Chapter 131: Loyal Bones
Thick fog obscured their vision, but what enveloped the dense forest along with the fog was smoke so dense it stung the eyes shut.
This morning, the wind happened to be strong, and no matter where the Pei soldiers fled in the dense forest, they couldn't escape the smoke and fog. Seeing clearly was already difficult, let alone watching their steps. Many stumbled over dead branches and fallen logs in the forest, but the greater challenge lay in the arrows tipped with black oil that shot out from the fog, one volley after another. The Pei soldiers had no way to dodge them, dying in waves under the rain of arrows.
From time to time, rows of sharp bamboo spears and massive horizontal logs, also soaked in black oil, swung out. Panicked Pei soldiers, fleeing in disarray, would step into emptiness and plunge into traps covered with withered leaves and branches. The nearly two-meter-deep pits were lined with densely packed sharp bamboo spears at the bottom. Anyone who fell in would be pierced through with countless holes.
Even if some Pei soldiers were lucky enough to avoid the arrow rain and any traps in the forest, as they stumbled blindly, blinded by the thick smoke, they would be beheaded by Liang troops who took the initiative to attack.
For a time, the fog-shrouded mountain forest echoed with one agonized scream after another.
Accompanying the screams were the thunderous battle cries of the Liang army, coming from all directions.
After the dual intimidation of traps and miasma, fear had completely taken hold of many Pei soldiers. Their eyes, stung by the thick smoke, could no longer see. Even if they forced them open through the pain, all they saw was a vast expanse of white fog, with no way to discern how many comrades were around them.
Hearing the battle cries that seemed to press down from the peaks of the entire mountain forest, many Pei soldiers' psychological defenses collapsed entirely. They discarded their armor and weapons and fled.
The Liang troops, wielding blades and harvesting the lives of Pei soldiers in the thick fog, moved like ghosts.
Some Pei soldiers, in their frantic escape, collided with them and, seeing the ghost king masks on their faces, let out even more terrified and desperate screams.
To the Pei army trapped in the fog, these screams were the final straw that broke the camel's back, frightening more soldiers into abandoning the fight and focusing solely on survival.
Pei Song sat astride his horse in a clearing within the forest, listening to the incessant screams from all around, his face as dark as still water.
The Hawk Hounds he had meticulously trained, enduring the pain of smoke-stung eyes, tightly guarded him in the center.
Before long, Pei Shiwu, who had been sent to scout the situation, emerged from the thick fog carrying the head of a Liang soldier, his face smudged with soot. He reported, "Master, it's nothing more than these petty scoundrels burning pine and cypress branches all over the forest, pretending to be ghosts."
As he spoke, he tossed the head of the Liang soldier at the feet of Pei Song's horse.
Pei Song naturally knew this had to be a trick of the Liang army, but by leveraging the heavy fog today, they had delivered him such a "gift"!
With morale already in disarray, staying in this fog-shrouded forest was extremely disadvantageous for them. They had to break out quickly.
Pei Song's expression cold and stern, he ordered, "Summon the infantry battalion to advance with shields and scout the way forward."Soon, the shield-bearing infantry of the Pei Army advanced cautiously. They all pressed water-soaked torn cloth over their noses and mouths, yet arrows still flew from the thick fog. While iron shields could block the arrows, when rows of sharp bamboo spears and swinging logs emerged, the forward troops could only be sent flying. Those who misstepped and fell into traps met instant death.
One after another, Pei soldiers were pierced through like sieves by bamboo spears or struck until they bled from all orifices by massive logs.
As one batch fell, another group of soldiers pushed forward from the rear.
Fear had piled up endlessly in the hearts of those at the back. When another call came to advance and scout the path, one soldier, unable to contain his terror, turned and fled—only to be killed by a sword thrown by one of Pei Song’s Hawk Hounds.
Pei Song, seated on his horse, coldly declared, “Let this be the fate of any who desert!”
The remaining soldiers could not help but tremble with fear.
Pei Shiwu seized the moment to say, “This forest is riddled with traps. Only by pressing forward with our full force can we break this maze. Fleeing alone is nothing but seeking death! We have thirty-five thousand troops. Even if the Liang army has laid an ambush with all their men, they number barely ten thousand. What is there to fear?”
With such an overwhelmingly large number as thirty-five thousand, the Pei soldiers who had considered fleeing began to nurture a sliver of hope.
Since fleeing alone meant certain death, but staying with the army didn’t necessarily mean being chosen to clear the path—perhaps they could survive?
The remaining Pei troops, like ants rolling through a sea of fire, relied on sacrificing those on the outer layers. They contended with the forest’s unpredictable traps while clashing with the Liang troops lying in ambush. By the time the sun rose high and the forest fog gradually lifted, they had finally emerged from that “man-eating” thicket.
Ahead, on the open plain, stood the battlements of Wayao Fort.
An old general in armor, leading the few hundred soldiers left in the city, stood lined up outside the gate, as if they had been waiting for some time.
Having just escaped death, Pei Song’s troops were demoralized, and Pei Song himself still bore soot stains from the thick smoke.
The forest fog had been too dense for him to ascertain the number of ambushers, but seeing only a few hundred soldiers and one old general guarding the city gate, his expression turned truly grim.
—So, the Liang commander and strategist were absent. It was possible they had used only a minimal force to severely blunt the edge of his tens of thousands of elite troops?
Conservative estimates placed the Pei army’s casualties in the forest at over ten thousand. More critically, the unstoppable momentum he had built for the Pei Army had been broken here!
And fear had been planted in the hearts of his lower-ranking officers and soldiers!
Pei Song’s jaw tightened. His gaze, sharp as a hawk’s, fixed on the old man below the battlements. When his eyes swept over Li Yao, who was observing from atop the wall, he seemed to deduce Li Yao’s identity from the cane he leaned on. A trace of his pent-up fury eased, and a smirk tugged at his lips as he called out, “So it was you who laid that maze in the forest—the Grand Mentor himself! It seems Great Liang truly has no one left, to drag an old minister who should have been laid to rest long ago to the front lines for a futile last stand. I truly grieve for you, Grand Mentor.”He smiled amiably, appearing genuinely respectful toward Li Yao: "A dynasty toppled by ten thousand people—what need is there for its restoration? Before your retirement, I carefully studied your numerous political discourses and greatly admired them. The reforms you proposed back then are precisely what I am implementing now. Why not abandon that rotting beam infested with maggots and join me, Pei Song?"
From his horse, he bowed to Li Yao, his smile warm and beguiling: "I will honor you as Imperial Tutor and treat you with the reverence due to a second father."
On the city tower, Li Yao heavily thumped his cane and coldly declared: "Qin's brat, you traitor who brings calamity to the nation, cease your honeyed words! I stand here today to rid the world of you, this scourge, on behalf of the late emperor and the princess!"
The late emperor he referred to was naturally Changlian Wang, whom Wen Yu had posthumously honored before departing for Southern Chen.
When Li Yao called him "Qin's brat," Pei Song's eyes turned cold, though a smile still lingered on his lips: "Since you know of my father Qin Yi, you must also be aware of the foolish and absurd actions of the former Liang's Mingcheng Emperor. Were there not countless loyal ministers and valiant generals wrongly executed by the Wen Shi of Great Liang? I am merely following the will of the people and heaven, overthrowing that corrupt Liang court to rescue the oppressed masses and restore the innocence of wronged loyalists. How have I brought calamity to the nation?"
"Or is it that, in your support of the current Wen lineage, you would rather shatter your own integrity in old age than speak truth?"
Hearing this, Li Yao showed no anger but instead threw his head back and laughed: "Qin's brat, these words may fool yourself, but do not utter them before both armies to become a laughingstock! Who was it that served as Ao Qing's lapdog, framing loyal officials and harming the people? Who obstructed every new policy and court reform the late emperor proposed to purge corrupt officials? Was it not all you, Qin's brat?"
"What heaven's will do you claim to follow? What people's hearts do you claim to answer?" Li Yao's questions rang out with heavy sarcasm: "Heaven's will that heaven itself cannot tolerate? The people's hearts that all masses curse?"
Below the city tower, Yuchi Ba couldn't help but chuckle at these insults: "That old fool—after all these years, his tongue remains as sharp as ever!"
In the distance, Pei Song's expression could only be described as utterly grim. He remained silent, merely gesturing to the soldiers behind him to advance.
The vanguard army immediately swarmed toward the forward fortress like locusts.
Halfway there, the gravel-covered ground suddenly collapsed into a trench over half a zhang wide. Countless Pei Army soldiers tumbled in, only to find the trench bottom—like the mountains—densely planted with black-oiled sharp spears.
Instantly, the spears were skewered with Pei soldiers like insects on sticks. The cavalry charging behind hastily reined in their horses, warhorses rearing and neighing wildly. In moments, that half of the battlefield descended into chaos.
The Pei Army's first charge was thus broken. Without even deploying a single soldier, Great Liang had once again scattered the military morale that Pei Song had painstakingly built.
Yuchi Ba rode his horse to the city base and shouted to Pei Song: "Young man, pride goes before a fall!"
The muscles from Pei Song's cheekbones to his jaw were taut with tension. He coldly issued another command: "Lay wooden bridges. Left flank, continue the charge."
Soon, soldiers from the rear ranks rushed forward carrying planks, laying them over the trench and crossing atop them.Yuchi Ba remained unmoved, only giving the order when the vanguard entered firing range: "Loose arrows!"
Most of the garrison troops left in the city had been dispatched for the mountain ambush. The remaining few hundred soldiers, arranged in a single line before the battlements, barely filled two rows.
The front-line soldiers loosed their arrows, then immediately swapped positions with the rear line to nock fresh arrows.
After merely two or three rotations of this, the Pei Army cavalry—using infantry as human shields—had nearly closed the distance.
Despite his advanced age, Yuchi Ba still possessed the strength to wield a horse lance single-handedly. He spurred his horse forward, sweeping the lance sideways to unhorse two cavalrymen.
The Liang soldiers below abandoned their bows, raising spears as they roared in unison and charged forward.
Under the scorching sun, battle cries and the clang of weapons rose together into the sky.
The wind whipping past the banners on Wayaobao's battlements carried a thick scent of blood.
Every remaining Liang soldier fought with valor, but defending a city with a few hundred against tens of thousands was a suicide mission from the start.
Liang soldiers continuously fell, bleeding out miserably beneath Pei blades.
Yuchi Ba and Pei Song fought as they galloped, exchanging dozens of blows in mere moments.
Yellow sand churned up by their weapons filled the air. When their horses collided and they locked blades, Pei Song pressed his long spear forward, forcing Yuchi Ba half a step back. With vicious mockery in his eyes, he sneered, "Old general, shouldn't decaying bones like yours retire to farm the land? Don't you agree?"
Blood from a slain Liang soldier splattered across Yuchi Ba's face. He twisted his lance, shifting from defense to offense and forcing Pei Song to momentarily retreat. "Brat, I was already farming when you were still in your mother's womb!" he retorted.
On the battlements, Li Yao's sleeves billowed in the wind. Watching his old friend locked in desperate combat, he set aside the wooden cane he'd relied on for years and hobbled toward the war drum taller than a man. His withered hand lifted the drumstick.
Boom—
Boom-boom—
Slow, powerful drumbeats resonated from the battlements, like ten thousand horses galloping from distant lands, their numbers dwindling yet never ceasing their charge.
Below, Yuchi Ba and Pei Song paused briefly at the drumbeats before clashing again, their entangled weapons sparking as they rode neck-and-neck.
Pei Song had deduced Yuchi Ba's identity from his earlier remark and his connection to Li Yao. Blocking Yuchi Ba's assault with a hollow smile, he taunted, "So it's the elder Yuchi. Legends say Wen Shi'an betrayed your trust—discarding the bow after the hunt. He used you to conquer Liang's empire, then tried to eliminate you before his coronation. You've hidden for decades, proving those tales true. Why shed blood now for the Wen clan of Liang?"
The drumbeats above continued, each strike hammering hearts like thunderbolts.
Yuchi Ba forced Pei Song back with his lance and stood firm. Though gaunt and white-haired, his eyes blazed with the fierce dignity of a tiger, deterring all who met his gaze. "I fought for this land to bring peace to its people. I defend it now to preserve their safety. So long as a wise ruler holds the throne, why should I care about retiring? You—though born of loyal lineage—first served Ao Qing, committing atrocities as a traitorous lackey! Then you rebelled, murdered a benevolent sovereign, slaughtered clans, razed cities, and plunged these lands into chaos. How dare you speak of governing the realm?"Pei Song's expression grew colder as he sneered, "I originally thought the old general would be a heroic figure, but now it seems you're nothing more than a reputation-seeking fraud pickled in Confucian pedantry. They say those who grow old without dying become thieves. Old relics like you and Ling Gong ought to be buried six feet under!"
As his words fell, his spear nearly danced in his hands, its tip darting left and right like a venomous snake's tongue, swift as lightning. Yuchi Ba hastily raised his lance to parry.
The sun grew increasingly fierce, their shadows on the ground so blurred that the movements of their weapons became indistinct. Only sweat dripped steadily down the shafts of their arms, splattering onto the earth.
The drumbeats from the city tower gradually slowed.
Li Yao still swung the drumsticks with all his might, but his aged body could no longer sustain the effort. Sweat streamed down his temples, tracing the deep wrinkles on his face before splattering onto the blue stone bricks of the tower.
The west wind filled his sleeves, banners flapping loudly.
This drum—he had begun beating it back in the Tianyuan era of the previous dynasty, when the emperor delighted in feasting on the brains of infants, ordering their skulls split open with axes and scalded with boiling oil before inviting his courtiers to partake. Its rhythm had accompanied his old friend Yuchi Ba, hailed as a general star descended to quell internal strife and end the world's conflicts. It had echoed as the founding emperor Wen Shi'an established the Great Liang, bringing peace across the land. Then, during the twilight years of the Mingcheng Emperor's reign, it witnessed the indiscriminate slaughter of loyal officials. After the Shaojing Emperor ascended the throne, maternal relatives meddled in state affairs, and lamentations filled both court and countryside.
Later, Changlian Wang visited him deep in the mountains multiple times, engaging in candlelit discussions about governing the realm, earnestly pleading for him to emerge and assist. Soon after, the traitorous Pei clan raised their weapons in rebellion, slaughtering the Wen family, seizing Luodu, and attacking Fengyang. Finally, it was the young girl of Changlian Wang's bloodline who journeyed to Southern Chen, bearing the collapsing half of the Great Liang's empire on her slender shoulders...
Thump!
The final drumstroke fell, the drumstick snapping into two pieces in Li Yao's hand. From below the city tower, cheers of the Pei Army's victory rose.
The wind stirred Li Yao's robes and his graying beard and hair. The base of his thumb had split open from the force of drumming, blood staining his hand. Slowly, he turned to gaze at the endless mountains stretching south of the city tower and murmured, "Princess, this old subject has not failed your trust."
—
Dou Jianliang had never been committed to the fight, focused solely on preserving his existing forces. After being pinned down by the Tongzhou righteous army, he accidentally crossed paths with Xiao Li. After just two exchanges, he realized this militia leader was an opponent of unyielding toughness. Immediately, he abandoned the Chen Army troops trapped by the Tongzhou righteous army and fled on horseback in panic.
Xiao Li, mindful that his primary objective was to buy more time for the Liang Army at Wayao Fort, and with Pei Song's main force ahead—their battle's outcome still unknown—chose not to pursue. Instead, he led the righteous army soldiers onward toward Wayao Fort.
Passing through the mountains where the Liang Army had ambushed the Pei Army, they saw the ground littered with Pei Army corpses, destroyed mechanisms, and after the dense fog dissipated, the revealed pine and cypress branch smoke pits. Xiao Li silently praised the Liang Army for leveraging both timing and terrain in such a masterful strategy.
They pressed on urgently downhill. At first, the sounds of clashing armies and drumbeats were still audible, but as they drew closer to Wayao Fort, those noises grew fainter.
Eventually, all sound faded into utter silence.
Everyone halted simultaneously, understanding what it meant.
Zheng Hu, his face still smeared with blood, looked toward Xiao Li along with the other brothers.
Though they knew Wayao Fort had already fallen, having chosen to follow Xiao Li here, they had long abandoned any thought of returning alive.At Xiao Li's command, even if they were ordered to continue defending Wayaobao, they would not utter a single word of refusal.
Xiao Li gripped the reins on horseback for a moment, then dismounted and bowed three times toward Wayaobao.
He did not know whether it was Fan Yuan who died at Wayaobao, nor how many Liang soldiers had perished in that battle.
Had the conflict at Wayaobao still been ongoing, he would have led his men to fight alongside the Liang troops there at any cost.
But Wayaobao had already fallen, the battle concluded. To charge back with his men now would be a futile sacrifice.
His comrades had entrusted their lives to him, and he could not let them die in vain.
If it truly was Fan Yuan who died at Wayaobao, he would avenge him—but not now.
The immediate challenge before them was survival: how to break through the encirclement of tens of thousands of troops under Pei Song and Dou Jianliang, and march north to join the main force of the Tongcheng righteous army led by Yuan Fang.
This was also why Xiao Li had brought only two thousand troops on this mission.
Even the Liang Camp might not have the audacity to stake all frontline forces at Wayaobao for a decisive battle against the Pei Army—he naturally dared not risk the entire Tongcheng army either.
Moreover, larger troop movements were more likely to be detected.
If their nearly two thousand righteous army soldiers were pursued by Pei Song and Dou Jianliang, they could split into smaller groups and vanish into the wilderness. Even a forest search would keep the enemy occupied for some time.
Xiao Li remounted and declared: "Retreat. To Youzhou."
Royal Court of King Chen.
Autumn arrived early in the south. The red maples planted in Zhaohua Palace were already tinged with frost.
Wen Yu sat by the window reviewing official documents while Tong Que stood nearby reporting on the aftermath of the Mid-Autumn palace banquet assassinations: "You handed the Pro-King faction a sharp blade. Using the eunuch's confession from the Imperial Household Department, they've traced the accounts to the Ministry of Revenue. If the Jiang Family wishes to avoid devastating consequences, they must return all embezzled funds to fill the national treasury's deficit before the ministry's accounts are fully audited."
Wen Yu replied calmly: "Merely replenishing the treasury is insufficient."
As Tong Que was about to inquire further, a sudden breeze from the window swept a crimson leaf onto Wen Yu's desk.
Wen Yu paused her brush as if sensing something, gazing at the leaf in momentary trance.
Hurried footsteps echoed outside the hall moments before Zhao Bai rushed in, holding an urgent dispatch from Liang territory with a grim expression: "Your Highness, disaster has struck."
Wen Yu glanced at Zhao Bai, accepted the document, and after scanning it rapidly, swayed slightly—catching herself with a hand on the desk.
After a long silence, she rasped two hoarse words: "My mentor..."
Author's Note: I've drawn a simplified map and posted it on Weibo to help clarify the terrain~ Interested readers can go take a look~
OpenNovel