Chapter 80: The Blood Robe (5)

The night was deep and utterly silent. On a raised plain in Twin Dragon Valley, nearly five thousand soldiers lay hidden in dense clusters. There were armor from the Tang Dynasty, coats from the White Wolf tribe, and even leather jackets of unknown origin—making it difficult to tell which faction these soldiers belonged to. To be precise, this was a coalition of various forces. Yet their formation was highly orderly, with no signs of disorganization.

At that moment, every soldier in the group held their breath, crouched silently, and stared intently at what lay below the plain.

“Sigh, in my opinion, you’re overthinking it. The Tibetans are already like scattered dogs—they don’t have the leisure to send scouts out.”
Zhang Xiaolangjun took out the wooden token from his mouth and complained loudly.

“Yanji!”
Li Kuo removed his token and rebuked him in a low voice, “How can you still be a battalion commander if you don’t even understand such basic logic? We’re already at a numerical disadvantage, so we must consider every possible disadvantage. As an officer, not only have you failed to set a good example, but you’ve also led by example in breaking the rules. According to military regulations, I could drag you down and flog you thirty times right now.”

After a pause, the young man took a breath. “Since it’s your first offense, I won’t pursue this time. But don’t do it again!”

Zhang Yanji stuck out his tongue at Li Kuo. “I got it!”

“Whoosh!” Suddenly, a bundle of torches lit up 500 steps away. Then, 400 steps, 300 steps, and eventually 100 steps away—flames burst into view. The golden flames merged into one line, resembling a fire dragon.

It’s here at last! Li Kuo’s heart sank as he clenched his fists.

He had previously made an agreement with Xian Yu Yu, the commander of the scout battalion—should the Tibetans approach, they would light torches as a warning. Starting from 500 steps away, torches would be lit every 100 steps. Now that all the torches had been lit, it meant the Tibetan army had entered Twin Dragon Valley!

Li Kuo took a deep breath, drew the command flag from his waist, and waved it vigorously forward. The flag had a blood-red background with two bold black characters written on it—“Light the fire!”

At this order, nearly a thousand soldiers in the coalition nocked their arrows. Though their bows and arrows varied in color and design, all their arrows were aimed in the same direction—they shared a common enemy.

Whoosh! Another blue command flag streaked across the night sky. The soldiers took out the flint from their waists and struck it, producing sparks.

“Sizzle!”
As the flame touched the cloth wrapped around the arrowheads, it ignited fiercely, illuminating the soldiers’ faces brightly. The cloth had already been soaked in tung oil—how could it not cause a raging fire?

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

The flag with a black background was waved twice in the air. Li Kuo immediately removed the wooden token from his mouth, stood up, and shouted loudly, “Fire!” At that command, thousands of arrows were shot simultaneously. The strong wind made the flag flutter loudly, as nearly a thousand fire snakes, with their fangs bared, rushed eagerly toward their prey in the valley gorge. “Ah!” “Ugh!” Feathers arrows pierced the throats of the Tibetan soldiers, penetrated their heads, and went through their vests… Due to this sudden attack, the Tibetan soldiers at the front cried out in pain and fell to the ground one after another. This wave of arrows caught the enemies off guard, killing over five hundred Tibetan soldiers in an instant. The remaining arrows mostly hit the dry trees at the entrance of the valley. When the dry wood met the fierce flames, flames rose three feet high. “Sss!” “Crackling!” More and more fire arrows hit the dry trees at the valley entrance, instantly forming a wall of fire on the narrow mountain path. The burning dry wood made eerie crackling sounds that were truly terrifying. Thick, smoky fumes blew into the valley entrance with the south wind, causing the Tibetan soldiers to cough nonstop. Worst of all, the smoke seemed to be poisonous! Anyone who inhaled it became as soft as fleshless mud, unable even to utter a sound! “Crackling!” A fire arrow hit a pile of dry wood five steps away from the Tibetan king, Chide Zuan, igniting flames ten feet high. “Enemy attack!” “Enemy attack!” A Tibetan commander saw nearly a thousand fire arrows descending from the sky and was terrified, shouting repeatedly. “Protect the king! Someone, protect the king!” Prime Minister Nangxie Dazan rushed to the king’s carriage and shouted frantically. “Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Raise your shields, form a formation! Cover your mouths and noses with wet cloths—don’t panic!” The governor of Jiuqu, Esizang, drew his curved sword from his waist and waved it continuously, trying to calm the panicked troops. Most of the soldiers who died in the sea of fire weren’t burned to death directly but died from the poisonous smoke or trampled by their panicked comrades. Having just escaped from the flood, everyone could use any piece of cloth to cover their mouths and noses. As long as they followed orders, these minor tactics of the Tang army wouldn’t pose a threat to their forces! Under normal circumstances, these well-trained soldiers would quickly take the right actions, but they had just escaped a disaster and were utterly exhausted! The Tibetan soldiers thought they could catch their breath after escaping the Zewa marshland, but instead, they encountered an ambush in this valley! First, the flood in Jiuqu, then the fire attack on the valley—these Tang invaders were truly detestable!

Although they had already greeted Tang Jun’s immediate family in their minds, these Tibetan soldiers had no choice but to raise their wooden shields to cope with the crisis before them.
“Swish!”
An arrow struck a Tibetan soldier in the shoulder, instantly tearing through his muscles and piercing into his bones.
“Ah!”
In pain, the soldier jumped around frantically, desperately trying to pull the arrow out. But before he could muster enough strength, flames spread from his left shoulder to his right, then to his back, burning his entire body in just a short while!
“Ah! Ah, save me! Someone, save me!”
Now completely engulfed in flames, he fell to the ground and rolled around in an attempt to extinguish the fire. But it was too late—the flames swiftly consumed his life, and within seconds he stopped struggling. What had been a lively Tibetan soldier moments earlier was now unrecognizable as a human being, reduced to a pile of smoldering charcoal.
The smell of burnt flesh mixed with toxic smoke drifted with the south wind, making it impossible to keep one’s eyes open even a hundred steps away!
“Ugh!”
A nearby Tibetan recruit, horrified by the sight, vomited. He forced himself to get up and crawled backward, but after a few steps, he felt a chill in his neck and collapsed heavily.
“Form a formation! Those who flee from battle will be punished as traitors and executed without mercy!”
A Tibetan centurion, holding a severed head, shouted fiercely.