“Form ranks!”
In a quarter of an hour, the surviving remnant soldiers had already formed ranks, ready for departure.
The personal guards dragged the Wen family's great banner from a pile of corpses and hoisted it onto their shoulders.
Their horses had long since disappeared, and the remaining twenty li of road had to be covered on foot.
Wen Yue looked at the soldiers beside him. Some of them had bloodshot eyes from battle, yet all carried a deep weariness, and a fervent desire for life burst forth from their gazes.
Wen Yue not only wanted to bring his father-in-law back, but he also had to do his best to bring back these soldiers who had followed him.
Taking his father-in-law's long spear, Wen Yue said to everyone, "Stay close to me."
He then walked at the very front.
Jiangyun Valley, its long pass covered in a bloody mire, with corpses piled high. Blood melted the snow, converging into trickling streams.
Every step was a blood-soaked path laid by countless lives.Yet, it was also the only path to survival.
...
Above the high ground of Jiangyun Valley.
Yuwen Xing watched the battlefield with a grim expression. This battle had incurred such heavy losses of troops. Now he only had eight thousand men in his central army, but thankfully, the outcome was still within his acceptable limits.
As long as he eliminated Song Hao, his son, and Song Hao's son-in-law, Wen Yue, this battle would be a great victory.
The scout commander handed the report to the deputy general, who rushed over. "Commander, the Wen family banner is still there."
“Remnant forces?”
Yuwen Xing straightened his monocular telescope, but unfortunately, his view was obstructed until the Wen family banner appeared at the mouth of Jiangyun Valley.
However, it was still too far to see clearly.
He could only see the banner fluttering and a group of remnant soldiers.
A disorganized mob of less than a thousand, all wounded, some severely, carried forward by others.
But the presence of the general's banner indicated that the Wen family army had not retreated; they might even have broken through.
Yuwen Xing frowned deeply. With twenty thousand men pressing them, the Wen family banner's soldiers had actually managed to break out. This was one thing, but now the sounds of battle had ceased, and the ambush troops in the valley had likely been completely wiped out.
“Has the Immortal Masters not slain Wen Yue yet?”
“Or have the Immortal Masters already left?”
“What about Song Hao?”
Three questions surfaced in Yuwen Xing's mind. He had never imagined that Wen Yue would emerge alive.
Although he didn't know the Immortal Masters' true strength, he knew that four Immortal Masters had come this time, all with profound spiritual power.
Wen Yue was just one person, and only twenty-four years old. Intelligence stated that Wen Yue was a newly rising general.
Even if he were also an Immortal Master, his strength shouldn’t be that profound.
So Yuwen Xing had not considered this possibility.
Of course, these remnant forces could not be let go.
The Immortal Master had stated that in this battle, it would be best to leave no one alive, to completely annihilate them, and not let a single person return.
Although he didn’t know why the Immortal Master would say this, and even if they received limited help from the Immortal Master, it was still given secretly. However, the second-rate and first-rate experts in the army had their strength secretly enhanced, which was already quite good.
It was precisely for this reason that Great Wei was able to repeatedly gain the upper hand against Southern Liang, crushing hundreds of thousands of Southern Liang's troops over ten years.
The Immortal Masters also did not need prisoners. If they defeated the enemy, no matter how many troops Great Wei lost, they had to annihilate all of Southern Liang's soldiers.
Yuwen Xing had not dared to think too much about it before, but now, it seemed as if the Immortal Masters had been constantly pushing Great Wei to devour Southern Liang.
Since the Immortal Masters had given their word, they naturally had to obey.
Yuwen Xing immediately ordered, "Gather the central army and follow this commander to devour these thousand defeated soldiers."
“Yes, sir.”
Eight thousand men from the central army, when they moved together, seemed no less imposing than ten thousand.
Wen Yue looked back, spiritual power surging to enhance his vision. He saw the "Yuwen" banner, indicating that Yuwen Xing, who had been calmly observing, could no longer sit still and wanted to swallow these thousand defeated soldiers.
Wen Yue didn't want to prolong the battle; his spiritual power was less than ten percent.
He also had to divert spiritual power to suppress his injuries, in addition to dragging along so many wounded soldiers.
If he entangled with Yuwen Xing, more people would only die.
If he let Teacher take action, the more people who saw Teacher on the battlefield, the more Teacher would be exposed.
No matter how the Primordial Spirit Sect reacted to the news of Cui Guang's death, it was crucial to minimize Teacher's exposure as much as possible. Moreover, he didn't have enough spiritual power to support Teacher in prolonged combat.
If Teacher's enemies from his previous life were to discover Teacher's current appearance, wouldn't that invite even greater trouble?
The Soul Banner was a powerful magical tool, and loose cultivators in Liang City would surely covet it.
News spreading would only attract more greedy people.
Wen Yue had always believed that, unless absolutely necessary, he should try not to let Teacher take action.
Unfortunately, every battle was a matter of life and death.
The pursuing troops were still far from them.
As long as they kept running, they could widen the distance.
“Keep up with the team!”
Those in front ran, and those behind pursued.
“Chasing like this won’t work,” Yuwen Xing realized from their marching speed that if he dragged the main army along, he definitely wouldn’t be able to catch up to the remnant forces. “Personal guards, follow me.”
A thousand elite cavalry guards flanked Yuwen Xing.
They left the main army behind, and the thundering hooves of a thousand cavalrymen rapidly began to close the distance with Wen Yue and his group.
“Son-in-law, let us stay and cover the retreat,” the old Song family soldier said.
“Please, son-in-law, bring the Marquis back safely.”
“If we stay to cover the retreat, there’s still a chance for survival.”
“Brothers, we’re not leaving.”
Wen Yue’s expression remained unchanged. He roared, “Stay close to me! We’ve already fought our way out of that meat grinder; how can I leave you to die again?”
“I am the commanding general! This is an order! Are you defying orders?”
Wen Yue took out a signal flare from his embrace, suddenly ignited it, and launched it into the sky.
“Whoosh!”
“Boom-clang!”
A signal flare now? Was it to scare off the pursuing soldiers?
With Geng Lie’s stinginess, how could he possibly send reinforcements?
Seeing Wen Yue’s resolute expression, everyone immediately dared not speak of covering the retreat again. But they understood that running like this, two legs could never compete with four. They would eventually be caught by the cavalry behind them.
At that point, they would just have to deal with it.
It was merely fighting to the death and going to the Yellow Springs together; no need for further words.
...
“Defeated troops, don’t run!” Yuwen Xing bellowed.
The cavalry was less than two li from Wen Yue.
The sound of hooves thundered.
One li.
Just as they were about to catch up, Yuwen Xing suddenly saw the Annan Marquis, Song Hao, being carried on someone’s back in front. Other things could be mistaken, but the helm and armor could not be.
“Kill!”
The remaining ambush troops had played their part, and the last thousand cavalry quickly arrived.
Another two thousand infantry were still behind, but could arrive at any moment.
Yuwen Xing quickly halted his advance, his expression shifting. He didn’t know if Song Hao was dead or alive, but clearly the enemy still had reinforcements. If he prolonged the battle, he might find himself trapped.
He was not like Tuoba Hong.
After a moment's thought, Yuwen Xing decided to withdraw his troops.
“Withdraw!”
Yuwen Xing’s personal guards had long known their lord’s temperament, so they naturally didn’t offer any advice, simply following him in retreat.
“Wen Chong is late; I beg Young Master to punish me.”
Wen Chong dismounted, about to half-kneel before Wen Yue.
Wen Yue quickly helped Wen Chong up. “Not late at all. If not for you, our brothers would have been devoured.”
“It is Young Master’s strategic planning, arranging the ambush beforehand.”
Wen Yue slightly shook his head at Wen Chong’s flattery. His expression was sorrowful.
Hatred flashed in his eyes as he looked in the direction of Tong Pass.
“Let’s go!”
(Chapter End)