When news of the withdrawal spread, the soldiers who had been seizing every moment to sleep and tend their wounds in their tents emerged in a daze.
Only after several deputy generals shouted the announcement again and again did a little life gradually return to their numb faces. Then a chorus of mournful wails rose.
Many soldiers clutched their heads and sobbed. Others ran straight to the burial mounds, found their former comrades, and laughed through their tears. Then they gathered a handful of yellow earth from before the graves and tucked it beneath their armor to carry home.
"Reporting to the commander!"
"Of the Red Character Camp's one hundred thousand Blood Fiend Army soldiers, nine thousand six hundred and twenty-three are present. All have returned to formation!"
"Awaiting your orders!"
A middle-aged deputy general born to a concubine of the Li Family approached Li Hongzhuang and delivered his report in a forceful roar.
Yet his eyes were already wet.
Li Hongzhuang's face, pale as snow beneath the moon, trembled slightly. Her gaze passed over the deputy general before her and swept across the gaunt, pallid faces behind him, all brimming with tears and hope.
Finally, her gaze settled on the distant burial mounds.
The remaining ninety thousand and more lay here in eternal rest.
They were all soldiers she had personally trained, one by one!
And that vast expanse of graves held far more than ninety thousand. The troops led by her third and sixth brothers were buried here too, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Even Li Hongzhuang, long since numbed, could not stop her eyes from reddening slightly.
Holding her emotions in check, she drew a deep breath and declared loudly, **"I hereby announce that the Blood Fiend Army will set out today. We're going