102. Mount Huabuzhu

In the blink of an eye, Guan Yu slew Tian Da and Tian Shan, Zhang Fei frightened Tian Er to death, and the morale of the Church’s soldiers soared, sending the Yellow Turban rebels into a state of terror.

“Brothers of the Church! If not now, when shall we strike the rebels?” Luan Yi raised his lotus-shaped war hammer high, issuing a loud command. Instantly, the drums thundered and the cries of battle erupted. “For the glory of the Holy Mother...”

All the Church’s forces shouted in unison, “Kill! Kill! Kill!” The cavalry surged forward, ranks aligned, and the air brimmed with deadly resolve.

On the other side, Zhu Ying, having lost three capable generals, felt a chill run through his heart. Looking towards the formidable approaching forces of the Church, dread grew within him.

Though the Church’s cavalry was few in number, their equipment was extraordinarily fine—surpassing even the elite garrison troops of the capital, Luoyang. Particularly the vanguard units, armed to the teeth, their armor gleaming brilliantly under the sun like burnished gold, weapons sharp and radiating menace.

Zhu Ying could not name these soldiers but noticed a peculiar banner—an altered blood-red cross of the Holy Mother Church, with a symbol of the sun embroidered in the upper right corner, signifying the sunrise in the east spreading the Holy Mother’s radiance upon her followers. This was the banner of the Sacred Knights, also called the Holy Light Cross.

Flanking the banner were the Divine Might Camp, led by Guan Yu, and the Divine Rock Camp, led by Zhang Fei, totaling two thousand Holy Field Guards—professional soldiers of the Holy Mother Church. Both camps primarily consisted of sword-and-shield infantry and spearmen. The front line shield bearers wielded sturdy five-foot-tall shields bearing the carved image of the goddess Nuwa, her eyes seemingly alive with fierce wrath, striking fear into the hearts of the Yellow Turban rebels and Zhu Ying’s men alike. Behind them, the spearmen formed a dense forest of long pikes, evoking the terrifying spectacle of a thousand spearheads striking simultaneously—an overwhelming disaster for the Yellow Turbans.

Behind the Divine Might and Divine Rock Camps stood the Divine Wind Camp, led by Huang Zhong. The archers and crossbowmen wielded fine mulberry wood bows, each carrying quivers filled to the brim with arrows. Behind their backs hung large blades, ready to be drawn for close combat when necessary.

The main force of the Church’s army was positioned behind the Divine Wind Camp, with the flanks guarded by the Protectors of the Faith under Xu Chu and Taishi Ci. The center was personally commanded by Luan Yi, assisted by Xu Shu, with Guan Yu as the army’s general and Dian Wei in charge of protecting the Church’s leader and ensuring Luan Yi’s safety.

Zhao Yun, having secured victory in the initial battle, and his Holy Knights occupied the rear of the formation, ready to use their cavalry’s mobility to support wherever needed, or to execute sudden flanking maneuvers and encircle the enemy.

The Church’s forces advanced in full strength, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

Seeing this, Zhu Ying’s heart sank. Knowing his generals had been defeated and morale plummeted, he feared victory against the Church was impossible. He ordered the flag officer, “Sound the retreat!” The rear ranks moved to the front to form a defensive line and began a strategic withdrawal.

Yet he overlooked a crucial point: these soldiers were not the trained officials he had commanded as Governor of Jinan. Though Jinan’s troops were not highly skilled, they were at least trained, understanding that retreat could be strategic and that following orders often meant survival. But these Yellow Turban rebels were mere conscripted peasants and laborers, ignorant of military discipline or tactics.

When the retreat signal sounded, the rear ranks assumed it meant they had been defeated outright. Someone shouted, “Disaster! Commander Qu has fallen!” This cry shattered the fragile morale of the Yellow Turban rebels, who immediately broke ranks and fled, abandoning hoes and clubs scattered across the ground.

The panic spread like a tidal wave forward. More than twenty thousand Yellow Turbans behind the center, seeing their comrades flee, also broke into a desperate rout.

Zhu Ying was aghast, nearly fainting with rage. He rushed to send messengers to halt the retreat and regroup the troops, but the army’s spirit was shattered. Even the Yellow Turban strongmen had lost all will to fight. The rout was complete, and only some six thousand strongmen managed to provide a rear guard as the rest fled northward.

The Church’s forces pursued relentlessly, with their famed generals—four of the legendary Five Tiger Generals—Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong—all leading the charge, along with Xu Chu, Luan Yi, Dian Wei, and Taishi Ci, each a formidable warrior. Where they passed, blood rained and corpses lay in heaps. In moments, over six thousand rebel heads were severed.

Yet the rebels’ advantage lay in their light arms. Having lost their weapons and encumbrances, their flight was swift.

The Church’s soldiers, heavily armored—each carrying nearly forty pounds of armor and weapons—were encumbered and slower in pursuit.

Reluctantly, Luan Yi handed command of the main army to Xu Shu, with Dian Wei assisting, and personally led Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Xu Chu, and Taishi Ci, along with the Holy Knights, to continue the chase.

Wherever the iron cavalry passed, blood flowed in torrents, with thousands beheaded and countless prisoners taken.

The pursuit stretched over thirty miles until, in the distance, a mountain rose amidst a cluster of lakes.

Luan Yi recognized it instantly—Flower Bud Mountain, so named for its resemblance to an inverted lotus blossom. Later scholars, finding the name inelegant, renamed it Hua Bu Zhu Mountain, a homophone. Locals simply called it Hua Mountain. At its foot lay a broad lake, Lotus Seed Lake, with clear waters reflecting the mountain’s verdant slopes—a picturesque paradise.

Hua Mountain held a storied history. The famous Spring and Autumn period battle known as the Battle of An, between the states of Qi and Jin, took place nearby. In 589 BC, the armies of Lu, Wei, and Cao, with eight hundred chariots and sixty thousand infantry, fought Qi at Bei Ma’an Mountain. After fierce combat, the Qi forces were defeated and pursued around Hua Bu Zhu Mountain thrice. The Qi ruler narrowly escaped by switching charioteers. Thus, the mountain also earned the name Golden Chariot Mountain.

Hua Mountain’s natural beauty and seclusion made it a favored retreat for Daoist practitioners, who built temples and hermitages there, producing many sages. The great Tang poet Li Bai even journeyed from afar to the Purple Pole Palace atop Hua Bu Zhu, where he formally joined the Daoist order.

In the late Eastern Han, Hua Bu Zhu was dotted with temples. Unfortunately, during Zhu Ying’s reign, the sorcerer Yang Mou pillaged these temples, driving away or killing the virtuous Daoists. The once-honorable mountain became a den of depravity under Yang Mou’s cult, with dozens of innocent women imprisoned for vile purposes to extort wealth.

After driving out Zhu Ying, Luan Yi took control of the temples, freed the captive women, restored the sanctuaries, and converted them into churches. He personally inscribed a plaque naming the site the Blue Lotus Church and dispatched five servants to oversee worship in nearby villages.

Now, as the Church’s cavalry pursued the Yellow Turban rebels to the foot of Li Mountain, Luan Yi raised his whip, signaling the thousand horsemen to rein in their mounts and halt simultaneously.

Zhang Fei, puzzled by the sudden stop, approached and asked, “Fourth Brother, what’s wrong?”

Luan Yi frowned but said nothing, instead gazing upward toward the lakeside mountain.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei followed his gaze toward Hua Bu Zhu Mountain and saw billowing smoke—flames engulfed the church.

In a clearing near the church, five enormous wooden crosses stood, each bound with a headless corpse. From their garments and the cross insignia on their robes, it was clear these were the church’s servants.

“Those bastards dare!” Xu Chu roared in fury.

Zhang Fei, shouting curses, declared, “I swear on my life, I will not rest until I’ve slain that dog Zhu Ying!” He grasped his Serpent Spear, ready to charge down the official road in pursuit.

Luan Yi hurriedly stopped him, glancing between the dense forest beside the road and the mountain forest on the other side. He cautioned, “Third Brother, do not fall into Zhu Ying’s trap.”

“What trap?” Zhang Fei demanded.

Luan Yi snorted coldly, thinking to himself, “Zhu Ying, a warrior who fought numerous bandits in his youth, is cunning. He has set an ambush along this road and uses provocation to lure us in. But he vastly underestimates me, Luan Yi, the genius of our age. I will not be fooled by such petty tricks!”

“Look closely. Hua Bu Zhu Mountain is lush and should be teeming with birds and beasts. Yet now, the forest is eerily silent—no birds in flight, no animals stirring. Why is that?” Luan Yi said solemnly, “I suspect hidden forces both in the mountain and the roadside woods. Pursuing blindly will lead us into their ambush.”

“Let them come!” Zhang Fei bellowed, furious beyond reason. “Ambush or no, Old Zhang will spear them one by one from my horse!”

“Third Brother, do not be reckless!” Guan Yu spoke for only the second time that day—the first being after slaying Tian Da and Tian Shan, when he reported to Luan Yi, saying, “Yu is fortunate not to fail your command.” He added, “The enemy lurks in the dark while we are few. If ambushed, the consequences will be dire.”

Taishi Ci, unwilling to concede, said, “Are we just to stand by and watch that dog Zhu Ying escape?”