Volume 5, Chapter 33: The Mists of Daizhou (1/2)

Volume 5, Chapter 33: The Mists of Daizhou

<blockquote class="Quote">

Lin Tong, the Criest child of the Marquis of Daizhou, Lin Yuanting, and the younger sister of the Princess of Jiaping The princess had always been pampered and spoiled, treasured by her parents and elder brothers and sister Because she liked wearing ht bow and saber to hunt

—raphy of the Crimson Clouds Princess</e stood on the battlements of Yan all to resist the fierce assault on the pass by the barbarians Although the barbarians did not have enough siege equip abilities and nu enormous pressure on the Yanmen Pass defenders In order to effectively kill or injure their ene had precisely selected when the ene water and drop rocks Although the barbarians’ forte was horse archery, having battled for so many years with the Daizhou are a fortification Their use of siege ladders and catapults increased the likelihood that they would overcome the defenses In addition, barbarians ere adept at throwing lassos would use rope to try to cli could sense that the barbarian nu by the day Presurasslands had assembled to assault the pass Once Yanmen Pass had fallen, they would penetrate deep into Northern Han’s territory unchecked, plundering and leaving nothing behind in order to survive the spring food shortages

Finally, the barbarians began to retreat after suffering heavy casualties Lin Tong breathed a sigh of relief She knew that it wasn’t long before the barbarians would h that was the case, they had been able to obtain a temporary respite That in itself was sufficient coht bitterly for so ant appearance had thinned However, the look on her face was unusually calm In order to boost morale, she had not left the walls for three days and three nights Her blazing red clothes see the whole of the arht Ever since her elder brother had advanced out of the pass and was a after his return due to his arroounds, her father had fallen gravely ill and was bedridden As for her eldest brother, Lin Chengyi, he only kne to fight hand-t0-hand, was unfamiliar with military tactics, and was reckless As a result, the ar as their coap ined that Lin Tong wasbody, capably co the defenses in a eneral who had experienced over a hundred battles Therefore, only a few days had passed before the people and soldiers of Daizhou considered Lin Tong as a suitable replaceh Lin Tong had never led troops in battle, she was innately intelligent, and was fond of riding and archery She had always been extreh her parents, elder brothers, and sister had awar, she was fondest of following Lin Bi about As a result, she had been greatly influenced by her elder sister and already had so the events of the Eastern Sea, Lin Tong see the art of war Co’s leadershi+p for several days, her natural gifts and knowledge, and her open- was able to become a qualified commander-in-chief in a short tihts, the assistance of her seniors and experienced soldiers of the Daizhou army were more than able tohad always been shrewd and quick-witted, and now had a well fleshed out understanding of the battlefield

With that, the Crimson Cloud Princess’s reputation was ce was not in a mood to bother with this Further, she had not become aware that everyone considered her to be her elder sister’s replace all her effort on how to deal with the barbarians

Dragging her heavy footsteps, Lin Tong patrolled along the walls, inspecting the defenses in spite of her exhaustion For the wounded, she expressed her sympathy Only when she had completed all of theseagainst the ed her knees to her chest and prepared to take a nap It wasn’t long before Lin Tong drifted into her dreams At this instant, she could not notice that there was a pair of eyes attentively gazing at her in silence

The soldiers and levy guarding the pass were divided into two shi+fts The current shi+ft had all descended froan to take watch over the defenses The Daizhou levy was also trained to the standards of the regular aranized into squads of five,them, there was one unit that was different Their movements were noticeably undisciplined and composed of conscripts drafted from outside of Daizhou When the barbarians invaded every year, the Daizhou ar outsiders present in the region, restricting them with martial law First, Daizhou orried that there would be spies from the barbarians Second, it was to increase the defense’s anized into a unit with veterans froe and strength would all serve a shi+ft on the walls, while the weak and incapable would serve below the walls to prepare and deliver rations and water As the soldiers responsible for supervising andthem were all experienced Daizhou veterans, even if these conscripts were timid and cowardly, there was no way for them to fulfill their duties as spies

This conscript unit only had a hundred or so hting strength They had no qual to battle That hy they had been dispatched up the walls to help the Daizhou soldiers and civilians defend the pass The officer in co and was thirty-nine years old He was a descendant of an ancillary branch of the Lin faenerational relationshi+ps, he was Lin Bi and Lin Tong’s uncle Although his tactics wereexperienced years of bloody battle he was an outstanding lower-ranking officer In addition, he was aandthese dauntless conscripts composed of outsiders Under his leadershi+p, the conscripts began to take watch over the defenses Although it was rather chaotic, it ithin an acceptable range Further, these conscripts were all skilled They would be of great use in defense of the pass As a result, Lin Yuanchong was quite pleased

Incidentally, his eyes fell upon an average-looking young ,³ was the one he paid the ’s perfor and brave, he could not be coeous warriors of Daizhou In addition, when it came to battle, he did not show any peculiar behaviors—he was unafraid and did not display any iht about by exciteer fro man based upon the perception he had acquired fro Dalang, he could sense an oppressive aura

Unobtrusively, Lin Yuanchong had kept a surreptitious eye on this young man When he actually observed carefully, this youth’s facial features were delicate and handsome However, when these features were co special In addition, the young man so hi could tell froorously powerful lih he usually hid his abilities,⁴ he would always show his re would scrupulously abide byassistance to his comrades, able to constrain enemy soldiers These were all characteristics of so in the army Usually reticent, when necessary, his words stirred the deaf and enlightened the blind⁵ Because of all of this, this recently drafted young o to look for his friends and relatives was covered with a dense layer of fog, his identity shrouded inwould absolutely not believe that this youngbattle and the unruffled help provided in leading thesebelieved that there was no way that such a character would be dispatched as a spy unless the barbarians were all idiots Instead, if wang Dalang were a barbarian, he would command a unit to directly assault the pass

The youngdown and resting with his eyes partly closed This was another aspect that was inconsistent with his identity Only those who had experienced battle understood the necessity of sparing no effort to preserve their strength at all moments This was unlike how all the other conscripts nervously peered out beyond the walls like newly-hatched birds out of worry about the eneardless of how dubious this person’s identity was, as long as he was not a barbarian spy, there was nothing to worry about As for as to happen afterwards, that was better left until after the barbarians had been driven away

Although his eyes were slightly closed, he kept note of everything that happened around hihtest of cracks, he noticed the individual who studied hiuise techniques, he hadhis formerly handsome appearance to lose its luster He had deliberately hidden his sharpness Although he had been forced to reveal his true countenance within this unit of conscripts for the sake of battle, Chiji believed that with Lin Tong busy coarrison she would not pay attention to a lowly outsider In this way, Chiji had been able to infiltrate the Daizhou ar’s side He naturally knew that it wasn’t that no one suspected him However, Chiji understood the Daizhou ar as he did not display any possibility of being a barbarian spy, he would not face coation

Chiji smirked Once the barbarians had retreated, it didn’t matter if the Daizhou ar were still alive, even if he died, he would have no regrets If Lin Tong died… Chiji’s heart ached He believed that he would definitely follow her to the beyond Since this was the case, there was no need for hi master hoped he would return alive, Chiji did not have such extravagant hopes By forcing this journey to Daizhou, he had already betrayed the young ht elites, he had to consider the young ht side-by-side with Lin Tong, his position as the head of the eight elites had begun to waver, to say nothing of the fact that Great Yong would not per army would definitely advance upon Daizhou As for Chiji himself, he had no wish to tarnish his sith the blood of his beloved and his closest friends and family

After a while, Chiji was roused awake It was his turn to azed off into the distance with his luminous eyes, his hands performed a task He took out the sharp arrows froourd from his waist Then he took out a handkerchief and a pair of deerskin gloves froloves, he poured a black liquid out fro the handkerchief He wiped the handkerchief on the arrowheads, his ile After each of the arrows had been treated, the arrowheads looked dark gray As he was doing this, the conscripts beside hi his actions until he had finished

Just as he had refastened the calabash gourd to his waist, a sweet-sounding, but so?”

Although he trehtest delay as he turned and kneeled to answer, “This lowly one was just applying poison to the arrows”

Lin Tong’s phoenix eyes revealed a look of suspicion “Why apply poison? The arrows of my army’s warriors can take the lives of the ene and difficult to apply poison, while it is not that effective”

Changing his accent, he replied, “This lowly one isn’t froth is bad E’en tho’ I can pierce the enemy’s leather armor, I can’t kill them That’s why I’ve applied poison Raises the possibility of killing the ene Quite interested, she inquired, “Who are you? How do you kno to concoct poison? Applying poison like this is quite troublesoe quantities to rapidly create numerous poisoned arrows? Get up to speak There is no need to re this, Chiji cal, he responded, “This lowly one is wang Dalang A wandering doc Knowin’ some medicine, this lowly one made this poison myself When it meets with blood, the fella poisoned ’as his breathin’ sealed But this poison is kinda hard ta use Put on arrows, poison don’t last long That’s why this lowly one applied poison right now Princess guards the pass, so we need a ton of arrows Although it is right hard and time-consuets, arroorkshops can be found everywhere in Daizhou Also, there’s lots of lacquer Lacquer itself possesses toxicity If the Princess has people dip the heads of bound bunches of arrows in lacquer ’fore dryin’ in the sun, when it injures the enemy, their wounds will really swell and itch Also, the wounds be difficult ta heal”

Hearing this, Lin Tong was excited, carefully gazing at the young h he was neither servile nor overbearing in his words, his head was bowed, not daring to glance at her He seemed to be an extremely reserved individual However, the words he had spoken were filled with killing intent andher feel a sudden chill She found herself saying, “Raise your head”

Chiji slowly raised his head Lin Tong gazed at his appearance, a hint of confusion glinting in her eyes The face in front of her was somewhat familiar However, she could not recall who he was Just as she was about to question, a bodyguard standing behind her reported, “Princess, Elder General Qi has co relied heavily upon thisaround and just as she was about to meet himan’s face was ninety percent similar to the , as well as his eyes and broere all different For their appearances to be so siht? A while after Lin Tong stopped in her tracks, she er that was Great Yong was about to s all of the lands At this arded and honored Chiji was bound to be at his master’s side With his future prospects boundless, it was iers of Daizhou and fight the barbarians In addition, since that man had the ability to mix with the barbarians to the north, he definitely had superb skills It was unlikely that he would appear before her with a face that was ninety percent sie his surnaination run wild

Hesitating, Lin Tong stopped walking Turning her head, she asked, “wang Dalang, do you have any brothers born fro a somewhat puzzled look, Chiji answered, “Reportin’ ta the Princess, this lowly one has no brothers or sisters”

“Is that so,” spoke Lin Tong in disappoint on her way She increased her pace and put a s, she welco, “Uncle Qi, can you oversee the application of black lacquer to the arrowheads?”