Chapter 40: Assault on the Fortresses (I)

The wind howls, the Yi River is cold—valiant warriors depart and never return!
Liu Yi had no idea how many treacherous mountains and ravines he had crossed, nor how many times he had escaped the pursuit of Arab scouts. All he knew was that along the way, all eleven riders who had traveled with him at the beginning had perished. From Talas to Kulan City, from Ashibulai City to Suiye Valley, he had narrowly escaped death nine times over. His warhorse was exhausted, and he lacked food and water— he had no idea how he managed to persevere.

Indeed, he experienced hallucinations along the way. Hundreds of thousands of Arab cavalry appeared before his eyes, mocking him and shouting at him. Following their direction, he saw rows of neatly arranged tower-like structures and solid walls. The Arabs seemed not to notice him, so he passed right by them.

Strangely, the stench grew stronger the closer he got. Around the spires and walls, he could even clearly see green flies flying. When he got even closer, he finally saw what materials were used to build the spires and walls— it was the heads and bodies of his comrades! They used the heads of his fallen comrades to build pagodas and their bodies to construct the city walls!

At such moments, he would wake up from his hallucinations, wipe the sweat from his forehead, take out a leather pouch from his waist, and carefully drip in a few drops of spring water to moisten his throat.

He couldn’t fall—Gao Shuai had placed great trust in him. He couldn’t disappoint Gao Shuai, absolutely not!

As his comrades fell one after another, he took their sleeping bags and food and tied them to his horse. When his warhorses collapsed, he killed them with his dagger, eating their flesh and drinking their blood!

He couldn’t fall—no matter what, he had to survive until he reached Suiye City!

Damn those Arabs! He would never let those Arabs succeed, never!

It took him about half a month, twenty days, or maybe a month to cover nearly seven hundred miles. When one warhorse died from exhaustion, he replaced it—with animals being more resilient to thirst and fatigue than humans. His comrades all died of illness while crossing the Wusubi Mountains; only he and Ah Hu survived.

The others are all dead, haha! The others are all dead!

He had pushed his horse to itslimit. Even an eight-hundred-mile rush couldn’t compare to this. Just this.

“Hehe, Ah Hu, don’t rush. We’re almost at Suiye City. Once we get there, I’ll let you rest properly. Keep going now—push harder!”

Whenever Ah Hu wanted to give up, Liu Yi would gently pat his mount’s head and whisper to it, and the horse would just nuzzle affectionately and lick his hand. But now, this reliable method suddenly failed—Ah Hu spat out white bubbles and refused to move an inch further. “Damn it! Move already, damn it!” Though very reluctant, Liu Yi, driven by anxiety, kicked Ah Hu’s abdomen hard. “Sssk!” Ah Hu let out a pained cry, fell to the ground in pain, spat out a string of white foam, and died suddenly. “Damn it! Get up, Ah Hu! Didn’t we agree to go back to Suiye together? Didn’t we say that?” Liu Yi held Ah Hu’s head tightly and rubbed his face against it desperately, hoping it would wake up. But it was all in vain—Ah Hu closed its eyes forever, having run to the very end of its life! There were still thirty li left; Suiye City was only thirty li away! From this mound, Liu Yi could already see the oasis in the distance and the gray dot at its center. Not far anymore. He couldn’t give up—he carried a heavy responsibility from Gao Shuai and must live to reach Suiye City and deliver this letter to the governor. He couldn’t… Liu Yi felt dizzy, and then everything before his eyes turned black… “He’s awake! He’s awake!” Ni Xin removed the headscarf from Liu Yi’s head and exclaimed excitedly, “Come and see! He’s awake, Doctor Sun!” “Ah, ah, I’m coming!” Doctor Sun hurried over with his medicine box, sat down beside the bed, and placed his hand on Liu Yi’s wrist. After feeling his pulse for a while, he said cheerfully, “Good news! This brave man is no longer in serious trouble.” Ni Xin asked skeptically, “Doctor Sun, are you sure? He’s been unconscious for three days.” “Ah, Miss Ni, in all these years of practicing medicine, I’ve never misdiagnosed. This brave man just hasn’t drunk water for a long time, so his body is dehydrated, and he’s also under great stress. With a few days of proper care, he’ll recover completely.” Doctor Sun stroked his beard and said, “How about this? I’ll prescribe a formula for him. You just need to have the servants prepare the medicine according to this recipe, three times a day. Within three days, this brave man will surely be healed.” “Thank you, Doctor Sun.” Ni Xin nodded and ordered the maid beside her, “Xiao Tao, go see Doctor Sun off quickly.” “Oh!”

Xiao Tao nodded and stepped forward to Sun the Physician: “Please come this way. This is the medical money given by my commander. Please keep it safe!”
“Ah, ah, medicine can’t cure illness. It’s all up to this brave man’s fate. I can’t accept it, really!”
Sun the Physician shook his head gently and left the room.
“Miss, where am I?”
Liu Yi felt intense headaches and waved at Ni Xin with a frown.
“Hey, don’t move. Sun the Physician said you need to rest more. Sit down first; we can talk slowly.”
Ni Xin quickly stepped forward and helped Liu Yi sit down. “This is the Suiye Palace, now temporarily used as the commander’s office.”
“I’m in Suiye?”
Liu Yi couldn’t believe his ears and kept asking.
Ni Xin found it amusing and repeated, “Yes, yes! You’re in Suiye, not only that but also in the palace. Are you relieved now? You need to rest properly.”
“I need to see Commander Li! I need to see Commander Li!”
Liu Yi suddenly became very agitated, got up abruptly, and fell off the bed.
“Hey, I told you not to move around. Why won’t you listen?”
Ni Xin used all her strength to help Liu Yi back onto the bed and persuaded him, “Are you looking for Commander Li Kuo of Shule?”
“That’s right! Do you know Commander Li? Please take me to meet him. Cough…”
“Pfft!”
Ni Xin couldn’t hold back her laughter. “In your current state, how can you even get out of bed? Fine, I’ll go call him to see you.”
“I, I couldn’t possibly accept that. It’s not proper. How can I ask the commander to see me? Cough…”
“Oh, you soldiers really are stubborn. I’ll decide this. Wait a moment; I’ll go call him.”
With that, Ni Xin nodded at Liu Yi and left.
I’m not dead! I’m not dead! Gao Shuai and the others will be saved! They’ll be saved!
At that moment, Liu Yi’s dry, cracked eyebrows slipped down his cheeks.
Which man doesn’t shed tears? It’s just that the time hasn’t come for emotion. What Liu Yi was shedding now were tears of a brave man, tears of a hero!