The city of Qingzhou was tightly surrounded by commoners who had flocked there upon hearing the news.
“We want to see General Huo!”
“General Huo is the God of War, blessed by the heavens! How could he be critically wounded and beyond cure?”
Che Hongluo stood atop the city gate tower, putting on the airs of a high-ranking frontier official.
His every word was relayed one by one by the prefectural soldiers.
“All of you, remain calm! Cease this racket immediately!
It is true that General Huo is wounded, but his injuries are not fatal. He is currently recuperating quietly at the Inspector’s residence.
Talk of the General being on the brink of death is nothing but enemy propaganda designed to shake our morale!
By gathering here and making such a clamor, are you not disrupting General Huo’s rest?
This Inspector has reason to suspect there are spies from Beiluo mixed among you!
If you do not disperse at once, I will have every single one of you arrested and thrown into prison, to be executed after the autumn assizes!”
Since ancient times, the common people have feared officials. Upon hearing this, the crowd reluctantly lowered their heads and began to disperse.
“Wait, everyone!”
Suddenly, a man in the crowd raised his arm and shouted, “I’ve heard that in the previous northern campaign, no matter how seriously General Huo was injured, he would always show himself to reassure the civilians and soldiers!”
“Since General Huo’s injuries aren’t serious now, he should let us see him!”
His words instantly found support from others around him.
“That’s right! We want to see General Huo!”
“He’s correct! We won’t leave until we see General Huo!”
Che Hongluo trembled with rage, his beard quivering. He pointed sharply at the man leading the protest and barked, “Guards! Seize that man!”
“This scoundrel is undoubtedly a despicable Beiluo spy, here to fan the flames and incite unrest! He deserves summary execution!”
Before the prefectural soldiers could move to arrest him, the commoners had already spontaneously formed a protective wall around the man.
The soldiers leveled their spears at the human barrier, shouting harshly, “Get out of the way! Are you rebelling?”
More voices rose from all directions: “General Huo!”
“We want to see General Huo!”
Che Hongluo shook all over. “Rebellion! This is outright rebellion!”
He grabbed a bow, notched an arrow, and with a whoosh, the arrow flew.
It instantly pierced the chest of the man who had spoken up.
Without even a chance to utter another word, he fell to the ground, dead.
Blood gushed out from beneath him, causing the surrounding people to scatter in terror.
“This is the fate of anyone who causes further trouble!”
Seeing the soldiers actually arrest many people, the remaining crowd, now without their leader, began to waver.
“Drag this Beiluo spy into the city for me!” Che Hongluo commanded. “Hang his body on the gate tower for three days as a warning!”
The commoners, who had still been somewhat unwilling, were thoroughly frightened by this order. Instantly scattering like loose sand, they hurried back to their respective villages with fearful hearts, afraid that moving too slowly would get them arrested and executed as spies.
“Sigh, they say if a great man dies an unnatural death, the heavens will send down strange portents.”
“Looking at things now, everything seems normal. General Huo is probably fine.”
“Oh? What kind of portents?”
“I heard it from a Yin-Yang Master. Things like rivers running dry, thunder from a clear sky, or snow in the sixth month… any of those are possible.”
“I know about the ‘snow in June’ one! There was a girl who was wrongly executed, and it snowed that very day, right in the middle of the hottest summer weather!”
A few villagers from the same area walked together, talking as they went, completely unaware that someone was eavesdropping nearby.
That person, heavily concealed, rolled their eyes shrewdly, then turned and disappeared into the grass.
——
The commandants stationed at Mount Kan and Mount Hou were gathered together, worrying.
Before they set out, General Tuoba had repeatedly emphasized that the Iron Pagoda warriors must never be revealed in public.
Unless they could strike a fatal blow in one move.
Who could have predicted that man’s plans are nothing against the designs of heaven?
They had considered every possibility, except that Huo Ci might actually escape.
If Huo Ci were dead now, they would not only be free of blame but would have rendered a great service.
But if Huo Ci were to live, they would be dead.
The scouts sent out last night had vanished without a trace.
At noon, a few spies who had blended into the crowd returned to the mountains, but their reports conflicted.
Some said he wasn’t dead; others said he was.
One even claimed that if Huo Ci died, the waters would run dry, thunder would boom from a clear sky, and it would snow in June.
The chaotic reports made their heads ache with worry.
After careful analysis, the two commandants concluded the likelihood of his death was greater.
After all, last time, when General Tuoba and the Yanlou Wang (Huo Ci) exchanged arrow shots, both were hit in the chest.
General Tuoba was unconscious for three days and nights before waking.
Yet the Yanlou Wang had stubbornly persisted, commanding his soldiers and boosting morale from his horse, despite his illness.
One could say, as long as this man wasn’t completely dead, he would definitely show himself to give an account to the masses.
Hiding away like this likely boded ill.
That old scoundrel Che Hongluo, who feared nothing more than their descent to sack the city, had only managed to act tough because Huo Ci was there.
If Huo Ci were gone, the entire Western Province couldn’t be saved.
Judging by his panicked, murderous demeanor, his words were clearly just a smokescreen.
“Commandants, the two scouts have returned.”
The commandants were speechless.
So you return now, after everything’s already figured out?
Why not wait until the New Year has passed to come back?
“Commandants, the Yanlou Wang isn’t dead! He didn’t look sick at all! It was terrifying!”
This was the last thing the Mount Kan commandant wanted to hear.
Gritting his teeth, he kicked the truth-telling scout to the ground.
“If he were alive, how could you two possibly return alive?”
The Mount Hou commandant also felt frustrated, as if dealing with hopeless incompetents. “Why did we even send you two fools to gather information?”
The scouts’ eyes shone with a transparently stupid light. “But… it’s really what the Yanlou Wang himself told us!”
“He didn’t even have any bandages on! He also said that after we returned, we should report everything truthfully, and there would be rewards for us!”
The two commandants were nearly furious.
They raised their hands and each slapped the two scouts hard across the face.
“Rewards? Rewards? Have your brains been filled with mare’s milk wine, you idiots?”
The scouts clutched their cheeks. “Mare’s milk wine?”
“Where is there mare’s milk wine?”
“Are the Commandants going to reward us with mare’s milk wine?”
Thud!
“Commandants!”
Seeing the two commandants fall over backwards in rage, the guards rushed forward to help them up.
The commandants pointed at the scouts for a long moment, unable to form a complete sentence.
“Kill… Kill—kill them—!”
The two scouts never understood, even as they were thrown into the mass grave, why the Commandants were so incredibly angry. They had told nothing but the truth!
Huo Ci was alive and well, so why didn’t anyone believe them!
“Report! Commandants! The guards at the back mountain report that just after midnight tonight, the back mountain water source suddenly stopped flowing. Should we send someone to check upstream?”
Before the two commandants could react, a deafening clap of thunder roared, startling everyone.
“Report! Commandants! A bolt of lightning struck the front mountain, starting a fire!”
“The location is… it’s at—”
“Where is it?!”
“At the place where the Yanlou Wang was seriously wounded.”
The two commandants felt both terror and a furtive thrill.
All the strange portents matched. This could only mean—
Thousands of miles away, Tuoba Hongxue slammed his hands on the table and stood up. “What?! Huo Ci is dead?”
The covert agents he had sent to the mining mountains had long since delivered their secret report to him.
Relying on those good-for-nothings would only delay military opportunities.
“Absolutely impossible! That man is far too cunning. How could he fall so easily?”
“It must be a trick!”
“It seems this General must personally make a trip to the mining mountains.”
Tuoba Hongxue clenched his fist tightly.
“Huo Ci… Long time no see.”