Chapter 66- Shang Court Sent Hong Jin as Grand Marshal But Longji Capture...

So let's start with the toughest part. The fate of Prince Yin Zhao. It's tragic, but the narrative frames it as, well, necessary. He'd sworn to help Shi Qi, then broke that oath, now he's cornered, basically. Trapped by the immortals and Zhang Ziya's forces. And the scene itself, wow, Wu Wang, the guy who's supposed to be the righteous future king, he completely breaks down, rides down, gets off his horse, actually kneels on the ground, weeping, he's begging Ziya, begging the immortals, saying, my actions are causing this, this execution will be an everlasting stain on me. Yeah, real moral anguish. It really is, you see that clash perfectly, leadership versus compassion. Wu Wang feels the human cost, deeply, but like you said, it's bigger than him. Ziya and Randing Daoist, they can't back down, they reject his pleas, multiple times. They say they have to obey heaven and accommodate the people. It's all about Tian Shu, destiny. Right, that unavoidable decree. Exactly, it doesn't matter how much the king cries, or how understandable his feelings are, the whole investiture project demands this. Yin Jiao broke his oath, he has to face the consequence. Destiny, in this story, just isn't something you can negotiate with. And the execution method itself is pretty stark, Wu Ji uses a plow, brutal. But then, here's the twist, right? Instead of his soul just heading off quietly to the investiture platform, it's filled with this unyielding resentment. Oh yeah, it's not a quiet departure at all. His spirit is furious, and it doesn't go where it's supposed to. It actively rushes towards Xiao Ji, towards the enemy capital. So it's like an active force, not just a passive soul? Absolutely, it's like a malevolent entity disrupting the actual physical world. That resentment kicks off total chaos, the description of the wind it causes is intense. Dark skies, trees falling, rivers churning, it's like a curse made manifest. His fury hits the world. Wow. And it's so strong that even the spirit guide, King Fu Shen, has trouble. He needs the Hundred Spirits Banner just to try and steer the soul, but Yin Zhao resists. That active refusal, that resentment, that's what powers the very next scene in Xiao Ji. And the target is his father, King Zhou. This furious spirit basically causes the king to just pass out while he's partying in Lutai, drinking wine with Daji and the consorts. Peak decadence, right when disaster is literally blowing towards the palace. This is the ultimate warning, isn't it? Yin Zhao appears, but he's changed. Three heads, six arms, terrifying. A symbol of power, and maybe punishment? And he gives his father concrete advice. Govern well, appoint good ministers, and, crucially, hire a great general now, he flat out warns him. Xia is coming east, you'll regret waiting. This is it, the absolute peak of Xiao Ji's political rot. And Zhou's reaction is fascinating. He wakes up genuinely disturbed, he shouts, Ah, Daji, of course she steps right in. Master manipulator. She takes this incredibly clear, divine warning about military and political survival, and just dismisses it. Says it's basically just stress, a dream born from the heart. Appeals to his weakness, tells him he's just worrying too much. So instead of acting, she just relaxes, basically. It's amazing how she twists it. And it works because, deep down, maybe he wants an excuse. He had this clear path shown to him by his dead son's spirit. A way to maybe save his kingdom. But, nope. He lets Daji distract him. The text is brutal, does not take it to heart. Calls him a drunken, lustful monarch. It's explicit. His personal failings are literally dooming his dynasty at this point. He completely fails the test. And the price for that political failure. Immediate military crisis. Because Zhou ignored the warning, Zhou Ji's now scrambling there, suddenly forced into a high-stakes situation. They realize, maybe too late, that the generals they have in the capital are going to cut it. Yeah, the reality check comes hard and fast. An urgent report arrives from Cixi Pass. Han Rong lays it out. Huge losses. Yin Zhao confirmed dead near Qishan. And Counselor Li Deng finally steps up with a plan. Or, well, the only option left. Li Deng's moment is key. He actually says it out loud. Zhengzi is the real problem. And he admits that nobody currently in Zhao can actually go head-to-head with Xia strategically. That forces them to look outwards. So they need a new champion. Li Deng points to Hong Jin, the commander at Sanshan Pass. Says he has both talent and skill. Sounds promising. The king immediately sends out a royal decree. Zhao is clearly desperate. And there's that little administrative detail that feels minor but is actually huge. Before Hong Jin leaves, he has to hand over command of Sanshan Pass to someone new. Kong Xuan. For those who know the story, that name is significant. So, King Zhou's failure doesn't just bring Hong Jin into the fight. It starts moving other massive players onto the board. Major foreshadowing. So Hong Jin gets the call. And he doesn't mess around. He mobilizes a serious force. 100,000 troops. The description is epic. Banners. Killing aura. Soldiers like Pixiu. Horses like dragons. This isn't just another army. This feels different. It is. And Hong Jin himself seems different. He's presented as skilled. Serious. First thing he does. Warns his own generals, Ji Kang and Bai Shanzhong. Tells them Zie is resourceful and highly intelligent. They need to be careful. He actually respects his opponent. That's a sign of a capable commander. Unlike some they've sent before. Okay, but that caution. It seems to go out the window pretty fast when it comes to how they fight. Ji Kang rides out. Challenges Ji Qi. Nan Gongxin takes him on. Standard fight. 30 rounds. And then Ji Kang just switches it up completely. Uses left path magic. This is a huge shift. A paradigm shift, really. Why is this left path magic such a big deal right now? We've seen immortal treasures and stuff before. Right, but that was usually high-level stuff from established Taoist immortals. Left path. So Tao Pengmen. Often implies something. Unorthodox. Maybe demonic. Maybe self-taught. Operating outside the main heavenly structures. And critically, it's often about disruption. Psychological shock. Look at the specifics. Ji Kang chants. A dog. What? That's bizarre. And it works. Nan Gongxin is terrified. Flees the field out of his wits. Hong Jin gets the first win. Purely through this weird magic dog attack. That's the kind of chaos we can unleash. It forces Ziya to completely rethink his strategy. How do you defend against random magic dogs biting your commanders? Okay, so round one to Zhaoge's magic. But then things swing back, right? The next fight. Bai Yinzong challenges. And this time, Deng Zhugong answers. He's known as a skilled general. And he demonstrates why. Deng Zhugong brings it back to pure martial skill and tactics. The fight sounds intense. Flashing spears. Tiger versus dragon kind of energy. And he wins with tactics, right? Not magic. Precisely. He uses a classic technique. Selling a flaw. Feigning weakness. He lures Bai Yinzong into overextending. Then strikes decisively. Clean kill. Puts Bai Yinzong's head on the wall. Okay, so it's 1-1 after the first two clashes with Hong Jin's forces. Magic 1-1, skill 1-the-other. Hong Jin rides out. He's trying to turn the tide for Shang. He is. And Jiang Ziya, who's leading the Zhu forces both militarily and, crucially, spiritually, comes out to meet him. The text makes a point of describing Ziya. How so? Well, he's in his Taoist robes, riding the Four Unlike, this mythical creature. And it specifically says his bearing has the quality of an emperor's master and minister. Ah, so right away it's signaling legitimacy. Zhu has heaven's backing, essentially. Pretty much. It frames the conflict before a single sword is swung. Then comes the verbal sparring. The politics. Hong Jin accuses them of rebellion. Standard stuff. Right. And Ziya fires back, basically saying, look around, the mandate of heaven has shifted. He says 800 lords are with them, fighting a tyrant to save the people. He even offers Hong Jin a chance to switch sides. Which Hong Jin is obviously not going to take. Not a chance. He rejects it loudly. Diplomacy's over. Time to fight. And this is where the first Zhu hero steps up. Prince Ji Xiuming. King Wen's son, right? Number 72, I think. That's him. And the text points out he's hot-tempered. Impulsive. And that doesn't usually end well in these stories. It doesn't here. They fight maybe 30, 40 rounds. A pretty standard duel. But then Hong Jin pulls out his magic. The flag gate. Yeah. He plants a black flag, does something with his knife, and boom, it becomes a gate right there on the battlefield. Wow. And Prince Xiuming, being hot-tempered, chases him right into it. Big mistake. Why? What happens inside? It's an illusionary trap. Hong Jin can see perfectly fine inside this magical space. But Xiuming is completely blinded, disoriented. Oh, man. Yeah. He basically runs right onto Hong Jin's knife, killed in one stroke. So the lesson is, don't charge into weird magic gates. Well, yes, but more deeply. It's about understanding the system you're fighting. Xiuming's ignorance, his impulsiveness, led him straight into a fatal information disadvantage. The gate weaponized his lack of knowledge. Exactly. It's not just hiding. It's disorientation. Deadly, if you don't see it coming. Okay, so Prince Xiuming is dead. That must have hit Zhu Morale hard. Definitely. A major blow. But Hong Jin, probably feeling pretty good about himself, rides out again the next day, challenging them. He likely expects another easy kill. But they send someone different this time. They do. Deng Chanyu. She's described as young, beautiful, wears gold armor. But she's known for her weapon, the five light stones. And crucially, she has some experience with sorcery. Ah, okay, so she might be wary. What does Hong Jin do? He goes straight for the same trick. Plants the black flag, creates the gate. The text says he thinks quick victory is key. He wants her to follow him in, just like the prince. But she doesn't. She absolutely does not. This is where her intelligence shines. She recognizes the danger, maybe from past encounters, and refuses to enter the gate. Smart move. So what does she do? Just wait. Nope. She counters. She takes one of her five light stones and just chucks it right into the illusionary gate where Hong Jin disappeared. I like that. Not trying to figure out the magic, just hitting the magician. Exactly. And it works. You hear Hong Jin yell, I-yo! from inside the gate. He got hit. Square in the face. The text mentions a swollen eye, bruised nose. He's forced to scramble, grab his flag, and retreat back to camp. Needs medicine overnight. Okay, so that's a win, sort of. A stalemate, maybe. She drove him off. It's a tactical victory, for sure. It shows that you don't always need to understand the whole system to counter it. Sometimes, refusing to engage on its terms and finding a direct countermeasure is enough. Right. Her awareness, her faster knowledge about sorcery, let her sidestep the trap. But it didn't defeat the magic itself. Precisely. Which leads us to the next day. Hong Jin's back again, presumably healed and angry. And specifically calling out Deng Chanyu. This worries Jiang Ziya and others, like Tu Xingsun. They realize they haven't solved the core problem. They need a way to actually beat the flag gate magic. And this is where the bigger guns come in. Divine intervention. You got it. Longzhu Princess overhears the concern, and she steps up. Another female warrior stepping into the breach. Yes, but she comes with a different level of understanding. She immediately identifies the magic by name. Flag Gate Escape. And crucially, she explains the mechanics. What does she say? She confirms the black flag is the inner gate. But then she reveals the key. There's a white flag, a specific countermeasure, that acts as an external gate. Ah, so there's a built-in counter. Like a master key. Sort of. It operates on a fundamental principle. Ziya is overjoyed, gives her this amazing horse, the five-spotted Peach Blossom Colt. So the duel begins again. Hong Jin probably doesn't take her seriously at first. He mocks her, calls her a worthless woman. They fight briefly, maybe three or four passes with swords. And then, predictably... He pulls out the black flag. Yep. Tries the same trick for the third time. But Longzhu Princess is ready. She has the white flag. She does. She immediately plants her own white flag, which also creates a gate. She rides into her white gate. Okay, why does white beat black here? Is it just opposites? It's based on a core Taoist principle. Mutual generation and conquest. I think five elements, that kind of thing. The white flag gate is designed, according to these rules, to specifically negate the black flag's magic. So it's like knowing the underlying code of the magic system. Exactly. Because she understands the principle, she's not disoriented inside. In fact, the countermagic allows her to appear instantly behind Hong Jin within that space. Whoa. Total surprise attack. Complete tactical reversal. She wounds him with her Phoenix Flying Sword, hits him right on the shoulder armor, his main weapon, his signature magic, is completely neutralized. He must have been shocked. His ace in the hole is useless. Utterly useless. Yeah. He realizes he's totally outmatched on a magical level. So what does he do? He runs. He runs, abandons the illusions, just tries to get away, flees north. And Longzhu Princess gives chase. She does. And as she's pursuing him, she actually reveals her identity. Daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, Yao Chi Chin Mu, sent from the Celestial Realm specifically to help King Wu. So confirming her divine status, this isn't just a skilled warrior. She's literally heaven sent. Right. And her skills cover more than just the Flag Gate. Hong Jin, injured, tries to use Earth Escape, basically, burrowing into the ground to get away. A classic escape technique. But Longzhu Princess knows the elemental counters. She immediately uses Wood Escape. Why? Wood conquers Earth. Bingo. She literally says, Wood conquers Earth. His escape route is blocked by fundamental cosmic law. That's just no escaping someone who knows all the rules. Pretty much. She chases him all the way to the coast, the North Sea. He makes one last desperate move. Well, no. He throws some kind of treasure into the ocean. It transforms into a giant whale dragon. A whale dragon? Seriously? Yep. Causes these enormous waves, thunderous noise, chaos everywhere. He dives into the water, hoping the sheer scale of it will let him escape. That sounds pretty dramatic. Yeah. And hard to follow. It would be, for a normal person. But Longzhu Princess isn't fazed. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out another treasure. What is it this time? The Nigh God. It manifests as this enormous sea deity, like a mountain rising from the water, and its specific power to subdue whale dragons. Wow. There's a counter for everything. In her toolkit, apparently, yes. The Nigh God basically pins down the whale dragon. Hong Jin's ride is gone. He's stuck in the ocean. So, end of the line for him. Longzhu Princess has one more item. The Dragon Binding Cord. She throws it, snares him. Like a divine lasso. Pretty much. Then she orders her appendants, these beings called the Yellow Turban Strongmen, to just grab him out of the air. And fly him back? Fly him back. And the text specifies they just throw him down on the steps of Zhang Ziya's headquarters. Thrown? Not even marched in as a prisoner? That's harsh. It's ultimate humiliation. A powerful sorcerer reduced to being tossed aside like baggage shows the totality of his defeat.