Chapter 173: Night Raid on the Enemy Camp
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Inside the city of Rundu, cheers erupted. Under the city tower, soldiers watched the arrows that covered the ground, and their joy knew no bounds.
The Wutuo arrows were even sharper and more robust than those of Great Wei. Now, they effortlessly obtained tens of thousands of arrows, a windfall that no one had anticipated. Borrowing arrows was a secondary matter; the most crucial aspect was that after days of being unable to resist the Wutuo forces at their doorstep, the pent-up frustration had been swept away. Wutuo had given them a taste of their own medicine, turning the tables, leaving the Wutuo forces unable to speak.
“They are just a group of brute force laborers!” Zhao Shiming stroked his beard, laughing, “They don’t understand the art of strategy.”
He looked towards the young man leading the way, hurriedly catching up and saying, “This time, we owe it to Little Lord He!”
So quickly addressing him as “Little Lord Xiao”? He Yan smiled, “If it weren’t for everyone in the city working together tirelessly to make so many straw men, relying solely on me wouldn’t have achieved such results.”
Zhao Shiming’s impression of this young man grew even more favorable. He thought to himself that it was no wonder he received a noble title at such a young age. Not seeking glory or acting arrogantly, he was much better than Li Kuang’s dog-like temperament. He asked, “What should we do next?”
He Yan turned her head to look at the old man, then at the people around her. The soldiers around were also staring at her with eager eyes. When she first arrived in Rundu, she felt that the city was full of lifelessness, as everyone was just waiting for death. Now, after just one night, they had a glimmer of “hope” in their eyes.
Hope is always particularly precious.
“I will discuss the next plan with Lord Li. However, there is one thing I need your help with, Lord Zhao.” He Yan said.
Zhao Shiming quickly smiled and agreed, “Feel free to say it, Little Lord He.”
“For this matter, I need all the craftsmen in the city to come forward,” she lowered her eyes, “to make masks for me. The sooner, the better.”
…
In the hall, Li Kuang turned around and looked at the two people in front of him. Qiluo stood behind Li Kuang, staring intently at the beautiful woman in the room.
Ying Xiang handed over the token and scroll. Li Kuang took them and, after examining them, said to Chu Zhao, “So, it’s Fourth Young Master Chu.”
The name of Fourth Young Master Chu was much more famous than the Wuan Lang who had come that day. After all, with a notorious and well-known father and a teacher with political influence, coupled with his own handsome and gentle appearance, such a person was hard to ignore in a crowd.
“Lord Li, my young master got stranded in Rundu on the way back to the capital. Given the current situation in Rundu… With the Lord Xiang’s command, may I ask Lord Li to escort my young master out of the city?”
Qiluo, upon hearing this, breathed a sigh of relief. This woman was so beautiful; if she stayed in Rundu, it would be unsettling. What if Li Kuang took a liking to her and took her as well? She couldn’t afford to lose her position as the most favored concubine.
Li Kuang looked at Chu Zhao and said, “It’s not difficult.”
Even though he was dissatisfied, he couldn’t deny Xu Jingfu’s face. Li Kuang couldn’t help but think of He Yan. In this world, people were indeed different from one another. He Yan, like a knight from afar, came to Rundu despite the distance, fearing for Rundu’s safety. On the other hand, Chu Zilan, who was in Rundu, only thought about leaving as soon as possible.
However, he didn’t have the power to forcibly keep people. The tunnel that Flying Phoenix General had excavated back then was originally intended to move the people here. Now, it had become a passage to send these powerless young masters and young ladies out.
Feeling resentful and unwilling to be suppressed, Li Kuang put on a smile on his face, a smile that could even be considered ingratiating. “After Fourth Young Master Chu leaves the city, passing by Jinling or other cities, could you help Rundu seek reinforcements?” He awkwardly rubbed his hands. “Rundu is now in imminent danger. If the Lord is willing to lend a hand…”
“Naturally,” Chu Zhao smiled. “Once Chu and this servant are safely out of the city, we will find ways to seek reinforcements for Rundu.”
“Thank you.” Li Kuang felt a bit stifled. When did the lifeline of Great Wei fall into the hands of an official like this? The Wutuo people must have long seen the corruption within the royal family, leading them to take advantage of the situation.
While they were talking, someone else came in. The person said, “Lord Li, after today, I plan to…”
He Yan’s voice abruptly stopped, looking at Chu Zhao in surprise. She exclaimed, “Brother Chu?”
“Brother He?” Chu Zhao was also astonished. “How come you’re here?”
He Yan never expected to meet Chu Zhao in Rundu. She said, “I… came here to provide reinforcements.”
“What?” Li Kuang was also stunned. “Do you two know each other?”
“Fourth Young Master Chu spent some time in Liangzhou before,” He Yan explained. “Brother Chu, you haven’t told me yet, how did you end up here?”
“When I and Ying Xiang passed by Rundu on our way back to the capital, Wutuo attacked the city, trapping us temporarily inside. Unexpectedly, we encountered Brother He,” Chu Zhao explained, then smiled, “It’s considered fate.”
This is really something no one could have anticipated. It’s been quite some time since both Chu Zhao and He Yan left, and unexpectedly, they met in Rundu. This seems to confirm what Chu Zhao mentioned earlier about “traveling together.” Although there are many questions in their minds, now is not the time to discuss them. He Yan said to Chu Zhao, “Brother Chu, I still have matters to discuss with Lord Li. If you’re not in a hurry, could you wait until we finish our conversation?”
“No problem, I’m not in a hurry,” Chu Zhao gestured with a please.
He Yan turned to Li Kuang and said, “Lord Li, let’s continue our conversation inside.”
Li Kuang and He Yan entered the room. Qiluo glanced at them, bowed, and exited the room. Ying Xiang hesitated and spoke, “Young Master Chu…”
“We won’t leave for now.”
“But what about Lord Xiang?”
“I have my own plans.”
After a while, Ying Xiang asked, “Is Young Master Chu not leaving because of concerns for Miss He?”
Chu Zhao didn’t answer her question. The smile on his face faded, and he said, “Ying Xiang, you’ve said too much.”
Ying Xiang fell silent.
Inside the room, Li Kuang turned back and looked at He Yan. “Do you still want to use the straw men? The Wutuo people fell for it once, it’s impossible for them to fall for it again.”
“Although those Wutuo people are stupid, they are also cunning. After a lesson learned, they will be even more suspicious in the future. Anyway, at night, hanging the straw men down won’t cause much loss. Lord Li, why not give it a try? If they are still willing to fall for it, it’s good to collect more arrows.”
“But what if they don’t fall for it?”
“That would be even better.”
“I don’t understand, Brother He, what exactly do you want to do?”
He Yan looked at Li Kuang. They had fought side by side on the battlefield in the past. Li Kuang was strict and methodical, capable but not fond of using strategies. He Yan turned and looked at the map hanging on the wall, saying, “Lord Li, if you were a Wutuo person, knowing that you were made a fool of last night and the same trick is repeated today, and it continues tomorrow, what would you do?”
“I would be furious and never fall for it again!”
“You wouldn’t shoot arrows at the people coming down from the city tower?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s good,” He Yan turned back, stared at him with a slight smile, and said, “So, the third time, our people can directly leave the city. They will think that the people coming down from the city tower are just fake straw men.”
Li Kuang was stunned.
Everyone had heard the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. After being tricked several times, even a fool wouldn’t believe it the third time. The Wutuo people, after losing so many arrows for nothing, would become suspicious. Unbeknownst to them, during the last attempt, those straw men were silently replaced with real soldiers from Rundu, who would take advantage of the night to infiltrate their camp.
Li Kuang understood He Yan’s intention, but he still had questions, “Are you suggesting sending people out of the city?”
“Lord Li, I’ve said it before. Defense is not as good as offense. If we continue to defend like this, the Wutuo people will attack the city sooner or later. Yesterday’s arrow borrowing has already angered them. Now, when they are least calm, we can find an opportunity. After they recover, if we continue defending and don’t take the initiative, Rundu’s small number of troops won’t be able to stop them from breaking the city gates.”
Li Kuang was alarmed by what he heard, unable to help but say, “I naturally understand that, but even if we launch a night raid, our forces are still not enough!”
“We don’t need to wipe out all of the Wutuo soldiers; that’s impossible. What we need to do is burn their food supplies and break their morale. Without food, the Wutuo people will panic, and their military morale will decline. They will become more hesitant, giving us time,” He Yan explained. “Lord Li, seek help from Jinling.”
“Jinling?”
He Yan looked at him, “Lord Li, don’t place your hopes on someone hopeless. Flying Phoenix General won’t come. If he were coming, he would have already arrived. To hold Rundu, we must seek another way out. Even if you trust He Rufei, the lives of tens of thousands of Rundu citizens are worth more than your trust.”
The young man’s gaze was firm, his tone unquestionable. In an instant, Li Kuang’s heart wavered. After a moment, he looked at He Yan, “It sounds easy, but even if we launch a night raid, how can you ensure that we can burn the Wutuo people’s food supplies? They have a large number of troops guarding the food supplies, and they might discover us before we get close.”
“Five hundred men.”
“What?”
“I need five hundred elite soldiers,” the young man said, “Lord Li knows better than me what the vanguard camp means. With me as the leader, a vanguard camp of five hundred men will definitely burn their food supplies. Even if we die on the battlefield, even if we die under the Wutuo people’s blades, please, Lord Li, continue to defend the city, don’t waste everyone’s sacrifice in vain.”
“Of course,” she added, “if we can bring back Huyate’s head, that would be even better.”
…
Since the day of borrowing arrows with straw men, for three consecutive days, every nightfall in Rundu, dozens of ropes would slowly descend from the city tower, each rope carrying a person who landed on the ground. Shortly after, another batch of “people” would be replaced according to the same method.
Initially, the Wutuo people would try shooting dozens or hundreds of arrows, but in the end, they became lazy and only shot a few scattered arrows before stopping.
All the craftsmen in the city gathered together, working through the night to make masks. Wang Ba dragged a cart full of boxes over, and along with the others, they unloaded all the boxes onto the ground, and said to He Yan, “Everything is here.”
Under the gaze of everyone, He Yan stepped forward, bent down, and lifted the lid of one of the boxes. The box was filled with densely packed masks. Zhao Shiming picked up one and saw that the mask had a green face with sharp fangs and eyes like copper bells, quite terrifying. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah!” and accidentally dropped the mask back into the box. He muttered, “It’s really frightening.”
“Brother Ah He, are we all going to wear these masks to confront the Wutuo people?” Xiao Mai asked nervously, “These… are all masks of evil spirits! They’re really too scary.”
He Yan smiled and said, “Are they really that scary? I don’t think so.”
Back in Jiyang, just a “lying fox” mask was enough to make Ling Xiu and the others avoid it. If they saw these masks now, they would probably be terrified. When Zhao Shiming arranged for all the craftsmen in Rundu to make masks for her, He Yan had only one request: the more eerie and terrifying, the better. Ideally, they should look like the little demons in the eighteen layers of h*ll in Buddhist paintings, grotesque and ugly.
Looking at these masks, she thought they were truly ugly, but not necessarily frightening. Perhaps it was because in her life, humans were much scarier than ghosts. The things she had seen that were truly terrifying and eerie far exceeded this.
Among the masks in the box, the one on the top looked particularly different. It didn’t have the fancy patterns painted on it. The entire mask seemed to be cast in iron, completely airtight, with only eyes and chin exposed. He Yan picked up this mask and gently placed it on her face.
Wang Ba grumbled, “Why does yours look so much better? Can’t we be treated equally? Why do we have to wear these ugly ones that even dogs find unattractive?”
On the side, Li Kuang took a sharp breath and said, “General He!”
Everyone looked at Li Kuang, and Jiang Jiao smiled, “Lord Li, Brother He is just a Wuan Lang now, not yet promoted to a general.”
Li Kuang realized that his words had been misunderstood by others and explained, “I meant to say that this mask belongs to Flying Phoenix General.”
When he fought side by side with He Rufei back in the day, He Rufei wore a mask that looked very similar. He had the urge to remove it several times, but the mask seemed to be stuck to He Rufei’s face, and he couldn’t take it off no matter what. Later, his beloved concubine Qiluo told him that He Rufei cared a lot about the scars on his face, so it was better not to mock others. Li Kuang gave up the idea.
A few years later, He Rufei returned to the capital. It was said that he took off the mask in front of the emperor, revealing a handsome and dignified face, stunning everyone. Li Kuang, upon hearing this news, was extremely annoyed, thinking this person was sick. The previous notion of “ugly and tasteless” was obviously a lie. Perhaps it was just a gimmick to create a contrast.
Except for seeing He Rufei once when he attended court in the capital later on, the two of them had not met for several years. Now, in the presence of this young man, he saw the shadow of the past He Rufei. Just as brave and generous as ever.
But he couldn’t be He Rufei.
Li Kuang muttered to himself, wondering if He Rufei had a brother at home. This young man was still so young but already had the demeanor of a general. Both surnamed He… Did He Yuansheng also have a secret child like Chu Linfeng?
He Yan was unaware that Li Kuang’s thoughts had drifted so far. Jiang Jiao asked, “Flying Phoenix General’s mask? Does Lord Li mean that this mask is very similar to Flying Phoenix General’s?”
It had been too long, and he couldn’t remember the details of the mask He Rufei wore back then. But it seemed close enough, so he nodded, “Quite similar.”
He Yan smiled slightly. Since He Rufei replaced her as “Flying Phoenix,” she didn’t expect that one day she would put on this familiar mask again.
“Little Brother He, what are you planning to do?” Huang Xiong wondered.
“Virtual and real, true and false, Huyate has never seen the real Flying Phoenix General. But he must have heard about the masked general battling the Western Qiang people in the past. I will wear this mask and infiltrate the enemy camp. They won’t know who is under the mask. With suspicion and fear, their morale will be disrupted. That will be our chance,” the young man said.
“You…” Li Kuang suddenly realized.
“I’m going to impersonate Flying Phoenix General,” the young man said.
…
The night gradually deepened, and a light drizzle began to fall.
In the wilderness, the sounds of insects could be heard, and in the camp, the Wutuo soldiers were resting.
In the past few days, Li Kuang’s “strawman borrowing arrows” in Rundu had caused them to waste a hundred thousand feathered arrows. They were now cleaning up, and since a hundred thousand arrows was not a small number, their original plan had to be changed. Frustrated, Huyate beheaded several archers in his anger.
Li Kuang’s “strawman borrowing arrows” continued every night. srawmen would descend from the city walls, and at first, the Wutuo soldiers would shoot arrows in vigilance. However, as time went on, they no longer fell for it and even felt that Li Kuang’s actions were mocking and insulting them. Huyate angrily said, “On the day the city is breached, I will bury all the Rundu soldiers alive. I will dismember Li Kuang in front of the entire city of Rundu!”
Being played like fools was indeed a face-losing situation. He had previously mocked Maka but didn’t expect to be in a similar situation so soon.
“General, what should we do if Li Kuang releases those strawmen again tonight?” a subordinate asked.
“What to do?” Huyate asked with a dark expression, “Do you want me to be a fool again? Idiot!”
The subordinate nodded repeatedly, not daring to speak up.
On the city tower, He Yan, dressed in black, was tying ropes around herself. Behind her were the five hundred elite soldiers selected by Li Kuang from the Rundu army, each of them skilled in combat.
Xiao Mai and Hong Shan were originally not members of the Liangzhou Garrison vanguard camp, and their combat skills were average. Looking at the prepared comrades, Xiao Mai expressed his worries, “Brother Ah He, what if the Wutuo people shoot arrows towards us? If they shoot arrows here, we might not have a chance to retreat.”
He Yan tiptoed and patted Xiao Mai’s head. Although Xiao Mai was taller than her now, he often seemed more like a child, always reminding He Yan of He Yunsheng. She patiently said, “All things in the world are born from existence, and existence is born from non-existence. On the first day, we created an illusion with the strawman borrowing arrows, intentionally letting the Wutuo people see through it. They believe they know our strategy, relax their vigilance, and afterwards, turn nothing into something, turn falsehood into truth, and turn the void into reality. When our people truly ambush them at night, Huyate will think it’s fake, not on guard. We take advantage of this opportunity, and they won’t be prepared.”
“But how can you be sure?” Xiao Mai persisted.
He Yan said, “There’s nothing certain in the world. I can only guess Huyate’s thoughts to the best of my ability.”
This was a psychological battle and a high-stakes gamble.
He Yan turned and looked at the people behind her. These carefully selected Rundu soldiers, due to the prolonged conflict with the Wutuo people, looked thin and weary, but their eyes were burning with determination. Attacked at their doorstep, they finally had a chance to fight back. Even if the cost was their lives, the men of Great Wei were willing to bear it.
“When we go down, maybe the Wutuo people won’t shoot arrows, but maybe they will. Those who get hit by arrows must not make a sound or move,” He Yan paused before continuing, “Only when we treat ourselves as ‘strawmen’ will the Wutuo people believe we are truly ‘strawmen.'”
Li Kuang’s face was solemn; he naturally understood what He Yan meant. In war, there would be sacrifices, especially for the five hundred elite soldiers tonight. If, after being hit by arrows, they made a sound or moved, it was very likely that the Wutuo people would discover the ruse, and all their efforts would be in vain.
But enduring the pain of being hit by arrows was extremely difficult, too difficult.
“Perhaps with this arrow, we will be injured or even die,” He Yan looked at each person, her voice calm, “But we must remember our purpose. Even if we die, it’s for the sake of defending Rundu. The Wutuo people’s feathered arrows have no specific target; they may pierce everyone, including me. I need you to understand the possible consequences. If anyone can’t accept it now, you can stand up and leave. Otherwise, if someone causes the entire night ambush to fail, it won’t be forgiven lightly!”
The young man’s eyes were cold and sharp, and although he usually had a mild and approachable demeanor, when he became indifferent, no one dared to argue. No one stood up.
Li Kuang was surprised to find that, unconsciously, he had handed over the command of Rundu to this young man, even though he was still young and, until now, Li Kuang didn’t know much about this Wuan Lang named He Yan.
Yet, he had a convincing ability, just like that year when Flying Phoenix General was still a deputy general.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Ready!”
“Very well.” He Yan smirked, covering her face with the mask in her hand.
The mask concealed the youth’s face, and with it, the hint of youthful innocence disappeared, leaving behind only a pair of beautiful eyes, sharp as a knife, hiding all the sharp edges.
She walked up to Li Kuang, snatching the sword from his hand before he could react.
“Lord Li, lend me your sword,” He Yan said.
“Hey…” Li Kuang was a little annoyed. This person was too natural.
Li Kuang’s sword was a good one, although not as good as Qinglang, it was still sharp and lightweight. He Yan weighed the sword in her hand. In an instant, it seemed as if she had returned to the battlefield of the past. She was still the general leading the Fuyue army in the charge. The blood was still hot.
“Flying Phoenix General must not be without a sword,” she turned her head, her voice cold, “Sons, put on your masks, follow me!”
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