What to Do When You Can't Win?

Sun Fuling hardly knew where to put her hands. Giving a soft cough, she stood up. "I still have laundry to do, so I'll be heading back. Get some rest early." He Lingchuan scrambled to his feet right after her, looking at her with an imploring gaze. "Swords have no eyes. Before I march off, could I ask you for a good-luck token?" "What kind of token?" "The same as last time," He Lingchuan said, a hint of regret lingering in his tone. "Only it can't be so fleeting." "You'll be perfectly fine." Her face flushed even deeper. "You don't need any good-luck token." "How can you be so sure?" Sun Fuling smiled. "You're going out to earn military merits. Won't coming back with a promotion and wealth be plenty enough for you to strut about?" Looking at the mischievous glint dancing in her eyes, He Lingchuan let out a long sigh, hooked an arm around her slender waist to reel her close, and leaned in for a lightning-fast kiss! As fast as she had been last time, he would have to be even faster now. To master any beauty under heaven, speed was of the essence. Yet to his dismay, Sun Fuling's figure blurred, and before his lips could even touch hers, she was already standing over by the water vat. He Lingchuan felt as though he had caught hold of a great fish—slippery and elusive, slipping clean through his fingers. "You..." He had planned this ambush deliberately against an unprepared target, yet he had still failed! This was simply absurd! Fortunately, at that very moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside, followed by someone pounding vigorously on the courtyard gate. "Broken Saber squad, assemble at the south of the city! Broken Saber squad, report south immediately!" A stampede of cursed thoughts galloped through He Lingchuan's mind. Worse still, the messenger was doggedly persistent, knocking without pause when no answer came. "Heard you, heard you!" He Lingchuan called out listlessly. "Heading out right now!" Only then did the messenger run off. With this sudden intrusion, the tender atmosphere from just moments ago evaporated without a trace. He Lingchuan asked despondently, "You really won't give me that token?" "Scoundrel." Sun Fuling vaulted lightly over the low courtyard wall, tossing back a single line: "Pack your gear and go already." He Lingchuan shrugged, turned back inside to gather his weapons and medicine, suited up in his gear, and set out into the night. Passing his neighbor's courtyard, he noticed the boy, Xiao Pang, sitting on the door threshold with his chin resting in his hands. He Lingchuan had fed Xiao Pang plenty of snacks, and the boy's family had sent him flowers and cooked dishes in return; their neighborly relations were quite harmonious. So he couldn't help pausing to ask: "Hey, what are you doing out here?" Panlong City enjoyed excellent public safety—no one even locked their doors at night—but letting a six- or seven-year-old kid sit on the threshold in the middle of the night showed far too much nonchalance from his parents. Oh, right. He had forgotten that his parents were rather busy at the moment. "My folks are making too much noise." Xiao Pang looked up at him. "Are you going off to war again?" He Lingchuan shrugged. The messenger earlier had only summoned the Broken Saber squad, not announced a general mobilization, so the current operation could not be made public yet. "I've got business to attend to outside." Xiao Pang plucked a morning glory growing from a crack between the bricks and held it out to him. "A flower for you! I want to grow up fast so I can go fight in battles too!" "War isn't anything glamorous." He Lingchuan quietly reckoned the boy's age and realized that the kid might truly end up on the battlefield one day. Sigh. What a rotten world. "Fighting is glorious!" Xiao Pang disagreed. "I don't want to be ordinary like my mom and dad. I want people to look up to me!" "What the hell do you know!" He Lingchuan rapped the kid's head with his knuckles before turning and striding away. How could a child understand that staying alive was all that mattered? There was an assembly point nearby, with carriages arriving every half-quarter of an hour to ferry personnel. By the time he reached South Gate Square, several detachments were already forming up. The designated gathering point for the Broken Saber squad happened to be right along the riverbank, not far from the Juluo tree. The sudden influx of voices in the dead of night startled the sparrows roosting in the branches, keeping them from uttering a peep. When He Lingchuan, Door Plank, and the rest arrived, someone was already waiting there. The silhouette looked remarkably familiar. As the figure turned around— Sure enough, it was General Red. General Red had changed into a suit of tight-fitting martial attire, though she still wore that eagle-head mask. "You have a special assignment and will depart immediately." The supply soldiers had already led over mounts for the squad—two horses per person, saddles strapped with dry rations and waterskins. Assigning two horses to each rider to allow alternating on the road meant this was a high-mobility mission. He Lingchuan felt a slight chill of seriousness. "Awaiting your orders, General." "He Lingchuan, you have seen the terrain sand table of Xiji Kingdom in Gange Hall. That country consists of high mountains in the west and flat plains in the east. Attacking from west to east means facing the hard part first, then the easy part; most of the resistance will be concentrated in the western mountainous region." He Lingchuan nodded, both in response and to brief his squad members. "Xiji is Panlong City's neighbor to the east. Its western mountains are guarded by two armies. If the rugged mountain trails are likened to a great dragon, these two garrisons hold the dragon's throat and its hind legs respectively, fielding eight hundred and twelve hundred men—two thousand troops in total." The squad members listened attentively, even while harboring questions in their hearts. "They hold key choke points, occupying advantageous terrain within narrow passes that are easy to defend and difficult to attack," General Red continued. "Taking them is not hard. The difficulty lies in the fact that both passes have beacon towers. Once attacked, they will light the signal fires. If that happens, the capital of Xiji Kingdom, less than two hundred li away, will be alerted, and we will lose the element of surprise." She paused briefly. "Your squads must resolve this trouble." With that, she summoned someone forward from behind her. "The Broken Saber squad has been assigned the disruption and control mission at Dragon Throat Post this time. This is your temporary squad mate; once you enter the mountains, everything hinges on his abilities. You must protect him at all costs throughout the entire mission." This was a thin, diminutive man, under forty years old, with features slightly resembling a monkey. He grinned broadly at everyone. "My surname is Yu. I'm a mystic; you can just call me Old Yu." "This mission is of paramount importance. If you carry it out well, countless brothers will be spared their lives," General Red said in a solemn voice. "Broken Saber squad, do not let me down!" "Yes, General!" the squad answered in unison. He Lingchuan looked at General Red's mask, hesitating as if wanting to speak. General Red noticed. "Speak your mind." "I would like to ask you for guidance on a matter." General Red seemed to sense that his question was personal. "Follow me." She led He Lingchuan toward the Juluo tree. A couple of chirps came from the branches above—the sparrows stirring. "Go ahead." "If you were facing an enemy so overwhelmingly powerful that they were virtually unbeatable, what should you do?" He Lingchuan added, "I'm not referring to this mission." General Red replied without hesitation, "Avoid them." "..." He Lingchuan rested a hand on the hilt of his Fusheng saber, one piece of the death trio. He thought of the King of Yuan's final fate, and of the prophecy hanging over his own destiny. "What if they can't be avoided? What if they will find me sooner or later?" Had the King of Yuan managed to avoid them? Had Zhong Shengguang managed to avoid them? Neither of those outstanding figures had succeeded; what made him think he could? Ever since leaving the ruins of Thousand Stars City, not a single day had passed without him brooding over this. "How much does the enemy know about you?" "For now, they treat me as nothing at all." He Lingchuan touched his nose. To a colossal behemoth like the Beijia Kingdom, he wasn't even worth a speck of shrimp. "Or rather, they don't even know someone like me exists." "Is there still plenty of time?" "You could say that." General Red pondered for a moment before speaking. "Suppose you were trapped in a haunted mansion, pursued from behind by a ferocious ghost. You cannot defeat it, nor can you escape. What would you do?" He Lingchuan answered without thinking, "Hide." Only by surviving first could one search for a countermeasure. "Hide where?" General Red pressed. "If you hide motionless in one spot, you are bound to be found." He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile. "Then I'd have no choice but to trail right behind the ghost—ideally matching its every step." Hopefully, it wouldn't turn out to be a two-faced ghost. "Observe it, study it, and if necessary, stay on its heels—the closer, the better!" General Red said decisively. "How could anything in this world be truly 'unbeatable'? Only by understanding it more deeply can you hope to tear through the facade and strike at its fatal weakness." *If you can't beat the ghost, why not dance with it, moving in lockstep?* He Lingchuan mused thoughtfully. "Right now, you remain in the shadows. That is your greatest advantage." He Lingchuan said from the bottom of his heart, "Thank you, General." As for the rest, he would have to fathom it himself. All in all, he needed to become more active and take greater initiative. "Go now. I have other matters to attend to." General Red's meaning was clear: *don't waste my time.* Thus, having received their mission, several detachments galloped out through the south gate one after another, heading east. He Lingchuan looked up at the sky. A crescent moon hung low, yet faint illumination still blanketed heaven and earth. However, the new moon was drawing near. ... After leaving the city, the Broken Saber squad rode hard through the night for dozens of li. Only when daylight broke fully did they rein in by a riverbank to water their horses and rest. The soldiers were well-versed in forced marches, pulling out medicinal oils to massage their taut waists, legs, and back muscles. The horses drank, the men ate, and every quarter-hour was precious. Door Plank leaned straight against a large rock, exhaling a long, comfortable breath. Willow seized the moment to ask He Lingchuan, "Boss, why are we attacking Xiji? Does Commander Zhong no longer intend to lead us eastward through the Jinxi Corridor to return home?" Hu Min chuckled. "Hitting Xiji is the best move possible—it vents our anger!" The others around them chimed in with agreement. Even the newly joined Old Yu nodded. "Relying on someone backing them up, Xiji loves barking over nothing, and they've persecuted our fellow countrymen. If we can knock them flat on our way back home, nothing could be better." Willow rolled her eyes at him. "Nobody said hitting Xiji is bad. Squashing a flea of a country like that will feel great! But why pick this precise moment to strike them?" "The Jinxi Corridor is Baling Kingdom's territory. If we march through there, we'll be right under the eyes of the Baling people the whole way. Across all the settlements of the Panlong Wasteland, think of how many elderly, weak, women, and children there are, not to mention boundless wealth. Without sturdy walls and fortified cities to shield them, can you count on the Baling people's goodwill?" Willow said bitterly, "For all we know, they're just waiting to tear flesh from our bones." He Lingchuan drew his saber and casually sketched a map in the riverbank sand to serve as a makeshift sand table. It wasn't drawn particularly well, but it would do for everyone to get the picture. "Coincidentally, right at this critical juncture, the King of Xiji passed away, and a state funeral will be held in a few days. The one succeeding the throne is Huyan Zhao." He still remembered the scene in Gange Hall: "Announce to the entire city: we are going to fight our way back, immediately and without delay!" General Red had pointed her sword at Xiji Kingdom on the sand table, her tone resolute and soaring. "Do we need the king to issue a resettlement decree? Do we need the Baling people to open the Jinxi Corridor for us? We will carve out our own path back home, starting with Xiji!" "Seven days!" Zhong Shengguang had let out a breath. "Within seven days, we march on Xiji Kingdom—with thunderous force." Everyone looked down at the sand table. The Panlong Wasteland was vast. From Panlong City to Xiji Kingdom, the straight-line distance alone was several hundred li; taking into account the obstacles of hills, rocky valleys, and lakes, the army's march would take even longer.