After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 435: Chapter 434: Seizing Dragon Throat Pass

The warhorses had all been brushed, fed with fine fodder, and had rested through the afternoon. They were as full of vigor as the men.

Each man was equipped with three days of dry rations, three days of fresh water, and two fine horses. The army was traveling light, with no supply train.

They not only had to cover several hundred miles but also launch a surprise attack on the Xiji Capital and capture its Monarch.

There was no other way. Speed was everything.

...

The Crown Prince of the Xiji Kingdom was inspecting the new robes for his ascension ceremony.

An old minister came to persuade him, saying that the Beacon Towers at Dragon Throat Pass had lit up on their own twice. He feared an enemy was secretly encroaching, planning to cause trouble during the new Monarch’s grand ceremony.

Huyan Zhao asked him, ”Then what do you propose?”

”The ceremony should be postponed.” The man was quite blunt.

Huyan Zhao’s face instantly darkened.

’Everyone knows that delays breed trouble. After my old man died, I’d been waiting with bated breath for tomorrow’s coronation, and now this old fool wants me to postpone it?’

”Then tell me, postpone it until when?”

The old minister hesitated. ”Postpone it for... a few days, until we’re sure West Mountain is safe.”

”And if I postpone it for a few days, and when I’m about to be crowned, the beacon lights up on its own again, what then?” Huyan Zhao said coldly. ”Do I postpone it again?”

”A few wild monkeys at Dragon Throat Pass light a fire, and I have to delay my ascension? Hmm?”

Tell any Crown Prince that he should wait a few more days to be crowned king and see if he agrees.

”It doesn’t matter how many days the Xiji Kingdom goes without a Monarch, as long as the western beacons remain unlit, is that right?”

This barrage of questions choked the old minister, who prostrated himself on the floor.

”This humble minister meant that we should dispatch more men to Dragon Throat Pass...”

”Granted. Dispatch more men to Dragon Throat Pass.” Huyan Zhao waved him away. ’All they know is how to cause me trouble, not how to ease my worries.’ ”Someone, pass on my orders! Tomorrow, inside and outside the city, inside and outside the palace, security is to be tightened! If anything goes wrong, you’ll bring me your heads!”

The Guard outside acknowledged the order, and so it was passed down through the ranks.

The Commander of the Imperial Guard called over his Gentleman Official. ”Tomorrow, inside and outside the city, inside and outside the palace, double the security, or it’s your head!”

The Gentleman Official then called over his subordinates. ”During the ceremony, strictly control all access and dispatch more men. Any failure will be on your head!”

The order eventually reached the City Gate Guard, his superior personally instructing him, ”...or it’s your head!” before leaving.

But with the grand ceremony imminent, security was already planned to be extremely tight. All personnel were assigned. Where could he possibly find men to double the guard? The City Gate Guard thought it over and finally added an extra patrol of Guards.

* * *

「The next day, the ascension ceremony was held as scheduled.」

From beginning to end, everything went smoothly. There wasn’t a single hitch.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

「It was a new moon night, windy and dark.」

Having been paranoid for days, the sentries at Dragon Throat Pass had their attention fixed on the Beacon Tower. They would subconsciously glance back every few steps, terrified that something might go wrong again.

A person’s energy is finite; focusing too much on what’s behind means neglecting what’s in front. None of the three noticed a squad slowly approaching under the cover of darkness.

And the two forward outposts, over a hundred zhang away from Dragon Throat Pass, gave no warning at all.

A startled bird flapped its wings and flew past in the night. A sentry on the pass wall craned his neck to look, only for an arrow to fly out of the darkness to his side, piercing his throat.

At the same time, Hee Lingchuan and the others vaulted down from the top of the gate tower, silently slitting the other two men’s throats.

The man shot in the throat swayed twice and was about to fall from the high wall. Quick-eyed and swift-handed, Hee Lingchuan grabbed him and gently laid him on the ground.

Otherwise, the thud would have been far too loud in the night.

Two small squads of the Great Wind Army were acting in coordination. The other was led by Captain Sun.

Hee Lingchuan made a hand signal to him, indicating the sentries had been eliminated.

Captain Sun nodded, glanced down to confirm the position of the gate’s windlass, then tossed down two palm-sized Copper Puppets.

When the two objects landed, with a BANG, they transformed into giant Copper Guards over a zhang tall!

They were covered in thick armor. After landing and getting up, the first thing they did was push the windlass to open the gate!

Dragon Throat Pass was the first and most important gateway defending Panlong City for the Xiji Kingdom, and much effort had been put into its gate. It was four feet thick, constructed from a composite of ironwood, Refined Iron, and rhinoceros hide. It was normally raised and lowered by a windlass.

This windlass required eight strong men or four horses to even begin to move, but how could human strength possibly compare to that of the Copper Guards?

As they exerted their strength, the windlass started to turn with a CREAK, clearly having gone some time without being oiled. It began to rotate, slowly at first and then faster, and the gate embedded in the ground began to rise with a mechanical grinding sound.

The Dragon Throat Pass garrison wasn’t made up of dead men. Who could such a dull roar and vibration possibly fool?

Amidst shrill cries of ”Enemy attack!” and the blowing of whistles, the garrison soldiers rushed out of their barracks to repel the invaders. At that moment, a shower of arrows rained down from the mountain peak.

The long-ambushed Great Wind Army Guards finally made their move.

At this moment, a door on the pass wall was kicked off its hinges from the inside. If anyone had been standing outside, they’d have taken a door panel to the face.

The Garrison Commander charged out with his Wolf Fang Club and shouted, ”Seize the windlass! To the gate tower!”

Seizing the windlass meant securing the pass. Only by clearing the enemies from the gate tower could the garrison calmly deal with the army outside.

Door Panel was right beside him and struck with a shield bash.

The Garrison Commander was unafraid. He swung his Wolf Fang Club and smashed it down—BANG! BANG! BANG!—three consecutive times, knocking Door Panel back over two chi.

But Door Panel’s job was to draw fire.

As the commander was hammering away, a string of Continuous Arrows flew from the shadows. The first aimed for his throat, the second for his ribs, and the third for his knee. It was Willow making her move.

The Garrison Commander’s reaction was quite remarkable. He knocked away two arrows with his hand and lifted his leg, so the one aimed for his knee hit his calf instead.

He grunted, but his body was protected by Primordial Power. The arrow only penetrated a fraction of an inch deep, failing to cause an open wound.

Willow had split the force of one shot into three arrows, so their penetrating power was naturally limited.

But her three arrows were merely a feint.

The real killing blow came from behind the Garrison Commander:

Hee Lingchuan had drawn his saber without a sound.

’When a battle hangs in the balance, who’s going to bother with a one-on-one duel?’

The Garrison Commander felt a chill run down his spine, as if something terrifying was attacking him. Without thinking, he dropped to the side and swung his Wolf Fang Club behind him.

He was not slow to dodge, but he was a step slower than Hee Lingchuan. The saber’s gleam shifted, flashing past the arm that held the club.

He felt a chill on his wrist, then a sharp pain.

The arm was severed cleanly at the wrist.

Only when his hand and the Wolf Fang Club hit the ground did the Garrison Commander feel the agony, crying out in pain. A few of his Personal Guards rushed forward to protect him, but Willow sniped one, Hu Min stabbed another to death with his dagger, and Hee Lingchuan finished off the last.

The Garrison Commander had reached the edge of the wall and was about to vault over and jump.

Hee Lingchuan raised a hand, and a Sleeve Arrow shot out, hooking into the commander’s shoulder to pull him back.

Nearby, Captain Sun was directing the Golden Armor Copper Guards. Seeing this, he couldn’t resist rushing over and lopping off the Garrison Commander’s head with a single slash.

”Hey, hey, hey! That one wasn’t yours!” Hu Min couldn’t help but yell. That bastard was stealing credit!

Captain Sun grinned at him, flashing a set of white teeth. He then held up the commander’s head and shouted down to the troops below the pass, ”Hu Bin is dead! Hu Bin is dead!”

That Garrison Commander’s name was Hu Bin.

The Xiji garrison looked up and saw that their leader was dead. Their morale instantly collapsed.

Door Panel immediately followed up, shouting, ”Surrender and you will not be killed! Open the gates and you will not be killed!”

The Xiji garrison had just been attacking the two Golden Armor Copper Guards, who had been focused on furiously pushing the windlass without fighting back.

They had Copper Skin and Iron Bones and steel armor, and were also protected by Primordial Power, so weapons only produced sparks upon impact. Attacking their joints was the only effective method.

There were still a few fierce fighters in the garrison. Wielding heavy weapons, they furiously smashed at the knee joints of the Golden Armor Copper Guards and actually managed to have some effect.

At least the Golden Armor Copper Guards’ progress slowed down.

Meanwhile, the Xiji People used tents and cheval de frise as cover to fire back at the archers on the mountain peak.

However, the gate was already two chi off the ground, and Panlong City Army soldiers outside were rolling in underneath it, clutching their weapons.

The Xiji garrison was about to counter-attack when they saw in shock that Hu Bin was dead. Their morale plummeted, allowing the Panlong City Army soldiers who had slipped in to gain a foothold.

After that, the Xiji People fell back continuously. The Golden Armor Copper Guards opened the gate to let the main army in, and the rest followed as a matter of course.

A quarter of an hour later, the Dragon Throat Pass garrison laid down their arms and surrendered.

Throughout the battle, the Beacon Tower was never lit. Some soldiers tried to move the sand cover to light the fire, but the thing was smeared with mortar and piled with sand, making it not only thick but also heavy. It was far too much for one or two men to move.

The archers on the peak also paid special attention to the Beacon Tower. Anyone who approached it would be met with arrows.

Under the rain of arrows, the sand cover simply could not be removed.

The Red General walked up to Hee Lingchuan and Captain Sun and nodded in approval. ”Well done. You’ve bought us at least two more double-hours.”

The two squads executed their mission flawlessly, allowing the Panlong Army to open the gates of Dragon Throat Pass at minimal cost.

Those two double-hours were not to be underestimated; the foundation for victory might have already been laid.

’The Dragon’s Throat is open, but what about the Dragon’s Tail?’

The Red General wasted no time. She ordered the entire army forward to quickly take the last difficult pass in the mountains of the Xiji Kingdom—Dragon Ridge.

Because an elite squad of the Great Wind Army was already lying in ambush, it was another coordinated attack from both inside and out. This battle took an hour longer, but they ultimately took the pass.

But Dragon Ridge Pass managed to light its Beacon Tower!

The elite squad had disabled the cannons beforehand, so the garrison couldn’t fire a single shot in the end.

It’s impossible to fight a war without any mistakes. This slip-up was within the Red General’s calculations. She didn’t reprimand them, only ordered everyone to rest for a quarter of an hour before pointing her sword toward the Xiji Capital City on the eastern plains!

Her declaration of attack was just four short words:

”We will win this!”

...

On the very first night of his reign, the new Monarch of Xiji took two beauties to his bed.

He was sleeping soundly in a tender embrace when an attendant rushed in to report urgently that an enemy army was attacking and had already breached the National Capital’s gates!

”What?” Huyan Zhao’s mind went blank, and he cried out, ”How is that possible!”

’Where did an enemy army come from? How did they get in!’

”South Gate One and West Gate Two have already fallen! East Gate One is under heavy assault!” the attendant cried. ”The western Beacon Towers were lit! It must be Panlong City attacking!”

Huyan Zhao kicked him to the ground. ”Then why didn’t anyone react!”

The moment the words left his mouth, he remembered that someone had reported the western beacons were lit again a few double-hours ago.

After two consecutive nights of false alarms, and with today being the grand day of his enthronement, Huyan Zhao hadn’t paid it much mind. He had only ordered someone to scout out the situation. Besides, although the beacons were lit, the cannons hadn’t fired, so it was most likely another false report.