Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

As the last remnants of the Di people stumbled back to their territory, the faint throb of war drums could be heard on the wind across the wasteland. Ma Chao, eyes red with hatred, gazed towards the Di territory. Behind him, a hundred thousand cavalrymen loomed like a dark cloud, their black banners obscuring half the sky.

"How did they slaughter the children of Longxi? Today, blood debt will be paid with blood!" Ma Chao's voice was low and cold. He swung his tiger-headed golden spear heavily, and the hundred thousand-strong army poured into the enemy territory like a tide. The wooden fort that had once served as a defense collapsed under the iron cavalry. A rain of flaming arrows streaked across the sky, reducing the Di village to a sea of ​​fire.

The cavalry, each unit of 500 men, was like the Grim Reaper's scythe, barren wherever they passed. Amid the cries of the elderly, women, and children, the Xiliang army's scimitars showed no mercy. "Give me back my wife and children!" A soldier plunged his spear into a crying child in the enemy camp, tears mingling with blood as they streamed down his cheek. The atrocities they had witnessed in recent days had long since burned away any compassion in their hearts.

The animal-skin tent was filled with the pungent smell of alcohol. Gu Tu rested his head on the looted Han brocade, dreaming of counting the treasures in the cellar. Suddenly, something heavy crashed open the tent door, and the armor of the guards clanged as they rolled in: "Great leader! The Xiliang army... the Xiliang army has entered our territory!"

A bronze wine jar clattered to the ground with a clang. Gu Tu suddenly sat up, the totem on his forehead throbbing with the twitching veins. A scout stumbled in, his robe still stained with fresh blood: "Blackwater Stronghold has been breached! Red Willow Plain... Three hundred women and children on Red Willow Plain..." Before he could finish his words, a shrill horn blared in the distance. The long, mournful wail tore through the morning mist, startling the crows all over the mountain.

"Impossible!" Gu Tu kicked over the table, and the burning sheep oil lamp poured light on the animal skin map. "Aren't they just trying to protect the country and the people?" He grabbed the scout's collar, but saw that the other's pupils reflected the black clouds rolling in the sky - those were not dark clouds, but the smoke and dust raised by a hundred thousand black armored soldiers that blocked out the sun.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached from afar. The high priest pushed open the curtain, his white hair still matted with grass debris: "The blood moon curse has come true!" He pointed a withered finger at the sky, "The blood moon is in the sky, the blood moon is in the sky, this is a killing array that will destroy my entire clan!"

In the wasteland, a lone bald warrior stood atop a high platform, his blood-stained wolf-head battle flag fluttering in his hand. Warriors from various tribes gathered densely below the platform, wielding scimitars and spears, their faces filled with restlessness and uneasiness.

"My people!" Gu Tu roared at the top of his lungs, his face twisted and ferocious with excitement. "The Xiliang cavalry killed my father and brothers, took my wife and daughter, and trampled our homeland! Today, they dared to penetrate our territory. This is too much!" He waved the blood-stained battle flag, spit flying, "Can we agree to this?"

"No! No!" Shouts rose and fell from the audience, and the flames of hatred ignited in the eyes of the incited soldiers, completely forgetting that a few months ago they had invaded Longxi with the same brutal means, burning, killing, looting, and committing countless atrocities.

Gu Tu looked at his infuriated tribesmen, a barely perceptible sneer flickering across his lips. He continued to loudly incite them: "Our scimitars never fear the enemy! Today, let those Han people know the price of invading us! Revenge for our dead relatives! Fight for our homeland!"

The passionate shouts resounded through the sky, startling the birds in the air. However, amidst this frenzied atmosphere, several elders in the crowd exchanged glances, their eyes filled with worry—they hadn't forgotten the true cause of this war, but under Lone Bald's instigation, the truth had long been distorted beyond recognition.

Dusk dyed the altar a dark crimson. Three old men stumbled and pushed aside the cowhide curtain. The high priest was smearing cinnabar all over his body. Dried human bones tangled in his white hair, and black blood clotted between his fingernails. "Just in time... Look!" He suddenly ripped open his shirt. The newly carved word "Death" on his chest was still oozing blood, and cracks crawled across his chest like spider webs.

"That's enough!" The old man in the lead grabbed his trembling wrist, "Gu Tu wants to lead his entire clan into a decisive battle. You are the high priest, you should go and persuade him!" Before he finished speaking, the high priest suddenly laughed wildly, shaking the curse totem hanging between the beams: "Persuade? When the first hundred-man team was disemboweled at Baicao Beach, when the blood of Han women and children dyed Crescent Moon Lake red, you parasites were living a life of luxury with the looted treasures!"

Cheers rang out from outside the tent, and the tumultuous battle drums of Lone Bald pierced the night. Another old man, his face pale, lowered his voice: "But our warriors... can't stop a hundred thousand cavalrymen!" The high priest suddenly threw his hand away, grabbed the bronze bell and shook it frantically, the piercing sound mixed with hoarse whispers: "The blood moon shines on the mountain of bones, and the scimitars bite back at the remnants of our own people! Remember when you divided up the rations of the Han children, you said, 'The weak deserve it'? Now retribution has come—"

"Shut up!" The youngest elder drew his dagger and pressed it against the other's throat, only to find his own trembling pupils reflected in the high priest's cloudy eyes. The Di army outside the tent had already assembled, and the trembling of horse hooves could be heard along the ground, shaking off the sheep skulls on the altar. The high priest suddenly reached out and grasped the blade, blood dripping from his palm: "Kill me... Anyway, the entire tribe will fall into the eighteen levels of hell with you greedy maggots!"

The yellow sand kicked up by a hundred thousand cavalrymen hadn't yet cleared. Ma Chao was leaning over a sheepskin map, his dark cloak draped across the marked sand table. Suddenly, a scout fell from his horse, his armor still wet with dew. "Report! The Di people have come out in full force, arrayed in the Black Wind Valley, threatening a decisive battle with our army!"

A sudden silence fell within the tent, and all the generals' eyes turned to their commander. Ma Chao, however, slowly straightened up, a deep laugh echoing across his face, the sound like the clashing of metal and stone: "Trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm? Let's see how brave they are!" He lifted his hand and removed his helmet. The silver crown holding his hair gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Amidst the fatigue of days of battle, a certain exhilaration shone through him—those jackals hiding in the shadows were finally baring their fangs.

"I beg to fight!" Xu Huang and Dong Huang stepped out at the same time, their iron spears and long swords clashing with each other. Xu Huang's eyes widened, his scarred face flushed red: "We have been tricked many times before. I am willing to lead the vanguard battalion and put the heads of our enemies on the tip of my spear!" Dong Huang gripped the ring-handled sword at his waist, thinking of the people who were slaughtered in Qingshi Gorge, and a suppressed growl escaped from his throat: "General, please allow me to break the formation. The blood debt must be repaid today!"

Ma Chao's eyes swept over the two men's bloodstained armor, recalling the scene of the common people kneeling in plea for help a few days ago. A grim smile curled his lips. He reached out and placed his hand on the sword at his waist, saying solemnly, "Okay! Each of you will lead 20,000 elite soldiers. When we break the formation..." His words trailed off as the deafening sound of war drums suddenly rang out from outside the tent, like a death knell. "Remember, leave no one behind." As the command flag was waved, the two generals clasped their fists and retreated. The 100,000-man army, like a surging black wave, pressed towards Black Wind Valley.

At the mouth of Black Wind Valley, yellow sand billowed. Tens of thousands of Di warriors formed a crescent formation, their wolf-head battle flags rustling in the wind. Lone Tu, clad in armor studded with skulls, held a gold-studded scimitar in hand, standing at the forefront. Behind him, the high priest, draped in a tattered black robe, muttered to himself as he brandished a bone staff engraved with cursed runes. Meanwhile, the Western Liang army, led by Xu Huang and Dong Huang, advanced like a wall of iron cavalry. Their black armor shone in the sun, their spears formed a forest, and the sound of horses' hooves crunching the gravel resembled the footsteps of approaching death.

"Is that Ma Chao?" Gu Tu's roar mixed with the wind and sand, his deliberately high-pitched voice unable to hide his inner fear. "What kind of hero is it to hide in the back?"

He was answered by a clear, melodious neigh. Xu Huang squeezed his horse's belly, and his black horse rushed out to the front of the formation, his axe pointed directly at Gu Tu: "How dare you, you rats! How dare you imagine that my king will personally lead the battle? I, Xu Huang, am here!" The cold light reflected by the axe swept across the Di people's formation: "I let you get away with it last time, but today is the day you die!"

Lone Bald sneered and turned to look at the enemy line. "Aligu, kill this lunatic!" With his cry, a burly Di man galloped out, wielding a copper mace as thick as a bowl, his swing creating a whirring sound. "Han dog, give me your life!" Aligu roared, and with a tremendous force, he thrust the mace straight at Xu Huang's face.

Xu Huang snorted coldly, and brought his axe down on the hollow of the mace. Sparks flew from the two weapons, and the immense force numbed Aligu's arm. Without waiting for him to recover, Xu Huang swung his axe, aiming for the man's throat. Aligu hurriedly sidestepped, but a deep gash on his shoulder remained, leaving a visible bone.

As Aligu fell from his horse with a howl of agony, two more riders burst out from Gutu's ranks. The knight on the left, wearing a bronze beast-head helmet and wielding a boar spear that danced with cold stars, was none other than the fierce Di general Kucha. The woman on the right, clad in leopard-skin soft armor, swung her chain hammer with a sharp crack. It was Una, Gutu's only female general. The two, one on the left and the other on the right, attacked Xu Huang like wolves pouncing on their prey.

"Well done!" Xu Huang roared, his legs clamped tightly around his horse's belly. The Wuzhui horseman reared up, his Xuanhua axe slashing a blood-red half-moon as he slashed down diagonally towards the snake spear. The "clang" sounded so loud that Kucha's palms went numb, and he nearly let the spear slip out of his hand. Before he could react, the axe's back slammed into his chest. His armor crumbled, and Kucha spat out a mouthful of blood as he flew backward, leaving a trail of blood several feet in the sand.

At the same moment, Una's chain hammer brushed past Xu Huang's ear, lifting a few strands of hair. Xu Huang swung back, catching the hammer chain with the blade, and yanked hard. Una felt a surge of force, stumbling from her horse. Before she could rise, the axe blade was at her throat: "Who else?"

Before the screams had died down, the lone bald commander of the personal guard, Tietouhe, charged forward, his twin maces wielding impenetrable blows. Xu Huang sneered, and when the maces were close, he suddenly discarded his axe, grasped the mace handles, and with a roar, yanked Tietouhe from his horse. The two men tumbled and grappled in the sand. Xu Huang delivered a powerful punch to the other's temple, sending Tietouhe's eyes swiveling shut as he collapsed to the ground.

Xu Huang slowly rose, axe in hand. Blood foam dripped down the axe blade, creating dark red specks on the yellow sand. He scanned the Di camp and thundered, "Is that all you've got? Let that scoundrel Gu Tu die!" A thunderous cheer erupted from the Xiliang army, while the Di soldiers, looking at the defeated generals lying in disorder, involuntarily took a half step back.

Gu Tu's face grew increasingly gloomy. He suddenly raised his scimitar and shouted, "Shoot!" In an instant, thousands of arrows from the Di army's formation unleashed, hurling themselves at the Western Liang army like a dark cloud covering the sun. Xu Huang brandished his battle axe, deflecting the arrows one after another. Dong Huang roared, "All troops, listen to my command! Follow me and charge!" Twenty thousand cavalrymen responded in unison, sweeping towards the Di army like a black torrent.