Chapter 78 The Tragic Beauty of Moths Flying to a Flame
The Northern Frontier, Dragon Valley.
As its name suggests, this is a desolate place. Towering cliffs rise on both sides, as if carved by a knife, with a narrow canyon running through the middle. The biting wind howls through the valley like a knife, whipping up swirling snowflakes.
This place has now become the "graveyard" of Grand Chancellor Jiang Zhan and Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Jiang Li.
Three full days have passed since the fall of Liangzhou.
Over the course of three days, they led their remaining three thousand soldiers to retreat to this location, where they relied on the treacherous terrain to withstand more than a dozen attacks from the Northern Yan army.
But the cost was devastating.
Their food supplies were exhausted, and their arrows were all gone. Of the three thousand men, less than eight hundred remained, and all of them were wounded.
As night fell, the temperature plummeted, and water froze instantly.
Beneath a sheltered rock, Jiang Zhan leaned against the stone wall, his face ashen, his left arm wrapped in thick bandages, the bloodstains dried and blackened. This once powerful and influential prime minister now looked like a frail old man on his deathbed.
"Cough cough..."
Jiang Zhan coughed violently, each cough causing a tearing pain in his chest.
"father."
Jiang Li sat to one side, wiping the chipped boning knife. His crimson official robe was now stained dark red with blood, and his originally pale and gloomy face was now as white as a ghost, with sunken eyes and cracked lips.
Hearing the cough, Jiang Li put down his knife, took out a shrunken water pouch from his pocket, and handed it over.
"Have a sip."
Jiang Zhan shook his head and pushed the water bag away: "Leave it for the wounded... or you can drink it yourself. Your father is old and doesn't have many days left to live."
"drink."
Jiang Li stubbornly shoved the water pouch to his lips, her voice hoarse, "This is the last sip. Drink it all... so you can get going."
Jiang Zhan was taken aback, then gave a wry smile, took the water pouch, and took a sip. The icy water slid down his throat, but felt like fire burning in his heart.
"Li'er..."
Jiang Zhan looked at his son, who had always been eccentric and unlikable, and a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes. "It's all my fault for dragging you into this. If I hadn't insisted on bringing you to patrol the border, you'd still be performing autopsies at the Dali Temple..."
"It's alright."
Jiang Li said calmly, "It's the same wherever you do an autopsy. There are more corpses here, and they're fresher."
Jiang Zhan: "..."
This child, what time is it, and still speaks in such a creepy way.
“However,” Jiang Li changed the subject, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes, “if I die here, I will never see Mianmian again.”
When Jiang Mianmian was mentioned, both father and son fell silent.
That was their only weakness, and their only concern.
Jiang Zhan sighed, tears streaming down his face:
“It’s no pity for my father to die, but I feel sorry for my Mianmian… She just got married, and although the regent seems to treat her well, he’s still an outsider. If we all die, there will be no one to support her in this world… If she suffers any injustice, she won’t even have a place to go back to her parents’ home to cry…”
No, it won't.
Jiang Li took out the small black booklet that she kept close to her body from her bosom, and by the dim light of the fire, picked up half a charcoal pencil and began to write and draw on it.
"What are you writing?" Jiang Zhan asked curiously as he leaned closer.
"Suicide note".
Jiang Li didn't even look up. "This is also the final chapter of 'Observing My Sister's Diary'."
Jiang Zhan looked closely and saw that on the blood-stained paper, the words were written in a crooked and messy hand:
"Winter of the third year of Xuanhe. Jue Long Valley. The snow is heavy. I may die. My biggest regret before I die is that I couldn't buy my sister another roast duck. If I die, I will drift back to the capital as a ghost. Every night I will lie by the Regent's bedside in the Regent's Palace, watching Shen Jin. If he dares to treat my sister badly, I will use my ghost to press down on him until he dies. If he dares to take a concubine, I will possess that concubine and hang myself every day. In short, sister, don't be afraid. Even if your brother is in hell, he will fight his way out for you."
After reading it, Jiang Zhan's lips twitched violently.
This...this is a suicide note? This is clearly a cursed book!
Moreover, why is it that looking at these words doesn't make me feel scared, but rather... I feel like crying?
"Great! Well written!"
Jiang Zhan slapped his thigh, "Add your share to the list! If that Shen Jin dares to bully Mianmian, I will... I will turn into a zombie and bite his throat off!"
In this desperate situation, the father and son unexpectedly reached an unprecedented understanding because of their concern for the same person.
Just then, a commotion suddenly came from the direction of the valley entrance.
"Prime Minister Jiang! Junior Minister Jiang!"
A haughty voice, amplified by internal force, echoed throughout the valley, "Stop hiding like a coward! You've already run out of food, haven't you? Are you gnawing on tree bark now?"
"Our Crown Prince said! As long as you surrender and write a letter to the Regent, asking him to exchange the map of the capital's defenses for it, we will spare your lives! We might even give you wealth and honor!"
"So, what do you think? Was this a good deal?"
They were soldiers from Northern Yan who persuaded the enemy to surrender.
"Bullshit!"
Jiang Zhan suddenly stood up, grabbed a rock from the side, and threw it at them. "I am the Prime Minister of the Great Gan Dynasty! How could I be a traitor who sells out my country for personal gain! Want the defense map? Dream on!"
"Jiang Zhan! Don't be ungrateful!"
The voice continued to rant, "Even if you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about your son! He's so young! And your beautiful daughter... tsk tsk, I heard she's the Regent's wife? If the Regent doesn't come to save you, do you think she'll be heartbroken?"
"If we breach the capital and capture your daughter... hehe..."
Upon hearing these foul words, Jiang Li, who had been expressionless, suddenly moved.
He slowly stood up, and a chilling murderous aura suddenly erupted from his lifeless eyes.
That was the fury that came after someone had touched a raw nerve.
"You dare touch my sister..."
Jiang Li gripped the boning knife tightly, her knuckles turning white. "I will... slice you... piece by piece... until you are just a skeleton."
He turned to look at Jiang Zhan: "Dad, can you still move?"
"Yes!" Jiang Zhan drew his sword from his waist. Although his hand trembled, his eyes were exceptionally firm. "These old bones of mine can still kill a few more barbarians!"
"good."
Jiang Li looked at the dense array of torches at the valley entrance. "They want to use us as bait to lure Shen Jin and Mianmian. We can't let them succeed."
"Tonight, we'll break through."
"Even if we die, we must die on the front lines. We must never... become a burden."
"kill!"
With a low roar from Jiang Li, the eight hundred remaining soldiers, filled with a death wish, launched their final charge towards the tens of thousands of troops at the valley entrance.
This was a battle destined to fail.
This is a tragic story of moths drawn to a flame.
Jiang Li charged ahead, his boning knife like the scythe of death, reaping life after life. He was wounded by arrows and stabbed in the back, but he seemed oblivious to the pain; only one thought occupied his mind:
Fight my way out. I can't let Mianmian come to save me. I can't let her see me in this pathetic state.
"Pfft!"
A stray arrow pierced Jiang Zhan's shoulder.
"Father!" Jiang Li turned around and helped him up.
"Don't worry about me! Let's go!" Jiang Zhan shoved him. "You're the only son of the Jiang family! Go back... go back and tell Mianmian that Dad didn't disgrace her!"
"I'm not leaving."
Jiang Li stood in front of Jiang Zhan, taking a knife for him. "If we're going to leave, we'll leave together; if we're going to die, we'll die together. If I leave you here alone, Mianmian will blame me."
The two stood back to back, surrounded by countless Northern Yan soldiers.
All around were mountains of corpses, and at their feet flowed rivers of blood.
Despair overwhelmed them like a tidal wave.
Is it over?
Jiang Li watched as the enemies surged towards her like a tide, the blade in her hand already chipped.
He took out the ugly-looking purse from his pocket and gently wiped the bloodstains off it.
Mianmian, I'm sorry. My brother might not be able to go back to eat Peking duck.
Just as the massive curved blade was about to sever Jiang Li's head—
"boom--!!!"
A deafening roar, as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open.
Suddenly, countless boulders tumbled down from the cliff above Jue Long Valley, crashing down on the Northern Yan army.
Immediately afterwards, a clear, angry voice, filled with boundless killing intent, pierced through the wind and snow, echoing throughout the entire valley:
"Who dares to touch my family?!"
"Bomb them! Bomb these bastards to death!"
Jiang Li suddenly looked up.
High on the cliff, flames soared into the sky.
A figure in red robes, riding a horse, held a burning... unidentified object in his hand, as if a divine warrior had descended from the heavens.
That is...
Mianmian?
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