Poisonous smoke?
Shan Yu quickly shook the thought from his head. His men were warriors trained in battle and blood. They knew the wilderness like the back of their hands. Even if poisonous herbs had been mixed into the smoke, they should have resisted it for far longer.
Shan Yu turned to Mulan and narrowed his eyes at her.
"You? Is this your doing?" he asked.
Mulan didn't respond. Instead, she stared at the advancing smoke in a mixture of shock and surprise.
"So it's you," Shan Yu said with a look of understanding.
Without hesitation, he walked towards her.
Knowing she couldn't let him reach their position for Li Shang's sake, she whispered to him, "Be prepared to rush into the smoke. The rest of the survivors are with us. I'll handle Shan Yu."
Li Shang was momentarily speechless. His expression shifted to surprise.
"PING…!" Before he could recover and ask any questions, Mulan had already charged at Shan Yu.
"Good, come to me!" Shan Yu roared. He raised his blade to meet Mulan's attack head-on.
CLANG!!
Their blades collided.
"Aah!" Mulan's sword flew out of her hand. Her arms shook from the impact, pain flashing across her face.
Shan Yu felt his own sword vibrate in his hand. He hadn't expected to receive such feedback from the collision.
"This is it!" Shan Yu roared with laughter.
Mulan seized the opportunity to retrieve her sword.
Meanwhile, Shan Yu charged at Mulan, bringing his sword down towards her neck.
"Watch out!!"
Li Shang rushed forward and shoved Mulan out of the path of the attack.
The two of them rolled across the ground before coming to a stop.
Li Shang grunted in pain as he clutched his ribs.
"Follow me."
Realising she couldn't defeat Shan Yu, Mulan grabbed hold of Li Shang as she got back to her feet and pulled him towards the advancing smoke.
"Wait... Where are we going?" Li Shang asked, dread written across his face. He had witnessed members of the Hun army collapse the moment they came into contact with the smoke and knew he would suffer the same fate if he touched it.
"Here, eat this."
Mulan took out a seed from beneath her armour and shoved it down Li Shang's throat, then shut his mouth firmly.
Li Shang's eyes widened in surprise. Left with no other choice, he forcefully swallowed it.
"Haa… What was that?" he asked.
"It's so you don't faint like them," Mulan replied.
She looked back, locking eyes with Shan Yu in a fierce stare before turning forward again and leaping into the smoke with Li Shang.
Shan Yu halted just outside the advancing smoke. He could vaguely make out the two of them moving within it.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Shan Yu took out a piece of cloth from beneath his attire, tied it around his nose and mouth, and held his breath.
No matter what kind of smoke this was, as long as he didn't breathe it in, he believed he wouldn't be affected like the others.
Unfortunately...
He was wrong.
The smoke didn't need to travel through his lungs.
The moment Shan Yu stepped into the smoke, it seeped into his skin.
His lungs slowly burned. His breathing turned ragged. His vision began to blur.
Shan Yu's expression turned to confusion. He couldn't understand what was happening or why the smoke still affected him.
Shan Yu became dizzy. He staggered forward. Still, he didn't collapse immediately like the others.
Until...
Shan Yu collapsed to one knee. Unable to support the weight of his body any longer, he fell to the ground. Yet, he never loosened his grip on his sword.
No... This wasn't ordinary poison!
"I'll get you... All of yo..." he muttered before losing consciousness.
At the forefront, Mulan and Li Shang watched Shan Yu collapse to the ground. However, they didn't stop.
"Wait! We can kill him," Li Shang shouted.
"We don't have the time," Mulan said. "The effects won't last long, so we need to get out of here and catch up with the others as quickly as possible."
Aladdin had promised her to hold off her pursuers for a short period, and when she saw the signal, she should escape as soon as possible.
Although she didn't know how he could create something as incredible as this, having already seen a talking monkey, a magic flying carpet, and a man capable of controlling them while pulling objects out of thin air, it wasn't difficult to believe he could create something like this as well.
They passed numerous tents and the collapsed bodies of the Hun soldiers.
Li Shang looked at the bodies with a murderous glint in his eyes. He wanted to drive his sword through their throats, but remembering Mulan's words, he gritted his teeth and continued forward behind her.
Suddenly, Li Shang felt his vision grow hazy. His body slowly became heavy. His expression shifted into one of realisation as the smoke gradually began taking effect.
Unable to endure it any longer alongside the injuries he had already sustained, he staggered forward and lost consciousness.
Mulan caught him before he hit the ground.
"Captain," Mulan called out in confusion, trying to wake Li Shang. However, no matter how hard she tried, he didn't wake up.
"He's fallen asleep."
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind her.
Mulan drew her sword and attacked in one smooth motion.
Ding!
Aladdin caught the blade between his fingers.
"Calm down, it's me," he said.
Mulan trembled and quickly lowered her sword.
"Sorry... I thought you were an enemy." She bowed towards Aladdin with her eyes closed as she apologised.
"You don't need to apologise. I startled you on a battlefield, and you reacted correctly," Aladdin said. "I've already evacuated all the remaining survivors and came back to get both of you."
"Did you find Mushu?" Mulan asked, grabbing Aladdin's hand.
Aladdin hesitated before shaking his head.
"I didn't. I searched everywhere and couldn't find him. Perhaps he returned home to report what transpired here to your family."
At this point, even Aladdin felt that the dragon must have turned to stone because he knew there was nothing that could make Mushu return home without Mulan. Unless, of course, something had happened that forced him to make such a decision, which was why he had suggested that possibility.
Mulan felt the strength leave her body.
"Let's go. We need to leave as quickly as we can," Aladdin said.
Carpet had arrived beside them at some point without her noticing.
Mulan nodded, wiping her dirt-stained cheeks.
Together, she and Aladdin lifted Li Shang onto Carpet before climbing aboard themselves.
Aladdin took out a gourd from within his attire and opened it.
Suddenly, the smoke in the vicinity was sucked into the gourd by an unseen force.
Mulan watched in fascination as it unfolded before her, seeing Aladdin bring out yet another strange mystical item.
Within minutes, all of the smoke had vanished into the gourd.
Aladdin quickly sealed the gourd and placed it within his attire.
He glanced at the unconscious Shan Yu in the distance. If he hadn't been worried about Mulan, he could have slain Shan Yu right there without giving a second thought. Unfortunately, he wasn't this wasn't his battle.
Nonetheless, he had poisoned their horses, and even if they awoke, their forces would be severely weakened.
Aladdin realised that Shan Yu, just like him, had become a canvas upon which fate was painting a new story. However, he still couldn't figure out what had caused him to go on such a rampage.
The thought lingered at the back of Aladdin's mind.
Carpet shot upward, soaring into the sky.
The breeze gently brushed against them as they soared into the clouds.
"What was that?" Mulan asked curiously.
"That was what I used to create the smoke. I can summon it again whenever I need it," Aladdin replied, glancing at Mulan.
"You really have a lot of strange magical items."
"I do."
The smoke hadn't truly come from the gourd. With his control over the elements, Aladdin created the smoke and enchanted it with a toxic sleeping spell.
The gourd was something Aladdin had recently created through alchemy. It was enchanted with a sealing spell similar to the ones he used on his rings to store spells, specifically to deal with situations like this.
With these items, he was able to create the image of a mysterious traveller who relied on a variety of dependable magical items.
"Are magical items like these common in your homeland?" Mulan asked curiously.
"Yes. But you'd have to risk your life just to obtain something like this."
"Did you?"
"Yeah. But in the end, I got the result I wanted, so it was worth every effort," Aladdin replied.
He hadn't risked his life to obtain the gourd itself, but he had risked his life to obtain the lamp and make the wish that had enabled him to create it. So, in a way, he truly had risked his life.
Mulan nodded.
"Where you come from sounds more dangerous than China... but also more exciting. I wish I could visit someday. Perhaps I could find a magical item that would help me discover the person I want to become," she said. Her gaze was tinged with melancholy.
"Here's your sword. Thanks for letting me borrow it."
Mulan took out the sheathed sword and handed it to Aladdin.
"You can keep it. Consider it a gift," Aladdin said.
It was one of the magical swords he had forged before coming here. Although its full capabilities could only be unlocked by Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, or Carpet as a safety measure, it still possessed a unique ability that allowed it to surpass ordinary weapons and become truly devastating in the hands of a skilled swordsman.
"It might seem like an ordinary blade, but it's just as unique as the rest of my items," he added.
"You cannot tell the sharpness of a blade unless you've tested it on something. Neither can you judge the skill of a person unless you've crossed blades with them. People are much the same. Whoever you meet sharpens or dulls your blade. Whoever you decide to become is left to you."
Mulan's eyes widened in surprise. Then she sighed, "Thank you." She bowed her head slightly at him.
She gazed at Aladdin with a new, profound light in her eyes.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead," Aladdin replied, glad that his words had resonated with Mulan.
"…I think I've seen another traveller like you... There were two people on a rooftop overlooking the market square during the festival. I wasn't certain and thought I was hallucinating, but after all that has happened, I don't think you're the only one here from your Empire. So, you've got to be careful," Mulan said, scratching the side of her head as she warned Aladdin.
Aladdin sneezed.
"Sorry... It's the cold! Thanks for telling me. I'll be careful so we don't cross paths with them," he quickly recovered and replied.
"Glad to help," Mulan nodded with a smile.
She felt slightly better knowing she had managed to help Aladdin after everything he had done for her.
She shifted her attention to Li Shang and checked his injuries.
Aladdin was relieved that Mulan hadn't recognised him. Otherwise, he risked exposing his identity. Until all of this was over, the less she knew about him, the better.
Carpet arrived at a steep mountain and soared into a cave.
He came to a halt at the entrance.
Aladdin and Mulan climbed down from Carpet.
"How did you get every one of them here so quickly?" Mulan asked, her expression and tone tinged with surprise.
Inside the cave, numerous soldiers lay unconscious on long sheets of cloth spread across the ground.
Torches mounted along the cave walls illuminated the interior. The cave smelled of damp stone and burning pitch.
Mulan saw hundreds of soldiers resting in the same position.