Chapter 122: One Man Comes to Reinforce

At the end of Longguan Road lies Cangya City.

Tianmen Pass lies outside the city.

Cangya City was built clinging to a sheer cliff, its walls broad, towering, and massively thick, rising into the clouds.

Inside stood grand gate towers and arrow towers, along with bustling residential districts teeming with life—thriving, prosperous, and a vital trade hub between the frontier of Dayu and the Bei Lin Kingdom, with constant carriages and horses passing through.

But all that was eight hundred years ago.

Now.

All that remains is a small mound of earth.

Carved onto the mound are the two characters “Cangya”—that is the city.

A cluster of military tents surrounds the mound, firmly anchored at its center.

At the edge of the tents stand several battle flags.

The flags flutter violently in the biting wind, bearing the ancient characters “Tian Yuan.”

These are the Li family’s banners.

The Five Divine General Houses each bear a title: the Wang family’s Tianzhao Divine General House, while the Li family’s is the Tianyuan Divine General House.

At this moment, the cold wind howls, whipping up dust and sand.

Behind the tents, along the sheer cliff, lie mounds of varying sizes, each topped with crude wooden plaques carved by hand and stuck haphazardly into the earth—serving as tombstones and as markers of the fallen’s identities.

Hk Chi , hk Chi .

Nearby, several soldiers, their battle armor torn and battered, dig graves with iron shovels.

Soon after, others arrive carrying a stretcher bearing a single hand, a mangled thigh, torn armor, and a dented helmet.

Once the grave is dug, they place the remains inside and cover them with sand and soil.

Then they find a tree, cut a section, carve it into a wooden plaque, and inscribe a few characters with their fingers before planting it atop the mound.

Some stretchers carry only a few fingers and a discarded boot.

These too are buried, and the wooden plaque bears four characters:

Li Family Warriors.

The cold wind silently howls, sweeping over the tents, whistling through the gaps between them, producing mournful wails like weeping.

Li Hongzhuang, clad in bright red armor, stands silently before the mounds, expressionless.

Most of the wooden plaques bear no names, for the battles against demons were so brutal that preserving even a full corpse was rare.

When all the new graves were filled, she extended her hand, and her deputy general handed her a flask of strong liquor.

She flicked her fingers, popping the stopper, and poured the liquor over the graves.

The last sip, she drank in one gulp.

A toast to these brave souls.

Then she turned away without another glance.

She had done this for twenty years. She had witnessed this scene for twenty years.

From a deputy who once passed the wine, she rose to commander.

Because her third and sixth brothers, who once helped her pour wine, had both fallen.

So though she was a woman, she chose to step forward.

To hold up this sky for Daliangzhou!

Li Hongzhuang is the youngest daughter of Li Tianzong. She has nine brothers, each famed across the land, each revered by all—among them, the most prodigious was Li Junye.

But he died over a decade ago.

At the time, she was stationed at this frontier, unable to leave—even to attend the funeral of her ninth brother, the boy she had played with since childhood in that courtyard. Her tears fell only upon this battlefield.

She still remembered her father saying, when naming her, that he hoped she would find a good husband, marry, and leave the sword behind.

To raise children, to abandon the blade for books.

To spare her the agony of slaying demons.

But since childhood, seeing the wounded soldiers returning to the compound with their scars, seeing the empty ancestral plaques in the ancestral hall, she understood: she could not abandon the sword in her hand.

So she trained relentlessly, sought master teachers, studied supreme arts.

Then she descended from the mountain, wielding her three-foot blade to slay a million demons beyond the pass.

Here, she has fought continuously for twenty years!

Twenty years of frost and battle have hardened her once delicate skin into coarse sandpaper.

The flowing black hair of her youth is now coiled inside her helmet, soaked in oil and demon blood—dirty, tangled, and faintly foul.

This is the hardest thing for a woman to endure—but she has grown accustomed to it.

Except for her face, which remains as breathtakingly beautiful as ever, unchanged.

But her eyes, once clear and gentle, are now cold and sharp as frozen stars.

“Commander, we’ve just counted: twenty-eight demons slain, seven dead, twelve wounded.”

Another deputy general stepped forward to report to Li Hongzhuang.

Li Hongzhuang’s expression remained blank; she had watched the battle herself and already knew the approximate losses. She said only:

“Family has sent word: reinforcements will arrive soon. Once they arrive, we will be relieved and rotated out.”

“Have we located where the reinforcements are now?”

The deputy shook his head slightly, about to speak—when suddenly, a horn blared outside the tents.

Both turned pale and shot forward, leaping into the air.

There, along the Longguan Road, several small figures approached. As they drew near, they saw: a young man and woman, and a white fox.

“Who could still be coming along Longguan Road?”

Both froze, then swiftly flew toward them.

They guarded Tianmen Pass. Over the years, reinforcements had trickled in—but in dwindling numbers, as if the command had already abandoned Tianmen Pass.

And Longguan Road had long since fallen, overrun by demons.

Even reinforcements now took detours around Longguan Road; many had perished outright on it, suffering catastrophic losses.

“Military camp?”

Li Hao and Ren Qianqian arrived, equally bewildered.

They had expected to find Cangya City—instead, they saw only tents, craters everywhere, unclaimed demon corpses, and tattered battle flags—a scene of brutal warfare.

At that moment, Li Hao heard the horn and saw two figures descending from the sky.

“Who are you?”

Li Hongzhuang studied the young man before her. His face seemed vaguely familiar. She frowned in confusion.

Li Hao opened his mouth—then fell silent.

He had sworn he would no longer bear the Li surname. How should he introduce himself?

His eyes flickered with uncertainty, but then he remembered one word. “I’m Ji. Call me Ji Hao. I’m here to relieve you.”

“Ji Hao?”

Neither Li Hongzhuang nor the deputy had heard the name—but when they heard the rest, their hearts leapt, and they both glanced behind Li Hao:

“Where are the others?”

They looked—nothing but emptiness behind him.

“I am the reinforcement,” Li Hao said.

They froze. Their excitement vanished. They stared at him: “Just you?”

“Not just me.”

Li Hao said: “This is my sword attendant. This is my companion. The three of us.”

As for Old Feng, he had hidden nearby—Li Hao’s true reason for coming to Tianmen Pass—but he could not be introduced to these two.

Old Feng’s identity was despised and scorned by the world, too sensitive to reveal. He was only privately acquainted with Second Master; publicly, no one knew. If they did, chaos would erupt.

“…”

Hearing Li Hao’s words, Li Hongzhuang and the deputy stood stunned, their weathered, numb faces showing rare shock.

They looked around—no other qi signatures existed.

Just this boy?

Reinforcements?

Li Hongzhuang exclaimed in fury: “Are you joking?”

After waiting so long, hoping so long—only to receive a child of fifteen? Rage surged in her chest.

Li Hao shook his head, solemnly: “I am not. I am truly here to relieve you. For the next three years, I will guard this place—until I die.”

“You? Guard for three years?”

Li Hongzhuang nearly laughed in rage. Guarding a lone fortress alone? Even she would never claim such a thing!

“Is Seventh Brother mad?”

Li Hongzhuang ignored Li Hao and turned to the deputy: “Send word back immediately. Ask Li Tiangang: is he truly abandoning us, or is there another plan?”

The deputy bowed and turned to leave.

Suddenly, a figure flew in and landed before them.

An old man in battle armor, gray-haired, his gaze steady and restrained.

He glanced at Li Hao, then bowed to Li Hongzhuang: “Miss.”

Li Hongzhuang sensed the same Three Imperishable aura from him, studied him closely—but could not place him.

The deputy general beside him seemed to recognize him and exclaimed, “Are you General Li He?”

“Li He?”

Li Hongzhuang heard the name, paused briefly, then her face filled with surprise—when she was a child training in the practice yard, Li He had already gained fame beyond the walls.

He was from the previous generation of the Li family, of the same generation as her second uncle.

But he was a bastard son.

Among the bastard sons of that generation, Li He was one of the outstanding ones.

“Miss Hongzhuang, may I speak with you privately?” Li He said.

Li Hongzhuang felt slightly puzzled but followed him as they flew aside.

Li Hao remained where he was with the deputy general.

Li Hao was not surprised by the sudden appearance of the old man; though this was their first close encounter, the man had been trailing him secretly for five days, following him all the way from Qingzhou.

According to Master Feng, this man was most likely sent by Li Tiangang to protect him covertly.

Li Hao felt nothing about it.

Most of the demons on the road had been dealt with by Master Feng and himself; after his injuries healed, he no longer needed Master Feng’s help against any demon below the Immortal Realm.

Now, as the old man spoke privately with his little aunt, Li Hao turned to the deputy general and asked:

“At the end of Longguan Road, isn’t that Cangya City? How much longer do we have to travel?”

The deputy general replied solemnly, “The ground you’re standing on right now is Cangya City.”

“Huh?”

Li Hao froze, staring at him in disbelief.

He looked around—where was the city?

“Centuries of warfare, frequent and brutal demon attacks—Cangya City has endured countless devastating blows. It lost the ability to repair its walls or restore its talismanic patterns. The entire city was erased.”

The deputy general said, “Now, only that mound remains—what we still call a city, and the place we defend.”

He pointed to a small earthen hillock not far away.

Li Hao looked, and was stunned.

The hillock was only a few meters high—easily flattened by a single slap.

This is… Cangya City?

He knew border wars were brutal, but he never imagined they could be this brutal.

An entire city had been pounded flat.

“So you’re holding this position with no cover at all? When demons come, you just stand and fight?” Li Hao asked.

The deputy general replied without expression, “The only wall we have is our own bodies.”

“….”

Li Hao said nothing more.

Soon, Li Hongzhuang and Li He returned.

Li Hongzhuang looked at Li Hao with a complex expression and said, “You’re Hao’er!”

Li Hao glanced at the old man Li He—he must have told his little aunt everything.

“It’s me. Now you believe me. You can withdraw your troops.”

Li Hongzhuang’s eyes were filled with complexity and sorrow. “How could Seventh Brother be so cruel? It was just a small disagreement—why did it escalate like this? What about Fifth Uncle, Second Uncle, and Big Sister-in-Law? Why didn’t any of them intervene?”

Li Hao shook his head slightly, unwilling to speak of these matters further.

“Hao’er, you’re too impulsive. Go back immediately. If you stay here, you’ll die!” Li Hongzhuang said.

No wonder she’d felt his face looked familiar—even though they’d never met before, she couldn’t bear to see her nephew act foolishly.

“It’s fine.”

Li Hao smiled faintly. “Dying here at least makes me a martyr. Dying elsewhere? I’d be nothing.”

“How can you be so stubborn? Your father won’t really kill you!” Li Hongzhuang said, her face filled with grief.

Li Hao shook his head. “Little Aunt, it’s getting late. You should withdraw quickly. I’ve heard these soldiers have guarded this place for many years—they should return to see their wives, children, and elderly parents.”

At these words, the deputy general beside them trembled slightly; his numb, cracked face seemed to glisten with moisture.

But Li Hongzhuang suddenly fell silent, then shook her head. “Others may withdraw. I will not leave.”

She looked up at the small earthen hillock behind her—even though it could no longer be called a city.

But this was still the place where her third and sixth brothers gave their lives to defend.

She wanted to fight here until her final breath.

“The spirits of these fallen soldiers still need someone to stand with them.”

Li Hongzhuang’s gaze sharpened, resolute. “I originally planned to wait for reinforcements and fight alongside them. But now that only you are here, Auntie will fight beside you—kill as many demons as we can!”

“This land belongs to the Great Yu Dynasty. It is also the place our Li family has guarded for generations.”

“Unless the Emperor commands it, we will not yield an inch!”

Her eyes blazed with fierce light—her woman’s body stood as mighty as the Great Wall.