But morale was low.

A figure appeared carrying Huyan Bao.

It was Zha Hu.

He slowly laid Huyan Bao flat on the ground.

Huyan Wuhen swung down from his horse.

He looked at his son, whose body still twitched faintly, then looked toward Zha Hu.

Zha Hu's face was grave.

He shook his head slightly. "I did everything I could."

He had already taken Huyan Bao away from the battlefield and attempted emergency treatment.

But several arrows had struck vital points.

The fact that Huyan Bao was still breathing at all was already barely possible.

Huyan Wuhen understood.

A cultivator with filthy, disheveled hair appeared nearby.

Tears stood in his eyes as he shook his head.

"I failed to protect the Young General. But everything happened too suddenly. Our mounts went down without warning. Before we even understood what was happening, the arrows had already fallen. I didn't have time to..."

Huyan Wuhen suddenly raised one hand and stopped him.

Then he lowered himself onto one knee beside his son.

His lips were pressed into a hard line.

"Fa... ther..."

Blood welled from the corners of Huyan Bao's mouth.

No one knew what he wanted to say.

A strange brightness appeared in his eyes as one trembling hand slowly rose.

Anyone with experience could see what was happening.

This was the final flare before death.

Huyan Wuhen reached out to take his son's hand.

But at the instant their hands touched, Huyan Bao's raised arm lost all strength and dropped heavily to the ground.

His head tilted to one side.

There was no more movement.

The light in his eyes faded completely.

Blood continued slowly flowing from the corners of his mouth.

Several arrows still protruded from his body.

They had struck vital areas, and even Zha Hu had not dared pull them out recklessly.

Huyan Wuhen's outstretched hand froze in place.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward the heavens.

Then he closed his eyes.

For a long time, he said nothing.

Everyone around him fell silent.

Even the people from Wei who had come over in anger could say nothing now.

They had originally intended to demand an explanation.

But Huyan Wuhen's own son had died in the battle.

How could they still accuse Qi of driving Wei's soldiers to their deaths while protecting its own people?

Huyan Wuhen suddenly rose.

He drew a deep breath and said, "Collect the body."

There were no special instructions.

He showed no grief.

It was as though nothing had happened.

His face was expressionless as he looked toward Three Slopes.

That corpse-strewn battlefield had already been retaken by Jin.

Two personal guards came forward and silently carried Huyan Bao's body away.

From the direction of the mountains, scattered groups of cultivators were still returning.

Tang Yi looked around anxiously.

Only part of Shangqing Sect's disciples had returned.

Another portion was still missing.

Then her eyes suddenly brightened.

Tang Susu had returned.

She led a little over a dozen disciples as they flew back, every one of them in miserable condition.

Tang Susu's hair had come completely loose.

Three arrows still protruded from her back, and blood had soaked her clothes red.

She had been too busy escaping earlier to remove them. She feared that if the wounds were not properly controlled, pulling the arrows too soon would only cause excessive blood loss.

"Elder!"

A group immediately surrounded her.

Tang Yi personally stepped forward and carefully removed the arrows from Tang Susu's back.

Only afterward did she ask, "Are you all right?"

"I won't die." Tang Susu shook her head.

Then she pointed angrily at the arrows on the ground.

"Look at these! They were fired by our own side."

"I was focused entirely on fighting the enemy cultivators ahead of me. I never imagined our own people behind us would shoot blindly as well."

"I almost didn't die to the enemy at all—I nearly died to our own men instead."

"A pack of bastards!"

Luo Yuangong, equally bedraggled, gave a bitter smile. "That's what happens in a chaotic army. Once everyone has killed until his eyes turn red, danger is everywhere. It's perfectly normal for your own side to wound you by mistake. They probably didn't do it intentionally."

Su Po, half his hair hanging loose, asked, "Elder Tang, what happened to the people you took with you?"

Tang Susu looked left and right at the little more than a dozen Shangqing Sect disciples who had returned with her.

Then she shook her head.

"These are all that's left."

Tang Yi's heart clenched.

In a single battle, Shangqing Sect had lost nearly half its people.

There was nothing they could do about it.

The entire Wei army had been forced to the front to fight for its life.

Even Wei's three great sects had entered the battle.

How could Shangqing Sect possibly have been spared?

...

Jin's army had already retaken Second Slope and then recaptured First Slope as well.

On First Slope, Gao Pin sat upright on horseback, gazing toward the enemy army regrouping in the distance.

A rider approached from the side.

A general held out a torn battle standard.

It was the banner of the Valiant Cavalry.

Gao Pin took it and examined it.

Then he suddenly threw back his head and laughed.

"Hahaha...!"

He laughed without restraint, thoroughly delighted.

Many of the generals around him began laughing as well.

The Qiyun Sect Elder stroked his long beard, smiling faintly.

Only after Gao Pin had laughed to his heart's content did he toss the banner back.

"Keep it safe. Send someone to present it to His Majesty."

"This is the gift our army offers the Emperor!"

"Now clean the battlefield immediately. Move quickly and guard against another enemy attack!"

"Yes!"

The generals accepted the order.

Just then, a group of men approached carrying a corpse.

One general choked out, "Grand Marshal!"

Gao Pin turned.

The corpse was unrecognizable, covered in blood.

Several arrows marked with Jin's distinctive fletching still protruded from the body, and there were numerous sword and spear wounds as well.

No one could tell whether he had been shot by his own side during Jin's counterattack or killed by the enemy.

His face had been trampled beyond recognition beneath horses' hooves.

But the thick beard was unmistakable.

Gao Pin's cheek twitched violently.

He dismounted.

His steps were heavy as he walked toward the corpse.

Standing before it, his lips pressed tight.

For a long time, he could not speak.

When he had ordered Big Beard to lead ten thousand men and hold the rear at Second Slope, Gao Pin had already known the odds were nine deaths in ten.

There had been no choice.

Someone had to hold the enemy back for a short time.

For the trap to succeed, the enemy infantry could not be allowed to rush down together with the retreating Jin soldiers and discover that something was wrong with the ground.

If the secret were exposed, the Valiant Cavalry would never have charged into the decisive trap.

Big Beard and the more than ten thousand men under him had been sent to die by Gao Pin himself.

"We were too badly outnumbered. There was truly nothing we could do."

A cultivator covered from head to toe in blood spoke miserably.

Gao Pin drew a deep breath.

Then he looked over coldly. "Then how did you come back alive?"

The cultivator hurriedly said, "We truly couldn't hold them any longer."

Gao Pin's eyes sharpened. "You abandoned the commander you were assigned to protect and fled?"

"No, no!" The cultivator waved both hands frantically. "General Sun had already died before I left."

Gao Pin asked, "Did anyone witness that?"

"This..." The cultivator looked around. "I don't know whether anyone saw."

Gao Pin said coldly, "Your duty was to protect the commanding general. Now the commander is dead, yet you still have the face to return?"

"Men!"

"Take him away and execute him!"

The cultivators responsible for military discipline immediately rushed forward and pinned the man down.

He panicked.

"Grand Marshal! Grand Marshal... Elder! Elder, save me!"

"Wait!"

The Qiyun Sect Elder raised a hand and intervened.

"Lord Gao, given the circumstances at the time, almost no one in the rearguard could have survived. This cannot entirely be blamed on him."

Gao Pin stared at him without speaking.

The Elder grew slightly awkward under that gaze and sighed.

"He is, after all, a descendant of the Taishu clan."

Gao Pin spoke slowly.

"Elder, countless soldiers have fought and bled for the realm of the Taishu clan itself."

"If the Taishu clan does not even cherish that sacrifice, how are the men who died supposed to feel?"

He raised one hand and pointed toward the enemy formation in the distance.

"Look."

"Huyan Wuhen is already reorganizing his army and preparing to fight again."

"In the future, when Jin marches into Qi, there will still be a long and bloody war ahead."

"If every man on the battlefield values his own life whenever danger comes, if everyone may abandon his commander to save himself, how is any commander supposed to direct the army with confidence?"

"Elder, you tell me."

"When that happens, how are we supposed to fight this war?"

There was no need to investigate the details any further.

No matter what had truly happened, Gao Pin was determined to kill this descendant of the Taishu clan today.

The Qiyun Sect Elder fell silent.

He looked at the Qiyun Sect disciple who was staring at him desperately, hope filling the man's eyes.

At last, the Elder closed his eyes and turned his head away.

Gao Pin's voice was decisive.

"Drag him away."

"Execute him!"

The man was immediately hauled aside.

His terrified shouts rang out.

"Elder! Elder! Elder... ah!"

A scream cut through the air.

A head struck the ground.

The execution had been carried out right there beside them.

[End of Chapter 1266]