That afternoon, Pei Xia appeared in the council hall with Yan Wang and his generals.
The scene was strange, like a graceful crane appearing among a group of wolves and tigers.
The generals frequently glanced at him and exchanged meaningful looks.
Pei Xia felt the strong sense of exclusion.
Nominally, they were all officials of Great Liang, but after over twenty years of careful governance, Yanbei had become a semi-autonomous mini-court.
Pei Xia was an official from Chang’an, not Yanbei, yet here he was.
The generals were displeased.
But with Yan Wang present, no one dared speak, treating the refined young man as nothing more than a decorative vase.
Until, frustrated and scratching their heads, they could produce no better plan for Baicheng’s crisis, the “vase” spoke.
“The water solidifies into ice; the ice becomes a road.”
Seeing all eyes on him, Pei Xia rose, walked to the sand table, and picked up a slender rod. At the narrow river on Baicheng’s northwest, he drew a line across: “This is another route.”
Yan Wang stroked his beard thoughtfully.
The generals were horrified. “Impossible! Too dangerous!”
“The river does freeze, but the ice is risky. You don’t know the thickness, nor the load it can bear. Who knows? You may not even reach the city before plunging into the ice and drowning!”
They never allowed their children on ice in winter—if an accident happened, it would be fatal. Yet this man from Chang’an suggested marching troops across it—surely he was a spy sent by the court!
“I know how to measure ice thickness and load. On the journey here, to save time, I led a team across an ice river of similar length to this one. Hence I believe it is feasible.”
Pei Xia’s voice was calm: “If we take this route, we avoid confrontation with the Rong Di. We won’t need many armored men, just bring five days’ rations for the city’s soldiers and civilians to relieve the immediate crisis, then find another way to break the city’s defense.”
As his words fell, murmurs rippled across the hall.
Yan Wang stroked the scar on his hand: “Explain in detail.”
Pei Xia made no effort to hide anything. Borrowing paper, brush, and counting rods, he laid out in full detail how to estimate the ice’s load-bearing capacity, how much grain and supplies would need transporting, how many cavalry and baggage troops were required, when to depart and when to meet, and when to send men to feign an attack elsewhere.
The veteran generals, who had spent their lives in battle and didn’t rise to rank by brute force alone, all had their specialties. Yet this young man in front of them seemed to have mastered them all, wielding their tactics as if reciting from memory. His advances and retreats were appropriate, organized, and disciplined, a truly rare genius!
The generals’ expressions toward Pei Xia shifted.
It was a natural admiration, born of talent.
Yan Wang also studied Pei Xia closely.
He had long heard that Pei Xia of Hedong harbored splendid talent, with insight like pearls hidden in the belly, possessing wisdom to govern the world and serve the people.
Today, seeing him in person, it was indeed true.
If he had a legitimate heir, he would surely have brought Pei Shouzhen into his camp to cause upheaval in Chang’an.
Regrettably, his second nephew was foolish, failing to cherish such a treasure. Like his father, distrustful, he was self-destructively blind.
After Pei Xia finished presenting his plan, Yan Wang and the generals agreed it was worth attempting.
Yet when it came time to appoint commanders, the veterans hesitated.
Marching troops across ice was untested, uncertain. And though Pei Xia spoke confidently, none had dealt with him before; who could know if he was merely theoretical, all talk?
“Lord Pei has offered a sound plan. Who is willing to lead troops?”
Yan Wang swept his gaze over the subordinates in the tent.
After a moment of glances and murmurs, a middle-aged general stepped forward: “I am willing to lead the troops, Your Highness, but… I have an unusual request.”
“Speak.”
The general looked at Pei Xia, clasped his hands in salute: “Might Lord Pei accompany us?”
Pei Xia’s eyes flickered.
“This is outrageous,” Yan Wang muttered.
He frowned. “Old Eight Liu, do not be absurd. Lord Pei is a court military supply officer and does not draw Yanbei wages. How can we send a guest to the front? It is improper!”
Turning to Pei Xia, he said, “Do not mind them, they are simple soldiers.”
Though he said “do not mind,” his eyes were clearly assessing him.
Pei Xia considered briefly, then raised a sleeve: “Though I do not receive Yanbei pay, I am salaried by the court. With the mountains sealed by snow, I cannot return to court for now. I am willing to accompany General Liu to Baicheng.”
The generals in the tent immediately regarded Pei Xia with even higher esteem.
This envoy from the court was entirely unlike the idle aristocrat they had imagined.
After discussion, the plan for Baicheng was finalized. Departure would be at dawn.
Before leaving the council hall, Yan Wang called Pei Xia over and gave him careful instructions.
The courtesy and respect made Pei Xia ask, “Your Highness, do you not doubt me?”
Yan Wang smiled. “Do not doubt those you employ; use those you trust.”
He raised a hand to his eyes: “I have eyes to see people.”
He pointed to his temple: “I have a mind to reason.”
Finally, he pointed to Pei Xia’s chest: “Moreover, Pei Shouzhen, you have a heart that cares for the country.”
“Go.”
Yan Wang patted Pei Xia’s shoulder, his steady gaze carrying the gravity of a senior relative: “My son is in your hands.”
—
That night, outside the window, wind and snow raged. In the guest room of Yan Wang’s mansion, the candle flickered over the desk.
Pei Xia set down his brush. The ink on the letters dried quickly in the warm air from the burning ground dragon warmer.
He stroked the smooth white jade pendant in his palm.
The tassel had been replaced with a watery blue one, tied into a small, delicate ruyi knot.
Peace and good fortune, both she and Di Ge’er were waiting for his return.
His eyes fell on the black Qilin pouch at the corner of the desk. He hesitated, then picked it up.
The stitching was meticulous. The fiery red Qilin stood on clouds, gleaming in gold, lifelike… a testament to the embroiderer’s care.
Truly, in her heart, she had never fully let go of Xie Wuling.
But year after year passed, and she had gone with the flow.
After many years of marriage, speaking of “love” felt somewhat pretentious.
Yet Pei Xia still wanted to know, in these past three years, had he gained a place in her heart?
She loved Xie Wuling, but had she ever loved Pei Shouzhen, even for a moment?
Perhaps the cold foreign night and the looming battle the next day stirred a certain melancholy.
He sat quietly for some time.
Finally, he set down the pouch and the peace talisman, folded the letter on the desk slowly and deliberately.
On the pale yellow envelope were the words “To my Yuniang.”
He did not send it, instead placing it at the bottom of his traveling chest.
—
The next day, before dawn, Pei Xia departed with General Liu, leading three thousand troops.
Simultaneously, a messenger went to Jincheng, instructing Deputy General Fang to lead a small detachment as a third feigned reinforcement.
A feint to the east while secretly moving west.
To be safe, when the three thousand troops reached the river known as Little Bay five days later, they crossed on a snowy night.
Night provided the best cover. Pei Xia led the advance, taking three hundred men onto the ice first.
Jinglin felt both anxious and frustrated, but mostly confused: “Lord, we came to deliver supplies, didn’t we?”
Why head to the front line? And all for that Xie fellow!
Whether the man lived or died, what business was it of theirs!
Pei Xia glared at him. “If you don’t want to go, you can stay behind to provide support.”
Jinglin choked. Even though his heart was filled with a thousand objections, a servant’s loyalty was loyalty nonetheless, loyalty to the country, loyalty to the sovereign, loyalty to his master.
He drew a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said, “I’ll follow you.”
In the dim, waning light of dusk, three hundred men stepped onto the frozen river.
The ice was slippery. Pei Xia had preemptively tied straw to everyone’s shoes and repeatedly emphasized: do not walk in unison; stagger your steps, let them be messy.
If all walked together, the ice would collapse in chunks.
The plan worked.
When he led the first batch of grain and three hundred men into Baicheng, Xie Wuling thought he had hallucinated from hunger. How could he be seeing Pei Shouzhen in the snow and ice?
It didn’t make sense.
His final visions before death should have been of Jiaojiao.
Until Pei Xia removed his felt hat and approached him, still that same calm, cool demeanor: “If you still have strength, go to the North Gate to meet the rest of the reinforcements.”
Xie Wuling pinched his thigh, hissing in pain.
It really was that d*mn Pei Shouzhen.
He was seeing a ghost.
“You… why are you here?” he blurted. Pei Xia showed no expression, just walked to the brazier.
His long hands were red and numb from the cold.
As he warmed them, he briefly and clearly explained the situation.
Xie Wuling, hearing it, couldn’t decide what to feel.
He wanted to say thanks, but the words stuck.
In short, he felt twisted inside.
Pei Xia saw the tension, the “wanting to speak but holding back,” and rubbed his hands together. His tone was calm: “Don’t flatter yourself, it’s not for you.”
“This is a city of Great Liang. Its people are Great Liang’s. I am a court official; I must do my part.”
“Besides…” He pressed his lips together. “If you die here, she will care.”
For the deceased, perhaps that concern would endure forever.
A lingering, unshakable presence.
Xie Wuling knew Pei Xia would likely remain awkward, so he went along: “Ha… jealous husband.”
He turned and led the troops to receive the grain.
Soon after, a maid brought Pei Xia hot soup, rice, and ginger tea—Xie Wuling had arranged it.
Over the course of the night, three thousand troops silently delivered enough grain to feed the entire city for five days.
The citizens cheered, collecting hot porridge and baked bread at the food distribution points, raising cries of “Long live the court” at the city gates.
Pei Xia stood in the snow in his black cloak, observing the starving, tiny citizens below. His expression revealed nothing.
“Don’t you find it ironic?”
Xie Wuling appeared behind him, black eyes scanning the crowd, a smile curling his lips: “They endure wind and snow, eating thin porridge and bread, shouting ‘Long live the court,’ while those b*stards sit in the gilded palace, unaffected by wind or snow, feasting in luxury, carefree.”
Pei Xia glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
Xie Wuling met his gaze unflinchingly: “You know what I mean.”
Pei Xia pressed his lips shut.
Xie Wuling asked, “Have you met my foster father?”
Pei Xia: “Yes.”
Xie Wuling: “What do you think of him?”
After a brief pause, Pei Xia looked up at the vast, snowy wilderness: “A towering figure, a man of principle and virtue, one of the foremost in the world.”
Xie Wuling laughed. “A compliment worth hearing.”
After a moment, he asked, “Do you think he is the wise ruler in your heart?”
Pei Xia’s eyes flickered slightly as he frowned at Xie Wuling.
“Anyway, there’s no one else here. What we say today, heaven knows, earth knows, wind knows, snow knows, it won’t reach that idiot on the throne in Chang’an.”
Xie Wuling shrugged, then sneered: “Do you still want to be manipulated by him?”
“Even if you endure this grievance, don’t let Jiaojiao suffer with you. Back then, Shouan harmed her. Now he drugs her…”
“If the Yanbei envoy wasn’t me, if some other powerful minister or general had their eyes on her, what would become of her? How is she different from meat on a chopping block?”
“Pei Shouzhen, with a ruler like that, your detachment, serenity, and prudence cannot protect her, nor your family.”
He looked Pei Xia in the eyes: “Those who have wronged her, I will make them pay. How you act, you must think carefully.”
With that, he turned lazily and waved: “Remember to come to the study later. We’ll discuss the breakout plan.”
Pei Xia stared at the bright red in the snow, his brows tight.
He then gazed at the snowy world, like ink landscapes, and his long fingers slowly clenched within his sleeves.
—
Three days later, all the elderly, weak, and children who could be sent along the ice river had been evacuated.
Now, the city held Xie Wuling’s eight thousand elite troops and Pei Xia’s two thousand, barely reaching ten thousand.
The breakout strategy was a classic trap—“inviting the enemy into the cauldron.”
The long-closed gates of Baicheng were opened. Pei Xia, cloaked like a crane, sat atop the city tower, leaning against the railing, burning incense and playing the qin.
Outside the city, the Rong Di tribes had just “scared off” one wave of reinforcements when they suddenly saw, within the city walls, a figure of striking grace and elegance appear out of nowhere. Suspicion rippled through their ranks.
When they learned that the man was none other than the one their spies had mentioned, the Grand Chancellor Pei, who had fallen out with the Emperor of Great Liang, panic spread among them.
How had this man come to Yanbei, and how did he appear in Baicheng as if descending from the heavens?
The Rong Di general began to panic.
Standing atop the city wall, Xie Wuling asked Pei Xia, “You think this bluff will scare them off?”
Pei Xia plucked a single string on his qin. “We’ll see.”
The Empty City Stratagem was famous, so famous that even the Rong Di generals had heard of it.
But though they knew of it, they dared not gamble. After all, would someone as clever as Chancellor Pei really just copy the old ruse by the book? What if this “Empty City” was itself a feint? He had already appeared in Baicheng as if by magic, perhaps reinforcements had slipped into the city through some hidden tunnel.
The city gates stood open for half a day, yet the Rong Di dared not advance.
Xie Wuling grinned. “So they really fell for it?”
Pei Xia glanced down and said lightly, “Go rally the troops. It’s time to draw blades.”
After a pause, his tone darkened. “Close the gates and strike the dogs. End it quickly.”
As expected, the Rong Di sent ten thousand men forward to probe.
Following Pei Xia’s strategy, Xie Wuling personally led the troops into battle.
The fight was fierce, brutal beyond words.
When Xie Wuling climbed back onto the battlements, he was covered head to toe in blood.
He collapsed where he stood, tossing aside his dulled blade and sprawling out on the ground, legs stretched wide. “All because you said ‘end it quickly,’ I nearly worked myself to death.”
He was exhausted. His hands were numb from beheading foes; his blade was nicked to uselessness.
Strangely, with Pei Xia stationed above the city gate, both he and his soldiers seemed steadier, as if they had swallowed a calming pill.
They stopped overthinking, simply obeying his every order, turning into tireless killing machines, morale surging sky-high.
All ten thousand Rong Di soldiers died within Baicheng.
But Yanbei’s army also lost nearly three thousand men.
Sprawled flat on the ground, Xie Wuling asked, “What about tomorrow?”
Pei Xia looked up at the sky. “Continue.”
—
The next day, the corpses of the Rong Di soldiers were hung neatly along the city walls, a gruesome warning.
The Rong Di, enraged, roared beneath the gates.
Pei Xia stood atop the gate, looking down on them with cool disdain. “There are thirty thousand reinforcements inside this city, and provisions for three months. If you don’t believe me, by all means, send more men to die.”
Xie Wuling folded his arms and clicked his tongue. “Didn’t think the virtuous Chancellor Pei could lie.”
“This isn’t lying.”
Pei Xia’s expression didn’t change. “War is the art of deception.”
Xie Wuling snorted. “As if no one’s ever read The Art of War.”
Pei Xia ignored the jab. “Save your breath. Go inspect the traps again. There may be another battle today.”
This time, just like yesterday, the Rong Di sent another ten thousand.
The traps laid overnight proved their worth.
But even after annihilating that second wave, the Yanbei forces, including the two thousand Pei Xia had brought, were reduced to only three thousand men.
Once again, Xie Wuling sat down before Pei Xia, drenched in blood as if dredged from a sea of corpses, panting heavily. “Can’t do it. I’m done. If the Rong Di don’t kill me next round, exhaustion will.”
Killing was backbreaking work and they still had to hang the Rong Di corpses on the walls afterward. They were running out of wall space.
Pei Xia said evenly, “One surge of momentum, twice it wanes, thrice it dies. Tonight, let the soldiers eat their fill, drink well, sing and beat the drums.”
“Tomorrow, we fight the last battle.”
Xie Wuling was stunned. “Three thousand men against thirty thousand? Are you mad, or am I?”
“When General Liu escorted the first group of civilians to safety, he promised to borrow reinforcements from Jincheng. Even ten thousand more would give us a fighting chance.”
“At their marching pace,” Pei Xia said, “if nothing goes wrong, they should arrive before noon tomorrow.”
Xie Wuling’s expression darkened. He glanced at Pei Xia. “Ten thousand will be hard to gather. You’ve just come to Yanbei, you don’t know how things have been. The troops here are stretched thin. Yanbei’s remaining forces… aren’t many.”
Three hundred thousand soldiers sounded like a lot, but Yanbei had twenty-eight cities large and small. Yanzhou, being the military stronghold, held the most defenses, leaving some towns with barely a few thousand troops. Earlier, when the defenses were weak, the Rong Di invasions had already cost them dearly.
“Jincheng itself is short on men. If they can scrape together three thousand to send, that would already be generous.”
Three thousand plus three thousand — six thousand in total.
How could six thousand stand against thirty thousand?
Hearing the defeat in his tone, Pei Xia pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, calmly: “Do you know of the Battle of Fei River?”
“Of course. Xie An defeated Fu Jian’s eight hundred thousand Former Qin troops with just eighty thousand men.”
For the first time, Xie Wuling was glad he’d read some military books, otherwise, it’d be embarrassing to be caught ignorant by Pei Shouzhen.
He lifted his chin proudly. “Xie An was also a Xie. Maybe he’s my ancestor.”
Pei Xia ignored his nonsense and said evenly, “Our numbers are few, but our hearts are united. The Rong Di are many, but after these two days of deception, their morale is already shaken. With only three thousand men, we can’t slay them all but if we join forces with General Liu’s reinforcements and strike from both sides, their morale will collapse completely. Once panic sets in, we won’t even need to fight, they’ll scatter on their own.”
“Or did you really think Xie An back then led eighty thousand men to slaughter eight hundred thousand? Not everyone is Bai Qi, not everyone goes around burying four hundred thousand soldiers and civilians alive.”
“…”
Xie Wuling rubbed his nose, glancing at Pei Xia several times.
Pei Xia frowned. “If you have something to say, then say it.”
Xie Wuling: “Are you really that sure?”
Pei Xia glanced around, seeing no outsiders, and replied calmly, “What do you think?”
Xie Wuling: “You’re bluffing.”
Pei Xia: “Mm.”
So straightforward that Xie Wuling blinked. “Huh?”
Pei Xia’s black eyes were calm as still water. “I’m human, not a god.”
“The battlefield changes in an instant. Before the outcome is decided, no one knows how things will go. You just follow the momentum and choose the tactic with the highest chance of victory.”
Hearing that, Xie Wuling’s lips curved in a faint smile.
Pei Xia frowned. “What are you laughing at?”
Xie Wuling: “Nothing.”
He just suddenly felt that this Pei Shouzhen wasn’t as pretentious and unbearable as he’d thought.
The next day, another heavy snow fell overnight.
Pei Xia no longer burned incense or brewed tea. Gone were the brocade sashes and fur-trimmed robes, he was clad instead in gleaming silver armor.
When he appeared like that, Xie Wuling couldn’t help but look twice.
And he had to admit, in armor, Pei Xia looked less like a scholar and more solemn, commanding even.
After spending the last few days together, that sting of resentment in Xie Wuling’s heart had softened a little.
After all, losing to Pei Shouzhen wasn’t such a disgrace.
At least the man had good looks, good build, good brains, and a good family. Jiaojiao choosing him wasn’t a loss.
Of course, if she’d chosen himself instead, he wasn’t any worse.
While Xie Wuling’s thoughts drifted, Pei Xia had already selected a suitable longsword, slung a quiver over his shoulder, and fastened his bow.
Compared to swordplay, his true skill was mounted archery.
Seeing him armed and ready, Xie Wuling hesitated. “You’re really going to the battlefield?”
Pei Xia adjusted his quiver. “What else?”
“Otherwise… maybe you should retreat through the river route.”
Xie Wuling pressed his lips together. “The court sent you to Yanbei to deliver military supplies. If you leave now, no one would blame you.”
At this point, Xie Wuling wasn’t optimistic that General Liu would arrive in time with reinforcements.
If they didn’t, this battle might well be a fight to the death.
Pei Xia lifted his gaze, calm and steady. “You want me to be a coward who flees before battle?”
Xie Wuling: “That’s not what I meant.”
Pei Xia: “Then what do you mean?”
Turning his face aside, Xie Wuling muttered, “If something happens to you, what will Jiaojiao do?”
Pei Xia’s eyes flickered faintly.
After a pause, he asked softly, “When you’re on the battlefield killing the enemy, have you ever thought, if something happened to you, how would she be?”
“Of course I’ve thought about it.”
Xie Wuling blurted out, “But isn’t there still you?”
“Ahem, well, even if you like putting on airs, when it comes to Jiaojiao, I don’t have to worry.”
His tone was deliberately casual.
A shadow passed through Pei Xia’s eyes.
Then he stepped forward, brushing past Xie Wuling. “The pouch she embroidered for you is still in Yanzhou. Go and retrieve it, alive.”
Xie Wuling froze. When he came back to his senses, he shouted angrily at the fading figure at the doorway: “Pei Shouzhen, you’re really heartless! Would it kill you to bring it earlier? If you had, I could’ve been happy for a few more days!”
Xie Wuling’s mouth, always without restraint.
Shen Yujiao had scolded him for that before.
But Xie Wuling thought his life was tough, so he kept joking, carefree and fearless.
If he’d known those words would come true, he thought, he never would have shouted them.
—
By noon, the gates of Baicheng opened once more.
But this time, instead of the gentle sound of a guqin, came the thunderous beat of war drums.
The booming echoed in the hearts of the Rong Di soldiers, stirring panic just like the “Song of the Steppes” that had drifted from the city the night before.
Yanbei’s army was preparing to fight.
But none of them knew how many soldiers were hidden behind those gates that had already “swallowed” twenty thousand of their comrades.
The Rong Di soldiers tightened their grip on swords and shields, ready for battle.
Yet though the drums thundered again and again, no one emerged from the city.
They exchanged uneasy glances.
Their commanders whispered among themselves: “What trick are they playing now?”
Would it be like before, sending in another ten thousand men to probe the city? But the bodies of the last twenty thousand still hung upon the gates.
Morale and courage had plummeted. That gate had become a symbol of terror like the gates of hell itself, from which none returned.
The drums pounded relentlessly, fraying their nerves.
Their initial unease turned into irritation and restlessness.
Finally, after an hour, the Rong Di general lost patience and ordered another ten thousand men to attack.
“If we still can’t find out their strength this time, we’ll have to retreat.”
But just as the new wave of soldiers reached the gates, a torrent of arrows rained down like shooting stars.
Accompanied by a fierce, resounding cry of “Kill!”, two battalions charged out from within the city.
The leaders wore silver armor, unstoppable and radiant with killing intent.
For a split second, the front ranks of the Rong Di army were stunned, some even dropped their weapons and fled in panic.
Their commander was taken aback too, but quickly recovered, roaring orders: “Kill! Kill them all—!”
“Brothers, charge!”
In an instant, the air filled with the pounding of drums, the clash of blades, the thunder of hooves, and shouts that merged into chaos.
Yet the long-awaited reinforcements never came.
The Rong Di general finally realized, it was an empty city stratagem. The Yanbei army had only three thousand men left!
The civilians of Baicheng had already been evacuated, and the last few who remained had fled along the frozen river before the army left the city.
Across the battlefield, Pei Xia and Xie Wuling exchanged a look, they both understood.
Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, retreat is the best.
Although it’s said one should not pursue a cornered enemy, the Rong Di general, still burning with anger at being toyed with by Pei Xia’s ruse for days, losing nearly thirty thousand men in the process, couldn’t let go of his rage. He led eight thousand soldiers in pursuit of the remaining three hundred Yanbei troops.
Seeing that the Rong Di troops refused to give up and were drawing ever closer, Pei Xia shouted to Xie Wuling, “You go find reinforcements. I’ll draw them away.”
Xie Wuling frowned, about to speak, when Pei Xia wiped the blood from his face and fixed him with a clear, unwavering gaze. “I have a way to cover the rear.”
His eyes were so resolute, resolute to the point that it made Xie Wuling’s heart lurch with unease.
At a time like this, what way could there possibly be?
He himself couldn’t think of anything besides running.
But Pei Xia said he had a plan, and his tone left no room for doubt.
Xie Wuling decided to trust him, just this once.
After all, everyone said Pei Shouzhen was brilliant.
“How many men will you take?” Xie Wuling asked.
Pei Xia turned to glance at the three hundred soldiers behind him. “All three hundred.”
Xie Wuling was incredulous. “If you take them all, what about me?”
Pei Xia replied, “You’ll ride with me first. Once we reach the front, when I tell you to run, take ten men and find a way to escape.”
There was no time to argue, the thunder of hooves behind them was drawing closer.
Pei Xia pulled his reins tight and spurred his horse forward. “Hyah!”
Xie Wuling had no idea what game he was playing, but there was no time to question it. He had no choice but to gallop alongside him.
When they reached the mouth of a snow-blanketed gorge, Pei Xia shouted, “Xie Wuling, take the left path through the forest!”
Xie Wuling hesitated, then gritted his teeth. “Alright!”
He tightened his reins, and Pei Xia suddenly called after him again, “Xie Wuling.”
“…?”
Pei Xia said abruptly, “The pouch is in the chest at the inn.”
Xie Wuling frowned. Before he could respond, Pei Xia had already turned away, signaling ten men and ordering them to head right.
Suppressing a strange unease rising in his chest, Xie Wuling spurred his horse into the dense woods.
When the Rong Di soldiers saw their enemies split into three groups, they hesitated, unsure which to follow. But instinctively, they went after the largest force, the three hundred riders with Pei Xia.
Between the vast mountains, the gorge lay deep and silent, a crack in the earth buried under snow. The slanting rays of the evening sun cast mottled light across the entrance, gilding the white snow in a faint crimson glow.
Pei Xia slowed his horse at the mouth of the gorge and turned to face his men.
“Brothers, are you willing to fight beside me, to strike down our enemies and defend our land?”
The soldiers looked at one another, then shouted as one: “We are willing!”
“Regret not life or death?”
“To drive out the barbarians, to protect our homeland, we regret not life or death!”
“Good. Then follow my command, form up! Enter the gorge!”
“Yes, sir!”
Their voices thundered through the canyon like rolling stormclouds, shaking the earth beneath their feet.
Even the snow-covered cliffs trembled; layers of ice and snow cascaded down in sheets.
—
In the forest, after running for some time without seeing anyone behind them, Xie Wuling finally slowed, looking back again and again.
Among these barren, snow-covered mountains, what trick could Pei Shouzhen possibly have left?
And indeed, none of the Rong Di soldiers seemed to be following them.
The thought had barely formed when a low, earth-shaking rumble rolled through the air.
It sounded like distant thunder or mountains collapsing.
Xie Wuling frowned, and one of the soldiers beside him shouted, “Look! Look over there!”
They turned toward the sound. Through the skeletal branches dusted with snow, they saw a section of a faraway mountainside suddenly give way.
From a distance, it looked like a patch of summer snow melting — nothing remarkable.
But for those at the foot of the mountain…
Xie Wuling’s pupils constricted violently.
Pei Shouzhen!
