Chapter 682
Chapter 682
Just as the battle before her seemed to be proceeding with unparalleled smoothness, Mulan instinctively sensed a grave danger.
“Hooooooonk.”
Suddenly, a piercing cry echoed from the woods, sending countless birds scattering into the sky. Then, a massive animal burst through the trees. It was an elephant, an incredibly large one. It was bigger than the largest elephants on Earth, measuring ten meters in length and five meters in height, as tall as a two-story building. It was said that some of the southernmost tribes of the Shaman people raised elephants for transport. Mulan had heard the rumors, but she hadn't seen a single sign of elephant cavalry in this battle. She had concluded that Gong Gun must not have an elephant army, but she had been wrong.
One after another, massive elephants charged out. They looked cumbersome, yet they moved with astonishing speed. Each elephant wore thick plate armor over its eyes and head. Some even carried small, house-like structures on their backs, from which four or five Shaman warriors hurled javelins. Over two hundred elephants stormed out from the western woods. But the most terrifying threat appeared from the south.
A wave of countless hyenas surged forward, numbering in the thousands. Hyenas were exceptionally vicious creatures. Their bite force exceeded 450 kilograms, even greater than that of the lion, the so-called king of the jungle. Moreover, they could run at speeds of 45 kilometers per hour, capable of overwhelming a human in an instant. They were also adept at pack fighting, able to hunt down almost any animal, including lions and cheetahs. In many cartoons on Earth, hyenas were often cast as vicious villains. And now, thousands of these creatures were bursting from the woods, charging toward Mulan’s Second Nirvana Army.
Then, the sound of war drums thundered, and from the east, an army of Shaman warriors charged forth. It was Gong Gun’s eight-thousand-strong force, including five thousand elite archers. Three armies had completely encircled Mulan’s Second Nirvana Army from the east, west, and south. On the city wall, the Shaman Queen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
‘You’re finally here!’
* * *
Hadn’t Gong Gun led his army north to support Su Nan and Nangong Ao?
In fact, he had not. It was all a feint. From the very beginning of this war, the greatest adversary he had envisioned was not Ying Yi, Zhu Lin, or Nangong Ao, but Shen Lang. He held Shen Lang in extremely high regard and knew him all too well. Of course, Gong Gun was shocked when he received news of the crushing defeat at the Marquis of Xuanwu’s Estate and Su Nan’s disastrous loss at Yangguo City, but he didn't consider it unexpected.
His opponent was Shen Lang, after all—the man who possessed the Nirvana Army. To counter Shen Lang, Gong Gun had kept several of his strongest assets in reserve, never deploying them. He hadn’t mobilized his elephant cavalry or his hyena pack. He had not even dispatched his five thousand most elite archers. Even when the battle against Zhu Lin’s grand army had reached its most critical point, he had kept these forces back. He knew there was no need. No matter how numerous Zhu Lin’s forces were, they were nothing more than a bloated, clumsy giant. Shen Lang’s army was the truly formidable and astonishing force.
Upon hearing of the defeats at Yangguo City and the Marquis of Xuanwu’s Estate, Gong Gun had tried to think as Shen Lang would. In times like these, one had to be audacious in their imagination. If he were Shen Lang, he would deliver a fatal blow by attacking the Southern Outpost Capital. Based on that assumption, Gong Gun had dispatched ships to patrol all sea routes, but to no avail. The sea was simply too vast. Unless an enemy fleet followed a fixed route, finding a few ships was an incredibly difficult task.
After Mulan’s Second Nirvana Army entered the territory of the Southern Kingdom, they marched swiftly and acted with such stealth that the hundreds of scouts Gong Gun sent out failed to find them. However, this failure to find them was, in itself, the greatest discovery. The scouts Gong Gun had sent were all killed by arrows, unable to send back word or return. In that moment, Gong Gun knew that Shen Lang’s army had indeed arrived, and he realized it was even stronger than he had imagined.
Gong Gun could even deduce the general movements of the Second Nirvana Army. All his scouts were numbered and assigned to specific zones. When a scout failed to return, it indicated that Shen Lang’s elite army was in that direction. There was only one thing Gong Gun had miscalculated. He knew the Second Nirvana Army possessed incredible archery skills, but he had not anticipated how quickly they could move through the jungle. He had underestimated their marching speed, which was why the Southern Outpost Capital had suffered so many casualties.
But before the city's defenders were completely annihilated, Gong Gun had managed to encircle them. Ahead lay the Southern Outpost Capital, behind them the hyena pack, to the west the elephant cavalry, and to the east Gong Gun’s eight-thousand-strong army. Surrounded on four sides, Mulan and the three thousand soldiers of the Second Nirvana Army were on the verge of being trapped and annihilated.
* * *
Seeing the scene unfold, Mulan felt a chill run through her entire body. She now understood why her husband had never explicitly mentioned attacking the Southern Outpost Capital. It was because Gong Gun could have anticipated it and laid a trap there. She should have sensed this danger sooner, but on the battlefield, her focus had been entirely on the enemy on the city walls, leaving her oblivious to the threats approaching from the flanks.
‘I am truly not as capable as my husband. Not as capable as Gong Gun… no, not as capable as Sha Gong. My husband’s title contains the word ‘Lord,’ and so does Gong Gun’s. No one should share such an honorific with him.’
Even now, Mulan was preoccupied with such details.
‘What do I do now? I absolutely cannot let my husband’s Second Nirvana Army be annihilated because of my mistake.’
At a wave of Gong Gun’s hand, the three armies halted their advance, holding their positions to encircle Mulan’s Second Nirvana Army. The thousands of hyenas, though incredibly fierce and difficult to control, were kept in check by dozens of Shaman shamans. By controlling the pack’s alpha, they indirectly controlled the thousands of hyenas.
The hyenas stared at the Second Nirvana Army, their vicious eyes filled with a desire to tear them apart. In truth, the pack had been starved for a long time and was desperate for meat. The elephants, in contrast, were much calmer and easily controlled by the soldiers. Gong Gun rode forward on his horse, his eyes fixed on Mulan with a look of wonder and surprise.
‘It wasn’t Shen Lang? It’s Shen Lang’s wife who came?’
According to his predictions, the one to attack the Southern Outpost Capital should have been Shen Lang himself. Only someone as supremely intelligent as Shen Lang could grasp the ever-changing dynamics of the entire war.
“Jin Mulan… Sister-in-law?”
Gong Gun had intended to just say her name, but on second thought, it felt inappropriate, so he added the address. Although he had never met Shen Lang in person, he felt they had engaged in a mental exchange for a long time.
“Greetings to the Lord of the Great Southern Kingdom.”
Gong Gun gazed at the Second Nirvana Army with fervent eyes.
‘This army is too powerful. I truly envy him for having them.’
“I had expected Shen Lang himself to lead his army against our Southern Outpost Capital. To my surprise, it was you, Sister-in-law. You have truly astonished me.”
Hearing Gong Gun’s words, Mulan replied bitterly.
“King Sha’s skills are indeed a cut above. I have fallen into your trap.”
Gong Gun shook his head, as if to say it was no great feat.
“Your army is a rare sight in this world, Sister-in-law. It would be a waste to lose even one of them. Why not surrender? Don’t worry, I will not seize your army. I know this is the Second Nirvana Army. No one else could take them anyway. Later, when Shen Lang and I negotiate, I will return them to you, fully intact. But for now, you must lay down your weapons and cease all resistance. Rest assured, I will not harm you or your army.”
Gong Gun’s words were sincere. He had no personal conflict with Shen Lang; he simply wanted to win this grand game and force him to withdraw. If Mulan and the Second Nirvana Army were taken captive, this game would end prematurely. Shen Lang would suffer a complete defeat in his ultimate showdown with Gong Gun.
“There is no need to be saddened, Sister-in-law. To face this army, I wracked my brain, pouring more effort and mobilizing more forces than I did against Zhu Lin’s two hundred thousand men. Victory and defeat are the fortunes of war. If you find it difficult to surrender to me, you may surrender to my wife. You are both women, are you not?”
The Shaman Queen also spoke up.
“Sister Mulan, you attacked us fiercely just moments ago, killing thousands of our soldiers. But our Shaman people respect heroes above all else. Why not come to our home? We will warm some wine to welcome you. Don’t worry, it won’t be poisoned. By the way, husband, I poisoned Princess Yingluo. Her face is now ruined; she will likely feel that death would be a better fate.”
‘Ugh!’
Gong Gun flinched, a flicker of pity in his eyes. He had told Yingluo to leave before, but she had stubbornly refused. He had worried his wife might move against her while he was away, and indeed she had. Gong Gun’s feelings for Princess Yingluo were exceedingly complex. Love? Perhaps a little, but the one he loved most now was the Shaman Queen.
He felt a bit of shame toward Yingluo. No, it wasn’t that he felt ashamed of her, but that he could not bear to look back at his former self. At his weakest, he had resorted to any means necessary, even poisoning his wife Yingluo with lead. Of course, that was the period when their relationship as husband and wife had truly shattered.
As he grew stronger, Gong Gun had to push himself to become a great monarch. And to be a great monarch, one must first be a person of great magnanimity, like Prince Jiang Li, who held the world in his heart. Yet, his wife had poisoned Princess Yingluo and ruined her face. But there was nothing to be done. Gong Gun was broad-minded; he would never act like some rigid, inflexible traditionalist. The resentment and conflict between him and Yingluo were too deep. Like a shattered mirror that could not be pieced back together, it was impossible for her to return from being an enemy to being his wife.
Gong Gun’s gaze returned to Jin Mulan.
“Sister-in-law, why not surrender now, lay down your arms, and stay in the Southern Outpost Capital for a few days?”
He was exercising immense patience. He made no threats of counting down from five or killing them all if they refused to surrender. Mulan faced an incredibly difficult decision. What should she do now?
‘Husband, I’ve made a mess of things. What should I do? The Second Nirvana Army is too precious to be annihilated under my command. If you were here, what would you tell me to do?’
Needless to say, Shen Lang would tell her to surrender to the Shaman Queen. As Shen Lang himself had said in Yangguo City, if he were to lose a battle, he would flee. And he would do so before the situation completely collapsed. So, if she surrendered, her husband would never blame her. But what did she herself think about surrendering?
‘I don’t want to surrender!’
That was Mulan’s instinctive thought, her only thought. She felt that if she surrendered, she would no longer be precious; her dignity and her very being would be tainted. It would not be perfect.
‘In my husband’s heart, I must be the most perfect woman. There cannot be a single flaw. Heaven made me pure and flawless so that my husband would love me so much he could never bear to part with me. My character, too, must be without flaw. I will not surrender!’