Bloodstained Ice City
The biting wind, like countless blunt knives covered in ice shards, scraped across the vast plains of the Longxi Plateau. The lingering stench of blood from the riverbanks hadn't yet been completely sealed by the frozen earth when a new, even more piercing cold swept through the Qin army camp. The river roared on, but the moisture condensed into fine ice crystals that stung the face like grit. The tent tarpaulins were frozen stiff, producing a dull thud when tapped. Breathed breath instantly froze into frost, clinging to beards and eyebrows.
The enormous casualty figures weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like lead weights. The elite troops had suffered nearly half their losses, and the empty tents looked particularly desolate in the cold wind. The surviving recruits were much quieter, their fear replaced by a deeper numbness and exhaustion. Sheng Guo became unusually quiet, often waking up in the night, shivering on her straw mat. Xiao Yuxuan was also silent. He no longer wore his hatred on his face as he had when he first entered the army; that hatred seemed to have been extinguished by the blood of the riverbank, sinking deep into his bones, transforming into something cold and harder. He still trained daily, but his movements now possessed an almost mechanical precision, his eyes vacant. Only when wiping the bronze halberd that had drunk human blood would his fingertips pause slightly.
"Get your act together! Cowards!" Tu Sui's roar was still fierce, but it seemed to have lost some of its initial deliberate arrogance, replaced by a more battlefield-hardened restlessness. The flesh on his scarred face turned purple in the cold wind, but his eyes were even sharper than a hawk's, constantly scanning the desolate Gobi Desert on the opposite bank of the river. "Those wolf cubs over there have suffered a great loss, they won't let this go! The freezing weather is the perfect time for them to counterattack! You all better be on your guard!"
On this day, the overcast sky hung low, the leaden clouds seemingly within reach. A cold wind whipped up snowflakes, lashing against the camp. A low, rapid thud of hooves broke the stillness of the camp, and several dust-covered messengers charged straight towards the central command tent. Moments later, an unusual tension spread rapidly like ripples.
"The Mohists! The Mohists have arrived!"
"I heard a master craftsman has arrived! He's going to build an ice city!"
The news, like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, stirred ripples between new recruits and veterans. Curiosity, awe, and doubt mingled on numb faces.
Xiao Yuxuan was assigned by his platoon leader to lead several new recruits to assemble at an open area near the riverbank on the edge of the camp. A considerable number of soldiers had already gathered there, listening to a middle-aged man dressed in a dark blue cloth robe and a matching square headscarf speak. The man had a lean face and calm eyes, seemingly possessing boundless wisdom. Three long wisps of beard remained motionless in the cold wind. He was Ji Zhai, the strategist of the Mohist school. Several Mohist disciples, dressed similarly, stood beside him, their expressions focused.
"The timing is in our hands, and the terrain can be created." Ji Zhai's voice was not loud, but it clearly pierced through the cold wind and reached everyone's ears, carrying a calm strength. "The enemy wants to launch a counterattack in the cold winter, but their advantage lies in cavalry archery and rapid attacks. Now the river is swift. If our army sets up camp on the riverbank and uses the ice as a fortress, then their cavalry will have difficulty crossing, and their arrows will be difficult to destroy."
"Ice City?" a new recruit couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, his voice full of disbelief.
Ji Zhai's gaze swept over the crowd, showing no displeasure. Instead, he nodded slightly: "Indeed. Water has no fixed shape, but it hardens when it's cold. We need to build an ice city, constructed according to the terrain, to guard key points." He pointed to an area on the riverbank where the current was relatively gentle, the bank was solid, and the terrain was slightly elevated. "Use this as a base, pour water in layers to freeze it. Then, use bundles of wood and grass as reinforcement to strengthen the inner layer. The outer layer needs to be poured with boiling water to quickly freeze it into ice, making it as hard as refined iron and slippery to walk on!"
His words were concise and clear, yet they painted a picture of a near-miraculous future. As Xiao Yuxuan listened, a faint flicker of emotion finally appeared in his empty eyes. A city built of water? Could the wisdom of the Mohists truly transform the mundane into the miraculous?
"Your mission!" Ji Zhai's voice suddenly turned stern, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Fell tough timber and carve it into timber frames! Cut dry, resilient grass and bundle it into bundles! Dig tunnels to access deep frozen soil! Transport large chunks of river ice! All necessary materials must be carried out according to orders, without error! Those who disobey will be punished for delaying military operations!"
The order fell like a cold, iron law. The soldiers of the Material Warriors Battalion were immediately driven to work like worker ants into this massive and peculiar project.
The logging area was located in a sparse woodland behind the camp. A biting wind howled through the bare branches like the wailing of ghosts. Xiao Yuxuan wielded his heavy bronze axe; each chop sent numbness through his arms, and the newly scabbed wounds on his hands reopened, oozing blood that mingled with cold sweat and stuck to the rough axe handle. The hard, frozen wood was extremely difficult to chop, sending sawdust flying, blinding anyone who looked. A boy nearby was a little slower, immediately drawing the whip of the overseer; a sharp crack followed by a suppressed cry of pain.
"Hurry up! Get everything moving faster! Master Mo is waiting to be used!" Tu Sui's roar echoed in the cold wind. He personally supervised the work, his eyes like those of a hawk.
Another team of soldiers was sent to dig through the frozen ground. The surface was frozen solid, like an iron plate; shovels struck it, leaving only shallow white marks and causing a sharp pain in the skin. They had to first heat the ground with fire to melt the surface slightly before they could painstakingly dig through. The icy soil clung to the shovels, impossible to shake off, and each dig required immense effort. Cold sweat streamed down their foreheads, dripping onto the frozen ground and instantly freezing into beads.
Sheng Guo was assigned to the hay-cutting group. The edges of the withered, tough grass were as sharp as knives, and his fingers were quickly cut, turning red and numb in the cold wind. He gritted his teeth and dragged the heavy bundles of hay to the designated storage point, his thin body swaying precariously in the cold wind.
The most arduous and exhausting task was moving the river ice. The murky river wasn't completely frozen; a thick layer of ice covered the edges near the banks, but the current was still turbulent in the swiftest parts. The soldiers had to brave the biting wind, treading on the slippery ice, using thick ropes and crowbars to pry the huge, angular blocks of ice off the surface, then drag them ashore to the fortification site. The icy water splashed up frequently, soaking their clothes and instantly freezing them into hard shells. A gust of wind felt like countless steel needles piercing their bones.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" A deep, labored chant echoed along the riverbank, carrying heavy breaths and suppressed pain. Huge blocks of ice moved laboriously across the frozen ground, leaving deep craters. Every now and then, someone slipped and fell heavily onto the ice, making a dull thud and drawing shouts from the officers.
Xiao Yuxuan was also in the hauling team. Heavy icicles pressed against the wooden poles on his shoulders; the icy chill seeped through his thin coat, penetrating his shoulder blades as if to freeze them. The ice beneath his feet was incredibly slippery; every step was taken with extreme caution, a slight misstep would send him sprawling. He gritted his teeth, summoning every ounce of strength to resist the biting cold and the aching in his muscles. He stopped thinking about hatred, about the future; all his consciousness was focused on the small patch of slippery ice beneath his feet, the heavy burden on his shoulders, and the monotonous, heavy chanting in his ears. Only in this extreme, almost numb torture did the splattered blood and desperate cries on the riverbank seem to be temporarily frozen and sealed away.
Ji Zhai's figure stood like a rock, always at the forefront of the city's construction. At times, he directed his Mohist disciples to measure angles and mark positions using specially made rulers and compasses; at other times, he personally bent down to check the sturdiness of the large wooden stakes driven into the frozen ground by the soldiers; still other times, he instructed them on how to stack bundles of straw and whittled wooden frames layer by layer according to a specific structure, forming the framework of the ice wall. His charcoal pencil flew across the rough leather scrolls, his mouth constantly uttering clear and concise instructions. The cold wind whipped his dark blue robes, making a rustling sound, but he seemed oblivious, his gaze as focused as if he were sculpting a rare treasure.
"This area needs to be thickened! The water should be poured evenly!"
"Insert the wooden frame at an angle! Make the angle even greater! It needs to withstand the impact!"
"Tie the straw bundles tightly! Seal the gaps! Prevent arrows from getting in!"
His voice was steady and powerful, piercing through the howling wind, precisely directing this struggle between man and nature. The Mohist disciples, like his extended limbs, moved among the busy soldiers, correcting every detail and ensuring the foundation of this ice city was absolutely solid.
With all the materials ready, the actual construction of the city began. This was the most breathtaking scene.
Countless soldiers formed a long line, fetching icy water from the still-unfrozen river and pouring it into huge earthenware urns and wooden buckets. Other soldiers were responsible for carrying the water to designated locations. Ji Zhai stood on a makeshift platform, like a god controlling the wind and rain, waving his command flag.
"splash--!"
As the command flag fell, buckets of icy river water were vigorously splashed onto the framework of the wall made of wood and straw! The water made a soft "sizzling" sound upon contact with the cold wood and frozen soil, and quickly froze into a thin layer of ice! Under Ji Zhai's precise command, the rhythm of the water splashing and the area covered were strictly controlled, and the thin ice layer quickly accumulated and thickened!
"Quick! Go down to the next floor!" Ji Zhai's voice carried an undeniable sense of urgency.
The soldiers, like tireless machines, repeated the actions of fetching, carrying, and splashing water. The cold wind was their perfect accomplice, accelerating the freezing of the water. The ice layer thickened and rose at a visible speed! Bundles of wood and grass, sprinkled with water, were quickly encased in the glistening ice, forming a solid support. The outline of the city wall rapidly emerged under the pouring of ice and water!
The crucial moment for reinforcing the outer layer had arrived. Dozens of enormous iron cauldrons were erected, with firewood roaring beneath them. Muddy river water was poured into the cauldrons and rapidly heated to a boil, white steam billowing and swirling in the cold wind.
"Boiling water! Pour it on the outer layer!" Ji Zhai's voice suddenly rose!
The soldiers vigorously splashed boiling water, steaming hot, onto the outer layer of the ice wall! The boiling water, upon contact with the cold wall, produced an even more intense sizzling sound and billowed up large plumes of white steam! The scalding water, upon encountering the frigid ice surface, instantly underwent a violent heat exchange, condensing at an astonishing speed into an extremely hard, smooth, and dense ice shell!
This layer of ice, formed from boiling water, is exceptionally hard. Under the dim light, it reflects a cold, slightly bluish-green crystalline luster! The entire ice city, rising along the riverbank, resembles a crouching, giant dragon constructed of ice, rapidly taking shape in the cold wind! The walls are over ten feet high, with an incredibly smooth surface, shimmering with an unnatural, chilling gleam in the dim light! Sharp icicles cling to the edges, like the fangs of a giant beast.
Xiao Yuxuan put down the heavy wooden bucket, panting, his breath instantly dissipating in the cold wind. He gazed up at the ice crystal barrier that had risen from the ground in just a few days, an indescribable shock gripping him. A chilling aura rushed towards him, carrying the fishy smell of the river and the unique sharpness of fresh ice. This was no longer a figment of imagination, but a tangible, cold reality forged from the blood, sweat, and even lives of countless people! The wisdom of the Mohists could so skillfully manipulate nature, turning water into a city! Behind this cold grandeur lay a cruel calculation of life. He subconsciously touched the blood talisman in his robes, already frozen cold; the touch of the character "An" on his fingertips seemed to carry the chill of this icy city.
The third day after the completion of the Ice City, the darkest hour before dawn.
"Waaaaaah!"
A chilling horn call, so mournful it sent shivers down one's spine, suddenly erupted from the desolate depths of the Gobi Desert across the river! More intense, more frantic than before! Like the simultaneous wailing of countless dying beasts, it instantly tore through the cold night sky!
"Enemy attack—! Beacon towers! All the beacon towers are on fire!" The shouts from the watchtower were filled with terrified screams.
Xiao Yuxuan sprang from the cold straw mat, his heart clenching as if gripped by an icy hand! He rushed out of the tent and saw dozens of crimson pillars of fire shooting into the sky along the outline of the black mountain range on the opposite bank of the river! The billowing smoke, like giant claws reaching out from hell, dyed the gray sky a hideous blood red! In the firelight, countless black figures could be vaguely seen on the Gobi Desert, surging towards the riverbank like a flood bursting its banks!
"All troops, prepare for battle!"
"Archers! Get to the ice wall!"
"Elite Battalion! Reserves, take your positions!"
"Archery Battalion! Move the arrows and stones! Quickly!"
The entire camp was instantly ablaze! A roar even more rapid and chaotic than before erupted! Tu Sui's roar, like that of a wounded beast, exploded throughout the soldiers' camp: "Move! All of you, get moving! Those who want to live, move your stuff up there!"
Swept up in the surging crowd, Xiao Yuxuan shouldered a heavy bundle of arrows and sprinted towards the ice wall that gleamed with a chilling light beneath the blood-red sky! The frozen ground beneath his feet was hard and cold, each step sending numbness through his feet. The biting wind, carrying with it the tidal wave of battle cries from the opposite bank, assaulted his nostrils.
He rushed up the inner slope to the top of the ice wall. The biting wind, like countless icy blades, instantly pierced through his thin clothes, almost suffocating him. Suddenly, the view opened up before him!
The turbid river roared and surged beneath our feet. On the opposite bank, countless enemy troops, like a black swarm of ants, plunged recklessly into the icy water! Crude rafts and leather rafts reappeared, and even more soldiers clung to driftwood, some even swimming by hand, struggling to reach this side in the raging waves! Arrows, like locusts, soared from the opposite bank, carrying the shrill screams of death, raining down upon the icy city!
"Raise your shields—!" the Qin officer on the ice wall roared.
"Thud, thud, thud!" A series of rapid impacts echoed across the ice wall! The arrows struck the smooth, hard ice surface, most bouncing off, only a few embedding themselves deeply, their fletchings still trembling. The smooth surface of the ice wall greatly reduced the arrows' penetrating power!
"Archers! Free fire! Suppress the enemy crossing the river!" The command rang out again.
The Qin archers on the inner side of the ice wall, relying on the ice stacks, steadily drew their bows and nocked their arrows. They no longer needed to worry about the rain of arrows overhead and could focus all their energy on aiming at the struggling figures on the river.
"Buzz—!"
The Qin army's arrows, whistling with vengeance, rained down on the river! Screams instantly drowned out the river's roar! Enemy soldiers crossing the river were struck by arrows and fell into the water like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. The icy river quickly turned red, then was dispersed by the swift current, forming shocking red ribbons. Rafts were pierced and capsized; soldiers clinging to driftwood were shot, screaming as they sank to the cold riverbed.
However, the enemy troops, like madmen, continued their advance despite being driven by the rear guard! Finally, the first group of enemy soldiers, soaked to the bone and with lips turning purple from the cold, howled as they climbed onto the Qin army's riverbank! Wielding their weapons like bloodthirsty beasts, they trampled over the corpses of their comrades and the icy mud, charging toward the ice wall that gleamed with a deadly cold light!
"Kill! Charge up the ice wall!"
"Form a human ladder! Climb up!"
A frenzied howl echoed across the mudflats. The enemy soldiers who followed began desperately trying to climb the smooth, mirror-like ice! They used swords and knives to carve shallow pits in the ice, dug into cracks with their fingers, and even piled up the corpses of their comrades as stepping stones! The scene was chaotic and bloody!
"Pour kerosene! Boil water!" the officer on the ice wall shouted hoarsely.
The Qin soldiers, who were already prepared, immediately sprang into action. Huge wooden barrels were lifted, and scalding, viscous black oil was poured down the smooth ice surface! Immediately afterward, pot after pot of boiling water was forcefully poured down!
"Sizzle—! Ah—!"
A series of piercing screams erupted beneath the ice wall! Boiling oil and water were poured over the heads and bodies of the climbing enemy soldiers! Their flesh was instantly scalded and blistered! The ice surface, heated, became even more slippery! The soldiers, like dumplings being thrown into a pot, screamed and tumbled down the ice wall! The oil, upon contact with the torches below, instantly burst into flames! The area beneath the ice wall instantly transformed into a sea of fire! Countless figures, engulfed in flames, writhed and howled in the fire and icy water, emitting a horrifying stench of charred flesh!
Xiao Yuxuan stood inside the ice wall, responsible for moving the boulders and logs to the top of the ice wall. Through the gaps in the ice, he could clearly see the hellish scene below. An enemy soldier was scalded by boiling water; his skin instantly blistered and peeled off, revealing bright red muscle and white bone. He let out a scream that was not human, frantically scratching his face as he rolled off the ice wall and fell into the sea of fire below! Another soldier was doused with oil and instantly became a man of fire, dancing and struggling wildly. His shrill screams pierced the night sky as he finally collapsed heavily into the cold mud, flames still crackling on his body.
A pungent, acrid stench, a mixture of burning flesh and gasping reeked of flesh, so intense it was suffocating, rushing into Xiao Yuxuan's mouth and nose on the cold wind. His stomach churned violently, and he abruptly turned his head away, retching violently. Before him was no longer a blurry scene of carnage, but a stark, close-up view of horrific torture! The cold wisdom of the Mohist school had transformed into the most cruel killing machine! This was far more chilling, far more mentally devastating than the face-to-face battle on the riverbank!
"Don't just stand there! Roll the log!" The veteran next to him shoved him hard and shouted sternly.
Xiao Yuxuan suppressed his urge to vomit and, together with another soldier, lifted a heavy log with its tip sharpened and pushed it up the rampart. Below the ice wall, a group of enemy soldiers were taking advantage of a brief lull, under the cover of charred corpses, to try again to build a human ladder.
"Release!" The officer waved the command flag.
The heavy log, carrying immense potential energy, roared down the smooth ice! A desperate scream and the horrifying crunch of bones being crushed echoed from below!
The ice wall, like a giant, cold millstone, mercilessly devoured lives. The battle raged from dawn until the sun began to set. Below the ice wall, corpses piled up like mountains: some killed by arrows, some scalded by boiling water, some burned, some crushed by rolling logs and stones, and many more fell to their deaths or froze to death in pools of cold, muddy blood. Limbs, charred torsos, frozen blood... all mixed together, creating a hellish scene more gruesome and repulsive than the riverbank. A pungent, mixed stench permeated the air, which even the biting wind could not completely dispel.
The afterglow of the setting sun, like diluted blood, smeared the crystalline walls of the Ice City, reflecting an eerie and chilling sheen. The walls were covered with arrow marks, charred kerosene stains, and large, menacing, dark red icicles, repeatedly soaked and frozen in blood. The entire Ice City, like a work of art repeatedly washed and frozen in blood and death, stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, radiating a chilling aura that could freeze one's soul.
Xiao Yuxuan leaned against the cold, icy wall, slumping to the ground, utterly exhausted. He was covered in black ash and ice shards from his work, his hands were red and numb with cold, and the skin between his thumb and forefinger cracked again, oozing dark red blood that quickly congealed in the frigid air. His stomach was empty, yet it continued to convulse, the bitter taste of bile burning in his throat.
He dared not look at the scene outside the wall. But the piercing screams, the stench of burning flesh, the cracking of bones, clung to his senses like maggots. The Mo family's Ice City had perfectly withstood the enemy's attack, achieving immense casualties with minimal losses. This should have been a victory to celebrate. However, the taste of victory, like the chill of the Ice City, was icy and bone-chilling, penetrating to the very soul.
He slowly lowered his head, spreading out his frozen, numb, and filthy hands. These hands had carried timber for building the city, lifted boiling water for killing, and pushed down rolling logs that crushed flesh and bone. He instinctively touched his chest. The coarse linen talisman pressed against his cold heart, the character "安" (peace) embroidered with his mother's blood, now felt colder than the chill of this icy city.
For the sake of this "peace"... for the sake of survival...
He raised his head, his empty gaze passing over the glistening yet blood-stained ice wall's ramparts, looking across the river at the Gobi Desert, tinged a dark red by the setting sun and the lingering smoke of battle. The enemy's black wolf banners drooped helplessly in the evening wind. Those soldiers who died beneath the ice wall… what were they fighting for? Did they also have mothers? Did they also have a hope embroidered on cloth, hidden in their hearts?
A biting wind, carrying icy shards and the heavy stench of blood, assaulted his nostrils. There were no answers. Only the ancient chill emanating from the icy city beneath his feet, and the silent accusations of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood beyond the walls.
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