Futile Devices Scans

Night had already deepened. Li Si slung the bow back onto his back. Both of them drew their sabers and lay in wait behind the large rock.

The two cavalrymen noticed nothing. They galloped swiftly along the Fen River, only looking east now and then toward the situation at Kuiyuan City, paying no attention to the large rock by the riverbank.

The hoofbeats came lightly and swiftly. Just as they reached the side of the large rock, two figures burst out from behind it, stepped onto the stone surface, and leapt over together!

Zhang San slammed into the nearer cavalryman with a tiger pounce, knocking him off his horse, and the two rolled across the ground in a tangle. Li Si stepped onto the first man’s horse’s back and leapt through the air toward the other cavalryman beside him, landing behind him in one movement. He pressed the back of his blade hard against the man’s throat, forcing him to rein in his horse.

One above and one below, the two subdued both cavalrymen in the blink of an eye, pressing them to the ground and pulling off their waist sashes to tie their hands.

Zhang San stood before the two of them with his hands on his hips. After pretending to be a bandit for more than ten days, he had gained quite a bit of bandit air as he interrogated them. “Which road are you from?”

The two cavalrymen stared at him. One of them, speaking in a northern accent similar to his, replied, “Which road are you from? How dare you seize government troops!”

Zhang San pointed toward Kuiyuan City. “What government troops? The government troops are all surrounded in there!”

“We are the garrison troops of Shuoning Prefecture, here to reinforce Kuiyuan! Release us at once! If Kuiyuan can’t be defended, you won’t even get to be a bandit. You’ll only become a slave to the Xiao bandits!”

Zhang San knew the terrain of northern Xuan well. Shuoning Prefecture City, also called Shuozhou, was one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. More than a hundred years ago, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun had been ceded to the Northern Lang Kingdom. Only several months earlier, after Northern Lang was destroyed, had Yanyun returned to Great Xuan. The court had reestablished prefectural administration around Shuozhou, making Shuozhou the seat of Shuoning Prefecture and stationing an army of more than ten thousand there.

Zhang San asked doubtfully, “Isn’t Shuozhou in the north? How did you come from the west?”

The cavalryman observed his bearing and saw that he did not look like a real bandit. Then, taking a closer look at the tattoo on his face, his heart eased by more than half. “You’re government troops?”

Zhang San showed him the tattoo on the back of his hand too. “Shengjie Army. Also here to reinforce Kuiyuan.”

The cavalryman let out a breath of relief. “So we’re comrades. Untie us first, and we can talk properly.”

Zhang San remained cautious. “You speak first. I’ll untie you after you finish.”

The cavalryman glared in anger, then looked the two of them over again. Seeing Li Si’s clean and upright face, he truly did not look like any wicked bandit either, so he said, “The Xiao bandits did not attack Shuozhou. They bypassed Shuozhou and marched south, capturing Yanmen Pass. Since they’re guarding Yanmen Pass, we couldn’t go south to Kuiyuan, so we had no choice but to detour west for ten extra days and come through Tianmen Pass instead.”

Zhang San found his explanation reasonable and believed him. He untied both of them, returned their weapons, and respectfully invited them back onto their horses.

The cavalryman had just mounted when Zhang San nimbly leapt up and sat behind him.

The cavalryman turned to glare at Zhang San. Zhang San gave him a brilliant smile in return. “I’ll have to trouble you, comrade elder brother, to take us to meet your superior. Perfect timing—we can join up and go to Kuiyuan together. Si Si, hurry and mount. Aren’t you going to thank these two elder brothers?”

Li Si leapt onto the other horse and obediently said, “Thank you, elder brothers.”

The two elder brothers: “……”

——

Four people rode two horses and followed the Fen River westward again.

It turned out this reinforcement force numbered around two thousand men, all cavalry, and they were the elite cavalry of Shuoning Prefecture. Before Kuiyuan was surrounded, His Majesty had issued an imperial edict calling on all regions to send aid. Shuozhou lay north of Kuiyuan, and if Kuiyuan fell, Shuozhou would be in danger. The Shuozhou defending general understood Kuiyuan’s importance deeply, so he left his son and part of his army to defend Shuozhou and personally led his elites here.

Since Yanmen Pass had been cut off by the Xiao Army, this reinforcement force had gone west to Tianmen Pass. After leaving the pass, they had followed the Fen River downstream. Now that they were nearing Kuiyuan, the commander had sent out several teams of scout cavalry to scout the way ahead.

Unexpectedly, one team of scouts returned not long after setting out.

The commander wore golden iron armor, and the horse beneath him was also covered in golden leather armor. Seeing the scouts return, he made a gesture, and the personal guards beside him signaled backward with flags. The cavalry all stopped their horses.

Zhang San looked toward this force from afar. Seeing their neat military bearing, strict obedience to orders, and the flying command banner embroidered with Great Xuan’s fire-dragon pattern and the character “Sun,” he recalled hearing of this General Sun of Shuoning Prefecture, a famous and valiant general. Thus, before reaching the army, he called to Li Si, and the two first jumped down from the horse, saluting from a distance to show respect.

The two scouts went straight to the front of the army, dismounted, and reported loudly, “Reporting to General! We encountered these two men on the road. They say they are government troops and request to meet the General!”

“Invite them forward,” General Sun said.

Zhang San and Li Si walked forward. The personal guards were about to confiscate their weapons, but General Sun raised his hand to stop them.

General Sun was in his forties. After days of forced marching, his face was haggard, but he had lost none of his authority. In a clear voice, he said, “You two young heroes, where have you come from?”

Zhang San nudged Li Si, and Li Si took out the Imperial City Directorate token again. A personal guard took the token and presented it to General Sun.

Zhang San secretly pressed Li Si, signaling him not to speak, then gave an account that was half true and half false. “Reporting to General Sun, this subordinate is a personal-guard squad commander of the Shengjie Army, surnamed Zhang. I was ordered to escort Envoy Li of the Imperial City Directorate to Kuiyuan City. Hearing that the General has come to reinforce Kuiyuan, we wish to enter the city together with you.”

General Sun held the token and turned it over repeatedly. Seeing that the token was crafted with complex workmanship, gorgeously decorated, and gilded with pure gold, not something ordinary craftsmen could counterfeit, he knew Zhang San and Li Si were not bandits. Yet he said, “Since you two are envoys from the capital, this general should naturally do his utmost to assist you in entering the city. But the Xiao bandits have surrounded the city, and our army will be forcing a breakthrough. I’m afraid it will be a hard battle. If you follow our army, it may be even more dangerous.”

Zhang San said, “General, please rest assured. Commander Wang, the defending general of Kuiyuan, is this subordinate’s former superior. This subordinate once followed Commander Wang in campaigns across Hedong and is quite familiar with Kuiyuan’s terrain. General has come to reinforce Kuiyuan; this subordinate is deeply grateful and is willing to offer whatever small service I can.”

Joy appeared on General Sun’s face. “So you are one of Commander Wang’s former men. Good! Very good! Men, provide a horse for the two envoys.”

——

The two smoothly obtained a fine horse and, for the time being, rode together on one mount, blending into the army.

As they marched, General Sun called Zhang San over and studied the terrain with him.

At present, the Xiao Army had tens of thousands participating in the siege, but the vast majority were stationed north, south, and east of the city. On Kuiyuan’s west side, just outside the city wall, was a large lake called Lotus Lake. The lake bordered roughly two-thirds of the city wall, and only along the southern lakeshore was there a small city gate, making entry and attack inconvenient. Thus, the Xiao Army had left only several thousand men stationed by the lake, rarely attacking, merely using them to trap the city and prevent the people inside from escaping.

General Sun finally decided to split the two thousand men into two groups, secretly entering two abandoned villages about ten li west of the city in batches. They would lie low there until nightfall, then launch a night raid on the Xiao camp by the lake and rush to the western city gate amid the chaos.

This was indeed a good strategy for breaking through. General Sun had originally planned to seek a chance to enter the city from the west as well, and now that he had Zhang San’s assistance, he was delighted. The whole army quickened its pace, and before sunset, all of them had secretly entered the abandoned villages according to plan.

——

Before Kuiyuan was surrounded, the Kuiyuan defenders had strengthened the walls and cleared the countryside. They harvested all the wheat fields outside the city, moved the villagers and livestock into the city, then burned the villages, leaving not a blade of grass or scrap of wood for the Xiao Army.

As a result, the abandoned village was full of broken walls and ruins, and it was hard to find even one intact house.

The sky was dim. Zhang San and Li Si squeezed into a ruined earthen house with no roof. Just beyond one wall were several other soldiers seizing the chance to nap and snore. The horse they had borrowed also squeezed into the same house with them, not only refusing to rest but also growing greedy, pushing hard against Li Si to beg for food.

Zhang San got up and went to ask General Sun’s personal guards for a small pouch of beans for the horse, then brought it back and handed it to Li Si. Li Si clutched the bean pouch and fed the horse one small handful at a time. Zhang San sat cross-legged beside him with his arms folded, one hand propping up his face, head tilted as he admired the little colt feeding the little horse.

When the beans were finished, Li Si’s hands were covered in horse saliva, so he wiped them on the scorched bedding he was sitting on. But the bedding was covered in blackened ash, so the more he wiped, the dirtier his hands became.

Li Si frowned as he studied his hands—he had never frowned before, always wearing a wooden face no matter what he did, and he himself did not know that his expressions were becoming more and more vivid. Suddenly, a pool of water poured into his palm. It was Zhang San pouring water from his own gourd to wash his hands.

Li Si frowned and said, “Wasting water.”

Zhang San laughed. “Now you’re blaming me? Isn’t it because this shabby little military household of mine loves being clean?”

Li Si cautiously moved his fingers, using that tiny bit of water to clean his hands. Then, feeling hungry, he took out a piece of dry ration to eat.

The dry rations were roasted flatbreads they had taken with them before leaving the earthen fortress two days earlier. They were easy to store and carry, but dry, small, cold, and hard to chew. As Li Si gnawed, he missed Madam Zhang’s steamed cakes and imagined how they must have tasted while still steaming hot.

As he ate, his head suddenly itched. Zhang San was fiddling with his hair bun. Li Si dodged to the side, only to be caught back by Zhang San.

“Don’t move!” Zhang San whispered. “I forgot to return the wax pellet to you. I’m putting it back.”

Zhang San tucked the wax pellet away and tidied Li Si’s stray hair. Then he glanced at the movement around them before continuing, “Tonight, I’ll go with them to raid the camp. You stay here. Whether or not we break through successfully, the Xiao Army will fall into chaos, and there will be corpses beneath the city wall. Wait until after we finish fighting, then go before dawn. Mix in among the corpses to approach the city wall, tie the token to an arrow and shoot it inside. Once the defenders see it, they’ll naturally throw down a rattan basket and haul you into the city.”

Li Si looked at him blankly. After a while, he shook his head.

Zhang San laughed. “Little idiot ghost, you don’t understand even something this simple?”

Li Si shook his head again. “I’m not staying here.”

“What?”

“I’m going with you.”

Zhang San smiled and reached out to wipe away a bit of roasted flatbread crumb from the corner of his lips. “Why would you go blindly? You’re an Imperial City Directorate envoy, not a reinforcement soldier. Delivering your letter is more important.”

Li Si stubbornly shook his head. “I’m going with you.”

Zhang San tried to frighten him. “Little idiot ghost, have you ever fought a battle? You think it’s as simple as killing a demon Daoist? The Xiao Army’s heavy cavalry are called Iron Pagodas. The heavy armor on one of them could crush you to death once taken off. Sabers can’t cut through it, arrows can’t pierce it. When he charges at you with a long spear and thrusts, he’ll skewer you straight through. That little life of yours will be gone!”

Li Si still shook his head. He had seen life and death and did not fear life and death. Besides, with Zhang San there, for reasons he could not explain, death felt very far away. Zhang San knew how to fight battles, how to kill, how to talk, how to deceive, how to deal with county magistrates, how to form alliances with constables, and how to build connections with generals. Zhang San was far more capable than even his second uncle. He was the most capable person Li Si had ever met. If he followed Zhang San, he would not die.

Besides, even if he truly died, there would still be compensation and reward silver left for Grandmother. As for this wax-pellet secret letter, to him it was only promotion by three ranks and a reward of three thousand strings of cash. It was not worth even the slightest bit of his second uncle’s life, yet his second uncle had died for it. Such an unlucky thing could be delivered if possible; if not, then so be it.

In any case, he wanted to follow Zhang San. He did not know why. He simply wanted to follow Zhang San.

Li Si looked at Zhang San without blinking and repeated, “I’m going with you.”

Zhang San’s heart tightened under his gaze. He sighed. “Fine. General Sun commands his troops strictly and is a fierce general. Breaking through should not be a problem. You’re so foolish that I don’t feel at ease leaving you alone either. Then come with me.”

——

Night had sunk deep, and sparse lights appeared in the direction of the Xiao Army camp. General Sun set out his flag signals. The whole army made preparations: men held wooden bits in their mouths, horses’ hooves were wrapped, and the sounds of marching were concealed. From the northwest and southwest, they split up and crept toward the Xiao camp.

Before surrounding Kuiyuan, the Xiao Army had defeated several Great Xuan reinforcement forces. Now the siege had lasted more than twenty days, and no further reinforcements from Great Xuan had appeared. There was little fighting on the western side of the city, so the Xiao camp stationed in the west was very lax. The night-watch Xiao soldiers even sat before their campfires drinking and laughing. When they drank to their fill, some even pulled off half their robes and danced bare-armed before the fire.

The night was deep and quiet. There was no warning from the scout cavalry, only laughter, singing, and dancing drifting across the plain.

Suddenly, horses neighed! A tall, fine horse clad in golden armor charged out of the vast darkness and plunged straight into the camp. The horse galloped toward the campfire, and General Sun raised his long spear. With one thrust to the chest, the bare-armed dancing Xiao soldier was pierced straight through. Then the spear lifted, flinging the corpse more than a zhang away.

The other Xiao soldiers by the campfire shouted in alarm and cried out warnings. Several Xuan cavalry followed close behind the general, sweeping their long sabers horizontally. In the blink of an eye, the startled cries were cut off, and several heads fell into the fire along with splattering blood.

The Great Xuan cavalry broke through the camp gate and streamed in from both north and south. The Xiao Army, suddenly struck by a night raid, was completely unprepared. They shouted and ran from their tents, lacking weapons and armor, with no time to mount their horses. They scrambled chaotically through the camp and were slaughtered by the charging cavalry with no strength to fight back.

But the Xiao general in the camp was no ordinary man. He hurriedly shouted orders for his subordinates to stabilize the camp, ordered messengers to blow the horns and raise the alarm, and torches flared bright across the camp.

The horn signal representing an attack pierced the quiet night sky. Xiao scout cavalry roaming the northern plain heard it one after another and also began blowing their horns. The warning signals passed wave after wave across the plain, all the way toward the Xiao Army’s main camp north of Kuiyuan City.

Hearing the Xiao horns sound, General Sun shouted, “Burn the camp! Break through amid the chaos!”

His personal guards blew whistle signals. The Great Xuan cavalry snatched torches while cutting enemies down in all directions, throwing them onto the Xiao tents. In an instant, flames rose throughout the camp.

——

Zhang San and Li Si were mixed into the ranks. Because the two shared one horse, their speed was not fast, and they trailed at the rear. By the time they charged into the camp, the Xuan and Xiao armies had already fallen into a fierce melee, and flames were burning everywhere.

A single saber was too short to use properly on horseback, so Zhang San simply jumped down, displaying the true nature of an infantryman as he plunged into the crowd and swung his saber to cut.

Li Si remained on horseback, raised his bow, aimed at a Xiao soldier running in panic, and shot an arrow straight into his throat.

Immediately after, he drew another arrow without pause and fired again. The feathered arrow split the night air and plunged into the wrist of a Xiao soldier several meters away who was raising a curved saber. That Xiao soldier had just crept behind Zhang San and was about to hack down when he suddenly screamed. His wrist was pierced clean through, and the curved saber fell to the ground. Zhang San seized the chance to turn, stabbed his saber into the man’s abdomen, and kicked him away.

Zhang San knew Li Si had helped him and smiled at him from afar. Before the smile faded, his waist had already twisted back, and he plunged into the melee again.

Li Si rode around swiftly, firing more than ten arrows in quick succession, killing Xiao soldiers and saving Xuan soldiers alike. Suddenly, a long spear stabbed out from an angle, aiming to knock him off the horse.

Li Si leaned backward until he was nearly flat against the horse’s back, nimbly dodging the dangerous strike. His right hand seized the wooden shaft of the spear, and as he rose, he yanked it hard to the left. The Xiao soldier who had ambushed him could not let go in time and was dragged beside the horse. Li Si then released the spear, and the sleeve dagger hidden in his right sleeve dropped into his palm. He stabbed it into the Xiao soldier’s neck.

Blood splashed all over Li Si’s face, blurring his vision. He pushed away the Xiao soldier’s corpse and was just about to wipe his face when, through the haze, he saw another arm climbing onto the horse’s back. Startled, he raised the sleeve dagger to stab down.

“It’s me!” Zhang San said, blocking his wrist.

Li Si let out a breath of relief and freed a stirrup for him. Zhang San stepped into the stirrup and mounted, sitting behind him. “Stop killing! Xiao reinforcements will arrive soon. Hurry and break through the camp into the city!”

The surrounding Xuan cavalry were also retreating under General Sun’s whistle signals, leaving behind a camp full of flames and the Xiao soldiers, now slaughtered down to half their number. The cavalry withdrew in good order, passing through the camp one after another, racing along the edge of Lotus Lake toward the western city gate.

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