Chapter Eighty-Eight: Escort Defense Battle, Part Two

Driven by stubborn defiance, Scarred Wei and Huo Lang soon paid the price for ignoring Ding Li’s warning. When they saw the cavalry more than ten paces away suddenly tug the reins to swing the horses about, they immediately understood the enemy’s intent: to use mounted archery to repeatedly blanket the area with killing fire.

For Huo Lang, who had once been half a horse bandit, the tactic was nothing new. Horse bandits often used it when raiding caravans. And Scarred Wei, who had spent his boyhood in the escort trade and roamed the world for more than twenty years as a chief escort, knew the method just as well. He had guarded no fewer loads than Huo Lang had plundered caravans. The two men were filled with alarm and hurried to dodge aside, for as the front rank of cavalry wheeled around before them, the bows in the hands of their companions behind them had already been drawn to full stretch. Bright, keen arrowheads pointed straight at the spear bearers who were trying to block the charge.

The bowstrings snapped in rapid succession.

Without the slightest hesitation, more than ten cavalrymen loosed their strings, and cold, merciless arrows burst forth. The distance of more than ten paces vanished in an instant. Three spear bearers fell at once, and even Huo Lang, who had not managed to evade in time, had his left arm pierced by an arrow. At a moment of peril, Scarred Wei reached out to drag a companion back, but an arrow tore through his calf. Fortunately, neither man suffered a fatal wound.

The three spear bearers who had fallen nearby were not so fortunate. They had still possessed a faint chance at survival, but with another wave of mounted archery arriving, the three men, sprawling on the ground and struggling and crying out, became live targets. More than five feathered arrows were planted in each of them, and they fell silent on the spot.

After that flurry of attacks, all the cavalry turned their horses and rode back. Just as the people behind the barricade of wagons were secretly letting out a breath of relief, another crisp snap of a bowstring rang in their ears. The taut hemp rope in one escort’s hand, which had been restraining the middle-aged steward, suddenly slackened, and even he himself staggered back a step from the force. On the other side, his companion was yanked several paces forward by the rope in his hand; the instant he emerged from behind the wagon wall, he cried out in alarm, “He’s gotten away! That man’s escaped!”

With life hanging by a thread, the middle-aged steward exerted every ounce of his strength. Even after stumbling and falling to the ground, even though he had long since gone weak with terror amid the slaughter between the two sides, he now drove his own latent strength to its utmost. He paid no mind to his disgraceful state, scrambling forward with both hands and feet. Even an escort with great strength could not hold him back.

“Let go! Do you want to die?” Scarred Wei endured the pain in his calf and, with a grab, pulled back the companion who had stepped out and exposed himself completely to the enemy. He barked the words at him in a low voice, though his eyes also flashed with unwilling anger as he glared at the middle-aged steward on the ground. Dragging his wounded leg, he hauled his companion back at once.

“Damn it! We let that old bastard get away!” Huo Lang had seen everything clearly from the side and knew this was no fault of the two escorts. He could only curse savagely, when suddenly a sharper sound than before rang beside his ear.

The others looked up toward the sound and saw that Ding Li had somehow climbed onto the cargo crates on the wagon and was kneeling on one knee. The sound just now had come from the short crossbow in his hand. Ding Li casually tossed that crossbow behind him, letting it fall to the ground, then reached for another beside him and raised it level before his chest. His expression remained utterly calm, without the slightest ripple. As the retreating cavalry slowly moved, the crossbow’s point kept tracking the man at the rear of the formation, a commander whose target it never lost.

Yet as the cavalry withdrew swiftly into the distance, Ding Li’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, a look of disappointment gradually rising within them. He did not fire again. After a brief hesitation, he lowered the crossbow. Then his gaze fell upon the middle-aged steward who had just tried to flee. The man’s head hung carelessly to one side, and the red-and-white mixture on the ground had already blended with the dust. Still, beneath the sunlight, a short stretch of glittering steel could be seen: a crossbow bolt.

After jumping down from the wagon, Ding Li ignored the astonished looks around him, picked up the short crossbow from the ground, returned to the arrow box, and without a word, with a calm face, began reloading the bolts.

“Why didn’t you shoot just now?” Huo Lang was the first to react. Ignoring the feathered arrow still lodged in his left arm, he strode up to Ding Li and demanded angrily, as though Ding Li were more a helper who had let the enemy run rampant than a companion.

“I wasn’t certain of a kill,” Ding Li replied without lifting his head. He then fiddled with the short crossbow that had been fitted into the groove before looking up at Huo Lang. Nodding toward the arrow box and shaking the crossbow in his hand, he gave a brief explanation: “There are eight bolts left inside. Counting this one, we have ten in all. Each extra hit gives us one more chance to win. If you think that’s wrong, then you do it.”

As he spoke, Ding Li did not care about Huo Lang’s darkened face and truly held the crossbow out toward him. That immediately made Huo Lang feel awkward, after all, with his own men from Huo Family Ridge watching behind him. Yet Ding Li’s words were entirely correct and were meant for everyone’s sake. Still, Huo Lang felt Ding Li was being far too arrogant. For a moment he did not know what to do: taking it would feel wrong, and refusing it would feel even more uncomfortable.

“Hey! Brother Ding Li, what are you doing?” At this critical moment, Escort Leader Li Shan stepped forward to smooth things over. Smiling at Ding Li, then glancing at Huo Lang’s unsightly expression, he patted both men on the shoulders and explained with a laugh, “Second Master Huo simply didn’t understand your intention just now. Once you explain it this way, everyone understands. Brother, you’re absolutely right. We’re at a life-or-death juncture, and that one bolt you held back earlier may yet save us all.”

“Yes, yes, Escort Leader Li speaks the truth!” Miao Cuihua was also a person of no small standing among them, and at such a moment she naturally had to speak up. After agreeing with a smile, she quickly steered the discussion to the point, looking at Ding Li with worry and asking, “A-Li, what should we do next?”

“Hold. Keep holding at all costs,” Ding Li replied without hesitation. Seeing everyone’s astonishment, he gave a steady analysis in a low voice: “The ancients said: the first charge is full of spirit, the second begins to flag, the third is spent. The enemy’s first full-force assault still failed to break through. We were only caught off guard at the start because we had not yet seen through their tactics, and that is why a few brothers were wounded. This time, so long as we stay careful, defend first and counterattack second, they won’t be able to endure more than two rounds of what they just tried. Then they will surely press with a full assault. That will be the time for us to strike back.”

“If that’s the case, Brother, then what if the enemy just keeps wearing us down like this? Are we supposed to keep accompanying them until we wait to die?” Huo Lang was still resentful over what had happened moments before. He immediately shot back, staring at Ding Li with obvious dissatisfaction.

“Second Master Huo, do you see any supply troops among them? Or do you think they have an endless supply of feathered arrows?” Ding Li gave a faint smile, but the contempt at the corner of his mouth was unmistakable, and deep in his eyes there was even stronger disdain. That expression made Huo Lang feel stifled beyond measure, yet he had no answer to Ding Li’s question.

Indeed. Once the enemy had exhausted their arrows, all that remained was a direct assault.

At once, everyone silently gave Ding Li a thumbs-up in their hearts, and the admiration in their eyes deepened. Even Huo Lang’s subordinates could not help casting looks of respect toward Ding Li, leaving only Huo Lang himself standing there awkwardly and at a loss.

Fortunately, Ding Li had no wish to make things difficult for him. After a calm smile, he changed the subject, sweeping his gaze over the crowd as he assigned tasks in a low voice. “Brothers from the escort bureau, send three men to watch the enemy at all times. Any change at all, and report it immediately to everyone. The rest of you prepare to counterattack at any moment. Also, bring Miss Miao’s wagon over at once and block the gap. We no longer have a hostage, and that opening has become our fatal weakness.”

With that, Ding Li handed the assignments to Miao Cuihua and Li Shan, then turned to Huo Lang. After a slight pause, he added, “Brothers from Huo Family Ridge, remember this well: now is not the time to avenge our brothers. The most important thing is to stay alive. Later, scatter and take cover behind the wagons. No matter what happens, without orders, no one is to counterattack rashly, whoever it may be. Remember, we defend first and counterattack second. From now on, you are not only living for yourselves, but for all of us.”

Then Ding Li smiled faintly at Huo Lang and reminded him softly, “Second Master Huo, I also find it inconvenient to meddle with your brothers. The specifics should still be arranged by you.”

“Hmph. You only say that after finishing all the arrangements.” Huo Lang grumbled inwardly at once, though his expression eased considerably. After all, Ding Li’s added remark had given him enough face in front of his subordinates.

Everyone moved quickly. They were all trained people to begin with, and now that Ding Li had become the temporary chief commander, everyone’s purpose was aligned. Especially those from the Miao Escort Bureau: from the moment Ding Li first made a move, they had already been completely convinced, and the words he had just spoken only deepened their admiration. Even the men of Huo Family Ridge had begun, in their hearts, to lean toward following Ding Li’s command.

Only after surveying the scene did Ding Li’s gaze finally settle on the wagon drivers of the caravan. Just by looking at how they trembled uncontrollably all over, he knew they were certainly not in league with the people outside. After a moment’s thought, as the hoofbeats outside the wagon wall drew closer, Ding Li returned behind the barricade. Yet his eyes continued to study the drivers and the surroundings, gleaming with sharp light, as though he were considering something important.

The enemy’s mounted archery came once more. This round was unlike the probing attack before; learning from the previous exchange, the cavalry began firing in staggered volleys when they were about eighty paces from the wagon wall. But the people hidden behind the barricade did not even dare expose a strand of hair. At a range of fifty or sixty paces, the volleys merely filled the earth behind the wagons with arrows that trembled in the soil, causing no harm at all. Especially after the previously exposed gap had been blocked, the entire caravan became as solid as an iron barrel, almost impregnable.

As the whistling in their ears gradually faded, Ding Li suddenly rose behind the wagon wall, gripping the wagon before him with one hand and springing lightly upward. He landed on one knee atop the wagon roof, the short crossbow in his hand already aimed at a target, and he barked in a deep voice, “Five steps back, to the right, shoot!”

The words had barely fallen when Ding Li had already loosed his bolt. Then he reached behind his waist, drew out another short crossbow, and before the cavalryman at the rear of the formation who had just been struck could even fall from his horse, he pulled the trigger again. Another rider took a bolt in the back and toppled at once. At such close range, the crossbow bolts still had enough force to tear easily through the cavalrymen’s light armor.

The bowstrings snapped again and again.

Though the men of Huo Family Ridge and the Miao Escort Bureau did not answer Ding Li aloud, they nonetheless obeyed him without hesitation, moving at once. As bowstrings rang in rapid succession, more than twenty feathered arrows of varying craftsmanship shot up into the sky, flashing coldly in the sunlight as they arced toward the rear of the cavalry formation.

Because they only had a rough direction, the counterattack was not especially effective. Only five unlucky cavalrymen were knocked from their horses. One was struck squarely at the back of the neck by a stray arrow. Another was pierced from behind by a slender, exquisitely made armor-piercing bolt that went clean through his chest.

The remaining three were more unfortunate still. Their falls had nothing to do with direct hits; instead, their mounts were startled when stray arrows descending from the sky struck them, and the horses threw them one after another from their backs. Although the companions behind them hurriedly turned their horse heads aside and tried to evade, the three still could not escape the iron hooves of more than ten warhorses. Only one was lucky enough to survive, though his thigh was broken by a trampling blow and he fainted; the other two were reduced to pools of flesh and blood.