Liaodong Town, the setting sun bled like crimson.
Outside the pass, the Tartar army swaggered back leisurely, not taking a wisp of cloud with them.
Inside the pass, countless soldiers of Liaodong Town shuttled across the city walls, silently gathering the corpses of their fallen brothers.
They had held the city gates.
Yet inside those gates, there was little joy of victory to be seen.
Only numbness.
An inevitable numbness.
The Tartars swaggered up to their gates, swaggered as they killed their brethren, and swaggered back to their forts.
And they could only watch helplessly as they approached, watch helplessly as they left, heads bowed, silently gathering the corpses of their fallen...
’Why should they bully us like this?’
’Why?’
Many spirited young men asked in their hearts.
Many a tough man who had never cried out in pain even when stabbed, now crouched in corners, secretly wiping away tears with dirty sleeves.
"Alright, alright, pull yourselves together, grown men whimpering and crying, have you no shame!"
Jiang Kui moved along the wall, gently comforting his subordinates on the city walls, "You all did well, you all are great heroes of protecting our homes and country..."
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"Don’t be disappointed, we held the city gate, we’ve protected the families behind us..."
"Liven up, I’ve ordered the kitchen to slaughter twenty pigs, tonight there’ll be enough wine and meat..."
His armor was still soaked in fresh blood, and the gash on his cheek from an arrow scrape had yet to be bandaged, but he still forced a smile, trying his hardest to console these men.
Lei Heng and Liu Meng, also in armor, followed behind him, silently observing everything, their eyes flickering with intense emotions.
"General!"
A soldier suddenly stood up, his eyes red, and shouted, "When can we charge into the steppes and kill those bent-backed weaklings?"
Jiang Kui’s face stiffened, and he then forced an ugly smile, nodding, "No rush, no rush, that day will come..."
"That day, which day is it?"
"That day, that’s the day!"
"That day, which day is it!"
Jiang Kui suddenly flushed red, his large mouth puckered, and with a voice like a broken gong, he laughed loudly, "I don’t bloody know, which day that day is, do I?"
He meant to tell a joke and divert the topic.
But the joke really wasn’t funny at all.
It was so unfunny that Lei Heng and Liu Meng, standing behind him, couldn’t bear to look and turned their heads away, unable not to gaze at his bent silhouette.
The scene turned silent for a moment, the glint in the red eyes staring at Jiang Kui slowly fading.
They couldn’t exactly say they were disappointed...
They shouldn’t have harbored hope in the first place.
"Report..."
A burst of strong and forceful shouting broke the numb silence. A messenger rushed to the top of the city wall and, bending over, presented a scroll to Jiang Kui, "Great General, an order from the Great General who commands the conquest against the enemy!"
Jiang Kui lowered his eyelids, silently took the scroll, meticulously examined the wax seal, broke it open, and slowly unfurled the scroll to read every word.
The next second, his eyes suddenly widened, and the brocade in his hands began to tremble as if it were immensely heavy.
Having read it once, he couldn’t wait to go back and read it a second time, and then a third...
After a long while, he suddenly pulled the scroll back, grabbed the messenger and asked loudly, "Where are the reinforcements from Jizhou Town now?"
The messenger replied, "General, the reinforcements have already reached thirty li from our main camp and will enter by nightfall!"
"Hahaha..."
Jiang Kui released the messenger, his forehead veins bulging as he laughed heartily. He raised the scroll high and shouted with all his might, "What day is it? It is today!"
"Men, arrange the troops, march out, seek vengeance!"
The city wall fell silent again. Everyone raised their heads in stunned silence, suspecting he had gone mad.
Unconcerned by their doubtful gazes, Jiang Kui held the scroll high, spinning around and roaring even louder, "Arrange the troops, march out, seek vengeance!"
His hoarse roar echoed over the silent fortress walls, like a misunderstood lunatic.
But the next second, all the soldiers from Liaodong Town scrambled to their feet, raising their weapons high and shouting with equal ferocity, "Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"
Their cries ignited Liaodong Town. Soldiers behind the fortress walls turned towards the gate and joined the ranks one after another.
Their shouts shattered the fading sun.
Sometimes the wind and waves are broken.
When will it happen?
It happens now!
...
At Datong Town, the evening glow dyed half of the sky red.
Yu Guanhai, never without his armor, stood in front of a sand table, his fingers drenched with sweat from the few command flags...
The command tent flapped open, and Liu Tang quickly stepped inside. "General Yu, is there any news?"
Yu Guanhai silently shook his head.
Liu Tang slapped his thigh, opened his mouth to curse, but forcefully held back and instead said, "If we don’t deploy troops now, we won’t catch up with the enemy!"
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Yu Guanhai calmly responded, "Keep calm. General Lan’s military order might already be on its way!"
Upon hearing that, Liu Tang couldn’t contain himself, his face reddening as he blurted out, "Damn incompetent fool, he wastes even the chances Grandpa gives him!"
Though he didn’t specify who, Yu Guanhai clearly knew who he was cursing.
But what could he do? He could only play deaf and dumb.
Seeing no hope in relying on him, Liu Tang, hand on his sword, turned to leave.
"Report..."
Just then, a messenger rushed into the tent, bowed, and presented a scroll to Yu Guanhai, "Great General, an order from the Great General who commands the conquest against the enemy!"
This announcement revitalized both men at once.
Eagerly stepping away from the sand table, Yu Guanhai snatched the scroll from the messenger, glanced at it, and then quickly unsealed it to closely read.