Jiangjun Han Li was watching the ongoing war between his men and the imperial army from a cautious distance atop his armored stallion but he could feel that his anger was starting to build up. No, anger was too mild an emotion for it did not even describe half of what he felt right now. He was extremely livid!

He angrily clenched his fists on the bridle of his horse. His jaws were hardening with extreme displeasure and shame as he watched his men, one by one or even in groups, extinguished by a certain mad man in black.

"Duizhu Gang Bingwen!" Jiangjun Han Li angrily called.

Duizhu Gang Bingwen immediately rode his horse to the jiangjun's side. "You called for me, Jiangjun Han Li?"

"Exactly," Jiangjun Han Li sarcastically hissed, his small eyes narrowing into furious slits. "Who is that man in black and why can't any of our men kill him? You told me that we can ambush the Imperial army with just a hundred men but I should not have listened to your stupid suggestion."

Duizhu Bingwen momentarily shook on his saddle, confusion was clearly etched on his brows. "I did not tell you. ."

"Insolent fool!" Jiangjun Hang Li shouted menacingly at Duizhu Bingwen. He immediately aimed the tip of his sword on the latter's neck - interrupting whatever Duizhu Gang Bingwen was about to say. "Your excuses will not be tolerated! I even doubt if your unspoken apology will appease the utter humiliation that I am feeling right now. How could I, a man of supreme intelligence, even consider to listen to the advice of a man whose brain obviously resembled that of a lowly worm?"

Duizhu Bingwen mouth went agape making him look like a fool as what the jiangjun ranted he was. His shame began to flare as a lot of his men had witnessed him minimized to the means of a lowly scum by the deceitful Jiangjun Han Li. How could the Jiangjun deflect his mistake to him?

Now, to the eyes of his men, he was a stupid and incapable fool. His flesh seemed prickled by millions of needles as he felt some of his men laughed at his back and, worst, regarded him with pity. But the shame he felt right now seemed pale in comparison to the fear he felt as the sharp end of the sword delved even deeper into his flesh - possibly drawing blood.

An unspoken threat and command was clearly visible on Jiangjun Han Li's evil eyes.

Duizhu Gang Bingwen had no choice but to swallow his pride and allow the jiangjun to degrade him further; the need for self-preservation held more weight as of the moment. Against his heart, he said, "I greatly apologize for not seeking your golden counsel and mindlessly asserted my worthless battle tactics instead. I will join the men and vow to bring you the head of the man in black. I will rectify the grave mistake I have made, Jiangjun Han Li."

Jiangjun Han Li raised his brows in approval and sarcastically smirked, his sword still pointed on Duizhu Gang Bingwen's neck. "Just make sure to bring his head to me; for if you fail, ohh, it is still fine with me. Anyway, that man in black will save me the expense of doing such a menial task of personally cutting your brainless head off your body. Remember, bring more men with you. With your incompetence, I doubt if you can take that man down yourself."

"As you wish, Jiangjun Han Li," Duizhu Gang Bingwen said in an apathetic voice despite the resentment and shame that shook the very core of his being. Now was not the time to give in to his tumultuous emotions. He would have to deal with it later after this battle. Revenge could not be done if you were already an ice cold corpse.

When Jiangjun Han Li finally removed the tip of his sword from Duizhu Gang Bingwen, the latter hastily urged his horse to the direction of the man in black.He could not stomach looking at the repulsive face of the cowardly and deceitful general.

'I will make sure to kill that man in black. After I'm done with him and this war, I will vow to make you eat all of your words and, shame you as what you did to me in front of my men before I finish you off, Jiangjun Han Li.'

°°°°°°°°

The angry shouts of the cannons had intensified as Yan Mei Ling came nearer to the camp. She could see a thick haze of smoke damning the still-not-yet-bright sky to eternal darkness. A pandemonium of cries and shouts had assaulted her ears which made her knees even weaker.

'I am too late,' Yan Mei Ling said to herself as she stifled the urge to cry.

She sprinted faster and her senses ran amok as she found several lifeless bodies on the ground. Some were incinerated with sharp weapons, others could not be distinguished for they were thoroughly dilapidated like butchered meat.

Arrows were thrown in a projectile motion, cannons roared worst than a pack of lions and people were fighting each other despite the smog.

Tears furiously ran down Yan Mei Ling's cheeks as she scanned the fighting people. Where is Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei?

"Ahh!" someone shouted behind Yan Mei Ling. When she turned to the direction of the voice, she saw an enemy running towards her with his javelin poised to stab her.

Now, I'll be dead.

"Agh!" the enemy suddenly fell dead to the ground as several arrows hit his back.

"Boy, run retrieve the man's javelin. You can't fight with your bare hands!" The man who had saved Yan Mei Ling shouted to her before he resumed to fighting the other enemies.

Yan Mei Ling sighed in relief before she ran towards the fallen enemy and retrieved his javelin.

The moment that she held the javelin in her hands, a huge gleaming jian almost sliced her body into half but her well-trained body had avoided it by laying on the ground and swiftly turned to the other side.

"Die, kid!" The enemy said with malevolence as he attempted to assault Yan Mei Ling again with his jian. She managed to roll on the ground thus avoiding the deadly attack again.

With the other edge of the enemy's jian still embedded to the ground, Yan Mei Ling took the opportunity to stand quickly kicked the enemy far from his weapon. The enemy tried to stand up but she immediately stabbed him with the sharp end of her javelin.

The enemy's eyes dilated in shock as Yan Mei Ling urged deeper. Every inch deeper, she could feel the sharp javelin boring into the thick flesh of the enemy.

An unusual feeling came to her making her stomach queasy. The feel of incinerated flesh and blood flowing off from a man's body were more than enough to repulse her. She could not take it. This was utterly disgusting. She let go of the javelin and went down her knees.

Her body began to quiver violently as she desperately threw up the bitter contents of her stomach on the ground. She had just killed someone!

"Boy, what is happening to you? Now is not the right time to get sick. Keep yourself together. We need to fight and kill our enemies or else, it will be the death of us." The man who saved her came back to her. Both concern and apprehension were shown on his face.

Yan Mei Ling looked at him weakly and whispered, "I've never killed anyone in my life, sir. The sight of blood repulses me."

The man's brows creased then an understanding dawned upon him. "I understand you. This is the first time you have joined a war. All of us feel the same way on our very first battle but if we don't bleed our enemies, they will bleed us. We can't let them take over the empire and hurt the ones we care for, right? Think of the reason why you join the war. Now, stand up and fight. We should not let our enemies defeat us."

Yan Mei Ling looked at the man again and could feel a distinctive warmness crept on her cheeks as she took in his features. His small almond eyes were deep set; his nose straight and long; his beautiful lips curled into a kind brotherly smile. He reminded her of Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei if not for his hair. The latter's hair was long yet tied into a neat ponytail while the former has a short unruly hair barely reaching his nape. But he was not Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei.

Her heart was filled worry and fear when she remembered Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei. Where is he?

"I. . I" Yan Mei Ling muttered incoherrently as she tried to control the mounting fear in her heart. "Yes, Sir, I need to stand so I may fight the enemies."

The man smiled at Mei Ling again. "Good. Anyway, don't call me Sir. My name is Lu Jinhai."

Lu Jinhai stood to take the jian of the man whom Yan Mei Ling had killed and gave it to her. "Take this jian, Tang Lao Fang. You need this."

Yan Mei Ling's mouth went agape in wonder when she realized that he knew her alias.

"I know you, Tang Lao Fang. I have seen you fight with Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei. You are an exceptional fighter despite the fact that you've never been to war before. Now, take this jian and prove to this filthy Hsien pigs that you are the greatest warrior of Chixian Shenzhou."

Yan Mei Ling hesitated for a moment but despite the fact that the whole event had traumatized her, she accepted the jian. "Thank you, Lu Jinhai."

Lu Jinhai nodded to Yan Mei Ling and said, "Do your best to stay alive. I will see you after this battle, Lao Fang."

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