gnovel Chapter 92 The Battle of Yanxia Comes to an End
Chapter 92 The Battle of Yanxia Comes to an End
The sky was as dark as ink, and the wind howled incessantly.
The sand dune, as high as the city walls, was like a living thing, constantly expanding and growing. The distance between it and Gao Huaide, Fu Yun, and Fu Rong shrank from several feet to about ten feet, and then from about ten feet to several feet.
The edge of the sand dune was creeping closer inch by inch at a visible speed, like a beast extending its claws. Fu Rong closed her eyes, not daring to look any longer. Anyone could tell that once the sand dune pressed in, the three of them would surely suffocate to death.
A person eats dirt their whole life, and dirt eats a person once. There is great terror between life and death, and the feeling of being buried alive is absolutely unpleasant.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
The girl's clear and gentle voice reached Gao Huaide's ears.
"It can make the leaves fall in autumn and the flowers bloom in February. It can create a thousand-foot wave across the river and make ten thousand bamboo stalks bend."
Gao Huaide was unaware that the poem was titled "The Wind," and that the author, Li Qiao, came from the Li clan of Zhao County. He and his fellow townsman Su Weidao were known as "Su Li." During the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Li Qiao served as prime minister and was a very famous scholar.
Even if he knew, he would only mock: This wind is not that wind, it's a mad wind.
However, with Fu Yun's melodious chanting, Fu Rong's anxiety was indeed relieved, and she calmed down a little from her panic.
The two girls huddled together, giving each other courage to defy the tyranny of heaven and earth. Looking at their petite figures, Gao Huaide felt a strange, awe-inspiring sense of their inviolability.
Moreover, the storm's force does seem to have weakened?
The sand dunes in front of them had stopped expanding at some point. In the distance, the clatter of hooves could be heard, and shouts came from above the city walls—Fu Yanqing had received the report and, once the wind subsided, had sent men to search for and rescue them.
"I thank Brother Gao for your kindness in helping me."
Fu Yun clasped her hands together like a ring, raised them to forehead level, and bowed deeply in respect.
A beat too slow, Fu Rong imitated her sister's gesture of thanks, but as soon as she straightened up, she couldn't help but burst into tears: "Sister, Mother..."
"Don't cry, we'll go find it right now."
"Indeed, it's incredibly powerful. If we had this kind of wind when attacking a city, we could save the trouble of setting up ladders and building earthen mounds, and we could just climb the city walls directly."
Fu An was safe and sound. He brushed the sand off his body, looked up at the towering sand dunes of Qi City, and marveled at them.
After unleashing its fury, the storm, like a punctured pig's bladder, gradually weakened. The once towering, massive wall of sand had turned into settling, drifting dust, and the sky regained its brightness.
The sun is high in the sky.
What seemed like an endless, agonizing ordeal actually lasted less than half a day.
Lu Qian brought Gao Huailiang and Gao Huaide together, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Gao Huailiang was safe and sound.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Fu family's rescue force wanted to take the two young ladies back to report first, but Fu Yun firmly refused. The group then gathered together to search for Madam Fu and her party.
During the journey, Gao Huaide secretly asked, "If I jump into the Wuding River when a storm comes, will I be able to save my life?"
Having personally experienced the ferocity of the storm, he couldn't imagine any possibility that Madam Fu could survive, but he still held onto a sliver of hope.
Fu An poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "With such a fierce wind, the riverbed will be turned upside down. Even if you don't drown, you'll be hit by flying stones."
Gao Huaide cast a sympathetic glance at the Fu sisters, Fu Yun and Fu Rong, thinking to himself, "Won't they cry themselves to death later? Sigh."
Following the path they had taken, they soon found traces of Madam Fu.
The carriage was pressed against a huge sandstone rock, its carriage wedged between the rock and the ground. Several small carriages were surrounded by it, but they had been blown to pieces.
"It seems they intend to form a chariot formation, which might be sufficient to withstand ordinary sandstorms, but this level..."
Lu Qian did not continue speaking. Madam Fu's subordinates had done the best possible response at the time, but the natural disaster was too powerful and beyond human control.
The carriage was mostly buried in the sand. Rescue workers began digging. Fu Yun held her sister's hand tightly, and the two women felt their hands trembling slightly.
As the sand pile was dug away, the scene that was revealed stunned everyone.
The carcasses of mules and horses formed a circle, resembling a small fortress. That wasn't all; piled atop them were the horrified corpses of servants and maids, who had been killed before the sandstorm buried them.
Although this sandstone rock is large, it cannot shelter over a hundred people. Rather than letting them scatter, it's better to...
Putting aside emotions, it was undoubtedly a cold but correct decision, and Gao Huaide gasped. The Fu sisters were even more shocked and speechless when they saw their familiar maid being killed.
Digging further in, dozens of soldiers formed two semi-circles, the outer circle holding up shields to ward off the sandstorm, while the inner circle linked arms, holding the wheels and shafts to secure the carriage. As the cold, stiff corpses were unearthed, they still retained the posture and expression of the moment they were buried by the sand, their last moments.
They should have been impressed and praised for their loyalty, but the sight of sand filling their mouths, noses, and ears, and even overflowing from their eyes, was truly horrifying, and Gao Huaide didn't know what to say.
The last body unearthed was that of a general with one foot on the carriage shaft, drawing his sword and giving orders. Sand grains slid down from the folds of his armor, forming tiny streams of sand.
Heaven and earth are merciless, and life is so fragile, just like this sand dune that swallowed up hundreds of lives of the Fu family.
Gao Huaide didn't realize it at the time, but now, looking back, he felt a lingering fear: if it weren't for Fu An, he would most likely be keeping company with these corpses. This dried bird head, or rather, this nine-headed bird, has indeed managed to survive to this day; there's something special about it.
The remaining carriage, its original intricate patterns no longer discernible beneath the sand, was now obscured, but no one cared about that at the moment. There wasn't enough time to dig it all out, so the officer ordered the four pillars to be sawed off, and the roof was ripped off in one fell swoop.
Are the people inside the car alive or dead?
Fu Yun was pale, her nails digging deeply into her palms. Fu Rong threw herself into her sister's arms, burying her head and not daring to look at the outcome.
"Madam is safe and sound!"
A woman was trapped in the sand from the waist down, her chest rising and falling slightly. People worked together to dig her out.
Fu Yun quickly supported her weak mother, who had narrowly escaped death. The three women hugged each other tightly, and Fu Rong burst into tears.
Madam Fu recounted intermittently that she felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and then a massive sandstorm crashed down upon her. Fortunately, the carriage was sturdy and did not fall apart, and the sandstorm that blew in was not packed tightly, allowing her to escape the disaster.
On the one hand, Gao Huaide was relieved that Madam Fu had been saved, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the soldiers, servants and maids who had died.
Many lives were lost, all to save just one person. Was it really worth it?
……
After weathering a once-in-a-century storm, the next few days were filled with clear blue skies. However, Madam Fu ordered her daughters to stay inside the mansion, refusing to let them go out under any circumstances.
Strangely, Gao Huaide also stayed at home, seemingly busy with something.
"Won't the young master's temper change because of this fright?"
"Old Lu, you're overthinking it."
Fu An's expression was subtle: "The young master said he has gained some insights and wants to go into seclusion to practice his spear technique."
"this……"
Lu Qian, who knew nothing of martial arts, found it hard to believe, unaware that all martial arts techniques were created by humans. Gao Huaide, experiencing the great sandstorm, had a flash of inspiration and inadvertently embarked on this path.
At that time, a sandstorm swept in from all directions. If marksmanship had such power, how could the opponent have resisted?
It's no easy task to simulate the raging winds, the sandstorms that blot out the sun, and the chaos of nature with just a single spear.
He went into seclusion for five days.
Gao Huaide stood motionless, gun in hand, like a tiger poised to pounce.
The next moment, he flicked his wrist, sending out nine spear blossoms, almost simultaneously. They then wove together a silver light screen, making it impossible to discern where the spearheads were pointing, an overwhelming force that could not be resisted.
He laughed heartily, the light screen vanished instantly, and he stood up, leaning on his spear.
"Excellent! This technique could be named 'Unpredictable Sandstorm'!"
……
On the sixth day, Gao Xingzhou led his army back, bringing back Li Yiyin's head.
The powerful local tribes of Dijinze maintained a distant relationship with the Tuoba clan, remaining lukewarm towards Li Yiyin's overtures and refusing to make any promises of assistance.
Li Yiyin devised a plan, publicly displaying a portrait of his ancestor Tuoba Sizhong, who died fighting during the campaign against Huang Chao.
The kindness of their ancestors was inexhaustible, and the tribes, moved by their plea, wept and chose to submit. Li Yiyin once again gathered thousands of tents, numbering as many as ten thousand. (Note 1)
If given time to reorganize his troops, he would surely become a major threat to Xiazhou. However, Gao Xingzhou did not tolerate or indulge him. Two days later, at dawn, he led two thousand light cavalry to attack!
The cavalry charged into the valley with brazen force, torches in hand, and threw down and set ablaze any tents they encountered. The Dijinze Lake burst into flames, its azure waters appearing as if adorned with a ring of fiery red jewels, a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
Starting from the southeast, they launched a surprise attack all the way to the northwest corner. Li Yiyin was unable to escape over the mountains. After killing his wife and children, he committed suicide.
In this battle, 500 were beheaded, 1,400 tents were burned, and tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, and weapons were captured. Li Yiyin was beheaded, and the Dangxiang tribe of Dijinze was also severely damaged. (Note 2)
Among the captured relatives of Li Yiyin was a boy of similar age to Gao Huaide, named Li Yijing. His father was Li Renyan, the former defense commissioner of Yinzhou, who died in the chaos of war. (Note 3)
"The Li family has ruled Xia Prefecture for over fifty years, and their influence cannot be completely eradicated. This boy is just the right age; let's use him as a figurehead for now."
"Indeed, this also serves as a warning to Li Yimin, showing us that we don't only have him as an option. We must prevent him from becoming greedy and harboring designs on Xia Prefecture."
At this point, all branches of the Li clan in Xiazhou, except for the lineage of Li Yimin, were completely eradicated.
The remaining forces were divided into three groups, with Li Yimin and Tuoba Chongbin taking them to Sui and Yin prefectures respectively. The remaining forces in their home prefectures were not a threat and could be appeased for the time being under Li Yijing's name. Given time, they would surely be able to be completely controlled.
Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing jointly submitted a memorial to the imperial court:
Li Yiyin committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and the soldiers and civilians of Xiazhou unanimously elected ten-year-old Li Yijing as the heir to the Dingnan Army.
In addition, Li Yimin was recommended to be reinstated as the prefect of Suizhou, Tuoba Chongbin as the prefect of Yinzhou, and Yang Hongxin as the prefect of Linzhou.
Gao Junli was appointed Military Advisor of Zhangwu, and Liu Jingyan was appointed Deputy Military Governor of Zhangwu. The corresponding positions in the Dingnan Army were filled by Gao Huaiyuan and Fu Yansheng.
The dispute over Yanxia has come to an end.
Looking back on this period, Gao Huaide felt that the process was full of ups and downs and was very exciting—was this what it felt like to fight for supremacy? No wonder countless heroes and villains were willing to risk their lives to participate in it.
He couldn't help but feel a little hopeful: after the Dingnan Army was quelled, what would his father do next?
The Battle of Yanxia Completed