The battlefield of Bowangpo remained quiet…
Yet, beneath this tranquility, currents of danger surged.
To lure Xiahou Dun’s army into the ambush and annihilate them, countless incendiaries were hidden throughout the Bowangpo jungle… fire starters, tinder, flint, and oil jars were scattered everywhere.
On the orthodox path, Liu Bei waited. Zhao Yun, as the vanguard general, also waited. The latest news received yesterday indicated that they would encounter fire today and flee towards the southeastern jungle!
This seemed to be a hint from the military intelligence department.
As for how they would encounter fire, Zhao Yun remained bewildered… completely unaware of what was about to happen.
“Zilong…”
Liu Bei spoke to Zhao Yun. “You spent some time in Cao’s camp. In your opinion, will Xiahou Dun’s army enter this Bowangpo?”
Indeed… after half a day of waiting, the situation had not developed according to Zhuge Liang’s predictions.
Liu Bei felt a flicker of doubt…
“This…”
Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “This subordinate does not know. However… I have long heard that Xiahou Dun is a reckless man. But after so many years, he should have improved somewhat. Perhaps he is observing the entrance to Bowangpo, probing the Lord’s ambush. At this moment, both sides are engaged in a battle of attrition, not outright combat, waiting to see who will break first!”
Liu Bei nodded. “Zilong and I are of the same mind!”
Just then.
A scout quickly approached Liu Bei. “My Lord, my Lord… enemy attack, enemy attack!”
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei’s expression froze. Zhao Yun was also stunned, as were the main troops. They looked at each other, utterly bewildered!
Clearly, Xiahou Dun’s army was cavalry. If they had charged into the entrance of Bowangpo, the sound of their hooves echoing through the valleys would have been earth-shattering. How could it be so silent?
“But did Xiahou Dun send a small contingent into Bowangpo?” Liu Bei immediately asked. “If so, as the strategist instructed, we should let them pass to our side.”
As these words left his mouth…
To his surprise, the reporting scout stammered, “No… they… they are not attacking from the entrance of Bowangpo.”
“Then…”
“From the sky, they are coming from the sky!”
The moment these words were spoken…
Liu Bei was stunned, and everyone else exchanged bewildered glances!
“Yes, the sky, the sky…” the scout raised his head, filled with terror!
Liu Bei’s heart sank. He quickly looked up, but before he could even raise his head, he saw Bowangpo erupt in flames. The fire, starting from the areas of Anlin and Yushan, was spreading towards the center.
At the same time…
Liu Bei instinctively looked up and realized that the sky above was densely packed with countless enormous “spheres” drifting slowly. These colossal “spheres” seemed to generate fire. Wherever they went, explosions sounded first, followed by flames erupting… then, these flames spread everywhere, burning… burning rapidly…
The vast expanse of smoke and dust, along with the towering flames, almost instantly covered every location where Liu Bei’s ambush troops were positioned.
It should be known…
Bowangpo was already prepared with a large quantity of incendiary materials. These flames quickly spread to these materials, and combined with the countless trees in the jungle, the area became a natural inferno, spreading continuously with the wind.
The enormous spheres…
It was these “enormous spheres” from which soldiers of the Longxiao Battalion continuously retrieved “pots” and hurled them down. The pots had fuses. The soldiers in the vine baskets needed to use fire starters to ignite the fuses and then quickly throw them down.
Innumerable pots were dropped from the sky. There was no need to be precise about the landing spot. As long as they landed in the mountains and forests, each drop ignited a fierce conflagration.
It should be known…
These pots contained whale oil, a substance that burned extremely slowly and was unaffected by the environment. The fire oil merged with the vegetation of Bowangpo, creating endless flames like fiery dragons.
Liu Bei watched all of this with wide-eyed astonishment.
Cao’s army… Cao’s army truly descended from the sky.
What was more terrifying was that they did not even need to land. These spheres alone were enough… enough to incinerate the entire battlefield.
And bows, crossbows, and arrows… they couldn’t even reach them!
These flying spheres proudly hovered at the windward side, continuing to generate fire!
Countless soldiers were devoured by the fiery dragons!
However, more were not consumed by the fiery dragons but by the rolling smoke.
Once a person fell… falling into this smoke, they could never rise again. The thick smoke would envelop them, suffocating them to death.
“Escape!”
“Run!”
All of Liu Bei’s forces, whether the visible main army or the hidden troops, exploded into chaos.
Under the spread of the flames and the threat of death, they completely disregarded military discipline, trampling each other!
Every time they looked up…
They could see those flying spheres like the scythes of death, swiftly pursuing them. The dropped oil pots reignited the jungle flames again and again. Horses turned into “fiery” steeds, charging wildly, and men engulfed in flames wailed desperately for help!
“Ah…”
“Ah…”
The tragic screams swept across the entire battlefield of Bowangpo, like a funeral dirge played before the darkness.
Liu Bei and Zhao Yun had long since fled.
Liu Bei’s “Dilu” horse ignored the terrain, and Zhao Yun’s Zhaoye Yushi galloped like lightning. They retreated towards the southeast, as if the colossal spheres in the sky were not concerned with that direction!
However… while Liu Bei and Zhao Yun could escape, what about the soldiers ambushed in the woods and mountains… who could escape this spreading sea of fire in the valley!
At this moment…
Bowangpo had been officially renamed “Flaming Mountain!”
…
…
In Xinye City, almost everyone’s attention was focused on Bowangpo.
“Fire? How could we have fallen victim to Cao’s fire attack? Quick… quick, go reinforce my Lord! Quick…”
Zhuge Liang was completely unsettled…
The battle at Bowangpo had unfolded completely contrary to his expectations. Those who had been engulfed in flames were the ambushers…
He had essentially set up a trap for nothing!
A thick shadow of gloom fell upon Zhuge Liang’s forehead!
For the first time, he felt somewhat dejected and overwhelmed!
Meanwhile, above Xinye City, a hot air balloon emerged from the clouds and was slowly descending from the outskirts of Xinye City, near the Jing River…
At this time, no one would pay attention to this side!
“Lord Liu, we’ve reached Xinye?” Xu Chu, standing in the vine basket, rose and looked towards Bowangpo. “It seems the battle over there is quite fierce!”
“The battlefield is irrelevant to us,” Liu Ye stated calmly. “Our mission is to bring Lady Gan back.”
Upon hearing this…
Xu Chu stopped paying attention to the battle at Bowangpo. He climbed to another part of the vine basket and pointed to a pavilion. “The pavilion by the Jing River that we agreed upon, is that it?”
As soon as these words left his mouth, Xu Chu added, “The fire has been lit, that’s the signal, it’s right there!”
Liu Ye also noticed the flames. He reduced the valve on the fire pot, and the hot air balloon began to descend. As it slowly reached a certain altitude, the scene on the ground became vaguely discernible.
A horse, a bonfire, and beneath a conical hat and straw cape, a small-statured woman!
The hot air balloon descended further.
Liu Ye then instructed Xu Chu, “The White Horse Marquis specifically instructed that we do not need to ask too many questions. As long as we confirm the person’s identity and see that the woman’s skin is as fair as white jade, then pick her up directly! Take off immediately, do not delay!”
“Understood!” Xu Chu replied… Though he was burly, he was actually a nimble胖子 (pangzi - fat person).
Moreover, Cao Cao had specifically sent him this time… secrecy was secondary; the most important thing was to safely bring Lady Gan back. Xu Chu dared not be careless.
The hot air balloon descended rapidly.
Twenty Zhang, ten Zhang, five Zhang. Liu Ye expertly threw out an anchor. The anchor dragged on the ground, eventually hooking onto a rock. The anchor’s barbs also successfully lodged into the rock.
Then, with a “thump,” the hot air balloon landed smoothly.
Without a word, Xu Chu leaped out of the vine basket…
Lady Gan, who was outside the basket, intended to ask something…
But she was immediately grabbed by Xu Chu and tossed into the basket.
For Xu Chu, during his time in Xudu City, he had seen Lady Gan when she met secretly with Cao Cao. However, he couldn’t recall her clearly after so many years.
Nevertheless, the characteristic of skin as fair as beautiful jade was easy to remember.
Even without Liu Ye’s instructions, Xu Chu wouldn’t mistake the person.
Of course…
For Lady Gan, in the letter Zhao Yun had previously delivered on Cao Cao’s behalf, the promise of being rescued by someone riding on auspicious clouds!
And finally… finally… the outcome was this?
Where were the auspicious clouds?
It seemed she was snatched up like a hawk grabbing a chick, tossed into the basket, very roughly, very barbarically!
Immediately after…
Lady Gan’s heart sank. She realized… the vine basket began to slowly, slowly ascend…
The scenery on the ground grew smaller and smaller…
The wide Jing River also seemed to shrink into a tiny seam. This feeling was incredibly fantastical!
At the same time…
Lady Mi, who was guarding nearby, was desperately rubbing her eyes.
She seemed to have seen a sphere fall from the sky, a huge sphere, and then… then the sphere landed by the Jing River. This was too bizarre…
Lady Mi suspected she was dreaming, even… she suspected that chasing Lady Gan out was also part of the dream.
Hallucinations!
They must be hallucinations.
But stubbornly, after rubbing her eyes, she saw a person jump out of the large sphere. No, to be precise, a man more robust than an ox jumped out.
Then… he grabbed “Sister Gan” and threw her into the basket.
Who… who was he? Was Sister Gan waiting for him? This… this…
In an instant, countless ripples arose in Lady Mi’s heart. She even genuinely felt a sense of dread. When people face the unknown, they are always fearful and at a loss!
But after a brief moment of shock…
A gust of wind blew, and Lady Mi seemed to realize something. “Could it be that Sister Gan… is… is leaving?”
She stood up from the jungle in astonishment, only to suddenly discover a man about fifty years old still in the jungle.
The man was also surprised to see Lady Mi. He stood up abruptly, and across the slight breeze, they looked at each other with complex emotions. Immediately after, a sense of dread surged over them.
Lady Mi worried that she had stumbled upon something…
Would she… be silenced?
And this man in his fifties worried that since Lady Mi had seen this, it wouldn’t affect the plan, would it?
Lady Mi reacted and bolted, running without even bothering with her horse. She ran aimlessly, and the man was greatly startled. “Come back!”
Suddenly, a strong wind picked up.
The man chased Lady Mi frantically, along the Jing River…
It should be noted that usually there would be people around here, but during this extraordinary time, there wasn’t a single soul within a ten-mile radius.
Lady Mi fled to a stone cave, and the man pursued her.
“You… Uncle, you… what are you doing?”
Lady Mi couldn’t run anymore. Her back was pressed against the wall of the stone cave, and she was filled with terror.
Finally…
When the man approached, Lady Mi pulled out a dagger from somewhere and stabbed at the man in front of her. The man dodged to the side, and his arm was grazed, drawing blood…
After that, they struggled in the stone cave. It seemed the man did not know martial arts.
However, he was a man after all, with an absolute advantage in strength. As time went on, Lady Mi completely lost her strength. The man snatched the dagger from her hand and, without hesitation, plunged it into Lady Mi’s throat. Blood flowed profusely!
With one strike, fearing it wasn’t fatal, he added another blow, enduring the fear of killing for the first time!
At this moment, the man was drenched, covered in sweat and blood…
Gag…
Because he smelled the scent of blood… the man began to vomit violently.
Along with that… he gasped for breath.
His wet hair was disheveled.
Finally, he stood up, leaning on the floor. He walked out of the stone cave to drink some water by the Jing River, washing the bloodstains off his clothes.
He returned, still drenched, but he dared not stop!
He immediately dug a pit with the dagger!
He had to bury Lady Mi’s body in it. Only then… only then would the plan not be affected!
With a *whoosh*.
For a full two hours, he buried Lady Mi and piled large stones on top. Only after completing this did he exhale heavily.
He felt like he was suffocating during this process.
He emerged from the stone cave again, looking up. Deep wrinkles appeared on his face, which was etched with countless lines.
He narrowed his eyes, gazing at the sky.
— “Daughter, Father… Father can only do this much for you!”
A father who had never killed before…
For his daughter, he was even willing to stain his hands with blood!
…
…
In the sky, inside the vine basket of a hot air balloon.
“My heavens…”
Ma Yunlu was so astonished she couldn’t speak.
The fire that burned Bowangpo, won without a single soldier lost… was it incinerated into ashes?
Ma Yunlu’s eyes widened…
Incredible, the word “incredible” was written all over her forehead.
Terrifying…
These hot air balloons, this aerial fire attack, were simply terrifying.
Even…
Ma Yunlu, who had grown up in the military, began to fantasize… could it be understood that as long as there were these hot air balloons, as long as they could attack with fire from the sky, then the strategy of defending a city had become a joke.
As long as… as long as Lu Yu wished, he could at any time create beacon fires across the cities!
This was too frightening…
The Xiliang cavalry couldn’t stop it, nor could the various passes.
This was simply like divine soldiers descending from the heavens, like a sea of fire descending from the heavens. This was ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times more terrifying than the “divine weapons and armor” for which the Longxiao Battalion was famous!
This could now be called “indiscriminate” attack!
“We’ve… won already?”
Ma Yunlu murmured.
“Otherwise?” The craftsman piloting the hot air balloon sighed, “At first, I always envied the Longxiao Battalion knights galloping on their horses, wielding those divine weapons and armor, achieving great merits. Unfortunately, I didn’t practice martial arts, so I couldn’t be selected for the Longxiao Battalion, nor could I fight on the battlefield… and bring glory to my ancestors!”
“But this time, because of the hot air balloons, we craftsmen were selected through layers of scrutiny and joined the Longxiao Battalion as flying balloon soldiers. We even achieved great merits from air to ground this time, hahaha… this feeling is truly comfortable! I must check it when I get home, to see if my ancestors’ graves are emitting auspicious smoke.”
Wouldn’t it be comfortable?
Ma Yunlu gritted her teeth and bit her lip. Others achieved merit and fame by putting their lives on the line, but… these flying balloon soldiers achieved merit and fame so easily!
Air-to-ground…
This was simply a crushing victory!
Too… too terrifying!
“This White Horse Marquis? What kind of miraculous person is he?”
Ma Yunlu subconsciously uttered this sentence.
The flying balloon soldier’s face grew solemn. He smacked his lips, pondered for a moment, and said, “It seems you are new. In the past… I always felt the White Horse Marquis was aloof, at most capable of predicting fortunes and adept at psychological warfare! But since I heard that the blueprints for the hot air balloon were drawn by the White Horse Marquis, hehe, now… my opinion of the White Horse Marquis is…”
“What is it?”
Ma Yunlu quickly asked.
The flying balloon soldier replied without hesitation:
— “The White Horse Marquis! Truly a divine being!”
…
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Da Feng Novel Network