Where Immortals Once Walked

She even poured it a cup of wine.

Before the peregrine falcon could stretch its neck toward it, He Lingchuan moved the cup away. “It’s carrying out a mission. No drinking.”

The peregrine falcon rolled its eyes resentfully.

He Lingchuan grabbed a roasted chestnut, unafraid of the heat, peeled it, and handed it to Sun Fuling. “I’ve been in office at Yuheng City for ten days now. During that time, we haven’t received any harassment from the opposite bank even once. It seems they’re really showing me some respect.”

The peregrine falcon poured cold water on him. “Maybe they don’t know.”

“The announcement boards all over Yuheng City are plastered with notices saying that I’ve taken office! Even if civilians don’t read them, do spies and scouts not read either?” He Lingchuan then asked Sun Fuling, “Ms. Sun, since you understand astronomy above and geography below, could you help me look at—” He pointed up at the sky. “What the weather will be like soon?”

Sun Fuling was the prized disciple of Shumin Academy’s Headmaster Xu Shichu, so reading short-term celestial signs was naturally no challenge for her.

She looked up for a moment and said, “Don’t be fooled by all these stars tonight. Within seven days... no, within five days, there will definitely be a blizzard and strong winds.”

He Lingchuan pondered. “Within five days?”

* * *

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, four days passed.

During those four days, the skies were cloudless by day, and by night the moon shone bright amid scattered stars. There was not the slightest sign of anything unusual.

He Lingchuan remained as busy as a spinning top, but when he passed through the outskirts beyond the city, he happened to run into the children of Yuheng Academy. The children had come out to fly kites.

The deep blue sky was dotted with kites of every color, model, and shape imaginable.

Among them were his casual scribbles.

Wait, Sun Fuling actually sent out that kite?

Tsk, Ms. Sun’s wicked sense of humor.

Meanwhile, construction in Yuheng City continued in full swing, not stopping for a moment.

On the evening of the fifth day, strong winds suddenly swept across the border. The force was enough to knock a frail girl staggering sideways.

Before everyone could put away their things, snow began to fall in thick, drifting sheets.

Heaven and earth turned into a vast whiteness, and nothing could be seen.

Every household shut its doors and windows tight, and even the watchtowers along the Yin River had no choice but to lower their snow curtains. Otherwise, the low temperature and the blizzard blowing straight into their faces could freeze the men in the towers into blocks of ice within half an hour.

The wind and snow continued until the latter half of the night before gradually easing.

On a night of heavy snow, there were no other amusements. Most residents within and outside the city could only fall asleep early to the sound of the pattering flakes.

Near the end of the hour of the rat[1], the soldier guarding the river forest was leaning against the table, dozing, when he suddenly heard a rustle.

On a snowy day, the sound of wind passing through trees was perfectly ordinary. At first, he did not think much of the rustling.

But after a dozen or so breaths, the soldier’s eyes suddenly flew open.

Wait, something’s wrong. The doors and windows are shut. Where’s that sound coming from?

He instinctively looked toward the tabletop, only to find that all four branches from the old elm tree monster were swaying back and forth, moving on their own without wind.

His superior had explained before that whichever branch moved meant enemies were approaching from that direction of the river forest.

But now all four branches were moving. That meant, meant—

“Enemy raid! Enemy raid!”

He rushed out of the quiet room and roared, while striking the alarm bell at the same time.

On a windy, snowy night, only the sound of bells could pierce through the gale.

The barracks behind him lit up all at once, with countless men running back and forth.

Only a few dozen breaths later, wave after wave of enemies suddenly emerged from the forest beside the river and launched an attack against the camp.

They had used the wind and snow to cross the river, coming in without a sound. In truth, they numbered more than two thousand!

One had to know that when Jintao had previously driven “refugees” over to harass the border, their groups had usually consisted of only a dozen or a few dozen people. After entering, they would scatter and cause trouble.

This kind of frontal assault, with more than two thousand gathered openly together, was the first since Yuheng City had come under Panlong City’s control!

There were fewer than two hundred men in the camp. That was enough in ordinary times, but faced with a surprise attack by an enemy ten times their number, they immediately lost their composure.

They did not resist for long. Before the enemy could encircle them, they retreated, practically throwing away helmets and armor as they fled. They did not even manage to send out the warning signal.

With this camp taken, it was equivalent to blinding Yuheng City.

The enemy split off a small force to pursue them, while the main body continued west.

The villages they usually viewed as fat sheep were now passed by without even a glance.

Only after striking the camp did the force light torches to illuminate the road ahead. Their true target was only one place: Yuheng City.

This was not casual looting, nor was it a simple harassment raid.

Even if someone in the camp had fired a whistling arrow into the sky, the camp was only about seven and a half kilometers from Yuheng City. The enemy army was attacking at full speed. If Yuheng City’s defenders scrambled about in panic, how much preparation could they possibly make by the time the enemy arrived?

Therefore, the key to Jintao’s surprise strike this time could be summed up in one word: speed!

They even split into three routes to avoid any traps and ambushes that might appear along the road.

Less than half an hour after the camp came under attack, they had already reached the city walls. Along the way, they had encountered almost no real obstruction.

That made their confidence rise even higher.

After several months of renovations and expansion, Yuheng City’s gate was taller and thicker than before, and more than ten pieces of military machinery had been replaced. They were dark and menacing, appearing far from easy to provoke.

But as long as the attackers reached the base of the walls quickly, those long-range weapons would become useless.

There was also a moat before the city gate. It was not as exaggerated as the one before Panlong City, but it was still more than thirteen meters wide. In winter, the water level was very low, with a vertical drop of more than six meters from top to bottom.

At this moment, the drawbridge over the moat had naturally already been raised.

The bandit army had to cross the moat and enter the true stage of the siege.

Compared to their thunderous charge on horseback, Yuheng City itself was still sealed behind closed doors, with every household keeping out the wind and snow. Not a single figure could be seen on the streets. Only two gate guards remained, huddling in the gate tunnel and shivering, while the rest had all withdrawn to the barracks beside the gate. None dared stand in the snow and endure it head-on.

At the end of the street, two figures suddenly appeared. Using the buildings for cover, they crept to the side of the city gate, then abruptly attacked the guards!

The howling north wind swallowed the two guards’ cries.

Four or five more men darted out from the corner and worked together to push the winch that controlled the city gate.

Yuheng City’s gate was different from Panlong City’s. When raised upright, it served as the city gate; when lowered, it became the drawbridge over the moat. The bridge’s rise and fall were controlled by the winch beside the gate inside the city.

Thus, for the bandit army, crossing the moat and breaking through the city gate were one and the same.

Sturdy cities were often best breached from within. They understood this quite well, and this time, their main strategy was precisely coordination from inside and outside.

Moreover, the entrance to the gate guards’ barracks opened onto the wall. The bandits inside tossed a small sticky object toward the staircase leading down from the wall. The thing grew the moment it met the air, and in only three to five breaths, it transformed into an aberrant creature nearly three meters tall and nearly a meter thick, blocking the staircase completely.

It was neither gold nor jade, nor copper nor iron. To the touch, it was springy, soft, and slick like fat, but when one actually rammed into it, it proved extremely resilient. Ordinary blades and axes hacked and chopped at it without managing to pierce it.

With this thing blocking the way, the gate guards could not descend and had no choice but to lie atop the wall and shoot downward.

Those bandits raised shields over their heads and did not stop moving, pushing the winch with all their strength.

1. 11 P.M.–1 A.M. ☜