The sun hung in the sky, casting a large white disk.

Before the gates of Lumen, the wilderness was now filled with Northern Barbarian soldiers.

The first wave of Xie family cavalry, attacking from the rear, clashed with the enemy.

The ground trembled, the thunderous sound of galloping horses and battle cries drowning out the roar of war drums.

The Northern Barbarian cavalry, forming the front line, and the infantry at the rear were suddenly ambushed.

Unable to adjust their formation in time, the Northern Barbarian infantry was quickly overwhelmed.

The Northern Barbarian’s commanders of the infantry quickly reacted, roaring, “It’s the Xie family cavalry! Front line, switch to rear! Form a shield wall! Archers and spearmen, prepare!”

The scattered Northern Barbarian’s soldiers quickly divided into two teams, raising huge shields.

Arrows and spears rained down on the Xie family cavalry, causing casualties, but reinforcements constantly filled the gaps.

The cavalry roared, disregarding their lives, trampling over their fallen comrades, determined to retaliate against the invaders threatening their homeland.

The Xie family cavalry, the only force capable of battling Northern Barbarian’s cavalry head-on in recent decades, were not only brave but also unafraid of death.

The Northern Barbarian’s infantry struggled to counter them.

The Xie family cavalry charged at the shield wall, continuing their assault without pause, using the momentum of their horses to leap over and attack.

Countless spears thrust out from behind the shield wall.

The leading cavalrymen and their horses were impaled, blood spraying as they fell, knocking down the shields in front of them.

They paved the way for their comrades with their own deaths.

With thousands of troops and horses approaching, the Northern Barbarian’s infantry couldn’t raise their shields in time.

They were met head-on by the charging horses, crushed and trampled into the ground. The Northern Barbarian’s infantry couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the Xie family cavalry.

The Northern Barbarian’s army, consisting of 150,000 soldiers, formed a “convex” formation.

The vanguard attacked the city, while the cavalry deterred the Chen army on the city tower.

Behind them was a formation of infantry.

Inside a chariot at the center of the army sat the Northern Barbarian’s chieftain and several tribal leaders, watching the battle.

Hearing the sounds of battle behind them, the old Khan sighed, “Is that Shen fellow allied with the Xie family army?”

A scout replied, “According to the frontline scouts, the Xie family army from Leizhou arrived after learning of our siege.

It seems they weren’t aware of the situation at Lumen Gate beforehand. Also, a Chu army from Jianghuai is speeding toward Lumen Gate from thirty miles away!”

This news puzzled the tribal leaders in the chariot.

Watching the relentless charge of the Xie family cavalry, the wrinkles on the old Khan face deepened.

He seemed to sigh with both resignation and confusion, “These Central Plains people… Even though they’re mortal enemies, they band together at times like this without any promises.”

The other tribal leaders shared his confusion.

While they often waged wars with other tribes, they never showed mercy to outsiders, even if their foes were annihilated.

They had agreed to move south from Liangzhou, no longer clashing with the Xie family of Beiting.

They also harbored thoughts of not provoking Beiting further, perhaps hoping Beiting would remain neutral.

However, there was clearly no communication with Beiting from Shen Yanzhi’s side.

With Lumen Gate besieged, both Beiting and Jianghuai had sent troops.

This proud tribe suddenly realized that perhaps they didn’t understand the Central Plains people after all.

But their introspection ended there.

With 150,000 troops and every warrior skilled in horseback archery, they could transform infantry into cavalry given enough horses.

However, the Xie family cavalry, carefully nurtured, lost a rider with every death.

Despite their ferocity, the Xie family cavalry was futile against the overwhelming numbers.

The old Khan withdrew his gaze and ordered, “Cavalry, prepare to engage.”

As the Northern Barbarian’s infantry formation broke under the attack of the Xie family army, the Northern Barbarian’s Cavalry, originally facing forward, turned around in time.

The two cavalry forces collided.

The Xie family cavalry, exhausted from battling in the infantry formation, began to falter against the enemy’s superior numbers.

Xie Chi, with the remaining Xie family troops, stood on a hill, overlooking the battlefield.

Although their cavalry continued to charge forward, their speed noticeably slowed. Outnumbered by the enemy’s cavalry, they were easily surrounded and overwhelmed.

Xie Chi sat on his horse, the sunlight reflecting off his bright silver armor, devoid of any warmth.

His face was clouded with gloom. “Picking this broken place to fight against the Northern Barbarian is a mistake. If Lumen Gate can hold against the Northern Barbarian army, it would be a miracle.

Shen Yanzhi better have succeeded in trapping Kadan, or I’ll personally crush his head into the snow when I enter the city!”

Lumen Gate was just a small city, never historically chosen as a battleground for siege warfare.

After all, Lumen Gate led to Liangzhou, which was like the northwestern gateway to Greater Chu.

Its defenses were as solid as those of Qiangliu Pass.

If Liangzhou fell, the defending troops would retreat to Zijing Pass.

Zijing Pass, like Qinxiang Pass, was strategically vital, easy to defend but difficult to attack.

One was located in the northwest, the other in the southeast, both serving as the last major checkpoints before advancing to Bianjing.

Seeing the Xie family cavalry below almost completely engulfed by the Northern Barbarian cavalry, Xie Chi slowly raised his right hand.

Behind him, the thunderous sound of hooves approached, and in moments, the densely packed Xie family cavalry once again drew the boundary between the sky and the mountains.

He led the charge, his warhorse kicking up snow as it galloped forward.

Leaning forward on his horse, Xie Chi held the reins with one hand and his gilded phoenix-wing spear with the other, roaring, “Kill them!”

The Xie family soldiers behind him echoed his cry, “Kill!”

With the momentum of the slope, the cavalry of over ten thousand men surged forward like rolling thunder, drawing the attention of the Northern Barbarian’s Old Khan and tribal leaders seated in the central command chariot once again.

Like a sharp wedge, the cavalry collided head-on with the Northern Barbarian’s cavalry, then tore through their defense lines ruthlessly, charging forward without hesitation.

The Xie family cavalry, previously trapped deep within the Northern Barbarian’s cavalry, heard the battle cries and seemed to find their direction again, moving towards the cavalry led by Xie Chi.

The old chieftain squinted as he observed the young commander charging into battle, “Is that Marquis’s son?”

An aide confirmed, “Indeed, this is him. This Xie Chi is known as the Little Wolf King among the Beiting army.”

The old chieftain Khan remarked, “With such courage and skill, he’s worthy of the title of Little Wolf King. If my son Kadan were here, perhaps he could defeat him.”

His words silenced the occupants of the chariot.

Shen Yanzhi had arranged a feast at Lumen Gate.

Considering it was just a small city and the letter was personally written by Li Zhong, they allowed Kadan to attend with only a few dozen guards.

Little did they know it was Shen Yanzhi’s scheme.

Shen Yanzhi wanted to use Lumen Gate to trade for Kadan’s life.

With Lumen Gate on the verge of falling and the Jianghuai reinforcements closing in, the old chieftain Khan was running out of patience.

After retracting his gaze, he commanded, “Send word, reward the first hundred soldiers to break through the city gate with ten gold, and grant them beautiful women! Whoever kills that young commander in white armor will receive ten thousand gold!”

As long as Xie Chi died, the Xie family cavalry would lose its backbone.

The cavalry led by Xie Chi successfully merged with the previous unit that broke into the enemy formation.

They enveloped the tired cavalry in the center of their formation and continued their charge forward in a goose formation.

As far as the eye could see, there were only Northern Barbarian cavalry.

They couldn’t afford to stop; if they did, they would be completely surrounded by the Northern Barb6 cavalry.

Only by breaking the enemy’s formation could they have a chance of survival.

In the past, after breaking the local cavalry formation, their infantry would quickly surround them, trapping the enemy cavalry in their infantry camps.

But this time, Xie Chi truly felt what it meant to be overwhelmed.

Even if they broke the enemy’s formation, without infantry support in the rear, they couldn’t trap the scattered enemy cavalry.

The Northern Barbarian’s cavalry would quickly regroup.

Despite this, Xie Chi dared not stop.

After breaking through the Northern Barbarian’s cavalry several times, he turned back to engage them again, holding back the Northern Barbarian’s cavalry.

Lumen Gate was already indefensible.

He was buying time for the reinforcements from Jianghuai while fortifying Zijing Pass.

Shen Yanzhi had trapped the fifty thousand Chen army at Lumen Gate.

If Lumen Gate fell, the Northern Barbarian’s could march straight to Bianjing.

The reason Xie Chi hated Shen Yanzhi so much was because of this.

Shen Yanzhi seemed to have calculated that Leizhou and Jianghuai wouldn’t ignore this mess, hence his scheme to trap Kadan.

With fifty thousand Chen army defending Lumen Gate and the Xie family cavalry tying down the Northern Barbarian’s cavalry, it could indeed delay the time for the Jianghuai army to fortify Zijing Pass.

However, this didn’t mean Xie Chi agreed with Shen Yanzhi’s stubbornness.

Upon receiving urgent reports from the frontline, Qin Zheng led her troops to fortify Zijing Pass without a moment’s rest.

Previously, fearing that Shen Yanzhi would form an alliance with Northern Barbarian, their defenses were all concentrated around Zhuzhou.

Now they had to start over.

Qin Zheng wasn’t too knowledgeable about military affairs, but from the analyses of Lu Ze and other strategists, she knew that Lumen Gate was not the optimal city to defend against the enemy.

If they were to engage in a desperate defense, Zijing Pass was the better choice.

Although the Northern Barbarian’s Crown Prince’s ambition and martial prowess were well-known, and he was the one who devised the plan to lure them into Greater Chu’s heartland,

Shen Yanzhi had lured the Northern Barbarian’s Crown Prince to the Inside Lumen Gate, even at the cost of his own life and power, just to kill him.

Qin Zheng felt there must be some deep-seated enmity between him and the Northern Barbarian’s Crown Prince.

She sent An Yuanqing with twenty thousand troops to support Lumen Gate.

One reason was to make the Northern Barbarian’s believe that the three forces of Jianghuai, Leizhou, and Bianjing were all mobilized, which would make them wary.

Another reason was to coordinate with the Xie family cavalry from Leizhou, avoiding leaving them isolated and unsupported.

Qin Zheng herself, accompanied by Dong Cheng and Yang Yi, rallied the local civilians of Zijing Pass to dig trenches and set traps.

She was intimately familiar with every piece of information returned by the messengers about the enemy’s movements.

Yet, despite this, the sensation of the impending danger, as the formidable enemy closed in step by step, made her fingers tremble uncontrollably.

Clasping her fingers tightly, Qin Zheng stood on the city tower, watching the trenches dug by the soldiers and civilians in the distance.

Lumen Gate.

The dilapidated city gate could no longer withstand the onslaught of the Northern Barbarian’s army.

It collapsed with a loud crash, and the soldiers trapped beneath it were trampled into a pulp by the Northern Barbarian’s troops pouring into the city.

Arrows rained down like locusts on the entering Northern Barbarian soldiers.

Those who fell in front were stepped on by those behind, and in moments, the pile of corpses at the city gate was higher than a man’s head.

Below the city was a fierce battle, and the same was true on the arrow tower.

Kadan, born with extraordinary strength, effortlessly thrust arrows into the bricks to climb the arrow tower.

His face and body were scratched to varying degrees, but the blood only accentuated his bloodthirsty and ferocious eyes.

Faced with arrows flying towards him, he casually grabbed a Chen soldier to use as a shield, blocking all the arrows that came his way.

With another hand, he drew the curved knife from his waist, cutting through the soldiers like slicing through melons and vegetables. None of the Chen soldiers he passed survived intact.

Although the archers aimed arrows at him, they could only retreat, trembling like sieves.

Only Shen Yanzhi, holding a crossbow, remained unfazed.

Kadan threw the body of the Chen soldier he was using as a shield at the archers blocking his way.

The archers were knocked down in a pile, and in their panic, the arrows they released were effortlessly deflected by Kadan’s blade.

Using his left hand to wipe away the blood from his face, Kadan looked at Shen Yanzhi not far away and smiled, “It seems the Regent Prince is losing?”

Shen Yanzhi pulled the trigger of the crossbow, and a golden-patterned arrow shot straight towards Kadan. “Not necessarily.”

The arrow was aimed at Kadan’s throat, but he caught it with his hand.

Kadani sneered, “Is the Regent Prince underestimating me too much?”

But Shen Yanzhi just returned a cold smile.

The sound of chains came from behind, and Kadan realized something was wrong.

In an instant, he leaned back, avoiding two assassins attempting to strangle him with chains.

Although he dodged the direct attacks, his feet were caught by two other chains.

The two assassins pulled the chains in opposite directions, but Kadan’s lower body was incredibly stable.

With a strong stomp, the tiles on the arrow tower cracked under his feet.

However, it was also at this moment that he managed to grab the two assassins with the chains.

Chen soldiers swarmed in from all sides, helping to pull the four chains, attempting to lift him off the ground.

Veins bulged on Kadan’s forehead as he resisted the force of a dozen soldiers pulling at him.

However, the chains couldn’t withstand such force and snapped.

At the same time, another golden-patterned arrow was shot towards Kadan’s chest.

Unable to dodge, he was hit, leaving a bloody wound on his shoulder.

The soldiers pulling the iron chains fell backwards, and Kadan immediately used the broken chains as weapons, taking the lives of several men in an instant.

The soldiers surrounding Shen Yanzhi began to flee in panic, but Shen Yanzhi remained calm, even putting down his crossbow.

Kadan sneered, “Is the Regent Prince planning to surrender?”

Even though he could barely breathe, Shen Yanzhi’s expression was full of satisfaction. “As you move more, the poison spreads faster. Everything the Crown Prince has planned so carefully has now become someone else’s funeral clothes. How does it feel?”

Kadan fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at the Northern Barbarian’s soldiers who had already broken through the city gate. “Not bad.”

The snow fell heavily, as if to cover the rivers of blood on earth.

Snowflakes landed on Kadan’s braids, and his resolute and profound face showed no resentment, no fear of death. “As long as my people no longer suffer from cold and hunger, the girls of Northern Barbarian’s will soon be able to wear silk and satin, and wear silk flowers and jade hairpins like the women of the Central Plains. That’s enough.”

Shen Yanzhi was taken aback for a moment.

On this foreign man Kadan, he saw many familiar shadows:

The Duke of Qin,

The one who occupied the body of the former Chu’s Crown Prince,

The woman who occupied his Beloved Azheng’s body,

And even the one who had just entered his service Chen Qin.

He slowly smiled, and the haze and hostility between his eyebrows faded away layer by layer, like melting snow.

“Then I should be even more grateful to have killed you.”