Chapter 5: The Army Arrives

Gao Yuan and Shen Shuting grew intimate. Feng Lingxue and Lin Hongxiu were awake in the same room; Mu Baizhi, a young girl exhausted by the day, slept through it. Lin’s keen hearing made the disturbance impossible to ignore, and she silently cursed their lack of discretion. Feng, who had devoted herself to governing Beimang and kept her distance from men, felt embarrassed but also a faint, unfamiliar stirring of interest. About an hour later the room finally fell quiet, and both women breathed easier.

……

The night passed. Early the next morning, shouting sounded outside.

Gao Yuan called the four of them together. “Stay in the house today. Don’t go wandering about. With so many people around, something could happen.”

He put on the worn leather armor, picked up his saber, and prepared to leave. Shen Shuting came forward to straighten his armor.

“Yuan, come back safely,” she whispered.

He nodded, embraced her, and left. Shen Shuting stared after him, while Mu Baizhi sheltered carefully in a corner. The small house was her refuge for now.

Feng Lingxue glanced at Lin Hongxiu. “How is your recovery?” she asked quietly.

Lin Hongxiu nodded. A faint smile curved Feng Lingxue’s lips, and her calm returned.

……

In the open space inside the stronghold, the twenty men selected for the vanguard strike force gathered. Some carried blades, others bows and arrows; most looked tense and afraid.

Their leader was Han Qing, a brawny man in his thirties with a fierce look in his eyes. He had made a name for himself at Blackwind Stronghold. The other bandits seemed considerably less confident.

One man stood out. More than two meters tall, with dark skin and the build of an iron tower, he wore a simple, guileless smile.

His name was Wang Shuang. He was slow-witted but immensely strong, and the men at the stronghold often bullied him, leaving him the dirtiest and hardest work. Naturally, he had been selected for this suicide mission too.

Once everyone had arrived, Han Qing looked them over. “You had your women and your meat yesterday. Now it’s time to work! The job is simple: lie in ambush outside, catch Dangyang’s garrison off guard, and find a way to kill their commander. Succeed, and there’ll be silver and women aplenty!”

After the speech and a round of wine, the men set out. They left through the stronghold gate and concealed themselves in a prepared hiding place.

The vanguard’s task was to wait for the army from Dangyang to attack the stronghold, then spring out when its commander was unprepared and kill him. Once he was dead, the army would fall into confusion.

Of course, that was far easier said than done. First over the walls, breaking an enemy formation, killing a general, and capturing a banner were the four great feats of war. This was one of them. Even if the twenty managed to kill the commander, the soldiers of Dangyang could turn back and chop them to pieces with ease.

Their chances of survival were slim. Fortunately, Gao Yuan had already thought of a way out. Now he could only hope events would go as he imagined.

……

Around a quarter past nine in the morning, a bandit scout came galloping toward them.

“The army from Dangyang is here!” he shouted.

The men stiffened and crowded forward, peering through gaps in their cover. Several hundred meters away, the stronghold stirred into action. Its gates closed, and armed figures appeared along the top, waiting for the assault. Tension filled the air.

Then a low rumble came from the distance, growing closer until the ground began to tremble: hoofbeats.

Gao Yuan narrowed his eyes. A troop of a little over twenty cavalry approached at a measured pace. They rode black warhorses and wore leather armor, with long sabers at their waists and bows and arrows on their backs. Their vigilant gazes and deadly bearing marked them as veterans who had fought their way through bloodshed.

Behind them marched nearly a thousand infantry in black, each with a shield and spear. Their steady, ordered steps brought them on like a dark cloud.

Beneath a great banner bearing the character Wu rode a powerfully built general in silver mail and a red cloak, a silver spear in his hand. His bearing commanded respect without a word. Sunlight broke through the clouds and touched his armor with a reddish gleam, making him look like a god of war come down to earth.

Beside these troops, the men of Blackwind Stronghold looked like a rabble.

Han Qing groaned inwardly. He had guessed the general’s identity: Wu Xiangbei, commander of Dangyang’s garrison, a man feared across the northern frontier like a god of slaughter.

For thirteen years Wu had held Dangyang. Famous for his ferocity, he had repeatedly driven back Beimang’s armies, anchoring himself to the frontier like a nail. Beimang considered him a constant threat and longed to be rid of him.

Han Qing had expected a subordinate commander to lead the attack. Instead, Wu had come in person. How the hell were they supposed to ambush him?

Up on the stronghold walls, Zhou Xing’s calves ached and his eyelids twitched. Was it really necessary to bring such a force against one bandit stronghold?

To Wu Xiangbei, it was. For all the years he had defended Dangyang, Beimang had never managed to take it, only for Blackwind Stronghold to stab him in the back. Had the enemy army not withdrawn unexpectedly, the city would surely have fallen to the attack from both sides.

As the saying went, one must secure the home front before resisting enemies abroad. Whatever the cost, Wu intended to root out this menace today and repay the bandits for what they had done.