Chapter 585

Deep in Mang Mountain lies Wild Boar Valley.

It is a basin surrounded on three sides by mountains, with a narrow, concealed entrance, a stream flowing through it, and relatively gentle terrain.

When Yue Fei led the remaining fewer than two thousand troops, breaking through the Jin army's final line of interception, circling to shake off pursuers, and stumbled here.

The sun, already approaching noon.

Inside the basin, it is not empty.

The remnants of Lin Chong's and Yue Yun's units, who had withdrawn from the battlefield earlier, were already here.

Their numbers were even fewer.

As far as the eye could see, only seventy or eighty could stand.

Each was wounded, many with only simple bandages, leaning against rocks or trees, exhausted to the point of death.

On the open space in the basin's center lay dozens of the severely wounded, their low moans coming in intermittent bursts.

The air was thick with the strong smell of blood, medicinal herbs, and a deathly stillness of those who had survived the ordeal.

"Father Marshal!"

A shout choked with tears rang out.

Yue Yun stumbled out from behind a large rock.

His wounds were hastily wrapped, his face still smeared with blood, and the moment he saw Yue Fei's figure, tears he could no longer hold back poured down.

Yue Fei hastily dismounted, rushed forward a few steps, and supported his nearly collapsed son.

Seeing the blood-soaked bandages on Yue Yun's many wounds, and the few, blood-drenched soldiers behind him, Yue Fei felt his heart clench tightly.

"Where is Instructor Lin?" he asked, his voice dry.

Yue Yun pointed to a nearby makeshift crude shelter, his voice choking:

"Inside…… his injuries are too severe, he has remained unconscious…… the army doctor is administering acupuncture and medicine……"

Yue Fei released his son and quickly walked toward the shelter.

Inside the shelter, Lin Chong lay on a bed of dry grass, his complexion ashen, eyes tightly shut.

Though the wounds on his left arm and right shoulder had been treated again and tightly bandaged, a faint trace of blood still seeped out.

An old doctor concentrated on taking his pulse, brows furrowed.

Yue Fei crouched, gazing at this Northward Aspiration warrior who had ridden a thousand miles to reinforce, fought bloody to block the enemy, and nearly lost his life at the pass; his throat tightened, and he was momentarily speechless.

All he could do was bow deeply.

Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, and others also stood silently outside the shelter, solemnly clasping their fists toward Lin Chong within.

Regardless of stance, this man and this kindness, the Yue Family Army above and below dare not forget for a moment.

"Count the numbers, treat the wounded, set up guard."

Yue Fei stepped out of the shelter, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and issued the order in a low voice.

The remaining Yue Family Army soldiers silently sprang into action.

Upon meeting the Northward Aspiration soldiers who had arrived earlier, neither side exchanged many words.

They merely nodded at each other, or helped carry the severely wounded, or silently shared the little remaining fresh water and dry rations.

A tacit understanding born of shared bloodshed and life‑and‑death experience flowed in the silence.

The casualties were quickly tallied.

The Yue Family Army, when breaking out of Yancheng, still had nearly five thousand combat‑ready troops.

Now, reaching Wild Boar Valley, there were only about nineteen hundred, more than half wounded, with over three hundred seriously injured.

Their organization was almost completely shattered, and weapons and armor were severely lacking.

When the Northward Aspiration Army's Lin Chong unit marched south, it had five hundred elite cavalry.

Plus the cavalry scouts led by Yue Yun from the Brave‑and‑Stalwart Army, after the bloody battle to block the enemy at the pass, a total of eighty‑seven managed to withdraw here.

Of those, fewer than forty could still stand while holding a weapon.

Truly, not one in ten remained.

"What about provisions?" Wang Gui quietly asked the logistics officer.

The logistics officer's face fell as he shook his head.

The breakout was hasty; the dry rations they carried were already limited, and after fighting and fleeing all the way, they had long since been scattered and exhausted.

All that remained were perhaps one or two hard biscuits each soldier still carried on his person, plus a small amount of dried meat carried by the remnants of the Northward Aspiration Army.

Lacking water, food, medicine, and equipment.

Outside, pursuing troops surround; inside, the wounded moan.

Desperate situation, seemingly not yet fully escaped.

A heavy gloom hangs over the basin.

Many soldiers, after tending their wounds, sit dazedly, gazing at the gray sky, eyes empty.

Having fought bloodily, broken through the encirclement, and joined with allied forces.

Then what?

What now, what should we do?

The Imperial Court regards them as rebels; though the world is vast, where can they find refuge?

The Jin forces surely wish to exterminate them quickly; in this Mang Mountain, how long can they hide?

Bewilderment, like cold vines, silently twines around.

In this low, oppressive atmosphere.

A group of about ten figures silently emerges from a hidden path deep in the basin.

The leader wears a plain dark gray cloth robe, a bamboo hat on his head, tall and sturdy, with steady steps.

It was Chen Wen.

Behind him trailed several similarly plain-clothed able guards, and a gaunt-faced, bright-eyed scholar—Wu Yong.

Their appearance immediately aroused the vigilance of soldiers on both sides.

The Yue Family Army's remaining troops did not recognize them, and instinctively gripped their nearby weapons.

The surviving soldiers of the Northward Aspiration Army, however, were invigorated, struggling to rise and salute.

"Mr. Chen!"

Yue Fei immediately recognized Chen Wen.

Although he had never spoken with Chen Wen in depth, Lin Chong had mentioned him repeatedly; the strange resonance of the jade pendant at the crucial moment of the Battle of Yancheng, and that vital secret letter, all gave him great curiosity and inexplicable trust in this man.

Chen Wen removed his bamboo hat, revealing a youthful yet composed visage.

He first waved at the struggling Northward Aspiration soldiers who were trying to rise, gesturing for them to rest easy.

Then his gaze met Yue Fei's.

No pleasantries, no formalities.

Chen Wen walked straight up to Yue Fei and took out an oilcloth-wrapped bundle from his bosom.

"General Yue, the bloody battles have been arduous."

His voice was calm, yet carried a power that could soothe hearts.

"First, take a look at this."

Saying this, he openly unfolded the oilcloth bundle.

Inside were neither gold nor silver, nor a map.

It consisted of several documents of varying texture, some peculiar black metal sheets that appeared to have been scorched, and several dark-colored bone fragments emanating an ominous aura.

On top was a copy of an interrogation transcript, the handwriting somewhat messy.

"These are some… clues we, the Northward Aspiration Army, gathered over the past few months after extensive investigation and at considerable cost."

Chen Wen handed that transcript copy to Yue Fei.

Yue Fei stared intently at it.

The longer he looked, the darker his face grew, until it turned ashen.

It recorded a partial confession from an outer-line operative of the Iron Crow Army secretly captured by the Northward Aspiration Army.

Fragmentary, yet it sketched a chilling outline:

Certain high-ranking officials in the court maintained close ties with a mysterious organization called the Iron Crow.

The organization could provide gold and silver, transmit messages, and even… influence certain 'dreams' and 'decisions' of the imperial house.

They had a clear goal—to block the northern expedition, eradicate all pro-war generals, especially… Yue Fei.

The confession mentioned the place name 'Fengbo Ting', mentioned 'baseless charges', and described how to fabricate crimes and how to use insiders like Wang Jun…

"These black sheets and bone fragments,"

Chen Wen pointed to those strange items on the oilcloth.

"They were discovered when we destroyed a secret contact point of that organization. The lingering aura on them… matches that of the 'Yin Shadow' we encountered in Hebei and Shandong, those who commanded corpses and practiced evil arts."

"According to the sporadic confessions of captives we seized, and… some of my own special perceptions."

Chen Wen paused, looking toward Yue Fei, his eyes deep.

"This 'Iron Crow' organization is no ordinary jianghu force or foreign spy network."

"They seem… to possess a strange ability to warp hearts, interfere with Fortune Momentum, and even, to some extent, 'push' or 'accelerate' the occurrence of certain events."

"Their aim is not merely to kill you, General Yue."

"They seek to utterly erase from this world the possibility of 'Yue Fei's successful northern expedition,' returning everything to the… certain 'track' they have set."

Chen Wen's words, combined with that testimony and those ominous‑aura emitting evidences,

were like a bolt of lightning that split apart the last lingering hope and doubt in Yue Fei's heart.

Why has the northern expedition been hampered at every turn?

Why did the court's attitude shift so abruptly?

Why do internal troubles keep arising?

Why did that edict arrive so 'timely'?

As it turns out, behind the scenes there truly is such a hand—or group of hands—beyond reason, full of malice, pulling the strings!

"So…"

Yue Fei's voice grew hoarse; he slowly lifted his head, the last trace of a subject's hesitation in his eyes utterly erased, leaving only cold resolve.

"From the very start, this has been a setup."

"A setup in which, whether I, Yue Fei, win or lose, am loyal or rebellious, I am destined to be eliminated."

"The court… is merely a pawn in their hands, or perhaps even their accomplice."

Chen Wen nodded, then gathered up the oilcloth bundle.

"General Yue, your open rupture now seems a dead end, but in fact… perhaps it is breaking out of the cage they have drawn for you."

"As for the road ahead,"

He looked around, seeing those weary, wounded soldiers whose eyes still burned with defiance.

"The Jin barbarians want to kill us, the foolish king and treacherous ministers want to kill us, and even the lurking evil in the shadows wants to kill us."

"Since the whole world is our enemy…"

Chen Wen's voice, clear and firm, reached every ear.

"Then we shall carve a bloody path for ourselves, for the true homeland and people we ought to protect."

"Northward Aspiration Army, we are willing to join General Yue and all you brave brothers in raising the banner of righteousness!"

From now on, there will be no Yue Family Army at the mercy of others in this world, and there will be no lone struggling Northward Aspiration Army.

Only——

His gaze met those of Yue Fei, Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, the direction of the grass hut, and the gazes of all the soldiers.

Word by word, with deliberate pauses, he spoke decisively:

Northward Aspiration-Yue Allied Army!

In the hollow, silence fell for a moment.

Immediately, a faint but gradually intensifying aura began to coalesce.

Like a spark, it reignited in the ashes of despair.