"Yes... how high is this... this.." Si Ning pointed to what seemed like a hill since it doesn’t have a label on it and with the shape, he could never guess wrong since topping BattleXmode was no joke but yet he was quite intrigued by the map which was made from fine clothing material. The woven pattern was amazing and looks authentic.
"It’s sloppy and almost smooth, up to forty feet." Chen An pointed out.
"The passage is narrow which means at least ten horses can pass through at once, to meet them will prove difficult, we will lose many men but this hill.. hmmm this should be good for an ambush." Si Ning's lips curled up at his cleverness. He mentally gave himself an award as he nodded."Su Heng?" Chen An called as he turned to the man next to him who seemed to be in deep thought and Si Ning could tell this Su Heng was the strategist.
"But General, no trees to cover us and we would be spotted at daylight since they will probably arrive at the pass before nightfall." Chen An explained. "The hills are quite smooth and will be difficult to climb." He pointed out.
"We do not need to start climbing at the base, the hill is stretched up here and we can begin climbing from here to the top and run across to wait but we will be visible in daylight." Su Heng pointed to a rough surface which would be the best for climbing.
"Have you ever heard of camouflage?" Si Ning announced.
"Camouflage?" Su Heng asked with a puzzled look.
"Yes Camouflage, We will use leaves. Joining them together to cover our armor as we lay low, flat at the top of the hill making sure from General Shen Yu and his troops’ vision will only see the leaves when they look up that if they look up eh eh eh." Si Ning couldn’t avoid laughing evily at his plan. "How I am looking at this pass, they would be cautious of traps so they won’t run ahead instead they will take their time to look around and it is up to us to lead them to do so." Si Ning nodded feeling proud.
"General!"
Si Ning turned to see the man called Ah Dai with a pale face, beaded sweat on his forehead, who had lost his arm dressed in armor, and a woman in robes with a bloodstained apron that seemed to be part of the medics behind him looking worried.
"Ah Dai...."
"Commander Ji Ran..." Ah Dai stopped Ji Ran. "I am General Si Ning shield, forgive me for letting an arrow hit you General but there won’t be a next time since I will be there protecting you." He saluted.
The plot was going crazy that Si Ning's eyes widen as he stared at the man who seemed to be slightly older than him, standing before him with a serious resolution. Si Ning had already concluded mentally that this was nothing but a show and he was the main character but seeing Ah Dai's arm gone was so confusing.
"Ah Dai." Si Ning approached him with a serious look.
"Yes General, I will protect you with my life." Ah Dai stated firmly.
All Ah Dai said was creeping Si Ning out but looking at the woman's ashen face and Ah Dai pale look means Ah Dai wasn’t in a good condition to even be moving around.
"Rest well and wait quietly in bed for us to return." Si Ning choked out as a feeling of uneasiness creep up his back.
"General.. I... I.. want to help please, even if my arm is gone I can still fight!" Ah Dai bowed.
"The only way you can help is to wait till your wound heal." Si Ning tried to be reasonable. This plot might be a test but he wasn’t about to fail it.
"General....."
"That’s enough Ah Dai, Stay at the camp!" Si Ning doesn’t know where his courageous voice came from or why he was able to mask his shaky hands but he wasn’t about to give up till he proves this was nothing but a show.
"Yes, General Si Ning." Ah Dai bowed before stepping out with the woman sticking close to him.
Si Ning walked back to the table. "Let’s continue." He took a deep breath trying to push all the negative thoughts away.
"So we will jump on them?" Ji Ran said. "On the troops from the side."
"Close enough, we first hit them with few arrows as we lay low since we have no time to set traps. Then we jump on them making sure to hit them hard." Si Ning's face began to fall as his plan seemed unrealistic and he had two hundred soldiers and their enemy had five hundred.
This was different from the game. Since it was some sort of a show. The filming crew would be around.
"It can work since the mountain is sloppy and they will never imagine us to climb it since there would be no sign of us climbing." Chen An added.
"Half of the troops will climb, the other half will march and face the troops head-on. That will be our three-way attack." Si Ning nodded. "We will show them it's a mistake to walk in our lair." He finally said a cool statement like a real Actor of a war movie.
"Forgive me, General, I didn’t consider General Shen Yu would chase us this far." Chen An apologized.
"Just make sure there won’t be a second time." Si Ning nodded.
"Yes and..." Su Heng stopped when they heard some ruckus outside.
They turned to the entrance and it was Chen An who first stepped out to see two soldiers holding a soldier who was on his knees. His lips were bloody.
"What is happening?" Si Ning asked.
"General we caught him sprinkling poison on our drinks and wanted to set our rations on fire." The soldier with a large scar across his face said.
The scar looked hideous but nothing cosmetic makeup couldn’t do.
"General forgive me. My sister is in their hands and they plan to sell her off."
This was finally time for Si Ning to shine and he stepped forward and bent to look at his face. He looked like he was beating up badly and it looked real but Si Ning ignored it and straightened up.
"You decided to jeopardize a whole army because of your sister." It was a tricky situation.
"General Si Ning please forgive me.." He begged as he cried. "Please do not take it out on my family."
"What should we do Chen An." Si Ning asked casually. He would not hesitate to push the problem on another person.
"We have to conclude our plan and we don’t have use for a spy, he should die here." Chen An replied calmly, his face cold.
"Yes, kill him." Si Ning ordered and before he blinks the soldier holding the spy down raised his sword and slit his throat cutting the head off.
Si Ning's eyes widen as the head rolled on the floor and blood gushed out from the severed neck. It was like a horror movie.
"General." Chen An called him.
"... Is he dead?" Si Ning asked foolishly.
"Forgive me General for acting so fast." The scared face soldier apologized.
That was it. This was reality!!!
"You, what happened to your face?" Si Ning asked slowly as he felt his mental stability crumbling. "It was a raid, seven years ago." The soldier replied firmly as he sheathed his bloody sword without wiping the blood off. His face was impassive like he wasn’t the one who just severed a man’s head. This was real. The head-on the floor was real, the thick stench of blood was real and this was no makeup or trick. Si Ning knew he would be nothing but a fool to deny it. He had truly transmigrated to another time and no amount of trick could cover up a severed head and he doesn’t need to touch the head to know it was real. "Set the plan into motion, take the men. Tell me when you are ready." Si Ning's eyes didn’t leave the head once as the scarred face soldier grabbed the head and carried it like it was just a thing while the other carried the body. Si Ning retreated to his tent. His legs shaking and he was even surprised his voi
Si Ning and Chen An were riding on horses. The foot soldiers running behind them and were able to keep up till they reached the pass. It was just as Chen An described. To avoid collision only ten horses would be able to pass through at a time.Some foot soldiers starting working fast setting up the wooden spiky barriers and it was astonishing how fast and well they work.The atmosphere was stiff and anyone could tell a big showdown was about to happen. Looking towards the sun, Si Ning could tell it was almost dusk and Shen Yu’s army would arrive soon.Si Ning took a deep breath watching for any movement at the top of the hill and it didn’t take long for him to see the half of his troops with the leaves running at the top of the hills, on each side. Su Heng leading the right side while Ji Ran leads the left side. They started setting out by lying flat on top of the hill using the leaves as a shield and Si Ning couldn’t even spot the arrows pointed at the pass. So
Si Ning spotted the man that yelled at the top of his voice, with a deep commanding voice and no one had to tell Si Ning it was General Shen Yu who was out for his head. With his shiny silver armor drawing out his sword swiftly and pointing it towards his direction, his beards straight and white.At times like this Si Ning knew he was supposed to reply just like how he had seen the Generals do in most dramas but he was not ready to let his voice turn hoarse by yelling since their distance was quite far. Keeping quiet would agitate Shen Yu and make him reckless which would be a good sign for Chen An to quickly take him out."Si Ning..... You die today!!!" Shen Yu yelled.Si Ning wondered if the man had a few screws loose since he acted like Si Ning didn’t hear him at first so he had to repeat his statement."I say! Si Ning... you die today!!!" Shen Yu pointed at him.Si Ning resisted the urge to roll his eyes and he could almost imagine a tint of a
Their swords clashed and Si Ning could tell Shen Yu was a skilled warrior. He watched as Shen Yu got the upper hand and move to strike at Chen An’s shoulder but Chen An was quick to somersault backward. Jumping down from his horse and slashed the hind leg of Shen Yu’s horse which made the horse to lose balance and Shen Yu rolled to the ground. Before Chen An could jump and slash Shen Yu to prevent him from standing up to regain his balance, Shen Yu met his sword before he could inflict any damage. For how heavy their swords clashed Si Ning could tell it was a battle of power and stability. This wasn’t something he could handle. He doubts he had the power to even meet Shen Yu’s sword without him losing his balance. "Si Ning!!! Fight me!!!!" Shen Yu yelled as he overpowered Chen An, his sword pushing at Chen An’s sword giving him space to extend his leg, and kicked Chen An on the stomach. Hell no. "Hell no." Si Ning had to voice his thought out as he wa
Si Ning was glad they were done with the tying when Shen Yu woke up to glare at him. "You know the way you call me, people might think we are long lost, lovers." He couldn’t help but comment as he stood above Shen Yu. Staring down at him, Si Ning could see the man was quite old, at least in his fifties and because his son died he made a terrible choice by leading his army blindly. Si Ning concluded that Shen Yu must have loved his son dearly. "Si Ning!!!" Shen Yu said between gritted teeth. This was another era. He was a General and would act as a General. "When did the occurrence of his son losing his life again?" Si Ning asked nonchalantly. "Si Ning!!!!" Shen Yu growled, his eyes glaring daggers at Si Ning's nonchalant attitude. "The last time we fought along the river five days ago." Chen An replied as Ji Ran started bandaging his bleeding arm. Five days ago... Does that mean he transmigrated to t
"What is this!!!" Si Ning yelled staring daggers at the water they didn’t change. Did they think filtering the water won’t make him notice? It’s been three days and he’d been trying not to complain about the little water they would bring for him to take a bath every morning but filtering the water he used previously was nothing but inhumane and as the General, he would not tolerate it. The least he could do in this world that refused to fade was to enjoy it. Soaking in a half-filled tub was getting on his nerves and he always choked down his complaint but seeing the filtered water was the height of his endurance. Chen An rushed in to see Si Ning beside the bathtub staring at it like it was an abomination. "General, what’s wrong?" Si Ning took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves before he jumps on Chen An to chew his head off. "This water is what is wrong, why isn’t it changed. This is the water I used to take my bath yesterday." He complained turn
Looking at the tea set brought by Ah Dai made Si Ning smiled. It was the first clean fine white ceramic tea set he would lay his eyes on in this world and to make things better Ah Dai set up a plate of snacks. "Young master I hope you like it, Ah Dai made it personally." Ah Dai poured him a cup of tea acting like he didn’t just lost his arm. "These herbs when added to the water to bath, will help soothing Young Master’s body." He said bringing out a small pouch to show Si Ning. The floral scent of the tea made Si Ning quickly took a sip and the bittersweet taste left on his tongue made him nodded in approver. Ah Dai proceeded to clean out his bathtub, this time Si Ning didn’t stop him. Instead, he decided neither to question Ah Dai’s miraculous change from a determined man eager to lay his life down for him to a polite docile servant. Si Ning closed the classic book he had been reading to take his mind off being annoyed by the absence of the internet and his
This wasn’t how Si Ning planned his night, he was supposed to have a long nice bath in the bath Ah Dai prepared for him and put on his sleeping robes, take a long nice sleep on the bed Ah Dai managed to spread a thick blanket on that made the bed a little decent making the body pains Si Ning do wake up to a little less but instead he had been reading reports and making the necessary arrangement for their journey back home. Just after Xiu TianZhao left to rest in his own tent and Si Ning’s bathtub was filled up with water. Chen An brought a lot of paperwork for him to go through, from the numbers of soldiers categorized into the ones who had few injuries that could ride a horse, to the ones who had heavy injuries that would have to ride in a cart. From those that had to sit to those that had to lie down in the cart adding them to the number of Xilie soldiers to the amount of the rations they had left, it was a lot of maths for Si Ning that he could almost see steam coming out