ChangNing’s Imperial Army - Chapter 95

Chapter 95 – Traverse
Meng Changan gestured to the Lang Jue people to stop talking. He looked at the elder and tried to speak as slow as he could, “Do the Heiwu troops normally stay inside most of the time?”

“When the sky is starting to get dark, they won’t go out after that. During the day, at times, they will walk around nearby.”

At this moment, the elder had calmed down a little. “Ning man, what exactly are you planning to do?”

Meng Changan was deep in thought for a while before he said, “If I leave with all of you, it’s impossible for the Heiwu people here to not be alerted. The only way is to kill them.”

He said that in a calm voice, as though he was saying it was something trivial like wanting to eat when one was hungry, or wanting to drink when one was thirsty. However, there were 2,000 elite Heiwu troops at the border.

The elder’s face turned pale. Immediately after he thought of something. “Did you come with the Ning army?”

Meng Changan shook his head.

The elder asked, “How many people did you come with?”

“Less than 70 people.”

“Less than 70 people?”

The elder sat on the ground. “Ning man, you only brought 70 people with you. There are at least 2,000 Heiwu men and yet you’re thinking about killing them?”

“That’s not impossible.”

Meng Changan continued, “I told you I have 70 people with me, but you cannot tell other people…right now, the two women shall stay behind and continue cooking. The both of you secretly go out and tell the people nearby that I brought Ning’s army with me, and that we are planning to round up the Heiwu people.”

“But you really only have 70 people.”

“Yes.”

Meng Changan pulled the elder closer t0o him and whispered in his ear, “The 70 people are not important; the people who are important are you. Listen to me, I have a plan…”

After the elder finished hearing what he said, he went pale. “You…you are insane.”

Meng Changan shook his head, “Of course I’m not insane. This place is about 37 miles away from Great Ning’s border. If I can bring people in, I can bring you out too. There are approximately 400 to 500 Lang Jue people in this town. If you walk faster, it would take one day and one night to enter Great Ning’s northern border. If you don’t want to leave with me, then take it as I have never been here. I will leave now.”

The elder quickly nodded. “You should leave quickly.”

The young man grabbed his father’s hand and continuously asked him questions. The elder evidently explained everything to him. His eyes lit up and went over to Meng Changan. He held his arms and nodded with all his might, before muttering a bunch of words.

Meng Changan looked at the elder. The elder seemed to express extreme fear – he was slightly in a daze. He did not expect his son to be as insane as the Ning man.

“As long as you follow what I say, I am 80% confident we will succeed.”

The elder hesitated for a while. Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and nodded. He pulled to two Lang Jue women to the side and explained everything to them. After they heard what he said, their faces went pale as well. They shook their heads vehemently. The young man ran over and blocked them. He seemed to be firm in his decision.

The elder walked over and said, “I can follow your instructions, but you must promise me one thing. If you can’t do it, you will be damned for the rest of your life. And you will be struck by lightning.”

Meng Changan grunted. “Please trust me.”

The elder and the young man looked at each other. Thereafter, they secretly pulled the door open and went out. After they got out, they started to run frantically, as though a demon was chasing them.

Meng Changan left the side room and started waving the red cloth he brought with him at the door. Qu Xiong led the ten-man squad who was waiting at the edge of the woods and swiftly charged over to him.

Meng Changan got the two women to carry the dishes over. He brought the ten-man squad over to the door of the main room and laid an ambush. The women trembled as they walked. Their hands that were holding the bowls were trembling as well, causing the broth to spill a little.

After they waited for the women to enter, Meng Changan signaled to his men; Qu Xiong and a few scouts entered immediately. The older woman lifted a secret door on the ground. The sound of laughter was heard thereafter. They did not know what those Heiwu people were talking about.

The older woman turned around and looked at Meng Changan. Meng Changan nodded, and she yelled something to them. Immediately after, they could hear the Heiwu people cursing and swearing.

Meng Changan abruptly gestured. A few scouts charged down to the basement and they continuously fired their crossbows. The Heiwu soldiers were unguarded, hence even if they were stronger, it was of no use. The few men who came out to take the food were shot to the ground in an instant.

Meng Changan drew out his black cord sword and immediately jumped into the basement. Not long later, he came out with a bloodied black cord sword in his hand. He squatted by the door as he gasped for air. After a while, he looked at the women and pointed to the room. The two women then quickly hid in there.

“Military officer, what’s going on?”

Meng Changan told him his plan. Qu Xiong’s widened his eyes to the point they looked as though they were about to fall out. “Huh?! That’s around 2,000 people. There are only twelve of us.”

Meng Changan lightly wiped the blood off his sword. “Possible to kill them all.”

Qu Xiong replied, “Those Lang Jue people might not be reliable. It only takes one of them to betray us and by then I’m afraid we would not be able to leave.”

“I have given them hope.”

Meng Changan waved. “Let’s split up. One of you needs to go back to get the rest of the troops here. The rest of you follow me.”

Qu Xiong thought to himself: It’s ok. If everything goes smoothly, I can brag about it for the rest of my life!

One of the scouts left speedily. The remaining people followed Meng Changan and squatted at the door of the small courtyard. After waiting for about half an hour, the Lang Jue elder ran over as he panted hard. After he saw Meng changan, he trembled and said, “We went to a few houses and mobilized the people. We also secretly spread the word to others. Now everybody in the town knows.”

Meng Changan took a deep breath. He turned around and looked at Qu Xiong. “Blow the bugle!”

“Huh?”

Qu Xiong was stunned. “Blow the bugle? We are attacking?”

“Yes!”

Meng Changan stood upright. “Blow the bugle!”

The scout with the bugle on his back climbed onto the roof and blew the bugle. The sound of the bugle horn was extremely loud. There were people standing in the yard of every house, waiting for the sound of the bugle. Shortly after they heard it, bursts of bellows were heard. Thereafter, smoke started to appear from each house consecutively.

The Lang Jue elder grabbed Meng Changan’s hand. “If I die, you must take my son, Ye Kuotai, with you. Let him look at the grassland for himself on my behalf, and take a look at our hometown.”

Meng Changan nodded. “Nobody will die. I will take all of you away from here.”

About half an hour later, the entire village was burned into flames. Almost none of the ferocious and tough Heiwu men could make it out. At this moment, the hatred that was buried deep in the hearts of the Lang Jue people was unleashed. They used several items to block the exits of the basements before setting their houses on fire.

The Lang Jue people hurriedly packed a couple of things and started to run. There were about 400 to 500 men and women, young and old. They stood on the edge of the woods and looked on as their houses were swallowed by the flames. None of them looked sad. Ye Kuotai abruptly cried out; thereafter, everybody started to cheer.

Even if those fellas were not burned to death, they would be suffocated to death by the thick smoke.

Qu Xiong looked at Meng Changan. He realized that unexpectedly, the military officer looked extremely calm, as though he was not experiencing any emotional fluctuations.

“Military officer!”

“Yeah?”

“We just killed nearly 2,000 Heiwu men! 2,000!”

“Yeah…”

Meng Changan opened up the map and squatted on the floor as he looked at it for a moment. “We cannot take the original route to go back… very soon, the Heiwu people will realize that there is a big fire here. In a short amount of time, the cavalry will get here. We have a few hundred common folks with us, so we cannot move fast. 37 miles in total – at the very most, we would only be able to cover one fifth of it before they catch up with us.”

Qu Xiong’s heart sank. “Then what should we do? Why don’t…”

Meng Changan shook his head. “I said earlier that I will take them back to Great Ning. I must do it.”

Qu Xiong asked, “Military officer, do you already have an idea?”

“Let’s go to Feng Yan Tai.”

Meng Changan pointed to a location on the map. “The Heiwu people definitely will not expect us to take the farther route. Besides, there are people there who can come to my rescue.”

“Feng Yan Tai has already been abandoned. How would there be anyone there to rescue us?”

“I will tell you more later.”

Meng Changan rolled up the map and kept it. “It’s about 155 miles away. When we pass through the jungle, it will not be dangerous. However, there is a snow covered plain with no shelter that spans 15 miles. As long as the cavalry does not catch up with us there, we will be able to enter Feng Yan Tai. Even though it was abandoned, the city gates and walls are still there. Even if the people who will come to our aid are not there, waiting there for a couple of days is not an issue. Once we ignite the fire beacon, our cavalry will definitely get there within two days.”

Qu Xiong gritted his teeth. “Since we have already done it, there is nothing left to be afraid of.”

Meng Changan nodded. “Leave two people behind to wait for our people. They can easily catch up with us on their horses. We will take those Lang Jue people and head in the southwest direction…After they arrive, get them to ride their horses and head back for a bit before looking for us to head back together. Leave signs that we’re heading southeast.”

After he finished saying that, he rubbed his temples. “It’s easy to fool the Heiwu people, but we can’t do that in the snowy plain.”

Even if the snowy plain was harder, they would still inevitably leave behind traces.

Just like that, Meng Changan led sixty odd scouts as they began their long and difficult 155 mile journey within Heiwu. Their 155 mile route was akin to passing through the gaps within a pack of wolves. If they were not careful, they would be discovered by the wolves…they were at the border – the Heiwu people had set up a massive military force there.

Fortunately, there were large areas of woods there, providing a natural barrier. Even though in the first four to five days of their journey, they were terrified and on edge, Meng Changan had been to the area they were currently passing through before. Hence, he was able to perfectly avoid Heiwu’s military camps and border sentry posts. However, Meng Changan was unfamiliar with the remaining route.

After they walked for three days, a Heiwu general, who was wearing an armor, brought with him at least a thousand cavalry and chased in the southeast direction. After they had covered a long distance, they got to a hill before they started turning back. They carefully examined the footprints in the woods. After they discovered the markings, they started chasing as fast as they could.

The young Heiwu general rode up a high slope and looked afar. The boundless woods were originally one of Heiwu’s biggest defense barriers. However, right now, they made him extremely furious.

“General, they actually dare to head in the southwest direction.”

His soldier was in disbelief. “Judging from the hoof markings on the ground, they have at most 70 to 80 people, and yet they are that unbridled.”

“It should be that person.”

The young general was called Liao Shalang. He had fought against Ning people multiple times before. Initially, he thought that his only opponent in this area was the Ning general named Wu Xinyu. They had fought fiercely against each other seven times in total – they were evenly matched in all seven battles. Now it seemed that the Ning person, who he did not see clearly, increased his fighting spirit.

That fella had already entered Heiwu’s territory more than once, coming and going without a trace. During the last time,they managed to discover their traces with much difficulty. He personally led his cavalry and gave chase. However, ultimately, that person still managed to escape.

“Regardless of who you are, you will not escape that easily again this time.”

Liao Shalang charged down from the high slope, with more than a thousand cavalry following closely behind him. They were akin to a black cloud sticking close to the ground, sweeping through.

A few days later, they finally reached the 15 mile flat plain. Meng Changan turned around and looked at the hundreds of Lang Jue people, who were extremely exhausted. He looked worried.

They were too slow.

At this moment, the scouts who stayed behind caught up with them. “Military officer, they are catching up.”

One of the scouts went slightly pale and said, “Judging from the speed we are going at, they will catch up in less than three miles.”

“How many people?”

“I can’t see clearly, but there should be at least hundreds of cavalry.”

“What military banner is it?”

“Fei Xiong.”

Meng Changan exhaled loudly.

He remained silent for a moment. “Get them to run. If they don’t want to die, they have to run.”

He rode his horse and charged up to a higher ground and looked in the direction he came from. All he saw was a black line coming closer to them from the horizon.