Futile Devices Scans

The warhorse fled along the riverbank. Several hundred Iron Pagodas followed relentlessly behind.

The night was pitch-black. Cold arrows hissed ceaselessly through the wind, and several stray shots struck the armor over the horse’s rump with crisp ding, ding sounds.

Several more arrows struck the armor on Li Si’s back and his helmet, startling Zhang San into trying to look behind them.

“Don’t raise your head,” Li Si said hoarsely. One hand controlled the reins while his other arm tightened around Brother Xiao, signaling for him to bend lower as he did his utmost to shelter Zhang San’s entire body behind his own.

Li Si wore two layers of armor that were extremely difficult for blades and arrows to penetrate. Even so, every impact made Zhang San’s heart jump. He caught an unusual bloody scent in the wind and remembered how Sisi had just been struck in the chest by a hammer and coughed up blood.

“Sisi! Are you all right?”

Li Si had no time to answer. He hurriedly glanced back at their pursuers. The black-armored cavalry beneath the night sky resembled a crazed flock of crows beating their dark wings as they swept closer. He asked Brother Xiao softly, “How much farther?”

“Almost there! See that pile of rocks ahead? Head for it! When I shout, we’ll abandon the horse and jump left together!”

Li Si drew a short, labored breath. “…All right.”

＊

By now, the two had already fled three or four li from the Xiao camp beside the Fen River. Another five or six li ahead lay the territory of Tianmen Pass.

At the head of the pursuing Iron Pagodas was the heavy-armored warrior who had injured Li Si. A small melon-headed hammer hung at his waist, while he now carried a long saber. Directly behind him rode the female general with exceptional archery, bow in hand as she continued firing at the two without pause.

They were certain the two assassins intended to flee toward Tianmen Pass and were desperate to kill them before they reached the stronghold.

The night was dark and the situation urgent. Seeing themselves drawing closer and closer to the two assassins, none of the pursuers noticed anything unusual about a pile of rocks beside the river ahead. It stood roughly half a man high and looked no different from the ordinary heaps of loose stones scattered along the riverbank.

＊

Li Si was already guiding the horse toward the pile. Seated in front, Zhang San could see heads moving behind it.

“Listen for my signal… Jump!”

The two abandoned the horse at the same time and hurled themselves left with all their strength.

The discarded warhorse ran only a few more steps before releasing a shrill, miserable neigh. Something seemed to catch its hooves, and it pitched violently forward onto the ground.

As they leapt, Zhang San twisted around and pulled Li Si tightly into his arms. The two crashed heavily onto a thick layer of straw and bedding spread over the ground. Even with layer after layer cushioning the impact, the collision was still hard enough to make stars burst across Zhang San’s vision and everything go black for a moment.

The soldiers lying in ambush nearby hurriedly helped them up and dragged them swiftly backward.

The pursuing Iron Pagodas thundered toward them. From behind the pile of rocks, someone suddenly released a sharp whistle.

＊

At the sound of that whistle, countless heads sprang from what had seemed to be an endless empty plain, like bamboo shoots after rain. With loud shouts, the hidden soldiers raised rope posts and hauled up dozens of enormous nets. The heavy Xiao cavalry at the front had no time to evade and flew into the nets like crows crashing into snares. Men and horses toppled everywhere as screams erupted on all sides.

Several hundred infantrymen in red armor sprang up from where they had been lying flat on the ground. Wielding horse-cleaving sabers, they hacked at the horses’ legs and the Xiao riders who had fallen.

Still following that whistle, the sound of neighing erupted from the forest several hundred meters away. More than a thousand Great Xuan cavalrymen who had long been lying in ambush shattered the darkness and charged forward. The general leading them wore red armor and a red cloak, carried a long-handled battle-ax, and was tall and powerfully built—it was the long-absent Younger General She.

The two sides plunged into battle in an instant, and the sounds of slaughter shook the night sky.

Several hundred Iron Pagodas were trapped deep within the formation. Rope nets struck them from the front, infantry hacked at them from within, and cavalry surrounded them from behind. These blood-soaked hunters, undefeated and unstoppable across the grasslands, were attacked by their own prey that night and slaughtered with scarcely any chance to fight back…

＊

Zhang San and Li Si both mingled among the troops and joined the encirclement. Although Zhang San’s right arm was injured, he still cut down more than ten Xiao riders. Li Si remained hidden behind the rock pile, waiting for opportunities to fire arrows from the shadows.

Everything was chaos beneath the darkness. Both sides could distinguish friend from foe only by their armor, and faces were nearly impossible to make out. Zhang San desperately tried to find the heavy-armored hammer wielder and avenge Sisi’s injury, but every Xiao soldier wore the same black face covering and heavy armor, making the man impossible to locate.

＊

By the end of the battle, only thirty or fifty Xiao riders remained. Led by the heavy-armored hammer wielder and the female archer, they desperately broke out of the formation, called over the surviving warhorses, and fled south toward the Xiao camp.

Only then did Zhang San clearly identify the two leaders. He still wanted to take men after them, but Younger General She hurriedly called him back.

Younger General She, drenched in blood from head to toe, dragged his long ax as he caught up and said, “Commander Zhang, do not pursue a desperate enemy! We are not far from the Xiao camp. Their main army may come to reinforce them. We must return to the pass immediately!”

Younger General She then ordered everyone to quickly reorganize and withdraw to Tianmen Pass under cover of night.

＊

Zhang San turned and searched everywhere for Li Si, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Sisi!”

A small head appeared from behind the rock pile. The voice answering him was hoarse, lacking its usual clarity and much quieter than normal. “I’m here.”

Zhang San hurriedly ran toward him. There was no time even to embrace before they began anxiously checking each other’s injuries.

An arrow had struck Zhang San’s right arm. Li Si had cut away the shaft, but the arrowhead was still lodged in his flesh. Although half his sleeve was drenched in blood, the arrowhead had not buried itself very deeply because he wore an armored guard over his arm.

Ignoring his own arrow wound, Zhang San hurriedly inspected Li Si’s chest. He removed the small shield that had long since shattered into pieces, then gently pressed his palm against Li Si’s chest through the armor. “How badly are you hurt? Does it still hurt?”

Although Li Si’s chest and abdomen had ached continuously since he was struck and breathing had been difficult, Li Si himself thought he was probably all right—he could still move, exert strength, and had continued shooting arrows for a long time. There should not have been any serious problem.

But the moment Brother Xiao’s palm lightly touched his chest, Li Si failed to catch his breath and vomited another mouthful of blood all over him.

Zhang San: “…”

Li Si’s vision darkened, and his breath came in short, shallow gasps. Before he could say anything, he fell straight backward. Brother Xiao caught him at once and pulled him back, and Li Si collapsed limply into his arms.

Through his confused, darkening vision, he vaguely saw the panic and near-collapse on Brother Xiao’s face.

He wanted to comfort Brother Xiao, but his mouth was full of blood. His lips moved only slightly before he lost consciousness.

＊

In the Lüliang Mountains stood Tianmen Pass.

Among the great strongholds beneath Heaven, Tianmen Pass was not as renowned as Yanmen Pass, Shanhai Pass, or Tong Pass. Yet it was the sole northwestern route out of Kuiyuan and a military stronghold connecting Kuiyuan with Linzhou and Fuzhou, making it vital to Kuiyuan City’s survival.

Tianmen Pass lay within the Lüliang Mountains, situated in a narrow gorge. At the bottom of the gorge were only the pass and the Fen River. Sheer cliffs rose on both banks, too high to climb, turning the pass into a natural fortress.

Elder General She, She Ke Qiu, had led thirty thousand soldiers of the She Family Army in capturing Tianmen Pass. The army had now defended it for more than four months. During that time, the Xiao army had attacked several times, only to be repelled each time as the She Family Army took advantage of the terrain and weather.

＊

A faint light appeared along the horizon. Dawn was approaching.

Elder General She stood fully armored atop the gate tower, brows deeply furrowed as he gazed into the distance.

Suddenly, the tension between his brows eased, and delight appeared on his face. More than a thousand Great Xuan cavalrymen were galloping back across the distant plain in orderly formation, unmistakably returning in victory.

＊

The gates opened wide, and Younger General She rode in at the head of the troops. Elder General She hurried down from the gate tower and strode forward to meet him. “How did the battle go?”

Although there was joy on Younger General She’s face, worry outweighed it. “Rest assured, Elder Brother. Everything went according to plan! But many of our soldiers were injured and must be brought back to camp for treatment immediately. Elder Brother, summon the finest physician at once—Envoy Li is gravely wounded!”

Zhang San followed closely behind on horseback, holding the unconscious Li Si in his arms. At Younger General She’s words, he carefully helped Li Si down from the horse, lifted him horizontally around the waist, and hurried forward. “Elder General She! Please lead the way quickly! He was struck by a hammer and has vomited a great deal of blood!”

Elder General She was naturally anxious about the young envoy who had once saved his younger brother’s life. With no time for pleasantries, the group hurriedly carried Li Si into the nearest military camp and summoned a physician.

＊

Li Si had been jolted the entire journey on horseback and vomited another mouthful of blood in Zhang San’s arms. The sight chilled Zhang San’s spine, and the arms holding him trembled uncontrollably.

Zhang San was accustomed to witnessing life and death. Ordinarily, no matter how deeply separation and mortality affected him, he could keep those emotions from showing and face them calmly. Yet this time, panic overwhelmed him so completely that he could not even control his own body.

Forcing himself onward despite his trembling, he carried Sisi into the medical tent and carefully laid him flat on the bed. Younger General She helped him gently remove the entire set of leather armor from Sisi’s body. Beneath it was another layer of chain mail. Zhang San lifted Sisi slightly, and with Younger General She’s assistance, they carefully and laboriously removed that as well.

The blood Li Si had vomited ran from the corner of his mouth down his neck and soaked the innermost layer of his clothing. Blood and sweat had seeped together into the fabric, making even his clothes difficult to remove. Younger General She ordered a subordinate to bring hot water and find scissors.

Zhang San held the scissors, intending to cut open Sisi’s clothing and expose the wound on his chest, but all ten fingers trembled endlessly, and he could not make the sharp blades move. Cold sweat poured down his forehead and ran into his eyes, stinging so badly that he could barely keep them open.

He hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead and eyes with the back of his hand and nearly stabbed himself with the scissors.

Younger General She quickly said, “Commander Zhang, step aside for a moment. Let me do it.”

Zhang San could only hand him the scissors. Younger General She swiftly cut open the front of the garment and carefully peeled the cloth aside—revealing an enormous bruise across Sisi’s chest. Although he had been struck only once, dark purple bruising spread from his collarbones all the way down to his upper abdomen.

Zhang San’s breathing stopped in terror. His fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug deeply into his palms.

I’ve seen plenty of injuries like this! When someone is struck in the chest by a heavy hammer or a catapult stone, the ribs can break and pierce the lungs and organs. Blood floods the lungs until the victim can no longer breathe. There’s nothing anyone can do. It means certain death!

The two She generals went pale at the sight as well, both inwardly fearing the worst.

Zhang San’s legs weakened, and tears poured from his eyes. He threw himself beside the bed, cupped Sisi’s face in both hands, and called frantically, “Sisi! Sisi!”

No matter how deeply unconscious Li Si was, Zhang San’s weeping cries eventually woke him. He blearily lifted his eyelids and saw Brother Xiao’s eyes full of tears. Li Si had never seen Brother Xiao cry like this before. He thought he was dreaming of the time they had parted several months earlier and that he was about to be separated from Brother Xiao again.

In his “dream,” he possessed the same ability to summon wind and rain, and tears immediately gathered in his own eyes too.

His small, bloodstained face was pale and weak, blurred by tears. He looked as though he were on the verge of death, frightening Zhang San into crying even harder.

＊

At that moment, two soldiers hurried inside, half-supporting and half-dragging an elderly physician with a long white beard between them.

Although the old man was advanced in years, he was remarkably sturdy and full of vigor. He dropped the medical chest from his back heavily beside the bed. Seeing the two young men still crying as though bidding each other farewell in life and death, he cursed urgently, “Why are you blocking the bedside? Move aside at once!”

Zhang San quickly stepped away. The old physician saw the frightening expanse of dark bruising and furrowed his white brows. He ladled out some clean water and washed his hands, then told Li Si, “Endure the pain for a moment!” He pressed his fingers against Li Si’s chest and began feeling for injuries to the bones.

Li Si wrinkled his face in pain, his body curling slightly beneath the pressure. Doubt appeared on the old physician’s face. After examining the breastbone, he moved his hand downward to the hollow between the chest and abdomen.

Li Si vomited another mouthful of blood with a wah, frightening Zhang San into crying, “Sisi!”

“Stop making noise!” the old physician snapped. Paying no mind to the filth, he touched the blood Li Si had vomited, rubbed it between his fingertips, and raised it to his nose to smell. The confusion on his face deepened.

Everyone in the tent watched the physician tensely. He looked around and asked Zhang San with a frown, “Where are the clothes you removed? What was he wearing before?”

Zhang San stepped aside and showed him the removed leather armor, chain mail, and pieces of clothing they had cut away. The old physician asked again, “What struck him? How large was it, and where did it hit?”

Zhang San shaped his hands into a hammer about the size of a palm, then pointed at his own chest. “It was a Xiao bandit’s melon-headed war hammer. He was struck in the chest, around here.”

The old physician carefully felt through the clothing and armor, found several fragments of wood from the shield, and asked, “He wore two layers of armor and also had a small shield over his chest?”

Zhang San nodded repeatedly.

The old physician breathed a sigh of relief. Turning back, he pressed again at the area between Li Si’s chest and abdomen, making Li Si cry out softly in pain.

“Does it hurt? Does it feel sore and swollen? Are you nauseated?”

“Mm.”

The old physician’s expression eased somewhat. “Give me your wrist. I’ll take your pulse.”

Zhang San did not even remember to wipe his tears. Several droplets still clung to his eyelashes as he half-knelt beside the bed, staring at the physician in bewilderment. Everyone else was equally confused but dared not interrupt while he examined the pulse, so they all waited silently.

After a long while, the old physician released Li Si’s wrist and finally relaxed completely. “His stomach has been injured. What he vomited was stomach fluid with only a little blood mixed in.”

Zhang San exclaimed, “But he was struck in the chest…”

“The hammer struck his chest, but the shield and armor blocked it! His ribs aren’t broken. The force only injured his stomach. And he was wearing far too many layers, all of them too tight, squeezing him until he vomited!”

He turned to scold Li Si. “Young man! You’re a soldier—are you really so afraid to die? Two layers of armor at once, constricting your qi and blood until they can’t circulate properly. Weren’t you afraid you’d suffocate?”

Li Si was still dazed and took the scolding without protest. Zhang San defended him from the side. “Old Sir, please don’t blame him. I forced him to wear them.”

The old physician glared at Zhang San, then took paper, ink, and a brush from his medical chest. “I’ll prescribe several formulas. Have him take them for half a month and see how he recovers. For the next half month, he must avoid rich and greasy foods. For the first five days, he may eat only plain porridge. After that, a little minced vegetable and lean meat may be added.”

At those words, Li Si looked as though he had been struck by lightning. His eyes widened. “Eh?”

The old physician glared at him too. “What are you saying ‘eh’ for? No secretly eating anything else! Otherwise your stomach won’t heal, and you can wait to vomit blood every day!”

＊

Everyone in the tent breathed a sigh of relief. After giving his medical instructions, the old physician removed the arrowhead from Zhang San’s arm, applied medicine to the wound, then hurried away with his medical chest to treat the other injured soldiers.

Zhang San helped Sisi sit up. Only now did the two of them remember to wipe away their tears and compose their disheveled appearances. Both She generals were in their thirties or forties, steady men who had experienced life and death. They did not laugh at the two of them and instead offered comforting words, visibly relieved.

Only then did Zhang San have the presence of mind to discuss the battle with the two generals. He also told them that the Xiao commander had been addressed by his subordinates as “Deputy Marshal.”

He imitated the Xiao pronunciation of the term for Younger General She and drew the command banner that had stood outside the central command tent for the two generals to see.

Younger General She said in surprise, “That word means ‘Deputy Marshal’! Elder Brother, could this Deputy Marshal possibly be…”

Elder General She nodded. “That man is most likely the commander of the Xiao army’s western route. His name is Mo Han, and he is the eldest son of the State Chancellor. During this southern invasion, he ranks beneath the Xiao Second Prince, who serves as commander-in-chief, and holds the position of Deputy Marshal. He is the one directing the siege of Kuiyuan City.”

Delight appeared on Elder General She’s face as he continued, “Commander Zhang, you have drawn his attention and induced him to lead his troops here personally. You have rendered a great service!”

Zhang San shook his head. “Merit and credit are nothing but empty reputation. This subordinate doesn’t care about them. I only hope he truly takes the bait and allows Ant County and Tianmen Pass to tie his hands, leaving him no attention to spare for anywhere else.”

Elder General She said, “Let us hope so! But beginning today, your city and our pass—one above the mountain and one below—must join hands against the enemy. We will both face many days of bitter fighting. Please take good care of yourselves!”

Zhang San’s expression turned solemn. He raised his hands in salute. “This subordinate understands. Generals, please take care as well!”