Entering the game

The next day, with a thunderous boom, three massive logs collapsed, and the pass that had been held for over ten days finally revealed a gap.

The people of Western Kang were like wolves that hadn't eaten for days seeing succulent meat; their eyes turned red as they roared and surged toward the opening.

The gap only allowed two people to pass at a time, which was perfect for Gao Yuan to stand guard and kill them one by one.

He killed every single one that came; in less than an hour, Gao Yuan was covered in blood from head to toe, looking like a bloody figure.

At this moment, his mind was entirely occupied with how to swing his saber and how to parry; he didn't even have time to look at the notifications popping up from the system.

Soon, the gap was blocked—more accurately, it was blocked by the corpses of the Western Kang soldiers.

Facing such a blood-soaked god of slaughter, the Western Kang soldiers grew terrified.

They hadn't been afraid during the ten-plus days of the siege where nearly ten thousand died, but now, facing the battle-crazed Gao Yuan, they finally felt fear.

As a Centurion died miserably under Gao Yuan's saber, the Western Kang soldiers finally stopped crowding forward and began to retreat.

It was easy to get in but hard to get out; the gap that could only accommodate two people now became a gateway to hell for the Western Kang soldiers.

The Nanzhou Army soldiers swarmed forward, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the Western Kang soldiers who couldn't escape in time.

Blood stained the soil on the ground until it felt sticky underfoot, and the air was thick with a nauseating stench of blood.

The Western Kang forces returned empty-handed once again, and Gao Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, his strength seemingly draining away rapidly as he slumped onto the ground.

This terrified those around him, who rushed forward to check on him.

After confirming there were no wounds, Mu Qing finally turned her tears into a smile and punched Gao Yuan with her small fist.

"You scared me to death! Do you know I thought you were injured just now..."

Gao Yuan forced a smile and reached out to pinch her small face.

"Alright, alright, I'm fine, aren't I? I'm just a bit tired. Help me back to rest."

With her face flushed red, Little Chili Pepper helped Gao Yuan up and fled in haste under the suggestive gazes of the crowd.

While bathing, it took three full tubs of hot water before the water stopped running red with blood; one could imagine how brutal the day's slaughter had been.

Lying in the bath and enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, Gao Yuan finally had time to open the system panel and check the notifications.

"Congratulations to the Host, Strength has increased from B to B+."

"Congratulations to the Host, Agility has increased from B to B+."

"Congratulations to the Host, Charm has increased from A+ to S-."

"Congratulations to the Host, Spearmanship has increased from C+ to B-."

"Due to the increase in multiple stats, the overall evaluation has increased from B to B+."

"Host: Gao Yuan. Character Attributes: Feminine Appearance, Ruthless and Merciless. Overall Evaluation: B+;"

"Strength B+, Agility B+, Endurance B+, Horsemanship C-, Intelligence B+, Leadership C+, Internal Affairs D, Charm S-;"

"Martial Arts: saber technique B, Spearmanship B-;"

"Skills: Leaders Aura (D);"

"First Life Mentor: First Life Mentor, Spearmanship training effect bonus 50%;"

"Items: Strength Enhancement Card."

The event for slaying enemy soldiers was completed; the event for slaying enemy generals would only be settled after the battle ended.

However, looking at the 11/5 progress and having personally chopped down a Centurion today, Gao Yuan estimated he should at least get an A-grade card this time.

As for the Strength Enhancement Card, he didn't dare use it now.

What if it required him to gorge himself on food like the previous Essence Blood Strengthening Card?

This was the front line; where would he find so much food and drink to consume?

Moreover, if he passed out, the impact on military morale would be too great if word got out.

Resisting the temptation to immediately break through his Strength to A-rank, Gao Yuan climbed out of the cooling bath.

Admiring his well-proportioned, strong, and well-defined muscles in the water's reflection, along with that handsome face that could outshine any young idol, he couldn't help but say modestly,

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at that. Look at how handsome this young man is. Truly worthy of being the number one handsome man of Great Qian!"

Mu Qing, who was standing at the door with food, suddenly felt that her heartbeat earlier today must have been a moment of madness. How could she be attracted to such a fellow?

After changing into light clothes, Gao Yuan finally noticed Mu Qing standing at the door in a dilemma. He hurried over to take the tray.

"Have you eaten? Why don't we have some together?"

"No, no, these were all specially prepared for you."

Mu Qing waved her hands repeatedly, her small hands shaking like someone with Parkinson's. After speaking, she fled like a startled rabbit.

Gao Yuan didn't think too much about it; he was truly starving and sat down to gorge himself.

A mushroom soup made from various dried mushrooms, a small piece of roasted meat, and a large bowl of rice—this was the special treatment for Gao Yuan as the Commander.

As for the ordinary soldiers, they only had rice with mushroom and meat soup, which at least provided some fat and grease.

Just as Commander Li and a group of Western Kang generals were frowning in distress, the worst news arrived.

While everyone was eating, a scout ran in quickly and reported breathlessly,

"Re... Reporting to the generals... A... A Han army has appeared behind our forces. The... The banner is the Nanzhou Army's Liu..."

Hearing this banner, everyone turned pale with fright, and someone immediately cried out,

"Liu Rengui! How could he have gotten behind us!"

"The reinforcements haven't arrived for so long, could it be..."

Commander Li felt panicked, but his expression remained unchanged as he stood up and walked to the scout.

"How many people? How is their equipment? Besides Liu Rengui, whose other banners are there?"

"The number is about four thousand, well-equipped, and there's another banner that should be Xia..."

In this region, there was only one person with the surname Xia qualified to display a banner—the peerless god of slaughter, Xia Luqi, who was as famous as Gao Yuan.

If Gao Yuan's fame came from the battle of Wanxiang, then Xia Luqi's fame was built over a long time by killing countless enemies.

Xian Bifa and Ye Fan—these famous figures had all become souls lost to Xia Luqi's spear.

"General, what should we do?"

"It looks like Lijiang and Dali have met with misfortune. What should we do?"

"General Li is our Great Kang's number one fierce general; he should be able to stop Xia Luqi, right?"

The speaker's tone was full of uncertainty, and Commander Li himself had even less confidence.

He was indeed Great Kang's number one fierce general, but that was earned by leading troops to sweep through the Tubo army; to put it bluntly, he was a Commander who devised strategies, not a brute who led charges into enemy ranks.

At this moment, he also felt the urge to retreat, thinking that even if they suffered some losses, they should at least save these troops and retreat to places like Mangkang to stabilize their defense and prevent Gao Yuan from choosing to Pursue and Attack.

The Western Kang army had not attacked for two days, and with Liu Rengui sending word, Gao Yuan roughly guessed that the Western Kang people were preparing to run.

With nearly ten thousand troops, if they were determined to run, he might not be able to catch them all.

Once they were on the plateau, his side would be at too much of a disadvantage.

So he wanted to make a risky move.

"Men, pass down the order: raise the banner of the Great Qian's duke of anle county."

Huo Jun quickly stopped the messenger who was about to leave and then advised Gao Yuan,

"No, County Duke, you mustn't! What if the Western Kang people find out you are here and attack the city with all their might?"

"He's right, Gao Yuan. The walls are already damaged; if the Western Kang people attack again..."

Gao Yuan's idea was simple: since they had already paid a price, they had to get a big win. This main force of Western Kang must not be allowed to escape no matter what.

"I want to lure the Western Kang people into attacking. Haven't you noticed? They are preparing to run."