Xiang Xian knew Wu Yingzong’s temperament well. With such meticulous care, there would be no issues—and the two had taken to each other immediately. Most times, Xiang Xian preferred not to disturb them.
Chaosheng hummed in affirmation.
Xiang Xian said, “Once we’re done here, I’ll go home with you.” He signaled Wu Yingzong with his eyes, who understood.
With Chaosheng leaning against him, Wu Yingzong felt a surge of tenderness, his eyes reddening as if his soft heart had been touched. Looking down, he saw Chaosheng had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Wu Yingzong picked him up, carried him bent-backed into the tent, settled him comfortably, and gazed at his sleeping face in the darkness, restraining the urge to kiss him. Chaotic thoughts flooded Wu Yingzong’s mind.
Finally, Wu Yingzong woke Hulü Guang and then lay down beside Chaosheng in the tent.
As the sky began to lighten, Xiao Kun woke.
He did not let Gumo’s commoners rest much longer and roused everyone to march. A day later, they reached the outskirts of Korla.
They had passed through Korla on the way here. This place was Kucha territory under Grand Vizier Lierful’s jurisdiction. Though called “Licheng,” it had only sparse rammed-earth walls; most areas were enclosed orchards and farmlands. It was less a city than a large cluster of villages.
Korla had gathered nearly eighty thousand commoners and two thousand defending Huihu Army soldiers, long dependent on Gumo’s management. In case of war, enemy forces would sweep straight in with no natural defenses to rely on.
Just as they arrived outside Korla, the sky suddenly darkened. Birds blotted out the sun in a vast flock. A Huang looked up, spread his wings, and soared. The myriad birds seemed to receive a signal and swirled around him, forming a massive bird cloud nearly a li wide in the sky, howling like a whirlwind. But in a short moment, the bird cloud scattered with a whoosh, all flying toward the Tianshan Mountains.
“Mr. Liu has started marching,” A Huang flew back and said calmly. “They left Gumo this morning. After the Tianshan Path was blown up, the Ba Army took the central route through Luntai.”
“How many?” Xiang Xian asked.
A Huang: “Not a single person. All Ba.”
Xiang Xian: “Funny.”
A Huang: “Around fifty to eighty thousand?”
Xiang Xian: “Grandpa Huang! Fifty thousand and eighty thousand are two different numbers!”
A Huang: “A pelican told me. Pelicans can’t count.”
“We can’t gather here in Korla to meet the enemy,” Xiao Kun said. “Our forces are too few.”
Grand Vizier Li Er Man originally commanded twenty thousand troops in Gumo, but many garrisoned Aksu, northern Ili, central Luntai, and western Ushi, leaving only eight thousand in the city.
The day Mr. Liu returned and Demonic Fire erupted in Gumo, most guards were routed. Many survivors fled north to Ili, gathering en route the troops from Luntai. Their current force numbered nearly four thousand.
Li Er Man pushed through the crowd and bellowed angrily. He clearly intended to make a stand at Licheng against Mr. Liu’s army. Having endured such humiliation—imprisoned in the depths by a bizarre Demon Person—he had to vent his rage.
Hulü Guang translated for a while but couldn’t stand it. He said to Li Er Man, “Grand Vizier, calm down. Speak properly.”
Xiao Kun rejected the proposal before hearing it all: “No. That’s not something mortals can defeat. We need more aid.”
Xiang Xian: “We have to take the people here and withdraw northeast.”
Not to mention Mr. Liu’s forces of fearless, pain-immune dry corpses—even ordinary enemies would number at least fifty thousand. With such disparity and no natural barriers or even walls, how could they fight?
Zheng Yong looked at him sympathetically and translated Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian’s words. Li Er Man just roared curses in fury.
Li Er Man dared not lash out at Xiang Xian or Xiao Kun but had no qualms about his former advisor Zheng Yong, nearly getting in his face. Xiang Xian rose to rebuke him, but Wang Zongshi stepped forward first, blocking Zheng Yong and gesturing for Lierful to step back.
A middle-aged merchant stepped out—it was Gemu Wen, the trade manager who had previously hosted Wu Yingzong and Chaosheng. He said, “Lord Xiao and Lord Xiang are right. Fighting monsters here offers no chance of victory. Grand Vizier, we must withdraw, all the way to the north side of the Tianshan Mountains.”
Lierful: “Cowards! You’re all cowards!”
“If you want to fight, do it yourself here,” Xiao Kun lost patience. “We’re leaving first.”
Though filled with resentment, Li Er Man knew staying with a few thousand cavalry was suicide. He followed Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian on horseback into Korla city.
Xiang Xian went door to door along Licheng’s main roads, shouting, “The enemy is coming! Leave your homes immediately and prepare to depart! Withdraw north!”
Li Er Man rode straight to the City Lord’s Mansion, reined in outside, and bellowed.
Hearing the Grand Vizier had arrived, City Lord Buli Si led officials out to greet him. Xiao Kun signaled Xiang Xian to wait. Lierful issued orders imperiously in Uyghur outside the mansion, and Buli Si mobilized the troops at once.
“What did he say?” Xiang Xian asked Zheng Yong.
“The Grand Vizier is ordering,” Gemu Wen, who had followed them, explained. “City Lord Buli Si is to evacuate the commoners, abandon Korla, and follow us north.”
This was Lierful’s jurisdiction. With him stepping in, all of Korla sprang into action. No one questioned why; locals had not yet seen the enemy approaching and knew not its ferocity.
Under the city lord’s full cooperation, the entire city assembled camels and wagons within half a day and began an efficient retreat.
A second wave of birds brought news. A Huang said, “The enemy is still a day and a half away.”
“How many troops?” Xiang Xian asked.
“Seventy thousand.” This time, A Huang gave an exact number.
By afternoon, Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian had led the vanguard out of Korla along the incoming route, heading northeast along the Tianshan Mountains.
