The cavalry had galloped for no more than the time it took to burn one stick of incense before they all reached the foot of Kuiyuan City. The Xiao army reinforcements had not yet arrived, and beneath the city walls lay a vast, deathly silence.
Because the western gate bordered the lake, there was only a single small city gate there, with no barbican outside it. Before the siege, the defenders had laid countless defensive fortifications, but after days of attack and defense, most had already been destroyed by the Xiao army, and even the moat had been filled in.
Overall, however, there had been fewer battles at the western gate. Outside the city, even corpses and bones were nowhere to be seen. Thus the cavalry encountered no obstacles on their ride over.
Upon the rammed-earth city wall, three to four zhang high, the western gate defenders had long since heard the Xiao army’s warning horns. Not knowing what had happened within the Xiao camp, they stood alert behind the battlements, peering outward.
The night was too dark. The defenders could only vaguely see the distant firelight from the Xiao camp. Soon after, they saw another cavalry force charging through the darkness, with what appeared to be a Great Xuan banner faintly visible at the front. Thus they did not loose arrows to stop them.
The cavalry rode beneath the western gate. A figure leaned out from atop the wall, and a young officer overseeing the western gate defenses shouted, “Who goes there?!”
The night wind howled violently, and from such a distance, the young officer’s voice was nearly swallowed by the wind.
General Sun pulled hard on the reins and stopped beneath the gate. His voice boomed like thunder, tearing through the wind. “I am Right Martial Grandee Sun Yi, Pacification Commissioner of Shuo Prefecture, Governor of Shuoning Prefecture! By imperial decree from the Emperor, I have brought two thousand cavalry to reinforce Kuiyuan! Report at once to your Commander Zhang! Open the gate and admit my army!”
The young officer dared not delay. He answered from afar, then withdrew his head, evidently rushing off to report the matter.
——
Riding together on one horse, Zhang San and Li Si had fallen to the rear of the cavalry earlier. Once beneath the city walls, Zhang San signaled for Li Si to guide the horse forward toward the wall. Thus the two slowly advanced behind General Sun’s horse and together looked up at the movement atop the wall.
Strangely enough, after waiting another half-stick of incense’s time, there was still no sign of the small city gate opening.
General Sun watched as, across the distant plains, the torches of the Xiao reinforcements from the north drew closer and closer, circling around Lotus Lake toward them. His expression gradually became anxious. The warhorse beneath him was a divine steed capable of a thousand li in a day, fiery-tempered by nature, and had also begun pawing irritably at the ground.
Zhang San also sensed that something was wrong. Frowning, he looked back toward the Xiao western camp behind them. That camp had likely already regained order, drawing water from the lake to extinguish the flames, the fire slowly dying down. Perhaps they were already reorganizing the remnants of their troops and preparing to rush over here as well.
Zhang San signaled Li Si to ride forward and said to General Sun, “General, something feels amiss. Please allow this subordinate to call out to the defenders atop the wall.”
General Sun nodded in agreement.
Thus Zhang San raised his voice and shouted, “Defenders atop the wall! Why have you not opened the gate?!”
The wall remained quiet for a moment before the young officer from earlier reappeared. “Please wait, General! We have already reported to our superior. He is hurrying over from the prefectural yamen! This subordinate dares not open the gate without permission from above!”
Zhang San shouted, “Are you men from the Shengjie Army under Commander Wang? I am Shengjie Army Squad Leader Zhang San! Report my name to Commander Wang and he will surely trust me!”
The young officer did not answer him, only repeated, “Please wait, General! Our superior will arrive shortly!”
Seeing the defenders unmoved, Zhang San frowned and could only turn to General Sun. “General, make preparations early. I fear the Xiao army may arrive first.”
General Sun’s expression remained calm as he gave the order, “Form ranks! Prepare for battle!” The personal guards signaled again with flags, and the entire army arranged itself into defensive formation, nervously watching the distant Xiao cavalry now faintly visible.
Just then, a voice finally came from atop the wall. “Below the city—is that General Sun of Shuo Prefecture?”
General Sun answered, “It is!”
In the darkness, a figure stood avoiding the edge of the wall rather than leaning out. The voice was somewhat hoarse, belonging to a middle-aged man. “I am Kuiyuan Prefect Zhang Xiao!”
General Sun already sensed that matters were turning bad. Irritation and anger entered his voice. “Prefect Zhang! Since you have come, why do you still refuse to open the gate?”
“It is not that I do not wish to open it—it is that I cannot! This prefect bears responsibility for the lives of one hundred thousand civilians within Kuiyuan. I cannot recklessly open the gate to admit your two thousand cavalry! If you are rebels here to clear the path for the Xiao army, Kuiyuan will face catastrophe!”
General Sun roared furiously, “By imperial decree from the Emperor, I traveled day and night from Shuo Prefecture to reinforce you! If you do not even trust reinforcements, then Kuiyuan will be besieged to death!”
Prefect Zhang replied, “It is not that I do not trust reinforcements. It is that I do not trust reinforcements from Shuo Prefecture! General Sun, do you think Kuiyuan, though besieged, receives no news? Several days ago, spies this prefect planted in the north risked death to report back: both the Changsheng Army and the Yisheng Army have already betrayed the nation. Multiple northern cities and passes have fallen, including your Shuo Prefecture! More than half a month ago, the defenders of Shuo Prefecture already surrendered the city!”
The moment those words were spoken, Zhang San’s expression changed. Shocked, he turned to look at General Sun.
What he had not expected was that General Sun looked even more shocked than he himself was. His beard trembled violently, and his face turned deathly pale.
“Shuo Prefecture surrendered? Impossible…” General Sun’s voice shook. “My son would never surrender! If Shuo Prefecture fell, it could only mean he was murdered…”
Seeing General Sun’s spirit falter, Zhang San immediately raised his head and shouted, “Prefect! I am Squad Leader Zhang San under Commander Wang! I encountered General Sun only today and came here with him! Along the road, I saw no contact between him and the Xiao army. We even slaughtered a Xiao camp together just now. I can vouch for his innocence!”
But the response from above remained cold and unyielding. “Commander Wang is not here at present. This prefect cannot trust your word! Moreover, if he had colluded with the Xiao army before meeting you today, staging a fake assault on the camp, then what?”
Zhang San’s expression froze. His brows furrowed deeply, and he had no reply.
Li Si took out the Imperial City Directorate token, also wanting to speak, but Zhang San pressed his hand back down. “You can’t prove what happened before we met either. He won’t believe it.”
General Sun cried out hoarsely, “Prefect Zhang! I know you do not trust me! But I set out with my troops twenty days ago. Because Yanmen Pass was blocked, we had to detour westward. I truly did not know Shuo Prefecture had fallen! These two thousand cavalry are the elite of Shuoning Prefecture. If you refuse to admit us into the city, they will be wasted here for nothing!”
Silence lingered atop the wall for a moment. Finally, Prefect Zhang’s voice softened from its former harshness into a sigh. “General Sun, your words alone cannot serve as proof. How could Zhang dare wager the lives of one hundred thousand civilians and the safety of Kuiyuan, a strategic stronghold, on your mere two thousand men? If you are colluding with the Xiao army, pretending to break through the siege, then the moment I open the gate—you in front, the Xiao behind—what would become of Kuiyuan? General Sun, if you were Zhang, would you dare open it?”
General Sun’s entire body trembled. His chest rose and fell violently as he rasped, “To prove my innocence, must I prove it through death?”
Dead silence answered him from atop the wall.
General Sun suddenly cried out in anguish, “Fine! Zhang Xiao! Then watch closely whether I have ever surrendered to the Xiao dogs!”
He turned, raised his spear high, and his voice shattered the night sky. “Men! The Xiao invaders trample our rivers and mountains, seize our cities, slaughter our people! Any man willing to surrender them may cast down his weapon and leave now! I, Sun Yi, will not stop you! But if you refuse to surrender, then follow me and fight to the death beneath these walls! Slay as many enemies as you can before you fall! Tonight we die for our country—to prove our loyalty through death!”
Not a single cavalryman departed. The formation stood unmoving like a mountain as they thundered back in unison, “Die for our country! Prove our loyalty through death!”
——
As words were exchanged and time slipped away, several thousand Xiao heavy cavalry had already drawn near! Men and horses alike were clad in thick black armor and wielded fine steel longspears. Like an army of demons from the underworld, they thundered forward, a surging black tide instantly swallowing the Great Xuan cavalry formation!
It was like striking stone with eggs. The outermost ranks were immediately shattered apart, and the sounds of slaughter blended into chaos.
Zhang San and Li Si were surrounded within the innermost part of the formation. Both drew their blades, preparing to join the fight.
A long spear suddenly barred the horse in front of them.
General Sun swung down from his horse and rasped, “This matter has nothing to do with you two. I have dragged you into danger, and Sun is deeply ashamed. One horse for the two of you—perhaps you may still break through the encirclement amidst the chaos and find another chance to enter the city.”
Li Si’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, yet he did not know what to say. Zhang San shoved him by the shoulder, signaling him to quickly switch horses and not refuse.
The battle raged fiercely. The three had no time for further words. Zhang San clasped his fists heavily toward General Sun and bowed deeply, then immediately turned and charged toward the outer lines, slashing left and right with his blade to carve open a path of blood. Li Si rode General Sun’s warhorse behind him, panic churning in his heart as he repeatedly looked back—only to see General Sun’s spear dance like a silver dragon through the black sea of blood, until gradually he vanished beneath it…
——
These heavy cavalry were the elite forces from the Xiao army north of the city. They had arrived fully armored and battle-ready, more than ten times fiercer than the half-asleep brutes from the western camp earlier.
Each of these heavy riders wielded a steel spear over a zhang long. Restricted by his short weapon, Zhang San could only deflect the spear thrusts and could hardly close in to strike back, making killing enemies far more difficult than it had been in the western camp. Li Si followed behind Zhang San, repeatedly shooting arrows to assist him, but he carried only an ordinary light bow and light arrows. The arrowheads struck the specially made heavy armor and simply bounced away without causing the slightest injury.
Gritting his teeth, Li Si finally slung the bow back onto his back and drew his blade instead, slashing sideways at a passing Xiao rider. The rider was broad and powerful as a mountain, his heavy armor like an iron wall. Li Si wore only a cloth-padded coat, his frame far slimmer, and the narrow blade in his hand merely scraped across the armor, leaving only a shallow mark.
The Xiao rider he had ambushed let out a strange laugh beneath his faceplate, yanked hard on the reins, and swept his spear toward Li Si. Li Si leaned back in his usual manner to avoid it, simultaneously reaching with his free left hand to seize the spear shaft, intending to drag the enemy over and finish him.
But the Xiao rider suddenly jerked hard in return!
Instead, Li Si was dragged right off his horse before he could let go, crashing heavily to the ground beneath the enemy mount!
In all his life, Li Si had never once been knocked from horseback. He rolled on the ground with a muffled groan and barely lifted his head before he saw the bloodstained spearpoint stabbing straight toward his face!
Sitting sprawled upon the ground with nowhere to evade, Li Si felt icy cold spread through his entire body in an instant.
Yet the spear stopped one chi from his face before suddenly dropping.
Zhang San had arrived in time. From behind, he drove his blade clean through the Xiao rider’s chest. Panting heavily, Zhang San tried to wrench the blade free from where it was wedged between bone and armor, but after failing once, he simply dragged the corpse down and abandoned the blade altogether, snatching the enemy’s long spear into his own hands instead.
“Get on the horse! Move!” Zhang San roared while dragging the spear.
Having narrowly escaped death, Li Si quickly climbed back onto the horse.
——
Imitating the Xiao riders, Zhang San tucked the long spear beneath his arm and charged forward using it as a lance. Li Si rode behind him, no longer daring to actively attack the Xiao troops. Amidst the chaos, the two fought their way out of the battlefield. Unable to continue westward, they could only flee southward, where no Xiao reinforcements were yet visible.
The Xiao army had no time to concern themselves with these two isolated fugitives and sent no troops after them. Only two lightly armed Xiao scout riders roaming the plains gave chase from behind, repeatedly loosing arrows at them.
Zhang San’s horse wore no armor. An arrow struck its hindquarters, and the warhorse screamed before collapsing to the ground. Zhang San was thrown down as well, rolling several times before flattening himself against the earth. The pursuing arrows rained down around him in rapid succession!
Li Si immediately wheeled his horse around and charged back.
Lying prone upon the ground, Zhang San lifted his head and shouted urgently, “Don’t come back! Go!”
Li Si ignored him completely. Sitting upright upon the horse, he faced the incoming arrows from the two light riders and drew his bow. One swift arrow shot forth and pierced straight through one rider’s chest!
The Xiao soldier toppled from his horse, but the other rider’s arrow had already struck Li Si’s horse in the head. Fortunately, the horse was fully armored and fierce-tempered by nature. The arrow glanced off the armor harmlessly, neither injuring nor startling the mount.
Li Si swiftly nocked another arrow and shot again, dropping the second rider from his horse as well.
He immediately rode back, leapt down, and helped the stiff-moving Zhang San onto the horse. Li Si mounted behind him, wrapping an arm around Zhang San’s waist while taking hold of the reins. The two once again shared a single horse as they hurried southward toward the city.
——
To block the southern roads and cut off reinforcements from Great Xuan, the Xiao army south of the city had stationed themselves farther away and had not noticed anyone escaping from the west. Concealed within the dark night, the two stopped one li from the southern gate and temporarily hid behind a large rock.
After dismounting, Li Si pinned the reins beneath a smaller stone before quickly freeing his hands to help Zhang San down from the horse.
A stray arrow had struck the back of Zhang San’s left shoulder, limiting his movement. Li Si supported him over to the rock and drew out his sleeve blade, cutting open the padded coat over the wound to reveal bloody flesh beneath. Fortunately, with the heavy winter clothing and the distance involved, the wound had missed anything vital. Still, the small arrowhead remained embedded in the flesh, blood pouring steadily from the injury.
Zhang San fished a fire striker from his belt sash with his right hand and handed it to Li Si, breathing hard as he said, “Heat your little blade over the flame. Cut the flesh open and dig it out.”
Li Si looked up at him, pain filling those dark eyes.
Zhang San laughed once. “What are you afraid of? You killed so many Xiao bastards just now, but now you’re scared?”
It was not fear. Li Si simply felt pain. He himself was not injured, yet the pain still came, and he did not understand why.
Following instructions, he heated the blade, gritted his teeth, held his breath, and carefully sliced through the flesh little by little until he dug the arrowhead free. Zhang San endured silently throughout. Only after hearing the arrowhead hit the ground did he shudder and let out a long breath, rasping, “Why’d you dig so slowly?”
Li Si had intentionally slowed down for fear Zhang San would hurt too much. Hearing that, he froze in place, guilt filling his eyes.
Zhang San glanced back at him and laughed again, lightly smacking him on the forehead. “That was me talking nonsense. Not your fault. Heat the blade again and press it against the wound to cauterize it.”
Li Si obeyed, pressing the glowing-hot blade against the narrow wound. The smell of scorched flesh instantly filled the air. Zhang San’s breathing caught, a low rough sound escaping his throat before he endured in silence once more and slowly exhaled.
With effort, he pulled out the small medicine bottle he had previously used on Li Si and handed it over. “Put the medicine on.”
Li Si had already experienced how fierce the medicine was and feared hurting him again, so he sprinkled only a thin layer over the wound. Zhang San had remained silent through the cutting and cauterizing, yet the moment the powder touched the wound, he let out a low howl and hissed through clenched teeth for quite some time before twisting his neck to inspect it himself.
“Not enough. Put more on.”
Li Si obediently poured on a thicker layer. Zhang San immediately yelped again, startling Li Si so badly that his hands shook and nearly dropped the medicine bottle.
Looking back at him, Zhang San saw Li Si’s nervous expression and knew his own cries had been rather disgraceful. Embarrassed, he explained, “An old doctor I once saved taught me this formula. Strong stuff. Not your fault.”
Li Si said nothing. He only lowered his eyes, then worried Zhang San might be cold and tried to pull the coat tighter around him. Zhang San stopped him with a wave of his hand.
“Leave it open a while. Let the blood and medicine dry first. Help me get my left sleeve off.”
Li Si stood there at a loss. After helping pull the sleeve free, he fell even deeper into silence.
He could do nothing right. He had wasted more than ten years of his life, understanding nothing, capable of nothing. During tonight’s fierce battle, he had neither the silver tongue to defend General Sun nor the martial skill to pierce heavy armor. He had nearly died uselessly, escaped only because Zhang San protected him, even gotten Zhang San wounded, and then fumbled clumsily while treating him. Guilt had already consumed him entirely.
Zhang San no longer wished to cry out in pain before Li Si and lose face, so he silently endured as well, temporarily unable to comfort him. He took a few swallows from his water gourd before finally regaining himself somewhat.
Only then did he notice how abnormally quiet the little horse soldier beside him was.
Li Si was often quiet. Over these past few days, Zhang San had seen his sorrowful silence, angry silence, confused silence, nervous silence, satisfied silence… but this was the first time he had seen such helpless silence from him.
“What’s wrong?” Zhang San asked. “Scared?”
Li Si himself did not know what to call the emotion within him. It seemed like fear, yet also like helplessness, not knowing what to do or what could even be done. After a long while, he quietly asked, “Did General Sun die?”
Zhang San sighed. “Most likely.”
“And those soldiers?”
“They probably died too.”
Li Si fell silent again.
Zhang San sighed once more. “You’ve never fought in war before. This is how it always is. One moment they’re still talking, the next moment they’re dead.”
Li Si sat there helplessly in silence.
Only a few hours earlier, he had thought he did not fear death. Yet when that Xiao spear had thrust down toward him and he knew there was no way to avoid it, his entire spine had turned ice-cold.
So he had been afraid after all.
All his life he had drifted through existence in confusion. As his Second Uncle had said before dying, it was as though he had not even truly lived before it was already ending.
How could he not fear?
Two thousand lives gone in the blink of an eye. His Second Uncle had lived as insignificantly as an ant and died just as hastily. General Sun had been a great commander, a Pacification Commissioner, a prefect, clad in golden armor atop a divine steed, commanding thousands of troops—yet his death too had taken only the blink of an eye. Death did not seem any more precious for him than it had for an ant.
They had ridden a thousand li to save a city, only to never even enter its gates before dying uselessly beneath its walls.
Was it worth it?
Was living a whole lifetime worth it?
A sorrowful fury battered against Li Si’s chest, yet had nowhere to burst forth.
Toward whom should he direct it? Toward the Xiao army invading their land? Toward Prefect Zhang who refused to open the gate? Toward Grand Preceptor Tong who abandoned the city and fled, creating Kuiyuan’s current disaster? Or toward the heavens themselves, which showed no pity for human joy or suffering and treated all living things as mere straw dogs?
——
Suddenly Zhang San wrapped his still-mobile right arm around Li Si’s icy body and pulled him into his embrace, pressing Li Si’s face against his own wounded bare shoulder. Li Si smelled the metallic scent of blood. Eyes wide open, he watched his own tears drip one by one onto Zhang San’s shoulder, sliding along the collarbone into the front of his coat.
In only a few days, he had already shed so many tears. The childish soul locked away inside his shell for more than ten years had only just emerged into the world, only to be battered bloody by the grief and suffering of mortal life.
But Zhang San knew nothing of Li Si’s withdrawn and numbed past. He simply assumed the boy had always been this much of a little crybaby his whole life. So inwardly he cursed the Imperial City Directorate for having no conscience, tricking such a simple and sensitive foolish child into risking his life.
Holding Li Si against his shoulder, he patted and coaxed him, repeating things like “Don’t cry” and “Don’t be scared.” Even he felt his own words disgustingly mushy. But if he did not comfort him, then the little fool would simply sit there with those round little horse eyes silently shedding tears. It truly tightened the heart to see.
Tsk tsk tsk. He had never known he possessed such tender feelings beneath his iron-man exterior!
He had to hurry and bring the little fool to deliver the message. Once the message was delivered, he would hurry and safely send the boy back out of the city so he could return peacefully to the capital and live a quiet life.
Having decided this, Zhang San gave Li Si one final heavy pat on the back.
“Alright, stop crying. If you keep crying your eyes will swell up and you won’t even be able to see straight when shooting arrows. Drink some water and calm down. Before dawn breaks, we need to get into the city.”
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