“Sir, don’t take everything upon yourself. In the end, you’re only human—how could you possibly anticipate everything? Moreover, these days you’ve exhausted yourself mentally and physically.”
Liu Hongji gazed at Luoyang City in the distance and said bitterly, “Even with all my mental efforts, I still haven’t helped His Majesty capture Luoyang. I’ve truly failed as a strategist.”
Du Ruhui consoled him, “Without you, Sir, our losses would certainly be far greater than now. I believe His Majesty’s heart is also filled with gratitude toward you.”
Liu Hongji smiled bitterly, then looked at the barely visible figure on the city walls with apprehension, “I hope Heaven will quickly send strong winds blowing toward Luoyang. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us.”
Du Ruhui followed his gaze and probed, “Are you worried that Li Jiancheng will see through our strategy?”
“Correct.” Liu Hongji said gravely, “Once he moves the catapults down, this move can no longer be made.”
Indeed, seeing Li Jiancheng still standing on the city walls without leaving, they knew he must already be suspicious. Now it was a race between the east wind’s arrival and Li Jiancheng discovering their strategy.
At this moment, all Du Ruhui could do was pray that Heaven would quickly send the east wind to help them capture Luoyang!
On the city walls, Li Yuanji sneered, “I thought they planned to keep committing suicide like this—turns out they know when to stop.” Saying this, he added, “There’s nothing more to see. Elder brother, let’s go.”
Li Jiancheng nodded and descended the city walls with him, though his heart still harbored doubts, feeling Liu Hongji’s purpose wasn’t so simple.
Also, why did each soldier bind something to his body before strapping on the kite? When the first one died, they untied it and bound it to the second and even third person. This thing must be very important, but… what exactly was it?
Just as they finished the last step, cold wind came howling from somewhere. Li Yuanji hunched his shoulders, “The wind’s picking up!”
“Yes.” Li Jiancheng casually agreed. As he was about to leave, his body suddenly shuddered, then he quickly rushed back up the city walls, leaving Li Yuanji baffled, “Elder brother, what’s wrong?”
Li Jiancheng didn’t answer him, only ran toward the city walls at top speed. Seeing something was wrong, Li Yuanji quickly followed. Before even reaching the top, he heard Li Jiancheng’s panicked voice, “Quickly move the catapults and crossbow carts down! Quickly!”
Since following Li Jiancheng to Luoyang, Li Yuanji had never heard such panic in his voice. He hurried up, “Elder brother, why move the catapults and crossbow carts for no reason?”
Li Jiancheng ignored him and roared at the soldiers still standing there dumbly, “Are you all deaf? Move them! I said move them!”
Under his fierce roar, the soldiers came to their senses and hurried to move the catapults and crossbow carts. But these things were enormous—not something that could be moved at will. Plus with the urgent wind now, it felt like people might be blown over. After great effort, they had only moved one down.
Li Jiancheng kept urging them on, with unprecedented panic on his face. Li Yuanji had no doubt that if he had a whip in hand, he would be lashing those soldiers mercilessly.
“Elder brother, what’s happening?” Faced with Li Yuanji’s repeated questioning, Li Jiancheng caught his breath and pointed at the platform across from them, “See for yourself!”
Li Yuanji focused his gaze and saw that at some point, someone had climbed the opposite platform and was strapping a kite to himself. But that was all there was to it.
Li Yuanji said dismissively, “If they want to seek death, that’s their business. Why bother with them?”
Li Jiancheng said coldly, “Once they fly into Luoyang City, we’ll be the ones who die!”
“How could that be? Never mind just one or two people—even a hundred wouldn’t matter. I alone could kill them all!”
Faced with Li Yuanji’s words, Li Jiancheng’s eyes turned cold, “What if they have gunpowder strapped to their bodies?”
Li Yuanji looked confused, “What gunpowder?”
Li Jiancheng raised his hand, “Though I can’t see clearly, I’m certain what’s bound to their bodies must be gunpowder. The reason they kept testing was to bring gunpowder into Luoyang City. It’s just that without wind before, they fell to the ground exhausted before reaching Luoyang. Now… the east wind has risen. With this wind’s power, they might actually reach the city walls!”
Li Yuanji was stunned for a moment, then said, “Even if it really is gunpowder, it couldn’t possibly…”
“Couldn’t possibly capture Luoyang?” Li Jiancheng sneered, “Luoyang’s greatest reliance is on the catapults and crossbow carts before you. Once they’re destroyed, it won’t be long before the Tang army breaks into Luoyang!”
Hearing this, Li Yuanji’s face also turned pale with horror, “So that’s it! This Liu Hongji is truly sinister to the extreme.” Saying this, he joined Li Jiancheng in constantly urging the soldiers to hurry and move everything down. Preserving these weapons meant preserving Luoyang City and preserving themselves!
As Luoyang soldiers busily moved things down from the city, the soldier on the platform had finished preparations. The fire starter was clutched tightly in his hand—as soon as he landed on Luoyang’s walls, he would immediately detonate the gunpowder on his body!
Below, Du Ruhui saw the unusual activity on Luoyang’s walls and said solemnly, “Sir, they seem to have discovered us. We must act quickly, or it’ll be too late.”
“I know!” Liu Hongji tested the wind direction again and said to a soldier beside him, “Give the signal!”
“Yes!” The soldier responded, raised the small red flag in his hand, then swung it down forcefully. The soldier on the platform had been watching the activity below. Seeing the flag swing down, he immediately took a deep breath and leaped from the platform, using the wind’s power to fly toward Luoyang City.
Just as Liu Hongji had predicted, with the east wind’s assistance, this soldier didn’t fall to the ground after gliding just a dozen zhang like his predecessors. The fierce wind was like an invisible hand, pushing him toward Luoyang.
The moment the soldier leaped from the platform, Li Jiancheng’s pupils immediately constricted. Despite all his urgent commands, they had only moved down two catapults and one crossbow cart—the vast majority were still on the city walls with no time to move. If there was an explosion…
No, he absolutely couldn’t let this happen!
Thinking this, Li Jiancheng snatched the bow and arrow from a soldier’s hands, aimed at the soldier flying over on the kite, and in the next moment, the arrow flew with sharp wind-cutting sounds, accurately hitting the soldier’s abdomen. But surprisingly, the arrow didn’t penetrate the soldier’s body—it fell down instead.
Seeing this scene, Li Jiancheng couldn’t help but be stunned. He had clearly hit the target, even tearing the clothes, so why did it fall? This defied logic. Only when he saw the black material exposed through the soldier’s torn clothing did he understand—the soldier was wearing close-fitting armor, thus escaping death under his arrow.