Chapter 907: Panic spreads to a desperate situation; bewitching night raid to fight for a path to survival

The sixth day.

The sun had just emerged from the east, and no one in the Qifu tribe camp was sleeping anymore.

Someone was squatting outside a tent sharpening a knife. The whetstone rubbed back and forth against the blade, making people's teeth ache. Someone turned a grain bag over, shook it hard several times, poured the last bit of beans into the horse trough, and reached out to feel every corner of the bag, even digging out the broken beans stuck in the seams.

More people did nothing, just sitting in the mud in a daze.

There was only enough water to drink for one more day.

Grain distribution had stopped yesterday. The stoves everywhere were cold, and nothing could be scraped out of the pots. Several young children lay at the tent flaps crying, crying until their voices lowered. No one comforted them, and they had no strength left to cry.

Qifugu came out of the royal tent. He hadn't closed his eyes all night, and his eyes were full of red bloodshot veins.

A curved saber was tucked at his waist, and he was wearing half a suit of iron armor stripped from the corpse of a royal court soldier. The armor didn't fit, leaving a large gap at the waist and abdomen, which could only be tightened with hemp rope. Every step Qifugu took, the armor plates made a slight clinking sound.

He walked north along the muddy road in the middle of the camp.

People in the tents on both sides were looking at him. Some were still hoping that this Great Khan could think of a way to survive, while others had only fear left on their faces. Still others were so hungry they were numb, following Qifugu for a few steps with their gaze, and soon lowered their heads again.

Amu Ri came to meet him from the assembly area in the north.

One thousand vanguard soldiers were already lined up, all squatting inside the fence. Some were hugging their curved sabers with their eyes closed, resting, and some were still sharpening their knives for the last few times. The blades shone in the morning sun, brightening and then dimming.

"Great Khan, the vanguard is ready. The brothers all said that tonight they will follow the Great Khan and charge out. Living is luck, and dying is better than starving to death in here."

Qifugu nodded and looked at those soldiers.

There were young men who had just come of age in the ranks, and old soldiers with hair mostly white. Some bit their teeth tightly without a sound, and some lowered their heads to touch their scabbards. A young herdsman's hands were shaking uncontrollably, so he had to hug his curved saber and press it down tightly with both arms.

Everyone was afraid of death.

It was just that by this step, fear was useless.

"Tell them to rest well during the day, and fill all the water they can carry on their bodies. Two hours after nightfall, when my horn sounds, everyone follows and charges."

Amu Ri responded and returned to the ranks.

Qifugu stayed by the fence and looked north for a while.

There wasn't much movement in the royal court's continuous camp on the open ground. Patrol cavalry passed in front of the camp according to the time, their hooves treading over the dry, hard dirt road, raising a layer of thin dust. The banners in the camp hung on the flagpoles, and when blown open by the wind, their shadows dragged very far along the ground.

After watching for a while, Qifugu turned and went to Gao Jiong's tent.

Gao Jiong wasn't whittling wooden sticks today. He was leaning against the tent doorpost, sunning himself, his eyes half-closed. The scabbard of the short blade at his waist was shining in the sun, and at first glance, it really looked like he was dozing off.

Qifugu stopped in front of him.

"Lord Gao, I am charging out tonight."

Gao Jiong opened his eyes and glanced at him.

"The Great Khan has decided?"

"Decided."

Qifugu's voice was still hoarse, but it was much steadier than when he was kneeling in the mud begging for help two days ago.

"I have thought it through. Rather than starving to death, dying of thirst, or being exhausted to death by Nuhe Ti like a trapped beast, it is better to fight for it. Whether I can cut off Nuhe Ti's head is one thing, but at least dying on the road of the charge is not shameful."

Gao Jiong left the doorpost and stood straight, taking the deployment map from his bosom and handing it to Qifugu.

"The Great Khan should take this map. The gap in the shift change is between the second quarter of the Hai hour and the fourth quarter of the Hai hour. The Great Khan should calculate the time accurately and charge to the northwest corner of the big tent. During those two quarter-hours, only thirty people are guarding it."

Qifugu took the deployment map without opening it on the spot. He folded the map, stuffed it into his inner clothes, and pressed it with his hand.

"Lord Gao is not charging out with me?"

Gao Jiong twisted his mouth.

"I can't ride a horse and I can't hack people. Following the Great Khan to charge out will only drag you down. The Great Khan goes to kill the enemy, and I will stay behind to hold the line and watch the camp. When the Great Khan returns in victory, I will celebrate for you."

Qifugu did not leave immediately.

He stood in place, staring at Gao Jiong. Gao Jiong let him look, his face still in that unhurried manner, without avoiding his gaze.

Qifugu wanted to believe this man.

It seemed that this man was the only one left who could save him.

But the horizontal blade that broke in Loose Stone Valley, and the leather armor that fell apart when it touched water—he hadn't forgotten a single one. He could see the appearance of those corpses soaking in blood even when he closed his eyes.

Qifugu pressed the deployment map in his bosom, his lips moving slightly. In the end, he still didn't ask.

He turned and left.

Gao Jiong stood in front of the tent door, watching Qifugu's back move further away bit by bit. He dug out the piece of dried meat he hadn't eaten from his bosom and chewed it twice in his mouth.

The dried meat was cold and hard, and it had a rancid smell of having been left for a long time when chewed.

Gao Jiong did not swallow it, turning his head to spit it out beside his feet.

Songqi circled out from the side of the tent.

"Boss, after Qifugu charges out tonight, when do we move?"

Gao Jiong turned and entered the tent, digging out an iron box the size of a palm from under the bedding. Inside the box were a fire starter, a fuse, and a few pieces of oil wax.

"Half a quarter-hour after his horn sounds, when everyone in the camp who can fight has followed him to charge north, the only ones left will be the old, weak, sick, and disabled who can't move. That is when we move."

Songqi took the iron box and tucked it into his clothes.

"Understood."

Gao Jiong dug out two daggers and a roll of thin hemp rope from the clutter and threw them to him casually.

"You take ten people to handle the treasury. I will take the rest of the people to wait at the secret tunnel entrance to receive you. You must finish packing and retreat within half an hour. I won't wait if it exceeds half an hour."

Songqi inserted the daggers into his belt and wrapped the hemp rope around his shoulders.

"Half an hour is enough. The things in the stone cellar are all packed in boxes, just move them directly without sorting."

Gao Jiong did not pick up on this sentence.

He raised his hand to lift a corner of the tent flap and looked outside. People in the camp were all sharpening knives and feeding horses, preparing for tomorrow's desperate battle. No one was looking south.

These people would mostly not come back tonight.

Nuhe Ti's twenty thousand continuous camps were laid out on the open ground. As long as the cavalry circled around from the two wings, Qifugu's four thousand-plus men would be blocked in the middle.

There were no cliff walls of Loose Stone Valley here, nor were there narrow paths where only three horses could pass. Four thousand-plus herdsmen holding makeshift weapons charged over, unable to break through the camp of twenty thousand royal court elites.

Before they died, how many people they could drag down to cushion their fall depended on their own fate.

Gao Jiong released the tent flap and returned to the bedding to sit down.

"Boss."

Songqi was still standing at the tent door, not having left.

"What is it?"

Songqi squeezed the hemp rope on his shoulders, his voice very low when he spoke.

"That deployment map of Qifugu... is it true or false?"

Gao Jiong leaned against the tent wall, his two legs stretched straight on the bedding. The mud on his boots had dried, forming a layer of gray shell, and a few pieces of debris fell off with his movement.

"Does it make a difference whether it's true or false?"

Songqi opened his mouth.

"If it's false, he is sending himself to death by charging out tonight."

Gao Jiong closed his eyes.

"He is also dead if he doesn't charge out."

Songqi's throat felt dry, and he swallowed once to suppress that discomfort.

He still wanted to ask, but in the end, he didn't ask it. Staying here was death, and charging out was also death. Qifugu really had no other path.

Songqi bent over and drilled out of the tent.

The tent soon became quiet.

Gao Jiong leaned against the tent wall, his two hands crossed on his abdomen, his breathing always very steady. He did not sleep, his eyes still open, staring at the cowhide on the tent top that had been blackened by smoke.

Qifugu.

This name passed through Gao Jiong's mind once.

The corners of his mouth moved, and soon pressed back down.

The Pillar of State never intended for this dog to live past this year.

When the first batch of horizontal blades with hollow wooden pins was sent into the Qifu tribe, Qifugu's life had already been converted into a price. When he was alive, he restrained the royal court for the Great Zhou. When it was time for him to die, he still had to lead his men to bite a piece of meat off Nuhe Ti.

Tonight, four thousand-plus lives charging into Nuhe Ti's twenty thousand men—even if they couldn't kill Nuhe Ti, they could consume a batch of royal court elites.

As long as Nuhe Ti's vitality was injured, he wouldn't be able to spare any energy for the Xiazhou trade fair in the south for a short time.

That was enough.

Gao Jiong turned over, facing the tent wall, no longer looking at the tent top.

The sun passed noon and slowly moved to the west.

The sounds of sharpening knives and feeding horses in the camp decreased. People sat in front of every tent, but no one spoke. Occasionally, a child cried from hunger, but was soon covered by an adult's hand.

"Don't cry, save some strength."

The person who spoke was also hungry, their voice dry and weak.

The sun fell behind the horizon, and the last bit of light followed it.

It was dark.

There was no moon tonight, and the clouds covered the entire sky. The grassland was so dark that one couldn't see the distance, only the torches in Nuhe Ti's continuous camp were still bright. Patrol cavalry passed in front of the camp, those torches moving with the people and horses, getting closer for a while, and then further away.

Qifugu stood in the north of the camp.

A large section of the fence had been dismantled, and the two sides of the exit were covered with straw bundles and tent cloth. Four thousand-plus soldiers led their horses and waited behind, all the horses having cloth balls stuffed in their mouths, and the scabbards were wrapped with cloth strips to avoid making noise.

No one spoke.

Some were trembling, some were wrapping the reins around their wrists circle by circle, and some were lowering their heads, reciting the names of deceased elders in their families.

A warhorse was impatient, its front hooves digging into the mud twice.

The soldier leading the horse hurriedly hugged the horse's head, pressed his face against the horse's ear, and whispered a few words. The horse shook its head and finally stopped moving around.

Amu Ri led his warhorse to Qifugu's side, lowering his voice.

"Great Khan, it is the second quarter of the Hai hour."

Qifugu lowered his head and flipped the curved saber in his hand.

It was too dark all around, and not a bit of light could be seen on the blade. He reached out to touch the edge, and his finger was cut by a small opening. Blood stained the saber, and the color couldn't be seen either.

Qifugu did not go to get the horn.

Once the horn sounded, people in the royal court could hear it from miles away.

He changed his mind at the last minute. No horn tonight. Once the vanguard rushes out of the fence, the people behind will follow together. The first sound of hooves falling will be the signal for the attack.

Qifugu stepped on the stirrup and swung onto the horse.

The old wound on his left shoulder was torn by this action, and blood seeped out from under the bandage again. Hot blood streamed down the armor plates, soon sticking to the clothes inside.

Qifugu lowered his head, his teeth biting the soft flesh in his mouth, swallowing that muffled groan.

He waited for the pain to ease, sat steady again, and lifted the curved saber with his right hand.

"Charge."

The voice was very light, only heard by Amu Ri beside him.

Amu Ri did not respond, clamping his legs on the horse's belly.

The warhorse rushed out from in front of the crowd.

The first row of cavalry in the vanguard followed closely behind him, rushing onto the open ground from the dismantled fence gap. The first batch of hooves fell on the hard dirt outside the camp, and the ground shook a few times.

The cavalry behind also moved.

First a few rows, then dozens of rows. More and more people crossed the fence, and four thousand-plus warhorses squeezed out. The cloth balls in the horses' mouths couldn't withstand the jolting and soon fell all over the ground.

The warhorses opened their mouths, and the neighing sound spread from the front of the team to the back.

The movement that had been suppressed for a whole day could no longer be held back.

The sound of hooves layered on top of each other, and the tents in the camp trembled slightly. The old people and women left in the tents walked out one after another, watching their sons, husbands, and fathers disappear into the darkness in the north.

No one chased after them.

And no one shouted for them to come back.

Four thousand-plus cavalry left the Qifu tribe camp and headed straight for the royal court's continuous camp in the north.

Qifugu was in the front-middle position of the team.

He held the curved saber above his head, and the blood flowing from his left shoulder had soaked half of his iron armor. The wind blowing in his face poured into his collar, blowing open his cracked lips. The blood beads had just emerged when they were wiped into his mouth by the wind, and his tongue was full of a salty, fishy taste.

People still couldn't be seen in front.

Qifugu could only see the torches getting closer and closer.

Beneath the torches was Nuhe Ti's continuous camp.

The central army tent was also there.

Nuhe Ti's head was in the depths of that firelight.

The alarm sentries in the royal court camp finally discovered them.

The urgent sound of horns rang out from the darkness. Before the first sound fell, the second watchtower also blew its horn. The torches in the camp became chaotic. Some people were shouting about an enemy attack, some were rushing toward the horse-tying stakes, and a team of cavalry was rushing toward the camp gate.

Qifugu's vanguard had already rushed to the outside of the camp.

Qifugu pressed the curved saber forward.

"Kill—"

Four thousand-plus people shouted along.

Some people's throats had long since cracked, and the sound they shouted was hoarse. Some people only shouted half a sound, and the words behind were blocked back by the wind pouring into their mouths.

More people didn't care what they were shouting.

They gripped the reins, lowered their bodies, and followed the people in front to rush into the firelight.

The hooves got faster and faster.

Amu Ri charged at the very front. When his warhorse hit the first layer of deer antlers outside the royal court camp, its chest was pierced open by sharp wood on the spot. The horse flipped forward, and Amu Ri used the momentum to throw himself off the horse's back, rolled twice on the ground, and climbed up with his saber in hand.

The cavalry behind did not slow down.

The second horse stepped over the fallen deer antlers, and the third horse rushed in from the gap. More warhorses hit the wooden stakes, people and horses fell into a pile, and were immediately stepped over by the people behind.

Qifugu did not stop.

He squeezed past between two fallen warhorses, and the curved saber slashed down at the royal court soldier who had just raised his spear at the camp gate.

The blades hit each other, and sparks shone.

Qifugu's cavalry crashed into Nuhe Ti's continuous camp.

And behind them, the camp was already more than half empty.

Songqi waited in the dirt pit for a while.

The sound of hooves in the north was initially so loud that it made people's ears numb, but after a while, it got further and further away, leaving only a dull sound transmitted along the ground.

Songqi counted twenty more times, and then reached out to push open the straw mat covering the secret tunnel entrance.

He didn't rush out, first poking his head out of the pit entrance and looking around.

Only old people, women, and children remained in the nearby tents. Some ran to the open ground in the north to look, and some tied their tent flaps shut, huddling inside with their families.

No one noticed this row of inconspicuous small tents in the south.

Songqi supported the pit edge with both hands and flipped out of the dirt pit. He squatted on the ground and waited for a moment, confirming that no one was coming nearby, and then beckoned to the back.

Ten Mingjing Si people drilled out of the secret tunnel one after another.

Each person had a folded hemp bag tied to their back, with a short blade hidden in their sleeve. They weren't wearing armor, and there was no sound of iron plates clashing when they walked.

After the last person came out, he casually covered the pit entrance with the straw mat again and grabbed a few handfuls of dirt to scatter on it.

Songqi raised his hand to point at the royal tent.

The eleven people stopped.

He pointed two people to the left and right, and pointed to the sides of the royal tent. Four Mingjing Si scouts dispersed, touching along the tent edges to check the surroundings. The remaining people followed Songqi and detoured to the back of the royal tent.

Twelve steps west.

Songqi counted in his heart while walking.

When he reached the twelfth step, he stopped.

Under his feet was a square stone slab. A layer of dry grass was spread on the stone slab, and two broken wooden boxes were pressed on it. If one didn't know the location, walking over it would only be treated as a place to pile clutter.

Songqi squatted down and pushed one of the wooden boxes aside.

The bottom of the wooden box scraped across the stone slab, making a muffled sound.

A child in a nearby tent cried twice.

Songqi stopped his hand, and the others all squatted in place. After waiting for a few breaths, only the sound of a woman coaxing a child came from the tent, and no one came out.

Only then did Songqi push the wooden box completely aside.

He reached out to brush away the dry grass on the edge of the stone slab and touched the iron ring hidden in the seam.

The stone cellar behind the royal tent was right under his feet. ===== CHAPTER 908 =====

Songqi squatted down and pushed one of the wooden crates to the side.

The bottom of the crate scraped against the stone slab, emitting a muffled sound.

Inside a nearby tent, a child cried twice.

Songqi stopped his hand, and the others all crouched where they were. After waiting for a few breaths, only the sound of a woman coaxing a child came from the tent; no one came out.

Only then did Songqi push the wooden crate completely aside.

He reached out to brush away the dry grass at the edge of the stone slab and felt the iron ring hidden in the seam.

The stone cellar behind the royal tent was right beneath his feet.