Chapter 84: Bold in the Face of Dependence

At dawn, the Wei army marched along the mountain road, the clatter of hooves sounding without cease.

“My lord, the villagers say that Cloud-Shrouding Gorge often has mist that gathers and lingers without dispersing. It must be quite a sight,” Wang Xiu said with a smile beside Wei Wuxi.

Today, they could settle everything in one stroke and finish off the men of Qin for good. Then he could finally sleep in peace.

Wei Wuxi was in a fair mood as well. After nodding, he said, “Order the army to quicken the pace.”

To cut down Zhai Quan—I can hardly wait.

...

Cloud-Shrouding Gorge.

The moment Wei Wuxi, who commanded the army, laid eyes on this place, the bitterness in his heart broke its banks.

He had thought that by the next morning, once the men were rested and their spirits high, they could decide the matter in a single battle. But now it seemed he had been naive.

Upon reaching the destination and seeing the lay of the land, Wei Wuxi’s enthusiasm was mercilessly extinguished by reality.

Cloud-Shrouding Gorge was a narrow, long ravine. The mountains were made entirely of rock, steep and sheer, jagged with strange crags and ridges; the army could barely enter at all.

And the valley floor below was choked with brush so dense that nothing could be seen, and nowhere could one set a foot.

“My lord, this...” Wang Xiu rode forward, his face also darkening; he had not expected such a gorge.

How was the army supposed to advance here? Surely they could not play hide-and-seek one by one with the Qin men. If so, the Wei army’s advantage in numbers would be useless.

“My lord, this errand is no easy one,” Luanhong said with a wry smile from the side.

He had thought it would be a matter of a single turn of the hand. Who could have imagined it would come to this?

Just as the Wei officers were worrying over their predicament, a man rose upon a great rock within Cloud-Shrouding Gorge.

Wei Wuxi strained his eyes to look, and only then recognized that it was indeed Zhai Quan, whom he had been desperately seeking.

Before the men of Wei could even shout across to him, Zhai Quan called out first.

“Lord Wuxi, long time no see!” Zhai Quan said with feigned cheer.

These past days had been extremely hard on Zhai Quan; one might even say he had suffered every kind of torment.

In these deep mountains and old forests, he had to guard at every moment against venomous insects and wild beasts, and could not sleep soundly for a single day.

Even that could have been borne, if only with patience.

But what Zhai Quan found even more unbearable were the endless mosquitoes in these woods—simply enough to drive a man mad.

And some of those mosquitoes were poisonous. Many Qin soldiers had fallen prey to their bites and died of strange ailments.

One had to understand: they had only been in here for a few days, and already they had been reduced to this state.

What was more, the grain Zhai Quan had ordered seized was nearly exhausted as well.

And yet now, seeing the archenemy before him, Zhai Quan could still laugh. It was truly strange.

“Zhai Quan, didn’t you say you would capture me alive? Now I stand right here. Come and try!” Wei Wuxi naturally did not hide his contempt, and shouted coldly at Zhai Quan.

“I regret it!” came Zhai Quan’s remorseful voice from across the way.

“Wei Wuxi, if I had attacked harder back then, your dog’s life would already be in my hands.” Zhai Quan had cast everything aside; after all, between him and Wei Wuxi, only one could live.

Hearing Zhai Quan speak so insolently, the Wei soldiers were stirred with fury.

They knew that in their hearts, Wei Wuxi was not to be profaned—the prestige he held was built up with blood and victory, forged by his own hand.

What was Zhai Quan? A defeated general, a frightened cur fleeing like a homeless dog, and he dared to be so arrogant.

“Presumptuous!” the officers and soldiers of Wei cried together.

“Hahaha...” Hearing the rebuke, Zhai Quan only laughed.

“So I am presumptuous—what can you do about it?” Zhai Quan showed no restraint, his tone all the more scornful.

These past few days, the Qin army had also entertained hopes of crossing the Great Plain Mountains and returning directly to Qin.

Though it had proven in the end to be nothing but folly, it had not been entirely without gain.

For example, Cloud-Shrouding Gorge, where the Qin army now lurked, was a hidden treasure discovered by the Qin men.

How hard was this place to attack and easy to defend? Even the Qin army itself, with no enemy interference, had spent much thought just to enter this gorge.

A few had even lost their footing and fallen to the valley floor, never to rise again.

Now that he had this barrier, Zhai Quan naturally had nothing to fear. In truth, he was even afraid the Wei army would not dare charge in.

That was why Zhai Quan was so brazen: he wanted to provoke Wei Wuxi into ordering a direct assault.

“Wei Wuxi, you snot-nosed brat, and you still dare imitate us grown men at war? I think you’d better crawl back to your mother’s house and drink milk!”

Zhai Quan, usually rather measured and decent, actually said such a thing, leaving the Qin soldiers staring dumbly.

After a moment, a cry of approval rose from within the gorge, soon followed by more voices in agreement.

Unlike the Qin men in the valley, the Wei troops stationed at the mouth of the gorge were all raging with indignation. They wished they could rush in at once and flay the Qin men alive.

“My lord, the men of Wei are insolent. Grant your servant two hundred armored soldiers, and I will surely take Zhai Quan’s head,” Zheng Dali said, leading the others in kneeling.

In Zhai Quan’s words, not only had he insulted Wei Wuxi, he had also dragged Princess Dan Ji into his abuse. How could Zheng Dali endure that?

As the saying went, when a lord is humiliated, his ministers must die. Luanhong and Jia Qi could no longer sit still either. Whatever they might think in their hearts, their stance had to be one of defending Wei Wuxi’s dignity.

“My lord, your servant begs leave to take the rebel general’s head,” Luanhong and the others said in unison, their faces full of fervor.

Whether it could be done or not was another matter; first, one had to show the proper attitude. If underlings failed to uphold their chief’s authority, the consequences would not be merely a matter of hidden retaliation.

Only Wang Xiu looked troubled, as if he had something to say yet hesitated.

Wei Wuxi hated Zhai Quan to the bone, but he still kept a calm expression on the surface.

“Wang Xiu, if you have something to say, speak plainly,” Wei Wuxi said in a deep voice.

After arranging his words, Wang Xiu said solemnly, “My lord, Zhai Quan is using provocation precisely to lure us into attacking. His intent is unforgivable.”

Luanhong, still crouched on the ground, sneered. “Wang Xiu, what kind of words are those? If you are afraid, just stay behind.”

It was no wonder Luanhong spoke with such flattery. Since they had been placed under Wei Wuxi’s command by the Marquis of Wei, a label had already been stamped upon them: they were Wei Wuxi’s men.

Not only now, but even after they were no longer under Wei Wuxi’s banner, that mark would be difficult to remove.

For a lord is a special identity; each of them had the possibility of becoming the Marquis of Wei himself.

That was why few were willing to bear such a mark, for the stakes were far too great.

Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of coming to blows, Wei Wuxi finally spoke. “Enough. Stop arguing. Wang Xiu is right. Zhai Quan has no good intentions.”

“My lord sees clearly,” Luanhong and the others said, bowing.

They had only wished to show their stance, not to be fools. Of course they knew Wang Xiu was right.

“You should be thinking instead about how to break the enemy,” Wei Wuxi said sternly.

The officers naturally assented, though each wore a furrowed brow as they thought hard.

“My lord, I think we should simply use heavy troops to assault them head-on, all wearing hard armor. We will surely sweep away the Qin traitors,” Zheng Dali said first, as was his nature.

But everyone merely smiled and said nothing at his “plan.”

A direct assault was the first thing anyone could think of.

After a while, Luanhong slapped his forehead and said with great confidence, “My lord, why not simply set fire to them and burn them to death?”

Wei Wuxi could not help but smile wryly. “Look at that gorge—cold, damp, and full of living vegetation. How could you burn it?”

This idea was naturally discarded as well.

After another pause, Wang Xiu said, “My lord, why not simply station troops to surround and contain them? The Qin men have insufficient provisions and cannot hold out for long.”

Wang Xiu’s plan was, of course, the safest, but Wei Wuxi still could not accept it.

“Containment is possible, but if word of that gets out, would people not say that Great Wei dares not fight the men of Qin?” Wei Wuxi shook his head. “Besides, our army cannot remain here long. Do not forget, safeguarding the army’s supply line is also our duty.”

Those words directly overruled Wang Xiu’s suggestion as well.

To have geography so completely on their side—truly, there was no easy answer! Wei Wuxi lamented inwardly.

In the distance, Zhai Quan’s curses had yet to cease, and had become increasingly vile and filthy; he had already cast life and death aside.

Looking at the valley before him, Wei Wuxi felt somewhat powerless.

He had not seen the misty clouds Wang Xiu had mentioned before, but the fire in his heart had indeed been kindled.

Wait... fire... misty clouds...

Suddenly, Wei Wuxi thought of something.