Sweep Yuan

Chapter 26 Breaking Through the Faces of All Beings

When the station gate was blocked, a few station staff went around the south side of the station wall, intending to return to the station through the east gate. Chang Tietou turned around and chased after them.

Unexpectedly, some of these people were clear-headed. Seeing that they were about to be overtaken by the cavalry, they grabbed the guards on either side and shouted:

"Don't run around! If you want to live, come closer!"

Chang Tietou had only ten riders left and dared not charge at the grouped target.

"Let's go! Kill the lone ones first!"

When Chang Tietou arrived at the East Station Gate and returned, there were already more than 30 station staff gathered at the South Station Wall.

The number of people was not large, but they stood close to the wall with their guns pointed outwards, making it impossible for Chang Tietou to find a way to attack them. He could only circle back and forth at a distance, occasionally firing an arrow to demoralize them.

When Shishan led a large force to the west gate, the panic inside the station had not subsided much. However, the station's residents were driven up the battle wall by Liu Ji'an, making it impossible for them to seize the gate amidst the chaos.

Shishan was faced with only two choices: either persuade them to surrender or launch a full-scale attack.

Shishan knew that his troops lacked the ability to attack fortified positions, so he did not manufacture siege equipment before the battle began.

However, there's no need for a strong attack on Chulan Station.

The military treatise "Wei Liao Zi" offers a classic summary of the methods of defending cities: "If there is no army that must come to the rescue, then there is no city that must be defended."

Chulan has no external forces willing to come to its aid, no internal resolve to defend it to the death, and deep-seated internal conflicts. As long as we don't take risks and act rashly, we can definitely take it down—this is one of the reasons why Shishan persuaded everyone to launch a frontal attack on Zhanchi.

Therefore, Shi Shan did not criticize Chang Tietou for not taking advantage of the chaos to seize the opportunity to break into the city, but instead praised him for his ability to seize the opportunity and keep the stragglers at bay.

These stationed soldiers were first abandoned by Liu Ji'an, then repeatedly harassed by Chang Tietou, and now threatened by the Red Turban Army's spears. Their morale had plummeted to the lowest point, and they panicked when they heard the shouts of "Surrender and you will be spared death, resist and you will be executed."

After an argument, the station residents who remained outside the station wall laid down their weapons and surrendered.

After listening to Chang Tietou's report on the battle, Shishan became very interested in the station guards who were able to remain clear-headed amidst the chaos.

"Who called for you to gather here before?"

The stationed soldiers had just surrendered and were still in a state of fear and hesitation. They suspected that Shishan wanted to kill the prisoners to vent his anger. They wanted to identify the "culprit" but were worried about future retaliation. For a moment, they looked at each other and dared not utter a word.

"Third Brother! Hahaha, look who I caught!"

Before they arrived, their voices preceded them. Li Wu's booming voice broke the oppressive atmosphere, and accompanied by the rapidly approaching sound of hooves, a group of Red Turban cavalry burst into view.

Li Wu had a severed head hanging around his neck and a man tied to his back. Behind him were more than twenty cavalrymen, some carrying severed heads, others holding armor, and still others leading captured horses. Although they were drenched in sweat, they were all beaming with joy.

"Damn it! We've been working ourselves to the bone, and all the good meat has gone to this idiot!"

Seeing Chang Tietou's ashen face, Huang Quan dared not speak again, but the corners of his mouth, hidden in his clothes, turned up slightly.

Li Wu's haul was so substantial that it surprised Shi Shan and shocked the captured post station officers. When they realized that the person bound on horseback looked very much like the post station manager Wang Baiyin, the post station officers stirred up another commotion.

"Red, the Red Scarf Master, I'm telling you, it's him who told us to resist!"

"Yuan Tong, you old dog, you've already forgotten who saved you just now!"

"I knew this guy was bad, we shouldn't have saved him!"

Amid the commotion, the lean man identified by Yuan Tong stepped forward and resolutely declared:

“A hero takes responsibility for his actions. I did it, and I'll accept whatever punishment is offered. I only beg Your Majesty not to harm my family after you break through the enemy lines.”

Ishiyama knew the prisoner had misunderstood him, but since the battle was still uncertain, he didn't explain. He nodded, agreeing to the prisoner's request, and then asked:
"What's your name, and what's your job?"

"I am Wu Liujin, a commoner." Shi Shan thought to himself that being a commoner was even better, and immediately pointed to the two groups of men led by Li Wu and Chang Tietou, saying:

"Come here and identify who they are?"

Although Wang Baiyin had fallen off his horse, fainted, and been captured, he had been tied to the horse's back and jostled all the way, so he had already woken up. When Li Wu threw him onto the cold ground, he couldn't help but groan, but he didn't dare to open his eyes, which caused everyone to burst into laughter.

Wu Liujin could recognize Wang Baiyin just by his clothes and build. However, worried that Master Hongjin would scold him for being a liar, he squatted down closer and wiped the mud off Wang Baiyin's face to confirm his identity.

"He is our courier, Wang Baiyin, the ruthless and heartless envoy!"

"Very well, continue."

Li Wu and Chang Tietou's teams together beheaded more than twenty people, dividing them into two piles, and Wu Liujin identified each one.

The already highly tense station attendant, standing on the wall, panicked even more upon seeing this scene.

Now that things had come to this, Liu Ji'an knew that Chulan Station probably couldn't hold out today. His legs trembled beneath his braided jacket, but he dared not follow in Wang Baiyin's footsteps. He desperately suppressed the urge to urinate and screamed:
"You scoundrel! You dare to work for thieves! Tie up Wu Liujin's son and bring him here!"

After the head count was completed, apart from the heads of centurion Wang Zhenye and two station chiefs, the rest were all ordinary station staff. Even so, it was a heavy blow to the small Chulan Station.

Shi Shan stepped forward and kicked Wang Baiyin in the lower back.

Wang Baiyin was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. She dared not pretend to be dead any longer and quickly knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

Shi Shan grabbed Wang Baiyin by the collar, lifted him up, and shouted:

"Are you going to persuade them to surrender yourself, or should I chop off your head and hang it on a bamboo pole to persuade them to surrender?"

"No, don't chop me up. I'm willing to persuade you to surrender."

Upon realizing that the heads displayed on the bamboo pole belonged to Wang Zhenye and others, the morale of the soldiers on the stand was on the verge of collapse. Some were sobbing and screaming in fear, some whispered among themselves, and some secretly slipped down from the stand wall.

When Wang Baiyin recounted how he fabricated rumors and coerced the villagers to resist the rebel army, even Liu Ji'an, who had the strongest will to resist, lost the courage to hold on.

"It's over, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. The master worked so hard to climb to this position, why does he have to die?"

While muttering to himself, Liu Ji'an noticed that Wu Liujin's family members, who were bound, were taking small steps to back away.

"Why don't you, you bastards, die? Why? Ah!"

Liu Ji'an suddenly went berserk, rushed forward, and slashed the woman in front of him with a knife.

Standing outside the wall, Wu Liujin watched all of this with eyes wide open, his gaze filled with rage.

"Mao Niang!"

Liu Ji'an's eyes were bloodshot. He wanted to slash the boy who was being shielded by the woman, but she struggled and bit his calf. Liu Ji'an's face was filled with murderous intent. He stabbed her several more times, but she did not let go until she died.

By the time Liu Ji'an knocked out the woman's teeth and broke free of his restraints, the boy had already rolled down the wall and was too late to catch up.

Not far away, a resident took advantage of the chaos to lift the door bolt, and the Red Turban Army surged in.

With the situation hopeless and his life hanging by a thread, Liu Ji'an took one last look at his terrified wife and children on the barn floor, then raised his knife to his own neck.

"Blood soaked the western wall, yet the heart remained cold; glory, wealth, and fame were already gone—ashes—"

(End of this chapter)