Chapter 99: Are You Afraid?
On the other side of the mist curtains, the Imperial Army grew restless.
The cold haze blocked their sight, and they were unable to hear any sound from within the distance except for the echoes of the mountains. So they couldn't see or hear the current state of the Huns' Army.
"Captain, what are your orders?" Mulan asked, peering at Li Shang through the snowstorm.
Li Shang clenched his teeth.
"Give me a bow and fire arrows."
Mulan nodded and passed the message to the troops nearby.
They brought the items to him.
Li Shang lit an arrowhead on fire. Then he fired it into the air.
He swiftly lit another arrowhead and released it into the air.
The arrows pierced through the cold mist. The fire shone like a beacon, illuminating the environment as they shot into the distance.
One of the arrows disappeared.
The other still shone.
Li Shang narrowed his gaze into the distance. Sensing something, he quickly took out his telescope, which had previously been rendered useless, and peered through it.
A beacon of light was heading toward them.
"WATCH OUT!!"
Li Shang froze. His expression stiffened.
A force shoved him aside, almost throwing him off his horse.
Swooshh!! Ptui!!
A burning arrow struck the snow beside them.
Li Shang caught the reins to steady himself and calm his startled horse.
Startled, the other horses stepped away from the flaming arrow.
Li Shang nodded at Mulan appreciatively, then shifted his focus to the arrow, slowly being extinguished by the snow.
He snapped his head forward.
Li Shang's expression tightened with fear as realisation dawned.
"Order the troops to withdraw! These are someone else!! We are not fighting the Huns!! I will inform the General immediately!!" Li Shang snapped his head toward Mulan and commanded.
Before Mulan could process what was going on, Li Shang grabbed his trumpet and signalled the soldiers to blow with him.
Trumpet blasts rang through the air. They continued for ten seconds before another signal sounded.
Mulan froze in her position.
She knew what that trumpet meant.
A retreat signal!!
It wasn't only her. The troops behind them were stunned, the same emotions reeling through them.
They had come prepared to lay down whatever sacrifices were needed to win this war. Li Shang and his troops had further given them hope that they could truly win this war.
But instead, he had blasted the signal for retreat before they even clashed with their opponents.
The troops' morale quickly diminished.
Chaos slowly became the order of the battlefield.
"Captain, what's going on?!" Mulan shouted amidst the confusion as all the soldier tried to turn their horses around and retreat from the battlefield.
"We don't have the time to speak here! We need to get out of the battlefield as quickly as possible!" Li Shang responded, tucking his trumpet away and turning his horse around as well.
"CAPTAIN LI SHANG!!" Mulan grabbed his garment and pulled him back.
"WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?! HAVE YOU... Have you sided with the Huns?!"
At that moment, that was the only question running through her mind.
Li Shang wanted to remove Mulan's hand, but seeing her heavy expression, he halted. He glanced at the marching metal men that seemed to be getting closer by the second, then at Mulan, and sighed in defeat.
"You should take a look at who is marching towards us. I will light up your sight." Li Shang replied, handing his telescope to Mulan.
After a brief hesitation, Mulan nodded. She received the telescope.
Li Shang lit another arrow. He nodded at her and shot it into the distance.
Mulan looked through the telescope, following the flaming arrow as it shot through the air, illuminating its surroundings through the obscuring mist.
Soon, the flaming arrow halted mid-air, as though caught by the wind.
It moved, illuminating the sheen of a metallic mask. The metal mask opened its mouth and bit down on the flaming arrow, snuffing out the fire.
"What is that?" Mulan's pupils shrank, her arms trembled.
"I don't know. But we are certain that they aren't humans! It isn't the Huns, but whatever they are, they are coming for us. We need to withdraw with the others as quickly as possible!" Li Shang replied, before his expression lit up in sudden realisation.
"Master Mushu... Yes, where is Master Mushu?! He might be able to figure out what's going on and what we should do."
"Mushu?" Mulan swiftly shook her head. "I don't think he will be able to offer any help."
"We need to find Aladdin."
"Teacher?" Li Shang asked in surprise.
"Yes. He is the only one who can help us now!" Mulan nodded solemnly.
"But... but how?"
"I... I don't know." Mulan stuttered, then lowered her head.
She couldn't afford to bring out Mushu because he would be useless in this situation.
Would it work? A sudden thought emerged within Mulan's mind.
Of course not!
She was already certain Aladdin couldn't read her mind and had only said that because he wanted her to feel better. She also didn't want to reveal Aladdin's magical nature.
Mulan turned silent.
Li Shang gritted his teeth. If they didn't do something now, then they would probably have to clash with those strange metal men. Just as he was about to give another order to retreat, a heavy wind brushed against him.
Li Shang and Mulan quickly covered their eyes as a sharp wind blew from within the mountains and swept away the cold mist as it passed.
The heavy cold mist that enveloped the surroundings slowly dispersed.
Aladdin appeared within the mist, waving at them before a curtain of mist swept by, leaving an empty space.
Li Shang and Mulan caught sight of this and were dumbfounded for a moment.
They snapped their gazes at each other.
"Was that?!"
"Was that?!"
Upon noticing the look on the other's face, they realised they had both seen the same thing.
"Aladdin."
"Teacher."
Snowflakes fell from the skies.
The sun shone brightly on them.
The mist was cleared.
A vast army of metal men sprawled across the snowy landscape before them.
They moved as naturally as men, yet their skin was forged of fine, glossy metal. Its surface was so intricate that it seemed as though the semblance between metal and man was only a layer of flesh apart.
Each footstep sent a shiver and tremble down Mulan's and Li Shang's spines.
Yet unlike before, they were no longer in a hurry to run away.
They glanced behind them.
The soldiers were already hurriedly retreating, leaving a gap between them. Only their troops had remained, maintaining a certain distance from them.
They were the only ones standing on the front lines.
The soldiers who glanced back to know what they were running away from suddenly slowed down. They were also astounded by the sight before them, their terror overwhelmed by shock.
At this moment, only the sound of the marching metal men reverberated across the snowy mountains.
Li Shang and Mulan nodded at each other after a brief hesitation.
Li Shang held his trumpet and blew into it once more.
The trumpet blast awakened the stunned soldiers, as they all took note of the signal.
Advance!!
Li Shang threw the trumpet into the snow and unsheathed his blade.
"There's no doubting it. That was definitely the Teacher," he said.
"Yes, I also have no doubt that it was him. He has been here all along," Mulan responded, drawing her blade as well.
"Aren't you afraid?" She glanced at Li Shang.
"I have already seen a dragon. Although unexpected, these metal men aren't as menacing... unless you count their numbers," Li Shang shook his head. "I don't understand how or why, but somehow, as long as the Teacher is watching, I no longer feel afraid."
"Me too," Mulan nodded, facing forward with a light smile.
"How about you guys? Are you afraid?" Li Shang turned to look at the rest of his troops behind him.
They hesitated to respond.
Li Shang refocused his gaze forward.
"This was not what we planned to fight, so your fear is understandable. As your Captain, I hereby grant you the right to retreat from the battlefield without facing punishment. You will not be excluded from the victory nor from the rewards."
"Those who are willing to die for China, no matter what enemy they face, man or metal men.... CHARGE FORWARD!!"
Li Shang pulled on his reins, urging his horse to charge forward.
Though afraid of the army ahead, after receiving the command from its master, the horse dashed forward.
Mulan did the same, charging forward beside him.
The soldiers gritted their teeth. They closed their eyes, whipped their reins, and urged their horses to charge forward.
"HHHAAAAA!!!!!!"
They unsheathed their blades and screamed.
"What are they doing? Why aren't they retreating?!"
"They are crazy! Can't they see what's ahead? Those aren't men!!"
"We can't defeat those things... We need to retreat!!"
"Yes!! China has a new enemy, and they aren't human!!"
"We need to warn the General!!… The emperor!"
The soldiers spoke among themselves as they withdrew their gazes and rode away from the battlefield.
But they suddenly halted when they noticed a portion of the army ahead was charging towards them.
The soldiers cleared a path as another troop charged forward. Leading them were General Li and Captain Fan.
General Li was shocked when Li Shang released the signal for retreat. While he knew that the Huns were overwhelmingly powerful, it would be a pyrrhic victory if they chose to fight them head-on.
Upon hearing the second trumpet blast and the others that followed soon after, he realised that something was wrong.
Even the weather seemed off, which made it clear that something was seriously wrong. So he led a charge forward against the retreating soldiers.
He didn't spare a glance at the retreating soldiers.
Arriving at the front lines, General Li and Captain Fan sucked in a cold breath.
The sight left them aghast. Even their horses refused to advance, continuously attempting to turn back.
"General?!" Captain Fan called out. He couldn't believe what he was witnessing. He wiped his eyes numerous times, but the scene remained the same.
An army of metal men sprawled across the mountainous, snowy landscape, marching towards them.
Decades of experience enabled General Li to quickly recover his composure. But even then, it still took him some time to recover himself.
General Li turned to look at his men. They were also afraid. If he weren't the one leading them, they would have already retreated.
"ARE YOU AFRAID?!" General Li shouted.
The soldiers snapped out of their horrified minds, but they failed to utter a response.
General Li took in a cold breath and screamed once more, "ARE YOU AFRAID?!!"
"...No!"
"...No!"
They uttered the words with effort.
General Li signalled Captain Fan and a few others.
Captain Fan took his trumpet and blew.
Eight trumpet blasts reverberated across the air with a thunderous beat.
A signal for advance!
General Li drew his sword.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!!"
He whipped his reins, urging his horse forward.
"Might as well pass on the position to someone else," Captain Fan joked to himself as he drew his blade.
He didn't know if the Huns were still hiding or if the metal men in the distance were the ones they were supposed to face. But since they were heading at them, they had no other choice but to fight.
Captain Fan dashed forward, tailing General Li.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!!"
"FOR THE EMPEROR!!"
One by one, the other soldiers steeled their resolve and followed suit.
Their resolve seemed to have affected other soldiers nearby, who all halted to observe the scene.
"Isn't that the General? Why are they charging towards those things?!"
"They will die!!"
"I did not sign up for this! I want to go home. I haven't yet married and had children!!"
"This is madness!! What are we supposed to do?"
Suddenly, another batch of soldiers turned their horses around and charged forward with the same resolve.
***
Author's Note: Got caught up with creatin a new song! Felt a little guilty about the cliff hanger, but I haven't yet written another chapter. I will upload another one tomorrow.