Drawn by the Scent

He instinctively glanced at He Lingchuan—thank goodness his eldest son had warned him in time. Pointing at the city gate, he ordered, "Reinforce it at once!" Men immediately went to fetch sandbags and stack them behind the gate. As He Chunhua ascended the gate tower, he asked, "Where is the attack coming from?" "Not clear yet," Zhao Qinghe answered. "After intercepting the infiltrators, we came up to check. We shot a few fire arrows out, and in the glare of the flames, saw enemy troops two hundred paces away!" So the whole scheme became clear. The enemy had launched a night raid, infiltrating a small detachment in advance to throw open the city gates. But once the fire arrows exposed them, their sneak attack was foiled, so they dropped the pretense and simply mounted a full-scale assault. In theory, by setting fire to the government office, assassinating the prefect, and sowing chaos, they had executed a seamless sequence of moves. By now, they should have already breached the city. Unfortunately, He Chunhua happened to arrive in Blackwater City at this exact juncture. When it came to luck, the raiders had lost out to Governor-General He. He Chunhua climbed onto the ramparts and looked down. A dark, swarming mass of enemy soldiers spread out below. Torches formed a sea of fire, and a rain of arrows flew up toward the parapets with terrifying momentum. Ducking his head back, he asked his eldest son: "Chuan'er, what do you make of this?" He Lingchuan had already finished scanning the scene. "A thousand or so enemy troops in light armor, with only two battering rams and no heavy siege engines. Looks like they came along Red Cliff Road. The outposts ahead must be blind to let an entire army slip through without noticing." North of Blackwater City, an outpost stood every twenty or thirty li. For the enemy to march right up to the city walls without a single warning signal from the posts was sheer dereliction of duty. "There are reinforcements too," He Chunhua said, pointing at the line of torches snaking in from the distance. "It seems they broke into smaller detachments earlier and arrived in separate waves." "These are Andongese, old adversaries of mine," he added. "They've kept quiet for quite a few years, so you wouldn't recognize their arms and armor." "Oh?" He Lingchuan was surprised. "These are the Andongese?" "They want to take the city back and wipe away their past humiliation." Twenty years ago, Blackwater City had still been under Andongese rule. It was He Chunhua who fought several campaigns to annex it into the Yuan Kingdom's domain. He had even been promoted to prefect on the strength of that achievement. Now, the Andongese were back for revenge. "Why pick this time?" "It's prime time," He Chunhua said, his face dark as stagnant water. "Great Yuan is tottering in the storm, and anomalies have frequently appeared along Red Cliff Road." He Lingchuan caught that word "frequently." That meant his old man had known all along that changes were taking place in the Panlong Desert. "Red Cliff Road?" He Lingchuan feigned surprise. "The Andongese are interested in Red Cliff Road and the Panlong Desert too?" "They're interested in what's inside the Panlong Desert," He Chunhua said casually. "Did you forget why Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu came to Blackwater City in the first place?" Naturally, it was for the Dafang Pot. "If nothing else, simply releasing the Three Corpse Worms from the pot would plunge an opposing army into chaos. To the Militarist School, that is an infallible secret to victory, a supreme weapon for defeating enemies," He Chunhua said solemnly. "Now that upheaval has struck the Panlong Desert, these fellows have probably gotten restless again and want to try their luck." He Lingchuan gave an understanding "Oh!" "So that's it!" He Chunhua had come with the exact same thought, hadn't he? As the Andongese rammed the gates with their battering rams, the soldiers on the walls brought out homemade explosives and hurled them down. These devices were also known as "melon bombs." Shaped roughly like watermelons, they packed considerable explosive force once ignited, though they were rather unstable—sometimes just stepping on one by mistake would... Four or five were lobbed down from the ramparts at once. None of the enemy dared try to snuff them out; they all clutched their heads and scrambled for cover. A series of deafening blasts rang out, shattering the wheels of the battering ram. The ram was already heavy, and with arrows raining down from the gate tower, the enemy couldn't drag it back for the moment. Having seen enough, He Chunhua walked back down to ground level. By then, Qiu Hu and his three companions had returned, escorting two captives. One had both wrists dislocated, while the other's belly had been sliced open, dripping with blood. He Lingchuan recognized one of them as the burly fellow who had argued with the cook at the Weicheng post relay a few days ago. Only now, his face was smeared with blood and grime, his spirit utterly broken. "Where are the others?" "Dead." He Lingchuan had told them to keep someone alive, and Qiu Hu had spared two. "The one with the gutted belly is their leader. This bald fellow is his younger brother." Time was precious, so Qiu Hu got straight to the intelligence he had extracted under interrogation: "The army outside the gates comes from Nie City in Andong. Part of it is city garrison troops, and part is the West Prefecture Direct Command. Over three thousand men in total, commanded by Liao Shan, the Prefect of Nie City." "Liao Shan sent two teams to infiltrate Blackwater City: one to assassinate Prefect Hu, and the other to covertly open the city gates and let the Andongese inside. So far, only one team succeeded." "That group is still on the loose," He Lingchuan nodded. "What else?" "Last night, Liao Shan detached a hundred men to head toward the heart of the Panlong Desert." The heart of the Panlong Desert? Father and son exchanged a glance. That could only mean the Panlong Ruins. He Chunhua's guess was right: the Andongese had their eyes on the Dafang Pot as well. This Liao Shan was sending troops to seize Blackwater City on one hand while dispatching men to claim the Dafang Pot on the other. If he got the pot first, Blackwater City would fall with ease; if he captured Blackwater City first, the entirety of Red Cliff Road would be under Andongese control, giving them the home advantage over everyone else to explore the Panlong Desert at their leisure. "A fine calculation indeed," He Chunhua scoffed coldly. "But greed comes at a cost. Trying to grab both at once often leaves one with nothing." Qiu Hu had also extracted information regarding the assassins who attacked Prefect Hu. As for the rest, the two men knew nothing more. The bald man suddenly dropped to his knees before He Chunhua. "My lord, save my brother's life, and we will serve at your command!" His elder brother was bleeding profusely. Left like this, he would soon breathe his last even without an executioner from Blackwater City. He Chunhua said indifferently, "What further use do you have?" The bald man stared blankly. He had already spilled all the intelligence he knew; he couldn't conjure up anything new on the spot. Ah, if only he had known to hold something back! Qiu Hu pressed a dagger against his neck, drawing it slowly across the skin while glancing toward He Lingchuan. Only when blood trickled down to the base of the man's throat did He Lingchuan wave a hand. "Hold on. Keep him alive—keep both of them alive for now." A Mount Rong disciple stepped forward immediately to treat the other prisoner's wounds. Quality pills and top-grade medicine—the bald man could tell at a glance, as the bleeding from his brother's wound ceased almost immediately. He Chunhua cast a glance at his eldest son without saying a word. The bald man, meanwhile, blurted out gratefully, "Thank you, young master!" "What is your name?" "My family name is Zhou—Zhou Peng!" The bald man pointed to his unconscious brother. "This is my older brother, Zhou Yao!" He Lingchuan said at once, "Find a clean cell for Zhou Yao. As for the assassins who murdered Prefect Hu—Zhou Peng, you will assist in tracking them down and identifying them. If you redeem yourselves through meritorious service, both of your lives will be spared." Zhou Peng agreed immediately. Qiu Hu stepped forward and, with two sharp cracks, snapped his dislocated wrists back into place. Zhao Qinghe then assigned thirty men to go with Zhou Peng back into the city to pursue the killers. He Lingchuan felt a stirring in his mind. He Chunhua's journey west held immense significance, no less important than suppressing the southern rebellion, yet he had brought only Zhao Qinghe along, leaving Wu Shaoyi, Zeng Feixiong, Uncle Hao, and the rest behind. Evidently, Zhao Qinghe was the confidant He Chunhua trusted above all others.