embers of the Wei River

Weishui River.

These two words, like a brand imprinted with blood and fire, were deeply etched into the souls of every survivor. When they were uttered again by Sun Qian, crashing down with the thunderous force of "final battle," Xiao Yuxuan felt as if the blood-soaked ground beneath his feet had instantly transformed into a bottomless vortex, threatening to completely devour his remaining body and his faltering soul.

decisive battle--!

The cold syllables echoed in the deathly silence, drowning out the clamor of the camp, the cries of the wounded, and the biting wind. The relief on the faces of Wang Ben, Gu Yan, and the others froze instantly, turning into a deathly blankness and a deep-seated weariness. After wandering around, after blood staining thousands of miles, they had finally returned to this fateful battlefield of carnage.

Sun Qian gripped the silk scroll of military orders sealed with cinnabar, his knuckles white from the excessive force. He no longer looked at the crowd, his gaze piercing through the clamor and chaos of the camp, landing on the low-hanging, leaden clouds in the direction of the Wei River, his eyes as complex as an abyss. A chilling killing intent, a resolute determination, an unfathomable weariness, and a trace of elusive sorrow, like the sediment at the bottom of the Wei River, intertwined on his face, etched with the wrinkles of time and blood. The bronze tiger tally in his hand reflected a heavy, suffocating crimson luster in the dim light of dawn.

"Prepare!" Sun Qian's voice was hoarse, yet it carried an undeniable iron will, breaking the suffocating silence. "Wang Ben! Gu Yan! Summon the old troops! Distribute armor and weapons! The seriously wounded... move to another camp!" His gaze swept over Xiao Yuxuan and the barely breathing Xuanweizi beside him, pausing slightly. "Master Xuanwei... is listed alongside the seriously wounded."

"Yes, sir!" Wang Ben and Gu Yan suppressed the complex emotions in their eyes, clasped their hands in obedience, and their voices carried the instinctive obedience honed by the battlefield. They immediately sprang into action, like rusty gears being forcibly pushed into their predetermined tracks.

Xiao Yuxuan didn't move. He knelt beside Xuan Weizi, surrounded by withered grass and a cold wind. The old Taoist's breath was so faint, like a wisp of silk brushing against a spiderweb, each labored breath tugging at Xiao Yuxuan's heartstrings. The faint warmth deep within his dantian flickered violently due to intense emotional turmoil, like a candle about to be extinguished in a storm. The battle horn, like a death knell, tolled in his ears, creating a cruel, tearing conflict with the dying embers of life on his back.

“Qi… Root…” Xuan Weizi’s withered lips moved extremely weakly, uttering two broken syllables. His tightly closed, sunken gray eyes slowly opened a crack at this moment! The pupils were cloudy, like ancient jade covered in dust, yet strangely reflected Xiao Yuxuan’s shocked and grief-stricken face.

A withered, icy-cold hand, with an unimaginable amount of weak strength, struggled to rise and trembled as it pressed against the back of Xiao Yuxuan's hand, which was tightly gripping his other wrist.

“Guard… Qi… like… guarding… a city…” Xuanweizi’s voice was as weak as a sigh, each word exhausting his remaining life force. “The city… can be breached… but the Qi… must not be extinguished… the Wei River… is not… the end…”

A faint yet exceptionally clear light suddenly shone in his cloudy pupils, as if piercing through the mists of time and space, reaching the depths of Xiao Yuxuan's soul! A faint yet extremely pure intention, like a gentle stream, flowed down their touching, cold skin and instantly surged into Xiao Yuxuan's sea of ​​consciousness! It was no longer a surge of immense power, but countless fragments of profound insights—the flow of "Qi," the resonance with heaven and earth, the methods for protecting one's mind amidst battle… Like a spark igniting a prairie fire, it instantly ignited the flickering warmth deep within his dantian, making it suddenly resilient and clear!

“Heaven…Earth…for…the city…heart…thought…for…the…soldier…” Xuanweizi’s last murmurs were like a sigh in the wind. The withered fingers that had been pressing on Xiao Yuxuan’s hand suddenly lost their strength and slid down helplessly. Those gray eyes that had just begun to glow dimmed and dissipated like a candle flame that had burned out…and finally, they fell into complete silence. The faint rise and fall of his chest also stopped completely.

Its withered body, in the cold wind of dawn, lost its last trace of warmth and weight, becoming like a cold mountain rock.

"Master Xuanwei—!" Xiao Yuxuan let out a heart-wrenching growl, like the mournful howl of a lone wolf! He suddenly clenched the slipping, cold hand, and immense grief, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly shattered the defenses he had forcibly constructed in his heart! The warm current that Xuanweizi had ignited in his dantian at his deathbed surged wildly under the impact of grief, bringing a tearing pain, yet strangely it did not extinguish. Instead, like tempered steel, it became even more refined and resilient in the extreme pain!

Guarding your Qi is like guarding a city!

Even if the city falls, the vital energy must not be extinguished!

The Wei River, not the end!

The last spark of Dao that Xuanweizi ignited with his life, along with that vast enlightenment, has been deeply imprinted on Xiao Yuxuan's soul!

***

**On the west bank of the Wei River, the Wei army's fortifications stand.**

War drums! Like the heartbeat of the earth, deep, powerful, and continuous, they shook the frozen ground beneath our feet! Countless black banners bearing the character "Wei" fluttered wildly in the biting river wind, like surging, angry tides. On the ramparts, spears and halberds stood like a forest, their cold light piercing the leaden sky, the icy metallic sheen forming a deathly forest. The armored soldiers stood solemnly, like statues cast in steel, only their heavy breathing turning into puffs of white mist behind their visors. The air was thick with the smells of rust, leather, and sweat, and a tense, imminent, suffocating aura of killing intent.

Xiao Yuxuan, clad in a worn leather armor, gripped a cold bronze halberd tightly, standing at the midpoint of the fortification. The arrow wound in his ribs, hastily bandaged, still throbbed with pain. Yet, the warm current left by Xuanweizi deep within his dantian flowed with unusual tenacity, forcefully suppressing the restless, sharp energy and turbulent fear within him, and also isolating him from some of the suffocating, murderous pressure from the outside world. He forced himself to remain calm, following the "guarding qi" method taught by Xuanweizi on his deathbed, focusing his mind on his dantian, like a general commanding the central army, unmoved by the deafening battle cries below. His gaze, however, involuntarily drifted beyond the fortifications—to the surging, roaring, turbid Wei River.

The river was wide, its murky yellow waters carrying floating ice, surging and crashing against the jagged rocks on both banks with a deafening roar. On the opposite bank, the Qin army's fortifications lay like a ferocious black dragon on the gray horizon. Further away, smoke and dust obscured the sun! The dark, imposing Qin army formations, like a moving torrent of steel, the gleaming spears and halberds forming a sea of ​​death, were slowly pressing towards the banks of the Wei River with heavy, thunderous steps! The earth groaned and trembled beneath their feet!

"Archers—load the bows!" On the ramparts, the officer's hoarse roar pierced the booming war drums. Beside Xiao Yuxuan, countless Wei crossbowmen moved in perfect unison, the heavy crossbows emitting a teeth-grinding click as they cocked, the cold bolts pointing diagonally to the sky, their arrowheads gleaming with the chilling light of death.

"Shield formation—rise!" Another sharp shout rang out! The armored soldiers at the front crouched down with a thud, and the huge shields piled up one on top of the other, instantly building a cold steel wall at the edge of the fortification! Spears and halberds emerged from the gaps in the shields like venomous snakes.

Xiao Yuxuan gripped his long spear tightly, the icy touch spreading from his palm throughout his body. He watched as the makeshift pontoon bridge erected by the Wei army swayed violently in the turbulent, muddy waters of the Wei River, like a drifting duckweed in the wind. On the bridge, the last batch of Wei scouts were galloping back desperately, pursued by a hail of arrows from the Qin army like locusts! Men were constantly struck by arrows, falling from their horses, screaming as they plunged into the icy, muddy current, instantly swallowed up.

Closer! Even closer!

The Qin army's massive vanguard has reached the east bank of the Wei River! Huge battering rams covered in wet animal hides are slowly pushed onto the riverbank, their heavy rams aimed at the pontoon bridge! More siege ladders and trench bridge siege engines are gathering behind the army, like behemoths poised to attack!

"Wind! Wind! Wind! Strong wind—!"

A thunderous battle roar, like a thousand bolts of lightning, erupted from the Qin army's formation! The sound waves surged, even drowning out the roar of the Wei River! With a will to destroy everything, it slammed heavily against the Wei army's fortifications! The soldiers on the fortifications all felt an invisible pressure bearing down on them, their breath catching in their throats!

Sun Qian appeared on the command platform at the highest point of the fortress. He was clad in heavy armor, the plates of which were covered in dark red frost. His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, was fixed on the massive, blood-red "Qin" banner of the Qin army on the opposite bank. Under the banner, a figure clad in dark black armor, exuding an imposing aura, appeared and disappeared.

"Beat the drums!" Sun Qian's voice was like the clang of metal on metal, resolute and decisive!

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

On the Wei army's ramparts, dozens of massive war drums sounded simultaneously! The drumbeats were heavy, rapid, and filled with a murderous aura, like the roar of an enraged beast, instantly igniting the fighting spirit of every soldier on the ramparts! They dispelled the oppressive force of the Qin army's battle cries!

"Fire!"

With a fierce swing of the command flag in Sun Qian's hand!

Buzz—!

A chilling twang of bowstrings resounded! In an instant, a rain of arrows, obscuring the sun, soared into the sky! The dense black arrows, like a flock of dead crows, pierced the leaden sky with a mournful whistling sound, and rained down on the Qin army vanguard that was gathering for their charge on the east bank of the Wei River!

Puff puff puff puff!

The dull thud of arrows piercing flesh, the crisp crack of shields shattering, and the dying screams instantly mingled on the opposite riverbank! The Qin soldiers at the forefront fell in droves like felled wheat! Blood quickly stained the cold riverbank and the murky river water!

"kill--!"

The heavy casualties suffered by the Qin army's vanguard did not deter the charge of the follow-up troops! Under the officers' frantic roars and the gleaming blades of the supervising soldiers, the Qin troops, stepping over the corpses and pools of blood of their comrades, surged towards the pontoon bridge and riverbank like a raging tide, fearless of death! The massive battering ram, pushed and shoved by countless soldiers, crashed violently into the pontoon bridge!

boom!

The pontoon bridge swayed and groaned violently! The ropes at the joints snapped under the strain!

"Rolling stones! Rolling logs!" Sun Qian's roar exploded amidst the drumbeats!

High above the ramparts, heavy stones and massive logs bound with spikes were hurled down with a deafening roar! With the force to crush everything, they crashed down the steep ramparts onto the Qin soldiers crowded on the riverbank and pontoon bridge below!

Bang! Crack! Splat!

The devastating sounds of impact, shattering bones, and desperate screams heralded a hellish ordeal on the banks of the Wei River! Under the onslaught and immense pressure, the pontoon bridge finally let out a tremendous groan of collapse as a section of the bridge crumbled! The Qin soldiers crammed onto the bridge screamed as they plunged into the icy, turbid current like dumplings being dropped into boiling water!

However, the Qin army's offensive was like a tsunami, one wave after another! More Qin soldiers, braving the rain of arrows and rolling stones, fearlessly leaped into the waist-deep, icy river, roaring as they desperately swam towards the opposite bank! At the same time, the Qin army's catapults roared from the rear! Burning oil canisters and huge stone projectiles hurtled towards the Wei army's fortifications like meteorites!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ramparts trembled violently! Debris flew everywhere! Flames soared into the sky! Soldiers splashed with oil screamed in agony, instantly turning into rolling fireballs!

The fierce battle instantly entered its most brutal and brutal phase! Arrows rained down through the air, rolling stones and logs roared as they reaped lives, and countless struggling figures were swallowed by the turbid waves of the icy Wei River. Flames raged and burned on the ramparts, billowing thick smoke that blotted out the sun! The stench of blood, burnt meat, sweat, and gunpowder mingled into a nauseating aura of death that permeated the entire battlefield!

Xiao Yuxuan found himself at the center of this vortex of flesh and blood. Mechanically following commands, he thrust out his long spear, parrying the swords and blades of the Qin soldiers scaling the ramparts. The warm current in his dantian trembled violently under the impact of the killing intent, like a lone boat in a raging storm, yet it never capsized. Xuanweizi's dying words flowed through his mind: "Heaven and earth are the city walls, the mind is the soldier." He forced himself to abandon fear, sinking his will into that warm current, feeling the weight of the ramparts beneath his feet, the surging Wei River, and the raging, chaotic yet vast "momentum" above the battlefield! Each parry, each thrust, carried a faint rhythm in harmony with his surroundings, subtle yet allowing him to maintain a strange clarity amidst the chaos of the battlefield.

Comrades fell around him one after another. A young soldier's chest was cleaved open by a Qin soldier's bronze spear, scalding blood spraying all over Xiao Yuxuan's face. Another soldier was crushed into a bloody pulp by a boulder dropped from a catapult. Death was as commonplace as breathing. Beneath the ramparts, the corpses of Qin soldiers lay piled upon piles, their blood staining the river red, only to be covered by new bodies. The Wei army suffered equally heavy casualties; the ramparts were breached in several places, and fierce hand-to-hand combat repeatedly raged at the gaps!

The battle had devolved into a brutal stalemate and attrition. Both sides were like wounded beasts, locked in a fierce struggle, using their flesh and blood as fuel to keep the world-destroying fire burning.

Sunset

The setting sun, like blood, painted the carnage on both banks of the Wei River with a tragic and eerie dark red. The deafening sounds of battle gradually subsided, like the weary panting of a giant beast. Countless corpses floated on the river, clogging its course, turning the water a viscous dark brown. On both banks, above and below the ramparts, bodies lay strewn about, broken spears and tattered flags stuck in the blood-soaked mud, fluttering forlornly. Embers from the burning embers emitted wisps of smoke, and the air was thick with the suffocating stench of burning and blood.

Although the Wei army's fortifications had not yet fallen, they were in ruins, charred and littered with corpses. The surviving soldiers leaned against the cold city walls, their eyes vacant and numb, like soulless shells. The groans of the wounded rose and fell, sounding particularly mournful on the deathly silent battlefield.

Xiao Yuxuan leaned against a blood-soaked battlement, his long spear dulled by its hilt, breathing heavily. His leather armor was tattered, and he was covered in wounds, the worst being on his left arm, deep enough to expose the bone. It was hastily bound with strips of cloth, yet blood still seeped out. A warm current flowed in his dantian like a stream about to dry up, weak yet tenacious, sustaining his last shred of clarity. His gaze passed over the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, landing on the familiar mudflats on the west bank of the Wei River.

There lies the broken sword of General Bai Yu.

There, a locust sapling was once planted, carrying the faint hope of "stopping war".

Now, the broken sword is nowhere to be found, and the locust saplings... have probably long been crushed into dust by this endless war.

A profound sense of sorrow and emptiness, like the cold, turbid current of the Wei River, instantly overwhelmed Xiao Yuxuan. All the sacrifices, all the perseverance, all the blood and fire—did they ultimately only result in this endless slaughter and desolation? Xuanweizi's Dao fire, Ji Zhai's unwavering commitment, Bai Yu's broken sword… what are these glimmers of light compared to this world-burning blaze?

Just then, a strange, extremely faint rustling sound, like silkworms eating leaves, rang out from the blood-soaked mud at Xiao Yuxuan's feet. He subconsciously looked down.

The pupils suddenly contracted!

In the crevices of the cold, dark red soil, soaked with the blood of countless dead, a slender, tender green seedling, barely an inch tall, stubbornly poked its head out! Two blood-stained, trembling tender leaves, in the biting, blood-scented wind, defiantly stretched out, pointing towards the setting sun that was about to sink into a sea of ​​blood!

Locust tree saplings!

It actually survived! In this land soaked in death!

In that instant, time seemed to freeze. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood beneath the ramparts, the wails of wounded soldiers, the sorrow of the setting sun… all the clamor faded away from Xiao Yuxuan. In his eyes, only the faint yet dazzlingly bright green shoot struggling for survival in the blood and mud at his feet remained!

Like the trembling greenery beneath the roots of an ancient locust tree in a mass grave.

Like the Dao fire that Xuanweizi ignited on his deathbed.

Like the resolute light of Ji Zhai burning down Guzhu Fortress.

Like the prayer that was never completely extinguished when Bai Yu's broken sword sank into the bloody mud!

Is the flame about to be extinguished?

No!

The flame has never been extinguished!

It simply took root and sprouted in a different way, beneath this scorched earth repeatedly plowed by blood and fire, in the deepest despair, in the cracks unseen by anyone! Though small and fragile, it contained a life force powerful enough to pierce through the endless night!

Xiao Yuxuan slowly squatted down, his blood-stained fingers carefully and gently brushing away the dark red mud stains on the tender leaf. A faint yet incredibly clear cool sensation, carrying with it vibrant life, came from his fingertips.

He raised his head and looked across the Wei River. The Qin army's fortifications were equally desolate, like a giant tomb. The setting sun, like blood, dyed the two fortifications, the entire Wei River, and this boundless battlefield of corpses, all in the same mournful dark red.

The wind, carrying blood and ashes, swept across the crumbling ramparts.

Xiao Yuxuan slowly stood up, his fingers, stained with blood and mud, tightly gripping the broken piece of "Hanging Blade" wood on his chest, and another cold metal fragment engraved with intricate ink lines in his arms—these were relics that Ji Zhai had quietly slipped into his hand before activating "Earth Fire Pivot" at Guzhu Fortress.

Guarding one's Qi is like guarding a city.

Though the city is destroyed, the vital energy must not be extinguished.

The Wei River is not the final destination.

He took one last look at the tender green locust seedling in the blood-soaked mud, then turned around, dragging his exhausted yet seemingly infused with a strange power, and step by step, merged into the unknown, vast darkness shrouded in twilight behind the barrier.