“Lord Ying-tai! We’ve finished with the preparations. We are ready to attack on your command,” a commander announced to Ying-tai.

“Thank you for the update,” Ying-tai said.

He turned to his commanding officials and drew out the plan, “Once we start the attack, those who are at the front by Zhao will wait for our signal. Once Zhao sends their troops to aid Wei, thinking we are all here with Wei as our main objective, those at Zhao will attack their vulnerable point and take the camp. Once they take camp, we will continue on with our invasion on Wei and siege their capital, Daliang.”

They approved of the plan and cried out, eager for their upcoming battle.

“We attack at dawn,” Ying-tai declared and dismissed his men.

When Huian and Xia were alone with Ying-tai, Xia confronted Ying-tai, “Since we left Qin, you seemed bothered.”

Huian, hearing the remark, raised his head from looking at the map and looked at Ying-tai.

“It’s nothing. My heart’s just never at rest. When I’m at home, I worry about the occurrences out here in the battlegrounds. And then when I’m here, I worry about the safety of home.”

“Many of our elite soldiers are back there protecting the palace. There’s no reason you should worry at all,” Huian stated. “With our walls and our men, Qin is impenetrable.”

“You’re right,” Ying-tai agreed, but his eyes expressed that his thoughts were being strayed somewhere else.

Huian read him and mentioned, “Princess Xiu Juan did not come to see you leave.”

Ying-tai looked at him.

“She would always stand by the gate and watch us leave till we were out of sight. This time she stayed behind.”

Xia remained quiet and waited for Ying-tai to respond.

“What happened, Ying-tai?” Huian insisted.

Ying-tai paused and then cleared his throat. “Before leaving, his majesty wanted to talk to me,” he began.

“About what?” Xia asked.

“He proposed a marriage between me and Xiu Juan,” he revealed.

“Well that’s good, isn’t it?” Xia smiled.

Huian kept his eyes on Ying-tai, noticing something else was wrong.

“I refused,” Ying-tai announced to them.

“Why would you, Ying-tai?” Huian asked him, disappointed. “Married to her, you would be able to achieve more. She comes from a powerful family and she, herself, is very capable. No one would have been more suitable or had the potency to support you more than her. Also, I know she was very fond of you since you both were little.”

Xia added in, “How could you refuse someone so brilliant and competent? And we’re not even including her awing beauty.”

“I wanted to do it on my own term. I did not want to wed her in a time like this. I did not want her wasting her life away waiting for someone who one day might not return home.” Ying-tai paused before continuing, “I want to be able to give her more.”

Huian and Xia looked down, understanding his reason and not persisting him any further.

“You must have really hurt Princess Xiu Juan though, Ying-tai,” Huian said after a short pause of silence.

“She did come see you leave though,” Xia told Ying-tai. “As we walked through the gates, she stood by her father and kept her eyes on you.”

This touched Ying-tai knowing that despite of all heartache, she will care for him endlessly.

Comforted, Ying-tai thanked Xia. “Thank you, Xia, for letting me know,” he smiled gently.

They disbanded and each went into their own tent. Before laying himself to bed, Ying-tai held the paper of pressed blossoms in his hands and stared at it for a long time.

Forgive me, Xiu Juan. My heart weeps incessantly knowing I have hurt you. I promise I’ll make it up to you.

The next morning, Ying-tai and his cavaliers mounted onto their horses and galloped their way to the front of the line. The soldiers kept their eyes on their cavaliers and saluted Ying-tai while he passed by. He looked like a beast riding on his dark horse. If he wasn’t their unit commander, they would have fled in fear.

Ying-tai turned his majestic armored war horse around and faced his men.

“Men of Qin,” he roared, “Today is an honor that I get to fight alongside you. It is a blessing of ours to receive the chance to serve the greatest nation and to serve the greatest king in the world. We still storm into Wei like unyielding rain and rise out of there with victory. And if we must die in fight I will personally find you again in the kingdom of heaven and share a cup of wine with you for your faith in me and for following me. For you laying your life out and declaring your name as defender of Qin, I am eternally indebted to you!”

His six hundred thousand men roared and raised their weapons to salute him. They then headed north to attack. When they arrived, they divided and worked to break into the gates. However, because all five gates leading into the capital were drawbridges, Wei used this as an advantage to strengthen their forces against the Qin.

“Archers, ready yourselves!” Huian shouted over the roars. They all stood in their stance and drew their bows high into the air. Huian waved his hand.

“Fire!”

One hundred thousand arrows flew into the air and took down most of the men near the shore and those who were pulling the cranks to raise the bridge. The fallen men were quickly replaced and the cranking to raise the bridge continued. Wei retaliated and shot their arrows at the Qin.

“Light their arrows and fire back,” Ying-tai commanded so as to save their weapons. The archers soaked the point of the Wei arrows with oil and drew their bows while a cavalier sprinted by to light them up.

“Ready your fire,” Huian commanded, “Fire!”

One hundred thousand flaming Wei arrows sparkled in the air and caused a rather major devastation when they returned to the grounds of their original land.

The Wei general glared unto Ying-tai and motioned his next move. Before they could carry on, more flaming arrows flew upon them.

“Bring out the explosives,” Xia shouted. They quickly brought it out and set up the catapults. The infantry laid the globes of gas and globes of oil onto the catapults. Meanwhile, selected archers readied themselves to fire.

“Release!” Xia commanded. They shot the clayed globes of gas into the air. Right as soon as they hovered over the sky above Wei, the elite Qin archers took their shot. The arrows released from the snap of their string and soared into the air. Rapidly approaching the clay pot of gas, the point of the arrow clipped the pot, emitting a spark that set it to explode. The pots of oil came in afterward. While soaring in the air, an inflamed arrow met with it and poured a blanket of fire over them.

Wei began boarding their transport ships with their soldiers. Trying to sink them before most of them arrived by the Qin, another division of the Qin army targeted them. Out of the twenty ships, fifteen successfully arrived. Infantry and cavaliers burst through the doors and made their way to attack the Qin. The lot of elite Wei cavaliers stormed through the Qin infantry and headed straight to Ying-tai, Huian, and Xia.

Among the midst of the swarming men, Huian recognized the soldier approaching him. He wasn’t just an elite cavalier. He was a general. The Wei general that he fought with when Wei attacked Qin eleven years ago.

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“Nice to see you again,” he grinned at Huian. Huian focused his eyes on him and as soon as his muscle moved, they battled. They flew and spun around, clanging their weapons against each other. Both of them, compared to the men beside them, fought gracefully. Their art was equal to one another, being breathlessly beautiful in their skill. The Wei general slid his sword upward against Huian’s sword and made a spark. The guard of the sword interrupted his glide and Huian quickly twisted his sword and blew him backwards. They stared at each other for a while holding their swords out in front of them, their garments blowing in the wind.

Huian smiled and spoke to him, “It’s rare for me to meet a man with such art as mine in swordsmanship. I am amused to find that one resides within Wei.”

He laughed, “I only serve Wei to quench my thirst for kill. A warrior’s oath is nothing but a romantic approach on warfare.”

“Maybe. But if it’s the only thing that helps one maintain human inside a bloody battlefield and keep us from insanity, then let me remain being ‘romantic’.”

The Wei General smiled at his response and looked unto Ying-tai, observing him. “Looks like you taught the little boy well. His name grew famous across the country.”

Huian looked from the corner of his eyes at Ying-tai.

The general stared back at Huian and positioned himself in his stance, “I am Unit Commander of Wei, Yongrui.”

Huian got in his stance too and announced his name, “Second in command of Qin, Huian.”

Yongrui and Huian stood in their stance, time seeming to slow down for them. It was here and now that they must resume where they paused. The time from eleven years ago was recollecting between them. They both soared at one another and dueled, their swords clanging. This fight wasn’t a fight of slaughter; it was a fight of art. It was a dance between two old master swordsmen who, spitefully arranged by gods, served in opposing warring states. Yongrui’s blade met with Huian’s shoulder armor and glided across it, emitting a spark. Huian’s sword was pushing up against Yongrui’s blade to keep it from pressing further. He quickly released himself from the catch he was in and twisted around, swinging his sword at Yongrui. He avoided each hit with a tap of his sword. Then Huian faced Yongrui and swiftly spun his sword in his hand to collect the force he would inflict upon him. He swung his sword over to his side and sliced through Yongrui’s armor. Feeling the pain he had not felt in a long time from battle, he gaped at the wound, not seeing Huian come toward him with his soaring kick to knock the sword from his grip. When it struck to the ground, Huian advanced toward Yongrui and pierced his sword into his chest. Yongrui froze for a moment, cupping the sword in his hand. At first, Huian wasn’t going to slide his blade deeper into him because he knew the amount of blood lost would be enough to kill him once he pulls out the blade, but when he remembered his dear Empress that was killed by the Wei’s influence, he felt the anguish return and slid the blade in deeper. Yongrui fell on his knees and chuckled.

“When I left Qin, all I could think about was the day I was going to fight you again and see how that boy grows up. I swore to not die by anyone’s hand before then.” He paused and then smiled, “When I heard about His name on my conquests, I laughed at how right I was. I already knew of our fate. But I wasn’t upset. I was rather relieved.”

Huian lightened his grip and his glare.

“I was tired of fighting,” Yongrui said softly. “I’m tired of this never ending war.” He looked up toward Ying-tai, “I long for a day of peace. And seeing him today, I can feel this mightiness in him and that leaves my heart in contentment.” He gazed back at Huian, “There will only be one warring state standing in the end. Wei will not be one of them,” he shook his head.

He lost his strength and collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Huian quickly knelt down by him and held him up.

“Huian of Qin,” Yongrui grapsed onto his arm, “We all deserve to see a world of peace,” he cried.

“I promise you, the day is near,” Huian said softly.

Yongrui smiled and told Huian to pull the blade out, which will kill him instantly.

“It’s a shame we had to fight against each other. I’m so certain we would have been good friends,” Yongrui sighed.

Huian clenched his jaw, placed his hand around the handle of his sword, paused for a moment, then pulled his blade out of Yongrui's chest and watched his breath leave his body. He looked happier. Huian lowered his head and laid him to rest in the middle of the blood pouring battlefield, everyone screaming around them.

Ying-tai saw his men getting trampled and soared his way to them. Galloping on his horse, he grabbed a spear from one of his men and pointed it far out in front of him. Sprinting toward the cavalier before him, he took a firm hold of his spear. As soon as he came close enough, Ying-tai shoved and twisted the spear into the cavalier while he dodged his attack, the blade brushing past his belly as he bent backwards. Watching him fall off his horse, Ying-tai unsheathed his sword and headed toward the second and third elite cavalier heading his way. He threw it toward the second one, the blade penetrating through his chest. All the meanwhile, Ying-tai galloped quickly past the third one then flipped off his dark horse and onto the enemy’s horse. Ying-tai wrestled him off his horse, both of them tumbling down on to the ground. Ying-tai quickly retrieved his sword and slaughtered him before the Wei cavalier unsheathed his sword. He met with Huian and Xia as they ran to his side. They were soon surrounded by elite cavaliers who were following them.

“We need to draw back, my lord,” Huian declared, keeping an eye on the elite cavaliers.

“Their walls are too strong for us to force our way through. We’ll lose too many men before making it across the moat,” Xia shouted over the noise, breathless.

Ying-tai agreed, “We will retreat and think of a new strategy.”

Before the elite Wei cavaliers could get any closer and raise their spears, the elite Qin archers shot them all down.

“Shen!” Ying-tai called for his horse. Immediately, he galloped and exploded his way through the Wei soldiers, knocking them off their feet. Ying-tai jumped on top of his moving horse and signaled Xia to blow the horn. They retreated to camp to save more lives from being recklessly slaughtered. Beginning to ride away, Ying-tai looked at Wei. He observed its landscape closely before turning around to lead his men away.

When arriving back at camp, Ying-tai called for Huian , Xia, Xianbo, and his other commanders to quickly meet him at his tent.

“I’ve thought of a way to conquer the walls of Daliang,” Ying-tai said fumbling through the map.

“Their walls may be impenetrable, using their geographical location as their advantage, but notice their surroundings? We can use their geographical location to our advantage as well.”

The commanders’ eyebrows rose. Xianbo grinned, understanding where Ying-tai was getting to.

“The canals! We can use the waters majorly from the Yellow River and the Hong Canal to flood them. The devastation that it will cause will give them great stress,” Huian smiled.

“Then we use that moment to attack,” Xia caught on.

Ying-tai smiled and nodded his head.

“It will take a while though, couple of months or so, to direct the water flow,” Ying-tai said.

“You leave that to me,” Xianbo smiled. “It should take no more than three months.”

“We will hold back until then,” Ying-tai announced. “Tell our men to prepare for our next move.”

During the next two months, Zhao sent their men to aid Wei to fight against the Qin division led by the fearsome Ying-tai all the while Xianbo was redirecting the water flow toward Daliang. The other one hundred thousand Qin troops stood by Zhao and waited patiently to attack as they were waiting for Ying-tai and their sign. It was about three months when they received it and they finally attacked the vulnerable Zhao site and occupied it. The redirection of the water flow from the Yellow River and Hong Canal started flowing abundantly toward Daliang, flooding their walls and devastating them. Ying-tai’s plan succeeded, killing hundreds of thousands, and they sieged the capital. He and his troops stormed into Wei, imitating the flood, and pierced their eyes unto The Emperor when they set their eyes on him.

“Stop!” He trembled. “We surrender! Wei is now declared under Qin’s rule!”

With Wei’s surrender to Qin, Ying-tai’s men roared into the air at their victory.

After the celebration of conquering Wei and occupation of Zhao’s border to guard any possible attacks, Huian congratulated Ying-tai.

“Where do we go now, my lord?” He asked.

“Half of us will meet with the troops by Zhao. The other half will move north with us to meet with Li Xin’s troops. Chu is our next objective.”

Huian and Xia nodded with approval.

While the men were celebrating, Ying-tai looked at Huian and noticed something was on his mind. He walked to Huian and sat by him.

“You always manage to appear poised, Huian. But today, I see you gazing into the distance, lost in your thoughts.”

Huian chuckled. “Ah, it’s nothing, my lord. Just tired from our battle.”

“Mmm. Everyone is,” Ying-tai nodded.

“I met with the general that led the troops inside Qin eleven years ago,” Huian began.

Ying-tai looked at Huian, eyes widened as he recalled the tragic day.

“His name was Yongrui. But he wasn’t the same man,” Huian sighed. “Before he died, he wept and said, ‘we all deserve to see a world of peace.’ It got me thinking, have we lost touch with ourselves? Have we gotten so caught up in slaughtering one another that we forgot what we were really fighting for? If we come to forget, what will happen when we grow tired? But what really got me was: I learned today I was no different from him. We are no different from our enemies. We are all enemies in each other’s eyes fighting for the same thing. Who are we to call ourselves righteous when we obliterate our own people’s homes?” A tear fell from Huian’s eye. “We are killing our own people who only seek peace.”

Ying-tai put his arms around him, “Huian, look around you. The people who have survived devastation, the ones who are still fighting, those whose fire in them has not burned out just yet--those are the people you have to stand up for. When you look into their eyes and all you see is lost in theirs, you can’t help but strive on for them even if it means sacrificing your own being.” Ying-tai stared off unto the setting sun, “Sacrifices, Huian. To obtain something so great, there always has to be a price that must be paid. That’s the sad thing in life. Yongrui must have realized what you said but could no longer bear to slay another person with the same vision as his: that we all deserve to see a world of peace.”

“It was against his morals,” Huian said.

“A romanticist,” Ying-tai stated.

“Huh,” Huian smiled as he and Ying-tai watched the sun set in Wei’s perspective for the first time.