“Fire!” “It’s the central tent!”
When the flames soared into the sky, the camp, which had been relatively quiet at night, suddenly became chaotic.
“Put out the fire!” A trusted lieutenant of Wu Yanji rushed to the central tent, shouting loudly.
In the military, there was no shortage of manpower for firefighting.
“General, it’s oil!” After several buckets of water were poured, the fire grew even larger. Experienced soldiers realized this and exclaimed loudly.
“Have you found General Wu?” The temporary commander asked anxiously.
This was the central tent. By now, everyone suspected that Wu Yanji might have met with an accident.
While everyone was busy fighting the fire, someone from the forward outpost rushed over, shouting, “Someone has escaped from the forward camp!”
“Is it the barbarians?” Several generals standing together speculated.
“What’s happening?” Wei Lan arrived at this moment, rushing from his own tent.
“General Wei,” several generals, unlike Wu Yanji who had the upper hand, couldn’t afford to offend Wei Lan. They quickly saluted him.
“Where’s the general?” Wei Lan looked around in the crowd.
“The general should have slept in the central tent tonight,” one of the generals said to Wei Lan.
Wei Lan turned back to the blazing fire and asked, “What about the general?”
No one said a word.
Wei Lan sighed, shook his head, and then asked, “Who shouted that someone ran out of the forward camp just now?”
“It was me,” a soldier from the forward camp hurriedly replied.
“Did you see where they went?” Wei Lan asked.
“South,” the soldier said.
“Could it really be the barbarians?” Another impatient general immediately shouted.
The barbarian stronghold was ten miles south. If they were fleeing south, it was likely they were barbarians causing trouble in the camp and escaping to their stronghold.
Wei Lan looked at the highest-ranking general in the army after Wu Yanji and said, “General Liu, I want to lead the troops to pursue. What do you think?”
General Liu quickly calculated in his mind. With their main general likely dead or severely injured, if they offended Wei Lan further, it would be a loss.
“General Liu,” Wei Lan approached General Liu and said softly, “If General Wu really has met with an accident, we may not be able to escape the blame. Pursuing now, even if we don’t catch the culprit, will at least allow us to explain to Commander Luo later.”
Wei Lan spoke the truth. General Liu took another glance at the now dwindling fire in the central tent and asked Wei Lan, “How many men do you intend to take for the pursuit?”
Wei Lan replied, “This subordinate will follow the general’s orders.” Anticipating General Liu’s response, he quickly added, “General, you have full authority here. If there are any military merits, you will surely take the lead. I hope General Wu remains safe and sound, and I also hope General Liu will continue to rise in rank.”
General Liu glanced quickly at Wei Lan, understanding the implication in his words.
“Please instruct, General,” Wei Lan said respectfully to General Liu.
“Leave the guard battalion here,” General Liu said, “We must avenge General Wu. I’ll leave the pursuit to you, General Wei.”
“This Deputy General will definitely live up to the General’s trust,” Wei Lan replied, taking his leave.
The fire in the central tent was extinguished, and Wei Lan led a large group of men away from the camp.
General Liu, accompanied by his men, entered the central tent, now reduced to a charred skeleton.
“There are a total of eight bodies,” the first officer to enter the tent reported to General Liu.
Enduring the nauseating smell of burnt flesh, General Liu looked at the charred bodies lying on the ground. These eight bodies were not only burnt beyond recognition, but also dismembered.
“This should be General Wu’s body,” the officer pointed to the charred corpse at the center, “He had his personal sword with him, which he never parted with.”
Approaching the charred corpse, General Liu observed the sword hanging from its waist. Though the scabbard was blackened and deformed by the fire, the engraved characters were still discernible. It was indeed the sword that Wu Yanji always carried with him in battle.
“Should we summon the coroners from the military?” the officer asked.
“Yes, do so,” General Liu replied. Something was amiss. Could the barbarians have such audacity to infiltrate the camp and assassinate the commanding general? General Liu looked at the sword at Wu Yanji’s waist, pondering what kind of assassin could catch Wu Yanji, a seasoned warrior, off guard, not even able to draw his sharp weapon in self-defense in time. Was it truly the barbarians? The more General Liu thought about it, the more suspicious the situation seemed.
The coroner entered and stood before General Liu.
“This matter is of great importance,” General Liu said to the man, “If you found somthing out, do not speak carelessly, just tell it to me directly.”
“I understand,” the coroner quickly replied.
General Liu stepped out of the now non-existent central tent and looked at the dark clouds gathering on the horizon. “Damn weather!” General Liu cursed. The weather in these mountains was unpredictable, much like the battle itself, making it difficult to see and predict.
After daybreak, Wei Lan stood outside the valley where the barbarian stronghold was located. The rain from the sky intensified, obscuring visibility. The stronghold in the valley disappeared into the rain, shrouded in mist.
“The barbarians wouldn’t expect us to arrive at this time,” Wei Lan listened attentively. He could hear the barking of dogs and the crowing of roosters from the stronghold, as well as the occasional cry of a baby. The people in the stronghold, as Wei Lan expected, had no idea that their soldiers would come to fight on the muddy mountain roads after the rain.
“Should we charge in, General?” a soldier asked Wei Lan.
Wei Lan gestured to the commander of the vanguard battalion.
The lieutenant led his men through the rain towards the stronghold.
Wei Lan drew his sword and said to those around him, “The orders from Commander Luo are clear: leave no one alive, not even the chickens and dogs. Once inside the stronghold, show no mercy. Commander Luo has promised rewards for each barbarian head.”
The barbarian stronghold was remote, one of the reasons why the barbarians chose it as a grain depot. It was still early in the morning, and most people in the stronghold were still asleep. The sudden attack by the Zhou army, covered in mud, caught the people in the stronghold off guard.
Amidst the chaos of shouts and cries, Wei Lan walked into the stronghold. Before he could even steady himself, he struck down a barbarian man at his feet.
“General Wei,” the lieutenant leading the vanguard battalion approached Wei Lan, “It seems that most of the men in the stronghold are not here.”
Wei Lan looked around, noticing the absence of adult male barbarians.
“Has the news of our arrival been exposed?” the lieutenant asked.
“Go check the granary,” Wei Lan ordered.
The lieutenant and his men ran towards the place where the grain was stored in the stronghold.
“Silence them all,” Wei Lan told his personal guards behind him, “Just kill them. Anyone who speaks out again will be dealt with according to military law.”
The guards dispersed to relay the orders.
Wei Lan stood on the small street paved with mountain stones. After a while, the stronghold quieted down. Wei Lan heard the sound of a swift wind behind him. The barbarians’ arrows were poisoned. Wei Lan dared not use his hand to catch them, so he dodged to the side as a bamboo arrow brushed past him. Dodging the hidden arrow, Wei Lan’s gaze followed its trajectory and saw a boy about seven or eight years old running back. It was this boy who had shot the bamboo arrow.
Several soldiers chased after him, and one of them swung his blade, slashing the boy to the ground. A woman cried out and rushed out from a nearby alley, only to was also be chopped down with a knife.
“Search every house,” Wei Lan ordered the sergeant beside him, “Leave no one alive.”
Boundless Dao 
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