Yunchang wandered aimlessly through the forest, his heart racing as he searched for something—or someone.
"Damn it! Where can she be?"
Suddenly, a desperate scream tore through the woods:
"ANY LAST WORDS, WENCH?"
Yunchang immediately leaped into the air, using his light-foot technique to reach the source of the sound. Hiding behind a bush, he spotted a bloody and battered Han Yin surrounded by bandits. Her arm bled profusely, and her once-pristine sword was now left in the dirt.
One of the bandits sneered at her.
"Boss, this one’s quite the looker. What do you say we…"
Another joined in, cackling.
"Heh, seems like fortune’s on our side today!"
"Disgusting vermin…" Yunchang muttered through gritted teeth.
With a battle cry, he burst from his hiding place, his Steel Blade gleaming.
"YOU COWARDS! FACE ME IF YOU DARE!"
The bandits turned, startled, but Yunchang was already upon them. With a series of swift, calculated strikes, he dispatched them one by one. He moved like a shadow, appearing on their left, then vanishing only to reappear on their right. In mere moments, all that remained were lifeless bodies scattered across the forest floor.
Panting slightly, he approached Han Yin, who lay wounded against a tree.
"Han Yin, are you alright?"
"My arm... I can’t feel it anymore."
"Let me see." Yunchang carefully lifted her injured arm, his movements gentle despite his earlier ferocity. He used a cloth to stem the bleeding, his eyes flickering with concern.
As he focused on her wound, Han Yin smiled faintly. She leaned forward and, catching him off guard, placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "What a fool... I told you not to follow me."
"If I hadn’t followed you, then what? You’d be dead by now."
Han Yin chuckled softly, her fingers brushing his cheek.
"Yunchang, the President and I… there’s nothing between us. It’s always been you…"
Her voice trailed off as she leaned closer, her lips just inches from his.
‘“Yunchang…”
"Yunchang!”.
“YUNCHANG!!!”
Yunchang jolted awake, blinking to find Yong Kang standing over him, screaming and slapping him repeatedly with a damp cloth.
“WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE THE FUCK UP YOU BUM!"
"DAMN IT, Kang! Couldn’t you have let me sleep for five more minutes?!"
"Five more minutes? It’s already 12 in the morning!"
“Just let me be…I drank a bit too much yesterday”
“You’ve said that everyday since Han Yin left. What? Too busy kissing her in your sleep?
Yunchang turned away, muttering under his breath.
"None of your business!"
For days, Yunchang had drowned himself in liquor. Ever since learning from Lei Wen that Han Yin was involved with none other than the President himself, his world had turned upside down. The usual spark of life in him had dulled.
That afternoon,Han Yin returned from her trip and summoned him to her office immediately.
"Yunchang, It’s been a while since I left, is there anything unusual going around here?"
"Fine. Nothing fell apart without you."
Her golden eyes narrowed, studying his uncharacteristically cold demeanor.
"What’s with your attitude, Yunchang?"
"You tell me."
"Is it something that you heard?"
"Doesn’t matter. Everyone knows it anyway, except for the biggest fool in the room that I am."
Han Yin fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"Listen here Yunchang, I…"
Yunchang didn’t let her finish. He turned sharply and strode toward the door.
"Save it, there’s nothing worth explaining."
Han Yin, now visibly agitated, summoned Lei Wen into her office.
"Why did you call me in?"
"Some delusional fools and the lot of their rebellious peasants are about to plunge the country into chaos. I want you and that bastard to handle the situation and suppress the uprising," Han Yin commanded.
"Bastard? Who?"
"Who else but him? You're to join forces with him and lead the female troops to restore order."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Alright then.".
Han Yin's tone turned cold. "There's one condition. If he tries to act on his own, using his own so-called strategies instead of cooperating, you’ll make him sign a contract. If he fails, he’ll be punished by military law."
"Why go that far?" Lei Wen asked, surprised.
"Because he’s nothing but an empty vessel that keeps on making noise. Entrusting him with important tasks like this will only lead to disaster. We need strict rules to deal with braggarts like him."
"I think he's genuinely talented,"
"Talented at gambling, maybe. All his victories were pure chance. Yet he acts so arrogant, It’s insufferable."
"Did he say something that upset you again?"
"Nothing worth your concern."
Lei Wen quickly pieced the situation together. At this point, she decided to be blunt:
"It was me. I told him about that."
Han Yin’s voice turned icy. Her eyes fixated onto Lei Wen’s.
"What did I tell you again? Stay out of my business!".
Lei Wen didn’t flinch one bit under her sister’s glare.
"I only call out bullshit where I see it. You know he likes you, everyone here does. And yet you kept on toying with him. It’s disgusting. You're disgusting."
"Get out, Lei Wen."
"You do not deserve to call me by my name, not after—"
"OUT!"
Later that day, Han Yin gathered the troops. Her voice was sharp, her gaze cold.
"There have been lots of rebellions happening within our country recently. Tomorrow at dawn, General Lethal Tempest and General Yunchang will lead a division of 20,000 female soldiers to suppress the rebellion in Beijing. It is estimated that the entire mission may take about one year or more. While they’re gone, I expect everyone else here to uphold their duty to protect the border. Any failures will be met with severe punishment. Is that clear?"
The troops responded with a unified shout of "Yes, ma’am!"
Lei Wen noticed the bitterness in her sister’s tone but said nothing.
That evening, Yunchang’s comrades gathered to discuss the dire situation.
"She’s setting you up, pal," Guotai said firmly. "The mission is a trap. She’s threatened by your influence here."
"That’s absurd!" Yunchang shot back.
"Absurd? Do you think the Commander-in-chief, the Matriarch herself, doesn't see your growing reputation as a threat?"
Juan Hong added. "It’s simple, really: she’s sending you on an impossible mission—stopping an entire country from rioting, with women you don’t know and can’t command properly because they are also dead loyal to her. You try to be the ‘brilliant tactician’ and go on a different route as you normally would, except this time you fail because you have no one to bail you out when needed, and that gives her the perfect excuse to have you executed."."
"But… Han Yin isn’t unreasonable like that," Yunchang insisted. "She wouldn’t just kill me off over one failure."
Juan Hong sighed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night man. But if you’re half as wise as you said you are, you’ll just stick to General Lethal Tempest like glue. Let her make all the decisions, let her all take the blame. Don’t try to be the hero. At least she wouldn’t kill her own sister if things did go South."
Yunchang clenched his fists.
"You guys don’t get anything. If I leave everything to others, I’ll definitely be stripped of my rank. Everyone in the army knows my strategies are unparalleled. If I just sit there doing nothing, hiding under a woman’s skirt, it’ll make a mockery of the title General Guan Yunchang. I’ll go down as the most cowardice general in history!"
“Your pride or your head, pick one.”
“Only little kids are forced to choose, a real man takes all that he pleases.”
“You’re one big idiot Yunchang. At this pace, you won’t even come back alive to hear the “We told you so”.
The group hopped onto their beds, ignoring Yunchang. Left with no one to banter with, Yunchang spread out the national map and began studying it.
“Beijing has been the nation’s capital for over 200 years, but its fortune has waned. The other day, when I observed the stars, the Little Bear constellation was dim and faint, while Vega shone brilliantly, and the southern constellations lit up the sky. Could it be that a ruler destined to rise might emerge from Jiangdong?”
Van Truong looked at the map again:
“This year, the five schools of Mount Wuyue have united into one faction, led by the leader of Mount Song. It’s rumored he’s the younger brother of General Feng Difang, who commands the army at Xiangyang—a crucial strategic location. To the south, it relies on the Yangtze River; to the west, it borders Shu; and to the north, Henan, forming a gateway to the Central Plains. This has always been a battleground coveted by strategists.
"Difang is one of the Four Kings of the Chinese martial world, a martial artist unparalleled in skill. On top of that, his background as a military man makes him extremely resourceful. If he and his younger brother combine their forces, the situation will become incredibly perilous.
"In Shu, the people are incited to rebel by the Black Dragon Cult, led by Pan Jiangjin, the Echoless. For over 20 years, Jiangjin has ruled Sichuan as his domain, defying the court’s attempts to reclaim it. This has made him arrogant and tyrannical. The road to Shu is treacherous and hard to traverse. Once you’re in, it’s ten times harder to get out. Jianjin himself is cunning and devious; opposing him will be no easy feat.
"Further south, in Jiangnan, where the uprisings are strongest, stands Sun Rilin, the Southern King of the Four Martial Lords and leader of the Yangtze School. It’s said his peasant forces number dozens of millions, and their momentum is formidable. If these three forces unite and march on Beijing, it will be nearly impossible to resist.”
Yunchang mulled over countless ideas but couldn’t think of a way to defeat such a formidable coalition. Frustrated, he spent the entire night awake. His thoughts shifted from military affairs to the faint image of Han Yin, leaving him restless and uneasy. He didn’t even notice when dawn broke. The first rays of sunlight shone into his eyes, but he paid no mind, instinctively drawing his Steel Sword and beginning to sharpen it.
“This sword is only used to kill demons, It must never be stained with the blood of men, innocent or not. I’ve never killed anyone and never will. I won’t let her threats shake my resolve.”
Suddenly, the wind—or something else—caused Yunchang’s Art of War to flip open to the page reading: ‘Know thyself, know thy enemy; a hundred battles, a hundred victories.’ Yunchang glanced at it, smiled faintly, and picked up both the book and his sword. Preparing his gear, he set out for the rallying point an hour early, arriving nearly 40 minutes ahead of Lei Wen.
“Why so early, Wolfie?”
“Someone told me to.”
“Just so you know, there’ll be someone serving as overseer in this unit. So behave yourself.”
"Oh, hell no".
Yunchang, with sword and gear in hand, leapt forward, using his light-foot technique to leave.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m heading to Beijing alone. That way, I don’t have to deal with the overseer and avoid any hassle.”
“What if you’re late?”
“Then tell Han Yin to have me executed at once. If I can’t even do this, I’ve no business being a general.”
“Alright then. Can’t afford a lying Wolf in the army can we?”
Seeing Yunchang so confident, Lei Wen hoped he would keep his word, unlike a certain someone she knows. She rallied her 20,000 female soldiers to march toward Beijing. Yunchang, meanwhile, used his light-foot to cover the vast distance from Mongolia to Beijing—a mad idea, but he believed that if he couldn’t master it, he’d have no chance against the martial masters.
As he anticipated, while Lei Wen’s army took over a day to reach the camp, Yunchang made the journey in just 10 hours—a staggering speed. Arriving at the camp with no one in sight, Yunchang thought to himself, “Huff, I’m already at my limit, but somehow, I feel greater than ever before. At this pace, I might be able to keep up with the Masters of masters”.