Dawn + Epilogue
Chapter 76, Dawn
The heavy stench of decay, mixed with the scalding smell of blood, spread like an invisible poisonous fog. Even from miles away, it assaulted the senses, making one's throat tighten and almost causing nausea.
This is definitely not the smell of an ordinary battlefield—there is no clash of weapons, no chilling smoke, only the stench of rotting corpses and the stench of fresh blood, creating a chilling and eerie atmosphere.
As our carriage crested the hill, the sight before me made me gasp, my heart clenching. Beneath the majestic walls of the Bozhou Palace, what should have been an open battlefield where two armies clashed had become a scene of carnage. The Eastern Chu army and the Bozhou veterans gathered by Lan Feiyu were forced back several hundred feet. The soldiers, weapons in hand, formed a tight defensive formation, their faces grim, even their breathing tense, not daring to take a single step forward.
In that open space, a hundred or so emaciated monsters wandered aimlessly. Their clothes were tattered, their skin was ashen, and their movements were stiff yet swift.
"Drug person!"
Not only were they impervious to swords and spears, but even more terrifyingly, they lay atop the corpses scattered on the ground, tearing at the bodies of the fallen with their sharp fingernails. Dark red blood dripped from the corners of their mouths, staining their hands. The chilling chewing sounds, mixed with the cracking of bones, pierced the ears like needles even through the howling wind, sending shivers down one's spine.
“These beasts…” My uncle suddenly uttered three words coldly. His voice was not loud, but it was chilling. He abruptly lifted the carriage curtain, his gaze sweeping across the horrific battlefield like lightning. His eyes were filled with anger, but he remained calm. “It seems we have made it after all.”
I eagerly clung to the carriage curtain, searching back and forth amidst the chaotic army formation. Finally, under the tattered and blood-stained banner of "Lord Bozhou," I spotted that familiar figure.
Lan Feiyu's silver armor was already stained black and red with blood, and bits of flesh and dust were still embedded in the gaps of the armor. She stood at the front of the formation with difficulty, leaning on her long sword. Her figure was obviously swaying, but her back was still straight. Her eyes, which used to be as bright as stars, were now fixed on the "medicine man" in front of her.
The older brother stood beside her, his armor stained with blood. He was speaking anxiously to his lieutenant beside him, his brows furrowed. He was clearly driven to desperation by these unkillable and utterly depraved monsters.
Seeing Yu'er's utterly exhausted back, my heart ached. Forgetting all rules, I flung open the car door and, braving the howling wind, shouted with all my might towards the camp below:
"Big brother! Yu'er! We're here!"
This shout was like a thunderclap shattering the deathly silence of the battlefield. In the army formation below, the eldest brother and Lan Feiyu looked up sharply, their eyes fixed on the carriage on the high slope, their eyes filled with disbelief and astonishment—they probably hadn't expected the reinforcements to arrive so timely.
"...Father?!" My older brother's voice pierced through the howling wind. Even from a distance, I could clearly hear the tremor in his voice, a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
Without uttering a word, the uncle slowly drew his sword from his waist. The gleaming blade pointed directly at the medicine-wielding men below, still frantically devouring the corpses. He roared, his voice carrying the authority of a superior, echoing across the battlefield with the messenger's response: "All troops, listen up! Infantry, retreat! Archers, form ranks—change to 'specially made' arrows!"
Military orders are absolute, and the Eastern Chu reinforcements following behind sprang into action instantly. Thousands of archers quickly spread out into formation, kneeling on the ground in perfect unison. What they drew from their quivers were not ordinary white-feathered arrows, but the poisoned arrows we had hastily made overnight in the side courtyard of the palace, their arrowheads gleaming with a faint purple light.
The monsters below seemed to have caught the scent of living beings, ceasing their tearing and biting, and abruptly raising their heads. Their faces, covered in bits of flesh and blood, were grotesque and terrifying, their empty eye sockets devoid of any life, yet they were precisely locked onto us on the high slope, exuding a chilling greed.
Just then, a sharp, piercing whistle suddenly rang out from the city tower of the Bozhou Royal Palace! The man in black robes who had been hiding in the shadows finally revealed himself. He stood at the edge of the tower, still holding the whistle in his hand, staring at us with a sinister gaze.
Before the whistle had even faded, a hundred or so drug-using men simultaneously let out deafening roars, sounds that were less like human voices and more like the howls of wild beasts. Abandoning the carcasses on the ground, they charged forward on all fours like a pack of maddened beasts! The heavy footsteps pounded the ground, causing it to tremble slightly. The overwhelming sense of oppression, even from a hundred paces away, made my legs go weak and my heart leap into my throat.
"put!"
The uncle's arm swung down suddenly, his voice as cold and sharp as ice.
"Buzz—"
Thousands of bowstrings vibrated simultaneously, converging into a deep, furious roar. A rain of arrows poured down like locusts, their chilling purple hue tracing dense arcs in the sunlight, precisely covering the charging horde of "medicine men."
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The dull thuds of arrows piercing flesh echoed one after another, as dense as raindrops pounding on withered wood. Those "medicine men" had no sense of pain and no ability to dodge; they were instantly riddled with arrows by the dense rain of arrows, their bodies covered with arrows that gleamed purple, yet they still roared and charged forward.
Upon seeing this, the man in black robes on the city wall let out a disdainful laugh, a sharp and piercing laugh: "A mere bunch of broken arrows, do you think they can stop my medicine men?"
I gritted my teeth and held my breath as I watched the battlefield.
The man in the black robe's wild laughter was abruptly cut off before it could even land, and the smugness on his face instantly turned into astonishment.
The drug-infused human at the forefront, riddled with seven or eight purple arrows, had been roaring and charging wildly, but now it seemed as if all its strength had been drained. Its knees buckled, and it collapsed heavily to the ground with a loud thud, kicking up a cloud of dust. It struggled to get up, but its limbs suddenly convulsed violently, and then it froze in place in an extremely unnatural posture, its empty eye sockets staring at the sky, unable to move any further.
Then came the second, the third...
The once unstoppable monster army seemed to be swept away by an invisible gust of cold wind. The purple liquid quickly seeped into their mutated bloodlines through the arrow wounds. Although it did not take their lives directly, it ruthlessly severed the connections between their meridians, disintegrating their ability to move.
In the blink of an eye, the once-feared hundred-man army seemed to have been frozen in place, collapsing in droves. Lying on the ground, they could only utter intermittent, weak "hoho" sounds from their throats, unable to lift even a finger, completely transformed into harmless living corpses.
The whistles from the city tower suddenly became urgent and frantic, almost breaking into a shrill sound, as if they were tearing the air apart. But no matter how frantically the man in the black robe urged them on, the monsters lying on the ground remained motionless, lifeless.
An eerie silence fell over the battlefield for a moment, broken only by the howling wind carrying the stench of blood and the urgent whistles from the city walls, filled with alarm and anger.
The next instant, a deafening cheer erupted from the Eastern Chu army below! The soldiers raised their weapons high, their shouts piercing the sky. The fear and frustration that had been building up for so long were released in an instant, and even the earth seemed to tremble.
As I watched this scene, I was almost moved to tears. I gripped the car frame tightly, thinking to myself, "Mr. Tao, it really happened! You're not some sinner of Dongchu, you're a great hero!"
Before the cheers had even subsided, the uncle had already turned around, sword in hand, his gaze sweeping over the army below, whose morale had soared. His voice was cold and decisive: "Send down the order: the entire army attacks the city! Take this opportunity to seize the Bozhou Royal Palace and capture the traitor in black robes alive!"
"Understood!" The deputy general behind him responded loudly and turned to relay the military order. In an instant, the bugle calls of the Eastern Chu army resounded, and the soldiers, holding shields and long swords, charged towards the city gate of the Bozhou royal palace like a tidal wave. The originally passive defensive situation was instantly reversed.
Looking at the surging crowd below, I felt anxious and panicked, my mind filled with images of Lan Feiyu. I couldn't stay any longer, so I turned to my uncle and said, "Uncle, I'm going to find Yu'er." Without waiting for his reply, I jumped off the carriage and, ignoring the shouts of the servants behind me, rushed down the slope.
At that moment, I saw nothing but that tattered "Lord Bozhou" banner.
Just as my heart was about to leap out of my chest from running so fast, I finally reached the edge of the army formation and immediately saw Lan Feiyu leaning on her long sword, trying to catch up with the siege force.
"Yu'er!" I shouted, the sound almost tearing my throat apart.
Lan Feiyu turned her head sharply. Before she could say or do anything, I had already flown over. Because of the force, we both crashed heavily to the ground, and her armor made a dull thud.
The smell of rust and decay emanated from her. My heart ached terribly, and I held her tightly, my eyes burning, but no tears fell: "Yu'er, Yu'er, I'm here..."
"Yes," her voice choked with emotion, "you came, you really came!"
We embraced for a long time on the dusty battlefield, the sounds of siege bugles and soldiers' shouts echoing in our ears, yet they all seemed to fade into the background. Then, Lan Feiyu gently pushed me away, wiped her face, and the vulnerability in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by renewed fighting spirit: "Xi'er, now is not the time to rest. We must continue our assault into the city; it's almost over!"
As she was about to get up, I quickly helped her up. Seeing her still swaying figure and her gaze falling on the fallen "Lord Bozhou" banner not far away, I volunteered, "Yu'er, leave the flag-raising to me! I'll raise the flag for you and charge with the army!"
Lan Feiyu paused for a moment, then frowned: "That flag is very heavy, how can you carry it? Let the soldiers do it..."
"I can do it!" I interrupted her before she could finish, stubbornly insisting, "This is your first battle, Yu'er, your flag cannot fall, I'll do it!"
She bit her lower lip, her eyes reddened, and finally nodded.
I ran excitedly toward the big flag and gave it a big hug—uh, it was really heavy… I gritted my teeth and used all my strength to lift the flag. After just two steps, my arms started to ache and my shoulders were sore from the weight. I couldn’t help but groan in my heart, why did they have to make the flag so heavy?
Meeting Lan Feiyu's worried gaze, I raised my chin at her and smiled, "I can do it! Yu'er, let's go for it together!"
Her smile blossomed like a flower at that moment.
She is beautiful and delicate, surpassing all the poppies in the world.
end,
On that day, the armies of Eastern Chu and Bozhou stormed the royal palace to punish the rebels and traitors.
The "medicine-man" is not truly invincible. After these non-human beings lose their mobility due to the venom and are then beheaded, they can no longer cause trouble.
The man in the black robe who created these monsters also received his just deserts—he was torn to pieces by his last "medicine man".
I didn't witness this scene myself, but I heard it from my older brother. It seems that the person tried to remove the "drug man's" final weakness, but instead caused the "drug man" to go berserk.
Lan Feiyu personally killed Xian Asa, avenging his father and brother.
And Xie Kun...
He committed suicide before being captured by the Eastern Chu.
His uncle showed no disrespect for his body and ordered that Xie Kun be properly buried.
"After all, he was a former official of Eastern Chu," my uncle told me casually.
As for Xie Kun's subordinates, his uncle did not pursue the matter but simply disbanded them. He did not refuse those who were willing to return to Dong Chu.
Looking at my uncle's actions, I thought to myself, no wonder we all respect him.
When my older brother heard the news of Mr. Tao's departure, he didn't say anything, but I could still see a trace of loneliness and sadness in his eyes. I couldn't comfort him, so I could only say that if Mr. Tao appeared in Bozhou, I would definitely stop him this time, lock him up, and wait for my older brother to come and take him away.
Then he received a slap on the head from his older brother, who was both amused and exasperated: "You're about to get married, and you're still so immature."
ah……
Yes, I got married.
Although I left Dongchu to escape an arranged marriage, things took an unexpected turn, and I ended up getting married at the end of the journey.
I stayed in Bozhou, perhaps still to "marry"?
But I was the one who went to fetch the bride!
Welcome my bride. According to Han Chinese custom, I bow three times to heaven and earth, to thank heaven, earth, my relatives, and also to the one who has always stood by my side.
After the marriage, Lan Feiyu officially became the Lord of Bozhou, but my relatives were all leaving.
I cried my heart out again. Lan Feiyu held me all night, calling my name repeatedly and saying, "Xi'er, Xi'er, I will not let you down."
Through my teary eyes, I forced a smile: "Then you have to take me to see the elephants!"
...
Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
The rainy season in Bozhou has just ended, and the air is filled with the fresh scent of freshly turned soil.
I sat on the high observation deck, peeling lychees that had just been presented as tribute.
"What are you grinning about?" Familiar footsteps came from behind, followed by a warm embrace.
Yu'er... no, now I should call her Lord Bozhou. She had just finished court and was still wearing her dignified official robes, but she let down all her guard in front of me.
I casually popped a lychee into her mouth and pointed to the cheering crowd below the stage: "Look."
At the far end of the bustling market street, two enormous gray shadows slowly approached, their long noses adorned with red ribbons, and a spirited monkey perched on their backs. Between the two giant beasts, a lovable little creature trudged along, eliciting cheers from the children.
“It’s an elephant,” I said softly. “And baby elephants too.”
Lan Feiyu chewed on a lychee, the sweetness spreading across her face. She took my hand and intertwined our fingers: "Yes, you went through a lot of trouble to see them back then."
"It's not unfair." I held her hand back, looking at the peaceful and prosperous world, at the monkey that had accompanied me through life and death, and at the lover beside me whom I had given my life for.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on the land of Bozhou.
"Not at all wronged."
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