Chapter 85: What Is a Sudden Reversal?

Fire... clouds and mist...

Those two words set off a flood of associations in Wei Wuji’s mind, and he believed he had found the answer.

“Wang Xiu, you said this Cloud-Veiling Gorge is often shrouded in mist, gathering there without dispersing?” Wei Wuji fixed his gaze on Wang Xiu, his eyes burning bright.

Under such a stare, Wang Xiu was rather bewildered. At a time like this, was he still thinking about the scenery?

Naturally, Wang Xiu did not question him and simply replied, “Young Master, exactly so. Yesterday I heard the villagers discussing how Cloud-Veiling Gorge—”

“That is enough. No need to continue.” Wei Wuji cut him off with a wave.

Wang Xiu smiled bitterly. Was he supposed to explain or not?

But Wei Wuji’s next words drew away all his thoughts.

“Gentlemen... I have already thought of a solution.” Seated upright on horseback, Wei Wuji smiled with complete confidence.

At once, the assembled officers were stirred, and all turned hopeful eyes toward him.

“What fine plan does the Young Master have?” Wang Xiu asked.

Wei Wuji did not answer. Instead, he cast his gaze into the distance, toward Cloud-Veiling Gorge.

“Observe it well. The gorge is high and narrow, but at the bottom it broadens instead, much like a great jar.” Wei Wuji began analyzing the terrain.

The others heard him speak of something that seemed unrelated, and none understood what he was driving at.

“It is often said that Cloud-Veiling Gorge is wrapped in mist unending. Do you know why?” Wei Wuji asked with a smile.

“We beg the Young Master to enlighten us!” the Wei officers said, bowing in unison.

Seeing how certain he looked, they were overawed by his bearing and listened with the obedient seriousness of schoolchildren.

Rarely did Wei Wuji have such a chance to command from behind the scenes, and inwardly he was delighted. So I do have the makings of a great general after all, he thought.

Suppressing his satisfaction, he said gravely, “Because of its peculiar natural formation, the whole of Cloud-Veiling Gorge is like a giant jar, obstructing the coming and going of cloud and mist.”

And what does that mean? Some officers wondered. Young Master, we did not come here to admire the mountains and waters.

“So tell me—if we were to send some smoke into it, what would happen?” Wei Wuji finally revealed his idea.

Send smoke into it?

The officers still did not understand.

Wang Xiu was the quickest to catch on and answered at once, “Young Master, do you mean to smoke them out?”

“Excellent!” Wei Wuji clapped his hands, signaling that Wang Xiu had guessed correctly.

Now it was his turn to put on a show... and explain it in depth.

Wei Wuji pressed his heels to his horse’s flanks and moved a few paces forward, placing himself before the crowd. Then he turned and said, “Gentlemen, if we force smoke into the gorge, it too will gather there without dispersing and remain trapped within the valley.”

“In that case, do you think the Qin men inside will be comfortable?” Wei Wuji said with a faint smile.

Imagining the scene, the Wei officers all shook their heads. Who could endure such a thing?

Fill the place with thick smoke, and before long those men inside would be howling for their fathers and mothers.

“The Young Master’s brilliance is beyond us all.” The officers bowed again, now all the more impressed by his quick wit.

With such a method, the Wei army could wipe out the Qin force almost without suffering casualties.

Now that they thought of it, the Qin men were not hiding inside a bronze wall and iron fortress at all. They had simply found themselves a tomb.

Praise earned by his own ingenuity was all the sweeter to Wei Wuji.

Though reluctant to part with it, he still said repeatedly, “There is no need for such ceremony. It merely came to me on the spur of the moment.”

“The Young Master’s intellect is extraordinary. Surely your name will resound among all the states.”

The flattery continued without end; after all, fawning cost nothing.

When the officers had risen, Wei Wuji’s expression turned stern.

“Send your men to find damp materials—anything that will make smoke.”

“Today I will show you how cured meat is smoked.” Tugging the reins, Wei Wuji turned his horse, leaving the men only a lofty, distant silhouette.

“As you command!”

Luan Hong and the other officer received the order and each returned to his own formation to make the necessary arrangements.

Seeing that the Wei army had shown no movement for so long, the Qin troops in the gorge also grew restless, and their abuse rose once more.

“Wei Wuji, if you’ve got the guts, send men in here. Your Grandfather Zhai is waiting for you right here!”

Zhai Quan became ever more arrogant, convinced that Wei Wuji dared not enter.

He was not worried. If the Wei army came in, he would make certain they never returned.

And if things continued in this deadlock, he was even less concerned. Behind the gorge they had discovered a route; given one more day, they would open it through and push deeper into the Longyuan Mountains.

“Qin curs, do not be so wild. Your death is close at hand!” Zheng Dali, unable to bear it, shouted back at the top of his voice.

Still not satisfied, he turned and yelled to the soldiers behind him, “You blocks of wood! They’re cursing right to our faces and not one of you says a word?”

Egged on by Zheng Dali, the Wei soldiers naturally could not hold back, and soon they were hurling insults across the distance at the Qin men opposite them.

One could easily imagine the spectacle: several thousand men trading curses through the air, grand enough that their spittle alone seemed fit to drape all Cloud-Veiling Gorge.

At first Wei Wuji found it somewhat satisfying, but after a while it began to grate on him.

“I told them to prepare materials. Why has no one returned after so long?” he said in displeasure.

Irritated, Wei Wuji turned to Zheng Dali and said, “Tell them to stop. What is the point of arguing with dead men on the other side?”

“Young Master, those Qin men are too hateful. The brothers simply cannot swallow the insult,” Zheng Dali replied.

Just as he finished speaking, Zhai Quan emerged once more after his rest and quieted the Qin soldiers’ shouting.

The Wei soldiers also gradually lowered their voices. They wanted to hear what the Qin commander had to say.

Once everyone had fallen silent, Zhai Quan cleared his throat and called out, “Wei Wuji...”

“If you still won’t come in, then I am leaving.”

He sounded utterly confident, as if the layers of encirclement outside meant nothing to him.

If the Wei army thought they could simply surround and starve them out, that was pure fantasy. By tomorrow they would be gone.

If you could run, you would already have run, Wei Wuji cursed inwardly. The man was still trying to trick him into launching a direct assault.

Wei Wuji gave no reply. He needed only to wait a little longer before showing them why smoke stung the throat so fiercely.

Before long, the soldiers led by Luan Hong and the other officer returned with great quantities of firewood, both dry and wet. There was more than enough.

“Young Master, all is prepared.” Luan Hong, equally excited, knelt before Wei Wuji’s horse.

A cold smile appeared on Wei Wuji’s face. Looking toward the Qin soldiers, who had erupted into coarse abuse once again, he uttered only two words:

“Light it.”

“The Young Master commands: light the fires!” Luan Hong roared to the soldiers waiting in front.

As the order spread, more than twenty fire points soon began to billow with thick smoke.

Sure enough, because of the peculiar terrain, the dense smoke was slowly drawn into the gorge, continuing to spread inward without drifting away.

The heavy smoke made the entire Cloud-Veiling Gorge impossible to see through. Everywhere was a swirling, choking haze.

Mounted on his horse, Wei Wuji looked upon the scene before him and said slowly, “Gentlemen, Cloud-Veiling Gorge is often wrapped in mist that gathers and does not disperse—a thing of striking beauty.”

“Now that the view is like this, tell me: which do you think is finer?” Wei Wuji threw back his head and laughed.

“The Young Master’s wisdom is beyond our reach.”

Outside the gorge, flattery thundered on every side, and the officers all but lifted Wei Wuji into the clouds.