Chapter 12: They Meet At Last

The small group of three managed to avoid the battlefield and entered the camp. They made their way up to the small archery tower straightaway where the small-scale war was unfolding before their eyes. She tapped her fingers on the wooden railing and her mind went back to that one image. She remembered she had clearly seen the layout of the city that time more than 10 years ago. So, a little more, and she should have the whole of the city in her grasp.

“T-that! That must be the infamous General!” Xiao Liu’s excited shout brought their attention to the man below. Riding on a majestic black horse, the giant sword in his hands was swung as though it was nothing more than a mere calligraphy brush. Elegant were his strokes, yet deadly and decisive. With each swing, at least one head flew. The hair that was locked in a silver ornament swished along with his movements, a graceful piece of art it could be called really, if it wasn’t for the contrasting smirk on his face. Even his horse looked like it was a few notches above the common stallions. It lifted its head proudly, a spitting image of its master as it agilely dodged and mercilessly stomped on its enemies. “The Capital is full of his deadly rumours!”

“Oh?” Luo Yue who hardly goes down to the city unless to visit a certain tavern naturally has not heard about them.

“Lady, surely, you've heard about the notorious Imperial Hounds Army?”

Her brows creased. If she didn't know about this, then it must have come into existence after she left.

“They’re the Emperor's personal troops. I can't believe you haven't met them before. They're always roaming around the Capital and since their words are akin to the Emperor's, everyone’s afraid of them!”

“They must not be interested in wines.” Luo Yue does not recall meeting anyone like that in the old granny's tavern.

“Even though it's called an army, I heard there's not more than a hundred people in the Imperial Hounds. The only reason they could be called one is because they are that strong. Especially the Leader, Wu Zhe Yan. He's the most infamous of them all!”

“Why?”

“Do you know what the people call him, Lady?” Seeing that she has become interested, Xiao Liu eagerly continued.

“What?”

“The Mad Dog!” he lowered his voice. “They say that he’s a cold, ruthless and crazy General. A murderer really if he wasn’t fighting for our country. When he brought his army to invade one of the lands under the Barbarians, he won. But even when the Barbarians have surrendered, he slaughtered everyone the very next day. Oh and, there was also that time when he returned from a battle. In that return ceremony, one woman came forward to pour him a glass of wine and he struck her down in half with that sword! Did you know? He even dragged a pregnant lady to the back alley and someone heard her crying afterwards! Who knows what he did to her there? Really, Lady! They even say that if you are the God of War, then he must be The Devil himself! All the things surrounding him can’t just be baseless rumours! As the saying goes, how can there be fire if there is no smoke? It’s better not to get too close to him, you never know what such a demon might do…”

“Heh, so to summarise, a brute, is he?” One end of Luo Yue’s lips lifted in amusement as she watched the said ‘demon’ swing his giant sword and sliced not only the soldier, but also his poor horse in half. Even after years of standing on the battlefield, she couldn’t remember someone of such inhumane strength. The Red Lion, Gao Peng, might have possessed the greatest strength she had seen, but when compared to this Wu Zhe Yan, it became all the more obvious that Gao Peng was still short of a few calibres. “Is he even human?”

For such words to come out of the God of War’s mouth, even Shen Tian Ping could not help but take a few more looks at the cold-blooded General fighting -or rather, massacring- below.

“Why don’t you go down and join him?” Luo Yue could recognise the look of competitiveness even if it is hidden under the most stoic of faces. Men have this sense of pride to fight for the place of the strongest, that was what Gao Peng had said. She didn’t understand why they would bother but she really couldn’t bother trying to understand as well.

“My job is to make sure you’re safe.” As usual, Shen Tian Ping stood by her side with no intention to move.

“I’m pretty safe. What could possibly hurt me here?” She shrugged. They were at the archery tower, if the frontline isn’t broken first, then naturally the enemies would not be able to reach them.

The words have just left her mouth when she sensed a bolt of malice, a sudden bloodlust directed at her. Something came flying straight at her from the direction of the battlefield below. She tilted her head, and that thing barely missed her neck.

An enemy’s axe that has been sliced in half with only the head of the axe left lodged itself into the wooden pillar beside her.

“…” Her lips now drawn into a straight line, she turned cold, detached eyes back to the battlefield, and this time, they met with those of the man below.

The only lady standing at the tower naturally had not escaped from Wu Zhe Yan's eyes. Cladded in a simple yet sophisticated white robe, her hair has been set down freely as though its owner had been too unbothered to tie it up. Just from her demeanour, and his instinct was already hinting to him that she wasn't an ordinary lady. She was languid in her movement, looking as though even the rotting smell of death could not lay its grasp on her body. Those eyes were calculative, knowledgeable yet awfully detached. There was a blanket of coldness that she seemed to have wrapped herself in, honed icicles readied to prey on anyone who walks too close.

Despite knowing that, everything about her has caught his attention like a mousetrap. He felt an urge to pull off that blanket, even if he pierces his hands. How exciting would it be, to finally see the person inside, only to stain her with his own bloodied hands?

All of these, just because of a split second of exhilarating curiosity. He really must have gone mad.

But she had challenged his authority yesterday and he wasn't interested in her enough to let it go.

So, he had struck down the enemy in front of him, taking the momentum to hit the head of the now ownerless axe towards the lady above. Death from a loose weapon on a battlefield should be enough of an excuse to give to the Emperor.

What a pity things did not go his way.

Wu Zhe Yan’s lips lifted into a provoking smirk, “oops, my bad. I missed.”

Luo Yue glanced at the person below who has not forgotten to give her such a warm welcome even when surrounded by enemies. The speed of that attack was so fast that even Shen Tian Ping who was standing right beside her had not seen it coming.

If it had been anyone else but her, they would already have been dead with an axe decorating their throat.

To not even house a seed of hesitance in his action, he either already knew she could dodge, or… he was truly a mad dog.

Whatever it is, he has messed with the wrong person now.

“Xiao Liu. You said he was crazy, didn’t you?” the smile on her face that reached just short of her eyes brought out a sense of dread to everyone around her. “Well, he isn’t the only one then.”

Wu Zhe Yan was still feeling smug when something flashed by, leaving a trail of red on his face in its wake. His pupils constricted and the smile was completely wiped from his face then.

Luo Yue had pulled the axe from the wooden pillar and slung it back. With such impossible speed that he had only managed to feel the change in the wind and then the sting on his face.

“Pardon me,” her voice which was carrying a hint of mockery rang out clearly in the battlefield, “that was a miss for me as well.”

Because it's you I was aiming for.