Starting with a Wei Wu soldier

The blazing sunlight shone on every face flushed with excitement, glistening with sweat, their eyes burning with an intense fighting spirit and rage.

However, amidst this deafening roar, Chen Xing slowly raised his hand.

His movements were slow, even somewhat heavy, yet they possessed an inexplicable, magical power. The clamor seemed to be choked by an invisible hand, quickly subsiding and calming down. Everyone looked at their lord, at the raised hand, at the face that appeared somewhat pale in the blazing sunlight, yet remained unusually calm.

Chen Xing's gaze did not follow the fleeing Black Mountain knights, but instead slowly swept over every face on and off the fortress walls. He saw Zhao Tiezhu's still simmering anger, the murderous intent in Chen Wei's eyes, the flames surging beneath Murong Mingyue's icy exterior, and also the vague sense of bewilderment and fear of the impending war that rose in the eyes of many ordinary soldiers, craftsmen, and farmers after their roars.

Liu Xiong's arrogance and Black Mountain Commander's harsh conditions were like a red-hot iron, searing the hearts of everyone in Xinghuo Fortress. The will to resist was ignited, but this was followed by fear of retaliation from a powerful enemy. Black Mountain Commander commanded tens of thousands of troops, a force to be reckoned with. Xinghuo Fortress, though reorganized, was still newly established, with only a few hundred soldiers. Could they truly withstand the oncoming tide of their army? Their recent roars were displays of courage and defiance, but what would follow that courage?

Chen Xing knew very well that people's hearts were like water, capable of carrying a boat, but also capable of capsizing it. If the current fervor couldn't be transformed into unwavering resolve and the courage to burn one's bridges, panic and wavering could spread like a plague once the Black Mountain Army truly besieged the city. Liu Xiong's arrival was a threat, a humiliation, but it was also an opportunity—an opportunity to completely unify internal thinking and cut off all hope and escape routes!

He needs a drastic measure. A drastic measure that leaves everyone, including himself, with no way out but to fight a desperate battle!

His gaze finally fell on the parchment that Liu Xiong had tossed to the ground, now half-open in the dust. The black rope and the glaring handwriting resembled a venomous snake coiled before the gates of Starfire Fortress.

Chen Xing lowered his hand. He didn't speak, but whispered something to Chen Wei beside him, his voice so low that only those nearby could hear it:

"Get it back."

Chen Wei's pupils contracted sharply, and he turned to look at Chen Xing. In his lord's calm eyes, he saw a frozen resolve, something more terrifying than anger. Without hesitation, without even asking why, he nodded heavily, turned, and sternly ordered one of his personal guards, "First Squad of the Elite Guards, follow me out of the fortress!"

With a dull creak, the fortress gate opened a crack, and Chen Wei led the way, followed closely by ten fully armed and menacing elite soldiers. Like arrows released from a bow, they galloped off in the direction where Liu Xiong and the others had disappeared. Their hooves kicked up billowing dust, carrying with them a tragic and irreversible momentum.

On the fortress walls, everyone froze. Chase? Chase what? Chase the envoy who had already gone far away? What was the fortress master doing?

Murong Mingyue seemed to realize something; a flicker of fear flashed in her beautiful eyes, quickly turning into a cold understanding. She gripped the hilt of the knife at her waist, her knuckles turning slightly white. Zhao Tiezhu stared wide-eyed at the receding dust, then at Chen Xing, scratching his head, his face full of confusion. Wu Xuejiu's hand, stroking his beard, paused in mid-air, his eyes thoughtful, before finally letting out a barely audible sigh.

Time passed in a suffocating silence. Every breath seemed endless. The sun remained scorching, sweat trickled down their temples, but no one bothered to wipe it away. Everyone's heart was in their throat, their eyes fixed on the rolling hills to the northeast.

About fifteen minutes later, dust rose again on the horizon.

came back!

But it wasn't just Chen Wei and his ten elite soldiers who returned. They were also escorting someone else—Liu Xiong, who had gone and returned, but now had his hands tied behind his back, bound tightly, his face a mixture of shock, anger, and, more importantly, disbelief and fear! None of the dozen or so Black Mountain Army knights he had brought were to be seen; only Chen Wei and his men remained, with a few empty horses tethered to their horses.

Clearly, a brief and predictable pursuit and elimination had taken place. The Black Mountain Army's envoy was captured alive!

Chen Wei threw Liu Xiong, who had been dragged like a dead dog to the fortress gate, to the ground. He then dismounted, strode up the fortress wall, and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chen Xing: "My lord, the messenger 'please' return. His entourage resisted, but they have all been killed."

The voice was flat, yet carried an overwhelming, pungent smell of blood.

A deathly silence fell over the fortress walls. Only Liu Xiong's futile struggles on the ground and his muffled curses rang out. Everyone understood, but they were even more incredulous—what was the fortress lord doing? Capturing the envoy was a complete breakdown in relations; could it be…?

Chen Xing slowly descended the fortress wall and arrived at the open space in front of the fortress gate. The crowd automatically parted to make way, and all eyes were focused on him, on his terrifyingly calm face.

Liu Xiong was pinned to the ground by two elite soldiers. He raised his head, looking at Chen Xing who was approaching. The initial fear in his eyes was replaced by a desperate madness: "Chen Xing! You dare touch me? I am the envoy of the Black Mountain Commander! In war between two countries, envoys are not to be killed! If you kill me, you will be committing a life-or-death feud with the Black Mountain Commander! The Commander will surely send a large army to crush this dilapidated fortress of yours into dust! You...you will die a horrible death!"

Chen Xing stopped five steps in front of him, looking down at him with no emotion in his eyes, as if he were looking not at a person, but at an object about to be disposed of.

"Two countries at war?" Chen Xing finally spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears. "When did my Starfire Fortress and Black Mountain Commander become 'two countries'? He wields his army, controls his own territory, and tyrannizes the people; he is a traitor! My Starfire Fortress shelters refugees, protects its borders and people, and earns its own living; all we desire is a peaceful land. Black Mountain Commander bullies the weak, demands excessively, and even seeks to take away my limbs and destroy my home. This is not a war between nations, but a war between good and evil, a war between life and death!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the tense soldiers and civilians around him, then his voice suddenly rose, like metal striking the ground: "As for 'not killing envoys'? That's a gentleman's agreement, a rule of benevolence and righteousness! May I ask your esteemed envoy, when you came here, did you show any courtesy? Did you uphold righteousness? You uttered arrogant words, insulted my soldiers and civilians, threatened my brothers, and demanded our very foundation. How are you any different from bandits? How are you any different from jackals and wolves?! What kind of 'not killing envoys' is this, dealing with jackals and bandits?!"

With each question he asked, Liu Xiong's face paled a little more, and the fire in the eyes of the soldiers and civilians around him burned a little brighter.

Chen Xing stopped looking at him, turned around, and faced all the soldiers and civilians of Xinghuo Fortress, proclaiming loudly: "Gentlemen! The Black Mountain bandits treat us like weeds, like cattle and sheep! Today, they send a single arrogant scoundrel to our door to coerce us, demanding that we bind ourselves to plead guilty, pay grain and iron, and even try to seize my brothers Murong and disband my Xinghuo army! Do you think we can agree to such conditions?!"

"No!!" The roar rang out again, more unified and more violent than before, filled with the resentment of being humiliated and the resolute determination of burning one's bridges.

"If we back down today, he'll dare to take a step forward tomorrow! If we hand over the Murong brothers today, he'll dare to demand our heads tomorrow! If we offer up grain and iron today, he'll dare to seize my wife and daughters and occupy my home tomorrow! In this world, is there any reason to beg for mercy from wolves and jackals and expect to gain peace?!"

"No!!" The shouts nearly lifted the fortress walls.

"Therefore!" Chen Xing's voice was resolute, like thunder splitting the chaos, "To jackals, only the hunting knife must be drawn! To tyranny, only blood for blood! Today, I, Chen Xing, will use the head of this Black Mountain bandit envoy to proclaim to the world, and to everyone in Starfire Fortress—"

He turned abruptly, pointed his halberd at Liu Xiong, who lay on the ground ashen-faced and trembling like a leaf, and shouted sternly:

"Starfire Fortress, we swear to never surrender! Starfire Fortress and the Black Mountain bandits are locked in a life-or-death struggle!"

"Chen Wei!"

"Here!" Chen Wei stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Drag this scoundrel to the fortress and behead him!"

"promise!"

Two fierce soldiers, like wolves and tigers, dragged Liu Xiong, who was limp as a rag doll and unable to even beg for mercy, to the center of the open space in front of the fortress gate, facing northwest of where the Black Mountain Commander was, and forced him to kneel down.

Chen Wei slowly drew the newly acquired "Armor-Piercing Type 1" steel knife from his waist. Sunlight shone on the dark blade, gleaming with a chilling light. He raised the knife, ignoring Liu Xiong's desperate and contorted face, his gaze calmly fixed ahead.

The entire room fell silent; even the wind seemed to have stopped. Only heavy breathing and the pounding of hearts could be heard.

The blade flashed, falling like a bolt of lightning.

"Pfft—"

A head wearing a Fanyang hat rolled into the dust, hot blood from its neck spurting several feet away, quickly spreading a glaring dark red on the dry yellow earth. The headless corpse swayed and fell to the ground.

Everything happened so fast, so decisively. It wasn't until the stench of blood permeated the heatwave that many people seemed to awaken from a dream, gasping for breath. Then, a shiver, a mixture of fear, shock, and a kind of extreme release, swept over their bodies.

Chen Xing walked to the corpse, bent down, picked up the fallen Black Mountain Army flag, and slowly wiped away the few drops of blood splattered on his boot with the corner of the flag. Then, he forcefully snapped the flagpole in two with a "crack!"

"Hang this head on the flagpole at the fortress gate! Feed the corpse to the wild dogs!" Chen Xing's voice was icy cold, devoid of any emotion. "Issue the order: From this day forward, Xinghuo Fortress is under wartime! Any Black Mountain bandits who dare to approach within thirty li of our fortress will be killed without mercy! Anyone who speaks of surrender, negotiates peace, or disrupts the morale of the army—will be punished the same as this traitor!"

The command, as cold as ice, struck the hearts of everyone present. The last shred of hope, the last trace of hesitation, were crushed before the rolling heads and spurting blood.

It's either fight or die. There is no third way.

Chen Xing raised his head and looked northwest, towards the lair of the Black Mountain Commander. His gaze was sharp as a knife, as if trying to pierce through the mountains and meet the unknown, powerful enemy.

The declaration of war has been issued, and the blood oath has been sworn. Between Starfire Fortress and Black Mountain Commander, there is no turning back; it is a fight to the death.

Under the blazing sun, the air was thick with the stench of blood. On the flagpole at the fortress gate, a狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) head swayed slightly in the hot wind, silently announcing that this war to the death had begun.