Fish Meat – Chapter 103

The Tenth Year of Shenchu

Iron horses and golden spears (5)

Ah Xin was among this disguised light cavalry.

            

She let all soldiers ride relaxed, not to be too rigid. She had studied the riding posture of the Chongjin people; they held a weapon in one hand and reined with the other, the horse almost a part of their body, their riding posture extremely confident. If they were to imitate them without revealing flaws, they must be relaxed and natural on horseback.

Of course, she had also considered another possibility, which was that their disguise had already been seen through.

So when they arrived at the east gate of the city wall’s main entrance and saw no soldiers coming to open the gate for them, she knew they had been exposed.

            

“Defend!”

Just as Ah Xin’s words had barely begun, densely packed crossbowmen appeared on the city wall. With another command, arrows rained down towards them like a blanket covering the sky. Ah Xin and the cavalry raised their shields on the side of their horses, blocking most of the arrows.

Just as Bu’ertu was shouting to continue shooting, suddenly in the distant mist, countless flags of Da Yu rose, and battle cries erupted!

            

Bu’ertu, who was about to open the city gate to send troops to meet the enemy, was startled and immediately ordered a halt.

How many troops had Da Yu brought? If they rashly attacked, they might fall into an ambush.

“Quick! Notify the general!” Bu’ertu had someone immediately report to Hu’erji.

            

From dawn, a heavy fog descended from the Cansan Three Peaks, enveloping the entire Mengliang and its surroundings in a thick mist. As the dense fog slightly dispersed, the temperature dropped sharply. Horse hooves treading on the stone steps in the city could crack a thin layer of ice.

Han’ergan and Ba’ertu were patrolling the city on horseback. The early morning city was quiet and cold, with frozen dead slaves visible everywhere.

Since General Hu’erji issued the alcohol prohibition order, the originally joyous victory celebration had become increasingly tasteless. Not only was the craving for alcohol in their hearts hard to bear, but the general had also ordered that they would march on Guanying again in three days. The army hadn’t even recovered its strength and was to fight again, with no alcohol and no women, how were they to fight?

            

Han’ergan kept yawning continuously, tears streaming down his face, which infected Ba’ertu, causing him to yawn repeatedly as well.

“The general is also going too far. How can we Chongjin people not drink alcohol or play with women? How can we fight with alcohol and women prohibited!” Han’ergan swayed back and forth on his horse, jolting with every third step, lacking enthusiasm.

“Ah, don’t talk nonsense. When we’re fighting on a foreign land, we must obey all of the general’s orders! Besides, that alcohol was poisoned, which is why you’re so addicted!”

            

“Those are all rumors! Everyone knows Da Yu’s alcohol tastes good. I think it’s not that the alcohol is poisoned, but that the general doesn’t want to fight anymore. He wants to occupy Mengliang and declare himself king on the spot!”

As they were talking, a group of patrolling cavalry happened to come from the opposite direction. They heard Han’ergan’s words clearly and kept turning back to discuss in low voices.

“What are you doing! Talking nonsense! If the general hears this, do you still want your life?” Ba’ertu warned him.

            

Han’ergan chuckled: “Hey, I’m only speaking the truth. Besides, Ula’er said we Chongjin people are all brothers, even the chief calls us brothers! If the general says he’ll kill me, wouldn’t that be going against Ula’er’s words?”

These words left Ba’ertu speechless, not knowing how to respond. Han’ergan let out an “Ah” and patted his shoulder: “Brother, I’ve hidden a few jars of good wine. Would you like to come and taste it?”

“This… isn’t right, is it? The general has explicitly forbidden it…”

            

“If you don’t come, I’ll call others to drink!”

Ba’ertu remembered the aroma of the wine, and his craving was about to be stirred up. He quickly said: “Don’t shout. Let’s just drink secretly, brother…”

Just as Han’ergan was about to take Ba’ertu back to his residence to drink, when they reached the north of the city, suddenly the ground shook, and a thunderous roar echoed in their ears. Ba’ertu froze on the spot:

            

“Brother, did you hear that sound?”

Ba’ertu quickly found the source of the sound. The city wall before their eyes was shaking, and Ba’ertu’s expression grew increasingly fearful. Han’ergan’s eyes darted, and he immediately climbed a tree. Just as Ba’ertu turned around to look at him in surprise, the thick city wall was destroyed by a massive flood. Ba’ertu didn’t even have time to make a sound before he was submerged in the surging waters.

Han’ergan’s hair was blown by the strong wind stirred up by the water rushing into the city. The sturdy tree was also shaken, nearly toppling. Water splashed onto the back of his hands, which were almost numb from the cold, and quickly froze.

            

He exhaled white breath and looked back. In the blink of an eye, the flood had surged along the intersecting streets to every corner of the city.

Han’ergan chuckled. If the foundation of the city wall hadn’t been hollowed out by him earlier, it wouldn’t have necessarily collapsed at the first rush of water. Those ten thousand taels of gold from Da Yu were well spent.

Ah Xin and her deputy, the loyal young lord Guo Xiao, led the cavalry to constantly harass the east gate. Bu’ertu didn’t dare to rashly attack and could only defend stubbornly. Hu’erji quickly ran to the top of the city wall, saw the flags and shouts in the mist, let out a heavy “Ah,” and patted Bu’ertu’s shoulder:

            

“You’ve fallen for their trap! This is a strategy of making noise in the east and attacking in the west!”

“What?”

“They deliberately used the heavy fog to make you focus all your attention on the east gate. I’m afraid their real target is elsewhere! You all, follow me!” Hu’erji called a large group of soldiers to follow him down from the city gate, and further instructed Hu’erji to leave a group of crossbowmen to guard this place. He immediately gathered all his brothers, preparing to meet the enemy!

            

Before the soldiers could assemble, surging water came rushing from the north of the city, instantly sweeping away a squad of Chongjin soldiers who had just mounted their horses. By the time they stood up again, the torrential water was already waist-high.

“Where did this water come from!” The Chongjin people, who couldn’t swim, were greatly alarmed and immediately started climbing onto rooftops and trees. The water’s force was incredibly strong, as if a great river had burst its banks, and the water level rose extremely fast. They had just climbed to high places when the water level surged wildly, quickly following them up.

The unparalleled brave Chongjin soldiers were like pitiful little cats in the face of the great flood, clinging tightly to tree trunks and roof tiles, shivering, completely afraid to come down.

            

Ah Xin led people to create chaos at the east gate, confusing the Chongjin army, while Zhen Wenjun breached the dam to release water. The water rushed into the city from the north wall, which Han’ergan had loosened earlier. Han’ergan had taken Ah Xin’s gold and cooperated with them from inside and outside, not only digging tunnels but also undermining the city wall. The flood came with great force, directly collapsing a corner of the city wall. Mengliang also had underground waterways, but being located in the northern frontier with little rainfall usually, the city’s drainage system didn’t have the enormous drainage capacity like Runing. The flood entered the city too violently, and couldn’t be drained out in time, filling the city of Mengliang to the brim.

Hu’erji stood on the city wall looking down, seeing Mengliang city turn into a water city in the blink of an eye. Countless soldiers and horses were bobbing up and down in the water, and cries for help continuously poured into Hu’erji’s ears. Many civilians who had been forced into slavery and remained, having grown up with long winters, were often winter swimmers. After struggling in the water for a while, they could find rooftops to stand on, saving their lives.

Bu’ertu shouted: “General! If we don’t open the city gate, I’m afraid all our brothers will drown in the city!”

            

Hu’erji had no choice but to order the city gates to be opened wide to drain the water.

As soon as the city gate opened, water rushed out, flooding the area around the city. Suddenly, battle cries erupted. It turned out that those who had been hiding in the mist, playing tricks, were actually the real army.

Ah Xin pointed at the wide-open city gate and shouted “Kill!” With war drums thundering behind her, she charged in at the forefront. The soldiers behind her, seeing Ah Xin leading from the front, were filled with boiling blood. They shouted in unison and rushed into Mengliang city against the ankle-deep water.

            

To strengthen their resolve to kill the enemy and prevent anyone from having a chance to escape, all infantry were chained together with iron chains, with cavalry pressing forward behind them. Battle cries filled the sky as they rushed into the city. The Chongjin soldiers who had been soaking in water for half a day without dying immediately mounted their horses to fight. Although the water had receded, they were all wet and half-frozen by the extremely low temperature, their legs already weak. When they mounted their horses, the real trouble revealed itself, hitting them head-on.

Most of the water had been drained from Mengliang City, but the remaining water on the ground quickly froze into a layer of ice in the low temperature. The warhorses couldn’t run on the ice at all. Several horses broke their legs, causing the Chongjin people to fall and split their heads open.

Without their warhorses, they seemed to have lost a leg. The heat from the Furong Powder in their hearts hadn’t been completely cleared, yet their bodies were full of cold. Facing the high-spirited Da Yu soldiers, they were bound hand and foot and beaten without any power to fight back.

            

Seeing his army retreating step by step, Hu’erji, in great anger, personally came down to kill. His giant axe swung wildly, killing several Da Yu soldiers and then beheading a few Chongjin people who tried to escape. Pointing his giant axe in Ah Xin’s direction, he roared like a lion:

“Ula’er is watching us! Whoever runs away is not worthy to be Ula’er’s people! Kill these Central Plains pigs for me!”

Hu’erji’s shout greatly boosted the soldiers’ morale. Combined with the accurate attacks from the crossbowmen and stone throwers on the city walls, the vanguard of the Da Yu troops that had charged in fell in waves, allowing the Chongjin army to regain confidence and fight back.

            

Just as Hu’erji regained control of the situation, screams of agony rose and fell around him. A black shadow crashed down from above his head. He swung his hand to brush the shadow aside, but his arm was smeared with emerald-green liquid. The liquid quickly corroded his arm, even penetrating deeper into the tissue.

Poison!

Hu’erji looked up and saw countless cloth-wrapped poison bombs falling from the sky.

            

Hu’erji shouted loudly for his brothers to beware of the poison bombs, but the city was too large and everyone was fiercely fighting, so they couldn’t hear his shouts at all, and many were hit by the bombs.

Hu’erji’s face turned red with anger. Two more bombs hit his back. He turned around sharply and saw that the city wall was now covered with Da Yu people. The one who had hit him accurately with the poison bomb just now was a woman.

That person was none other than Zhen Wenjun!

            

Zhen Wenjun, Ah Xi, Ah Wen, Zuo Kunda, and others had fought their way to the top of the city wall. After suppressing the archers and crossbowmen with poison bombs, they occupied the high ground, forming a complete circle of encirclement. They quickly passed out large quantities of poison bombs, even throwing them to the Mengliang civilians who had earlier climbed to high places for refuge. Everyone worked together to throw poison bombs at the Chongjin army, attacking from all directions, leaving them bewildered.

Hu’erji, wielding his giant axe, climbed the city wall to kill Zhen Wenjun, but halfway up, Ah Xin charged at him, her long sword aimed directly at his eyes. Ah Xin’s move was both fast and unpredictable, startling Hu’erji and forcing him to retreat hastily. Ah Xin pursued relentlessly, her sword moving like wind and lightning, each strike aimed at his eyes. Just as Hu’erji instinctively moved to protect his eyes again, Ah Xin changed her pattern and slashed at his abdomen. When Hu’erji went to block his abdomen, Ah Xin stabbed at his eyes again. If he hadn’t dodged in time, his eyeballs might have been gouged out.

Hu’erji possessed boundless strength, his battle axe capable of splitting mountains and cracking the earth. If it came to a contest of pure strength, perhaps in all of Da Yu and the seven Hu tribes combined, not a single person could be found to defeat him. Ah Xin did not engage him in brute force. She retreated when necessary and seized opportunities to quickly bite into him when advancing, launching dozens of strikes in succession.

            

Ah Xin’s swordsmanship relied on speed and unorthodox methods to prevail. Hu’erji, a fierce khan of the grasslands, had wrestled and wielded axes since childhood, always competing with muscle. Suddenly encountering a woman with such peculiar techniques, he was thrown into disarray, completely on the defensive.

Hu’erji’s forehead, wrists, abdomen, and legs were slashed with over twenty cuts, each wound not shallow. He looked over his body and laughed heartily, saying in awkward Central Plains language, “Formidable!”

Ah Xin’s back and shoulders had also been grazed twice by his giant axe. They stood on the city wall in the biting cold wind, their clothes flapping loudly. Hu’erji, covered in blood, showed no signs of irritation, proving he was not a brute with mere courage but no wisdom. Ah Xin hated encountering such opponents the most. Temporary disadvantage would not cause such people to become flustered and reveal weaknesses; instead, they would only become more excited and passionate as the battle progressed.

            

Zhen Wenjun had spent over ten days producing more than six thousand poison bombs. If it weren’t for Ah Xi being unable to dig out more poison and the saima grass at Bu Jie being depleted, Zhen Wenjun could have made ten thousand.

The six thousand poison bombs were quickly used up. Although the Chongjin army suffered heavy casualties, each of them was a strong man with tough sinews and bones. Poisoned, their bodies burned with holes, their hair frozen into icicles, yet they showed not the slightest intention of retreating. Instead, they pushed the tenacity and fierceness in their blood and bones to the extreme.

Over twenty thousand soldiers in the Chongjin city died in the surprise attack, leaving more than fifty thousand, most of them injured. In terms of numbers, the Da Yu army no longer had a disadvantage. However, the Chongjin soldiers were all well-trained and carefully selected fierce warriors. The Da Yu side had not only new recruits and remnant troops but also many elderly, women, and children. At this point, although the numbers on both sides were similar, the combat effectiveness was still very uneven.

            

Zhen Wenjun gradually felt the strain. As the Chongjin people climbed the city walls, she withdrew all the civilians and commanded the soldiers to engage in circuitous combat with the Chongjin people, avoiding direct confrontation.

Soon the sun would set, and the temperature would drop even lower. The soaked clothes would only make the Chongjin people colder. The food in the city had been spoiled by the flood, and the cold and hungry Chongjin people still had a trace of night lotus addiction haunting their minds. Simply put, the longer the time dragged on, the greater the possibility of the Chongjin people’s defeat.

All Zhen Wenjun had to do was grit her teeth and persist.

            

Hu’erji’s deputy, Bu’ertu, discovered that those who threw poison on the city walls and then ran down to various districts only fled without fighting, causing people to waste their energy. He realized the core of all this command was actually a little thief girl! Bu’ertu came at Zhen Wenjun with his twin blades, not expecting this little thief girl to know martial arts. As he fiercely chopped with his twin blades, she not only dodged left and right but even had the strength to counterattack. Bu’ertu knocked away her rusty spear, but she unexpectedly punched him in the bridge of his nose, forcing him back several steps with a nosebleed.

Having broken Bu’ertu’s high nose bridge, Zhen Wenjun’s heart bled with pain, yet she couldn’t show weakness. She assumed a stance from the mishmash boxing style inherited from her Ah Mu and Xiaohua, calmly beckoning Bu’ertu to come again, as if she had a well-thought-out plan and many more killing moves.

The young woman’s troop deployment was quite ingenious, and her kung fu was formidable. Bu’ertu wiped his nosebleed, not daring to attack recklessly, and circled Zhen Wenjun carefully looking for weaknesses.

            

Zhen Wenjun had seen this man commanding troops on the city wall early on and figured he must be a general. She didn’t engage him head-on; in terms of martial skill and strength, Zhen Wenjun was certainly no match for him, but in terms of strategy, it was another matter. Zhen Wenjun wanted to tie him up; once he was tied up, the Chongjin soldiers would have no one to command, and Guo Xiao, Bu Jie, Zuo Kunda, and others would be able to find strategies to annihilate the enemy.

Guo Xiao, having followed Ah Xin for years, had forged a body of steel and iron, able to face the Chongjin people head-on without falling behind at all. He had been killing at the forefront, taking several heads, greatly boosting the army’s morale.

Bu Jie couldn’t fight, he couldn’t even carry heavy weapons. Zhen Wenjun told him not to rush to the front.

            

“Take the command flag and find a high place. After observing the situation clearly, wave the flag to signal and command the army’s deployment!” Zhen Wenjun said this to Bu Jie before departing, and recommended Bu Jie to Ah Xin, saying he was talented in strategy. Ah Xin knew that the water level was Bu Jie’s creation, and after talking with him, she also recognized his abilities. So she had him devise flag signals for the entire army to learn uniformly.

Mengliang City was not small, but compared to two armies facing each other in the boundless wilderness, fighting confined within the city had many limitations. Not to mention the intersecting neighborhoods, there were also many waterways and secret doors, making the areas suitable for combat very narrow and limited.

Such a battlefield was very advantageous for the Mengliang civilians who were familiar with the city’s structure.

            

The Chongjin people had also lived in the city for over a month, but they only treated it as spoils of war and didn’t consider it their home. Without the desire to explore, they didn’t intentionally memorize its layout. The Mengliang civilians used the terrain to gradually wear down the Chongjin forces.

The tactics were fine, and all soldiers fought hard, but this battle still lasted for two days and two nights. Zhen Wenjun was covered in wounds and her strength was failing, yet the Chongjin soldiers showed no signs of weariness, fighting like lions and tigers as if they could battle until the end of time.

Zhen Wenjun realized she was wrong.

            

She thought the Chongjin people were also human, that they would feel cold and tired, but these warriors before her, who had fought for two days and still had inexhaustible strength, indeed exceeded her understanding of what it meant to be “human”. Bu’ertu chased Zhen Wenjun without a moment’s respite. Zhen Wenjun was already very tired dealing with him, let alone having to guard against other enemies who might emerge from the shadows at any time. Even Ah Xin, who had been maintaining the upper hand, lost focus due to fatigue and was swept off the city wall by Hu’erji’s battle axe. If not for the numerous banners on the wall face slowing her fall, this tumble would have cost her life.

Ah Xin, supporting herself with her sword, stood up with difficulty, holding her waist. Hu’erji slid down the horse path, swinging his axe to split her head in two. Ah Xin’s waist was severely sprained, greatly hindering her movement. With no other choice, she could only forcefully block this axe strike. The giant axe knocked her sword to the ground. A voice shouting “Sister, don’t be afraid” rang out from behind Ah Xin. Ah Wen, wielding two short knives picked up from who knows where, charged at Hu’erji.

“Come back!” Ah Xin was greatly alarmed, but it was too late to pull Ah Wen back.

            

Ah Wen, like a bristling wildcat, charged at Hu’erji, this fierce tiger, frantically scratching without any fear. Ah Xin noticed that despite her small frame, each of her knife strikes was decisive. Hu’erji’s eyes were slashed by her short knives, his giant axe too slow to defend, and the sharp knives cut off one of his ears.

Hu’erji cried out in pain and punched Ah Wen in the chest, sending her flying. Ah Wen bounced once upon landing and immediately stood up, wanting to fight again. Ah Xin called out to her:

“Enough, don’t move. Your bones are already broken.”

            

Ah Wen looked at her left hand; she hadn’t landed well just now, and it was indeed broken.

Zuo Kunda and Bu Jie were surrounded, while Guo Xiao was forced to the top of the bell tower by three people. Unless he jumped, there was no way out.

Bu’ertu and dozens of men cornered Zhen Wenjun into a mansion. Just as Zhen Wenjun had escaped inside and bolted the door, Ah Xin fell from the top of the wall, bringing down a pile of tiles and bricks, while also protecting a child in her arms. Zhen Wenjun looked and saw that the person in her arms was none other than Ah Wen.

            

Ah Xin’s face was as white as paper, and she stood up with great difficulty. She looked around at the surroundings and said, “This is the Bai family mansion of Mengliang. I once had some acquaintance with the head of the Bai family and know of a secret passage in the mansion where we can hide temporarily!” As Ah Xin was speaking, Hu’erji and Bu’ertu led their men in breaking down the main door and charging in.

Ah Xin pushed them to run quickly into the mansion, leading them to hide in a secret room under the bed in the main courtyard.

The severely injured Ah Wen was pushed in first, and Ah Xin told Zhen Wenjun to go in as well.

            

Zhen Wenjun saw that the secret room could at most hide two people, and righteously said a firm “No”: “You go in!”

Ah Xin didn’t waste words with her, forcefully pushing her into the dark room. Zhen Wenjun’s temper flared up, and she slammed the door of the dark room shut, shouting loudly: “This is a battlefield! How can it be a place for cowardly retreat! When I initially decided to go to the northern front to kill the barbarians, I never thought there would be a day to shrink back! If I’m to die, I want to die fighting the barbarian thieves to my heart’s content! To become an undying heroic spirit of our Da Yu!”

Ah Xin looked at the majestic and heroic Zhen Wenjun, suddenly finding a sense of familiarity in her, as if seeing herself when she first entered the battlefield. Infected by Zhen Wenjun’s spirit, Ah Xin let out a great shout, as if all the wounds on her body had disappeared.

            

The Chongjin people had killed their way into the main courtyard, seeing only two women inside. Zhen Wenjun and Ah Xin, one holding a sword and the other a spear, had already retreated as far as they could.

Ah Xin’s feet were stepping on the door of the dark room. Ah Wen very much wanted to come out and lend them a hand, but Ah Xin wouldn’t allow it at all.

The Chongjin people surrounded them. Ah Xin had been in countless dangerous situations before, but none as perilous as this time. The most obvious sign was that at this moment, she actually thought of Lin Yanyi.

            

She thought of that elegant gathering more than ten years ago, where eighteen-year-old Li Yanyi wore a long peach-pink dress, standing among the flowers with a wine glass in hand, chatting and laughing casually with the wives of various officials.

That was the most beautiful scene she had ever seen in her life.

To think of this matter at this moment, Ah Xin smiled bitterly and said:

            

“Little Sister Wenjun, perhaps we really are going to die here.”

Zhen Wenjun gripped the long spear tightly, her body swaying, and kept hearing a voice coming from a very distant place. This voice was very familiar, but vague and indistinct.

Whose voice was it?

            

Yes… it was Wei Tingxu, was it Wei Tingxu?

What was she saying?

Zhen Wenjun listened carefully, earnestly listening to the voice coming from the depths of her heart.

            

“I’ll wait for you to come back,” Wei Tingxu said. “By then, the whole garden of wandering flowers will have bloomed.”

Tears fell one by one.

I can’t die here, Zhen Wenjun told herself, I can’t die.

            

I must go back to see her.

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