Jiang Xingyan’s heart was still pounding from the fright. She listened as the surroundings fell silent once more.
She shot to her feet and gave a stern order: “Assemble fifty cavalrymen from the Raider Battalion. Follow me out of the pass to investigate!”
She had to find out exactly what that thing was that had blown a man to pieces.
The deafening blast tonight had been terrifying enough, but it was nothing compared to the earth-shaking, mountain-rattling explosions mentioned in Mei Shisan’s intelligence reports.
Yet Jiang Xingyan had an inexplicable gut feeling that the two were definitely connected.
“Huò Cí, what do you think you’re doing?!”
Xiao Chonghua hadn’t even recovered from his fright when he heard “Huò Cí” say she was leading troops out of the pass.
“Have you lost your mind?! We don’t even know for sure whether the enemy has withdrawn or not. If you rush out of the city so recklessly now, aren’t you just throwing your life away?”
Jiang Xingyan shot him a cold glance.
She saw that his usual composed and self-assured demeanor had completely vanished, replaced by undisguised fear plastered all over his face. Even his lips, once moist, had gone pale.
It seemed this pampered imperial prince had been quite shaken up tonight.
“Third Prince, as a commander, one must lead from the front. Do I really need to spell that out for you again? Armor up!”
Her tone left no room for argument. Soldiers quickly answered and brought over the iron pagoda armor custom-made for Huò Cí’s physique.
Tieshi had made improvements to the previously heavy design. Their own iron pagoda armor was lighter than the Northern Luo version, but offered significantly better defense.
Before long, fully armed Jiang Xingyan, followed by fifty elite soldiers from the Raider Battalion in identical gear, appeared beneath the city wall.
They raised their torches—the severed hands and feet scattered at their feet were a gruesome sight.
“Search!”
Jiang Xingyan caught a strong smell of gunpowder in the air.
Could it be that the explosives were actually fireworks? But fireworks could at most burn a person’s skin. Even if mishandled and detonated in hand, blowing off a finger or two might be understandable—but she’d never seen one blow a living person to smithereens. With that kind of power, if it went off directly against the city wall, wouldn’t Jingyu Pass be reduced to rubble in no time?
“All soldiers, proceed with caution!”
Fighting back nausea, Jiang Xingyan searched carefully.
Before long, she actually spotted a complete corpse. The man’s body was bulging, his eyes wide open, lying about five zhang from the city wall.
She wanted to drag him back for examination, but feared that the thing might suddenly explode and harm her soldiers, so she hesitated.
She gritted her teeth and slowly reached out, planning to unbuckle the contraption right there on the spot.
“General Huò, if there’s something you can’t do yourself, have you forgotten how to ask for help?”
Yun Chunfeng’s voice came out of nowhere.
“If you get yourself blown up, what will become of the Huò Family Army?”
Jiang Xingyan turned to look. Brother Yun was already standing atop the city wall, holding Little Ya, who was plastered with invisibility talismans.
When the chaos broke out, she had entrusted Little Ya to Brother Yun and told him not to come out under any circumstances. He’d probably only come to help her now because he no longer heard sounds of fighting.
Brother Yun was truly wonderful.
With him around, Jiang Xingyan felt much more at ease.
She cleared her throat and put on Huò Cí’s commanding air.
“When the battle was at its fiercest, I didn’t see the Imperial Advisor lending a hand. Now that the dust has settled, you come out acting all concerned?”
Yun Chunfeng let out a cold snort: “If General Huò doesn’t need my humble assistance, I’ll just head back to the capital right now.”
Jiang Xingyan found it amusing, but her face showed irritation: “Yun Chunfeng! What do you think this place is? A place you can come and go as you please? If you’re going to help, help. If not, go stand in the corner!”
“And that’s how General Huò asks for help?”
Xiao Chonghua was pacing anxiously atop the wall: “You two, stop arguing! Let General Huò come back inside!”
Yun Chunfeng snorted coldly, casually pointed, and drew a circle in the air.
Jiang Xingyan saw what looked like a transparent barrier envelop the corpse. The next moment, it flew straight into the pass.
She was extremely satisfied with Brother Yun, but still gritted her teeth and ordered: “Back inside the pass!”
Seeing “Huò Cí” return unscathed, Xiao Chonghua finally felt his heart settle back into his chest.
Before this campaign, he’d been itching to seize military command. Now, that idea had been completely knocked out of him.
This kind of battlefield was beyond his control.
They gathered at the rear of the military camp and formed a circle around the corpse still wrapped in the barrier.
Tieshi couldn’t hold back anymore. Ignoring whether the general had given permission, he directly asked Yun Chunfeng: “Imperial Advisor, could you remove the clothes from this body so I can take a look?”
Yun Chunfeng glanced at him, lightly waved his feathered fan, and said coolly: “Tell your general to ask me nicely!”
“Huò Cí” raised his sword-like brows in fury: “Yun Chunfeng, don’t push it!”
Yun Chunfeng gave no ground: “If I were really pushing it, I’d have dropped the barrier already and let’s see who’s tough enough not to get blown to bits!”
Seeing them about to go at it again, Xiao Chonghua quickly played mediator: “Imperial Advisor, General Huò, with a formidable enemy before us, can the two of you please set aside your differences and unite against the common threat?”
By now, he’d completely forgotten Xiao Ao’s warnings. How could he possibly dare to let Yun Chunfeng and “Huò Cí” fall out any further?
He had no idea whether the two of them might collude and defect—all he knew was that if they kept bickering, everyone was doomed!
Yun Chunfeng looked at him with amusement.
The Third Prince, who had once been nothing but schemes and calculations, scheming against anyone in sight, had actually become so cautious and timid after witnessing the horrors of war.
What a rare sight.
“Since the Third Prince has spoken, I’ll certainly oblige. Unlike some people who only know how to act on impulse with no regard for the bigger picture.”
“Who are you insinuating? Who are you taking a jab at?”
Seeing “Huò Cí” about to charge at Yun Chunfeng for a showdown, a terrified Xiao Chonghua quickly held “him” back and pulled “him” aside.
“Third Prince, Huò is only letting it slide because of you. If this were any other time—”
Xiao Chonghua hurriedly agreed: “Yes, yes, General Huò is magnanimous. I’m grateful.”
Tieshi didn’t dare blink as he watched Yun Chunfeng chant incantations. The bulging bundle on the enemy corpse was removed by magic.
The body was flung back outside the pass. They all held their breath as the Imperial Advisor manipulated a small knife to gently cut open the outer leather casing.
Some black powder spilled out.
Yun Chunfeng had already controlled a jar to catch it all. Only after confirming there was no further danger did he withdraw the barrier.
Instantly, a strong smell of gunpowder filled everyone’s nostrils.
Tieshi sniffed hard.
He muttered in a daze: “Saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur… it’s just gunpowder. How could it be this powerful?”
Yun Chunfeng simply handed him the jar.
Tieshi, as if possessed, kept muttering to himself while walking toward the Military Engineering Battalion’s tent.
Jiang Xingyan watched his retreating figure, her heart filled with anxiety: “Should we move his tent farther away? We don’t want to be caught in the blast if something goes wrong!”
Xiao Chonghua opened his mouth, then hesitated: So it’s fine if Tieshi gets blown up instead?
He followed behind Jiang Xingyan and Yun Chunfeng, visiting the wounded soldiers before returning to the command tent together.
Thinking back on tonight, all three of them felt a chill of afterterror. If that enemy scout hadn’t spontaneously detonated ahead of time and alerted them with the explosion, they’d still be fighting tooth and nail in that sea of corpses and blood.
“I wonder how Xin Zhui is doing over there? Will they be ambushed too?”
The more Jiang Xingyan thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She pulled out a message talisman, intending to warn them to be careful.
But before she could use it, she received a message from Xin Zhui.
“General, be careful! The enemy will attack tonight, and every one of them will explode. Shanhe Pass held for now, but half the city wall has been blown down. Casualties are heavy. Requesting reinforcements!”
