Chapter 901: with translation of chapter title

Wind and Rain Cliff.

This is a very famous scenic spot along the Gu Zhandao of Shenxian Ling, and also the most dangerous section of the path.

The cliff face is entirely reddish-brown, with not a single green plant in sight; the Gu Zhandao hangs midway across the cliff, allowing only two people to walk side by side, and a slight misstep underfoot risks a fall into the ten‑thousand‑zhang abyss.

The name Wind and Rain Cliff derives partly from this.

This area is often rainy, and the surrounding terrain is relatively low, so winds blow in from three directions; once extreme weather hits, this place turns into a battlefield of carnage.

The already narrow path becomes a death trap at the first sign of wind and rain.

It is said that the bones of countless caravans are buried beneath this cliff.

This stretch is a headache for caravan leaders, yet in the eyes of many literati it is nature's masterful craftsmanship.

The cliff's sheer walls are covered with literati's ink works, some praising the beauty of this place's summit, others lauding the skill of ancient artisans.

This entire path is made of iron: square iron bars as thick as a person's arm are set into the rock face, with hollow square iron bars from the previous section sleeved over them to serve as railings, and wooden boards added for support.

Among the ink works left by those literati, many wonder how people in ancient times managed to do this, and who expended enormous human and material resources to carve a road here.

To Chen Wuji, however, the literati's bewilderment is quite natural.

If Shenxian Ling lacked the Gu Zhandao, he might have to expend great human and material resources to open a road; this vast Shenxian Ling, like a heavenly moat, would block communication between Zhongyuan and Lingnan.

The westernmost extent of Shenxian Ling stretches into Qiang Land and the territory of the Uyghur people.

The Zhongyuan Dynasty's relations with those two have never been good, and the cost of detouring is too great.

Chen Wuji's arrival at Wind and Rain Cliff was quite timely, with calm weather and bright sunshine.

The army passed smoothly through Wind and Rain Cliff and temporarily rested in the western valley.

The other three divisions' troops were already ahead of Chen Wuji and had gathered here.

The army set up camp, and Chen Wuji held a meeting in the Zhongjun Camp's big tent.

"Is everyone here?" Chen Wuji looked around at the assembled, "Let's first summarize the intelligence and see if there's any new development."

"My lord, internal fighting has broken out within Liu Yan's unit; this is the news just brought back this morning by the forward scouts," Chen Li said as he rose.

"They're fighting among themselves? Tell me the details!" Chen Wuji asked.

This news surprised him somewhat, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.

The intelligence from Fangyang had already elaborated on this: many of Liu Yan's commanders had developed second thoughts about him, and second thoughts naturally led to infighting, which was to be expected.

"Reporting, my lord, our scouts tailed one route of the enemy troops to a cliffside resembling a fort, where they discovered the enemy attacking a cave on the cliff while also constructing siege equipment," Chen Li said.

"After our scouts captured a few enemy soldiers, we learned the situation: beyond that cliff lies a broad expanse TianKeng, where Liu Yan is stationing his elite troops."

"Even the ordinary soldiers don't know exactly what happened; they only know that the guerrilla general Xu Yuanchao and Liu Yan seem to have turned against each other, intending to kill Liu Yan and defect to our lord."

"Besides the guerrilla general Xu Yuanchao, the mounted infantry general Ning Congjun is also attacking Liu Yan in the TianKeng; as to why Ning Congjun also wants to attack Liu Yan, the enemy soldiers we captured don't know."

Chen Wuji's mouth twitched slightly; fighting this battle made it hard for him not to be happy.

Since raising his troops, he had fought for so long that he had never experienced such an easy battle.

The hardest part of this battle now seems to be the terrain.

The weather is hot and humid, the roads are rugged, transporting grain and fodder is difficult, and the soldiers must endure the scorching heat while sweating and carefully calculating their daily rations to ensure they retain a fallback before supplies arrive.

These are all torments, but fighting…

It's practically like a little game to regulate one's emotions, damn it.

Rest a few days, clash with a few thousand enemy troops, then rest another two days and hurry on.

The preceding days had been leisurely enough, but as the great showdown approached, something even better happened: the enemy troops started fighting among themselves.

"Has Xu Yuanchao sent anyone over?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Li shook his head. "Not yet."

"He's still quite arrogant; it looks like he wants to wait for the outcome, then come report good news to me." Chen Wuji joked, "Since someone's fighting our battles for us up front, let's take a break. Besides, supplies are hard to get here, so over the next few days we'll have the troops forage in the mountains for some game to supplement our rations and ease the burden on the logistics unit."

The generals looked at each other.

"My lord, could our excessive laxity in the Kangxu Camp be problematic?" Training Officer Qin Yu of the Kangxu Camp rose and said.

"Each camp will arrange its own personnel, but half the army must remain on hand each day to deal with contingencies. The Scout Camp will stick to the original plan, keeping close watch on enemy movements." Chen Wuji looked around at everyone. "Any other problems?"

The generals rose and responded in a low voice.

What was meant to be a meeting to decide the attack order ended up being hastily and lightly concluded.

Now, upon further reflection of Liu Yan's many arrangements, Chen Wuji was suddenly reminded of the Child of the Plane, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.

Perhaps he, too, harbors a similar idea.

Like a hunter, he lurks in the mysterious Shenxian Ling range, waiting for a king's return; perhaps Liu Yan's plan could work, but he himself is no good.

One wrong move, and the whole board is lost; all schemes become a joke.

Chen Wuji hardly had to lift a finger, yet he was nearly doing himself in.

Yet such an opponent makes it genuinely hard for Chen Wuji not to love him.

It's too interesting.

"In the Zhongjun Camp's big tent, Chen Wuji took off his armor under Qin Zhanhong's service, wearing only a soft armor underneath, and picked up a hard bow he hadn't used in ages, asking, 'Care to go hunting with me?'"

"Qin Zhanhong stared for a moment, 'My lord, are you addicted to hunting? You want to go right now?'"

"It's not an addiction, just a pastime. Since there's nothing pressing now, let's take the opportunity to stroll about; on the battlefield things change in an instant, and who knows what tomorrow will bring—so, shall we go?" Chen Wuji asked.

"All right, I'll play the village maiden again today." Qin Zhanhong smiled like a blossom and readily agreed.

"Lu Wanwan glanced at the clothes Chen Wuji had taken off, 'I'd like to go too, but my lord just tossed a pile of clothes aside that look like they need washing.'"

"Just a few clothes; we'll talk about it later. Let's go." Chen Wuji called out.

"Really? Let's go, go, go!" Lu Wanwan instantly brightened.

Chen Wuji and his two companions had just stepped out of the tent when they bumped straight into Kong Jianshi.

"Young Master, that woman has appeared again; Lu San ye followed her, and we suspect there may be other experts nearby." Kong Jianshi said in a low voice.

Chen Wuji: ……