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Ahead, the Huai River was flowing, gusts of autumn wind were blowing.

Kou Zhong and Yang Gongqing, leading their horses along, were at the edge of the dense forest, surveying the river crossing. This section of the river course was particularly shallow and narrow, both sides of the river were dense forest regions, it was both the best place to cross, and a good place for the enemy to lay an ambush for them.

About ten li downstream, they faintly saw the weak light of the lanterns atop Zhongli’s city walls. In the drizzle, the dots of light appeared like a clump of dim and hazy glow. On the Huai River, no boat was in sight.

Kou Zhong’s right hand gently stroked Wuming, perching on his right shoulder; his eyebrows deeply furrowed, he stared fixedly at the opposite bank.

Yang Gongqing asked in astonishment, “If Shaoshuai suspected that there’s an ambush on the other side, why don’t you send Wuming to scout the opposite bank?”

Kou Zhong replied in heavy voice, “There may be scouts on the opposite bank, but I am sure there is no large number of hidden troops. Currently we are downstream of the wind, if there are enemies hiding in the forest, the wind will bring their breathing sound and their qi into my ears and nose. This is Tujue people’s secret technique to use the wind to scout the enemy.”

Yang Gongqing was puzzled, “Since that’s the case, why don’t we put up a bridge and cross the river? We already have the logs to build the bridge cut down properly, as soon as Shaoshuai issues your order, we could build a pontoon bridge within one sichen.”

Kou Zhong said, “It is precisely because there is no enemy on the other side that I have my doubts. Zuo Xiaoyou is not a newly hatched bird on the battlefield, how could he neglect this good place to cross the river? It’s like he wants us to march straight in unchallenged, to mount a sneak attack on Zhongli. If I am guessing correctly, there must be a fort, a rock cave, multi-storied structures, or the like, some kind of defense structure. It’s just that they must have dismantled it recently to give us the convenience to cross the river and attack Zhongli. At that time, if they destroyed the pontoon bridge, we would never have a chance to return to the Huai River’s north bank.”

Severely shaken, Yang Gongqing said, “Is Shaoshuai saying that Zhongli defenders are laying out a trap, to lure us to fall into it?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “Even if not 100% accurate, I am sure it’s not too far off. Not only there is Zuo Xiaoyou in Zhongli, there is also Li Zitong. Zhongli’s navy the whole nest is coming out, it’s probably a cover for deception.”

Incredulous, Yang Gongqing said, “Is Li Zitong that smart? Do you think it might be wise for me to send someone to the other side to explore and to see if there are any remains of the building or fortress?”

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong said, “The enemy must have spent some efforts to cover it well, such as laying weeds on it. Sending someone to investigate is a waste of time. I am convinced that I did not guess incorrectly. Right now we must immediately retreat back to Liangdu; if we delay, I am afraid we will be too late.”

Yang Gongqing spoke in distress, “How did the enemy know that we would come to mount sneak attack? Unless there is enemy’s mole [lit. inside ghost] within our Shao Shuai Army.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “It’s not an internal ghost, but external ghost. I really wish my guess is wrong, and this matter can be make known immediately. Our army weary our strength exhausted, while the enemy is preserving and nurturing their spirit. Therefore, even if we knew the scheme and withdrew, the enemy would definitely come and chase after us with all their strength. That will be the proof that I did not guess incorrectly.”

Stunned, Yang Gongqing said, “External ghost?”

Kou Zhong’s countenance darkened, he said, “Do you remember that before we came, I told you that I felt something is not right? The problem lies on my good friends, Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong. They barely left Liangdu, Zhongli’s navy immediately the whole nest came out and came here. The timing is so coincidental that it made me suspicious. On top of that, Li Zitong’s main forces in Jiangdu is completely without any detectable movement, obviously he knew that I did not go to Donghai. Ay! I really regret not listening to Xingzhi’s advice. In the face of serious juncture, a father can betray his son, let alone merely childhood friends.”

Yang Gongqing spoke heavily, “Very well! We will leave immediately!”

Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “If we hasten on with our journey immediately, in less than a hundred li, at least half of our tired horses would collapse. Fortunately, the one coming to pursue us is Li Zitong and not Li Shimin. Humph! His Niang’s! I will make Li Zitong see how I, Kou Zhong do this thing. Let’s send two hundred men to build the bridge first, but tell them to take it slow.”

Staring blankly, Yang Gongqing said, “Build the bridge?”

Kou Zhong said, “This is the only way to slow down the enemy’s scheme. If we could strive for two sichen, I could deal Li Zitong a crushing blow, and then we all can come back to Liangdu alive.”

Under the illumination of the bright moon, Xu Ziling, along with Xu Xingzhi, Luo Qifei, Jiao Hongjin, Bu Tianzhi, Chen Laomou and Bai Wenyuan – went to the gorge on the lower reaches of the canal, about thirty li from Liangdu. On both sides, the cliffs were rising high, the canal narrowed, so that the water became a rapid.

The seven men left their lantern behind and dismounted; they went to the edge of the cliff to look down at the terrain.

Xu Xingzhi said, “If we want to ambush the enemy’s navy, this is the best place; we only need to set up some stone-throwing machines on both sides, the entire section of the river course will be under the threat of crushing rocks and feathered arrows. The only fly in the ointment is that the length of the gorge is no more than a hundred zhang, the enemy’s fleet will pass in the twinkling of an eye, while reloading the stone-throwing machines takes time, hence we can only inflict serious damage to about the first dozen or so ships entering the gorge.”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “Should be only fix or six ships suffer a comparatively heavy damage. I have seen the configuration of their fleet, they are maintaining a twenty- to thirty-­zhang distance between ships. If something happens to the ship at the front, the ship behind will have enough time to cast anchor and come ashore to counterattack.”

Jiao Hongjin said, “In that case, we could set up an ambush with archers on both sides of the lower reaches of the river before entering the gorge. When the enemy warship cast the anchor and go ashore to counterattack, we use fire arrows to greet them. However, due to the enemy’s military strength is several times above ours, this will highly risky.”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Xu Ziling said, “Hongjin’s proposal can be considered a feasible solution, the risk level will depend on our coordination.”

Turning to Bu Tianzhi, he said, “If we use the stone-throwing machines to disrupt the enemy fleet’s disposition of troops first, and then use the nimble flywheel boats going down the stream, relying on the crossbow machines on the boat to attack the enemy warships one by one, is it feasible?”

Chen Laomou let out his weird laughter, “Good plan!” he said, “Based on Lu Dashi’s design, after undergoing my, Chen Laomou’s improvement, the crossbow machines can shoot twelve specially-manufactured strong arrows at once, powerful enough to penetrate the ship’s hull. If we wrap the arrow’s body with oil cloth and ignite it before shooting, it will become fiery arrow, the threat to the enemy will be even greater. In particular, the flywheel boat’s bow and stern are reinforced with steel plates, so they are not afraid of collision. On top of that, the enemy would never dream that there are such fast ships with high mobility in the world; they would be attacked that they have no time to deal with it.”

Bu Tianzhi added, “At night, the flywheel boats could display even greater formidable power.”

Xu Ziling said, “The enemy warships returned to port, they could be back in Zhongli before noon tomorrow. Give them two sichen to load heavy equipment and troops, they should be able to set out to the north by nightfall, in which case, they ought to reach this section of the gorge very late at night the day after tomorrow. We should have enough time to prepare.”

Bu Tianzhi sighed and said, “Luckily Ziling arrived in time to see through the enemy’s plot. Otherwise ... ay!”

Noticing everybody’s gloomy expression, with worried frown on their faces, Xu Ziling knew they still had difficulty dispelling their worry about Kou Zhong. He laughed and said, “If Kou Zhong is that easy to fall into other people’s scheme, he would have been dead a long time ago. Don’t worry! I dare say that he, along with Yang Gongqing and the brothers, will come back unharmed. We don’t have much time, let’s return to Liangdu to prepare everything.”

Kou Zhong and Ma Chang stood on the northern bank of River Huai, observing the construction of the pontoon bridge. One more small section, then it would reach the opposite bank. The bridge relied mainly on the buoyancy of the logs, which were fixed in place using wooden stake and long ropes. Because in constructing the bridge they were just going through the motions, it was totally useless; it was really a scheme to repel the enemy.

The fact was that Yang Gongqing and his brothers had already retreated quietly to a mountaintop ten li away from the Huai River, in preparation for safe withdrawal. Kou Zhong’s five-hundred-man Flying Cloud Riders were setting up traps in the forest, such as horse-tripping ropes, sharp stakes inside the pit, and so on.

Kou Zhong raised his head to look up at the sky, in the drizzle, even with his extraordinary eyesight, he could barely identify Wuming, which had become a fuzzy black dot. From the bottom of his heart, he was grateful to Tuli for giving him this spirit falcon, which was like she had human character. In the battlefield, her help to him was not inferior to magnificent army with thousands of men and horses.

“Where is she?” Ma Chang asked.

Kou Zhong pointed to the sky on the east side of Zhongli, he said, “She is above Zhongli; moreover, she already discovered the enemy split up into two routes, slowly approaching us along the north and south banks. How long is it before dawn?”

“Should be approximately one sichen,” Ma Chang replied, “The enemy cannot wait patiently?”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Not impatient, but they knew something unusual was happening. It has been three sichen and we haven’t finished building one pontoon bridge; it would be strange indeed if the other side is not suspicious. Attacking Zhongli in broad daylight is a joke; building a pontoon bridge and leave it to be used tomorrow night is an even bigger absurdity in the world! It’s time! Call the brothers who build the bridge back.”

Ma Chang issued the order, the brothers building the bridge rushed back to the northern bank, they took off their wetsuit and changed into dry clothes and mounted the horse and left.

At the same time, far away on both banks, battle cry sprang up everywhere, followed by hundreds and thousands of torches being lit; a large number of men and horses attacked along Huai River’s north and south banks.

The enemies on the opposite bank could not cross the river, so they did not pose any threat; however, the enemy force pursuing on the northern bank was about twenty thousand strong. In face-to-face confrontation, Kou Zhong’s side would never be lucky enough to escape.

Kou Zhong signaled Ma Chang with his eyes, Ma Chang disappeared into the forest.

Remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Kou Zhong drew out the Shooting the Sun Bow [sic; previously it was Piercing the Sun]. His left hand went inside the quiver, skillfully he took out four arrows, while his gaze was fixed on the continuously-approaching enemies.

War is just like that. The ones you are going to kill are strangers that you have never met, people you are not going to get acquainted with in the future, and you are not going to want to know anything about the other side even more.

The enemy was pressing to within a thousand paces away, their banner was flying, the army’s appearance was extremely magnificent, the bright torchlight illuminated both sides of the Huai River. The enemy cavalry, everyone had bent bow with an arrow on it, they were only waiting for Kou Zhong to enter their firing range, without the slightest hesitation the opposite site would release the arrow on the bowstring. Either you die or I perish.

‘Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!’ Four powerful arrows were fired in rapid succession from Kou Zhong’s hands. The target was not the enemy’s vital part, not the ride under their crotch, but the banner in the hand of the soldier at the head of the advancing troops.

The flagpole broke, the banner was blown by the wind that it rolled to the back, covering the head of the cavalryman who came later. Immediately the people fell face up, the horses turned upside down, becoming a great mess.

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and flew backward. Thousand-Li Dream rushed out of the forest, like flowing water floating cloud he flew onto the horseback, and ran away into the forest.

The enemy swarmed into the forest like a tide. The storing-up-their-momentum-in-waiting Flying Cloud Riders’ five hundred warriors, under Ma Chang’s order, immediately rained down their arrows toward the enemies, which were clearly visible under the illumination of their own torches.

Tragic screams mixed with horses’ neigh shook the forest. Those who were not injured by the arrows still could not escape the fate of having their horses tripped by the ropes or stepping into the sharp stakes in the pits, which were everywhere. Momentarily the people fell face up, the horses turned upside down, becoming a great mess. Those who were lucky enough not to suffer injury or fall from their horses retreated in confusion.

Kou Zhong returned to his own side’s position in the forest along the safe route, he shouted loudly, “Not suitable to zealously continue fighting! Brothers, follow me!”

Ma Chang and the others promptly got on their horses. Five hundred men followed him escaping from the other side of the jungle into the tall-grass plain.

The sound of battle cry arose again. Another team of light cavalry, more than ten thousand men, galloped out of the dense forest behind and to their right, chasing after them at top speed, clearly unwilling to let them off.

Inwardly Kou Zhong wiped his cold sweat; thinking secretly that this time, if he did not discover the other side’s plot one step ahead, even if they wanted to escape, it would be a case of having the mind but not the strength. The enemy was very familiar with the terrain of the mountains and the rivers, while they had just arrived here, hence it was very easy for the enemy to chase after them, while for them, escaping was more difficult than ascending to the heavens.

Ma Chang rushed over to his side and said with a sigh, “Shaoshuai’s guess is correct. The newcomer is indeed Li Zitong; I can see his banner.”

Kou Zhong took a glance backward; indeed it was like Ma Chang said. Inwardly he could not help praising Ma Chang; facing death, yet he did not panic. On the contrary, unlike him, Kou Zhong himself did not pay close attention to the surrounding area. He shouted, “Take the lead! I’ll hold them back!”

Although their warhorses have had three sichen of rest, but they still failed to fully recover from fatigue; if the enemy overtook them before they reached Yang Gongqing’s ambush, it would be really, really bad, hence he must hold them back to keep his troops safe.

Under Ma Chang’s leadership, the five hundred Flying Cloud Riders, like a clump of cloud, flitted across the rain-and-fog-filled grassland, into the sparse forest region on undulating hills.

Behind, the enemy was pursuing closer and closer, the sound of hoof beats was so loud that the earth did not stop shaking.

Kou Zhong fell back to the end of the line; letting out a long whistle, the Shooting-the-Sun Bow in his hand opened up, he fetched the arrow and bent the bow, four powerful arrows shot out amidst the rapid twang of the bowstring. The arrows did not miss the target, four horses were immediately hit by the arrows and fell to the ground. They were rolling on the ground that one after another the riders pursuing over from behind collided and lost their footing, creating maximum chaos.

From the enemy squadron, the bugle horn sounded, the enemy ranks immediately changed, they split into two sides, like a giant pair of pliers coming to chase and kill.

Kou Zhong deliberately fell back, but he always maintained a distance of eight hundred paces with the enemy riders, just outside the range of the enemy’s bow, so that only he could shoot them, but the enemy could not shoot back at him.

The enemy riders constantly toppled over. It was not until Kou Zhong found out that the four quivers on his left and right were as empty as anything that he fully used the man-and-horse-as-one technique to catch up with his own troops, rushing toward a hill.

Battle drums were sounded, Yang Gongqing and his hidden troops immediately appeared on the mountain top, powerful arrows sprinkled like rain toward the enemy riders charging up the hillside.

The enemy never thought that they would encounter ambushing troops, immediately they were killed that the people fell face up, the horses turned upside down, they were dispersed and no longer became an army [Translator’s note: these are two idioms: ren yang ma fan and kui bu cheng jun, both basically mean the same: utter defeat], and were forced to retreat down the hillside.

Kou Zhong was hesitating whether he ought to take advantage of the momentum to strike back, but he saw dust was rising in the distance, and knew that there was another hostile army coming to help, hence he quickly ordered his troops to withdraw.

In the beautiful scenery under the sun setting in the west, the gorge region was actually covered densely with the cloud of war, murderous aura rose high into the air.

Three hundred trebuchets, which were originally intended for city defense, were transported from Liangdu, and distributed along the high cliffs on the both banks, operated by 1,500 soldiers. Under Bu Tianzhi’s command, twenty-eight flywheel boats, each with fifty warriors on board, were deployed outside the exit of the upper reaches of the gorge, ready to ambush the enemy warships in the gorge any moment. The remaining two thousand warriors were hiding in ambush on the east and west, two banks of the lower reaches of the gorge, ready to deliver a punishing attack on any enemy who wanted to go ashore and launch an assault. It was the dry season of clear and refreshing autumn weather, and they were dealing with navy vessels, which were constructed out of wood, hence the attack was fire-oriented.

When Xu Ziling, Jiao Hongjin, Bai Wenyuan, Chen Laomou, Xu Xingzhi, and Bu Tianzhi were discussing strategy on top of the cliff, Luo Qifei urged his horse to come and report, “Just received the news that the enemy navy, a hundred and twenty ships in total, passed the confluence of the canal and Huai River, and sailed speedily into the canal; they should reach this place around midnight tonight.”

Greatly delighted, Xu Xingzhi said, “Thank Heaven and thank the Earth, indeed Heaven helps the worthy, Shaoshuai is returning unharmed.”

Chen Laomou asked in surprise, “Going back to the news, it says that Li Zitong is going all-out to attack Liangdu; what does it have to do with Shaoshuai?”

Xu Xingzhi cheerfully said, “Li Zitong came so quickly, it is because Shaoshuai successfully retreated back to the north, therefore, he wanted to rush one step ahead of Shaoshuai to attack Liangdu, to cut off Shaoshuai’s retreat route. Xingzhi’s judgment is based on this.”

Xu Xingzhi’s analysis made a lot of sense, everybody’s morale was greatly aroused, their fighting spirit was even more flourishing.

Laughing involuntarily, Bu Tianzhi said, “I did not expect Shaoshuai’s pulling a snake from its hole unexpectedly achieved such result, something that none of our predecessor has never thought.”

Flaunting the wisdom that came from his age, Chen Laomou said, “Shaoshuai underestimated Li Zitong; who could have thought that Li Zitong still has two broad axes? Fortunately Ziling rushed over in time, otherwise, when the soldiers are at the city walls [idiom: at a critical juncture; but in this case I believe it is literal], I am afraid we are still unclear of what’s going on.”

Bai Wenyuan spoke heavily, “Shaoshuai’s plan should have been like seamless heavenly clothes; this time we took a wrong turn, there must be a different reason.”

Xu Xingzhi wanted to say something but then hesitated, in the end he did not say anything.

Xu Ziling looked him in the eye. He waited until everybody returned to their post to make preparation before pulling Xu Xingzhi aside to inquire of what had happened.

After telling Xu Ziling about Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong coming to see Kou Zhong twice, he sighed and said, “We understand Shaoshuai’s personal character, toward friends, he gives his bare heart into the friend’s keeping [idiom: absolute confidence]; but when the stake is high, we cannot be without the heart to guard against other people.”

Xu Ziling said, “Xiliang and Xing Rong are also my childhood friends, I don’t think they are shameless disciples who will sell [i.e. betray] their friends. Moreover, if they really work for Li Zitong, the first time they came to see Shaoshuai, they should not refuse to help. In fact, before they came to see Shaoshuai for the second time, Li Zitong’s navy at Zhongli has already had proper preparation. Those dummies on board the ships, they would need at least two, three days to make. Obviously Li Zitong has already seen through our plan to pull a snake from its hole.”

Frowning, Xu Xingzhi said, “Shaoshuai’s plan was completely without any flaw, plus it was reasonable and fair; unless it was somebody with deep knowledge of Shaoshuai’s character, how could they guess that moving troops to Donghai was not to run away to the ocean, but a scheme to lure the enemy?”

Xu Ziling knew that he still harbored suspicions to Gui and Xing, two men, only he was being sensitive to Xu Ziling’s feeling, hence he spoke in a roundabout way to allude that Gui and Xing were precisely people with deep knowledge of Kou Zhong’s character. He laughed calmly and said, “There is someone else who understands Shaoshuai like Xiliang and Xing Rong; many times we nearly fell head first in his hands. This man is Baling Bang’s Xiang Yushan. Xiao Xian has always had contact with Li Zitong. Most likely the one working out a strategy in the dark for Li Zitong is he. Xiang Yushan’s martial art skill is so-so, but he is deceitful in many ways. We must be careful in dealing with him.”

Xu Xingzhi sighed and said, “No wonder the rumor in the world says that when Shaoshuai and Ling Ye, two persons join hands, whether in Wulin or on battlefield, it’s hard to find anybody in the world who can match you. Listening to Ling Ye’s logical and profound analysis spoken in calmly manner and even-tempered, Xingzhi cannot but prostrate myself in admiration.”

Xu Ziling cast his gaze toward the southern extremity of the canal. The bright moon in the sky was big and round; this was a good moment to admire the full moon, yet there he was, waiting respectfully for the arrival of the enemy.

Has Shi Qingxuan arrived at her new home? He wondered. Was she also looking up to watch the moon at this moment? Was she like him, her soul was pulled and moved and wound around, thinking about him, Xu Ziling?

A straight wind was blowing, the sleeves of Xu Ziling’s clothes were fluttering, producing rustling noise. Noticing him pondering silently, Xu Xingzhi quietly withdrew, leaving him standing alone at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the water of the canal, flowing endlessly, forever.

Suddenly the sound of wings came from the sky, the Shao Shuai troops on both sides of the cliffs, none did not raise their head to look.