The early May sun was scorching hot. On the official road outside the capital, the yellow dirt had been baked white. Thirty large carriages, connected end to end, rolled over the bumpy road surface, kicking up dust.
The Liaodong horses pulling the carriages panted heavily, their hooves striking the road with a dragging sound.
Xu Qinghuan's carriage traveled in the middle of the procession. Ice basins were placed in the four corners of the carriage, and the cool air isolated the heat outside. She leaned against a soft cushion, flipping through an account book.
The sound of horse hooves came from outside the carriage window. Li Sheng lowered his voice and spoke through the curtain, "Miss."
Xu Qinghuan didn't look up, her eyes still on the accounts. "Speak."
"The news of the Changting Relay Station and Shilipu has been spread. I took some men to take a spin at the back, and at least three groups of tails are following the convoy. Judging by their movements, they are skilled martial artists." Li Sheng's voice was tense.
Xu Qinghuan closed the account book and placed it on the small table. The ice in the ice basins had melted halfway, and water droplets dripped down the edge of the copper basins.
"They won't come."
"Why?"
"Because they are moving."
"Four hundred men carrying rolling logs, rocks, bows, and arrows, setting up camp on a cliff is physical labor. We are walking too fast, and they won't have time to set up. If we walk a little slower, we will give them enough time to work."
Li Sheng opened his mouth but couldn't squeeze out a word for a long time. He looked back at the convoy and then at the heat waves at the end of the official road. He could only swallow his doubts and ride to the front to pass the order.
In the carriage that was emptied out at the back, the crisp sound of metal clashing rang out from time to time. Jenny Huang was busy fiddling with her bamboo tube, and the smell of saltpeter and sulfur drifted out through the cracks of the carriage and was quickly blown away by the wind.
...
Yanshan Path.
This was the most treacherous pass before the Juyong Pass. The cliffs on both sides soared into the clouds, leaving only a narrow path less than two zhang wide in the middle. Looking up, one could only see a sliver of sky.
The sweltering heat of early May was entirely blown away by the cold draft after entering this gorge.
Wang Meng stood on a protruding rock halfway up the mountain, tightly gripping a bloodstained machete in his hand, panting heavily, his chest heaving.
"Hurry up! Hurry the fuck up!" Wang Meng lowered his voice and growled at the death warriors who were carrying stones up from below. "Set up the rolling logs! Tighten the tripping ropes! Archers, find cover!"
The four hundred death warriors had broken camp last night and marched through the night, crossing mountains and ridges without even taking a sip of water, and finally arrived at the Yanshan Path before noon.
Each of them was sweating profusely, their tongues hanging out.
"Boss, these stones are too heavy. The brothers really don't have the strength..." A death warrior who looked like a Skinny Monkey collapsed on the ground, his hands covered in bloody blisters, panting heavily.
"Even if you don't have the strength, you still have to carry them! Don't you know how much the head of that venomous woman from the Xu family is worth? After finishing this job, we'll eat and drink well for the rest of our lives! Hurry up!"
Skinny Monkey scrambled up and continued to carry the stones.
Wang Meng wiped the sweat from his face and looked at the tightly laid out traps below, smiling smugly.
"Xu Qinghuan, oh, Xu Qinghuan. You plotted against our Wang family so miserably in Jiangning, but you didn't expect to fall into my hands today, did you?" Wang Meng sneered repeatedly, slapping the back of his knife against his palm. "Did you think you could fool me by taking the official road with such fanfare? I won't fall for your trick. I'll wait for you right here at the Yanshan Path, wait for you to walk right into the trap!"
Just as he was gloating, a small lackey slid down the vines on the cliff face and knelt on one knee.
"Boss! A report from the scout!"
Wang Meng's spirits lifted, and he planted the tip of his knife on the ground. "Speak! Where is the Xu family's convoy? Have they deviated from the official road and are heading our way?"
The small lackey swallowed his saliva, his expression strange. "No... no deviation from the official road."
"No deviation?" Wang Meng frowned. "Still walking on the official road?"
"Yes, and... and they are walking extremely slowly," the small lackey stuttered out his report. "The scout said they stop and go, resting for half a day when they encounter a tea stall. They've only traveled less than thirty li in a day. Judging by their posture, it doesn't look like they are going to the northern border to take up a post, but more like they are going for a spring outing."
Wang Meng was stunned.
The few death warriors around him who were pricking up their ears to listen were also stunned.
"Walking extremely slowly?" Wang Meng touched the scar on his chin, his eyes rolling wildly, his mind beginning to deduce frantically.
Suddenly, he slapped his thigh, letting out a crisp sound.
"Brilliant! Fucking brilliant!"
The small lackey was startled. "Boss, what's brilliant?"
"You don't know shit!" Wang Meng pointed at the small lackey's nose, looking like he had seen through everything. "This is called there can never be too much deception in war. That venomous woman Xu Qinghuan knows that we have spies on the official road, so she is deliberately walking slowly. She is stalling for time!"
"Stalling for time?"
"Nonsense! Does she dare to take thirty large carriages through the small path in broad daylight? Isn't that clearly telling us that she wants to do things secretly?" Wang Meng became more and more excited as he spoke, fancying himself possessed by Zhuge Liang. "The slower she walks, the more guilty she feels. She is waiting, waiting for it to get dark!"
Wang Meng put his hands on his hips and laughed heartily, his laughter echoing in the gorge, startling a few crows.
"As soon as it gets dark, she will definitely order the convoy to extinguish their lanterns and turn into this Yanshan Path under the cover of the night!"
The death warriors suddenly understood after hearing this and gave him a thumbs up.
"Boss is wise!"
"Boss is brilliant!"
"No matter how cunning that venomous woman is, she can't escape Boss's grasp!"
Wang Meng was flattered and waved his hand grandly. "Pass down the order. Everyone stay hidden on the spot. No fires are allowed, no sound is allowed, and even hold your farts in!"
"Yes!"
"Save your dry rations. When it gets dark and the Xu family's convoy enters the gorge, first release the rolling logs and stones, then shoot cold arrows, and smash them into meat paste!"
Night fell.
The sweltering heat of the day at the Yanshan Path in early May receded, and the mountain wind poured into the gorge, chilling them to the bone.
The four hundred death warriors lay on the rocks, shivering with cold.
In order not to expose their target, they didn't even dare to light a fire. They could only huddle together to keep warm, holding the cold, hard dry rations in their hands, taking a bite that made their teeth ache.
Wang Meng lay behind a large rock at the very front, his eyes fixed on the direction of the gorge entrance.
The wind blew, bringing the rustling sound of leaves.
"Boss, it's already midnight. Why isn't there even a ghost?" Skinny Monkey's snot was running from the cold, and he lowered his voice to ask.
"Shut up! What do you know? The more this happens, the more we need to stay calm. That venomous woman is very cunning and is definitely testing us. Keep your eyes wide open!" Wang Meng slapped the back of Skinny Monkey's head.
Skinny Monkey rubbed his head aggrievedly and continued to stare at the gorge.
An hour passed.
Two hours passed.
The horizon began to turn white.
The entrance to the gorge was still empty, not even a wild rabbit had run in.
The four hundred death warriors had blown in the cold wind on the cliff for a night, their lips turning purple and their hands and feet stiff from the cold.
Wang Meng's eyes were bloodshot from staying up late, and he stared fixedly at the entrance, the string in his mind stretched to the limit.
"Boss..." Skinny Monkey said tearfully, "Have we... been played?"
"Bullshit! How could I be played? She must have been delayed on the road. Keep waiting. Whoever dares to move, I'll chop him down!" Wang Meng turned his head and glared fiercely at Skinny Monkey.
