Before he could finish speaking, a blur crossed his vision, and the commander's spear was already pressed against his neck.
Frightened out of his wits, he stumbled back two paces, but the spear's radiant edge surged forward, following him like a shadow.
In truth, the spear tip was still three inches from his throat, yet the flickering, icy glow already brushed against his skin. Oppressed by this overwhelming killing intent, Young Master Sun could barely draw breath.
"Say one more word, and I'll cut off your head and send it to Prefect Sun!"
Young Master Sun turned ash-pale, choking the rest of his words back down.
With even him backing down, the other servants and guards of the Sun residence dared not interfere. The pace picked up immediately. Teams of two draft horses were reinforced to three or five, dramatically boosting their pulling power, and the ten chests of military supplies were quickly hauled up the muddy slope.
As for the Sun family's other chests, the crowd shoved them aside by joint effort, either dragging them down the slope or dumping them into the water.
Commoners snatched up valuables belonging to the Sun household under the commander's watchful gaze, but he didn't care at all.
In the face of crisis, catching thieves or keeping order didn't matter; getting the column moving and fleeing for their lives was the priority.
Once the path was cleared, a cheer went up from the crowd, and he wheeled his mount around, preparing to rush to the rear.
Right then, commotion erupted from the far rear of the column as refugees ran frantically forward, wailing and screaming.
The pursuers were here.
Faces drained of color as people scrambled to climb the slope.
Several lost their footing and tumbled straight into the river.
Commander Xiao bellowed, "Anyone still capable of fighting, step forward! Take up weapons and join us in covering the retreat! Heavy rewards await upon entering the pass!"
He shouted three times, his voice booming across the wilderness.
Within the ranks, Liu Sanjiu could not help looking back, sorely tempted. But his wife instantly grabbed his arm and cried, "Don't even think about it! You have children!"
If the man died, how difficult would life be for a widow and orphans in a foreign land?
At that thought, Liu Sanjiu had no choice but to abandon the idea.
He cast a guilty look back, scooped up his child, and ran forward.
Amid the desperately fleeing crowd, more than a dozen men gradually slowed to a halt. Some turned back immediately, while others hesitated before walking over.
Commander Xiao pointed at the Sun family's newly pried-open chests. "You are temporarily conscripted into the army! If you survive today, you'll receive military rank, grain, and land! Pick a weapon that suits you, choose a horse! Those who can shoot a bow, get up the slope or into the trees, and prepare!"
The men hurried to choose their weapons.
There were lean and frail men among them, but they knew in their hearts that if the Gale Army failed to hold the line, the refugees ahead would be doomed, and their families would be slaughtered.
In this battle, no one could remain an onlooker; they might as well gamble on a big payoff.
If they survived this hurdle, good days lay ahead in a new land.
This area was not truly mountainous terrain. The dry season had merely caused the water level to drop, exposing a broad riverbed. The crowd was walking along the riverbed, which lay three to four zhang—some ten meters—below the riverbank above.
This was a shortcut to Panlong City's territory, known only to the Gale Army through their deep familiarity with the terrain and seasons. Otherwise, the fleeing column would have had to skirt the stone forest above, adding a full three shichen to their journey.
Three shichen was long enough to rewrite the outcome of a battle.
Yet the enemy had caught up nonetheless; Weicheng had fallen even faster than anticipated.
The archers climbed up the riverbank, taking commanding positions to prepare their volleys.
The rest donned light armor and gripped their weapons. One of them called out loudly, "Let's haul the heavy carts back to barricade the path and stall the enemy's advance!"
The Sun family's chests of furnishings, along with the carriages, had been abandoned by the roadside.
Earlier, they had blocked the refugees' way; now, they could just as easily obstruct the pursuers, serving as an effective fortification.
Commander Xiao's eyes flashed with approval. "Good idea. What's your name?"
"My surname is He." The man grinned, flashing white teeth. "He Lingchuan."
He had already thought it through: since the worst possible outcome was merely waking up, what was there to fear in a dream? He might as well let loose and have some fun.
What was the point of trudging along with the refugee mob, scraping by just to barely survive?
"The rear guard knows the terrain and will surely fall back to this spot. We must leave an opening in the carriage barricade for them to pass through." Commander Xiao dismounted and stepped into the mire with the others, trudging through the mud to haul the heavy carriages back to mid-slope.
This was pure brute labor. Even horses couldn't drag them easily, making manpower all the more grueling. The Gale Army soldiers had to chant cadences to heave in unison before they could drag the carriages across.
No one complained, because however hard it was for them to haul these carts now, it would be twice or thrice as hard for the enemy to clear them away later.
To create even more trouble for the enemy, they dug the muddy ruts beneath the carriages deeper, ensuring far greater resistance if dragged.
He Lingchuan stayed beside Commander Xiao. The pouring rain plastered his clothes against his body. As he exerted himself, the muscles in his neck and shoulders bulged, etching hard, taut contours.
The two of them alone could drag a heavy cart.
The pair went on to haul two large chests and hoisted them onto the cart. Before they even straightened up, Commander Xiao remarked to He Lingchuan, "You aren't from Weicheng, are you?"
He Lingchuan was startled, but put on a bewildered look. "Huh?"
"Your accent doesn't fit, and neither do your clothes." Commander Xiao tilted his head toward the hillside. "Weicheng natives are generally small in stature."
A few archers lay prone on the slope. He Lingchuan glanced up and saw that they were indeed all lean and diminutive.
"I'm not." A single wrong answer could get him killed, so He Lingchuan replied immediately, "I was originally from Tusu!"
Tusu City had fallen ten years ago; it made complete sense for refugees to have fled to Weicheng.
He Lingchuan followed up with a question: "Will we have reinforcements?"
Otherwise, holding this spot was just waiting for death.
"Yes," Commander Xiao said decisively. "Within one shichen at most!"
He spoke loudly, and the surrounding soldiers instantly perked up.
They only needed to hold out for one shichen to see reinforcements arrive!
The crowd rummaged through the Sun family's chests, hoping to scrounge up more useful supplies. However, most of the military cargo had already been moved ahead, leaving behind only one chest of weapons.
Naturally, plenty of gold and silver had spilled from the scattered chests. Seeing them as they paced back and forth, the newly conscripted men grew somewhat covetous.
He Lingchuan saw with his own eyes a man slip a golden platter into his shirt.
Commander Xiao saw it as well, but did not stop him. He merely cautioned them, "Filthy lucre is heavy; it will hinder your movements. As long as you survive, everything here is yours for the taking!"
Smiles instantly broke out across everyone's faces.
He Lingchuan flipped open a chest, inspected its contents, and froze. "Is this Prefect Sun born under the sign of Taotie? Why did he have to pack up and haul off every single bit of rubbish?"
Commander Xiao walked over, took a look, and couldn't help chuckling. "This is useful! It may not be military supplies, but it's genuinely useful. Set them up right now."
Looking at the gold, silver, and soft valuables spilling from the large chests across the ground, He Lingchuan's eyes shifted. "I have another idea. Why don't we..."
Commander Xiao adopted this idea of his as well.
And so the men spent quite some time setting everything up.
More and more fleeing refugees surged from the rear, all escaping up the slope through the opening left in the barricade.
Half an hour later, war cries drew closer and closer.
Commander Xiao and the others held the mid-slope, fully focused. Rain lashed their faces, yet not a single man felt the cold.
Chapter 88