Futile Devices Scans

The Xiao soldiers inside the city, seeing themselves surrounded, immediately brandished their weapons and slashed at the thirty archers kneeling on the ground on either side.

Earlier, these archers had seemed like Zhang San, all tightly bound with ropes and kneeling motionless on the ground. But following Zhang San’s thunderous shout, several dozen ropes suddenly dropped from the city wall. The archers sprang up, grabbed the ropes one after another, planted their feet against the wall, and with the pull of their comrades atop the wall, climbed up in the blink of an eye.

Throwing off the ropes on their bodies, they seized the bows and arrows hidden on the city wall and released arrows downward together with their comrades.

The Xiao soldiers’ screams filled the air, and in the blink of an eye, several dozen had been shot down. The remaining men could only surge through the city gate and toward the inside of the city.

–

The “elderly, weak, women, and children” along the main road into the city also lifted their heads. The “old men” tore off their grizzled long beards, the “weak” threw away their shabby crutches, the “women” revealed men’s faces beneath their flower hairpins and coiffed buns, and the “children” straightened their deliberately hunched bodies.

The “woman” at their head reached beneath her skirt and drew out a large saber—it was none other than the real County Commandant Liu Wu. He drew the blade and led the charge into the mass of Xiao soldiers.

The Xiao soldiers suddenly saw a sturdy “woman” with white powder and rouge smeared on his face, lifting his skirt in one hand and holding a saber in the other, charging at them as viciously as a fierce ghost. They could not help letting out terrified screams.

Blocked in front and pursued from behind, these two hundred Xiao soldiers were trapped between the inner and outer barbicans. Their commander had been killed, they had lost the initiative, and no one was giving orders. Before long, nearly half of them had been slaughtered.

Seeing that the situation was bad, the remaining hundred or so men disregarded everything and desperately crowded toward the inner barbican gate, trying to break through by relying on their numbers, rush into the city, and find somewhere to hide.

Liu Wu and the others were deep in the crowd and could not block them in time. In the blink of an eye, several dozen Xiao soldiers surged onto the main road into the city.

Then a whistle suddenly rang out, and the sound of horse hooves came crisp and clear!

From the corner at the far end of the main road charged the twenty-four cavalrymen who had been hidden for a long time. At their head was the decurion who had promised to “lend Commander Zhang his strength once more,” and even the two Imperial City Directorate subordinates were among them.

The cavalry swept in like a violent storm. The decurion held a long saber, caught up with the Xiao soldier running at the front, and stabbed him through the back, piercing straight through his body. He lifted the man into the air and flung him to the roadside.

The others behind him also chased after the Xiao soldiers fleeing in all directions, surrounding and killing them.

–

The three hundred Xiao soldiers left outside the city had seen the city gate lock fall from outside, and hearing the sounds of fighting and screams within, they already knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Among them was a deputy general who had been ordered to remain behind with the troops. He immediately issued orders, and the three hundred men once again shouldered tools such as scaling ladders and hooked ropes, surging toward the city gate.

The mountain road was narrow, and the area outside the city gate was not spacious either. Several horse-trap pits further blocked the road ahead. These three hundred men were split into scattered fragments by the road, and several were even shoved by their comrades and accidentally fell into the horse-trap pits.

From behind the parapet, the Xuan archers on the city gate released arrows, while the Xiao soldiers in the front raised shields to block them and those in the rear returned fire with bows and crossbows. Beneath the rain of arrows from both sides, several dozen Xiao soldiers still managed to circle around the horse-trap pits and reach the base of the city wall first.

However, just as they rushed beneath the wall, the Xuan soldiers smashed large stones straight down onto their heads, causing countless casualties.

The deputy general flew into a rage. Drawing his saber toward the sky, he let out a roar of fury almost like a curse, forcing the soldiers to charge forward one wave after another.

–

The corpses of Xiao soldiers gradually piled up below the city wall. Several times the scaling ladders were raised against the wall, but before anyone could climb up, they were smashed apart by falling stones.

Suddenly, a tiger’s roar came from atop the city wall, shaking the entire mountain forest. A head abruptly flew out from the wall and rolled down before the horse-trap pits.

The deputy general focused his gaze from afar, and his face turned deathly pale. He could not help taking a step back—it was the minor commander’s head!

Less than half of the Xiao soldiers outside the city remained. The deputy general’s spirit collapsed, and he sounded the gong to withdraw the troops.

This battle had lasted less than half an hour. The Xiao soldiers outside the city left behind over a hundred corpses, damaged ladders and bridge planks, and scattered in utter disarray.

–

Zhang San remained bare-chested, drenched in blood from head to toe, standing motionless atop the wall as he watched the Xiao soldiers throw away helmets and armor and retreat in ruin, not even having time to pack up their tents. The four or five hundred laborers they had brought to haul supplies also fled with them, and the entire group withdrew down the mountain road. When they came, they had resembled a snake, but in retreat, they looked like a worm riddled with a thousand holes, weakly crawling over the rockslide and fleeing down the mountain.

Around him, the new and old soldiers could not help cheering. They shouted as they crowded around Commander Zhang, tossing the bows and arrows in their hands into the air.

Standing silently amid the joyful crowd, Zhang San wiped the blood from his face, but his mood was not exactly light.

—They had won a great victory in this battle, but in the end they had only killed three or four hundred men. On his way back to Ant County, he and Li Si had investigated together; the Xiao army’s new western camp had roughly three to five thousand men, not to mention that the Xiao army surrounding Kuiyuan was said to number a hundred thousand.

The Xiao army already knew Ant County existed, and after suffering such a loss, sooner or later they would return in force. And when they came, there would only be more of them, and they would only be stronger.

–

County Commandant Liu lifted his bloodstained long skirt and ran awkwardly up onto the wall, stopping the crowd cheering around Commander Zhang. He also carried the tiger-fur cloak over to the Commander—these people were so busy being happy that they had not noticed the Commander was still bare-chested in the cold wind!

Wrapped in the warmth of the tiger fur, Zhang San slowly let out a hot breath and instructed Liu Wu, “Have the doctors treat the wounded immediately. Personally take men out of the city to handle the battlefield. Bring back all usable armor, weapons, arrowheads, stones, and even the Xiao bandits’ tents and supplies. Have Chen Lu lead people in making an inventory. Throw all the Xiao corpses down the cliff. Don’t leave them under the city wall for long, lest they cause an epidemic.”

After this battle, Liu Wu admired him utterly and shouted, “Yes, Commander!”

Zhang San glanced at him and saw that he was still wearing that cumbersome skirt. Puzzled, he said, “Tear it off and throw it away. Why are you still wearing it?”

Liu Wu showed an expression that clearly said, “Commander, why are you so wasteful?” and sighed. “I can’t. This is A’Lu’s mother’s skirt. I still have to wash it clean and return it.”

–

County Magistrate Shu Da Fu had curled into a ball, shivering in a corner of the inner barbican. The headless corpse of the minor commander lay at his feet, blood pooling into a slick puddle that had soaked his shoes and socks.

Earlier, when Zhang San came to cut off the head, even in the middle of the chaotic battle, he had not forgotten to bare his tiger teeth and give Shu Da Fu a brilliant smile, frightening his soul half out of his body. Now both his legs were limp, and he could not even stand, let alone take advantage of the chaos to flee for his life—besides, where could he flee to?

A boot covered in dust stepped into the pool of blood.

Draped in the tiger-fur cloak, his long black hair loose, glossy, and fluffy, Zhang San stood before him like a true bandit chief, holding a blood-dripping single-edged saber upside down.

This bandit tiger Zhang first bent down, searched the minor commander’s corpse, found the dragon-patterned jade pendant, weighed it in his hand, then stood and tucked it into his own robes.

Then he smiled at the county magistrate amiably, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth. “Da Fu, you worked hard.”

The county magistrate began squeaking and crying, snot and tears streaming down his face. “C-C-C-Commander, don’t kill me! I-I-I helped you just now! Please, spare my life…”

“Killing you is unnecessary,” Zhang San said amiably. “This Commander isn’t a bandit. How could I do something so violent and murderous? County Commandant Liu?”

County Commandant Liu came running over while lifting his skirt and shouted with full vigor, “This subordinate is here!”

Commander Zhang said happily, “Confiscate it.”

–

Li Si knew nothing of the fierce battle that had taken place in the city that morning.

At sunset the previous day, he had already climbed up the cliff on the opposite side. Imitating what Brother Xiao had done before, he set up the tent and lit a campfire to warm himself.

He had not carried the little pot, so there was no more hot goat milk to drink. He could only take out his dry rations and gnaw at them dryly, then skewer the large fish and roast it over the fire.

Before the fish was fully cooked, the sky had already gone completely dark. On the dim black cliff, he was the only person there, keeping watch over a fish with round, staring eyes as it sizzled.

He had not noticed last night that the cliff was actually this cold. When wind blew through the forest, those rustling sounds were actually this strange and eerie. If the campfire contained even a little damp wood, not only would it burn poorly, it would also give off black smoke and release an unpleasant charred smell.

He had once lived silently and alone for fifteen years without realizing his own silence and loneliness. Now, after merely having been surrounded by noise and warmth for a little more than ten days, he had begun to taste the flavor of loneliness.

His throat was dry and hoarse. He drank half a gourd of water, yet still felt parched and uncomfortable. It was no longer peaceful and comfortable like last night, nor did he have that urge to speak that he could not hold back.

He sat inside the tent, troubled as he hugged his knees and buried his face in them. He had only been separated from Brother Xiao for one day, yet he already felt this awful. How was he supposed to endure the days to come?

Fortunately, once he returned to the capital, he would be able to see Grandma. The thought of Grandma made him happy again. But once he thought that after settling Grandma down, he would come back to find Brother Xiao, he immediately felt reluctant to part with Grandma too.

He picked at his fingers and calculated whether, after the war ended, he could beg His Majesty to transfer Brother Xiao back to the capital as well. That way, he would have both Grandma and Brother Xiao. It would be best if they were assigned to the same military camp, and perhaps they might even be able to live together.

Thinking of this made him smile. He rested his arm on his knees, then pressed his face against his arm and could not help smiling for a long while, not even noticing that the fish had burned.

–

Frowning as he finished eating the unpleasant burnt fish, Li Si put out the fire, sealed the tent, wrapped himself in the cloth blanket, and then pulled the tiger-fur hat out of his pack—yes, he could not bring the tiger-fur cloak, but he could bring the tiger-fur hat.

He covered his head warmly with the hat, protecting his cold ears, and curled his body into a small ball. While imagining the wonderful life of living in the same military camp as Brother Xiao, he finally managed to fall asleep with some peace of mind.

–

Li Si slept until daybreak before waking. Outside the tent came faint rustling sounds, and he did not know what was making them.

Carefully, he lifted one corner of the tent and looked out through the gap—it was a little squirrel, dragging a fluffy large tail behind it as it sniffed at the fragrant charred fish bones beside the extinguished campfire.

Li Si lifted open the tent, and when the squirrel saw him come out, it did not hurry to flee. Instead, it tilted its head and curiously examined him. Four dark, glossy eyes silently looked at one another.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept over the cliff, blowing the fish bones several inches away. Startled, the squirrel turned and ran off without looking back.

Once again, only Li Si remained on the cliff.

He relit the campfire, warmed himself while toasting the dry flatbread, silently ate two pieces, felt full, and then drank a small bit of water—not daring to drink too much, afraid that dry flatbread plus water would swell in his stomach.

After that, he rose and went to the bridge pillars again, holding onto a pillar as he looked toward the opposite cliff—Brother Xiao’s figure had not appeared.

This was also very normal. Judging by walking speed, Brother Xiao should only have returned to Ant County after dark yesterday. After resting for one night, no matter how quickly he hurried, he would not be able to return until noon today.

Li Si sat by the cliff edge and waited a while longer. The longer he waited, the emptier his heart felt. So he climbed to his feet and began looking for things to do.

–

He went into the mountain forest and gathered a bundle of firewood, carrying it back and piling it on the cliff for the craftsmen who would later come to repair the bridge to use for warmth. It still seemed early before noon, so he then tried heading down the mountain for a while. He crept to the direct rear of Tianmen Pass, crouched in a treetop, and carefully observed the number of soldiers in the small pass city, the frequency of patrols, and the distribution of the defenders.

He was watching with complete concentration when his ear suddenly twitched. Glancing sideways, he saw two patrolling Xiao soldiers arrive beneath a tree not far away.

The two did not notice him in the treetop. Each carried a curved saber, and as they chatted, they struggled forward through the thick snow.

As they walked, they suddenly discovered a trail of footprints in the snow. The two grew alert, drew their sabers, and were examining where the footprints led when they suddenly heard a crisp birdcall above their heads.

One of the soldiers lifted his head first. Before he could clearly see Li Si in the tree, he first saw the arrow flying toward him—it pierced through his throat, and he fell backward to the ground without making a sound.

The other had not yet managed to shout. A dark shadow above him leapt down lightly, tackled him to the ground, and swept a sleeve knife across his throat. Thus, he too made no sound as his head plunged into the snow.

Li Si crouched beside the two of them and searched out a heavy money pouch from each man’s body. Opening them, he saw they were filled with Great Xuan coins, clearly plundered loot, and stuffed both into his own robes. He dragged the two away from the mountain road, chose a secluded place that would be hard to find, and covered the corpses with leaves and snow. He also took away both men’s sabers, as well as their bows and quivers.

Finally, he used branches to sweep the footprints and bloodstains on the ground into disorder, then carried the spoils and returned lightly to the cliff.

–

By the time he returned, it was already noon. Expectantly, he held onto the bridge pillar and looked toward the opposite side… Brother Xiao still had not appeared.

So he practiced a set of saber techniques on the cliff, then went back to look over eagerly again…

Then he practiced a set of fist techniques…

Then he gathered a second bundle of firewood…

A third bundle…

A fourth bundle…

Noon seemed to have passed long ago.

Li Si’s heart gradually grew somewhat panicked, and he worried that something might have happened to Brother Xiao on the mountain road. He no longer left the cliff edge, but stood beside the bridge pillar and kept looking and looking. He looked until his eyes ached, and his heart ached in waves too.

Finally, finally… more than ten figures appeared on the opposite cliff!

Li Si was first delighted, but immediately his face crumpled again—his eyesight was good, and he could see clearly that Brother Xiao was not among them.

Could something have happened to Brother Xiao?

–

Li Si waved his arm toward the other side, silently greeting them. Very soon, the other side also waved back in greeting. Li Si then signaled for them to move farther away, tied the thin rope to an arrow, and shot it across to the opposite side.

The craftsmen on that side were also very efficient. They pulled the arrow from the tree trunk and tied a specially made thick rope soaked in oil to the thin rope. Li Si then pulled the thick rope over to his side.

After several thick ropes were pulled over in this way and secured to trees at both ends, the craftsmen on the other side hung the pulley and basket onto the ropes. First, they transported a load of stones as a test. Seeing that the stones crossed steadily, one bold craftsman climbed into the basket, and before long he too was transported across.

Li Si waited beneath the tree, caught and steadied the basket, and helped the shaken craftsman down. The craftsman was a young, strong man, but it was also his first time riding a zip line. His face was pale and his lips were blue with fright as he said in a trembling voice, “Young Master Li, thank you, thank you.”

“Big Brother, you’ve worked hard,” Li Si said seriously. Wanting to comfort him, he reached to touch his hand—no, that would not do—so he patted him on the back a few times instead. “Big Brother, rest for a while.”

“No need, no need. I’m fine,” the craftsman said, shaking his head. “Young Master Li, the Commander asked me to tell you that he has important matters to handle and cannot come to pick you up.”

Li Si nervously furrowed his brows. “Is he injured?”

The craftsman shook his head again and again. “No, no, don’t worry. He told me to say that too. He’s perfectly fine. He told you to return with peace of mind and be careful on the mountain road.”

Only then did Li Si relax and nod.

The two of them worked together and soon set up the second zip line as well—the first was lower and slid from the opposite cliff over to this side; the second was higher and slid from this side back to the opposite cliff.

Li Si left the firewood, tent, and blanket for the craftsman, and also left the four sets of weapons he had collected for the craftsmen to defend themselves. Then he climbed into the basket himself. The craftsman gave it a push from behind, and he flew out from the cliff edge.

The sound of wind rushed past his ears, and his temple hair rose with it. This was the first time he had truly “flown” through the air, yet not only was he unafraid, he was extremely curious. He even straightened his body and stuck his head out of the basket, looking downward the entire way.

In only a few breaths, he reached the opposite cliff. Several craftsmen helped him down, and everyone immediately began busily transporting materials and setting up the bridge, with no time left to chat with him.

–

Li Si said farewell to the craftsmen and hurried toward the mountain road, wanting to return sooner and see Brother Xiao.

He had walked only about a hundred steps when he suddenly saw a golden-yellow figure emerge from the bend in the mountain road ahead.

“Brother Xiao!” Li Si said joyfully. Brother Xiao had still come to pick him up after all!

Zhang San was still draped in the tiger-fur cloak, panting from hurrying along the road. He took several quick steps forward and opened both arms, catching the Li Si who flew toward him in a full embrace.

The two hugged each other tightly. Then Zhang San quickly pushed him away and carefully looked him over from head to toe. “Yesterday, I saw you kill two Xiao bandits by the river. Were you hurt?”

Li Si shook his head, then immediately threw himself into Zhang San’s arms again. He rubbed his face against Zhang San’s furry shoulder in relief, then sniffed here and there in confusion. “There’s a smell of blood. Are you injured?”

Zhang San shook his head. “I killed Xiao bandits too and was delayed by an hour.” He took Li Si’s hand. “We’ll talk while we walk.”

Holding his hand, Li Si followed him down the mountain. As they walked, he pulled the tiger-fur hat from his flattened pack and put it back on Brother Xiao’s head, then took four money pouches from his robes and stuffed them into Zhang San’s cloak.

“What is this?” Zhang San asked.

“I confiscated them from Xiao soldiers. Use them as military funds.”

The moment military funds were mentioned, Zhang San became happy. “Your Brother Xiao has money now! Today, I finally confiscated that county magistrate’s estate! Hahahahaha!”

His tiger laughter rang through the mountain forest, shaking even the snow on the trees along both sides of the road until it rustled down.

His laugh was incomparably happy—meeting at a time when the nation and family were both in turmoil, Li Si had often seen him with his brows tightly locked, and when he bared his tiger teeth in a brilliant smile, it was mostly to express threat. This was the first time Li Si had seen him this happy, and he could not help smiling along with him.

Zhang San stared blankly for a moment. His foot slipped, and Li Si hurriedly pulled him steady.

He stopped in place and refused to keep walking, saying overbearingly, “Smile again.”

Li Si did not know he had “smiled” and looked at him blankly.

Zhang San reached out and pinched his chin, squeezing the flesh of his cheek like a rogue teasing a good man. “Like just now. Smile again.”

This little thing placed his clean, fair little face in his palm. First he looked blank for a moment, then tentatively curved the corners of his mouth slightly. Sure enough, he obediently “smiled” for him.

Zhang San’s expression turned ferocious for an instant, and he suddenly leaned closer.

Li Si opened his eyes wide in confusion, not understanding what Brother Xiao intended to do—Brother Xiao’s expression looked as though he was about to devour him in one bite.

But he did not step back or dodge. He merely stood there quietly, watching him with eyes full of confusion.

Zhang San found it difficult to control himself and wanted to do something wicked, but he himself had never properly done such a thing either—holding someone’s face and forcibly “feeding” him while taking advantage of his weakness did not count—and before he had even bitten those soft lips, their noses bumped together first. Li Si startled and trembled. Zhang San abruptly came back to his senses and retreated several steps in succession.

Li Si asked blankly, “Brother Xiao?”

Zhang San did not answer him. He turned his head aside and looked toward the distant mountain forest. His chest rose and fell violently several times before he turned back as though nothing had happened, smiling stiffly as he said, “Let’s hurry. It’ll be dark soon.”

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