There were two defense lines between them and the city gates. The first one was two rows of cheval-de-frise, the pointed wooden wedges on which deterred civilians and unauthorized personnel from approaching, and which were also guarded by soldiers.
Ling Zhang carefully observed and gauged the distance between the two defense lines and then told his bodyguards to dump the burning handcarts between the two defense lines after they forced their way through the first one.
“I’ll hold back their backup. You guys charge straight towards the guards at the cheval-de-frise. Try to get into the passageway as quick as possible lest the archers on the ramparts turn around to fire at you.”
“But what about you, Young Master? If they shoot arrows at you from the top of the ramparts, you’ll be in dire danger. Maybe you should be the one going there to open the city gates. We’ll hold back their reinforcements for you.”
“I can handle the arrows. Just do as I say. Don’t waste any more time.”
” … Yes, Young Master!”
The ground started quaking faintly and before long the sounds of war drums and horns were heard, indicating the commencement of the offensive on the city mounted by the army outside. Ling Zhang cocked an ear at the movements on the other side of the ramparts, time slowly ticking away …
There was a moat around the city. The soldiers of the Great Wen had to get the battering ram across the moat first before they could use it to batter the city gates.
Ling Zhang, though inside the city, could distinctly hear the battle cry issuing from outside. After about two hours, something heavy thudded to the ground – the drawbridge had been put down, which meant that the soldiers would soon started battering the city gates.
On hearing the sound of ram-dray trundling, Ling Zhang came to know that it was time and said to his bodyguards, “Let’s move.”
Wang Dashan and the others nodded, quickly covered their faces with pieces of cloth that left only their eyes showing, and then pushed out the handcarts they had prepared beforehand, all of which were loaded with combustible wood topped with flammable materials. These things could burn for about an hour. They must open the city gates before the flames went out.
“Ignite them.”
Wang Dashan and the others produced some little paper rolls, blew at the glowing ends of the rolls to set them aflame and then tossed them onto the handcarts. The flammable materials over which oil had been poured instantly started burning and with that Wang Dashan and the others pushed the handcarts forward at full pelt!
Since they needed to blindside the enemy soldiers guarding the gates, they must act quickly and thrust their way through the first fortification line before more enemies came at them.
Most of the soldiers were on the ramparts and behind the city gates. The first defense line was two rows of cheval-de-frise, which were guarded by only a couple of men.
The couple of soldiers were startled at the sight of the burning handcarts pushed by Wang Dashan and the others hurtling towards them. “Identify yourselves!” the soldiers shouted.
Wang Dashan and the others made no reply and their handcarts tore into the first defense line like greased lightning. Ling Zhang following at their heels swooshed past them and their handcarts and threw a couple of palm strikes, generating shock waves of internal energy so violent that the two rows of cheval-de-frise were flung aside, the couple of soldiers sent flying.
Wang Dashan and the others, pushing the flaming handcarts, streaked through the first defense line, heading squarely towards the second one.
Those burning handcarts were like giant balls of fire, deterring the enemy soldiers who wanted to intercept them from approaching. As Wang Dashan and twelve others cleared the way, Liu Yi and the rest quickly dumped the handcarts in front of the second defense line. And then all of them nimbly leaped over the cheval-de-frise and engaged the enemy in the short passageway leading to the city gates.
At this time the officer in charge at the city gates came to realize what was going on, and, rushing over with some men, bellowed, “STOP THEM!”
An elemental shock wave of internal energy produced by a palm strike swept the passageway and with that the flames on the handcarts parked before the cheval-de-frise, as though having come to life, abruptly whooshed towards the enemy soldiers charging over like a dragon of fire!
“AAAAARGH!”
The soldiers were hit by the wave of flames head-on and screeched in pain, rampaging around and breaking their formation. This, coupled with subsequent waves of flames, instantly threw the enemy guarding the city gates into chaos and confusion.
On the ramparts, Chen Jing, terribly flustered and anxious, was directing his troops trying his best to defend against the savage attacks from the army of the Great Wen when a soldier hurried up to him and reported, “Some thugs broke through the cheval-de-frise and are trying to open the gates!”
“What?! Stop them!”
The words had hardly left Chen Jing when he saw a dragon of fire swoosh up past the top of the ramparts, quickly descend, land onto the ground and form a large complex surrounding circle of flames. Soldiers trapped within the circle were attacking a blue-robed man, but more were kept out of the circle of flames!
“Hurry! Shoot that man!” Chen Jing, who could tell at a glance that things were taking a turn for the worse, immediately commanded the archer beside him to shoot Ling Zhang.
The archer on the ramparts had just turned around to take aim when he was hit in the back by an arrow whizzing over from behind and sank to the ground.
“Watch out, General!” The man beside Chen Jing hastily escorted him away from that spot and stationed him somewhere safe at the foot of the gate tower.
Chen Jing spun around to look in the direction of the teams of enemy soldiers attacking the city. His eyes met those of a young officer of the Great Wen who was standing on top of a chariot with a bow in his hand, and who bore some likeness to Yuwen Tong. He was none other than Yuwen Jin, Yuwen Tong’s second cousin.
“Yuwen Jin!” Chen Jing clenched his teeth. “Shoot him!”
All archers on the ramparts promptly fired arrows at Yuwen Jin.
Yuwen Jin sideward somersaulted off the chariot and a team of soldiers on the side immediately held up their shields and parried the salvo of arrows. Meanwhile, a team of archers fired back at the enemies on the ramparts.
“What’s going on? Did you see that dragon of fire in the city?!”
Yuwen Jin had just landed when He Xiao hastened up to him and asked him whether or not he had seen that dragon of fire.
“I saw it. Something must have happened in there. I don’t know who it is, but there’s no doubt they’re helping us. Tell our men battering the gates to speed it up!” said Yuwen Jin.
He Xiao gritted his teeth, picked up the horn hung from the side of his horse and blew it.
Short blasts of the horn rang out.
The rhythm of the horn was now different from how it had been a moment ago. On hearing the signal, the officer leading the soldiers operating the battering ram commanded his men to batter the gates faster.
BANG–BANG–BANG–
The city gates shook ominously at every impact. The Wan soldiers, who were supposed to guard the gates, were too occupied fighting Wang Dashan and the others to spare any time to defend the gates, and their reinforcements, held back by the inferno, were unable to get into the passageway to offer them help. The long thick gate latch was already out of shape from the force of repeated impacts.
On the ramparts, Chen Jing, who had now come to realize that the gates wouldn’t hold for long, tossed a significant look at his henchman, who gave an unnoticeable nod and arranged for some men to escort Chen Jing to another section of the ramparts where Chen Jing got back to the ground. He had just landed when his eyes met those of the blue-robed man within the surrounding circle of flames. In that instant, Chen Jing’s scalp prickled as an intense cold shot from his heels all the way up to the back side of his head. It was as though an icy blade were poised right behind him, chilling him to the marrow of his bones.
BOOM!
The city gates were battered open.
“Go, General!” Chen Jing’s henchman quickly helped him onto a horse and then spurred the horse with a whip.
Right at that moment, Chen Jing glimpsed a menacing gleam out of the corner of his eye and, sensing danger in an almost subconscious way, tilted his upper body to one side and with that a wicked-looking dagger brushed past his ear and cheek, in which he felt a cold sensation followed by delayed excrutiating pain. “AARGH!” he cried.
“GO!” His henchman swiveled his head around. Chen Jing didn’t know what his henchman saw, but the latter whipped out a knife and stabbed the horse in the butt. What with the pain, the horse promptly started galloping forward, almost throwing Chen Jing off. With a strong will to survive, he reflexively grabbed the reins with one hand, clapping the other to the side of his head where his ear used to be, bleeding profusely from the wound, shuddering all over from the anguish.
Clashes of weapons came from behind, but Chen Jing fled squarely towards another pair of city gates, not even daring cast a backward glance. At the sight of this, the Wan soldiers, coming to know they were on the losing side, also started retreating, escorting their commander.
Ling Zhang wanted to pursue Chen Jing but a flunkey of Chen Jing’s blocked his path, who turned out to be pretty good at kung fu and managed to hold Ling Zhang back.
“You’re seeking your death!”
At the sight of Chen Jing fleeing under the protection of a group of soldiers, Ling Zhang flied into a temper, wielded his sword and started raining savage blows on the interceptor, his every slash ruthless and fatal.
Chen Jing’s henchman was astounded, an incredulous look on his face. “Who are you exactly?!” he demanded.
“The one who’s going to kill you,” replied Ling Zhang coldly.
Soon Chen Jing’s henchman failed to defend against the merciless onslaught and died by Ling Zhang’s icy blade.
Though annoyed that this man had wasted his time, Ling Zhang still set off to pursue Chen Jing without further ado. Since he had a chance to kill Chen Jing, he wouldn’t let it slip away.
At this time, Chen Jing, leading his army, was halfway to the other pair of city gates, but all of a sudden, five handcarts which were also flaming showed up and blocked their path, a couple of masked men standing behind the handcarts with sabers in their hands, staring at him.
Chen Jing was astonished for a brief moment and then went furious. These people actually believed they could stop him with only a handful of men?! “Kill them!” he bawled.
He was so anxious and uneasy as though a thorn were stuck in his flesh. He had a premonition that that blue-robed man would soon catch up with him if he didn’t flee faster!
Right at the time when his men went forward to remove the handcarts to kill the couple of men holding sabers, a mustached old man in gray abruptly came out of nowhere, leaped onto the back of Chen Jing’s horse, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yelled, “We need to leave!”
Chen Jing recognized him. “Master?!”
“You need to get out of here right away, or it’ll be too late!” cautioned the gray-robed old man frostily, and with that, amazingly, he bodily lifted Chen Jing up, and, carrying him, quickly approached the city gates after a couple of flying leaps, leaving the army behind.
At the same time, Ling Zhang was on his way to the scene. Distantly, he saw Chen Jing’s surviving soldiers, but when he arrived, Chen Jing was nowhere to be seen. The storekeeper of the variety store and the sales clerk were surrounded by Wan soldiers, the latter dead, the former grievously wounded.
Ling Zhang knitted his brows, took a flying leap, landed within the surrounding circle and fought off the enemy soldiers with a couple of ferocious sword strikes, saving the storekeeper from death.
“Childe Ling?” At the sight of Ling Zhang, the storekeeper was first delighted and then went anxious. “An old man in gray rescued Chen Jing and took him towards the city gates.”
An old man in gray?
Ling Zhang glanced in the direction of the city gates but saw nobody. In all likelihood, Chen Jing had been whisked out of the city already.
What with the many soldiers around them, he wouldn’t be able to extricate himself from this situation anytime soon.
At this time, another team of men galloped in their direction with unstoppable momentum. At the sight of Ling Zhang trapped within a surrounding circle, someone called out, “Brother Zhang!”
Surprised, Ling Zhang twisted his head around and saw Yuwen Jin charging straight in his direction with a team of horseback soldiers. Behind them, further in the distance, a sea of soldiers of the Great Wen were flooding through the gates, fighting the Wan soldiers lingering in the city.
