Dugu Xian regretted joining Golded Roc Fort, having been driven into a corner.
Although he had not read many military books, he had spent his entire boyhood and youth in the regular army. For him, the war was neither a means to protect the country, nor a way to get achievements. It was simply an ordinary lifestyle. Being a soldier was not much different from being a scholar, a farmer, an artisan or a merchant.
He used to have a lot of passion, but it was slowly destroyed by the thought of impending death. Too many people were being slaughtered like animals, but their death were all meaningless to themselves, to the people, and to the country.
A whim of the king at the rear, an abrupt intention of the general in the forefront; sometimes an important figure’s words after drinking would cost the soldiers’ precious lives on the battlefield, their deaths changing nothing in the entire situation.
Dugu Xian knew that he could never be a famous or valiant general. He just hoped to build up a professional army and not care about who he was fighting for. But the soldiers in the forefront had to be able to decide when and how to fight. He thought an army like this would be invincible because it would never challenge an enemy who was too powerful.
Chess was often used as a metaphor for war. However, Dugu Xian couldn’t find any similarity between the two things. The players on the chessboard always started playing in the same situation, but such a perfect situation would never occur in a real war. The party possessing the advantage beforehand was usually the winner, so the commander’s greatest responsibility was to add his army’s advantages before the war began.
Indeed, in some cases, a general could use the few to defeat the many, but if a general regarded that as a goal to pursue, he was a fool who waited for windfalls.
Dugu Xian thought that the Supreme King could understand him.
Golden Roc Fort’s request of their killers was similar to Dugu Xian’s understanding of war. However, it turned to be that these two didn’t share a lot in common. The view of Supreme King was simple: if you have more soldiers than the other, you should defeat them within the shortest time. Victory was more important than how many people were killed in the war.
They had frequent conflicts when they sieged the camp of the Great Snowmountain in the west of Jade City. Eventually, Supreme King was the one who called all the shots. His only responsibility was to break down the straightforward demands and translate them into military orders, to be executed by the innocent soldiers.
The siege of a brick-fortified capital was a mistake in itself. However, what made the situation even worse was that this arduous task was given to the four-nation coalition forces who had no experience and equipment.
Dugu Xian was reluctant to clean up the mess, but he had no option. In the eyes of Supreme King, he was almost equal to a slave. If he refused, he might be killed.
At the most desperate moment, he wondered if his family name was to blame for his troubles. His surname, Dugu, was exactly the same as his master’s.
No matter what he thought, Dugu Xian fulfilled his duty as a professional soldier. He tried every means possible to attack the capital of Stone Kingdom, excavating hidden passages, building platforms as high as the wall, making battering rams and scaling ladders. He tried everything, but none worked.
The soldiers guarding the capital were all experienced veterans.
Dugu Xian couldn’t help having sympathy for the Prime Minister of Stone Kingdom, but he didn’t know that Zhong Heng was also at his wits’ end. He could see through the enemy’s tricks, relying partly on his keen intuition and partly on luck.
When Dugu Xian was preparing for another attack by calling up five thousand soldiers and making a large number of equipments, he caught wind of a confusing and frightening news: Dragon King had not died. The Great Snowmountain army did not perish, but had grown even stronger. They were marching into Western Region through Wushan.
Dugu Xian found himself in a desperate situation, taking down Stone Kingdom’s capital or not did not matter. He had already committed a capital crime, because he lied to Supreme King about Dragon King’s death before.
The Supreme King had been annoyed with this unsatisfying general, so he had depatched many advisors and killers to supervise Dugu Xian in the guise of protection.
When the news that Dragon King had led his army to return to the Western Regions was confirmed, the killers looked at the Commander of coalition forces differently. Dugu Xian believed that this was not his own imagination.
The messenger was crossing the desert to Jade City. When he came back from Stone Castle, he might bring along a death sentence.
Dugu Xian felt that there was little time left for him. In the tent where the negotiations were held, he dismissed the attendants and then told Zhong Heng his real intention, “I want to surrender.”
The first reaction of Zhong Heng was that the other party was giving the signal of an assassination attack. He stood up immediately and looked around nervously.
No assassin appeared. Zhong Heng breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again. He began to seriously consider those four words and then was very surprised, “Um, General Dugu…”
Dugu Xian was not particularly good at negotiating, so he did not beat around the bush, but addressed his own predicament directly. In the end, he said,” In the whole Western Region, only the Dragon King can stand up against the Supreme King. I am willing to help him. ”
Zhong Heng had been always proud of his ability to evaluate people. But this time he was a bit uncertain.
Golden Roc Fort was very influential in the Western Region, like the sun in broad daylight. The four-nation coalition forces could conquer the Stone Kingdom’s capital in a couple of days. It was odd that the general had offered to surrender. “Well…This is, of course, a good thing. But what about your family? Don’t you need to consider them?”
“I have no wife or child. My parents and brothers are royal family of the Xiaowan Kingdom. The son of Supreme King just got on the throne with help from my family, so he wouldn’t lay hands on them. Even though they threaten me with my family, I don’t care about that, because I have left my home ever since I was a kid.”
Zhong Heng came to the conclusion that Dugu Xian was a wolf with less intelligence, and almost wholly bought his words, “Welcome, but…”
Zhong Heng felt easy while Dugu Xian was anxious. “I can’t wait. To tell you the truth, the two attendants I brought are Golden Roc killers. They will make a move as soon as the negotiation stop, so you have to find a way to save yourself. Can you see my sincerity?”
Zhong Heng was still calm, and his peaceful smile made Dugu Xian feel that he was being played. “Prime Minister Zhong, I admire your courage, and that’s why I’m willing to surrender. Otherwise, even if the Dragon King is standing in front of me, I would not yield. I hope…”
“I have no doubts about your sincerity.”Zhong Heng felt that he could believe Dugu Xian for sure, “In fact, I guessed that the Golden Roc killers would assassinate me before the negotiation, so I have prepared for it.”
“Really?” Dugu Xian was a little surprised. He looked around, as if trying to find the ambush in all corners.
As far as he knew, there were not many masters in Stone Kingdom’s capital. However, Zhong Heng had set up a very rigorous defense by setting a lot of traps, which repelled the Golden Roc Fort’s sneak attacks several times. He thought that Zhong Heng would do the same this time, but he realized that the tent had been built by coalition forces. It was impossible for Zhong Heng to have set up their own traps.
Zhong Heng decided to be frank with the general. “This is my preparation.” He spread his right hand and revealed a plain looking yellow-brown pill. If it was thrown onto the ground, it would be no different from the mud.
Dugu Xian was confused but Zhong Heng had no intention to make any further explanation and folded his arms. He was about to crush the pill when he suddenly thought of something, and asked, “Have you practiced Internal Strength?”
“I practiced a little when I was young, but I haven’t made much progress for many years.”
“It might have a little effect. Don’t panic if you feel a little uncomfortable.”
Dugu Xian’s head was dizzy when he smelled the very light fragrance which came from Zhong Heng’s palm. The Qi in his Dantian which he had forgotten for many years disappeared in an instant.
“If you would, cry out, and lure the killers in. ”
Zhong Heng stood in front of his eyes, but his words were like far away at the end of the world. With his last consciousness, Dugu Xian shouted: “You deceived me!”
The two killers, dressed as military advisors, rushed into the tent and then smelled the fragrance. They also fainted and their Qi quickly disappeared.
The two of them were shocked. If they were faced with a master, they would immediately retreat. However, Zhong Heng’s Kung Fu was mediocre. They could still complete the assassination with their remaining Qi.
A moment passed when they measured each other’s abilities. Two killers continued to rush the target, holding daggers in their hands stably.
Zhong Heng did not even have an opportunity to escape.
The killers fell down in front of him, with their weapons lying less than a foot away from his toes.
Zhong Heng’s face turned white, and then managed a smile to the old man who rushed in afterwards.”Thank you…”
The old man was expressionless and rushed out of the tent, . This was another person who Zhong Heng couldn’t see through. He couldn’t help thinking that only the Dragon King would be able to believe and control a woman like this.
The old man was Maid Lotus in disguise.
Both her and Dragon King and arrived at the north shore of Xiaoyao Lake the day before yesterday. They had climbed up the wall and sneaked into Stone Kingdom’s capital in the night to meet with Zhong Heng. They both thought it was an assassination trap after they heard Dugu Xian’s request of negotiation, so they decided to play along and kill the general of the enemy.
Zhong Heng took the task to kill Dugu Xian, and Maid Lotus would focus on the Golden Roc killers.
The guards outside did not know what was going on in the tent, but they were already ready to fight. They pulled out their weapons at the same time and rushed to each other.
Xu Yanwei was not afraid of normal men, but she was afraid of the men who were fighting. So she screamed and hid behind the tent.
The battle soon ended with Maid Lotus joining the battle and killing five machetemen of Golden Roc Fort in a dazzling speed.
“Maid Lotus, you are Maid Lotus!” Xu Yanwei identified the old man at first, “What about Dragon King? He is still alive. I knew it…”
This was not the place to talk. The coalition forces had already discovered the battle around the tent, and a group of cavalry was approaching quickly.
Zhong Heng walked out of the tent with Dugu Xian on his shoulder, “Move, now!”
Dugu Xian was in a delusional world because of Indra, unaware of the next things happened . When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was the pale face of a young man.
“Dragon King.” he said.
“Do you have a way to defeat the army of Supreme King?” The Dragon King came straight to the point without a single greeting.
Dugu Xian was not fully awake, but he had been thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of Golden Roc Fort for a long time. “I can’t guarantee victory, but I do have some ideas.”
Dugu Xian had not learned his lesson. In front of his new master, he still left an appropriate margin for unforeseen circumstances.
Gu Shenwei was not angry. On the contrary, he felt that Dugu Xian might be the person that the Great Snowmountain army needed the most: a general who really knew about the war.
“Speak your thoughts, and let’s achieve it.”