Chapter 97: Heavy Losses

"Retreat! Retreat at once, you useless fools! A hundred of you cannot even defeat a few dozen? You are trash, absolute trash!" Master Zhuge roared in fury. He had never expected Cai Cong’s men to be so formidable; fewer than thirty of them had forced his hundred-man force into a rout.

"Hold them back! Do not let a single one escape!" Cai Cong shouted, his eyes bloodshot. He had lost so many brothers-in-arms; this was the greatest blow he had suffered since his arrival in this world. How could he not be driven to madness?

Just then, a chill ran down his spine. Instinctively, he rolled across the ground, and a barbed arrow hissed through the air, embedding itself deep into a rock.

Seeing this, his guards shrieked, "Protect the Earl! Protect the Earl! There is a master archer! Hurry, protect the Earl!"

Cai Cong looked up and saw a tall, imposing figure standing proudly on the high cliff, bow raised, watching him with cold, detached eyes. Gan Xinda and the others, daring not to tangle further with Zhuge’s men, rushed toward Cai Cong’s position.

The White Wolf loosed another arrow. Cai Cong dodged frantically, but the White Wolf immediately fired two more, sealing off all avenues of escape.

*Is this how I end?* As the arrows whistled toward him, the thought struck Cai Cong with sudden, cold clarity.

*Thwack. Thwack.*

Two dull thuds signaled the arrows finding flesh. Cai Cong looked up to see Gan Xinda blocking him completely, and tears instantly welled in his eyes.

"Why... why would you do this?" Cai Cong asked, his voice trembling. Gan Xinda was coughing up blood, yet he wore a bright, radiant smile.

"Earl... my Earl... I cannot survive this. I only want to say... I have never failed you. I am loyal to His Majesty, and I cherish you. Salt is truly... so important. With salt, the neck will not swell!" Gan Xinda used his final ounce of strength to roar those last words, two streams of tears washing away the blood at the corners of his mouth.

"I promise you, I will make sure every citizen of the Great Tang can afford salt! Just hold on, please, hold on!" Cai Cong wailed. Master Zhuge and his men had already retreated, and others were now rushing to their side.

Looking at Gan Xinda, who had died with his eyes wide open, Cai Cong slowly stood up. "Clear the battlefield," he said calmly. "Bring our brothers home. I, Cai Cong, swear that if I do not avenge this, I am no man."

Beneath his calm exterior lay an infinite fury that, once unleashed, would reduce all his enemies to ash.

Many of the bodies were mangled, yet Cai Cong could name every single one. Cai Cong had lost one hundred and thirty-seven men, and Du Yunlong had lost nearly seventy.

Halfway along the main road, they encountered Fang Yuan, who had come with reinforcements. As soon as the attack began, someone had ridden desperately toward the post station to sound the alarm. Seeing the dense rows of coffins, Fang Yuan’s eyes turned bloodshot, and tears welled up.

"Who? Who did this?"

Cai Cong handed him a barbed arrow. "Return first," he said, weary. "Prepare the coffins. We will discuss the rest later."

"Remnants of Li Youliang’s faction?" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. He had calculated everything, yet he never expected these people to track and ambush them.

With heavy hearts, they placed the bodies into the coffins, added lime, and sealed the lids. They dared not use nails; regardless of how horrific the state of the bodies, they had to let the families see them one last time.

"Follow me!" Cai Cong told Fang Yuan after looking at the coffins.

"Earl, we must have our revenge! Since our inception, when have we ever been bullied like this? So many brothers, just gone!" Fang Yuan clenched his fists, his grief and indignation boundless.

"This debt will be paid. Tell Baolai to mobilize all our connections. Spare no cost; we must dig these people out. I want their heads to offer as a sacrifice to our brothers. Tell the dukes and marquises that whoever finds these people, I will personally train a unit of five hundred men for them—a unit that can conquer cities and slaughter enemies as if walking on flat ground." Cai Cong spoke with murderous intent. He had never considered desecrating corpses before, but now, he truly wanted to find these people and grind their bones to dust.

"I will go at once!" Fang Yuan said urgently. He felt a heavy responsibility; had he discovered the enemy's movements earlier, none of this would have happened.

"Wait. Send for several messengers. Xinda is dead; this must be reported to His Majesty immediately."

Fang Yuan acknowledged and left. Cai Cong picked up his brush, composed himself, and began to write. He hid nothing—from the cooperation with Gongyi County to the discovery of the salt-refining method, how Gan Xinda used his status as a secret agent to prevent the leak of the formula, and finally, the ambush and Gan Xinda’s sacrifice. Everything was recorded clearly.

He took another sheet of paper and wrote out the salt-refining formula in detail. Once the ink dried, he sealed it with wax and stamped it with his seal.

After a moment's thought, he wrote a letter to his mother, assuring her of his safety and informing her of Gan Xinda’s death, asking her to send five thousand strings of cash and to see what the Gan family needed.

"Enter!" he called out.

"This subordinate presents his respects to the Earl," four men said in unison as they entered. They were all lean and slight of build, and a sudden pang of grief tightened Cai Cong’s chest.

When he first met Gan Xinda, he had looked just like them—lean and slight, casually claiming he could stand guard until dawn. In the end, he had stood for an hour longer than the rest, not daring to move, until he had to be carried away.

"This is an eight-hundred-mile urgent dispatch. If the horse dies, the man runs. You must deliver this memorial to His Majesty in the shortest time possible. This letter must be handed personally to my mother. Go!"

"By your command!"

With feathers in their caps and blood-red cloaks fluttering, they vanished into the distance amidst the neighing of horses.

Du Yunlong finally met with Cai Cong, apologizing immediately, "I have failed in my administration. Such a shocking event occurred under my jurisdiction; I beg the Earl to punish me."

"Do not blame yourself. You were merely caught in the crossfire. I will explain the situation to the Ministry of Personnel myself. You have merit here, not fault. Ensure the families of the fallen are well compensated, do you understand?"

"I understand, my Lord. I will not be stingy with the silver."

"Good. Since this has happened, I will not linger. Coordinate the remaining affairs with the merchant caravan. I depart for Chang'an today. These brothers need to be laid to rest." Cai Cong spoke with sorrow. He was a man who could be ruthless, but he also held deep affection. How would he face their families back in Chang'an?

"Then I shall instruct the local gentry to see you off..."

"No need. Spare me the formalities. We depart shortly." Cai Cong waved him away.

Seeing Du Yunlong leave, Xia Yun spoke with indignation, "Why was the Master so polite to him? If not for him, you would never have gone to that mountain town, and this tragedy would not have occurred."

"One can guard against thieves for a thousand days, but one cannot prevent a thousand days of thievery. These thugs planned this long ago; if not this time, it would have been the next. It is not the Magistrate's fault. Let’s go. It is time to return."

Cai Cong looked at the long line of coffins behind the carriage and sighed before stepping up into the vehicle. The long procession was filled with solemnity; those who had been vibrant comrades were now lying cold in their coffins.

For this new army, which had never faced such a blow, this was a trial—one that gave them a new understanding of life. Before they became numb, they would hold the proper reverence for life and death.