God of War of the northern lands, redressing wrongs, setting disorder right, bringing clarity to the realm… Every phrase pointed to the Prince of Longnan. Had his declaration that he would rather be a defeated outlaw than an enemy’s hound been a lie? Did he still intend to reclaim the realm of Northern Zhou?
Fu Xi Yan quickly dismissed the thought. Seeing was believing, and he trusted his own judgment. Besides, he had not been the only person to meet the prince. Surely Aunt Yu and Pei Yuan Jin could not both be blind as well?
He and Pei Yuan Jin asked the villagers for two bowls of water and took their leave as soon as they finished drinking.
The situation was changing by the moment. They had to make every instant count.
Outside Yanmen Pass, the spring breeze was pleasant. Living things that had slept through winter were slowly waking, and faint new green could already be seen in the crevices of the hills.
Mengwu understood perfectly well the value of fattening livestock before slaughter. With spring planting about to begin, the border between the two countries was usually peaceful at this time of year. This attack after a march of a thousand li had indeed come as a surprise. Fortunately, the threat posed by the hundred-thousand-strong allied army in the northern lands had kept the entire northern frontier drilling troops, readying horses, and sleeping beside their weapons. That was why Yanmen Pass had been able to respond so quickly and hold out until now.
Even so, the news of Yulin Town’s fall had dealt a heavy blow to morale. At the beginning of the fighting, the troops at Yanmen Pass had occasionally sallied out to meet the enemy. Now they did nothing but defend, refusing to emerge no matter how the other side provoked them.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin had originally intended to slip into the rear of Mengwu’s camp and search for Aburslang. But the encampment was a seemingly endless sea of felt tents, with strict patrols on the ground and flocks of eagles keeping watch overhead.
They did have Fu Gui Gui, of course, but…
Fu Gui Gui was staring blankly at the eagles circling in the sky, visibly eager to have a go. Fu Xi Yan held her back.
He said, “Before you pick a fight, shouldn’t you count how many… bird heads you’re up against?”
Fu Gui Gui might be enormous, but a larger body also meant a larger target. If all the eagles swarmed her at once, she still had only two wings, two claws, and one tail. How could she fight an entire mob of sharp beaks?
Boom, boom, boom!
The drums rolled like thunder.
Mengwu’s army was attacking Yanmen Pass!
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin exchanged a glance, temporarily set aside their search for Aburslang, and hurried to the battlefield. By the time they arrived, Mengwu’s troops were assaulting the walls. Soldiers surged forward around siege ladders while seven or eight stone-throwing engines provided covering fire from behind.
The defenders of Yanmen Pass answered with arrows alone. Dense volleys swept forward in intermittent black rain, and whenever one descended, people fell and never rose again.
After several days of fighting, both sides were nearly crazed with exhaustion and anger. A Mengwu general raised his sword and roared himself hoarse, and the troops below continued pouring forward without end.
The battle was deadlocked, with neither side paying attention to the third party who had quietly slipped onto the field.
Suddenly, a deafening boom rang out, so loud the ground seemed to tremble. Mengwu’s battering ram was striking the city gate.
Siege ladders were already propped against the wall, and the soldiers began climbing.
From above, the defenders hurled stones and poured hot water. Screams mingled with shouts; the shouts soon became screams in turn, rising and falling on either side of the wall.
Fu Xi Yan could no longer bear to watch. He sprang into the air and stepped up an invisible ladder, abruptly changing from one face in the crowd to a figure towering above it.
Not only did the Mengwu soldiers raise their heads to stare at this “immortal,” but the general defending Yanmen Pass immediately ordered his archers to aim at him.
Fu Xi Yan was just about to shout, Don’t shoot! I’m on your side! when a storm of arrows came straight at his head.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” This welcoming ceremony seems a bit excessive.
The Object-Commanding Art required no hand gestures, but with so many spectators below, he felt obliged to put on a bit of a show. Fu Xi Yan calmly raised his right arm and struck a dramatic “Erkang hand” pose.
Elio’s Notes: The “Erkang hand” is a famously dramatic reaching gesture associated with the character Fu Erkang in the television drama My Fair Princess. Fu Xi Yan is turning a life-or-death interception into a very theatrical entrance.
It was the first time he had used the Object-Commanding Art to control so many arrows at once. In an instant, all the true qi in his true essence seemed to be swept away. The sudden depletion even caused a sharp, wrenching pain, but the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror’s restorative power intervened in time. The pain lasted only a moment before his true qi began circulating again.
The arrows, swarming like a cloud of bees and enough to make anyone’s scalp prickle, stopped abruptly in midair, only half a zhang from Fu Xi Yan.
Behind the scenes of this awe-inspiring display, where none of the spectators could see, Pei Yuan Jin used sword qi to deflect more than a dozen arrows Fu Xi Yan had failed to catch.
Struggling to maintain control, Fu Xi Yan simply turned the arrowheads downward and sent the whole mass toward the ground.
The Mengwu soldiers who had been enjoying the spectacle did not expect the fruit of their entertainment to come falling down so soon. They scattered in every direction.
Fu Xi Yan remembered Bu He’s kindly smile. Had they not needed a guide and paid the boy a generous fee, Bu He might now have been among the soldiers below. His heart softened. As the arrows neared the ground, he drained away their force and gave them a gentle landing.
The arrows drifted down like grain scattered by an unseen hand. The Mengwu soldiers who had braced themselves to die stared at one another in disbelief at the feather-light contact, then burst into laughter at their miraculous survival.
But the laughter quickly ended with an angry roar from the Mengwu general.
Three trusted subordinates brought over an enormous bow, which the general drew himself. An enormous arrow, noticeably longer than ordinary arrows, was aimed at Fu Xi Yan’s back. When released, it gave off an exceptionally piercing whistle.
Fu Xi Yan did not look back. He strolled through the air above the battlefield as though out for a leisurely walk, drawing closer to the gate tower.
“Fire!”
The archers on the tower turned their bows and loosed another volley at Fu Xi Yan.
Suspended in midair, he was now under attack from both front and rear, while the true qi inside him had not completely recovered. He appeared to be in desperate danger. But someone was watching his back, so he was not the slightest bit afraid.
Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, dozens of crimson arcs streaked across the sky, changing its very color and dimming the sun. The enormous arrow and the volleys converging upon Fu Xi Yan were sliced into pieces and fell in a clattering shower.
The general commanding Yanmen Pass suddenly ordered, “Cease fire!”
Fu Xi Yan took the opportunity to step onto the gate tower. The commander studied him with an astonished, doubtful expression that gradually turned to delight. Tentatively, he asked, “Could you possibly be…?”
Without waiting for him to finish, Fu Xi Yan readily admitted, “Yes.”
The general still was not entirely certain. “Fu…?”
“Yes.”
“Fourth Young Master?”
“Yes.”
Having answered “yes” three times, Fu Xi Yan looked at the general with a puzzled expression that seemed to ask, I’ve admitted it already. Why are you still going on about it?
The commander had recognized Pei Yuan Jin’s crimson sword light crossing the sky. Then, seeing Fu Xi Yan’s extraordinary beauty, he guessed his identity. Now the man felt almost dizzy with the astonished joy of someone who had stumbled upon an unexpected fortune.
Over the five days of Mengwu’s assault, he had fought from dawn to dusk and slept no more than two double-hours in total. Each time he closed his eyes, fresh military reports roused him almost immediately.
Yet exhaustion was not his greatest concern. What truly frightened him was the lack of any reply to the signal fires, even long after they had been lit. Meanwhile, Mengwu’s army continued spreading the rumor that Yulin Town had fallen. If that were true, the northern defensive line had already been torn apart, and the northern coalition’s troops could cooperate with Mengwu to strike from the rear. Yanmen Pass would be caught between enemies on both sides.
The arrival of top-tier experts such as Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin was a desperately needed blessing. At the very least, their presence could intimidate Mengwu into suspending its attacks for a while.
As expected, while the Mengwu general was still debating whether to intensify the assault, the rear encampment sounded the signal to withdraw.
Watching the Mengwu soldiers slowly retreat with their siege ladders, battering ram, and other equipment, the officers and men of Yanmen Pass breathed a collective sigh of relief. They knew the enemy would return soon enough, but even a brief moment to catch their breath was precious.
The general became even more certain of Fu Xi Yan’s identity. After all, if someone with such extraordinary skills were a Mengwu spy, Yanmen Pass would already have fallen.
He asked excitedly, “Has Young Master Pei of the Immortal Treasury Palace come as well?”
Fu Xi Yan pointed his thumb toward the area outside the city wall.
There, on the battlefield they had not yet had time to clear, a young man approached with an entirely composed expression.
For the first time in five days of siege, smiles appeared on the defenders’ faces. The general personally ordered the gates opened to welcome Pei Yuan Jin inside. As they went, he chatted animatedly with Fu Xi Yan, working the titles “Mirror Master Fu” and “Young Master Pei” into practically every sentence, just in case anyone had not heard who their visitors were.
Fu Xi Yan understood that the general was deliberately boosting morale, so he gladly played along. For every compliment the general paid him, he praised the soldiers’ discipline and bearing. The men, who had been so exhausted after the battle that they could barely straighten their backs, immediately puffed out their chests whenever he looked their way. One word of praise had them standing tall, each wearing an expression that declared he could fight another five hundred rounds.
Afraid his foolish men would use up their last reserves of strength and have to be carried home later, the general hurriedly escorted Fu Xi Yan and the others to his temporary command headquarters, which had been requisitioned for the purpose. He ordered a meal prepared for them.
It was described as a full table of dishes, but there were only three: one meat dish and two vegetable dishes. Even so, that was already an exceptionally generous reception.
The general explained frankly that he did not know how long the fighting would continue or when reinforcements from the Prince of Pingluo would arrive. He had therefore been rationing the daily consumption of food.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin had spent several days on the road and had not enjoyed a proper hot meal at a table for ages. They ate with great satisfaction and had no intention of complaining.
The general did not observe any rule about keeping silent while eating. As they ate, he asked why the two had arrived from the north.
Fu Xi Yan omitted the part about accompanying Yu Su Huan to find the Prince of Longnan. He simply said that the Censorate had ordered him to investigate the northern lands. While at the royal encampment of Mengwu, he had heard that the king was personally leading an army against Yanmen Pass, so he had rushed here to deliver a warning.
The general was deeply moved. “With both of you lending aid to Yanmen Pass, why should we fear Mengwu’s army?”
Fu Xi Yan asked, “Is it true that Yulin Town has fallen?”
The general sighed. “I haven’t received confirmation either. But Yulin Town is a strategic fortress in the northern defensive line. Even if the army from the northern lands numbers one hundred thousand, our side was prepared for them. Taking it could hardly be easy. Perhaps it’s merely a ruse to undermine morale!”
Fu Xi Yan said, “What if it’s true?”
The general’s expression changed. “If Yulin Town falls, the enemy can march south toward Haojing or turn east to cut off Yanmen Pass’s retreat, tearing open the northern defenses.”
Fu Xi Yan knew nothing about warfare, but the general’s explanation made him take the danger seriously. “Is there anything that can be done?”
The general replied, “North of Haojing lies Yanzhou, the key to the Three Qin region and the crossroads of five routes. The farther the northern army advances, the longer its supply lines grow. If it cannot take Yanzhou quickly, it may find itself trapped in an impossible position. Besides, the Prince of Pingluo is a seasoned commander who will never admit defeat easily. In the end, our enemies may be the ones who lose more than they gain.”
The commander’s confidence reassured Fu Xi Yan somewhat. “So what are you planning to do now?”
The general immediately looked at him with hopeful eyes. “I beg Mirror Master Fu and Young Master Pei to defend Yanmen Pass with us!” It was not that he lacked shame, but with the enemy bearing down on them, preserving his personal dignity mattered far less than preserving his country’s territory!