Chapter 496: Gaoping Pass

Not long ago, the northern border passes of Great Jin were still Shuofang and Shanggu Pass, but now a towering mighty pass has risen beside the Luoshui River, yet it is meant to block them.

Chang'an had long failed to set up another checkpoint, and the harried Bai Li Jin simply couldn't attend to it. Of course, there was also the fact that the Northern Border's military achievements could be verified, making ordinary passes useless.

Everything changed when Chang'an heard that a steady stream of people was flowing into the Northern Border, and the Northern Border accepted them all. Chang'an had always felt that after the great war, the barren Liangzhou and Bingzhou, with their overly long frontier, would slow the rise of Youzhou—what good is a vast area? The Northern Border King had hardly any population. So, as soon as Chang'an learned that its own people were fleeing to the Northern Border, it flew into a rage.

Bai Li Jin overnight dispatched a troop to garrison Gaoping, no longer allowing southern civilians to freely head north.

Over the years, the garrisons of the northern, northwestern, and southwestern borders had been lost one after another, leaving Bai Li Jin's northern forces terribly weak; he dared not move troops from the south. The twenty thousand he deployed this time were newly recruited near Chang'an, and after scrimping and scraping to build a checkpoint, its sole purpose was to sever the population flow between the Northern Border and Great Jin.

The Gaoping checkpoint was shabby in every direction, but fortunately, from here the naked eye cannot even see the mighty pass on the Luoshui River; otherwise the contrast would be even more grim.

The garrison commander here is Huang Yun, an unsuccessful Colonel Zhonglei from Chang'an's Eastern Great Battalion; Bai Li Jin promoted him by one rank and transferred him to Gaoping to defend the long border adjoining the Northern Border. At present, the sole principle is: no civilians may head north any further.

When Huang Yun left Chang'an, he had even managed to settle his family as best he could; after years of muddling along without achievement, he had never felt so clear-headed.

Defend the Northern Border, which claims to have a hundred thousand cavalry, with only twenty thousand fresh infantry?

He knew that the day the Northern Border King marched south would be his death day.

Although he was merely a peripheral Colonel Zhonglei, he knew everything he ought to know—for example, the Xiongnu Left Wise King hung at the entrance of the imperial mausoleum's underground palace, the Cui clan of the capital wiped out in a single night, and the Northern Border's glorious victories over the Xiongnu and the Western Regions.

In the final days of the year's end, each day grew colder than the last, the sky overcast with no sunlight; Huang Yun stood at the southern lookout of the pass, and a moving black wall swept in from the horizon.

Drawing ever closer, its sound was heard first.

A low, thunderous rumble, uniform and orderly.

The Owl Cavalry's steeds on their long-distance raid bore no armor, their weapons were merely light sidearms they carried, while the rest of their gear remained unchanged.

Black armor covered their faces, gleaming with a bone‑chilling chill in the overcast light. The Black Wind Horses were tall and divine, exhaling plumes of white vapor even in the dry, cold afternoon, their steps perfectly synchronized yet utterly silent.

Huang Yun stood on the watchtower, his expression calm, his eyes filled with deathly stillness.

His subordinate Commandant came running to report: about five thousand armored cavalry, nearly a thousand wagons, a mixed crowd of nobles and refugees, numbering over ten thousand.

The Commandant's face was grave; seeing Huang Yun silent, he asked, 'General, what should we do?'

Huang Yun raised his hand: 'Prepare for a decisive battle.'

'Yes.'

The Owl Cavalry did not charge the checkpoint directly, but restrained themselves and stopped a hundred meters before it. Liang He's subordinate went forward to negotiate, frankly stating they were the garrison of Luoshui Pass, and had come out specially to escort people to the Northern Border's spring imperial examination next year because southern unrest had made travel unsafe.

Those wagons trailing out of sight naturally belonged to scholars traveling together north to take the exam.

Huang Yun sneered, 'What does the Northern Border think the court is? And what does it think I am?!'

... Since these people are all subjects of Great Jin, the court has an order forbidding arbitrary departure from the pass; if they insist on not turning back, they will be regarded as charging the pass and committing treason!

After hearing the report, Liang He rode forward and said, 'We've already found you a way out, General—why be so stubborn as to bring the brothers of Gaoping Pass to seek death?'

'Great Jin's subjects also have the freedom to move as they please—what gives Chang'an the right to dictate where they go? Heh, do you really want me to speak harshly? Prince Jiangxia marched north as if entering an uninhabited land, easily took Nanyang—can Chang'an and you, General, protect the lower classes?'

Huang Yun's face darkened; seeing his unusual attire, he asked, 'Who are you?'

'Liang He.'

Huang Yun, stationed here, could not have failed to hear the name of Liang He opposite him: 'A few years ago we were colleagues, yet you chose to become a bandit.'

Liang He was not angry at the rebuke; his temperament is the opposite of Liang Bin's.

'Who between us is the bandit? Look at the land before you—scarred and strewn with refugees. The people have gone to the Northern Border, and even if the Northern Border Prince faces myriad difficulties, he will still see they have food to eat. What has Chang'an done? Set up roadblocks to intercept refugees entering the capital. General, you lack compassion, abetting evil while pretending loyalty and patriotism.'

'This realm belongs to the Bai Li clan, but the Bai Li clan is not limited to Bai Li Jin alone.'

'General, you may persist in your mistaken devotion to Chang'an, but do not block the people's self‑rescue!'

'Today we are merely returning to the Northern Border, not attacking Chang'an—make way!'

Zhou Ke, standing before the formation, drew his sidearm: 'No one can stop the Youzhou Black Armor cavalry—make way, or—die!'

Behind them, the Owl Cavalry simultaneously drew their gleaming blades, causing the newly conscripted troops opposite to go weak‑kneed.

Da Wang lay slumped in the carriage, sticking out his rear to watch the proceedings; seeing that the whole person was about to step out, Wei Shen beside him unhesitatingly shoved him back. 'Stay put, you! We were just going to have a mock battle to get through, but if you're recognized by Chang'an's people, they'll fight to the death to keep you and earn great merit.'

Da Wang, pressed back, was thoroughly unconvinced and lifted the curtain: 'How could that be? Only those officials who attend court could recognize me, and none of them would come to guard this shabby Gaoping Pass.'

Wei Shen glanced at his pale, chubby little face: 'Although you resemble Wei Ke more, like our Wei family, but after slimming down you still retain a hint of your father. Bai Li Jin is the spitting image of your father; if you stand beside Bai Li Jin or those who have seen him, you can also notice something, you understand?'

Having said all that, Da Wang suddenly caught the point: '... You mean I look like Bai Li Jin?'

Da Wang immediately broke down!

The Bai Li clan's appearance is not bad either, and Emperor Ningde is even more presentable, yet Da Wang despises resembling Bai Li Jin.

No longer paying attention to Liang He's updates, Da Wang felt the sky collapse: '... It's over! My magnificent beauty is marred!'

On the other side of the carriage, Wei Ke: ……

Huang Yun would not surrender the way; the Owl Cavalry ahead showed no mercy and charged the pass directly!

Wei Shen craned his neck to watch, 'All that talk was wasted, you stubborn fool!'

He watched while live‑streaming to Da Wang, who couldn't be bothered to listen; it didn't matter, the difficulty was zero. He didn't know where he had found a mirror, holding it up and flipping it back and forth: 'Where does it resemble? Where does it resemble? Impossible!... Does my lord need to get fat? How many days of gnawing on biscuits did it take to slim down this much, snivel…'

Wei Shen: ……