Chapter 172: Borrowing Arrows
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There aren’t many people on the street.
The Wutuo people wait outside the city, and the citizens inside the city can’t sleep at night. The vendors along the street have long closed their doors. Walking down a street, it was desolate and bleak.
The rice shop closed its doors months ago. Occasionally, you can see women with children digging for wild vegetables in the soil. Unfortunately, in the past few months, people in the city couldn’t go out, and people from outside couldn’t come in. The available food has long been consumed, and there’s no sign of wild vegetables. Occasionally, when they saw a rat, they rejoiced as if they had come across something savory.
Although everyone is currently worried about when the Wutuo people outside the city will break in, hunger has already spread to every corner inside the city. When the last grain of rice is gone, even if the Wutuo people don’t attack, there will be a big problem in the city.
In this desolate street, there were people slowly walking. It’s a man and a woman, both exceptionally good-looking. The man was dressed in an indigo robe, with a gentle and handsome appearance, while the woman had charming features and a captivating allure.
Ying Xiang took out a piece of dry ration from her bundle and handed it to Chu Zhao, saying, “Fourth Young Master, all the shops here are closed. Have some dry ration to fill your stomach.”
This dry ration was originally the food for the guards when they were traveling in Liangzhou Garrison. It has been kept in the bundle, and now, with no available inns to eat in, they had to make do with it.
Chu Zhao took it and was about to eat when he noticed a little girl standing under a tree. The girl, about five or six years old, had a dirty face, wore tattered clothes, and was barefoot. She didn’t belong to any family, and her eyes were fixed on the dry ration in Chu Zhao’s hands without saying a word.
Chu Zhao smiled, walked over, squatted down, and handed the dry ration to her.
The little girl was momentarily stunned, then glanced around as if afraid that Chu Zhao would change his mind. She quickly snatched the dry ration, tucked it into her arms, and ran away, disappearing quickly at the end of the quiet street.
Chu Zhao stood up, and Ying Xiang said, “Fourth Young Master…”
“It’s nothing,” he shook his head. “Rundu won’t last much longer.”
Ying Xiang was a bit worried. The two of them had left Liangzhou Garrison, rushed back to Shuojing, and just arrived in Rundu when the Wutuo people followed them. Li Kuang ordered the city gates to be guarded, making it impossible for them to enter or leave. They were now trapped here.
“We need to leave Rundu as soon as possible,” Ying Xiang said softly. “The Wutuo people have been probing the city for days, and the main attack is likely to happen in the next few days. Once the city falls… we will be in danger.”
The Wutuo people are cunning and ruthless. Even though Chu Zhao might find a way to escape unharmed, she is still a woman, an exceptionally beautiful woman, and beauty in chaotic times often leads to tragic consequences. Ying Xiang couldn’t help but shiver at the thought.
Seeming to sense her concerns, Chu Zhao said, “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Ying Xiang felt relieved and expressed her gratitude, “Thank you, Fourth Young Master.”
“Before that, we need to find Zongbing Li Kuang,” Chu Zhao smiled. “Without his help, we can’t leave the city.”
Ying Xiang nodded. Although the city gates were sealed, she never doubted that they couldn’t escape. Every city has secret passages, and important people are often escorted out during critical times, providing a chance for survival.
With the support of Xu Xiang, Zongbing Li Kuang wouldn’t ignore them.
…
“Surprise attack? Impossible, that’s too risky!”
“Yeah, easy to say, but it’s clearly a suicide mission. Although we Rundu people aren’t afraid of death, we can’t just go and be target practice for others!”
Inside the room, people spoke up upon hearing He Yan’s words.
General Li Kuang looked at He Yan; this young man seemed confident, but he wasn’t sure what plan he had in mind. The deputy commanders of the city gate troops and He Yan’s other brothers were all present in the room.
When the discussion in the room calmed down a bit, He Yan spoke, “I know you all don’t trust me right now. But I’ve already talked to Lord Li, and in the past ten days, there were a total of five nights when the Wutuo people attempted to attack the city gate under the cover of darkness. Although they eventually gave up, it seemed like they were testing us. In the last three days, there has been no movement from the Wutuo people.”
“With my experience in dealing with the Wutuo people, this quiet period is not a good sign. They are likely planning a full-scale attack. They have already figured out the situation inside Rundu, and the forces inside the city have been depleted by the Wutuo people for quite some time. Morale and strength are not what they used to be. If the Wutuo people launch a general attack, the city gate will definitely be breached.”
“Why do you say that? Are you cursing us?” A somewhat irritable deputy soldier exclaimed.
“Can speaking the truth be considered a curse? Do you only want to hear good things?” Wang Ba immediately mocked. “If that’s the case, I can now say that the Rundu city gates are as stable as rock, and the city will never be breached in this lifetime. Do you believe it? Go ask anyone on the street if they believe it!”
“Rundu is relying on self-deception for defense. I’ve never seen anything so laughable!”
Originally, he came to Rundu with He Yan, harboring a sense of self-sacrifice and devotion. Now, his passionate spirit wasn’t appreciated, turning his blood into anger, leaving the person he scolded speechless.
The atmosphere became tense.
Huang Xiong looked at Li Kuang and said, “Lord Li, my Brother He here is extraordinary, highly skilled in military strategy. In Liangzhou Garrison, besides Commander Xiao, he’s the most formidable. Since he says a surprise attack is possible, he must have a plan of his own. Instead of outright rejecting it, why not listen to what he has to say first? It would be better for everyone to discuss it peacefully.”
His words were very diplomatic and mature, but he occasionally touched the ominous-looking dagger at his waist while speaking, giving people an eerie feeling.
Someone, with courage, spoke up, “Lord… Lord He, it’s not that we don’t want to launch a surprise attack. It’s just that our troops are already few. If we launch an attack and don’t return, the defenders in the city will be even fewer. Moreover, the Wutuo people are closely watching the city gates. It’s likely that before we even leave the city, we’ll be shot like hedgehogs by their arrows. How can we sneak into their camp at night?”
“Arrows?” He Yan paused and looked at the person who just spoke, “The Wutuo people have a lot of arrows?”
“A lot,” the person replied with a bitter face. “Initially, when the Wutuo people arrived, we fought them at the city gates. But later, our arrows became scarce while theirs remained abundant. Some even suggested ambushing and assassinating their leader, but before they could leave the city, they were pierced by ten thousand arrows. The Wutuo people then cut off his head and hung it on a tree branch outside the city to mock us.” At this point, the atmosphere in the room became tense.
Such provocation was unbearable.
“Are you saying that we have few arrows, but they have many?” He Yan asked.
The other person nodded. He Yan then looked at Li Kuang, “If we lead the Wutuo people to the city gate during a surprise attack, prepare ambushes with archers on the city towers, how many Wutuo people can we kill?”
“Several thousand to ten thousand,” Li Kuang replied, “but we don’t have that many arrows.”
“We do.”
Everyone was stunned.
“Let those Wutuo people forge arrows for us.” The young man smiled, his bright eyes astonishing. In an instant, Li Kuang thought of another person. He hadn’t seen the face under the mask back then, but he remembered those eyes – confident, calm, capable of achieving miracles even in the most chaotic and perilous situations.
With him around, military morale would stabilize, and they would never give up.
“How do you plan to do that?” Li Kuang came back to his senses and asked.
“I need to gather all the craftsmen and women in the city to make straw people for me.”
…
It was late at night, and in the wilderness outside the city gates, tens of thousands of tents stood silently. From a distance, the plain seemed to transform into a continuous range of hills, presenting an awe-inspiring sight.
Soldiers on patrol were moving around nearby.
Huyate, the Wutuo leader leading the attack on Rundu, was pouring alcohol into his bowl while carrying an alcohol jar. The aroma of the alcohol was rich, and after finishing a bowl, he patted his stomach and commented, “Is this the grape alcohol brewed by the people of Rundu? How is it any different from sweet water? It’s just a preference of women. Everyone in Great Wei likes to drink this. No wonder they’re weak and timid. A single blow would break them!”
His confidant flattered, “Yes, yes, the alcohol of Great Wei can’t compare to the strong and mellow Wutuo spirits!”
Huyate burst into laughter and added, “Go and capture a few women from the prisoners!”
Although the people of Rundu had tightly closed their city gates, when the Wutuo soldiers were stationed here, there were still many people lingering outside the city. This included villagers from nearby farms, and the Wutuo soldiers would sweep through these villages, leaving the women behind and killing the rest, not even sparing the children. The grape alcohol they had was also plundered from these villages. The helpless peasants were effortlessly wiped out like cutting through melons and vegetables, leaving the entire village in ruins.
The Wutuo people envied and looked down upon the people of Great Wei. They envied Great Wei’s gorgeous silk, exquisite porcelain, vast population, and beautiful large houses. Living in the desert, near the grasslands, they only had the sound of the howling wind and nothing else.
They looked down on the people of Great Wei as weak, timid, and lacking the ability to defend themselves. Abiding by the so-called “benevolent rule,” waiting for others to invade. A piece of unguarded fat meat would always attract various eyes. The Wutuo people had been silent for many years, but they couldn’t bear it any longer.
“We’ve been waiting here for a month,” one of his confidants said, “If He Rufei doesn’t come as the lord said, it’s likely he won’t come at all.”
Huyate chuckled, “That would be great!”
Great Wei valued literature over martial arts. Over the years, many warriors had emerged, but the most feared ones now were Flying Phoenix General and General Fengyun. That idiot Maka, relying on being the lord’s cousin, volunteered to take Jiyang. Who would have expected him to run into Xiao Huaijin? It could be considered his misfortune. Unfortunately, the 150,000-strong army was completely wiped out, dealing a heavy blow to their morale.
He was not like Maka. Since he chose the task of attacking Rundu, he must have complete confidence.
“In Great Wei, there’s a saying, ‘Across the river, the red dust is busy like fire; before the pavilion, the green mountains are cold as ice.’ What we’re doing now is ‘watching the fire across the river.’ As for Flying Phoenix General, so what? If a direct confrontation doesn’t kill him, he must have other weaknesses. With power and beautiful women, that’s all there is to it.”
“Sometimes I really don’t understand the people of Great Wei,” a look of genuine confusion appeared on Huyate’s face. “Why do they always enjoy killing each other? If there were people like Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei in our Wutuo, the lord would surely offer them the best treatment, making them the two most advantageous swords for Wutuo. With them, everything would be within our grasp. However, the people of Great Wei can’t stand having such excellent generals. Once someone rises, they want to crush them into the mud. But that’s just fine. If Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei are truly flawless, it would be a great disaster for us Wutuo.”
The confidant added, “Exactly, this is perfect. Thanks to the lord’s years of planning, he let this fire burn bigger and bigger early on. Now we don’t even need to do anything; the people of Great Wei are helping the Wutuo by fighting among themselves.”
Laughter echoed in the tent. At this moment, Wutuo soldiers who had just left returned with several Great Wei women. These were captives taken from nearby villages. These women were still young and somewhat attractive. As soon as they entered, they trembled with fear.
Huyate was cruel by nature, and many women had been ravaged to death by him.
With a sinister laugh, he casually grabbed one of the women nearby. Before making a move, suddenly, the sound of horns echoed from outside. Everyone was stunned.
“What’s going on?”
“Somebody is coming out of the city!”
The tent was immediately in chaos. Huyate lost interest in continuing and pushed the woman away. He stood up and walked outside. A Wutuo soldier hurriedly approached and reported, “General, there are people coming down from the city walls outside the gate!”
“What?” Huyate was startled.
The people of Rundu were as timid as mice, only daring to hide in the city and not daring to make a sound. They had tried to ambush once before, but before those people came down, they were shot like hedgehogs by Wutuo soldiers. Now, they dared to come again? This was somewhat unexpected for Huyate. According to reason, the people of Rundu shouldn’t act like this.
Had they reached a desperate situation, deciding to fight to the death? Huyate walked briskly towards the wilderness outside. “Come, let’s go and see!”
In the pitch-black outside the city walls, it was indeed seen that hundreds of ropes were hanging down. It seemed like one person after another was descending from the city walls. From afar, there were quite a few people.
“Are these people crazy?” a Wutuo soldier exclaimed. “Isn’t this just coming to die?”
“These Rundu people must be like the type of animal we have in Wutuo, timid as a mouse. It’s said that when they encounter a hunter, they not only won’t run but will panic and actively run towards the hunter’s arrows. I think these people from Rundu are the same, scared out of their wits, unable to distinguish east from west!”
“A piece of prey delivered to our doorstep; it’s unreasonable not to hunt it,” Huyate felt a sense of satisfaction. Even before the battle began, these people from Rundu were scared out of their minds. It showed the might of his Wutuo army. He immediately ordered, “Have the archers ready! It’s a good time to practice accuracy. Since the last time wasn’t satisfying, this time we can practice archery. With such good targets, there won’t be many opportunities like this in the future!”
Wutuo archers immediately prepared.
Arrows flew towards the people hanging from the city walls’ ropes, and in a short time, those people were shot into hedgehogs, each person pierced by numerous arrows. The people of Rundu seemed to realize this and quickly pulled up those ropes, replacing them with new ones.
Huyate chuckled, “I think they are truly insane.”
“This is called… what the people of Great Wei call, ‘bravery of commoners’!” the confidant came up with a term.
“Bravery of commoners? I think it’s the foolishness of commoners!” Huyate burst into laughter, loudly commanding, “Prepare the next batch of archers!”
On the city wall, ropes were continuously being hoisted up, each rope helping several “people” ascend. These people were riddled with arrows in their chests and backs when they were pulled up. They had lost their human shape, becoming arrow targets that looked eerie and terrifying. But upon closer inspection, it would be revealed that these were straw men, dressed in black, indistinguishable from real people under the cover of the night.
Xiao Mai excitedly said, “So many arrows, Brother Ah He, we’re going to make a fortune!”
“Make a fortune? These are not silver, and we can’t eat them,” Wang Ba said with lackluster enthusiasm.
On the side, Li Kuang watched with great excitement, almost tears welling up. They had no arrows and could only be suppressed by the Wutuo people. Even during the daytime, they dared not show themselves on the city wall. The sentinels patrolling on the city wall were sacrificed, one or two, every day by arrows, and they didn’t have enough bows and arrows to retaliate.
But now they did.
This batch of straw men dressed in black brought countless arrows. He Yan released another batch, and before the Wutuo people noticed, they could harvest quite a lot. What a miracle! This was a business without any cost!
During the daytime, He Yan had Li Kuang gather all the craftsmen and women in the city to make straw men. When the common people heard it was to deal with the Wutuo people, even children participated. In just one day, they produced quite a few. He Yan also had Li Kuang borrow a lot of ordinary black clothes for the straw men to wear neatly.
At the beginning of proposing this plan, Li Kuang was skeptical. Would the Wutuo people really be so foolish? Would they really send arrows so obediently?
The scene now had confirmed his doubts; the Wutuo people were indeed this foolish.
He looked at the young man standing on the city wall and felt a sense of admiration. Regardless of Rundu’s future, at least tonight, the straw men borrowing arrows could allow Rundu to resist for some more time. Li Kuang walked to He Yan’s side and said, “Brother He has ingenious strategies; Li is not worthy.”
He Yan turned his head to give him a glance. The wind lifted the scattered hair on the young man’s ear, and he smiled nonchalantly, “It’s just luck. These Wutuo people think they have a large number and are arrogant, believing they will surely take Rundu. When they see the straw men, they won’t think of any deeper meaning.”
“Wutuo people think we have nothing—no external support, no weapons, no soldiers. Let’s turn nothing into something and take them by surprise.”
“What if we fail?”
The young man said, “Then we think of other ways. In the world, there is surely more than one path.”
Li Kuang couldn’t find words. He always felt that this young man gave him a familiar feeling. He shook his head, dismissing the absurd idea from his mind. Why did such thoughts arise? It was probably because the current situation was exceptionally similar to that of the past, even more challenging.
Tonight was just the beginning.
He Yan looked down below the city wall, and in the distant wilderness, faintly visible starry lights marked the Wutuo people’s camp.
To manifest existence from nothing is deception. Deception cannot last long without being easily detected, hence nothing cannot ultimately remain as nothing. Creating something from nothing is to transition from deception to reality, from emptiness to substance. Nothing cannot fail to defeat the enemy; its existence implies the defeat of the enemy.
When He Yan first read this passage in the military books, she found it perplexing. Holding the military book, she went to find Liu Buwang. Liu Buwang simply said, “‘Nothing’ is false, the purpose is to conceal the ‘truth.’ If you want to achieve ‘something from nothing’ successfully, you must understand the opponent’s psychology. This is the highest level of intelligence between generals.”
He Yan had clashed with the Wutuo people three times. Each Wutuo general was arrogant and excessively proud. Perhaps it was related to their country’s worship of powerful military force, thinking that having cavalry meant having everything, but forgetting that pride in the army leads to defeat.
She looked at the continuously flying arrows, and a smile appeared on her lips. “Replace with the next batch.”
…
Arrows flew towards the direction of the Rundu city gate with great momentum.
“What’s wrong with the people of Rundu? Aren’t they afraid? How many people have been replaced by now?” A Wutuo soldier asked.
Huyate also had some doubts. These people of Rundu… seemed to be continuously delivering themselves to death. It had been several hours; were they going to break all the horses and soldiers of Rundu here?
It was already dawn, and throughout the entire night, they had been shooting arrows here.
A bird flew across the sky and landed on a tree branch, chirping, breaking the surrounding silence. Just then, Huyate suddenly remembered something and asked, “You’ve been shooting arrows all night. Have you heard those people scream?”
The crowd looked at each other, all shaking their heads.
It was very quiet, too quiet. They had shot so many arrows, yet the people of Rundu seemed to have died without making any screams? Why was that? Were they afraid that the screams would be heard by the people inside the city, causing panic, or would it affect morale? If it was the latter, it was okay. If there was another reason… A hint of unease crossed his heart.
“Stop!” Huyate shouted. “Stop shooting immediately!”
The Wutuo people halted, awaiting Huyate’s next command.
The arrows came to a simultaneous stop. Sitting on the city tower, He Yan yawned and shook her head with some regret. “Oh dear, we’ve been found out.”
Li Kuang was already quite satisfied; they had harvested at least a hundred thousand arrows that night. This was faster and less labor-intensive than having craftsmen forge them. The soldiers on the city wall pulled up the last strawman, their wrists sore from the effort. Turning to He Yan, one of them asked, “My lord, do you want to send down another strawman?”
“Release,” He Yan replied. “A clean one, let them see it clearly.”
Li Kuang was surprised. “Brother He, won’t this reveal our secrets to the Wutuo people? It will be harder to deceive them for arrows in the future.”
He Yan smiled. “Lord Li, I made these strawmen not to borrow arrows. After this night, the Wutuo people have already realized that something is amiss. There’s no hiding it.”
“They’ve bullied us for so long; now it’s time to infuriate them!”
The first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, illuminating the crimson city walls of Rundu.
Outside the city gate, a figure hung silently in the air. Swaying back and forth, the figure initially appeared blurry, gradually becoming distinct in the sunlight, observed by the Wutuo people in the distance.
A figure… dressed in black clothing.
“D*mn it!” Huyate erupted in anger.
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