Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Sleeping

Chapter 117

Clouds Drunk and Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Four: A Hidden Sorrow and Resentment Arise as the Great Destruction of Cangqi Pass is Born

Chapter word count: 6157 Update time: 08-12-24 13:00

Greatly defeated Cangqi Pass

The gunpowder did arrive the next day—not much, just twenty round, spherical powder packs that looked like landmines, all black and very much so. Accompanying the gunpowder was a professional, round and chubby, slightly dark-skinned, with a face and build resembling landmines. He seemed quite familiar with Qinglin, and without any formality, launched into a long explanation, praising the power of the powder packs to an almost mystical degree. I almost believed those twenty black things were the legendary atomic bombs. Besides him, the "Large Landmine" guy's admiration for Qinglin was clearly boundless, talking non-stop, giving no one a chance to interrupt. Qinglin tried to interrupt him several times, but he was completely oblivious, continuing his rambling, breathless, tealess, and spittle-flecked speech until I rolled my eyes.

"Young man, why are you rolling your eyes? Let me tell you, I'm telling you the truth. You've never heard of or seen a gunpowder pack, but it's a real 'good thing'." The large landmine seemed quite annoyed by my constant eye-rolling. After tolerating it several times, he finally turned the conversation to me, speaking with a straight face and an extremely serious expression. When he said "it's a real 'good thing'," his expression and tone were exactly like a typical Northeastern man!

I nodded quickly, my expression sincere and humble, then gestured for him to continue, my heart pounding with suppressed laughter. At this moment, I didn't forget to glare at Erlinzi, making sure he didn't give away the secret. Erlinzi looked at me, his expression slightly hesitant, but a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.

"Qinglin, with this good stuff, I guarantee those Ye Cang soldiers will be terrified, either blown to death or scared to death!" He finally had a change of heart and gave a triumphant summary, then turned to look at me as if bestowing a favor, and said one last time with lingering enthusiasm, "Little brother, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

"Great!" I shouted, then couldn't hold back any longer, squatted down, hugged my stomach, and burst into laughter. Oh my god, help! I'm dying of laughter!

"Ah...you...she...is a woman?" The big landmine, no longer as eloquent as before, suddenly became stuttering, sometimes looking at me and pointing at me, sometimes looking at Qinglin but still pointing at me.

"Yes." I nodded with a smile, looking at his twitching round, dark face, and felt that life was infinitely beautiful and the world was infinitely wonderful.

"Moreover, the idea and formula for gunpowder were provided by her." Erlinzi smiled as he looked at the large landmine, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

This time, the large landmine's face was no longer just twitching and turning black. It stared at me with wide eyes, full of disbelief, as if it had seen a monster. Its mouth was open, but it couldn't utter a sound.

I finally stood up, crossed my arms, coughed a few times, and said very seriously, "Actually, you're not bad either. You've managed to come up with these pretty good-looking gadgets in such a short time."

He carefully examined the gunpowder packets, then nodded at him and praised, "Not bad, not bad at all. Just looking at them, they seem quite good. I forgot to mention adding sawdust and fuses, and you actually thought of that yourself?"

"What!" he shouted, his expression shifting from disbelief to incredulity to utter ingratitude. He angrily retorted, "You knew all along that there was this, but you forgot to mention it. Do you know how many tests we had to go through because of this? How badly everyone suffered?"

"Uh, I didn't mean to not say, I just forgot!" I bit my finger, feigning innocence, then leaned closer to the large landmine and said slyly, "Were you very innocent before, and did you not use a fuse to avoid it during the test, which is why you are like this now?"

He went from being slightly taken aback to his face gradually turning red, then his eyes were fixed on me, his lips twitching violently, and finally he could only manage to utter, "Who is this person!"

I gave him a sweet smile, then turned and walked away. After taking a couple of steps, I stopped, turned back to look at him, and smiled sweetly at him, saying, "Immortal!"

After saying that, I ignored them, laughed three times, and strode away. I hadn't gone far when I faintly heard Qinglin behind me seem to want to test the power of the gunpowder pack. I immediately ran back, snatched it away, and glared at Erlinzi, saying urgently, "Twenty is already a small number. If a few of them fail, how can we waste them so easily?"

The large landmine nodded in agreement, saying that's how it was when he was researching it; there wasn't a 100% success rate. And initially, because he didn't understand the power of gunpowder, if he hadn't escaped quickly when it suddenly succeeded, he probably would have been dead. So, I shamelessly concluded in my mind that his dark complexion must have come from researching gunpowder, hehe!

I abandoned Qinglin's idea of experimentation. As for how to combine the gunpowder pack with the catapult, that was his business, and also the business of the large landmine; it had nothing to do with me. While the two of them were pondering these things, I wandered around, with Ye Feng by my side. He would never speak unless I asked him.

The army set off early the next morning. This time, I pestered him relentlessly, even bringing up the fact that gunpowder had been used, before Erlinzi finally agreed to let me follow him to the battlefield. Before leaving, he nagged me not to wander off and to stay by his side. I nodded sincerely on the surface, but inwardly rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue. Not to mention that I had Yefeng and Mumo by my side, I myself didn't want to put myself in danger.

The army halted outside Cangqi Pass, where the white flag still hung, a stark and jarring sight. Erlinzi, standing before me, clad in dark red armor, possessed striking, handsome features and an imposing presence, exuding the aura of a great general. The Ye Cang soldiers guarding the pass were already on high alert; perhaps they understood by now that war was unavoidable, and negotiations had been a pipe dream from the start. Moreover, Qinglin had received news yesterday that Tianqing's army had bypassed Cangqi Pass and marched south, capturing Quanzhou, south of Cangzhou. I've always trusted Xilan's abilities; the memory of Sizhou's fall remains vivid. Furthermore, with Ye Cang heavily fortified Cangqi Pass, Quanzhou's forces were far from sufficient to resist Tianqing's 200,000-strong army.

At the latest, once Cangqi Pass falls, King Ye Cang will definitely withdraw the 200,000 troops attacking Hanxing to save the country!

Qinglin, mounted on his tall, chestnut horse, gestured, and General Chen Zhu led 50,000 troops to the left, while another general, whose name I couldn't recall, led another contingent to the right. General Xu Dingyuan led his troops to the front to form a battle line. I had long heard of the Mu family army's formidable archery skills; for this attack, the front rank of soldiers held shields to protect the formation, while the rear ranks were armed with bows and arrows. The catapults had already been brought to the front lines, within range of Cangqi Pass, and were surrounded by elite troops.

I yawned, watching the massive, dark mass of people swarming from one side to the other. I couldn't understand why the soldiers defending Cangqi Pass weren't taking advantage of the chaos to launch an attack. If they waited until the enemy had formed their battle lines and blasted the city to smithereens, they wouldn't be able to attack anymore—that would be suicide. I'm not an expert in battle formations, and even though the army was clearly in formation, I couldn't figure out what kind of formation it was from my horse.

"Xiao Ye, what do you think this looks like?" To me, it doesn't look like anything at all.

"This is General Mu's Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation."

"Huh? The Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation? Is this Hami Dongdong?" Ye Feng's voice was calm, but I almost dropped my jaw. I repeated the question, still feeling a bit dizzy as I turned to look at Er Linzi ahead. Of course, Er Linzi usually wouldn't pay attention to me when he was on the battlefield. Last time in Sizhou, we hadn't seen each other for so long, and he didn't even glance at me, let alone smile or greet me. So I had to rely on myself. I looked up at the army array ahead, trying to figure it out in my mind for a long time, but I still couldn't make out the shape of the Heavenly Wolf.

"Xiao Ye, are you kidding me? This formation doesn't resemble the Heavenly Wolf at all! What Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation!" I immediately turned my attention to Ye Feng. This kid is so unkind, making up such a majestic and impressive name on the spot. It's ridiculous.

The young man, also on horseback, turned his head to look at me, his eyes as if I were an alien, and said with a twitching mouth, "General Mu's Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation is known throughout the six kingdoms."

"Huh? Then why don't I know? Why don't I know, but the six kingdoms do?" The more he talked, the more mysterious and impressive he became. I'm his brother and sister, and even I don't know, how could the six kingdoms know? Besides, there are five kingdoms now. Please count on your fingers before you speak, okay? Thinking of this, I gave Ye Feng a disdainful look.

The young man hurriedly lowered his eyes and turned back, staring straight ahead, and said in a cool and indifferent voice, "Wangzhou City is as solid as a rock, and in the end, it was this Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation that broke through the city."

"Oh, I see!" I nodded upon hearing this. "No wonder then." When I rushed to Wangzhou to rescue Xilan, I heard that the three armies had been attacking Wangzhou for many days without making a breakthrough. Later, Xilan was injured, making things even more difficult. After that, I fell into a coma and naturally did not know how the battle ultimately unfolded. However, when I woke up, Qinglin had already successfully returned to the capital. I seemed to have heard someone mention that the fall of Wangzhou was due to General Mu's troop deployment. But at that time, there were too many things to do. One moment I learned my identity, the next I was proposed to by the fox, and then I was kidnapped from the palace by Xiaobai. Later, I went to Xiuruo and had no time to investigate further.

As I pondered this, the war drums sounded heavily. I looked up and saw a large landmine standing beside the catapult, seemingly tinkering with the connection between the gunpowder pack and the catapult. Further away, the Ye Cang soldiers on Cangqi Pass also appeared to be ready for battle. The so-called defense of a city was nothing more than keeping the city gates tightly shut and setting up arrow and stone formations to prevent the enemy from getting close, but with the gunpowder packs, everything changed.

As the first gunpowder charge flew in a graceful arc toward the high walls and gates of Cangqi Pass, my heart leaped into my throat. To be honest, I'd never actually seen gunpowder bombs in real life; I'd only ever seen them on TV. Now, to witness their effects live, and with this gunpowder somehow connected to me, how could I not be nervous, excited, or attentive?

The distance was perfect, the arc beautiful, the speed fast, and the landing spot precise. Instinctively, I covered my ears with my hands, closed my eyes tightly, and gritted my teeth, waiting for that historic bang. In the sunless winter, even the wind felt chilly. I waited, my teeth chattering, but I didn't hear anything unusual.

Uh, what a crushing defeat! I let go, opened my eyes, and shook my head at Erlinzi's retreating figure. What a bad start, Erlinzi. The road to invention is indeed full of obstacles.

It was clear that what the large landmine had said before was true. He had mentioned that the tests weren't always 100% successful, so he wasn't embarrassed at all, having been mentally prepared. When I looked at him, he had already packed the second explosive pack.

The same graceful arc, the same perfect distance, the same moderate speed, the same precise landing point—this time, before I could even close my eyes and cover my ears, there was a deafening "boom," and thick black smoke billowed from the Cangqi Pass city gate. I nearly fell off my horse in shock. When I scrambled back to my seat, I could only grin foolishly with my mouth agape. Good heavens, it worked! And the target was spot on! It's just that it seemed to have exploded a little too early, so the effect was halved; it didn't collapse the city gate in one go.

The soldiers guarding Cangqi Pass, after a brief moment of shock and disbelief, finally snapped out of it, and chaos erupted at the city gate. Meanwhile, the large landmines had already prepared the next explosive charge. I watched as the black, mine-like explosive charge flew towards Cangqi Pass again, this time covering my ears, and watched with satisfaction as it landed and exploded at the city gate. Once two were successful, the other two catapults were also loaded with explosive charges and detonated. After a series of booming sounds, except for the first one which failed to explode, ten more explosive charges were used. Cangqi Pass was in complete chaos, holes had been blasted into the city gate, and several sections of the city wall had collapsed.

Ye Cang's soldiers could no longer hold out in the city. The city gates were breached and the walls collapsed. The power of the gunpowder was clearly beyond their expectations. Wang Huajia of Cangqi Pass certainly hadn't anticipated that we would use gunpowder, which he had never seen or heard of before, yet none of his soldiers would approach. The arrow and stone formations he had prepared on the city walls earlier had been destroyed by the gunpowder. Even if they were fearless, it would be impossible for them to repair the city gates and walls in the short term. Looking at Long Yao's side, they were positioned in an arc outside Cangqi Pass. Only now did I understand that the so-called Heavenly Wolf Arrow Killing Formation, with Qing Lin and his personal guards positioned, symbolized the wolf's tail. The posture of the wolf's tail indicated the wolf's next move. For example, a straight tail meant an imminent hunt; a high and waving tail meant the wolf was playing; and a curled tail meant our side was in control. We were watching the movements of the weaker enemy and were ready to attack at any moment. At that moment, Qinglin and his Mu family army, with arrows nocked, formed an arc, like the curled tail of a wolf. As the sound of arrows piercing the air rang out, Qinglin's arrow flew forward like lightning, its shaft faintly gleaming with golden light, shooting straight towards the chaotic crowd at the gates of Cangqi Pass.

As the men on the city wall fell, four cavalry units surged forth from the tens of thousands of troops led by General Xu Dingyuan, who were arrayed at the front. Like a sharp arrow in the forest, they charged straight towards Cangqi Pass. No, these were not arrows; they were the canine teeth of wolves—extra-long and exceptionally sharp canines used to pierce the hide of prey and inflict massive damage during hunts. As these four cavalry units approached the gates of Cangqi Pass, four more cavalry units emerged from the ranks of the other two generals on the left and right flanks, advancing towards the collapsed sections of the city walls on either side. Like the fangs of wolves used to tear apart flesh, these eight cavalry units were undoubtedly poised to tear apart Ye Cang's defenses.

The sounds of battle erupted. Qinglin and his Mu family army had formed a horizontal line, pressing forward. As Ye Cang's soldiers surged forth, archers hidden behind shield-bearers unleashed a barrage of arrows, a dense swarm of light raining down on them. I remained at the rear, initially watching the battle unfold, but later simply staring blankly at the back of the man in dark red armor on his chestnut horse. A faint, indescribable fragrance wafted to my nose, exactly the same scent I'd smelled in the tent after Erlinzi had sent me back to sleep after I'd written that provocative horizontal scroll challenging Wang Huajia. I turned my head and saw Yefeng holding a small bottle, the cap already open.

As the sun set, Long Yao's army had already encamped inside Cangqi Pass. This battle differed from the previous victory at Sizhou during the attack on Wangyue. In the Sizhou battle, the disparity in strength was too great, so the resistance of the Wangyue defenders was somewhat ineffective. However, in this battle at Cangqi Pass, although Ye Cang's army had lost 40,000 troops in the "banner provocation incident" a few days earlier, Ye Cang's army still had nearly 100,000 stationed inside Cangqi Pass. If it weren't for Tian Qing's army detouring through Quanzhou to attack, and Wang Huajia sending some troops to reinforce Quanzhou, Cangqi Pass would have been even more difficult to conquer.

However, this time, in capturing Cangqi Pass, aside from the initial gunpowder bombs and the subsequent arrow volleys that decimated the enemy, they ultimately couldn't escape the fate of close-quarters combat. Ye Cang's army suffered over half its casualties; a few were captured, a few escaped back to Cangzhou City, and a very small number disappeared within Cangqi Pass. Although Long Yao's side suffered fewer casualties, the sheer number still exceeded my expectations. Or rather, it wasn't just beyond my imagination, but when those numbers became individual bleeding and wounded people—people who were chatting and writing letters home, healthy and well-adjusted just moments before, now lying on their deathbeds, groaning in pain—I found it hard to accept.

Only now did I truly feel the cruelty of war, and I felt a deep loathing for it. I looked at the busy soldiers, and at the few military doctors who seemed to have a thousand hands. Even though they were tightly holding the small medicine bottle in their hands and bringing it close to their noses, they still couldn't block out the strong smell of blood. I finally decided that war and military life were not for me. I should run away as soon as possible.

I was half asleep when I suddenly heard a strange noise. I sat up with a start and found the night wind standing in front of my bed, while I could hear voices outside the tent.

"What's up?"

"I do not know."

"Where is General Mu?" I glanced over and saw that Qinglin's sleeping mat was no longer there.