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Beneath the city wall, Fei Qian and his companions dared not even breathe loudly. They pressed themselves against the base of the wall, shrinking into the shadows.
Huang Cheng quickly flattened himself against the ground, crawling forward on his hands and knees for a couple of steps before hiding in the faint shadow beneath the opposite parapet. He remained completely still.
Human vision is somewhat similar to that of a frog—unless specially trained, people are far less alert to stationary objects and much more sensitive to moving ones.
Huang Cheng was dressed in dark blue clothing, so while part of him was exposed to the faint light, lying in the shadows made him difficult to spot unless someone looked carefully.
The patrolling soldier, swaying lazily, was clearly just going through the motions. After walking a few steps, he didn't even venture deep into the western section of the wall. Instead, he casually extended his torch forward for a brief look before swaying his way back.
Once the soldier had left, Huang Cheng hurriedly untied the rope from the spear and fastened it to the sturdier parapet. Huang Xu was the second to climb up, bringing the remaining two ropes with him…
With three ropes now in use, the climbing speed increased significantly. Before long, all members of the group, including Fei Qian, had scaled the inner city wall.
Fei Qian let out a soft exhale. Having reached this point, they had temporarily escaped the most immediate danger. Now, they could consider their next steps…
Thanks to Zheng Jian, who had already been short on manpower, additional soldiers had been pulled from the walls to search the city streets. As a result, the number of guards left on the outer walls had dwindled, and the inner walls were even more sparsely defended. Apart from a few wandering sentries patrolling lazily, soldiers were only stationed at key intersections and city gates.
On the inner side of the western wall was a ramp leading into the inner city, but two soldiers stood guard beneath a torch. To pass through, they would first have to eliminate those two—preferably without alerting anyone else…
Fei Qian pointed and asked Huang Cheng, "Shuye, can you take care of those two without raising an alarm?" If they continued lowering ropes from here, the process would be too slow. If the patrol returned, there was no way the entire group could hide as effectively as Huang Cheng had alone.
Thus, breaking through that passage was the faster option!
Fortunately, the streets below were still noisy, diverting most of the guards' attention.
Huang Cheng responded with only a nod. Without a word, he turned and took a bow from one of the men, testing its draw lightly. Then, he retrieved two arrows from another person and, crouching low, began creeping forward.
In their frantic escape, everyone had grabbed whatever weapons were at hand. As a result, Fei Qian's group was a motley crew—some carried swords, others spears, one had only a bow, another just arrows, and a few had nothing at all, either because they hadn't brought weapons or had lost them along the way.
Huang Cheng didn't nock both arrows at once. Instead, he held one on the string while gripping the second between his ring and little fingers.
Twang! Twang!
After releasing the first arrow, his fingers flicked and pulled, sending the second flying almost instantly. The two soft sounds of the bowstring blended into one.
Fei Qian watched as the two soldiers clutched their throats, arrows embedded deep. They couldn't even scream, only emitting faint hissing sounds before collapsing. Unconsciously, Fei Qian touched his own throat. If Huang Cheng claimed he was no match for Huang Zhong, just how terrifying must Huang Zhong's archery be?
The group swiftly crossed the western wall. Fei Qian ordered a couple of men to hide the dead soldiers. Though they would inevitably be discovered later, every moment of delay was valuable.
Compared to the clamor outside, the inner city was eerily silent, as if separated by an entirely different world.
Fei Qian had visited the inner city several times, so he was familiar with the layout. The western section mainly housed the public granary, while the eastern side contained the magistrate's office and clerks' quarters—nothing too complicated.
Standing outside the granary wall, Fei Qian hesitated. Though this had been part of the escape plan, now that the moment had arrived, he couldn't help but feel reluctant. After all, these were hard-earned supplies. Perhaps just one more shi of grain could mean the difference between life and death for someone fleeing Luoyang to Chang'an…
He remembered the granary's contents well. While not as vast as a major storehouse, the recent shipments from Luoyang had been substantial. And now…
Fei Qian touched the granary wall. If his memory served him right, just inside this section was a pile of dry hay—hauled out from the storeroom for the convenience of the Liang cavalry's horses.
With a quiet sigh, he called two men over, instructing them to stay behind. After giving his orders, he led the rest forward…
Soon after, the two men came running to catch up. Almost simultaneously, flames erupted from the granary, roaring into the sky!
"Fire! Fire!" Shouts rang out immediately, drawing the attention of the wall guards. Buckets were fetched, water was drawn, and soldiers rushed toward the granary to fight the blaze…
Seizing the chaos, Fei Qian and his group sprinted toward the eastern end of Hangu Pass's inner wall.
To Fei Qian's surprise, the eastern section—even the Watchtower and Rooster Crow Platform—was barely guarded!
He had expected a confrontation with the eastern defenders, planning to fight their way out before the enemy could react. Yet now, the eastern wall was practically deserted, its guards all gone to fight the fire!
What Fei Qian didn't know was that the two officers originally stationed at the Watchtower and Rooster Crow Platform—Officer Chen and Officer Li (a Liangzhou native)—were no longer present. Officer Chen had taken men to besiege the courier station, only to be killed by Huang Cheng. Officer Li had been imprisoned by Zheng Jian, who also recalled all Liangzhou soldiers from the eastern wall, confining them to the southern barracks under strict watch to prevent unrest.
Zheng Jian had assumed that by the next morning, reinforcements from the western army would fill the manpower gap. But this very decision had unwittingly left the eastern defenses at their weakest—just in time for Fei Qian's escape.