The sky began to clear, and the temperature started to rise. In just one morning, the muddy mountain path was baked dry by the scorching sun.
The weather was behaving strangely. Although autumn had already arrived, the heat rivaled that of summer—perhaps even hotter. The stifling air was almost unbearable for everyone.
A large group of sweat-soaked soldiers began to slowly climb the slope. Gus Bull and Bella Liang were among them. Today, they only planned to survey the situation; the attack would begin early tomorrow morning.
Inside the Central Pass, Joseph Qiao stood atop the watchtower under the blazing sun, wearing a straw hat, watching thick smoke rise from the forests on both sides of the mountains.
The weather was extremely abnormal; it was autumn, yet the heat was relentless. A vague sense of unease began to stir within him.
This morning, he also received news: two days ago, the betrothal envoy from Jiang Territory arrived at Grant City, bringing lavish gifts. Yuna Grant would soon be married off to Jiang Territory, and their troops had already begun moving toward the border, agreeing to support the Grant Family in this war.
This was a major boon for the Grant Family, yet Joseph Qiao felt stifled. He had just heard the news this morning, and memories kept surfacing of his days in Grant City, always chasing after Yuna Grant, trying to force her to learn certain things.
"Maybe I'll never see Yuna Grant again!"
Figures appeared at the crest of the distant slope. Joseph Qiao immediately shouted for the soldiers to be on guard—the enemy had arrived. He stared at the distant foes, but after reaching the crest, they did not advance further. It seemed they had no intention of attacking.
Though the temperature had soared since early morning and much of the mud had dried, the area in front of the pass was now lined with obstacles and spikes. The enemy seemed intent on observing the situation first.
After watching for a while, Joseph Qiao descended from the watchtower. The soldiers below all looked exhausted; the heat was unusually intense.
News had already come from the right flank of the pass: early this morning, the enemy launched an assault but was repelled. Thick smoke drifted up from the distant forests.
This was Joseph Qiao's greatest concern, especially given the current weather. At that moment, Edward Grant came running over, looking very pleased. Upon arrival, Edward glanced at the smoky sky and then laughed.
"You're still worried, Qiao? It's been raining for days. Who knows which fool on the enemy side is still thinking about setting fires. Now that Jiang Territory is sending two hundred thousand troops, all we have to do is hold the pass. Once Jiang's soldiers arrive, victory is certain."
Joseph Qiao hesitated for a moment and nodded. But this was based on the assumption that the enemy couldn't break through the pass quickly and that a forest fire wouldn't erupt. Jiang Territory's reinforcements would only act after Yuna Grant was married off, and that would take at least a month and a half.
If the enemy attacked every day, it would take less than ten days for the pass to be in crisis.
"The enemy doesn't seem likely to attack. Qiao, you should get some rest too. After such hot weather and the recent rain, the climate has shifted drastically—people are bound to feel unwell."
Joseph Qiao nodded. Some soldiers had already fallen ill because of the sudden heat.
"Keep moving into the forest."
Many soldiers stood drenched in sweat outside the forest. The ones sent in to set fires earlier had already returned. The woods were stifling, unbearably hot, and the returning soldiers all looked pale.
"Commander, the temperature is a bit high today. Should we wait..."
Before the general could finish, he swallowed his words. Lydia Lien raised her sword and pointed it at the soldiers.
"Anyone who disobeys will be executed."
Knowing Lydia Lien's cruelty, the soldiers could only drag their exhausted, overheated bodies into the forest in batches.
The Sage Army had already reached the front lines. The generals gathered to discuss tomorrow's offensive. Once it was settled that Wynn Domain would lead the attack, they began mocking Lydia Lien's order to send soldiers into the forest to set fires.
"Is that woman out of her mind? And to think she's the commander of Wynn Domain."
"Exactly. It's laughable. In a forest that's wet all year round, there's no way a fire will start."
Cyrus Sage watched the generals quietly as they talked about Lydia Lien.
"Do you really think someone that incompetent could become commander of Wynn Domain?"
Cyrus Sage's words left the generals speechless. In previous wars, they had lost to Wynn Domain's tribes because of their ferocity, and the three commanders had given them hell. Some of the generals present still remembered the wars from more than a decade ago.
Cyrus Sage had not experienced that war himself, but he knew well that the current three commanders all rose to power after it.
"There are reasons why the northern tribes betrayed us."
All eyes turned to Cyrus Sage.
"Although the disasters were severe that year, there was still that river. I've heard that in the river winding through nearly all the northern tribes, there wasn't a single fish to be seen."
Seeing a general about to argue, Cyrus Sage quickly continued.
"How could such a large river have no fish at all? That shouldn't happen. It's as if someone upstream did something to prevent the fish from reaching downstream."
"Commander, is that even possible?"
Cyrus Sage smiled and shook his head.
"It may seem impossible to us, but you haven't seen it with your own eyes. So why are you so sure it can't happen? As for setting the forest on fire—if it works, the pass ahead will be engulfed in flames in an instant. All we need to do is wait for the fire to burn out, then stroll through the pass at our leisure."
The scorching sun made life unbearable for the soldiers on the peaks. They gathered at the edge of the forest, but all that came from within was stifling heat.
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Gus Bull, drenched in sweat, stared at the spikes stretching all the way to the city wall, feeling utterly frustrated.
"Step by step. Tomorrow we'll use stone hammers—we have to destroy these spikes first before we can move forward."
"That's all we can do."
After nightfall, the temperature showed no sign of dropping. Most soldiers sat around the edge of the forest, and the heat had made many of them sick.
Joseph Qiao sat at the doorway, panting, occasionally splashing water from a nearby bucket onto himself.
"Maybe the enemy's situation is a bit better than ours."
Yu Huang, sitting nearby, said this. Joseph Qiao nodded, knowing the enemy was camped in the sparse, flat woodland below, while they were enveloped by dense forest.
"Let the soldiers rest as much as they can. The enemy is likely to attack at dawn, before the sun rises."
With that, Joseph Qiao stood up and headed to where the generals were gathering, ready to speak.
"Lydia Lien, maybe you should wait a couple of days. The soldiers are already grumbling."
Bella Liang, panting and drenched in sweat, stood in Lydia Lien's room. Lydia was soaking in a large wooden tub, looking utterly relaxed, smiling.
"Isn't this perfect? A few dead soldiers, that's nothing to fuss about. The fire will catch—just wait and see. Tomorrow you don't need to attack either, just let me handle the fire..."
"Nonsense."
Bella Liang stormed out, feeling dizzy. He slumped to the ground, the wind blowing against him was strangely warm.
"If you really can't stand the heat, come soak too—I don't mind."
Lydia Lien's teasing voice came from behind, and Bella Liang sprang to his feet.
"No need."
The next morning, thick white fog drifted over the mountain peaks, obscuring everything. You could barely see anything two or three meters away.
The racks at the pass were crowded with soldiers, all armed with bows and arrows. Joseph Qiao stood on the watchtower, but visibility was poor. Even the crest of the slope was barely visible. Yet he could see now—the enemy had arrived, their figures flickering in the mist.
Gradually, despite the thick fog before them, the sound of footsteps could be heard, and those footsteps were getting closer—the enemy was launching their attack.
"Shoot! Don't hesitate, fire!"
Edward Grant shouted impatiently, and arrows flew out from within the pass. Screams echoed through the dense fog, and Joseph Qiao smiled.
Such a foggy morning was an advantage for them—the enemy couldn't see the situation atop the pass, and even arrows flying overhead were only visible at the last moment.
Gradually, the sounds faded. The enemy seemed to retreat, and as the fog began to clear, bodies left in front of the pass became visible.
When the sun rose between the mountains, many enemy corpses lay in front of the pass, and the rest had retreated beyond the reach of arrows.
The temperature began to rise again, the damp chill in the air disappeared, replaced by a growing warmth.
"No good, Bella Liang, the temperature is rising again. In a while, it will be unbearably hot. Let's keep attacking—destroy as much as we can."
Gus Bull pointed at the spikes before them. The first wave of attacks that morning was meant to take advantage of the fog, to get close and launch a sudden assault, but the enemy shot wildly without care.
Yet before the assault even began, the scorching sun had already drenched the soldiers gathered at the crest and on the slope in sweat.
Bella Liang, seeing no other option, abandoned today's attack and ordered the entire army to retreat down the mountain to escape the heat.
At the foot of the slope, Lydia Lien had her soldiers hold up a grass-made shade against the sun, smiling as she watched Bella Liang and Gus Bull come down from the mountain.
"See, I told you to wait and watch. Our tribe has been through weather like this before! Sometimes it happens—an autumn tiger."