Chapter Eighteen: Water Overflows the Blue Stone

  "Old tricks again, what can you do to me?" Looking at the rolling thick smoke in front of him, the flames flashing, Deputy General Li was very disdainful.

  On the hillside, Pu Jun looked at the raging fire in the valley below and thought to himself: "The old trick won't work this time, let's just enjoy it for now, you'll get yours later." After that, he quietly slipped away with his two brothers.

  "The arsonist is on the mountain, go and search quickly." Deputy General Li loudly ordered his men, while also dispatching people to control the fire. Under the light of the flames, he was very relieved, fortunately he had been cautious, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.

  At the same time, Deputy Li's heart was also filled with excitement, thinking that the bandits would hide in the mountains. He thought he could only search step by step, but unexpectedly this group of bandits didn't know their limits and actually launched a surprise attack. However, their moves were really ordinary, did they think they could kill him with just one fire?

  Don't even think about it!

  In this way, at least it can be confirmed that the bandits' activities are in the Qing Shi Gou area. Fortunately, luck is on our side, as long as we quickly search for the bandits' hideout and rely on our own strength to fight a quick battle, victory is within reach. This time, the first achievement of eliminating the bandits will definitely not be missed. As for the previous small mistake in Maolin, it has become completely insignificant.

  At this point, Deputy General Li was secretly delighted in his heart.

  The reeds on the bank were ignited, and the big fire burned for nearly an hour. Walking forward with the remaining black ash that had not been extinguished, many soldiers still had lingering fears. After a long delay, it was already late in the evening, and it was time to set up camp and rest.

  "General, it's time to set up camp."

  "General Li nodded and said, 'Yes, choose a suitable location.'"

  "Right!" The bodyguard thought for a moment and asked: "General, just now the enemy bandits used fire attack, will they repeat their trick tonight?"

  "This." Deputy General Li hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself: Who would have thought it possible! He immediately ordered: "What you said is right, we must be extra vigilant tonight."

  The guard replied, "Just now I asked the guide, and he said that there is an open area by the river ahead, which is suitable for camping. Firstly, it's convenient to have a water source nearby, and secondly, we won't be afraid of bandits or fire attacks."

  Li Deputy General took a look at the river and saw that it was flat, calm and small. He nodded and said, "Alright, go prepare, but tonight we still need to send people to patrol and guard, don't be slack."

  "Promise!"

  The sun sets in the west and is soon blocked by the mountain peaks, so the darkness comes earlier in the mountains. By the time Pu Jun rushed back, the sky had already completely darkened.

  "Your Highness!"

  "Ah, you've worked hard, everything is settled?" Yin Xu asked slowly.

  Pu Jun said: "A big fire, unfortunately, the government soldiers were careful and didn't burn a few people."

  "Oh?" Yin Xu's face sank, and he asked, "Then what?"

  Pu Jun burst out laughing and said: "Don't worry, young master, everything is going as planned. The Qin army has about 500 men and they are camping by the river seven miles downstream."

  Yin Xu glared at him, punching Pu Jun's shoulder and cursing with a smile: "You little stinker! Not bad!"

  On the hillside, several people looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Yin Xu smiled and said: "If they don't like the warmth of the big fire, then let's bring some cool river water instead! Ah?"

  Haha, several people burst out laughing again.

  The sky has darkened, and in the early spring season, being in the mountains and forests still carries a chill. The stars are scattered, the green hills on both sides are pitch black, and the nearby stream flows slowly, making a very light sound. From time to time, the distant deep mountains and dense forests send out a few wolf howls and tiger roars, making people feel cold and fearful.

  The idle soldiers retreated into their tents, rarely having a moment of leisure. The soldiers responsible for sentry duty couldn't help but feel somewhat unwell in their hearts, yet they didn't dare to complain and could only endure the time while diligently performing their duties. As the deputy general of this army, Li naturally came out to inspect the surroundings.

  The camp was set up, and the fire head army was busy setting up the cooking pot by the river, fetching water and gathering firewood. Li Deputy General strolled over, hearing someone say from a distance: "Why is this river so shallow? I stepped into the mud while drawing water, what bad luck!"

  "No, this is a tranquil pool of water, it should be waist-deep."

  "Where is it? Looking at the pond, it seems big, but they are all dried up. The edges are all muddy, only the river has water."

  "Alright, alright. Lao Wu is a local here, so he's naturally very familiar with the place. It's probably your own carelessness. If it really was due to the river drying up, time has passed and recently it's been sunny every day, the mud should have dried up by now."

  "Impossible, it's clearly the rotten mud from the receding water of these past couple of days, still fresh."

  "Goodness gracious, you're right! This river water is really... Even on a spring day with little rain, it shouldn't be this shallow, should it? How strange!"

  Li heard it in his ears, and his heart couldn't help but thump. The river water, which was originally waist-deep, suddenly became shallow, and the silt on the riverbank had not yet dried up, all of this happened within a day or two. After all, he was a commander who knew some military strategy, and a bad premonition suddenly struck his heart.

  Li Deputy Commander stepped forward quickly and stopped Old Five, asking: "Are you a local?"

  "Yes, I've lived here since I was a child, and now I'm in the army as a guide, helping to lead the way."

  "You say this river water is different from usual?"

  "Yes, General. The water in this river should be waist-deep at least. Although there has been little rainfall recently, even in the past during severe droughts, I've never seen the river dry up to this extent."

  "Li Deputy Commander angrily said: 'You've discovered it, why didn't you report it early?'"

  Lao Wu trembled with fear and said: "General, please forgive me. Along the way, I didn't pay attention to the little ones either. It wasn't until we arrived here that Firehead Army's younger brother mentioned it while fetching water, and only then did I carefully take note of it. Right after that, you arrived." His words were extremely respectful, with a hint of grievance.

  Li Deputy General ignored him and asked: "What is upstream of this river? What's the situation?"

  Lao Wu seemed to be lost in thought, and then recalled: "Further ahead six or seven li, there are two large bluestones in the river, blocking the water flow, forming a huge pool. And next to it is a small waterfall. At noon on a sunny day, you can see a rainbow, which is extremely beautiful. Would General like to go and take a look tomorrow?"

  "Good for you!" Deputy General Li kicked Old Five open with one foot and roared to his personal soldier beside him: "Quickly go upstream to scout."

  "Hello!"

  Deputy General Li immediately shouted: "The whole camp will come out and move to higher places around."

  The soldiers were dazed and confused, looking at each other in bewilderment. Deputy General Li was sweating profusely, running to a distant hillside while shouting loudly. Unfortunately, it was too late, the ground shook slightly, and a heavy impact sound came. A group of Qin soldiers looked at each other in confusion, wondering what had happened.

  "The big water is coming, run!" Deputy General Li shouted his last words, using all his might to run towards the distant mountain slope. At the same time, he scolded himself in his heart for choosing such a place to set up camp, with flat land all around and no way to escape.

  "Big water?"

  The soldiers were too late to react, the roar of the water was already close at hand, and then the surging waves appeared in sight. Terrified, all that was left in the eyes of the soldiers was fear, those who reacted quickly remembered Lieutenant Li's military order and ran towards the mountain slope on one side like flying. At this moment, everyone regretted not having two more legs, but it was still a step too late.

  In an instant, the great waters flattened the camp, and countless Qin soldiers were swept away by the torrent in terror and despair, rushing towards the lower reaches of Qing Shi Gou. That night, the valley echoed with the roar of the water flow, the crashing sound of wood and stone, and even more so the screams and wails of the Qin soldiers.

  On the upstream hillside, a bonfire was burning vigorously. Yin Xu, Pu Jun, Gao Yi and others sat around it, listening to the chilling cries from downstream with a mix of horror and delight.

  Zhou Daqi panted as he climbed up the mountain slope, and when he arrived in front of the bonfire, he excitedly said: "Young master, the sandbags and wooden stakes have all been washed away, what a huge amount of water! It even swept away the two large bluestones in the river. All the water has flowed down, listen... Hehe!"

  "Did the big blue stone also fall?" Pu Jun exclaimed excitedly: "Fortunately, that's the case. The water pool overflowing from the blue stone has been there for who knows how many years. Plus the dam we built, and so much water rushed down."

  "The government army's camp is by the river, haha, not one of them can escape..."

  It turned out that three days ago, Yin Xu had already sent someone to rush over and build a dam with wooden stakes, stone blocks, and sandbags between the two large bluestones. Most of the water flow from Qing Shi Creek was blocked here. When the Qin army entered from here, they would first send Pu Jun to set fire to the reeds; if it succeeded, that would be best. If not, then under the cover of night, they would breach the dam and release the water.

  The reason for setting the fire first was to shift the attention of the Qin army, and transfer their defense to the fire attack and sneak attack. Excitingly, the Qin army fell into the trap, coincidentally stationed on the flat riverbank, actually Li's choice wasn't wrong, it's just that all this was in Yin Xu's prior calculation, so can only say he had bad luck.

  Fortunately, Li Deputy General himself was the first to discover that something was wrong and the first to escape. He succeeded. In the second before the big water rushed over, he rushed up a slope and survived.

  At the moment when the sky brightened, the water of Qing Shi Gou River was still flowing, and everywhere was in a state of chaos. Li Deputy General, with a grey head and a dirty face, stumbled and staggered as he fled downstream, and all along the way were the corpses of his subordinates. Of the 500-strong troop, only twenty or thirty survived, which can be seen how brutal this battle was.

  Li Deputy Commander looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh, with tears streaming down his face. His achievements were all undone, but his guilt was even greater!