Section Three (Part Two)

Though it had been anticipated, the disaster still arrived so suddenly.

The weather that day was as stifling as ever. The troops were marching through a region of low hills in the western part of Yandang Mountain. Lin Feng, riding a mule, was calculating accounts when suddenly Zhaoguang Yuan, the garrison commander, galloped up, drenched in sweat, his face stricken with panic, and shouted hoarsely, “Master Lin… Master Lin… something terrible has happened…!”

Lin Feng snapped his head up, puzzled, and looked at him. But even before Zhaoguang Yuan could report, Lin Feng saw for himself—a ragged, filthy mob of defeated soldiers came surging from ahead, their uniforms clearly those of Geng’s army. Throwing away helmets and armor, they charged straight toward his unit.

Zhaoguang Yuan, panting, blurted out, “Master Lin, it looks like Qing troops up ahead—our men have been routed!”

“How far are the Qing troops from us?” Though Lin Feng was flustered, he saw the soldiers looking at him, treating him as their anchor, and forced himself to remain calm.

“That… hasn’t been scouted yet…”

“Then where did this lot get beaten?”

“That… seems to be at the county town ahead… not too sure…”

Lin Feng understood. Zhaoguang Yuan was a good assault officer, but before the uprising he was just a cavalry captain, promoted through personal valor from the ranks. After the uprising, Geng Jingzhong’s generous rewards elevated all his men several ranks at once, which was how Zhaoguang Yuan now held a garrison commander’s post.

“You two, take the infantry and cavalry, form up at the front. If those defeated soldiers break our lines…” Lin Feng hesitated, clenched his jaw, and gave the order. “Kill them without mercy!”

“At your command!” With their orders clear, the two officers seemed to find their backbone, their faces steadied, and they immediately began barking commands for the men to form up in battle formation.

“I’ll go report to Lord Li at the rear and redeploy the troops!” Lin Feng tugged his reins, and the mule, braying shrilly in protest, reluctantly turned and galloped toward the rear.

Behind him, screams rang out incessantly—Lin Feng knew the vanguard was slaughtering the fleeing soldiers, and his heart pounded, but there was no time to dwell on it. The rear had already received word from the front; chaos reigned on the main road. People shouted, horses neighed, several large carts spun in circles, dragged by terrified mules and horses, and the laborers darted about like headless flies. For some reason, the infantry detachment holding the rear seemed to have lost all command, disorder spreading among them.

“General Li orders the rear to reinforce the front!” A personal guard galloped to a clearing and shouted the message.

Company commander Wang Dahai, red-faced with anger, called out, “Master Lin, you’re just in time—Lord Li, he…”

“Enough, I know! See to your men, hold your ground for now—” Before he could finish his sentence, Li Qingliu suddenly lunged forward, clutching Lin Feng’s arm with trembling hands, unable to utter a word. Lin Feng turned and, helpless, waved Wang Dahai away.

“At your command!” Wang Dahai saluted with a clenched fist and turned away, muttering, “Damn it, can’t go, can’t stay, what a useless mess…”

Li Qingliu had no time to take offense; gripping Lin Feng’s arm, he stammered, “The front’s lost?… The Banner troops are upon us?…”

“Lord Li, steady yourself. I’ve already ordered Commander Zhao and Company Commander Liu to form ranks—if they come, we can hold them off for now!” Lin Feng comforted him offhandedly.

“Ah! They’re really here!!!…” Unexpectedly, those few words had the opposite effect—Li Qingliu’s eyes rolled back, nearly fainting. He released Lin Feng’s wrist and collapsed to the ground. Lin Feng caught a strange odor and, sniffing hard, caught sight of a wet patch on Li Qingliu’s trousers, startling him. He quickly helped him up, saying, “My lord, don’t panic. Stay here and command the rear. I’ll go direct things at the front!”

Li Qingliu was his patron—his future depended on him. Whatever happened, now was not the time for the old man to die.

He had barely taken a few steps when a long arrow whistled through the air, striking Li Qingliu squarely in the forehead with a dull thud. Li Qingliu crumpled heavily to the ground.

Lin Feng stared in shock at Li Qingliu’s body. Dark shapes, like nightmares, filled the sky. With a snap, another arrow embedded itself deep in the wooden railing of a nearby cart. Lin Feng jolted awake, ducked behind the cart, and looking back, saw porters dropping in droves, felled by arrows—the ground strewn with corpses in an instant.

The Qing troops had truly arrived!

The thunder of hooves pounded Lin Feng’s ears. Through the slats of the cart, he saw dark riders galloping back and forth across the wild ground beside the road, loosing arrow after arrow in their direction, dust rising in clouds as they drew ever closer.

“Master Lin?!” Hearing his voice, Li Ergou suddenly spotted Lin Feng lying on the ground. Forcing a path through the crowd with several burly guards, he hauled Lin Feng up. “Master Lin, the lord is dead. What do we do?!”

Lin Feng had nearly been trampled to death, and now, consumed with rage, thought grimly: Damn it, either way it’s death—better to fight and take someone down with me. After all, landing in this world was already like dying once. Without another word, he seized Li Ergou’s saber and rushed into the crowd, hacking at anyone who’d seemed to trample him, or looked likely to. He rampaged through the people, blood and gore flying, freezing everyone in terror.

With the panic subsiding, Lin Feng looked at their bewildered faces. Suddenly, inspiration struck. He turned to the dazed guards at his side and shouted, “Li Ergou!”

“Here!”

“Keep your men here—anyone who dares flee, cut them down… Anyone who retreats is to be executed on the spot!” Turning, he spotted Commander Wang Dahai in the crowd and cursed furiously, “Wang Dahai, you bastard, what kind of rabble are you leading?! Get your men up there now—one more step back and I’ll have your head!”

Now Lin Feng stood, saber in hand, drenched in blood, his face twisted and menacing. Wang Dahai, unnerved, dared not resist, quickly obeyed, and drew his sword, rallying his men into formation.

“And the porters—get up there too! Grab your poles, sticks—anything you can find, fight the Tartars with all you’ve got! Anyone who tries to run, I’ll cut him down myself!” Lin Feng clambered onto a cart, and with a sudden kick, sent a silver chest crashing to the ground. With a boom, bright silver spilled everywhere.

“Kill a Tartar soldier, earn a hundred taels! Kill a Tartar officer, double the reward!” Lin Feng roared until his voice was hoarse. “Anyone who wants to get rich, show me what you’ve got—kill up front, collect your silver in the rear, paid on the spot, no exceptions for age or rank!”

At the sight of so much silver, the porters and soldiers swallowed hard, their courage swelling to outweigh their fear of death, and they surged forward toward the Qing cavalry.

In truth, the Qing cavalry force was small—fewer than a hundred men. They were merely raiding scouts, planning only to harry the baggage train. Seeing the enemy collapse at the first volley, they’d fired a few arrows and rushed in, hoping to claim a few heads for merit. But unexpectedly, the disorganized enemy suddenly turned savage, coming back as furious fiends, catching them completely off guard. The Qing didn’t know whether to fight or flee.

Before they could react, the surging mob overwhelmed the handful of cavalry—blades slashing, spears stabbing, sticks and poles striking. In a moment, all were slain in the narrow mountain pass. The Qing officer commanding on the outer flank, seeing the situation lost, wheeled his horse and fled.

Lin Feng panicked—if that officer escaped and alerted the main Qing force, things would be dire. But his cavalry were up front, and he had no means to pursue. At that moment, Wang Dahai had already drawn his bow—an arrow flashed out, striking the Qing officer in the back, knocking him from his horse to be trampled into pulp.

Wang Dahai gave a triumphant whistle. “Ha! Think you can run? You don’t even know who you’re dealing with!”

Lin Feng was overjoyed, forgetting Wang’s earlier failures, and rewarded him on the spot. “Well done! Dammit, Wang Dahai just took down a Tartar officer—tenfold the bounty, a thousand taels!”

The crowd erupted. Lin Feng seized the moment to win hearts. “Anyone who took down a Tartar, bring the head to Li Ergou at the rear—one head, one hundred taels, I keep my word!” He paused, glanced at the more crestfallen faces, and laughed loudly, “All of you who fought bravely—I saw it all, and you deserve your due. Every soldier gets twenty taels, every porter ten—no one left out!”

After all, it wasn’t his own money; Lin Feng was happy to be generous at another’s expense. Thus, far away in Fuzhou, the Prince of Jingnan unwittingly became the one footing the bill.