Returning to the Time of the Tyrant's Seizure - Chapter 3

“If you follow me, I promise to protect”

The setting sun was like blood, and the cries of slaughter shook the heavens.

Qin Li, who had declared himself King Yao, had raised the flag of rebellion. Leading a massive army north, he struck directly at the capital. Claiming a force of three hundred thousand, his troops now pressed against the city walls.

The wealthy gentry and officials who could flee the imperial city had long since taken their families and escaped. Those left behind, the commoners with no way out, were like ants on a hot griddle. They were waiting in anxious terror for the falling blade amidst swirling rumors.

The palace of the Kingdom of Jing was in utter chaos. Palace maids and eunuchs fled in every direction. The Imperial Guards, clutching their blades and spears, executed deserters and spies with increasing frequency, yet they could do nothing to save the crumbling order.

Inside a watchtower on the city walls, a young man clad in full armor sat leaning against a small cot intended for high-ranking officers.

Due to the war, he had not closed his eyes for three days. He was so exhausted that even sitting down for a brief rest sent him spiraling into sleep. His head rested against the wall, eyes tightly shut and sword-like brows furrowed as if trapped in a nightmare. The dim candlelight flickered, casting a deep shadow of his bangs across his face.

After a long while, the clamor outside the tower grew louder. The man jerked awake from the noise, blinking bloodshot eyes in confusion. His thoughts had not yet fully emerged from the haze; his muscles were stiff, and one calf was numb from sitting motionless for so long.

“Where is this?”

Xie Linchuan narrowed his eyes, surveying his surroundings before looking down at his hands.

They were hands both familiar and strange. Thick calluses from years of wielding blades and drawing bows lined his palms and fingertips. Dried blood stained the gaps between his fingers and the backs of his hands. His tongue touched his parched lips; they were warm. In his chest, a heart beat strongly.

Xie Linchuan instinctively reached out to touch his left chest. The iron plates of his armor felt ice-cold, but beneath his palm, the pulse was vibrant.

He was actually still alive!

Xie Linchuan stiffened, slowly moving his left shoulder. There was no pain and no obstruction; yet he clearly remembered a fatal blade piercing his heart from behind before he lost consciousness. But not only was he not dead, the wound did not even exist. What was happening?

Could it be that he had been reborn once again?

This was the second time Xie Linchuan had encountered such an incomprehensible event. Having prior experience, he was much calmer than the last time. He reached for the long blade at his waist and drew it; the words “Chixiao” were engraved upon it. The style of the armor he wore was also exclusive to the Great Generals of the Kingdom of Jing.

Blade in hand, Xie Linchuan walked out of the watchtower. The gray sky was gradually swallowing the blood-red sunset. Dust rose in the distance, and the faint glow of fire reflected from the direction of the city gates. Standing by the battlements, he saw a massive force gathering below, launching a full-scale assault. The sounds of impact, slaughter, and shouting shook the earth.

“Great General!” A team of fully armed personal guards ran toward him, gasping for breath. At the front of the group fluttered the three-tailed imperial flag, which was yellow with white lettering, symbolizing Li Xuehong.

The leader was Xie Linchuan’s former vice-general, Di Yong. He rushed forward and grabbed Xie Linchuan’s arm, unable to even catch his breath, his expression frantic. “That scoundrel Yang Qiong sold everyone out! He opened the gates and surrendered!”

“The Yao King’s army has entered the imperial city. We cannot hold this place! General, quickly change into a common soldier’s uniform and escape through the water gate! Leave this to us!”

As he spoke, a guard behind him immediately stepped forward to strip off his clothes, intending to swap his plain gear for the general’s iconic armor.

Xie Linchuan’s mind raced, and he instantly understood the current situation. He had been reborn three years into the past, to the very moment Qin Li’s army breached the city.

At that time, Li Xuehong had just ascended the throne, and his rule was unstable. The Third Prince, Li Fenghao, had fled with several loyal rebel generals, leaving the capital empty. Xie Linchuan had been urgently appointed Commander of the Imperial Guard, defending the city under Li Xuehong’s banner.

However, Yang Qiong, the Vice Commander, saw the overwhelming force of Qin Li’s army and harbored jealousy toward Xie Linchuan, his newly appointed superior. He surrendered on the spot and turned informant. This allowed Qin Li to enter the city effortlessly without losing a single soldier and directly led to the capture of Xie Linchuan and the fleeing Li Xuehong.

Yang Qiong had transformed into a hero who abandoned darkness for light. When rewards were later distributed, he was titled “Marquis of Loyalty,” jumping from a mere vice commander to a rank above all high-level civil and military officials who had surrendered.

Xie Linchuan frowned slightly. Rebirthing neither too early nor too late, but exactly at this critical juncture; he was not sure if it was a blessing or a curse. But with the situation so dire, he had no time to deliberate.

Every man in this guard unit was a loyal soldier who had followed the original General Chixiao for years. In such chaos, a larger group would only be more conspicuous. In his past life, he had fled with a few guards but could not escape Qin Li’s targeted search. The fate of those who stayed behind to cover his retreat was easily imagined.

This time, at the very least, he would not let them lose their lives for him in vain.

“Do not change,” Xie Linchuan said, raising a hand to stop the guard. He took his accustomed bow and arrows from the vice-general and slung them over his back. Then, he drew his blade and, with one swift motion, cleaved the yellow-and-white imperial flag in two!

The guards were stunned, their faces turning pale. Had their commander decided to defect as well?

“If we cannot hold it, we will not. There is no need to throw away your lives for something unworthy,” Xie Linchuan said coldly. He led the men down the tower, mounted their warhorses, and gathered the remaining subordinates to break through the nearest gate.

The thunderous gallop of hooves shook the ground. Xie Linchuan’s troops were fully armored, and even most of their horses were barded. Almost every soldier carried a bulging sack on their horse’s back.

Before his original transmigration, Xie Linchuan had come from a family of martial artists. Though the family business had declined by his father’s generation, Xie Linchuan had been trained in riding, archery, and calligraphy since childhood. Having served as a general for three years, his skills were now peak.

Amidst the deafening cries of battle, he led the charge. Holding his long blade, the muscles in his arms were fluid and powerful. Whoever stood in his way was swept aside by the back of his blade, forced to yield a path.

Like an iron plow through a current, the armored Imperial Guard fought their way to the city gate. They were on the verge of crossing the most densely packed area of the Yao King’s army to reach freedom.

Across from them, a general of the Yao King’s army, whose identity was unknown, sat atop a tall warhorse. He wore a masked helmet and was encased in pitch-black iron armor. His personal guards were dressed similarly, making it difficult to distinguish his identity through the crowd. Seeing Xie Linchuan’s sudden and formidable force, the general showed no panic; instead, he led his troops forward to meet them.

Xie Linchuan’s eyes flashed. This was the moment he was waiting for!

“Scatter the goods!” he commanded, being the first to heave the heavy sack from his horse.

In an instant, the contents of the sack flew into the air. The approaching soldiers of the Yao King’s army were stunned. They realized that the items falling all over the ground were shining jewels, gold, and silver!

Behind Xie Linchuan, his guards followed suit, shaking out their own sacks. These riches were their entire life savings, along with the massive rewards Xie Linchuan had advised Li Xuehong to distribute days ago to boost morale. Now, it became their life-buying money.

Most of the Yao King’s rank-and-file soldiers were commoners who had been driven to rebellion by government oppression. They had never seen such a display of wealth scattered on the ground. There were even many dried buns and rations thrown in to fill the volume.

Even the black-armored general was taken aback. His immediate guards wavered for a moment but maintained discipline, but the mass of ordinary soldiers behind them could not be restrained. When the first hand reached for a glittering piece of gold, the scene descended into chaos. Soldiers from both sides began a mad scramble, and not even the gray, dried buns were ignored.

Xie Linchuan’s strategy was crude but effective. Since their goal was a quick breakthrough, they did not need to fight. The enemy, hindered by their own chaos and greed, could not mount an effective attack.

The Imperial Guard almost squeezed through the city gate. The path ahead was clearing.

Suddenly, an arrow carrying a chill pierced the air, flying at high speed!

“General, watch out!”

A young guard beside Xie Linchuan lunged forward, taking the arrow for him. The force of the impact knocked the boy off his horse, and he rolled several times, landing right under the hooves of the pursuing black-armored general’s horse!

The general’s great horse let out a piercing neigh, rearing its hooves high. The iron shoes were about to crush the young guard’s skull.

Xie Linchuan wheeled his horse around, drew his bow, and shot the warhorse in its vulnerable eye. The horse, mad with pain, bucked the black-armored general off. Xie Linchuan leaned down and snatched the wounded guard from beneath the hooves, pulling him onto his own horse.

He drew his bow a second time, the sharp arrowhead pointing directly at the fallen general. From the rescue to the counterattack, his movements were as smooth as flowing water.

As the black-armored general hit the ground, his mask fell off, revealing a shock of silver-gray curly hair and a pair of defiant, arrogant black eyes. The man was tall and leanly muscled, roughly thirty years old. His features possessed the sharp beauty of mixed-race heritage: a high bridge of the nose, deep-set eyes, and brows as sharp as blades.

Xie Linchuan would never forget this face, even if it turned to ash. It was Qin Li!

Xie Linchuan’s mind went blank for a moment. He was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of conflicting emotions. After years of entanglement and a life-and-death separation, he thought all debts had been settled with that one kneel and that one blade. Yet here they were, meeting again on a narrow path.

What a ridiculous twist of fate.

Despite being held at point-blank range by Xie Linchuan’s bow, Qin Li showed no fear. Instead, he looked up at Xie Linchuan with intense interest. Xie Linchuan knew that look all too well; it was the gaze of a predator who had found his prey, filled with a naked desire to conquer his trophy.

Xie Linchuan’s gaze darkened. Since heaven had given him a chance at rebirth, he should not repeat his past mistakes. Perhaps if he killed Qin Li here, everything would truly end.

But the moment that thought surfaced, an image flashed in his mind: Qin Li kneeling before Li Xuehong, covered in wounds, humble and broken, begging for Xie Linchuan’s life. So defeated, so resolute.

Xie Linchuan’s hands trembled uncontrollably. The arrow slipped from the string, losing all accuracy. It struck Qin Li’s right shoulder, wedging itself into a gap in the iron plating.

Qin Li gave him a surprised look, seemingly unable to understand why an opponent with the skill to take his life had faltered at the final moment.

The brief confrontation ended quickly. The moment Xie Linchuan realized the general was Qin Li, he knew his breakthrough plan had failed. In his past life, he had been intercepted by other generals while fleeing; he had not known that Qin Li would personally lead the vanguard at this specific gate.

No other general could restore discipline as quickly as Qin Li. Moreover, Qin Li had his own elite Iron Guard who remained unmoved by the scattered gold. Within seconds, the Iron Guard surged through the gate, completely blocking Xie Linchuan’s exit.

Under the protection of his guards, Qin Li remounted and replaced his mask. He rode up to Xie Linchuan and looked him straight in the eye.

“General Chixiao, I have heard much of your fame,” Qin Li said, his voice resonant. “Your master, Li Xuehong, has already been captured by my men. His life is in my hands. Do you still intend to resist?”

“If you follow me, I promise in the name of Qin Li, the Yao King, that I will protect your life and ensure your family’s lasting prosperity.”

Xie Linchuan looked at him deeply, silent for a long time. He vaguely remembered that in his past life, Qin Li had indeed said something similar, but not under these circumstances.

Only Xie Linchuan knew just how much Qin Li had once sacrificed to fulfill that single promise.