Chapter 20: It’s nice to hear you calling my name before I die for love...
Dingping Mountain, west of Hezhou City, is an area with extremely lush vegetation. Even in the cold winter, the dead branches are still densely intertwined.
Dingping Mountain was originally a natural lookout tower for the Ruining Army stationed at the border. The name of the mountain was also given by the ancestors of the Fang family. It separates Ruining and the original Xiling territory.
Liangzhou is located directly south of Hezhou, but it also borders Dingping Mountain.
According to the intelligence from the spy, they chose to meet with Xiling on Dingping Mountain, and the Xiling army also used the natural gap in the north to transport food and grass.
Firstly, the distance is short and there is no need to take a detour.
Secondly, it is safe and there is no need to worry about being discovered by the Ruining army. Once the Ruining army rushes in rashly, the Xiling army only needs to encircle and attack them from both sides to catch them in the trap.
Perhaps it was because of this preconceived notion, or because the New Year was approaching, their transport team was not heavily guarded. It was just a small team of less than a hundred people, who chatted leisurely while moving slowly towards Hezhou.
Based on Fang Yilan's rotation over the past few days to check the frequency and routes of their transportation, he gradually figured out some patterns.
Every five days, a team of them would travel to the mountain road in Dingping Mountain in the evening.
Fang Yilan planned to seize a batch of food and supplies to replenish military supplies and resolve this urgent problem.
Huan Ying repeatedly deduced and calculated along the retreat route, and the more he calculated, the more uneasy he felt: "General, this attack is too radical. We must not act rashly."
Fang Yilan didn't answer him, but instead asked Lieutenant General Lin beside him: "How many days can the food and grass last?"
Lieutenant General Lin choked for a moment, but could only answer honestly: "If we use it urgently, it can still last about a month."
Fang Yilan nodded slightly and his gaze returned to the topographic map.
"It's not like there's no chance."
"At this point, we can only take a risk and try."
...
The gap area on the northern foot of Dingping Mountain has always been quiet.
But today, when the Xiling transport team was winding forward, strange noises suddenly came from the woods, startling several roosting birds. The noises were like the whimpering of ghosts, and were indescribably eerie.
The transport team members became nervous instantly as if they were facing a great enemy. They drew their swords and vigilantly fired in all directions.
The leading captain reacted very quickly. He raised his hand and signaled the team to speed up and rush towards Hezhou. At the same time, he quickly picked out a small group of people and ordered them to go into the forest to investigate.
Not long after the small group of people entered the woods, they hurried back. It turned out that the howling wind was the cause of such a frightening noise. It was just a false alarm.
Even so, the leader was still full of suspicion and could not let go of his worries. So on his way back, he sent the Xiling garrison in Hezhou to Dingping Mountain to conduct a thorough investigation on the mountain.
I spent a lot of effort but didn't find anything suspicious.
When the transport team passed through here again, the team specially dispatched a lot of escort soldiers. When they reached Dingping Mountain, the creepy strange sound was heard again.
The general in charge of the escort frowned and realized something was wrong, so he led his men into the woods to investigate.
There were dead branches and rotten wood everywhere in the forest, but nothing unusual was seen. The guarding general could not help but laugh at himself, thinking that he was frightened by some strange noises in the mountains. He was really making a fuss out of nothing.
After turning back, he took a gulp of liquor, wiped his mouth, slapped the leader hard on the shoulder, and said jokingly: "You are too timid, but there are some strange noises on the mountain, look how scared you are."
The leader of the grain transport team was already frightened by these series of situations. He stammered a few times and looked embarrassed, but he didn't know how to refute for a while.
"Perhaps it is the wronged souls of the Fang family who died in vain, who got lost on the road to the underworld and can't find the way to reincarnation, so they are wandering here." The guard general shook the wine jug in his hand while speaking, and let out another wild and shrill laugh.
"Don't worry, they don't dare come here to rob us. Isn't that courting death? I guarantee they won't come back."
Little did they know that several eyes in the darkness were watching them leave.
*
Five days later, the sky gradually darkened.
Fang Yilan led the team to lie dormant in the mountains, keeping silent and waiting for the prey to fall into the trap.
After a while, a rumbling sound of carriages came from afar. A team of carriages loaded with food and fodder was slowly approaching, causing the axles to creak.
Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Fang Yilan led the assault team and rushed out of the mountains.
The Xiling Army had obviously learned the bitter lesson of the Battle of Ningqiu and reacted extremely quickly. As soon as Fang Yilan made a move, a flare roared across the night sky, illuminating the sky above their heads.
Fang Yilan made a prompt decision and commanded the Linque Cavalry to evacuate first with the looted food and supplies, while selecting seven or eight people to cover their retreat.
Those who stayed behind were a few familiar faces, all of them elite soldiers picked from hundreds of miles away. They moved around in the enemy camp and quickly wiped out the remaining Xiling soldiers.
Before anyone could catch their breath, tiny flames appeared in the distance. A large number of Xiling soldiers and horses were rushing towards them with torches held high. The sound of their horses' hooves made the mountains tremble.
"Retreat!" Fang Yilan shouted.
She looked at the large cavalry team behind her, thought for a moment, pulled the reins, and immediately led the remaining few people towards a winding mountain path.
Xiling's pursuers were numerous, but the mountain path was extremely narrow, with a cliff on one side, making it impossible for so many people to move simultaneously. The large force was crowded into the narrow passage, pushing and shoving each other, forming a chaotic mess, completely blocking the way and widening the distance between the two sides in an instant.
The pursuers watched the retreating figures, furious and anxious, yet helpless. After weighing the pros and cons, they split up into several groups. One group pursued Fang Yilan and the others relentlessly in the direction they had fled, while the remaining groups circumvented them from different directions.
Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Fang Yilan's brows showed a hint of joy. Just as he was about to turn around and speak to the others, he saw the cold light of a knife flash.
It was too late to dodge at this time, but he heard the collision of swords and knives. It was Zhao Huaixu who blocked the killing move with his sword.
Seeing that his plan failed, the spy drove his horse directly towards Fang Yilan. The mountain path was narrow and only two meters wide. Fang Yilan stumbled, lost control of his center of gravity, and fell off the cliff.
Zhuang Gu watched helplessly as all this happened, his soul and spirit about to leave his body. He reached out to grab it but it was too late: "General!"
Before everyone could react, another black shadow jumped off the bottomless cliff in the direction where Fang Yilan fell without hesitation.
Xun Yun reacted extremely quickly, drawing his sword in the blink of an eye and stabbing the spy fiercely. Zhuang Gu also recovered from his panic and, in tacit coordination with several people around him, surrounded the spy and trapped him.
Seeing that there was no hope of escape, the spy simply gave up hiding, his mouth wide open with a bit of ferocity, and he spat viciously: "Dare to go against the Genji, this is your end!" After that, without waiting for everyone to react, he raised his hand and slashed his neck fiercely. Blood gushed out and he died on the spot.
Suo Tai stood on the edge of the cliff, overlooking Fang Yilan who was falling rapidly below, and suddenly burst into an almost insane laugh. The laughter echoed in the valley, full of sarcasm.
"Look at these Ruining people, aren't they ridiculous? We don't even need to do anything, they'll kill each other on their own."
After a moment, the laughter stopped abruptly, and Suo Tai gave orders in a cold voice.
"But if you want to see him alive, you must find him. If he's dead, you must find his body. Send people down the mountain to search immediately."
"yes!"
*
Fang Yilan gripped the hilt of her sword tightly and scraped against the mountain wall, trying to slow her fall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar figure falling overhead, and she subconsciously freed her right hand to catch it.
A sharp pain exploded from her hand bones, causing her arm to lose strength instantly.
Fortunately, almost at the same moment, Zhao Huaixu also stretched out his arms and tightly wrapped them around her. Then, he took out a piece of leather rope from his waist and threw it towards a protruding rock on the mountain wall.
The leather rope was wrapped around the boulder, and the two men hugged each other tightly. Relying on the resistance generated by the friction between the sword and the mountain wall, as well as the hanging pull of the leather rope, they were able to hover in the air in a thrilling manner.
Zhao Huaixu only let out a muffled groan, and the weight of two people instantly pressed down on his hand. One can imagine the enormous pressure on his wrist, and he must have suffered serious injuries.
In this situation, he obviously couldn't hold on for long alone.
Fang Yilan forced a wry smile: "Are you stupid? You're jumping along too."
Zhao Huaixu's attention was completely focused on his left hand at this moment. He didn't even have the energy to force a smile. He just said hurriedly: "Hold on, see if there is any place around to gain leverage."
Fang Yilan looked at the bare cliffs around her. Not only could she not find a place to climb, she couldn't even find a living plant.
"Okay, let go. It's just a dead life, what's there to save?" Fang Yilan smiled carefreely.
She thought to herself that her life should have ended long ago on the set. Now, she struggled to survive in this world, toiling away every day, constantly on the edge of her seat, wary of assassination attempts from who knows what. She might as well just be free, die and put an end to it all.
"No, you can't die!" Zhao Huaixu squeezed out these words from between his teeth with difficulty, as if as long as he didn't agree, the King of Hell would have to retreat.
"Oh, so domineering?" Fang Yilan admired his almost out-of-control expression with great interest and chuckled, as if the person who was hanging in the air on the cliff with his life hanging by a thread was not herself at all.
"But I don't like to owe favors to others before I die." As he said this, he raised his left hand, which still had strength, and forcibly pried open Zhao Huaixu's fingers bit by bit.
One.
Zhao Huaixu became even angrier and shouted, "Fang Yilan!"
Two.
"Hey, I'm here." Fang Yilan grinned, raised his injured and swollen right hand, and saluted him in a proper manner.
Three.
"It's nice to hear you call my name so vigorously before I die."
After saying that, she opened her last finger.
"If we meet again in the next life, I will be a big star and you will continue to be my assistant."
Her hair danced wildly in the wind, covering her face and blurring her expression. The dark figure was about to be swallowed up by the abyss.
The rage burned Zhao Huaixu's eyes red, and the veins on his forehead popped up instantly.
What did it matter that he had been humble and looked down upon in the past few months? What did it matter that he had been verbally abused and beaten? He had gritted his teeth and swallowed every bit of it.
Fang Yilan's defenses had finally shown signs of weakening, so how could he allow her to leave so easily with just a casual goodbye?
And...abandon myself.
He was unwilling to accept this and absolutely could not do that.
Even if she dies, she must die in her own hands.
As if he had convinced himself, the anger on his face disappeared, and the rage turned into poison that penetrated into his pupils and became ink that would not dissipate. He returned to his previous gentle appearance.
Fang Yilan slowly closed her eyes, ready to face the end of her fall.
At this moment, a rough rope flew over and wrapped around her waist, and his arms suddenly locked her tightly in his arms.
The clear and mellow voice exploded in her ears again, entangling her soul.
"General, I think I did."
"You can't abandon me."
The author has something to say:
----------------------
The author's affectionate accompaniment BGM: I thought suicide for love was just an ancient rumor~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com