Chapter 94: Nirvana (I)

There were no bones, no corpses—under the clear sky, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Only vultures circling low in the sky, occasionally cawing, served as a reminder that a horrific massacre had just taken place here. (Note 1) On the stone steps below the stone fortress, bloodstains covered everything. In the silent silence, nearly a thousand Tang soldiers huddled together beneath the fortress walls, gasping for breath. White bandages covered their foreheads, already soaked crimson from the blood. Most of the wounds on their foreheads and necks had scabbed over, with sweat trickling down and staining the ground.

After a day and night of siege, they finally advanced to within fifty feet of the stone fortress. The Tibetans somehow obtained huge stones and smashed to pieces the chariots on which the Tang soldiers relied. With no other choice, they rushed out of the chariots and, braving a hail of arrows, made their way toward the fortress walls step by step.

Each stone step resembled a path to hell; every step the Tang army took came at a heavy cost. Soldiers were pierced in the head, through the heart, or blinded by arrows, falling helplessly off the cliffs. Others had their ribs crushed or arms broken by falling rocks, yet they continued to climb toward the top of the fortress…

The Tang army advanced inch by inch, fighting for every patch of ground, launching wave after wave of attacks on the fortress, driven by the unwillingness of their fallen comrades.

Zhang Shouyu glanced at the sky and finally ordered a full-scale assault. Behind him stood a thousand soldiers clad in silver armor, wielding halberds—the true ace of this Tang army! Under the cover of shield bearers, these halberd soldiers climbed the stone steps, ascending step by step with great difficulty.

“Drop the boulders! Drop them now!”

Tie Ren Xino Luo was terrified. In the blink of an eye, the Tang halberd soldiers, protected by shield bearers, had advanced to within a hundred steps. He never expected the Tangs to still have such fierce reinforcements at this point!

He had no choice but to order his soldiers to throw down the last batch of boulders. Ordinary arrows were utterly useless against heavily armored infantry! This was their only chance to stop the Tang army!

Although he had repeatedly defeated the attacking Tang forces before, it had been purely by sheer luck. Now that their defensive stones and boulders were exhausted, and he only had wounded and disabled soldiers left, how could he compete with these elite heavily armored infantry?

Tie Ren Xino Luo looked up at the sky and roared in frustration. Where were the reinforcements? Where on earth were they?

The halberd soldiers had reached a stone platform fifty steps from the fortress walls. At this critical moment, they suddenly faced fierce resistance from the Tibetans.

Enormous rocks and rolling logs crashed down from above. More than a hundred soldiers wielding halberds didn’t have time to dodge, and together with the shield bearers protecting them, they were smashed off the cliff, their screams echoing in the air. The path leading to the fortress, lined with stone steps, was blocked by piled-up rocks and logs, making it impossible to move forward.

Zhang Shouyu’s eyes turned red with anger as he shouted, “Cut through those logs and charge ahead with me!” With that, he grabbed a halberd lying on the stone path and swung it fiercely at the logs in front of him.

“Swish!” “Swish!”

With two swift swings, he managed to cut through one of the huge logs. Pushing hard, he used the momentum to send the log tumbling off the cliff. Wu Hai and Tao Cheng beside him immediately understood what to do and grabbed halberds scattered on the ground to attack the logs as well.

Although they had never used halberds before, they didn’t feel awkward or unaccustomed as they used them right away. They felt an endless supply of strength within them, all channeled into the logs before them.

“One, two—push!”

Under the command of their officer, the shield bearers pushed together to move the rocks blocking the path.

“Put in more effort! One, two—push!”

“Push!”

After repeated efforts, they finally saw results—a narrow gap appeared between several rocks.

The Tang army officer was overjoyed and roared, “Push them away, damn it!”

The shield bearers, braving the arrows raining down on them, pushed the rocks to the sides.

Tie Ren Xino Luo let out a beast-like roar: “Brothers, charge ahead with me! It’s time to serve Tubo and the Zanpu with loyalty!”

At this point, there was no way left to stop the advance of the halberd soldiers. Rather than wait for the Tang army to storm the walls and tear them to pieces, it was better to charge down and fight to the death!

Tie Ren Xino Luo grabbed a spear and led the charge down from the stone fortress. They were only a few dozen steps away from the Tang army and would reach them in moments.

Hundreds of Tubo spearmen clashed with the Tang halberd soldiers on the narrow stone path, engaging in a bloody and brutal hand-to-hand fight.

The Tubo soldiers had completely given up defending the walls and stopped throwing rocks—they were determined to fight the Tang army head-on!

“Ah!”

A Tang soldier in his seventeens or eighteen, holding a horizontal sword and a wooden shield, rushed forward. He protected his face and chest but couldn’t cover his lower body. A Tubo soldier pierced his abdomen with a spear and kept twisting it around.

“Ah!”

The Tang soldier’s face twisted in pain as sweatdrops rolled down his cheeks.

“Haha, hahaha!” The Tibetan spearman laughed maniacally while shaking his spear, determined to pierce through the Tang invader’s intestines and make him die from blood loss!
“Damn you!”
Wu Hai appeared behind the Tang soldier, swung his halberd, and slashed at the Tibetan soldier.
In a flash of silver light, a red blood trail appeared from the Tibetan soldier’s left shoulder to his right waist.
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
The Tibetan soldier stared in disbelief before collapsing in front of Wu Hai.
“Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu!”
Ignoring the dead Tibetan soldier, Wu Hai rushed to the Tang soldier’s side, threw aside his halberd, and hugged him tightly.
“Brother Wu, I… I’ll give this to my parents after I die.”
The young man took out a pouch from his undergarments and slowly untied its string. “This is my hair. Please ask my parents to cancel the marriage.”
With a faint smile, he said tremblingly, “I’m not lucky enough. Xiao Taohua can… can marry into a good family. Don’t let me ruin their happiness.”
As he spoke, his hand slipped, and he lost his breath.
“Xiao Jiu, you can’t die! You can’t die!”
Wu Hai shook Xiao Jiu violently, but the young man never opened his eyes again.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
“Damn you, heavens!”
Wu Hai stuffed the pouch into his waist, picked up his halberd, and charged toward the center of the stone path.
The battle between the two armies had reached its climax. The Tang soldiers used their halberds to slice any approaching Tibetans into pieces, while the Tibetans fought back fiercely. They moved swiftly to find openings and stabbed their spears into the Tang soldiers’ abdomens.
Soldiers from both sides fought with swords, spears, knives, and even their teeth…
The stone path had become a hellish battlefield, a slaughterhouse where lives were lost every moment. Countless Tang and Tibetan soldiers closed their eyes in despair. Their corpses piled up on the stone path, turning the steps red with blood. In the face of death, all races were equally doomed.
Outside the central camp at the foot of Chileng, Geshu Han paced anxiously. The siege of Shibao City had lasted three days without success. Calculating carefully, the Tibetan army led by Gao Xiuyan should have arrived by now. If the Tibetans regained their composure and sent five thousand troops to reinforce Shibao, he would surely be defeated.
What force kept the Tibetan army of just over a thousand soldiers holding their ground for nearly a month? He gazed at the stone fortress and sighed deeply.
“Report! Report to the commander!”
A messenger stumbled forward and knelt down in front of Geshu Han.

“The scouts report that large groups of Tibetan cavalry are approaching from the Bai Gu and Wan Xiu areas!”
Upon hearing this, Ge Shu Han was shocked and shouted, “What do you mean? How could Tibetan reinforcements arrive from the south?”
“General Abusi is surrounding Alsu City without attacking it. At first, the Tibetan defenders didn’t dare to take action rashly, but after realizing that General Abusi didn’t bring any siege equipment, they led their troops to reinforce Shibu City.”
“Ah!”
Anxiety overwhelmed Ge Shu Han; his throat turned sweet as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Heaven wants me to perish! Pass my orders to Zhang Shouyu—he must capture Shibu City before nightfall, or else he’ll be brought before me with his head cut off!”
“Yes!”
Ge Shu Han forced a bitter smile, gazing at the towering Chiling Mountains, questioning himself—was he really destined to die beneath these impregnable walls?
On the stone path, Zhang Shouyu’s troops armed with halberds had advanced to within ten steps of the city gates. The gates were inscribed with the words “Shibu City,” while below them, in Tibetan, it read “City of Iron Blades.” (Note 2) Heh, it was because of this fortress that so many of his comrades had died!
Ten steps—the stone path within that distance was covered with corpses, making it nearly impossible to move forward. Both sides’ soldiers were exhausted, unable to lift their heavy weapons anymore. They dropped their blades and fought with fists, heads, and teeth.
“Ah!”
Zhang Shouyu bit his tongue hard, using the intense pain to awaken the last remnants of his fighting spirit.
“Comrades, charge forward! Avenging our fallen comrades!”
Five steps, four steps, three steps…
Zhang Shouyu could clearly see the Tibetan army flags fluttering atop Shibu City. A bitter smile appeared on his lips as he swung his halberd with all his strength, aiming at the neck of the enemy commander.
In the next moment, Shibu City would change hands!…
Note 1: Liu Yun specifically checked—Tibet has the most vultures among all regions! Animal protectors, please stop claiming that Africa has the most vultures…
Note 2: Shibu City is also known as the City of Iron Blades. It was built during the Sui Dynasty, around the fifth year of the Daye era (609 AD), when Emperor Yang of Sui personally led an expedition against Tuyuhun. The name “Shibu” is said to have been inscribed by Emperor Yang himself.