3RD PERSON POV
The impact of losing Ye City, for Wei, was embarrassing; the shame of one of their Wei Fire Dragons being played by such a young General only seemed to deepen the humiliation. King An Xi of Wei was furious with the loss, so angry that it was said that the old man, nearing death, coughed blood and entered his deathbed on the day the news was brought to him.
With King An Xi's health being in balance, the State of Wei was in limbo; they could neither move forward to plan an attack and get back Ye City, nor could they look to defend the regions that were now left isolated from the Zhao invasion.
Upon hearing the news that the Wei King was only days away from passing, Sei Chou did not dare to miss the opportunity that had been presented to him. He ordered Den Pou, Jo Shou and Jo Rin to subjugate and bring the nearby cities under control, along with General Chou Rai.
In that time, he welcomed back the heavily injured Shin Sei Jou to Ye City, the man who was supposed to be leading the Zhao forces was in a coma, and recuperated in the walls of Ye. Less than half of the initial 50,000 linked back up with the army at Ye City, bolstering the number of troops to 75,000 strong.
The entire region fell into Zhao's hands and officially became Zhao territory. This news reached far and wide, and once again, the entirety of the central plains was marvelling at the actions of Sei Chou. Qin, Chu, Wei and Yan decided to ramp up their plans to increase their military strength. They knew a new era was coming, and the person who was leading that charge was none other than Zhao's Sei Chou.
Even Han and Qi, the weakest of the warring states, decided it was time to focus on their military lest they be washed away by the young wave that was rushing in. The King of Zhao once again lavished Sei Chou with rewards and praise, adding more lands to the young Lord's name.
The City of Dai and the lands surrounding it now belonged to the youngster, for it was a huge achievement to take Ye City and the surrounding regions. Yet, the young General did not move from the Wei border. Instead, he continued to survey the lands…
Why he did this, no one truly understood at the time… Except for Sei Chou himself.
257 BCE
ZHAO - WEI BORDER
"I told you, I met this guy and he is not ordinary at all."
Once again, Shi Ei stood in a war camp instead of the arms of his lover; he knew this was the only way he could achieve his true dream of living in peace with Shi Kika. And to do that, he had to stomach being in the presence of the one he loathed most in the world.
"Bah, good-for-nothing child!" The man, Earl Shi, shouted at him, much like he had done many times before. "If you believe the words of a scout, then go, and seek him out!" The man threw a scroll towards Shi Ei, one he dodged before turning and plucking it out of the air.
The young Wei General left on his own, knowing that the army of his adopted father would not follow him. He preferred it that way; it saved him the energy that he needed to spend looking over his shoulder. Ever since the day Shi Ei's mother died, he and his father had not seen eye to eye; the man saw him as an eyesore… and Shi Ei saw him as a useless fool who did nothing but brag.
"You should've returned to Zhao by now… so why stay?" No one could hear the words Shi Ei said, only him and the heavens. A scout had brought news that Sei Chou, the young General of Zhao who had defeated Ba Tou, the Wei Fire Dragon, a few months back, was still in Zhao, even as his men were preparing to leave.
The court of King An Xi, at the time, ordered that Sei Chou was to be found and brought to the royal capital of Dairyou by any means necessary. 2 of the 6 Wei Fire Dragons had set out to see the task completed: Ba Tou, who had recently lost Ga Gyyuu his left hand General and Ta Ro Ji the famed wife killer.
Shi Ei scoffed, "One Fire Dragon that had been defeated and another who is more famous for the wives he had killed than anything on the battlefield." He would've preferred it if it were Gai Mou and Rei Ou, at least then Shi Ei would be able to see some positives in his time here.
Except he was among three people whom he had no feeling towards at all, as he followed the path to where a scout had reported the last sightings of Sei Chou, he found something interesting.
….
Sei Chou stood looking at a rickety house that seemed to be one gust of wind away from crumbling in on itself. Sitting in front of the house was an elderly man of only skin and bone, his face weathered and wrinkled.
"Why have you not fled like all the rest?" Sei Chou found it very interesting that the man stayed even though most, if not all, of the people of Wei had decided to run when they heard a Zhao army was invading.
"Why run?" The old man replied, "Run to where and run to do what, when I have no village left, no family left, what more is there to live for?" The old man questioned Sei Chou.
"During these chaotic times, the feeling of loss is more well-known than joy." Replied Sei Chou, the old man looked towards the young man. He saw the sadness in his eyes; he could tell the young man was not a Wei citizen and most likely was a Zhao soldier.
"You asked me why I did not run. I heard that it was the army of a young Zhao General by the name of Sei Chou invading. A boy so young that he would be the age of my own grandson… If he had been born." The old man replied.
"Some say his army is like a pack of wild dogs, killing, butchering and causing atrocities everywhere they go… Whilst others say his army is surprisingly kind and benevolent, treating the common people with fairness."
"And which side of the story do you believe in?" Sei Chou replied, looking upwards towards the decrepit house.
"Perhaps I am just an old fool, a stupid man who has lived so long that I've now gone senile, but I would rather believe the positive than the negative." Replied the old man.
Sei Chou chuckled with slight amusement, "Well, it seems you are luck-" His words were cut off, as a spear came shooting through the air towards his face.
Sei Chou tilted his head to the side and watched it dart past him. A Wei soldier drew his sword and swung towards Sei Chou, but before he could get near the Zhao General, Fu Jin, who always stayed by Sei Chou's side, cut him down.
"Just in time." Fu Jin said, wrenching his bloody sword out of the torso of the Wei soldier. Sei Chou unsheathed his own sword, the fine morning sword reflecting off the blade.
"Another one." He said, three throwing knives were dashed, two of them missed hitting the wooden house, whilst another went precariously close to the old man's face, only to be deflected at the last by Sei Chou's sword.
"Indeed." A voice replied to Sei Chou, and the Zhao General recognised it.
"You again." Fu Jin ran towards the person who also charged at him, *BANG!* The two clashed, and the leader of Sei Chou's personal guard felt the cold bite of steel make its way past his armour. "Whoa!"
"Fu Jin, was it?" Shi Ei questioned using the momentum of his initial swing to turn with his spear and putting more strength in his next strike. "Fuck off," replied Fu Jin, attempting to match Shi Ei's next strike, but he did not have the strength of Shi Ei.
The blow sent him flying back into the rickety house, and it crashed down on top of him.
"Old man, know you could be punished by military law." Shi Ei said to the slightly stunned elderly man, who could only sit and look with wide eyes. In the eyes of the elderly man, he saw two young heroes, beginning to square up to one another.
"Why punish the elderly for only being a bystander?" Sei Chou pointed his sword at the Wei, who was of similar age to him, "Shi Ei."
Shi Ei mirrored Sei Chou, pointing his spear at him, "We meet once again, Sei Chou."
….
EARL SHI MAIN CAMP
Whilst Shi Ei and Sei Chou fought once again…
"Report for the Earl! Sei Chou of Zhao has been spotted just a short distance away, in a local village!" The scout shouted as he entered the war camp of Earl Shi.
"How can that be! That location holds nothing to gain; why take such a risk?"
"That is true, why visit an impoverished village that holds nothing to gain, they have no men, women, children or food. Looking at how things are, the Zhao army has done nothing but hold the line on the border… This is just a trick to lure us out." Earl Shi dismissed the news.
"But Earl, the young master-"
"Do not call him that!" Earl Shi fiercely reprimanded, "That boy can go and join his mother in death for all I care! Do not tell anyone, especially Lord Ba Tou and Tai Ro Ji, that thing is a liar! And it's best everyone sees him for what he is!" The Earl despised Shi Ei and understood that even if the scouts' words were true, it was not enough for him to lift a finger to help Shi Ei.
'Should the words be false, then I can simply punish him using military law as the boy went against the words of his commanders; should the words be true, then I can muddy his name.' Earl Shi thought of the two scenarios and felt a smile come to his face.
….
BACK TO SEI CHOU AND SHI EI
Two continued to fight, even as the rain poured down around them. Long gone was the morning sun that was now hidden behind the clouds and rain, sword met spear in a duel of ferocity, precision and skill.
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
The two young heroes went back and forth, neither losing nor gaining ground in an exhausting fight for supremacy. Before they came to a halt and stared at one another, huffing for air.
"Why come all this way? Was it worth your life to pay a visit to just an elderly man?" Shi Ei asked; it made no sense why Sei Chou would leave himself so open to a potential attack.
"As a man, how can I continue to invade but forget the common person, only a beast forgets the plight of the masses when attacking." Sei Chou explained.
"You haven't changed. Still an honourable fool." Shi Ei rushed towards Sei Chou, thrusting his spear forward. Sei Chou, at the same time, swung thrusted his own sword, aiming to pierce open the left side of Shi Ei's throat.
"You are simply a fool." Shi Ei said.
"As are you too." Sei Chou replied.
The two of them jostled for an advantage, the rain pouring down on their heads, the mud turning their once solid foundation into liquid.
"My men will arrive soon… to come and find me." Sei Chou said as they continued to jostle.
"It's good to have loyal and brave soldiers. I bet the entire Zhao army will come running to save you." Shi Ei replied with his hand tightly gripping the hand that held Sei Chou's sword. He knew he could not let go whilst Sei Chou still held his spear.
"I'm not sure about how true that statement is."
"Not sure, what kind of General are you?"
Taking a risk, Shi Ei decided on his next course of action; he jumped, throwing both him and Sei Chou down a muddy hill. Wanting to use the impact to wrestle control and bring an end to the fight they were having.
"Shi Ei, I have no worries about what my soldiers are doing!" Sei Chou smiled widely, showing that he had full confidence in his army.
"Should the wrong sort join you, the price you pay will be costly!" Shi Ei replied, knowing that having the wrong sort of army around you can only lead you to ruin.
*THUD!*
The two crashed to the ground, both still locked in their jostling match, but this time Sei Chou was grinning above Shi Ei, his sword inching closer to Wei General's neck.
"Soldiers should be able to act in their own right, not needing to obey their Lords' every action. To let them do what is best for the whole in the moment, a Commander must treat his army like they're family." Sei Chou said.
Shi Ei's eyes widened, "Hah, Sei Chou, it must be a joy to serve under you!" He said before continuing, "Too bad…" Only to be interrupted, "Yes." Sei Chou quickly let go of his sword and punched down, his fist smashing into Shi Ei's face.
The Wei General also let go of his spear and grabbed before clenching both hands around Sei Chou's neck, who started to dig his hands in the face of Shi Ei.
"Too bad you can only serve me in another lifetime, Shi Ei!"
"You better visit my damn grave!" Shi Ei replied.
"HAHAHAHA" X2 The two of them, young stars for their states, shared a laugh under the rain.
Shi Ei released his grip on Sei Chou's neck before throwing a kick towards it. Once again, Sei Chou mirrored him, throwing a kick towards Shi Ei's face.
Both landed at the same time.
*HUFF* *HUFF*
Both men were exhausted, greedily taking in air and trying to catch their breath.
"Footseps people are coming…" Shi Ei grinned, blood dripping down from his nose.
"Two groups, one big and one small." Sei Chou replied.
"Correct…." Wei soldiers spotted Shi Ei's raised hand; they were soldiers under Earl Shi. The Earl had panicked for all he had said in not giving chase to Sei Chou, the man whittled when more news and confirmation were brought to the war camp.
"Heavens, it's Shi Ei!" One of them shouted.
"He's still alive!"
"Look, it's Sei Chou, the Zhao Commander is right there! Let's grab him and take his head!"
"We will be rewarded greatly if we take Sei Chou's head! Let's go kill him!"
More and more Wei soldiers started to appear, both infantrymen and cavalrymen. Shi Ei looked at the opponent he had just been in an exhausting fight with. He thought he would see a frown, or even some worry in the eyes of Sei Chou.
Instead, Sei Chou looked comfortable and confident, "Finally, the Wei army is now looking this way. All too bad for you, Shi Ei." Sei Chou smirked, raising his right hand, "What's so bad about an impending victory?" Shi Ei questioned.
Sei Chou pointed to his head, a wide grin on his face. "Too bad the Wei Fire Dragons do not understand how to use their soldiers as I do." Emerging behind Sei Chou was Jo Rin, with an annoyed look on his face.
"Like damn, you do! Just look at the mess you've caused!" Jo Rin was quick to reprimand his reckless young master. The Raiun had gotten a fright when they heard that their young master was fighting Wei's General Shi Ei and the Wei army with only Fu Jin as his help.
The entire Rai'un unit rushed towards where he was, and now Jo Rin found Sei Chou thoroughly amused as if he had not just nearly scared them to death.
"Only a small group came. I don't see how you're using them well." Shi Ei responded, getting up and stretching his muscles.
"Jo Rin, tell me what the rest of the Zhao army is doing?" Sei Chou's smirk became a smile as Jo Rin's horse moved forward.
"You hungry, boy?" Realisation dawned on Shi Ei as his usually narrowed eyes went wide in shock because it was Earl Shi's army that was in charge of the rations for the entire army.
EARL SHI POV
The Earl could not believe his eyes, for the world was playing a cruel trick on him. He had sent out his entire army when there was an increasing number of confirmations that Sei Chou was truly in the local village.
Only he stayed back with a few small groups to make sure everything worked as usual, but now seeing this, he felt himself a fool. Zhao soldiers were rushing towards him, from what he could see… "The entire Zhao army…" The sound of the rain pelting down was only drowned by the thundering hooves of Zhao's cavalrymen.
'They're all coming here instead of reducing their Commander.' He was sure the Zhao army would move to save the Zhao General Sei Chou, but what his eyes were seeing was different.
As the army got closer, he could see that they had travelled light, "They travelled light for the speed, have his men gone insane!" He shouted the frustration and worry that was welling up inside him, and needed to be released.
'Not insane, they have decided to bet it all.' He told himself, a grimace on his face.
EARL SHI POV END
3rd PERSON POV
The main camp of Earl Shi, and the camp that held all of the Wei rations, was completely raided and taken in the rainy afternoon. The Wei army was robbed of all their food, money and armour. Losing everything and being forced to retreat further.