er the courtyard wall and disappearing into the night. Inside the Clarity Courtyard, in the cold and elegant閨房 (study/living room), there was no longer any sign of its owner; only a book left open on...383. Catastrophic Defeat of the Northern Rong

Inside the main tent, Yelü Ye and Helian Zhen were sitting quietly. Helian Zhen's expression was solemn as he remained silent, while Yelü Ye paced restlessly back and forth in the tent, his brows furrowed with a hint of anxiety and unease on his face.

After pacing around for an indeterminate number of times, Yelü Ye stopped and looked at Helian Zhen, asking worriedly, "Uncle, is there anything wrong with General Helian" Helian Zhen steadied himself and replied calmly, "Your Highness, please stay calm. There has been no bad news from Peng'er's side; we must not let ourselves be thrown into confusion.

" Yelü Ye nodded but was silent for a long time before he said in a low voice, "I can't help feeling uneasy."

Helian Zhen remained silent, unsure whether it was due to excessive worry or if something truly had happened. Not only did Yelü Ye feel anxious; even Helian Zhen sensed that something was amiss.

After a moment's thought, Helian Zhen stood up and said, "I'll send more people out to gather information."

Perhaps sensing an impending disaster, Yelü Ye nodded and said, "Uncle, please send even more people. No matter what news they find, have them report back as soon as possible."

"Understood," Helian Zhen responded and left the tent.

As soon as Helian Zhen stepped out of the main tent, he saw a streak of fire shoot into the camp from outside. It landed directly in the Northern Rong's camp, hitting one of the tents. Though it was winter and many tents were covered with frost, which delayed ignition, the sudden sight still startled quite a few people. Helian Zhen immediately realized what had happened and shouted loudly, "Enemy attack!"

Yelü Ye heard his shout from inside the tent and rushed out, asking sternly, "What's going on!" Helian Zhen's eyes were red with anger as he replied, "Mojia Army is right outside! Prepare to defend against the enemy!"

The moment that flaming arrow shot into the camp, chaos erupted across the Northern Rong's encampment. Shortly after, a low blare of horns could be heard throughout the camp. The soldiers quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed out from their tents to prepare for battle. Unfortunately, as soon as the front-line troops appeared at the entrance of their gates, they were met with an overwhelming hail of arrows.

The night was dark, making it difficult to see the enemy until the last moment.

"It's the Mojia Army!" someone shouted loudly.

Instantly, chaos erupted throughout the Northern Rong encampment. Helian Zhen's anger flared up as he bellowed orders for the generals to lead their troops in defense against the enemy.

Not far from the northern Rong army camp, Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li stood side by side, followed by Feng Zhirao in a red robe, Zhuo Jinglin Han, and others. Seeing that the northern Rong troops were caught off guard by the Mo family's army, everyone felt much better.

Mo Xiaobao sat in front of Mo Xiuyao, hidden under his wide battle robes, with only her little head visible. Her bright eyes looked intently at the distant northern Rong military camp where red light shot up and killing cries rose, clearly enjoying what she was seeing very much.

After these days of attrition, there wasn't a big difference in the number of troops between the northern Rong army and the Mo family's army. Now that most of the northern Rong army had been taken by Helian Peng, it meant that at this time, the number of troops in the northern Rong military was even less than those in the Mo family's army. With a sudden attack, the northern Rong army was defeated like mountains crumbling. In just half an hour, the situation began to tilt completely towards the Mo family’s side.

Helian Zhen led his close guards and supported Ye Liye as he fought while retreating. He turned back and said to Ye Liye, "Your Highness, we were tricked. It's likely that Peng won't be able to return in time. Let's withdraw first."

"Withdraw Where can we go" asked Ye Liye with a bitter look on his face. What he said wasn’t out of anger but because they had already moved close to the northern Rong border, less than 200 li away. If they retreated any further, it could only mean that they would be forced back into northern Rong territory, signaling their defeat in this grand and protracted war against Chu.

Ye Liye certainly didn’t want that, but the situation now left him no choice. Either retreat or fight to the death while waiting for Helian Peng's return. However, regardless of whether Helian Peng could make it back, fighting to the death was a price Ye Liye wasn't willing to pay. Glaring fiercely at the direction where the commander-in-chief of the Mo family’s army was located far away, Ye Liye said with hatred, "Withdraw."

The sound of retreat echoed through the night sky. The soldiers who already had low morale followed Ye Liye's withdrawal like a wave. Although the soldiers from the Mo family’s army were chasing behind them, they weren’t pressing on relentlessly but rather advancing at a steady pace. Helian Zhen felt that something was amiss, but he only had two choices in this situation: either move forward or retreat. They naturally couldn't turn back and fight the Mo family's army head-on, so their only option was to move forward.

On the other side, Helian Peng finally managed to break out of the encirclement by the Qilin troops after an hour. When he finally gathered his forces and broke through the siege of Yun霆’s army to rush out, the eastern sky had already begun to turn pale with dawn.

Behind him, Yun霆 and others smiled faintly as they saw the northern Rong army leave in retreat. One Qilin soldier was somewhat frustrated and said, "Why didn't we kill him Why let him go" Although Helian Peng's martial arts skills were indeed formidable, for the well-trained Qilin soldiers who had faced many powerful opponents before, he wasn’t considered the most dangerous opponent. Taking his life would just be a matter of time.

Xu Qingfeng patted his subordinate’s head and said, "Since the Prince ordered us to do so, there must be a reason behind it. Let's go; otherwise, we'll miss out on the fun."

The group agreed unanimously and quickly followed in pursuit of Helian Peng's army.

When Helian Peng met up with Ye Liye and others, it was already well into daylight. Although morning fog made them unable to see clearly and nearly caused self-inflicted casualties, they eventually managed to regroup.

Staying in the thick mist of an unfamiliar terrain wasn’t safe, but after a night of fighting and rushing about, the northern Rong soldiers were already exhausted. Helian Zhen could only find a relatively open area for them to rest briefly. After counting their troops, the numbers left them pale with shock. The remaining hundreds of thousands of troops had been reduced to less than 200,000 after one night of fighting. Of these, at least nine-tenths were troops returned by Helian Peng. The troops that originally remained in camp seemed to have almost been completely wiped out.

Helian Zhen looked gloomily at Ye Liye who was lost in thought on the side and asked Helian Peng with a solemn expression, "Peng, how did you find us" Helian Peng frowned and replied heavily, "After breaking through Yun霆's army, I fought my way past four or five battalions of Mo family’s troops and arrived here just when Your Highness and Father were encountered."

Helan Zhen frowned heavily and said in a deep voice, "This doesn't seem right... We have been running ahead while the Mohist army has been chasing from behind. Even if we got lost, our general direction couldn’t be too far off. How come you were being chased all along and happened to bump into us"

Helan Peng couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart as he suddenly leaped up, shouting, "Father!"

Helan Zhen looked at him; Helan Peng's expression was gloomy. He gritted his teeth and said, "We’ve fallen into Mo Xiuyao’s trap!" Helan Zhen was startled, her face changing as well. She grabbed Helan Peng urgently and asked, “You mean…”

"Haha, General Helan only realizes this now Isn’t it too late" A joyful but low voice rang out from the thick fog far away. The sound seemed to start from a very distant place, yet by the time the words were almost finished, it felt as if it had come right up close. Helan Zhen and others turned their heads towards the source of the sound; not too far away where the mist cleared, a figure in white clothing and hair appeared abruptly. Through the faint fog, they couldn’t make out his expression clearly, but both Helan Peng and Helan Zhen could distinctly feel that he was smiling, with an extremely cold smile.

"Mo… Xiuyao!" Helan Zhen gritted her teeth.

“Indeed it’s this King. After nineteen years of waiting, to invite General Helan back to Wind Valley is truly not easy.” Mo Xiuyao was dressed in a white robe and his white hair fluttered freely in the cold wind. A slight smile curved at the corner of his lips, but what he said gave people an inexplicable chilling sensation.

"This place is the Wind Valley!" Helan Zhen cried out, dazed.

Mo Xiuyao smiled and replied, "Indeed it is. I didn’t expect that General Helan has forgotten about this place in less than twenty years. However… This King also believes that the Ghost Worry Valley must have left a deep impression on General Helan. Unfortunately, we can no longer entertain General Helan there." The Wind Valley was where Mo Xiuyao had designed a trap for the Mohist army and caused their annihilation back in the day; even the place near it where the former Ding Wang, Mo Xiuwen, met his end wasn’t far from here. And the Ghost Worry Valley was less than fifty miles away from the Wind Valley, where Mo Xiuyao had burned Helan Zhen to ashes and caused his own severe injuries as well. Both these places were unforgettable for those who participated in the battles back then.

As Mo Xiuyao spoke, countless Mohist soldiers surrounded them from all directions. Through the mist, numerous black shadows could be vaguely seen swaying about like a ghostly and cold specter, terrifying the already tired and hungry Northern Rong troops even more.

Behind Mo Xiuyao, several figures gradually appeared: Ye Li, Yun Ting, and others dressed in white; Feng San Gongzi in red robes; Xu Qingfeng, Zhuo Jing, Lin Han, and others clad in black all stared intently at the Northern Rong soldiers below. Only Mo Xiaobao, who was wearing dark brocade clothing beside Ye Li, had not slept a wink but seemed extremely energetic. He opened his big round eyes curiously to look at everyone below him. Seeing the stern faces of those around them, he tugged Feng Zhirao’s clothes out of curiosity.

Feng Zhirao silently shook his head at Mo Xiaobao and gave a signal towards Mo Xiuyao’s direction. Mo Xiaobao pouted slightly and sneaked beside Mo Xiuyao, saying softly, “Father…”

Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and bent down to pick up Mo Xiaobao, smiling and asking, "Yuzheng, do you know where we are"

This was the first time Mo Xiuyao had called his own name so seriously. Blinking his eyes, Mo Xiaobao curiously asked, “Father, where is this place”

"This… This is where the fallen heroes of our Mohist army and your uncle were buried." Mo Xiuyao said solemnly.

Moxiaobao blinked his eyes. Although he was still young, someone had certainly taught him about the history of the Mo Family Army and the Ding王府 (Ding Prince's Manor). Naturally, he also knew that there was an uncle whom his father greatly respected who had been killed by the Northern Rong people. Occasionally, Moxiaobao secretly wondered if things would have been different if Uncle were still alive; perhaps he wouldn't be bullied so much.

"Father, shall we seek revenge for Uncle" Moxiaobao asked with wide eyes.

"Indeed," Mouxiaoyao said solemnly.

Fei Zhirao and the others who were following behind Mouxiaoyao couldn't help but glance at Ye Li. The young prince was not yet eight years old, and it seemed somewhat twisted to let him witness such a scene. Ye Li sighed helplessly; Mo Xiaobao's excited manner did not seem like that of someone afraid. She was genuinely concerned that her well-behaved son might be corrupted by Mouxiaoyao’s teachings. However, no matter how close Mo Xiaobao and Ye Li were, boys naturally tended to listen more to their fathers in certain aspects—like now.

In the Northern Rong army, Yelü Ye stepped forward from his troops with a grim expression, staring at Mouxiaoyao nearby and saying coldly, "Prince Ding, you are indeed skilled and patient!" By this point, Yelü Ye knew that these days Mouxiaoyao had been toying with them. His ultimate aim was to drive the Northern Rong army into Huifeng Valley to avenge Mo Xiwen's assassination there years ago.

Mouxiaoyao smiled and nodded. "As you wish. Seventh Prince is now returning to Northern Rong with a defeated force that will not be able to match Helian Zhen even in battle, let alone Prince Yelü. It might as well meet its end in Huifeng Valley, which would secure Seventh Prince's reputation for life. He should thank this prince."

Yelü Ye’s expression twisted. Even an ant clung to life; how much more so a person He was not afraid of death but did not want to die like this. Yet he understood that their situation now was not something they could decide for themselves. The Mo Family Army, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, surrounded them on all sides, and his less than 200,000 defeated troops would be unable to break through even if they fought desperately. As long as Mouxiaoyao gave a single order, tens of thousands of arrows could rain down, burying the Northern Rong army in an instant.

Helian Zhen's face was pale and he remained silent. Helian Peng stood beside Yelü Ye, his gaze like arrows fixed on Ye Li by Mouxiaoyao’s side.

"This is General Helian Peng. I seek a duel with Princess Consort Ding!" Helian Peng suddenly stepped forward and said solemnly.

The Mo Family Army commanders’ eyes swept to Helian Peng, looking at him as if he were an idiot. To challenge Princess Consort Ding in front of Prince Ding—that was truly mad.

As expected, Mouxiaoyao sneered coldly and said coolly, "General Helian, why not challenge this prince Is that a sign of disrespect" Helian Peng glanced at Mouxiaoyao but did not reply, his gaze fixed firmly on Ye Li.

Ye Li smiled slightly and stepped forward. "Since General Helian has such interest, this consort will accompany him in the duel. Please." Although Ye Li didn’t much like Helian Peng, he knew as a general, challenging someone publicly was not something that would bring honor regardless of the outcome. Helian Peng’s persistence despite knowing his certain death at least showed that he truly regarded Ye Li as an opponent.

"Ye Li," Mouxiaoyao frowned slightly; there was too much difference in internal force between her and Helian Peng. Although she was confident that with him watching over, Ye Li would have no danger to life, he could not guarantee that she wouldn't be injured.

Ye Li shook her head and smiled. "There will be nothing."

Ye Li stepped forward, a silver flash appeared in her sleeve as an icy cold short blade appeared in the palm of Ye Li's hand. In front of her, Helian Peng wielded a long sword, just by looking at their weapons it could be seen that it would be very difficult for them to match each other.

Helian Peng did not hesitate either, he extended his long sword towards Ye Li with a horizontal slash. Ye Li took a step sideways and let him pass, while the white sound was like a flying wild goose quickly approaching Helian Peng. In the faint mist, people only saw two figures appearing and disappearing from each other, the sound of weapons clashing non-stop in their ears. Ye Li frowned slightly as she fought with Helian Peng; when it came to strength or inner energy, she could not match Helian Peng at all. After several clashes between her short blade and his long sword, Ye Li felt her right hand numb from being shaken. She did not continue to face Helian Peng head-on but quickly closed in on him for close combat. This way, Helian Peng's long sword was rendered useless. Several times he wanted to distance himself from Ye Li but failed each time. If it came to close combat, there would be very few people who could match Ye Li; if inner energy wasn't used, even Mo Xiuyao might not gain much advantage either. As a result, for the time being, both of them were evenly matched.

After fighting for nearly one hundred moves, neither of them gained an upper hand. Helian Peng's eyes sank as he exerted his strong inner energy in his palm and slapped towards Ye Li. Ye Li was faster than him, she drew a sharp blade from her left sleeve and without hesitation stabbed at Helian Peng’s abdomen while dodging his palm power sideways. Helian Peng wanted to seriously injure Ye Li so much that he didn't care about the dagger coming closer to him. While feeling pain in his stomach, his palm also hit Ye Li. Although Ye Li dodged it, she was still slightly injured internally. She quickly withdrew her dagger and retreated backwards.

As soon as Ye Li's dagger was withdrawn, Helian Peng realized that something was wrong. The dagger was specially made with a blood groove in the middle, anyone stabbed would bleed uncontrollably; last time when Helian Peng hurt his arm he had to recover for quite some time, let alone this time when his abdomen was injured. However, Helian Peng knew that it was inevitable to be killed by Mo Xiuyao this time and as long as he could kill or severely injure Ye Li, who cared if he would bleed to death

Ye Li retreated a distance away, blood traces oozed out of the corner of her mouth. Looking at Helian Peng propping up his long sword standing there with fresh blood flowing from his abdomen, Ye Li wiped off the blood on her lips and said coldly: "General Helian, I'll concede."

Helian Peng sneered and threw away the sword towards Ye Li without hesitation. Ye Li's eyes flashed as her short blade flashed in a streak of white light from beside Helian Peng. The two only clashed for a moment before separating far apart again. When Ye Li turned around, Helian Peng had already fallen silently on the other side with a thin bloodstain slowly spreading across his throat.

"Peng'er!" Helian Zhen shouted hoarsely, although Helian Peng was just his foster son, he grew up under his tutelage since childhood. Besides, Helian Zhen had no offspring of his own; Helian Peng was basically the same as a biological child to him. In this world, besides Yelv Ye, Helian Zhen valued Helian Peng most. Seeing that he died in Ye Li's hands at this moment, naturally, he was extremely grief-stricken and fell onto Helian Peng crying bitterly before glaring fiercely towards Ye Li.

Ye Li wiped off the blood stains on her dagger casually and walked back to Mo Xiuyao’s side. Mo Xiuyao saw that she wasn't seriously injured so his heart finally calmed down.

The moment they met, the Northern Rong army lost their most skilled Helian Peng, which made the already low-spirited Northern Rong army suffer even more setbacks. Yelv Ye looked around at his soldiers with a defeated expression and couldn't help but smile bitterly. At this time, the fog was gradually dissipating, revealing black waves of the Black Family Army's troops all around. Such circumstances were not only impossible to break through but also risky for them to make any moves.

"I lost, what does King Ding want" Yelv Ye shut his eyes and said coldly.

Mo Xiuyao smiled calmly: "What do I want General Helian should know."

Hearing this, Helian Peng's face changed dramatically. “Mo Xiuyao! You...” Helian Peng couldn't help but recall the two huge fires nineteen years ago. One was in Huifeng Valley here, where he watched countless Black Family Army soldiers die in the flames. The other one was in Gui Chou Valley, when both sides suffered heavy losses and Mo Xiuyao was seriously injured almost to the point of death while the Northern Rong army's morale plummeted and nearly fell into a state of decline. But now… Mo Xiuyao actually wanted...

"King Ding, Prince Seven has conceded!" Helian Zhen’s pride made him unable to say surrender; he could only say that according to Yelv Ye’s meaning.

“So what” Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows. "I have waited for nineteen years for this day, in order to honor the souls of the Black Family Army soldiers here... So whether you surrender or not, all Northern Rong people who enter Great Chu will die!"

After this conversation, Ye Liye could not help but understand what Mo Xiuyao meant. Mo Xiuyao actually wanted to burn them all to death in Huifeng Valley and avenge the deaths of the soldiers from his family who had died unjustly over ten years ago. Ye Liye felt a pain in his throat as he stepped forward and gritted his teeth, saying, "Prince Ding, I have lost and regardless of whether I live or die, I will accept your punishment. However, please spare these soldiers from Beirong."

Behind Mo Xiuyao, Feng Zhiyao sneered coldly, "What you’re trying to say is that those people behind you did not massacre the innocent civilians of my Central Plains" Ye Liye had no words in response. The rivers in the north of Da Chu had run red with blood, and most of the victims were ordinary citizens of Da Chu. This led to almost all homes being empty across the northern region. In such a situation, it was impossible for Ye Liye to defend his actions.

Mo Xiuyao gave a cold smile as he raised his hand and said, "Fire!"

The soldiers from Mo’s family swiftly drew their bows, and in an instant, the arrows fell like raindrops.

"Mo Xiuyao! You are going too far!" Helian Zhen roared loudly. "Charge through them!"

Even a trapped beast fights back; how could humans not Although these soldiers from Beirong were already exhausted, they had no choice but to fight when faced with the threat of death. Their eyes turned red as they charged towards the north.

Seeing the actions of the Beirong army, Mo Xiuyao’s lips curved into a cold smile. Feng Zhiyao waved his small black flag, and the soldiers from Mo’s family struck back without hesitation. However, there was an invisible gap left open to allow the remnants of the Beirong army to pass through.

Mo Xiuyao and others did not follow them but stood calmly in place, looking toward where the remnants of the Beirong army had fled.

"Boom!" A loud explosion echoed from the northwest as red light shot up to the sky, quickly illuminating almost half the heavens. From the direction of the northwest came countless cries and wails, nearly unbearable to hear.

Ye Liye stood silently beside Mo Xiuyao but eventually closed her eyes unwillingly and covered Mo Xiaobao’s ears with her hand. But Xiaobao refused to be still and pried at Ye Liye's fingers. Although the screams made him a bit scared, he knew that his father was avenging the deaths of soldiers from their family who had died years ago. Children are often innocent yet cruel; in their eyes there is only right or wrong. If it’s right, then one needn’t fear even less pity.

Feng Zhiyao quietly observed the red light in the distance. He was also part of that battle over ten years ago. Although he didn't arrive at Huifeng Valley at that time, when he and Mo Xiuyao arrived they still saw the tragic state of the soldiers who had died there. No, they couldn’t be called to have died in battle; they were victims of injustice.

Like Mo Xiuyao, Feng Zhiyao had never forgotten this for nineteen years. Just as the spirits of these unjustly killed soldiers from his family remained unrested, now he was dedicating twenty thousand troops of Beirong to appease their souls.

May,

The ancestors find peace!you know that Chang’er hasn’t been well since Jing兒 was born," said Mo Jingqi with a somewhat awkward expression. But he still firmly stood by Liu Guifei's side. Seeing the Empress Dowager’s gloomy fa...