The style of this battle, the tactics of this battle — it truly opened Li Ren’s eyes to things he had never seen before.

He thought to himself: if he had never left Shu Province, if he had stayed under Commander Pei Qi his whole life, he would probably never have seen a battle fought like this.

In an engagement of this scale — three sides, sixty or seventy thousand troops combined — the Military Governor Wu had taken small stratagems and wielded them to their absolute limit.

Li Ren even found himself wondering: if they won this battle in the end, and future generations spoke of it, would ordinary people laugh and say — look how foolish our enemies were?

But the enemies weren’t truly foolish.

Given these circumstances — outnumbered, outflanked, nearly enveloped from both sides — to have steered the battle into what it was now…

This wasn’t the enemy being foolish. This was Master Wu being extraordinary. It was what ordinary people meant when they said: the bolder the skill, the greater the daring.

“What are you thinking about?”

Master Wu had just withdrawn and found Li Ren standing there in a daze.

Li Ren let out a long breath and said: “Sir’s strategy is beyond imagining.”

Master Wu said: “You think it impressive because you haven’t seen Great General Tang Pidi command troops, or Ning Wang command troops. Ning Wang once said: whether in battle or in any contest, it is all nothing more than one mind reading another mind.”

He gave Li Ren a light pat on the shoulder: “You’re remarkable. I believe you’ll one day become a far greater general than I am.”

Master Wu continued: “Ning Wang also said — everything our eyes have seen, everything our ears have heard — all of it can be absorbed and turned to our use, made into our experience.”

Master Wu smiled: “Go back. Prepare to strike the Sang from behind.”

Li Ren acknowledged and led his men back.

As he walked, he turned over what Master Wu had just said — especially that last line: all of it can be absorbed and turned to our use, made into our experience.

He led his men to a well-hidden position, settled in, and waited for Master Wu’s signal.

It was just then that Li Ren saw a large Sang force coming from behind. He immediately gestured, and everyone concealed themselves.

In the middle of the Sang column, Li Ren spotted at once the figure being escorted from all sides.

The man wore a magnificent suit of armor, extravagant in design. Perhaps because the Sang were generally short in stature, they made their helmets especially large, with bizarre shapes. But the man being escorted at the center stood out plainly from the crowd — because this particular man was tall.

Most of the Sang pirates beside him looked a full head shorter.

He was genuinely tall — no wonder he was chieftain. Compared even to Li Ren and his men, this man was conspicuously large and imposing.

He stopped at a stretch of higher ground and stood there directing the Sang assault.

That must be the pirate leader, Li Ren said to himself.

He considered for a moment, then instructed his subordinates: “Stay here. Don’t move. Watch for Master Wu’s signal.”

And with that, he turned and slipped out through the trees.

He crept close to a small Sang patrol — seven or eight men, picking their way forward with careful steps, chattering among themselves in their tongue.

Li Ren thought to himself that this Sang language really did sound like birdsong. What kind of person had created such a tongue?

He felt the repeating crossbow at his waist, confirmed it was there, drew a deep breath, and leapt out from the side.

Airborne, his repeating crossbow clicked four or five times. Several Sang dropped instantly.

Li Ren landed and loosed a final bolt — straight through the throat of one more pirate, the bolt punching clean through the other side.

One stroke of his saber took another Sang man’s head. A second stroke sheered half of the last man’s body clean away.

From entry to finish — a matter of moments. Seven or eight men, all corpses.

Li Ren dragged the largest of the bodies into shadow and stripped the clothes to put on himself.

Fortunately, Li Ren was not a man of especially powerful build, so the garments just barely fit him.

He chose a helmet and put it on, tucked his own saber out of sight, shoved two Sang sabers into his belt, stood, took a deep breath, and walked straight toward the Sang lines.

Master Wu had said it: everything seen and heard can be turned into experience.

And just now, Master Wu had used the Sang tongue to deceive the Yong Province Army, and deceived the Sang themselves.

That gave Li Ren an idea. He decided to take a risk.

Most Sang pirates were short, but their sabers were no shorter — so many Sang fighters carrying two sabers at their belts had a rather comical look to them.

Li Ren walked a few steps and realized something was wrong: the Sang walked with a bow-legged stride. He imitated it, and after only a short distance his legs were aching badly.

He could well imagine how ridiculous he must look right now.

Yet no one saw through him. When Sang men surged forward, he surged with them. Then he’d find a chance to fall back, and go forward again. After doing this several times, he had somehow worked his way into the heart of the Sang formation.

Li Ren looked up. The Sang pirate chieftain was not far away.

Just as he was looking for a chance to close the distance, a man who also appeared to be a pirate captain came over and said something to the men around him. They all acknowledged and followed the man away.

Li Ren thought that if he didn’t follow, he’d probably be exposed on the spot — so he had no choice but to turn and go with them.

Their group numbered some four or five hundred. They followed the captain back toward the island’s landing area.

The pirate captain pointed at the ships and said something else, and the men began boarding small boats and rowing back.

Li Ren, thoroughly confused, found himself aboard a small boat with them, making sure to stay at the very back to avoid giving himself away.

When they reached the large ship, the men began carrying things down from it. Li Ren noticed they appeared to be a kind of heavy crossbow — not as large as a bolt-throwing siege weapon, but judging from the size of the bolts, it was clearly meant for shipboard use. It could launch something like a harpoon a great distance. The thing would probably be very effective for catching large fish.

Li Ren noticed that the captain himself had not gone back with the others. After directing the men to unload the naval crossbows from various ships, the man looked around furtively and slipped onto one of the vessels.

Li Ren found a moment to break away and quietly followed him.

He followed because the man seemed to hold some rank.

And moreover, the man was taller, with better-fitting clothes, and his helmet was more extravagant — with a full face guard. Once he put that on, there would be no worrying about being identified. That would let him get much closer to the great pirate chieftain.

What Li Ren had not expected was that when this man slipped back to the ship, he had something entirely different in mind.

In the ship’s cabin were several young girls — not Central Plains women, judging by their dress, in styles Li Ren had never seen.

This man, while his comrades were fighting up ahead, was down here doing something foul.

Clearly it was all done on the sly — which suggested these girls had probably been taken by the great chieftain, and this lesser captain didn’t dare go about it openly.

The pirate captain grabbed one of the girls and dragged her aside. The girl went limp with fear, too afraid even to cry out.

She looked back at the other girls, her eyes silently pleading for help.

But the other girls were huddled together in a corner, not daring to move at all.

They all looked young — barely in their teens, by the look of it. All terrified.

Li Ren stepped out without warning and grabbed the pirate captain by the throat.

The man reacted with surprising speed, and with real strength — he shook free instantly and went for his blade.

Li Ren was worried a shout would bring trouble, so his blade was already out.

His draw was far faster than the captain’s. The captain’s blade had barely cleared the scabbard when Li Ren’s saber swept past his throat.

The stroke passed directly over the young girl’s head — so close it sheared away a large patch of her hair.

Li Ren steadied the body so it wouldn’t fall and make noise, then turned to look at the girl.

Oh.

Her scalp was exposed. White. A large bald patch on the top of her head.

The girl probably only noticed a slight cool on her crown. She hadn’t realized her hair was gone.

She stared at him with a face full of terror — understandably, since Li Ren was still wearing the pirate costume.

Li Ren raised a finger to his lips immediately.

And they all understood.

Every one of them instinctively nodded. Two of the girls even raised their hands to cover their mouths, showing in gesture that they would cooperate.

Strange, Li Ren thought. The shush — does that work everywhere?

He had no time to dwell on it. He began stripping the pirate captain’s clothes.

The girls’ eyes grew steadily wider, expressions that could only be described as incredulous.

Li Ren didn’t register it at first — then something clicked in his mind, and he immediately glared at them.

He quickly pulled off his own garments to put the captain’s on, and the girls’ eyes went wider still.

Especially when Li Ren’s torso was bared, revealing a physique cut from iron, six abdominal muscles sharp and defined — the look in their eyes grew even more complicated.

One of the girls, in fact, had an expression that seemed to say: what a pity — such a fine man, and he’s undressing other men.

Li Ren couldn’t be bothered with any of that. He finished changing into the pirate captain’s clothes, then made the shush gesture once more.

The girls all understood immediately, nodding in unison.

Li Ren thought — since he’d found them, he couldn’t just leave them. The ancients had once said: do not neglect a good deed because it seems small, do not commit an evil act because it seems small.

But he couldn’t speak the Sang tongue, so he made the shush gesture, held up two fingers, pointed behind himself, and mimed walking with two fingers.

They understood that too.

One by one they nodded like little birds pecking at grain, and it was honestly a little heartbreaking to see.

Li Ren led them quietly off the ship. The girls stayed close at his heels.

Especially the first one — she grabbed the back of his clothes with both hands and held on.

Li Ren thought: with the girls in tow, he couldn’t go after the pirate chieftain. He’d have to get them somewhere safe first.

He turned his head to try and gesture don’t make a sound, follow me — but the moment he turned and saw that smooth, bare crown — what used to be her head of hair — he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

He had to admit, though, he was rather pleased with the swordsmanship. What a clean cut that was.

He took the girls to a small boat and rowed around to the far side of the nearby island.

The moment they came around, several arrows flew.

Li Ren swept his saber and knocked them all down — two or three of the shafts had been aimed at the girls behind him, about to connect, and his blade struck them away in an instant.

This sight sent the girls lurching between terror and astonishment, which then evolved into something closer to reverence.

“Our own men!” Li Ren shouted loudly. “I’m one of Dao Bing’s people! Rescued a few foreign women!”

The Sang girls all startled when they heard him shout — and only then realized he was a Central Plains man.

—