Chapter 81: The Death of Xueqing

The battle raged for three days and three nights. Pan Yueyang, battered and exhausted, leaned on his spear, enduring the pain in his body as he stood at the edge of the battlefield. His helmet had vanished long ago; disheveled hair whipped about in the wind, and the pale cast of his face betrayed his grave condition. Clutching his spear tightly in his right hand, his legs shoulder-width apart, Pan Yueyang stared ahead at Guan Canghai, who appeared just as battered as he was.

Two figures, one in black and one in purple, stood resolute before their armies. After three days and nights without respite, both sides' soldiers were spent, losses heavy. In front of the two generals, tens of thousands of corpses lay scattered. The chaos and carnage of the battlefield could only be understood by those who witnessed it firsthand. Citizens of the imperial city continually sent medicines and supplies to the front; every returning soldier came home with tears in their eyes, silent, and the people felt the soldiers’ pain. Strong young men volunteered to don armor and join Pan Yueyang’s troops. These untrained recruits, seeing Pan Yueyang struggling at the vanguard, were moved to tears by admiration and excitement.

"For the Panlong Kingdom, we vow to follow General Pan to the death!" The rallying cry echoed through the imperial city, and crowds of men surged into the barracks to enlist. This was indeed a tragic war. Three days might not seem long, but watching wave after wave of wounded soldiers carried back—some dying within moments, some so maimed that even the doctors could do nothing—was harrowing.

Guan Canghai let out a strained, guttural laugh, the taste of blood threatening to burst forth.

"Victory or defeat in this battle, no harm shall come to the people of Panlong!" Pan Yueyang raised his spear, pointing it toward the sky.

"I am not a tyrant! You should not serve such a ruler!" Guan Canghai looked at Pan Yueyang, his heart filled with respect. Few could match him in battle; had they met earlier, perhaps they would have sworn brotherhood.

"Xueqing!" Pan Yueyang’s eyes caught a gray-white figure slowly rising from the ground nearby. Xueqing’s veil had fallen, revealing a bold ‘slave’ mark on her left cheek.

Xueqing struggled to stand, bracing herself with her sword. Smiling, she looked at Guan Canghai. "If you wish to harm Yueyang, you’ll have to cross over my dead body first!" With reckless resolve, she charged at him.

Guan Canghai knew little about this woman named Xueqing, but she was a paragon among women, always quietly supporting Pan Yueyang. Watching her hurl herself at him with all her strength, he understood she was determined to strike a fatal blow, but with her current condition, injuring him would be difficult.

Guan Canghai sidestepped and kicked Xueqing squarely in the chest. She coughed up blood onto the ground.

"I will see you buried properly, so you may always remain at Pan Yueyang’s side," Guan Canghai declared, not sparing her another look.

Xueqing managed a wry smile, unmoved by sentiment. The sword in her hand seemed to come alive, flying from her grasp and curving to pierce Guan Canghai’s abdomen.

Collapsed on the ground, Xueqing could barely move. She caught sight of Guan Canghai clutching his wound. Yueyang, Yueyang, this is the last time I can help you—be careful, from now on.

She had not even the strength to smile one last time; with a mouthful of blood, her young life faded away...

"No!" Pan Yueyang, mad with grief, charged at Guan Canghai, and the two clashed fiercely. Pan Yueyang, drawing strength from who knows where, launched relentless, savage attacks.

Guan Canghai, gravely wounded, had no time to pull out the blade, his fingers pressed to the injury as he staggered back dozens of steps. Their duel left the soldiers behind them trembling; all knew this was a fight to the death between two great generals, and none dared intervene. The battlefield grew quiet, eyes tracking the black and purple figures as they darted and struck. Guan Canghai pressed a vital point on his body, pulled out Xueqing’s sword mid-air, and used it to defend against Pan Yueyang’s wild attacks.

Pan Yueyang, eyes bloodshot, targeted Guan Canghai’s wounded abdomen with every strike. He could not accept Xueqing’s death, would not acknowledge it; only by killing the man before him could he quell his rage.

"Pan Yueyang, I promised Yan’er I would spare your life!" Guan Canghai shouted desperately as he dodged.

"Yan’er?" Pan Yueyang paused, that name long absent from his life, both strange and familiar.

Guan Canghai stabbed his sword into the earth and knelt, gasping for breath. "It seems you’ve forgotten her. By now, she’s eight months pregnant."

"Hmph, do you all take me for a fool? What happened between you two under the cliff that night, did you think I wouldn’t suspect?" Pan Yueyang, for old times’ sake, did everything for Yan’er, but he was not foolish enough to believe nothing happened that night. As a man, he could see Guan Canghai's feelings for Yan’er in his eyes.

"Indeed." Guan Canghai admitted, he had claimed Pan Yueyang’s woman, but so what?

"Don’t use the child as leverage. Who the father of this bastard is, who can say?" Pan Yueyang sneered, poised to strike again.

"I took her pulse long ago. If she conceived after that night, she should now be seven months along, but she is indeed eight months pregnant!" A subtle sadness flickered in Guan Canghai’s eyes.

"Don’t mention that child to me!" Pan Yueyang refused to hear Yan’er’s name from his mouth.

"She used my affection to escape Saizhou, then tried to use the child to manipulate the situation. She thinks I’m oblivious, but I simply choose not to expose her! Your child—I will raise him, and have him acknowledge a thief as father!" Guan Canghai readied himself for a desperate defense.

Pan Yueyang’s heart trembled. If Guan Canghai spoke the truth, how could he allow his child to call another man ‘father’?

"Heh!" Pan Yueyang abandoned his spear and drew the flexible sword at his waist.

A fierce wind swept up half the yellow sands, forcing soldiers on both sides to close their eyes or bow their heads. The storm raged across the battlefield as Pan Yueyang launched himself at Guan Canghai. Guan Canghai, too, dropped Xueqing’s sword, unleashing a flurry of silver threads in combat. Amidst the sandstorm, their movements were obscured. Only after the wind had blown for a long time and finally subsided did the soldiers regain clear sight—and in the center of the field, only Guan Canghai remained standing. Pan Yueyang had vanished, and the soldiers of Panlong Kingdom panicked.

"General!" The soldiers rose, shouting in unison, but there was no response.

Guan Canghai, his expression enigmatic, finally relaxed. "You, too, are a hero."

The soldiers of Tianfeng, emboldened, raised their weapons and charged at the leaderless troops of Panlong Kingdom. The slaughter resumed on that scorched earth.

No one knew how long the fighting lasted. Everyone was physically and mentally exhausted. The soldiers began to clear away the remains of comrades and enemies alike. The citizens of the imperial city, terrified, watched the arrival of new soldiers, unsure how much more bloodshed lay ahead.

The head of Emperor Jing was severed and mounted atop the highest point of the city gate, with Pan Yueyang’s Panlong spear impaled through it. Guan Canghai had conquered Panlong Kingdom within ten days. On this vast continent, except for Tianfeng, it had been the most powerful land. Who could say what Wind Howl and Tiger Lair kingdoms might think now?

Guan Canghai quietly ordered his trusted men to carry Pan Yueyang away. The man was not dead. "Have you found Ou Ruolan?" Guan Canghai asked, surveying the grand Panlong Palace with a cold smile. Emperor Jing, how extravagant, to adorn his palace so.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, not yet."

"Keep searching!" Guan Canghai opened the map of Panlong Kingdom. "Issue the order: our troops are to enter the imperial city with strict prohibition on looting or slaughter. Any violators will be dealt with by military law." This was the promise he had made to Pan Yueyang—heroes honor heroes.

After a month of adjustment, the imperial city returned to its former calm. The people gradually recovered from their fear, but the markets lacked their usual bustle; white cloth hung from every home, for most soldiers were their kin. Guan Canghai remained in the imperial city, for he had important matters to address: first, to notify all the cities of Panlong Kingdom to surrender to him; second, to prepare for a grand relocation of the capital, establishing it in the imperial city. Panlong Kingdom bordered Tiger Lair to the left, Wind Howl to the right; if the capital were not here, its vast lands would surely invite covetous eyes from other states.

Another half month passed. A few days earlier, Guan Canghai had discovered a secret tunnel in the palace, a precaution Emperor Jing had taken for his own escape. Yet his foresight was a little late; before the tunnel was completed, the city had already fallen. Guan Canghai ordered Pan Yueyang carried into the tunnel, sealed the incomplete exit to the outside, and stationed trusted guards there.

"Reporting to Master, he has not regained consciousness," a masked figure appeared silently at Guan Canghai’s side, speaking quietly without kneeling.

"Continue the medicine. I have sealed his martial arts; now he is as helpless as a cripple." Guan Canghai buried his head in the map, and the masked man vanished as quietly as he had appeared.

Moon City—

When Yan’er learned the news, she fainted on the spot, hearing it alongside the people. Panlong had surrendered to Tianfeng; now, inside and outside Moon City, Tianfeng soldiers were everywhere. There was no other way—surrender was the only means to prevent slaughter, and orders were given to report immediately to the new emperor in the capital.

Yan’er clutched Bai Li Mubai’s arm, struggling to sit up. "They said Sister Xueqing is dead? Is it true?"

Bai Li Mubai nodded, tears slipping from closed lashes. The news arrived tinged with legend: rumor had it that Panlong and Tianfeng fought for dozens of days, until both sides had only a handful of survivors. At the end, the female lieutenant at General Pan’s side sacrificed herself to save him, nearly killing the new emperor. Yet the new emperor’s fate proved tenacious—a sword pierced his body but missed his heart, and the lieutenant was torn apart, leaving not even a corpse...

"And what about Yueyang!" Yan’er seized Bai Li Mubai’s collar, shaking him madly.

"Killed in battle!" Bai Li Mubai wept, unable to meet Yan’er’s eyes.