HomeGeneral Chang NingChang Ning - Chapter 36

Chang Ning – Chapter 36

Just moments before, Jiang Hanyuan had been a relentless hunter pursuing her prey, persistent and unyielding, taking pleasure in the chase. But in the brief period that followed, she had become the hunted. The difference was that the arrows she shot were headless shafts—when the deer was struck down, it could still escape. When it came to her turn, she wasn’t so fortunate.

She had been tightly pursued by Chi Shu and his men, fleeing for two days and three nights, never able to completely shake off their relentless tracking. Traveling this way, the surrounding mountains, forests, and waterways gradually lost all traces of human modification, becoming utterly desolate.

She knew she had left the Imperial Hunting Grounds and entered completely wild territory. Around her stretched barren mountains and wild forests, with intersecting valleys and no signs of human habitation.

Chi Shu’s mount carried saddlebags containing some dried provisions and preserved meats—the basics for maintaining strength. She dared not consume everything, rationing it carefully, eating only a small portion each day. The remainder she supplemented with wild fruits to stave off hunger. Horse hoofprints, droppings, and the traces left by the horse grazing on vegetation along the way all increased the risk of being tracked. Yesterday, after encountering another mountain slope with dense forests, she abandoned the horse and entered the woods alone.

Chi Shu and his men searched the mountains for another full day. Among his subordinates were the finest trackers capable of following trails, yet in the end, they only found the mount that had originally belonged to Chi Shu. After Jiang Hanyuan entered the mountains, she had completely vanished, leaving no trace to be found.

Another dusk was falling. She was like an alert and wary prey, always giving the hunters behind her hope, but when they drew near, they discovered it was merely an illusion.

It had been a full two days and three nights.

Nu Gan looked back at the path their group had traveled. The wilderness and valleys lay quietly in the blood-red colors of the setting sun, with wind stirring the grass, but not a single human figure was visible. The feeling of unease and anxiety in his heart grew ever stronger, and he couldn’t help but speak up again, carefully and cautiously advising: “Southern Prince, darkness is falling again. This Wei woman is skilled at concealing her tracks—we may not find her tomorrow either. She holds a high position; if she doesn’t return for days, the Wei people won’t ignore it. I fear pursuers have already caught up behind us. If we delay further and are discovered ourselves, it would be a loss that outweighs any gain. Better to abandon this and travel by night, returning home as soon as possible.”

The Great Di Dynasty had seized vast territories, including Yan, You, and Yun, along with their populations, from the former Jin Kingdom. But in the ambitious Sixth Prince’s view, this was only the beginning—his goal was to march south and devour Wei, making the Han people bow in submission. He had long wanted to personally enter Wei territory to closely observe the geography, customs, and the Regent Prince who now effectively controlled the Wei court. Last winter, learning that the Wei garrison commander of Yanmen, Jiang Zuwang, was marrying his daughter, a female general, to the Regent Prince, he set out. His group disguised themselves and scattered, secretly following and infiltrating the border.

Not leaving now, staying in this place even a moment longer, would increase their danger by one degree.

Chi Shu stood beside a clump of wild thorns, his eyes fixed intently on the mountain forest opposite in the twilight, suddenly saying: “Set fires! I don’t believe she won’t come out!”

Nu Gan was alarmed: “No! That’s too dangerous. What if the fires attract the Wei people!”

Chi Shu said coldly: “As long as we can force her to show herself, with so many of you here, surely you can catch her? Not to mention I’m here too! Her value is so great, it’s worth taking any risk!”

He turned his head to look behind him, snorted, and said: “In this wilderness, the Wei people may not even be able to follow us. Even if they truly are behind us, once we capture her, we’ll leave immediately, taking wild paths and circling north. Even with three heads and six arms, they couldn’t catch up. Besides, we’ll have her!”

His words were decisive, carrying a tone that brooked no disagreement.

Nu Gan and the rest knew that he always meant what he said. Since he had spoken thus, they dared not argue further. Thinking it over, his reasoning had some merit. They exchanged glances and acted according to his words. Finally, they selected a mountain pass suitable for blocking escape routes—single paths on both sides, with a mountain cliff not far ahead and a deep valley below.

Everyone carried fire-starting materials. After selecting the location, they spread out in all directions, igniting the dry grass and thorns along the mountain base in other directions. The fire followed the wind, roaring as it rolled up the mountain wall through the vegetation. Soon it grew larger and larger, the blaze becoming terrifying.

Jiang Hanyuan was hiding halfway up the mountain, having found a relatively safe and concealed spot. She was just waiting for the sun to completely set so she could rest tonight.

She desperately needed proper rest. Chi Shu and his men were like hyenas—once they caught the scent of blood, they couldn’t be shaken off. During the past three nights, even while resting, her mind remained in a state of extreme tension. Any slight sound of wind or rustling grass nearby would cause her to open her eyes. Today, during daylight, they had pursued her even more closely. Several times, she could even hear their voices carried on the wind. Her entire being dared not relax in the slightest. Now, slightly relaxing, waves of fatigue and hunger surged over her.

The dried provisions had been finished last night. From morning through the entire day, she had eaten only a few wild fruits she’d randomly spotted along the way. Now she had only one last strip of dried horse meat remaining.

Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she sat in a recessed area of the mountain wall where she planned to spend the night. She took out the dried meat and gnawed on a few bites. She was reluctant to finish it all and didn’t dare to. She didn’t know how much longer Chi Shu would pursue her before giving up. This was her last source of strength for what lay ahead. Unless necessary, she still didn’t want to eat raw creatures like mountain mice.

She leaned against the mountain wall, eyes closed, slowly chewing the coarse and hard horse meat while waiting for darkness to fall. Suddenly, she heard a series of bird cries from overhead—unusual sounds, as if something significant had happened below. She swallowed the food in one gulp, hid the remainder on her person, then immediately opened her eyes, quickly rising to investigate.

Below her feet, thick smoke was billowing up from all directions. With the wind’s assistance, flames devoured the dry thorns and withered wood with crackling sounds, like a rising tide rapidly spreading up the mountain toward her.

Jiang Hanyuan was startled, not expecting that Chi Shu would resort to such tactics to force her to reveal herself.

Jiang Hanyuan faced the smoke and fire rising throughout the mountain, standing in place for a moment before reaching for the strip of horse meat she had just hidden away, slowly taking a bite.

Around and above her, countless birds and beasts originally dwelling in the mountains had been frightened out by the fire, all fleeing in panic and confusion.

She finished eating everything, then followed the slope line where fire had not yet spread, searching for footing as she made her way down. As soon as she appeared at the base of the mountain, figures emerged from left and right directions, blocking her path.

She stopped, raising her eyes to look ahead, meeting the gaze of the Beidi Sixth Prince Chi Shu.

Behind her, the mountain fire blazed fiercely, gradually closing in on the mountain body she had just descended. Soon, it would consume that as well. The firelight cast upon his face, making his eyes glow red, the eager, extremely excited gaze of a hungry beast that had finally encountered its desired prey.

“I want her alive!”

He issued a command from his mouth. This was a confident command of certain victory. Except for Nu Gan, who continued standing beside him, his remaining eleven subordinates began closing in on Jiang Hanyuan.

Jiang Hanyuan took a step forward, continuing ahead. Chi Shu stood outside the encirclement that trapped her, watching her, his face showing a trace of amused smile like one observing a caged animal.

Two of his subordinates blocked her path ahead, cutting off her route and lunging toward her.

He watched her stop and fight with these two men. Several more came up from behind, and her back took a heavy elbow strike. Her body responded to the force, lurching forward and falling to the ground.

The smile on Chi Shu’s lips grew thicker.

The two men closest to her were also delighted, stepping forward to completely subdue her. But the fallen Jiang Hanyuan suddenly rolled over, raising her arms toward the two men and opening her tightly clenched fists.

The two handfuls of dirt and sand she had been concealing in her palms now scattered out completely, fine soil and grit flying into the two men’s eyes. They cried out loudly, stopping to cover their eyes, unable to open them.

Then, without a moment’s pause, before the remaining men could react, Jiang Hanyuan leaped up from the ground. Taking advantage of this opening, she pressed forward and broke through the encirclement, leaving the men behind her as she drew her dagger and charged straight toward Chi Shu.

Nu Gan, standing beside Chi Shu, was startled. He hadn’t expected such a sudden change.

Three days ago, he had witnessed her technique in using a dagger to kill their companion, knowing she was extremely skilled with blades. He immediately stepped in front of Chi Shu, then drew his sword, swinging the back of the blade toward her in a crushing blow.

Under Chi Shu’s command, he was always known for his tremendous strength, and the back of his blade was extremely thick and heavy. This crushing blow carried such force it was like Mount Tai pressing down.

Jiang Hanyuan blocked the sword with her dagger and was immediately shocked, until blood flowed from her palm. She couldn’t hold onto the dagger, which flew from her hand and landed on the ground nearby.

Nu Gan, having succeeded with one strike, saw her turning toward the dagger with obvious intent to retrieve it. How could he give her a second chance to grip the blade? He rushed forward to kick it away, but didn’t expect that she would change direction midway, abandoning the dagger.

The reason Jiang Hanyuan had just used her dagger to forcibly absorb the power of the sword strike, preferring to have blood flow from her palm rather than dodge, was precisely to use the dagger to divert this man’s attention.

When the opportunity arose, she didn’t pause for a moment, charging forward courageously and pouncing toward Chi Shu again. Only then did Nu Gan understand that he had fallen for her trick. Both shocked and angry, when he tried to protect his master, it was already too late. In the blink of an eye, this Wei female general had reached Chi Shu’s side.

By the time Nu Gan turned back and the remaining men rushed forward, Jiang Hanyuan was already grappling with Chi Shu.

She clearly understood that the time left to her was brief. If she couldn’t subdue her opponent within a few exchanges, once all his men arrived, all that awaited her would be capture without resistance.

Only by fighting desperately to the death, using her life to gamble for a chance!

Chi Shu hadn’t completely recovered from his initial confidence. Under her fierce attack that was almost mutual destruction in nature, his response was passive. In a moment of carelessness, she managed to twist one of his arms behind him and press his face to the ground, temporarily immobilizing him.

He gritted his teeth and tried several times, but his left arm remained firmly pinned behind his back, twisted tightly with no way to break free.

Jiang Hanyuan’s goal was to knock him unconscious to use as a hostage.

His subordinates had already drawn near.

The opportunity left to her was running out. Just as she was about to strike his head heavily, at that moment Chi Shu suddenly roared, raised his head and chest, and struggled with all his might. Using his advantages in height and build, he endured the severe pain of having his arm pinned and forcibly knocked Jiang Hanyuan, who had been on top, to the ground.

Then, as Jiang Hanyuan quickly rolled over trying to get up, he threw himself on her again, using his knee to pin down her throat.

His face still bore some distortion from the severe pain of having his arm forced back. While continuing to press down firmly on this Wei female general’s breathing to prevent her from resisting, he turned back toward his subordinates and roared: “Come up! Seize her!”

Just as he turned back to call for help, Jiang Hanyuan suddenly raised her arm, pulled out a hairpin from the topknot on his head, and stabbed it into his throat.

It was an ordinary bronze hairpin, its head not as sharp as a dagger, but with enough force applied, it was sufficient to pierce the skin.

Chi Shu felt pain in his throat as blood flowed out. His form paused for a moment, and Jiang Hanyuan immediately freed herself, turning from guest to host. One arm encircled his throat while her other hand gripped the pin, its head still embedded in the flesh of his throat.

“Bring horses!” she shouted.

This sudden change left Nu Gan and the remaining men standing around them, neither daring to continue forward nor go to fetch horses. They all looked toward Chi Shu.

Chi Shu gritted his teeth: “You can’t escape!”

“Then let’s try! Today, at worst, I’ll perish here together with the Southern Prince—I won’t lose out!”

Tremendous disappointment and rage caused Chi Shu’s face to contort. He exerted force, attempting to break free. Jiang Hanyuan didn’t hesitate—the hand gripping the pin pressed down harder, and blood immediately began trickling from around the pin’s head.

“Be careful, Southern Prince!” Nu Gan and the others were alarmed at the sight and cried out in unison.

“If the pin in my hand goes down another half inch, it will reach your windpipe. Sixth Prince, your life is precious—I advise you to cherish it. If you die, not to mention other matters, your Southern Prince’s mansion will change hands.” Jiang Hanyuan spoke calmly and lightly, her composure unshaken.

The mountain fire burned larger and larger, the roaring flames dyeing the nearby sky red and making people’s skin burn hot, their hair tips curling from the heat.

Chi Shu remained frozen in place, his hands tightly clenched into fists, his gaze flickering uncertainly. Nu Gan and the others were drenched in sweat, not even daring to breathe too heavily, fearing they might startle this Wei female general. If the pin in her hand penetrated even slightly deeper, the Southern Prince might truly breathe his last here today. They wanted to find opportunities to rescue their master, but their opponent was a veteran of many battlefields whose hands were stained with countless amounts of blood. Where could they find an opportunity to easily turn the tables?

Just as the standoff continued, suddenly a roaring sound reached their ears—angry sounds that shook the mountain valley.

Everyone turned back to see a magnificent striped tiger emerging from one end of the mountain base. With beasts fleeing in all directions, this tiger must also have been driven out by the mountain fire. Suddenly encountering people, its blood-red eyes flashing, it pounced toward them.

Nu Gan and the others were greatly alarmed. It ran extremely fast, reaching them in an instant. The person closest to it raised his blade to stab, but was struck by the tiger’s paw. Its claws raked across him, and amid screams, the man’s chest and abdomen were torn open with a section of intestine spilling out.

“Get bows and crossbows to shoot it!”

Nu Gan shouted fiercely at his companions while charging forward himself. While dodging the tiger’s pouncing and clawing, he fought desperately to block it. After just a few moves, he too was bitten on the arm by the great beast, which tore off a chunk of flesh and skin. Nu Gan was forced to roll away to avoid it. The beast roared and continued pouncing toward Jiang Hanyuan and Chi Shu.

Jiang Hanyuan also hadn’t expected such an accident. Having no choice, she released her grip and dodged aside.

At this moment, Nu Gan got up and, along with companions who had brought bows and crossbows, rushed to Chi Shu’s front, quickly forming ranks and shooting at the tiger. Sharp and powerful crossbow bolts continuously shot toward the tiger. Only after the tiger’s body was struck by several arrows did it finally retreat and flee.

“I’m fine! Chase after her!”

At this moment, Chi Shu was still staring intently at Jiang Hanyuan. He leaped up from the ground and roared fiercely.

There were Chi Shu’s men on both left and right, all armed with long spears. She was empty-handed without a hostage—it was no longer possible to force her way through.

Jiang Hanyuan ran quickly to the mountain cliff and stopped.

She turned around.

Behind her, Chi Shu and his remaining men had already pursued closely, once again trapping her in the middle.

Chi Shu panted, raising his hand to roughly wipe his still-stinging throat. He looked at the blood staining his palm, slowly raised his eyes, and stared at the woman standing before the cliff.

Firelight reflected on her face, making it glow brilliantly.

“Jiang Hanyuan! Today, even Heaven is helping me—you have no way out!” His face showed a trace of a malicious smile mixed with satisfaction.

Jiang Hanyuan turned her head to look at the cliff wall below her. Without hesitation, she leaped down.

“Catch her—”

Chi Shu roared and lunged forward, reaching out to grab her, but grasped only empty air.

He stopped at the cliff’s edge, looking down to see that figure tumbling rapidly down the steep slope like a kite that had lost control, falling and rolling. In the blink of an eye, she was obscured by protruding rocks on the cliff face and disappeared from view.

Chi Shu flew into a rage, cursing coarsely while drawing his blade to hack violently at the rock wall several times. The blade’s edge curled and sparked against the stone.

His hair disheveled and eyes blood-red, he paced back and forth on the cliff for a few steps, then suddenly issued an order: “Go down there! You must find her! Alive, I want to see the person, dead, I want to see the corpse!”

Although this cliff wall wasn’t completely vertical, without ropes to climb down, with the slope angle from above, it would be fundamentally impossible for a person to climb down—unless they tumbled down like that Wei female general had just done. But even if the tumbling was harmless, who knew what the terrain of the valley below might be like? The risk was too enormous, the possibility of emerging unscathed too small.

Nu Gan looked at Chi Shu’s blood-red eyes, his heart burning with anxiety. Disregarding his wounds, he fell to his knees with a thud: “Southern Prince, please reconsider! Don’t chase down there anymore! If we don’t leave now, I fear we won’t be able to escape!” After speaking, he knocked his head against the ground repeatedly. Several other subordinates besides him also knelt to plead.

Chi Shu panted, standing in place for a moment. He looked once more at the deep cliff below, his eyelids twitching several times. Finally, gritting his teeth, he said: “Go.”

Nu Gan breathed a sigh of relief, immediately rising from the ground and quickly gathering the men and horses. They killed the companion who had been injured by the tiger and obviously couldn’t be taken along, to prevent him from being captured and revealing their whereabouts if he survived. After disposing of him, just as they were about to leave, suddenly the sound of frantic barking reached their ears. Listening further, it seemed like a large group of people and horses was approaching this location. It was just that the wind and fire sounds here had been too loud earlier, masking and concealing it, so they hadn’t noticed.

One of his companions riding at the front suddenly seemed to be nailed in place, his body rigidly upright on horseback, motionless. After several breaths, the man fell straight backward with a “bang,” toppling headfirst from his horse.

At his heart was deeply embedded an arrow shot from the opposite direction.

Nu Gan raised his head to look.

In the direction of the opposite mountain base, dozens of fine, sturdy hounds were barking wildly, rushing to the sides under their handlers’ control. On the path, a cavalry unit was galloping rapidly toward them, reaching them in an instant. The mountain fire illuminated the face of the man in the center—in the firelight, his features were stern and cold. Nu Gan recognized him. Although he had only glimpsed him once from a distance while hiding in a crowd, this face was one he could never mistake.

It was none other than the current Regent Prince of Wei, Lord Qi Shu Shenhui!

His expression changed drastically as he turned back to shout frantically: “Protect the young master! Go quickly!”

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