“What was that?” the soldier beside Wu Ying exclaimed. He released his grip on the wagon, stumbling to a halt only to be pushed forward by the passengers behind. Reminded of his task, the soldier found himself taking hold of the wagon and pushing with Wu Ying once more.
“I…”
Taking pity on Wu Ying as he hesitated, Lady Pan said, “Talisman arrows. Expensive to wrap each arrow with a talisman, but they’re extremely useful for war. If you want to set fire to siege weapons, it’s the easiest method—unless they’re by the walls. Then, of course, there’s oil. They’ll probably fire on the siege ladders soon.”
Wu Ying’s eyes widened, realizing that they too would likely come under fire when they got within range. Luckily, each of those talismans did not look powerful enough to destroy the covers themselves—just set them alight. Even so, the first wave had stalled, many of the soldiers abandoning their vehicles to escape a fiery death only to be targeted by the arrows of the defenders. More and more of the first wave fell, only a few groups managing to form protective shield walls and return fire now that they were within range.
“Are we still going in?” came the deep voice of Huang Zu from behind, highly disapproving of the idea.
None of the cultivators answered him, for the decision was out of their hands. The general and drums would tell them of their fate. In the silence that encompassed their small, cramped, and suddenly too fragile siege weapon, they rolled forward under the relentless beat of the drums.
***
A change in drum signal and a tapped warning had Wu Ying and the soldier apply the brakes. They stopped just outside of bow range and watched the on-going struggle before them. As expected, the moment the sky ladders had made their way halfway through the fields to the wall, they came under fire from the talisman arrows.
To Wu Ying’s surprise, the army had an answer to the talisman arrows. Around each of the siege weapons, a wall of sand and air kicked up as talismans that had been placed on the siege weapons activated. Each of the talismans lived briefly before they expired, releasing their stored energy into the wind and conjuring soil ahead of them, sending arrows targeted at the sky ladders swinging aside and falling away. The attack had the added benefit of throwing up a significant amount of dust and dirt, obscuring the view of the engines as they rolled forward. When Wu Ying managed to glimpse the battlefield again, he was surprised to note that brave soldiers were climbing the ladders, buckets of water in hand as they doused the fires that had managed to light up the ladders. Even as Wu Ying rejoiced at the successful tactic, another wave of arrows was fired.
“How much is this costing them?” he asked, mentally gauging the cost of each flight of arrows.
Lady Pan chuckled. “When it comes to battle at this level, it is more a matter of taels than skill. Whoever has more wins.”
Bai Hu added his own two coins. “It is a complete waste of resources. Each of those talismans is at least an hour’s worth of work by an apprentice. These enchantments are not particularly hard, but they shot a small Sect’s entire month’s production in a single volley. Only kingdoms can afford this kind of waste.” The disgust that filled Bai Hu’s voice made Wu Ying take a closer look at the man.
“Just be grateful we can afford to do it too,” Lady Pan said.
As Wu Ying watched the third volley of arrows land, to some minor result, he could only agree with Bai Hu. It really was a waste. Not only of resources, but of the bodies that littered the field. At least now that the majority of the fire was targeted at the siege ladders in an attempt to slow them, the individual soldiers who had disembarked from the first wave had been relieved of the pressure placed upon them. Having set up their positions and with shields in front of them, the crouching infantryman who once wielded the propped-up shields were digging into the dirt before the walls.
“What are they doing?” Wu Ying said.
“Digging trenches. It’ll give them better cover,” said the soldier beside Wu Ying. “The deeper they dig, the more places they create, the easier it will be for the next fight.”
“Next fight?”
“Yes. The ladders won’t make it. Not enough of them at least,” the soldier said, shaking his head.
“How many would be enough?”
“At least half. The general is being too impatient.”
“Isn’t that a dangerous thing to say?” Wu Ying said, cocking his head and looking at the soldier.
“It is. Why do you think I’m out here?” The soldier grinned wryly. “Too many opinions for someone who crawls in the dirt.”
Bai Hu laughed and clapped the soldier on his shoulder. “Good man. One should live free from the strictures and worries about the fools above us. If you survive this, find me and my sworn brothers. A man with such bravery should not consign himself to a life of following orders.”
The soldier let his gaze roam over Bai Hu and his brothers before he said slowly, “I don’t think your life is much better than mine. Going from war to war, being mercenaries. At least I know where my dinner is coming from here.”
Bai Hu glowered at the soldier before he laughed again. “Good man. Keep telling truth to the world. Maybe in the next life, your obstinance will pay off.”
The soldier shook his head, deciding not to answer. Adrenaline and fear could only make him open his mouth for that long. A few seconds later, the whispered message from those at the back of the assault cover, those who could see the flags, came. It was the same old message.
Advance.
“I thought this assault had failed?” Wu Ying said to the soldier.
“The assault covers and the sky ladders are too far forward to pull back. They need to be used. The general will continue the assault. Pulling back now will lose him face and the spent resources for little gain. Better to spend it all properly. And who knows, maybe we’ll pull off a miracle,” Lady Pan said wryly.
“Hun dan!” Bai Hu swore.
Chapter 15
Under the cover of the siege weapon, Wu Ying and his team moved forward. This time around, there was no reason to hold back, so they moved as quickly as they could. They still had a lot of ground to cover, and the siege ladders were nearly at the walls. The last push before the ladders met the walls would only happen when the cultivators were close. Otherwise, they risked the ladders being destroyed well before anyone could ascend. Still, the ladders were close enough to the walls that the trebuchets—which had been firing incessantly—were unable to adjust their angle to attack them. Now, the only risks the ladders faced were talisman arrows and the occasional pot of boiling oil.
As the cultivators pushed forward, the defenders targeted the assault covers. Even if they did not need to hold back too much, Wu Ying cautioned the soldier beside him to slow down a little.
“Why are we slowing down?” Bai Hu asked.
“We don’t want to let them know that cultivators are in here.” Wu Ying drew a deep breath and concentrated, letting his senses feel the auras of those around them. “Start suppressing your auras. All of you. You’re too strong!”
There were more than a few grumbles, but when Li Yao, the titular leader of the group as designated by the general, repeated Wu Ying’s assertion, they complied. As arrows fell like hail and the smell of spilled blood permeated the assault cover, along with the rank stench of fear, Wu Ying continued to sense the auras of his companions.
It was no surprise that most of them were bad at hiding their auras. Luckily, there was a significant distance to the walls. And even if they could not suppress their auras all the way, they didn’t need to. An assault cover with no occupants would be more suspicious than one which had a series of slightly-stronger-than-normal occupants. Still, Wu Ying was grateful that Elder Li had made him practice the aura suppression technique. It was highly useful and continually made its presence known.