The Final Battle! Battle of Muye

With you joining the battle, the soldiers at Tong Pass quickly fell apart. In less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, there were barely any Tong Pass soldiers left on the field.

You swiftly led two hundred soldiers and took control of the eastern side of Tong Pass.

Just then, Nezha also arrived with two hundred soldiers. It seemed that the two thousand five hundred troops had already reached the western side. At this point, Tong Pass was completely under Xi Qi's control.

Chuan Yun Pass was probably as good as captured by now as well.

This campaign, ending in the capture of Chuan Yun Pass and Tong Pass, marked the beginning of the war between Xi Qi and the various feudal lords against the Yin Dynasty.

At this very moment, in Chaoge, Di Xin was perhaps still intoxicated beneath Daji's skirts, completely unaware of what had happened on Xi Qi's side.

You and Nezha began sorting out the aftermath at Tong Pass.

The next day, the vast army arrived at Tong Pass, and you and Nezha opened the gates to welcome them.

After that, only Lin Tong Pass remained as the final line of defense before Xi Qi could formally enter Yin Dynasty territory.

At the same time, news from Xi Qi would surely spread across the land soon. The various feudal lords throughout the realm who had been persuaded to submit to Xi Qi would certainly follow suit. By then, the entire Yin Dynasty would be isolated and without aid.

Even if the hundreds of thousands of troops campaigning in the east received the news, they would never be able to return in such a short time.

As you watched Xi Qi's army enter Tong Pass, you knew that the realm would inevitably be ravaged by war. But it was unavoidable. To end the Yin Dynasty's rule and restore peace to the realm, there had to be a battle.

After Xi Qi's army entered Tong Pass, you went to find Jiang Shang. Nezha was beside him as well.

Perhaps because of you, Nezha had come to find Jiang Shang. When Nezha saw you arrive, he left.

Jiang Shang had also seen through why you had come. He stated your purpose outright: you wished to be reassigned elsewhere rather than continue serving in the vanguard.

You did not deny it. Jiang Shang did not agree either, only telling you to remain with him for the time being and hold down the rear.

You were somewhat puzzled, but you did not object.

Five days passed like this. The battle for Lin Tong Pass lasted only one day before it was taken. By the time Chong Houhu received the news, Lin Tong Pass had already fallen to Xi Qi. Even if he wished to send reinforcements, time would not allow it.

Moreover, when Chong Houhu led troops to reinforce it, Jiang Shang and you had already been waiting for a long time.

You remained in the rear and did not fight. This had been deliberate on Jiang Shang's part.

When Chong Houhu led his troops to reinforce them, Lin Tong Pass had already been captured. His arrival was destined to be futile. But what you had not expected was this.

With only one battle, Jiang Shang had utterly crushed Chong Houhu and his army. Chong Houhu himself had even died on the battlefield.

You found it quite unbelievable. Chong Houhu had been beaten so badly by Jiang Shang so quickly that he had not even the slightest ability to resist?

You always felt that Chong Houhu had seen the situation turning against him and was putting on an act for Xi Qi, but you had not expected him to act himself to death.

The only explanation you could come up with was that Chong Houhu was simply no good at commanding troops.

At this point, only the two relatively easy-to-defend, difficult-to-attack cities of Sheng Chi and Meng Jin remained between them and Chaoge, the imperial capital of the Yin Dynasty.

Most of the remaining cities were exceedingly easy to take, so there was no need to mention them.

Even you had not expected Xi Qi to capture several cities so easily in such a short time. The Yin Dynasty truly was finished now.

News of Xi Qi taking several cities in succession had already spread throughout the realm. The feudal lords everywhere responded to Xi Qi's call and advanced toward Chaoge one after another.

Throughout the following wars, you remained in the rear. Jiang Shang repeatedly devised strategies there, and you finally understood why Chong Houhu had been defeated so easily. With a military genius like Jiang Shang around, it would have been strange if the man had not lost.

During your days in the rear, you also grew familiar with Nezha and the others.

Taking advantage of Nezha's free time, you asked him what was going on with his body, and Nezha answered.

It turned out that Nezha's body was a Lotus Incarnation, transformed into its current state for certain reasons.

Among the three of them, Yang Jian was the strongest, followed by Nezha, while Lei Zhenzi ranked last.

In the next two battles, you remained in the rear, and you also came to understand why Jiang Shang had kept you there.

You did not participate in any of the dozens of battles centered around Sheng Chi and Meng Jin. This had been intentional on Jiang Shang's part.

You had also said that you could go onto the battlefield.

But Jiang Shang merely replied, "Someone like you, who holds back even against enemies, has no need to fight on Humanity's battlefield. I'm having you remain in the rear because there will come a day when you'll be useful. So stop talking about going onto Humanity's battlefield."

You knew it was your own problem, so you never asked Jiang Shang about it again.

Likewise, aside from those two battles, Jiang Shang lazed around in the rear during the dozens of fights over the small cities along the way. Naturally, you and Jiang Shang began chatting during that time.

Jiang Shang also asked why you did not kill humans, and you did not hide anything from him.

Jiang Shang then wore an expression of sudden understanding and immediately complained that the Three Sages of Humanity had taught you without teaching you everything. As a result, Jiang Shang had terrible luck for the entire day.

After learning that you had been raised by the Three Sages of Humanity, Jiang Shang also realized that your seniority was a generation above his. He had to call you Martial Uncle, and his expression remained utterly gloomy all day.

In response to Jiang Shang's complaints, you gave him a beating. For the next three days, Jiang Shang kept complaining to you that he had no real martial ability, yet you still beat him up.

You and Jiang Shang became thoroughly familiar with each other.

Not long after the battle at Meng Jin ended, word arrived that Di Xin had hurriedly gathered one hundred seventy thousand slaves at Muye.

You knew that this was Di Xin's final battle, and the Yin Dynasty's final battle as well. Once this battle ended, the entire Yin Dynasty would exist in name only.

At that moment, Jiang Shang gave a mysterious smile and said to you, "Isn't your purpose here now?"

On the eve of the Battle of Muye, all three of Nezha's group came looking for you.

Clearly, the three of them found the two hundred fifty thousand troops Di Xin had assembled to be quite troublesome.

Xi Qi's entire military force barely amounted to seventy thousand men. How could they possibly stand against the Yin Dynasty, whose forces were three or four times greater?

You and Jiang Shang immediately assured them that the army of over two hundred thousand would surely revolt before the battle, telling everyone not to worry so much.

Besides, there were also the various feudal lords, weren't there?

Even if you and Jiang Shang had miscalculated, once the forces of all the lords were gathered, wouldn't they still barely match the Yin Dynasty in numbers?

Moreover, this was the Yin Dynasty's final struggle, its last battle. So long as this battle ended—

The Yin Dynasty would exist in name only!

Even the hundreds of thousands of troops campaigning in the east would be unable to change that outcome!