Upon the western city wall, the young officer looked toward the South Gate, which was already ablaze, shining brilliantly against the pitch-black night.
Worry clouded his face.
The soldiers beside him were equally uneasy. “It’s the Jinyang Army launching a night raid! We’re in danger this time.”
The young officer shot him a glare. “Don’t spread panic. No matter how powerful the Jinyang Army is, they’re still made of flesh and blood, just like us. What is there to fear?”
The soldier gave an awkward laugh. “Yes. The Jinyang Army is nothing but trash. Quzhao will surely win.”
The young officer grunted. “Stay alert.”
Yao Ji had already reached the ambush point outside the western gate. He asked in a low voice, “How long have they been in motion?”
Li Mai lowered his voice as well. “They should have reached their positions by now.”
Yao Ji looked toward the western gate, which remained shrouded in darkness, and decisively ordered, “Fire!”
Flames sprang to life, and arrows poured down like rain toward the city wall.
Screams rang out. In an instant, more than a dozen Quzhao soldiers standing atop the wall collapsed.
Crouching behind a crenellation, the young officer stared at the fallen soldiers beside him and the fire arrows raining down from above. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. “Beat the drums! Quickly, beat—”
Before he could finish, a series of thunderous bangs erupted. Even the city wall seemed to tremble.
“Damn it! Those are climbing bolts! The Jinyang Army’s true target is the western gate!”
But his shout was drowned out by the screams.
Hua Ruo grabbed hold of an arrow shaft that was still quivering. With a burst of strength, she pulled herself upward, climbing like a nimble monkey.
The climbing bolts had been arranged in a regular pattern. She barely needed to look; relying on the memory of her training, she could determine the position of nearly every arrow with pinpoint accuracy.
By the time the drums at the western gate began to sound, Hua Ruo had already reached the crenellation.
A gleaming blade suddenly stabbed toward her face.
As if sensing it, Hua Ruo tilted her body aside and dodged the attack. At the same time, she gripped the crenellation with her right hand and swiftly drew the curved saber from her waist with her left.
A flash of silver.
The attacker’s head flew through the air, blood spraying across Hua Ruo’s face. She paid it no mind. With a thud, she leaped down from the wall, drew her other curved saber with her right hand, and charged toward the gate tower with a blade in each hand.
One by one, the other Jinyang soldiers leaped onto the wall. Some followed Hua Ruo toward the gate tower, while others rushed toward the ramp leading down from the wall.
Through the dim firelight, Yao Ji saw Hua Ruo and the others reach the top of the wall. He shouted, “Crossbowmen, cover them! The rest of you, follow me!”
Under the crossbowmen’s fierce barrage, the soldiers atop the wall were nearly powerless to fight back. They either lay flat to avoid the bolts or were killed the instant they showed their heads.
The drawbridge began to lower.
Yao Ji sprang high into the air and landed with one foot on the drawbridge, which was still more than a meter above the ground.
Bang!
The drawbridge shook violently.
Yao Ji’s footing remained steady as he slid down its sloping surface.
The main gate still showed no sign of opening, but he did not waste time worrying about it. Instead, he ran toward the climbing bolts embedded in the section of wall to the side.
After Hua Ruo and her men lowered the drawbridge, they were about to go support the soldiers opening the gate when a group of patrolling Quzhao soldiers suddenly rushed at them.
The two sides quickly clashed.
The county commandant had noticed the fire blazing at the western gate before the drums began. His heart lurched, and he immediately realized that something was wrong.
The Jinyang Army was indeed cunning. They were using a feint at one gate to attack another.
He looked down at the moat bridge below, which was moving at a painfully slow, almost tortoise-like pace. They had been waiting for so long, yet the bridge had not even reached the range of the defenders’ arrows.
So this had been a delaying tactic!
He was about to head to the western gate to reinforce it when the previously sluggish moat bridge seemed to sense the tension there and suddenly picked up speed.
The county commandant was speechless.
For a moment, he could not tell which side was the real attack and which was the feint—or whether both attacks were genuine.
“What should we do?” The deputy general knocked aside an incoming arrow, then hurriedly ducked beneath the crenellation.
The county commandant’s gaze turned grim. “Take five hundred men and go reinforce the western gate.”
He had no intention of moving the troops stationed at the other two gates. If the Jinyang Army could attack two gates at once, they might also attack all four simultaneously. He had to proceed with caution.
“Yes, sir!”
The deputy general immediately led his men toward the western gate, keeping low. Only after they had run beyond the range of the Jinyang Army’s arrows did they dare to stand and sprint.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Yao Ji climbed onto the wall and fired a volley of arrows at the patrolling soldiers rushing to reinforce the gate.
Screams rang across the night sky.
Inside the city, all the Han Chinese civilians trembled in terror, huddling inside their homes and not daring to move. They had no idea what fate awaited them.
Swish.
A curved saber swept across the air, and blood blossomed.
Hua Ruo and her men finally wiped out the patrol. Emerging from the gate tower, they followed Yao Ji down from the wall and continued their slaughter.
Meanwhile, more and more Jinyang soldiers kept climbing onto the wall.
Just as the heavy city gate slowly began to open, the deputy general reached the vicinity of the western gate.
Before he could get close to the gate tower, arrows began flying at his troops from outside the city, from within the city, and even from the top of the gate tower. His force suffered heavy casualties in an instant.
Below the gate tower, the Jinyang soldiers saw the open gate and charged inside excitedly.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
At the same time, the drums atop the gate tower sounded again, this time beating out a peculiar rhythm.
Zhao Feng’s face lit up. He shouted, “The western gate has fallen! Brothers, follow me!”
The Jinyang soldiers behind him charged toward the western gate.
Even the soldiers pushing the moat bridge were no exception. They abandoned the bridge and ran after them.
Hearing the commotion below, the county commandant assumed that the Jinyang Army was about to attack the city. He immediately ordered, “Archers, prepare yourselves! Fire as soon as the enemy enters range!”
“Kill!” the Quzhao soldiers shouted in response.
Shield bearers moved to the front, while the archers behind them drew their bows and aimed at the soldiers below, waiting for the enemy to approach.
After a while, however, they realized that something was wrong.
The Jinyang soldiers were indeed charging and killing—but they were not attacking the South Gate. They were heading toward the western gate!
The county commandant felt completely numb.
He had never fought such a bizarre, absurd battle in his life.
And yet, this bizarre and ridiculous tactic had easily broken through his city gate.
Below, the lanterns still swayed slowly in the darkness, resembling four pairs of blood-red eyes mocking him.
“Leave one unit to guard the gate. The rest of you, follow me and attack!” he roared, as if trying to vent all the frustration he had suffered that night.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The drawbridge had been lowered, the city gate had been opened, and the Jinyang Army had entered the city.
With the support of the Dragon-Feather Crossbows, the Quzhao troops were completely outmatched.
The slaughter began anew.
Heichun County’s military camp.
Tang Tishou hurried into the council hall. In the dim lamplight, he saw that Rong Liang and the others were already there. Judging by their expressions, they had clearly just been roused from sleep as well.
He strode to the seat of honor and sat down. “You said the saltworks were attacked?”
“Yes, yes. The saltworks were raided by the Jinyang Army and sent a request for help to Fuchuan County. The county commandant led men there first to provide aid.” The Quzhao soldier was covered in dirt and looked utterly disheveled.
After receiving news that the saltworks had been attacked at night, the Fuchuan County commandant had ordered him to come to Heichun County and report the situation.
Tang Tishou’s grip tightened around the edge of the table. “Do we know how many enemy troops there were, or from which direction they entered our territory?”
The soldier shook his head. “They said there were several hundred of them, perhaps more. It was too dark to see where they came from. They may have traveled by water.”
Zhu Dian snapped angrily, “Several hundred men beat you this badly? The saltworks’ guards are useless, and what exactly was Fuchuan County doing? Did you really need to come begging us for help?”
The soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead. “The county commandant was worried that the Jinyang Army might have sent more than just that number, so he ordered me to report to you.”
Zhu Dian slammed his palm on the table. “If that’s the case, why did you only arrive now? It’s almost dawn!”
The soldier’s face crumpled. “It was too dark. I didn’t dare travel any faster. That’s why…”
He had already been riding as fast as he could, but Fuchuan County was quite a distance from Heichun County, and traveling at night was difficult.
