Come Fight

Fu Shanlie sneered. Before long, another grey owl flew down and hooted at him a few times. "After the fire at the Zhao residence, no one delivered a message to He Lingchuan's home?" This was an emergency and a major event for Yuheng City. If He Lingchuan were still hiding within the city, someone should have tipped him off. The avian demons Fu Shanlie dispatched were watching the two places He Lingchuan frequented most. "I know his house was brightly lit!" Fu Shanlie snapped with growing impatience. This owl was far stupider than its companion. "I'm asking you: over the past four hours, did his door open even once?" "It did open... His female neighbor opening the door doesn't count!" Fu Shanlie frowned. "Did you see the man himself or not?" This time, the grey owl's answer was crisp: "No!" "Good, good!" Fu Shanlie clapped his hands. "Go back and keep a close eye on it. Report any leads at once." The grey owl flapped its wings and flew off into the distance. Yet did that really prove He Lingchuan wasn't in Yuheng City? Fu Shanlie turned it over in his mind from every angle, still unable to shake his unease. He had to find a way to test him. Just then, another subordinate hurried in from outside, stepped close to Fu Shanlie, and whispered, "General, the Globe Amaranth Gang, the Longshan Gang, and four other gangs are mobilizing their men." Fu Shanlie gave a low grunt. "It seems it really is tonight." The river bandits' discipline lagged far behind that of regular troops. If He Lingchuan wanted to attack here, those spineless turncoats in the Globe Amaranth Gang would be the last ones he mobilized. Turned the other way around, once those former river bandits began moving, it meant He Lingchuan's offensive was about to start. It seemed the fellow truly couldn't wait until the Emperor's Flowing Dew arrived before striking. The supreme art of war is to foil the enemy's plans. He Lingchuan refused to jump into the trap he had laid. Fortunately—most fortunately—he hadn't let himself be blinded by He Lingchuan's past performance. Otherwise, he would have suffered a catastrophic loss tonight. "What about our retreat route?" "Yuheng Army troops appear to have shown up near Suxi. Luckily, our brothers pulled out long ago." Suxi was an important tributary flowing from Jintao into Longchuan. Yuheng City guarding this spot was intended to cut off the Xiji puppet troops' line of retreat. "And their two military camps in western and southern Longchuan?" "Empty." No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sky lit up with blazing brilliance. It wasn't sudden daylight; thousands of flaming arrows had been launched in concentrated volleys from outside, arcing over the dense Demon-devouring Forest to rain down upon the Xiji puppet troops' water stockade! Although the stockade's buildings were made from local timber and consisted mostly of wooden structures, the Xiji puppet troops had long since obtained a special coating with wondrous fire-retardant properties. While this rain of fire looked terrifyingly fierce, it ignited few buildings. Instead, the surrounding woods bore the brunt of the devastation. Immediately after, earth-shaking war cries erupted outside. Fierce bandits poured out of the water stockade in waves, moving to hold the access corridors. The Xiji puppet troops were already isolated in Longchuan. The surrounding locals viewed them with growing hostility, and with Yuheng City's influence having thoroughly penetrated the area, there was no longer any need for the puppet troops to communicate with the rest of Longchuan. Through months of planting and cultivation, the Xiji puppet troops had grown a thick wall of demon-devouring trees along the perimeter of their territory, leaving only two access paths. This peculiar tree species was a distant relative of the demon-devouring vine. Being an arborescent plant, however, it could grow to three zhang in height and three arm-spans in girth. They could be interplanted with demon-devouring vines to form a defensive wall of intertwined trunks and creepers roughly three zhang wide. Their branches, leaves, and vines wove into a dense lattice so tight not even a mouse could slip through. Any creature daring to approach would be ruthlessly devoured. These growths were remarkably resilient and naturally fire-resistant, having served the Xiji puppet troops well against Yuheng Army's earlier harassment and raids. Indeed, ever since the Yuheng Army had turned the tables in Longchuan to claim the local advantage, it had continually harassed the puppet troops' territory every few days. He Lingchuan had used these deployments to train his various units while denying the Xiji puppet troops any peace. No one knew when he would harass them, when he would feint, or when he would launch a general assault. The puppet troops' nerves had been wound to the breaking point. If not for this living wall, their territory would have fallen long ago. A tawny owl descended from the sky and said to Fu Shanlie, "The enemy is attacking along two routes: the western and southern entrances in the tree wall, with roughly a thousand men at each." "Counting Suxi in the north, that makes three forces," Fu Shanlie said, stroking his chin. "Where is He Lingchuan? Did you see him?" "I did! He's commanding the front line at the western entrance!" "Are you sure it's him?" The tawny owl nodded vigorously. "I recognize his face and his armor!" "Recognizing armor means nothing; we must be sure it's the man himself." Fu Shanlie's eyes darted about, and he stood up and strode outside. On the western side of the demon-devouring wall, the Yuheng City army was fiercely contesting the passage. A booming shout suddenly rang across the battlefield: "Fu Shanlie is here! He Lingchuan, do you dare come out and face me?" Fu Shanlie burst into view, slaying several Yuheng soldiers in quick succession. Under his lead, the puppet troops pushed back two zhang, reclaiming control of the corridor. Pouring his true power into his voice, his roar echoed above the dense forest, overpowering even the clamor of slaughter. Fu Shanlie shouted it three times. With such a brazen challenge hurled directly in his face, the opposing commander was bound to step forward if he was truly present. Sure enough, the Yuheng ranks soon parted down the middle. Several riders galloped forward, and the general leading them was none other than He Lingchuan. Combat halted momentarily across the field. He Lingchuan gazed at Fu Shanlie standing squarely in the corridor, his expression impassive. "What, looking to make a deathbed confession?" Fu Shanlie laughed heartily. "We've clashed for nearly a year, yet until tonight's decisive battle, we've never shared a drink. That truly is a shame." For a general of the Beijia Kingdom to say such a thing was extraordinarily high praise for the commander of a frontier town. The Beijia people were exceedingly proud, and Fu Shanlie was among the best of them. By his reckoning, few even within Beijia could have driven him into his current predicament. "Fine, I'll humor you." He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, dismounted, and pulled a wine gourd from his storage ring, giving it a shake toward his opponent. Seeing this, Fu Shanlie produced a silver flagon. The two commanders stood facing each other, less than five zhang apart. Behind each stood their respective armies in tense standoff, ranks bristling with discipline, blades and spears glinting cold in the torchlight. Fu Shanlie sighed. "Had you been born in Beijia, you would be a ferocious general with limitless prospects. What a pity you ended up in this hopeless place." He Lingchuan smiled faintly. "So your highest ambition is merely to become a Lingxu general and keep serving as a dog for the celestial gods?" Fu Shanlie snorted. "What do you know? My loyalty belongs to Beijia." "Not to the celestial gods?" He Lingchuan marveled inwardly at the oddities of fate. Fu Shanlie's temperament was indeed remarkably similar to Fu Shanyue's. More accurately, Fu Shanyue had inherited his temper. Fu Shanlie didn't take the bait. He simply raised his silver flagon toward him. "Come, I toast you with this flagon. Win or lose after tonight, you are an opponent worthy of respect." He Lingchuan lifted his gourd, returning the toast from afar. Both men threw their heads back, drank the vessels dry, and turned them upside down. Not a single drop remained. "Ready to fight?" "Come fight!" He Lingchuan vaulted back into his saddle, while Fu Shanlie took several steps back. Both raised an arm and slashed it forward: "Charge!" Both armies surged ahead in unison, crashing together like opposing tides once more. Upon retreating into the water stockade, Fu Shanlie instructed several of his officers, "Hold this place." "Rest easy, General." These men had accompanied him from Beijia and were fiercely loyal. With that, Fu Shanlie returned to his quarters. Most wooden buildings in the water stockade were erected over the lake, and his was no exception. Fu Shanlie lifted a floorboard, revealing an opening three chi square. Below it, gentle ripples swayed in the water. He plunged into the lake and vanished in an instant. He Lingchuan had indeed come to the Longchuan front in person; he had confirmed it with his own eyes. Now, the next phase of the plan could begin. *** The assault on the puppet troops' water stockade resumed. Soldiers swept past He Lingchuan like a tide, charging onward. As the commander-in-chief, he only needed to hold down the rear and direct the battle. Longchuan seemed exceptionally chaotic tonight, packed with soldiers and illuminated by sky-scorching torches everywhere. Nearly all of Longchuan's former bandit gangs had received the commander's orders to join the Yuheng Army's eradication campaign. Yuheng City was resolved to settle everything in one decisive blow tonight. Messengers darted in and out of the brightly lit command tent like worker ants, and the nearby troop movements proceeded in an orderly fashion. Two squads were coating their bodies in a black ointment. The substance was thick and greasy with a pungent odor that wouldn't wash off with plain water, requiring a special solvent to remove. Even so, the squad leader ordered every man to apply it thoroughly from head to toe, leaving no exposed patches. This substance was a recent invention from the apothecaries of Panlong City. Though demon-devouring trees were vicious to outsiders, they were still susceptible to pests and required their own caretakers—small creatures known as 'mud moles.' Mud moles could move in and out of the demon-devouring forest without facing attack. The camouflage ointment developed by Panlong City's apothecaries mimicked the grease found on mud moles while masking the human scent, allowing humans to deceive the forest as well. Unfortunately, the quantity was limited, making large-scale distribution impossible. The two squads were infiltrating behind enemy lines to conduct sabotage. While combat raged furiously around the demon-devouring tree wall, no one noticed a messenger emerging from the command tent, moving with the flow through the chaotic ranks, and slipping quietly into the dark underbrush. A magnificent bo beast was already waiting outside the woods. The blazing torches of the battlefield only made the surrounding shadows seem deeper. No one observed the cloaked, masked figure slipping through the trees, mounting the bo beast, and speeding north under the cover of night and foliage! Rider and mount knew the terrain intimately. Even amidst the dim, changing landscape, he dared to slap a swift-striding talisman onto the bo beast's neck, using the wind to push its speed further. Even if other beasts or demons slumbering in the woods were startled awake by the hoofbeats, the rider was already gone, leaving behind only a faint, vanishing silhouette. Every breath and every moment ahead was precious. He was racing against time, and time meant life or death, victory or defeat. Before long, he reached the official highway. Night travelers appeared here and there in small groups; what was odd about one more? After the Longchuan river bandits had transitioned into road inspectors, they had genuinely put in the work to repair the highway. The commercial route was far easier to traverse than it had been months ago, and the bo beast accelerated again and again. Moreover, traveling the official road offered another advantage: Fu Shanlie's scouts rarely kept watch on the main highways. Before he had covered half the distance, the shape of a bird appeared ahead, wings beating as it swooped gracefully down toward him. The kestrel had arrived.