THE HUNTER OF DARKNESS

The Authority of Wang Yihan

"Why are you all standing still!? Attack them!" Cai Rui shouted furiously.

Not a single soldier dared to move forward. They couldn't possibly bring themselves to fight Wang Yihan, a man they deeply admired.

Back when Wang Yihan still served as the Grand General, he always showed great care for his troops. Never once did he scold them in public. If a soldier made a mistake, he would call him into his chamber and speak with him privately.

"Look at them, Cai Rui! A leader earns respect through how he treats his people, not through the title he holds. Do you honestly think they’ll obey you?"

"You bastard, Wang Yihan! What have you fed into their minds?!"

"You’re a strange man, Cai Rui… How could you even ask me something like that? You should be asking yourself why they refuse to follow your orders."

Wang Yihan raised his hand, signaling the soldiers behind him to hold their ground. He was still trying to convince the troops of the Ying Dynasty to surrender peacefully—without unnecessary bloodshed.

"Soldiers of the Ying Dynasty! For decades, our kingdom stood in alliance with the Shang Dynasty. But ever since Zhu Feng took the throne after his father, there has been nothing but chaos. Uprisings have broken out in provinces and prefectures. And now, that barbaric man wants to invade a kingdom that has never once clashed with ours. Do you truly wish to support a ruler like him?" Wang Yihan roared.

"Silence, Wang Yihan!" Cai Rui barked, his position now dangerously fragile as his own troops refused to obey his commands.

"If you want me to lead you once more, surrender now—and this war will not have to happen! Let us rebuild the Ying Dynasty into a better realm!" Wang Yihan ignored Cai Rui’s outburst and kept addressing the tens of thousands of soldiers behind him.

"You wretch, Wang Yihan!" Cai Rui roared, drawing his sword and charging at Wang Yihan in a fit of rage.

But to his shock, dozens of Ying Dynasty soldiers sprinted forward and blocked his path.

"You’ll have to go through us first if you want to touch Master Wang!" one of them shouted, pointing his sword directly at him.

Dozens turned into hundreds, and soon, thousands of soldiers stood in Cai Rui’s way.

Cai Rui’s face turned pale. His throat visibly moved up and down as he swallowed hard. Fear crept into his heart as he realized the terrifying truth—soldiers who were once under his command were now turning against him.

His eyes darted wildly, searching for any opening to escape. But there was none. He was completely surrounded by thousands of soldiers glaring at him with fury in their eyes.

"Kill him!" one soldier shouted impatiently.

Wang Yihan tried to stop them, but his voice was drowned out. The soldiers had lost control, blindly swinging their blades at Cai Rui—who didn’t even put up a fight.

Cai Rui’s screams slowly faded. His body was covered in gaping wounds, and the blood pouring from him soaked him completely.

Elsewhere, the battle still raged on. Fang An and Zhao Wen moved like reapers of death, mercilessly taking lives from both sides.

Thousands of bodies from both armies lay strewn across the ground in chaos, piled atop one another, soaked in the stench of blood.

The orchestra of death echoed relentlessly—each scream of agony accompanied by war cries filled with hatred.

But then, the booming voice of Wang Yihan cut through the carnage.

"Stop the fighting! Cease fire... now!"

Fang An and Zhao Wen turned toward the sound, as did every officer within earshot.

When they saw the tens of thousands of soldiers from both kingdoms standing united behind Wang Yihan, the fighting halted instantly. The screams disappeared. The clashing of steel went silent.

Expressions of regret spread across the faces of the soldiers who had just stopped fighting—especially those from the Ying Dynasty. If only they had known Wang Yihan stood with the opposing force, they never would have raised their weapons.

Fang An and Zhao Wen walked toward Wang Yihan, their faces filled with awe and confusion at how he had brought both armies together behind him. The two warriors realized that this man had just delivered a shocking, game-changing blow to everyone present.