Chapter 156: A Narrow Strip of Sky

Su Wei had barely closed his eyes for several days. He was in a state of utter confusion and distress, having questioned more than once whether his initial decision had been a mistake. But now, having ridden the tiger, it was too late for regrets; he could only go with the flow.

The snowy weather brought bitter cold, and the soldiers’ morale was low, with complaints echoing through the camp from time to time. Su Wei knew well that blocking them was worse than guiding them, so he did not punish the generals and soldiers harshly. Instead, he patrolled everywhere, offering warm condolences in hopes of salvaging the current situation.

After another day of hard work, Su Wei sat in his study, listening solemnly to the advice of his advisor, Dai Zeng, who stood before him.

Dai Zeng stroked his beard and spoke slowly, ‘General, there is no need to be overly panicked. Heaven is helping us; it has been snowing for half a day, and those Xiongnu soldiers won’t last long. They have marched a long distance just looking for a quick victory, so the provisions and winter clothing they brought are insufficient. In a few days, when the snow is knee-deep, they won’t be able to bear it—especially those horses that cannot tolerate the severe cold. As long as we hold out for a few more days, we won’t need to lift a single sword or spear; they will lose men and horses and roll right back!’

Su Wei no longer fully believed his words, and a look of suspicion crossed his face upon hearing this.

Dai Zeng was an advisor he had hired at a high price. He was a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations back then, highly literate and resourceful, and had once helped Su Wei win many battles.

But this time, something felt a bit strange.

Su Wei asked, ‘Military Counselor, there is one matter I still do not understand to this day. Why would Chunyu Luan come to attack Dai County with such a grand display? True, they have a chance of winning, but even if they capture it, what then? I have doubts in my heart; could his intentions lie elsewhere?’

Dai Zeng advised, ‘Things have already come to this, so the General does not need to think so much. The only thing we can be certain of is that we cannot defeat those hundreds of thousands of tangible Xiongnu soldiers below the city. And the only thing we can do right now is to hold our ground and await reinforcements. As for other matters, what good will it do to ponder them over and over?’

Su Wei remained noncommittal, but the underlying anxiety in his heart only grew stronger.

As he hesitated, he suddenly heard the sound of fighting that shook the heavens echoing from afar, and chaos began to stir nearby as well.

Su Wei was greatly shocked. He immediately stood up, pushed open the door to go out, and shouted, ‘What’s going on? Where is that sound of slaughter coming from!’

Before long, someone came running over and reported with great joy, ‘General, the Xiongnu soldiers below the city are in a state of chaos. It seems reinforcements have arrived from afar! The blizzard is ceaseless, making it impossible to see the flags clearly, but a golden tiger head can be faintly seen. It should be the troops of the Prince of Jibei!’

A look of joy appeared on Su Wei’s face, and he said loudly, ‘Heaven is truly helping me! Quickly summon all the generals to my study so we can jointly discuss opening the city gates to resist the enemy!’

……

The maidservants brought over a dozen more lamps, illuminating Su Wei’s study as bright as day.

Outside, the dismal wind howled furiously; inside the room, several generals crossed swords verbally, arguing incessantly over whether or not to open the city gates.

Dai Zeng still held an opposing stance, shouting, ‘Why should we open the city gates? We have already held out for three days, and those Xiongnu soldiers outside are on the verge of collapsing. If we leave the city now, won’t we lose everything at the final step?’

Someone countered him, ‘The initial battle opportunity was delayed precisely by your shrinking back. Are you going to miss another opportunity now? Currently, the Xiongnu are facing an enemy from the rear and are in complete disarray. If we open the city gates and go out lightly equipped to deliver a head-on blow, we will surely return with a grand victory!’

‘Not so!’ Dai Zeng cursed angrily, ‘You reckless child, do you know how many soldiers the Xiongnu have? Hundreds of thousands! Those are hundreds of thousands of well-trained iron cavalry, not a hundred thousand cabbages in your backyard vegetable garden! How many men could the Prince of Jibei have brought after rushing through the night? He wouldn’t have emptied his whole city; at most, he brought fifty to eighty thousand, so there is simply no chance of victory! The Prince of Jibei is young and impetuous, not understanding the ferocity of the enemy, which is why he dares to strike a stone with an egg like this. In my view, he isn’t here to reinforce us; he is here to disrupt our situation!’

That person was furious and cursed at him, ‘Look at that face of yours, fearing the Xiongnu like a mouse fears a cat! Since you are so afraid of death, what kind of battle did you come to fight at the border? Go back to your home’s heated brick bed, wrap yourself in a cotton quilt, and live your life there!’

Dai Zeng said in anger, ‘How can you speak like that?’

‘I’m cursing you, so what?’ As these words fell, the remaining few people chimed in one after another.

Dai Zeng snorted, swung his sleeves, and said, ‘Brutish martial generals, I shall not argue with the likes of you!’

Those few men were so ridiculed that their necks turned crimson. Unable to out-argue Dai Zeng, they actually started pushing and shoving each other, adopting a stance ready for a brawl. The study turned into a messy, noisy uproar.

Watching them fight, the veins on Su Wei’s forehead throbbed. He gave a loud shout, ‘Enough!’

The room fell silent once more. Everyone stared at him, waiting for his next words.

Su Wei closed his eyes. He admitted he was a timid person; he wasn’t afraid of his own death, but rather feared adding chaos to the entire situation. One point Dai Zeng made was correct: he had to ensure Dai County was absolutely safe and could not leave any lingering worries for Qiu Mingshan, who was fighting fiercely at Shiyang Pass. Therefore, he dared not attempt any risky moves.

After a moment of silence, Su Wei instructed in a deep voice, ‘Have someone secure the city gates. You may unleash arrows from the city walls to provide support. Continue to observe the situation and wait for my subsequent decision.’

Except for Dai Zeng, the remaining generals all showed disappointed expressions, but they dared not disobey and left to execute the orders reluctantly.

Having his opinion adopted, Dai Zeng stroked his goatee quite smugly. He still wanted to say something more to Su Wei, but when he looked up and met Su Wei’s cold gaze, he froze for a brief moment.

Although Su Wei had made his judgment according to Dai Zeng’s thoughts, from the bottom of his heart, a faint aversion and suspicion toward him had already taken root.

‘The night is late, and the Military Counselor is also tired. Go down and rest.’

Leaving behind these words, Su Wei retrieved his sword from the hanging hook on the wall, and then strode out of the room, leaving a stunned Dai Zeng dazed inside as he walked toward the city tower.

……

Just as Pei Yuan had anticipated, the force Chunyu Luan left beneath Dai County’s walls was merely bait. Although they resisted desperately, they remained fragile and unable to withstand a single blow.

In less than two hours, the remaining Xiongnu soldiers were either dead or fled.

However, the gates of Dai County never opened from start to finish. Su Wei stood on the city wall the entire time, looking as if he were watching a play put on by someone else’s family.

It was unclear what he was still hesitating about. Even as the people below were clearing the battlefield and he watched it all, his expression seemed hesitant, yet he still did not move.

Pei Yuan tore off a piece of his robe’s hem, wiped away the blood on the edge of his blade, and looked coldly at Su Wei, who resembled a stone carving atop the towering city wall. He gritted his teeth and cursed, ‘Brainless old fool!’

He could guess what Su Wei was thinking. Su Wei had completely fallen into Chunyu Luan’s trap, firmly believing the intelligence that thirteen hundred thousand enemy troops were attacking. Even now, when the enemies below the city had been completely wiped out, he was still suspicious, fearing that Chunyu Luan had kept a backup plan—like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Pei Yuan had calculated a thousand things but failed to calculate this. He truly had not expected Su Wei to be cautious and meticulous to such an extent.

According to his original plan, Chunyu Luan was bluffing by deploying troops below Dai County to lure him into leading his main force over, and then taking the opportunity to attack the empty Feng County. He had played along with the scheme, letting Chunyu Luan mistakenly believe he had fallen into the trap. While Chunyu Luan utilized all his forces to attack Feng County, Pei Yuan would then unite with Su Wei’s forces in Dai County to loop around from the rear, launching a pincer attack from inside and out to achieve victory in a single blow.

He didn’t expect Su Wei would refuse to come out!

The snow grew heavier, falling on his shoulders and forming a thick layer in no time. A thin layer of frost had formed on Pei Yuan’s eyelashes and around his lips; with the slightest movement, the frost crackled. He raised his hand to wipe away the melted snow from his face. A messenger arrived from the rear, bringing the news that Chunyu Luan had begun attacking the city.

The commander beside Pei Yuan asked, ‘Wangye, shall we wait for General Su to return with us?’

‘There’s no time.’ Pei Yuan glanced once more in Su Wei’s direction, but the heavy snow obscured his vision, making it impossible to see clearly. ‘I will write him a letter. You stay behind and deliver it into his hands.’

The commander first assented, and then reacted, ‘But Wangye, where can we find paper and a brush right now?’

Pei Yuan stared at his chest for a moment. Suddenly, he reached out and tore away a piece of the commander’s sleeve. Amid the commander’s startled cry, he flattened the piece of cloth on his thigh, cut his index finger with the tip of his blade, and quickly wrote two lines of characters using his blood, folded it, and handed it back.

All of this happened too quickly. Before the commander could react, Pei Yuan instructed, ‘Remember, deliver it into his hands personally.’

‘All soldiers listen to my orders! Discard all heavy personal belongings and immediately follow me to charge back to Feng County to resist the barbarians! One Xiongnu head can be exchanged for three taels of silver; two heads can be exchanged for a bar of gold! Three heads can be exchanged for five mu of poor land. If you kill five men, you can live a life free of worries for food and clothing, shielding your descendants!’ With that, Pei Yuan whipped his horse’s flank, let out a shout, and galloped toward Feng County like a flash of lightning. ‘Kill!’

The sounds of slaughter rose from beneath the city as the soldiers’ fighting spirit ran high. They mounted their horses or proceeded on foot, stepping over the snow stained with blood, heading eastward in a grand and magnificent procession.

……

A quarter of an hour later, Su Wei received the letter Pei Yuan had written to him.

Upon opening it, two striking lines of bloody characters appeared on top:

‘Are you a fool, Su Wei?! The enemy force is a mere twenty thousand; you have been deceived by a traitor. Execute Dai Zeng, hurry to face the enemy, and there is still a chance of survival!’

Su Wei felt as if he had suddenly awakened from a dream. Recalling all the past signs, his face instantly flushed with shame. Slapping his thigh, he said, ‘It is my fault, it is my fault!’

He stood up and gave a harsh order to his men, ‘Bind that Dai Zeng for me and throw him into the prison. I shall interrogate him after I return!’

With that, he hurriedly gathered his generals, counted his troops, opened the city gates wide, and prepared to lead the remaining seventy thousand men to provide aid.

……

When the first siege did not yield the expected results but instead met with fierce resistance, Chunyu Luan understood that Pei Yuan had not fallen for his trick.

He did not feel much discouraged; instead, he found it amusing. Encountering an evenly matched opponent was an entertaining thing, and he enjoyed this process.

Given the current state of the battle, it would be difficult for him to break through the city gates of Feng County in a short time.

Chunyu Luan immediately guessed the reaction Pei Yuan might have: he would likely assemble all the forces he could gather to launch a surprise attack on his rear.

Chunyu Luan ordered Cha-er-gua to pass down the command to guard strictly, and dispatched several lone riders disguised as Han Chinese to deliver messages to Pei Yuan.

Next, he went to fetch his own bow, flipped onto his horse with a face full of smiles, and said to Cha-er-gua, ‘I just had someone go tell him that his Princess is in my hands. I have long heard that the Prince and Princess of Jibei share a deep affection. Guess, will he leave the main force because of this and take a shortcut alone to hurry here?’

Cha-er-gua pondered for a moment, then shook his head, ‘How could the Prince of Jibei believe such an obvious scheme? Besides, he acts with calculation and foresight, not looking like someone who would act on impulse.’

Chunyu Luan smiled and said, ‘I bet he will.’

Perplexed, Cha-er-gua asked, ‘Why?’

‘Intuition.’ Chunyu Luan narrowed his eyes and spoke playfully, ‘To use the words of the Han people, perhaps great minds will think alike?’

With that, Chunyu Luan pointed his finger at a few soldiers surrounding him, ‘Follow me to A Narrow Strip of Sky to intercept someone. Let you all see my archery skills as well; can I kill that devoted soul with a single arrow?’

……

Just as Chunyu Luan had anticipated, when Pei Yuan received the news that Bao Ning was in danger, he truly disregarded the obstructions of others and stubbornly left the main force. He chose to take a treacherous mountain path, solely to arrive a moment sooner.

The shortest path from Dai County to Feng County bound to pass through a wonder of the Qilian Mountains, named A Narrow Strip of Sky.

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