Chapter 554
The System thought about its host’s pettiness and figured that if something like that really happened, she would probably turn evil once she found out.
[Cloth! Lots and lots of cloth! I’ll go ask the Main System for a discount!]
The moment Yue Fuguang heard that, she almost asked: Aren’t you a nobody with no official registration? Weren’t you supposed to keep yourself hidden? How did you get in touch with the Main System again? Just what kind of relationship do you two have, anyway?
But for the sake of the discount, she silently reined in her curiosity. She could save the gossip for later—the System wasn’t going anywhere, after all. Discounts, on the other hand, didn’t come around every day.
There were plenty of things she wanted to buy. Since there was a sale this time, she might as well stock up on everything.
[System, hurry, hurry! The size of the discount depends on you!]
The instant the thick smoke rose into the sky, the morale and fighting spirit Feng Yuan had struggled to rally scattered in the blink of an eye.
First, the soldiers at the far southern end began running down. Then the ones in the middle followed, and finally the entire defensive line collapsed. No one shouted for a retreat, and no one ordered them to flee, but everyone was running.
Every soldier understood one simple truth: their retreat had been cut off. If they stayed, they would only be walking toward certain death. What was more, the Dayan army had not only used gunpowder to blow them up—they had also launched a fire attack.
They had not used the white phosphorus Huo Sui had mentioned to wash the battlefield clean, but flaming oil was still more than enough to make things unbearable for ordinary flesh and blood.
Looking at the defeated Western Qiang army, Huo Sui regretted that they had not managed to overhear the Grand Preceptor’s method for making white phosphorus. If they had, these people would not have had even the chance to run.
Yue Fuguang: With all those hands-on, experiment-loving murderous talents around, do you think I’d dare say that? Leave people a way out, will you?
System: The host has a conscience, but not much of one!
Feng Yuan drew his blade and cut down two deserters who ran past him. His eyes bulged with fury, and even his beard trembled. But his sword could not stop the flood of fleeing soldiers. They surged past him, forcing him backward, and he was swept along by the press of bodies, retreating from the stone wall against his will.
The stone wall was empty.
When the Dayan infantry saw the defenders break and flee, they launched their charge without waiting for orders. Shield-bearers led the way, spearmen followed close behind, and archers and crossbowmen provided cover from the rear.
The distance from the stone wall to the Dayan army’s position was only two hundred and fifty paces. They covered it in less than the time it took to burn half an incense stick.
Huo Sui’s men were at the very front. They had fought all day and were utterly exhausted, but the sight of the retreating Western Qiang army filled them with renewed energy. Shouting like madmen, they charged into the camp at the mouth of the gorge.
Under the protection of his personal guards, Feng Yuan fought his way through and retreated toward Jincheng with fewer than three thousand men.
Behind him stretched a sea of routed soldiers, while the iron hooves of the pursuing Dayan cavalry thundered in pursuit. His warhorse ran until white foam poured from its mouth. Fury and despair mingled in his eyes, scorching his entire face with heat.
They raced out of the mountain pass, thinking they had finally escaped with their lives, when explosions that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth erupted all around them…
The Battle of Jishi Gorge lasted less than three days from the moment the Dayan army launched its formal assault to the complete collapse of the Western Qiang forces. More than eight thousand Western Qiang soldiers were wounded, while the number killed could not be determined. Over thirty thousand were taken prisoner, and most of the stragglers who fled were swallowed by that final explosion.
The Dayan army suffered roughly four hundred casualties, fewer than two hundred of whom died in battle.
From a tactical standpoint, the battle was hardly worth recording in the annals of war. It had been nothing more than a standard tactic: opening the way with gunpowder, followed by coordinated action among the troops.
Its significance, however, lay in the fact that once Jishi Gorge fell, the eastern gateway to Jincheng was completely exposed. From Jishi Gorge to Jincheng, the road ahead was flat and unobstructed, with no natural defenses to hold.
The news reached Jincheng late at night on the seventh day of the ninth month.
Zhao Chongli heard it in the prime minister’s residence. He remained silent for a long while before weakly waving a hand at the scout who had delivered the message.
“I understand. Go down and get some rest.”
After the scout left, Zhao Chongli sat alone in his study, a map of the entire Western Qiang territory spread out before him. Candlelight flickered, casting his shadow onto the wall, where it grew and shrank with every tremor of the flame.
He was sixty-five years old that year. He had served two generations of Western Qiang kings. He had witnessed Western Qiang at the height of its power, commanding a hundred thousand mounted archers and inspiring awe across the land. He had also watched the nation decline step by step.
Its decline had not begun with Dayan. It had begun when the country slowly rotted from within.
When Dayan had suddenly risen to prominence several years earlier, he had known that a war between the two countries was inevitable.
But he had never expected the day to come so soon. He always felt that someone had been pushing events along from behind the scenes, forcing that day to arrive before Western Qiang—or any of the other countries—had time to prepare.
Yue Fuguang: Old Zhao, you’ll never understand the heart of a mission-taker eager to complete her assignment.
Life here was comfortable, but Yue Fuguang had not forgotten her original purpose. She had not been dazzled by wealth or personal adoration. She gave herself a mental thumbs-up. JPG.
His heart felt terribly heavy. It was not fear, nor was it sorrow. It was more like relief—the relief of finally facing what was coming instead of anxiously waiting for it.
He spread out a sheet of paper and began to write a letter. It was addressed to Shen Jian, and its wording was earnest without being servile.
In the letter, he wrote that Western Qiang and Dayan had originally shared the same roots, and that the Goddess Yue was the patron deity common to both countries. Now that Dayan intended to unify the realm, Western Qiang was willing to submit, so long as the lives of its people were spared. If Shen Jian was willing to grant that request, he would persuade Xi Yan to open its gates and surrender.
Once the letter was finished, he summoned the household servant he trusted most and instructed him, “Leave the city after dawn and head east. When you see the Dayan army’s banners, hand this letter directly to General Shen. Remember—you must place it in his hands yourself.”
The servant accepted the letter and carefully tucked it inside his robe.
Zhao Chongli added, “If our own people stop you along the way, tell them you’re going east to investigate the battle. Keep the letter hidden. Don’t let them find it if they search you.”
The servant nodded and withdrew.
Wind rose outside the window, making the poplar trees in the courtyard rustle loudly. Zhao Chongli walked to the window and gazed at the half-moon in the sky.
The moonlight was bright, spilling across the roofs and courtyard and cloaking everything in a layer of cold, pale light. Suddenly, he remembered the sight of his little granddaughter offering incense with his wife in the family’s small Buddhist shrine.
The tiny girl had knelt on the prayer mat beside her grandmother, palms pressed together, bowing with devout sincerity.
At the time, as the prime minister of Western Qiang, he had neither stopped nor encouraged them. His wife and the younger members of the family all assumed that he knew nothing about their household’s worship of the Goddess Yue.
But the only things his old wife and granddaughter prayed for were the safety of their family and a peaceful, stable life.