Cavalry held a natural advantage over infantry, capable of fending off two, let alone possessing an overwhelming numerical superiority. With their commander, Ha Yachaku, already slain, I estimated that persuading the eighty thousand troops to surrender would be a simple matter.
The mixed cavalry force split into two divisions, one led by Little Yama and the other by Dongfang Jibai. They rode abreast, while Li Yuanba and I, with a small contingent of Three Yin Hall cavalry, acted as a decoy in the center.
We caught up with Ha Yachaku's eighty thousand infantry head-on. Despite their commander's inexplicable demise, the eighty thousand remained in disciplined formation, a testament to the deputy commander's leadership. Li Yuanba and I dismounted, feigning a ground assault to lure them into pursuit, stretching their ranks thin. As their formation wavered, the cavalry from both flanks attacked, encircling the entire eighty thousand army on the snowfield.
This time, Little Yama personally emerged to negotiate the surrender, promising the deputy commander promotions and honors. I was tasked with blocking their escape route, so I didn't participate in the negotiations, but it appeared to go smoothly. About ten minutes later, orders came from the front: all soldiers were to tie white cloth strips around their left arms, signifying their allegiance to the imperial court.
The army immediately changed direction, heading towards Daxing Fort to establish a base of operations. After regrouping, they would launch a surprise attack on the rebel king's city.
Dongfang Jibai returned to the Three Yin Hall and released the more than forty thousand rebel troops from the north of the city.
After all this, Little Yama's force had suddenly transformed from three thousand Black Armored Soldiers into over three hundred thousand imperial troops, encompassing various branches and equipped with a diverse array of weaponry. Intelligence indicated that the rebel king's city, five hundred miles away, was garrisoned by only a hundred thousand troops, all new recruits conscripted by King Qi and possessing weak combat capabilities.
It could be said that with this battle, the war in the underworld was decided. I no longer needed to be involved; I could simply return to the mortal realm and await news of their victory.
At Daxing Fort, I bid farewell to Qin Shuyao, Dongfang Jibai, and the others. With Li Yuanba, I retraced our steps back to Erliu City. I couldn't take Li Yuanba with me at this time; he lacked an underworld pass and had to remain in the underworld, available for my deployment. Xiao Nu, Zheng Baobao, and I returned to the mortal realm, our mission completed successfully, or rather, exceeded.
Back in the mortal realm, everything was as usual. Yao Yao and the others had returned to the Lu Shun base. After days of intense fighting, I was also quite exhausted. I took a flight back to Lu Shun, where a fox spirit met me at the base and took me directly to my room. I slept for a full day and night, finally recovering my strength.
I had gone to sleep late at night and woken up to the same late hour. Yao Yao and the others were also awake. Shen Xingyue came to visit and updated me on the recent reconnaissance conducted by Sabia on the Mountain Sea demon clan. I took the opportunity to ask about Lin Xi's previous mention of finding the reincarnation of Shan Hai, wanting to know who it was and where they were.
Shen Xingyue smiled faintly. "Haven't you noticed that someone is missing from your team?"
"Huh? Who?" I looked around. There weren't many people nearby. I activated my Qi-seeing technique and scanned in all directions. Many of the demons had gone hunting, but indeed, one person was missing.
"Where's Qian Xun?" I asked Yao Yao.
"Sabia took her to Shangjing for safekeeping," Yao Yao said, crossing her arms and speaking coldly. "I never expected that someone so close, right under our noses, the reincarnation of Shan Hai, was with us all along."
"Ah! Qian Xun is the reincarnation of Shan Hai?" I exclaimed in surprise.
Yao Yao nodded. "Precisely."
No wonder her aura was so powerful. That made sense. Her mother, Lu Qianyu, hadn't revealed Qian Xun's father before her death. Given Qian Xun's peculiar half-human, half-demon aura, we had speculated that her father might be a human cultivator. It seemed we were wrong; she wasn't human, and there was no such father. She was a wronged child reborn from the reincarnation of Shan Hai.
"Does the Mountain Sea demon clan know about this?" I asked.
"We've deliberately leaked the news," Shen Xingyue said with a smile. "Let their illusions be shattered!"
A devastating blow to their morale. This tactic was brutal.
"Their spiritual leader has been captured. So, that chess match... do you think they might give up?" I asked again.