From the Xiji border to the capital was still quite a distance.
These battles were must-wins, where defeat was not an option. Time was tight, the mission heavy, and danger lurked at every turn.
Yet no one present raised any objection to this long-range raid. General Nan Ke spoke up at once. "If Old Huyan were still alive, Xiji would be tough to crack. But with him dead, Huyan Zhao is busy consolidating power, so Xiji must be in utter turmoil right now. If we can reach them within seven days, we will surely catch them completely off guard. Heh, Xiji's capital sits close to their western border, which makes our harvest all the easier. I recall Old Huyan once wanted to move the capital eastward, but his court ministers opposed it, so he had to drop the matter in the end."
Zhong Shengguang planted a small flag into the sand table. "General Nan Ke has already covered the enemy's weaknesses. Next, let us discuss their strengths."
Everyone pooled their wisdom, analyzing the troop distribution across Xiji and the traits of its commanding generals. Next, they discussed the choice of route for the raid, the sequence of assaults, and the defensive duties around Panlong City during the campaign's deployment...
Wen Daolun placed special emphasis on analyzing Huyan Zhao, the future ruler of Xiji, detailing his personality and temperament. After all, he was Panlong City's true opponent in this campaign.
In the end, they even touched upon the weather forecasts for Xiji in the coming days.
Sitting through the council, He Lingchuan shuddered when General Red mentioned marching on Xiji.
History was finally returning to the track he was familiar with!
He had heard long ago that Panlong City once invaded Xiji, the small kingdom to the east. But as for why they fought or how it was waged, later generations never understood, knowing only that the war had erupted without the slightest warning.
Now, he was about to observe it firsthand as a participant.
After hearing his recount, the members of the Broken Saber squad were eager to test their mettle. A'luo nodded as well. "The Jinxi Corridor is far too perilous. We cannot gamble the lives and fortunes of over a million people on the enemy's mercy. Only a path carved out with our own hands feels comfortable to walk."
He Lingchuan smiled. "That is precisely the logic. We are merely the advance squad. I imagine Commander Zhong will address the whole city and lay out these stakes clearly before the main army sets out."
"When the Huyan clan founded Xiji, they originally had several formidable generals and the backing of the Baling Kingdom, effectively choking off our route back east. But their dynastic fortune was lacking. Over the past dozen-odd years, their veteran star commanders have fallen one after another, and the newcomers are unable to shoulder the burden alone, leaving the realm weaker by the day. Now that Old Huyan is dead, this is a heaven-sent opportunity. How could we not seize it?"
Door Plank chimed in, "Aiya, there's no need for all these grand speeches. As long as Commander Zhong says we're going to strike Xiji, the whole city will cheer and back us to the hilt!"
Everyone laughed.
Hu Min suddenly turned to their newly joined comrade. "Old Yu, what skills do you bring to the table?"
"Me?" Old Yu rubbed his head, looking a little bashful. "I don't have any grand talents. I'm just good at getting close to wild beasts and monsters and having a nice chat with them."
"A beast tamer?" Willow let out a soft exclamation. "That's quite rare."
For such a path of cultivation, innate talent mattered far more than hard work. Without a naturally affable constitution, no matter how much you forced a smile, unfamiliar beasts would never take a liking to you.
Old Yu chuckled. "I'm usually stationed out on the plateau. General Red recalled me this time specifically for this mission. I'll be in everyone's care."
...
Several hours later.
Dragon Throat Pass, nestled in the western mountains of Xiji.
As dusk deepened, the cookfires were lit in the Xiji military camp, their savory aroma wafting all the way to the top of the pass wall.
The soldiers on lookout swallowed hard, beginning to count down the time until the guard shift.
"I heard there's wild boar meat today—a massive beast weighing three to four hundred jin! When is it our turn to go down and eat?"
Though it was early summer, nightfall in the mountains remained bitterly cold.
"Those two pricks on the next shift are definitely..."
"Why don't we just head down? Grab a couple pieces of meat first."
A sentry hesitated. "Is that wise? What if we get caught...?"
"The shift change is already overdue! It's those two bastards who aren't on time!" another argued indignantly. "If anyone's getting punished, it should be them. Oh, look, I see blood sausage! Who's the genius that knows how to make blood sausage?"
The sound of gulps grew instantly louder.
Unable to hold back any longer, the men on the wall bounded down in two or three strides to scramble for food.
The meat in the cauldrons had just finished boiling. The ribs and tenderloins were naturally sent off to the officers' tents, while the rest depended on who had better ties with the cooks.
Sure enough, their abandoned post went unnoticed.
Watching the choice cuts vanish from the pot at lightning speed, the three men in line grew anxious.
With great difficulty, their turn finally came. "Blood sausage, blood sausage, give us blood sausage!"
"Who wants blood sausage? I want pig trotters!"
The cook dishing out the meat gave a faint, insincere smile. He cut the blood sausage right near the tied knot, while the fellow pining for trotters received a piece of backbone instead.
The kind that was eighty percent bone and twenty percent meat.
"Hey, hey, there's barely any meat on this!"
The cook glared at him. "You should be glad to get anything at all! Now scram, don't hold up the line!"
The men walked away dejectedly, but once they sat down to gnaw on the bones, their spirits lifted again.
It smelled so good. They hadn't tasted meat in nearly half a month.
Besides, this was fresh meat—freshly slaughtered wild boar from just this afternoon!
"I heard the king just passed away, so the nobles in the capital have to keep a vegetarian diet for three days."
"Really?" mumbled the man chewing on the large bone. "Then they aren't eating as well as us."
"Are you pig-headed? How could the nobility eat worse than regular grunts like us?" the third sneered. "I heard they all have private kitchens at home, cooking them late-night meals in the dead of night. Plump pig trotters and blood sausage whenever they want!"
"All right, all right, eat up fast. Once we're done, we need to get back up there." The first soldier was wolfing down his blood sausage. The portion was far too small, gone in two or three bites, and he smacked his lips in longing. "Don't let the relief shift catch us slipping off. We'd get five strokes of the cane for that."
They finished hurriedly, licking their bowls clean around the edges. Just as they reached for their spears to return to their post, a thunderous boom erupted from behind them—
Everyone heard it. Turning around, they were utterly dumbfounded.
Atop the beacon tower, roaring flames had suddenly flared to life!
What was more, an outrageous four beacons were blazing in succession! That was the signal reserved only for a full-scale enemy invasion.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" someone shrieked at the top of their lungs. The entire camp instantly fell into chaotic disarray, with whistles and gongs ringing out ceaselessly.
Many soldiers were still clutching their rice bowls. Their first instinct was not to drop their food and seize weapons, but to shovel a few more mouthfuls into their mouths while they could.
Such fragrant boar meat—what a waste it would be to leave it behind!
Which cursed bastards of an enemy chose the exact moment everyone was eating meat to attack?
The garrison commander of Dragon Throat Post parted with the meat in his bowl and strode out, shouting, "Sentries, come down and report!"
The sentries hadn't sounded an alarm, so why had the beacon tower been lit?
Countless eyes snapped toward the pass wall.
Yet it was completely deserted, without a soul in sight.
Those three sentries hadn't made it back up yet.
"What happened up there!" The commander was startled, assuming all three sentries had been taken out. What formidable adversaries!
He grew intensely nervous. "All units, battle stations! Send men up there again, now!"
Dragon Throat Post was Xiji's first defensive barrier in the west, directly facing the pressure from Panlong City. Because Xiji had split off from the Xiluo Kingdom not long ago, its relations with Panlong City were far from amicable.
The Panlong army commanded a fearsome reputation, posing a massive psychological weight on the garrison here, even though they had never once launched an incursion.
Yet the commander instantly connected the ruler's recent demise with an enemy invasion.
Were they taking advantage of the turmoil to strike?
Just then, several men shoved the three sentries forward. "They aren't dead! They just sneaked down on their own to eat meat!"
Bathed in the glow cast down by the beacon flames, the three soldiers trembled like leaves.
The garrison commander was beside himself with rage.
The soldiers who scrambled up the ramparts peered out into the mountain wilderness for a long while before leaning over to yell, "No sign of anything! It's a false alarm!"
A false alarm?
The commander was skeptical.
A sentry sounding a false alarm was one thing, but how could a beacon tower ignite by mistake?
Who would throw an ember in there?
The commander had no choice but to bark out, "Put out the beacon! Put it out!"
The soldiers scrambled in a fluster to extinguish the flames.
The trouble was that this beacon tower had been specially designed, even using custom-formulated fuel. Once lit, it roared into a blazing inferno and proved exceedingly difficult to quench.
This design had been intended precisely to prevent enemies from quickly dousing the fire and cutting off the warning signal.
The commander had to summon a mystic to suppress the howling mountain winds, then ordered the soldiers to heave sack after sack of sand and soil from behind the pass to smother the beacon platforms. Because all four beacon hearths were ablaze, the fire raged with particular fury. Only after thirteen or fourteen frantic trips back and forth did the flames gradually die down.
During this time, a sentry pointed east. "The beacons at Dragon Spine Pass have been lit too!"
The nature of the beacon chain meant Dragon Throat Post was the very first link. As long as a fire was sparked here, every beacon tower to the east would ignite immediately.
Four beacons lit here meant four beacons relayed eastward—not a single error was permitted.
Beyond Dragon Spine Pass lay almost flat plains throughout Xiji, requiring only a few more relay towers to reach the capital.
The commander's heart turned cold. He had no choice but to dispatch messengers to gallop toward the capital, reporting that it was a false alarm.
Naturally, how could galloping steeds outpace the speed of fire? Especially along rugged mountain trails.
Barely half an hour later, the report of a massive invasion by western foes reached the royal palace of Xiji. The crown prince, Huyan Zhao, who had yet to ascend the throne, was startled awake and hurriedly issued orders for the entire army to prepare for battle.
His attendants noted, "We have heard no cannon fire."
According to protocol, one beacon required one cannon shot, and four beacons required four shots. A pass was meant to fire cannons immediately after lighting beacons to prevent accidental ignition or false alarms from misleading high-level decisions.
Yet the beacon towers had not been lit in years, and no one knew what had happened at Dragon Throat Post. The royal court spent the night preparing for war regardless, while sending riders galloping westward to investigate.
It was not until the afternoon of the following day that word from Dragon Throat Post finally arrived:
A false alarm.
Cause unknown, currently under investigation.
Huyan Zhao was beside himself with fury.
Keeping vigil over his late father by day had already been exhausting enough, only for him to be startled awake at night and forced to sleep in full armor until dawn!
Investigate! Conduct a thorough investigation!
Punish them! Impose the harshest punishments!
Delayed or false beacon reports had always incurred exceptionally severe penalties.
In the end, Dragon Throat Post failed to uncover the true cause and could only seize the three unlucky sentries as scapegoats, having all three beheaded.
The crown prince had initially intended to execute the pass commander as well, but the court ministers pleaded for leniency, so the sentence was commuted to thirty heavy strokes of the cane and a one-rank demotion.
Those thirty strokes were grueling to endure. Though the punishment was administered at Dragon Throat Pass, the crown prince had specially dispatched an imperial envoy to oversee it, so the soldiers carrying out the beating dared not pull their strikes. Once those thirty blows landed, the garrison commander felt as though half his soul had taken flight, leaving him bedridden to nurse his wounds.
Chapter 426