Chương 32: No Road South

Deep war drums rolled across the camp that had once belonged to the Northern Garrison Army. Now, it belongs to the Zhao Yi Army. A blue-green banner slowly rose above the watchtower. At its center, a golden sun blazed within a ring of six stars. The women of Huaiyuan had embroidered it from Gu Zhiwei's design. This was the Golden Sun and Six Stars Flag, a banner that would one day be known across the realm. The golden sun symbolized justice brought into the light.

The six stars stood for Great Yong's six great mountain ranges, and through them, the realm itself. They were also a private nod to Gu Zhiwei's group of six, though later generations would never know it. To them, the six stars simply marked the origins of the Council of Six Elders. When they had debated what to call the army, Shen Yan proposed Zhao Yi, "to let righteousness shine beneath Heaven." Everyone understood that the name carried another meaning as well. It honored Gu Zhao.

He had not lived to see this day, but the light he left behind now lived on in the name of their army. Shen Yan stood below the platform and unfurled the Proclamation Denouncing Tyrannical Yong. In a ringing voice, he read out the Yong Emperor's ten great crimes, including the murder of innocents, the slaughter of loyal ministers, the refusal to send disaster relief to Yunzhou, and the crushing burden of taxes and levies. For a moment, Shen Yan's impassioned voice was the only sound in the entire camp.

"The tyrant Emperor of Yong surrounds himself with the wicked and the sycophantic, while casting aside the loyal and worthy. He abuses his power and slaughters the common people. Heaven brought forth the people to live, not to be slaves to one family!"

"Now the righteous army has risen, and we swear to cleanse the realm. We strike down tyrants and corrupt officials. We bring peace to the people. Elders of every province and commandery, soldiers who defend your homes, and all who would save the imperiled and restore order from chaos: join us in common cause and lend your strength to this righteous uprising!" When the proclamation ended, Gu Zhiwei drew her blade and raised it high.

"One heart! One strength! Down with tyrannical Yong!" Two hundred thousand soldiers of the Zhao Yi Army drew their blades as one.

"One heart! One strength! Down with tyrannical Yong!" The oath thundered across the camp, louder with every repetition, until even the civilians outside the camp joined in. Then her panel lit up, and the mechanical female voice she had not heard in so long sounded once more. 【Player Greenfeather has unlocked a key quest path: The Baleful Star Ascendant】 【Main Quest: Find the Baleful Star. 】 【Shared Progress: 1% → 10%. 】 The Forum, which had been one step from flatlining, lurched back to life. 【Two years! TWO YEARS!

Greenfeather finally moved the progress bar! 】 【What does "The Baleful Star Ascendant" even mean? Did she find the faction connected to the Baleful Star? 】 【Everyone, report in! Anything new been happening around you lately? 】 【I have a theory! After years of twists and turns, yours truly finally managed to infiltrate Yan Qi's rebel army hidden deep in the mountains. Things have been feeling pretty heated around here lately, like everyone might rise up in rebellion at any moment. Very suspicious vibes.

There's a good chance Greenfeather is here too. Let me observe a little longer! 】 【What's the situation over there? Yan Qi's been off the radar for two years. How many troops has he built up by now? Keep scouting and report back! 】 【I'm telling you, I really think it's Yan Qi. He's already got over a hundred thousand people under him. 】 No one knew that a new banner had been raised over the northern frontier that day. Still fewer knew who stood beneath it. That was fine with Gu Zhiwei.

The Forum was an excellent source of intelligence, and until the quest was over, she was perfectly happy to remain an NPC in everyone else's eyes. As the rebel army marched south, seasoned officials from Liangzhou and Shuozhou followed close behind the Golden Sun and Six Stars Flag. Whenever a city fell, their first moves were always the same: post the equal-field allotment notices, seal the government granaries, and inspect the household registers. The Zhao Yi Army took only the provisions it needed for the march.

Everything left in the granaries was distributed among local households. At first, people treated the rumors with suspicion. Only when the Zhao Yi Army entered their own cities did they realize the stories were true. In the surrounding towns, commoners began watching the roads for the Golden Sun and Six Stars Flag. The governors and magistrates who had spent years squeezing the people dry panicked. Some began planning their escape. Others sent frantic pleas for aid to the Yong capital.

On the battlefield, the Zhao Yi Army's two years of training were beginning to show. The first city fell in less than half a day. The magistrate of the second fled overnight with the treasury silver and even set fire to the government granary on his way out, leaving the locals ready to tear him limb from limb.

By the time the army reached Liyang, the provincial capital of Qiongzhou, the defenders on the walls took one look at the Golden Sun and Six Stars Flag and simply lowered their own governor over the battlements on a rope.

"Easy! Easy! Ow!" The governor kicked wildly in midair.

"I surrender! I surrender too!" The Zhao Yi soldiers below the walls burst out laughing. Many of Liyang's defenders had gone months without pay. When they heard that joining the Zhao Yi Army meant receiving land and two years' tax exemption, nearly the entire garrison was ready to switch sides. The Zhao Yi Army grew rapidly, first from two hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand, and then to nearly three hundred thousand.

Some of the new recruits were still wearing their old Yong armor, with nothing changed but the plumes on their helmets. Shen Yan's clerks worked through the night to register every new soldier. The surrendered troops were broken up and folded into veteran units, drilling as they marched. Within a month, eight northern provinces had raised new banners. Wang Pu and Aglaya were thrilled by their progress. Still, Gu Zhiwei was well aware that they had yet to face the Yong Emperor's regular army.

The real test was still ahead. Such upheaval in the north naturally drew the players' attention as well. 【HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT! You guys are not gonna believe what I just saw! 】 Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! 【OP, SPILL! 】 【I landed in Qiongzhou. This godforsaken place is miles from anything, so I've basically been doing nothing for almost four years. Then overnight, the whole place got taken over by a rebel army. 】 【Wait, what?

Yan Qi finally rebelled? 】 【We did declare a rebellion, yeah, but we're nowhere near Qiongzhou. Confused. jpg】 【NO!! It's not Yan Qi!! Oh my god, I can't believe I ran straight into something this juicy! I went and asked what their leader was called. Guess what they told me! 】 【STOP TEASING US AND SPIT IT OUT! 】 【They said their leader is a woman named Gu Zhiwei!! She's the younger sister of Lord Gu Zhao, you know, the guy everyone in the capital was obsessed with!! 】 【OH MY GOD!!

I never thought I'd live to see this!! This woman is hardcore as hell. Most people avenging their brother would stop at assassinating the damn emperor. She spent two whole years lying low and building an army, then straight-up launched a rebellion! I'm suddenly so fucking hyped!! 】 The Forum exploded at once, demanding that the player investigate further and keep everyone updated. Some players were worried. A sinking ship could still fire its cannons.

What if Gu Zhiwei failed to defeat the Yong Emperor's army and met the same fate as her brother? Arguments broke out in every direction. Some people even began live-tracking the rebellion, posting daily updates on how far "Rebel Sis" had pushed south. Meanwhile, word that the northern provinces had changed banners, along with the proclamation against Yong, finally reached the Yong capital via the express courier relay. Gu Zhiwei's name was plainly signed at the bottom.

The governors and magistrates who had fled their provinces all confirmed the same thing: the true commander behind the so-called "Western Regions coalition army" was the youngest daughter of the Gu family. The Yong Emperor read the name three times. Then he stared at the page as though the three characters had somehow become unfamiliar. Gu Zhi Wei! The Yong Emperor ground his teeth.

She had taken the peace treaty he signed and the wealth he handed over, then spent two full years turning both into an army in the north. Inside Yanying Hall, not a teacup, brush, or inkstone on the imperial desk survived. Porcelain shards and ink flew in every direction, sending eunuchs and maids scrambling to their knees.

"Bring me her head!" The Yong Emperor's voice shook with fury.

"Mobilize the army! Four hundred thousand. Is that enough? I want her dead!" The Minister of War braced himself before speaking.

"Your Majesty, reports have arrived from the south. Yan Qi has rebelled as well. I fear we may have to divert some troops to deal with him."

"Then divert them!" The Yong Emperor slammed a palm onto the desk.

"But Gu Zhiwei dies first!" The imperial army marched north through Yunzhou and met the Zhao Yi Army at Lingxiao Pass. Lingxiao Pass was wedged deep between the mountains. Sheer cliffs rose on either side, cut as cleanly as if by blades, while walls dozens of feet high sealed the only road south. Its defending general, Liu Baicheng, came from a long line of soldiers and had not suffered a major defeat in more than twenty years. He was one of the finest generals under the Yong Emperor.

He ordered siege crossbows hauled onto the walls and had chutes prepared along the mountainside for rolling logs and boulders. Every tree within three miles of the pass had been felled. There was not so much as a grove left to hide behind. On the Zhao Yi Army's first attempt to storm the pass, their scaling ladders had not even touched the walls before bolts came raining down from above. The ten siege crossbows were worse.

Their bolts, thick as a child's arm, punched through shields and the soldiers behind them, sometimes pinning two men to the mud with a single shot. Within moments, the vanguard was being slaughtered in place.

"Retreat!" Gu Zhiwei snapped the signal flag downward. The drums changed cadence at once. The vanguard battalion dragged its wounded back out of range. Liu Baicheng was a seasoned veteran. He did not underestimate Gu Zhiwei simply because she was a young woman with little reputation as a battlefield commander. Nor did he send his men out in pursuit. He merely ordered their arrows restocked and fresh stones hauled into position, watching coldly as the Zhao Yi Army withdrew. They tried again. And again.

One night, under a moonless sky, the soldiers advanced with wooden bits between their teeth while the horses' hooves were wrapped to muffle their steps. They crept to within three hundred paces of the walls. Then fire flared all along the battlements. Fire arrows poured down like rain, turning the ground beneath the walls bright as day. The darkness that had hidden the attackers vanished in an instant. Liu Baicheng had replaced the lighter wooden bolts in the siege crossbows with heavy, iron-tipped shafts.

The strings thrummed. Massive bolts tore through the air and punched straight through the rawhide-covered wooden screens protecting the battering rams. Three battering rams went out that night. Only one came back. On the final frontal assault, Matt personally led the charge to the foot of the wall, shield raised above him. Boulders hammered down from the battlements. Several struck his shield squarely, buckling the iron inward. The impacts numbed his arm.

The skin between his thumb and forefinger split open, and blood ran down the rim of the shield. Matt simply switched the shield to his other hand and kept moving across ground strewn with broken stone and blood. Gu Zhiwei commanded the archers from the rear, covering Matt and the others. But against walls that high, most of the archers could do little. Gu Zhiwei herself rarely missed, but there were simply too many defenders. Every man she dropped was replaced almost immediately.

Liu Baicheng had clearly noticed her accuracy and terrifying range. He pulled back to command from deeper within the defenses, denying her any clean shot at the enemy commander and any chance to break the defenders' morale by taking him down. She had, in fact, been hoping to do exactly that. Now he had shut that path down too. At terrible cost, several scaling ladders finally went up against the wall. Their iron hooks caught on the crenellations, and some soldiers began climbing.

The lead climber was almost at the top when the defenders suddenly heaved a huge cauldron onto the battlements. Matt looked up from below. He knew at once what was coming.

"Get clear!" He flung his shield aside, seized the base of the scaling ladder with both hands, and heaved the entire ladder, soldiers and all, away from the wall. His boots sank deep into the mud. Every muscle across his shoulders, back, and arms went rigid beneath the weight. The next instant, scalding water mixed with quicklime cascaded down from the battlements. The soldiers on the ladder shouted and clung desperately to the rungs.

With the weight of the ladder and more than a dozen men in his hands, Matt staggered backward several steps. Only when they were clear of the wall did he growl through clenched teeth.

"Hold on tight!" He twisted his body and fought the ladder down behind him, inch by inch. The soldiers highest up still hit the ground hard as the ladder came down, but it was far better than taking an entire cauldron of scalding water head-on. Matt hauled the nearest man to his feet, then turned back and dragged away another soldier who had injured his leg in the fall.

"Fall back! Keep moving! Don't stop beneath the walls!" The Zhao Yi vanguard began an orderly retreat. Even the Yong soldiers watching from the battlements were shaken by Matt's monstrous strength. Liu Baicheng's brow tightened. The pass still gave them the advantage, but this enemy was no rabble. Now he understood exactly how the Zhao Yi Army had swept north so quickly. Troops this disciplined. Commanders this fierce. If he had to face them on open ground, even Liu Baicheng could not say who would win.

He immediately doubled the guards on the walls and sent an urgent message to the rear requesting additional siege crossbows. Back in the Zhao Yi Army camp, Gu Zhiwei moved through the wounded soldiers' tents, her expression grave. The bitter scent of medicinal herbs hung thick in the air. Aglaya hurried from one wounded soldier to the next, helping wherever she could. Wet cloths lay piled beside wooden basins. Muted groans mingled with the rain drumming against the tent roofs.

"My lord..." A young soldier near the entrance reached for Gu Zhiwei as she passed. She crouched beside him. His wounds were severe. Blood was still seeping through the bandages wrapped around his chest. Gu Zhiwei started to rise and call for a healer, but the soldier caught the edge of her robe. His breathing was already faint, yet his fingers clung stubbornly to the cloth.

"My lord, my name is Shi Erniu. I'm from Beichuan in Shuozhou..." The boy looked no more than fifteen or sixteen, but the helmet plume lying beside him marked him as a soldier of the vanguard battalion. His face was wet with tears. Maybe from the pain. Maybe because he knew his end had come.

"Please, my lord... give my pay to my mother." He drew a ragged breath. Bloody foam spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he forced out a few more words.

"My lord... thank you. You let us take some of our camp rations home to our families. My mother... ate rice with meat for the first time in her life." A faint smile touched his face.

"She was so happy..." There was nothing grand in those words. Just a simple, honest thank-you. Before Gu Zhiwei could answer, Shi Erniu stopped breathing. The man keeping watch beside him was from the same squad. He broke down sobbing.

"How did someone this young end up in the vanguard?!" Gu Zhiwei could not keep the anger from her voice.

"My lord, Erniu fought for that spot himself." The squadmate looked up, his eyes brimming with tears and his voice shaking.

"He beat a man two heads taller than himself and proudly earned his place in the vanguard. He... he always wanted to repay you, my lord. He said his whole family would've starved without you." The soldier swallowed hard.

"He knew we were marching south to help more people like his family. He was proud to go. He was happy... Please don't blame him. He never regretted it." Around them, more soldiers quietly began to cry. The scene hit Gu Zhiwei harder than any blow. Through her blurred vision, the Grand Sacred Spirit Shaman's words rose in her mind once more.

"If you choose to stand before others and lead them forward, you must also have the courage to meet their tear-filled eyes." Gu Zhiwei went down on one knee beside Shi Erniu's body. Her voice was quiet, but the promise was absolute.

"Your pay and the compensation due to your family will reach your mother. From now on... she will never go hungry again." Even though he could no longer hear her. With that, Gu Zhiwei rose and strode out of the wounded soldiers' tent. Now was no time for tears.