Chapter 1142: Toriyama Akira
(In the earliest outline, Liang Hongzhuang was killed by the Ninth Demon General, but later while writing, I grew to like him and respect him, including his pursuit of Su Li back then. I wanted his departure to be cleaner, so I changed it to this form of martyrdom. I will revise the earlier line; this was indeed a mistake. My apologies.)
……
……
Xu Yourong looked at the small porcelain bottle in her hand.
She still had a few more of these bottles, not hidden in her sleeves, but stored within her Tong Bow.
Countless gazes fell upon her hand—some fervent, some nervous, some uneasy.
Everyone had guessed it. The small porcelain bottle contained the legendary Cinnabar Pill.
This was also the most important reason why all the generals had been begging Xu Yourong to return to the capital.
"These pills belong to Chen Changsheng, and what’s his is mine."
Xu Yourong looked at the kneeling cavalry soldiers and said, "I know many of you are dissatisfied, but don’t let me find out, because that would make me unhappy."
Those cavalry soldiers’ bodies stiffened completely. From her calm tone, they understood her meaning.
The subtext was important information that didn’t need to be spoken aloud to be heard.
She was answering the entire world.
If she became unhappy, perhaps this world would never see another Cinnabar Pill.
The cavalry soldiers saluted with the utmost respect, then left as quickly as possible to spread her decree across the grasslands.
That young girl from Nanxi Zhai looked at her, seeming to want to speak but stopping herself.
Should she not return?
Xu Yourong’s body and spirit were both strong, yet even so, she felt some fatigue.
But she would not leave.
Only here could she see the real-time changes on the battlefield, the truest situation.
At the same time, only then could the people in the capital see the truest situation.
The situation was very complicated—this was already evident from the selection of the commander-in-chief.
Xu Shiji, who had been recommended by many, after receiving her letter, closed his mansion and refused the post, claiming illness.
Peng Shihai and other divine generals from Chen Guansong’s faction held half the military power of the Great Zhou, but choosing a commander from among them would inevitably face strong opposition from the Western Army system represented by Xue He, and it would be difficult to gain approval from the Li Palace.
Those close to the State Religion could not win the support of the court ministers and the princes of the Chen family.
After much deliberation, people finally turned their gaze to a place long forgotten by many: the Eastern Divine General’s Mansion.
Xu Shiji now seemed like the candidate most acceptable to the various factions.
However, soon after, the Xu Mansion received a letter from Holy Maiden Peak, and from then on, its gates were tightly shut, with Xu Shiji claiming illness and firmly declining.
People understood this was the Holy Maiden’s intention, so naturally, they could not force the matter.
The final choice for commander-in-chief was very unexpected.
When the imperial decree was circulated through the provinces, many people had never even heard the name.
Divine General He Ming, former commander of the Black Armored Cavalry, was extremely low-key, even obscure.
But his seniority was deep—he was Chen Guansong’s junior apprentice, yet not closely tied to Peng Shihai and other generals from the Star Picking Academy. In the battle at the National Teaching Academy ten years ago, the Black Armored Heavy Cavalry he led stopped outside the collapsed Mo Mountain, displaying extreme composure and steadiness, earning the appreciation of both the Emperor and the Pope.
In other words, the most important reason he could serve as commander was that all sides could accept him, and he belonged to no one.
The problem was that this also meant he was not Chen Changsheng’s man, nor the Emperor’s man.
No matter how composed and steady a person might be, when holding great power, other thoughts might arise.
On the brutal battlefield, as bloodlust was stirred, ambition often grew alongside it.
So Xu Yourong would not leave this place.
……
……
The shadow of death finally left this grassland.
Whether it was because the drug that stimulated potential and erased reason had run out, or because the massive deaths of low-level demons had become too much even for Snow Old City to bear, on a certain day in early summer, the human army no longer saw those demon soldiers with bloodshot eyes charging like wild beasts.
During the demon army’s retreat, there were occasional skirmishes. Clearly, those demon soldiers had not taken the drug. Though still somewhat foolish, they no longer dared to charge into crossbow formations or showed no fear of death.
The grassland was stained with blood of various colors. Once dried, it formed large patches of color, looking like a painting from a distance.
He Ming gazed at the patterns on the grassland, recalling a lecture given by a bishop from the Li Palace many years ago when he and Chen Guansong studied the brief history of demon culture at the Star Picking Academy.
"Demons are such a strange species. Low-level demons are no different from beasts, yet high-level demons possess unimaginable aesthetic sense. The two classes are not completely separated; they have close ties and influence each other. Thus, in the paintings of Snow Old City, one often sees seemingly crude, large patches of color..."
If the nobles in Snow Old City could truly drive low-level demons like beasts, this war might become even more brutal. If the demons still enslaved the demons, this war would have no chance of victory.
This was thanks to the wise decisions of Emperor Taizong back then.
Looking toward the capital, Divine General He Ming felt a similar reverence for the Pope.
The opening phase of this war was exceptionally brutal, far exceeding pre-war calculations.
In a sense, this was a clash of a thousand years of material accumulation, resolve, and will between humans and demons.
This clash ultimately manifested in two types of drugs.
On the demon side, they deployed poisons developed by the Eternal Life Sect. Judging by the quantity, Snow Old City had been preparing for this war for many years.
On the human side, Pope Chen Changsheng had exhausted every means to stockpile Cinnabar Pills over ten years, and they were now nearly all used up.
Thus, the war entered its second phase.
The human army advanced northward, following the demon army’s retreat, breaking through two defensive lines and reclaiming the grasslands.
The temperature rose, and summer truly arrived. But the grassland was open, and the mountain range stretching thousands of miles ahead had many gaps through which the wind blew. The army camped there did not feel the heat; in the early morning, it was even a bit chilly.
One morning, a fast-moving red dot suddenly appeared in the gray sky, trailing a red line—it should be a red eagle.
The moment the red eagle flew over the mountain peak, two alert sentries spotted it and blew warning horns.
A squad of cavalry galloped out of the camp, whether to ensure intelligence security or to provide support.
That red eagle had likely spotted enemy activity beyond the mountain. Although, in theory, the towering mountain dozens of miles away had been thoroughly searched many times and should have no ambushes, this was still demon territory—who knew what strange tricks they might have.
The red eagle was very fast and showed no signs of fatigue. It had just flown past the steep cliff when it suddenly plummeted toward the ground.
What was in that cliff?
A figure suddenly emerged from a pile of rocks, darting like lightning across the grassland toward the human camp.
It was a disciple of the Longevity Pavilion, known for his swift movement techniques, serving as the most dangerous forward scout.
When that Longevity Pavilion disciple was still a few miles from the camp, he let out a muffled groan and fell heavily to the ground.
"Crossbow bolts!"
Angry, sharp shouts rang out from the camp, followed by the twang of bowstrings. Hundreds of crossbow bolts, glowing with sacred light, tore through the dim morning light, landing behind the disciple, covering an area of dozens of feet, leaving dense holes from which faint green smoke rose.
The human army had become quite experienced—those demon soldiers skilled in pursuit often emerged from underground.
Soon, the cavalry squad reached the Longevity Pavilion disciple.
His legs were covered in blood, clearly broken.
But he paid it no mind, shouting hoarsely, "There are demons in the mountains! Can’t tell which tribe, but there are many!"
The cavalry soldiers pulled him onto a horse and turned back toward the camp.
No one noticed that three cavalry soldiers continued galloping toward the distant mountain, their purpose unknown.
……
……
The mountain peak had not yet awakened in the early morning. The cliff face facing the human army was very dark.
Suddenly, the sound of demon soldiers echoed from the cliff, but their location was unclear.
After so many searches, why hadn’t these demons been found?
Halfway up the hundreds-of-feet-high cliff were dozens of very small caves—too small for even a slender human soldier to crawl into.
During the initial searches, these were thought to be bird nests and were ignored.
No one expected the enemy to be hiding in these bird caves.
Because the enemy was not demon soldiers—they were birds.
They were a type of black-gray vulture.
Thousands of vultures surged out of these small caves, then flapped their wings and took to the air.
Clearly, these vultures were trained, perhaps even directly controlled. They were extremely orderly; even in the sky, their formation did not scatter.
The three cavalry soldiers were still some distance from the mountain. Seeing the commotion in the sky, they were puzzled. Even if these vultures were trained to attack ground targets, using sharp talons to harm the human camp was far-fetched.
Just then, the first ray of morning light pierced through the crevices of the mountain and fell upon the grassland.
The sudden brightness startled a vulture, causing it to loosen its claws. A dark object fell.
With a thunderous roar, a large fire erupted on the grass before the cliff.
Watching this scene, the three cavalry soldiers exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other’s eyes, but they did not slow down. Instead, they sped up, racing toward the mountain.
8
(Sanqi Chinese)