This was a relatively small military camp; the number of tents was easily discernible. Fang Jie entered at the rear of the camp. About three li in front of the camp lay the earthen city designated as the battlefield. This camp belonged to one of the three most sought-after young talents from the Martial Arts Academy, though it was unclear which team they belonged to.
Because he was at the very back of the camp, Fang Jie was fortunate to have only two soldiers guarding the small gate.
Unfortunately, the moment he entered, a sword was held to his neck.
"Who are you!"
The soldier holding the sword asked coldly. Fang Jie could feel the soldier's icy gaze fixed on his neck—not his face, but his neck. He was a former border soldier of the Sui Dynasty and knew the Sui military laws thoroughly. He knew that in this situation, any unusual movement from him would surely result in the soldier cutting him down without hesitation.
Under the military law of the Sui Dynasty, anyone who trespassed into a military camp could be executed without even needing permission from the commander-in-chief.
Years ago, the son of a high-ranking official, a second-rank minister, out of curiosity about the city's garrison, led a few servants to scale the wall. They were immediately discovered by patrolling soldiers, who loudly ordered them to kneel.
Not all aristocratic sons were shrewd or calculating; some were simply incompetent. Unfortunately, the minister's son was one of them.
Even his father didn't have the authority to make him kneel.
So he launched into a tirade, hoping to intimidate the patrolling soldiers. However, after they shouted for him to kneel three times, a volley of arrows rained down without hesitation. Four or five people, including the son, were riddled with arrows.
The incident caused a great stir in Chang'an at the time, with everyone talking about it. According to Fang Jie's understanding, this matter wouldn't seem to warrant much attention on the surface. The soldiers who shot the young master would likely disappear from public view quickly. Such incidents were usually handled discreetly, never openly. Perhaps publicly, the powerful would offer some consolation to the Minister and a few insincere criticisms.
Indulging one's own child was a serious offense of poor upbringing. Going deeper, it could even be considered a violation of the Sui Dynasty's military law.
But in secret, the powerful would inevitably kill a few to appease the Minister. After all, compared to a second-rank Minister, the deaths of a few lowly soldiers were insignificant.
In reality, things weren't as Fang Jie imagined. Because Fang Jie carried the ingrained thinking from his previous life, he easily assumed a darker interpretation.
This was the Sui Dynasty, not Fang Jie's past life.
The Minister, grieving the loss of his son, first submitted a memorial of apology to the Emperor. Then he removed his official hat and secluded himself to reflect on his actions. The Emperor issued a nationwide edict severely reprimanding him, offering only a few words of comfort at the end. The soldiers who had committed the murder received no punishment whatsoever.
Although none of them were promoted, and even after six or seven years, none of them had risen to the rank of even a low-ranking officer like a squad leader.
As for what comfort the Emperor had offered the Minister, no one cared anymore.
Therefore, Fang Jie's current crisis was how to use the fewest words possible to stop the soldier's murderous intent. His earlier statement that he was delivering food had only made the man's knife pause for a few seconds.
"Actually, I'm a spy."
He uttered six words.
The soldier holding the knife hesitated for a moment, then glanced back at his companion.
"Take him to General Luo!"
The other soldier made the decision almost without hesitation, which relieved Fang Jie slightly. His next task was to devise a perfect excuse to escape before meeting General Luo. He was currently without Big Dog and Mu Xiaoyao, and his right arm was missing.
He only had a rusty, broken knife… no, even that had been confiscated.
Following the soldier, Fang Jie's mind raced. He didn't have time to consider who he had offended to find himself in this predicament. His priority was to find a way to escape as quickly as possible, at least… to get out of here alive.
"Are you sent by Li Fubo or Yu Xiao?"
The soldier asked coldly after taking a few steps.
Fang Jie's mind immediately lit up.
"I'll tell General Luo when I see him."
He puffed out his chest, his expression quite arrogant.
The soldier sized Fang Jie up and sneered, "You're quite the actor. If you had any backbone, would you have immediately confessed to being a spy? And... was the person who sent you drunk? Why did they choose someone like you... a cripple?"
Fang Jie paused, instinctively glancing at his arm.
He looked up at the soldier and said seriously, "The reason I immediately confessed is because I had no hope of gathering any intelligence. Since I was discovered as soon as I entered your camp, it's better to just admit it directly than to keep hiding. Punish me or beat me as you see fit. As for why I didn't tell you who sent me, it's because you're not qualified to hear."
This answer was arrogant, even infuriating.
But the soldier leading the way wasn't angry. He actually smiled and said, "We're all soldiers selected by the Right Guard. Today we're just serving our respective masters. Who would really beat or punish you? Failure is failure. At worst, we'll lock you up and release you afterward."
Right Guard.
Fang Jie memorized the keyword and quickly reviewed the information he had specifically inquired about regarding the Six Armies of the Sui Dynasty Emperor.
The Right Yu Guard General was Xu Xiaogong, and the Right Yu Guard General was Xie Ran.
"What happened to your arm?"
The soldier couldn't help but ask curiously.
Fang Jie was silent for a moment before saying seriously, "After receiving orders, I sneaked out of our camp, but the people in my own camp mistook me for a deserter. In my haste to escape, I fell while climbing over the wall and just grabbed a branch and tore off a piece of clothing to tie it up."
"You're really unlucky!"
The soldier couldn't help but sigh, "And also clumsy!"
...
...
Although the three young masters participating in today's competition didn't yet hold official military ranks, it wasn't inappropriate for the soldiers to call them generals. Regardless of who won, after leaving the martial arts academy, all three of them would at least have the rank of a fifth-grade lieutenant general.
When Fang Jie first saw Luo Wen, known as General Luo, his impression was that this was a man who never smiled and didn't understand what was funny.
Cold.
Ice-cold.
Dressed in a black, close-fitting outfit, but without armor, Luo Wen sat in a chair and indifferently glanced at Fang Jie, who had been brought in. This indifference could also be interpreted as superiority. A single glance was enough to declare a barrier and distance between you and him, a distance that suggests you are from completely different worlds.
He wasn't tall or burly, of medium build. Around 1.75 meters, neither fat nor thin, with perfect proportions. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs.
Undeniably, he was a very handsome man.
Sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes.
Sharp features, expressionless face. His eyes were large, his nose high, and his beard neatly shaved, giving him a clean and tidy appearance.
He merely glanced indifferently at Fang Jie before turning his gaze back to the map on the table. It was a map of Tu City, marked in great detail. He held a charcoal pencil in his hand, the map already crisscrossed with lines. Although still some distance away, Fang Jie could tell that each line represented a rejection of his attack route.
"Take him away. Let him go back on his own after this is over," Luo Wen ordered calmly, without even glancing at Fang Jie again.
Several soldiers at the door immediately came over to tie Fang Jie up.
"Don't tie him up," Luo Wen waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to take Fang Jie away.
"Aren't you going to ask me who sent me?"
Fang Jie asked.
Luo Wen didn't answer, his attention still fixed on the map.
"Even if you don't want to know who sent me, don't you want to know how others are preparing for the attack?"
Fang Jie asked again. Luo Wen didn't look up, simply saying calmly, "It would be strange if a lowly soldier like you, practically useless, knew how your general planned the attack. Get out. I won't make things difficult for you; after all, you're a soldier of the Right Guard. General Xu Xiaogong didn't allocate many men to us. Detaining you reduces my opponent by one, although losing you will have almost no impact on the battle."
"Yes!"
Fang Jie slowly took a breath and said, "Detaining me doesn't mean your opponent loses a soldier; it means you gain a soldier—a very useful one."
Luo Wen finally couldn't help but look up, glancing at Fang Jie for the second time.
"Take him away."
Luo Wen shook his head slightly, saying, "I know how eager you are to prove yourself. Maybe you even volunteered to come here to gather information. Being discovered cut off your chance to shine over there, which is why you're behaving this way in front of me."
His tone wasn't sarcastic, but it was more hurtful than any sarcasm.
Several soldiers rushed forward to drag Fang Jie away, but Fang Jie smiled disdainfully and posed his last question to attract Luo Wen's attention: "General, are you waiting for nightfall?"
This question made Luo Wen freeze in his tracks as he drew the route on the map. He looked up at Fang Jie for the third time, his eyes now holding a different meaning.
"What's your name?"
He asked. "That's not important."
Fang Jie shook off a soldier trying to drag him away, smiled, and said with a hint of disdain, "I'm not a spy, just an unknown nobody who accidentally fell into someone's trap and ended up here with the general. I took a look around when I passed by earlier; your camp probably has no more than five hundred men. I also glanced at that earthen city from afar; it's not hard to tell if there are more than three hundred defenders there. Even if you split your forces, your five hundred men couldn't take it, not even with a night raid."
"The general is waiting for nightfall, and the other two are probably waiting for nightfall as well. Moreover… the three of you are probably not just waiting for nightfall, but also waiting for someone else to make the first move. In a siege like this, the third to attack obviously has a huge advantage over the first. If it were me, I wouldn't be foolish enough to lead the first men into the fray."
After saying this, Fang Jie looked at Luo Wen, waiting for his reply.
Luo Wen was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "I believe you."
"Why?"
Fang Jie was taken aback. Luo Wen pointed to the withered branch tied to Fang Jie's right arm and said, "That's a withered plum branch. There are no plum trees in the training ground, and you won't find any along the official roads from here to the capital. You came from the city; to get here, you must have been led in."
He paused and said, "I don't care what injustice you suffered. Since you've entered my camp, since you can see what I'm waiting for, you'd better tell me your thoughts honestly. Otherwise… I wouldn't mind killing you now."
Luo Wen looked at Fang Jie seriously and said, "You're not General Xu Xiaogong's soldier, perhaps not even a soldier. You're just a trespasser. If I wanted, I could chop you into mincemeat and no one would blame me."
"I am a soldier, and I know the strict and solemn military laws of the Sui Dynasty..." "I know you're not bluffing, General. The reason I've been trying to get your attention is because I want to do something for you. Only by helping you will you help me. At the very least… if no one is willing to travel with me, even something as simple as returning to the capital will be difficult for me. Since those who want to kill me can't use someone else to do their dirty work, they'll have to resort to their own methods."
Luo Wen nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't care who you've offended, or whether they're people I can't afford to offend. But if you can figure out a way to break through Tu City, I can at least guarantee your safe entry."
"Deal."
Fang Jie nodded, "Getting me into the city is enough."
Luo Wen was beginning to like the confidence in the young man's tone, even though the young man's appearance was somewhat strange. "If what you say is true, then I can only say you're very clever. Those who tried to harm you this time failed, and with your intelligence, you might not succeed next time either."
"Always in a precarious situation, one cannot afford to be foolish."
Luo Wen didn't delve into the meaning of this sentence. Unaware of Fang Jie's life experiences, he naturally couldn't think of anything else. So he didn't continue the topic, but simply recounted the content of the competition, then pointed to the map he had rejected countless times, saying, "Look at the map, if you can understand it."
Fang Jie shook his head: "The defending army is two thousand, and the general only has five hundred soldiers. Now is not the time to look at the map, because no matter how you look at it, this battle is unwinnable. The champion, the champion… I'm afraid Dean Zhou never intended for any of you to take this title."
On the viewing platform, Prince Yi, Yang Yin, rubbed his furrowed brows and asked Dean Zhou beside him, "Elder Zhou, why…" "Still no movement?"
Zhou Banchuan took a sip of tea and smiled, "The fighting won't start during the day, but it might happen after dark. This competition has a three-day time limit, no rush... no rush."
Sitting to the side, Right Guard General Xu Xiaogong couldn't help but sigh, "If I were to fight this battle, I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to start for a while. Winning the championship is difficult."
"Winning the championship?"
Dean Zhou smiled, his expression enigmatic, "Five hundred soldiers each. Even if you went to fight, I couldn't win. Winning the championship... dream on."
"Then what do you mean?"
Yang Yin asked, puzzled.
"There's only one way to break through the earthen city. Let's see which of the three can think of it. Whoever thinks of it first will barely be considered the winner!"