Chapter Eighty-Two: Yixue

After discussing a few matters, the Xiongnu commander sent the two deputy generals away to rest and returned alone from the front tent to the rear one.

The front tent served as the council hall; the rear tent was her private quarters.

She removed her helmet, and a waterfall of dark hair spilled over her shoulders. Once the armor came off, a graceful figure was revealed. It turned out that this lean commander was actually a woman.

Her exquisite face carried both gentleness and fierceness, two qualities that should have been at odds, yet together they made her all the more alluring.

She was the princess of the great Xiongnu, Yixueer.

After taking off her armor and helmet, Yixueer sat by the couch for a while, intending to rest a little before dawn. Just as she was about to lie down fully dressed, she suddenly sprang up. Her right hand groped beside her, about to draw the long saber, when she felt a cold edge against her throat. Immediately, a frosty voice sounded:

“Do not move.”

Alarmed and furious, Yixueer still cooperated and did not resist. Then the man behind her, still holding the saber to her neck, shamelessly kicked her own blade away.

Two shadows leaped out from behind her and pressed themselves to the curtain dividing the inner and outer tents, taking up watch.

“I never imagined the Xiongnu would go to war with women in tow, and even on campaign still not forget their pleasures. Today has truly broadened my horizons.” A cold laugh rang out. Then a thin Han soldier stepped out from behind Yixueer and stood before her, arms folded. He glanced at her and, with a flicker of surprise on his pale face, said, “You are quite a beauty. Tell me, where is your commander now?”

“If you refuse to speak, or if you lie, this flawless face of yours may not stay flawless for long.” The pale-faced soldier spoke lazily, his eyes never leaving her face. “Tut, to be honest, this face of yours is dangerously seductive. Even I am tempted.”

Yixueer looked at the Han soldier before her with feigned terror, as though she wanted to speak but was too frightened to do so. But the next instant, that disguise could no longer be maintained.

For the Han soldier still holding the blade at her throat said calmly behind her, “Liu Lang, no need to force her. She will not speak. Because she is this group of Xiongnu’s commander.”

“What?” Liu Mu froze. He looked at Yixueer more carefully, then at the armor and helmet nearby as indicated by the soldier behind her. At last, realization dawned. Embarrassment and rage surged up at once, and he glared at her. “You filthy woman, you were pretending?!”

“You call me a filthy woman?” Yixueer looked at Liu Mu and gave a cold laugh, her expression filled with disdain.

Liu Mu seemed struck by something, his body trembling slightly. He drew his saber partway and stared at her viciously. “Not only can I curse you, I can also kill you. Do you believe that?”

Yixueer cast him an even more contemptuous glance, her tone icy. “Come then.”

She added, “Filthy woman…”

“You?!” Liu Mu was enraged to the point of suffocation. His pale face flushed red, and his hand clutched the hilt of his saber, neither drawing nor sheathing it.

“Could you be a little quieter? We are, after all, on their ground.” The soldier who had been holding the blade on Yixueer put it away and stepped out from behind her. Still puzzled by Liu Mu’s rare loss of composure, he said, “Put the blade away. This Xiongnu commander ought to have some pride; there is no need for us to threaten her with steel. What do you say...”

He turned to look at Yixueer, but the instant his eyes touched that face, so capable of mesmerizing men, his next words caught in his throat.

For a long while, as though an age had passed, just when Liu Mu was about to burst out again, the soldier and Yixueer spoke in astonishment at the same time:

“It is you?”

“Qin Cheng?!” Yixueer cried out in surprise.

Qin Cheng gave a self-mocking smile, rubbed his nose, and looked at her. “I never expected that the Xiongnu incursion southward would be led by the famed Xiongnu princess herself.”

Yixueer smiled without committing herself, the smile light and natural. “Nor did I expect that when we met again, it would be in such a manner.”

“Clearly I should have just knocked you out and smuggled you away.”

“Clearly, you no longer had the chance.”

Hearing Qin Cheng and Yixueer speak as though they knew each other well, Liu Mu shoved Qin Cheng and asked unhappily, “You say she is the Xiongnu princess?”

“Genuine as it gets.” Qin Cheng smiled.

“Then she is the one who ordered Zhao Lu to sabotage the camp’s development of cavalry, and the one behind the plot to kill you?”

Qin Cheng gave Yixueer a meaningful look. Seeing that she remained composed, showing not the slightest embarrassment, he replied, “Indeed, the very same person.”

Liu Mu gave Yixueer a cold smile, contempt flickering in his eyes. “So the princess must have used a beauty trap when she won over Zhao Lu? Truly impressive, truly skillful. To think she could make a general who had spent eight years in the Han camp do something so foolish for her.”

Yixueer’s expression did not change in the slightest under his merciless mockery, as though his words were aimed at someone else entirely. Her voice remained calm. “Before Jin Xie came to your Han lands, he had lived on the grasslands for more than twenty years.”

Then she added, “Besides, just because others may not see through it does not mean I cannot. You would do well to mind your words.”

Her tone abruptly turned cold, carrying a weight of pressure.

“You...” Liu Mu snorted and turned away, no longer willing to look at her.

Yixueer smiled faintly at Qin Cheng. “You saved my life last time. I must repay that debt. But personal matters are personal, and public matters are public. I cannot let private feelings ruin public duty. I trust you understand.”

Qin Cheng naturally understood what she meant.

He and the others had come to the Xiongnu camp not to chat with Yixueer, and Yixueer, having once been saved by Qin Cheng, was not the sort to repay kindness with ingratitude. She wanted to return the favor, but she would not do anything that harmed the interests of the Xiongnu.

In other words, this was business; any private matter would have to wait for another chance.

“I wonder whether your life is considered public or private to the Xiongnu?” Qin Cheng asked very directly, meaning: since you are in our hands now, if you want to keep your life as a Xiongnu princess, you will have to trade something for it.

Yixueer smiled brightly, her allure boundless. Her beautiful eyes rested on Qin Cheng, yet the words she spoke were utterly clear and unambiguous: “A human life is only a human life. Sometimes it is to be kept alive; at other times, it cannot but be ended.”

Qin Cheng shook his head. “One life for one life.”

“Then I am the one who profits.” How could Yixueer not understand that Qin Cheng wanted Li Gan? She smiled, but the next moment that smile turned somewhat strange. “But now there are five lives on your side, not one. Then I am the one at a loss.”

Qin Cheng laughed helplessly, somewhat speechless before this haggling Xiongnu princess, and continued bargaining. “You are a princess; we are merely common folk. Even if you count only by status, you are worth more than the five of us.”

“Status is not what matters. What matters is one’s power and potential. By my reckoning, your own potential is no less than mine.”

“Potential is a matter for the future; there are too many variables. Perhaps I will not even live to see that day. That does not count.”

“No matter how you put it, I still think this bargain is not worth it.”

“No matter how you put it, I am saving this man today.”

“Then you are being unreasonable.”

“When reason no longer works, force is the most direct and effective way to solve a problem.”

Yixueer actually thought about Qin Cheng’s words for a moment. “Very well. Considering that your strength is quite good, I’ll count this as your win. But I have one condition.”

“Speak.”

“Leave him behind, and I will let you depart safely.” Yixueer pointed at Liu Mu.

Liu Mu had been holding back anger for some time, and now that he saw her openly targeting him, he did not know why, but he still barked, “Leave him? Leave him then. Do you think I am afraid of you?”

“Afraid?” Yixueer asked pointedly.

“No!” Qin Cheng cut in decisively. “This condition, I cannot agree to.”

“Really, you refuse?”

“I refuse.”

“Have you truly thought it through?” Yixueer’s smile was eerie.

“I cannot rescue one and abandon another. How is that any different from rescuing no one at all? Could you exchange one of your sworn brothers for another?”

“Sworn brothers?” Yixueer blinked slightly, glanced at Liu Mu, and saw that he was staring at Qin Cheng, with no time to pay attention to her. She looked back at Qin Cheng and, seeing his expression leave no room for doubt, paused before a conspiratorial smile appeared. “In that case, I can only give you the span of one incense stick. After that, I will lead men in pursuit. If you cannot escape by then, you will all obediently become my prisoners. How about that?”

“One incense stick? Why do you not just go die?” Liu Mu cursed in fury.

From this camp to the place where Qin Qingzhi’s reinforcements would meet them, it would take at least two incense sticks.

“Deal.” Qin Cheng struck the matter down with one final blow.

He had long known Yixueer’s temperament, ever since he still called her Miss Kong. Under these circumstances, this was already the maximum he could hope to win.

In truth, Qin Cheng and Yixueer were both people who refused to suffer losses. Even at the last moment, each would strive for some advantage for themselves, or else they would be unhappy. And once they became unhappy, all that remained was desperate violence.

Qin Cheng and the others followed Yixueer, donning Xiongnu robes, and headed for the place where Li Gan was being held.

Within half an hour, dawn would break.

They arrived without incident at the tent where Li Gan was imprisoned. Yixueer dismissed the Xiongnu guards, and the group entered.

The moment they stepped inside, everyone’s eyes widened.

Looking at Yixueer at such close range, Qin Cheng said coldly, “You played me?”

The tent was empty. No one was there.

At the sight, Qin Cheng’s first instinct was that they had fallen into a trap. After all, they were on the enemy’s ground, and Yixueer was far from an easy opponent. Qin Cheng had to remain guarded. By then, he had already begun to take control of Yixueer’s movements, ready to restrain her the instant anything went wrong.

But Yixueer merely looked at the tent and said evenly, “He got away.”

Qin Cheng turned and examined it carefully. Only then did he notice a broken length of rope on the ground, and a large slash at the back of the tent that he had not caught in his brief glance earlier.

At that moment, a commotion suddenly arose from the rear of the camp. It was not loud, but they could faintly hear soldiers shouting that someone had escaped and to chase him quickly.

“One incense stick begins now.” Yixueer flashed a maddeningly alluring smile, with a hint of schadenfreude.

“Go!” Qin Cheng had no intention of bargaining any further or saying anything more. He gave a sharp shout, slashed open a great tear in the tent with his saber, and rushed out first.

Yixueer stood where she was, watching Qin Cheng and the others depart. Liu Mu, at the very end, still did not forget to turn back and glare at her in fury.

Yixueer rubbed her forehead and murmured, “Such a headache. Fortunately, you arrived late and did not hear what we said earlier, otherwise even if I had to stake my life, I would never have let you go.”

As for Li Gan, after finally wearing through the rope against the ridges of his armor, he carefully slipped out of the tent and ran through the least crowded paths toward the rear flank of the camp. He intended to dash first into the maple grove, avoid the Xiongnu pursuit for the moment, and then find a way back.

It was not as though he had not thought of quietly stealing a Xiongnu warhorse and galloping out of the camp, but when he crept near the stables and saw more than ten Xiongnu men stationed there, he had no choice but to abandon the idea. At present, he only wanted to escape as quickly as possible; otherwise, once the Xiongnu discovered him, his life would surely be forfeit.

But he was still discovered.

Just as he passed by the entrance of one tent, a Xiongnu soldier, likely stepping out for relief, happened to emerge and collided with Li Gan. For a moment, the two stared at each other, both stunned. Li Gan reacted quickly enough, and seeing a dagger at the soldier’s waist, he drew it without a word and slit the Xiongnu soldier’s throat.

He had actually made the kill in relative stealth, without much sound. As the body fell, Li Gan even reached out to support it. But he had not expected that another Xiongnu soldier would be standing behind that one.

So they really had gone out to piss in a group.

When Li Gan tried to finish off that dazed second soldier, he was spotted. And so, he could only run.

After successfully trading the dagger in his hand for a saber, Li Gan found himself facing an encirclement of seven or eight Xiongnu soldiers.

But Li Gan was, after all, Li Guang’s son. Though his valor could not compare with many army officers and captains, he still had some skill. Even after taking a not-too-light wound, he managed to cut down half of them. That should have been encouraging, but the problem was that the seven or eight Xiongnu soldiers were not growing fewer as he killed them. Instead, they kept increasing. After he felled four, he was caught in the midst of an encirclement of eleven or twelve men.

Li Gan roared in fury and, while pressing toward the maple grove at the rear of the camp, fought with all his strength.

Surrounded by Xiongnu men, he was like a wounded leopard, swinging the saber in his hand with furious roars. By then, his heart was filled with anxiety and a trace of despair. Even the hand that wielded the blade was beginning to tremble slightly.

When he took his third wound, his restless mind suddenly calmed.

He seemed to see the thirty or so subordinates who had charged out with him, and the scene of each one of them falling at last beneath the Xiongnu’s chaotic arrows.

That time.

In the end, fewer than thirty cavalrymen were surrounded by more than two hundred Xiongnu horsemen. The Xiongnu gave them no chance to charge, no chance to close in. Iron arrows fell like a curtain of rain without pause.

They had wanted to fight to the death, but they were given no chance to do so.

A cavalry troop thus died beneath random volleys.

Li Gan still remembered the soldiers’ unwilling roars, heartbreaking to all who heard them.

He himself had been struck by an arrow and thrown from his horse.

When he fell onto the grass, he saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life. Dozens of his subordinates lay sprawled on the ground, each pinned like a hedgehog by iron arrows.

Only then did he finally realize how reckless this mission had been.

“I will avenge you!”

Tears and blood mingled across Li Gan’s face as he drove his saber violently into the abdomen of a Xiongnu soldier before him, then kicked the man away. Turning, he blocked a saber coming from behind and, with a rising slash, tore away a strip of flesh from the man’s chest.

“Li Mazi, this one is for you!”

“Wang Dazhui, this one is your share!” Li Gan shouted hoarsely, with tears in his voice, as he severed the head of a Xiongnu soldier beside him.

“Little Ma, this is yours!”

“Gou Dan, this one is yours!”

“Green Skin, I have avenged you!”

A youth not yet of age did not care in the slightest about the sabers striking him. Each time he was cut, his body only staggered before he struck back with his own blade.

Each time he killed, he roared out a name.

The boy, surrounded by more than ten men, was hacked at and hacked back at amid the crowd. Blood spilled across the ground, and the pure white tents were smeared with a blinding red.

“Kill!”

Li Gan cut down the last Xiongnu soldier, but his body suddenly swayed and he was kicked to the ground. At once, several sabers came slashing down on him.

Li Gan stared at those descending blades, yet a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Was he going to die?

Someone like me does not deserve to live.

Brothers, I am coming to keep you company!

Then a chorus of screams rose up, and hot blood splashed over Li Gan’s body as severed arms and heads flew into the air.

Such a fast blade, such ruthless technique.

Li Gan thought as much.

Then he felt his body lighten, and someone had actually hoisted him up.

“Let go of me. I can still fight!” Li Gan roared.

The man immediately set him down, likely because he had not expected Li Gan to still be able to move.

With a casual slash, he knocked down an Xiongnu soldier charging toward him. Only then did Li Gan’s gaze become fixed on a swift figure in the field.

Before that man, more than a dozen Xiongnu soldiers were like lambs waiting for slaughter. He moved like the wind, and wherever his blade passed, it left no mark. With every leap and shift of his body, the blade-light gleamed brilliantly beneath the moon. Wherever his shadow traveled, streams of blood burst forth like flowers.

One man slain every five steps.

As though he were entering无人区