After the Immortal Disappeared

"So they’ve come," General Nanke said gravely. "How many of them are there?"

"I couldn’t get close enough for an exact count, but there are at least... at least seven thousand of them!"

"Seven thousand!" The color drained from everyone’s faces. General Nanke was startled as well. "How is that possible? The Baling Army stationed at Wei City only has a little over two thousand men in total! Are you sure you saw correctly?"

The Scout’s reply was firm. "It’s at least that many, if not more! If I’ve misjudged, I’ll accept punishment under military law!"

Just then, a Sparrowhawk swooped down from the sky, landed on General Nanke’s shoulder, and spoke in a human voice. "I came from the northeast. I saw dust rising from the ground—an enemy force of nearly ten thousand is approaching!"

With even the hawk from the sky confirming it, there could be no mistake. The Vice Generals stared intently at General Nanke, whose mind was racing.

He had anticipated the enemy attack, but he had miscalculated their numbers.

An enemy force of seven thousand could easily change the outcome of the battle.

’What do we do now? The enemy is bearing down on us and will be here any moment. But the Panlong City Army is slowed by hundreds of wagons; we can’t even run fast.’

’No matter how brave the Panlong City Army is, fighting an enemy six or seven times our size on this open plain is a terrible idea, especially while protecting merchants and wagons. Forget about me—even the Red General himself might not be able to guarantee a clean escape if he were here.’

General Nanke hesitated no longer. He turned and pointed toward the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. "Turn the column around! We’re entering the Stone Forest, now!"

One of the slower Vice Generals was taken aback. "General, there might be an ambush inside."

"Of course I know that," General Nanke said coldly. "But it’s our only chance to put up a real fight! Even if it’s a trap, we have to hold our noses and jump in!"

There was no time to waste. Orders were relayed down the line. The entire column reversed direction, making a dash for the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.

At the same time, General Nanke fed the Sparrowhawk a small piece of jerky, whispered a few words to it, and patted its head. "I’ll have to trouble you to make another run."

The Sparrowhawk beat its wings and took flight.

Its feathers were a mottled reddish-brown, and it was larger than others of its kind. After taking off, it shot due north like a meteor, its speed a notch above that of a common falcon. It truly moved as fast as lightning.

However, no one noticed two great eagles circling high above, which quietly changed direction and followed it.

...

「Puxi Gully.」

Like the other cities in the Panlong Wasteland, Puxi Gully was not large, nor was it populous, but years of war had forged it into a fortress of high walls and deep moats. The Baling People had attacked time and again but had never managed to take it.

Today, Puxi Gully’s gates were sealed tight, with no one allowed in or out. But many new faces had appeared in the city, all clad in heavy armor, bearing sharp weapons, and radiating killing intent.

They weren’t loud or disruptive, and they didn’t even speak with the local residents. They simply waited in the open space at the foot of Puxi Gully’s walls, sharpening their blades, watering their horses, and resting with their eyes closed.

This army had a peculiar air about them. They stood as still as pines and were as placid as the abyss, yet they seemed to contain a raging fire, ready to erupt and harm others at any moment. The bright red Battle Armor they wore drew looks of reverence from the common folk.

The Great Wind Army.

No one would have guessed that while General Nanke was still escorting the merchant caravan on the Wilderness two or three hundred li away, the Great Wind Army had secretly marched into Puxi Gully.

Xiao Maoliang was adjusting the saddle on his beloved horse when he suddenly heard the FLAP FLAP FLAP of wings from above.

He looked up to see a very familiar-looking Sparrowhawk folding its wings mid-air and descending onto the city wall.

’It’s here.’

Xiao Maoliang’s heart tightened. He bounded up to the top of the wall, taking the steps two at a time, just in time to hear the Bird Demon begin to speak:

"Reporting! General Nanke is under attack in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest!"

The master to whom it reported stood atop the wall facing the Southern Wilderness. Aside from his bright red armor, all others could see was a cape that snapped loudly in the wind.

Behind him stood skilled generals, veterans of many battles who could shatter enemy ranks with ease. Yet here, they stood with their hands respectfully at their sides, their expressions deferential, as if they didn’t dare to breathe too loudly.

The falcon demon was still reporting. "The Baling enemy numbers nearly ten thousand! General Nanke has taken refuge in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest and sent me to request reinforcements from you!"

Nearly ten thousand? Xiao Maoliang and the other Vice Generals exchanged glances in dismay.

The entire Baling Army in Wei City numbered less than three thousand. Even if they had deployed their full strength, where did the other six or seven thousand come from?

When the falcon demon finished speaking, the man inclined his head slightly. The wind atop the city wall suddenly died, the air grew still, and his fluttering cape fell flat against his back.

He could affect his surroundings with effortless ease.

But the strange phenomenon lasted only a moment. The man raised a hand and pointed west, and a cold voice rang directly in their minds. "Prepare to attack."

The soldiers on the wall just five feet away heard nothing at all.

The Vice Generals were slightly surprised. "General, aren’t we splitting our forces to go to the Ghost Needle Stone Forest?"

"General Nanke can hold them off." That one understated sentence sealed the fate of the Patrol Guard Army in the south, condemning them to a life-and-death struggle for the next several double-hours.

Fortunately, the Sparrowhawk received another order from its master. "Fly back to Panlong City now and call for reinforcements on General Nanke’s behalf."

It was about three hundred li from Panlong City to the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. Even a fast horse spurred to its limits would need three or four double-hours to make the journey, as the roads in the Panlong Wasteland were not always smooth. Furthermore, night would fall in another double-hour or so.

And that didn’t even include the time it would take the Sparrowhawk to fly back to Panlong City.

By a rough calculation, they would be thanking the heavens if reinforcements arrived by dawn. General Nanke’s troops would have to hold out on their own for at least four or five double-hours.

"Yes, sir!" the Sparrowhawk reported again. "On my way here, I was tailed by two giant eagles high in the sky. It took me eighty li to shake them."

"Did you recognize them?"

"No, and they didn’t seem like the Demons from the Wilderness."

Six or seven thousand enemy troops appearing out of nowhere, plus Bird Demons of unknown origin... With these new variables, the Vice Generals all had a bad feeling.

"Shaking them was useless," the man said to the Sparrowhawk. "Panlong City is to the southeast. You didn’t fly there, but instead came straight north. That has already shown the enemy that Nanke’s reinforcements are in the north. And in the north... there is only Puxi Gully."

The Sparrowhawk immediately lowered its head.

Upon receiving General Nanke’s call for help, it had naturally flown here with all its might. How could it have considered all these details?

The man waved his hand, and the Sparrowhawk had no choice but to beat its wings and fly off toward Panlong City.

The sooner it arrived, the sooner General Nanke would receive aid.

"In other words, the newly arrived enemy will soon know we are in Puxi Gully, and it won’t be hard for them to deduce that our target is Wei City." After all, it was only a few dozen li from here to Wei City—a short ride for cavalry.

From the Baling People’s perspective, the Panlong Army was deploying its forces along two routes, with one contingent hidden in Puxi Gully. The intention would be perfectly clear, wouldn’t it?

"Therefore, if we attack now, we can no longer be considered a surprise force."

The element of surprise was their key to victory.

Their original battle plan was to lure Hua Mucuo, who was desperate to avenge his brother, into an all-out attack on General Nanke and the merchant caravan. The Great Wind Army, hidden in Puxi Gully, would then seize the opportunity to retake Wei City, removing that thorn from their side in one fell swoop.

A place like Puxi Gully couldn’t house an army of several thousand for long, but holding out for a few days was no problem.

The plan might have sounded crude, but in battle, plans were always kept simple while execution was meticulous, combined with the art of feints and real attacks to achieve surprising results. After taking Wei City, Hua Mucuo had been on the losing end of several clashes with Panlong City. He was already seething with resentment, and three days ago, his brother had been brutally killed...

When one’s own flesh and blood is murdered, who can claim they would endure it, not get angry, not send troops, and not seek revenge?

When a man is consumed by rage, he is most likely to make mistakes and ignore advice.

On the other hand, if Hua Mucuo remained calm and didn’t take the bait, then at worst, the Great Wind Army would return to Panlong City. General Nanke successfully escorting the merchants back to Puxi Gully would in itself be a great success. As for retaking Wei City, there was always next time; it was only a matter of when.

However, the sudden appearance of over seven thousand Baling Army troops had thrown the entire plan into disarray.

General Nanke and the merchants, serving as the bait, were now in mortal danger. If the Great Wind Army did nothing and proceeded with the original plan to sneak-attack Wei City, two problems arose. First, with just over a thousand men and hundreds of wagons, how long could General Nanke hold out against seven thousand opponents?

Second, was it even certain that the Great Wind Army could capture Wei City?

Xiao Maoliang’s brow was furrowed. "If the enemy can send an army of nearly ten thousand to intercept General Nanke and the caravan, they might have troops garrisoned in Wei City as well. It wouldn’t be an empty city anymore."

They couldn’t let this operation turn into a case of the hunter becoming the hunted. That would be a complete humiliation.

The man at the front asked them, "If you were the Baling People’s new Commander-in-Chief and you knew General Nanke’s reinforcements were in Puxi Gully, what would be your next move?"

Xiao Maoliang paused. "New Commander-in-Chief?" Then it dawned on him. "Of course. Hua Mucuo only has a little over two thousand men under his command. This new Baling Army must be led by someone else." Otherwise, they wouldn’t have caught General Nanke so completely off guard.

The generals thought for a moment and shared their opinions, but the consensus was that if they were the Baling Commander-in-Chief, it would depend on how many men they had left. If they had many, they would attack Puxi Gully. If they had few, they would secure Wei City and prevent the Great Wind Army from succeeding.

"Where do you think this army came from?"

"The Baling Kingdom!" This time, the generals didn’t need to discuss; they were unanimous. "The western part of the Wilderness is barren with scarce water sources. It can’t possibly support that many men and horses. This army must have come from within the Baling Kingdom."

Was it that the Baling Kingdom normally didn’t want to send more men into the Wilderness? Not at all.

The few strongholds the Baling Kingdom had in the western Wilderness could, combined, support an Elite army of less than five or six thousand. Wei City was already considered relatively prosperous.

It was unlike Panlong City, which was uniquely blessed, backed by the Chipa Plateau with thousands of li of fertile fields all to itself, allowing it to raise a large and powerful army.

For so many Baling People to suddenly appear in the Wilderness, they must have been temporarily dispatched from within the kingdom.

"Do you think the new Baling Commander-in-Chief mobilized such a large force and launched a surprise attack on General Nanke just to defend Wei City, to get revenge for Hua Mucuo, or to seize the few goods in Puxi Gully?"

An army needs a clear purpose. If a commander’s objective isn’t clear and firm, how can he command thousands of troops?

Xiao Maoliang took a sharp breath, understanding. "His target is Puxi Gully... or more likely, us!"

They were scheming against Wei City, but weren’t the Baling People also scheming against them?

"Perhaps he also wants a confrontation with me," the man said faintly. "Since the other side has such ambition, why would they be content to hide in Wei City like a turtle in its shell? Whether we send reinforcements to General Nanke or launch a sneak attack on Wei City, they won’t be absent. It’s possible his plan is the same as mine: circle around and seize the city."

"Fortunately, the enemy doesn’t know our numbers either."