Chapter 652
Chapter 652
Ten thousand cavalry struggled to form ranks in the narrow terrain, leaving gaps everywhere. But once again, they had been spooked for nothing; the enemy did not appear. It took over six long hours to finally clear the road. The army continued to advance, but even the cavalry, mounted on horseback, were utterly exhausted. And sure enough, less than thirty li later, scouts reported that the road ahead was blocked once more. This time, a large chasm had opened up in the road, seemingly from a flood, and they had to fill it in.
“Can we go around?”
“No, sir. The mountain collapsed from a flash flood, creating a deep gouge from top to bottom. Repairing the road is the fastest and most effective option. Besides, we have supply wagons with us!”
At this point, not only Ying Yi but also Nangong Ao was on the verge of collapse.
“Repair the road. The army will hold its position and form a defensive formation.”
The ten thousand cavalrymen once again took up defensive positions, but night was already beginning to fall. Just then.
*Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.*
Countless arrows rained down, and this time, it was truly an ambush by the Southern Barbarian warriors.
*‘Right. They can’t have an infinite supply of arrows. At most, they have a few hundred.’*
However, their archery was impeccably accurate, easily claiming dozens of lives. The Yue cavalrymen fell from their horses one after another, struck by arrows.
*‘Where are they? Where in the world are they?’*
“Protect the Crown Prince! Protect the Crown Prince!”
The two hundred warriors from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion quickly surrounded Prince Ying Yi, forming a protective circle. This road was carved into the mountainside, with dense forest on both sides. Furthermore, the mountain was incredibly steep, and the Southern Barbarian warriors moved through the undergrowth with ghostly agility, as nimble as monkeys. It was impossible to catch them; they couldn't even be located. As arrows rained down relentlessly, the Yue army suffered continuous losses, but the cavalry still couldn't venture into the forest. Nangong Ao approached the Crown Prince and said,
“Your Highness, may I borrow your warriors from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion? They are martial arts masters and should be able to hunt down and kill the Southern Barbarian warriors! There can't be more than a few hundred of them ambushing us.”
Prince Ying Yi wanted to refuse Nangong Ao's request, thinking that the warriors from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion must never leave his side. But before he could speak, Li Nanfeng, a warrior from the Pavilion, immediately refused.
“No. Our sole duty is to protect His Highness the Crown Prince, and we will not leave his side for a single step.”
Nangong Ao stared intently at the Crown Prince.
*‘Your Highness, we’ve come to this, can you please not be so selfish?’*
Prince Ying Yi said,
“Li Nanfeng, obey General Nangong Ao's command.”
Li Nanfeng replied with a sneer.
“We of the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion are a transcendent power; we need not obey anyone's command.”
Ying Yi was inwardly relieved. He, too, did not want the Pavilion's warriors to leave his side. Nangong Ao saw this and was furious, but there was nothing he could do. At the front, soldiers were desperately repairing the road, and the Southern Barbarian warriors focused their arrow attacks on them. Every foot of road repaired came at the cost of many lives. Fighting in such a strange place, the ten thousand cavalrymen were completely at the mercy of the enemy. Nangong Ao glanced at the scene and immediately gave an order.
“Nangong Xie, advance!”
Nangong Xie led several hundred of his family's warriors into the dense forest, intending to hunt down and kill the Southern Barbarians. But a short while later, he returned as fast as an arrow.
“Father, this is bad! This is very bad! The Southern Barbarians are trying to set the forest on fire!”
Hearing this, Nangong Ao nearly exploded with rage.
*‘Set the forest on fire? Is King Gou insane? Once a forest fire starts, it will spread endlessly, impossible for men to extinguish. This Great Southern Nation is his own homeland, yet he’s willing to burn it down just to eliminate our ten thousand cavalry?’*
Soon, a terrifying scene unfolded. Thick smoke began to rise from the forests in all four directions—east, west, north, and south. Were the Southern Barbarians so afraid they couldn't burn Ying Yi's ten thousand cavalry to death that they decided to turn all four sides into a sea of fire? This area was a continuous stretch of mountain forests for hundreds of li; if the mountain was set ablaze, there would be no escape.
“Your Highness, you must leave quickly. Quickly! Once the fire grows stronger, you won't be able to escape.”
At Li Nanfeng's words, Prince Ying Yi asked in a trembling voice,
“Escape? Where can we possibly escape to now?”
“We can head south from here to the coast!”
At those words, Prince Ying Yi recalled the geography of this place.
*‘That’s right. The Great Southern Nation is adjacent to the sea.’*
Moreover, to ensure the Crown Prince's safety, the Zhu Clan had arranged an escape route by sea in advance, stationing a ship every hundred li along the coast. The sea was only about a hundred li from here. The ship couldn't carry many people, but it could probably fit one or two hundred if they squeezed in. But doing so would mean abandoning the ten thousand cavalrymen and the main army to flee alone.
*‘Is that really okay?’*
Nangong Ao ran over and shouted loudly,
“Your Highness! Your Highness! You must not abandon the army and flee! This is a plot by King Gou. He is the king of the Great Southern Nation. How could a king burn his own land? He won't really set the mountain on fire. He is a wise monarch! He knows the uncontrollable consequences of a forest fire, so he wouldn't do it. He's just creating thick smoke to scare us.”
*‘Is… is that true?’*
Prince Ying Yi thought there was some truth to his words. But soon, flames erupted from the north and east simultaneously, dyeing the sky red. Ying Yi was shocked and terrified by the sight.
*‘King Gou is mad. He’s really starting a forest fire?’*
At the sight of this, the ten thousand cavalrymen began to waver and fall into chaos. Nangong Ao shouted loudly,
“Hold your formation! Once we repair the road ahead, we can leave. Do not break ranks! Do not flee on your own or enter the forests on either side.”
The two blazes grew larger and larger. Li Nanfeng said in a trembling voice,
“Your Highness, you must decide quickly. Soon, you won't be able to escape at all. Now that the mountain is on fire, it won't be extinguished unless a torrential downpour comes from the heavens. Your Highness, you must head south and escape by sea!”
Ying Yi felt like his head was about to explode. On one side, Nangong Ao kept shouting that this was King Gou's plot and that they could leave as soon as the road was repaired. But in reality, a great fire was raging not far away, growing more intense by the moment.
*‘If I abandon the army and flee, won't I become a traitor to the State of Yue, infamous for all time?’*
Li Nanfeng said,
“Your Highness, you must live to have a future. If the enemy were to attack, our two hundred masters could somehow protect you. But we are helpless against this forest fire. In a fire like this, even if you don't burn to death, you will suffocate. At that point, no amount of martial skill will matter. Your Highness, run! You must run now!”
The forest fire grew astonishingly large, and the smoke spread, growing thicker and thicker. Prince Ying Yi gritted his teeth and said,
“One must live to fight another day. General Nangong Ao, I leave the situation here in your hands!”
The decision was incredibly difficult and shameful, but Prince Ying Yi had made it. He immediately mounted his horse and, under the protection of the two hundred warriors from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion, fled southward. The path south required crossing high mountains and dense forests. But with the protection of the Pavilion's warriors, he would surely be safe. No matter how formidable King Gou's Southern Barbarian warriors were, their individual martial skills were far inferior to those of the warriors from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion.
In an instant, Prince Ying Yi vanished from the spot without a trace. He was heading south, crossing mountains and forests to reach the sea and escape by ship. Nangong Ao couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.
*‘Is… is that truly the Crown Prince of Yue? Is that our future king? His Majesty the King was a harsh man, and he squandered the family fortune, but he was never afraid of death. How brave His Majesty was! Over twenty years ago, he entered an enemy camp alone. Last year, he put on a show and personally led a punitive expedition, facing off against the King of Wu's army of over a hundred thousand, using himself as bait. And yet, Prince Ying Yi abandons his army and flees alone before the fire has even reached us.’*
“The Crown Prince has fled! We're finished, we're finished! Everyone, run!”
As the soldiers shouted, General Nangong Ao desperately cried out,
“The Crown Prince may have fled, but I, Nangong Ao, am still here! Do not panic! Put all your effort into clearing the road so we can leave this place together! Do not break formation or flee!”
But Nangong Ao's desperate cries were useless. Of these ten thousand cavalrymen, five thousand were men the Crown Prince had brought from the capital, and the other five thousand were warriors sponsored by the sons of nobles. They had followed him to share in the glory of his victory, but now that he had fled, their morale completely shattered.
“The fire is coming! Run! Run for your lives!”
Aside from the knights of the Nangong family and some of the imperial guards, Nangong Ao could no longer control the other soldiers. Like birds and beasts startled by a predator, they began to flee in all directions. Some fled on horseback, while others abandoned their mounts and ran with all their might. People were fleeing in every direction, and many even retreated, hoping to rejoin Zhu Lin's main army.
Nangong Ao roared in fury.
“One incompetent commander can bring ruin to an entire army! I was truly blind, truly blind!”
The collapse of the soldiers was like a landslide; its momentum could no longer be stopped. The vanguard of ten thousand cavalry, still three hundred li from Fallen Leaf City, had completely collapsed and disintegrated here. Watching the cavalrymen flee like madmen, Nangong Xie asked,
“What do we do now?”
Nangong Ao gritted his teeth and asked,
“How many warriors do we still have under our control?”
“Barely three thousand!”
“That's enough! No matter the cost, whether the mountain burns or not, continue repairing the road!”
Nangong Ao's judgment was correct. King Gou loved his own land; he would never have truly burned it. If the fire spread, who knew how many people of the Great Southern Nation would be burned to death, how many would lose their homes and become wanderers. King Gou had only acted that way to frighten Ying Yi. And Ying Yi and his ten thousand cavalry, like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, had fled the moment the great fire started. Less than two days after setting out, the ten thousand cavalrymen had scattered completely.
Four hours later, at the cost of several hundred lives, Nangong Ao had finished repairing the broken road. He then led the remaining two thousand or so cavalrymen and continued marching east toward Fallen Leaf City.