Chapter 148

After Zhang Fulai's apprentice went out to deliver the message, Tie Yi inspected the two large coffins again, looking carefully at every edge and corner. He had to admit the coffin shop in Gaoyao had done fine work — the seams of both coffins had been waterproofed.

After being dragged through the tunnel for so long, apart from being covered in mud and water, not a drop had seeped inside.

Relieved, Tie Yi gently patted the coffin on the left. He suddenly thought of his master, Zheng Laoquan, and reflected that the old man had not even had a coffin when he died. His nose could not help but sting.

If Heaven looks after me this time and does not let me die in this tunnel, one day I must go back and buy a fine coffin to rebury my old master!

Tie Yi swore this oath in his heart, then took another deep breath. The air in the tunnel was thin, and the deeper one went, the harder it was to breathe.

After inhaling deeply, Tie Yi felt his head clear considerably. Only then did he carefully take out the match cord wrapped in oilpaper from his chest.

Many wooden stakes had already been driven into the earthen wall on the left side of the tunnel, spaced less than a foot apart. He only needed to place the match cord into the coffins, then lay it section by section over those stakes, and finally light it.

This process allowed not the slightest carelessness. If the match cord fell onto the waterlogged muddy ground, needless to say, it would be hard to light. Nor could he let dirt from the wall fall onto the cord, for if the cord were knocked to the ground, the whole effort would likewise be ruined.

The match cord used for lighting was twisted from hemp rope, about a hundred feet long, joined together from a dozen or more lengths of match cord.

After being made, this kind of match cord had to be soaked in vinegar for several days, then taken out and dried in the sun; otherwise its stability and ability to carry fire were both very poor.

After being soaked in vinegar, the match cord could burn on its own, but the drawback was that it burned quickly and was unsafe, catching fire at the slightest spark.

Back when they were burying charges in the mines, Tie Yi had personally seen someone blown to death on the mountain because he had not had time to outrun a lit match cord.

A hundred feet of match cord meant Tie Yi had to escape to safety in an extremely short time.

Because no true wall demolition had ever been carried out before, even Zhou Shixiang could not say clearly how great the force of the two coffins would be once they exploded, or how much of the tunnel would be affected.

He had therefore repeatedly warned Tie Yi to turn and run for the exit the moment he lit the fire, and not to stay there trying to check whether the match cord was still burning.

All men fear death, and Tie Yi was no exception. He too was terrified of being buried alive underground. But someone had to light the fire. As a centurion of the Vanguard Battalion, Tie Yi believed this match cord had to be lit by his own hand. If someone had to die, let it be him alone.

The time spent laying the match cord seemed almost frozen. The deep, pitch-black tunnel was somewhat frightening.

The torches stuck into the walls at intervals could not illuminate enough ground because of the thin air, and Tie Yi did not dare carry a torch while laying the match cord.

He could only summon every ounce of his attention, even holding his breath, as he carried out this deadly task.

At last, the match cord was laid over the stakes on the wall without mishap. None of the things Tie Yi had feared had happened.

Gazing at the two coffins a hundred feet ahead, now impossible to make out, Tie Yi swallowed. His nervous gaze shifted to the match cord hanging on the stakes. He slowly stepped back, pulled a torch from the wall, and prepared to light it with his own hand.

The match cord had been twisted by Tie Yi and several old men with their own hands. The coffins he had watched being built with his own eyes, and had personally directed men to drag into the tunnel.

Now, this fire would be lit by his own hand. No matter what, he would blast a great gaping hole in the walls of Xinhui!

Blast!

Blast you Qing dogs to death!

After casting one last glance toward the far end of the tunnel, Tie Yi without hesitation thrust the torch toward the match cord.

"Hiss!" Sparks flashed at once, faint blue smoke rose, and the match cord began burning forward at great speed.

Remembering Zhou Shixiang's warning, Tie Yi did not dare look at the burning match cord at all. He turned and ran as fast as he could, his legs stamping one heavy footprint after another in the muddy tunnel.

Along the way, he could not say how many torches stuck in the walls he had knocked over, nor how many times he had banged his head, nor how far he had suddenly run. In any case, Tie Yi just kept running, and kept running!

Damn it, why hasn't it blown yet?

His feet were still running forward, but the sound of the explosion had still not reached his ears. Tie Yi's heart could not help but clench.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a muffled boom behind him. Then the earth beneath his feet began to shake violently, and a wave of heat surged from behind, knocking him flat onto the ground.

Along with the wave of heat came countless clods of earth and fragments. Inside the tunnel it felt as though the very earth were shaking and the mountains moving.

Tie Yi lay sprawled in the mud, his head thickly coated with muck. The violent blast of air had also made it impossible for him to breathe for an instant.

When he tried to draw breath, the air was full of choking gunpowder fumes, making his eyes water and his nose run.

It blew!

Tie Yi's first thought was that it had finally blown. His second thought was: I can't breathe — am I going to die here?

The coffins, packed with the greater part of the Vanguard Battalion's stores — a full seven hundred-plus jin of granular gunpowder — had finally exploded inside the sealed coffins.

First the earth beneath the Xinhui wall in the direction of the coffins was hurled upward with a roar, and immediately after came a tremendous boom and rising black smoke.

On the surface, everyone heard that great boom, and everyone felt the violent shaking transmitted from underground.

Thunder from the heavens?!

The Qing soldiers on the wall, upon hearing the great boom, did not first look down below the wall. Instead they instinctively raised their heads to look at the sky.

By the time they realized something was wrong, the wall was already shrouded in black smoke, and they could hear soldiers screaming in agony.

The smoke blocked everyone's vision. None of the Qing soldiers knew what had happened. They only knew the ground beneath their feet was shaking violently, and that on the section of wall by the east gate, countless bricks were flying into the air.

"What's happened? Where did the bandits get cannon?"

Assistant Regional Commander Zheng Guodong, startled awake from his sleep, rushed out barefoot without even bothering to put on his shoes when he heard the great boom.

When he saw that the area around the east gate was already shrouded in black smoke, he was so shocked his mouth fell open, not knowing what on earth had happened there.

On the wall at the east gate, the Qing soldiers on night watch could only be described as wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. Many unlucky wretches had been smashed to pulp by flying boulders the instant of the explosion.

Even more had fallen as the wall suddenly collapsed, and were then buried alive by the falling earth, stones, and bricks.

"The wall's collapsed! The wall's collapsed!"

The terrified defenders of the east gate stared as if seeing ghosts at the great gap that had appeared before them. The formerly continuous wall looked as though an immortal had bodily carried a section away, leaving a huge breach several dozen feet wide.