Chapter 65: A Battle to the Death

By the time the fires in Shenyang were extinguished, Hong Taiji looked at the reports before him and felt a powerful urge to grab a blade and start hacking at someone.

In broad daylight, more than twenty fires had broken out across Shenyang, and Fan Wencheng was nowhere to be found — likely dead or worse.

The things burned were secondary; the crux of it was that this dog-slave Fan Wencheng had been snatched away, which was like a vicious slap across the face of the Great Jin, across the face of him, Hong Taiji.

In his towering rage, Hong Taiji immediately dispatched pursuit troops to search southward. Going on instinct, Hong Taiji was certain this was all the work of those Ming barbarians.

It must be said, as a competent military commander, Hong Taiji's instincts were extremely sharp, and the search direction he sent his pursuit troops in was perfectly logical. The only pity was that these professional pursuers ran into the even more professional Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After leaving Shenyang, in just a single afternoon, as the sky was about to darken, Wang Xuanji and his fifty or sixty Embroidered Uniform Guard riders had already reached the outskirts of Liaoyang.

Gazing at the distant, now faintly outlined form of Liaoyang, Wang Xuanji said to Liu Laosi, "Laosi, you and the brothers take that dog traitor Fan Wencheng toward Fuzhou — men are already in place there to receive you.

I'll take some of the brothers toward Regional Commander Mao's place at Pidao and draw off the pursuit."

Liu Laosi, who always liked to contradict Wang Xuanji, contradicted him as usual: "Bullshit. You're a damned Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and you're going to draw off pursuit for a Centurion like me?

That's no way to do things. You take the men to Fuzhou, and leave drawing off the pursuit to me."

Wang Xuanji cursed, "Go fuck yourself. I've long had enough of that wife of mine at home. If I die in battle, I'm entrusting her and my son to you. If she wants to remarry, you help her find a good family."

With that, he didn't wait for Liu Laosi to reply, but directly shouted, "Those with no family ties at home, follow me!" Instantly, over twenty riders broke from the group and followed Wang Xuanji as he spurred his horse southeast.

Liu Laosi had no choice but to yell, "You damned well be careful!" Then he led the remaining men and the still-unconscious Fan Wencheng southwest toward Fuzhou.

Liu Laosi and his men carefully avoided inhabited areas while meticulously covering their tracks. The entire journey, they reached Fuzhou without incident, found the men waiting to receive them, and successfully brought that dog traitor Fan Wencheng back to the Great Ming.

As for Wang Xuanji and his men, since they had resolved to risk death drawing off the pursuit, they deliberately left traces for the Jianzhou barbarians' pursuers.

It was not until they passed Lianshan Pass, with Phoenix City nearly in sight, that the Jianzhou barbarians' pursuit troops gradually caught up.

By this time, Wang Xuanji had already split his forces a second time, sending seven or eight Embroidered Uniform Guard riders back along the way to return to Shenyang and resume hiding, while he himself continued drawing off the pursuit with only twelve or thirteen men.

By the time they reached Tang Station, Wang Xuanji and his men had been overtaken by the Jianzhou barbarians' pursuit troops.

The leader of the pursuit troops was a youth not yet twenty. Looking at Wang Xuanji and his men before him, the young general shouted, "Hand over Mr. Fan! Kneel and surrender, and your lives will be spared!"

Wang Xuanji, however, paid the young general no heed whatsoever. He turned to look at the twelve or thirteen riders beside him and laughed. "Brothers, do you blame me for leading you to your deaths?"

Those twelve or thirteen riders burst into laughter. One of them said, "Which of us men fears death? If we feared death, we wouldn't have come with you!"

Another laughed and said, "I figure we brothers aren't losing out! Once we're down below, we'll still be together, and we'll keep raising hell until heaven and earth are turned upside down.

We'll overthrow that old King Yama, and when His Majesty's hundred years are up, we'll back His Majesty to be the Yama Emperor!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the man next to him smacked him on the head with a "Slap!" and cursed, "What nonsense are you spouting, you bastard! His Majesty is naturally of boundless longevity.

Even if the Dragon Chariot were to ascend to heaven, he'd become an immortal above — how could he ever come down to be some Yama Emperor?"

At this, the others all began discussing it, some saying they would be the first to expand the frontier down below, others debating whether after death they could become heavenly soldiers and generals and continue guarding the Son of Heaven.

These twelve or thirteen riders spoke as if they completely disregarded the three hundred-plus Jianzhou barbarian pursuers facing them.

The young general leading the pursuit troops burned with secret rage and shouted, "Since you will not surrender, then go and die!"

With that, he spurred his warhorse and led his troops in a charge to overwhelm them.

Seeing this, Wang Xuanji and his men also spurred their warhorses, actually launching a counter-charge straight at the pursuers.

But the Embroidered Uniform Guard always had plenty of dirty tricks. They drew hand cannons right from horseback, and without even aiming, fired the mechanisms straight at the Jianzhou barbarians — there were plenty of them on the other side, after all.

After several "Bang! Bang!" reports, five or six of the Jianzhou barbarians across from them fell from their horses and were immediately trampled to death by the warhorses behind them.

Seeing this, Wang Xuanji and his men tossed aside their short guns, drew their Embroidered Spring Blades, and continued the charge.

The pursuit commander secretly cursed the Embroidered Uniform Guard men for their vicious cunning. The moment the forces clashed, he fiercely hacked with his saber, cleaving the Embroidered Uniform Guard rider coming straight at him in two with a single stroke.

When the two sides separated, only a dozen or so corpses remained on the ground — some Embroidered Uniform Guard, some Jianzhou barbarians. On the Embroidered Uniform Guard side, only three or four riders remained.

Wang Xuanji and his men said nothing, merely spat, and spurred their warhorses to charge again.

The Jianzhou barbarians' pursuit commander, though astonished by the fearlessness of these Ming soldiers before him, still waved his troops forward to overwhelm them.

For a moment, the clash of blades rang out again — the sound of sabers or Embroidered Spring Blades slicing into flesh, screams, the neighing of horses — all blending into a battlefield requiem.

When the two sides separated again, of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, only Wang Xuanji alone remained. The Jianzhou barbarians had also lost five or six more men.

The Jianzhou commander secretly admired Wang Xuanji and his men's fierce disregard for death, yet was also enraged at not finding Fan Wencheng. He immediately said to Wang Xuanji, "Hold!

Where is Mr. Fan? Oboi admires you as a true man.

If you will only hand over Mr. Fan, I vow to spare your life and will even recommend you to the Great Khan. Our Great Khan values talent above all; you would certainly be given important duties.

Would that not be far better than selling your life for a barbarian emperor?" It turned out this young commander was Oboi.

Hearing this, Wang Xuanji spat out the bloody saliva in his mouth and said with a "Peh!", "I am a soldier of the Son of Heaven's own guard. Would I be a dog to you Jianzhou curs?

Keep dreaming your mother's grand spring-and-autumn dream! As for Fan Wencheng, I already chopped him to mincemeat and fed him to the dogs.

Go back to Liaoyang and slowly dig through the bellies of some wild dogs — you might just find him."

With that, not waiting for Oboi to say anything more, he spurred his warhorse and charged again.

When the two sides separated once more, the grievously wounded Wang Xuanji could hold on no longer. He merely muttered, "Soldiers of the Son of Heaven's own guard, we die but never surrender," then pitched headfirst from his horse and perished on the spot.

Seeing this, Oboi secretly admired him in his heart and instructed the personal soldiers beside him, "Take this man's head. I want his skull made into a drinking vessel. Bury the body properly."

Sorry, brothers, the update is a bit late. This counts as yesterday's second chapter. I should be able to pay off some of the debt today.

(End of Chapter)