Futile Devices Scans

Zhang San himself had not known he could be capable of something so great.

He knew the earthen fortress was too small. It could defend against a small number of scouts and foot soldiers, but it could not withstand proper siege equipment; sooner or later, the Xiao army would break into the earthen fortress. So several months earlier, through General She, he had procured a batch of saltpeter, sulfur, and realgar from Lanzhou, and according to the formula General She had given him, mixed them into a large number of gunpowder jars, hid them inside the fortress, then used Heaven-Shaking Thunder bombs as the trigger.

Author’s Notes: Heaven-Shaking Thunder, a spherical gunpowder weapon developed by Great Xuan, with a cast-iron shell, filled with gunpowder inside, and fitted with a fuse, regarded as an early prototype of a bomb.

After withdrawing the soldiers just now, he himself had stayed behind until the very end and lit the long fuse.

He had originally thought that blowing up the earthen fortress would be enough, but he had not expected the explosion to trigger a landslide as well. The mountain rocks near the earthen fortress rumbled down, smashing the riverbank where the fortress stood into a complete wreck.

He was the last to run and was nearly buried in the tunnel. Covered in dust from head to toe, he was dragged out of the shaft by Liu Wu and the others.

–

When he came out and looked, the Zhou brothers, Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba, were standing outside with mourning faces. Zhou Ba had even started crying.

Zhang San said, “What are you crying for! You blind fools! I’m not dead!”

Zhou Ba said, “Wuwuwu… my sentry tower…”

He had stayed there for half a year. How deep his feelings were! After it was newly repaired, every single stone had been laid by him and his elder brother’s own hands! There was even a little barbecue stove! And with one blast, the Boss had blown it all away! Wuwuwu!

Zhang San sighed. “Stop crying! I’ll build another one for you two at the southern city gate, the tallest one, with the farthest view!”

“Wuwuwu, don’t let anyone else build it. My brother and I will build it ourselves…”

“Build it, build it, build it! You two go build it right now! Go, go, go!”

–

After appeasing the Zhou brothers, Zhang San did not even have time to drink a mouthful of water before personally leading men down the mountain path. He climbed onto the rockfall halfway up the mountain and looked down the slope. He saw that the riverbank was covered in fallen stones and Xiao army corpses, but the remaining Xiao troops were retreating in perfect order back to their camp on the other side of the river. Their great banner had not fallen, and its black face still fluttered in the wind.

—How damned strange! That western camp commander had actually escaped disaster again!

–

The western camp commander also thought it was damned strange! According to the soldiers who had fled back earlier, there was only one city gate on the mountain, a tiny little city the size of a palm squeezed between cracks in the hills! Where had so many soldiers come from? What connection did it have to the earthen fortress at the foot of the mountain? Where had all the archers inside the fortress gone? And there had even been explosives buried inside!

Over these two days, he had not even touched the city gate and had already lost about eight hundred troops halfway up the mountain and at its foot! The explosion had even alarmed the Xiao army’s commander-in-chief, who sent someone to call him to account. He could only fob them off again and again, saying that the Xuan troops were crafty, that the mountain was likely not so simple, and that there were probably several thousand troops stationed there! He begged for a few more days, until he could take this city.

–

The two sides fought bitterly for several days.

The western camp commander borrowed one hundred crossbowmen from the southern camp. Under cover of their powerful crossbows, he finally charged to the base of the rockfall, set up scaling ladders, and drove back the Xuan archers blocking the way there.

After chasing off the defenders, he did not dare advance rashly over the rocks again, fearing there might be more traps and obstacles ahead. So he set up sentry posts along the mountain path, made camp there, and ordered the soldiers to use manpower to chisel and move the fallen stones. They worked day and night without rest for a full two days before they barely opened a gap two meters wide.

That night, they rested on the mountain path, planning to transport the siege equipment through the gap and up the mountain at daybreak the next morning, then launch a large-scale assault on the city.

Before dawn the next day, terrified screams from the sentries rang out through the dim darkness.

Dozens of maddened oxen had broken through the sentry posts and charged in through the gap, red cloth covering their heads and blazing oil bladders hanging from their backs.

The mountain path was narrow, and the Xiao army’s tents were all crowded into a single line, like a long black snake. The maddened oxen charged into the camp, crashing wildly all the way through, burning the tents along the path clean from the snake’s head to its tail. Most of the Xiao soldiers were still deep asleep and had no time to rise. Amid shrill screams, they were burned along with the camp, turning into human torches…

–

The western camp commander led the remnants of his army and fled in utter disgrace on horseback. He did not even dare stop at the foot of the mountain, and only after crossing the bridge over the river did he dare look back in panic—only to see the mountain path burning into a sea of fire.

Of the three thousand elites of the western camp, after this explosion and this fire, only about three hundred remained.

–

The mountain fire burned for a day and a night, and by noon the next day, it still had not stopped. The living creatures of the mountain could not escape this calamity, and large swaths of forest were destroyed as well. The whole of Yuquan Mountain was shrouded in black smoke, and half the mountainside was covered in a thick layer of ash.

Ant County was protected by mountain walls on three sides and had not been affected by the mountain fire, but smoke and dust still filled the air everywhere. According to the county yamen’s orders, the villagers all tightly shut their doors and windows and stayed indoors, hiding from the dust and smoke.

–

Zhang San had a wet cloth wrapped over his mouth and nose. Alone, he leaned against the newly built sentry tower at the southern city gate, staring blankly. The archers defending the city had all taken shelter indoors, and even the two Zhou brothers, Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba, could not bear the smoke and dust and did not dare continue keeping watch there.

Zhang San’s head and face were covered in mountain ash, but he did not raise a hand to brush it away. He only watched the firelight in the distance in silence.

He knew this move of his had been too ruthless. Not only had he sacrificed the county’s strong oxen, he had also destroyed a vast stretch of mountain forest.

If Sisi were here, he would definitely grieve for the mountain’s living creatures and those oxen. He would definitely blame him.

If Sisi were here…

–

Zhang San numbly lowered his eyes. Since he was young, he had known there was a mad seed in his heart, arrogant and impulsive, bold and reckless, violent and untamed.

When he was little, it was thanks to Elder Sister’s big slaps and wooden boards that he had been strictly disciplined, suppressing his ferocity. After joining the army, he had entered Chief Commander Wang and Brother Xu’s command, and by good fortune, father and son had restrained him, teaching him to understand reason and teaching him to control himself.

After he came to know Sisi, although Sisi seemed even more impulsive than him, all of that came from a heart of kind, innocent passion, warm and bright as it infected him, instead making him more restrained and more self-reflective.

But ever since he parted from Sisi, his heart seemed to have been dug out whole, leaving him empty and numb, muddled and dim.

That day, after he announced that he would stay and defend Ant County and would never surrender, not a single commoner in the county had been willing to leave. They all said they would follow him in defending their homeland to the death and fight to the very end.

In truth, that made sense too. The Xiao army had surrounded the city for so long; those who wanted to flee had long since fled. As for those who remained, some did not want to flee, and some could not flee—the villagers in the county were mostly poor, with no one to rely on, no money, and no power. If they went elsewhere, they could only become displaced refugees begging by the roadside, starving and freezing, their lives impossible to protect. Besides, even if they barely survived, it would only be living a few more months. If Kuiyuan fell and Great Xuan perished, would they not still become sheep-slaves, beaten and killed at will?

The refugees who had drifted into the earthen fortress also understood this truth. That was why they had continued to stay and had done their utmost to help the Boss.

He carried the lives of the entire county’s people on his back, and also carried the hope of Kuiyuan City. In order to win this battle, in order to protect everyone, he had no choice but to harden his heart, no choice but to fully release the ferocity he had suppressed for so many years.

But the more ruthlessly he killed, the colder his blood became, and the more numb he grew.

If Sisi were here…

At least he would scold him a few times, make him wake up a little, calm down a little… and perhaps make him a little warmer too.

–

As though finally unable to bear the spread of the mountain fire and the suffering of all living beings, the sky, which had not rained for half a month, suddenly darkened. After only a short while of lightning and thunder, drizzling rain began to fall.

The great fire gradually died, and the dust and smoke dispersed.

Zhang San still stood numbly in the rain, staring blankly at the mountain forest burned pitch-black. The rain was a little warmer than his ice-cold body, softly embracing his loneliness and self-reproach. Water flowed down his cold, hard jaw and dripped onto his broad chest.

“…Brother Xiao!” Suddenly, he heard a faint voice behind him in the rain, as if coming from below the city tower.

He slowly blinked and let out a soft laugh.

When had he fallen into a dream, that he could hear Sisi’s voice? Had he failed to escape from the tunnel, or had this great fire burned him to death as well? Was even this gentle rain also a dream, all of it a foolish fantasy before his death?

–

He did not turn back. The person below was still far away, panting heavily, and hurriedly called again, “Brother Xiao!”

Zhang San’s body stiffened.

Stiffly, he raised a hand and tore away the wet cloth from his face, yet still did not dare turn back. He was afraid that the moment he turned back, this dream would awaken.

Familiar footsteps came up the city tower, climbing the steps toward him, light and urgent, so fast they were like his heartbeats, pounding like drums and thunder.

His back was suddenly pounced on hard, making his breath catch, his soul shudder, and nearly sending him pitching forward off the sentry tower.

Two arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back and holding him tightly with warmth.

–

Li Si’s warm cheek rubbed against the back of his icy neck, leaving a hurried breath beside his ear. Then he immediately lifted his head, impatiently turning Zhang San’s stiff, cold body around. Face-to-face, he called, “Brother Xiao.”

Zhang San stared at him blankly.

This was not a dream.

In dreams… there had never been such a dirty Sisi.

Li Si was just like him, covered from head to toe in mountain ash. Once drenched by the rain, it had turned into black, muddy slurry all over him. His forehead was also covered in mud and ash, and only his mouth, nose, and cheeks seemed to have been covered by a face cloth, barely still clean. But when he had rubbed against Zhang San’s filthy neck just now, he had smeared black mud here and there across them too.

Zhang San stared blankly at this little banished immortal who had once again fallen into the mortal world and wrapped himself in dust and mud. Unable to believe his sudden appearance, he asked incoherently, “Did you fall down from heaven…? Didn’t I tell you not to come back…? How did you…”

Li Si’s jewel-bright eyes filled with tears, from joy and also from longing. Holding back tears, he loudly said the words he had been suppressing for many days: “Big tiger! Big liar!”

He cupped Brother Xiao’s dirty, dazed face and with all his strength, showed him some very forceful “affection.”

–

That day, Liu Wu had originally been in the clerks’ duty room at the county yamen, accompanying Chen Lu as he counted supplies, when the defenders from the northern city gate came to report, “Envoy Li is back! He went to the southern gate to look for the Commander!” He hurriedly mounted a horse, carrying Junior Clerk Chen with him, and together they went to welcome Envoy Li.

The two of them met the light wind and fine rain, breathing in the fresh, sweet air they had been parted from for two days. The horses’ hooves went clip-clop, clip-clop, and they made their way lightly all the way to the southern city gate.

Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba also came out from the duty room beneath the city gate and stood in the street. The two brothers raised their heads together, mouths wide open, as though catching rain.

Liu Wu swung down from his horse, then lifted Chen Lu down as well. As he walked, he asked, “What are you two doing? Where are the Commander and Envoy Li?”

The Zhou brothers could not close their mouths. They pointed up toward the city tower.

So Liu Wu and Chen Lu also looked up, and in an instant, both their mouths fell open too, and they also began catching rain.

—A new sentry tower had been built atop the city tower, standing tall in midair. The Commander and Envoy Li were standing on top of the sentry tower, wrapped around each other in the wind and rain, fiercely gnawing at each other’s mouths.

Liu Wu was dazed for a long while before raising his arm and covering Chen Lu’s eyes.

Chen Lu said, “Wu Zhi…”

Liu Wu said, “Shut up…”

–

The other soldiers in the duty room saw the four of them looking so disordered and were extremely curious. They poked their heads around at the door, all wanting to come out and watch the excitement.

Liu Wu said, “Go back in! Close the door! Whoever dares come out will be dealt with by military law!”

–

Only after the rain had stopped did the Commander and Envoy Li slowly and reluctantly come down from the city tower.

The Commander’s mouth had been bitten swollen, and his split lips silently trickled with threads of blood. He did not wipe it away either, his face completely calm as though nothing had happened.

Envoy Li’s mouth was also somewhat swollen, and several deep tiger-tooth marks were still on his cheeks. Although there was a clear tear track at the corner of his eye, his whole face was happy, and his eyes were clear and bright.

Since the two of them were not embarrassed, the embarrassment fell to everyone else. Liu Wu and Chen Lu could barely stand to look at them, and the Zhou brothers had also been driven back into the duty room by Liu Wu.

Liu Wu said, “Cough. Envoy Li, why have you come back?”

Li Si had a large bamboo basket on his back, tightly covered with oilcloth—he had forgotten to take it off earlier even while hugging Brother Xiao and being “affectionate” with all his might. He took the bamboo basket down and stuffed it into Liu Wu’s arms, saying excitedly, “I came to bring you pigeons.”

Liu Wu caught the basket of cooing living things. “Pi… pigeons?”

Li Si said, “Carrier pigeons from Yuci County. Pacification Commissioner Li has already brought the reinforcements to Yuci County.”

He then lowered his head and rummaged through his bundle, first taking out two plump oil-paper packets. The fragrance of peanuts rushed out.

Liu Wu: “???”

Li Si carefully handed the peanut cakes to Junior Clerk Chen to hold first, then continued rummaging and took out another flat oil-paper packet. When he opened it, inside was a paper book stained with a rich peanut fragrance.

Li Si said, “The cipher book Pacification Commissioner Li gave me, for writing secret letters to him.”

Liu Wu asked, “Who is Pacification Commissioner Li?”

–

Li Si introduced Pacification Commissioner Li to everyone.

Yuci County lay east of Jiao County and south of Kuiyuan City. Over a month earlier, young Commissioner Zuo’s reinforcements had reached this place. At the time, young Commissioner Zuo had originally wanted to station troops at Yuci, conserve their strength, wait for the other reinforcements to arrive, and then advance north together to attack the Xiao army. But under the court’s urging and after being abandoned by allied forces, he had no choice but to march north alone, and was surrounded by the Xiao army in a mountain ravine dozens of li from Kuiyuan City. All his efforts fell short at the last step, and he died tragically in battle.

And now, Li Gang had also come alone, arriving at Yuci. He did not dare act rashly and repeat the same mistake, so he stationed himself there, training and nourishing the army while sending Li Si out, wanting to establish contact with Ant County and Kuiyuan so they could discuss a plan to defeat the enemy.

Li Si, alone, had gone through twists and turns to bypass Jiao County, then returned secretly to Ant County through the hidden path near the mountain.

These past two days, when the mountain fire had been spreading, happened to be when he was sneaking over. Fortunately, the fire had been on the front mountain, while the hidden path was on the back mountain, with a tall ridge between them, so he had not been burned into the sea of fire as well.

–

When Zhang San heard this, lingering fear flooded him. From behind, he hugged Sisi tightly, burying his face preciously into the hollow of his shoulder—the big tiger had instead become the one burying his face and acting spoiled.

Liu Wu, unable to keep watching, said, “Cough! I… I’ll go back to the county yamen first and settle the pigeons.”

Chen Lu, who still wanted to watch but was dragged away by Liu Wu, said, “I… I’ll go back to the county yamen and write a letter to Kuiyuan.”

Li Si said, “Please wait a moment, both of you.”

Li Si gave one packet of peanut cakes to the two of them. “My mother had me bring some capital specialties. Please have a taste, and trouble you to share some with Sister Wu and her husband too.”

–

Liu Wu and Chen Lu, one carrying pigeons on his back and the other tucking away peanut cakes, hurriedly mounted the horse and ran off.

Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba opened the duty room door a tiny crack and secretly peered outside. Seeing that the Boss was still hugging Young Master Li and refusing to let go, Zhou Qi very tactlessly asked in a small voice, “Boss, can we come out now?”

Zhang San’s face was buried behind Li Si’s shoulder, and his voice came out muffled. “Shut up and close the door.”

Zhou Qi said, “Yes!”

–

Boss Zhang tyrannically locked everyone indoors, while he himself openly continued holding Young Master Li. Like a big cat, he rubbed against his neck for a long time, rubbing enough to make up for four months.

It was Li Si who was rubbed until his whole face turned red, and he could hardly stand anymore. In a tiny voice, he struggled and said, “Brother Xiao.”

“Mm?”

“It’ll be dark soon.”

“Mm.”

“I want to go to Elder Sister’s house to eat steamed cakes.”

Zhang San lifted his face in disbelief. “We haven’t seen each other for so long! And all you can think about is steamed cakes?”

Li Si was also thinking about pork stew, but it was not as though he could eat that now. He struggled free from Brother Xiao’s arms and carefully rummaged through his bundle again, taking out a whole nest of small white eggs wrapped in clothing.

“These are the eggs the pigeons laid these past days. There are twenty of them. I saved them all for Elder Sister to make steamed cake filling.”

Zhang San: “…”

Li Si: “… Ow!!”

–

Another pair of tooth marks appeared on Li Si’s face.

Before leaving, he knocked open the duty room door and shared the peanut cakes with Zhou Qi, Zhou Ba, and the soldiers defending the city as well—there were too many people, so each person only broke off a tiny little corner.

Zhou Qi cherished that tiny fragrant corner as he chewed it, then leaned to the Boss’s ear and whispered, “Boss, congratulations, congratulations. Your stronghold bride’s back!”

The Boss gave a cold snort. This fellow was usually blind and had no sense at all, but this one call of “stronghold bride” rather pleased the tiger’s heart!

The Boss bared his tiger teeth and gave Zhou Qi’s back a satisfied tiger-paw slap, knocking Zhou Qi into a stagger. Then he took the hand of his stronghold bride, lost and found again, and swaggered grandly back to the tiger’s den!

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