Chapter 18: Divine Retribution (Part One)

Amidst the chaos, Lady Lu fell from her horse and crashed to the ground. A panicked warhorse charged straight at her, and it seemed inevitable that she would be trampled in her confusion. At that critical moment, a centurion darted out from the side and rescued her, pulling her clear of the horse’s thundering hooves.

“Who are you?” she asked, breathless.

“I am Huang Yue, centurion under Captain Gongyang. Lady Lu, do not be afraid. I will escort you to safety.”

That night, beside a crackling campfire, Wu Yueling sat on her mat, eating dry rations and drinking fiery spirits. She had never expected the Jingzhou army to fall so swiftly; it was entirely beyond her calculations. Though she felt some irritation, there was nothing to be done—the defeat was total, and it only confirmed her conviction that one could rely solely on oneself.

“Miss Yueling, I still think you should stay at the Gu family’s estate. Master Gu is actually quite a decent man,” Tian Qing suggested as he roasted a wild pheasant over the fire.

“I’ll think about it,” Wu Yueling replied. The little lynx, its arrow wound now healed, stretched lazily on her shoulder, then padded down her arm toward her wine gourd. It flicked its tiny tongue to taste the mouth of the gourd, but recoiled with a startled mewl, pawing at its tongue—the spirits were far too strong.

Laughing, Wu Yueling stroked its head, fetched another gourd filled with clear water, and poured a little into her palm for the lynx to lap up. Its rough tongue tickled her palm, sending shivers through her so that she couldn’t help but laugh, and in the end she scooped the lynx into her arms and let it drink more comfortably. When it finished, the lynx nuzzled her arm and gave a soft, obedient mew.

At that moment, hooves approached—it was Iron Pear Blossom, returned from her errand. She dismounted, settled by the fire, and promptly tore a leg from Tian Qing’s roasting pheasant before handing the rest back to him.

“What’s the situation?” Wu Yueling asked urgently.

Iron Pear Blossom took a bite of the leg and a swig from the wine gourd her father handed her. “It’s not good. The bandits have come out in force. The Jingzhou army was ambushed. Captain Gongyang is gravely wounded, and the troops are in full retreat. I fear there’s no hope of regrouping.”

“In that case, why not simply turn back? Miss Yueling, you can’t mean to press on alone?” Tian Qing cut in before she could reply, offering one drumstick to the chief escort, Ironhead, and a piece of breast to Wu Yueling. Then he turned to Ironhead and said, “What do you think, Chief?”

“I’d prefer to hear what Miss Yueling wants. After all, she’s the one who hired us. Our escort company never goes back on its word—when we take a job, we see it through. Unless, of course, Miss Yueling chooses to abandon the journey,” Ironhead replied, deftly passing the decision back to her.

Wu Yueling, chewing a piece of pheasant, stared into the fire as if in a trance, oblivious to Tian Qing’s words. In truth, she was reviewing her warehouse inventory, focusing especially on the mountain artillery. In her game, the Vanguard Cannon was the most powerful, capable of firing twelve consecutive shots for a sustained barrage.

Tian Qing noticed her absent gaze, waved the roasted pheasant before her eyes, but got no response. Iron Pear Blossom noticed as well and patted her on the shoulder.

“Ah—pardon me, I was deep in thought!” Wu Yueling said, returning from her mental screen and resuming her meal.

“You gave me a fright! I thought Black and White Impermanence had come to claim your soul,” Tian Qing said, eyes wide.

“Oh, please—don’t talk about ghosts out here in the wild,” Iron Pear Blossom complained, shivering in the night breeze. “You’ll scare something up and then what will you offer it?”

“Amazing—the Iron Maiden of Jingzhou is afraid of ghosts?” he teased.

“Come here, you! I’ll teach you a lesson!” she retorted, and chased after him around the fire.

Ironhead watched their antics with a smile and turned to Wu Yueling. “What’s your decision? There’s only the four of us. Attacking the Outlaws’ Fortress is impossible.”

“I don’t plan to attack. Since the Jingzhou army was unreliable, I’ll at least get a look at the fortress from the next ridge. I’d hate to have come all this way for nothing,” Wu Yueling replied, feeding a piece of meat to her lynx and tossing the bones into the flames.

“There’s sense in that. Still, the Jingzhou defeat came so suddenly. I suspect sabotage. And I’ve heard the bandits’ second-in-command is a shrewd man—he was once a captain himself, forced into outlawry by circumstance,” Ironhead mused, tossing his own chicken bone into the fire.

“Listening to you, Chief, the world is truly harsh. Good men don’t last, but villains thrive,” Wu Yueling sighed.

“Not necessarily. Heaven’s justice may be slow, but retribution always comes. I believe the heavens see all, and those bandits will reap their due.”

Wu Yueling smiled wryly. “You believe the heavens see all, Chief. I say heaven is blind. Good and evil depend on perspective—today I am the hero, tomorrow I may be a villain.” She picked up a branch and fed it to the fire. “Flames can bring warmth or destruction. People always waver between the two.”

“You see more clearly than most, Miss Yueling. In truth, none of us are purely good—all of us wear the mask of villain at times.”

“Indeed. We are all villains,” Wu Yueling echoed.

The little lynx mewed softly in agreement.

A day passed. In the grand and imposing governor’s residence of Jingzhou, an urgent report arrived.

“Report, Captain! The Jingzhou army has returned in utter defeat...”

“What?!” Governor Liu sprang from his seat, his face a mask of disbelief. After a moment’s anxious silence, he dismissed the messenger with a wave. “I... I understand. You may go.”

“Sir!”

When the hall had quieted, a man dressed as a bandit emerged from behind a screen.

Governor Liu turned to him, his worry gone, replaced by cold calculation. “Are you satisfied now, Second Chief? Quickly, return my son and daughter to Jingzhou!”

“Rest assured, Governor Liu—no, Captain Liu. Once I’m safely back at the Outlaws’ Fortress, I’ll return both your precious children unharmed. Not a hair on their heads will be touched!”

“You had better,” Governor Liu retorted, flinging his sleeves and storming out in anger.

Captain Gongyang, struck by a rolling log, had been gravely wounded. He was carried on a makeshift litter, blood seeping through the rough bandages. Half-conscious, he would jolt awake in terror, looking nothing like the proud officer he once was—now, he was but a shadow of his former self.

Upon their return, the battered Jingzhou soldiers were received by the townsfolk. Though the army’s rapid defeat was a bitter thing, the people did not hurl blame. Instead, pity was shown to the maimed and crippled soldiers, and many city physicians volunteered at the gates to treat the wounded.

Yet, Lady Lu was not among the survivors. No one realized that this loyal and steadfast woman had been abducted by Huang Yue and taken to the bandits’ lair, where she now suffered unspeakable humiliation.

As for Huang Yue, he was merely a minor leader under the second chief—a bandit in disguise, not a real centurion of the Jingzhou army. His infiltration was a ruse to capture Lady Lu, the very task assigned to him by the second chief.

A thousand miles away in Chang’an, the Sage Emperor Li Longji reveled in peace and prosperity, surrounded by music and dance. Within the city, Chao Heng bid farewell to Li Bai, setting out for Xiang County, where the local governor had discovered a silver mine. Chao Heng had been appointed Special Transport Commissioner, charged with overseeing the mining, crafting the silver into tribute, and sending it back to Chang’an for the emperor.