Main Text: Chapter Ninety-One, Contest of Strength, Part Twenty-Five

At some point, storm clouds began to gather on the horizon.

Across the Thousand-Vietnamese camp, along the defenses of the low-hill military rampart, and atop the walls of Cloud City, the fires burning everywhere lit up the clouds above the night sky; faintly, one could even see flashes of lightning within them.

The wind also rose, making the hems of the wildland warriors, the armor-clad riders of Heng'an, and Xu Le and the others whip and flutter.

After Xu Le roared out that he was acting under the command of Liu Wuzhou and held up Zhang Wansui's face for all to see, the entire battlefield suddenly fell silent.

Every gaze fixed on Zhang Wansui’s face. His hair was gripped in Xu Le’s hand, his eyes tightly shut, his expression filled with shame.

When had the great general of Mayi fallen to such a state?

If he ever had the chance to turn things around, he would surely tear that boy limb from limb, no matter what backing he had!

And many of the Heng'an armored riders had already recognized him. It was Zhang Wansui!

They had all served in the same commandery; only the year before, they had even fought side by side. Zhang Wansui, leading the Mayi Eagle-Strike troops to join forces with Heng'an, had stood before the generals of Heng'an in all his splendid armor, flaunting his might. Many of the Heng'an Eagle-Strike soldiers still remembered it vividly.

And now this Mayi general had blood at the corner of his mouth and was laid crosswise over a horse, his face yanked up by Xu Le’s grip on his hair. Though his eyes were shut, his features were twisted into a vicious, ghastly mask, like a fiend from hell!

Zhang Wansui had appeared in Mayi and been captured by Xu Le; behind them were the thousand-plus warriors of the Thousand-Vietnamese tribe in pursuit.

Could it be that Zhang Wansui had come on behalf of Wang Rengong to collude with the Nine-Clan tribes and launch a pincer attack from north and south against the Heng'an Eagle-Strike command?

Countless Heng'an armored riders looked past Xu Le and Zhang Wansui toward the Thousand-Vietnamese formation behind them, where the men had been forced to rein in and stop, thrown into utter disorder.

Apart from those Thousand-Vietnamese warriors in their mismatched clothes and equipment, the Heng'an riders also saw the Blue Wolf Cavalry of the Zhibi tribe, with leather caps and blue wolf tails hanging from the backs of the caps.

Mixed in among the Thousand-Vietnamese warriors, those Blue Wolf riders were at that moment surrounding some important figure, desperately forcing their way through the chaos of the Thousand-Vietnamese lines as they fled toward the rear.

And in the rear ranks, there were also small detachments that looked like Blue Wolf riders, breaking away from the main force and turning to leave!

There were Zhibi tribesmen among the Thousand-Vietnamese.

And Zhang Wansui had colluded not merely with the Nine-Clan tribes, but with the Turki Zhibi tribe, on behalf of Wang Rengong!

Yuan Junwei stood among the Heng'an armored riders, long spear in hand, dumbfounded.

Though he wanted nothing more than to kill Xu Le on the spot and then hack him into mincemeat, if possible, Xu Le had suddenly pulled out a move like this. What was he supposed to do?

Yuan Junwei, Yuan Four, had always been praised by many in the Heng'an Eagle-Strike command as young and valiant, unmatched in front-line duels for beheading generals and seizing banners. Yet no one could flatter him with a clear conscience by claiming he was wise in a crisis or could devise strategy from within the command tent!

Before the two converging forces could react, Xu Le seized Zhang Wansui by the topknot and bellowed again, "I am acting under Liu's order. I have uncovered Wang Rengong's secret collusion with the Turks and taken Zhang Wansui at the risk of my life. Do you still mean to let the Zhibi tribe escape?"

On horseback, Xu Le half-turned and pointed his spear at the chaotic Thousand-Vietnamese and Zhibi formations, roaring, "Kill them!"

In such a situation, the Heng'an armored riders had no time to think further. Last year, the Heng'an Eagle-Strike command and the Zhibi tribe had fought until both sides were bloodied and crazed. Now, to suddenly see them on their own ground, and to see one of Wang Rengong’s senior generals appear as well, Xu Le’s words instantly earned nine parts belief!

As Yuan Junwei stood stunned and Xu Le roared in fury, spear pointing straight ahead, hundreds of Heng'an Eagle-Strike armored riders could not help but join in with a thunderous shout: "Kill!"

Amid the cries, a rank of feathered arrows was already loosed. Then the light cavalry spread to both flanks, while the riders in lamellar armor surged forward with spear forest in hand, driving their horses straight into the disordered Thousand-Vietnamese ranks like a crashing tide!

The combat skill of the Heng'an armored riders was truly among the finest of all the military commands of this era. Once in motion, the light cavalry shot fast and scattered fast, while the lamellar riders pressed on without pause, maintaining their ranks in line after line, as though a vast, surging wave were pounding against the suddenly rising cries of men and horses in the bewildered Thousand-Vietnamese formation!

Xu Le quickly spurred his horse aside as well. At this moment, he had no desire to charge in and kill alongside them. Capturing Zhang Wansui had already done Heng'an Eagle-Strike a tremendous favor; from here on, it was Heng'an Eagle-Strike’s own affair.

Moreover, after slipping out of Cloud City by night and riding more than twenty li through the darkness to infiltrate the Thousand-Vietnamese camp, seizing Zhibi Sili and then Zhang Wansui, on top of the day’s collision and fighting in battle, even if Xu Le were forged of iron, by now he was exhausted beyond measure. Once he let out the breath he had been holding, he felt his whole body go soft, and pain kept stabbing at the wound on his shoulder.

Looking left and right, he saw that Luodun and Buli had also kept clear. Even little Buli was so exhausted that he had collapsed over the horse’s back.

The rolling armored riders were surging past his side. Several mounted archers moved up to protect the three of them, glancing at Zhang Wansui and then at Xu Le, their faces full of reverence.

At last, lightning split the sky. Thunder followed, and in the roaring of the storm, the Heng'an armored riders slammed headlong into the Thousand-Vietnamese formation!

This was unlike the daytime clash of arrows from a distance. Tonight’s battle was the true face of cold-weapon warfare: a direct collision of men in armor, and the most exhilarating kind of all, the charge of armored riders smashing into an enemy formation!

Under the glare of lightning, amid the crash of thunder, the two sides collided savagely. Broken spears flew in all directions. The screams of men and the shrill cries of horses were deafening, blood spraying everywhere.

At the very front where the Heng'an armored riders struck, the first ranks of Thousand-Vietnamese warriors were almost wiped out in an instant!

And the Heng'an riders pressed on without pause, riding straight over them. Those whose spears broke simply cast them aside, drew their straight blades, and hacked left and right; with every swing, blood burst into the air. By this moment, the Thousand-Vietnamese warriors were no longer meeting an enemy in battle—they were being slaughtered.

This was the might of the elite troops of Great Sui. After centuries of warfare across northern China, Great Sui had unified the land. Its armies were the essence left behind after bloody struggles, containing both the armored and sharp-edged strength of Han warriors and the fierce, savage ferocity once belonging to the Hu peoples. For a time, their power was supreme under heaven, a pinnacle of human martial force in the medieval world.

Yet because of Great Sui’s own internal causes, this mighty empire collapsed with a thunderous crash, and only one in ten of its founding elite survived. Even so, on this day, the Heng'an Eagle-Strike command still displayed the bearing of Great Sui’s former finest troops before the Thousand-Vietnamese.

Amid this one-sided slaughter, Luodun looked toward Xu Le and gently shook his head. "Boy, how did Old Xu raise you to be like this?"

Xu Le smiled and shrugged. "I’m not worthy of Grandfather’s praise."

In the flashes of lightning, Yuan Junwei rode over, his face livid, looking at Xu Le.

At this point, he could no longer make any move against Xu Le no matter what. Nor could he understand how things had suddenly turned out this way.

Xu Le bared his white teeth in a grin at Yuan Junwei. "Aren’t you going to take me to see Liu Yingji?"