Chapter 74: The Stone Castle (III)

Feathered arrows swarmed like locusts, killing every living thing in their path.
Nearly a hundred Tang soldiers failed to dodge in time and were torn to shreds by the arrows.
“Quick! Get out your wooden shields!”
Wu Hai screamed hoarsely. To reduce unnecessary weight during the ascent, the Tang army had only brought wooden shields. Although wooden shields were generally ineffective against feathered arrows, the Tang soldiers had specially treated them for this climb!
“Ah, ah…”
Only after Wu Hai reminded them did the surviving Tang soldiers realize they still had protective gear. They quickly pulled out their wooden shields and held them in front of them. These shields were wrapped in thick hemp ropes soaked in tung oil, making them extremely hard once dried! Though the soaked hemp ropes were as hard as rock, they weren’t too heavy, meeting the Tang army’s requirements for climbing under load.
“Ping!” “Ping!”
The arrows struck the shields with crisp sounds, losing momentum and sliding off to the side.
“Phew!”
Wu Hai wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. The strength of Tubo’s bows and crossbows was already inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, so arrows shot from a stone castle hundreds of feet high lacked force. As long as his men protected their vital areas, they didn’t need to worry about the threat of Tubo’s arrows!
“Hold the shields with one hand and keep climbing!”
There was no room for slackness—only by pushing forward with all their might could they reach the stone plateau and have a chance of survival.
On the city walls, Tie Ren Xino Luo’s eyebrows furrowed into a dark line. Three waves of arrows had been shot, yet they still hadn’t stopped the Tang army’s advance. These people were truly useless!
“Pass my order—fire rockets!”
Tie Ren Xino Luo shouted loudly, issuing his command.
No matter how tenacious the Tang army was, they couldn’t survive in a sea of fire!
The centurion nodded and waved his forearm. “Prepare to light the fuses—fire the rockets!”
“Whoosh!”
The fuses wrapped around the arrowheads were instantly ignited by the gunpowder, and vibrant flames leaped up eagerly.
“Fire!”
With a loud shout, the centurion sent hundreds of rockets soaring toward the Tang soldiers on the mountain wall.
Using their own tactics against them—since the Tang army loved to use fire attacks, Tie Ren Xino Luo would make them taste the agony of being roasted!
“Sizzle!”
When the rockets struck a wooden shield, sparks flew everywhere. The hemp ropes, soaked in tung oil, caught fire instantly from the rockets, blazing fiercely. Thick black smoke spiraled upward, making it hard to breathe.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
A Tang soldier coughed nonstop, tears welling in his eyes from the smoke.

More and more rockets flew over, hitting the wooden shields and the soldiers’ limbs. Thick smoke billowed and flames blazed, preventing the Tang soldiers from lifting their heads for a while.
“Quick… quick, throw away the wooden shields!”
Wu Hai, tears streaming down his face, shouted at the soldiers around him. The Tubo barbarians were truly vicious—trying to burn everyone to death with rockets!
One Tang soldier had just thrown away his flaming wooden shield but before he could find cover, an arrow pierced his head. He felt no pain as his body stiffened and he fell off the cliff, still clutching the leather bag at his waist until his death…
Another Tang soldier gasped for air due to the thick smoke, only to have an arrow fly in and pass through his throat…
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
In agony, the soldier grabbed his throat desperately trying to pull out the arrow. His body twisted in pain as blood gushed down his neck.
“Swish!”
An arrow pierced his left eye, ending his struggle instantly. The soldier collapsed backward into the abyss, just like hundreds of his comrades who had died before him—taken away by the wind without taking anything behind them.
Without shields, the Tang soldiers were as fragile as sheep. Arrows rained down from all directions, leaving no chance to avoid them. Countless soldiers fell to the ground after being hit. The whistling of arrows, the cracking sound as they pierced bones, and the groans of the dying combined to create a hellish atmosphere.
“Get up, you bastards! Get up now!”
“Zhao Lao San, you still owe me three strings of wine money! Don’t play dead!”
“Sun Dezi, where’s the black antelope horn bow you promised me? Don’t go back on your word!”
“Xiao Wu, you… you haven’t gotten married yet. How can you…?”
Watching his comrades fall one after another, Wu Hai’s eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled with tears.
“It’s all because of my incompetence. It’s all me… Damn it, how did things turn out like this?”
The seven-foot-tall man burst into tears, his eyes vacant.
The night was gloomy, the moon dim. On the slopes of the northern peak of Chilin, there was a deathly silence. Strong winds howled past the soldiers’ faces, along with the dull sound of stones rolling downhill, making everyone shiver.
Eighty-three people… Out of over six hundred Tang soldiers, only eighty-three remained!
These eighty-three had climbed to this plateau by stepping on their comrades’ corpses!

Wu Hai didn’t know what was driving him to climb up. He had no idea… Zhao Laosan, Sun Dezhi, and Xiao Wu were all dead—no intact bodies left behind at all.
The Tubo people! It was all because of those damned Tubo people! Wu Hai punched the stone wall beside him; gravel pierced his flesh, and brownish-red blood seeped out.
“Brother Wu, what’s wrong?”
Xiao Jiuer poked his head in and asked softly.
“Huh?”
Only in the dim light could Wu Hai make out who it was.
“I’m fine. Just feeling a bit anxious.”
“I heard someone say there’s a saying: ‘A brave man cuts off his own arm to save his life.’ Although we’ve been severely dealt a blow by the Tubo people, as long as we rally, we still have a chance to take revenge!”
“I didn’t expect you to know scriptures. Have you ever studied?”
A faint smile finally appeared on Wu Hai’s pale cheeks.
“I… studied for a few years at the county school.”
Xiao Jiuer chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “I was too busy playing back then and couldn’t remember many of the scriptures.”
He raised his eyebrows and said, “But I remember this phrase clearly—real men don’t care about trivial matters. It’s not that we won’t avenge ourselves; it’s just that the time isn’t right yet. Let’s keep this grudge in mind and make them pay double when the time comes!”
“Well said!” Wu Hai praised him. He wanted to take this opportunity to commend the boy further, but his face was still damp with sweat.
To his shame, Wu Hai couldn’t recall the boy’s full name. First, he had too many soldiers under him to know everyone personally. Second, Xiao Jiuer was extremely reserved and didn’t like to talk to others proactively.
“Um, what’s your name?”
“My name is Xue Xiaoke. I’m from Xinliang Township in Fanyang Commandery.”
Seeing Wu Hai’s embarrassment, Xue Xiaoke quickly shared his background.
“From your accent, I thought you were from Jixian.”
After a pause, Wu Hai said, “Fanyang has always produced heroes! During the Former Sui Dynasty, General Luo Yi drove the Turks back beyond the borders with just a black sword!”
“How could I compare to General Luo?”
Xue Xiaoke blushed and waved his hands dismissively.
“What’s there to compare? General Luo also started out from humble beginnings like you. He rose to high positions through his own efforts.”
“That’s true,” Xue Xiaoke replied before falling silent.
“You’re eighteen, right?”
“Nineteen… almost twenty!”
Xue Xiaoke puffed out his chest, not wanting others to see his age.
“Oh, already twenty? Do you know how to read?”

Touching his head, Xue Xiaoke felt a bit embarrassed: “Children from peasant families don’t have such high standards.”
“Hmm, that’s true. All those fancy things are done by dukes and marquises. We soldiers don’t engage in such nonsense!”
Xue Xiaoke was like a firefly flying in the darkness—its light faint, yet it kindled hope in the hearts of the Tang soldiers.
“Xiaoke, have you gotten married yet?”
A Tang soldier with a oval face moved closer and immediately started chatting.
“Oh, my uncle has arranged a marriage for me. He said it will be settled upon my return.”
The young man clearly didn’t want to dwell on the topic and gave a perfunctory reply.
“Since we’re idle anyway, why not sing? It’ll at least warm us up. It’s quite cold halfway up the mountain at night.”
Not wanting the atmosphere, which had just become lively, to fade, Xue Xiaoke suggested it.
“No, no. We’re rough folks with poor singing voices. How could we do things like those opera singers?” Wu Hai waved his hand, firmly refusing.
“How about singing the military songs of our Tang Dynasty? What do you say?”
Xue Xiaoke puffed out his chest and clenched his fists.
“That’s great!”
The man with the oval face was the first to respond: “This song isn’t hard on the voice, and the melody is simple. Everyone can hum a few lines.”
“Yes, yes. This tune is great!”
Seeing the enthusiastic atmosphere, Wu Hai didn’t want to dampen everyone’s spirits and nodded.
“In that case, Xiaojiu, you start it.”
“Hmm, hmm.”
Xue Xiaoke cleared his throat and said, “Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you…”
“One, two, three!”
“Can we say we have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you. The king has raised an army; let’s sharpen our spears. We share the same hatred. Can we say we have no clothes…”
Voices from different regions mixed together, but no one found it strange at all.
The flickering flames reflected in the hearts of the Tang soldiers, filling them with warmth.