by Tao Wong
Wu Ying’s eyes widened, realizing that they too would likely come under fire when they got within range. Luckily, each of those talismans did not look powerful enough to destroy the covers themselves—just set them alight. Even so, the first wave had stalled, many of the soldiers abandoning their vehicles to escape a fiery death only to be targeted by the arrows of the defenders. More and more of the first wave fell, only a few groups managing to form protective shield walls and return fire now that they were within range.
“Are we still going in?” came the deep voice of Huang Zu from behind, highly disapproving of the idea.
None of the cultivators answered him, for the decision was out of their hands. The general and drums would tell them of their fate. In the silence that encompassed their small, cramped, and suddenly too fragile siege weapon, they rolled forward under the relentless beat of the drums.
***
A change in drum signal and a tapped warning had Wu Ying and the soldier apply the brakes. They stopped just outside of bow range and watched the on-going struggle before them. As expected, the moment the sky ladders had made their way halfway through the fields to the wall, they came under fire from the talisman arrows.
To Wu Ying’s surprise, the army had an answer to the talisman arrows. Around each of the siege weapons, a wall of sand and air kicked up as talismans that had been placed on the siege weapons activated. Each of the talismans lived briefly before they expired, releasing their stored energy into the wind and conjuring soil ahead of them, sending arrows targeted at the sky ladders swinging aside and falling away. The attack had the added benefit of throwing up a significant amount of dust and dirt, obscuring the view of the engines as they rolled forward. When Wu Ying managed to glimpse the battlefield again, he was surprised to note that brave soldiers were climbing the ladders, buckets of water in hand as they doused the fires that had managed to light up the ladders. Even as Wu Ying rejoiced at the successful tactic, another wave of arrows was fired.
“How much is this costing them?” he asked, mentally gauging the cost of each flight of arrows.
Lady Pan chuckled. “When it comes to battle at this level, it is more a matter of taels than skill. Whoever has more wins.”
Bai Hu added his own two coins. “It is a complete waste of resources. Each of those talismans is at least an hour’s worth of work by an apprentice. These enchantments are not particularly hard, but they shot a small Sect’s entire month’s production in a single volley. Only kingdoms can afford this kind of waste.” The disgust that filled Bai Hu’s voice made Wu Ying take a closer look at the man.
“Just be grateful we can afford to do it too,” Lady Pan said.
As Wu Ying watched the third volley of arrows land, to some minor result, he could only agree with Bai Hu. It really was a waste. Not only of resources, but of the bodies that littered the field. At least now that the majority of the fire was targeted at the siege ladders in an attempt to slow them, the individual soldiers who had disembarked from the first wave had been relieved of the pressure placed upon them. Having set up their positions and with shields in front of them, the crouching infantryman who once wielded the propped-up shields were digging into the dirt before the walls.
“What are they doing?” Wu Ying said.
“Digging trenches. It’ll give them better cover,” said the soldier beside Wu Ying. “The deeper they dig, the more places they create, the easier it will be for the next fight.”
“Next fight?”
“Yes. The ladders won’t make it. Not enough of them at least,” the soldier said, shaking his head.
“How many would be enough?”
“At least half. The general is being too impatient.”
“Isn’t that a dangerous thing to say?” Wu Ying said, cocking his head and looking at the soldier.
“It is. Why do you think I’m out here?” The soldier grinned wryly. “Too many opinions for someone who crawls in the dirt.”
Bai Hu laughed and clapped the soldier on his shoulder. “Good man. One should live free from the strictures and worries about the fools above us. If you survive this, find me and my sworn brothers. A man with such bravery should not consign himself to a life of following orders.”
The soldier let his gaze roam over Bai Hu and his brothers before he said slowly, “I don’t think your life is much better than mine. Going from war to war, being mercenaries. At least I know where my dinner is coming from here.”
Bai Hu glowered at the soldier before he laughed again. “Good man. Keep telling truth to the world. Maybe in the next life, your obstinance will pay off.”
The soldier shook his head, deciding not to answer. Adrenaline and fear could only make him open his mouth for that long. A few seconds later, the whispered message from those at the back of the assault cover, those who could see the flags, came. It was the same old message.
Advance.
“I thought this assault had failed?” Wu Ying said to the soldier.
“The assault covers and the sky ladders are too far forward to pull back. They need to be used. The general will continue the assault. Pulling back now will lose him face and the spent resources for little gain. Better to spend it all properly. And who knows, maybe we’ll pull off a miracle,” Lady Pan said wryly.
“Hun dan!” Bai Hu swore.
Chapter 15
Under the cover of the siege weapon, Wu Ying and his team moved forward. This time around, there was no reason to hold back, so they moved as quickly as they could. They still had a lot of ground to cover, and the siege ladders were nearly at the walls. The last push before the ladders met the walls would only happen when the cultivators were close. Otherwise, they risked the ladders being destroyed well before anyone could ascend. Still, the ladders were close enough to the walls that the trebuchets—which had been firing incessantly—were unable to adjust their angle to attack them. Now, the only risks the ladders faced were talisman arrows and the occasional pot of boiling oil.
As the cultivators pushed forward, the defenders targeted the assault covers. Even if they did not need to hold back too much, Wu Ying cautioned the soldier beside him to slow down a little.
“Why are we slowing down?” Bai Hu asked.
“We don’t want to let them know that cultivators are in here.” Wu Ying drew a deep breath and concentrated, letting his senses feel the auras of those around them. “Start suppressing your auras. All of you. You’re too strong!”
There were more than a few grumbles, but when Li Yao, the titular leader of the group as designated by the general, repeated Wu Ying’s assertion, they complied. As arrows fell like hail and the smell of spilled blood permeated the assault cover, along with the rank stench of fear, Wu Ying continued to sense the auras of his companions.
It was no surprise that most of them were bad at hiding their auras. Luckily, there was a significant distance to the walls. And even if they could not suppress their auras all the way, they didn’t need to. An assault cover with no occupants would be more suspicious than one which had a series of slightly-stronger-than-normal occupants. Still, Wu Ying was grateful that Elder Li had made him practice the aura suppression technique. It was highly useful and continually made its presence known.
The group had initially stopped five hundred yards away, well outside most bow ranges. At least any shot fired with any type of accuracy. Even cultivators had to contend with the vagaries of wind, humidity, and materials. Of course, spirit weapons provided both greater accuracy and range, but those individual attacks were of little consequence in a war. A single arrow would make little difference—not yet at least. And highlighting oneself with that great skill and weapon made oneself a target for future attacks.
Crossing the final distance to the walls was a slog, one that had Wu Ying breathing hard from suppressed fear and nervousness. Arrows rained upon them, like the staccato beat of a child playing with a pot. Except the danger here was more to life than sanity. With each step, the wagon rolled forward at all
too slow a pace.
The cultivators were a hundred yards away before the first of the trebuchets targeted them. At first the stones thrown at them were not particularly accurate, landing around and past their assault cover. To Wu Ying’s surprise, a stone fired shortly after the others crashed within ten feet of them. Only a fortunate depression in the ground sent the stone skipping to their left. The noise from the near miss was sufficient to make the occupants behind Wu Ying cry out with questions. The cultivators were, after all, still mortal, and being struck by a siege weapon would likely kill them. They were no Core cultivators, who could shrug off such attacks with a smile.
“Speed up!” Li Yao barked from behind.
Wu Ying put more muscle into the activity, driving the assault cover forward. The soldier beside him had difficulty keeping up, stumbling and making the entire assault cover turn. They shifted from heading straight ahead to swerving sideways and eliciting a set of curses by Bai Hu and his sworn brothers. Realizing that if they kept this up, they’d turn all the way around, Wu Ying slowed down and stopped pushing as hard. A second later, the car lurched forward faster as others provided aid to the soldier.
The drunken, weaving journey of the assault cover did have one advantage. The defenders shooting arrows and stones at them could not forecast where they were going, missing the assault cover and landing all around them.
As the siege weapon lurched forward at a faster clip, the soldier cried out, “We need to go for the left! There is a—”
“Broken assault cover. I see it,” said Wu Ying.
The wrecked assault cover sat before them, obstructing their conveyance’s path and forcing them to swing around.
As more arrows targeted their transport, some exploding with flame, Li Yao cried out from behind, “They know. Don’t stop.”
As a group pushed, a new and foreboding noise rose above them. The explosions of talisman arrows striking the rooftop shook the assault cover and mixed with the crisp crackle of flames that caught, the fiery explosions occasionally licking across the small gap that allowed Wu Ying and the soldier to see ahead. To Wu Ying’s surprise, the assault cover burned but slowly, the heat not reaching them below. Somehow the cover stood up to the attacks with aplomb.
“Second stage energy cultivators! Pitiful apprentices who think they are any good. Hah!” Bai Hu cried out in triumph.
Wu Ying looked back, spotting Bai Hu slapping glowing talismans on the roof of the assault cover, providing it with increased durability and protection.
“Push, push, you handsome young man. You do it well, I’ll do some pushing myself later,” Lady Pan teased Wu Ying. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering in the occasional flash of flame and light.
A moment later, Lady Pan let out a girlish yelp as Li Yao extracted her retribution. As for Wu Ying, he was too busy pushing and hoping that none of those arrows made their way through the gap to pay attention to lewd suggestions.
At least, that was what he was going to tell Li Yao. Even if his cheeks were flushed red.
***
Each step of the way, the assault cover was attacked. Arrows, talismans, and more struck at them. Wu Ying noticed the volume of fire increase as the lack of damage to their assault cover was a dead giveaway about those within. As if the group had agreed to his unspoken thoughts, they released their auras, no longer bothering to suppress them. At the least the numerous soldiers from the first and second waves had relief from being targeted by a portion of the defenders.
A dozen yards from their cover, the sky ladder was being pushed forward to lock onto the wall. Moments from now, they’d be ready to launch their attack. A sixth sense made Wu Ying turn and look up. At the edges of his vision, on top of the wall, a cultivator in yellow-and-brown robes stood with a guandao in hand. He lifted the large polearm weapon, its curved, edged blade glinting in the sunlight as he swung at them.
“Cultivator!” Wu Ying roared. He reached for his ring, recalling the defensive talismans he had stored but doubting they could stop the attack.
A crescent blade of visible energy flew from the edge of the guandao, formed from the attack. As it flew, a rough sketch of a phoenix appeared on the trailing back corners of the crescent attack. A disinterested portion of Wu Ying’s mind noted the Energy Stage cultivator must have been in the early stages—Minor Achievement—of his energy attack.
“Move!”
Wu Ying and the soldier were shouldered aside as Huang Zu made his way to the front. Huang Zu crossed his arms, leaning forward and bracing himself even as the image of a golden bell formed around himself and the front of the assault cover. Not a moment too soon did Huang Zu trigger his defensive skill.
The opposing cultivator’s attack struck. Like a bell rung, the noise caught the attention of those around. An explosion of chi, released energy from both styles, pressured Wu Ying’s chest, making it hard to breathe for a second. The low cultivation soldier beside him had it worse, reeling back and spitting blood.
“Out!” Li Yao shouted even as Bai Hu slapped a few more talismans on the assault cover.
Taking the lead, Tou He ducked out the back of the cover, his staff spinning to block the approaching arrows. Liu Tsong held up a hand for a second, conjuring an apothecarist cauldron with its integrated brazier. A flick of her fingers saw the lighting of the cauldron, and a follow-up gesture threw in a series of herbs. Moments later, she sent the entire cauldron spinning out and trailing smoke, opposite of the direction Tou He had taken.
“I’ll cover us,” Liu Tsong said, walking out behind the cover as she pulled out her staff as well.
Bao Cong sprinted out, his bow now strung and a quiver by his side. He held three arrows in one hand, a fourth already on the string as he joined Tou He on the non-smoky side. Yin Xue, Lady Pan, and her companion chose the safer route and followed Liu Tsong and her cauldrons.
“Move!” Li Yao snapped at Wu Ying when he bent to check on the soldier.
The man shook his head when Wu Ying dragged him toward the exit.
“Leave me. Safer… in here…” he said around broken ribs.
Wu Ying frowned, hesitating, but knew the longer the cultivators stayed where they were, the more likely they would be targeted. Giving up, he followed the exiting cultivators, joined by Li Yao.
Wu Ying was surprised by the efficacy of Liu Tsong’s cauldron. Already, the apothecarist’s mixture had filled their surroundings with thick, unnatural smoke. He spotted the cauldron spinning in circles around their wagon, slowly layering more and more smoke as it moved farther from their location. Liu Tsong frowned in concentration as she controlled the spinning metal object, though she used her weapon to bat aside the occasional arrow that came too close to her.
“To the ladders!” Li Yao shouted at the group, commanding them to rush ahead.
Wu Ying reoriented himself, then led the way to where the sky ladder should be. Together, the group charged forward, their weapons drawn as arrows suddenly appeared from the smoke and fell toward them. An arrow glanced off Wu Ying’s helmet, sending sparks to live brief, fiery lives in front of his eyes before they disappeared. His breathing grew harsh, the familiar churned earth smell of torn ground mixing with the tang of spilled blood, crushed bones, and ruptured organs. Fires brought whiffs of green wood and the smell of Liu Tsong’s herbal mixture, all making breathing harder than ever.
“We need cover,” said Wu Ying.
Even if they were not targeted, they could still be hit by blind chance. He frowned and eyed the wall. Even through the slowly-thickening smoke, he saw the crenellations at the top. Bao Chong had stopped shooting, unable to make out the figures who fired down on then. Most of the arrows that were fired were not targeted, but the volume of fire coming from the vicinity of the sky ladder meant that they were in danger.
Drawing a deep breath, Wu Ying focused his strength through his bracer and swung his sword, sending the arc of energy straight at the wall. Even if he missed hurting anyone, it would keep some head
s down.
Wu Ying ran toward the ladder and the gathering of soldiers who had formed around their blockade of shields. Already, soldiers were climbing the ladder, doing their best to rise up under cover of the smoke. But most only made it halfway up the ladder before they were struck off by arcing arrows.
Whether the light wind that had arisen from the river was dispersing the smoke or another cultivator was controlling the wind, Wu Ying noticed that their cover was fast disappearing. Liu Tsong had altered the movement of the cauldron, sending it to work its magic farther upwind. That reduced the fire from that side of the ladder, but by the time the smoke reached them, it had reduced significantly.
Now that he could see, Bao Cong returned fire, though he stayed close to Tou He as the opposing archers targeted him as well. Even as the cultivators grouped up to charge up the ladder, Wu Ying could not help but worry that their attack had failed. Only two other ladders had managed to make their way to the walls, with cultivators attempting to ascend as well.
Before Wu Ying could take his position on the ladder, the sworn brothers charged ahead. Xu Gong, who had been silent thus far, and Huang Zu led the attack. Somewhere along the way, Huang Zu had put away the axe-bladed polearm they had carried and was now wielding a pair of swords while he ran up the sloped ladder. His feet barely touched the swaying, bouncing wooden contraption as he charged ahead, showing a surprising degree of agility. Wu Ying could only marvel at their qinggong skills. The occasional arrow that targeted Huang Zu was struck aside while Bai Hu, at the bottom of the trio, cast an array of talismans at the wall. The yellow papers flew as if they were rocks, striking the wall and flaring brightly with light.
When Xu Gong reached the top of the ladder, instead of stepping off it, he threw himself into a graceful jump. He struck out as he reached the apex of his jump, using his daos on the pair of defenders at the top. One of the soldiers who held the wall wheeled away, clutching at his throat, while the second managed to deflect the heavy attack. Even then, he staggered aside, leaving Xu Gong uncontested on the top of the wall. Immediately, Xu Gong widened the gap, lashing out with his swords at those soldiers who tried to close in on them. In short order, Bai Hu and Huang Zu joined him on the wall, weapons and skills making short work of the soldiers.
