Chapter 101: Operation to Reclaim Chang'an (3)
Because Chang’an was surrounded by mountain ranges, it possessed a natural fortress-like topography that was impenetrable if specific passes were blocked. Conversely, it also meant that if one could not break through those passes, there was no way to escape the region.
On the main road at the entrance of Hu County, the southern exit of the Guanzhong Plain, around seven hundred burly men were moving about frantically.
“Hurry! They say the cavalry will be here soon!”
The volunteer soldiers brought logs, branches, stones, and any obstacles they could find to pile them along the road. There was no time to build proper wooden barricades. They dragged over anything they could lay their hands on and scattered them across the path.
Captain Song Gyeom approached his advisor, Yang Heung, and asked, “Will this really be effective?”
“Adjutant Yang Yeon-jeong is a seasoned commander. Since she said so, it will surely be of help.”
The volunteer army had never fought against cavalry before. Moreover, they could not help but be nervous, knowing the enemy forces outnumbered them three to one. Yang Heung began to encourage the men.
“We only need to hold out until the government forces arrive! Everyone, hurry!”
As the volunteer soldiers bustled about, their movements suddenly ground to a halt. A massive cloud of dust rose ahead, and the ground began to rumble.
“Th-they’re coming!”
“Just how many of them are there?”
The strength of a cavalry unit lay in its overwhelming momentum fueled by rapid mobility. Facing them, it was nearly impossible not to feel terror. Even before the enemy came into view, the volunteer soldiers began to falter.
“Hurry up and gather!”
They began to cluster behind the obstacles. Unlike the government troops, they had no proper formation.
After a moment, the cavalry emerged in the distance. Their numbers seemed to multiply continuously.
How could anyone remain calm when facing a cavalry charge on an open plain? Stricken with anxiety, the volunteer soldiers grew terrified.
“How are we supposed to stop that?”
“Are we going to die here today?”
“Guys, I don’t think I’ll make it back to my father’s house…”
The enemy forces were three times their own, and the formation charging forward as one body felt like an imposing wall. Captain Song Gyeom stepped to the front and shouted, “If we break, our families die too! We must hold out until the government army arrives, no matter what!”
It was the greatest crisis the volunteer army had faced since its inception. Yet, they could not run. If this line fell, their hometown would be ruthlessly trampled.
“We are the Shaanxi Volunteer Army! We will risk our lives to stop them!”
The commanders repeatedly urged the men, but it was in vain. Some were so overwhelmed by the sheer pressure that they began to shrink back.
The distance to the cavalry closed to less than a hundred zhang. It was a critical moment. Suddenly, a powerful surge of qi rippled from the rear of the volunteer army.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind swept forward, washing over the volunteer soldiers. In that instant, a familiar girl appeared like a flash of lightning.
Running up in a flurry, So-so panted and spoke, “Whew, I’m exhausted! Hello, uncles!”
Relief washed over the faces of the volunteer soldiers. Some were so moved that they even shed tears.
“G-General…?!”
“General So-so has come to help us!!!”
“I told you, didn’t I?! She would come if we were in danger!”
The atmosphere shifted instantly, and the spark in the volunteers’ eyes returned.
“I’m not too late, right?”
Song Gyeom stood before So-so, tears welling in his eyes. “You arrived just in time. I knew you would come… Thank goodness.”
Their courage rekindled and their will to fight blazed anew. The volunteer soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons, their spirits soaring.
Meanwhile, shadowed beneath a ginkgo tree about a dozen zhang away, Yeon Seo-hwa watched them in utter bewilderment.
‘What on earth is going on? So-so is the general of the volunteer army?’
Her face twisted in disbelief. Still, she decided to observe for now.
Stepping to the front of the line, So-so spread her feet shoulder-width apart and lowered her stance. Then, she began to wave her arms, drawing a Taiji pattern in the air.
‘That stance is…?’
It was the Dragon-Striking Lion’s Roar, the supreme sonic technique of the Demonic Cult, said to bring down a flying dragon with a lion’s roar. Since no one in the current Jianghu had mastered it, she was curious about its power.
A fierce gale of qi erupted in a twenty-zhang radius around So-so. The wind whipped violently, and the grass on the ground danced in wild agitation.
“W-what’s happening?”
“Where did this sudden storm come from?”
The volunteer soldiers were bewildered by the strange sight, which they had never seen before. Grinning amidst the rising gale, So-so chuckled.
“Heehee. Uncles, cover your ears.”
“Everyone, block your ears and get back!”
The volunteer soldiers hurriedly fell back behind So-so and covered their ears. By then, the cavalry was less than twenty zhang away.
So-so slowly moved her hands like a crane spreading its wings, guiding the turbulent qi. The moment she opened her mouth, the raging waves of qi were sucked in, vanishing into her small mouth in an instant.
“Huuuuuuup—”
The chaotic waves of qi vanished, leaving the surroundings as quiet as the calm before a storm. In a horse stance, So-so held her small, walnut-like fists at her waist.
Meanwhile, the charging cavalrymen were puzzled to see the volunteer soldiers simply standing there. But what did it matter? Intent on trampling them in a single sweep, they gripped their weapons and prepared to break through.
It was the exact moment the cavalry commander at the front raised his weapon high.
In that split second, So-so’s mouth flew open, unleashing a lion’s roar that shook the heavens and earth.
“ROOOOOAR!!!”
Emitted in a fan shape, the sonic wave flattened all the grass for thirty zhang ahead. The obstacles piled by the volunteer army exploded into the air, scattering in all directions.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
Hundreds of riders fell from their mounts, blood streaming from their ears. That was not all; the well-trained warhorses from the Mongolian steppes began to panic and run wild.
Neighhh!
Horses collided and trampled the fallen riders, plunging the ranks into pure chaos. The logs and stones blasted into the air now rained down upon them like divine punishment.
Thud! Crack! Boom!
“Aaargh!”
“Damn it! What is this madness?”
“Ugh! What just happened?!”
It was a scene of absolute pandemonium. The riders who bore the brunt of the sonic wave collapsed in convulsions. Those in the middle ranks had their qi and blood thrown into disarray, unable to gather their senses, while only the soldiers at the rear managed to leap off their horses to reorganize.
So-so turned around. The volunteer soldiers stood with their mouths agape, gaping like fish.
Song Gyeom barely managed to compose himself and spoke in a trembling voice, “G-General…”
How could they not be astonished when she had neutralized the cavalry’s charge with a single blow? With half-lidded, drowsy eyes, So-so said, “I’m sleepy… Can I sleep now?”
The Dragon-Striking Lion’s Roar required significant preparation, and because it unleashed a massive amount of internal energy in an instant, it also consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Having exerted herself so suddenly, she was bound to feel exhausted.
Song Gyeom nodded vigorously and let out a thundering shout, “The General has ordered us to clean up the rest! Everyone, raise your weapons and attack! Sweep away this trash immediately!!!”
Their morale soaring to the heavens, the volunteer soldiers charged.
“Waaaah!!!”
“Charge!!!”
The dazed cavalrymen were in no position to fight back, nor could they retreat with their horses running amok. The volunteer army crashed into them, unleashing their pent-up rage with flashing blades.
“How dare you bastards target our village?!”
“You saw our General’s power, didn’t you?! Die!”
Slash! Splat!
Thanks to the volunteer army’s fierce onslaught, the cavalrymen at the front began to be slaughtered.
Although the tide of battle seemed to favor the volunteers, the cavalrymen at the rear posed a problem. Having suffered relatively less shock, they had dismounted and were now forming ranks. Moreover, they still outnumbered the volunteers.
As a desperate melee erupted on the main road, So-so leaned against the ginkgo tree slightly away from the battlefield and instantly fell fast asleep, snoring away.
Zzz… Zzz…
Moments later, a clear voice echoed from behind the tree.
“General, shall we head back now?”
A slender figure emerged from the shadow of the ginkgo tree and scooped the child into her arms.
‘The power of the Dragon-Striking Lion’s Roar is truly immense. To think it has this much force at only sixty percent mastery… At complete mastery, the entire cavalry unit would have been obliterated instantly. But why on earth do the volunteer soldiers call So-so “General”?’
It made no sense, but she had no way of finding the answer now.
Cradling So-so against her chest with her left hand supporting the child’s bottom, Yeon Seo-hwa turned toward the medical camp. However, she stopped after only a few steps. The desperate screams echoing from behind weighed on her mind.
“Mmm…”
Even without looking back, she could guess the state of the volunteer army. While they had avoided a one-sided slaughter thanks to the lion’s roar, they were still heavily outnumbered and far from safe.
Yeon Seo-hwa fell into brief deliberation. Weren’t they the very people her disciple had strived so hard to protect? She could not bring herself to leave them to their fate.
‘He will surely be saddened if the volunteer army is wiped out.’
Her mind made up, she turned back around.
By now, the volunteers were slowly being pushed back. Yeon Seo-hwa dashed toward the chaotic melee like a bolt of lightning.
Boom!
Suffocating demonic energy erupted from her body, instantly dominating the battlefield.
Both sides gasped at the sudden intrusion of this mysterious expert. Her movements and presence were on an entirely different level. An officer of the Hui Dynasty shouted blindly, “Get that woman first!!!”
A dozen soldiers rushed at her.
A cold smile played on Yeon Seo-hwa’s lips. As she extended her right hand, a handful of flying needles rose from her waist into the air.
How could the cavalrymen know that they were facing the Flying Lightning of the Demonic Flower, the supreme needle technique of the Demonic Cult?
As her hand clenched and then flung open, the needles shot outward, scattering in all directions.
Swish, swish, swish!
Pfft! Thud! Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
In the blink of an eye, a dozen soldiers collapsed. The remaining Hui soldiers gathered, their expressions tense.
Holding the child with one arm, Yeon Seo-hwa charged straight at them. Darting among the soldiers like lightning, she swung her right hand mercilessly. Enveloped in a dark current of energy, her hand struck five or six times in a single breath.
Crack! Crunch! Thud!
Any soldier struck by her palm was sent flying with a broken neck or collapsed instantly.
“W-what is she?”
“This is insane…”
Dozens of soldiers were turned into ghosts in an instant. Faced with a power they could not hope to oppose, the Hui troops felt utterly helpless.
Since cavalrymen focused primarily on mounted tactics, their individual martial prowess was relatively weak. It was rare to find anyone among them capable of emitting sword qi. How could they possibly stop Yeon Seo-hwa, the Jade Flower Saintess and the last Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, on their own?
Right then, one of the volunteer soldiers shouted in pure elation, “General So-so’s subordinate has come to help us!!!”
Yeon Seo-hwa let out a sigh of disbelief. To see her power and still assume she was a mere subordinate—it was clear just how blindly these men worshipped ‘General So-so.’
“Waaaah!!!”
“Sweep them all away!!!”
The morale of the volunteer army soared once more, piercing the heavens. It was no longer a fight the horseless cavalrymen could win.
To make matters worse for the enemy, a spear-wielder entered the fray. It was Yang Yeon-jeong, unleashing waves of spear qi and carving through the enemy ranks. Her movements were worthy of the title of the finest practitioner of the Yang Family Spear Technique.
Slash! Slice!
Every time she swung her spear, two or three soldiers collapsed. Realizing that the tide of battle had completely turned, a Hui officer shouted urgently, “All forces, retreat!!!”
Though they had arrived on horseback, they had to flee on foot. The volunteer soldiers pursued the frantically retreating enemy with burning eyes.
“The bastards are running!”
“Don’t let a single one escape!!!”
Not long after the pursuit began, the fleeing Hui soldiers were plunged into despair. A thick cloud of dust rose ahead, and the Hanzhong cavalry rode into view.
Having already left the battlefield, Yeon Seo-hwa stood atop a nearby tree branch.
‘There is no need to watch any further.’
She shifted So-so onto her back so the child could sleep comfortably, then lightly leaped down from the tree and set off in the opposite direction.
As she was running toward the medical camp, “Mom…”
Yeon Seo-hwa’s heart skipped a beat. So-so calling her ‘Mom’ was something she had never expected.
She responded softly, “Yes?”
But there was no reply, only the steady sound of snoring.
Zzz…
‘What… Was she just talking in her sleep?’