Chapter 187: Elite Warriors

"Since neither of you objects, I will go request instructions from Commandant Li at once. Everything shall be decided by the Commandant."

Tu Si and Zhai Chong had already been bound tightly with ropes and tied up inside the room. Zhai Chong glared wide-eyed at the smiling Xu Yang, wishing he could devour the man's flesh raw, but with his mouth also gagged by a strip of cloth, he could only make hoarse, muffled whimpers.

Dejectedly, he thought to himself: "Centurion Heifu, we are truly useless, to have been schemed against by this army scoundrel."

Heifu's line "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cubs?" had filled Zhai Chong with immense admiration. He believed that Heifu had resolutely left the city to personally offer a false surrender in order to make the breakout smoother, to give their side a more certain chance of victory, and to spare more lives. Such a deed could only be accomplished by a person of great wisdom and courage; Xu Yang was simply measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty man's mind.

But Zhai Chong was now utterly helpless. His and Tu Si's soldiers were all stationed on the city walls for defense and were not by their side at the moment. Once Xu Yang got his hands on the tiger tally in Li You's possession and commanded everyone with legitimate authority, it would all be over!

Zhai Chong was filled with regret. How had he not detected this man's serpent-and-scorpion heart earlier?

Heifu had handed the tiger tally over to Li You, but as soon as Heifu left the city, Li You, who had originally been lucid, developed a fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. Xu Yang had just gone to "visit" Li You and discovered he was already speaking deliriously, which gave rise to the idea of seizing Li You and the tiger tally, then fleeing with a small number of trusted followers.

Xu Yang still vividly remembered the Qin army's great defeat at Xiangcheng that night — the shattered battle formations, the Qin soldiers scattering in all directions. He had been stunned by the scene. After living through that night, he had absolutely no courage left in his heart for a death match against the Chu army; all he could think of was fleeing back quickly.

This man was useless in external battles but a master at internal strife and opportunism. As Xu Yang saw it, whether he could control Li You was the key to whether the plan could succeed. Once Li You woke up on the road, he would fabricate a lie that Heifu had surrendered to Chu and lured the Chu forces to attack the city, and that he himself had fought desperately to rescue Li You. In any case, those left behind in the city would either be dead or captured, and the rest would be his own trusted men — no one would be around to expose him.

Having made up his mind, Xu Yang paid no more attention to Zhai Chong and Tu Si, two men destined to die. He left a few trusted followers to guard the place and instructed them: "When I leave the city with the Commandant, burn it all down — the people and the house together!"

Xu Yang was ruthless and thorough; since he had started, he would go all the way. Their refusal to cooperate was just as well — the fewer people who knew about this matter, the easier it would be to pass off the lie as truth!

Then Xu Yang stepped outside and looked at Man, who was trembling with fear after being subdued by his trusted men, and smiled. "It seems Centurion Man is the one who understands how to adapt to circumstances."

Man hastily said: "As long as Sir Xu can take this humble officer away from here, this humble officer is willing to follow Sir Xu's orders."

Man was a centurion from Nan Commandery they had gathered along the way. Knowing he was not one of the personal guards, he had always been a marginal figure — taciturn and quiet, polite to both Heifu and Xu Yang. With Xu Yang now in complete control of the situation, Man wisely chose to cooperate.

"I am willing to be Centurion Xu's vanguard and disperse those soldiers guarding Commandant Li."

Xu Yang's men had suffered more than half their losses during the rout, and he now had only thirty or forty usable men — probably not enough to contend with Heifu's men guarding Li You. That was why he needed a collaborator.

But in response to Man's request to fight, Xu Yang merely smiled faintly and did not trust him so easily.

Because Man was also from Nan Commandery and might well lean more toward Heifu. If he turned coat and struck back, Xu Yang could not afford the consequences.

"Centurion Man will stay by my side. Have your men clear the way ahead and lead us into the courtyard to escort Commandant Li out!"

According to Xu Yang's plan, once the two sides were locked in combat, he would personally lead his trusted men to charge into that courtyard and abduct Li You, who was still not fully conscious.

This way, he could withdraw unscathed without expending a single soldier, then leave behind a great fire to burn Zhai Chong and Tu Si to death, throwing the situation into even greater chaos. As for this mess, let the Chu people slowly clean it up!

Just as Xu Yang, thinking himself clever, began preparing his plan to seize Li You, in a corner of a wall not far away, a shadow that had witnessed everything silently shrank back...

Heifu had split his own men into two groups. Half, led by Huaimu, stood guard on the city wall against the Chu army; the other half, led by Dongmen Bao, stayed by Li You's side and were not to leave for even half a step.

He was equally clear that while Li You was lucid, things were manageable, but the moment Li You lost consciousness from his wound flaring up, whoever controlled Li You would control the authority to command everyone!

Inside the courtyard, Dongmen Bao, Gong Ao, Li Xian, and the others were somewhat shocked when they heard what Ji Ying had run over to report.

"Are you saying it's true? Neither Centurion Zhai nor Centurion Tu came out."

"Not only did they not come out, I also saw that Xu Yang left men guarding outside the house. I suspect both centurions have been detained by him!"

Keeping a close watch on Xu Yang while he himself went out to offer false surrender — this was the task Heifu had assigned to Ji Ying. He did not trust this centurion at all, a man who opposed him at every turn and repeatedly raised objections, but he had no reason to eliminate him. After all, Xu Yang was Li You's old subordinate, with far more seniority than himself.

Sure enough, no sooner had Heifu left than Xu Yang found an excuse to "visit" Li You. Discovering that Li You was no longer very lucid, he hurriedly left again.

From that moment on, Ji Ying had taken two nimble-handed subordinates and followed at a distance from behind, which was how he had discovered Xu Yang's conspiracy.

"Xu Yang is now mustering his trusted men, along with Centurion Man's subordinates, and heading this way. They number over a hundred — twice our number. They'll be here in half a quarter-hour. A'Bao, you're the platoon leader. What do you say we should do?"

Platoon Leader Dongmen Bao was a rough-and-ready fellow. Without a second word, he rolled up his sleeves and said: "They dare plot treason? Brothers, follow me out and cut them all down!"

"Aye!"

At these words, everyone eagerly rubbed their fists and palms. Not only had their discipline and morale been well cultivated by Heifu, but when it came to ferocity, no one in the Nan Commandery troops could compare with them. Even Heifu had praised them as "elite warriors," meaning men of valor and courage.

But Squad Leader Li Xian, standing to the side, spoke up: "That won't do. What if we all pour out and Xu Yang sends men to abduct the Commandant? Wouldn't that be a disaster? Besides, the Centurion plans to offer a false surrender and then lead the troops out of the city for a great battle with the Chu forces. If the Centurion has not yet returned and internal strife and bloodshed break out inside the city first, giving the Chu forces outside an opening to exploit, then wouldn't the Centurion's plan come to nothing? We would probably all end up captured by the Chu people."

Everyone looked at each other. "Then what should we do?"

Li Xian stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said: "I do have an idea."

Everyone also knew that although Li Xian was only a squad leader due to his rank limitations, he was highly valued by Heifu, who often discussed matters with him. In everyone's eyes, Li Xian had some strategic cunning, so they urged him to speak quickly.

"First, the Centurion long ago instructed us to guard carefully against this man. Therefore, we know Xu Yang intends treason, but he does not know that we are already prepared here and have detected his conspiracy. This is operating in the open while we operate in the shadows."

"Second, Xu Yang is bringing men this way for no other reason than to obtain two things. One is the tiger tally — with the tiger tally, he can command everyone with legitimate authority. The other is Commandant Li. Bu Cheng says the Commandant is now delirious. Xu Yang probably intends to snatch the Commandant from our hands and then use the tiger tally to command everyone. Though we still don't know exactly what he plans to do — surrender? Or flee? — either way, it will harm the Centurion's strategy and must be stopped!"

Hearing the sound reasoning in his words, everyone nodded and waited for Li Xian's plan to break the deadlock.

Li Xian smiled. "Brothers, imagine this: at this moment, what if Commandant Li were lucid? Then no matter what Xu Yang plans to do, no matter how many centurions he has seized, it would all come to nothing!"

"But the Commandant hasn't woken up," Ji Ying muttered.

Gong Ao, also a squad leader, chimed in from the side: "Right. Bu Cheng says the Commandant has already started speaking deliriously and simply can't be roused."

"Whether the Commandant has woken up or not — only we know that. How would outsiders be clear on it?"

Li Xian continued: "My idea is this: send someone to inform Xu Yang with a false military order, saying the Commandant has woken up and wants to summon him immediately. Tell him to come at once!"

"This way, we can throw all of Xu Yang's plans into complete disarray and make him afraid to act rashly!"

Li Xian gestured. "If he comes, we'll shut the door and beat the dog! If he doesn't come, he is defying orders. We can then use the Commandant's authority, holding the tiger tally, and have half of Centurion Zhai's and Centurion Tu's subordinates stay to guard the city wall, while the other half joins us in exterminating the traitor Xu Yang. With superior numbers against his few, we can swiftly annihilate him. That's far better than fighting outnumbered as we are now, and it won't cause chaos inside the city that would ruin the Centurion's great plan."

"A fine idea!" Everyone praised it in unison, and they decided that Ji Ying would go notify the others on the city wall to come quickly.

But then another question immediately arose.

"Who will go inform Xu Yang of this matter?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment. After a while, Dongmen Bao was about to pound his chest and volunteer, but Gong Ao beside him stopped him.

"A'Bao, what did the Centurion say when he left the city? As platoon leader, you are supposed to hold this position. How can you leave without authorization?"

Gong Ao's words were as unpleasant as ever. As a squad leader, he had actually scolded his own direct superior in public — and a platoon leader, it should be noted, had the authority to execute a squad leader...

Dongmen Bao immediately flew into a great rage. Glaring at Li Xian and Gong Ao, he shouted: "Being this platoon leader is truly frustrating. One squad leader is smarter than me, and the other squad leader wants to compete with me in valor. It really infuriates me. Do you know, I owe the Centurion a life! If I don't repay it now, when will I?"

Gong Ao heard this and burst out laughing.

"A'Bao, oh A'Bao, you only owe the Centurion one life. I owe him two! Who owes more?"

Dongmen Bao was momentarily speechless. And so it was settled — Gong Ao would go and falsely deliver the Commandant's order.

Time was pressing. Following the format he had previously seen Heifu use when writing orders, Li Xian hastily wrote a line on a bamboo slip with a brush, stuffed it into a bamboo tube, but when handing it to Gong Ao, he hesitated somewhat.

He had never liked Gong Ao; he found the man a troublemaker who stirred up incidents everywhere, unsociable, and at times even wished he would die in battle.

But now it seemed that this man was not entirely without merit after all.

Li Xian was not at all confident whether Xu Yang would take the bait and walk obediently into the trap, so those who went were, more likely than not, marching to their deaths — the risk was even greater than when Heifu left the city to stage a false surrender.

"Gong Ao, if the plan fails… you…"

If that happened, Gong Ao would be doomed beyond any doubt!

"If the plan succeeds, all will be well."

Gong Ao, that youth from Yan City even younger than Heifu, seemed not to know the meaning of fear. He took the sealed bamboo tube with one hand, refused the armor his comrades passed to him, merely hung his sword at his waist, slipped a dagger into the side of his boot, and then, his face utterly relaxed, laughed and said:

"The Hundred Commander put it well — how can you catch a tiger's cub without entering the tiger's den! If the plan fails, I shall follow the example of Zhuan Zhu!"

(End of Chapter)