Li Si noticed a strange new scent clinging to Brother Xiao, something almost beastlike. Brother Xiao had washed himself thoroughly, yet the damp scent seemed to seep from his skin itself, lingering around him with each scorching breath, impossible for even the night wind to scatter.
Brother Xiao’s neck and ears were bright red, but not in their usual way. Li Si felt he had seen Brother Xiao like this before, though for the moment he could not remember when.
Curious, he kept following, repeatedly trying to press close to the back of Brother Xiao’s neck and smell him properly, only for Brother Xiao to shove him away each time. He would not even let Li Si hold his hand anymore.
Li Si trailed behind him, both aggrieved and confused.
Zhang San glanced back, wanting to coax him but also deeply embarrassed and annoyed. “Little fool! You grew so tall for nothing, and you still don’t understand a thing!”
If Sisi had been even a little more aware, I could’ve dragged him underwater just now and had us take care of it together. But he looked so innocent and clueless, without the slightest reaction. It only made me look like some self-important, crude, lecherous rogue!
＊
Taking advantage of the darkness, the two crept close to the Xiao camp and found its most secluded sentry post. Each chose one sentry. At the same moment, they silently slit the men’s throats from behind, supporting the corpses and slowly lowering them to the ground, then slipped into the camp one after the other.
＊
By now, the western camp commander had become a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow, a trapped beast with no escape. For him to have replaced his predecessor and commanded the western camp, he naturally possessed some military merit and experience. He was far more careful and steady than the previous commander. But he had lost because he underestimated his enemy, never imagining that an obscure little city tucked into this mountain could fight such a vicious battle.
He had never seen the general defending the mountain and did not know that the arrow which struck him had been fired by that very man. He knew only that the bastard fought dirty—nothing but ambushes, sneak attacks, and schemes. Before he had even touched the city gate, he had lost nearly all his infantry, with only around three hundred cavalry left to cover his retreat down the mountain.
He knew he was completely finished. Afraid he would lose his head, he did not dare flee back to face the commander-in-chief. He concealed the news of his defeat and refused to report it, remaining nervously beside the river while sending men to the southern camp to request reinforcements.
But the southern camp had sent word that day saying a Great Xuan reinforcement army had arrived at Yuci County several days earlier and might soon move north. The southern camp was already on full alert and could not spare troops to waste on a meaningless little city. They told him either to return obediently and confess his failure to the commander-in-chief, or wait a little longer until they defeated the reinforcements and could come help him.
The western camp commander could only stay where he was and “wait a little longer.”
When heavy rain fell and extinguished the mountain fire, he became even more afraid that cavalry might suddenly emerge from the mountain and sweep down to slaughter his remaining camp. He lived in constant terror, repeatedly warning the sentries to defend the newly built bridge over the Wen River to the death and keep their eyes fixed on the official mountain road. If a large enemy force came down, they were to cut the bridge ropes immediately. Escape came first.
After spending the entire day in fear, he saw no movement whatsoever from the mountain road, as though the enemy could not even be bothered with this remnant force. Naturally, he feared a night attack too. Unable to sleep, he summoned a personal guard and ordered several more soldiers to defend the bridge.
The guard obeyed and left. The commander relit the oil lamp in his tent, put on his armor, and paced restlessly back and forth.
His anxious shadow swayed across the thin gray-white tent cloth.
＊
A soft sound suddenly came from outside, as though something heavy had fallen onto thick grass.
“Who is it?” he barked quietly.
Dead silence answered him.
One personal guard had gone to deliver orders, leaving only one guard outside the tent. Firelight flickered beyond the cloth. From inside, he had originally been able to see the guard’s shadow. Now there was nothing.
He gripped the curved saber at his waist, drew it without a sound, and stared fixedly at the tent entrance.
Still no noise. Still no shadow. The guard seemed to have been struck down by some ghostly creature that came and went without sound or trace, impossible to tell when or where it might appear.
His teeth trembled from tension, grinding together. He wanted to shout for help. “Come—”
Whoosh!
Another soft sound.
The crisp crack of breaking bone that followed could be heard only by his own ears. He lowered his eyes and saw an arrow shaft protruding through his throat, the feathers at its tail faintly wet and still carrying fresh moisture.
Water and death swallowed him together. His body went limp and collapsed. Only a faint gurgling came from his throat as his hand released his weapon and clawed weakly at the ground. He forced his eyes sideways and reached out, trying to shake the nearby table and make some noise. Two pairs of feet stepped silently into the tent, one after the other. The boots were wet, water dripping from the hems of their trousers. They looked like two water ghosts that had just risen from the river.
One boot lifted and came down upon his struggling arm.
“Little colt, not bad at all. I knew you’d be the most useful,” the Great Xuan man standing over him said with a laugh, then glanced down. “We tried to kill you three times and couldn’t manage it. I thought you had three heads and six arms. Turns out you were just waiting for King Yama Li to come collect your life.”
The commander understood no Great Xuan speech. He could hear only the amusement in the man’s voice. His eyes rolled upward. He saw wet, disheveled hair, its shadow covering the man’s brows and eyes and leaving only the hard line of his jaw visible. Then the man smiled brightly, revealing two sharp tiger teeth.
In that instant, the hidden arrow from the abandoned fortress, the earth-shaking explosion, and the rampaging fire oxen all flashed again before the commander’s eyes. He let out one final terrified gurgle. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. His eyes widened—he had actually been frightened to death by the smile!
＊
Zhang San went, “Hm?” and lowered his head to kick the corpse. “How useless.”
“Brother Xiao, let’s go quickly. Someone will come back soon.” Li Si held his bow and looked toward the tent entrance as he spoke quietly. Earlier, while lying in ambush, he had seen a guard leave after receiving orders.
“Wait. This fellow is afraid of dying, and the armor he’s wearing looks unusual. Come help me strip it off.”
＊
The two killed the bandit and robbed him while they were at it, swiftly peeling off the light armor worn close against his body, searching a pouch of gold ingots from him, and not even sparing the plate of dried meat on the table. Li Si followed Zhang San toward the exit with a fragrant strip of jerky between his teeth, cheeks bulging as he chewed.
Zhang San held the stolen light armor. It was chain mail, made from countless tiny iron rings linked one through another. Light, thin, and close-fitting, it could protect against sharp blades. Using his own sleeve, Zhang San carefully wiped away the bloodstains before turning back and pulling it over Li Si. “Wear it. Raise your arms.”
Li Si disliked the thought that a Xiao soldier had worn it directly against his body and hesitated, wanting to dodge.
Zhang San smacked him on the forehead and snatched away the half-eaten jerky. “I wiped it! Hurry up!”
Li Si could only obediently raise his arms and slip into the chain mail. It protected his arms and shoulders as well as his back and chest. Because Zhang San had put it on in such a hurry, it squeezed him uncomfortably. “It’s tight,” Li Si complained.
Zhang San stuffed the jerky back into his mouth, silencing his muttering. “Eat. Move.”
＊
The two slipped along beside the tents. They had delayed too long, and just as Li Si had inadvertently jinxed it, they ran directly into the returning personal guard.
Zhang San, running ahead, drew his saber and charged. Before the man could cry out, Zhang San struck with one heavy blow and sent him staggering several steps backward.
The loud clash of blades finally alerted the surrounding soldiers. Warning shouts rose from the tents, and sentries patrolling the camp began rushing toward them.
“Go steal horses!” Zhang San barked quietly.
Li Si turned his head, spotted the stables, and swept toward them. Zhang San ran only ten or so steps before turning back and blocking sideways with his saber, forcing several pursuing Xiao soldiers backward. He tangled alone with five or six men. The camp was sparse and the grassland flat, perfect for him to move freely. For a moment, he seemed all leaping dragons and pouncing tigers. Wang Xu’s saber was heavy and sharp, truly cutting through armor like chopping firewood and breaking skulls like splitting melons. Within only a few moves, three Xiao soldiers fell.
Suddenly, a faint glint flashed in the darkness.
A hidden arrow flew toward him.
Half Zhang San’s face was splattered with blood. He had no time to notice. He was swinging his saber down at the enemy before him, and just as the blade bit into flesh—
Ding!
The arrow flying at him was struck from the air by another arrow.
A second arrow tore through the darkness and pierced the bowman who had ambushed him from afar, knocking him to the ground.
Hoofbeats thundered closer. Li Si rode toward him like the wind. Straightening in the saddle, he fired two more arrows in quick succession and shot down the remaining two Xiao soldiers still fighting Zhang San, then stretched out a hand.
Zhang San sprinted several steps and was hauled onto the horse behind him.
＊
They charged through the camp, knocking aside several Xiao soldiers blocking their path.
More soldiers chased behind, firing arrows, while several cavalrymen farther away also joined the pursuit. Zhang San twisted backward, swinging his saber to knock away the continuous stream of stray arrows.
Hearing one blade impact after another, Li Si looked back. “Brother Xiao, take the horse!”
Zhang San accepted the reins Li Si shoved into his hands. Li Si turned sideways, hooked an arm around Zhang San’s waist and back, and spun around his body. In the blink of an eye, he had moved from the front of the horse to the rear, immediately drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and began shooting down pursuers one after another.
The enemy shot at Li Si too. One stray arrow grazed his arm, knocking the arrow in his hand off course. Li Si looked down. He was completely unharmed. Even the clothing beneath the armor had not torn.
It truly was good armor!
“There’s a checkpoint!” Zhang San shouted from the front. Li Si turned and fired two more arrows, dropping the Xiao soldiers blocking the way. “Give me the reins! Press close to me!”
Zhang San shifted aside. Li Si wrapped one arm firmly around his waist and took the reins with the other, peering over Zhang San’s shoulder. The half-man-high checkpoint was directly ahead. Li Si watched the timing. “Whip the horse!”
Zhang San turned slightly and struck the horse’s rump hard with the back of his saber. The warhorse gave a high neigh and launched itself into the air, flying over the checkpoint!
When the horse landed, its whole body jolted. Zhang San, unable to turn back in time, tilted sideways and was scooped around the waist by Li Si and pulled tightly back against him.
＊
Once outside the camp, the wooden bridge across the Wen River lay several hundred meters ahead. Several sentries guarded its eastern end. Seeing the two men approaching on horseback, they raised the alarm while firing arrows.
Zhang San swung his saber in front, knocking down stray arrows, while Li Si watched for openings from behind and returned fire. Although their movements worked together, the horse’s back was narrow and difficult to maneuver on, so they also interfered with each other. The warhorse already struggled beneath the weight of two riders, and the constant arrows frightened it further. It neighed repeatedly, circling in place and refusing to advance.
Zhang San freed one hand, curled two fingers at his mouth, and blew several sharp, rhythmic whistles!
A powerful answering neigh rang out from the distant grassland! A pitch-black steed crashed into the night and galloped toward them!
Moonlight flowed across its glossy black coat like water, making it appear and vanish against the darkness like a ghostly horse. Its powerful strides devoured the ground. Before long, it caught up.
＊
By then they had nearly reached the eastern bridgehead. Li Si had already reduced the bridge guards to three. Seeing that the situation was bad, one fired arrows to cover the others, while the other two split apart and swung their sabers at the bridge ropes on the left and right.
“Stop them!” Zhang San shouted.
He drove his horse straight toward the soldier cutting the rope on the left. Behind him, Li Si launched himself into the air. He flipped like a sparrowhawk, his body flowing like clouds. The instant his feet landed upon General Sun’s steed, the arrow in his hand left the string and pierced the Xiao soldier providing cover, knocking him down!
Zhang San likewise cut the man at the left-hand rope into the river with a heavy splash!
Only the final Xiao soldier remained, desperately hacking at the right-hand rope, but General Sun’s steed charged directly at him. One hoof struck and snapped his neck, his head twisting sideways before he too fell into the river!
＊
No obstacles remained. The two horses galloped onto the wooden bridge one after another.
General Sun’s steed had no reins and showed no sign of slowing. Li Si bent low and hugged its neck. Seeing the western bank directly ahead, his heart eased slightly.
Then a muffled impact sounded behind him—the sound of a body falling onto the bridge.
Li Si spun around in panic. Brother Xiao seemed to have been struck by a stray arrow and knocked from his horse, rolling across the bridge. The Xiao horse he had been riding panicked completely, broke through the railing, and plunged into the water, neighing wildly as it struggled!
A huge splash rose beside the bridge. The distance was too great and his view obstructed. Li Si could barely see Brother Xiao anymore.
“Brother Xiao!” Li Si cried out. He tried to stop the steed, but there were no reins. The bridge was too narrow for it to turn around either.
In his panic, he prepared to leap off—
“Don’t come down!”
Zhang San suddenly emerged from the spray, dripping wet. A stray arrow seemed to protrude from behind his shoulder, and he limped slightly as though he had injured his leg. Staggering forward, he shouted, “Go guard the bridgehead! Cover me with arrows!”
Panic clawed at Li Si, but he did not dare waste time. He rode General Sun’s steed to the western bank, leapt down, took cover behind a large rock, and repeatedly fired at the pursuers.
＊
Several dozen cavalrymen came racing from the camp, each carrying a bow and firing at Zhang San on the bridge. The bridge stretched more than a hundred meters, and the darkness made it impossible for Li Si to see whether more arrows struck Brother Xiao. He heard only the whoosh, whoosh of the arrow rain, his heart burning with panic.
His quiver had held only thirty arrows. He had already fired more than ten earlier, and the dozen or so remaining did not last long either. More and more Xiao cavalrymen charged onto the bridge. Still Brother Xiao did not appear at the bridgehead. Li Si’s heartbeat grew more chaotic, more frantic.
He slung the bow into the case on his back, drew his saber, and prepared to charge back onto the bridge.
Suddenly, the wooden bridge shook violently and horses screamed in panic. The Xiao soldiers on the bridge lost their balance, tumbling in every direction!
Li Si looked closely—a tall black shadow had appeared at the bridgehead. Brother Xiao had somehow emerged. He seemed to have just severed one bridge rope and was now hacking violently at another!
Li Si raced toward him. The instant Zhang San cut through the final rope, Li Si seized his arm, yanked him around, and shoved him hard toward the mountain road.
“Hey, hey! Don’t push! I can run myself!”
Li Si was too frantic to hear. He shoved Zhang San with all his strength, using his own body to protect him from the stray arrows fired across the river.
The two swung their sabers to block arrows while stumbling dozens of meters away. Then they mounted the steed and raced straight toward the mountain road.
＊
The wooden bridge had collapsed. Several dozen Xiao cavalrymen fell into the river. The current downstream was swift and swept away many men and horses together, leaving chaos behind. No one pursued them.
Li Si rode the horse while holding Brother Xiao tightly, his breathing rapid and heartbeat pounding without slowing.
The steed galloped halfway up the mountain. Li Si saw the towering rockfall in the distance, glanced back and saw no pursuers, then looked beyond the cliff and saw that the Xiao troops had already abandoned the chase and were withdrawing toward their camp.
Only then did he stop the horse, help Brother Xiao down, and immediately begin carefully feeling over his shoulders and back. “Where are you hurt? Why did you pull the arrow out yourself? The wound will tear open!” After searching for a long while, he could not find so much as a tear in the clothing. Everything beneath his hands was wet. He lowered his head and sniffed, but smelled only river water and sweat.
Li Si lifted his head in surprise and found Brother Xiao grinning wickedly at him.
“I tucked a broken arrow under my shoulder just now! Hahaha! With eyes as good as yours, you still couldn’t tell? Little fool!”
Li Si froze, then hurriedly bent down to feel his legs. “Then your leg? Your leg? Where did you fall?”
“Of course that was fake too! Hahaha!”
Li Si went completely still.
He deliberately pretended to be injured and ran slowly across the bridge just to lure those cavalrymen onto it and kill several dozen more enemies.
Only after a long while did Li Si finally understand. His eyes slowly widened, and he glared furiously at Zhang San, all the blood in his body beginning to boil.
Zhang San had no idea the storm was coming and continued teasing him cheerfully. “Scared you, did I? Look at this little face. You’ve gone pale again—”
Before he could finish, Li Si punched him hard in the chest. Zhang San doubled over with an ow!, clutching himself.
“Hiss… Why are your punches so heavy now? You’ve swollen my chest…”
The punch stirred up some anger in him too, and he frowned and raised his face—only to see Li Si’s face covered in tears.
The tiny spark of irritation inside Zhang San immediately went out beneath a deluge. He panicked. “Hey, hey, why are you crying? You’re the one who hit me, so why are you—”
“Big tiger!” Li Si shouted furiously. He had learned very few actual insults. “You—you… big coward! It was so dangerous just now! You almost died!”
“But I didn’t die, did I—ow!” Li Si punched him hard again, shoved him away, and ran angrily up the mountain by himself. Zhang San hurried after him, utterly bewildered. “But I’m fine! What are you angry about? Slow down! Wait for me… hiss! Look, this side of my chest is swollen too!”