Chapter 193: No Going Back

"Hei Fu, I never imagined it would be you who saved us. Otherwise, we would all be Chu captives, and likely never return home in this lifetime!"

When Zhou Hua came over, he excitedly punched Hei Fu in the shoulder, but forgot his own hand had just been injured. Instantly, he doubled over in pain and crouched on the ground, yet a grin still spread across his face as he said, "Come to think of it, you've really got nerve, personally going to the Chu side to feign surrender. Ha, that was truly satisfying just now — those Chu men who humiliated me, I led the men, grabbed stones, seized their weapons, and killed them all!"

Hei Fu pulled him up. "Centurion Zhou, you've endured much. Without you and the others tying down several hundred men in the Chu army's rear formation, this battle could never have gone so smoothly. May I ask, among the men in the pit, what are the casualties?"

Better not to bring it up. At this, Zhou Hua's face darkened. "We were barehanded, our armor stripped off, and we were hungry and exhausted besides. Though the three hundred fought back with all their might, at least a hundred are dead or gravely wounded..."

"A true pity."

Hei Fu sighed as well, sweeping his gaze around. Corpses blanketed the entire outskirts of the city — some their own, some the enemy's — the numbers not yet tallied. The Chu soldiers who had scattered and fled in all directions were already tiny black dots in the distance, and the Qin men had no desire to pursue them. With Dou Ran already taken captive, the Chu forces were leaderless; there was no fear of them rallying and striking back.

What needed to be done now was to quickly gather up the captured war chariots and horses, tally the casualties, and hurry to protect Li You as they continued their flight...

At that moment, Dongmen Bao came over, his expression frantic. With a single sentence, he extinguished the excitement Hei Fu felt over his first victorious command and the capture of a Chu county duke.

"Centurion, Huai Mu is gravely wounded — I fear he won't make it. Come quickly and see him!"

The Vanguard Warriors had been the first to join the battle, tasked with charging the enemy formation and throwing it into chaos. Hei Fu had originally told Huai Mu that once the main force charged in, they could pull back. But once the fighting started, how could they just withdraw on command? Throughout the entire battle, the Vanguard Warriors were ever-present, and so their casualties were the highest.

Many were found among piles of the dead. A Qin soldier from the same village who had followed Hei Fu since they left Anlu County lay in a slowly congealing pool of blood, his eyes wide open, his body bearing multiple wounds. Beside him sprawled several Chu soldiers who had died alongside him. Ji Ying was leading men to separate them — the Qin soldiers moved to one side, the Chu men left for the crows.

Hei Fu did not pause. He followed Dongmen Bao all the way, hurrying to the foot of a small tree, where he saw Huai Mu leaning against the trunk — just as he had been when Hei Fu first saw him atop the walls of Waihuang City. The platoon leader's eyes were quietly shut, his face ashen pale; only the rise and fall of his chest told anyone he was still alive.

"Huai Mu... you..."

Hei Fu's eyes nearly split with anguish. He saw a broken spear deeply embedded in Huai Mu's abdomen, and two arrows in his thigh and chest, only the fletchings left protruding.

His left hand — the left hand Hei Fu had personally bandaged for him — from the elbow down, was gone without a trace!

Huai Mu opened his eyes, saw Hei Fu kneeling on one knee before him, and smiled.

"Hei Fu, this time, the blood... I fear you won't be able to stop it..."

"Don't speak. Perhaps you can still..." Hei Fu was consumed by regret. In this moment, he could only hate himself for having chosen Huai Mu as the platoon leader of the Vanguard Warriors.

"Did we... win?"

Huai Mu turned his head slightly and asked weakly.

"We won!"

Hei Fu said to him fervently, "A great victory! The Chu commander is captured, the Chu men fled in disarray — and it is all thanks to you, thanks to our comrades in the Vanguard Warriors. You must hold on. Once we return home, there will surely be great merit and noble rank!"

As he spoke, Hei Fu had someone tear down a Chu banner, wanting only to cover Huai Mu's wounds. But the injuries were too deep, too severe; fresh blood soaked through the silk banner, and no matter what, it could not be stanched...

"Enough."

Huai Mu laughed softly. "I was still thinking, if we won this battle, a month or so from now, I would be sitting at the village shrine's year-end sacrifice, holding my wife, boasting to my two younger brothers of my valor on the battlefield, showing off my scars to the village folk..."

"But now it seems... I won't be able to."

A violent fit of coughing wracked him, and he spat out a spray of bloody froth.

"Hei Fu, could you do something for me..."

"Say it!" Hei Fu tightly gripped his remaining hand, feeling it grow colder and colder.

"Go to Jingling County for me, and see whether my two younger brothers have been redeemed from bondservants to commoners yet. And for me, tell my wife — we were only married a few months — tell her..."

"Tell her what?" Huai Mu's voice grew fainter and fainter; Hei Fu could only lean his ear close to his lips.

"Tell her... Huai Mu has broken his word."

"Huai Mu cannot go back."

"This is the first time Huai Mu has broken his word."

"And the last..."

"Tell her not to wait any longer. Find someone in the village, and marry again."

Hei Fu felt his throat choke up, hard and rigid, unable to utter a single word. He could only nod, again and again.

After speaking, Huai Mu seemed to find release. His vision began to blur, to darken, until he could no longer see the people around him clearly. He could only reach his right hand instinctively toward the distant sky, as if, in his final moments, he wanted to touch something more, to grasp something — perhaps his wife's warm hand, perhaps his brothers' fluffy topknots.

Or even the sword hilt he knew best.

In the winter sky north of the Huai River, white clouds drifted, the sunlight gentle, yet wave after wave of cold swept over Huai Mu's body.

"I truly want to go home..." He smiled, and with regret, breathed out his last sigh.

After a long exhale, Commandant Li You groaned and opened his eyes, discovering the afternoon sunlight streaming in from outside, stinging his eyes.

"Commandant?"

A shadow stood beside the couch — it was Bu Cheng, who had been ordered by Hei Fu to stay and look after Li You. This diviner was a folk herbalist. When Li You developed a fever, he had found some medicinal herbs in the city, prepared them, and poured the concoction down Li You's throat. Hei Fu had been grasping at straws then; he never expected that Li You's fever would actually break!

"How long... was I asleep?"

Li You looked at his chest, wrapped in cloth and silk. The wound still pained him, but it had eased considerably — especially that searing, burning sensation, which was now gone. His sleep had been restless; not only was his body in agony, but he had felt as though someone was calling him, as though something momentous had happened outside.

"Four double-hours." Bu Cheng had been at the window all along, watching the sun's position outside to reckon the time. He immediately picked up a bamboo tube and brought it to Li You's lips.

"This is..." Li You thought it was more of that impossibly bitter medicinal brew.

"Just water."

So Li You drank. His lips were parched and cracked; the warm water was as sweet as honey. Afterward, Bu Cheng gave him some thin congee as well. Li You felt a sliver of strength return — at least enough to speak and think.

"While I was asleep, what happened? Hei Fu went to feign surrender — what was the outcome?" He finally sorted out his thoughts and asked urgently.

Bu Cheng bowed low. "I venture to report to the Commandant: this morning, Centurion Xu Yang mutinied, intending to abduct the Commandant and flee. He has been put down. He and his thirty men have all been executed by the military judge and beheaded!"

"What!"

Li You was horrified. While he was unconscious, the acting five-hundred-man commander Hei Fu had been outside the city, and an internal mutiny had broken out — this was disastrous. Had the Chu forces seized the chance to attack?

"That, they did not. After Xu Yang and the other mutineers were put down, the Centurion returned as well. Half a double-hour ago, he was in the city rallying the troops; two quarter-hours ago, he went out to engage the enemy..."

Bu Cheng, in truth, had been on pins and needles himself. He bowed his head again. "But as for the outcome, this humble one does not know. Only, the deafening shouts of battle just now... have ceased."

"So that is how it is."

Li You felt his mind was in chaos, the misgivings in his heart growing deeper. He was a man of his own judgment and did not lightly trust Bu Cheng's one-sided account. Xu Yang was an old subordinate of his; though the man's ability was limited, he would not have done something so insane... Could there be some hidden truth to this matter?

But none of that mattered anymore, for the planned battle had already begun — had even ended. Li You did not know whether, after that bout of infighting, the Qin men could still unite as one. Could the breakout they had envisioned earlier still be achieved?

Three possibilities might unfold. First: the Qin men crush the Chu men utterly, the plan a perfect success. Second: the Qin men barely force open a path, and Heifu leads the survivors in a breakout, abandoning Li You inside the city. Third: the Qin men are defeated, and the Chu men storm the stronghold…

If it were the second or third outcome, then Li You would be utterly finished. Not just his own life — his father's official career would also suffer a devastating blow. The son of Li Si, Commandant of Justice of Qin, defeated and captured… what a disgrace that would be.

Li You had even begun contemplating methods of suicide. His father held the deep trust of the King of Qin and was certain to become Chancellor in the future. As his son, he absolutely could not drag him down!

"Father, if I truly cannot return, I will never cling to a wretched life…"

Yet even as they spoke, heavy footsteps sounded from outside…

"They're here."

Bu Cheng jolted to his feet, and Li You too turned toward the doorway. But they had no way of knowing — were the arrivals Chu men, or Qin men?

Li You was badly startled. He tried to sit up and reach for his sword, but found himself as weak as a sick wildcat, without even the strength to take his own life. He could only lie stiffly on the couch, awaiting fate's verdict.

The door was pushed open. A dark figure stepped inside, armor clattering. He dropped to one knee, clasped his hands toward Li You, and declared, "Your subordinate Heifu pays respects to Commandant Li!"

Heifu still carried the faint smell of blood on him, and his eyes were red-rimmed — perhaps, stung by the winter wind and sand…

"Dispense with the ceremony. How goes the battle?" Seeing it was Heifu, Li You's face lit up with joy. Propped up by Bu Cheng, he turned on his side and asked.

"Thanks to the Commandant's good fortune, the Chu men have been routed. Our army has won a great victory. The heavy encirclement is broken — we can leave this place at any time!"

"Excellent! Truly excellent!"

Li You let out a long breath of relief. It seemed his choice of Heifu as acting Five-Hundred-Man Commander had been an extremely correct one!

With that, Xu Yang's death became utterly inconsequential. Li You did not even bring up that matter, instead asking directly about the battle's results.

Time was pressing, so Heifu gave a brief report on the military judge's tally.

Although this battle had been won with a single charge and was over quickly, the fighting had been fierce, and casualties were not few. Of the seven hundred Qin men who had charged into the Chu formation with Heifu, nearly two hundred were killed or wounded. The one hundred Vanguard warriors in particular — including their Platoon Chief Huai Mu — had lost nearly half their number, never to return to their homeland. And of the three hundred Qin captives, one hundred had died or been gravely wounded.

The Chu men had lost around four hundred dead, with another hundred taken captive. The rest had scattered and fled — in the east, south, and north directions alike. Worth noting: over ten war chariots had been trapped within the formation, abandoned by the Chu men, and become spoils of war for the Qin army!

"With these horses and chariots, we can take even the lightly wounded soldiers with us!" Heifu said.

But that was not what concerned Li You most. He pressed, "You said earlier that you captured alive the Chu state's Hu Gong Douran. What of the Chu army's banners — were they seized?"

"Aside from the banner of Qin Gong Sun Feng, which we did not obtain, we have the rest: one banner of Hu Gong Douran, one Thousand-Man Commander banner, and seven Hundred-Man banners…"

"Good! Banners are also a form of merit. With them as proof, the domestic law officials will have to believe this headcount!"

Li You was very pleased. Military law states: From the Commandant's clerks on down, all have banners. Those who win banners in victory shall each be rewarded according to the rank the banner represents, to make clear the intent to reward and encourage.

He understood perfectly that the severed heads from this battle could not — and there was no time to — be carried back for counting. So they could only have the military judge tally a number and submit the captured army banners as proof.

Beyond capturing enemy generals, seizing army banners, and taking four to five hundred heads, rescuing other units also counted as a meritorious deed. As the saying goes: "If a front officer abandons his troops and flees north, and a rear officer can behead him and seize his troops, that officer shall be rewarded." It means that if a commander ahead abandons his unit and runs, and a commander behind can kill him and take over his troops, there is a reward.

Li You silently tallied these merits, then looked again at Heifu. In his heart was admiration, yet also a trace of regret — even envy. Because if these achievements could be counted under him as the commanding general, they would at least offset the crime of his army's earlier defeat at Xiangcheng. Not only would he avoid demotion in rank, he might even rise a step!

But this battle, in the end, was not one he had fought. From the feigned surrender to the rousing of the troops, to the command that shattered the enemy — it had all been Heifu's one-man show. Throughout it all, Li You had merely lain in a stupor inside the house. At most, as the superior officer, he could bask in a little reflected glory and have his culpability slightly reduced.

That being said, he was not so shameless as to steal Heifu's achievements for himself. He forced a smile and said, "This battle was entirely won by Heifu's able command. With these four merits combined, you could well rise two ranks in one leap and become a Grand Duke straight away!"

Heifu, however, showed no wild joy. Instead, he bowed down with an air of trepidation and said, "Why would the Commandant say such a thing? In this battle, the reason we were able to crush the Chu men — aside from the soldiers risking their lives and uniting as one — was it not entirely thanks to the stratagem the Commandant laid down beforehand?"

"A stratagem… I laid down?" Li You blinked, but did not speak, merely watching Heifu, letting him continue.

Heifu smiled. "The Commandant must have been so gravely wounded that he fell unconscious for a time and has forgotten certain matters."

"From sending me to feign surrender, to secretly instructing me in the tactical plan for sallying forth to strike the enemy — all of these things came from the Commandant's own mouth. I, your subordinate, merely carried out orders! I, Heifu, have heard a common saying: 'Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed by others.' When it comes to merit, the chief credit belongs to Commandant Li, the one who labored with his mind! As the one who labored with his strength, I would be fully content to claim a small share of merit and gain a single rank. How would I dare be insatiably greedy and claim the great merit as my own?"

(End of chapter)