The Battle of the Corridor, six clashes, six retreats!
The fifty thousand cavalry of the Northern Mang’s Southern Dynasty border garrisons had been driven to utter madness. After six consecutive charges, only slightly over twenty thousand remained!
Even knowing they were likely powerless to reinforce the battlefield at Old Woman Mountain, even knowing they would inevitably face the wrath of the furious emperor, these blood-crazed steppe riders launched their seventh assault without hesitation.
Had Cao Wei led his nine thousand elite cavalry into the battlefield from the northern entrance of the corridor just a moment later—even by the time it takes to burn a single stick of incense—the monk soldiers of Mount Lantuo and the three thousand Liuzhou infantry would have been annihilated, not a single soul left standing.
When Cao Wei personally led eight hundred death warriors to carve through the Northern Mang formation and fought his way to the last remaining circular infantry formation of barely two hundred men, all he saw were corpses.
Strewn along the path were shattered iron shields, broken spears, snapped longswords, and discarded heavy bows and crossbows.
That so-called makeshift circular formation was nothing more than the severely wounded monk soldiers of Mount Lantuo and the young men of Liuzhou, resigned to their fate.
The one who truly held back the Northern Mang cavalry’s charge was a tall, armored man drenched in blood—Yu Xinlang, the first disciple of Wang Xianzhi of the Martial Emperor City, a grandmaster of the Central Plains!
Wielding a massive longsword, with a Liang sabre hanging at each hip, he had already slain no fewer than nine hundred Northern Mang riders.
Yu Xinlang had personally promised the young Prince of Liang that he would ensure Xie Xichui’s survival.
He could have forcibly taken Xie Xichui away from the corridor, retreating from this blood-soaked battlefield.
But after Xie Xichui personally fought through the bloodshed and repelled the Northern Mang cavalry for the fifth time, he firmly shook his head at Yu Xinlang.
Yu Xinlang merely smiled and did not press the matter. Instead, he picked up a spear and a longsword from the battlefield.
The two fought side by side.
Until Xie Xichui was grievously wounded. The fallen deputy general of Liuzhou was dragged away from the hooves of the Northern Mang cavalry by a middle-aged monk tasked with his safety, only for the exhausted monk to be overwhelmed and killed on the spot by dozens of riders.
The sudden, ferocious charge of Cao Wei’s cavalry from the rear became the final straw that broke the Northern Mang’s resistance. After barely holding off Cao Wei’s vanguard, the border cavalry quickly collapsed.
These Southern Dynasty border riders were anything but cowards—otherwise, they would not have launched seven suicidal charges. But the sudden, brutal appearance of Cao Wei’s cavalry, especially in the narrow corridor, where nine thousand riders surged forward in an unending tide, made it seem as though the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry were endless.
The Northern Mang forces crumbled like a landslide. After a final charge led by a ten-thousand-man commander and his seven hundred elite riders against Yu Xinlang and that crumbling yet unyielding circular formation, the remaining Southern Dynasty cavalry bypassed the lone martial grandmaster and the formation, fleeing south from both flanks.
Cao Wei dismounted, staggering as he rushed into the formation. There, he finally saw the young general sitting cross-legged, propped up by his sword. His helmet was gone, his armor shattered, his once-refined face smeared with blood.
A one-armed Liuzhou youth gently supported the general’s back with his elbow.
Cao Wei knelt on one knee, trembling as he wiped the blood from the young general’s face.
Xie Xichui had long lost consciousness, clinging to life only by sheer will.
Yu Xinlang hurled his longsword, splitting a fleeing Northern Mang ten-thousand-man commander and his horse in two.
He crouched beside Cao Wei and Xie Xichui, gripping the latter’s wrist. “Internal injuries aside, his organs are damaged. Only if he’s incredibly lucky will he have a sliver of hope.”
Without a word, Cao Wei turned and punched Yu Xinlang in the chest, his eyes red with fury. “Xu Fengnian asked you to stay by Xie Xichui’s side just for this damned ‘sliver of hope’?!”
Yu Xinlang said nothing, continuing to channel a gentle stream of qi into Xie Xichui.
Xie Xichui refused to leave. Yu Xinlang, who had never fought in a war before, inexplicably felt the same. So neither left.
Xie Xichui believed he should die here. Yu Xinlang thought dying in the yellow sands beyond Liuzhou wasn’t so bad.
But after saving the deputy general’s life multiple times, Xie Xichui snapped, “Yu Xinlang! Every time you save me, you kill three or four fewer enemies. Do I need to teach you how to do the math?!”
After punching Yu Xinlang, Cao Wei didn’t withdraw his hand. Instead, he opened his fist and clapped the Central Plains grandmaster on the shoulder, choking back tears. “Thank you.”
Yu Xinlang still didn’t look up. “Once Xie Xichui stabilizes, can I entrust him to you to take to Qingcang? I want to go to Jubei City.”
Cao Wei nodded silently.
Much later, Yu Xinlang released Xie Xichui’s wrist and stood, resting his hands on the sabres at his waist. “Borrowing two sabres—does that violate Northern Liang military law?”
Cao Wei took a deep breath and grinned. “From now on, you, Yu Xinlang, are a cavalry captain under General Cao! How about that? You earned it in the Corridor! Take as many sabres as you want!”
Yu Xinlang smiled. Joining the Northern Liang border army as Cao Wei’s subordinate was impossible for Wang Xianzhi’s first disciple, who sought only the pinnacle of martial arts. But he didn’t outright refuse the offer.
After a final glance at Xie Xichui, whom he had pulled back from death’s door, Yu Xinlang took a few steps back, then shot into the sky like an arrow.
Straight to Jubei City!
—
On the same day the young Prince of Liang and three Southern Border martial grandmasters entered Jubei City, news of the great victory at Old Woman Mountain in Liuzhou arrived like wildfire.
The city erupted in celebration.
But barely an hour later, another urgent report reached the prince’s residence: the Northern Mang’s four hundred thousand troops would arrive at Jubei City’s gates within three days at the latest!
The blade master Mao Shulang, upon entering Jubei City, requested to walk the city walls. After receiving permission, the towering old man strolled along the ramparts alone, silent and contemplative.
The scholarly elder Cheng Baishuang, who had broken through to the Great Heavenly Phenom realm atop Wudang Mountain’s Little Lotus Peak, lingered in the ceremonial hall with the renowned court scholar Wang Jijiu, debating philosophy.
Meanwhile, the Southern Border’s Dragon Palace’s chief guest, Ji Liuan, visited the young prince’s study.
Xu Fengnian didn’t put on airs of humility, simply standing at the door with a smile.
After serving Ji Liuan tea, the prince cut straight to the point. “If I were to join the battle outside the city, would there be a place for me?”
Xu Fengnian mirrored his bluntness. “Would you be there for show, to gain fame in the Central Plains? Or would you truly fight to the death?”
Ji Liuan traced the rim of his cup. “What’s the difference?”
Xu Fengnian smiled. “If it’s the former, it’s simple. You wouldn’t even need to step onto the battlefield. I’d have the intelligence networks spread word of your heroism.”
Ji Liuan chuckled. “And if it’s the latter?”
Xu Fengnian’s expression turned grave. “Then you’d best leave your last words with your two Southern Border friends. The Northern Mang’s four hundred thousand will be here in three days. There’ll be no chance to fight alongside Northern Liang cavalry in the open—only a brutal siege. Frankly, even I can’t guarantee we’ll hold Jubei City.”
Ji Liuan fell silent, his untouched tea cooling in his hands.
Finally, he drained the cup in one gulp, set it down, and rested his sword across his knees. “If I hadn’t come to Northern Liang with Cheng Baishuang, I wouldn’t care how this war ended. But since I’m here, why not seize the chance for a common man’s fury?”
Xu Fengnian murmured, “Decades of martial refinement, a grandmaster’s cultivation—it wasn’t easily earned.”
Ji Liuan suddenly laughed bitterly. “Are you saying I’ve wasted decades of my life?”
Xu Fengnian blinked, then grinned. “No need to say it out loud.”
Ji Liuan glared.
Just then, both men turned as a girl appeared upside-down outside the window. She pointed toward the courtyard gate.
Xu Fengnian smiled gently. “I know. Don’t worry.”
Soon after, the Peach Blossom Sword God, Deng Ta’a, entered the study, two swords at his waist.
Ji Liuan stood and nodded in respect. In the world of swordsmen, towering figures had risen and fallen, but since the death of the last Sword God, Li Chungang, only this unremarkable-looking man deserved the title.
Deng Ta’a returned the gesture, then turned to Xu Fengnian. “No tea. Just tell me when the battle starts and where you need me.”
Xu Fengnian dropped a bombshell. “I may need you twice. The first will be soon—within days. The second… might just be the two of us, somewhere far from here.”
Deng Ta’a replied calmly, “Two swords are enough.”
With that, he left. Ji Liuan excused himself to follow, eager to seek the sword god’s wisdom.
Later that day, other martial legends like the Snow Hut Spear Saint Li Houzhong arrived in Jubei City, but Xu Fengnian didn’t greet them.
Only when the blind zither master Xue Songguan entered did the prince personally meet her at the gates.
Xu Fengnian asked curiously, “Does Miss Xue have a message from Su Su or Master Lu?”
The blind woman shook her head. “Su Su’s guilt toward Northern Liang—I’ll repay it.”
Xu Fengnian stopped. “Have you considered that if you die beyond Liangzhou’s borders, who will mend Su Su’s lifelong regret?”
Xue Songguan replied coolly, “I only know that if I don’t do what I can to make Su Su happy, I’ll never be happy.”
Xu Fengnian sighed. “Xue Songguan, I urge you to return to Western Shu, to Su Su’s side.”
She shook her head again. “I won’t let him keep thinking ‘Su Su is utterly useless’!”
Xu Fengnian blurted, “Do you even know what Su Su truly wants?”
The blind woman turned her sightless eyes toward him.
Xu Fengnian fell silent.
Wasn’t he just as stubborn in his own way?
With a heavy sigh, he relented. “Fine. Stay.”
Xue Songguan nodded.
As they walked, Xu Fengnian suddenly said, “Right now, Su Su is probably sulking like a child.”
A rare smile touched her lips.
Xu Fengnian huffed. “Miss Xue, to fall for someone like Su Su… you must be—”
He trailed off.
Xue Songguan finished for him, “Blind? But I already am.”
Xu Fengnian coughed awkwardly.
Then he froze, his body stiffening.
Xue Songguan frowned, sensing three powerful auras approaching—one overwhelmingly oppressive.
A young man and woman, both bloodied, and a middle-aged man with an iron spear strode toward them.
Xu Fengnian turned slowly to face the trio who should have been at Huaiyang Pass: Xu Yanbing, the current Sword Crown of the Wu Family, Wu Liuding, and his sword servant, Cui Hua.
Xu Yanbing smiled. “Don’t worry. Huaiyang Pass still stands.”
Xu Fengnian exhaled in relief but remained tense.
Xu Yanbing explained, “Chu Lushan sent us back. He said eighty Wu Family swordsmen were enough. We were just idling there.”
Wu Liuding cut in impatiently, “You know how stubborn Chu Lushan is. If he decides to kick us out, we wouldn’t even get a meal in Huaiyang Pass. He’s right—eighty swordsmen are enough for courier duty.”
Xu Yanbing shot the blunt young Sword Crown a warning look.
Lowering his voice, he added, “Chu Lushan said Old Woman Mountain would be a great victory. After that, Liuzhou’s army should march straight for the Northern Mang’s western capital. The enemy’s central army will have to rush to attack Jubei City—a race to see who can destroy the other’s stronghold first. He also said if Jubei City holds until the winter snows melt, Huaiyang Pass can last until next spring.”
Xu Fengnian relaxed. “If he says so, then I won’t worry.”
After arranging quarters for Wu Liuding, Cui Hua, and Xue Songguan, Xu Fengnian and Xu Yanbing retreated to the study.
There, Xu Yanbing delivered Chu Lushan’s final warning: “He said you must remember—if you want Northern Liang’s cavalry to have the last laugh, the Snow Dragon Cavalry and the two heavy cavalry divisions cannot be committed to this battle!”
Xu Fengnian’s face darkened.
In the end, Chu Lushan’s message was clear: he didn’t want the last remnants of the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry to die trying to save Huaiyang Pass.
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