Chapter 153: Beneath the Fragrant Bait

One day in late April, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, on the road fifteen li west of Huyou Township—the only route to Daliang—figures were already moving in and out of the marshes flanking the path, reporting what they had seen in Huyou Township to Zhou Shi and Chen Yu, who were concealed in the woods.

"Huyou Township's grain has already been loaded onto ox- and horse-drawn carts, packed down tight and full, and lined up on the road outside the settlement."

"The Qin clerk in the Qin army encampment has come out with thirty men, and they're also escorting a child."

Hearing this, Chen Yu clenched his fist and said, "That must be my nephew!"

"The Qin clerk and soldiers bid farewell to the Zhang clan outside the settlement, then took the township's hundred-some able-bodied young men and set off escorting the grain carts. The child is tied up on one of the carts…"

At this, Zhou Shi also said to Chen Yu, "Those hundred-some young men won't fight to the death for the Qin. When the time comes, we only need to deal with those thirty-some Qin soldiers."

He turned his head and looked at the warriors of Wei who had followed him these past two months, running east and west, continuing to fight to resist the tyrannical Qin, as well as the dozen or so knights-errant from Zhao whom Chen Yu had brought along, and smiled.

"This time, we'll make sure the Qin army in Daliang City doesn't get a single grain of rice!"

But then, after the sun had risen high, the news his scouts brought back shattered Zhou Shi and Chen Yu's plan…

"That Qin clerk escorting the grain carts suddenly changed direction at the fork and headed for Waihuang County town!"

"What?!"

Both Zhou Shi and Chen Yu were greatly alarmed.

"Could it be they've sensed we were lying in ambush here?" Zhou Shi looked at Chen Yu with some suspicion. Although Chen Yu's speech that day had considerably changed his impression of the man, Zhou Shi still did not fully trust him.

Chen Yu speculated, "Perhaps the Qin clerk is worried because the grain carts previously sent from Yangwu County to Daliang met with trouble on this very road, and so plans to take a detour?"

There were two roads from Huyou Township to Daliang. The first went directly west, requiring a hundred li to reach Daliang, with an overnight stop at Xiaohuang Township midway. Zhou Shi and his men were lying in ambush between Huyou and Xiaohuang.

The second went first to Waihuang for the night, then traveled west from Waihuang, still taking two days.

The Qin men's choice of the second route threw the ambush plan into disarray. Zhou Shi began to hesitate, considering calling off the attack.

But Chen Yu was unwilling to let it go and earnestly urged him, "Going to Waihuang is even better. That is my elder brother's old haunt. Though the Qin men occupy Waihuang and are searching everywhere in the city for knights-errant, in the countryside hamlets beyond the walls, quite a few knights-errant still hide. They once received my brother's favor, and several of their leaders are still in contact with me. Lord Zhou, why not take your men and hurry to the road that Waihuang must take to Daliang and continue the ambush? I will swiftly go to the outskirts of Waihuang, contact the knights-errant, and perhaps gain several dozen men! Then we can strike together in a pincer, destroy the Qin bandits, and burn their fodder and grain!"

Chen Yu's words stirred Zhou Shi's heart again. Even if he abandoned the plan now and attacked Huyou Township, facing the remaining Qin soldiers and the armed servants of the Zhang clan, his odds of victory were slim.

But if he could use this matter to draw in the Waihuang knights-errant, he could gather more men and accomplish greater things!

Zhou Shi immediately spread out the map he had brought with him from his days as a clerk in Yangwu County. He saw that less than thirty li south of their current position lay the road from Waihuang to Daliang—and it passed through a dense forest…

At present, Qin control over the Wei territory still only extended to holding cities and towns as strongpoints, barely maintaining the communication lines, and was powerless over the vast rural hamlets and villages.

Therefore, for locals familiar with the area's roads and rivers, evading Qin eyes and ears was not difficult. Moreover, most Wei people did not willingly submit to Qin army rule. Not every county and township had relations as harmonious as Huyou Township. In places like Waihuang and Chenliu, the atmosphere was nearly at the point of drawn swords and bent bows, and the local Wei people were quite happy to assist Zhou Shi.

"I will take my men and wait for you here, Master Chen."

Zhou Shi pointed at that patch of forest on the map and looked at Chen Yu, who had changed into a coarse hemp tunic, ready to depart, yet whose scholarly spirit remained undiminished.

"If all goes smoothly, Master Chen, bring the Waihuang knights-errant to this forest before dawn tomorrow and rendezvous with me! If you have not arrived by mid-morning, forgive me if I do not wait!"

…

Chen Yu did not break his word. Before daybreak the next day, guided by the local scout Zhou Shi had assigned him, he groped his way through the dark to this dense forest.

And he did not come back with only those he had taken. Behind Chen Yu followed forty or fifty more men! All were knights-errant in short jackets, some bearing torches, some gripping sword blades, each with disheveled hair and bristling whiskers, speaking in loud voices, saying they wanted to meet this "Great Knight-errant Zhou" who had caused the Qin army endless trouble these past two months.

"In just one day, Chen Yu recruited so many! Is Zhang Er's fame truly so great?"

Zhou Shi immediately furrowed his brow. As a hereditary soldier from a military family, he actually looked down on these knights-errant. But as things stood, with Wei on the verge of annihilation, he had to unite everyone who opposed Qin—even though most of them acted out of personal grudges and were not of the same path as Zhou Shi, who was single-mindedly devoted to preserving Wei.

He could only suppress his temper and open his mouth to flatter the knights-errant, saying that after Waihuang fell, they had not fled but stayed behind to continue opposing the Qin army, and were therefore "great knights-errant" as well.

After placating the knights-errant and sending them off to close their eyes and rest a while, Chen Yu sat down beside Zhou Shi. Zhou Shi noticed that his expression seemed somewhat displeased.

"Master Chen, what did you learn in Waihuang?"

"That Qin clerk garrisoned at Huyou Township, Heifu, is truly detestable!"

Chen Yu punched a tree and said with bitter hatred, "That Heifu not only drove my sister-in-law to her death and took my nephew hostage, but after arriving in Waihuang, he paraded ostentatiously through the streets, proclaiming his merit in capturing Zhang Er's son. He also reviled my elder brother and the Waihuang knights-errant as homeless curs who only know how to borrow their wives' family wealth to recruit riffraff, using force to violate prohibitions and disrupt the laws of the state—yet when trouble comes, they can neither protect home and country above, nor guard wife and children below, only fleeing in狼狈 disgrace themselves. Truly the breed of rats."

"He even boasted that today he would take Zhang Ao to Daliang to receive a reward, exchanging him for gold. He even said, 'This little knight-errant might be escorted to Guanzhong, castrated, and sent into the palace to become a little eunuch, serving the Great King.' How can the descendant of a hero endure such humiliation? If this can be tolerated, what cannot? I must kill this wretch!"

This news spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred. In less than a day, every township and hamlet near Waihuang knew of it—which was why Chen Yu had been able to recruit forty or fifty men so smoothly.

These men were either knights-errant or local stalwarts who had received Zhang Er's favor. Hearing that Chen Yu planned to cooperate with Zhou Shi to ambush that group of Qin men, they all rubbed their fists and wiped their palms, saying they were willing to help rescue the young gentleman…

One knight-errant even raised his arm and shouted, "These days, we've had our fill of grief from the Qin bandits. It'll be good to kill to our hearts' content, and also repay Great Knight-errant Zhang's generosity of wine and meat!"

Zhou Shi nodded, not overly suspicious. Qin arrogance was nothing new. In the past, when the Qin army in Yangwu County captured his men, they would parade them through the streets, then behead them and expose the bodies in the marketplace as a warning. But did they not know that the sons of Wei could not be exterminated?

His only concern was whether that Qin clerk Heifu, when he emerged from Waihuang with the grain convoy, would increase his escort.

The result set Zhou Shi's mind at ease. The scouts reported back that the Qin clerk was overconfident and had not added any extra hands. It was still their thirty-some men, leading a hundred-some civilian laborers escorting the grain. After daybreak, they had already left Waihuang County and were slowly heading this way…

As the sky grew fully light, Zhou Shi, the commander of this ambush, began assigning tasks to Chen Yu and the others.

His two trusted confidants, also Wei elite soldiers, were to take the nearly one hundred Wei men, split into two squads, and lie in ambush in the grass on either side of the road. When they heard Zhou Shi's shout, they were to charge out together, disrupt the Qin formation, and scatter those Wei civilian laborers.

The confidants accepted the order, gave Zhou Shi the military salute of the elite troops, and led the assembled fifty men, crouching low as they ran out, crossed the road, and went to lie in ambush in the woods on the opposite side.

Chen Yu, meanwhile, was ordered to take those several dozen knights-errant and wait on this side of the forest. They were specifically tasked with killing the enemy and rescuing the hostage.

"This time, burning the grain remains the priority. Rescue the Zhang clan's young gentleman, burn the grain, and then we can withdraw into the forest and retreat. There's no need to kill every last Qin bandit."

Zhou Shi knew very well that he could not focus only on this group of grain-transporting Qin men before him. Though they were still on Wei soil, they had to treat this place as "enemy territory" and could not afford the slightest carelessness. Daliang was just a hundred li to the west. Qin cavalry could gallop here in a few hours. If they encountered them on the open plain, no matter how many men they had, death was certain.

Finally, he also stationed a few hunters at the forest entrance, responsible for watching whether the Qin convoy of carts and horses entered, using bird calls—indistinguishable as real or feigned—as the signal…

…

The sun gradually rose, and the dew slowly evaporated. As he lay in wait among the trees and grass, Zhou Shi noticed that Chen Yu was actually very nervous.

Although he had shed his Confucian robes and wore a short jacket, with a two-foot sword laid before him, dressed exactly like a wandering knight, one could still discern a certain scholarly quality in his face. He kept blinking as he looked toward the road, somewhat expectant, yet also somewhat tense and uneasy.

"Master Chen says he has killed a man before. That I believe."

Zhou Shi smiled. "But you've never fought in a battle, have you?"

"Indeed I have not." Chen Yu knew his nervousness had been detected and felt somewhat ashamed.

"No matter. The first time I went into battle, I was just like you, just like them." Zhou Shi comforted him, then gestured with his chin toward the men behind them.

Among this group following Zhou Shi, how many had truly fought in a battle?

Of these nearly one hundred men, the true elite soldiers numbered no more than five. The rest were county conscripts, farmers, and even petty merchants from Yangwu County and Huangchi County. Some wanted revenge because the Qin had killed their kin; some dared not surrender because they had once opposed the Qin; some had even followed Zhou Shi out of the city in a muddled daze, with no reason at all.

In the eyes of the Wei people, the Qin men were like tigers and wolves, terrifying because of their vile reputation for taking heads. So no matter the place, those who fled were never few.

None of these people had been warriors before. Even after two months of dodging and hiding with Zhou Shi, they'd gained a little experience, but they were still raw. Now they were about to face another battle, and though they outnumbered the enemy, they were still terribly nervous.

Because the ferocity of the Qin troops had left a deep impression on them.

Chen Yu spotted a boy, probably only fourteen, gripping the shaft of his wooden spear so tightly it was as if he were clinging to his parents, on the verge of tears. Many others were unconsciously shuffling their feet or dry-swallowing.

"It's already good enough that no one's so scared they've pissed themselves."

Zhou Shi said it lightly, as if it were nothing. He sent word down the line: "Listen well, all of you. This fight is just like the grain raid in Yangwu County last time — I go first, and the rest of you follow behind!"

Zhou Shi was a veteran elite soldier. What he had learned on the battlefield was that for a low-ranking officer, leading the charge was the best way to boost morale. If he himself clung to life and feared death, how could he convince everyone to persist in resisting Qin with him, just to prolong the life of Wei?

After calming the men, he turned and taught Chen Yu: "If your hands get sweaty, grab a pinch of dry dirt and rub it in, so your sword doesn't slip out when you charge."

Chen Yu bristled at the advice, but he still did as Zhou Shi said, all the while thinking to himself: "As expected of the old veteran the Qin forces in Wei territory regard as a thorn in their flesh…"

As if seeing right through his thoughts, Zhou Shi suddenly sighed.

"What choice do we have? Who asked us to be the last veteran soldiers of Wei?"

Just then, a series of birdcalls came from the distance, one call passing to the next, until it reached Zhou Shi's ears.

His expression instantly turned solemn.

"The Qin are here!"

……

This stretch of woods was ancient, the tree trunks thick. It was late April, the height of the growing season, and the green leaves spread out like canopies. The wind passed through the branches with a rustling whisper.

The wild grass along the road was also growing madly, tall enough to hide a full-grown man — if you could endure the ticklish itch of the blades. And the chirping of grasshoppers and insects would mask the breathing of those lying in ambush…

But it could not mask the sound of wheels grinding, of marching feet, of oxen and horses snorting and braying, coming from the distance!

Zhou Shi, Chen Yu, and their men held their breath, lying motionless in the undergrowth beneath the trees, their eyes fixed intently on the distance. They saw dust begin to rise from the previously empty road. Two horses led the way, two lightly armored Qin riders on their backs, warily eyeing the woods on either side.

Behind them came the ox- and horse-drawn carts, strung out in a long, single-file line — seventy or eighty of them, stretched over a distance of more than a hundred paces. Wei commoners in coarse cloth, serving as conscripted laborers, led the animals at the front. Every ten paces, a few Qin soldiers carrying spears walked along, chatting cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the danger about to descend upon them…

Chen Yu raised his head slightly, straining to find any sign of Zhang Ao.

Zhou Shi's gaze, meanwhile, was locked dead on the loads those carts were hauling. They did indeed appear to be sacks of grain, their weight making the wheels creak and groan. Each cart also carried some bundles of straw — probably for feeding the animals.

At that moment, Chen Yu's body went rigid, and his eyes flew wide open!

He had finally found Zhang Ao. The poor boy was tied to one of the carts, still sobbing uncontrollably. That cart carried no grain. A dark-faced Qin official, wearing a cap and armor, sat in the cart's compartment, his expression relaxed, as if daydreaming about the reward money he'd get after delivering Zhang Ao to Daliang.

Chen Yu immediately ground his teeth in fury and looked at Zhou Shi, his meaning clear: Can we move now?

Zhou Shi shook his head, signaling him to hold his impatience. It wouldn't be too late to strike once the grain carts and the Qin soldiers had fully entered the woods.

Chen Yu had no choice but to keep enduring. Thirty paces. Twenty paces. Ten paces. Just as the cart carrying Zhang Ao passed his ambush spot and Chen Yu could bear it no longer — a great shout suddenly erupted beside him!

"Kill the invaders!"

Zhou Shi threw off his camouflage and rose to his feet, sword and shield in hand. He pointed at the Qin soldiers on the road, who had yet to react, and bellowed:

"Slay the Qin!"

With those words, Zhou Shi — just as he had promised everyone earlier — was the first to charge.

"Kill the Qin invaders!"

Chen Yu also scrambled to his feet and leaped forward, shouting as he went. But in his haste, he stepped on a rock, his foot slipped, and he nearly fell flat. By the time he steadied himself, many of the Wei men and wandering swordsmen were already ahead of him, charging after Zhou Shi!

"Rescue my nephew first!"

Chen Yu yelled urgently. But only then did he suddenly realize that those "Wei conscripted laborers," who should have scattered in panic, were not panicking at all. Instead, they were gathering in groups of five or ten, and with practiced ease, pulling out weapons hidden inside the ox- and horse-carts!

Amid the shrill blast of the dark-faced Qin official's bronze whistle, from within the cart compartments, Qin soldiers with their hair knotted on the right or left violently threw aside the straw coverings. Crouching inside the carts, they leveled their crossbows — already drawn and cocked, poised to fire!

"No — it's a trap!"

Only then did Chen Yu realize in horror that this seemingly lightly guarded grain convoy, and even his own nephew, was nothing but fragrant bait, meant to lure them onto the hook!

But before Chen Yu could shout a warning to retreat, the Qin soldiers in the carts had already aimed at the Wei men and wandering swordsmen charging at them in great strides, and pulled the triggers…

The twang of bowstrings, like the clack of wooden clappers. The dull thud of sharp steel piercing flesh. Then the heavy sound of bodies hitting the ground.

After a burst of agonized screams, more than ten of those fearless wandering swordsmen and stalwart men, who had been running ahead of Chen Yu, lay fallen, their bodies strewn in a tangled mess…

As Chen Yu stood there, stunned, a certain saying involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

"Where there is fragrant bait, there will surely be dead fish!"

(End of Chapter)