"Arrogant woman!" Satu roared, nearly jumping from his chariot.
Murong Jin just watched him quietly. Her suspicion was confirmed. Satu is not the one commanding this army.
"Murong Jin, I will make you kneel at my feet!" Satu spat, turning back to his lines. The Turkish formation closed tight, shields locking together like an iron wall.
"Back to the city," Murong Jin said to Luo Bai.
"General? Aren't we attacking?" Luo Bai was confused. They had the advantage. Morale was high. Why retreat?
She shook her head and wheeled her horse around. The city gates slammed shut with a heavy thud that made her heart tremble. If Satu was this confident, her father really was in his hands.
In the council hall, the officers stood in silence. No one understood her order.
"Speak," she said, sitting at the head of the table.
"General," Luo Bai stepped forward. "Why retreat? The snake formation is easily broken. We had the advantage."
"Is that what you all think?" She looked around the room.
Silence. These men were not her veterans from the Vermilion Bird Camp. They obeyed, but they didn't understand.
She stood and walked to Luo Bai. "Is the snake formation truly easy to break? Did you look closely at how they were deployed?"
Luo Bai blinked. He had only seen the formation, not the details.
"Each snake was linked. It looked like several separate formations, but that was a feint. If we had charged, they would have shifted, turning into a White Tiger formation and swallowing us whole." She arranged tokens on the table to demonstrate.
Luo Bai's eyes widened. A formation within a formation.
"Satu is not simple," he muttered. "No wonder General Zuo fell to him. And General Murong…"
Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of her father, but she kept smiling.
"General, I'm sorry," Luo Bai said, realizing his mistake.
"It's fine. But Zuo Xunxiao did not fall to Satu. Someone else is behind this."
"How do you know?"
"A formation reflects the commander. Satu is arrogant and rash. This formation was meticulous, flawless. The person behind it is careful and strategic."
Luo Bai nodded. "Who could it be?"
She tapped her forehead. "Hard to say. But since I've met a worthy opponent, I'll have to meet him properly."
The next day, the war drums thundered. The snake formation was arrayed again. Murong Jin sat on her horse, silver spear in hand.
Satu stood on the platform, looking down at her. Three thousand men against fifty thousand. Yet she showed no fear.
"Murong Jin! My general says it's not too late to surrender! He will spare your life and give you a fief!" a herald shouted.
She smiled and glanced at Luo Bai. "I don't like his voice."
"Orders, General?"
She pulled an arrow from her quiver and handed it to him. "When we breach the formation, I want this in Satu's throat."
"Yes, General."
She spurred her horse forward. "If you want to live, run. My soldiers show no mercy to Turks."
The herald's horse shied away from her killing intent.
"Death before dishonor?" She sneered, swapping her spear for a bow. "Fine. I'll make an example of you."
She drew and fired in one motion. The iron arrow flew straight for the herald's throat.
He didn't even have time to gasp. He turned and fled back to his lines.
"Hahaha!" She laughed, lowering her bow. "Satu! Take your shrimp soldiers and crab generals and go home!"
"Hmph." Satu grunted.
Thwack. An arrow flew from nowhere, piercing the fleeing herald through the back. He fell from his horse.
"Guo Ren! What are you doing?" Satu yelled at someone in the ranks.
Guo Ren? Guo Shangzhong's adopted son? Murong Jin stared. He was supposed to be dead. Killed in battle against the Yanyun.
But there he was. A one-legged man being carried onto the platform in a chair.
So it was you. She had underestimated him.
"Murong Jin. Surprised to see me?" Guo Ren muttered, staring at her.
Xue Liulan had recommended him for the Sushen campaign. He had lost his leg due to incompetence and nearly died. But Guo Shangzhong had saved him.
Guo Ren had died on the battlefield against the Yanyun. The man who lived had been reborn as the Turks' chief strategist, the link between Guo Shangzhong and the enemy, the architect of the slaughter at Wuchuan.
"He's alive," she whispered. "Luo Bai. Attack. Kill him."
She had to kill him. If Guo Shangzhong and the Turks were coordinating, Xue Liulan's plans would be ruined.
"Yes!" Luo Bai gave the signal.
She led the charge, three thousand elite cavalry smashing into the iron wall. She ignored the snake's coils, striking at the joints, breaking the connections. The formation crumbled into chaos.
"What do we do?" Satu panicked. His soldiers were dying in droves. The strategist had told him to trust the formation, but brute force was winning.
Guo Ren frowned. He sneered and gave an order.
Two flag bearers waved their signals. The chaotic Turkish soldiers suddenly reformed, a solid defensive line trapping Murong Jin's cavalry in the center.
"General! They've shifted formation!" Luo Bai shouted.
She nodded, scanning the field. Her eyes locked on the command platform.
"Luo Bai! Take a squad and break out! Go for the platform! Get Satu's head and find my father!"
"Yes!"
Wait. General Murong is in the camp? Luo Bai felt a surge of respect. Her father was a captive, yet she commanded the battle with icy calm.
"The formation follows the eight trigrams. Remember: ignore the changes. Go straight for the platform." She didn't wait for him to answer. She wheeled her horse around.
"General, what about you?"
She just smiled. Guo Ren was being carried off the platform to a carriage, retreating toward the Gate of Death.
She had to kill him. Even if it was a trap. She narrowed her eyes and charged toward the Gate of Death.
Luo Bai watched her go, then realized. That's the Gate of Death! What is she doing?
But he had no time to think. He spurred his horse, cutting down a soldier in his path. Capture the king. If he killed Satu, she would be safe.
He fought like a demon, his armor soaked in blood.
"Satu! Your time has come!" He reined in at the platform. Satu was descending the stairs, reaching for his horse.
Luo Bai drew his bow. He had promised.
The arrow flew like a meteor. Satu raised his arm to block, but it was too late. The arrow split into three in mid-air.
"This…" His eyes went wide. Cold steel pierced his throat. He fell.
Luo Bai dismounted beside the body. "No one escapes my General's Moon-Exit Arrow."
Leaderless, the army crumbled. Luo Bai watched as prisoners were rounded up. Zhen rushed over.
"Luo Bai! Where is the General?"
"She didn't return?" Luo Bai was shocked. He told Zhen everything. "Did you find General Murong?"
Zhen shook his head, guilt written on his face. "I was tricked. The men in the tent were decoys. Disguises."
"Then… where is the General?"
Zhen looked in the direction she had gone. For her father and Xue Liulan, she would risk anything.
"Search the route! Report immediately if you find her!"
He shouted the orders, but the dread in his heart wouldn't lift.
Jin, please. Don't let anything happen to you.