Book 52 Chapter 1 – The Struggle of the Trapped Beasts

Translator: Foxs" Wuxia

One wrong move in the game of chess, you’ll have your hands and feet bound.

It was only this moment that the three began to truly experience Li Shimin’s capability. If only they were able to cross the Great River, they had complete confidence that they could escape into the Dou Army’s sphere of influence; yet it was Li Shimin himself leading his main force to firmly defend this barrier, so that they could only gaze at the river with a sigh.

The huge warship was full of Dark Armored Warriors, each one holding a strong bow in his hand, waiting in tight formation. If they cast themselves into the river, with the hundreds of powerful bows and strong crossbows shooting down from such a close distance, surely it would end with their blood staining the long river.

Advancing was not possible, retreating was not probable even more.

The Tang Army covering the mountains and the plains was pressing in on them. On top of that there were vicious vultures’ acute eyes above. After daybreak, they would meet the disaster of even though the world was so big, there was nowhere for them to hide.

How about charging their way forward?

Mult.i.tude of enemies, few friends [idiom from Mencius], it was out of proportion, the difference in strength was too far.

The only thing that could be said was the breakthrough in the cultivation that the three gained, which expanded their meridians to the limit, which released their hidden power. However, as for how much this progress would help them, since they had not had the opportunity to fight hand to hand with the enemy, it was still unknown.

In the blink of an eye, the giant warship was extending all the way across in front of them, suddenly square holes appeared on the lower part of the hull, from the left and right, two rows of twenty oars each came out of the holes, paddling the ship in synchronized movement against the current, just enough to keep the huge warship remained stationary on the water surface, at about five zhang distance from the three men.

On the deck, Li Yuanji moved to Li Shimin’s side and leaned over to whisper something in his ear.

Kou Zhong quickly also whispered to Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan by his sides, “Li Yuanji must be pa.s.sing on Li Yuan’s decree to Li Shimin, which is to have us killed by any means; is there any step that we can still take?”

Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “There is only one move [referring to a move in the game of chess] we can take, which is to let me handle everything. I am not saying that your martial art skill, ability and wisdom are inferior to mine, but there is something that indeed you guys cannot match me, a Tujue, which is you are not as ruthless as me, Ba Fenghan, and tonight, only the ruthless will be able to survive.”

A bizarre feeling welled up in Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s hearts; Ba Fenghan had never said anything like that to them. It was thus clear that in this critical life and death moment, Ba Fenghan was displaying his high-mountain, harsh-peak fighting spirit and confidence. Was this the result of his self-cultivation in the desert? Or was it due to the strange encounter just now?

Yet Kou Zhong accompanied him with loud laughter and said, “Okay Boss, go ahead and give your order, Li Yuanji is closing his dog’s mouth!”

Laughing involuntarily, Ba Fenghan said, “In time like this, you are still in the mood to joke around?”

A burst of warm feeling welled up in Xu Ziling’s heart, even if their blood dyed the long river red tonight, but the brotherly love between them, which did not change through life and death together, sharing trials and tribulations, would be like the water of the river, it would flow endlessly, forever.

Raising his voice, Li Yuanji said, “If three gentlemen are willing to abandon your weapons and surrender, and thus saving us hands and feet, Er Huang Xiong [second emperor brother] and I, Li Yuanji, will definitely treat gentlemen with the courtesy due to honored guests, otherwise, you will be killed without mercy. Do you hear me?”

The last sentence was not directed to Xu Ziling, three men, but to the officers and soldiers listening by his side.

Aside from Li Shimin, the various generals and more than three hundred Dark Armored Warriors under his command shouted in unison, “We hear!” It was like m.u.f.fled thunder rumbling in the sky, the momentum was extremely intimidating, carrying a very powerful pressure, showing that the Tang Army’s officers and soldiers, from top to bottom, were of one mind, determined to fight to the death.

Ba Fenghan spoke in low voice first, “Tonight might be the cultivation that I have been dreaming; thank you, Laotianye.” And then throwing his head back in long laughter and acting nonchalant, he said, “Yuanji Xiong, it seems like this is the first time you are mingling in Jianghu, the former days were wasted in sucking the breast for milk, hence the reason you spoke such rubbish. How about you and I have a one-on-one duel, to give you the opportunity to unleash the power of breastfeeding out?”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling almost did not dare to believe their own ears, because Ba Fenghan rarely insulted his opponent like this; he intentionally offended Li Yuanji in order to provoke every single one of the enemy’s anger.

The more ‘not normal’ the enemy, the more they had the opportunity they could take advantage of.

Sure enough, the murderous intent in Li Yuanji’s pair of eyes flared greatly, but his countenance remained cold, showing the air of a martial art master. The other high-ranking military officers, however, everybody’s countenance sank, three or four men even shouted angrily, “How dare you!”, the tone of their voice was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with animosity.

Li Shimin raised his right hand, signaling Li Yuanji not to answer, he even ordered the various general to remain calm. Knitting his brows, he said, “Currently three gentlemen have no room to advance or to retreat, your only way is to fight will all your might, which, to you and I, both sides, is harmful and without benefit. Presently Luoyang’s losing battle is already decided, why don’t we shake hands and reach agreement? As long as Shaoshuai promise to disband Shao Shuai Army and withdraw from the dispute over Luoyang, I, Li Shimin, will guarantee three gentlemen’s safety. Otherwise, Shaoshuai will meet misfortune and lose your life in here, it will also be difficult for Shao Shuai Army to avoid disaster, it will be even more difficult for the common people of Pengliang to escape the destruction of the chaos of war. For your sake as well as for the sake of others, how could Shaoshuai have the heart to endure it?”

Li Yuanji’s face revealed an unhappy expression, evidently because Li Shimin, while he was in the absolute superior position, plus Ba Fenghan had just insulted him – was still this polite and lenient toward the three men; he was greatly dissatisfied.

Li Shentong sighed and said, “Tonight, Shaoshuai is absolutely without any chance of luck. The so-called only and outstanding talent can recognize current trends [idiom: a wise man submits to circ.u.mstances], fully aware that it is impossible yet still persevere in it, is not something that a wise man would choose to do. Shaoshuai, please think three times before you go.”

Because Kou Zhong has rescued him from Dou Jiande’s hands, Li Shentong was grateful to him, hence this remark. Due to his special status, he did not need to pay attention to whether Li Yuanji was happy or not.

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Our reputation of being fully aware that it is impossible yet still persevere in it has already been established long ago. In the past, at the Helian Fort confronting Xieli and his Golden Wolf Army, we still did not wrinkle our brows, why would we change today? Your remarks are really superfluous words.”

Li Nantian stuck out his head on behalf of Li Yuanji, he shouted angrily, “Who could have thought that unexpectedly Ba Fenghan is this pigheaded, a disciple who only knows how to speak conceited nonsense? This is now, that was then; it’s impossible to mention that day in the same breath as today. Tonight, you don’t have Helian Fort’s rugged stronghold to rely on, you are isolated and lacking any help. If you obstinately resist to the end, it’s just a suicidal act with the courage of a fool.”

If the opponents standing on sh.o.r.e in confrontation with them were not Ba Fenghan, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, three men whose military successes were glorious and intimidating the world, who were acclaimed as the most outstanding figures of the new generation, the various officers and soldiers of the Tang Army would have snorted disdainfully at them. However, this moment, facing the disposition of troops, which was a hundred times stronger than they, the three men were still standing like the mountain completely without any fear, the sleeves of their robe fluttering in the river breeze, their appearance was like celestial being, unexpectedly no one from the other side dared to show any expression with the slightest degree of contempt and disdain, simply because they knew that in order to kill the three, their side would have to pay a very heavy price.

Ba Fenghan was not offended by Li Nantian’s insult; on the contrary, he blurted out laughing and said, “Well said! At the Helian Fort, we were trapped in heavy siege and had no choice but to rely on the stronghold to fight to the death. But now we are in location where there’s wilderness in four directions, plus the Great River obstructing ahead. If we could cross to the other side, then there will be a great opportunity to get away from the siege, so I want to see whether gentlemen will have the ability to retain us, three brothers.”

Li Shimin raised his hand again to stop Li Nantian from retorting. The latter, his expression looked displeased, yet had no choice but to swallow the words that were already in his mouth back into his throat. Only then did Li Shimin spoke unhurriedly, “Whether three gentlemen are able to get away from the siege, at best you have only fifty-fifty chance, but even if you could break the siege and leave, what then? You want to persuade Dou Jiande to come and help, you will only bring harm to him. Hulao already fell into my, Li Shimin’s hands. If the Dou Army cross the river and come to the west, I could divide my troops to guard Luoyang, to dig deep ditch and build high rampart, so that w.a.n.g Shichong will be unable to move a single step. On the other hand, I will personally lead my elite troops, first, to seize Hulao, and then wait for Dou Jiande’s arrival, using leisure to strike the weary, we definitely can subdue them. With Jiande perishes, Luoyang will be difficult to protect. This time three gentlemen show off your courage and strength, but it won’t help at all. I, Li Shimin advise you with kind words, simply due to remembering the friendship of the former days, I am unwilling to let the three gentlemen court disaster and nurse a grievance in here. That’s all!”

‘Formidable!’ Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling cried inwardly. Li Shimin’s remark was reasonable, he thoroughly laid oud the pros and cons of their plan, practically he was trying to sway their determination and their willpower to seek help.

Ba Fenghan seemed to have appointed himself as the spokesperson of the three, he shook his head and said, “Our view is very different from that of Qin w.a.n.g. Qin w.a.n.g attack Luoyang violently without ceasing, your troops are weary, your strength exhausted, while Shichong relies on the city walls to hold fast, plus he has army with fresh power and food aid, how could he be that easy to pull out? Jiande has just subdued Meng Haigong, he will follow up a victory and come, the acute point of his spear is flourishing, with him and Shichong attacking from both the inside and the outside, Qin w.a.n.g will be caught in the inferior position where you will face the enemy in front and behind you. When that time comes, to whom the deer falls, who’d dare to a.s.sert?”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had a smile on their faces but did not speak; they a.s.sumed a profound-mystery stance.

In fact, they already implicitly handed over the authority to speak and to command entirely to Ba Fenghan; in itself, it was a brilliant move, because the other side, including Li Shimin and Kang Qiaoli, no one was familiar with Ba Fenghan’s character, cultivation and conduct, hence they were unable to figure out his style of conduct and the level of his mastery. Just by hearing about his extremely daring exploits and his ruthless method, they knew that he was not one to yield to anybody.

The refined light in Li Shimin’s pair of eyes was flashing, obviously it was because his powerful persuasion failed, and yet Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling did not utter a single word, so that he felt humiliated and was anger. He slowly said, “Not only you guys overestimate Dou Jiande, you also fail to see w.a.n.g Shichong’s situation clearly. Early on w.a.n.g Shichong already has his troops weary, his grain exhausted, the top and the bottom are at odds with each other, without we need to attack, we can sit and subdue him. Your a.s.sistance can only prolong his remaining breath for a short time. Dou Jiande newly defeated Meng Haigong, his generals arrogant, his troops lazy. I, Li Shimin occupy Hulao steadily, am choking his throat, the other side seems to take risks to strive, I will take them down quite easily; if they are alone and in doubt and don’t go out to battle, Shichong will break down by himself. Our troops’ morale hereby doubled, one move two conquests, Ba Xiong still think that with his army division numbers in a hundred thousand, Dou Jiande will have the chance to defeat my, Li Shimin’s two-hundred-thousand-man main forces?”

Although Xu Ziling felt Li Shimin’s powerful confidence and a.s.surance of the outcome, it was still not enough to cause intense reaction and personal emotion. Kou Zhong, however, listening to that with the chill seeping up his spine, simply because Li Shimin understood Dou Jiande thoroughly, he was able to grasp his greatest shortcoming, in that he would be arrogant of his victory. From this, Kou Zhong was convinced that Li Shimin must have a mole among the high-level officers of the Dou Army.

Ba Fenghan remained unmoved. He raised his face to look up at the time [as indicated by the color of the sky], in a calm, so much so that it was chilling – tone of voice, he said, “There is no such thing as an army that is always victorious; things of the world, how can it completely fulfill man’s expectation? If Qin w.a.n.g has nothing else to say, we are determined to crash through the barrier and cross the river while the sky is not yet bright.”

Finally Li Yuanji could not take it anymore, he shouted angrily, “Since you are looking for death, we’ll gladly help you accomplishing your wish.” He had suffered disgrace under Kou Zhong’s saber, hence he was particularly unable to hold his anger.

In regard of infuriating Li Yuanji, Ba Fenghan finally succeeded.

Li Shimin, however, remained calm. He slowly swept his gaze over the three men, before his eyes finally rested on Xu Ziling’s face. He sighed and said, “Could it be that Ziling has nothing to say? When you have to let go, you have to let go; Ziling Xiong ought to understand the reason behind all of these better than Shimin.”

Xu Ziling accompanied him in sighing inwardly, while Ba Fenghan focused his voice into a thread and transmitted it into their ears, saying, “As long as we can maintain the position where I won’t have left and right worries, the sharp tip of my Stealing the Heaven Sword may have the chance to steal a sliver of opportunity to live.”

Meeting Li Shimin’s gaze, Xu Ziling smiled bitterly and said, “Succeed or fail, sharp or blunt [idiom: you win some, you lose some], someday it all will become public opinion. Shimin Xiong and I have different standpoints; how we are going to deal with it, I am asking Shimin Xiong to forgive me.”

Li Shimin nodded his head three times in succession, each nod was accompanied by a word, ‘Good!’ while the murderous intent in his eyes did not stop intensifying, the expression showing in his eyes became fierce and severe and sharp. Finally he shouted loudly, “On the battlefield, there is no friend, only the enemy. Three gentlemen must not blame me for being ruthless.”

Battle drums were sounded, the two rows of oars at the bottom part of the hull started to move at the same time, the giant warship was swinging slowly, now the ship’s bow was facing the three men on the sh.o.r.e, lying across the surface of the river. Whether they were going to run away upstream or downstream, the giant warship would be able to either pursue or intercept rapidly. And the greatest threat was naturally the martial art masters gathered like a cloud on the deck, who could cross the empty air to swarm and chase to kill them. The elite Dark Armored Celestial Soldiers on the warship had enough power to shoot them dead before they threw themselves into the river.

There were more than thirty Dark Armored Warriors on the deck of the bow below the bridge, each one had a bent bow and an arrow at the reasy, which was aimed at the three, waiting for action after having acc.u.mulated energy.

The atmosphere became like the pulled-taut bowstring, there was no leeway for either side to establish friendly relations and make peace.

Ba Fenghan’s pair of eyes exploded with terrifying refined light, which had never been seen before, showing the impressive achievement of having his meridians expanded to the limit just now. While keeping his eyes to watch the enemy, to observe the enemy, he spoke in low voice to the two boys, “You must do your best to let me have a free hand in concentrating my efforts on crashing through this barrier, plus it has to happen fast, there must be absolutely no delay. The triangular formation must be maintained to the end, otherwise we will never reach the other sh.o.r.e.”

It was only this moment that the two genuinely grasped the meaning of Ba Fenghan’s remark earlier, ‘only the ruthless will be able to survive’. Because he has made a choice from the beginning, that is, to choose the enemy’s strongest point. If successful, they could cast the enemy’s main force behind and fly to escape at full speed.

Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong knew that life or death, success or failure – would be decided in the next moment; promptly they calmed their heart and spirit, while entering the Moon in the Well realm at the same time.

Fantastic thing happened.

Kou Zhong felt that his essence, qi, and spirit, all three were highly concentrated, his mind was focused to the unprecedented level, as long as his attention was on someone or something, unexpectedly he was able to fully grasp the target in a huge amount of details. The mind was no longer an abstract object, but it became like something with substance, he was able to seize, grab and lock up tight the target he wanted to attack. The subtlety within it was not something that any words could describe.

Xu Ziling’s feeling was equally mysterious, yet it was totally different from Kou Zhong’s. He felt himself stepping away from the battlefield, yet at the same time he gained more clarity on the changes of every detail in the overall situation. The s.p.a.ce within a ten-zhang radius seemed to become the clear water of the creek in the You Lin Xiao Gu; every minute variation in the water could not escape his mystery within a mystery, transcending matters’ inductance mental state, not the slightest amount of change could be hidden from him.

‘Qiang!’

Ba Fenghan pulled the Stealing the Heaven Sword. Amidst the long whistle, his body soared into the air, traversing over five, six zhang of the river surface, flying toward the bow of the enemy’s ship.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were already waiting with built up momentum; immediately, like a shadow attached to the form, they ran after him, on his left and right, two sides, forming triangular battle formation in the air, coming across the sky, in seizing-people momentum.

This move was obviously greatly beyond the opponent’s expectation. They never thought that the three would be this overbearing and dominant, unexpectedly they had the cheek to come for a direct confrontation.

With repeated ‘Swish! Swish!’ sound, the more than thirty powerful arrows from the Dark Armored Warriors’ powerful bows guarding the deck of the ship’s bow shot out, forming a deadly arrow net covering and protecting the ship’s bow, coming straight to envelop the three men. There was no way to evade it, the only remaining way was to block it head-on.

Behind Li Shimin, Li Yuanji, Li Shentong, Li Nantian, and so on, fierce generals of the Li Clan, Heavenly Policy Mansion’s martial art masters like Zhangsun Wuji, Yuchi Jingde, Luo Shixin, Pang Yu, Li Shiji, also the high-ranking military officers related to Li Yuanji like Shi Wanbao, Xue Wanche, Feng Liben, Kang Qiaoli, Mei Xun, and so on, all shifted the form and exchange the position, they scrambled to occupy strategic position, in order to deal with the b.l.o.o.d.y battle about to arrive on the ship.

Everybody knew that the arrow net was not enough to stop the three men from landing on the giant ship.

“Change breath!” Ba Fenghan shouted in low voice.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling reached out at the same time, they grabbed Ba Fenghan’s arms and revolved the true qi within their body, suddenly they changed the forward momentum to leaping straight up, reaching nearly two zhang of height, higher than the ship’s bow, flying at an angle toward Li Shimin, who was far away on the bridge.

The arrows and darts entirely shot empty air.

A burst of chaos ensued on the warship.

One after another the Dark Armored Warriors abandoned their bow and pulled the saber hanging on their waist, forming a battle array on the ship’s bow, before moving back to the head position in front and under the bridge, blocking the entrance to the forward cabin.

Various generals of the Heavenly Policy Mansion rushed around Li Shimin to protect him.

Only Li Shimin remained sitting in the imperial tutor chair on the bridge, his expression composed.

The three flew just before the bow, Ba Fenghan unleashed the Thousand-Catty-Drop, he sank his qi to fall, the Stealing the Heaven Sword producing a terrifying strange ‘Chi! Chi!’ whistling noise of sword qi, it was as if ten thousand sword lights appeared from his hand, as he flitted across the deck to attack the Dark Armored Warriors guarding the cabin door.

Ba Fenghan made an all-out move, there was indeed a startling-the-heaven-frightening-the-sun’s mighty power.

Li Shimin sprang out of the chair, he pulled the saber on his waist and shouted, “Seal the door!”

On his left and right, Luo Shixin, Pang Yu, and Li Shiji somersaulted down the bridge to join the Dark Armored Warriors’ battle formation, doing everything in their power to firmly defend the cabin door, not to give Ba Fenghan and the others any opportunity to break the door and enter in.

Li Shimin, Zhangsun Wuji and Yuchi Jingde moved to the edge of the bridge; living high and looking down, they waited in tight formation, not only to prevent the three men from jumping onto the bridge, they could also correspond to their own troops guarding the door under the bridge. Their strategy to meet a contingency was indeed impossible to fault [idiom: impeccable].

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling landed on the deck of the bow a hair slower than Ba Fenghan. This moment Li Yuanji, Li Shentong, Xue Wanche, and two high-ranking military officers whose names they did not know – attacked from the left side, while Li Nantian, Shi Wanbao, Kang Qiaoli, Mei Xun, Feng Liben and three high-ranking military officers whose names they also did not know – were coming to attack from the right. Each enemy made his move at full strength, without showing the least bit of mercy, all because they knew how formidable the three were; the slightest carelessness would subject them to the three men’s fierce and severe counterattack, which would lead to their downfall or even death.

Momentarily saber light, sword shadow, and qi power filled the atmosphere. The enemy’s powerful offensive has started all around, their strength was enough to crush the three, who were acting like a mantis spreading its arm to block a cart.

The other several hundred of Dark Armored Warriors on the warship separated themselves into groups of more than fifty men each, taking their position on the bow and on the port and starboard sides of the warship, as well as on the observation deck of the mast, to seal all pa.s.sages, with bows and darts in tight formation to guard against the three throwing themselves into the river.

At the same time, the warship was moving toward the middle of the river, to make it difficult for them to leap back onto the sh.o.r.e. Thereupon the battle on the warship was turning into the struggle of trapped beasts.

‘Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!’

The sound of saber and sword colliding against each other was ringing continuously, opening the curtain of the b.l.o.o.d.y battle. Ba Fenghan’s Stealing the Heaven Sword, using a twisting-strike technique, slashed and struck the blades of four Dark Armored Warriors’ broadswords in succession. The Dark Armored Celestial Soldiers were worthy to be Li Shimin’s elite personal guards, each one had outstanding martial art skill, unexpectedly they managed to hold on to their saber so that it was not knocked off their hands. However, Ba Fenghan sent out his true qi via the sword’s blade that their arms were unbearably numb so that they were forced to retreat back hastily into their ranks and let the other comrades-in-arms to pounce forward to take their positions.

Beyond everybody’s expectation, instead of advancing, Ba Fenghan was retreating; he took two steps backward, while the enemies on both sides swarmed forward to attack. Ahead, mingled among the Dark Armored Warriors, Luo Shixin, Pang Yu and Li Shiji seized the opportunity to rush toward the front of the formation, leading the fighters from their side, to launch violent, fierce like raging waves splitting the sh.o.r.e – counterattack toward Ba Fenghan, who was bearing the brunt of their offensive.

Xu Ziling was protecting Ba Fenghan’s left side, his mind was as calm as still water, he shifted his attention from the overall situation to Li Yuanji, Li Shentong, Xue Wanche, and two unfamiliar Tang generals, who were attacking his side. His mind was empty, his spirit like a deity, nothing could be hidden from him.

Li Yuanji’s Splitting Horse Spear was spinning continuously, so that the bloodred ta.s.sel adorning the spearhead, reflecting the light of the various wind lanterns installed on the ship – was like a ring of light, drawing a line br.i.m.m.i.n.g with power in the air, curving down to strike; however, the target of his attack was not him, Xu Ziling, but Ba Fenghan. It was obvious that because of Ba Fenghan’s verbal insults just now, he hated him to the bone, and was determined to put Ba Fenghan to the death by all means.

Xu Ziling had a faint feeling that it was Ba Fenghan’s intention all along, hence instead of advancing he was retreating, precisely to give Li Yuanji this opportunity.

This was an extremely risky move, because not only Li Yuanji was not someone who was easy to deal with, he might very well be the number one martial art master in using spear in the world. However, their goal tonight was precisely to seek victory from danger; if they did not take risk, how could they achieve it?

Xu Ziling suddenly made the decision not to deal with Li Yuanji’s Splitting Horse Spear on Ba Fenghan’s behalf; his handprint changed, the fingertips of his right hand stretched out to jab Xue Wanche’s – who was the first to arrive – copper truncheon, while his left hand formed a palm chop to hack Li Shentong’s fantastic sword-rain-filling-the-whole-sky pouring down on him.

The other two high-ranking military officers, one was wielding a pair of axes, the other was using a lance, both were dashing bravely with no thought of personal safety to meet him. All four enemies, like ants attracted to honey, swarmed toward him, without giving him any opportunity to take a breath.