Iron Cavalry Tramples Snow, The "Justice" That Arrived Late

The earth was trembling.

This wasn't the charge of a few hundred men, but the resonance caused by thousands of heavily armored cavalry galloping in unison. A black flood, like a river breaking its banks, slammed into the barbarians' flank with a destructive force.

"Zhenbei Army! It's the Zhenbei Iron Cavalry!!"

The surviving defenders let out heart-wrenching cries. Some threw down their broken swords and wailed, kneeling in the blood.

They were saved.

Beneath that enormous "Qin" banner, countless long spears advanced like a forest. Da Liang's most elite border army had finally bared its fangs at this dawn.

"Damn it!"

Hulei clutched his still-bleeding neck, his eyes flashing with extreme unwillingness as he watched the black flood.

Under normal circumstances, with the Wolf Cavalry's mobility, he wouldn't fear this heavy cavalry at all. But he was severely wounded now, his vision blurred, and his command system was in chaos due to Ji Ye's insane suicidal attack.

If this continued, they would be annihilated.

"Retreat!!"

Hulei let out a muffled roar, and was helped onto a spare warhorse by his guards.

The barbarian horns grew urgent and shrill. The barbarian soldiers who had been encircling and annihilating Ji Ye's remnants seemed to have received a pardon. They abandoned their opponents and fled north, protecting their commander.

The wolves had retreated.

Leaving behind a field of corpses and the lingering embers of fire.

In the center of the battlefield.

Mazi, dragging a broken leg, frantically searched through the piles of dead.

"Captain! Captain, where are you?!"

His hands blistered from the scorching charcoal and cut by broken blades, but he felt nothing.

Finally, beneath a barbarian corpse, he saw the familiar, blood-soaked sable fur coat.

Ji Ye lay in the mud, the broken Horse-Chopping Saber plunged into his chest, his face ashen. His breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible, and blood foamed at the wound with every shallow rise and fall.

"Captain..."

Mazi knelt on the ground, helpless. He wanted to pull out the saber but dared not, tears mixing with blood and dirt on his face.

"Don't... don't move him..."

A weak voice came from a surviving private soldier who knew a little first aid. "The blade is stuck in the bone... if you pull it out... the bleeding won't stop..."

Just then, the sound of hurried hoofbeats stopped beside them.

A magnificent white horse snorted from above.

On it sat a young general in silver bright armor. His face was handsome, his expression arrogant. He lightly tapped his riding boots with his whip, his gaze sweeping over Ji Ye on the ground as if examining a curious object.

"This is the one who injured Hulei?"

The young general's voice was clear and cold, carrying the inherent nobility of a scion of a prominent family.

"Yes... that's our Captain Ji..." Mazi looked up, his eyes filled with hope. "General! Please save our Captain! He defended this city! He's the one who injured Hulei!"

"Defended the city?"

The young general scoffed, his gaze sweeping over the thousand-hole, near-ruined Black Stone County behind him.

"Trading a broken city and thousands of dead civilians for Hulei's serious injury... that's quite a deal."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Someone, carry him back. Have the military doctor see if he can be saved. If he lives, it's his good fortune; if he dies..."

He paused, his tone as casual as if discussing a dead hunting dog.

"Then report his name and give him a posthumous title. After all, to push a master of the Organ Tempering realm like Hulei to this point... this mad dog... is rather interesting."

"Yes! Captain!"

Several Zhenbei Army soldiers dismounted and roughly lifted Ji Ye onto a stretcher.

Mazi tried to intervene but was struck across the face with a whip.

"Get lost."

The young general glanced at him coldly. "From now on, Black Stone County is under the jurisdiction of the Zhenbei Army. Civilians, stand aside."

With that, he pulled the reins, the white horse whinnied, and turned towards the city.

Behind him, the main force of the Zhenbei Army entered in an orderly fashion, treading the bloody path paved by the defenders' lives, taking over the surviving, isolated city.

Flags fluttered, armor gleamed.

A stark and ironic contrast to the blood-stained, ragged surviving defenders.

Mazi clutched the burning whip mark on his face and watched the receding figure, his fingernails digging deep into the soil.

They had fought with their lives, bled dry.

In the end, all they received was a casual remark: "rather interesting."

Three days later.

In the injured soldiers' tent at the Zhenbei Army camp.

The air was thick with the smell of herbs and rotting flesh. Ji Ye lay on a hard plank bed in the corner, his bare upper body wrapped in thick bandages. The penetrating wound on his chest was still a shocking sight.

"Tough life."

An old army doctor with a grizzled beard was changing his dressing. He clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at the slowly healing wound. "Four ribs broken, sternum shattered, internal organs displaced... Anyone else would have been dead long ago. This kid's flesh must be made of iron to have held the broken bones together."

Beside him, Pockmarked stood guard by the bed, having not slept for three days, his eye sockets sunken deep.

"Doctor, when will our captain wake up?"

"Wake up?" The old doctor snorted. "Depends on fate. He overexerted himself too much, depleting both his Blood Essence and vitality. Whether he can survive tonight's high fever is the real test."

As soon as he finished speaking.

The man on the bed, who had been like a corpse, suddenly moved his fingers.

Immediately after, Ji Ye's eyes snapped open.

There was no confusion, no weakness.

In those eyes, a ferocity like that of a beast under attack erupted instantly. His right hand instinctively reached out to his side, searching for his saber.

"Captain! It's me! It's Pockmarked!"

Pockmarked was startled and quickly held him down.

Ji Ye's hand froze in mid-air, the ferocity in his eyes slowly receding as his focus reassembled.

"Hulei... where is he?"

His voice was as hoarse as if he were chewing sand.

"Ran off," Pockmarked said quickly. "The Zhenbei Army arrived and scared him away. We... we won."

Won.

Ji Ye let out a sigh of relief, and the muscles in his body finally relaxed. Immediately, an overwhelming wave of pain washed over him, causing him to groan. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

"System..."

He silently recited in his mind.

The familiar light blue panel appeared before his eyes.

[Current Status: Critically Wounded (Recovering)]
[Predicted Reincarnation Evaluation: A (Repelled Barbarian vanguard, heavily wounded a commander at the Organ Tempering stage, altered the course of the local battle.)]

Rank A.

Not enough.

Ji Ye looked at the letter, his heart unmoved.

He risked his life, trained himself into this mess, and almost died, only to get an A?

How high was the threshold for SSS-rank?

"That Zhenbei Army..." Ji Ye closed his eyes, the sound of horseshoes he heard before losing consciousness flashing in his mind. "Who was leading them?"

"Heard it was the third son of the Qin family, named Qin Wuji," Pockmarked said in a low voice, his tone filled with hatred. "That brat is arrogant, he took all the credit for our achievements. Now the whole world is saying he led the troops to repel Hulei and lift the siege of Black Stone County. As for us..."

Pockmarked gritted his teeth. "We became 'local militia assisting in the defense'."

Stealing credit.

Ji Ye was not surprised. This was the bureaucracy, this was Da Liang.

But he wasn't angry. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled into a cold smile.

"Qin Wuji..."

He remembered the name.

"Help me up," Ji Ye said.

"Captain! Your injuries..."

"Get up," Ji Ye's voice was unquestionable. "I want to eat meat. No matter whose credit it is, as long as I don't die, this debt... will be settled sooner or later."

He struggled to sit up, the wound on his chest tearing open, blood seeping through the bandages.

But he didn't care.

From beggar to constable, from constable to city defender.

The next stop, it should be this chaotic stage of Da Liang.

If you find this book to your liking, and to avoid losing it next time, please remember to add it to your bookshelf.

Due to the requests of many readers, we are now offering VIP member ad-free viewing.

Click to view