Yu Chaozong had brought only thirty to forty men with him. Though each was a close personal guard of exceptional martial skill and absolute loyalty, the number of figures closing in was far too great.
“Head toward the summit over there.”
Yu Chaozong pointed toward a direction where the enemy presence appeared thinner and called out. His men began withdrawing in that direction.
The black-clad figures had found them with such precision—they obviously had intelligence. Zhou Daoshou suspected there was a traitor among those beside them, but at this moment there was no time to verify anything. The only option was to break through first and deal with the rest later.
“I’ll clear the path!”
Zhou Daoshou raised his blade and moved forward.
Yu Chaozong stepped in front of him: “Get behind me and keep the brothers safe.”
“Brother!”
Zhou Daoshou’s eyes went red: “You are our Green-Browed Army’s leader—if anything happens to you…”
Yu Chaozong had already charged to the very front, cleaving down a black-clad figure who came at him head-on.
“I’m the elder brother here.”
He fought alone at the front, killing with every stroke.
Zhou Daoshou had no choice but to guard Yu Chaozong’s flanks, intercepting enemies who came charging from the sides.
With the fighting started, the black-clad figures from all around swarmed in. They had encircled on three sides, chosen their positions carefully, and deliberately left the path down the mountain open—their intent was obvious: to drive Yu Chaozong and his men down toward the bottom.
But Yu Chaozong saw through their objective at a glance, and so drove against the tide of men, fighting his way up toward the summit.
A black-clad figure came at Yu Chaozong from above and brought his blade slashing straight down at his head. Yu Chaozong could easily have stepped aside, but from the moment the fighting began he had not once dodged. The enemies charging down from the summit held the high ground; if he evaded, their blades might find the brothers behind him.
So no matter how many enemies attacked, as long as he could block it, he blocked it all.
That descending stroke came with great power and force. Yu Chaozong had just repelled another enemy with one slash, and when he spun back, that blade was already upon him.
Yu Chaozong gritted his teeth, turned his head aside at the last moment—the enemy’s blade caught him on his left shoulder. Even as it landed, his right hand drove his long blade into the enemy’s belly, then pulled it sideways. The man’s abdomen was sliced open.
“Brother!”
Zhou Daoshou shouted and moved to support Yu Chaozong. Yu Chaozong took a step back: “Don’t worry about me. Hold the front for a moment.”
Zhou Daoshou immediately replied and charged to the front to clear the way.
Yu Chaozong tore the sleeve from his left arm, bit one end, grabbed the other with his hand, and wound it several times around the wound, then wrenched it tight with all his strength to stanch the blood flow. He picked up his long blade and charged back in.
“Get behind me!”
Yu Chaozong surged past Zhou Daoshou and continued fighting.
“Brother, let me clear the path!”
Zhou Daoshou shouted with red-rimmed eyes.
Yu Chaozong stepped in front of him: “If I die, you clear the path.”
The wound on Yu Chaozong’s left shoulder was deep. Even with it bound tight, blood still flowed freely. His left arm was covered in tattoos; now smeared with blood, those tattoos looked all the more fearsome and alive—as if the fierce tiger inked on his arm might at any moment transform into a real beast and lunge out to bite.
From the moment they had begun fighting their way upward to now, Yu Chaozong had killed over twenty men. His entire person looked as though it had been washed in blood.
“Watch out!”
Yu Chaozong cut down the enemy in front of him and happened to see a black-clad figure driving a blade toward Zhou Daoshou’s abdomen from the side. Zhou Daoshou was locked in combat with another enemy and hadn’t noticed at all.
Yu Chaozong drove forward with his feet and slammed into the ambushing figure, sending the man tumbling. But a black-clad enemy at his own side immediately brought a blade slashing across his back—from shoulder to lower back, slicing a perfectly straight gash.
“Die!”
Yu Chaozong spun around, swept his blade horizontally, severing the black-clad enemy’s neck clean through. The blood from the neck cavity sprayed out and sent the head rolling to one side. In the shower of blood, Yu Chaozong swept his gaze around him, looking like a wrathful god of war.
“Almost to the summit!”
Yu Chaozong shouted: “Follow me and fight through!”
Those behind him answered him with a shout. They were now completely surrounded—no longer three sides, but besieged on all four. Every man had his hands full. Yu Chaozong alone led the way at the front, cutting a bloody path.
At this point, the summit was still a fair distance away—at least one or two li. Yet Xiahou Zuo and his group were right up at the summit, and by a stroke of extraordinary luck they had managed to avoid all of the black-clad figures’ ambush positions.
At the closest point, only a few dozen zhang separated them from those black-clad figures. But the black-clad figures were charging downward while they were climbing up, and so they passed each other and avoided the encounter.
“What’s that sound?”
Li Diudiu tilted his head and listened.
Xiahou Zuo heard it too. Everyone went quiet, and from below they could faintly make out the sounds of battle, seemingly growing closer.
“Has the fighting actually broken out?”
Xiahou Zuo’s expression shifted as he said: “That shouldn’t be. Could it be that the Green-Browed fighters actually struck first as you predicted? But otherwise the government forces wouldn’t attack the moment they arrived—and besides, this isn’t where the Yan Mountain Camp is located. How could there be fighting here?”
He pulled Li Diudiu: “Come on, back the way we came. Avoid the situation first.”
Li Diudiu made a sound of agreement and followed Xiahou Zuo down the mountain.
If they hadn’t turned back, all would have been well. But they had barely gone any distance before they came face-to-face with a group of black-clad reinforcements—over a hundred of them—heading the other way, running directly into Li Diudiu’s group.
Both sides looked at each other, and immediately gripped their weapons tight.
Xiahou Zuo released his horse’s reins, drew his long blade, pointed it at the black-clad figures and said: “We are officers of the Left Martial Guard, under Prince Wu’s command! Who are you people!”
Upon hearing those words, those black-clad figures were visibly rattled. They exchanged glances, and someone cried out—*go!*—and the whole group immediately ran toward the sounds of battle.
Xiahou Zuo watched them leave and let out a breath: “Is this what they call flying a false flag?”
Li Diudiu said: “As long as it works.”
Neither of them knew what was happening, but they both sensed it must have something to do with the Green-Browed Army. Staying clear of this kind of affair was the right call—getting down the mountain as fast as possible was the only sensible move.
But they had barely gone about ten or more zhang before the sounds of battle behind them were suddenly right there. Li Diudiu and his group immediately raised their blades in readiness—and then they saw over ten blood-soaked figures come chasing after those black-clad figures they had just passed.
That group that had just passed had numbered close to a hundred. Those pursuing them were barely ten—and every single one of them had their clothes soaked through with blood, probably all bearing wounds already. Yet those ten-odd men fought like savage beasts, and the black-clad figures were already broken in spirit.
Especially the man at the very front. His left arm had no sleeve, and that arm appeared unable to muster its full strength. Yet the tattoos on that arm, smeared over with blood, seemed to have been brought to life—as if the fierce tiger on that arm might at any moment transform into a real beast and leap out to bite.
“Out of the way, bystanders!”
Zhou Daoshou saw another group ahead, but could tell at a glance they were not the same as those black-clad figures—these people wore full armor and had horses, clearly from the government army side. And they didn’t appear to be making any move to attack.
Xiahou Zuo pulled Li Diudiu back a few steps and said in a low voice: “Don’t get involved. This has nothing to do with us.”
Li Diudiu made a sound of agreement. But his full attention was fixed on the blood-drenched man at the front.
That man carried a long blade. His body was clearly covered with wounds all over, his clothes hacked through in many places. Yet he still charged at the very front.
He heard someone calling that man *Brother*, and others shouting *General Leader*. In an instant Li Diudiu thought: could this man possibly be the one called the Green-Browed Heavenly King—Yu Chaozong?
Yu Chaozong charged forward with all his might, cut down a fleeing black-clad figure, then let the blade descend—in the moment the blade-tip angled downward, he kicked sharply against the flat of the blade, sending it sliding forward, and with a soft sound sliced clean through the fallen man’s neck. The head immediately rolled away.
Xiahou Zuo raised a hand to cover Li Diudiu’s eyes. Li Diudiu moved his hand away and kept watching the man in the lead.
In that moment, Li Diudiu felt an inexplicable sensation in his heart. That man was the elder brother, yet he always charged at the very front. But this—this was what an elder brother was supposed to be.
Suddenly a figure leapt down from a nearby tree, long blade slashing toward Yu Chaozong. For no reason at all—no thought involved, pure reflex—Li Diudiu bent down, picked up a stone, and hurled it. The stone struck the black-clad man squarely in the chest and sent him flying.
Even Zhou Daoshou, who had just lunged to Yu Chaozong’s side, was momentarily stunned. By reflex he looked up—a stone of at least a hundred jin or more had just flown past his head.
In that instant, Zhou Daoshou had time to think: what had that boy just thrown?
What in the hell kind of boy was he?
But he had no time for idle thoughts. More black-clad figures came charging from the flank. From the moment they had first appeared until now, the enemy’s numbers were probably six or seven hundred in total—and more seemed to still be on their way.
That this was not meticulously planned—even a ghost would not believe it.
Xiahou Zuo saw Li Diudiu hurl that stone and was startled. He immediately pulled Li Diudiu behind him.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Li Diudiu said apologetically: “I don’t know what I was doing, I just… couldn’t hold back.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “No more acting out. I’ve already said this has nothing to do with us.”
Li Diudiu made a sound of agreement and stood behind Xiahou Zuo, still watching that figure drenched in blood charging forward. As the man swept past where Li Diudiu stood, he even found time to shout over to Li Diudiu: *Many thanks!*
In that moment, Li Diudiu got a clear look at that blood-smeared face—and in that same moment, Yu Chaozong committed this boy’s face to memory.
Their eyes met for only an instant. Li Diudiu’s gaze immediately shifted to another direction. Ahead, several black-clad figures had climbed into the trees and were drawing their bows, taking aim at the man leading the charge.
Without any deliberation whatsoever, in an instant Li Diudiu unslung his repeating crossbow and fired in rapid succession at the several figures in the trees. Between one flash of lightning and the next, his bolts arrived first—those black-clad figures fell from the trees before they could loose their arrows.
Yu Chaozong heard the sound and glanced sideways, then turned back to look at Li Diudiu once more. He shouted at the top of his voice: “If I do not die today, I will repay this great debt of gratitude!”
Then, blade in hand, he continued charging and fighting.
The group swept past where Xiahou Zuo and Li Diudiu stood and quickly vanished into the forest’s depths. Li Diudiu was still standing there in a daze looking after them. Xiahou Zuo raised his hand and rapped him on the head.
“You don’t listen at all!”
Li Diudiu laughed sheepishly: “What just happened? I suddenly drifted into a trance—it felt as if some spirit had taken hold of my body. That last moment was definitely not me; I didn’t do anything.”
Xiahou Zuo: “Hah!”
Li Diudiu said: “Let’s go, let’s go—if not now, when?”
Xiahou Zuo snorted and then ordered: “What just happened—not one of you breathes a word of it!”
His subordinates answered in unison: “Yes!”
Xiahou Zuo walked along and looked toward the great stone in the distance. He simply could not hold back and asked: “How did you throw it that far?”
Li Diudiu shrugged: “The spirit that possessed me just now must have been extraordinarily powerful. It wasn’t me—I don’t know—it has nothing to do with me.”
—