In the end, they won the battle. While the Northern Qiang cavalry was busy dividing and cutting through several infantry battalions, such as the Flying Mallard Battalion, the Ruen Dynasty cavalry flanked them from the right.
After the signal to withdraw came, the remnants of the Northern Qiang forces fled in panic.
Back in the city, the Flying Mallard Battalion regrouped and counted their numbers. Less than three hundred soldiers had returned from the battle. Ye Beizhi noticed the commander frequently sighing with a pained expression.
After thinking about it, Ye Beizhi figured the source of the distress was because many brothers had died again, or perhaps the commander was distressed over what little money he had left.
Some time passed, and the Flying Mallard Battalion gradually gained many new faces, once again reaching its full complement of five hundred men.
Ye Beizhi clearly remembered what the commander had told him that day after returning to the city.
"Now that your hands are stained with blood, you're no longer a rookie. Killing is something you get used to. Don’t make me remind you again the next time you have to chop someone down."
Ye Beizhi didn't really understand the connection between having killed someone and no longer being a rookie, but he didn’t ask. Since the commander said he wasn’t a rookie anymore, then he wasn’t.
They eventually fell into a cycle of battles. Whether they involved hundreds or thousands of men, people would always die either way.
When some people died, other people would join.
New people would always come to join the Flying Mallard Battalion that always needed new recruits. Whenever Ye Beizhi had some free time, he would sit nearby and watch these recruits.
How they looked when they practiced with weapons, how they appeared after their first battle, how they behaved after killing someone. Ye Beizhi asked himself, Was I like that back then?
Over time, the commander no longer taught the recruits how to use a blade or how to kill.
Ye Beizhi unknowingly noticed that the commander’s back had become hunched as if he were bearing an enormous burden.
Ye Beizhi noticed that the commander's eyes no longer held the same energy from when they had first met, but had become somewhat cloudy.
Then Ye Beizhi suddenly realized... it seemed the commander hadn’t berated him in a long time.
Could it be because he was now a veteran? Ye Beizhi couldn’t figure it out, so he decided to find the commander and ask him personally.
On one night when Ye Beizhi happened to be on guard duty, the desert nights rarely saw clouds, and the full moon above was especially bright.
In the moonlight, Ye Beizhi saw someone sitting on a mound next to the camp. It was the commander. After a moment’s thought, Ye Beizhi walked over.
"Commander, what are you doing here?"
Ye Beizhi stopped a few steps behind the commander.
The commander glanced back at Ye Beizhi, shook his head, and smiled.
"Nothing much. I just couldn't sleep, so I went out for a bit."
Ye Beizhi nodded and sat down beside the commander.
The two sat there for a long time before the commander suddenly asked, "Lad, why did you join the army?"
"My family committed a crime, and the authorities said I deserved to be conscripted, so they sent me here," Ye Beizhi replied openly. He did not avoid the topic.
"Hmm..." The commander, Niu Dayong, nodded without adding much.
"And what about you, Commander?"
Ye Beizhi turned to look at the commander’s profile. From the day he first saw this man, it seemed his messy stubble had never been clean-shaven.
The commander squinted and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he recalled some happier memories.
"Back then, I thought joining the army could earn me more pay so that my wife at home could live a better life."
Ye Beizhi nodded. He never knew that the commander already had a family.
The commander continued, "I never thought I'd somehow become a commander. At first, I figured being a commander meant having a little extra pay to send home every month, but as it turned out, I have even less left over each month than when I was just a soldier."
Ye Beizhi knew what the commander was talking about. Most of his money went to the families of their fallen brothers.
"But there's nothing I can do about it... After all, I am their commander, aren't I?"
There was no hint of complaint in his tone, only a hint of melancholy as he looked up at the full moon in the sky. It sounded like he was talking to himself when he whispered, "In war... when isn't there death?"
Ye Beizhi nodded in agreement. Having seen so much of it, even he was no longer afraid of death now.
"I'm just a farmer, not one for grand ideas," the commander said suddenly, patting Ye Beizhi's shoulder and giving him a faint smile.
"As far as I'm concerned, whether we win or lose a war is none of our concern; that's for the big shots to worry about. For ordinary people like us, the only thing we need to figure out is how to survive on the battlefield... I've told everyone in the battalion this, but so many of them have still died."
"Then how did you survive?" Ye Beizhi asked.
Niu Dayong looked at Ye Beizhi and asked in return, "Haven't you made it this far too? How did you survive?"
Ye Beizhi opened his mouth but said nothing.
"Once you're on the battlefield, turning to run will only get you killed faster. Far too many of our fallen brothers were cut down from behind..." Niu Dayong sighed, and his gaze grew sharper. "On the battlefield, there's really only one way to survive..."
"If someone wants to kill you, then kill them first. The one who survives in the end is you."
The commander's tone was calm, yet even after so many years, his words echoed as if he was saying them right beside Ye Beizhi.
"You... want to kill me?"
Ye Beizhi's voice was soft, as if he were asking Lin Jiulao, who was descending from above, or perhaps merely speaking to himself.
The moment these words left his mouth, Lin Jiulao, still in midair, suddenly felt a chill rising from the depths of his heart. His hair stood on end, and every inch of his body felt as if it were being pricked by needles.
What is this! This killing intent?!
Lin Jiulao's heart was filled with dread as an overwhelming and unstoppable killing intent engulfed him, making him feel like a lone boat in a raging sea, on the verge of being swallowed up at any moment!
But there was no way to pull back his sword while still in midair, and Stormqueller was already right in front of him. Lin Jiulao steeled himself. No matter what, he would strike first!
In the blink of an eye, the two figures were about to clash!
Just before the tip of the zhanmadao could pierce Ye Beizhi's forehead, he suddenly sprang into action. With a sweep of his left hand, he swung the sheath in his grasp hard against the incoming blade, deflecting the path of the oversized blade.
At the same time, he thrust his Tang blade upward like a venomous snake striking, aiming straight for Lin Jiulao's chin!
If the thrust landed, it would pierce Lin Jiulao from his chin to the top of his skull!
Lin Jiulao felt as though his heart was being gripped tightly by a massive hand! No wonder Ye Beizhi hadn't moved before! He had been waiting for Lin Jiulao to close the distance!
Waiting for him to get close enough that there was no way to escape.
The tip of the Tang Blade grew larger and larger in Lin Jiulao's eyes!
He widened his gaze... not only was this strike sudden, but the angle was also incredibly tricky, catching him just as he was fully committed and unable to dodge.
At the critical moment, Lin Jiulao sucked in a sharp breath, instinctively jerking his head forcefully to the side!
A few drops of blood slid down the blade, and several strands of hair floated to the ground.
Lin Jiulao slowly exhaled, realizing his forehead was now covered in cold sweat. A bloody scratch appeared on his right cheek. Half of his right ear had been sliced off and was now lying at his feet.
"Phew... Stormqueller, your bladesmanship..."
There was a newfound seriousness in Lin Jiulao's once fervent gaze, but his expression changed before he could finish speaking. Ye Beizhi was already charging toward him!
Lin Jiulao hastily parried Ye Beizhi's incoming strike with a horizontal block.
Ye Beizhi's blade was knocked aside, but he didn't even take a moment to catch his breath. Following the direction his blade was deflected, he immediately executed a horizontal slash aimed at Lin Jiulao's waist.
Caught off guard and at a disadvantage, Lin Jiulao could only defend, raising his blade vertically to block the oncoming slash.
But to his surprise, Ye Beizhi's right hand continued swinging the sword while his left hand suddenly thrust his sheath forward with such speed that it was almost imperceptible!
The tip of the sheath seemed to barely tap Lin Jiulao's sternum.
Lin Jiulao's expression changed drastically, filled with disbelief. Before he could even look up at Ye Beizhi, his entire body was launched backward like a cannonball!
The impact sent him crashing through countless trees, and shattering the calm as a storm of dust billowed up through the forest.