Meeting Commander Zha

After Spring of Life water had been poured into each of the dozen or so wells, Ye Fan lingered no longer and guided the Inner World away from Wuling City.

The entrance to the Inner World drifted slowly away from Wuling City and toward the Wu army.

Ye Fan wanted to see the Wu soldiers attacking the Qian Kingdom, and he also wanted to cross the border and see the Wu Kingdom, which had waged war time and again.

Under Wu Pojun's command, the Wu soldiers were still attacking the city. As more and more corpses were left behind, their assault gradually slowed. They might have gained some advantage if Wuling City had been caught completely unprepared. But now, everyone in Wuling City was a soldier, and the troops had been mustered for battle. The entire city was a solid block of iron. So what if the Wu army had two hundred thousand men? As long as the defenders remained vigilant, the city wall was a threshold the Wu soldiers could not cross.

Ye Fan stopped above the Wu army and watched the soldiers charge, wave after wave. More and more corpses piled up beneath the city wall. These were all common soldiers following orders; even if they died in battle, they were forbidden to retreat. At heart, they were all people who had no control over their own lives, pitiful souls, every one of them.

Ye Fan slowly drifted toward the rear, wanting to see who was leading the Wu Kingdom's army. After traveling about a thousand meters, he saw a military tent. Candlelight flickered inside, and figures moved about. Could this be where the Wu Kingdom's generals directed the battle? Would the great general be inside?

Ye Fan gradually grew nervous. This was a general who commanded an army of two hundred thousand. Though he belonged to an enemy kingdom, he still stood above countless others. Ye Fan drifted over to take a look.

The entrance to the Inner World slowly shrank until only a black hole the size of a mung bean remained, allowing him to observe. Without a sound, Ye Fan guided the Inner World to a stop at the top of the tent, and the voices inside reached his ears.

"Deputy General Wu, please submit a memorial. General Yan is old and muddleheaded. He cares only for military glory and pays no heed to the lives of his soldiers. If the army keeps charging so recklessly, sooner or later we'll all become souls beneath Qian arrows, lonely ghosts wandering around Wuling City."

"That's right, Deputy General Wu, please submit a memorial. Every chance for victory has been lost. We can't keep fighting."

More and more subordinate generals dropped to one knee, begging the deputy general to submit a memorial. The army had marched all the way here without accomplishing anything, and countless men had been killed or wounded instead. Now, the Qian Kingdom had even mobilized troops from other cities to send reinforcements. The battle had already slipped beyond the Wu soldiers' control.

Ye Fan listened for a while. General Yan-was that their great general? It seemed he wasn't here. But from the sound of it, even his own subordinate generals were deeply dissatisfied with him. Such a meaningless war drained the people and emptied the coffers, and it had been launched without just cause. It was doomed to fail...

"Maybe it won't be long before the Wu army withdraws!" Ye Fan had heard enough to get the gist. The Wu soldiers didn't want to wage war either. He really had no idea what the Wu emperor was thinking. Waging war abroad again and again-was he really so eager for battle?

After listening to the soldiers' discussion, Ye Fan had lost all interest in the great general. He would head back. It was still early, so he might as well go take a look at Qixia City.

Ye Fan guided the Inner World back and continued drifting farther along the border between Qian and Wu. A flash of dark light streaked past, leaving a faint, shadowy tail in the void~

"Commander Zha, I imagine Guo Youshan should have returned to the Wu Kingdom by now. I wonder what the Wu Kingdom plans to do next?" Deputy General Qin Shan asked Chahar as he rode his warhorse.

"Qin Shan, the crisis at Qixia City has been resolved. Commander Lu has also established strong defenses there, so it may remain peaceful for quite some time. If they want to attack our Qian Kingdom again, they'll probably send their army to Wuling City. We need to return to Wuling City now and help defend it. I have to say, of all the times the Wu Kingdom has sent out its troops, this was the easiest fight our Qian army has had."

Commander Zha was already leading the relief army back. The crisis at Qixia City had been resolved, and more than a hundred thousand enemies had been wiped out. Though that was not enough to deal a crippling blow to the Wu Kingdom, it would not attack Qixia City again anytime soon. For one thing, the march was difficult; for another, Qixia City was now on guard. Another attack would only add to the casualties.

The army made a forced march through the night, warhorses thundering past and leaving clouds of dust in their wake.

The Qian capital

"Report! A great victory at the front! More than a hundred thousand enemies wiped out!"

"Report! A great victory at the front! More than a hundred thousand enemies wiped out!"

A messenger had ridden day and night, exhausting several warhorses, and finally brought the military report from Qixia City to the Qian capital that night. He tightened his reins with one hand and held the report aloft with the other, shouting as he rode...

The capital had been immersed in the night only moments before, but the clatter of hooves and the messenger's weary cries awakened it.

"A great victory at the front, more than a hundred thousand enemies wiped out? That means we won!" Some townspeople pushed open their windows, unable to contain their excitement at the news.

More and more people lit their lamps, sharing the sudden good news with one another.

The Qian imperial palace

"Your Majesty, a great victory at the front! Our army has won a great victory in the battle of Qixia City." Upon hearing the battle report, an attendant eunuch dared not delay and hurried to inform His Majesty.

The Qian Emperor rose slightly, and the palace maids immediately drew back the curtains.

"Your Majesty, a great victory at the front! Our army has won a great victory." The attendant eunuch came forward on his knees, holding the military report high above his head.

The Qian Emperor took the report box, tore open its seal, and quickly read through the report.

"Summon the Ministry of War!"

"Yes."

Before long, the Qian Emperor had dressed and arrived at the palace hall. The senior ministers of the Ministry of War were already waiting below the steps to the dais.

"Long live our emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

"Rise. This great victory at the front has greatly boosted morale. This is the report from the front. Take a look, all of you!" The Qian Emperor walked to the dragon throne and sat down, handing over a memorial.

The eunuch accepted the memorial with both hands, walked slowly down the jade steps, and presented it to the ministers.

The ministers read it carefully, then slowly closed it and handed it back to the eunuch.

"Your Majesty, several commanders deserve great credit for the victory at Qixia City. They supported one another and dispatched a surprise force to launch a surprise attack on the Wu army. Chahar, the commander of Sunset City, marched his troops several thousand li and should be rewarded according to his merits." The ministers briefly exchanged glances, and a senior minister of the Ministry of War cupped his hands toward the Qian Emperor as he spoke.

"Sunset City indeed deserves great credit for this battle. Ministry of War, draft a memorial of commendation. Once the war is over, rewards will be granted for all merits together."

"Your subjects obey!" the ministers said in unison.

Ye Fan was still traveling through the sky. Bored, he planted medicinal herbs in the Inner World. The herb garden was growing larger and larger, and the World Tree had grown even thicker and stronger, blotting out the sky and sun.

"Hm? It sounds like warhorses galloping up ahead?" Ye Fan stood up and looked out through the opening.

Warhorses galloped past, kicking up billowing clouds of dust. Ye Fan lowered his altitude and looked carefully at the man leading the troops.

Hm? It's Commander Zha! Looks like this is Sunset City's army, Ye Fan thought after seeing that Chahar was leading the troops.

It's several thousand li from here to Sunset City. These soldiers really have been through a lot!

Ye Fan followed them as they marched, keeping his distance behind them. Since Commander Zha was already on his way back, did that mean the fighting at Qixia City was over?

While Ye Fan was pondering these questions, the army slowly came to a halt.

Ye Fan shrank the opening and slowly drew closer.

"Qin Shan, let's rest here for a while. We've been riding all night. It's time the horses and soldiers had something to eat," Commander Zha said, turning to Qin Shan.

"Yes!"

"The army will rest here and eat some rations. We set out again in one shichen."