Chapter Three: The First Battle Against the Jin (Part One)

The five men descended the winding mountain path, the weight of their grim news pressing down on them like blocks of ice. The November wind, sharp with the biting chill of the mountain peaks, whipped against their faces like a blade, yet none of them had the heart to pull their collars tight.

In the village halfway down the slope, cooking smoke drifted upward through holes in the thatched roofs. The fields were filled with busy figures; men swung hoes to bank soil around their winter wheat. Frost clung to the young stalks, glistening white under the sun, and each strike of a hoe shattered the ice crust in the dirt. Some were burying bundles of straw into the earth, turning up the dark, rich soil, which, mixed with the scent of withered grass, looked as if they were tucking the land under a thick, warm quilt.

"That woman is weaving so fast!" Shi Meng pulled his horse to a halt, pointing toward the old locust tree at the village entrance. Beneath it, several women were busy with straw. Their fingers flew, weaving bamboo strips into the frames of baskets. Others were crafting straw mats, the rustle of straw ropes passing through reeds filling the air. The finished mats were stacked to the height of a man’s waist.

"Big brother, stop looking!" Shi Yong shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice cutting through the mountain wind more sharply than the breeze itself. "The Jin dogs have come south! Yanmen Pass has fallen! If you want to live, run for your lives!"

His shout brought all movement in the village to a halt. The men in the fields straightened their backs, hoes still resting on their shoulders, squinting toward them. The women stopped their work, the straw in their laps sliding to the ground.

"Young man, what are you saying?" An old man with a face full of wrinkles called out, leaning on his hoe, a smile on his lips as if he had heard some absurd joke.

"The Jin dogs are slaughtering people! I saw it with my own eyes yesterday!" Shi Yong slapped his saddle, his face flushed with frantic urgency. "On the Northeast Road, the corpses are piled like mountains!"

The moment he finished, the village entrance erupted into chaos. The men rushed over with their farming tools; some grabbed wood-chopping knives from the base of walls, the sheaths clattering against the stones. A lean man pulled a rusted long blade from his house, the edge catching a cold glint from the sun.

"I think you’re the ones here to rob us!" A burly man with a thick beard took two strides forward, slamming his pickaxe into the ground. "Bringing so many horses into the mountains in the middle of winter—if you aren't bandits, what are you?"

Before Shi Yong could argue, a head popped up over a western wall, a hunting bow drawn to its full length, the arrowhead aimed straight at them. "Move one more step closer, and I’ll pierce your throat!"

"It’s true! It’s the truth!" Shi Meng stomped his feet in desperation. "We’re here to warn you, the Jin dogs will be here any moment—"

"Get out!" the bearded man roared. "If you spout any more nonsense, we’ll make you our target practice!"

Li Xiao pulled on his reins, and his horse snorted. He looked at the villagers, then glanced at the bow on the wall.

"Let's go."

Shi Yong wanted to say more, but after a sharp look from Li Xiao, he spat on the ground in frustration and followed them down the mountain. As their hooves crunched on the gravel, the angry jeers of the villagers followed them, along with clods of earth thrown in their direction.

"Those blockheads!" Shi Yong cursed, looking back. "When the Jin dogs cut off their heads, we'll see if they believe it then!"

Further down, the mountain path widened. A quarter of an hour later, after rounding a bend, they came upon another village. At its entrance stood a barrier of rough-hewn logs, each as thick as a bowl, driven into the earth and entwined with thorny briars. Two men stood behind the barrier, gripping long spears with polished, gleaming tips.

As the five men approached, the rhythmic clatter of a wooden clapper echoed—a sound that struck like a hammer against the heart. A dozen men surged out from behind the barrier, some wielding wood-knives, others carrying sharpened wooden spears, eyes wide and fierce, as if facing wolves.

"The Jin dogs have come south! If you want to live, run!" Geng Gu shouted, his voice carried by the wind.

Someone behind the barrier spat. "Who are you trying to fool? Do you think we’re easy to bully? Get out!"

An arrow whistled through the air, grazing the ear of Geng Gu’s horse and embedding itself in a nearby tree, the fletching still vibrating violently.

"Go!" Li Xiao commanded, spurring his horse to skirt around the barrier.

As they traveled, the sun gradually dipped toward the west, and the five men had grown hoarse from shouting. Some villages simply barred their gates, refusing to respond to any calls; some village heads, after hearing the news, sent two young men to scout the north, yet offered no shelter to the messengers. By the time they reached Shiyao Gully, the village head was more hospitable, standing at the gate with cupped hands: "Good men, won't you come in for a bowl of hot soup to warm your bones?"

Geng Gu glanced into the village and saw several men eyeing their horses like hungry wolves. He replied coldly, "No, we have urgent business."

The village head’s smile stiffened, and before he could speak, the five men rode past. When Shi Meng looked back, he saw the village men gathering together, weapons in hand, and a chill settled in his heart.

"These people simply don't believe us," Geng Gu frowned. "Bandits and outlaws often haunt these mountains; it seems they’ve mistaken us for them."

Li Xiao said nothing, only gazing at the mountain hollow in the distance. The wind seemed to carry a different scent—not the raw smell of grass and wood, but something else… a charred, burning odor?

Just as he was thinking this, Shi Yong let out a startled cry, his voice cracking: "What is that?!"

Following his gaze toward the village at the foot of the mountain, they saw flames shooting into the sky, red as a burning sunset. The sound of screams drifted up on the wind, intermittent and haunting, making their chests tighten.

"Damn them!" Shi Yong slammed his hand against his horse’s back, drew his bow, and charged down. "Jin dogs! It’s the Jin dogs!"

"Shi Yong!" Li Xiao shouted, but the man was already far ahead. His brother, Shi Meng, cursed and turned his horse to follow. Li Xiao gritted his teeth, glancing at the fork in the road—a winding path that led to the rear of the village, where they could retreat into the mountains if things went wrong.

"Move!" he barked, spurring his horse to catch up.

The closer they got to the village, the thicker the stench of blood became. The barrier at the entrance lay on the ground, smashed into pieces, draped with rags and dark red blood. Bodies lay scattered in every direction—the old, the young. Fresh blood trickled into the crevices of the stone paving, freezing into dark, crimson shards of ice.

Ten Jin soldiers were rampaging through the village with curved sabers. The scales of their armor reflected the firelight, making their grins look particularly monstrous. A Jin soldier caught an elderly man who couldn't run; with a swing of his saber, a fountain of blood sprayed high into the air, and the old man fell without even a sound. A man in a sheepskin coat rushed the soldiers with a wood-chopping knife, the blade clanging against their iron armor. The Jin soldier didn't even dodge; he thrust his saber into the man’s stomach, turning the blade as it emerged from his back. The man hung on the blade, convulsing as his organs were shredded. The soldiers laughed, kicking a nearby child who struck a wall and fell silent.

Li Xiao crouched on the slope, dry grass brushing against his cheek with a cold dampness. He counted the moving shadows below, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Twelve."

"Four in the east, four in the village hunting the villagers, two keeping watch at the entrance—all in iron armor," the old servant Li Quanwu’s voice sounded like stones grinding together. He squinted, mud and ash embedded in the wrinkles of his face. "That armor is tightly stitched; our blades will have a hard time piercing it. We can't handle them with the weapons we have."

The old man was wavering, not out of cowardice, but because there was no chance of victory. There was no comparison between unarmored men and heavily plated soldiers. The blades and arrows of armored soldiers could easily pierce the flesh of the unarmored, while attacks from the unarmored would struggle to cause real damage unless they struck the gaps in the armor, such as the joints or the throat. A normal sword striking lamellar or scale armor would at best leave a dent, while a single strike from the armored could sever a limb.

Just then, a child’s wail rose from the west. Three small figures darted from behind a stack of wheat straw. The eldest girl dragged the youngest boy, falling and stumbling, their hemp trousers stained with black mud and blood.

The Jin soldier pursuing them was like a bear, the copper studs on his leather armor flickering red in the firelight. Though on foot, he moved with terrifying speed, his curved saber dragging on the ground with a harsh, rasping sound.

"You sons of bitches! Your Grandpa Shi is here, you Jin dogs!" A roar exploded from the slope as Shi Yong charged out on horseback, his bow drawn like a full moon. An arrow whistled through the air, striking the soldier’s back.

With a sharp *clang*, the arrow shaft vibrated, but it bounced off the iron armor and fell to the ground. The soldier spun around, eyes gleaming with malice beneath his pointed helmet, a beastly growl rumbling in his throat.

"Again!" Shi Yong’s eyes were bloodshot. He fired a rapid succession of arrows, the tips clattering against the soldier’s armor and showering sparks. The soldier flew into a rage, abandoning the children to pull his own bow from his back. An arrow whistled past Shi Yong’s ear, embedding itself in a nearby locust tree, its fletching quivering violently.

"Fool!" Li Xiao cursed from the slope.

The Jin soldier had been close to the straw pile; they could have circled around and found an opportunity for a sneak attack. Now, the Jin soldiers in the village had heard the commotion and were rushing toward the hitching posts. Two had already mounted their horses, clearly intending to hunt Shi Yong down.

A muffled thud echoed from the village entrance. One of the Jin soldiers was just turning to pursue when a heavy door-bar flew from the shadows, the thick, bowl-sized hardwood striking his chest and stomach with a whistle of wind. The soldier let out a howl; his iron armor buckled like a crushed tin box, and he collapsed, stiff and lifeless.

"Death wish!" Another Jin soldier reacted instantly, charging with his saber.

A man in a short jacket burst from the shadows, gripping a heavy bar. Seeing the soldier pounce, he swung the staff with such force that it whistled. The wind of the staff swept the ground, kicking up dust. The soldier’s curved saber struck the staff, numbing the man's hands, but before he could strike again, the staff had coiled around him, forcing him to retreat.

"Good!" Li Xiao’s eyes brightened.

The man’s staff struck specifically at the soldier’s joints—knees, wrists, neck. Though it couldn't pierce the iron armor, it left the soldier unable to move, forced to block with his saber. The armor clattered rhythmically under the staff, as if the soldier were bound. The staff whistled as it struck, swept, lifted, and poked, relentlessly driving the Jin soldier back.

"He’s a veteran!" Li Quanwu’s eyes lit up.

"Go!" Li Xiao mounted his horse, his knuckles white as he gripped his *pudao*. Li Quanwu grabbed two stones and charged down as well.

Seeing someone charging on horseback, the Jin soldier turned pale with fear. He tried to turn and run, but his legs were tangled by the staff, and he fell to his knees with a heavy *thud*. Li Xiao, using the momentum of his horse, brought his *pudao* down with the force of a thousand pounds, striking the back armor.

*Clang!*

In the deafening ring of metal, Li Xiao felt his hands tear; his *pudao* nearly flew from his grasp. His arm went numb, and his chest felt as if it had been crushed by a boulder. Looking at the soldier, the mail at his neck had been split, and blood was gushing out. As the soldier screamed and turned, the man in the short jacket seized the opportunity to smash his staff into the back of the soldier’s head. With a *crack*, the soldier slumped like a sack of wheat, eyes bulging, blood flowing from his seven orifices. The man wasn't finished; he swung the staff again and again, smashing the helmet until it buckled, blood and brains oozing from the gaps.

"Watch out!" Li Quanwu shouted.

The soldier struck down by the door-bar was struggling to rise, his helmet tilted to one side, revealing a bloodied face. The old man hurled a stone, which struck the soldier’s helmet. The soldier wavered and fell back. The old servant rushed over, picked up a jagged rock, and pressed it against the soldier’s head, smashing it down—once, twice... The helmet distorted, and red and white matter splattered over the old man’s hands.

Li Xiao looked at the mess of flesh, his stomach churning, yet he felt his blood burning. The numbness and pain from earlier seemed to vanish, and his hand on the *pudao* became even steadier.

"Good!" he whispered, a thrill of excitement weaving through the tremors of his first kill.

"Put them on!" the man in the short jacket pointed to the iron armor on the ground, grabbing the mangled helmet for himself. "This iron shell is tough!"

The lamellar armor, forged from refined iron, had every scale polished to a shine, with a layer of tanned animal hide lined inside. Li Xiao and Li Quanwu quickly stripped the armor from the Jin soldiers. The iron was still warm with body heat and heavy with the scent of blood; the scales chafed against their skin, but the moment they buckled the leather straps, a sense of stability washed over them.

As Li Xiao tied his chest plate, he heard shouts from the east of the village—six Jin soldiers were charging over, likely drawn by the commotion.

"This way!" The man in the short jacket grabbed Li Xiao and ran into a nearby alley. "Lead them in circles!" He roared toward the surrounding houses, "Anyone still alive, come out! Grab your weapons and kill the Tatars!"