Liu Jue looked at the battlefield below, his face revealing a tired expression, although it disappeared in an instant. Beaming buoyantly, he said, “Tonight, there will be a banquet at the general’s residence to celebrate victory!”
All the officers and soldiers were jubilant. When they went down the city gate tower, the people of Lin Nan all cheered without exception and associations pushed their representatives forward, beating gongs and drums while offering wines and meats in honour.
There was still a fair bit of time until the banquet. Having calmed down the navy, Gu Tian Xiang rushed to the general’s residence without even taking off his armor. Liu Jue had changed into a dark green robe and was laying on the couch, where two green manservants were massaging his legs and arms. Tian Xiang sat down on a chair casually and an attendant ventured forth with a hot towel. He took it and wiped his sweat. The attendant asked carefully, “Will the general be taking off his armor and resting for a while?”
Tian Xiang glanced at him. His murderous aura had still not faded yet so the attendant immediately closed his mouth and retreated.
Liu Jue’s eyes opened a crack and the manservant handed him a cup of tea. He took two sips and said leisurely, “Is something bothering you?”
Gu Tian Xiang asked in a deep voice, “What do you think about this?”
“If it was me, I would not have been so stupid to use the navy to attack the city straight on. If it was possible, the war would have started decades ago. After tolerating it for so long, they attacked suddenly. Surely they would not be stupid enough to do it again. We simply need to hold our position and wait for the enemy to strike.”
Tian Xiang’s eyes warmed up, “Do you recall the games we played in our childhood?”
Liu Jue opened his eyes and stared at Gu Tian Xiang, “Come and massage my arms, I’m so sore!”
Gu Tian Xiang stood up without a word, startling Liu Jue, “Wait, you’d cripple me if you massaged.” Gu Tian Xiang walked to Liu Jue’s side and Liu Jue jumped up in alarm. Then he saw Gu Tian Xiang lie down on the couch and say to the manservant, “Change the tea and massage my legs! I’m going to sleep for a bit, so go arrange things yourself.” Closing his eyes, he seemed to fall asleep instantly.
Unable to cry or laugh, his smile spread quietly. He stretched his arms, then walked out of the inner hall energetically.
Eyes closed, Gu Tian Xiang’s thoughts had flown back to many years ago when he and Liu Jue had set battle arrays when playing. At that time, he had defeated most of Liu Jue’s soldiers with this tactic. He had shouted, “Tian Xiang is flying high. I’ll let you attack rashly!” Liu Jue had thought about it for two days before finding him again and solved his tactic by sending out a division of troops to encircle the rear. He had said proudly, “I’ll hold onto your feet and make you trip onto the ground!” Thinking of this, the lines on his face softened. He really fell asleep.
Everyone in Chang Le Restaurant was happy and Seventh Mistress said with a smile, “If Lin Nan City was so easy to invade, they would have started fighting decades ago.”
Hu Zi followed up with a crisp voice, “Hu Zi will also become a general when he grows up!”
Everyone laughed.
“Mistress, I don’t think you should move over there. If anything happens, then we can take care of each other.” Madam Zhang said.
Ah Luo sighed. When she went to observe the river that day, she saw that although the West Mountain’s slopes seemed steep, it was not like they had been sliced straight by a knife with no way of scaling them. She deliberately wanted to live there because it might have been possible to sneak down the cliff and run away. Now that there was a war and the Chen Empire’s army had been repelled, it was uncertain whether there would be a second or even third battle. Originally, she wanted to live separately because she was afraid of bringing trouble to Madam Zhang and her family. However, it would be better to live together now so they could look after each other. Hence, she smiled and said, “Naturally, we will stay with everyone.”
Returning to her room, Ah Luo was unable to fall asleep. She did not light the lamp so as to not disturb Seventh Mistress and Xiao Yu, then she put on her clothes and sat broodingly. Liu Jue appeared before her eyes, swaying as he beat the drum vigorously. Since that moment, her eyes had never moved away from Liu Jue’s figure on top of the city gate tower. Ah Luo felt that she was worshipping a hero at that time. She smiled slightly. She had never really carefully thought about what kind of person Liu Jue was.
The five noble sons of Feng City were handsome and every gesture they made carried a dignified aura; Zi Li was charming with his unchanging slight smile. He was the most approachable, yet there was always a sense of sadness surrounding him. Cheng Si Yue became famous when he was just a youth with his casual and elegant bearing; Gu Tian Xiang exuded coldness from head to foot and at first glance, he felt like a block of ice and the smile on the corner of his mouth was also faint. No amount of words could change this impression of him. As for Liu Jue, she thought he was arrogant from the first time she saw him and that he was sometimes like a child. He had made the sedan chair bearers toss her about and had demanded insistently that she learn the zither. At the Crown Prince’s dinner banquet, he had stepped forward boldly to save her and although he did not collide directly with the Crown Prince, it implied that he would protect her at all costs. That night, he had held her gently as they rode on horseback back to the Minister’s residence. That time, he had made an affectionate lifelong promise to her when she was attacked. That day, when the pontoon bridge had been set on fire, she saw him from a distance on the other side of the river. He had been so far away, yet his sadness and anger had reached her. Later, she had heard that the bandits in the mountains had been cleared and that the South Army had been reformed. He seemed to be constantly unpredictable and she could not see through him or figure him out.
As Ah Luo pondered in a daze, she fell asleep in her clothes.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse on the night of the first snow. Several dark shadows appeared suddenly near the Han River at the cliff of Lin Nan City’s West Mountain. It was evident that they were all martial art experts as they snuck silently to the base of the cliff. Within a few movements, they climbed the city wall. The leader flicked his hand that was already holding a long and narrow sword and like a cat, he crept stealthily behind the sentry. The sword was ink black and with a light wave as though he was slicing tofu, the sentry lost his life. He used the sack that he had prepared and the pitiful soldier had his throat sliced before he could scream. The blade was as thin as paper and no blood had even leaked out. He flipped over the person on the ground, stripped his clothes and put them on. One person dragged the body to the side and covered it, then the new sentries stood straight on the city wall. After half an hour without any movement, they then dropped the ziplines from the rock on the city wall.
It was only then that people emerged from the Han River, wearing all black and keeping close to the water as they flew along the ziplines on the cliff as fast as lightning. Far away on the city wall, the soldier on guard glanced over. The shadows of the rocks and trees on the cliff obscured the movements of the shadowy figures. The soldier in disguise stood straight like a javelin in the moonlight.
Not long after, around a dozen people had entered Lin Nan City from the cliff of West Mountain. The leader made a few strange gestures with his hands. Then a hundred people began to sneak down lightly from the top of West Mountain. By some unknown method, when they came across a family, even the dogs did not bark. A few of the dark shadows entered the houses and all the citizens who were dreaming in their sleep had their sleeping acupressure points pressed. They proceeded to sink deeper into their unconscious dreams and they would not have the slightest suspicions when they woke up.
西山上共有二十几户人家。来人做事甚是心细，顺着山道往下，凡道旁人家全部这般处理。不多时竟无声无息『摸』到了张妈的常乐酒家。为首之人伏在山坡上看常乐酒家三重院落，四周无人家相依，背后便是山林，正适合人马隐藏，打出手势，黑影如蝙蝠般飘进了酒家。
There were around 20 families living on West Mountain. The people who came acted very carefully and all the way down the mountain pass, every citizen was dealt with this way. Soon after, they silently found their way to Madam Zhang’s Chang Le Restaurant. Crouching on the hillside, the leader observed the three courtyards of Chang Le Restaurant. No other households around were interdependent. The mountain forest was behind and it was suitable for people to hide. With a gesture of his hand, the dark shadows floated like bats into the restaurant.
At this moment, two men of the dark-clothed Ming forces were in the forest on Liu Jue’s orders to guard Ah Luo. In the cold weather, they had climbed up separate trees and individually chosen a comfortable position.
The guard on duty’s ears twitched and his eyes narrowed slightly, surprised to see a group of dark shadows floating into the restaurant. Looking at their skills, it was likely that they were not inferior to themselves. He quickly determined that they were outnumbered by the enemy. Seeing the dark shadows enter the restaurant, he did not dare to act rashly. He could only wake the other two up quietly. The three of them exchanged glances and from working together for a long time, they had a tacit understanding of each other. One of them rushed out of the forest and headed to the general’s mansion to report. The other two approached the restaurant quietly.
When the dark shadows were entering the courtyard, Ah Luo had just changed clothes and lay down, drowsy though not quite asleep yet. She suddenly heard the door bolt creaking. Ah Luo opened her blurry eyes and glanced over, seeing a silhouette on the paper of the window and the bolt of the door moving slowly. Cold with fright, her conditioned reflex caused her to hide under the bed. She was anxious and felt that something was wrong. The door being bolted proved that someone was inside and the bed was still warm. Desperate, Ah Luo did not know what to do. She climbed out from beneath the bed in two steps and shrank against the side of the cabinet, her hand coincidentally touched a pair of scissors that were used to trim the wick of a candle.
She watched as the door was pushed open lightly, then a dark shadow charged forward. Unable to care about anything else, she leapt up and struck down with the scissors. Without waiting for the invader to call out, she slapped him hard with her palm and unexpectedly knocked him out. Her heart was beating wildly and stretching out her hand, she pulled off the face covering. It was not Liu Jue, but an unfamiliar man. Ah Luo sighed, not knowing whether or not this person had been sent by Liu Jue to capture her. Looking out of the window again, she saw several vague silhouettes moving.
Ah Luo’s heart skipped a beat, thinking of Seventh Mistress, Xiao Yu, Madam Zhang and the others! They did not know martial arts and did not even have the strength to truss a chicken. It was fortunate that she had practiced karate and even though she could not compete with the martial arts masters in this forest, she was able to survive through a few moves. Ah Luo felt anxious and she kept her hands moving. She took off the invader’s black clothes and put them on hurriedly, then closed his eyes and slapped him hard again. She had no idea that this invader had come here from all the way up the mountain without a hitch and had thought that everyone who lived here were ordinary people, so he lowered his guard. Moreover, she had acted quickly so it had been impossible for her to be easily defeated.
Putting on the face covering, Ah Luo walked out of the room. The black-clothed men did not say a word and looked at her. Ah Luo hurriedly nodded. Then she looked towards Seventh Mistress and Xiao Yu’s room and saw two black-clothed men escorting them out. Ah Luo felt an ache and desperately wanted to act. There were around 4 or 5 opponents and she could only listen to her heart beating violently, not daring to make a move.
She followed the black-clothed men to the middle courtyard where she was taken aback. There were actually about a dozen or so masked black-clothed men who had come to Chang Le Restaurant tonight. They put Seventh Mistress, Xiao Yu, and all four members of Madam Zhang’s family on the ground. Leaving two people outside, she followed them into the hall. They did not light the lamps and in the faint moonlight, one of them said, “There are still 20 hours left until the operation tomorrow. How will we deal with them?”
The leader thought for a moment and then said, “The couple appear to be the owners of this restaurant. Keep them alive and kill the others!”
Feeling anxious, Ah Luo suddenly heard someone say, “Those two are really beautiful.”
A cold glint flashed in the leader’s eyes, “Don’t forget your identity!”
The masked black-clothed men bowed their heads in silence. Two of them walked up to Seventh Mistress and the others and raised their hands, about to slash down. Ah Luo could not care too much and rushing forward, she shouted loudly, “Help!”
Her voice was crisp and clear, and the two members of the dark-clothed force who had been crouching outside the wall glanced at each other, then leapt onto the top of the wall. The rest of the people in the room were thrown into chaos by Ah Luo. Ah Luo fought and dodged along the way. She thought that in this way, the black-clothed men may not have time to kill Seventh Mistress and the others. Striking out with a foot and a palm, she ran swiftly out of the door.
At this moment, the two members of the Ming forces had set off fireworks and were fighting with the black-clothed men. Ah Luo heard the sound of the wind behind her and dodged sideways. A member of the dark-clothed force had jumped to her side to protect her.
The black-clothed men were shocked, not knowing where these experts had emerged from. Seeing the blue fireworks soaring skyward, the leader made a single gesture with his hand. The black-clothed men fought even more fiercely, aiming to kill with every strike.
