Chapter 19: Fierce Battle
Long Ye had buried vast quantities of fire oil, charcoal, and sulfur beneath the Grand Marshal’s Mansion and the city walls of Linjiang City. The moment the rushlight fuse was ignited, this fortress would be obliterated at once.
This was a contingency for the worst-case scenario: to drag Linjiang City and Eastern Zhou to mutual destruction, ideally taking the Empress herself with them.
When Long Ye first devised the Jade Fragmentation Plan, he was wholly prepared to die, giving no thought to escape.
Once the rushlight was lit, there was only one possible path to survival: dash into the underground passage and flee Linjiang City.
Yet the force of the explosion would likely destroy the tunnel itself.
Thus, it was a desperate gamble with almost no hope of survival.
“The dog Empress isn’t dead—we’re not going to die either!”
Wu Jian handed a fire striker to Long Chen.
Holding the fire striker, Long Chen smiled and replied, “Exactly. As long as that dog Empress lives, I won’t die either!”
He touched the fire striker to the rushlight, and a tongue of flame shot swiftly down the fuse.
Long Chen and Wu Jian hurriedly left the room, locking the door behind them as they bolted out.
Two patrolling soldiers appeared in their path and barked, “Who goes there?”
Long Chen charged forward, landing a punch straight on, while Wu Jian’s blade flashed across a throat. Both soldiers fell.
There was no time to pay attention to anything else. Long Chen and Wu Jian dashed into the courtyard, pushed aside the flagstone, and Long Chen jumped down first, with Wu Jian close behind.
The tunnel was dozens of meters deep. Long Chen landed quickly, rolling aside to make way, with Wu Jian landing just after.
The passage was dim. Long Chen raised the fire striker, casting a faint light, and the two raced desperately northward.
Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three...
Long Chen silently counted the seconds and measured the distance they had covered.
Boom!
A tremendous blast echoed behind. The earth around the tunnel trembled and collapsed. Long Chen and Wu Jian had no time to think, only to charge forward with all their strength.
On the river, the sled-prowed warship drifted close to Linjiang City, carried by the wind. Di Luoxi gripped her great halberd; Li Xiannan hefted her massive hammer. The siege ladders were being lowered slowly; the ship was silent.
“Princess, should we attack?”
Li Xiannan inquired.
Di Luoxi shook her head slightly, her eyes fixed on Linjiang City, as though waiting for something.
Time passed slowly; Linjiang City remained eerily quiet.
Di Luoxi’s hand clenched tightly around the icy shaft of her halberd. Her helmet and lashes were dusted with snowflakes.
White breath curled from her nostrils as her mood grew more agitated.
“Has he betrayed us?”
Bitterness welled in Di Luoxi’s heart. She wanted to kill Long Chen herself, gouge out his eyes, slice off his nose and ears, that wretched eunuch...
Boom!
Suddenly, a violent explosion thundered. The impregnable walls of Linjiang City collapsed with a roar. Blazing flames soared into the storm, illuminating the blizzard; screams shattered the silence of the night.
“What’s happening? Linjiang City just exploded?”
“How is this possible? How could this be?”
“Princess!”
Li Xiannan, Xuan Yi, and Qing Yue were all stunned.
This fortress, unbreachable by day, had suddenly disintegrated. The city walls toppled, massive flagstones crashed down onto the ice, and the soldiers atop the walls were instantly consumed by fire.
The mighty blast shattered the surface of the river; the ice split apart, and the sled warship now floated on open water.
“Let’s attack, Princess!”
Li Xiannan laughed aloud.
No one could have imagined that the indestructible Linjiang City would fall to pieces in an instant.
A flicker of joy flashed across Di Luoxi's face, but it was quickly replaced by worry.
With such a massive explosion, what would become of Long Chen?
“Wait. The fire is still burning.”
Qing Yue gazed at Linjiang City.
Di Luoxi leapt to the ship’s mast, standing high above to look over the city now transformed into a sea of flames.
The fire raged fiercely, the military camps of Linjiang City burned red-hot, the Grand Marshal’s Mansion reduced to rubble.
“It’s all burned to the ground!”
Li Xiannan climbed to the mast and laughed heartily.
“The camps and the mansion are ablaze, the walls destroyed, but the residential districts are barely touched—Long Ye still cares for the people.”
Di Luoxi saw it all clearly.
Li Xiannan asked in shock, “Long Ye? What does he have to do with this explosion?”
Di Luoxi answered coldly, “This was Long Ye’s Jade Fragmentation Plan. If we ever took Linjiang City, he would destroy it and drag us down with him.”
Li Xiannan stared at the ruined city in horror. “If we’d been inside... we’d be dead!”
Amid the inferno, Southern Liang’s soldiers scattered in all directions, chaos reigning inside the city.
Di Luoxi swept her halberd, while Xuan Yi struck the war drums, and the soldiers leaped directly from the ship into Linjiang City.
Di Luoxi vaulted from the mast, landing within the city and running her halberd through several junior officers.
Li Xiannan, nursing old grievances from the day, now swung her hammer with deadly force at anyone in her way.
Inside the Grand Marshal’s Mansion, Shangguan Xiu was covered in blood, his hair singed away, the dancing girls already buried beneath the earth.
He’d been startled awake by the blast in the night; thanks to his martial skills, he’d escaped the room before the roof collapsed.
“Who did this? Who!”
Stumbling from his chambers, Shangguan Xiu saw the city engulfed in flames and coughed up blood in fury.
He even wondered if he was dreaming—how could Linjiang City, so secure, suddenly become a burning wasteland?
“Brother! We must go!”
Shangguan Mu, wielding a battle-axe, rode up on a wounded warhorse.
“What is happening!”
Shangguan Xiu roared.
“I don’t know, it just exploded out of nowhere, everything’s burning, and the Eastern Zhou army is upon us. We need to escape!”
Shangguan Mu had just encountered the enemy, killed two of them, and hurried here to find Shangguan Xiu.
“Aaah!”
Shangguan Xiu howled at the sky.
They had just defeated Di Luoxi that day and believed Linjiang City was theirs. In the blink of an eye, the city had fallen, and the 200,000-strong Heavenly Guard Legion was nearly annihilated.
“Let’s go, brother!”
Shangguan Mu anxiously looked north, for the sounds of battle were drawing near.
Unwilling to accept defeat, Shangguan Xiu grabbed a spear from the ruins and shouted, “The Shangguan family does not breed fleeing generals! Fight!”
“Well said! Then die here!”
Di Luoxi charged in with her halberd, targeting Shangguan Xiu directly.
“You dare!”
Shangguan Xiu snarled, spear in hand, and met her attack.
Li Xiannan rushed straight at Shangguan Mu with a bellow, “I want your dog head—give it here!”
Still smarting from her defeat earlier, Li Xiannan was determined to have her revenge.
Shangguan Mu cursed his luck. His old left arm injury had flared up, leaving him to fight one-handed. With Li Xiannan’s furious onslaught, he soon found himself unable to hold out.
Di Luoxi’s halberd struck for Shangguan Xiu’s vital points, forcing him back again and again.
“You coward, ambushing me like this!”
Shangguan Xiu shouted in anger.
Di Luoxi sneered, “Are you a child? All’s fair in war!”
Her halberd thrust forward; Shangguan Xiu’s weapon, hastily snatched up, could not withstand its force and snapped in two, the blade piercing his ribs and drawing blood.
Weaponless and without armor, Shangguan Xiu had no choice but to turn and flee.
But Di Luoxi would not let him escape, hounding him relentlessly.
Two junior officers approached, wielding short halberds and spears—it was Shangguan Po and Shangguan Qiu.
They had been busy ravaging the wives and daughters of others when the explosion struck; hastily pulling up their trousers, they hurried out in search of Shangguan Xiu, only to find Di Luoxi in pursuit.
“Don’t worry, General, we’re here!”
They intercepted Di Luoxi, buying Shangguan Xiu time to seize a horse and escape.
Shangguan Mu, swinging his axe to drive Li Xiannan back, broke away and fled as well.