Chapter 312 - 95: Slaughter

Chapter 312: Chapter 95: Slaughter

Cries of grief filled the land.

Arrows fell like a plague of locusts.

The attacking cavalry of the King of Zhongshan raised their shields. The defending Capital Soldiers formed a wall with theirs. But the common people trapped in the middle were bare and defenseless. To prevent them from breaking the formations and disrupting the impending clash, the rain of arrows fell almost exclusively upon them—

With no way forward and no path of retreat, the fleeing people collapsed to the ground.

Xie Yanfang no longer covered Xiao Yu’s ears, letting the sobs, shouts, and screams wash over him. Perhaps it was the shock of the war drums and the soldiers’ roars, but the child before him went from trembling to a slow, vacant numbness.

Once one has witnessed true horror, there is nothing left to fear.

"Mr. Xie." Eunuch Qi felt the ground tremble; the first charge was about to begin. "You should take His Majesty further back."

It wasn’t safe even within the Central Army’s main formation once the fighting started, let alone this close to the front.

’Although he trusted Xie Yanfang not to let any harm come to Xiao Yu, who could ever be certain of such things? Back then, no one expected the Crown Prince to die, either—’

Xie Yanfang looked down and asked with a smile, "Yu, are you afraid? You might get hurt in a little while."

Xiao Yu mumbled, "I’m not afraid."

His hand gripped the sword tightly.

’Not afraid, but that’s not enough,’ Xie Yanfang thought, looking at Xiao Yu. "Then Your Majesty should smile. Watching our soldiers fight and bleed, watching those vile ambitions turn to dust... Your Majesty should let out a hearty laugh."

’Smile?’ Xiao Yu gripped his sword even tighter, forcing a pained smile to his lips.

’It wasn’t a hearty laugh, nor was it a pleasant sight, but it would do. A smile born amidst such carnage would be seared into the child’s heart. When he grew up and faced other brutal scenes—like the annihilation of a clan, or a high minister leveraging past favors to plead for mercy—he would be able to laugh freely and without fear.’ Xie Yanfang gently patted Xiao Yu’s shoulder, directing his gaze forward. The army’s formations were shifting; the crossbowmen were falling back as the cavalry trotted forward—

"Your uncle is taking you to the front lines to fight. Yu is no longer the weakling who was ambushed and nearly killed. Yu is a force strong enough to kill amidst an army of thousands."

’Kill... kill... I won’t be the one who gets killed anymore. The ones who want to kill me, the ones who want to harm me—they all have to die! They can all just die!’ Xiao Yu gripped the longsword in his hands, raised it high, and let out a cry that was half-sob, half-laugh. "I’ll kill them!"

Xie Yanfang spurred his horse forward, leading Xiao Yu out of the Central Army’s main formation.

Eunuch Qi followed for two steps, then stopped. ’I can barely even hold a sword,’ he thought. ’If I went to the front, I’d just be a burden, needing seven or eight soldiers to protect me.’ He could only watch as Xie Yanfang led Xiao Yu onward.

He knew Xiao Yu wouldn’t be in any real danger, but—

Eunuch Qi murmured helplessly, "He is an Emperor, but he’s also just a child."

’Last time, the child escaped from a slaughter. This time, he’s throwing himself into one. Will this child’s life ever be free from nightmares?’

’As an Emperor, perhaps this fate is inescapable.’

But the next moment, he paused. Though he wasn’t at the front, he could feel it even more clearly from the Central Army: there seemed to be a strange shift in the military formation.

’Has the fighting... stopped?’

...

...

On the battlefields of the Border County, a fight, once begun, did not stop until one side was annihilated, or both were.

The longsword thrust forward, slicing through the armor of the Western Liang Soldier in front and extinguishing his life. But the soldier gripped the blade tightly in his death throes. Reflected in the blood-soaked steel, Xie Yanlai saw a savage grin appear behind him.

’Without your sword, how can you still kill?’

The Western Liang Soldier behind him raised his sword to strike. But in the next instant, the young general dragged the dead man’s body with him in a swift pivot, kicking his new assailant to the ground. Before the man could react, Xie Yanlai viciously smashed the hilt of his longsword into his throat.

A distinct CRUNCH of breaking bone seemed to echo in his ears.

The Western Liang Soldier went still, dead.

’Even without a blade, I can still kill.’

In the distance, the ground shook with the thunder of galloping hooves. Just as the reinforcements arrived, the last Western Liang Soldier fell.

On the twilight-shrouded land, corpses were piled like mountains.

Zhong Changrong leaped from his horse before it had even come to a full stop, drew his sword, and rushed forward, yelling, "How many are still alive?!"

The soldiers behind him swarmed forward, finishing off any Western Liang Soldiers who still drew breath and pulling their own wounded comrades from the fray.

The mountain of corpses stirred, and quite a few men emerged from it. The number of survivors was not small.

Zhong Changrong let out a breath of relief. Then, remembering something, he raised his voice and shouted, "Xie Yanlai!"

It was only after his second or third shout that a young general crawled out from under a pile of bodies, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "General Zhong, if your reinforcements had been any later, you’d be summoning my ghost."

Seeing him alive, Zhong Changrong breathed a second sigh of relief. But hearing his words, his eyes widened in anger. ’That damn brat!’

"You launched a surprise attack without orders," he barked. "That was reckless."

Xie Yanlai took the hemostatic cloth a soldier handed him and wrapped it twice around his arm. "It’s called adapting to the situation," he said. "We finally found the main force of these Western Liang Soldiers. How could I let them get away?"