IDWBE -Chapter 169 Confrontation

“Above Earthly Reverent is Heavenly Reverent?”

Lin Yi assumed that must be the case.

“No, above Earthly Reverent is the Supreme,”

Consort Wen said calmly. “The Emperor of Ayu, Li Fo, is a Supreme.”

Lin Yi asked, “Then how many Supremes does Ayu have?”

Consort Wen rolled her eyes. “How should I know about these barbarian lands?”

“Do you really not know?”

Lin Yi sensed her disdain.

“Should I know?”

“Then this old man He is in danger,”

Lin Yi shouted without hesitation. “Ye Qiu!”

“Yes, Prince!”

Behind Ye Qiu were A-Dai and Yu Xiaoshi, who had come along.

Lin Yi said, “The three of you catch up with Lord He and ensure his safety.”

Ye Qiu replied, “Yes.”

Reluctantly, Yu Xiaoshi and A-Dai followed. They shouldn’t have come into the tent to begin with, but the Prince’s orders were not to be disobeyed—otherwise the Chief could kill them on the spot.

After the three left, Lin Yi smiled at Consort Wen. “Sister, if you have time, watch over them. You know, if a master attacks the camp, with just old He and his men, they wouldn’t survive.”

“I want roasted lamb leg,”

Consort Wen sighed. “Haven’t had it in three months.”

Lin Yi patted his chest. “No problem, it’ll be roasted right away.”

He immediately had lamb brought over and roasted outside the tent.

Unfortunately, Consort Wen only took two bites before leaving.

Five days later.

Lin Yi received news that the ten-thousand-strong Ayu army had emerged from the Ten-Thousand Mountains.

“How did they move so fast this time?”

Lin Yi leapt from his chair.

He had assumed that He Jixiang had brought only a small force because the main Ayu army wouldn’t arrive so quickly. With over ten thousand of their own troops, annihilating the three-thousand-strong vanguard would be easy.

Pando cupped his hands. “The Ayu vanguard repaired the roads along the way. The main army now has clear passage.”

Lin Yi looked at Chen Desheng. “Master Chen, what do you think we should do?”

Chen Desheng cupped his hands. “Prince, as you said, strength lies in unity. We shouldn’t scatter our forces. We must catch up with Lord He and merge our troops.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Lin Yi felt war was pointless.

The original plan to ambush at Golden Rooster Mountain had changed.

Now, it was just endless marching.

The army broke camp.

Lin Yi rode a donkey while Shen Chu, on horseback, caught up. “Prince, I’ve sent scouts and had Pando send messages via carrier pigeons to Lord He, asking him to wait for us.”

“Good,”

Lin Yi nodded. “Do it that way. Don’t ask me about everything; decide for yourselves.”

He really was just along for the ride!

If they won, he would be brilliant and heroic.

If they lost, he’d retire to an island.

Thanks to the laborers pre-building the roads, they caught up in just ten days with He Jixiang’s force, which had departed half a month earlier.

Lin Yi noticed more elephants and that the nearby Qian people had mostly joined them.

“Prince,”

He Jixiang said, “The Ayu army is only five li away, holding strategic terrain, facing us.”

“Then fight,” Lin Yi rubbed his brow.

“Yes,” He Jixiang shouted.

The next morning.

Sanhe soldiers and Ayu forces seemed to act in unison, sounding their horns simultaneously.

Ayu’s elephant troops charged down the mountain, numbering five to six hundred. The earth shook under their feet.

Sanhe archers, crouched on the ground, palms sweating, watched the elephants approach.

“Fire!”

When the elephants were just a kilometer away, Bao Kui gave the order, and thousands of arrows rained down, flying toward the elephants and the Ayu soldiers behind them.

The hard arrowheads pained the elephants. Though the riders were gone and no one commanded them, they charged madly, trumpeting in frenzy.

He Jixiang’s pre-dug pits and entangling ropes proved useless.

“Retreat!”

After two volleys, Bao Kui ordered the soldiers to pull back, revealing the Qian elephant troops behind them.

Another peculiar horn blast rang out.

The Qian elephant troops emitted strange cries and directly clashed with the Ayu elephants.

In an instant, chaos erupted—humans and elephants toppling everywhere. Blood was everywhere.

Ayu cavalry moved.

Shen Chu shouted and charged forward on horseback, with over two thousand cavalry following.

Ayu ponies, used to elephants, were fearless, galloping with flowing manes.

Sanhe cavalry horses, however, instinctively reared back at the elephants, neighing in panic, refusing to advance no matter how riders shouted or whipped them.

Many soldiers had to dismount, fighting hand-to-hand with the small Ayu riders.

Even energy-based martial artists could not withstand the impact of the horses.

Their side gradually lost the advantage.

Ayu’s morale soared!

“Fight!”

The elderly and nearly speechless He Jixiang suddenly roared. The two wings of Sanhe soldiers and militia flanked the enemy, forming an encirclement.

More Ayu troops charged down from the mountain.

Lin Yi stood atop a high peak. Elephants and humans alike looked like ants.

But the scenes of mutilation were vivid in his imagination; he dared not look.

Elephant riders fell off, trampled—could they survive a stomp?

War was nothing like he imagined: no subtle ambushes, no diversions, no tricks.

Just simple, brutal, direct melee.

The sun climbed higher.

Ayu, outnumbered, was mostly annihilated or captured. The rest retreated in order to the mountains, to the sound of horns.

Lin Yi wanted to order the captives spared, but the local Qian and Li people had already begun decapitating them.

Each held a bloody head, shouting loudly.

Even without understanding their language, Lin Yi knew they were honoring the dead.

Ayu had harassed generations of Sanhe borderers.

No wonder they charged recklessly.

Now, avenging long-standing grievances, how could they not be ecstatic?

He Jixiang fell from his horse, coughing up blood in the camp. Hu Shilu took his pulse and administered medicine; only then did he stabilize.

Lin Yi entered. As He Jixiang tried to rise, Lin Yi pushed him down, smiling. “Rest well. No need for formalities.”

“Thank you, Prince,”

He Jixiang spoke with great effort.

Lin Yi left the tent.

He looked at the bloodied wounded, the corpses, and listened to the painful cries.

It was hard to bear.

All this had happened for him.

All this responsibility fell on him.

Could he still turn away?