Cold Sands || Beyond the Frore Dunes [COMPLETED]

Chapter 38: Mourning

At dawn, I go to An Shang Gate to inspect the situation, ignoring all attempts to stop me.

Corpses have formed piles on the walls. The bodies of Yan and Rui soldiers lie quietly side by side like comrades in death. The limestone battlements are coated with sprays of blood that are still sticky. I accidentally get some of the warm goo on my hand and I get the sensation that the rest of me is sticky as well.

The sky brightens but the sun is hiding amongst the clouds, as though unwilling to witness this carnage.

With my collar flipped up and a helmet on my head covering the insanity from last night, I look just like a responsible, empathetic emperor.

There are people moving the corpses wearing scraps of armor whose faces cannot be seen through the blood and dirt. Some bodies stick out crookedly on the side of the battlements, their blood dripping down along the wall, painting terrifying lines of crimson. It adds a ghastly spread of color to the ashy walls.

The war smoke eddies and the metal hooves beat chaotically. The sea of black is shrinking back, edging back one wave at a time and leaving behind it innumerable corpses. The black flags are still billowing in the air like ripples of ink.

I'm standing on the wall with a complicated feeling.

Every bloodbath, no matter which side wins, always leaves mountains of bones lying on the battlefield.

I don't understand why every ruler of Great Yan always craves battle and ignites warfare with other countries. And I also do not know whether it was right or wrong of me to show my hand to Murong Yu last night.

Like I said; That was my choice and his choice isn't something I can predict.

He could choose not to retreat nonetheless and I don't think I have what it takes to withstand the next brutal attack.

I'm no longer organizing a resistance but rather making a bet with no way out—the stakes are Murong Yu's current situation and also his feelings towards me.

I let my eyelids drop. I can't help but sigh when I see the ever-changing floating clouds in the distance, casting heavy shadows on the ground.

I turn and see Heng Ziyu coming towards me with a few armed men behind him. For a while, we don't say anything.

I face another direction and ask flatly, "How many deaths last night?"

"In reply to Your Majesty," his voice is just as still. "An Shang Gate had the highest number, around three thousand. The rest of the gates suffered around one thousand each, altogether more than ten thousand."

"And the Yan?"

"Including the bodies outside the city, more than us."

I nod as I stare at the black ocean just a ways off.

He looks at me with a frown and then dismisses his generals with a wave of a hand.

"You should be resting in the morning, Your Majesty." He hasn't drawn near and his tone is still light. I pull a thin smile, not wanting to say anything.

Last night and this morning, it was all personal. He has no right to be involved and no right to inquire. I need him to understand this. It doesn't matter if I am willing to give him the throne—and even if I am—he is still my subject before that happens and I his ruler. The lower cannot disrespect the higher. This is the custom between the ruler and his subjects.

"The Yan have pulled back as of now but the next attack could happen anytime. I hope You will take charge of the army and tighten defenses. We must not be careless," I do not look back at him as I say this.