Li Chi called out that it was Ninth Sister’s turn — and Yu Jiuling laughed, spurred his horse, and cantered to within a bowshot of the gate.

He sat tall in the saddle and bellowed: “Who in blazes is up there pretending to be in charge?! I hear it’s someone named Huang — is that the *shit* Huang, as in *shit*?!”

Up in the gatehouse, Huangjia heard that and detonated. When it came to the art of making someone’s head explode with a single sentence, one had to give credit where it was due: that was Ninth Brother Yu’s singular gift.

“Who the hell are you?!” Huangjia roared. “Come say that to my face!”

Yu Jiuling said: “I’d rather not. My voice carries fine from here.”

He cleared his throat loudly, then shouted at the top of his lungs: “Listen here, Shit-Huang — and everyone else up on that wall, make sure you hear this clearly!”

“The Commander has already taken Jizhou City — crushed the Jizhou Army, the Yuzhou Army, the Qingzhou Army, and whatever other jumbled mess of armies they threw at him. Now the Commander is returning in triumph at the head of his victorious forces! And you people dare bolt the gate in his face?!”

Yu Jiuling’s voice was slightly sharp by nature, with a penetrating quality to it. Even at a full-throated bellow, the words landed crystal clear to every last man on the wall.

“As of now, Jizhou belongs to the Commander — lock, stock, and barrel. Hundreds of thousands of official troops have been smashed and scattered by the Commander. Those who surrendered are beyond counting. You see those military uniforms and armor? All of that is what the Commander captured. And this Shit-Huang thinks he can stand in the Commander’s way?!”

He swung toward the Yanshan Camp soldiers: “Open your eyes and look properly! Don’t let that little shit fool you — don’t let him use you!”

“If you keep this gate shut, the Commander will send men back to Jizhou to call up the full army. The Commander came back to take you all with him, so he only brought a few thousand troops — and you people defy the Commander’s orders?! Think very carefully about what’s waiting for you when the Commander brings back his full force. You’ll share the guilt with Shit-Huang! Every last one of you — traitors to Yanshan Camp!”

This tirade sent Huangjia into such a rage that smoke seemed to be billowing from the top of his head and his eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets.

“You’re full of nonsense!” Huangjia roared. “The Commander was killed by the official army!”

Yu Jiuling said: “Didn’t you just see him? The Commander is right here. You just want to assassinate the Commander and seize the Camp for yourself!”

He thought for a moment, then shouted: “The Commander came back this time intending to bring all the brothers in the stronghold to Jizhou. The Commander has said many times — in good fortune and in hardship, all together. Now Jizhou belongs to Yanshan Camp — the Commander personally came back to take you all home. And this is how you treat him?!”

From a distance, Yu Chaozong listened to all of this with a face growing gradually pinker by the second. He looked at Li Chi: “This Yu Jiuling — is he always this bold with words?”

Li Chi said: “This is… actually not his peak performance. If he has a bit of wine in him, I imagine by his account Daxing City would be ours by now, not just Jizhou.”

Yu Jiuling was hitting his stride now, perched sideways on his saddle with a pointing finger aimed at the wall as he let the insults fly in a torrent.

From Huangjia’s ancestors eighteen generations back to his descendants yet unborn, every branch of the family tree received its personal greeting — and each generation got its own distinct treatment.

From somewhere in Li Chi’s ranks, the young Daoist Peng Shiqisan lowered his voice to Zhang Yuxu: “Someone once told me that a man like me is destined for the tongue-ripping hell when he dies, because I talk nothing but nonsense all my life. But our Ninth Brother… I think he’s going to be that hell’s guest of honor.”

Zhang Yuxu sighed: “If Ninth Brother really ends up in the tongue-ripping hell, I expect he’ll talk that hell’s lord into giving up his throne.”

Peng Shiqisan considered this, and found it hard to argue.

Yu Jiuling had been at it for a good half-hour by now, his throat going genuinely dry. He wrapped up with a closing statement.

“One last warning. If you don’t open this gate, the Commander will dispatch men to Jizhou to bring the full army back here. The Commander came to take you with him, so he only brought a few thousand — and you dare defy him? When the Commander returns with full strength, consider your fate carefully. Make your choice.”

He wheeled his horse and rode back.

Yu Jiuling pulled up alongside Li Chi: “How was that?”

Li Chi said: “Adequate. Don’t let it go to your head.”

Yu Jiuling said: “The main problem is that shouting with your head craned back gets tiring. Tomorrow find me a bed to bring out here and I’ll shout for a whole day lying down.”

Li Chi said: “That’s doable.”

Yu Jiuling: “You’re actually going to find me a bed?”

Li Chi said: “Mainly for your benefit.”

Yu Jiuling: “…”

Li Chi’s purpose for Yu Jiuling had been fulfilled. That barrage of shouting was designed to sow unease in Huangjia’s ranks.

His men might not dismiss every word as lies. Many of them had caught a glimpse of Yu Chaozong. Many had seen the regular army uniforms on the soldiers below.

So naturally they began to wonder: the Commander is alive, and he’s come back leading men in proper army kit — could it be true that he’s already taken Jizhou?

If so, it meant Sixth Leader Xilizi had been the liar all along.

Even Huangjia himself was thrown into uncertain territory after Yu Jiuling’s performance. He knew perfectly well that the man below was Yu Chaozong — otherwise why would he be so agitated?

Li Chi turned and called back: “Fall back, make camp below the mountain.”

Yu Jiuling asked: “What’s next?”

Li Chi said: “Next, I’ll find you a bed.”

Yu Jiuling: “…”

Li Chi smiled: “Next — nothing. Just wait. If you’re bored, you’re welcome to come up here and shout at the gate every day.”

Yu Jiuling: “Does that count toward battle merit?”

Li Chi said: “Of course. Three days of shouting, accumulate enough merit, you can come trade it in to me for four eggs.”

He turned and said a few words in a low voice to Zhao Xu, the Xinzhou garrison commander. Zhao Xu nodded immediately and departed with his personal guard at a brisk pace.

Li Chi had the unit make camp at the foot of Yanshan, positioning the encampment well clear of the mountain path — about seven or eight li out.

This was partly to guard against a surprise sortie by Huangjia. If they camped pressed right up against the mountain, Huangjia’s men charging down with the slope behind them would be nearly impossible to stop.

But the distance served another purpose too. Li Chi’s next move was built around it.

In the days that followed, Yu Jiuling came out to the gate to shout whenever he had nothing better to do. Peng Shiqisan found it entertaining and tagged along. Yu Jiuling suspected the chubby little fellow was angling for a share of the eggs.

Several days later. Inside the Yanshan Camp stronghold.

Huangjia had spent those days on edge. He had considered leading his troops down the mountain for a surprise attack — and had then thought better of it. If they got close and his soldiers could see clearly that it really was Yu Chaozong standing there, what reason would he have left to order the killing?

Before, when the men believed Yu Chaozong was dead, it had made sense: rather than let the Sixth Leader Xilizi seize control of the stronghold, better for their own Huangjia to take it.

But now, after Yu Jiuling’s bluster, many of the men were second-guessing themselves — rattled and frightened in equal measure.

Huangjia was no different. If everything that shouting man had said was true — that Yu Chaozong had taken Jizhou and was now calling in the full army — what then?

The force encamped below the mountain: uniform, well-equipped, every man in proper army gear. If Yu Chaozong hadn’t defeated the official army, where had all that equipment come from?

Could it be that Yu Chaozong had been captured by the authorities, and this attack on the stronghold was being mounted in cooperation with the official army?

That reasoning had a surface logic, but it didn’t hold up under scrutiny. If the authorities had captured Yu Chaozong and were using him to assault Yanshan Camp, why bring only a few thousand?

If they were using a decoy force first — sending a few thousand with Yu Chaozong to trick the gate open, with the main army close behind — then the main army should have arrived days ago. Several days had now passed, and no larger official force had materialized. Which could only mean Yu Chaozong genuinely needed to send men back to summon reinforcements.

“Something’s wrong, Commander!”

Someone came sprinting in from outside.

The words *something’s wrong* gave Huangjia a jolt. He demanded: “What is it?!”

The messenger said: “The troops we sent to recall the Dingzhou garrison — they’ve arrived at the foot of the mountain. A few thousand men, flying the Dingzhou banners.”

Huangjia said: “They’re back, fine. Keep the gate shut no matter what. Nothing goes in or out right now.”

The messenger said: “The Dingzhou troops had no idea there were regular army soldiers here. Something must have gone through their heads, because they’ve started fighting the regulars.”

Huangjia’s face changed. He blurted without thinking: “You’re saying the Dingzhou troops and Yu Chaozong’s men are fighting?”

The messenger was baffled — hadn’t the Commander been saying the man with the official army outside was an impostor?

Huangjia caught himself, but couldn’t even be bothered to cover the slip. He saw his man standing there in a daze and demanded: “What exactly is going on — tell me clearly!”

The messenger said: “Our men on the wall saw it from a distance. The Dingzhou troops came back and were heading up the mountain, and the regular army on that side sent out a detachment of a few hundred to block their way. Whoever ordered it on the Dingzhou side seems to have taken it for a real official army interdiction — they opened fire, drove off the few hundred, and then — inexplicably — turned around and charged toward the regular army’s encampment.”

Huangjia, upon hearing this, strode out at speed: “I’ll go see for myself before deciding.”

He ran all the way to the wall, raised his field scope, and looked. Seven or eight li out, the Dingzhou troops were nearly at the regular army’s encampment.

“Looks like there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Someone beside Huangjia said: “The Dingzhou men thought those were real official troops — so it came to blows. Just now the Dingzhou troops were sending people to the gate calling for reinforcements.”

Huangjia turned it over carefully. If he did not send support now, and Yu Chaozong managed to take control of the Dingzhou troops, those several thousand men would swing to Yu Chaozong’s side.

He wouldn’t even need to wait for the army he’d supposedly sent back to summon — two forces joining together outside the walls, and a siege was practically a given.

The moment could not be wasted.

So Huangjia issued the order at once: “With me — we kill our way out and wipe out those regulars!”

The stronghold’s horn rang out. Huangjia was wary that if he sent subordinates to command the sally, they might balk at killing when they saw Yu Chaozong. He led the troops himself, charging down out of Yanshan.

He brought several thousand elite troops, and when he saw a force of barely a hundred riding out to meet him, he didn’t even spare it a glance.

The two forces closed the distance fast. Arrows screamed through the air.

In an instant, Dantai Qi drew level with Huangjia. One stroke — and Huangjia was knocked from his horse.