Chapter 36: Waiting for Death

Under the military order, the soldiers were somewhat restless, but faced with the murderous aura radiating from Guan Lan, none dared to speak out. They quickly obeyed and split into two groups. Over thirty wounded soldiers remained behind, while the other one hundred and eighty, led by Liu Chou and Guan Lan, began their preparations and immediately set out on the return journey under the pretext of clearing the surrounding area.

They marched at a rapid pace the moment they left the outpost. After three full hours of continuous movement, the column took a wide detour into the mountain range. After a brief rest, they began to trek through the rugged terrain, carving out a new path. Liu Chou ordered Guan Lan to lead the main group while he and Jin Jing moved ahead of the formation, scouting for enemies and carefully reconnoitering the situation.

Liu Chou sensed a faint feeling of crisis in the air. As his perception sharpened, he discovered that he possessed a strange intuition regarding the unknown. The emergence of such a sense of crisis almost always heralded the presence of a formidable enemy ahead—it was accurate nine times out of ten.

Sure enough, Liu Chou soon encountered an enemy force. It was a unit of fat, ugly toad demons, each the size of a calf. The demon general among them had a protruding belly and a chest thrust forward, with a short blade slung across its warty waist. A thick, pungent demonic aura surged toward the heavens.

Liu Chou narrowed his eyes slightly. The overall strength of these toad demons exceeded the fifth rank of lesser demons. While none could defeat Liu Chou in single combat, a formation of this size was far more than the soldiers of Blackfire City could handle. It appeared the toad demons were not headed for Black Wind Pass, but were instead striking directly into human territory. Blackfire City lay near their route, though whether they would go out of their way to wipe it out remained to be seen. He memorized their direction of march, circled around them, and quickly hurried toward another location.

Over an hour later, Liu Chou returned to the column with a cold expression. He immediately adjusted the route, taking the lead himself and guiding the troops through the wilderness with frequent turns and detours. Guan Lan walked up to his side and asked in a grave tone, "Did you find something?"

Liu Chou’s voice was low and light, yet it reached Guan Lan’s ears with absolute clarity: "There are at least four demon armies ahead—Lu bees, Honey ants, Blister beetles, and Ox flies. They are all heading straight for the western frontier, roughly the same path as ours."

Guan Lan’s expression turned grim. Rugged mountain paths might be treacherous for humans, but for demons, it was not necessarily the case—let alone for these insect and fly monsters. If they were discovered and attacked in such a place, the entire company, including himself and his attendants, might not escape with their lives.

Guan Lan stole a glance at Liu Chou, whose face remained indifferent. He simply led the men through the wild, stopping, starting, turning, and circling to ensure they never crossed paths with the demons. Meanwhile, Jin Jing constantly scouted the surroundings, relaying the latest information back to them.

As the sky gradually brightened, the exhausted soldiers finally had a chance to rest. They collapsed into the grass along the road, snoring loudly. Thanks to the training Liu Chou had put them through over the previous period, these survivors were well-conditioned; otherwise, they would have long since collapsed by the wayside. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Chou slipped away once more to scout the surroundings.

An hour later, Liu Chou returned. After an hour of shared rest with the troops, they marched again. This pattern of long marches and short rests continued for two full days. At first, the soldiers could endure it, but by the second day, even Guan Lan began to struggle, forced to grit his teeth and push on.

Those who could not keep up began to drop out in small numbers. Later, some even began to sneak away, preferring the danger of roaming the wild among wolves and leopards to continuing the march. When Guan Lan discovered this, he hurried to consult Liu Chou, only to receive a very blunt reply:

"It is of no consequence. Next time we rest, you may tell them: those who do not wish to continue may remain where they are and wait for our return; those who wish to follow may do so."

"But if they encounter the demon tribes, they will likely not survive!" Guan Lan said, feeling somewhat distressed.

Liu Chou smiled faintly, his eyes deep and impassive as he looked at Guan Lan: "And what do you think my purpose was in bringing them along in the first place?"

Guan Lan was stunned, suddenly recalling the reason Liu Chou had insisted on bringing the soldiers. He realized with a jolt—had this been his plan all along?

They soon reached the next resting spot. Guan Lan relayed Liu Chou’s message, and as expected, several dozen men chose to stay behind. Guan Lan ordered them to build a camp and left them with a large amount of provisions, making it look as though they were setting up a supply base. When they set off again, only one hundred and thirty men remained. These were the elite who had weathered many battles or veterans familiar with the rules of war; all of them gritted their teeth and chose to follow Liu Chou and Guan Lan.

They expected the following days to be the same, but to their surprise, as the sun began to set, Liu Chou announced they would make camp. He informed them that there would be no more marching that night, and that they would rest completely, only continuing the following afternoon.

The soldiers were jubilant, instantly casting aside their dissatisfaction with Liu Chou from the day before and praising his benevolence. Once the men were settled, Guan Lan rushed to find Liu Chou and asked, "Why are we camping here? Is there no pursuit?"

"Correct. The pursuers are far behind. We have enough time to rest for a day and recover our strength." Liu Chou turned and pointed toward the distance. "If we march rapidly in this direction, we can reach Blackfire City in half a day, so there is no need to rush."

"But you said there were demons on roughly the same route as us. Aren't you worried they will catch up tonight?"

Liu Chou shook his head and spoke bluntly: "That was a lie to deceive you. While there are demons on this road, they are not actually on the same path as us, so you need not fret over that."

Guan Lan was shocked and blurted out, "Then why the forced march, causing so many to fall behind?"

"It is precisely because they are not on our path that I needed to force the pace. If they were truly on the same road, I might have been able to spare them that."

"Why is that?" Guan Lan didn't understand. He asked directly, "Was it your intention all along that these soldiers should fall behind?"

A trace of cruelty flickered in Liu Chou’s eyes as he smiled faintly: "Exactly! There are too few demons going to Blackfire City; I fear they wouldn't be able to take it. So, I must lure as many demons there as possible to ensure success. Without these straggling soldiers, where would I get the bait?"

Guan Lan was struck dumb by Liu Chou’s words. Only then did he truly understand the plan: Liu Chou intended to use the scattered, lagging soldiers as bait to lure the demon armies to follow their trail to Blackfire City, launch an assault, and then, by taking advantage of the chaos, eliminate the Secondary General and his cohorts.

To satisfy his own desires, he was willing to drag everyone in the city toward death. Such a scheme was not only vicious but also deeply calculated. Compared to him, Guan Lan felt like an infant in swaddling clothes. Both were high-ranking officers, yet the depth of their minds was like a chasm apart.

Liu Chou saw the shock in Guan Lan’s eyes and suddenly recalled the thrill of his past life, the joy of wiping out his enemies root and branch. This feeling still excited him in this life. The world was brutal; why must he be kind?

Human life was cheap; why cherish it?

Liu Chou felt not a shred of guilt. Since they were going to die anyway, what difference did it make if they died defending the pass or as part of his plan? It was all fate arranged by the heavens. Since that was the case, why categorize it? Why speak of karmic cycles and retribution? If the heavens made mistakes, must humans and demons bear the cost? What kind of logic was that?

Bah! It was all ghost stories made up by gods and buddhas. Being alive—that was the only truth!

After a day and a night, the troops were well-rested and finally began to march again. The pace was significantly slower this time. Liu Chou adjusted their speed based on the information provided by Jin Jing, keeping the demon armies about thirty miles behind them—not too far, not too close—using the lingering scent of the humans to lure them forward.

When they arrived at Blackfire City, the number of the one hundred and thirty men remained unchanged. They all returned to the city, but the ones leading them were not Liu Chou or Guan Lan. Instead, it was one of Guan Lan’s attendants, who formally reported to the Secondary General:

"The demon tribes are attacking! The two High Generals ordered me to lead the retreat while they remained behind to hold off the enemy. I fear they have already met their end. Please, Secondary General, prepare the defenses quickly! The demons will be here at any moment!"

Upon hearing this news, the Secondary General was terrified. The total strength in Blackfire City was only about two hundred men. Even with the hundred or so soldiers the attendant had brought back, they would not exceed three hundred and fifty. Even counting their twenty or so personal attendants, their strength was woefully insufficient to face the demon horde.

"How many demons are coming?" before the Secondary General could speak, another officer asked on his behalf, "Do you have a count?"

"The demon force trailing us was about two brigades, roughly a thousand strong. When I left, there were still over eight hundred. By the time they reach the outposts... there should be about seven hundred, or perhaps even fewer."

Hearing this, the Secondary General and the others breathed a sigh of relief. The walls of Blackfire City, though not particularly high, were sufficient to hold off a demon force of no more than a thousand. With their defensive equipment and the ability to recruit additional hands from the refugees in the city, they should be fine. The situation was much better than they had imagined.

However, to be safe, the Secondary General immediately sent out attendants to scout the true numbers of the demons so they could respond appropriately, while simultaneously mobilizing personnel to begin defensive preparations.

In the midst of this, the fate of Liu Chou and Guan Lan was intentionally or unintentionally overlooked. It wasn't that they were forgotten, but rather that there was no time to attend to it. Besides, since the two were still outside fighting the demons and their fates were unknown, there was no need to decide their fate in such haste. The Secondary General even casually folded the returned attendant into the ranks without further questioning.

However...

The attendants sent out by the Secondary General never returned. Two hours later, when the guards on the wall reported that the demons were arriving, the Secondary General climbed to the ramparts and looked out into the distance. His heart sank to the bottom of his chest. What appeared before them was not seven or eight hundred demons, but at least two thousand—four or five brigades—appearing from all four directions, surrounding Blackfire City completely.

The Secondary General was furious and panicked. He ordered his men to bring the attendant who had returned, only to be told that the man had vanished without a trace!

Looking back, the attendant's actions were indeed suspicious. How could one mistake two thousand demons for seven or eight hundred? That was practically the strength of an entire division! How could the attendant have been so wrong? Furthermore, if Liu Chou and Guan Lan were still fighting the demons outside, how could they have allowed him to lead a hundred soldiers back? This was a glaring flaw!

And then there was the matter of his own attendants, who had gone to scout and disappeared into thin air!

All of this seemed designed to bolster his confidence, to ensure they would remain safely in the city without any thought of fleeing!

A shadow gradually cast itself over the Secondary General’s heart. He clearly felt that in the darkness, a pair of eyes was staring fixedly at him, filled with murderous intent.