The angry growls of the cannons were heard as they were fired shook the earth. Bodies buoyed above from the impact only to fall down into unrecognizable pieces. The arrows shot to the sky, falling down like the meteor stars on a beautiful night but with a death wish to whoever they would fall upon.

Blood flowed like crimson rain sprinkled by the sky, pooling like a red stream, only to be soaked by the ravenous and monstrous earth. Metals clashing against each other, horses' stampeding on dead and living bodies. Cries of despair and anger were forced to do a duet – singing a terrible song of war and massacre.

"Do you think that you are good enough to fight me?" A man said in an ominously low voice, his eyes sparkled dangerously like rubies, reminding anyone of a furious and hungry Yaoguai. He lightly touched the tip of his sword on the neck of his opponent while exerting more pressure on his boot that was placed on the latter's chest. "How do you want me to kill you?"

"You are a bastard! Do you think you will win? Our Tongjun already escaped with the princess to Hsien capital, and Lord Hsien Mao Dong will wed her as soon as she arrive so you killing me is futile – you lose, we won." The fallen soldier laughed like a mad man despite the extreme fear that shook the very core of his heart.

The man ignored him and merely looked at him with bone-chilling coldness. "Do you want me to castrate you first before I proceed to cutting the other parts of your body?"

The fallen soldier convulsed with so much horror that his spit began to form a froth from his mouth. "Kill me right away, you bastard, cut my head!"

The man with the sword slowly shook his head and smirked, obviously enjoying the fear that emanated from the man who was entirely at his mercy. "I will do that if you beg me." He removed his boot from the man's chest as if to give him the opportunity to beg. "Go on, beg me, pathetic animal; I might pity you and give you a hasty death."

The man who was on his back immediately stood to spit on the man who held him down a while ago. "If you think that I will put myself down to you, despicable, imperial soldier, you are wrong!"

The man with the sword wiped the spit on his face with the back of his forearm. His face ghastly unreadable and a pulse angrily beat at the side of his temple. He clucked his tongue and then look at the man who had the audacity to spit at him. He swung his sword and severed the impudent man's knees.

"Aaahh!!! You are an animal!" The incapacitated man cried, tears rolled from his eyes while his body shook with terrible fright. Blood gushed violently and the veins hung like a messy spider web from his severed knees.

The man with the sword merely laughed sadistically before he slashed open the fallen man's trouser and cut the manhood.

"Animal! Animal!" The man shouted while groaning at the unspeakable pain.

"Don't you dare call me animal, you pathetic worm." The man with the sword muttered furiously. "My name is Jiangjun Chonglin Da!" He then kicked the man as if the latter was a mere pebble.

"Please kill me now!" The man beg with tears. Blood flowed from his body, his heart and resolve were both weakening. "Please, I beg you, kill me now."

"How late – you dumb animals prefer to be tortured first before you give in but I am feeling rather generous today so I will grant your wish." Jiangjun Chonglin Da carried the incapacitated man by the hair and sliced the head cleanly from the body with his sword. He carelessly threw the head to the ground and looked at his army who were currently in a hand-to-hand combat with the Hsien soldiers.

He saw the Unit Commander clashing sword with the most capable man in the Hsien army. Looking at his superior's face, certain sadness mingled with sympathy evoked within him.

He remembered the Unit Commander's daughter; the headstrong yet surprisingly sweet beautiful girl, Lady Yan Mei Ling. His heart clenched painfully at the thought of his superior's daughter. He would give her death a justice it rightfully deserved.

'I will help you avenge your daughter's death, Unit Commander. I will not show the Hsien pigs any mercy.'

A Hsien soldier tried to attack Jiangjun Chonglin Da but he quickly penetrated his sword on the attacker's chest.

"Weakling," he remarked in a bored tone when he plunged his sword upon the chest of another Hsien soldier. He pulled back his sword, blood trickling on the cold and dangerous metal.

Another Hsein one ran to Jiangjun Chonglin Da but he stalled him by throwing his spear on the enemy's forehead. The sharp spear's head turned around until it perforated into the enemy's skull, blood expelled like a wave while some of the mushy tissues of the brain were being spurted from the hole. He promptly pulled the spear from the dead enemy's skull and aimed it accurately on another attacker. He continued brutally killing Hsein soldiers with dexterity until he was near the Unit Commander who was holding the enemy by the collar.

"Where is the princess, you bastard?" Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong demanded with indomitable calmness. His eyes glaring frigidly.

"Ha! She is gone; probably wed to Lord Hsein Mao Dong by now." The man cackled humorously, he tried to look brave but the fear within his eyes was undeniable. He was also breathing in deep gasp due to the injuries he sustained from the fight with Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong.

"Perhaps, that pathetic worm prefers unorthodox ways of obtaining information; shall I castrate him, Unit Commander?"

Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong looked at Jiangjun Chonglin Da and arched his brow. Under his grip, the man he held started to piss in his trousers due to extreme trepidation.

Jiangjun Chonglin Da bowed his head to his superior and then said, "The man I just tortured told me that the TongJun of this army already escaped with the princess. If you allow me, I will go after that cowardly TongJun and save the Princess."

Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong paused for a moment, reflecting on Jiangjun Chonglin Da words. He remained aloof but the unmistakable aura of fury within him was felt. "No, I want to personally decapitate their TongJun. After all, it his army who had wreaked havoc upon my village."

"As you wish, Unit Commander,"Jiangjun Chonglin Da bowed his head respectfully. "By the way, what shall we do with that man?"

Unit Yan Bao Rong looked at the man whom he held by the collar and then slammed him in front of Jiangjun Chonglin Da. "I want you to torture him; toy with him. Give him a death that will continuously haunt him even if he is already in hell. Do the same with all the other Hsien soldiers – do not spare anyone nor show mercy. And, after this, I expect that you will catch up with me in no time." He then left and went back to the cavalry to get his horse.

"Of course, Unit Commander," Jiangjun Chonglin Da answered. He then smirked evilly and callously placed his boot at the head of the injured man who was thrown at his mercy. "Worm, do you have a name?"

"You, bastard; do not call me a worm!"

"I will call you whatever I want to unless you give me your name."

"I am Niu!" The man stuttered with fear; his heart was colliding with extreme frenzy in his chest. "I am one of the elite soldiers of the Hsien army, you have no right to treat me low!"

"Hmmm," Jiangjun Chonglin Da commented reflectively while stroking his chin. "If you are an elite soldier of the Hsien army, then I pity the Hsien army for recruiting weaklings like you."

"How dare you!" Niu stammered. This man, Jiangjun Chonglin Da, was more wicked than his superior. If the Imperial Army's Unit Commander had a trace of humanity in him, Jiangjun Chonglin Da had none. His eyes reflected a hellishly cold polar frost. He was a killing machine trajected into a human body.

"Tell me, Niu," Jiangjun Chonglin Da smiled dangerously while ignoring Niu's words. "How do you want to die?"

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Author's Note:

I am pretty sure that you will call me a bloodthirsty and violent author but I think it will be boring if I censor violence. Imagine me writing, The Hsein army and Imperial armies met and engaged in the war -- the Imperial army won! -- boring, right? Despite that my story has gone more violent, I still feel that it is not really as violent as the other books that I have read. Anyway, war is truly an ugly thing.

Anyway, please comment or vote! Thank you for all of your support!

-Midnight_Carousel