Chapter Sixty-Four: Entering the Hottest Days of Summer
Movement underground was slow, dark, and cold.
Yet, it wasn’t without its merits.
Lin Feier cradled Wright in her arms—she stood half a head taller than he—and could feel the tension radiating from him, the stiffness and trembling born of anxiety. A sense of pleasure trickled from the depths of her heart to every part of her body.
In the past, when the sinister Blackshade held her while they vanished from sight, he would always take the opportunity to kiss and caress her. Doing so beneath the very noses of their enemies had thrilled her at first, but as it happened more often, she grew weary of it.
Wright, however, was nothing like the brooding and unpleasant Blackshade. Even after having tasted him, the shyness and nervousness that clung to him, and the unguarded affection he betrayed, remained irresistibly delicious.
It was truly a delightful indulgence. If not for the enemies drawing near, she would have gladly given in once more.
Enemies... yes, the enemy.
Pleasure could wait; there was business at hand. As she thought about the imminent assault, the thrill faded from her mind bit by bit. “The view above is too blurry. Can’t you make it any clearer?”
“Sorry,” Wright replied softly. “Burrowing seems to interfere with my surroundings. Sometimes there’s even a delay in the signal.”
“What a pity.” A skill riddled with flaws—safer underground, perhaps, but far too slow compared to Blackshade’s stealth. And with signal delays, who knew if they could coordinate properly...
Coordinate.
Through the lens, she could see the anxiety etched on her subordinates’ faces.
It was only natural to be anxious without knowing the full plan. Even so, she couldn’t tell them. Soon enough, they would see for themselves.
Once the enemy entered the area, the blood rain would be unleashed, torches hurled from above, igniting the oil buried in the ground. Heavy machine guns would open fire at the same time...
Fire oil—what a marvelous thing. Its damage might be modest, but it burned long enough, especially when paired with the blood rain’s defense-lowering effect. Ah—
Though she couldn’t issue orders directly, half an hour ago, that broad-faced, burly man had already received word that the enemy had walked into an ambush and suffered heavy losses.
A false report? No, not for long. It might be false now, but by the time he arrived, it would be true.
And then, the enemies before her would meet the same fate as countless others before them. Surprised and screaming in the blood rain, dying, annihilated amid flames and the hail of machine-gun fire... ultimately transformed into a tremendous completion rate and general points.
This time would be no different. Ah, how splendidly he had won before! She had even hoped he might bring her a different kind of pleasure!
Once he was killed, the enemy forces would begin to falter; if anything went wrong, if he survived for a moment longer—or if, in desperation, the enemy launched a frenzied counterattack on their hillside positions... all her side had to do was hold on a little longer under the blood rain, and they would buy the Han army enough time to seize the advantage.
Was it time yet? She was barely able to contain her anticipation—
---
Zhou Yingxiong, fully armed, patrolled the camp with dozens of his men.
The camp was hardly empty—over six thousand strong remained. With the help of surrendered Han officers, the camp was meticulously organized: outer palisades, chevaux-de-frise, tents, water points, fire prevention, supplies, equipment, latrines—every detail arranged. Guards along the roads stood in strict formation, spirits high.
With such thorough defenses, even a Han attack could be repelled. Scouts ringed the area, each one reporting back; the chance of a surprise attack was slim.
What worried Zhou Yingxiong was the front line. Even though the intelligence had come from Yang Wentian, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
“To play it safe, the best course is not to march out. But on the battlefield, if there’s a chance to seize the initiative, you must not let it slip. If you see a flaw in the enemy but do not strike, your courage will waver, and panic may follow. Once the commander becomes fearful or anxious, defeat is close at hand.”
“A trap? That’s possible. But you can’t refuse to fight just because you fear a trap—at most, you proceed with caution. That blood rain, for all its power, isn’t invincible—there must be a weakness, some way to counter it. Besides, even if we avoid it this time, what’s to say we won’t encounter it again later?”
“I sense there’s no danger this time. The air holds no scent of peril. In fact, if we do not go, we may face utter destruction instead.”
Such was Wang Luo’s answer.
How had someone who was once just an ordinary man gained such confidence? How did he always know exactly what to do?
Most of all, how had he achieved such victories?
Perhaps you are right, perhaps the attack is necessary. But what if the enemy’s true target is not the whole army, but you?
If something happens to you, who will guide us in the battles to come?
Zhou Yingxiong glanced toward the rear camp where the surrendered contractors were housed, his brow furrowing.
He didn’t trust these defectors—not a single one, from beginning to end.
---
The revolutionary army’s formation was spread wide.
From the hillside, it was clear that the distance between soldiers was much greater than the force they had annihilated before. The spacing between units was even greater.
The line had stretched out so that, within the area covered by the fire oil, no more than two thousand men would be caught at once. Such a formation would be disastrous if they were struck by cavalry. Clearly, this was to counter the commander’s blood rain.
Even having received false intelligence, they remained vigilant.
---
What would the commander do? Stick to the plan? Or...
While pondering this, Red Lightning saw several horses gallop into the revolutionary lines from afar. The enemy ranks began to contract and gather. Simultaneously, more than a dozen squads—some cavalry, some infantry, each a few hundred strong at most—began patrolling around the main force.
“What’s going on?” someone beside Red Lightning exclaimed in alarm.
Indeed—what was going on? Why, having come this far, would the enemy suddenly tighten their ranks, as if guided by the invisible hand of fate right into their trap?
Were these squads on the flanks meant to shield them from machine guns? Too bad—this time, they had more than just machine guns.
At first, the small squads entered the trap, and then left again. And then... the main force.
When the majority of the main force had entered the area seeded with fire oil, the moment was ripe.
A wind had risen; the air turned damp.
“Light the torches!”
Red Lightning kept his voice low as he issued the command. Around him, many members of Wu Prefecture grew excited, looking up.
The blood rain had not yet begun to fall. But the enemy was already in the ambush zone—there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
“Throw the fire! Open fire!”
From the hillside, dozens of torches sailed into the midst of the revolutionary ranks. The contractors there no longer concealed themselves; they shouted loudly, hefted their heavy machine guns, and opened fire.
At the same time, on both sides of the road, faint sparks appeared here and there, quickly racing along fuses and bursting into flame.
From above, a wide red rain began to fall, drenching most of the revolutionary troops. The outlying squads scrambled to disperse, while many in the central force dropped to the ground...
Think you can stop us? How naïve.
If your formation is neat, you might block some of the damage head-on. But the chaos wrought by the fire oil would shatter your lines, and with the blood rain lowering your defenses, half of you would be dead or wounded in an instant! Even the leader’s skills are useless under such circumstances.
This battle, though full of twists and turns, would end in an easy victory.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he saw a faint blue arc of light flicker across the enemy’s position.