Chapter 56: What are Ten Thousand Troops? I Alone Am Enough!

"Chen An, why aren't those people chasing us anymore?" Siyu asked, reining in his horse as he regained a bit of sobriety.

Ever since a moment ago, the cavalry of the Jiuli Tribe had been biting closely at their heels, maintaining a distance neither too far nor too close.

"They must think I'm some high-ranking official. That's fine by me. We'll find a place and deal with them."

"Their horses are good—faster than ours."

"They certainly are fine horses. Sooner or later, they'll be ours too."

"Chen An, it's too exposed here. We need to leave some men behind to provide cover fire, or we'll be run down in no time."

Xiao Gui suddenly pulled his horse to a halt.

"Xiao Gui, what are you trying to do?" Chen An demanded sharply, his voice raised. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm staying behind. If no one covers the rear, once the Jiuli Tribe's killers catch up, just as you said, we'll all be wiped out in one fell swoop."

"Then we'll all stay!"

"That won't do!"

"The Tiger Battalion can manage without Xiao Gui, but without you, Chen An, it's doomed sooner or later."

Xiao Gui reached out and snatched the grand banner that symbolized the Tiger Battalion.

"All members of the security squad, stay behind! Cover the commander's retreat!"

"No, Xiao Gui, I don't agree!" Chen An urged urgently, trying to stop him.

"Heh heh, Chen An, why are you acting like a soft-hearted woman again? Didn't you say it yourself? The brothers follow you for a chance at a better tomorrow. We always need to give ourselves something to believe in, something for everyone to see."

Xiao Gui gave his red fox horse's rump a fierce slap. "You must remember to give everyone hope, you hear me?"

"Captain Xiao, are we not going to make it back alive today?"

"Mmm. It's a big battlefield today. Are you scared?"

"Not scared. When we were vagrants, we lived in constant terror day and night. To have lived like real human beings for even a few days is already more than enough, let alone getting the chance to be heroes today."

"That's right! If it weren't for Commander Chen, who knows how many times each of us would have died? We've already lived enough to call it even. It's just a shame we're dragging Captain Xiao down with us. Everyone knows that with your skills and ability, becoming a general was only a matter of time, sooner or later."

"Haha, you rascals sure know how to flatter. My death is no great loss, but I only regret that I'll never again be able to patrol the camp at the Rat Watch," Xiao Gui muttered to himself. "I joined the army thinking I'd protect my home and country, but I never expected to witness that kid's journey of growth all the way through. Do you dare make a bet?"

"Captain Xiao, name it. What are we betting on?"

"Let's bet on whether Chen An will still remember today's scene when he contends for the empire in the future."

"Captain Xiao, that stake is a bit too high. Looks like we'll only be around to witness the outcome on the road to the netherworld."

"General's glory is built on ten thousand bones. We are merely stepping stones for Chen An to reach the pinnacle, and the inevitable path for him to achieve his hegemony." Xiao Gui took a long breath as he watched the Jiuli Tribe cavalry draw closer and closer. "Trust me, I, Xiao Gui, don't misjudge people. Chen An has Chen An's mission—to forge an era of peace across the land—and we have our own mission."

Suddenly, Xiao Gui's tone rose several notches.

"Tiger Battalion Security Squad!"

"Present!"

"Let us transform into a wall of bronze and iron, and hold these people right here! Leave the hope to Chen An!"

"Understood!"

Since ancient times, whenever a commander set out on an expedition, elite guards invariably followed in his wake.

Those who served as guards were without exception fierce warriors of the army.

The Tiger Battalion had risen to prominence recently. If reckoned from the very beginning of its establishment, Xiao Gui, a true veteran, was one of its founding pillars.

Xiao Gui was not as slick as Wu Ergou, nor as considerate as Wu Daizi, and certainly not as adept at leading troops as Zhang Xiaojing.

Yet Chen An knew clearly that Xiao Gui loved this land from the bottom of his heart.

Shoulders brushed in parting, life and death cleaved apart.

Yellow sands of the great desert, iron armor ringing clear!

To die where one belongs, how utterly exhilarating!

"Commander of the guards, those dozen or so Central Plains men have lost their minds! They've actually launched a counter-charge against us!"

"Indeed, they must be at their wits' end. They even set a fire, thinking that alone could stop our advance?"

Faced with his subordinates' mockery, Mochuo's personal guard commander did not look nervous at all; instead, his expression was grave.

"Their setting the fire is likely because they'd rather burn it than let us discover their secret weapon."

The personal weapon the commander referred to was precisely the "Zhuge Repeating Crossbow."

And the reason Chen An and his men had successfully broken through was entirely due to the crossbow array formed by dozens of Zhuge repeating crossbows.

"It seems these people intend to buy time with their lives."

"Since that's the case, let's grant them their wish. Charge!"

An egg striking a rock!

Xiao Gui's security squad was like a drop of ice water splashing into a pan of boiling oil.

The dark, overwhelming tide of men swallowed them like the jaws of a deep abyss.

With a single banner, Xiao Gui pierced straight through the chest of a grassland cavalryman, let out a furious roar, and charged directly forward without stopping.

The massive banner not only knocked the grassland cavalryman's corpse flying, but its blood-soaked fabric plunged once more into the chest of the very next rider.

Unstoppable.

For a time, the arrowhead-shaped sword formation formed by Xiao Gui and his dozen-plus men cut through the enemy like a hot knife through butter.

Yet towering heroism inevitably fades, and the fear of death lingers like a shadow.

Five hundred cavalrymen entered the fray, while a thousand more watched from afar.

The disparity in numbers felt jarringly out of place across this vast battlefield.

Xiao Gui, alone on a horse with an iron banner, led the charge at the very forefront.

......

Half an hour later.

Amidst the thousands of troops and horses, Xiao Gui wrenched his iron banner out of a grassland cavalryman's heart. His heavy body came crashing down, and his still-warm blood slowly pooled on the ground.

With his left hand, he clutched the iron banner; with his right, he drew his short sword.

Reining in his horse, he strode forward wading through gore, crossing his hands to slice a charging grassland cavalryman cleanly in half at the waist.

Roaring, he stepped forward; with every single step, another grassland cavalryman fell dead at his feet.

Dozens of corpses piled up beneath his feet. Had the grassland not been so vast, the bones would already have formed a mountain.

Xiao Gui breathed heavily, feeling as though he had been hollowed out after continuous combat.

Blood had soaked right through the Tiger Battalion's iron banner, dripping continuously from its metal tip. To keep the weapon from slipping from his grasp, Xiao Gui had even bound the shaft to his hand with strips of cloth.

"You have earned my respect. Even the wolves of the grassland respect their prey. If you surrender now, I can make an exception and allow you to submit to Khan Mochuo."

"Is that so? Too much of a pity, then, that I have no interest in your dog of a Khan."

Xiao Gui exhaled softly, his bloodshot eyes staring blankly at the pitch-black sky.

This was the darkest hour before the dawn. Everyone in the security camp had perished, and he himself was reduced to making perhaps one final charge.

Xiao Gui gently twirled the iron banner, his mind drifting back to a grand opera he had witnessed in his youth.

A youthful warrior in white robes, plunging deep into the tiger's den, charging in and out seven times to bravely rescue the young lord.

He never imagined that years later, he would meet the exact same destiny.

The grassland warriors were startled, staring with wide eyes.

Xiao Gui spurred his horse forward. By now, his figure was already swaying precariously, and even the arm holding the iron banner was trembling violently. Yet beneath that resolute face, there was only the single-minded drive to charge ahead.

"Behold that dark cave—surely the bandit's lair! Just wait while I rush ahead and slaughter every last one of them clean!"