Chapter 574: Operation Falcon (3)

Chongyang Temple was a Taoist temple located right next to the northern gate of Youzhou, beside a wide official road. Surrounded by lush trees, a babbling stream flowed past the temple. Aside from Chongyang Temple, there were dozens of civilian homes in the vicinity. Not far away, by the official road, there was another tea pavilion, supported by huge frames, with a dozen or so tables and chairs underneath.

It was late in autumn in October, and dawn came even later. It was still before the fifth watch, and the night was pitch black. Everything around was in darkness; not a single person could be seen on the official road. Only a few merchants were asleep at the tables under the tea pavilion. Their luggage was placed beneath the tables. These were travelers who had missed lodging and were waiting for the city gates to open—something that happened almost every day.

The small house next to the tea pavilion was also open, with a faint light shining inside. Someone was busy inside. It was Old Sun, the owner of the tea pavilion, preparing breakfast for the morning.

Old Sun was in his fifties. Years of hard work had made his back hunched. He had been selling tea and food here for over twenty years and had seen many merchants come and go. However, these few merchants made him feel an inexplicable unease. He kept glancing outside secretly.

These merchants were all very young and tall and strong. That wasn’t unusual—Yanzhao was full of brave men, and most men from Hebei Province were tall. But these young merchants were somewhat different. Old Sun couldn’t quite put his finger on what was different, but he noticed one detail: the five merchants slept in exactly the same posture. It might seem amusing, but it made Old Sun’s spine tingle with fear.

“Old man, do you need help?”

A voice suddenly came from behind him. Old Sun felt as if his scalp was about to explode. When he turned around, he saw a man standing behind him with a smirk. Like seeing a ghost in the night, Old Sun’s legs gave way, and he almost fell to the ground.

The man quickly caught him, staring at him coldly. “Old man, what are you afraid of?”

Old Sun’s teeth were chattering, and he couldn’t say a word. Suddenly, he knelt down and began pounding the ground, begging, “Pardon me! Please spare my life!”

The coldness in the man’s eyes disappeared. He laughed and helped Old Sun up. “I’m just a merchant. I’m not going to kill you for your money. What are you afraid of?”

Seeing the man’s kind smile, Old Sun’s fear gradually subsided. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, “I thought you were robbers. You really scared me to death.”

The man smiled, found a small stool, and sat down. “Your name is Sun Li, right?”

Elder Sun was shocked. That name hadn’t been used in many years; even the young people in the village didn’t know it. How could this merchant know? He stared at him blankly, “How… how do you know?”
The man smiled and nodded, continuing, “You’re from Sun Village, ten miles southwest. Your son died early, your wife remarried, and now you live with your spouse and your seven-year-old grandson, right?”
Elder Sun’s eyes widened, showing a hint of fear. Who were these people? Why were they investigating him?
“What do you want?”
The man’s smile remained friendly, but his words were like a thunderclap that stunned Elder Sun.
“Your grandson, A Bao, is in our hands now!”
Elder Sun’s grandson was the only heir of the Sun family—the core of his life. The usually timid Elder Sun went mad. With a roar like a beast, he rushed at the man, “Give me my grandson back!”
But the man didn’t get up. With a gentle push, he sent Elder Sun flying to the ground. He sneered, “Why rush? We haven’t killed your grandson. He’s fine.”
These words suddenly snapped Elder Sun out of his despair. Kneeling, he crawled toward the man, kowtowing and crying, “Sir, give me whatever you want. I’ll even give you this shop. Just spare my grandson’s life.”
The man glanced at him and smiled again. “Why would I want your shop? But I have a younger brother who wants to work as an apprentice here for a few days. What do you think?”
Elder Sun stopped crying. He stared at the man in confusion. He didn’t understand, and the man knew he didn’t. He said, “It’s simple. If you obey us, we won’t harm you. We’ll return your grandson and give you a hundred guan as a reward. But if you don’t obey and spread rumors, the first time we’ll cut off your grandson’s nose, the second time we’ll take out his eyes, and the third time we’ll give you his head. Do you understand?”
Elder Sun was terrified. He nodded frantically, “I understand! I understand!”
“Good!” The man waved, and a young man came in from outside. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, honest and kind-looking, easily likable.
“His name is Sun Xiaoming. He’s your nephew. He just came from Dezhou to seek your protection. Don’t you have a brother back in Dezhou?”
The young man obediently knelt before Elder Sun and kowtowed, speaking in a pure Dezhou accent, “Xiaoming pays his uncle his respects!”

By this time, Old Sun gradually understood what they intended to do using his shop—it wasn’t aimed at him personally. Though still afraid, he felt much more relieved. He knew as long as he cooperated with them, there would generally be no danger. His only concern was that they might kill him to silence him later. With a trembling voice, he said, “I’ll definitely do as you say. Once this is over, I’ll return to my hometown in Dezhou right away.”

The man, pleased that Old Sun was sensible, nodded in approval. Suddenly, someone outside whispered, “They’re coming out!”

The man glanced outside and saw from afar the gates of Chongyang Temple opening as two carriages drove out, escorted by dozens of cavalrymen. He asked Old Sun, “Do they eat breakfast here every day?”

Old Sun suddenly realized they were targeting those Taoists. He quickly replied, “I steam a pot of vegetarian steamed buns for them to take away every day, but they don’t necessarily sit down to eat. It seems they check attendance at the first hour of dawn; if they have time, they sit down for a bowl of soup, otherwise they just take the buns and leave.”

The man nodded. Hearing the sound of the carriage wheels approaching, he whispered to Old Sun, “Treat them as usual.”

He gave the young man a signal, then opened the back door and disappeared in a flash. Only two guests remained in the pavilion; the others had vanished.

Old Sun felt as if he’d been dreaming—everything seemed so unreal. But the “nephew” in front of him was real, smiling foolishly with an honest face, acting like a simpleton. Old Sun sighed inwardly. He wasn’t a fool at all; he was clearly a death spirit. Remembering that his grandson was still in their hands, he forced himself to stay strong. He took out a bag and pointed at the steamed buns in the pot, saying, “Xiao Ming! Help me put the buns in the bag. We’ll give them to those Taoist masters later.”

“Sure!”

Xiao Ming quickly took the bag and went to get the buns. At that moment, the carriages outside stopped, and someone called, “Old Sun, where are our buns?”

“Coming! Coming!”

Old Sun ran out of the house and saw two carriages parked by the road, filled with people. Fifty or sixty cavalrymen with long spears stood guard beside them. By the tea pavilion stood a Taoist priest in his thirties—their senior master, Wang Chenzi.

Old Sun stepped out and said with a smile, “It’s cold on such a late autumn night. Would the Taoist masters like a bowl of hot soup before leaving?”

“Maybe tomorrow! We left a bit late today.”

At that moment, Sun Xiaoming ran out, carrying a bamboo basket in his hands, with steam rising from the gaps in the basket. “Uncle, here!”
Elder Sun took the steamed buns and handed them to Wang Chenzi with a smile, saying, “These are your steamed buns. Eat them while they’re hot!”
“Thank you!”
Wang Chenzi took the steamed buns and glanced at Sun Xiaoming, asking, “Who is he?”
“Hehe! He’s my nephew. I couldn’t manage everything alone, so I wrote to him to come and help.”
“Hmm! Your nephew seems strong and honest. Elder Sun, you really have help now.”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
These Taoists were just ordinary people with no professional training and no sense of vigilance at all, so they paid no attention to Sun Xiaoming. The soldiers’ duty wasn’t to protect the Taoists’ safety but to prevent them from escaping, so they kept an eye on them. Thus, they paid no mind to another worker at the teahouse either. Wang Chenzi got onto the carriage, which set off heading north.
Sun Xiaoming watched the carriage leave. He shook his head. It was too easy to deal with these Taoists; he could take them out alone. But the general had bigger plans, and he didn’t dare act rashly. He exchanged a glance with two merchants who were eating, who nodded. The two of them led their horses, mounted them, and followed the carriage from a distance.
…
At the Xishan Inn in Ping’an Town, Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yue had at least talked once, and they had met three times in total. The outline of this operation was gradually becoming clear, with one main plan and two alternative plans finalized, and all details arranged. Now they were just waiting for the right moment to act.
It was just getting dark when Yan Zhuang returned from Youzhou City. This time, Yan Zhuang came to Youzhou not entirely for the matter of An Lushan’s gunpowder, but also to contact several of his old friends, such as Ma Jun, An Lushan’s officer in charge of land reclamation. Ma Jun had originally been the financial officer in An Lushan’s army, a trusted subordinate promoted by Yan Zhuang. But after Yan Zhuang left An Lushan, Gao Shang took control of An Lushan’s internal affairs and seized power. Ma Jun then began to be strongly marginalized by Gao Shang, and his situation worsened day by day. Now he was even on the verge of losing his position. He had written to Yan Zhuang last year, hinting at his intention to join Yan Zhuang. So this time, Yan Zhuang came to Youzhou in person to win over old allies like Ma Jun. Besides Ma Jun, there were several other officials who had also been promoted by Yan Zhuang in the past, but most of them were now in difficult situations.
Yan Zhuang entered the inn and saw Qin Haiyang asking the innkeeper something. He stepped forward and asked, “What’s happened?”

Qin Haiyang sent the innkeeper away before turning to Yan Zhuang and saying, “There’s a small flaw. The innkeeper just told me that this afternoon, a herb collector accidentally discovered our men hidden in the deep mountains. After returning, he talked about it at an inn, and word has spread throughout the town.”

Yan Zhuang was shocked and quickly asked, “Has the garrison in the town heard about it?”

“It’s not clear yet, but since the town is small, I’m worried someone might inform the garrison. I’ve already sent a few men to intercept them along the road. If there are any scouts, they’ll be killed on the spot.”

Yan Zhuang pondered for a moment. According to their original plan, they would launch the operation tomorrow night, but with these unexpected developments, they might need to use the alternative plan.

“General Qin, do you want to use the second plan?”

Qin Haiyang nodded. “We can’t afford any luck. The slightest carelessness could be fatal and lead to the failure of our mission. I’ve decided to start acting tonight. After that, we’ll withdraw from Youzhou immediately. We won’t be able to take care of Mr. Gu. For safety’s sake, please leave Youzhou right away!”

“Very well. I’ll head to Yizhou now.”

…

The garrison in Ping’an Town was small, only a hundred men strong, led by a brigade commander. They were stationed in a large courtyard at the eastern end of the town. Usually, there was little to do, and the soldiers didn’t go on patrols. They would only make routine rounds along the West Mountain Road every three days. Most of the time, they stayed in the courtyard, gambling and drinking. The bolder ones would occasionally sneak out to find women.

But tonight, the atmosphere was tense. The garrison had heard rumors that there were troops in the West Mountains. Though it was just a rumor, it still worried the brigade commander.

The brigade commander was a Turk named Zhaluhua. Around the time of the fall of the Eastern Turks, many Turkic tribes migrated south to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang rulers didn’t integrate them but allowed them to live on the borders, preserving their customs and tribes, using them as a barrier against invaders. When the Tang Dynasty was strong, this policy worked fine. But when the dynasty declined or faced internal strife, these Turkic groups would grow rebellious and take the opportunity to attack the Central Plains. The An Lushan Rebellion and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that followed stemmed from this.

An Lushan himself was a Turk. Once he decided to rebel, he began to appoint many Turks to important positions—not only high-ranking generals but also many lower-ranking officers. This brigade commander, Zhaluhua, was one of them.

This man did not understand Chinese, and the information he had received was far from the actual situation. He had been told that bandits were roaming in the Western Mountains. It was precisely the word “bandits” that kept his alertness from reaching its highest level. Preventing bandits in the Western Mountains was also part of his duties, so there was no need to report to An Lushan—so long as the bandits did not commit crimes, he only needed to warn the local authorities.

Nevertheless, this cautious Turkic army commander was still a bit nervous. He ordered his soldiers not to go out alone and to stay inside the compound.

Inside the compound, there was a lot of noise. One room was brightly lit, with dozens of soldiers gathered together gambling. Their commander was nervous, but the soldiers didn’t care. A few bandits couldn’t affect their mood; they continued drinking and gambling as usual.

But at that moment, shadows swarmed around the compound. Five hundred warriors from the Falcon Camp had already surrounded the military camp. They moved swiftly and quietly, without disturbing the residents nearby.

At that time, a soldier rushed to Qin Haiyang and reported in a low voice, “The brothers have finished searching. There are no soldiers outside; they are all inside the barracks.”

Qin Haiyang nodded and ordered, “Go!”

The five hundred soldiers split into two groups. One group surrounded the compound, while another group of about two hundred climbed onto the rooftops from behind. They were as fast as foxes and as light as feathers. The soldiers inside had no idea what was happening. They continued to argue and gamble, completely unaware that death was approaching.

By chance, a soldier who had won some money laughed triumphantly and looked up. Suddenly, he saw countless dark arrows and crossbows on the rooftops. His smile instantly turned into extreme fear. Before he could shout, a series of clicks came from the crossbows, and a hundred poisoned arrows were shot simultaneously. All sixty-four people gambling inside were hit in the head. With just one scream each, all sixty-four died at once.

The Turkic army commander next door heard the screams. He rushed out of the room, but before he could react, an arrow whizzed past and pierced his skull.

The battle began in an instant and ended just as quickly. The compound fell back into deathly silence. The five hundred soldiers from the Falcon Camp quickly carried the hundred corpses out of the camp and buried them in the dense forest behind it. They cleaned up all the bloodstains, tidied everything, and even took away the weapons, making it seem as though the entire army had left. They also hung a wooden sign on the compound gate that read, “Going into the mountains to fight bandits. Will return soon!”

After finishing all this, the five hundred soldiers mounted their horses and set off into the darkness, heading rapidly north toward Youzhou City.