Volume Four: The Gale Sweeps Away the Clouds, the Four Continents Sink Beneath the Waves Chapter Seventeen: Encircled on All Sides

Lin Xiaoyun, prostrate on the ground, answered in a trembling voice, “Please forgive me, immortal lady. A rebellion has broken out in the Dragon Palace, and I have been overwhelmed trying to deal with it. The rebel army has already reached the palace gates. If I do not bring you here at once, I fear I shall never again be able to serve you.”

Lanling paid no heed to his insincere evasions. After listening to the commotion outside, she turned into a streak of force and swept toward the fiercest clamor of killing.

Shan Shang leaned in with a sly grin and whispered into Lin Xiaoyun’s ear, “So you were desperate to curry favor with our vanguard commander, were you? Fine. You patted the horse in the wrong place. Heh heh.” A foul, blood-tinged stench seemed to drift through the air. When he finished speaking, he waved a hand, and the dark vanguard troops behind him all filed out after him, chuckling.

Meanwhile, An Chenfeng, leading the Flying Dragon Army in the assault on the Dragon Palace, was battering fiercely at the main gate of the inner palace. Yet the palace walls were high and thick, and Liang Shengwu’s men, shooting down from above in dense volleys, made An Chenfeng’s attack far from smooth.

Yin Zhigui looked at the fruitless siege and suggested, “Marshal, why not concentrate the battering rams on the point where the gate meets the wall? By my observation, that ought to be the weakest part of the entire fortification.”

An Chenfeng thought it over briefly and said, “You are right. Force works under water at only a third of its strength as it does on land. Then let us try the battering rams.”

After he heard this, Yin Zhigui raised the small flag in his hand, then hesitated and asked, “Marshal, to attack the Dragon Palace without imperial orders is death by law, is it not?”

An Chenfeng barked, “Yin Zhigui, did you see Liang Shengwu and his remaining troops flee into the Dragon Palace?”

Yin Zhigui nodded.

An Chenfeng then raised his voice again. “Yin Zhigui, tell me, is the Dragon King inside the palace or not?”

Yin Zhigui glanced up at the Dragon-Rising Banner atop the palace and nodded. “The Dragon-Rising royal standard is flying. The Dragon King is indeed within.”

An Chenfeng’s tone softened. “The rebel army has stormed the palace city; the Dragon King’s safety hangs by a thread. Should we not rush in, kill the rebels, and rescue the Dragon King?”

At these words, Yin Zhigui without the slightest hesitation swung the flag in his hand toward the place they had agreed upon earlier.

In an instant, hundreds and thousands of battering rams as thick as a man’s arm slammed again and again into the junction of gate and wall. Before long, cracks appeared there, then widened little by little, until at last a short stretch of wall collapsed outright.

When the palace guards saw the wall fall, they rushed over at once, trying to pile bricks and stones into place to seal the breach. But unexpectedly, the final wave of battering rams, slowed a little in the water, arrived just as the guards were hurrying in to mend the wall. Each ram impaled two or three of the defenders, and in an instant the broken wall was strewn with severed limbs. That stretch of sea was red with blood almost before one could draw breath.

An Chenfeng could not spare any thought for more. With a wave of the great banner of the central army, more than three thousand Flying Dragon troops, along with Consort Chen and hundreds of members of the An clan—widows and kin whose husbands, children, and brothers had all perished—surged into the palace city in one overwhelming tide.

Liang Shengwu fled in panic toward the great hall, crying as he ran, “Your Majesty, disaster! They have broken in! They have broken in!”

Then he accidentally collided headlong with Shan Shang, who was just coming out of the hall at the head of the dark vanguard troops. Shan Shang glanced at Liang Shengwu, whose head was split and bleeding, and kicked him a distance of four or five zhang. His back smashed against a thick stone pillar; his channels and vessels were severed at once, and he died spitting blood.

Behind him, Sha Shuang looked pityingly at Liang Shengwu’s limp corpse and grumbled, “What a waste. If you weren’t hungry, you could have given him to me! Sigh.”

The crowd, excitedly rushing across the square toward the great hall, was suddenly blocked by a woman descending from the sky.

An Chenfeng pointed at her and shouted, “Who are you? Move aside at once.”

The woman studied the group and said evenly, “You had best leave now. When they arrive, not one of you will get out.”

An Chenfeng and the others exchanged glances, assuming she was threatening them, and said with contempt, “Girl, step aside quickly! We are only after the rebels. You palace servants should flee for your lives!”

Lanling still wanted to persuade them, but they could wait no longer and continued surging toward the great hall.

She looked back at those receding figures and sighed softly. “All so eager to rush off and die.”

She simply sat down on the ground, her long hair falling loose over her shoulders. Slanting bangs covered half her lovely face, so that her expression could not be seen, though from the trembling of her shoulders one could still guess at it.

As expected, the people who had just run past soon gave rise to fierce sounds of combat, followed by shrieks like ghosts wailing and wolves howling, and then a great many chaotic footsteps rushed past Lanling.

Her shoulders ceased trembling. She lifted her delicate fingers to smooth her beautiful long hair, then raised her eyes to see those who had moments before been so high and mighty, intent on charging in and making a name for themselves, now fleeing in such panic. It was, one had to say, nothing short of a joke.

At that moment, An Chenfeng ran past Lanling. Seeing her still standing dazed in the center of the square, he was moved by pity, seized her by the hand, and dragged her outward while saying, “Lin Xiaoyun somehow found a gang of fiends. Their techniques are vicious and dirty; they specialize in draining people’s life essence. Girl, come with us and withdraw to the An family estate. It will be safer there.”

Lanling made no argument. She simply let him drag her out, while carefully taking one last good look at everything around her.

For the past two or three months, she had lived like the walking dead. The dark vanguard troops had marched northward, and wherever they went smoke rose and living things were laid waste. She had stood by and watched it all in cold silence: watched beautiful fields and forests turn to desolation, watched the people of the Immortal Descendants she had once created with her own hands become dry corpses. She had believed that as long as she held that grand, ultimate goal in her heart, nothing she passed through would disturb her feelings. And yet every night she could not sleep; her mind was filled with those miserable, brutal scenes, so that the moment she entered a dream she would wake in terror. Then came night after night of tears.

But once she stood beneath the sunlight, she was still the Lanling Immortal Lady of stern and killing purpose, the aloof and imperious Holy Maiden of the Yellow Realm.

Two hours earlier, this very force had just broken out of the encirclement and, in pursuit of Liang Shengwu, had entered the palace city. Now they had withdrawn once more to the An family estate.

Yin Zhigui was commanding the Flying Dragon troops to repair the collapsed courtyard wall as quickly as possible, while An Chenfeng remained trapped in the fear of having seen a living man drained dry before his very eyes and turned into a corpse.

These past few days had brought him too many upheavals. His second younger brother, bearing the hopes of the entire family, had charged out through Dragon Gate to deliver news to Cloud Palace, only to be shot and wounded, life or death uncertain. The An family was besieged; he had gone out to seek reinforcements, only to have his two younger brothers die in battle. After much struggle, he led troops back to the An estate and rescued the old and the young within, but then his father, overwhelmed by joy and sorrow in equal measure, was driven to the end of his strength and died with his lamp spent and oil exhausted. Then, in order to avenge him, he had stormed into the Dragon Palace to kill Lin Xiaoyun, only to run into that band of monsters.

An Chenfeng could hold on no longer. He smashed a fist into the ground and burst into loud sobbing.

Several of the nearby family members who had endured similar trials also began to weep. The Flying Dragon soldiers who had witnessed the dark clan draining the living dry in the Dragon Palace square lowered their heads in silence, grief-stricken.

A heavy oppression seemed to hang like a dark cloud above everyone’s heads, as though at any moment thunder might crash down or a deluge begin to pour.

Then a slender jade hand rested upon An Chenfeng’s shoulder. A gentle voice said, “Uncle, when heaven bars one road, it always leaves another.”

An Chenfeng, his face streaked with tears, looked up and saw the little girl’s serene expression as she tried to comfort him. Shame rose in him at once. He lowered his head, thought for a moment, wiped the tears from his face, and sprang to his feet, saying to everyone in the courtyard, “Soldiers! Today we have sacrificed many relatives, friends, and brothers in arms. Their blood cannot be shed in vain. We must live on, and live out the days they did not live to see. Children of the Dragon Clan, fear death and do not fear death alike!”

Then An Chenfeng began striking the armor on his left shoulder rhythmically with his right fist, producing a dull pounding sound.

Inspired by him, the despair and pain on everyone’s faces vanished. In their place came a hopeful conviction of victory. Whether or not they wore armor, they all began to beat their left shoulders in unison with their left fists.

All through the courtyard they roared, “Children of the Dragon Clan, fear death and do not fear death alike! Children of the Dragon Clan, fear death and do not fear death alike!”

In those repeated cries of fury, the unhealed sorrow in Lanling’s eyes seemed to fade somewhat.

Just then, a low horn sounded beyond the courtyard wall. Dark vanguard soldiers, five in a row, carrying some of the great stone pillars torn from the Dragon Palace, advanced step by step toward the gate of the An estate.

Yin Zhigui shouted, “All soldiers obey! Take up your weapons and prepare to meet the enemy!”

Those words seemed to give everyone back a direction. They hurriedly picked up blades, spears, swords, and halberds from the ground and rushed up onto the battlements. Under Yin Zhigui’s command, they began to resist in orderly fashion.

An Chenfeng, carrying a great hammer and a shield, came to Yin Zhigui’s side, who was frantic with business, and said to him, “Zhigui, there is something I must make plain to you.”

Yin Zhigui, still busy beyond measure, turned and asked, “Marshal, please speak.”

An Chenfeng said, “My sending you to rescue the An estate was my own doing. That edict was fake, and I stole the tiger tally. I did it only to borrow your Flying Dragon Army to save my family. I hope you will not blame me.”

Yin Zhigui paused, then turned to look at An Chenfeng. “Marshal, I had my doubts from the start. But I have followed the An family for so many years that I have seen with my own eyes how the An family treats its subordinates, and how loyally it serves the Dragon Clan. In truth, long ago I entrusted my life and death to your house. So please, Marshal, say no more such distant and formal things.”

An Chenfeng nodded, patted Yin Zhigui’s armor, and said, “I will go out and hold back their assault for a while. If I am wounded, there is no need for you to send troops to rescue me. Today I seek only death, to follow my father and brothers. This is the dragon-pattern token of the An family head. I give it to you now; our old and young are entrusted to your care.”

Yin Zhigui knelt on both knees and took the token with both hands. “This subordinate will keep it temporarily for the Marshal, and return it intact when the Marshal comes back in triumph.”

An Chenfeng smiled, leaped forward, vaulted over the courtyard wall, and charged toward the advancing dark vanguard troops.