Chapter 267: Black Flag
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
More than 3,000 swordsmen gathered in the Great Snowmountain overnight. Many of whom were women and children, who could barely hold up the heavy swords. The five chiefs checked through all of them one by one and a lot of them were dismissed. There were about 2,000 people left after that.
The people of the Great Snowmountain had never felt so confident before. All of them felt that the future war would be an overwhelming victory.
Long Qinying, the chief of Luoshen Peak, changed his mind. He was willing to bring along the remaining few of his tribe to follow the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei decided that it was better for him to remain behind and guard the Great Snowmountain. He announced that Long Qinying would be acting on behalf of him as "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks", taking charge of all matters, and would continue to provide at least 100 swordsmen to the frontline every three months until Golden Roc Fort perishes.
Gu Shenwei then pardoned the remaining people who sought refuge. He ordered them to either leave immediately or swear loyalty towards the Great Snowmountain. The original bandit gang was also broken up and dispersed among the five peaks by Gu Shenwei. Many opportunists does not like how things were going and escaped right after. Only a little more than 100 people remained.
All of these took up three days' worth of time. Unable to wait any longer, Gu Shenwei ordered the chiefs to carefully select a total of 200 swordsmen, 400 horses, and provisions adequate for five-day's worth in proportion. He was going to lead this vanguard personally and advance towards the border of Jade City, securing an advantageous position.
As luck would have it, news of the successful peace negotiations between Shu-lik and the Great Snowmountain arrived that night. The military camp of Shu-lik requested the Great Snowmountain to send a messenger the next day to further discuss the details of path borrowing, and to agree on setting a specific route. The Shu-lik army would closely follow and supervise the whole process.
There was no way to violate the agreement once it was signed. Gu Shenwei and the 200 swordsmen set off after midnight, rushing to pass through the guarded checkpoint before the signing of the negotiation agreement.
Assuming that the war had ended, the Shu-lik's army guarding the checkpoint was lax. They did not expect the surprise arrival and could only helplessly watch as the group of troops galloped away.
After daybreak, the Great Snowmountain sent several messengers who brought bulks of gifts to the Shu-lik army, explaining that it was a bunch of runaway bandits escaping.
The vanguard of the Great Snowmountain followed the mountains headed in the direction of east, before leaning near south two days later and continuing eastward for another two days. It was untouched wilderness everywhere throughout the journey. In order to bypass the eastern checkpoint of Shu-lik, they even climbed over a rugged mountain on the last day.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, the vanguard finally arrived at the eastern region of Shu-lik. The men were fatigued and the horses were spent. Even the fiercest swordsman was teetering on his horse saddle. Only half of the 400 horse mounts were left, and some people had to share a horse together.
Gu Shenwei ordered everyone to rest on the spot and brought three swordsmen with him to conduct reconnaissance about the enemy situation.
The Golden Roc Fort had already assembled an army and occupied a well-positioned mountain valley.
However, the army exhibited signs of hastiness and hurriedness. The soldiers were all machetemen who had been hired in a short amount of time. The camp was built halfway, and many materials were still stacked on the ground. They would rather brandish their sabres and make a show of one's force, than to do menial labor of timber nailing.
No scouts were spotted along the way until Gu Shenwei was about two to three miles away from the campground. There were about 10 or more machetemen gathered around a pile of fire.
The machetemen were complaining about the drudgeries of their job, reminiscing about the neverending flow of good wine in the camp and started competing to find out as to who can boast the most.
"A 100 taels if you slay a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. I would like to earn about 20000 taels or so, to save up for the second-half of my life."
"Knock it off man, based on your machete skills, it would be a relief if you can prevent yourself from getting killed. Even if you were given 10,000 taels, you will spend it all on Pleasure Alley in less than a month. Didn't you mentioned you've always taken a liking to someone? Who was it again?"
"Haha, well said. If it's me, I wouldn't even bother with the Great Snowmountain or whatever, I'll just look for that killer straightaway. The bounty on his head is worth 100,000 taels, even if I remained in Pleasure Alley, it's enough for a year's worth of it."
"Yang Huan the killer."
"Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain."
"The Demon Bird Swordsman."
"Chief of the Dragons, the King of something."
"That bastard, he sure has many titles for just one head."
The crowd burst into laughter, not knowing that the "bastard" was hiding in the bushes just 10 steps away from them.
Gu Shenwei made several hand gestures towards the three swordsmen behind him. Perplexed by his hand gestures, Gu Shenwei then lowered his voice and told them: "Do not move. Wait for my whistle, then charge towards them."
The swordsmen nodded immediately.
Gu Shenwei went around to the opposite side and pulled out the Five Peaks Saber made by Daga, the blacksmith. He whistled, short but lightly.
As if acting in unison, the swordsmen waited for a moment before rushing out. They leaped out of the grass all at once, wielding their heavy swords towards the machetemen near the fire.
The machetemen took notice once they heard the whistle. They pulled out their sabers one after another, while looking in the direction of Gu Shenwei. They were shocked when three swordsmen rushed out, roaring from behind.
The swordsmen were fierce and courageous. They charged right into the middle of the machetemen and started hacking away vigorously.
Even after living with them for a year, Gu Shenwei still could not accept this type of attack style, hoping that the swordsmen could lower their voices so that they could look out for one another.
This was the moment that Gu Shenwei was waiting for as the machetemen fought with their sabers. He quietly snuck out of the bushes and circled around the group of machetemen. There was a blow every three to four steps. The Five Peaks Saber was an irresistible force. Most of them were down before they could even react. Those who were about to fend off with their sabers were all cut in half, both the person and the weapon.
The three swordsmen killed one or two of the machetemen on their own, while the killer had already killed off eight of them. Only one man was still alive. The man was scared stiff, his legs shaking in fear. He threw away the short sword and dropped to his knees in a heartbeat, kowtowing profusely, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang, Dragon King, spare my life, it's me, I'm Xiao Ning."
The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain despised people who to surrender at the last moment due to fear the most. Gu Shenwei stopped them as they raised their heavy swords. He does not recall the name Xiao Ning, but would like to question him.
"Do you recognize me?"
Kneeling upright on his knees, Xiao Ning the macheteman thumped his chest relentlessly like an orangutan, and said eagerly, "It's me, Xiao Ning. Don't you remember, Dragon King? I was a macheteman for Kun Society, and was a guard for the Tenth Young Master. I fought several tough battles against you."
"Right, but you are my enemy now."
Xiao Ning's face turned white as he remembered the boasting among the machetemen just now, "Mr. Yang, Dragon King, I was forced to. The Golden Roc Fort sent out all of the machetemen in the city. I have old and young ones to take care of. There is no other way. It's true, I am willing to follow you. Please accept me."
Machetemen only recognized money. Everything that he said now was a pack of lies, but Gu Shenwei was not planning to call him out for it. "How many people are there in the campground?" he asked.
"600? 800, there are definitely 800 of them. They are all machetemen from the city. Hired for 300 taels every month. There are people coming in every day. I didnt expect that you to arrive so early, Dragon King."
"Who is the commander?"
"Commander?" This term was unfamiliar to Xiao Ning, he stared blankly for a while before saying, "There is a blademaster in the fort. His name is, is Shangguan Qingqi."
Gu Shenwei was familiar with Shangguan Qingqi. Shangguan Qingqi could count as one of the close relatives of the Supreme King, they addressed each other as brothers. He is currently the acting as the chief for the Pyrowork Academy, and is also in charge of the killer apprentices. It was said that he has good machete skills, but Gu Shenwei never had the chance to experience it.
Putting Shangguan Qingqi in charge of the machetemen goes to shows that the Golden Roc Fort was slighting the Great Snowmountain, using the swordsmen as an opportunity to train the apprentices.
"Are there any more people coming to stand watch tonight?"
"No, it's just us. Vigil duty is for the whole night." After finishing his sentence, Xiao Ning suddenly realized that this might put him in a dangerous situation, so he added: "Someone will come around to patrol. I'm not sure what time, but someone is definitely coming."
Gu Shenwei ordered the three swordsmen to remain and hide the corpses by disposing them into the bushes. They were to watch over Xiao Ning strictly. If there was really someone patrolling, let Xiao Ning handle it.
The 200 swordsmen were still resting at the back. Gu Shenwei woke a few of them up and let them meet the three swordsmen in front.
As tired as he was, Gu Shenwei could not sleep. Like always, his mind was preoccupied with the battle that was about to erupt. This was a much larger scale of assassination. Maybe ambush would be a better word, but it was difficult for the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain to do this. All of them were fearless in attacking, sometimes even too fierce and courageous. They preferred fighting by themselves, therefore it was easy to besiege them.
Gu Shenwei woke everyone up in the middle of the night. After eating quickly, everyone discarded everything unnecessary. They tightened their girth and was lightly armored. About 50 men without horse mounts were not included as part of the forward charge. They were ordered to set off early to their allocated locations for the ambush.
Gu Shenwei has a Weapon Carrier whose duty was to help the Dragon King carry the two long-sabers and his personal belongings. The Weapon Carrier followed the Dragon King's instructions and took out the black robe given by the five chiefs. He tied it onto a seven-foot-long wooden pole and used it as a flag.
It was still dark. The swordsmen could only faintly see the swaying of the flag.
"Everybody, bite the whip horizontally in your mouth."
The Dragon King's first order was very strange. The swordsmen were puzzled. As the Dragon King was regarded as a demigod, they did not hesitate and carried out the order.
"No yelling allowed. If the whip fell out of anyone's mouths, your sword will be seized."
"Seizing the sword" was a humiliating punishment for the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. If the heavy sword was seized, one could only reclaim his weapon after killing an enemy with his bare hands. Even if they were ridiculed during this period, they could not fight back.
The swordsmen nodded solemnly. They bit the whip tightly even though it does not taste good.
"Later when dawn arrives, we will charge forward. You can spit out the whip when I command 'Kill'. Only then, you can shout as loud as you want." Gu Shenwei raised his voice, "Everyone will see the flag and follow it. Killing is not important. My order for you will be to follow the flag until the war ends. I do not care how many you killed. Anyone who falls behind will be beheaded."
The swordsmen raised their heavy swords up in unison and made bleating noises as their mouths bit the whips.
Under the lead of the Dragon King, about 140 remaining swordsmen charged towards the Golden Roc Fort campground on their horses.
The fire was about to die out soon, Xiao Ning and the few swordsmen were still standing guard there. Xiao Ning's face turned green as he looked towards the group of swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain in the dark. He started groveling on all fours, shaking from head to toe, "Dragon King", was all he could said.
He won't get the sympathy of the swordsmen in this manner.
"Flag sacrifice." Gu Shenwei commanded.
Not knowing what these two words meant or that it related to himself, the fear in Xiao Ning's heart suddenly rose like a flood, but it was stuck in his throat. He was unable to get a word out.
The Weapon Carrier leaped from his horse. He was unable to get a word out as he was biting the whip as well. But there was nothing that needed saying. Laying the flag down in front of the macheteman, he then raised up his heavy sword and slashed mercilessly.
Xiao Ning watched the whole process. It was as if there was a bubble in his heart, getting bigger and bigger, larger and larger, which then shattered with a "pop".
The head falls off, as fresh blood splattered onto the flag.
The swordsmen who were standing guard at the fire followed their counterparts, bit their whips, and leaped onto their horses.
Faint sunshine covered all of the earth in the morning, hiding the war flag of the Great Snowmountain.
Blood covered the black war flag, along with the coward's head stuck on top.
The first war between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort was about to begin.