Chapter Seventy-Six: The Struggle (Part Ten)

In the dark of night, beyond the city walls, two figures slipped down with nimble ease, sending up a faint trail of dust along the slightly sloped, rammed-earth ramparts.

Though the sound was subtle, it carried in the stillness of night. Footsteps soon echoed atop the wall—a patrol coming to investigate.

Swift as shadows, the pair darted beneath the overhang of the sheep-and-horse wall, holding their breath.

The rammed-earth walls of Cloudrise City, long weathered by frontier winds, were solid as iron. The dust they kicked up was scant and soon settled. When the patrol peered over, puzzled, there was nothing to be seen.

The sentry muttered softly to himself, then strolled away, his footsteps fading into the distance. The wind was cold in the night, and the hours ahead stretched long and lonely.

It was Xu Le and Bu Li who had concealed themselves in that shadow. Only when the sentry’s steps were gone did they dare peek out.

After leaving the temple, they had crossed the inner stockade under cover of darkness, scaled the city walls, and now slipped down the other side—all within less than half an hour.

Cloudrise City was heavily guarded, true, and the patrols did their duty, but it was impossible to line every yard of the palisade and wall with men. Xu Le and Bu Li, both light and swift, easily found their chance in the patrol’s rhythm to slip across unnoticed.

During a real siege, two or three soldiers would be stationed at every battlement throughout the night. That was why small cities were hard to take, while large ones were sometimes easier—there simply weren’t enough men to guard every stretch of a great wall.

But in peacetime, who would waste so much effort? Night watch required firewood for warmth, extra rations, constant supplies of hot water—all costly, all wearisome for the soldiers.

So it was that Xu Le and Bu Li, fleet of foot, found their way over Cloudrise’s walls with little more than a scare.

Peering from behind the sheep-and-horse wall, they looked back one last time, then gazed ahead into the boundless blackness.

Four or five miles ahead, the low hills formed a defensive line for Cloudrise City. On those hills, the fires of military camps flickered in the distance.

Between the city and the hills, the camps of the various tribes and Han merchants lay spread across the plain, now wholly swallowed by darkness.

Beyond the hills and military camps, another ten miles lay the settlements of the Qianyue tribe.

It would be a long, hard night.

Xu Le tore a strip from his sleeve, tied it around his ankles and wrists to secure his clothing, then limbered up for a nighttime run.

Bu Li looked at Xu Le, puzzled.

Xu Le met her bright gaze and explained softly with a smile, “We don’t have time to find horses. If we stir up any trouble, it’ll ruin everything. The moon is bright, the breeze is cool—it’s a fine night for a run. If you can’t keep up, I’ll carry you.”

Bu Li said nothing, just glanced at Xu Le, then at the distance ahead. Suddenly, she vaulted over the wall and set off at a sprint.

The little wolf-girl’s hair streamed behind her, and she ran like the wind!

Xu Le grumbled, “Is it so hard to say a word to me?” Then he too vaulted over the sheep-and-horse wall, close on her heels. In the night, their steps kicked up little clouds of dust as they ran farther and farther away.

The world was vast; behind them, Cloudrise City was a mere thread, and ahead lay the camps of the Qianyue tribe. Xu Le and Bu Li were but two tiny specks in the night, yet their steps never faltered.

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In the royal tent of the Qianyue tribe.

Zhang Wansui’s face was slick with sweat, and he kept wiping his brow.

It wasn’t that the tent was stifling—far from it. The Qianyue king’s tent was so tattered that the wind howled through the seams, making it as cold as an ice cellar.

Nor was he afraid of the Blue Wolf Riders of the Zhibi clan, who stood about the tent, hands on their swords, looking fierce.

Zhang Wansui was no stranger to the carnage of war; he had long since learned to harden his heart, caring little for the lives of others or even his own. The Blue Wolf Riders were fearsome, but he had faced them in real battle alongside Wang Ren’gong.

The sweat pouring from him was solely because the terms Zhibi Luoluo had named were utterly outrageous!

The Zhibi clan would help Wang Ren’gong attack Liu Wuzhou from two sides—but only if Wang Ren’gong delivered forty thousand bushels of grain, a thousand suits of armor, a hundred sets of barding, one hundred imperial-issue lances, two thousand spears, two thousand straight sabers, and a hundred thousand arrows, among other military supplies.

Though these numbers were high, they could be squeezed out with gritted teeth. In the Kaihuang era, the Sui Empire had reached its peak, and the supply depots in the frontier garrisons were piled high. The Eagle Guard of Mayi alone could fill the Zhibi clan’s stomach.

But the other condition was deadly.

Wang Ren’gong had been ready to cede Cloudrise City to the Turks, handing over the Heng’an Eagle Guard under his command. The people of the Cloudrise Basin, as many as could, would be relocated.

In Wang Ren’gong’s eyes, the Turks had suffered a humiliating defeat at Mayi last year and could do nothing about Cloudrise City. To grant them this place was already a great favor; they should be grateful, eager to serve.

Yet Zhibi Luoluo demanded that the Cloudrise Basin and the city’s strategic passes would belong to the Zhibi clan. The remnants of the Heng’an Eagle Guard could be handed back to Wang Ren’gong, but not a single inhabitant of the basin was to be relocated!

What’s more, Zhibi Luoluo demanded Shenwu County—territory and people both!

The Cloudrise Basin was so named because it was ringed by mountains. Cloudrise City blocked the northern pass; Shenwu County guarded the southern. If Shenwu were ceded to the Turks, the fertile heart of Mayi Commandery—the Sanggan Valley—would be trampled under the hooves of their horses, with nothing left to stop them!

If Wang Ren’gong ever marched south for glory in the heartlands, Mayi Commandery would already be lost to the Turks. Yanmen, already devastated, would follow. With both commanderies fallen, the northern gateway to the central plains would be wide open, and the Turks would stand poised to pounce on the heart of the empire!

How could that be allowed? Would it not be like throwing open the door to thieves, inviting another era of barbarian chaos?

After coldly stating the Zhibi clan’s terms for helping Wang Ren’gong against Liu Wuzhou, Zhibi Luoluo fell silent, waiting for Zhang Wansui’s reply.

Zhang Wansui wiped his brow for a long time before finally answering, voice trembling, “Shenwu is out of the question! Even if the governor must attack Cloudrise alone, it would only be a bit more trouble. But if even Shenwu is surrendered, how could the governor face the people of Mayi?”

Zhibi Luoluo replied with a chilly smile, “Then the Zhibi clan will ally with Liu Wuzhou—Mayi will fall to us with ease.”

Zhang Wansui stretched his neck and retorted, “Liu Wuzhou would never do such a thing!”

Zhibi Luoluo’s cold smile did not fade, “If Wang Ren’gong can do this, why not Liu Wuzhou? Thank you and your kind for tearing mighty Sui apart, giving us Turks this chance! Twenty years ago, you roamed the steppe as you pleased, but times have changed! I’ll give you a moment to decide—if you refuse, get out of my sight. Crawl, mind you—crawl out!”

Zhang Wansui fell silent, bewildered. He was a hardened warrior; though Wang Ren’gong was arrogant, he had at least shown some courtesy. Yet today, to be delivered such an ultimatum by the Turks was a humiliation he’d not known in years.

Since the founding of the Sui, its might had swept the realm. The twelve imperial guards had ranged across the steppe, forcing the Turks to split and bow before the Son of Heaven, vying for imperial favor. After centuries of bloodshed, the Han people had finally raised their heads high—a triumph even the humblest old men would celebrate.

He was of Yanmen stock; in his youth, he’d seen the Eagle Guard ride out, scattering nobles of every tribe before their horses.

Now, in this moment, Zhang Wansui’s ears rang with a single thought.

How had mighty Sui fallen to such ruin in the blink of an eye? How had they come to endure such abasement before the Turks? Only twenty years ago, the Sui cavalry had swept the steppes; the Ashina clan, waving the golden wolf banner, had cowered and begged before the Emperor!

Why had it come to this?