"What was that thunder doing in this weather?"
Zong Yuan looked up at the sky, bewildered. The sun shone high overhead, and the sky was clear and blue, with not the slightest sign of thunder or rain.
Yet in the next instant, the sky swiftly turned from azure to gray. Dark clouds gathered for several miles around, their thick layers pressing down and blotting out the bright sunlight.
Zong Yuan gaped, his lips trembling. "Th-this... How could the sky change so drastically in the blink of an eye? Could it be that the Moth Bandits are fated not to fall today?!"
If a heavy rain came down, the massive advantage the Han Army had gained would vanish without a trace.
It was easy to understand why.
First, once it rained, the armor worn by the Han soldiers would soak through and grow heavier, greatly draining their strength and making it difficult to fight for long.
Second, their superior bows and crossbows would be affected. The bowstrings would slacken, and the arrow feathers would get wet and warp.
Third, the Han Army's elite Sanhe Cavalry would be unable to gallop across the muddy ground. Otherwise, their horses' hooves would slip, sending horse and rider tumbling.
Most importantly, a light rain would be manageable, but if the heavens opened, the downpour would inevitably obscure their vision. The soldiers in the battle formations would be unable to see the signals flown by the central army or hear the drums and horns, leaving the entire army in chaos, with each unit fighting on its own.
This was something Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan could never accept. One of the Han Army's greatest advantages over the Yellow Turban Army was its discipline. Their orderly formations were more than enough to easily break the disorganized Yellow Turbans.
If they lost that discipline, and their armor, bows, and crossbows became useless, it would be difficult for the Han Army to fight an enemy twice its size.
"Lord Lu!" Zong Yuan cried anxiously, looking at Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi was just as bewildered. The sky had been clear one moment, and the next, black clouds had loomed over them. Was Heaven really so unreasonable?
"Big brother, it's going to rain! From the look of the sky, it won't be a light shower!"
On the carriage, Zhang Liang let out a long breath of relief. Once the heavy rain came down, the Yellow Turban Army could easily disengage from the Han Army and retreat safely to Guangzong.
To be honest, he didn't want to fight to the death. He thought it would be better to hold out inside the city. What if the Yellow Turbans from elsewhere sent reinforcements?
There were Thirty-Six Regions of Yellow Turbans in this land!
Surely at least one of them could come to their aid?
If his most revered elder brother, Zhang Jiao, hadn't insisted so strongly, he never would have agreed to lead the troops out to fight the Han Army in formation.
Events had unfolded just as he'd expected. Even though the Yellow Turban soldiers feared no death, they had still been driven back step by step beneath the Han Army's overwhelming assault.
But at least—
The heavens had sent down a heavy rain!
At that moment, he almost wanted to roar and vent all the frustration pent up inside him.
Zhang Jiao, too, secretly let out a breath of relief. But the heavy stone in his heart still wouldn't lift. Even if the rain saved his army today, what good would it do? Lu Zhi had surrounded Guangzong on all sides. There was nowhere to flee, and a mass breakout was all but impossible. How was a small force breaking out any different from defeat?
Their only choices were to hold the isolated city and wait for reinforcements, or, once the city ran out of food, to go out and fight the Han Army. By then, however, they would have even less room to maneuver.
Zhang Jiao gazed into the distance, his eyes deep and inscrutable, staring toward the Han Army as if he could make out Lu Zhi in the central camp. Lu Zhi seemed to sense his gaze. He looked toward the flag of "General of Heaven" flying high in the distance and snorted. "Sound the gong and withdraw the troops."
Zong Yuan relaxed and was about to order the signals raised and the gong struck when the clouds overhead grew even thicker. A gale rose, howling across the land, and sand filled the sky.
Rumble!!
Dense purple lightning tore through the sky. Rolling thunder drowned out the booming drums. An oppressive solemnity swept over the battlefield, making the soldiers fighting for their lives shudder with fear. They stopped attacking and warily retreated, slowly pulling away from the enemy.
The officers in the army, from the military supervisors to the squad leaders, did not scold them. Instead, they looked toward the central camp behind them, waiting for the sound of the gong calling them back.
Clearly, they all understood that once the heavy rain came, the battle would be impossible to continue.
Just then, a gigantic hole suddenly split open in the clouds overhead. Countless thunder dragons gathered and coiled within it, dyeing the opening a majestic purple, like the Eye of the Thunder God from Myth.
In an instant, the thunder dragons surged and shot out a lightning pillar nearly a zhang thick. The enormous purple beam pierced down from the sky and slammed into the earth. It could be seen clearly even from dozens of miles away.
Everyone—whether Han soldier or Yellow Turban, whether Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang or Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan—was left in a daze, gaping in astonishment.
They had seen thunder before, and a few had even seen lightning strike a tree. But those bolts of lightning had looked no thicker than chopsticks to the naked eye, while this one was nearly a zhang thick!
They had never seen anything like it. They had never even imagined it!
In their eyes, only the Immortal Gods could wield such power. After their momentary stupor, many soldiers knelt in terror, begging the gods to quell their fury.
They didn't know why the gods were angry, or even whether they truly were.
Still, they fell to their knees to show their reverence for the Immortal Gods.
As commander of the Han Army, Lu Zhi naturally didn't kneel. But gripping the wooden railing with both hands, he watched the vast pillar of light that linked heaven and earth, utterly bereft of composure.
"What... is that?" he murmured.
"What is that?!" Zhang Jiao was dumbstruck as well. The Nine-Section Staff in his hand slipped slightly from his grasp.
Then, an even more shocking sight appeared before them. Inside the enormous purple pillar of lightning was an infant wrapped in swaddling cloth. The baby seemed to be asleep, slowly descending from the heavens along the beam of light.
Under the gaze of countless people, the infant finally landed safely on a small patch of open ground at the very front line between the two armies.
The several hundred Han and Yellow Turban soldiers nearby looked at one another, then bowed deeply.
"An immortal has descended! An immortal has descended!" someone cried.
One voice rang out, and ten thousand answered. Cries of "An immortal has descended!" rose from every corner of the Han and Yellow Turban formations. Many fell to their knees, expressing their devotion.
At that moment, the two armies' commanders gave orders almost simultaneously.
"That is Yellow Heaven Descends! The Holy Venerable Huang Tian, the reincarnation of Sovereign Yellow Absolute! The entire army, move out and protect the Holy Infant!"
"That is the protection of Gao Di, the Immortal Infant of the Great Han sent down from Heaven! All troops, advance and shield the Immortal Spirit of the Great Han!"
Great banners waved, drums thundered, and the pounding of hooves shook the heavens and earth. After a brief hesitation, the Han and Yellow Turban armies resumed their ferocious slaughter.
Arrows flew, axes swung, spears thrust, blades hacked, and soldiers roared... The entire battlefield churned into a mass of duels and slaughter, all centered around the infant sent down from Heaven.
Limbs flew, blood sprayed, and heads rolled. It was a scene from hell. Yet not a soul dared come within several feet of the infant.
Tens of thousands roared and screamed, but the infant remained peacefully asleep.