Ch.16 The Battle of TianAn

The voice of the Southern’s General boomed from the top of the city gates. He stood at the top of the gates, clad in worn-out armour. Compared to the youthfulness still lining Wu Zhe Yan’s face, he was unarguably looking more like a veteran of War. Wisdom comes with age, and so does the trust one can gain. “I respect your decisiveness in the battle of JiangNan City, but I know that your resources are already scarce. You have already lost this war. For the sake of your men, surrender yourselves!”

“Surrender when I have barely started?” Wu Zhe Yan’s wave of laughter could be heard from across the battlefield. If one does not have the advantage of age to make oneself look more reliable, then surely, audacity and arrogance can suffice? “Then won’t my name become a joke in the Capital?”

“Then you should bow to fate. You are still young. That is better than losing the lives of your soldiers, wouldn’t you say?”

One end of Wu Zhe Yan’s lips lifted as he pulled back his black horse and turned around. He raised his giant sword, pointing it towards the sky as he shouted, “listen up, men! Bow down to fate? Don’t make me laugh! I refuse to bow down to anyone let alone something like fate! What are those weapons in your hands for if you can’t even use them to carve out your own path? The winds have been unchanging for so long. Isn’t it about time for us to shift it in our favour?”

“ALL HAIL THE GENERAL!” As though the confidence oozing out of his words were infectious, the roar from the soldiers could even raise the dead, what’s more to say about their own morale?

“Leave the task of bringing you all home to me! There is only one thing you need to do. Keep yourselves alive! Now, CHARGE!”

“FOLLOW THE GENERAL!”

~~

{In the forest}

“Lady, look! The fight has begun!” Xiao Liu peeked from behind a tree at the storm being kicked up in the distance. “Are we joining in as well?”

The lady leaning against another tree still had her bamboo hat covering her face. She yawned, having been awoken by the bark of a certain dog. “Xiao Liu, our fight is also beginning soon.”

“Our fight?” the boy tilted his head in confusion when Shen Tian Ping handed him a compound bow.

“Did you really think the two Generals made all those speeches for nothing? They’re just both stalling for time.”

“I know that our General is doing that for the attack on the fake wall to go smoothly, but what’s their General stalling for time for?”

In contradiction to her usual self, Luo Yue was surprisingly patient when it came to explaining war strategies to the boy who had barely started to recognise words 2 years ago. “Do you remember why the enemies that attacked our camp yesterday did not cross paths with us? Even though we can clearly see the city gates from here.”

“You said that there should be another gate at the opposite side of the city.”

Luo Yue took down her bamboo hat and gave herself a good stretch. All the while she was keeping silent for Xiao Liu to figure things out by himself. And he did not disappoint as well.

“No way! You mean they’re delaying time so that they can sneak someone into this forest from the back gates?” realisation quickly drawn on Xiao Liu, “to shoot down our troops from here?”

“Mn. It was the right choice to bring you with me.” She nodded in acknowledgement. “You’ve grown smarter in this trip.”

“Lady! That was a praise, wasn’t it?! You’re praising me this time, aren’t you? That wasn’t sarcasm, was it?” He sprang up agitatedly only for her fan to wrack him back down on his head.

“Be quiet.”

“Hehe,” not taking mind at all, the boy merely grinned. 5 years of staying with her had made him one of the most resilient people in the world. And having learnt 5 years of archery from them, even if he wasn’t as talented, his archery skill was still at least a few levels above the average soldiers. “How many are we fighting against, Lady?”

“There shouldn’t be many coming. Firstly, they did not leave unscathed yesterday and secondly, they can’t send a large group here without avoiding detection. So, around a hundred or so?”

“A hundred?!”

“Don’t worry, Tian Ping will keep you safe. It’s about time. Let’s split up.”

The bodyguard and the steward boy roamed together in the forest, keeping themselves well-hidden while leaving an ear out for any enemies’ movements. Since there was also this side task of letting Xiao Liu gain experience, Shen Tian Ping naturally let him take the lead. Xiao Liu also moved forward unfalteringly. After all, as their master had said, should anything happen, Shen Tian Ping would keep him safe.

He only had one slight concern.

“Ping-ge,” he looked back, “is it really alright to protect me and leave the Lady alone?”

“There’s no need to worry about her.” Shen Tian Ping answered while reaching his hands out to take over the quiver of arrows that seemed to be weighing the boy down. “After all, the forest is her favourite hunting spot.”

The boy felt a huge load off his shoulders straightaway. “Is that why she has been secluding herself in the Forbidden Mountain? That place is full of dead bodies.”

“That… is Chang’e’s doing.”

“… Oh. I forgot she’s also a monster.”

Shen Tian Ping held out a hand to stop his path suddenly, placing a finger to his lips as he pulled Xiao Liu behind the cover of a fallen tree trunk. “Shh, I hear footsteps.”

Xiao Liu quickly nodded and readied his bow. However, no matter how much he strained his ears, he could not hear a single sound. Until his nose twitched as he smelled meat. Smoked beef jerky, to be exact. He whispered indignantly, “they have dry meat? The only meat we’ve seen for the past few months is Xiao Hei!”

*Xiao = Little

*Liu = 6

*Hei = Black

Shen Tian Ping smothered the urge to curl his lips. ‘Is it because he used to fight the stray dogs for food? That nose can even put a dog’s distinctive sense of smell to shame.’

“They’re coming, can you handle those there? I’ll deal with the rest.” He left the quiver of arrows leaning against the tree trunk.

“No problem! Leave it to me, Ping-ge!”

Shen Tian Ping turned to him, looked him over for a while before nodding. “Just call for me if it gets dangerous. I’ll keep an eye out for you as well.”

Shen Tian Ping disappeared further into the forest, and only then did Xiao Liu remember that Shen Tian Ping seemed to have mentioned before that his speciality was assassinating. And not actually bodyguarding…

Indeed, not even the leaves rustled before the first neck has been sliced.

The body that had suddenly fallen down as though its owner’s knees had given out caught the attention of its comrades.

“What happened to him?” one of them took a step forward to check his comrade’s now lifeless body. “He’s dead! It’s an enemy’s att-…”

An arrow pierced through his throat.

“It came from that direction!” one of them readied his bow at the direction of the fallen tree trunk.

Just as those words left his mouth, another body at a further distance fell with a crash.

“How many enemies are there?!”

Xiao Liu took this confusion as a chance to change his position. Shen Tian Ping aided him well, attacking from different directions and then slipping back under the cover of the trees as he led the enemies into thinking there were more than just the two of them.

Meanwhile, a group of soldiers surrounded a single person in another part of the forest. They pointed their swords, drawn their arrows, yet none of them dared to make the first move against the figure they have carefully encircled.

Like a rippleless pond, the Lady who seemed to be completely surrounded did not show even a shred of anxiousness. She calmly gave her fan a good flicked, taking great caution so that not one drop of blood could soil her white robes.

Then, Luo Yue turned to the man standing in the middle. She slowly raised her eyes, her lips curling inwards.

“I did not think that I would meet you again, Commander.”