The Tuyuhun Elder shook his head sadly and said: “He won’t let any of us go. We know the Tang people’s nature all too well. Since we offended them first, your death alone has no meaning. If you insist on doing this, then let me accompany you.”

Tu Shi sat down, pulled a blade of grass from a crack in the rocks and put it in his mouth, saying indifferently: “We’re not going to surrender—we’re going to fight. Yun Ye is hiding in his turtle shell, and we have no way to deal with him at all. Although I know very clearly that if we also had gunpowder and those eight-ox crossbows, we could definitely smash open this turtle shell, but the reality is we don’t have them. When the soldiers first saw gunpowder, they scattered without even fighting. Slowly adapting until now, they’re no longer afraid of those loud sounds.”

“What use is not being afraid? Gunpowder bombs will still take their lives. Yun Ye’s victories are built on the might of these weapons. Even if he wins, it’s not glorious.”

As Tu Shi spoke, he pulled a gunpowder bomb from his chest and placed it before the Elder, saying: “We’ve collected over thirty gunpowder bombs like this—all ones that didn’t explode after hitting the ground. We opened a few to carefully study what demon was inside. The result was that we found only some black charcoal powder, nothing special at all. But as long as it gets near fire and is ignited, it burns fiercely, and there’s also a sulfur stench that comes out.”

“I used all kinds of charcoal plus sulfur and tested it countless times, yet still couldn’t fathom the mystery within. I’ll have Dieli take this thing to show Helu and tell him not to think about eastern conquest before figuring this thing out. It will make our Turkic people bleed their last drop of blood.”

Having given his instructions, he stood up, patted the dirt off himself, mounted his warhorse, and said to his trusted general Dieli: “Use your life to be loyal to Helu. I’m going.”

Knowing that Tu Shi was going to seek death, the Golden Wolf Banner under his command still didn’t abandon him. The Great Elder of Tuyuhun also put on armor, grasped a long spear in his hand, and followed behind Tu Shi.

People continuously ran out from Dieli’s large force to catch up with Tu Shi, and occasionally a few people ran out from Tu Shi’s force to join Dieli’s force. No one laughed, and no one spoke mockingly. Whether preparing to seek death or preparing to go on the western campaign, staying alive wouldn’t be easy for either group.

It wasn’t until the two military formations had completely separated that Tu Shi turned back and smiled as he looked at his subordinates. He pulled out another gunpowder bomb from his chest and said loudly to his men: “Please help me, please assist me, please give me a chance to get close to the Camel City, to return this gunpowder bomb to the Tang people!”

He no longer prayed for Tengri’s protection—he only wanted to obtain courage from his comrades-in-arms.

Cheng Chumo’s cavalry saw from afar this force of only five thousand men. They were a mixed infantry-cavalry force, not even maintaining basic military formation, marching straight and slowly toward the direction of the Camel City.

Unable to figure it out, Cheng Chumo personally witnessed prominent figures like Tu Shi and the Tuyuhun Great Elder within the military formation. After carefully observing for a full day without discovering anything wrong, this force nevertheless made Cheng Chumo feel an enormous threat.

Two small-scale probing attacks both ended in failure. The Turks seemed not to care about their own lives at all. As soon as combat began, it was immediately trading life for life. One squad desperately held up large shields to block crossbow bolts for their companions, while another squad would quickly engage the Tang army in close combat. Although many Turks died, both of Cheng Chumo’s small squads were also crippled.

Just as Cheng Chumo was preparing to grit his teeth and order a full assault, Yun Ye’s command arrived, ordering him to clear the road and invite Tu Shi to come, as he himself would wait for him on the Camel City.

The Camel City began to move, transforming from the initial circular formation into a twin-dragon formation. This was an offensive and defensive formation—two arms extending far out were like two iron fists that could not only strike people but also embrace together to strangle enemies alive in their grasp.

Yun Ye sat at the bottom of the concave formation, holding his telescope and watching the unhurried Turks as he asked Du Ruhui: “You’re also well-traveled and experienced. Have you ever seen such a bizarre scene as this?”

Du Ruhui was also watching the Turks. After confirming that both Tu Shi and the Tuyuhun Great Elder were in the military formation, he said to Yun Ye: “Never seen it, never seen anything like this. They’re seeking death.”

“Logically speaking, Tu Shi hasn’t reached the point of seeking his own destruction. As long as he leads his army into Shache, we can only halt our horses at the border and just watch. A general conquering another country must have the imperial seal—this is an ironclad rule. Tu Shi has fought the Great Tang for many years and couldn’t possibly not understand this principle. What reason made him choose self-destruction?”

Yun Ye took the bamboo tube that had slid down from the hot air balloon, opened it and read it, then said to Du Ruhui: “I think I may understand what’s going on. Tu Shi is praying for life.”

“Praying for life? Whose life is he praying for? He can’t even protect his own life—who can he care about at this time?” Du Ruhui thought for a moment and asked strangely.

“He wants to pray for the lives of the Turks who left. He knows we’ve marked him for death. No matter where he goes, we’ll follow him there. This way, even if they fight all the way west to the edge of heaven, we’ll still be following behind them. This way, it’s no different from the current situation. To let his tribespeople escape, this fellow has placed a heavy bet this time—gambling that we’re unwilling to kill all the Turks and want to rely on them to assault the west and restrain potential enemies. Minister Du, your rank is higher. Do you think they can win this gamble?”

Du Ruhui thought for a while and waved his hand: “You’re the commander-in-chief here, so naturally everything is up to you. This old man is just a guest minister in the army. When have you ever heard of a guest minister commanding a great army?”

“Fine, it looks like you’re planning to play the bodhisattva. Why must I always bear the bad reputation? You often say you’re already half-buried, so can’t you help this youngster shoulder the bad reputation of letting the enemy escape?”

Yun Ye was very dissatisfied. In other people’s armies, there were always some unrelated people helping the commander take the blame. He’d heard that Wei Zheng in Yunzhong even shouldered the bad reputation of buying Shiwei women for Li Zhi. Why was it always his own bad luck when it came to him?

Du Ruhui shook his head: “No good, I can’t bear this blame. If something goes wrong, at most you’ll get scolded. If this old man takes it on, believe it or not, even my ancestral grave might not be preserved.”

Tu Shi’s army directly ignored the two extended arms and came straight to the city. When they were still a hundred paces from the Camel City, they were stopped by a ranging arrow. He advanced no further and shouted loudly toward Yun Ye standing on the battlements: “I am Ashina Duguzhu Tu Shi!”

Yun Ye stood before the large speaking trumpet and said loudly: “Identity verified!”

“Good, then I’m attacking the city now!” Tu Shi nodded seriously. With a wave of his hand, the army behind him surged toward the wall where Yun Ye stood.

“Eight-ox crossbows, elevation one, fire! Strong crossbows, free volleys!” Seeing the enemy begin their attack, Liu Zhengwu strictly organized defensive fire according to regulations. No fire oil bombs, no gunpowder bombs—what flew out from the dark firing ports were purely crossbow spears and strong crossbow bolts.

The Turks’ large shields were pierced by crossbow spears. The soldiers behind the shields were lifted into the air by the thick crossbow spears. Even so, the tide of Turkic people continued to slowly struggle forward.

The first row of men was swept away by the eight-ox crossbows, and the second row immediately filled in. When the large shields were gone, they held up their companions’ corpses and continued forward. Even those hit by arrows made no crying sounds. The entire battlefield had only the teeth-grinding thud of arrows entering flesh.

The Turks’ sparse mounted archers fought back desperately. Wolf-fang arrows accurately struck those black figures one by one, but disappointingly, the wolf-fang arrows only bounced off the armor and then slid down powerlessly.

A hundred paces was all—normally it would take only one breath to run, but under the rain of arrows filling the sky, these hundred paces seemed extraordinarily long. With each step forward, the ground would be piled thick with another layer of corpses.

Protected in the crowd, Tu Shi tightly gripped that gunpowder bomb. He truly wanted to return this thing to Yun Ye. At this moment, what he held in his hand seemed not a gunpowder bomb, but the vengeful spirits of hundreds of thousands of Turks who had died under gunpowder bombs.

He saw his guard commander’s head pierced through by a crossbow bolt. He saw his nephew pierced front to back by the thick spear of an eight-ox crossbow. He saw the Tuyuhun Elder, with several crossbow bolts stuck in his body, still trying hard to shield himself with his round shield.

It seemed like a very long time passed. He touched the warm wall of the Camel City. With a great roar, he threw the gunpowder bomb up onto the battlements, turning his ear to listen for that familiar explosion sound.

He waited a long time. Why hadn’t it exploded? Tu Shi looked up at the city in confusion. At some point the arrow rain had stopped, and many heads appeared over the battlements, looking at him with pity.

“Why?” Tu Shi roared in fury, his voice as mournful as a mother ape crying for her child.

No one answered him. After a long while, a young soldier pointed at the fire starter in Tu Shi’s hand and said: “You forgot to light it.” His voice was very soft, even somewhat shy: “Gunpowder bombs must be lit.”

Tu Shi’s lips trembled like leaves in a cold wind. He turned his head to look at the ground covered with corpses, then looked at the white-haired Tuyuhun Great Elder fallen at his feet.

Pointing at Yun Ye on the battlements, his face gloomy, he said hoarsely: “Give me another gunpowder bomb!”

Yun Ye shook his head and said: “Tu Shi, just forget it. You can’t handle these things. Believe me, after you master the use of gunpowder, your entire tribe will perish even faster.”

“Warhorses, curved blades, mounted archery—these are your foundation, and also your people’s nature. I can tell you very clearly that trying to defeat the Great Tang by force is now completely impossible. So you can only go west, keep going west. Conquering more ignorant peoples is your only path to survival.”

“Give me a gunpowder bomb!” Tu Shi roared like a wild beast, bloody tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.

Yun Ye sighed and said to Liu Zhengwu: “Give him a large gunpowder bomb. Everyone stand back!” Having said this, he led the way toward his command tent. Before reaching it, he heard a tremendous explosion from beneath the Camel City. This time, Tu Shi had lit the fuse…