The Three Teachings Converge into One: The Path of the Mortal and the Saintly is the Same

Poetry:

The ice strings crack the rocks, concealing hidden secrets; the crimson banners on the cold cliffs are stained with blood.

It is not the force of the army that can break the formation, but the way that borrows the killing intent from heaven and earth.

Although the Tibetan cavalry had retreated, the atmosphere in the camp became increasingly tense.

After the Tibetan cavalry retreated, Su Qingxuan ordered everyone to extinguish all the torches.

Only a few windproof lamps were left hanging under the supply wagons, casting long, flickering shadows.

He summoned Zhou Wenjin, Chi Ying, and several captains, and spread out the simple map in the dim light.

"Those Tibetan cavalrymen were no ordinary bandits."

Su Qingxuan pointed his finger at a location marked with a fang totem on the map.

"Although their armor was old, their ranks were scattered but not disorderly, and they could respond quickly in case of an emergency."

"Especially the young man at the head, whose curved sword had a hilt inlaid with red jade, the emblem of the 'Red Li' tribe, the close guard of the Tibetan royal family. This man is arrogant but not entirely brainless; his eyes darted around before he left, he must have gone back to report."

Zhou Wenjin gasped: "Royal guards? Could it be that Tibet has already dispatched important officials to oversee the front lines?"

"He may not be a core member of the royal family," Su Qingxuan shook his head, "but he is at least a member of a powerful 'theory' who used the guise of border patrol to plunder and gain merit. However, now that he has seen through the true strength of our delegation, he will certainly not give up."

"Three hundred li ahead, there are seven mountain passes of varying sizes that can cross the Pamir Mountains. Three of them are relatively gentle. If the Tibetans intend to intercept us, they will surely choose a dangerous place to ambush us."

He raised his eyes to look at the crowd, his gaze clear as a mirror: "We have a mission to fulfill, and the prestige of our nation must be upheld; we cannot take a detour. However, forcing our way through is not wise; we must use skill to overcome force."

Chi Ying suddenly spoke, her voice as cold as ice:

"I can lead ten elite cavalrymen and set off tonight to scout out the three mountain passes. If we encounter small groups of scouts, we will eliminate them; if we find a large army lying in ambush, we will light smoke as a signal."

"No." Su Qingxuan waved his hand. "Chiying, your killing intent is still too strong. If you encounter Tibetan scouts, you will kill them on sight."

"But if we startle them now, we will only alert them. What I want is for the Tibetans to think that we value etiquette over martial arts and are not good at killing, so that they will become arrogant and complacent."

He pondered for a moment, his gaze falling on a corner of the camp—

Xiao Lingxi was helping the physician distribute ginger soup to ward off the cold. Her movements were still a little clumsy, but she was very serious.

"After we break camp tomorrow, the troops will split into two groups."

"Wenjin led a large contingent, carrying banners and ceremonial regalia, and slowly made his way in the open, displaying an air of respect for the etiquette of the Celestial Empire's envoys and a magnificent demeanor as they embarked on their mission."

"Chiying, you will lead twenty elite troops, remove your armor and conceal your weapons, disguise yourself as a merchant caravan, and secretly protect Lord Zhou."

"And I, leading a small group, traveled light and explored the way ahead."

"Prime Minister Su, you mustn't!" Zhou Wenjin exclaimed urgently. "You are the foundation of the nation; how can you personally risk your life?"

Su Qingxuan smiled slightly: "Precisely because I am the 'foundation of the nation,' the Tibetans never expected that I would abandon the main group and travel alone. Moreover—"

He paused, a glint of something unfathomable flashing in his eyes. "I wish to use this desolate snow-capped mountain region to prove some truths."

Everyone looked at each other in astonishment.

Only Chi Ying lowered her eyes, her fingertips trembling slightly—

She understood the meaning behind the words "proving the truth".

Nothing was said that night.

The next day, before dawn, the team quietly set off, splitting into two routes, one open and one covert, as planned.

As expected, Zhou Wenjin's large entourage proceeded with the full ceremonial regalia of an imperial envoy, complete with golden maces, axes, banners, and canopies, proceeding with utmost caution and respect.

The delegation was large and imposing, with banners fluttering in the wind bearing the words "Celestial Empire".

The envoy, dressed in a black robe and crimson skirt, with a jade ring at his waist and a tally in his hand, moved with solemnity and never looked away.

When a sandstorm suddenly arose, everyone covered their faces with their sleeves, but the hand holding the imperial staff remained as steady as a rock, maintaining the dignity of the Celestial Empire.

Even amidst the swirling yellow sand and the mournful sound of camel bells, wherever the mission went, the etiquette of the Celestial Empire followed closely, with no deviation from the proper decorum, fully displaying the grandeur and majesty of a great nation.

However, in the eyes of the Tibetans, this was seen as pedantic and weak.

They are lambs to the slaughter.

On the other hand, Su Qingxuan only brought eight people: Lin Wanqing, Xiao Lingyue, Xiao Lingxi, plus five of the most elite veteran soldiers of the Imperial Guard.

All nine men changed into ordinary fur coats, and their horses were stripped of their ornate saddles, disguised as a small merchant caravan, and walked two miles ahead of Zhou Wenjin's group.

Xiao Lingxi rode on a gentle mare. Her shoulder injury had not yet healed, and riding the horse was quite strenuous, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.

Su Qingxuan occasionally glanced back at her, and seeing her pale face but her forced composure, he finally slowed down his horse and rode alongside her.

"Does the wound still hurt?" he asked, his voice sounding gentle in the biting cold wind.

Xiao Lingxi shook her head, then nodded, and whispered, "A little... but it's alright. Brother Su, why are we splitting up? Are we afraid the Tibetans will attack?"

Su Qingxuan gazed at the vast snow-capped mountains ahead and said slowly, "If they're afraid, they won't come. Divide our forces, firstly as a feint, and secondly—"

He glanced at her sideways, "Let me show you what a real battlefield looks like, and where the true path lies."

Xiao Lingxi paused, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Nothing happened for three days.

At noon on the fourth day, the group arrived at a dangerous place called "Eagle's Sorrow Gorge".

The cliffs on both sides are as if cleaved by a knife and axe, towering into the clouds. In the middle is a deep ravine, only wide enough for two horses to walk side by side. The bottom of the ravine is solid ice that has never melted for thousands of years, making it slippery and impossible to walk on.

A sliver of sky shone overhead, and snowflakes occasionally fell softly.

Su Qingxuan suddenly reined in his horse and raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

He paused for a moment, then slowly began to speak:

"Three miles ahead, on the left cliff top, there are twenty-seven men lying in ambush. On the right cliff halfway up, in a cave, there are fifteen men hidden. One mile outside the ravine, behind the slope, there are another hundred riders waiting. We will soon enter the ambush."

Everyone's expression changed.

The five veterans dismounted silently, lay on the ground with their ears pressed to the ground, and after a moment stood up with solemn expressions: "There are indeed many hoofbeats, about five miles from here, slowly approaching."

"Yes, those are Tibetan cavalry from the flank and rear." Su Qingxuan confirmed the veteran's judgment.

Lin Wanqing frowned and looked at the sheer cliffs on both sides, and said in a low voice, "This place is so strong that one man can hold off ten thousand. If we are blocked from both sides, even if we have extraordinary abilities, it will be difficult to break through."

Xiao Lingyue clasped her hands together and chanted Buddhist prayers, her expression serene.

Su Qingxuan remained calm. Instead, he dismounted, walked to the roadside, bent down, grabbed a handful of snow, and slowly rubbed it in his palm.

The ice and snow melted into clear water in his palm, then dripped through his fingers.

He looked up at Xiao Lingxi and suddenly asked, "Lingxi, you've been studying medicine for some time now. Do you know where the human body is most vulnerable?"

Xiao Lingxi was taken aback, wondering why he was asking this at this moment, but still answered honestly:

"It is...it is Baihui on the top of the head, Mingmen at the back of the heart, Lianquan in the throat, and...Qihai below the navel."

Su Qingxuan nodded and pointed to the cliffs on both sides:

"Look at this Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, doesn't it resemble a person's 'sea of ​​qi'? The cliffs on both sides are like the 'gate of life' and 'hundred gatherings,' and the mouth of the gorge is like the 'integrity spring.'"

"The Tibetans have laid an ambush here to strangle us and cut off our life force."

His tone was calm, as if he were lecturing on medical principles.

Xiao Lingxi felt a chill run down her spine and said in a trembling voice, "Then...then we should retreat quickly..."

"We can't back out." Su Qingxuan shook his head.

"The sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the side and rear."

"This is a common hunting tactic they use. They wait until our main force is three miles into the ravine and has formed an encirclement before they make their move. At that point, blocking them from the front and chasing them from the back will be the real way to kill them."

Su Qingxuan suddenly smiled slightly, a smile that, reflected in the snow, possessed a childlike innocence:

"But they forgot that the Qi Sea is a crucial point, and also the pivot of the flow of life force. The more tightly it is blocked, the more violent the eruption will be."

After saying that, Su Qingxuan said no more.

He actually sat cross-legged on the snow by the stream and said gently to Lin Wanqing, "Bring me the zither."

Lin Wanqing turned around and took a long object wrapped in oilcloth from beside the saddle. When she opened it, it turned out to be an ancient zither with a completely black body and flowing patterns.

Su Qingxuan placed the zither on his lap, held his breath and focused his mind. His fingertips gently caressed the zither, and the body of the zither played a low and melodious vibrato without wind.

"Brother Su, what's wrong with you...?" Xiao Lingxi asked, bewildered.

Su Qingxuan did not answer, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

A moment later, he pressed his ten fingers onto the strings.

The first note burst forth.

That was no ordinary piano music; it was like an ancient block of ice shattering in the deepest part of my heart.

It is clear, cold, and sharp, yet it possesses a penetrating power that strikes straight to the soul.

The sound waves seemed to have a physical form, skimming the ice surface towards the mouth of the ravine, crashing against the cliff, and then rebounding, repeatedly vibrating and overlapping in the narrow valley.

Xiao Lingxi suddenly covered her ears.

At first, the sound of the zither seemed cold, but after listening for a while, one felt as if countless tiny ice needles were drilling into the ear canals with the sound waves and piercing the depths of the mind.

Her vision began to blur, as if she could see the snowstorm turning into billions of ice crystals, each one trembling, shattering, and reforming, emitting even more subtle and denser sounds.

This is not ordinary music.

This is the roar of the wind and snow itself, the rumble of the moving glaciers, and the manifestation of ancient, severe cold.

"Use your internal energy to protect your heart meridian, do not resist, and breathe in accordance with the rhythm of the music."

Su Qingxuan's voice drifted over along with the zither music, unusually clear.

Upon hearing this, Wanqing, Lingyue, and five veteran soldiers of the Imperial Guard immediately adjusted their breathing in accordance with the music.

Xiao Lingxi subconsciously followed suit, circulating the rudimentary internal energy she had learned in recent days.

Strangely enough, the originally faint breath began to flow with a peculiar rhythm under the guidance of the zither music.

Wherever it passed, the pain of the ice needles piercing the brain gradually turned into coolness, and then into warmth.

She seemed to realize something in a daze—

This music is not an attack, but a kind of "initiator" that stimulates and harmonizes the body's own potential and a certain "rhythm" between heaven and earth.

If one resists, one is going against heaven and earth, and naturally suffers.

If one goes in accordance with the natural order, one can borrow the power of heaven and earth to cleanse oneself.

But not everyone can "go with the flow".

"Ah—!" A piercing scream suddenly came from the top of the cliff to the left.

That was a Tibetan ambush soldier; he had originally drawn his bow and aimed at the mouth of the ravine.

At that moment, he threw down his bow, covered his head with his hands, and tumbled down the cliff top, crashing heavily onto the icy ravine, his blood instantly staining a patch of ice red.

Immediately afterwards, muffled groans and howls came one after another from the cave on the right side of the cliff.

Some people clutched their heads and crashed out of the cave, falling into the deep ravine; others rolled in agony inside the cave, knocking their companions off the cliff as well.

In just over ten breaths, nearly twenty people fell off the cliffs on both sides or went mad!

But the music did not stop.

Su Qingxuan's ten fingers plucked, strummed, hooked, and flicked the strings with fluid movements, his expression as serene as a deep, ancient pool.

The sound of the zither gradually changed from cold and sharp at first to deep and powerful, as if the earth's veins were turning over and the glaciers were awakening.

The millennia-old ice over the ravine began to crackle and make a series of snapping sounds, with spiderweb-like cracks appearing on its surface.

"Boom—!" A loud noise.

On the left side of the cliff, a giant rock that had been eroded by ice that had never melted for thousands of years finally gave way under the continuous vibration of the zither music, collapsing with a crashing crash, carrying with it a shower of ice, snow and rocks!

The boulder rolled down, landing squarely on the hillside a mile outside the ravine.

That was the very place where the hundred Tibetan cavalrymen were hiding!

Smoke and dust rose more than ten feet high, mixed with the faint shouts of people and the neighing of horses.

It was obvious without even looking that even if the hundred cavalrymen were not completely wiped out, they would suffer heavy losses.

The music gradually faded away.

Su Qingxuan stopped playing, pressed the strings, and the lingering sound echoed in the valley before finally fading into silence.

His face was clear and his breathing was steady. When he opened his eyes, the vast tranquility in them seemed even more profound.

It was as if the earth-shattering sound of the zither had just moved mountains and seas, and he had simply brushed the dust off his clothes.

"Let's go." He stood up, handed the zither back to Lin Wanqing, and mounted his horse.

The group crossed Eagle's Sorrow Gorge.

The ravine was a scene of devastation, with the bodies of seventeen or eighteen Tibetan ambush soldiers lying across the ice. Their deaths were gruesome, with blood seeping from their seven orifices, clearly indicating that their internal organs had been shattered by the sound of the zither.

Rocks still occasionally fall from the cliff, but there are no longer any ambushes.

Emerging from the ravine, one sees a chaotic scene on the hillside ahead.

The boulder smashed a crater several meters deep, and people and horses were thrown about, with severed limbs and broken bodies scattered everywhere.

The dozens of Tibetan cavalrymen who had miraculously survived were frantically gathering the wounded and their horses.

Seeing Su Qingxuan and his nine companions approaching on horseback, not one of them dared to step forward to stop them. Instead, they all retreated, their eyes filled with fear, as if they had seen ghosts and gods descending to earth.

Su Qingxuan ignored them and led the group straight through this hellish battlefield.

Only after traveling several miles and climbing a high slope ahead did he rein in his horse and look back.

The smoke and dust had not yet cleared in the direction of Yingchoujian.

"Brother Su... what kind of skill was that music just now?"

Xiao Lingxi finally couldn't hold back and asked in a trembling voice.

"It's not kung fu," Su Qingxuan said calmly, "it's the 'Tao'."

"road?"

"All things in heaven and earth have their own 'laws'."

"The sounds of wind, water, ice cracking, rocks collapsing, and even the heartbeat, blood flow, and breath are all within the law."

He looked at Xiao Lingxi with clear eyes.

"I merely used the zither as a catalyst to slightly stir the 'laws of ice' that have accumulated here for thousands of years, causing them to resonate, surge, and erupt."

"If I were in the water towns of Jiangnan, I could not move the ice, but I could move the water."

"In areas with volcanic lava, it may be possible to ignite subterranean fires."

"The Tao follows nature, and acting in accordance with the trend is the principle."

Xiao Lingxi listened with a sense of understanding but not quite, yet the chaos in her heart seemed to have been torn open, allowing light to shine through.

She murmured, "So, the Dao isn't some vague scripture, but rather... the 'principle' governing the operation of heaven and earth and all things?"

A hint of approval flashed in Su Qingxuan's eyes: "Not bad. You study Taoism and medicine, so you know that the human body has its own Yin and Yang and Five Elements, with their generating and restraining cycles. Following them brings life, while going against them brings illness."

"Governing a country, waging war, and cultivating oneself are all the same."

"Understanding the principles and following the trend will lead to twice the result with half the effort; going against the principles and forcibly reversing them will lead to half the result with twice the effort, or even backlash."

He paused, then his tone turned serious: "But knowing is easy, doing is hard."

"Today I used the power of heaven and earth to break through the ambush. It seems easy, but it is actually dangerous."

"If my mind were even slightly impure and I failed to fully align with the laws of this icy place, I would be the one dying with blood flowing from my seven orifices right now."

Xiao Lingxi was startled, and when she looked at Su Qingxuan again, an indescribable bitterness and realization welled up in her heart—

It turns out that behind his seemingly nonchalant demeanor lay a precarious existence, teetering on the brink of life and death.

This "Tao" is not a lofty and carefree existence, but rather a weighty responsibility that connects heaven and earth, using the body as a bridge and the heart as a guide.

Just then, thunderous hoofbeats sounded from behind!

Everyone turned around and saw a group of people led by Zhou Wenjin rushing towards them, their banners slightly disheveled.

It turned out that the twenty elite troops led by Chi Ying had already attacked from the flank when the ambush troops on the cliff were stunned by the sound of the zither and their formation was thrown into chaos, thus defeating the enemy with a smaller force.

Later, they joined forces with the Imperial Guards led by Zhou Wenjin, and managed to scatter the five hundred ambushers on their flank and rear, rushing to their aid.

Zhou Wenjin dismounted, his face pale, and asked urgently, "Prime Minister Su! That sound of the mountains collapsing and the earth splitting just now... are you alright?"

"It's alright." Su Qingxuan waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

Despite the fierce fighting and the blood-stained armor of the Imperial Guards, each soldier had sharp eyes and stood as straight as a pine tree, with not a single one showing any fear.

He nodded slightly and said loudly, "Thank you all for your hard work today, protecting our delegation and upholding the prestige of our Celestial Empire!"

The soldiers responded in unison: "We are willing to die for Prime Minister Su! We are willing to die for the Great Xia!" Their voices echoed across the snowy mountains.

Su Qingxuan's gaze slowly swept over the faces, some young, some weathered, but all equally resolute.

The grand ambition in my heart to "bring peace to the Great Xia" has never been so clear, so heavy, yet so full of hope.

What he saw was no longer just soldiers who needed his protection, but backbones being tempered in the fires of blood, ready to stand on their own in the future.

"But this battle is only the beginning." His voice turned somber.

"The Tibetans, having suffered this setback, will certainly not give up. The road ahead is treacherous, and the enemy's forces are even more ferocious. Gentlemen—"

Are you scared?

"Fearless! Fearless! Fearless!" Three angry roars, each louder than the last, echoed through the snow-capped mountains, startling a flock of crows in the distance.

A genuine smile finally appeared in Su Qingxuan's eyes.

That smile was like a spring breeze melting the frozen earth, warm and full of power.

He said no more, turned his horse around, and looked towards the endless, majestic snow-capped mountains in the west, which seemed to connect with the sky.

There, an even bigger storm is brewing.

But he knew that the team behind him was different now.

That night, the team set up camp in a sheltered valley.

By the campfire, Su Qingxuan summoned Zhou Wenjin, Chi Ying, Lin Wanqing, Xiao Lingyue, Xiao Lingxi, and the three bravest soldiers of the day—

A burly man wielding a long-handled sword who slew ten riders in battle; a sharpshooter whose arrows never missed and who shot down several enemy chieftains; and a young Imperial Guard who rescued two comrades in the chaos, took a knife to the back himself, and fought to the death.

"You have all made great contributions in today's battle."

Su Qingxuan personally poured hot milk tea for the three soldiers, startling them so much that they hurriedly stood up to bow, but he stopped them with a look.

"Those who have rendered meritorious service should be rewarded, and those who have committed wrongdoings should also be punished. Lord Zhou—"

Zhou Wenjin stood up solemnly: "Your humble servant is here."

"You commanded the main force today and managed to stabilize the situation, but there were three oversights."

Su Qingxuan's tone was calm, yet every word was like a hammer blow:

"Firstly, your scouts were not well organized and were poorly deployed, which resulted in the scouts failing to discover the ambush on the cliff top, and even... failing to detect the hundred enemy cavalrymen on the flank and rear."

"Secondly, the central army's supply wagons failed to quickly form a circular formation when attacked, instead hindering Chi Ying's return to reinforce the army."

Thirdly, when the rear guard was forced to retreat as the front guard, the ranks became chaotic, and people trampled each other, resulting in the loss of four horses.

Do you acknowledge these three transgressions?

Zhou Wenjin, drenched in cold sweat, bowed and said, "This humble officer knows his crime! I am willing to accept military punishment!"

"Make a note of the military law for now," Su Qingxuan said.

"I want you to devise three improvement plans tonight and present them to me tomorrow morning. If your plans are empty, you will be punished for all your offenses."

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Wenjin replied sternly, feeling both ashamed and grateful.

This was Su Xiang giving him an opportunity, but more importantly, teaching him how to be a general.

Su Qingxuan then looked at the three soldiers and asked them one by one about their names, hometowns, and family situations.

The man wielding the Mo Dao (陌刀) was named Lei Hu. He was from Guanzhong and had an elderly mother, wife, and children at home.

The sharpshooter's name was Zhao Baichuan. He came from a hunter family in Longxi. His parents died early, and he had an older brother.

The young Imperial Guard was named Chen Shitou. He was from Henan and had only joined the Imperial Guard last year. He also had a younger sister at home.

After asking, Su Qingxuan remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "The Thunder Tiger Blade is powerful and heavy, but its moves are too forceful and lack variation. I can teach you three moves: 'Dragging Blade,' 'Lifting Blade,' and 'Turning Slash,' which use softness to counteract strength. This will give you a better chance of survival in battle."

With tears welling in his eyes, Lei Hu knelt down with a thud: "Prime Minister Su, you have shown me such great kindness! I, your humble servant..."

"Get up." Su Qingxuan gently helped him up, then looked at Zhao Baichuan, and then at Chi Ying:

"Your archery is accurate, but you are too cautious and dare not shoot at the enemy chieftain who is moving."

"Starting tomorrow, I will have Chi Ying train with you. She will attack you with a red-tasseled spear, and you will shoot her with blunt arrows."

"If you hit the target, you'll be rewarded; if you miss, you'll simply get a beating at close range. After being beaten enough, you'll naturally dare to shoot."

Zhao Baichuan's face paled. He stole a glance at Chi Ying and saw her expressionless face. She twirled the red-tasseled spear in her hand, its tip gleaming coldly. He couldn't help but swallow hard, and forced himself to clasp his hands in a fist salute: "Your humble servant... obeys!"

Chi Ying's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile.

"Chen Shitou." Su Qingxuan looked at the young Imperial Guard with gentle eyes, "You saved your comrade today, which is righteous; you fought to the death despite your injuries, which is brave. However, a 'guard' is not solely defined by strength."

"Take this volume of 'Essentials of Duke Wei's Art of War,' and learn ten characters every night. Chi Ying will teach you. I will test you in three months."

Chen Shitou's hands trembled as he accepted the thin, clearly handwritten booklet, and he kowtowed heavily, saying, "This humble servant...this humble servant will definitely learn it with all his might! I will never let Lord Su down!"

Su Qingxuan nodded, then said to Lin Wanqing, "Wanqing, you are familiar with Tibetan customs and traditions. To your knowledge, whose command does this ambush force belong to?"

Lin Wanqing had already given it much thought, and now she calmly said:

"Reporting to Prime Minister Su. In the Tibetan military system, the 'Ru' is the main military region, under which there is a 'Thousand-Household Commander'. A commander who can mobilize more than a hundred cavalry to set up an ambush and is equipped with royal guards is at least a 'Thousand-Household Commander'."

"As far as I know, there are three Tibetan commanders stationed on the eastern slopes of the Pamir Mountains:"

"One is the veteran Gar Tongtsen, who is calm and resourceful."

"One of them is Chishong Jiebu, a member of a collateral branch of the royal family, who is brave and arrogant."

"There is another one, a rising star in recent years, named 'Langdama'. He is said to be a devout follower of Bon religion, and is fearless in battle. He has many shamans under his command."

"A wizard?" Xiao Lingxi exclaimed softly.

"Hmm." Lin Wanqing nodded. "The Bon religion emphasizes sacrifices, and the army is often equipped with 'Bonbo' (shamans) to boost morale through divination and prayers, and sometimes they also use some mysterious methods."

"The soldiers who were lying in ambush today shouted 'The mountain god is angry' as they scattered, which may be related to the shaman."

Xiao Lingyue suddenly spoke, her voice ethereal: "The arts of the Bon religion often borrow the power of mountain and river spirits, and the vengeful spirits of the dead, to bewitch people's minds and disrupt their fortunes."

"However, its methods are biased and insidious, and easily backfire. If you encounter it, you should maintain righteous thoughts and guard your mind, and the evil methods will not be able to invade you."

Su Qingxuan pondered, "It seems that the next challenge might be to meet this Langdarma."

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the camp! A scout galloped in, dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Report! A large Tibetan army has been spotted fifty miles to the west! Approximately two thousand cavalry are advancing rapidly towards our direction! The commander's banner is... a golden lily and black pennant, and under the banner is a general in black robes and black armor; this should be Langdarma's main force!"

Everyone's expression changed.

Su Qingxuan remained expressionless and only asked, "What is the nearest defensible location?"

Zhou Wenjin quickly unfolded the map and pointed to a spot: "Ten miles to the northwest, there is an abandoned earthen city, the ruins of a former dynasty's garrison. The walls still stand; we can hold it for now!"

"Order: The entire army must immediately break camp and march at full speed! We must take up residence in Tucheng before the Tibetan army arrives!"

Su Qingxuan stood up, his purple robe fluttering in the night wind. His gaze swept over the panicked faces of the crowd, his voice as calm as iron:

"So what if there are two thousand iron cavalry? I have three thousand Imperial Guards, men of steel. Moreover, we are on the defensive, while they are on the offensive; the advantage lies with us. And—"

He paused, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips: "These two thousand Tibetan cavalry can serve as a good opportunity to sharpen the blades of my Great Xia warriors!"

In the darkness, the column sped silently northwest like an arrow released from a bow. In the distance, the deep, thunderous sound of hooves could already be faintly heard.

The snow-capped mountains stand tall, and the cold moon hangs like a hook.

A true trial by fire is about to begin.

It is:

Smoke billows swirl, pressing low into the clouds; amidst the sound of temple bells, the clouds shift and disperse.

Do not say that Kunlun is devoid of human presence; it is the perfect place to test your skills and cut through the snow and mud.