With blood over her body, the person lying on a straw mat was near death. Baili Ai rushed to here in a hurry and felt her pulse subconsciously. Without a minute, he nodded, “Excessive loss of blood, it’s hard to survive.”
“Then,” Sima Ray replied indifferently, “Throw her anywhere as you like rather than here taking up other’s place.” In this woman he only wanted to play with, he absolutely lost all his interest.
“Your Royal Highness,” Shangguan Yuen called him faintly, “I have something for you.” Her bloody hands trembled. Inside lay a white handkerchief. She smiled bitterly, “You gave it to me before.” Sima Ray pushed her hands away with dislike. The cloth fell to the ground. After that, a small topographic map with several routes marked red dropped out from it.
Out of curiosity, Sima Ray picked it up and turned to glance at Baili Ai. Yu Haitang fell behind far away. It was not sure whether he caught this tiny detail.
“Come in and get yourself warm. It is for the sake that you’d served me some period before.” Sima Ray waved his hand. Soldiers wrapped Shangguan Yuen up and transferred her into Sima Ray’s tent. After everybody had left, Sima Ray grasped the map tightly and asked, “What’s this? You brought it from Leng Changxi’s place?”
Being white-faced, Shangguan Yuen nodded feebly. She struggled to answer, “Your Royal Highness, you have stalled West Xia’s army for half a month that long. Their provisions have fallen short of supply long since. These grain routes from Luguan can sustain West Xia for about one month. If Your Royal Highness is able to intercept these provisions, within three days, the whole army of West Xia will surrender.”
Sima Ray delighted. But his joy soon faded away. He failed to persuade himself into believing this woman. He had treated her that bad. Why did she risk her life to bring back the information for him?
Perceiving Sima Ray’s hesitation, Shangguan Yuen’s eyes filled with tears, “I’m sure Your Royal Highness will be suspicious of me. But Your Royal Highness, you were the first and are the only one I fell in love with. No matter how you treat me, I will always commit myself to you. I only have one thing to regret. I passed out when people from Qin’s family took me away abiding by your command. If I had been awake, I wouldn’t leave. I didn’t want to leave you, Your Royal Highness.” Shangguan Yuan began coughing blood as she was saying.
Such a talkative woman. Regardless of Shangguan Yuen’s body condition, Sima Ray straightened up to stare at the map in his hand. On the map drawn a canyon set by the hillside behind West Xia’s military camp. It looked covert outside, but inside it was spacious to defend and offend. It seemed that Leng Changxi picked the right place.
Leng Changxi was alerted. Except for two routes for transporting grains, there were three routes designed specially to guard the grains. As noted on the map, the main protectors were Mu Qingyu’s soldiers for about two hundred thousand. It was neither Black Armor soldiers nor the Leng Army, just the ordinary one. It didn’t seem to be a worry.
Leng Changxi’s arrangement for such a provisions transport map was terrific. As Sima Ray scanning the map, he doubted that if he was in Leng Changxi’s position, he might not carry out such a perfect plan.
But…
Sima Ray turned around to see Shangguan Yuen who already fell into a coma. Leng Changxi’s calculation wasn’t enough, for he had forgotten that not every person beside him deserved his trust.
As what Shangguan Yuen had said, if he could intercept these provisions, Leng Changxi would kneel to him for a pleading. Sui River was so severely polluted in the previous battle that no eatable things survived in it. Though Leng Changxi gained people’s hearts around the area of Sui River, without these provisions, West Xia’s army penetrated into the heartland of Qi would only lead to Leng Changxi’s out on a limb.
“Your Royal Highness, Mr. Yu had come.”
The voice of the guard came through from the outside. Sima Ray stuffed the map into his waistband. Though Yu Haitang promised to cleanse his toxic blood every day, he never said that he could cure it once and for all. The poison had entered into his vital organs, even his muscles and vessels already, which directly affected his routine of energy and martial skills.
What a pity! Did Yu Haitang honestly believe that he could control him through detoxication?
Sima Ray grinned hideously. He felt the map on his waist was parched like his fervent wild ambition.
Seven days later, it was a moonless night. The rimless darkness was a giant cage that covered every mountain and stream. A plaintive whine came through far away. It seemed to be the sign for an impending windstorm full of unknown.
A list of troops was passing through the winding stone pathway in the canyon silently. It must be a well-trained one, for their hoofbeats and footsteps were uniform and concerted.
Suddenly, some noises stopped the general forward.
“General!” Someone cried out in a low voice.
“Don’t be panic.”
After his words, the dark sky was lit up like the sea of stars by numerous torches above the canyon. Cheering rang out as if people of a primitive tribe in the Yeren Valley got excited after catching their prey.
Fire arrows were targeted at provisions that troops were carrying down the canyon. A horse whinnied. Sima Ray was in his golden armor. He rode his tall horse to an extruded rock. The high position he was holding satisfied his need for the pleasing sensation of revenging.
It was Leng Wu not the other walking in the front of this troop. This guy favored by Leng Changxi learned part of his style. He glanced at Sima Ray coldly, turned his head and said, “Everybody defends.”
“Defend?” Sima Ray sneered. “Look at the situation right now. No matter how you defend yourself, the only result is to be shot by my archers.” Sima Ray got complacent. It seemed the map that Shangguan Yuen gave him was real.
He didn’t inform Yu Haitang about the action. For one thing, he wasn’t able to verify the information. For another, complying with Yu Haitang would deteriorate his status.
Except that Sima Ray counted Yu Haitang, as well as Leng Changxi too simple.
When he was proud of himself, a cold but familiar voice frightened him, “Prince Ray, you are such in a mood to travel so far only to enjoy the moon or star.”
Sima Ray stiffly stunned. He turned around slowly. It was Leng Changxi as he expected. He was dressed in a Modena long gown, which got messy by the wind.
Sima Ray was reluctant to show his confusion. He grabbed the torch from the guard beside him and pointed it down the canyon.
“Leng Changxi, though you reacted that fast, it was too late. As long as I throw this torch downward, your provisions that could sustain for one month will be totally destroyed.” Threatening, Sima Ray feigned to act as what he said.
“Just do it if you want.” Leng Changxi didn’t care a pin. He held his head high, “Watch carefully what I’m carrying.”
Hearing this, Leng Wu gave an order to turn on the canvas covering the freight. Inside were hays rather than provisions. Such things neither deserve Leng Changxi’s planning for routes, nor Sima Ray’s encirclement at midnight.
“Hah,” Leng Changxi watched Sima Ray’s expression go rigid and shook his head, “if I still remember, you were threatening me just now.” Leng Changxi sneered. With a snap, several torches lit up behind him. The new, yellow fire shining like the Milky Way made a clear comparison between dying red fire Sima Ray’s side.
“You…” Sima Ray suddenly got his face pale. He paused and spitted out blood that smeared the white horse’s horsehair beneath him.
Leng Changxi frowned. He had no idea what trick Sima Ray was playing right now. When he came forward and tried to make it clear, Sima Ray rolled his eyes upward and fell from the horse.
All of a sudden, Sima Ray’s crack troops were out of a leader. Leng Changxi frowned and decided without a second. His spear picked the golden helmet down and raised it to the sky. Under the light of the fire, it was like a rising sun that shined.
“Your chief commander has been executed. Now, only surrenderors can survive.” Leng Changxi’s thick voice resounded in this canyon powerfully. When those soldiers were hesitating, 1,500 soldiers from the Leng Army bond their hands as fast as possible.
This night, Leng Changxi got a harvest. Only with a hundred hay cars and few soldiers, he captured so many Qi’s soldiers alive. Most importantly, he caught Sima Ray that easy, which was the most curious thing that Leng Changxi paid attention to.
Back to the military camp, Leng Wu was counting the results of the action. Mu Qingyu and Tuoba Wuyu, who were in charge of the military camp’s security, also reported being peaceful last night.
Peaceful? How could it be peaceful? The news that Sima Ray was captured would be passed to Ping Town at the fastest speed. Yu Haitang definitely would do something.
“General,” Heiying had been focusing on issues about Ping Cheng. This moment, he walked in with pride, “Army in Ping Town refuses to fight today, again.”
“Hum?” Leng Changxi took a drink of cold tea.
“Their justification this time was to pay condolence to the sacrifice of General Sima Ray for one day.” Heiying paused and continued, “Yu Haitang will be the general to defend Ping Cheng.”
“Yu Haitang makes adjustments timely.” Leng Changxi nodded without any surprise. Yu Haitang and Sima Ray were acting friendly above. Leng Changxi had also seen it through. “However…”
Leng Changxi found it unusual that Sima Ray spat the blood out this time.
“Changxi,” Qin Yunuan put the curtain aside and came in with sweat dripping down from her face. After Leng Changxi brought Sima Ray back, she kept inspecting Sima Ray’s body condition in the tent beside. Qin Yunuan ran her eyes over people inside the tent and said, “We got some problems. You have to come and check it now.”
