Death Scripture

Gu Shenwei had his own reasons for insisting on having the war start the next day, and the most important one was related to the Naihang Tribe: Zhe Su was not an ally. This message would sooner or later spread through every corner of their camp, and it would only lower their morale even further.

Dugu Xian had his own reasons, and it was also a principle he had always adhered to: attack was the best defense. Only by convincing the soldiers that the gap between their strength and the enemies’ was not as large as they thought would they be able to steadfastly defend themselves until winter. Otherwise, their army might even flee upon seeing their enemies.

For the allied forces from the west, this was especially important. The war hadn’t started yet, but fear had already possessed many of them. Rumors that Luoluo ruled undefeated on the eastern frontier had reached such a frenzied pitch that the idea of retreating to Heaven’s Pass or Xiaowan Kingdom was starting to spread among the troops again.

After expressing his surprise, Duodun quickly regained his composure, and then put forward an objection. “Your remarks are absolutely reasonable, Dragon King, General Dugu. But all of them are based on the assumption that we win the battle tomorrow. What if we lose? Our morale will fall even lower and more soldiers will desert.”

“It’s better to deal with painful things quickly,” Shulitu replied. He meant it, too. Even though he was nervous about his delicate status, he still hoped that an outcome would surface as soon as possible.

Dugu Xian gave out a few short laughs as a reply. “Dealing with painful things quickly sounds good, but stopping painful things from even happening is better. Here is my plan: we should assign the former Court Attendants Army and the 10,000 men of the Dragon Army to the Middle Corps, and have them fight first. The left and right wings will prepare themselves while standing by. Since only our Middle Corps is engaging, Luoluo will probably only send out part of his main force. We all know the fighting abilities of the Court Attendants Army. the All Dragon Army needs to do is cooperate. As long as the Court Attendants Army is not defeated, though a small victory will of course be preferred, we will immediately withdraw our forces and continue the fight another day. If we do this, the troops’ confidence will recover and our morale will rise.”

Shulitu was the first one to agree. “The troops will be greatly inspired if the Dragon Army advances valiantly.”

“That’s right,” Gu Shenwei said. One of the his and Dugu Xian’s goals was precisely to provoke Norland soldiers’ fighting spirit by using their identity of outsiders.

But this battle plan didn’t quite line up with the trap that Duodun had conceived of, so Liman asked, “What if Luoluo doesn’t buy it and launches an all-out attack? What do we do in that scenario?”

It was once again Dugu Xian who answered this question. “In that case, the final showdown really will start ahead of schedule, and the Commander-in-chief will have to send reinforcements in response to how the situation evolves. My suggestion is to, if possible, move our right wing first. No matter what happens, we should keep at least part of the Left Corps in reserve, in case any of the spectating tribes try to fish in troubled waters. And then we can withdraw our troops gradually. In a word, tomorrow we just have to prove one thing – that Luoluo’s army is not that formidable.”

After exchanging a glance with Liman and Azheba, Duodun put on a reluctant look and nodded.

“The Second Consort’s 10,000 cavalrymen are also affiliated with the Middle Corps. We can have them join in on the first round of battle,” Duodun suggested.

“That would be the best,” Dugu Xian replied.

Although Mo Chu was the Commander-in-chief, the sole principle he adhered to was that “noninterference generates the best outcome.” He only raised one question. “Who will command the Court Attendants Army?”

“General Dugu, of course. He knows the entire plan the best,” Shulitu immediately answered.

Duodun instantly grew alert at these words. After pondering for a while, he thought that Shulitu would never put any of his subordinates in command anyway, so he also agreed.

A consensus had been reached. Mo Chu then issued a series of orders.

A large proportion of those former Court Attendants troops had already been stationed among the Middle Corps, so no major transfer was needed to gather the Court Attendants Army members. Then, half of the Dragon Army was ordered to move to the Middle Corps, which aroused curiosity and discussion among a lot of people. What had originally been supposed to cause the greatest sensation among troops – Dugu Xian becoming the Commander-in-chief of the Middle Corps – now barely provoked any discussion.

With his suspicions abound, Duodun made a few adjustments to his plan in response to the changes in the current situation. “Azheba, you have an extra task now – you’ll have to control not only Mo Chu, but also Dugu Xian. The Court Attendants Army belongs to me, and I can’t have them die in vain on the battlefield.”

“Yes.” Azheba felt he had gained a huge responsibility.

But Liman came up with an idea. “I think that we might be able to do it this way. Why don’t we ask Luoluo to cooperate with us. First, he should only have his Middle Corps to fight us, and when Dugu Xian gives the command to withdraw, Azheba will make a move and take him hostage and order the 10,000 Dragon Army troops to bring up the rear. At the same time, Luoluo will order his left wing to launch an attack, and their opponent, as it happens, will be our right wing – ”

“The Dragon King wants to save his own men, so he will send the other half of the Dragon Army in.” Duodun finished Liman’s sentence for him. “Exactly, this is our new plan. I’ll send someone to meet with Luoluo tonight. Ha-ha, the Dragon King wants to take this opportunity to promote that one-armed man to a higher position, but he won’t expect that he has just walked into our trap.”

Azheba had been contemplating the situation for quite a while and another question had just occurred to him. “The Dragon King, as well as a couple of his guards, has excellent kung fu skills and is not easy to deal with. Dugu Xian will probably be under the protection of kung fu experts.”

“Hee, I thought of that long ago,” Duodun replied in a slightly dismissive tone. “The Dragon King, Nie Zeng, Tie Linglong, Shangguan Ru and the two Central Plainsmen – these six people are the only ones that can count as kung fu experts. And then there’s this Mo Lin guy. I’ll figure out a way to convince him to stand down.”

Upon hearing that Shangguan Ru’s name was among the list, Azheba’s heart lurched and the words “She’s not a kung fu expert. She just has a great tolerance for alcohol.” nearly slipped out of his mouth. But he eventually swallowed these words back down his throat, as he had already promised the prince that he would never let women obstruct his duty ever again.

Duodun resumed talking. “Don’t think that the Dragon King’s the only one who has kung fu experts at his command. I promise – each of the Dragon King’s bodyguards will be facing at least two kung fu experts. And with regards to the Dragon King himself, I have a special plan for him. Actually, if the plan goes smoothly enough, he’ll die under a barrage of arrows and hand-to-hand fighting will actually be unnecessary.”

The two sharply answered “Yes” at the same time. And then Duodun gave another order, saying, “Azheba, go ask someone and figure out which army the Dragon King is commanding tomorrow. If he intends to do some acting and fight along with the Middle Corps, that would be the best.”

“Yes,” Azheba answered, trying to think of a way to gather the required intelligence.

Duodun watched him, a gleam of amazement appearing on his face. “Azheba, you do know who to ask, don’t you?”

“Instructor Shangguan?” Light dawned on Azheba.

Duodun nodded – this was yet another test for his subordinate.

As he rode into the camp, Azheba was weighed down with concern.

Shangguan Ru owned a small exclusive camp behind the encampment of the Middle Corps, and it was set next to the Second Consort’s dwelling. As he walked closer, Azheba saw that the female soldiers were busy in the camp. The Flame Foal, with its bright color, stood out conspicuously.

The Dragon King has returned the horse , Azheba thought with a startle.

Upon noticing Azheba’s arrival, Red Bat, who was grooming the Flame Foal, came over with a smile. “Instructor just left to visit Second Consort. Do you want me to inform her that you’re here?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Azheba jumped off the horse and ordered his attendants to bring a few jars of alcohol to the gate of the camp, “I got some good wine and I’d like to give some to Instructor Shangguan. Judging from what your tasks, I figured that you’re going to participate in the war tomorrow as well, aren’t you?”

“Of course we are,” Red Bat said excitedly. “We’re the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. Although we don’t have the numbers, we’re not afraid to fight. We’ll join the Dragon Army of the Middle Corps and fight side by side with you, General.”

Azheba forced a smile onto his face and looked at the Flame Foal.”I’m honored – that’s really a fantastic horse.”

“It is. And Instructor said that she didn’t want to ride it because it runs too fast.”

Azheba’s facial expression changed. “No. Tell your Instructor that she must ride Flame Foal tomorrow.”

“But why? We won’t be able to catch up with her if she moves too quickly.” Red Bat was very confused about Azheba’s concern.

“It’s a warhorse and its speed is very easy to control,” Azheba stammered out, struggling to think of an excuse. “I think that the reason why the Dragon King gave Flame Foal to Instructor-”

“Returned,” Red Bat corrected him. “The Dragon King gifted it to Instructor long ago.”

“Yeah. No matter what, the Dragon King did that out of his kindness and he would surely want to see Instructor riding the Flame Foal into battle.”

“The Dragon King may not even be able to see that,” Red Bat sighed. “He’s going to be at the right wing, and he probably won’t be able to distinguish who’s who on the battlefield.”

Unexpectedly, Azheba had completed his task so easily, but he was not happy at all. “Tell her to ride it anyways. The Dragon King will ask about it after the war.”

“Okay. I’ll persuade Instructor to ride the Flame Foal.”

Azheba took his leave.

After having someone put those wine bottles away, Red Bat returned to the tent.

Shangguan Ru was staring blankly at the wooden saber. She hadn’t gone to meet the Second Consort. It was just that she didn’t want to meet anybody – except for the one who wouldn’t come.

“Instructor, Azheba was just here. He brought a couple of jars of good wine and I put them away.” Red Bat had made it one of her duties to impose a restriction on Instructor’s drinking.

Shangguan Ru collected herself and smiled. “It was very nice of him to still have me on his mind.”

There were some words on the tip of Red Bat’s tongue, but she swallowed them back with great difficulty. Shangguan Ru then asked, “If you have something to say, then just say it. Do you still want me to change my weapon?”

“A wooden saber…” Red Bat couldn’t think of what use this primitive weapon could have on the battlefield, but this was not what she wanted to say. “Never mind. Your kung fu skills are superb and you will be fine even if you are weaponless. What I’ve been pondering over is that Azheba seemed to be a bit off. It seemed like he was very worried that you might be in danger, and he kept asking me to persuade you to riding Flame Foal.”

“Does being kind-hearted count as being a bit off?”

“You didn’t see him yourself. Anyway, it was really weird.”

“Forget it. All battles are dangerous. Don’t get too far away from me tomorrow, and that goes for both you and the female soldiers.”

Red Bat nodded and then said hesitantly, “I lied to Azheba about something. Is that alright?”

“About what?” Shangguan Ru was both surprised and interested.

“I said that the Dragon King will be at the right wing.”

“Ha, you think that Azheba was here to fish for information about the Dragon King?”

Red Bat nodded gravely. There were some things that she was not quite proud of, but she had never forgotten the method to speculate at what men were thinking.

“Technically, that wasn’t a lie,” Shangguan Ru said seriously. “Because the Dragon King himself might not have made a final decision yet.”

“The Dragon King will be among the Middle Corps tomorrow.” Red Bat was sure about this, and again, it was because as a woman, she had her unique instincts.

At this moment, Gu Shenwei was in the rightmost camp of the Dragon Army. Together with Long Fanyun and Wu Zongheng, he was deploying troops for tomorrow. Half of the army would stay where they were, and the other half would transfer to the Middle Corps.

The soldiers’ morale was very high, and some of them had even volunteered to join the Middle Corps. Dugu Xian had made the following comment about this army: “This kind of courage is possessed only by those who have never fought any battles before. If some day this courage disappears, I hope that you won’t feel disappointed, Dragon King.”

“Dragon King!” Unexpectedly, a bold soldier directly yelled out to Gu Shenwei. “It’s me!”

Gu Shenwei glanced at the soldier and recognized him. He was one of the soldiers who had followed him to welcome the caravan of the Meng family, Xie Dezhi.

“Yes, it’s me.” Xie Dezhi was so excited that his voice was quivering. “My buddies wanted me to tell you we want to join the fight. Please let us join.”

This might not be the kind of courage that Dugu Xian appreciated, but it precisely the kind of bond that Gu Shenwei cherished greatly. “Do you still remember what the most important thing is on the battlefield?”

“Follow the Dragon King’s flag!” Xie Dezhi and a couple of soldiers beside him yelled simultaneously.

“Follow the Dragon King!” more soldiers yelled in unison.

Gu Shenwei had made a decision long ago: he would be on the battlefield himself. This was an inexperienced army. If the Commander-in-chief set a stalwart example to the troops, their immature courage just might generate genuine power.

As Tu Pianpian watched Fan Yongda, who was yelling alongside the soldiers, she curled her lips and remarked, “This guy’s so cocky.” But just like her Martial Nephew, she, too, swelled with long lost passion.