Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

The roar of firearms and the furious shouts of charging cavalry were like the death knell of hell, instantly shattering the tranquility and celebration at the southern foot of Langjuxu Mountain.

At the heart of the camp, the most magnificent golden-roofed tent, symbolizing the supreme power and glory of the grasslands, became the storm's primary target.

Xiao Chen took the lead, his black steed, Ta Xue Wu Zhui, moving like a black lightning bolt amidst the flames and smoke.

Zhao Tie led 10,000 "Iron Falcons" heavy cavalry, which followed closely behind like the most solid anvil.

This elite force, clad in two layers of heavy armor and whose warhorses were also covered in light armor, was Xiao Chen's sharpest blade and his last shield.

Their mission was singular—to break through the chaotic enemy lines, seize the central army, and capture and kill Ashina Duoji!

After the initial chaos subsided, the Di people, especially the elite "Wolf Riders" guarding the Golden Tent, demonstrated their ferocity, proving their ability to dominate the grasslands.

Despite being terrified by the sudden attack and the horrific explosion, their instincts for survival and to protect the Chanyu led them to spontaneously and chaotically assemble after the initial panic, attempting to stop the iron cavalry that surged in like a black tide.

"Stop them! Stop them! Protect the Great Khan!"

"It's the Xia people! The Xia people have attacked!"

"Form ranks! Form ranks!"

The wolf riders howled and shouted in Di language or broken Chinese as they surged toward the golden tent from all directions.

Most of them only had time to grab the scimitars, spears, or even just wooden sticks at hand. Many of them were barefoot and shirtless, but the ferocity and madness on their faces did not diminish in the slightest.

Some people seized the unclaimed warhorses and attempted to launch a counter-charge, but most could only rely on their own flesh and blood to hastily form weak and scattered defensive lines.

The heavy cavalry charge of the "Iron Falcons" is pure destructive power.

Like a hot knife cutting into solidified butter, the armored warhorse, carrying immense kinetic energy, slammed into the hastily assembled wolf riders.

The cracking sound of spears breaking, the muffled thud of bones shattering, the splattering sound of blades piercing flesh, and the agonizing screams of the dying all blended together in an instant.

When the wolf riders' scimitars struck the thick iron armor of the Xia cavalry, they often only managed to send up a trail of sparks. However, the Xia cavalry's extended lances or sharp armor-piercing sabers could easily tear through leather armor and even split a man in two.

But the wolf riders' ferocity exceeded expectations.

Regardless of casualties, they surged forward wave after wave, using their bodies and lives to slow down the speed of the cavalry.

Some were knocked away by warhorses, spitting blood, and even slashing at the horse's hooves with their scimitars before landing; others clung tightly to the horse's legs, being dragged for several feet, their flesh mangled but they still wouldn't let go; still others pounced from the side or rear, attacking the horse's belly or the gaps in the cavalry's armor with short knives, daggers, or even their teeth.

The battle, taking place less than two hundred paces from the golden tent, suddenly intensified.

Iron Falcon's attack speed inevitably slowed down, and he became embroiled in a bloody entanglement.

Zhao Tie, covered in blood, wielded a heavy spiked club, each swing sending flesh and blood flying as he roared and cleared a path for the emperor behind him.

But there were simply too many wolf riders, and they were too fierce and fearless.

Xiao Chen swung his sword to deflect a spear that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and with a backhand strike, beheaded the wolf rider who was charging at him with a crazed expression and a roar.

Warm blood splattered on his cold iron surface, but he paid no attention, his gaze fixed on the large golden tent in front of him, which swayed constantly in the firelight, its shadowy figures flickering.

He could sense that Duji was inside, and the panic, fear, and rage emanating from him were like a beacon in the darkness.

"Your Majesty! Di cavalry have gathered on the left flank, attempting to encircle us!" a captain of the Imperial Guard shouted.

"Send Zhang Meng there! Tell him I don't want prisoners, I only want the road!"

Xiao Chen didn't turn his head and gave the order in a stern voice.

The light cavalry on the left flank must block any Di soldiers attempting to flank them, keeping the central army's assault route clear.

Just then, the curtain of the golden tent was suddenly thrown open, and a group of elite wolf riders, whose armor was relatively neat and who were obviously guarding inside the tent, rushed out, surrounding a person.

The leader was exceptionally tall and robust, wearing a golden wolf-skin crown and a magnificent leather armor inlaid with gold ornaments. He held a heavy curved sword inlaid with gold and jade. He was none other than Ashina Duoji, the Great Chanyu of the Northern Di!

His face was still flushed from a hangover and filled with disbelief and rage. His eyes were wide open as he stared intently at the black dragon flag fluttering in the firelight not far away, and at the young emperor in black armor with a cold and stern face standing beneath it.

"Xiao Chen! It's you?!" Duji roared in broken Chinese, his voice distorted with anger and fear.

He couldn't understand how the Xia emperor could appear in his royal court like a ghost, appearing on the night of his feast!

"Ashina Duoji!"

Xiao Chen reined in his warhorse, which reared up on the snow, letting out a long neigh. Xiao Chen's voice pierced through the sounds of battle and clearly reached Duji's ears, "You have invaded my territory and slaughtered my people. Today is your death day!"

"Arrogant! This is the grassland! This is Mount Langjuxu! This is a place protected by the Eternal Heaven!"

Duji roared, trying to dispel the fear in his heart, brandishing his scimitar, "Wolf Riders! Follow me and kill! Kill this Xia emperor! Make wine bowls from his skull!"

"roar!"

The surrounding wolf riders roared like wild beasts, and under the personal leadership of Duji, they launched a fierce and desperate counterattack towards the core of Xiao Chen's central army, like a flood that had burst its banks.

They knew that the golden tent was surrounded and the Chanyu was in grave danger; this was their last stand.

Two of the most elite forces collided with a deafening roar!

The Iron Falcons' heavy armor and discipline, and the Wolf Riders' ferocity and madness, erupted into the most tragic sparks at this moment.

People kept screaming and falling, their blood instantly staining the grass in front of the golden tent, only to be trampled into mud by the horses' hooves.

Xiao Chen spurred his horse, and with a neigh, charged into the battle, heading straight for Duji.

Zhao Tie was shocked and tried to stop them, but he was held back by several fearless wolf riders.

"Xiao Chen! Prepare to die!"

Duji's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He saw that this was an opportunity to capture the king first. If he could kill or capture Emperor Xia, the situation could be turned around in an instant!

Relying on his height and strength, he wielded the heavy golden sword and slashed fiercely at Xiao Chen who was charging towards him!

The blade whistled through the air, its force heavy and powerful, clearly indicating a fierce general among the Di people.

Xiao Chen neither dodged nor evaded, nor even used his sword to parry. He simply pulled hard on the reins, and Ta Xue, with remarkable agility, darted half a step to the side, while simultaneously leaning his body nimbly to the side on his horse.

The golden sword whistled through the air, barely grazing his armor before missing its mark.

Duoji exerted too much force, and his body swayed slightly.

It was that brief moment of space!

Xiao Chen flicked his wrist, and instead of thrusting straight in, the longsword drew a strange arc, moving upwards and striking at the gap under Duoji's armpit exposed by his swinging sword!

This sword strike was fast, accurate, ruthless, and extremely cunning, combining the impact of mounted combat with the dexterity of swordsmanship.

Duji was shocked and hurriedly parried with his sword, but he was already a fraction too late.

"Sizzle!"

The sword's edge swept across, failing to pierce the fine iron ring armor under Duoji's armpit, but severing the leather cord connecting his armpit and several armor plates, while simultaneously cutting a shallow gash on the outside of his left arm. Blood immediately gushed out.

Duji was both shocked and furious. The intense pain only fueled his ferocity. With a roar, he swept his golden blade across, intending to cut Xiao Chen in half at the waist.

However, Xiao Chen's goal was not to kill his enemy with a single sword strike. Just as Duoji swung his blade, widening the opening—

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three crossbow bolts, each from a different angle and ruthless in nature, were fired almost simultaneously from the group of guards behind Xiao Chen!

This is not an ordinary horse bow, but a short-armed crossbow that can be fired with one hand. It is powerful and designed for close-quarters assassination and guard duty!

Xiao Chen risked his life to create an opportunity for the sharpshooter behind him to deliver the fatal blow!

Duoji's entire attention was on Xiao Chen, so he never expected this insidious cold arrow.

He barely managed to twist his body and dodge an arrow aimed at his throat. Another arrow struck his chest armor and bounced off with a clang, but a third arrow pierced his right shoulder blade, which had been raised by his sword swing and was now unprotected by armor!

"Ah—!" Duoji screamed in agony, the golden knife almost slipping from his hand, his body swaying violently on the horse's back.

opportunity!

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes, and with another flick of his wrist, his longsword, like a viper spitting its tongue, pierced with unparalleled precision towards the neck of the warhorse that was out of control due to the excruciating pain!

The warhorse let out a miserable neigh, reared up, and violently threw the wounded Duoji off the horse!

"Protect the Great Chanyu!" The surrounding wolf riders, their eyes bloodshot, charged forward like madmen.

But Zhao Tie and his personal guards had already blocked them at all costs.

Xiao Chen didn't even dismount. He simply pointed at the dazed and confused Duoji, who was struggling to get up, with the tip of his sword, and shouted to the two guards beside him who were holding lassoes and ropes: "Tie him up!"

The lasso flew out and precisely caught on Duoji's neck and arms. Several fierce Iron Falcon guards rushed forward and, ignoring Duoji's angry curses and struggles, bound him up like a dumpling with leather rope.

"Duoji has been captured!"

"The Great Khan has been captured!"

In the midst of the chaos, someone suddenly shouted in both Di language and Chinese at the same time.

The sound spread like a plague, instantly covering the entire battlefield.

The wolf riders, who were fighting desperately, turned around in astonishment and saw their incomparably noble and brave Great Chanyu being dragged from the ground by Xia soldiers like a lamb to the slaughter and taken to the black dragon banner.

Faith collapsed at that moment.

A wolf pack without its leader, no matter how fierce, is nothing more than a disorganized mess.

The remaining wolf riders' will to resist crumbled like an avalanche.

Some dropped their weapons and knelt down to surrender; many more let out a shout, turned and fled for their lives toward the outside of the camp and toward the dark grassland, wishing they had two more legs.

Xiao Chen didn't even glance at the ashen-faced, gagged Duoji, and rode his horse to the golden-topped tent that symbolized the royal power of the Northern Di.

The curtains of the main tent had been torn apart by cannon fire and swords, revealing a scene of utter devastation inside—overturned tables, shattered vessels, spilled wine jars, and dancers either unconscious or trembling…

He raised his sword and pointed it at the white banner embroidered with a ferocious wolf's head fluttering above the tent—the wolf-head banner, a symbol of the Northern Di Chanyu.

"Take it off."

One of the guards dismounted at the sound of the command, nimbly climbed onto the top of the tent, ripped off the wolf-head banner, and threw it to the ground, where it was trampled by countless hooves.

Immediately, another guard planted the black-and-gold dragon banner that had followed him all the way, stained with blood but still fluttering in the wind—Xiao Chen's "Vanguard Dragon Banner"—firmly at the highest point of the golden tent!

The golden dragon pattern gleamed in the first rays of dawn and the flickering firelight, overlooking the newly conquered land, overlooking the fleeing, surrendering, and kneeling Di people below, overlooking the golden tent that once represented the supreme power of the grasslands, now belonging to a different owner.

The Di camp, having lost its command center, completely collapsed.

Those who had survived the initial firearms attack were now only thinking about escaping.

They cried and screamed, running around like headless flies, knocking over tents and trampling their companions, just wanting to get away from that dragon flag and from the Great Xia iron cavalry that advanced as coldly as death itself.

Meanwhile, the Xia army, under Zhang Meng's command, began to systematically divide, surround, and wipe out the remaining enemy forces, accept their surrender, extinguish campfires, and control the horses and mountains of supplies.

In the east, the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

The bloody battle and chaos of the night gradually subsided, leaving only wisps of smoke, towering flames, corpses scattered on the ground, and the cries of prisoners.

The air was thick with the smells of blood, gunpowder, and burnt food.

Xiao Chen halted his horse before the golden tent, gazing at the fluttering dragon banner and watching the rising sun cast its golden rays upon the snow-capped peaks of Langjuxu Mountain, as well as upon his blood-stained armor and cold face.

Mount Langjuxu is where General Huo once performed the Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven.

Today, Xiao Chen, standing atop the golden tent of the Xiongnu Chanyu, planted the dragon flag of the Great Xia here.

The Chanyu has been captured, and the royal court has been breached.

But this is just the beginning.

The wind on the grassland will continue to blow, but its direction has changed.