Chapter 433: What If You Can't Win?

Sun Fuling did not quite know where to put her hands. She coughed lightly and stood up. “I still need to wash some clothes. I’ll head back first. You should rest early.”

He Lingchuan jumped to his feet right after her, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. “Swords and blades don’t have eyes. Before we set out, could I ask you for a bit of good luck?”

“And how exactly do you suppose I do that?”

“Same as last time,” He Lingchuan said appealingly. “But this time, it can’t just be a quick peck like before.”

“You’ll definitely return unharmed.” Sun Fuling’s face reddened even more. “You don’t need anything like that.”

“How do you know?”

Sun Fuling laughed and said, “You’re going off to earn merit. When you come back, you’ll be promoted and make a fortune. Won’t you be smug enough then?”

Seeing the mischievous glint in her eyes, He Lingchuan let out a long sigh. Then he suddenly reached out, grabbed her slender waist, and pulled her close, planting a lightning-fast kiss!

If she had been quick last time, then he had to be even faster this time.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

In the face of any of the world’s beauties, only speed brooked no refusal.

Unfortunately, the action had only played out in his mind. Before he could even grab her, Sun Fuling flashed aside. Before his lips could land, she was already standing by the water vat.

He Lingchuan felt as though he had just tried to grab hold of a big fish, one that was slippery and impossible to keep. Ultimately, his hand closed on empty air.

“You...”

I already played everything out in my mind, yet I still failed! This is just ridiculous!

At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside, followed by loud pounding on the door. “Broken Blade Squad, assemble at the south of the city! Broken Blade Squad, report to the south immediately!”

A herd of countless grass horses[1] stampeded through He Lingchuan’s mind.

Worse still, the caller was stubborn. Without a response, he kept pounding.

“I heard you, I heard you!” He Lingchuan called back weakly. “I’m coming!”

Only then did the man finally jog off.

That sudden interruption completely shattered the warm atmosphere. He Lingchuan slumped and said, “So you really won’t give me that bit of luck?”

“You scoundrel.” Sun Fuling vaulted over the low wall in one smooth motion, tossing back a single line as she went, “Take your things and go, quickly.”

He Lingchuan shrugged, went inside to grab his weapons and medicine, changed into his gear, and headed out.

Passing the neighbor’s house, he noticed the boy whom he had come to refer to as Little Fatty sitting on the doorstep, chin propped on both hands.

He Lingchuan had fed the boy plenty of snacks before, and the family had often sent over fresh flowers and vegetables in return. The relations between them were quite friendly, so he asked casually, “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

Panlong City was considered a very safe city, so doors were not even locked at night, but letting a six or seven-year-old sit out alone at midnight was a bit much.

Ah, right, his parents are a bit busy at the moment.

“Mom and Dad are too noisy,” Little Fatty looked up at him. “Are you going out to war again?”

He Lingchuan shrugged.

The messenger had only called for the Broken Blade Squad to assemble, not for all troops to mobilize, so the operation was not public yet. “I’ve got something to do. I’m heading out.”

Little Fatty pulled a morning glory flower from a crack between the bricks and handed it to him. “Here, for you. I want to grow up fast and go fight in wars too!”

“War isn’t a good thing,” said He Lingchuan. Doing the math, he realized that this kid might actually end up on a battlefield someday.

Sigh, what a damned world.

“War is glorious,” Little Fatty objected. “I don’t want to be ordinary like my parents. I want people to admire me!”

“You don’t know anything!” He Lingchuan flicked the kid on the head, then turned and strode away.

How could a child know that simply staying alive was everything?

There was an assembly point nearby. Every seven to eight minutes, carriages would come by to pick people up.

When He Lingchuan reached South Gate Square, several units were already gathering.

The Broken Blade Squad’s designated point happened to be by the river, not far from the juluo tree.

The sudden burst of voices in the dead of night startled the sparrows in the tree into silence.

He Lingchuan, Doorboard, and the others arrived to find someone already waiting there. The figure’s back looked very familiar, and when they turned around...

Sure enough, it was the Red General.

She had changed into fitted combat attire but was still wearing the eagle-head mask.

“You have a special mission. You’ll be departing immediately.” The logistics soldiers were already leading over their mounts, two horses per person, with rations and water tied to the saddles.

Issuing two horses each allowed for mount changes mid-route, and such was customary for a high-efficiency mobile operation, which was what they were setting out to do. He Lingchuan felt a stir of alertness. “Please give your orders, General.”

“He Lingchuan, you saw the terrain sand table for the State of West Ji in the Hall of War. That state has mountains in the west and plains in the east. If we attack from west to east, it’s hard at first and easy later. Most resistance will be concentrated in the mountains of the western region.”

He Lingchuan nodded in acknowledgment and then began briefing the members of his squad, “West Ji is Panlong City’s neighbor to the east. Two armies guard its western mountains. If we compare those rugged mountain roads to a great dragon, then those two forces hold the dragon’s throat and its spine. There are 800 troops in the former and 1200 in the latter, which comes out to exactly 2000 in total.”

The squad members listened closely, even though questions lingered in their minds.

“They control key routes and favorable terrain, all at easily defended chokepoints,” said the Red General. “Taking them isn’t hard. The problem is that both of these chokepoints have beacon towers. If they’re attacked, they’ll light the signal fires. Once that happens, West Ji’s capital, which is less than a hundred kilometers away, will be on full alert, and we’ll lose the element of surprise.”

She then paused for a few moments before continuing, “Your squads are to solve that problem.” With that, she summoned someone from behind her. “The Broken Blade Squad is assigned to the Dragon Throat Pass to disrupt and control it. This is your temporary teammate. Once you’re in the mountains, he’ll be the one doing the heavy lifting. You must protect him the entire way.”

The man was thin and small, not yet forty. His long face looked a bit like that of a monkey, and he grinned broadly at everyone.

“My surname’s Yu. I’m a spellcaster. Just call me Old Yu.”

“This mission is extremely important. If you do it well, much fewer of our comrades will die,” the Red General said gravely. “Broken Blade Squad, don’t disappoint me!”

“Yes!” everyone answered in unison.

He Lingchuan looked at the Red General’s mask, hesitating.

The Red General noticed. “Speak.”

“I’d like to ask you something.”

She seemed to know it was a private matter. “Come with me.”

She led him over to the juluo tree. A couple of sparrows chirped softly in its branches.

“Go on.”

“If you’re facing an enemy so powerful that it’s almost impossible to defeat, what should you do?” He then added, “I’m not talking about this mission.”

Without hesitation, the Red General replied, “Avoid it.”

“...” He Lingchuan’s hand rested on the hilt of Fleeting Life, which was the first piece of the deadly three-piece set. He thought of the final fate of the King of Yuān, of his own prophecy. “What if you can’t avoid it? What if it’s bound to find me eventually?”

Had the King of Yuān avoided it? Had Zhong Shengguang? Neither of them had succeeded in doing so, so why should he think that he could?

Ever since leaving the ruins of Qianxing City, he had not gone a day without pondering this.

The Red General asked, “How much does the enemy know about you?”

“So far, it treats me like nothing.” He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. To a behemoth like Beijia, he was not even a small fry. “It probably doesn’t even know I exist.”

“Then doesn’t that mean that you still have plenty of time?”

“I suppose so.”

The Red General thought for a moment before saying, “Suppose you’re trapped in a haunted house, with an evil ghost chasing you from behind. You can’t fight it, and you can’t get out. What do you do?”

He Lingchuan answered without thinking, “Hide.”

In such a scenario, his natural reaction would be to live first, and then only after would he look for a solution.

The Red General pressed, “Hide where? If you stay still, you’ll be found eventually.”

He Lingchuan gave a wry smile and replied, “Then the only option is to follow behind the ghost and match its pace.”

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a two-faced ghost.

“Observe it, study it, and when necessary, even stick close to it, the closer, the better!” the Red General said decisively. “There’s no such thing as ‘impossible to defeat.’ The deeper your understanding of the other party, the more likely you are to tear through the illusion and find their fatal weakness.”

If you can’t beat the ghost, then dance with it, make it a duet?

He Lingchuan fell into thought.

“For now, you’re still in the dark. That’s your greatest advantage.”

He Lingchuan said sincerely, “Thank you, General.”

The rest, he would have to figure out himself.

All in all, he needed to be more proactive and aggressive.

“Go, I still have other matters to attend to.”

This was her way of telling him to stop wasting her time.

And so the squads, having received their orders, filed out through the southern gate of the city and headed east.

He Lingchuan looked up at the sky. The crescent moon was already slimming, and there was still some light between heaven and earth. However, the new moon was close.

* * *

After leaving the city, the Broken Blade Squad marched hard through the night, covering dozens of kilometers. It was only when daylight fully broke that they stopped by a river to water the horses and rest.

Everyone was experienced with forced marches. They took out medicated oils to massage their tight waists, legs, and back muscles.

Horses drank water, and men ate grain. Every quarter-hour was precious.

Doorboard leaned against a large rock and let out a long, satisfied breath.

Willow seized the moment to ask He Lingchuan, “Boss, why are we fighting West Ji? Isn’t Commander Zhong planning to lead us back home eastward through the Jinxi Corridor?”

Hu Min laughed and said, “Beating up West Ji is the best thing ever. It feels great!”

Others chimed in agreement.

Even the newly joined Old Yu nodded. “West Ji relies on backing from behind. Even when nothing’s wrong, it loves to bark. It’s persecuted our people too. If we can knock it flat on our way home, that’s perfect.”

Willow shot him a look. “I didn’t say fighting West Ji was bad. That flea-sized state should’ve been crushed ages ago, but why choose this moment?”

“The Jinxi Corridor belongs to the State of Baling. If we go that way, we’ll be under Baling’s watch the entire time. Do you know how many old, weak, women, and children there are across the Panlong Wasteland? How much wealth there is to be transported? Without the protection of high walls and strong cities, can you really count on Baling’s goodwill?”

Willow said hatefully, “Maybe it’s been waiting to tear flesh off us.”

He Lingchuan drew his saber and casually outlined a map in the sandy riverbank, using it as a makeshift sand table.

The drawing was not great, but it was good enough.

“By coincidence, the ruler of West Ji just died. A state funeral is coming up, and the successor is Huyan Zhao.” He remembered the scene in the Hall of War:

“Announce the mobilization of the entire army to the entire city, we are fighting our way back!” The Red General’s sword pointed at West Ji on the sand table, her voice ringing with steel. “Do we need the monarch to issue a resettlement order? Do we need Baling to open the Jinxi Corridor for us? We’ll carve our own road home, starting with West Ji!”

“Seven days!” Zhong Shengguang exhaled sharply. “Within seven days, we march on the State of West Ji, striking like lightning.”

Everyone stared at the sand table.

The Panlong Wasteland was vast. From Panlong City to the State of West Ji, the straight-line distance alone spanned several hundred kilometers. Once hills, rocky valleys, lakes, and other terrain were factored in, the army’s march would stretch even longer.

1. Note that the words for grass and horse—at least when said in this manner—sound very similar to what I’ll just translate as motherfucker, though of course it could also be meant as fuck your mother :). ☜