Volume One: The Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 80: Breaking the Siege

The events of that night remained etched in the memories of many. It was deep into the evening when the Jin army launched their assault. With only a little over ten thousand men left, they advanced in three columns, converging upon the city of Luo. Their elite forces had been utterly lost; even Duan Changfeng would not have dared to deploy his troops so boldly. The ruler of Wei hastily summoned reinforcements from distant garrisons to save Luo, but it was too late.

By all rights, the Jin army should have been starving, their morale broken, expending what little brilliance remained under Wang Chuan’s command. That was the consensus: the Jin soldiers drew ever closer, yet bore no siege engines—were they to batter the walls with their skulls? The commanding general had ordered his men to draw their bows, arrows nocked and targets sighted, watching as the enemy approached.

Boom...

Boom...

A thunderous roar erupted, sudden as a bolt from a clear sky. Flames and smoke surged from the city gate, stones and earth blasted into the air, a wave of heat rushing outward. Men and horses recoiled in fright; steeds scattered, wild with terror. The Jin cavalry, struggling to control their mounts, pressed forward under Wang Chuan’s orders.

“Heaven favors our army! Victory is ours—charge!”

Smoke billowed atop the gate, flames leapt high, arrows rained down like a storm. Flaming arrows whirled through the air, like swarms of fireflies. Thunder rumbled overhead, striking straight down and smashing open the formidable city gate, famed among the greatest fortresses of the realm.

The avenue before the gate seemed suddenly shrouded in mist, as if clouds had fallen from the heavens. Smoke welled from the ground, rising to drift in all directions. Heavy, rhythmic hoofbeats sounded—the arrival of countless cavalry, their cries of battle echoing everywhere.

“Exit through the east gate—harm no civilians, injure no innocents! Any who disobey will be executed without mercy!”

Messengers dashed to and fro, passing the order to each rider as they swept into the city.

“We’re done for—we’ve fallen into an ambush! The general says flee, quickly, flee...”

The thick fog obscured sight; smoke made it impossible to distinguish who was shouting. The voices trailed away, mingling with the chaos as men ran. The Wei troops soon dissolved into confusion, unable to fight the enemy, powerless even to resist. Someone fled first, others followed, and the numbers of deserters grew. The Jin army broke through, and departed at their leisure.

...

Crash...

The ruler of Wei smashed another array of vessels in fury. Wang Chuan had truly stormed the city—entered it, and left with a swagger. Earlier, after crossing the Clear River four times, he could have fled eastward straight back to Jin. Yet he chose to march north and attack Luo, solely to prove to the world that he, Wang Chuan, was capable of conquering it. And indeed, he succeeded. Impressive, wasn’t it? It was a slap in the face.

“Now the people are spreading rumors—the Crown Prince of Jin is the reincarnation of a sage, aided by divine powers! They question why we captured Jin soldiers, angering the gods and inviting heavenly retribution. Wang Chuan, a sage reborn, donated money and grain to the people of two provinces, yet we refused him passage!” The ruler of Wei sneered. “Such hypocrisy! No matter what he does, he champions justice, claiming virtue for himself so that all his actions appear justified.”

“Yes, I’ve never liked him for precisely this reason.”

“What’s done is done—Your Majesty should focus on countering the Jin army,” the minister advised. “Wang Chuan is never a threat; he has no ambition for grand conquest.”

Even if he is a hypocrite, he is unlike his father and those others. One ought not to confront a man like Wang Chuan. Even victory would come at a great cost. And now, there is no victory at all.