by Fred Yu
The last one collapsed with a short, high-pitched shriek, and Ming and Iron Spider were the only ones left standing in the room. Writhing corpses, some moaning and others releasing their final breaths, were littered around them.
Ming dropped her whip with a clang and inched her way to her fiancé’s trembling body, her wide eyes filled more with pity than sadness.
“Ming, we’re out of time,” Feng whispered. He climbed to his feet. “Zeng Xi is leading the invasion himself.”
Ming ignored him. She crouched down next to her fiancé and lifted him into her arms.
Feng turned directly to Iron Spider. The old woman shook her head and reached down to pick up a sword from the tiles. She stood over an unconscious man and stabbed him through the heart. He writhed once, then stiffened. She yanked her sword free and proceeded to the next survivor.
“Wait,” Feng said. “Don’t kill them. Leave a few survivors.”
Iron Spider turned to him with a scowl. “Why?”
“Why kill someone your enemy trusts?”
The old woman knit her brows together, her grim expression darker. She lowered her sword. “Why did you come here, Commander Mu? Didn’t the master already set you free?”
“Zeng Xi’s army is swarming up the front of the mountain,” Feng said, “and they’re climbing all three paths. They’re carrying siege ladders, so they already know about the two bridges. And they know you will destroy them to halt their advance. But they’re not surrounding the back ravines, and they didn’t bring catapults. So, they’re counting on catching you by surprise.”
“Zeng Xi’s army?” Iron Spider asked, turning to Ming.
“With at least two thousand pike men supported by archers,” Feng said. “The base of the mountain is surrounded by cavalry.”
Ming did not respond. Iron Spider released a long sigh and turned back to Feng. “The Venom Sect can defend itself.”
“You wish you can,” Feng said. “Not from thousands. You can hold his army for half an hour at best, but not much more. You can’t possibly fight thousands of well-trained soldiers. Where is your escape route?”
“There is none,” Iron Spider said.
“I didn’t expect you to have that kind of basic foresight.”
“We never run from our enemies, Commander Mu.”
“Then the only escape is down the back,” Feng said, ignoring her comment. “On the other side of the big waterfall. The Immortal Falls, as you call it. The water goes into a deep ravine, and it separates the front of the mountain from the back valleys. Zeng Xi’s men can’t cross the ravine. If your people can climb down from the other side of the falls, they’ll be able to escape. You’ll need some kind of climbing mechanism—maybe long ropes—and you can disappear back there.”
Feng paused. Ming was holding her fiancé in her arms and speaking to him in a low, angry voice. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips trembling when he spoke to her, and she was shaking her head.
“Ming can disappear back there,” Feng said in a whisper.
“Why did you come here, Commander Mu?” Iron Spider asked again, this time her voice sharp and stern.
Feng held his breath. “For Ming,” he finally blurted out. “And for you. I came to tell you that Zeng Xi expects to catch you by surprise. That’s your only weapon now. Give the appearance that you’ve been expecting him, and Zeng Xi will be the one caught by surprise. You can delay the invasion long enough for the women and children to get away.”
“There are no women and children here,” Iron Spider said, her voice gentler. “Only warriors.”
She glanced at the row of chairs on the other end of the room, at the elders still seated upright. Feng followed her gaze, and this time he saw them clearly. They were dead. Ming’s fiancé had managed to kill off all the elders in the Venom Sect. Only Iron Spider remained.
Perhaps he had planned to kill Ming during the mutiny. He would at least hand her to Zeng Xi. Or had he done all this to acquire the Red Crest for Zeng Xi?
A cold feeling crept into Feng’s belly. Perhaps Zeng Xi invaded Mount Oleander for the Red Crest, and he had put Ming in danger by coming here.
“Why is Zeng Xi invading with a full army?” Feng asked, his voice so low that he was almost talking to himself and yet hoping Ming’s fiancé could hear him and would answer him.
“He’s always wanted to kill the master. Now he has the power to do so,” Iron Spider responded. “The Tiger General’s army is now his.”
Feng held himself together. Perhaps she was right, and he was not the cause of this disaster.
It didn’t really make a difference at this point. They needed to mount a defense. They needed to show unity and leadership right away. “Where are the rest of your men?” he asked. “Where are the rest of his?”
“They’ve been imprisoned,” Iron Spider said. “Now that you’ve signaled an invasion, someone will let them out.” She glanced once at Ming’s fiancé. “Maybe some of his men will join.”
“Gather them quickly,” Feng said. “The most important thing is to go out and assure your people the mutiny is over. They must know no one will be blamed for it and that it’s time to unite against a common enemy. Forgive them, or your men won’t fight together.”
“I understand.”
“Don’t let them engage the enemy until everyone is ready. You still have some time. Zeng Xi is naturally suspicious and acts very carefully. He will stop to gather information if not a single soul comes forward to fight.”
“I’m listening.”
“He expects you to destroy the bridges and hold the main path at key points. But even if you concentrate your forces, you can’t hold thousands in full armor. You’ll have to retreat to the back of the mountain and descend halfway. Prepare your defense at mid-mountain. They will never expect it.”
“Mid-mountain? So, the soldiers will be above us?”
“They’ll be vulnerable to fire,” Feng said. “We’ve had a long dry season. We can burn the mountain and force them back.”
“Mount Oleander is rocky. We only have a few patches of dried grass here and there, so the fires won’t last.”
“You’re not listening, Iron Spider. You’ll need to gather wood, oil, anything that can burn quick so you can make your stand. If you can hold them off for half an hour, most of your men will be able to climb down the back. You’ll have to leave behind a few who are willing to die. They’ll stay and cut the ropes. Zeng Xi is not prepared for a drawn-out invasion, so he won’t even have ropes on hand. He expects to stroll in and capture everyone. By the time new ropes are brought up from the supply wagons, most of you will have scattered in the valleys.”
Outside, the sounds of rapid footsteps drew closer, and the voices of many emerged all at once. Those loyal to Ming must have been released, and they were gathering around the red mansion.
“Our men are here,” Iron Spider said, turning to leave.
“Destroy the two bridges right away,” Feng said. “Zeng Xi needs to know the mutiny failed, that you’re expecting him. But if no one is defending the mountain, he’ll suspect an ambush. He’ll take slow, careful steps. It’ll buy us more time.”
Ming’s fiancé choked, his body wracked by violent convulsions, and Ming wrapped her arms tighter around him. He tried to speak when dark blood spewed from his mouth, muffling his voice. Slowly he relaxed. He twitched once and faded away.
Ming lowered his body, a large tear rolling down her cheek. She placed him on the floor, folded his hands over his abdomen, and straightened him into a sleeping position. The pool of blood under his body continued to expand and saturate his robes.
“Master,” Iron Spider called.
“Zeng Xi caught us by surprise,” Ming said, her voice low and uneven. “The Venom Sect is being exterminated on my watch.”
“They’re not here yet,” Feng said. “We can still catch them by surprise.”
For a moment Ming was lost in deep thought. “We’ll do what Commander Mu suggested,”
she finally said. “We’ll hold them off so some of us can climb down the back.”
Iron Spider spun around to leave.
“The bushes are not dry enough,” Feng said. Iron Spider stopped.
“It’ll take too long to catch fire,” he continued. “You’ll need every bit of cooking oil and alcohol you can find. Wet the bushes with oil right away and use the alcohol at the very end. Scatter the firewood but keep the hay and kindling close to you. The fire must erupt all at once, or it will be useless. They have mobility. We don’t.”
Iron Spider nodded and leaped out the front door. The warriors of the Venom Sect gathered around their only remaining elder.
Feng turned. “Ming . . .”
“He was tired of being Second Master,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “He wanted to be the master.”
“How did he end up working for Zeng Xi?”
“I don’t know. But Zeng Xi is here for me.” Ming flinched at the thought. “And now so many will die because of me.”
“Would he have killed you to become master?” Feng asked.
Ming turned back to the body in front of her. “He wasn’t good enough.”
“But he wanted to . . .”
Ming squeezed her eyes shut. “He said I never loved him.”
“Is that true?”
Ming sighed, a heavy, painful sigh that screamed louder than the cries of dying men. She leaned away as if rapidly losing her connection with the body in front of her. “I didn’t hate him. At least not enough to kill him like that.”
“Ming, we have to go,” Feng said as he reached out to her, barely an inch, before withdrawing his hand. “You can lead your people down the back, and you can disappear in the valleys.”
Ming released a long exhale and climbed to her feet. She turned to Feng with a hurt yet longing gaze, as if the heavens had fallen over her and no one was there to save her.
“I could’ve been an ordinary girl, but my father became the Venom Sect master. Now I am a leader of so many. Why is it so hard to be an ordinary woman?”
“The ordinary woman doesn’t have it easy either,” Feng whispered.
Ming reached down to pick up her metal whip and headed for the door. “Would you rather be a Tiger General like your father or an ordinary man with a loving wife and a happy family?”
“The Tiger General protects the people so they can have loving wives and happy families. If the people are safe, he can also have the same.”
Ming smiled at him, her incredible beauty radiating in front him. “Hurry up and get to the back of the mountain. You climb like a woman. I’m going to have to hold them for two hours if you don’t move right away.”
Chapter 7
By the time Feng climbed to the peak of Mount Oleander, the front of the mountain was almost empty. The wind was light and blew toward the front of Oleander. The fire would carry at least for a short moment before the few patches of dried grass and bushes burned to cinders and died with a weak puff of smoke. Afterward only the smoke would stop Zeng Xi’s army from annihilating the few hundred Venom Sect members.
Feng turned back to the front of the mountain, watching the land below and pondering the speed of the invading troops. They had begun their initial climb. Zeng Xi knew the men traveling up the middle would be faster, and he wanted his entire invasion to arrive at the same time, so the saber-wielders with wooden shields, who formed the flank in the absence of light cavalry, would move ahead. The pike men would attack through the middle, a standard three-point approach.
Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Zeng Xi expected no resistance, so he didn’t bother to send the archers. They could shoot through the fire, which would impose a much greater threat. But the archers remained below to ambush the few who may escape. By the time they were summoned, the fires would have died, and the battle would be largely over.
Ming stood on a large boulder, waiting for him a short distance away. Her back was turned; she faced the valleys, observing the preparations below.
Feng scaled the rock to stand beside her. Below them, hundreds of men and women marched in perfect order. Warriors of the Venom Sect streamed in from every direction, some carrying caskets of oil, others large bundles of hay or branches strapped to their backs. Still others dragged large wooden boxes filled with firewood. Those carrying rope rushed to the edge of the cliff, where a group of men tied them together and threw the long rope over the steep drop as they joined each new piece to the original.
Standing in the middle with her back to the cliff was Iron Spider shouting her orders.
Feng stood in awe at the organization and mobility of so many. The Venom Sect, a petty criminal organization that worshipped snakes and practiced poison, now appeared as disciplined and coordinated as any military unit. He could not believe what he saw. Every man and woman moved in unison, dropping off their load and proceeding to their positions. Those not carrying weapons were ordered to stand in line behind the ropes.
Feng had heard of the Martial Society, a shadowy underworld of martial arts practitioners who congregated in various groups known as Houses. They lived within their own code of law and honor, delivering reward and punishment among themselves without the knowledge or involvement of the government. The Venom Sect was certainly considered part of the Martial Society. The government viewed them as a nuisance at best, and when the criminals did kill each other, it was considered an event of good fortune, like a good rain during planting season.
At this moment the Venom Sect was fighting for survival against an imperial army. But on another day, shouldn’t the government fear a group of people so powerful, so well trained, so organized?
Feng shook his head. He was saving this criminal sect, offering them a plan of escape when their annihilation would be good for the country. At the very least the magistrate’s executioners would have four hundred less criminals to behead.
For Ming, he told himself, shaking his head once again. He was doing it for the very leader of these vile criminals.
“Why only seven ropes?” he asked.
Ming’s focus remained on the operation below her. “We can’t defend more.”
The area designated for the showdown was narrow and deep, spanning a width that could be crossed in under forty steps. It covered a steep part of the valley and ended at the edge of a sheer cliff. The narrow area was squeezed between the Immortal Falls on the right and a barren surface of smooth rock on the left.
Iron Spider positioned her warriors below a narrow shelf twenty steps before the edge. Those waiting to climb the ropes would be in plain view of the enemy while those waiting in ambush were well hidden. If the enemy archers moved to the front when the fire erupted, the bulk of the sect could still be shot down.
“How many people are climbing the seven ropes?” Feng asked.
“The entire Venom Sect,” Ming replied. “Almost four hundred.”
“The ropes aren’t thick enough,” Feng said, alarmed. “They’ll break near the bottom.”
“We can send three at a time. They should be strong enough.”
“Then you’re all dead,” Feng said. “We can’t hold that army. The fire may stop their infantry, but not for long. As soon as the fires die down, the pike men will descend with their spears.”
“We’re going to have to surrender,” she said with a twisted smile.
“Most of them will die, Ming,” Feng said. “Zeng Xi doesn’t take prisoners. You’ll have to start climbing as soon as the fire’s ignited.”
Ming turned to him. “If your men were surrounded, Commander Mu, would you run, or would you hide?”
Feng stalled. His fists clenched. “Are you calling me a coward, Ming? You and your snake worshippers?”
“Answer me, Feng.”
He couldn’t speak, certain he would lose her today. She had no intention of escaping before her men could. “I would stand and fight,” he said, his voice weak, barely audible.
She took a step closer with a laugh, leaned over,
and whispered into his ear, “And you don’t even know how to stand and fight.”
“Are these lowlife poison users good enough for you to sacrifice yourself for?”
She turned around to descend.
Thoughts on how to delay Zeng Xi formed in his mind. He needed to hold them for at least another hour. After that, those fortunate enough to escape would have disappeared into the valleys, and those left behind would sever the ropes and fight to the end.
Feng watched Iron Spider position her warriors. The men who used throwing weapons stood two rows behind those wielding swords. Men with small bundles of hay crouched in front, waiting to throw their firebrands and ignite the back of Oleander as quickly as possible. Yet, there was something wrong with the narrow defense they had concocted. What if the enemy did not descend in a straight line? What if for fear of ambush, Zeng Xi routed his men to the side and flanked the Venom Sect from the left, where the smooth, barren surface of pure rock stood between Ming and thousands of pike men?
Zeng Xi must be given no time to ponder the terrain in the back of the mountain. He would have to be forced into the firetrap. They would have to delay him well before he arrived at the peak.
Iron Spider pointed at Feng, then at the valleys. Ming nodded and motioned for him to descend.
Feng shook his head. Ming frowned and ran up the hill. “The ropes are ready.”
“Congratulations.”
“You have to go. This is not your war.”
“More than half your people will die, Ming. There’s not enough time to hold back Zeng Xi’s army.”
“I know.” Ming leaned closer. “This is the end for me. I know I captured you for selfish reasons, but I released you after you saved me from the Zhuge Nu. Accept my apologies and go.”
“Don’t apologize, Ming. Let me try to hold Zeng Xi for one more hour.”
“How many can you kill before they run you over, Feng? Five? Six? You’re not a god. You’re only a privileged brat with lousy martial arts skills.”
“I’ll show you how it’s done,” Feng said, his nose held high. “You won’t lose face if a Tiger General’s son runs a better operation than you could.”