~~~

An army of the dead and the grotesque stands against him.

It is a revolting parade of rotting flesh and twisted bones. The howling of the dead could bring terror to even the stoutest of hearts, and the pungent smell would take care of the rest.

Feng Zhi just laughs.

The Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan uses fire to propel himself to the skies and rains devastation from above. Vast swathes of land are swallowed by flames. Hundreds of dead burn by the second.

“Ugly beasts! Abominations!” Feng Zhi shouts at the top of his lungs. “If there is any sense of self left in you, walk into my flames! Burn and be purified!”

The monsters do not show any signs of having heard him. The ugly creatures converge on top of each other, their flesh and bones melding and mixing like clay. From hundreds rises a single massive creature. It walks on five legs and roars with five mouths. It has two whip-like tails, each as long as a hundred men standing side by side. Its flesh is constantly moving, swirling like the surface of turbulent water.

“Is this supposed to intimidate me?!” Feng Zhi shouts. “All you have done is make yourself a bigger target!”

Golden flames cloak Feng Zhi’s body.

“Fight. Struggle. Surrender. It matters not to me,” Feng Zhi says as he aims at the beast. “Creations like you were born to burn. This is the only solace I can give you.”

The ensuing explosion can be felt from a mile away. Many of the soldiers watching from a distance have to avert their eyes when the horizon lights up. Others fall over due to the strength of the shockwave.

“The Young Master seems to be enjoying himself,” Fan Bingbing says, using a spyglass to observe the battle. “I suppose it is not surprising. He must have been waiting for an opportunity like this.”

“Damn him!” Huang Shing grumbles while making a fist. His eyeball is as close to his spyglass as humanly possible. Worryingly so, even.

“You are not enjoying yourself,” Fan Bingbing points out. “I thought you’d welcome the violence.”

“Don’t make me sound like someone who likes violence for the sake of it,” Huang Shing says. “I’m not Brother Hong.”

Fan Bingbing stares at him.

“Don’t think it either!”

“Amazing,” Fan Bingbing says, turning her attention back to the battle. “Brother Huang has discovered the secrets of thought discernment.”

She says it so tonelessly that, for a second, Huang Shing is convinced she means it. When he realizes she doesn’t, he snorts.

“I enjoy fighting. It makes things clear because there is no need for complex thoughts in battle. It’s simple. Pure,” Huang Shing says, as the massive explosions caused by Feng Zhi’s battle with the giant creature spread across the land. “I enjoyed fighting Murong Bang’s soldiers. I don’t enjoy fighting dead monsters.”

“We are not the ones fighting,” Fan Bingbing reminds him.

“That’s even worse!” Huang Shing chews on his nail angrily as he watches Feng Zhi fight.

Going by most reports, the first few battles against General He Bin’s forces have gone well. The gap in numbers is simply too great for his army to overcome. The general cannot hope to project enough power on both borders simultaneously.

Maybe that’s why the monsters of the Death Fashioning Scripture have begun appearing in greater numbers.

During the first few battles, appearances by the creatures of the Death Fashioning Scripture were rare. They only appeared when General He Bin’s men were nearly defeated, a last resort. However, that has begun to change, and this incident is the latest example of it. The soldiers that were going to fight them never got the chance to. The whole enemy army exploded into a horde of monsters before they could engage.

Faced with those numbers, Feng Zhi took to the field while the rest fell back. There is no sense in risking the soldiers being infected when he can deal with the horde on his own.

Even so…

“That damn Feng Zhi is making merits out there!” Huang Shing says. “This’ll make General Nie Dan’s soldiers value the Eternal Flame Clan more, and it will boost Feng Zhi’s status when we return home.”

“Ho, that was surprisingly well-thought-out for you.”

It says a lot about how angry Huang Shing is that he doesn’t look away from the battle to glare at Fan Bingbing.

“He’s even propelling himself in the air despite being under the curse of the Earth,” Huang Shing notes darkly. To be able to fly while under such strain requires tremendous power. That Feng Zhi can do that and fight such a powerful foe denotes immense skill. “I thought I was getting close to bridging that gap, but that bastard has even gone up another level!”

Fan Bingbing glances at him. “I thought you lost your reason for surpassing the Young Master.”

“That is that, and this is this. I still want to punch Feng Zhi in his smug face,” Huang Shing says. He glances back at all the soldiers looking at Feng Zhi’s battle with awe. It makes him frown, but not for the reasons one would assume. “I really don’t get it, though.”

“It is unreasonable of you to want to fight the Young Master, yes.”

“Not that,” Huang Shing says. He gestures at the army, not that most of them seem to notice. “Why all this? I don’t like him, but Feng Zhi is worth more than most of the soldiers here combined, and General Nie Dan is worth like a million Feng Zhis. Why do we even need armies?”

“You are overstepping your bounds, brat,” Colonel Peng says as he approaches them. The old soldier has left the southern border for the first time in years. “There is not a single person out there who likes to be told he’s useless. You’re lucky no one is paying attention.”

Another explosion goes off in the distance, making it obvious what is commanding nearly everyone’s attention right now.

“Sorry,” Huang Shing says, bowing his head. “I was not thinking.”

“A common condition among youths, I understand,” Colonel Peng says, making Huang Shing blush in embarrassment. “Still, you ask a good question. Why bring such numbers with us if we are all functionally irrelevant next to the Three Heavenly Generals? You are not the only one who has thought that. General Nie Dan could have won all the battles we have gone through on his own. Even now, he could easily kill this creature in the blink of an eye.”

“But he doesn’t,” Fan Bingbing says.

Colonel Peng nods.

“He doesn’t,” he says. “Even that monster Murong Bang, fierce as he is, has not left his army behind and marched right into the Storm Dragon Palace. He could, but he doesn’t. In battles of this scale, the strongest must act with caution. For the same reason, your Heaven Realm cultivator is not aiding your Young Master.”

When Colonel Peng mentions him, Huang Shing looks in Senior Brother Mud’s direction. The elder disciple is staying further back with all the high-ranking army officers.

“We do not know what surprises General He Bin has in store,” Colonel Peng continues, crossing his arms. “Similarly, he does not know the depth of our strength. This slow advance allows us to bait him into action. If he leaves the safety of the Storm Dragon Palace, the two generals will kill him immediately. If he doesn’t, we’ll have dealt with most of his forces long before fighting him. Either way, we minimize our risks. Understand?”

“We thank Colonel Peng for his wisdom,” Fan Bingbing says.

In the distance, one last explosion wipes out the monster. Feng Zhi is victorious at last.

The army renews their march.

~~~

Liu Jin has been promoted.

Before the campaign began, Murong Bang made him Three-Hundred Man Commander. Some would have been grateful for it, but Liu Jin has no interest in a military career, least of all in Murong Bang’s army.

While Liu Jin knows he can rely on the fifty-nine men who stayed with him throughout the ordeal with the Lei Clan, the new two-hundred and forty-one men under his command are complete unknowns. Worse, Murong Bang did not assign him new recruits this time, but men who have served in other companies. In other words, people who have already been instructed in the violence and carnage Murong Bang so dearly loves.

To keep all the new elements of the unit under control, Liu Jin has promoted nearly all the old members. Some he made Fifty-Men Commanders, others Twenty-Five commanders, and so on. Quan and Zei were made One-Hundred Man Commanders. Thankfully, because Liu Jin took the time to develop his men, they all have the strength to defend their positions.

The lone exception is Lei Cheng. The young man from the Lei Clan has such a high cultivation level that Liu Jin simply had to make him a Hundred-Man Commander. Lei Cheng claims to have been educated in military matters, but Liu Jin has no intention of taking him at his word. The position just makes it easier to observe Lei Cheng and keeps him busy.

Unfortunately, it is not just his unit that Liu Jin needs to be wary of.

“Don’t any of you dare slow down!” Raider Captain Ko yells from his horse. “I want to see Fort Blackwind before sundown!”

The soldiers behind them shout in acknowledgment. They do their best to keep up with his pace, and Liu Jin does his best to suppress his natural dislike for the man riding next to him.

It is not as if Captain Ko has done anything to him. Liu Jin will even agree that Ko’s concerns regarding the safety of keeping a beast made by the Death Fashioning Scripture with them are extremely well-founded.

All the same, Captain Ko is a creature of Murong Bang, so Liu Jin wants nothing to do with him.

How unfortunate that he has little choice in the matter.

“There is a military base about a day away from here,” Murong Bang told them after summoning them to his tent. “Deal with it.”

If Murong Bang gives the order, what are they to do but obey?

Liu Jin commands three hundred men, while Captain Ko’s raiders number only two hundred and fifty. However, Captain Ko’s men are stronger on average. They are also a rather bloodthirsty lot, a common characteristic among Murong Bang’s raiders. Liu Jin does not look forward to having to work with them.

Work with them.

Liu Jin smiles darkly as soon as that thought forms. How is it that things came to this point? How is it that, somewhere along the way, through a collection of choices largely his own, he has wound up as part of the army that destroyed his hometown and killed his father?

He could say that Murong Bang is forcing him to do this, and it wouldn’t be a lie. However, Murong Bang would never have had the opportunity to do so had Liu Jin not willingly brought himself to the man’s attention. He could say trying to run now wouldn’t do any good because Murong Bang would always capture him, but the truth is that Liu Jin has no intention of running.

Liu Jin chose this path, and he intends to see it through to the end.

And yet…

What would his father say if he could see him?

“Commander, up ahead!” Zei shouts. Soaring Feather’s cry rings out in the sky moments later.

“I see it,” Liu Jin says. Fort Blackwind has at last appeared as a tiny spot in the distance.

The two hundred men riding towards them are remarkably closer.

Lacking an item like the Thief’s Lamp, hiding the presence of more than five hundred people, among which are several cultivators in the Nascent Realm and even some in the Spirit Realm, was never within the realm of possibility. The people of Fort Blackwind must have sensed them from miles away and reacted accordingly.

“Men! Let’s kill!” Ko roars out as he takes out his sword and points it at the enemy. His men echo his cry and charge.

Liu Jin does not order his men to do anything. He just watches as Ko’s raiders easily tear through the soldiers of Fort Blackwind. From the beginning, they were nothing more than a desperate attempt to buy time while the main force in the fort prepares their defenses.

It is a doomed effort.

Liu Jin can sense the Qi of those at Fort Blackwind. They would have been better served using the few minutes their men bought them to run away. Of course, they were never going to do that because…

“Were we too fast for you?” Captain Ko asks him as he finishes the last of the advance force. His face is stained with blood, and none of it is his own. “Or have you never seen real combat before?”

“There was no need for us to do anything, so we did not,” Liu Jin replies. “You had it well-handled from the start.”

Captain Ko laughs.

“It is good that you recognize there is no need for you here,” he says loudly enough for everyone around to hear. Some of Liu Jin’s men clench their fists and grit their teeth. “Really, I cannot understand why the general sent you here. My raiders and I are enough to deal with this rabble.”

He gestures at the corpses around them to underscore his point. Despite having similar numbers, his men did not even take five minutes to kill all two hundred men.

“Nevertheless, the general sent me with you, and I intend to make myself useful,” Liu Jin says. “Since you handled these men, it is only fitting I get to attack the fort first, right?”

Captain Ko frowns.

“Ah, I see how it is. You want the achievement, don’t you?” Ko chuckles. “Forget it. In this army, he who strikes first wins.”

“Is that so?” Liu Jin says. “I will be sure to keep that in mind.”

Their army resumes its march soon after. It does not take them long to reach Fort Blackwind.

It does not take them long to reach Blackwind City.

Fort Blackwind is a medium-sized fort located on top of a large hill. It has a nice, defensible position, but neither it nor the city it overlooks are on their path to the palace. They are only attacking it because taking care of it right now is better than letting its soldiers try to attack them from behind later. It is a simple and sensible reason even Liu Jin can agree with.

There is no reason at all to attack Blackwind City, a city with thousands of men, women, and children.

“Listen up!” Ko yells to the men. “You all heard what the general told us! This land is ours! This city belongs to us!”

And yet, there is no way Murong Bang’s soldiers will fail to attack it.

That is why the people at the fort did not try to run away but instead sent men to try to delay them. There is no possible way to evacuate the city in time. Liu Jin senses the soldiers have done their best to move the city’s population inside the fort, but there is simply not enough space or time to move everyone there.

“The riches of this land are ours!” Ko keeps yelling. “Their weapons are ours! Their women and daughters are ours! Everything in that city is ours for the taking! Come with me and…”

Ko suddenly stops talking. His hands go to his throat as he tries to gasp for air. His face takes on a greenish hue as he collapses and loses consciousness. His subordinates are immediately at his side, trying to rouse him but not to avail.

“How unfortunate.”

Most people turn to look at Liu Jin.

“It seems Captain Ko has contracted a deadly illness and is currently incapacitated,” Liu Jin says. He does not shout, yet his voice reaches every man out there. For some reason, many begin shivering. “As the highest-ranking officer present, I am taking command.”

Liu Jin’s red eyes glow ominously.

“Is that understood?”

~~~