ITF Chapter104

A long arrow grazed Bai Heting’s shoulder guard as it flew past, embedding itself cleanly and decisively into the snow behind him.

To be able to maintain such accuracy from such a distance could be considered excellent. On the battlefield, however, excellent archery alone was far from enough.

“I believe I have already made myself perfectly clear, yet Young General Shao still insists on turning weapons against me?” Bai Heting didn’t cast so much as a single glance at the arrow, his tone as steady as ever. “Have you ever considered that this arrow, which just brushed past me, might very well be an indication given to you by your Lord?”

“Utter nonsense!” The position he occupied was inherently outside of effective firing range; it was completely evident he had come fully prepared. His eyes were bloodshot, Shao Yixiao violently slammed the yew longbow in his hand down onto the ground. “The entire world knows that His Majesty the late King only ever wed a single Queen! For General Bai to openly utter such treasonous words, it seems you are determined to walk this dark path to the very end with the rebels!”

Bai Heting could detect a dense, murderous intent radiating from the tobacco pheromones, but behind Shao Yixiao, a detachment of soldiers had already lowered their longbows of their own accord. At the same time, the sounds of a commotion drifted down from several of the ambush points overhead.

No particular emotion manifested on Bai Heting’s face; these people were exactly those he had ordered Su Xingchuan to contact in secret beforehand. Bai Yi had spent over a decade and still failed to completely erase the traces of Pei Ming’s existence; for Bai Jiashu to think he could root out all of his confidants in a mere four years was, naturally, nothing but a fool’s errand.

Yet the chaos was only temporary, as obedience remained a soldier’s instinct. Knowing full well that he could not stay here alone for long, he cast one final sweep of his eyes over those familiar faces.

“That is all I came to say today.” Tightening his grip on the reins, he slowed his speech, offering a warning with the utmost deliberation and caution. “I do not wish for my hands to be stained with the blood of a single one of my own people ever again. Anyone, so long as they hunt us out of this valley—”

The prideful, frost-defying Omega held his head high, delivering his final warning with resounding force, pausing heavily on every single word:

“From this day forward, he is an enemy of the late King, an enemy of the founders of this nation, and—a traitor to the Kingdom.”

*

The heavy snow had washed away the dust and haze, making the world appear more translucent than ever before, yet Luo Congye was in no mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Standing on the crest of the high ground, his gaze followed the flat, unbroken expanse of ice all the way forward, watching fixedly in the direction where the main army was likely to appear.

He knew perfectly well that it was impossible for Bai Heting to act entirely according to his plan, but the news that had returned from the front lines a few days ago had still far exceeded his imagination.

Bai Heting had actually publicly declared himself to be Bai Yi’s legitimate eldest son.

Upon hearing of this matter, the Urdan people situated in the rear had reacted quite violently with many believing they had been used by Bai Heting and turned into tools for his bid for the throne. Fortunately, everyone had managed to maintain their sanity in a timely manner before their common enemy. Everyone knew that at a time like this, not a single shred of distraction could be afforded. Barring any accidents, the icy surface below would soon be inundated by a tide-like sea of people.

“Drink something hot.”

Hearing the voice, Luo Congye turned his head and saw Su Xingchuan standing behind him.

Ever since he was brought back to the capital by Bai Heting at the age of six, this dependable house steward had always treated him well. His voice finally allowed Luo Congye’s nerves, which had been strained to their absolute limit, to relax slightly.

Su Xingchuan took a few more steps forward, pressed the warm cup of wine into his hands, and stepped back behind him. As the white steam drifted up from the rim of the cup, Luo Congye held the wine but did not drink, his gaze falling back onto the spot he had stared at countless times over the past few days.

“I shouldn’t have let him go.” He murmured.

How could he have overlooked this? Bai Heting wouldn’t have hidden away in such an inconspicuous little fishing village for no reason. The reason he had concealed himself so deeply was that the moment he showed his face, it would inevitably bring fatal peril upon him. His mere existence would shake the crown atop Bai Jiashu’s head, and Bai Jiashu would absolutely do everything in his power to take his life to rid himself of the trouble once and for all.

Yet, he had actually allowed Bai Heting to go to the front lines to act as bait.

He hadn’t had a single drop of water all day, and his voice sounded terribly hoarse. Su Xingchuan said nothing, only reaching out to pat his back.

Still staring into the distance, Luo Congye asked in a low voice, “Did you know before this? About his true background.”

“No.” Su Xingchuan answered candidly.

When he first heard the news, he was every bit as shocked as everyone else. But when he calmed himself and thought back carefully, the signs seemed to have been there all along. When Bai Yi appointed him steward of Bai Heting’s residence in the capital, he had mentioned that Pei Ming, believing him to be trustworthy, had personally recommended him for the position.

At the time, however, he hadn’t thought any deeper. Had he thought about it just a bit more, he might have realized that the Marshal never intervened in trivial, insignificant matters; that eleven-year-old boy wandering the streets held a special significance in the Marshal’s eyes.

Luo Congye placed the wine cup back onto the makeshift command table and let out a soft breath.

“I’ve long been used to waiting for him to come back.” That breath of hot air instantly turned into a cloud of white mist in the biting, frigid wind. He forcefully rubbed his eyes, which were dry from exhaustion, his voice growing even hoarser. “But I have never been this afraid before. If anything happens to him, I will absolutely never be able to forgive myself.”

Since their reunion, it was the first time Su Xingchuan had seen vulnerability and uncertainty in Luo Congye. The revolutionary army leader who was now capable of standing on his own seemed, for a moment, to have reverted to the inexperienced and unworldly young man he once was.

“Pull yourself together. He is an exceptional commander; the enemy won’t get the better of him,” he comforted him warmly. “Besides, you’ve done very well. When he is with you, he is very different.”

“Very different?” Luo Congye looked over at him in confusion.

“Yes.” Su Xingchuan smiled gently. “Whether it was in the past or now, whenever he is with you…”

“They’re here.” The artillery commander, Su Jinwen, suddenly interrupted their low murmur.

Closely following his words were the chaotic sounds of slaughter and the neighing of warhorses.

The atmosphere in the makeshift command post instantly turned cold and grim. It had taken the main army nearly a week of circuitous retreats to reach this point, and their forces were heavily depleted; as far as the eye could see, there was only a dense, dark mass of enemy troops. The right-flank cavalry responsible for the interception had already swept down from another ambush point, but the disparity in troop strength between them and the enemy was clearly far more disparate than estimated before the war.

Everyone in the command post held their breath, universally doing the exact same thing—searching through the sea of people for a highly raised three-colored feather commander’s flag.

According to the plan, upon moving out of artillery range, Bei Yang would order someone to raise one of Bai Heting’s commander’s flags to signal their position to the command post on the high ground.

This was also the signal to open fire.

“Commander,” Su Jinwen reminded him, “the enemy’s main force has already entered our firing range.”

Blades clashed, and the snow-covered ground shuddered beneath the turmoil. Luo Congye stared down the mountainside without blinking, a surge of blood carrying a rusty metallic taste rising into his throat.

From this position, he could clearly see that the enemy’s cavalry vanguard was about to ride past their artillery range.

Yet, that three-colored feather commander’s flag was still nowhere to be seen.

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