One of the City Lord’s sons pressed, “You don’t understand the situation. They came in the name of King Chau Ng?c. If we don't end this soon, other cities will join them, isolate us, and wipe us out.”
The General nodded and replied, “I understand.”
Another son suggested, “We captured five minor officers. Let’s execute them so their forces will be frightened and retreat.”
Upon hearing this, the General was horrified and responded, “No, no. Not opening the gates to receive the King's envoy is already a crime. If we now kill the envoys, it's adding crime upon crime. We will have nowhere left to run.”
They proposed many solutions, but none were acceptable. Growing angry, they snapped, “None of your ideas work. Do you want us to die? You only care about your own honor, and nothing about us!”
The General calmly said, “Be patient. Tomorrow, I will fight one decisive battle to force them to retreat.”
The four brothers, sons of the City Lord, had grown up in the lap of luxury, spoiled by their father from a young age. Their every word, every desire, was immediately fulfilled. In their eyes, power was their birthright, and others existed to serve. They had never faced a serious refusal or consequence. Even the General, whom they viewed as a loyal 'gatekeeper,' was merely a tool to be commanded. They believed that, as the City Lord's sons, their every action—be it murder or betrayal—was justified and could not be punished.
After the General left the meeting room and returned to the military camp with his officers, the four brothers remained. One of them said, “I heard a rumor that among the officers of the Western Campaign General are the General’s former students. That’s why he’s hesitant and indecisive.”
Another brother added, “Then tomorrow, let’s go up to the city wall to watch the battle. We’ll force him to execute the enemy generals, clearly defining his separation from the Western Campaign General.”
“What if he refuses?” a third brother asked.
The first brother scoffed, “Easy. We’ll take one of his children or grandchildren up to the wall and force him to fight.”
“You’re such an idiot, that won't work!” the third brother retorted.
The fourth brother chimed in, “He’s right, that won’t work. We must take his entire family up to the wall! Every time he disobeys, we push one person down.”
The four huddled together, cackling at their own cruel idea.
??ng Trung had long ago placed a Sound-Eavesdropping Talisman (Phù Nh?) in the meeting room. Upon hearing the four sons' conversation, he was enraged: “These four fools! Don't they know the General is protecting their position as the City Lord? Yet they oppress him and even plan to harm his family and descendants. I truly want to cut these ungrateful brutes down!”
Doanh Th??ng Quan, sitting nearby, advised, “Be calm. The opportunity will come sooner or later. Give the order to our members hiding in the city: deploy the plan to protect the General’s family. Move them to a safe bunker, and intentionally leave behind the Western Campaign General's token.”
??ng Trung replied, “Understood.”
That night, a small skirmish occurred at the General's residence with the City Lord's soldiers. Among Doanh Th??ng Quan’s subordinates were some who were very familiar with the General's family, so they agreed to go along. The family was settled in a large inn not far away, arousing no suspicion, but they were restricted from leaving for their safety, waiting for the General to come for them.
The next morning, as the General left the city to fight, the four City Lord's sons followed him onto the wall. Furious that they had no hostages, they incessantly hurled insults, pressuring him to engage and kill the enemy. This time, the General entered the battlefield with a troubled and non-committal heart. His opponents were the three Long Arm brothers, his own students. After exchanging greetings, the four of them simultaneously transformed into massive figures, their clothes tattered. They discarded the weapons in their hands, as they were now too small and no longer fit their massive size.
It was one against three, yet the General showed no sign of losing strength. Every punch and kick was filled with immense power:
- Taming Tiger Fist (Ph?c H? Quy?n): Possessed the might of a tiger, with extremely high speed and physical damage, striking fear into the opponent. The echoing sound caused dizziness and ringing in the ears. The image of a gigantic White Tiger appeared above his head when he struck.
- Phoenix Sparrow Form Fist (Ph?ng T??c Hình Quy?n): Extremely fast movements, carrying the arrogance of the king of birds. Golden fire spread, burning everything around. Every kick projected the image of a fire Phoenix.
- Black Turtle Form Fist (Huy?n Quy Hình Quy?n): A large turtle image wrapped around his back, forming a powerful energy shield for strong defense.
- Subduing Dragon Fist (Hàng Long Quy?n): Leaping and moving like a dragon, every blow stirred up a strong whirlwind with considerable force.
The battle of the four men resembled a performance, with formidable power that seemed distant yet caused catastrophic damage. Each strike echoed like thunder. The surrounding rocks crumbled and shattered into dust, and no one dared to step into the fray. However, the General held back on his students; whenever he had a chance for a killing blow, he retracted his force, merely knocking them far away. The four sons of the City Lord were enraged. They immediately sounded the gong, calling the General back to the city, where they fiercely scolded him.
This time, the General went out and offered his three students a cup of wine, a gesture of farewell to cut their master-student ties. He meant for them to be loyal to their respective masters, and if they died on the battlefield, there would be no resentment. As they were about to drink, Doanh Th??ng Quan appeared and said, “There is no need to do that. The bond between master and student is precious and cannot be simply discarded. Here is my proposal: I have an array set up behind us. If the General can break it, I will withdraw my army and not occupy this city.”
The General happily replied, “Agreed. A word spoken must be kept!”
Doanh Th??ng Quan affirmed, “Agreed.”
The General led 10,000 men and horses a distance away, where he saw an Eight Trigrams Formation set up by Chung H?i with just over two thousand soldiers. Chung H?i stepped out, greeted the General, and said, “Welcome, General. I am Chung H?i of the Yin-Yang School, specializing in arrays. I am only a novice, unlike my master, who can create an array of 1,000 men to withstand 10,000. I can only use these 2,500 troops to counter the General’s 10,000. A draw would already be a great fortune.”
The General responded, “You are too modest. The formation is grand, and its aura is magnificent—it is a good array. Please deploy it, and I will break it.”
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Chung H?i smiled brightly and said, “You are truly a respectable opponent, not taking advantage of a moment of weakness to attack. I admire you! Please, enter and break the array.”
The General ordered his entire army to halt, waiting for him to enter and study the formation. He was confident he could win this battle, but a victory would be a Pyrrhic one, leaving him with only 1,000 out of 10,000 troops. By studying it first, he could reduce the risk and avoid unnecessary sacrifice.
The General transformed into his giant form, towering dozens of meters high, to get a better overview. The Eight Trigrams Formation had eight entry gates (Rest, Life, Injury, Containment, Scenery, Death, Fear, Open), representing the eight natural phenomena (Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, Lake). Right in the center of the trigrams was the Small Yin-Yang Array, which constantly rotated. The Eight Trigrams Formation rotated with it. This was an even-numbered array, focused on defense and imprisonment.
Normally, when the array was still, it looked unremarkable, but when it was activated, it created eight different phenomena:
- Heaven: The sun was blocked, and dark clouds gathered, making it impossible to distinguish day from night, erasing the concept of time. This suited the saying, “The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. We know everything they do, but they know nothing we do,” making it extremely difficult to resist.
- Earth: The ground beneath their feet shook, sometimes cracking open and sometimes closing. This was a combination of reality and illusion. With an Earth mage in the array, real cracks were created in the ground, causing them to doubt their own eyes, unable to distinguish between real and fake.
- Thunder: Thunder and lightning followed the dark clouds, With an Thunder mage in the array, occasionally striking down a bolt that momentarily illuminated the surroundings. These flashing images were bizarre and strange, like ghosts and demons, causing them to mistake teammates for enemies. The sudden and massive sound of thunder also caused deafness and dizziness.
- Wind, Water: Often combined, With an Wind, Water mage in the array, forming a defensive wall that blocked all spells and arrows from attacking outside. Sometimes it moved in a spiral, sometimes like a mighty, howling storm, and other times it was gentle and soothing.
- Fire: Provided light in the dark, sunless space of the Eight Trigrams Formation, but it was also a tool to create ghostly images and for the Fire mage to cast spells, turning the warm fire itself into a terrifying weapon that inflicted both mental and physical damage.
- Mountain, Lake: Were the high and low areas within the array. Those who entered felt as if they were climbing a high mountain, sometimes slipping down as if falling into an abyss, directly assaulting the remaining senses, causing energy absorption to be inverted or disordered, leading to vertigo and confusion.
Seeing the array, the General broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a sense of fear, but he did not let it show on his face. He used the Subduing Dragon Fist to leap high and strike straight into the center of the array, creating an element of surprise, but it had no effect. The dark clouds of the array quickly covered up the hole the General had created. While he was focused on breaking the array, the soldiers inside used Mouth Talismans (Talismans with a drawn mouth) to replay the conversation of the four City Lord's sons. This left his mind in turmoil; he didn't know what had happened to his family, or if these words were true, but he recalled that the four sons had been like this since childhood, spoiled and used to getting their way.
The General had been in the array for only an hour, but he felt as if it had been a day, so he struggled to break free, leaping a thousand meters. But because he had lost his sense of direction, he had to jump back and forth before finally escaping. When he realized it had only been an hour, he re-entered the array to explore. An hour later, he jumped out, feeling as if a month had passed. He re-entered. An hour later, he jumped out, thinking a year had passed.
The time the General spent exploring the array was minimal; most of the time, he was bound by invisible ropes, blindfolded like a blind man, ears covered like a deaf man, his nose and mouth filled with the bitter taste of sand, and he was nearly speechless. The General had to suddenly grow large to increase his strength to strain and break the ropes, or suddenly shrink and jump far away to escape the area. The General discovered eight distinct areas: some areas had extremely strong binding ropes, some caused complete blindness, some complete deafness, while others were less severe. Not to mention the individuals who appeared from nowhere, stabbed him once, and then vanished, leaving him helpless.
After multiple entries and exits, he was utterly exhausted and decided to withdraw his troops back to the city to rest, knowing for certain that if his 10,000 troops entered, not a single one would emerge; there was no chance of victory. The General slept like the dead, unable to wake up no matter how noisy it was. The four sons of the City Lord stealthily entered, swords gleaming, intending to strike and kill the General. But the reflexes of a seasoned military commander could not be underestimated. Though his eyes remained closed, his limbs moved automatically, slapping one of the City Lord’s sons to the left and punching another to the right. The shadowy form of the White Tiger Spirit (H?n B?ch H?) appeared above his head.
The General woke up completely and roared at them, “Are you crazy?! What am I fighting for day and night? Isn't it for you? Yet you try to assassinate me in the middle of the night. Are you people even sane?!”
One of the City Lord’s sons threw a letter in the General’s face and said, “Read this! What is this?”
The General took the letter and read: "We only need the General, not the City Lord, not the city..."
Another son accused, “You have betrayed us, yet you raise your voice! Traitor! Get out of here, out of our sight! We don't need you, old man, you blabbermouth! Get out! Out! Out now!”
The General asked, “What about my wife, children, and family?”
A son retorted, “Still pretending?! You already saved them and took them into hiding, didn’t you?”
The General asked, “So you really intended to capture my family?” He was trying to confirm what he had heard in the Eight Trigrams Formation, the conversation of the four brothers.
A son sneered, “Why pretend at this point? Just confess everything! What right do you have to question us? We are the City Lords, with absolute authority! We can do whatever we want! You are just a gatekeeper! What gives you the right to be arrogant here? Get out immediately!”
The General quietly walked out of the military camp alone. One of his students brought him to meet his family. They left the city together just as dawn was breaking. Doanh Th??ng Quan stood right outside the gates. As soon as he saw the General, he knelt down and performed a grand salute. The General knelt down as well, helping Doanh Th??ng Quan up.
The General said, “All my life, I have feared neither Heaven nor Earth, only that my family would suffer. You saved my family. For the rest of my life, I will follow you. Although there are things I disagree with in your methods, overall, you are an excellent commander.”
Doanh Th??ng Quan stood up with the General and said, “I apologize. I was too eager for talent, especially a General like you. I humbly invite the General to be the Supreme Commander for the Western Campaign of Chau Ng?c Nation, second only to me.”
The General laughed heartily, “Haha, a defeated general being nominated for such a high position?”
Doanh Th??ng Quan replied, “If you wish to sit in my chair, I will yield it to you, as long as we defeat the Western Wolf Army”
The two laughed loudly and heartily throughout their journey. Meanwhile, the city was in turmoil. The father (the City Lord) had only recently passed away, about a year ago, creating a power vacuum. The four sons had secretly been building up forces to seize the position. However, the General’s interference had kept them from acting. As soon as the General left, they began warring with each other. Within a few months, they had stabbed and killed each other until only one held the position of General Administrator of Tan Tay City.
However, their conflict was not over a successful governing strategy, but a squabble of spoiled children fighting for the only toy. They continuously accused one another: 'It’s your fault the old man betrayed us!', 'It’s because of your stupidity that the family was kidnapped!', but not one of them asked, 'Where did we go wrong to push away our most loyal servant?' They believed that if it weren't for the General's betrayal, they would have won. They failed to see that their father's spoiling had created the arrogance and blindness that made them a joke in front of Doanh Th??ng Quan and caused them to destroy everything with their own hands. In their eyes, they were still in the right; only fate or others were terrible. This was the failure of a father who spoiled his children, making them incorrigibly wicked.
Some time later, Doanh Th??ng Quan's two older brothers arrived and took over Tan Tay City in the name of the Western Campaign General. Doanh Th??ng Nhan (Doanh Th??ng Quan's father) gathered his three sons and unified them to establish a small state. He decided the eldest son would be the King and assigned him the responsibility of the Western Campaign. The two younger sons were made Princes in charge of managing large cities.