The air thickened with the scent of mud and blood as the battle reached its frenzied, personal apex. Liang Huan, recognizing the crucial moment, swung a long sword at Li Yi. Hearing the whistle of the blade, Li Yi, already grappling with soldiers, instinctively spun. Liang Huan’s strike shifted to a savage slash; the steel screamed against Li Yi’s armor. Li Yi retaliated with a powerful counter-blow, slicing through the armor, but the veteran Liang Huan merely grunted, ignored the gushing blood, and struck again. Though his sword was knocked away, his fighting spirit was unquenched. He leaped forward, and a swarm of guards engulfed Li Yi in a desperate siege.
In that fleeting chaos, Yu Liao, sinking and mired, saw his chance. He unleashed his powerful crossbow. Li Yi, without turning, snatched a sword from a fallen enemy and hurled it backward. Yu Liao’s arrow was already flying, but the thrown blade struck the crossbow, jolting the general. Yu Liao tumbled off the narrow pier with a somersault, the arrow flying wide. He splashed, injured, into the mud.
Liang Huan let out a wild scream, throwing himself into a death-grip embrace around Li Yi. More of Yu Liao’s remaining soldiers, suddenly possessed by madness, ignored the hacking Zhenxi Army and surged toward Li Yi. The pier was a narrow, slippery stage for slaughter. Liang Huan, locking his arms tight, was stabbed deeply in the back by Li Yi’s sword. Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, yet his grip remained unyielding. From the mud, Yu Liao was already aiming his next arrow.
Li Yi struggled violently, finally tearing himself free from the now-dead embrace of Liang Huan. He prepared to dodge the incoming arrow when a man suddenly tumbled onto the bridge from the swirling muddy water. Using the momentum of his fall, the man kicked Li Yi hard. The arrow meant for Li Yi's heart instead grazed his forehead before burying itself deep in his thigh. The man groaned and collapsed atop Li Yi, a massive weight compressing his chest. It was Old Bao, throwing himself onto his commander.
Spitting out a mouthful of muddy water, Old Bao had knocked Li Yi down just in time. Yu Liao’s second arrow arrived, forcing Li Yi to hug Old Bao and roll to avoid it. Zhenxi soldiers, realizing their commander’s peril, rushed to help. A shield was thrown, which Li Yi caught. Another arrow slammed into the shield, the impact jarring Old Bao, whose leg wound was now bleeding profusely.
"That Yu Liao," Old Bao cursed, spitting out mud, "must be sixty, yet he still has the strength of a young bull!" Before he finished, another arrow struck. Li Yi blocked it, watching the sinking general from afar, seeing his eyes still fixed on the target, bow still drawn.
Just then, a roar erupted from the shore. Pei Yuan's troops had arrived. They had intercepted and annihilated the thousand-plus remnant forces who had fled upstream, accounting for their delay. Now, the surviving thousand soldiers on the pier were trapped in a deadly pincer.
With Li Yi and Pei Yuan's forces outnumbering them several times over, the end was swift and brutal. Within moments, the remaining nearly 1,000 soldiers were utterly routed. Even those who tried to flee were driven into the deep mire by Pei Yuan's relentless men, immobilized and doomed.
As the fighting sputtered out, Old Bao seized his chance. He pulled the arrow shaft from his leg. Blood gouted out; he tore a strip from his shirt and tied the wound tightly. He didn't bother washing the mud away—instead, he smeared more on, slowing the hemorrhage.
"What in the hell are you wearing for a breastplate?" Li Yi asked, his chest still tight. "It hit me so hard."
Old Bao hesitated, then produced a squashed object from his jacket. It was a hard-boiled wild duck egg. His desperate tackle had shattered the shell, squeezing the yolk and white through the cracks. Li Yi couldn't help but smile. "You're a wounded soldier now, it's yours."
Old Bao chuckled, carefully tucking the ruined delicacy back into his arms. "Don't think you're getting half."
Yu Liao, shooting arrow after arrow, watched the scene reverse. His soldiers were slaughtered, and the guards around Li Yi swelled. Undaunted, he continued his single-man war, even as the mud reached his waist. He knew he couldn't escape, but he could choose how he fought his final moments. He reached for his quiver. It was empty. He flung the strong bow away, the mud now slowly creeping to his chest.
Li Yi watched as the water covered every neck. Finally, the dam of silence broke. Cries of pain became cries of sheer terror, echoing in a unified, devastating chorus across the swamp.
Old Bao nodded toward the slowly sinking Yu Liao. "Should we throw a rope and pull him over?"
Li Yi shook his head. A man like that would choose to die with his army. "If Yu Liao is captured alive," Pei Yuan interjected, "the morale of Sun Ni's rebels will be utterly broken."
Li Yi sighed, then nodded reluctantly. Pei Yuan rushed to command his men to shoot the prepared ropes. One of Pei Yuan’s personal archers, with deadly precision, lobbed the rope-attached arrow exactly half a foot from Yu Liao. The general only had to reach out and grasp it. Pei Yuan watched, a faint smile of triumph forming.
But Yu Liao saw the rope, reached out, and with a final, magnificent effort, hurled the arrow back at his captors. The force of the throw actually hastened his descent into the mire. He remained silent, his expression stern, watching the thousands of people deeply trapped in the quagmire around him.
Half an incense stick later, the cries ceased. In less than an hour, tens of thousands of troops were swallowed completely. Hundreds of Yu Liao's army flags bobbed in the murky water before they, too, slowly subsided, leaving no trace. The wind swept across the reeds. The dark clouds vanished, and the sky suddenly cleared. The setting sun erupted with brilliant light, painting the vast, calming water with thousands of golden rays.
The Zhenxi Army soldiers watched the horrifying end before they finally allowed themselves to cheer. Pei Yuan clapped Li Yi on the shoulder, laughing. "This is an unprecedented battle! To trap and destroy 30,000 men like this—it is destined to go down in history!"
Old Bao, his face mud-cracked and dry, rubbed it, the mud flaking off. His leg was injured, so Li Yi helped him mount his horse. Settled, Old Bao pulled out the wild duck egg, carefully peeled it, took a bite, and then, slowly, offered it to Li Yi. Li Yi accepted the offering, took a bite, and returned the egg, which was now mostly empty.
Old Bao took another delicate bite, chewing it with profound care.
Li Yi gazed at the setting sun, the lake reflecting a vast, rosy glow. He thought of Yu Liao, still aiming his arrow as he sank, and the tens of thousands of veterans now buried beneath the beautiful, placid water. His spirits waned. With a sigh, he turned his horse. "Let's go."
Li Yi's victory sealed the fate of the city. Two days later, the Liangzhou defenders set the city ablaze and fled in a panicked retreat. The loyalist army recaptured the territory, only to find the city completely razed, the people homeless and starving. Pei Xian, thankfully, had captured Yanzhou and sent provisions, but even those were barely enough to feed the populace twice a day.
"We need a solution," Pei Yuan complained, his anger palpable. "Liangzhou was prosperous, full of supplies, and they burned it all, with no regard for the lives within! These traitors are true dogs of Sun Jing!"
Li Yi dipped his index finger into the cold water in his bowl and traced lines on the table. "Further south is Wangzhou City, a vital hub for western merchants—always prosperous. If we want to feed our army and this city's people, we have to seize Wangzhou."
"Didn't the general order us to rejoin the main army first?" Pei Yuan asked.
"Once Sun Jing hears of Liangzhou's fall, he’ll certainly move forces to Hu'er Pass," Li Yi reasoned. "We can bypass his main force, head directly for Wangzhou, secure the necessary provisions, and catch him off guard."
Pei Yuan knew he couldn't argue. "Then just promise me one thing: don't use yourself as bait again!"
Li Yi smiled, a dangerous glint in his eye. "All right, I promise. If I have to make bait, I'll definitely take you with me!" Pei Yuan threw his hands up, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
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