Blood Night Around the Fort

The night was heavy, and the cold wind howled brutally.

Torches flickered along the walls of Jiming Fort, casting eerie shadows, revealing a few soldiers patrolling back and forth, while the distance beyond was swallowed by darkness.

In the dense forest surrounding the fort, treetops swayed, branches intertwined, resembling wraiths flitting through the night. A swarm of shadows darted silently towards the eastern gate of Jiming Fort.

Cold, ruthless faces emerged from the night; nearly a hundred Qiang soldiers poured forth, each wielding a curved blade, dismounting to fight on foot. There wasn't enough room inside the fort for horses to charge.

At the forefront was a fierce-looking man, the Qiang's captain, Bashan Walimu.

With so many enemy soldiers gathering near the fort's eastern gate, the guards failed to react. Walimu's heart swelled with joy, thinking that Wang Shuang had indeed dealt with the defenders inside.

However, his lieutenant, feeling uneasy, whispered:

"Captain, it's too quiet. Could it be a trap?"

Walimu scoffed dismissively:

"A cowardly company leader and a handful of defeated soldiers—what schemes could they possibly execute? What can they really do? Once that gate opens, everyone inside will die!"

"True, they're nothing more than trash. By the way, Captain, what will happen to Wang Shuang? Are we really going to reward him with silver?"

"Reward? Dream on!"

Walimu sneered:

"I'd rather reward him with a dagger! A traitor like him deserves to die!"

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the wall, waving a torch three times. Walimu's eyes brightened; this was the signal Wang Shuang had agreed upon in the letter. He hurriedly lit his own torch and mimicked the gesture.

Creak.

The gate that had been tightly shut for days swung open by itself, revealing an inky blackness inside the fort.

"Haha!"

Walimu grinned wickedly, shouting:

"Kill them! Once we breach the fort, leave no one alive!"

"Kill!"

The Qiang soldiers did not hold back as they stormed into the fort, yelling raucously. They had never considered the guards a threat; the only barrier was that high wall. With the gate open, they had one aim—bloodshed!

Nearly a hundred soldiers poured into the fort, easily seizing control of the side rooms. However, Walimu soon realized something was amiss.

The fort was eerily deserted; not a single soldier to be seen.

A surge of vigilance washed over Walimu, and he shouted:

"Wang Shuang, what's going on? Come out!"

"Bang!"

Just as they entered, the gate slammed shut behind them, cutting off their exit.

Wang Shuang truly appeared, but as a lifeless corpse hung on the wall, swaying gently in the wind.

"Not good, it's a trap!"

Walimu roared, drawing his blade:

"Prepare for battle!"

"Fire arrows!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Countless arrows rained down from the walls, the guards who had been hidden behind them finally revealed themselves, desperately shooting into the fort.

The geography of Jiming Fort, surrounded by high walls with an open area in the center, made an indiscriminate attack easy; even without aiming, a few arrows would surely find their marks.

Luo Yu cautiously poked his head out to observe. The Qiang soldiers were darting around like headless flies, just as he had anticipated.

"Quick! Find cover; retreat to the side rooms!"

"Stay calm! There are more of us; we have nothing to fear!"

The Qiang soldiers, seasoned fighters, quickly regained their composure after a moment of confusion and began to seek cover, dragging the bodies of their fallen comrades for protection.

For this alone, Luo Yu had to give them credit—when it came to combat capability, the Qiang were far superior to the Qian soldiers.

"Damn Qian army! How dare you play dirty? I will make sure to shred you all to pieces!"

Walimu furiously cursed.

"Whoosh!"

Before he finished swearing, an arrow whizzed past, causing Walimu to blade roll to the ground, narrowly avoiding an attack and breaking into a cold sweat.

"Grass?"

Half-crouched, Walimu suddenly noticed the ground was covered with dry grass, not just here but throughout the fort. He was momentarily stunned—why had the Qian army spread grass all over the floor? And it smelled like oil.

This stuff would ignite easily; if he shot a flaming arrow inside, wouldn't the entire fort become an inferno?

"Fire!"

Walimu realized what was happening, every hair on his body stood on end, and with a frothing rage, he yelled:

"Get out of Jiming Fort! Quickly!"

"It's too late; it's easy to get in, but hard to get out."

A cold smile crept onto Luo Yu's face as he suddenly hurled his torch into the fort:

"Light it!"

In a synchronized effort, several torches were thrown from the walls, igniting the oil-soaked grass almost instantly. As the evening wind picked up, flames swept across Jiming Fort in the blink of an eye.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Help me!"

The rain of arrows could at least be dodged, but there was no escape from the all-consuming flames.

Wails of agony pierced the night as shadows of the Qiang soldiers appeared, twisting and struggling amidst the flames. The stench of charred flesh filled the air, nauseating all who breathed it.

Shattering screams mixed with desperate curses rang out, and Walimu stood there, dumbstruck, never expecting a sure victory would turn out this way.

Panicked, the Qiang soldiers began to rush back the way they came, frantically pounding on the gate. But Meng Hu had already gathered a group of sturdy men outside to block the door with stones and logs. No matter how hard the Qiang battered against the wood, the gate remained tightly shut.

With the gate blocked, their only chance was to follow the stone steps to the top of the wall. Unfortunately, the flames were the fiercest there, and their path had already been sealed off.

Luo Yu had never intended to use the steps; he planned to simply rappel down using ropes.

In a hellish inferno and a barrage of arrows, the Qiang soldiers had lost their will to fight and simply wanted to escape this nightmare.

Screams and roars of despair filled the air as bodies were swallowed by the flames, leaving only charred remains behind, a wave of fear and hopelessness rapidly spreading among them.

In contrast, the guards inside the fort were euphoric. Dong Chuan and the others were in awe of Luo Yu, now truly impressed:

By deliberately allowing the Qiang soldiers inside, they had gained the terrain's advantage, executing a flawless plan of arrows and fire without losing a single soldier!

Brilliant!

They instinctively looked to Luo Yu and found his face was eerily calm.

The veterans felt a chill run down their spines; the boy, just seventeen, wielded an unnerving, icy resolve and steady demeanor that belied his age.

About half an hour later, as the dry grass was nearly burned through, the flames began to die down, and the remaining Qiang soldiers were still struggling, looking for a way to escape.

"That's enough."

Luo Yu gripped his curved blade, shouting angrily:

"Brothers, it's time to reap our harvest!"

"Draw your blades! Kill the enemy!"

"Kill!"

Everyone drew their blades, roaring as they charged into the fort to finish off the remaining Qiang soldiers.

Luo Yu was just about to dive back into the fray when he noticed young Wu behind him, trembling while gripping his curved blade, tears streaming down his face, with a noticeable wet patch on his pants.

Despite the Qiang soldiers being surrounded, the cries and the stench of blood frightened him severely.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

Luo Yu fixed him with a reassuring look:

"When someone is scared, they emit a terrible smell, but as long as you're not afraid, swords will not touch you. Even the King of Hell would avoid you.

If you want to see your parents again, you have to fight!"

Luo Yu offered no further encouragement; he turned back toward the battle. That fear was something young Wu would have to conquer on his own.

"Whew…"

"Whew…"

Young Wu gripped the hilt of his blade tighter, his breathing quickening. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and the fearful look in them transformed into a fierce glare:

"I want to go home and see my parents!"

"Kill!"