Murong Jin reined in her horse, her eyes narrowed at the sky. After a night of wind and rain, the day was dark, the clouds hanging low and heavy.
"Report! The Yanyun are challenging us!"
"Oh?" She was surprised. To form up at the mouth of the Road of No Return… a last, desperate stand?
"General Murong." A rider galloped up.
She returned his salute. "Staff Officer Li. What brings you here?"
He was Zuo Xunxiao's man, a talented strategist.
"Commander Zuo was worried and sent me to assist."
"Hah. Not even a year, and in his eyes, I'm already some fragile maiden?" She shook her head. "Then come. Let's see what they're up to."
They rode to a watchtower. The Yanyun army was in formation, a wall of steel radiating a palpable chill. Behind the shields, every soldier was battle-ready, their eyes fixed on the dynasty's forces like tigers.
"A true army of wolves," Li said.
Murong Jin stared at the enemy, her expression growing heavy.
"General Murong?"
"What is it?"
"Thinking of a counter-strategy?"
She nodded. "I agreed with Zuo to attack at noon. But as of now, I have no confidence in victory."
"For them to form up here… it's against all logic," he said, pointing beyond their ranks.
"I don't understand it either," she said. "The pass is narrow. A retreat would be a massacre. Their commander is clever enough to use the Heavenly Tomb formation. How could he make such a mistake?"
"A trap," Li whispered.
Her fingers tapped the railing. "Send a squad in through the left. After a hundred paces, turn right and exit south. It may not break them, but it will cause chaos."
Li nodded, then smiled. "Why not exit north? We might shatter their right flank." He drew a diagram in the air.
"Brilliant, Staff Officer," she said, impressed, and gave the order. The war drums thundered, and cavalry shot out, charging the Yanyun shield wall.
The Yanyun opened their ranks and swallowed them whole.
From the tower, Murong Jin stared. Banners waved, dust flew, and soon her vision was obscured. All she could sense was the rising smell of blood.
Suddenly, her hand clamped the railing. "Damn it," she breathed. "It's a trap."
The enemy drums died down. The formation opened again, and riderless horses galloped out, the severed heads of her men dangling from their saddles.
"Archers!" she and Li yelled at the same time.
Suddenly, figures appeared on the backs of the charging horses, brandishing long swords. They had been hidden.
A volley of arrows flew, a black cloud of locusts. But the riders were skilled, deflecting the shafts with their blades.
"Give me that." Li snatched a bow and nocked three arrows. He drew and released. The lead warrior dodged the first, but the next two pierced his chest.
Not to be outdone, Murong Jin grabbed a bow and did the same. The tactic worked. The last of the riders fell.
A roar went up from their ranks. Murong Jin lowered her bow. But her relief was short-lived. He's modified the formation. She had underestimated him.
It was nearly noon. She was no closer to a solution.
"Here." Li offered her a piece of fruit.
"Thank you." She had no appetite. She had never been outmaneuvered like this.
She looked at the sun again, then an idea struck. "Staff Officer Li."
"Yes?"
"Do you know this formation?"
"A little."
"Good. I want one hundred of our best cavalry. I'm going in. You will command from here."
He stared, then shook his head. "No. It's too dangerous. You're the commander. I'll go."
She met his gaze, then laughed. "I think it's better if you stay. I may be a woman, but I am still a general who has earned her rank on the battlefield."
"Is this because you're afraid of what Zuo would say if something happened to me?"
She turned away, embarrassed. "You are his right hand. If you were lost under my command, it would be my failure."
"You…" He swallowed his words.
"In the army, an order is an order," she said, and walked away.
The hundred riders were the best, their white armor gleaming like a drawn sword. Or like funeral shrouds, she thought.
She had a plan. But the price might be her own life. She had no choice. Zuo Xunxiao's life was in danger.
Xue Liulan, she thought with a cool smile, if you were here, seeing me risk my life for Zuo, would you be jealous? She kicked her horse and charged.
Behind her, Li's hand clenched. "Signal the main army," he yelled. "Prepare to advance." Murong Jin, he prayed, come back alive.
The Heavenly Tomb formation was a maze, a grave for those who entered.
Murong Jin led her men in, cut down the enemy commander, and broke through toward the south. Her hundred riders, lives on the line, fought like madmen.
She reined in her horse before a sheer cliff. "I have reached the heart of your formation. This is a poor way to treat a guest."
"Impressive. To have broken my Heavenly Tomb." An old man's voice sneered from the clifftop.
"You thought a mere formation could stop the armies of the dynasty?" she called back. "Surrender, Sayatu."
"Hah! Surrender? Murong Jin, you are still in my trap. You are the one who will die."
"And what if I am?" she asked, her eyes on the swirling mist below. "You built this formation on the power of the earth. But let me teach you something, Sayatu."
"Oh?"
"All formations follow the same principles. To use a borrowed power without understanding its true nature is the height of arrogance." Her lips curved into a mocking smile. "The laws of heaven cannot be changed. You have lost because you defied them."
"What are you saying?" he stared, shocked. How could she be so calm?
She looked at the silver spear in her hand and took a deep breath. "Sayatu, it is time for you to die."
The clouds parted for a single shaft of light, glinting off her spearpoint as it leveled at the sky.