ATEG Chapter 121

Throughout the Sui Kingdom, those under the control of Bie Chunian were not limited to just one person.

He only needed the Sui King’s royal decree, and now that the decree had been issued, with the assistance of Bie Chunian’s other pieces already in place, the orders flowed freely throughout Sui. Soldiers and grain supplies from various regions had already been assembled and transported to the banks of the Huai River over this period of time. At this moment, the direct command of this force lay not with the Sui King, but with the Grand General — with Bie Chunian’s man.

Once the Sui army crossed the river and began ravaging Lu territory, this war would no longer be something the Sui King could stop simply by wishing it so.

They were… still one step too late.

……

In the last month of winter, the ice was at its thickest, and the waters of the marshes were frozen solid to their depths.

The surface of the Huai River had already sealed over with a thick layer of ice. Living water still flowed beneath, but the surface ice had grown thick enough to bear the passage of iron-plated carriages.

The Sui army’s tents blanketed the riverbank. The people of Lu on the far side had detected the movement in Sui territory and had long since gone on alert — yet they had noticed too late. Sui had mobilized its entire nation and massed its forces here, while Lu had only its regular garrison troops at this stretch, fewer than usual, even.

This year alone, the land had been struck in succession by floods, drought, and locusts. The common people had barely managed to plant a second quick-growing crop. The national granaries of Lu were so depleted that even King Lu Hong of Lu himself was eating simple, frugal meals and conserving food; the common people were tightening their belts household by household, preparing to endure the winter and the coming spring. Once the spring months came and a fast-growing crop could be sown, they would have vegetables to eat by summer. Though leafy greens could not fill the stomach like grain, they could help the people hold on until the autumn harvest.

Such was the state of Lu — but could Sui’s situation truly be any better? Was Sui mad to wage war at a time like this?

The Sui men were mad! Standing atop the watchtower, a Lu soldier gazed tensely at the opposite bank. The Sui army seemed on the verge of moving out; many cultivators from Wuying Hall were out on the river’s surface reinforcing and leveling the ice. After a wide enough ice bridge had formed across the Huai River, other cultivators brought earth and channeled wind, spreading a layer of sand and soil across the ice surface. The speed was terrifying. From the moment the Sui army had suddenly appeared to the moment they used the season’s advantage to build an ice bridge across the Huai River — no more than five days had passed, leaving the Lu forces no time to prepare.

The great tribulation of cultivators was upon them; proper practitioners were all making preparations to survive the tribulation — who would willingly throw themselves into a war between kingdoms?! It was said that the people of Sui delighted in strife; truly, they had all gone mad with fighting! Gone mad with contention!

Whether in cultivators, military strength, or arms and equipment, the Sui army outnumbered Lu several times over. He was confident that Lu was no weaker than Sui, yet Lu had been caught completely off guard, with no time to prepare. Even if they managed to drive the Sui forces out in the end, that would be a matter for later — right now they had no choice but to face Sui soldiers who outnumbered them many times over…

The Lu soldier blinked with difficulty. The hot breath he exhaled had already frosted over his eyelashes.

A glint of sharp light came pointing across the river from afar. Before the Lu soldier on the watchtower could react, a thunderous blast erupted before his eyes. A cultivator of profound ability had struck from the far bank; had the tower not been protected by a formation array, he would have died on the spot. The blast knocked him stumbling to the ground; ignoring the ringing dizziness in his head, he scrambled and rolled his way down, blew his whistle, and screamed at the top of his lungs: “The Sui army — they’re coming!”

Across the river, the Sui Grand General stood before his command tent, his gaze sharp as lightning. He lowered the powerful bow in his hand, his killing intent fully unmasked. “Break camp — cross the river!”

……

Banners rose like a forest; the great army crossed the river. The dry, biting wind howled like blades. Metal weapons had drunk in the cold and were harder and more frigid than ice itself, making one involuntarily wonder: when such icy blades were driven into bodies where warm blood still flowed, would the flesh and sinew freeze and stick fast to the metal?

In silence, crossbows faced the great shields arrayed in formation. The range closed — thirty meters, twenty-four, fifteen…

Crack — snap!

A tremendous splitting sound erupted without warning. The Sui army in formation could not help but halt, yet that sound — like the earth itself splitting — did not stop. After that first crack, an unbroken series of ominous splitting sounds rang out in succession.

A crab claw, larger than a door panel, burst through the ice. Fractures white as bone shot outward in every direction at terrifying speed.

Boom!

Another great thunderous impact. An armored, iron-clad giant crocodile’s tail smashed through the ice surface. Beneath the front half of the Sui army’s section of ice, river water surged up through the cracks and shattered the ice into scattered fragments, sending the broken chunks rushing downstream.

Upon the grand expanse of the Huai River, there appeared for a moment an extraordinary sight: one half of the river still sealed in solid ice, the other half raging with open, churning water.

One pair of eyes after another surfaced from the river water, gazing with cold detachment at the Sui army on the remaining ice.

The Water Spirits of the Huai River!

The Sui Grand General’s expression turned deeply ugly. He could read the Water Spirits’ meaning clearly. If the army did not retreat, the next step would be to shatter the ice beneath their very feet.

He had naturally known that Water Spirits dwelt within the Huai River — but the Huai River Divine Lord had been imprisoned two thousand four hundred years ago, and had at that time divided the waters of the Huai River and its tributaries among his subordinates, assigning each a stretch of river.

There was indeed a Water Spirit in this stretch of the Huai River through which the Sui army intended to cross. That the Huai River had frozen was the work of the season and the weather; even if Lu Kingdom had sought the Water Spirits’ aid, the Water Spirit of this particular stretch — even wishing to block their crossing — would not have been able to withstand the many cultivators within the Sui army.

But the problem was: how had so many Huai River Water Spirits suddenly converged here?!

Beneath the water’s surface, Ding Qin and Bai Hong sat inside the large bubble that the River Carp Spirit had blown out for them, looking upward at the situation above.

“Don’t worry!” said a spirit-deity whose upper half had taken human form while the lower half still retained a river dolphin’s tail, swimming idly around the bubble. “Those cultivators have lost their nerve. This is the Huai River — how would they dare come to blows with us here?”

The cultivators of Wuying Hall had come for profit; why would they throw their lives away fighting Water Spirits in the Huai River? As for the ordinary soldiers, they had no hope of crossing a Huai River with its ice shattered. Moreover, after witnessing the ice bridge destroyed, the soldiers had already developed thoughts of retreat. They did not fear facing enemies on a battlefield, but who wished to bury their lives uselessly in the river? Once army morale collapsed, the battle could not be fought.

“The orders our Dragon Lord gave us, naturally we’ll carry them out beautifully.” The spirit-deity who had transformed from a river dolphin patted their chest confidently, then turned with curiosity to ask, “Why did the Divine Lord suddenly give this command?”

Ding Qin could only smile. She didn’t know either.

And besides, this command had not come from the Huai River Divine Lord — it was the High God’s instruction.

They had previously been traveling upstream with Crab General to find shelter from the winter cold, when after arriving at the dwelling of Crab General’s old friend, the High God had suddenly entrusted her with the Huai River Divine Lord’s token and asked her to lead the Divine Lord’s former subordinates back downstream together. As they traveled along the river all the way back upstream, the Water Spirits she was leading grew in number, until finally arriving here — just in time as the Sui army was about to cross. The High God then instructed them to shatter the ice and block the crossing.

The Huai River Divine Lord might not have known of this matter; the token had not come directly from the Divine Lord’s own hands — after all, half a treasury of the Divine Lord’s possessions lay in the High God’s keeping. But since the Divine Lord had once proposed placing those treasures into the High God’s hands, he had known that among them were his tokens of authority, leaving those forces entirely at the High God’s disposal.

The High God had long since anticipated that Sui would launch its campaign against Lu from this very point.

……

The Great Yin Royal Palace.

Upon the great sand table, the aura of war that had been spreading across the territories of Sui and Lu suddenly dissipated, and the Xuanqing Sect, which had been advancing under cover of that war aura, was likewise impeded.

Yin Tianzi’s gaze sharpened; he turned to look far toward the Huai River at the border between Sui and Lu.

Changyang— a corner of his mouth suddenly curved upward, as though he felt entirely unconcerned that his arrangement had been undone.

Different times and different places, unconnected people and unconnected things — converging imperceptibly into a single outcome. This was indeed the style of Changyang’s manipulation of cause and effect.

Yet the web of karma in this world is already in chaos. You may pluck one string on this side — but can you still keep watch over the sound on the other side? In this game, I have yielded two pieces to you; as for what you are scheming over there, it shall fall into my game instead.