Wuchi Path was more than just a path, it was a region that lay at the border between the southwestern Shu Region and Miaojiang. Anyone who wants to enter Miaojiang from southwestern Shu must pass through there.
The area consists of three connected mountains which were collectively known as Wuchi Path. The treacherous path through the mountains was narrow and could only accommodate two horses side by side at best.
The Miao rebel forces that Bahu led were stationed halfway up Wuchi Path.
The normally quiet Wuchi Path echoed with the thunderous sound of battle cries today. Blood flowed down the winding mountain paths, dying the river that ran through the valley a deep red.
Xiang Damao, a battalion commander from the Chengdu garrison, had been ordered to suppress the northern Miao rebel forces. Before arriving, he had assumed this would be an easy and certain victory. After all, these so-called rebels were just commoners with some martial skills. But as the bloody battle reports piled up, he realized he had made a grave strategic miscalculation.
The Miao people were born and raised in the mountains and the alpine forests were like their own backyards. Due to a combination of the treacherous terrain and his soldiers’ lack of mountain combat experience, his troops had been caught off guard during their first clash with the rebel Miao.
The agile Miao fighters moved through the forest like monkeys and were quite skilled in combat. They each wielded a weapon called the gou-gou blade, nearly three feet long, that had a hook on the other end of the handle.
The gou-gou blade's razor-sharp blade alone was threatening enough. In mountain combat, it was devastatingly effective. A single sweep of its gleaming blade often sent a head flying high into the air.
Xiang Damao's soldiers were faced with countless disadvantages. The narrow mountain paths were unsuitable for mounted combat, forcing his cavalry to throw away their greatest edge in order to dismount and fight on foot.
Infantry armed with swords and sabers fared better, but dismounted cavalry that were used to wielding long weapons like spears and halberds were struck with a double blow; the forest rendered their weapons ineffective, leaving them as little more than stationary targets for slaughter.
Xiang Damao crumpled the battle report in his hand. It felt as if his heart were bleeding. What he initially thought would be a glorious addition to his record of achievements had now left him contemplating if he should resign in disgrace or face a military tribunal.
"Damn it..." Xiang Damao nearly ground his teeth to dust. His expression remained fierce, but his trembling body betrayed the fear in his heart. "Damn it... damn it! If only... if only the northern campaign hadn’t taken all the troops! Just give me ten thousand more... no, eight thousand! With just eight thousand more, how could I not crush these rebels?!"
The deputy general beside Xiang Damao cast him an surreptitious glance but remained silent. The deputy general knew that Xiang Damao was trying to console himself over their losses. There were only seven thousand rebel forces stationed at Wuchi Path, whereas they had brought nearly ten thousand troops from the Chengdu garrison.
A loud shout startled Xiang Damao out of his thoughts, making him jump. He recognized the voice as that of a scout from the frontlines. Truth be told, he had grown to dread hearing this voice because it always meant another report had arrived from the battlefield.
"SpeaK!" Xiang Damao gritted his teeth, squeezing out his words. "What now?!"
The scout's face was still streaked with blood, but he hadn’t had the time to wipe. Hurriedly, he said, "The western line can't hold! The commanders of Xuande Battalion and Xuanwei Battalion have both fallen in battle. When I left, the line was already collapsing toward this side!"
"What good are they?!" Xiang Damao roared in anger. "They can't even handle a group of peasants! Scout again and report back!"
"Yes, sir!" The scout responded and was about to leave when Xiang Damao suddenly called out, "Wait!"
The scout turned back, only to see Xiang Damao’s bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely.
Xiang Damao growled, "Relay my orders! The Command Battalion will advance with me! I will oversee the battle personally. Anyone who shows cowardice or refuses to advance will be executed on the spot!"
At the same time, two figures, one large and one small, nonchalantly stepped onto the battlefield from the west.
"So this is the rebel army that's been storming cities and strongholds along the way... I thought they'd be a formidable force. Turns out they're just farmers who traded hoes for weapons," the tall man remarked lazily, as if he had just woken up. "Compared to what we saw in Northern Qiang, these people are far too disorganized."
The little girl beside him clung tightly to his hand. The sight of corpses strewn across the battlefield and the desperate fighting made her visibly nervous.
The little girl looked up toward the mountain, her gaze drifting over the countless soldiers locked in combat, and asked, "How do we get over there?"
A Miao warrior leapt down from a tree, raising his blade to strike the pair.
The man didn’t even turn his head. Pulling his arm back, he delivered a casual backhand!
The Miao warrior was caught mid-air by the back of the man’s hand. With a wet crack, his head twisted completely backward. The rest of his body belatedly spun after his head before the Miao warrior landed far away.
"We'll take a walk of course. What, did you think we’d fly?" With a smile, the man pointed up the mountain and told the girl, "There’s five thousand taels of gold waiting for us up there. Let’s pick up the pace and aim to get down before sunset."
The girl nodded. "Once we get the money, you still have to buy me some tanghulu."
The man grinned, baring his teeth. "I’ll buy you the whole stall if you want!"
From start to finish, neither of them even glanced back at the twisted corpse, as if they had merely swatted away a fly.
The two of them continued forward, and the man casually pulled a spear from a nearby corpse somewhere along the way.
"Today’s a good day for another lesson," the man said, hefting the spear in his hand. "In the jianghu, the most important thing is your presence. If your presence is strong enough, others won’t even dare to provoke you."
The man gestured with the spear tip at the soldiers fighting around them. "Look at all of them, fighting to the death, yet none of them dare to come near us. Do you know why? It’s because they’re intimidated by my presence!"
Before the man could finish his lesson, a bloodthirsty soldier from the Ruen Dynasty army charged at him with a raised blade and shouted, "Die, you scoundrel!"
The man’s expression darkened instantly. The spear in his hand let out a sharp whistle as it sliced through the air, striking the soldier who was two meters away. Both the spearhead and the bloodthirsty soldier's armor shattered instantly as the soldier was catapulted through the air.
The soldier’s body landed far away like a discarded rag. The man glanced at the now-headless spear in his hand and casually tossed it aside. Looking down, he saw the girl raising an eyebrow at him.
"Presence? Intimidation?"
The man’s expression darkened further. He spat on the ground and grumbled, "Pah. That one doesn’t count!"