[Yaodu]
Night was ink-black. Black mist churned, swallowing half the city gate.
On the streets, frenzied townsfolk, their eyes lit with dark sheen, howled and swung clubs as they slammed themselves against the Yao army's shield wall without regard for life or death. Spears stabbed again and again, yet wave after wave surged forward, mad to the point of something demonic.
"Hold the line! Do not fall back!"
The commanding officer was drenched in blood, roaring until his voice tore, yet each impact still forced him back step by step.
"If the gate breaks, all of Yaodu is finished!"
At that moment, thunderous hoofbeats rolled in from the distance.
In the wavering firelight, dozens of riders tore toward them, banners snapping in the wind. At the front rode a man in a black battle robe, his features cold as a blade.
"Your Highness!" someone cried, voice shaking.
Si Moheng reined in outside the gate, looking down from horseback, gaze like iron. His shout cracked like thunder:
"Shadow-Scale Guard, with me, clear the formation!"
Youqing spurred forward, sleeves flying. Spiritual power gathered in her palm and burst outward into a shimmering, water-like barrier that spread across the front of the gate. The bewitched townsfolk hit it and immediately slowed, as if wading into deep mud.
"Now, reform ranks!" she called, voice clear.
The three generals moved at once.
One drew his blade to carve a path, lightning flashing along its edge.
One leveled a spear to sever the mob's momentum, the shaft sweeping like a wall of iron.
The last swung a massive shield and forced the charging crowd back by sheer weight.
The Yao soldiers' morale surged.
"Kill—!" they roared.
Iron hooves churned. Battle cries shook the air. At last, a gap was ripped open in the black fog.
Si Moheng rode straight in, longsword gleaming with frost-bright light. His blade tip pointed to the roiling mist below the walls as his voice dropped, heavy with undeniable authority:
"The gate… must not fall."
From atop the wall, soldiers answered as one, voices like thunder.
"Hold the city! Hold the city!"
The battle had only just stabilized when a low, eerie chuckle drifted out of the fog.
"Heh… the Third Prince himself comes to guard a gate?"
The sound echoed through the mist, near and far at once, cold enough to raise gooseflesh. Hands tightened on weapons all along the line.
The fog shifted, and a lean but upright figure stepped out slowly.
He wore green robes. His face looked almost unchanged, but his eyes swam with sinister black, and a smile curved his mouth as if the world were a toy between his fingers.
"Ling Shuo…" Youqing breathed.
Si Moheng's gaze turned instant ice. He tightened the reins, sword leveled forward. "Do you know what you're doing?"
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) advanced unhurriedly. The fog rolled with every step.
"Doing what?" He laughed softly, madness laced with pleasure. "I'm merely letting them see the truth: in this Yao Realm, they are ants. Their lives and deaths are held in the hands of those above."
"You use the people as pieces and throw Yaodu into chaos. For what?" Si Moheng's voice was cold steel, pressing down the wavering hearts around him.
"For what?" Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) stopped, lifted his head. Black mist flowed through his eyes.
"Because I want this city to bleed. I want you to witness it with your own eyes: when order collapses, who is the one that can seize the chaos?"
He flung up a hand. The black mist surged like a tide and crashed toward the gate. In the same instant, countless bewitched citizens screamed and hurled themselves against the defenses, flesh tearing, blood spraying, yet not one of them retreated.
The walls shuddered. Terror iced every spine.
Si Moheng's eyes sharpened like knives. He slashed his sword. A cold arc of light split the fog as his voice rang, hard as iron:
"Ling Shuo. If you dare use the people as sacrifice… I will behead you!"
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) didn't flinch. He threw his head back and laughed, the sound rattling nerves.
"Come then, Third Prince! If you truly can cut me down, try your best!"
Fog rolled. Laughter and killing cries intertwined. Murderous air surged at the gate.
Black fog swelled like an ocean. Dark light churned in the citizens' eyes as they smashed against the gate, their howls tearing at eardrums.
"At this rate, the gate will break!" the commanding officer cried, voice shaking.
Youqing's gaze hardened. Her sleeve snapped up. Her scarlet pupils ignited in an instant.
She pressed her palms together at her chest, then thrust them outward. Crimson light bloomed in the mist, releasing a barrier-like wave of spiritual force that drove the crowd back several paces.
"Back!" she commanded, cold and commanding.
Where the crimson passed, the black fog hissed, curling away as if scorched by flame. The citizens' expressions flickered. Their eyes stuttered as if struggling toward brief clarity.
"Youqing!" Si Moheng warned, voice low, sword already raised to cover her.
In the fog, Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) curled his lips into a crooked smile.
"Heh… the power of the Scarlet Eyes? What a pity. How many can you drag back? There are thousands here. Can you save them all?"
He snapped his sleeve. The black mist shrieked like a nest of serpents and wrapped violently around Youqing's barrier. Distorted faces surfaced inside it, crying, cursing, wailing, clawing at her mind.
"Father… why did you abandon me…" "Save me… save me…"
The voices stabbed like needles into the soul. Even nearby soldiers' eyes went unfocused, hands loosening on their weapons.
Youqing gritted her teeth. Her scarlet pupils flared brighter. With two fingers she traced a sigil in the air and hissed:
"Soul-threads… sever!"
Crimson light cut like a blade. The illusions shattered instantly, and the black mist was forced back in a violent roll. Dozens of citizens collapsed, the dark light draining from their eyes. They were bloodied, but slowly, slowly, they returned to themselves.
"Impossible!" Ling Shuo's eyes boiled with black. His snarl dropped into a savage hiss.
"You can cut the soul-threads I wove…"
Sweat beaded at Youqing's brow, but she met his stare head-on, voice calm and unbending.
"As long as even one person can be saved, I will not retreat!"
From the wall, soldiers roared in answer.
"Good!"
Si Moheng pointed his sword, voice like a war drum.
"All forces, hear me! Protect the Imperial Daughter. Hold the gate!"
Drums thundered again. Morale surged. Crimson light and black fog crashed together beneath the walls like heaven and earth locked in combat.
The clash of crimson and fog spat out a sizzling, burning sound. Youqing's breath trembled, cold sweat dripping, yet she held the soul-thread barrier with sheer will.
"Qing'er, fall back!" Si Moheng barked, voice ice-cold. His sword trembled once, then he spurred his horse forward.
Within the rolling mist, Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) drew closer, smile mad and merciless.
"Heh… Third Prince. So you finally mean to face me? Do you realize the people of this city… are all my soldiers."
"You turn the people into blades. That is a crime." Si Moheng's sword leveled, his words striking like winter thunder.
In the next instant, spiritual power surged. Swordlight exploded, becoming a silver-white rainbow that cleaved into the fog.
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) sneered. Both sleeves whipped. Black mist condensed into a wall and slammed into the strike.
Boom!
Swordlight and fog collided. The world shook. A gale tore through the gate, and soldiers atop the wall nearly lost their footing. Within the rolling mist, countless shrieking phantoms poured out, trying to coil around the blade and swallow it whole.
Si Moheng didn't change expression. His eyes were cold stars. He snapped his sword into a new line, shredding the phantoms and driving straight at Ling Shuo.
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) raised a palm. The fog formed a giant claw and tore toward Si Moheng's chest.
The two figures hard-collided within mist and light, the impact cracking like thunder.
Clang!
Steel met fog. Sparks burst. Killing intent surged so thick the entire gate seemed to inhale and hold its breath.
Youqing stared, heart jolting.
This was no longer illusion versus swordsmanship.
This was faith against faith.
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) roared, dark light swelling in his eyes. "Si Moheng! What you protect is nothing but a rotten city!"
Si Moheng pressed his sword down, voice ringing like iron struck on stone.
"What I protect… is the human heart!"
His swordlight surged, silver brilliance spearing through the fog straight toward Ling Shuo's face.
Ling Shuo's body stuttered. The fog erupted, and he was forced back several steps.
The black mist was driven away for several paces by Si Moheng's swordlight. Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) steadied himself, blood at the corner of his mouth, yet the smile never left. It only turned more warped.
"Heh… worthy of the Third Prince. Your reputation isn't empty."
He wiped the blood with the back of his hand. Madness flickered deep in his eyes.
"But it's a pity. These rioters have already become my puppets."
His sleeve snapped. The fog scattered into countless fine strands and sank instantly into the citizens' bodies.
The citizens who had begun to recover clarity snapped back into frenzy. Dark light flared violently in their eyes, and the screams rose, wilder than beasts stripped of all reason.
"Kill! Kill—!"
They hacked and lunged even with spears piercing them through. Blood and flesh flew, yet they did not stop.
Si Moheng's heart sank. His shout tore out like a blade.
"Ling Shuo—!"
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) laughed, his voice rolling through the fog without end.
"Hahaha! Then guard it, Third Prince. Guard your precious 'human heart'! Let me see how many lives you can keep in a world like this!"
The black fog surged and swallowed him whole. When the mist thinned, he was gone.
Across the gate and the walls, the battle turned into a blood-soaked grind. Youqing's scarlet pupils still burned as she fought to sever the bewitched soul-threads, holding back collapse with thread-thin control. The three generals rotated blade, spear, and shield, keeping the formation from breaking.
Si Moheng held the line before the gate, sword dripping blood, his brow steeped in icy resolve.
"All forces, hear me! Not one step back! If we retreat today, Yaodu dies!"
Drums thundered. Banners snapped atop the wall. Killing intent and determination braided together into the night.
And deep in a distant alley, a shadow watched in silence, lips curved in a cold arc.
Ling Shuo (Ye Yi) had withdrawn, yet he had thrown all of Yaodu into madness, blood, and fire.
The drums shook the sky. Blood ran at the gate like a stream.
The frenzied citizens still hurled themselves forward, howling. Black mist circled in the night, pressing down until breathing felt hard.
Si Moheng rode with sword in hand, face cold as winter, shouting again and again, "Hold!"
At his side, Youqing moved her hands like a musician plucking invisible strings, guiding the soul-threads her scarlet eyes could see. She fought to soothe the bewitched minds, using fragile threads to resist a raging tide, always one heartbeat from snapping.
The three generals held their sectors, blade, spear, and shield cycling without pause, yet even so they could barely slow the suicidal crush.
The soldiers panted like beasts, but their eyes burned with the will to die fighting.
"Your Highness! At this rate… we can't hold!"
Then, from far away, a horn sounded.
Its heavy note rose from the south of the city like thunder inside the night.
A line of torches surged closer, banners unfurling in the wind. On them were two characters:
Yao South.
At the front rode a white-bearded elder: the deputy master of Yao South Hidden Manor. Behind him marched the manor's most elite guards.
"It's Yao South Hidden Manor!" "Reinforcements!"
The shout spread like wildfire.
The deputy master rode up and clasped his fists in salute, bellowing:
"Your Highness! Manor Master Ye Qixiu has passed, but his final order remains: Yao South Hidden Manor will defend the Yao Realm's foundation!"
With that, dozens of Yao South guards plunged into the melee. Steel and blade met the enemy alongside the Yao army, and the tide began to turn.
Si Moheng raised his sword and pointed forward, voice like a bell:
"Hidden Manor stands with us. Press them down!"
Morale exploded. The battle cries cracked the night again.
Youqing's breath shook, but she kept forcing her scarlet eyes to guide the dead and living alike. When she saw that familiar banner, something tightened in her chest, her eyes stinging.
Grandfather with the pocket watch was gone… yet he was still guarding this city, in another way.
The battlefield steadied. The rioters were pushed back. Even the black mist retreated a line.
Si Moheng reined in at the gate, eyes cold, voice heavy.
"All forces, hear me! Lock down the city. Search every corner. We must find Ling Shuo!"