Chapter 8: Marshal Hong and Strategist Ji (Part One)
After walking a few steps forward, Strategist Ji stopped, as if he noticed that Li Yan had not followed. When he slowly turned his head back, his gaze toward Li Yan had become very calm.
"Are you still worried about the Imperial Guard assessment later? There's no need. Now that you are my disciple, and since I serve within the military camp, you are henceforth someone beside the Military Advisor. That status is far superior to being a mere member of the Imperial Guards."
Speaking up to this point, his expression was filled with pride. Then, after a slight pause, he continued:
"Since you've decided to join my sect, there's no need to keep calling me 'Lord' or 'Sir'. From now on, just call me 'Teacher'."
Li Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing these words, and he thought to himself:
"So following the Teacher is even better than being in the Imperial Guards? What great fortune did I accumulate to deserve this?"
Then he remembered something else, and his face showed a timid look, as if he wanted to speak but hesitated.
Strategist Ji, seeing his look, frowned slightly.
"What is it?"
"Tea... Teacher, about the monthly salary... um, my parents at home still need support..."
Li Yan stumbled over his words for a moment.
"Oh, so that's it. You're quite a filial son. From now on, your monthly salary will be paid according to that of a squad leader in the army, that's forty percent higher than a regular Imperial Guard soldier."
Strategist Ji looked at Li Yan with a half-smile.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Li Yan was overjoyed at these words. He now felt as if he had ascended to heaven in one step, all of this felt like a dream.
Now he could send even more silver home to his parents every month. This thought also made the word "Teacher" roll off his tongue much more smoothly!
...
Outside the tent, on the high platform, Marshal Hong was still reclining slightly in his large chair, his right elbow resting on the armrest, his hand half-closed into a loose fist propped at his temple.
He looked somewhat drowsy, his eyes half-closed in an utterly relaxed posture. Occasionally, he would turn his head to glance toward the assessments taking place inside the training ground's fenced area, and after a moment, he would turn back to resume looking lazily in the direction of the tent.
Marshal Hong's full name was Hong Linying. He was the Grand Marshal of the Southwest for the imperial dynasty, commanding more than two hundred thousand troops stationed at the southwestern frontier.
He had originally been a street orphan. Around the age of eleven or twelve, by a twist of fate, he was accepted as a secular disciple at the renowned martial sect Fatou Temple.
Fatou Temple was one of the top martial sects in the world today. As a secular disciple, Hong Linying, in principle, should not have been able to learn the temple's profound martial arts.
However, he was ruthless and tough by nature, even towards himself. In order to practice martial arts, he pushed himself to the point of damaging muscles and bones.
In just five years at the temple, he had cultivated his skills to the level of a second-rate expert in the martial world, an extremely rare achievement for a secular disciple.
The martial skills he learned were merely the most basic introductory techniques and foundation boxing styles taught to secular disciples, not the temple's secret martial arts.
Martial arts levels in the martial world were ranked, from highest to lowest: Transcendent Master, Supreme Master, First-Rate Expert, Second-Rate Expert, and Third-Rate Expert. Below that were the bottom-rung, unranked practitioners.
It was said that the founding emperor of the current dynasty had relied on a simple external martial art, Taizu Long Fist, along with a band of brothers, to establish the empire that had lasted for centuries.
It was said that whenever he fought an enemy, a single set of the Taizu Long Fist was enough to leave opponents either dead or seriously injured.
It wasn't that the martial art itself was particularly extraordinary; rather, the founding emperor had perfected it to an incredible degree, reaching a level of speed and precision that rendered it unstoppable. "Of all martial arts, speed is the key" even if you knew his moves, there would be no way to dodge if his techniques were as fast as thunder and lightning.
Although Hong Linying had not cultivated his martial skills to such an extreme, he had certainly attained the level of true mastery.
Later, when an Enforcement Elder of the temple learned of his abilities, he realized that although Hong Linying had great potential, his temperament made it impossible for him to remain within the Buddhist order.
While feeling pity for him, the elder also knew that if Hong continued practicing so recklessly, he would inevitably end up dead or crippled.
Thus, the elder used the temple's internal medicinal baths to treat Hong's hidden internal injuries from overtraining and helped to open up and smooth his meridians.
Afterward, he also passed on to him the inner sect's cultivation technique "Golden Buddha Radiance" and taught him advanced martial techniques with fists, kicks, and staff fighting. While these weren't the temple's most secret peerless arts, they were still far beyond what secular disciples were allowed to learn.
Hong Linying continued to practice at Fatou Temple for another four years. By then, he had achieved both internal and external mastery. Coupled with his natural talent, fierce diligence, and the elder's guidance, he actually reached the level of a First-Rate Expert in the martial world.
At that point, Hong Linying was ready to leave the temple and make his mark in the world.
Before he left, the Enforcement Elder warned him:
"Lin Ying, as you descend the mountain remember, the martial skills you have learned are not weak. You must never kill innocents, never rape or pillage.
If in the future you violate this path, the temple will dispatch disciplinary monks to take your head. Even if you become a high official or a powerful lord, death will be your only end. Remember this! Remember it well!"
Hong Linying readily promised.
After descending the mountain, he strictly adhered to the precepts. However, to make a name for himself with his martial skills, he needed to undergo life-and-death battles.
Thus, he joined the army, starting as an ordinary soldier. Through a hundred battles, large and small, he rose steadily through the ranks.
Due to his ferocity in battle and utter fearlessness, he was repeatedly promoted, rising higher and higher.
By the time he held the position of General, he was considering retiring from the army to focus solely on martial cultivation at home. However, when war erupted along the frontier, he was appointed Grand Marshal of the Southwest to defend the border.
Great Qing Pass, where they now were, was a frontier city capable of stationing forty to fifty thousand soldiers.
Originally, he should have been based thirty li north at the main army camp, but his love of battle drove him to personally command at the frontlines.
The other generals, knowing his nature, did not dare oppose him. They simply left the Deputy Marshal to guard the main camp and oversee troop movements, while Marshal Hong personally defended Great Qing Pass.
Ji Wenhe, Strategist Ji, had arrived here six years ago, shortly after Hong Linying took command at the pass.
That day, upon entering the city, Ji Wenhe immediately went to the Marshal's Residence, requesting an audience with Marshal Hong.
Of course, the gate guards would not let him in easily. They even attempted to extort some silver from him.
After a few exchanges of words, Ji Wenhe understood their intentions clearly and stopped speaking further.
Without any visible movement, just a sweep of his wide sleeve, the few soldiers immediately froze and became immobile.
After that, he walked straight into the inner mansion.
Along the way, he encountered many patrol squads. Each time, they would rush to surround and capture him, but almost with just a single glance, the soldiers would stiffen in place, unable to move even an inch.
Inside the main hall of the inner mansion, Hong Linying was resting. With his profound inner strength, he had already heard the shouting and commotion in the courtyard and was about to rise and investigate when he suddenly saw a flash of shadow at the main door, a black-robed scholar had already appeared within the hall.
His figure was ghostly and silent in movement. Although Hong Linying had faced life and death countless times, this sudden appearance still gave him a fright.
With his martial skill, he had been utterly unable to see how the black-robed figure had entered. Even more astonishing was that this man's light movement skill was something Hong had never seen or heard of before.
When moving, one would inevitably cause the sound of clothing flapping against the air due to friction. It was something impossible to completely suppress. This was why nightwalkers wore tight-fitting clothing to reduce noise.
But this person, clad in a wide, loose black robe, moved utterly soundlessly, as if he was a ghost, proof that his martial arts were of an unfathomable level, utterly beyond Hong Linying's ability to match.
It was only after the black-robed man stood still that Hong Linying could clearly see a scholar dressed in black robes.
He looked about thirty years old, stood around seven feet tall, had a narrow face and pale complexion, though tinged with an abnormal flush. A wisp of long beard drifted across his chest.
The black-robed man introduced himself as Ji Wenhe, a member of a hidden sect within the martial world. A few months ago, while gathering herbs in the mountains, he had been injured by an unknown poisonous insect.
In this endless range of mountains across the southwestern frontier, there were countless poisonous creatures and fierce beasts. Even veteran hunters who had lived there for generations could not name seventy percent of them.
Thus, Hong Linying did not find his explanation suspicious; he himself had ventured into the deeper parts of Great Qing Mountain before and was well aware of the dangers.
Ji Wenhe explained that after several months of healing and consulting many friends and famous doctors, none could find a way to eliminate the poison. The toxin had gradually seeped into his internal organs.
Therefore, he sought to enter the military as a strategic advisor, with the condition that he would be allowed to choose one person from among the soldiers to take as his disciple.
His sect passed down its teachings strictly from master to a single disciple. Having never yet accepted a student, and now with his life nearing its end due to the poison, he was desperate to ensure the survival of his lineage.
Hong Linying had been greatly surprised, he had originally thought that such a martial master must have come to demand some favor, or worse, as an assassin sent by the enemy. Ji Wenhe's request was completely beyond his expectations.
Yet considering the other party's martial prowess, such that if he turned hostile, Hong feared he could not escape unscathed, and since the role of a strategic advisor was mainly ceremonial while real military decisions remained in his hands, Hong agreed.
As for Ji Wenhe selecting a disciple among the soldiers, that was a minor matter. In an army of hundreds of thousands, he could pick anyone he pleased without raising much attention.
However, the events that followed left Hong Linying increasingly astonished.
The first incident occurred not long afterward: the enemy launched several attacks in succession.
The first time, after receiving military intelligence from scouts and after Hong Linying, his military advisors, and generals had discussed strategies, he returned to the Marshal's Mansion.
Unexpectedly, Ji Wenhe came to him in the middle of the night, informing him of the enemy's attack plans and deployments.
Much of what Ji reported matched the intelligence Hong had already gathered but Ji also described several details that Hong did not know, information the scouts had not uncovered.
Although Ji Wenhe had been officially appointed as a strategic advisor, Hong Linying was not someone to trust easily.
Still, thinking of Ji's incredible martial prowess, it would not be hard for him to shadow scouts from afar and gather additional intelligence.
Thus, Hong Linying simply laughed it off, expressing thanks without making any commitment. Ji Wenhe only smiled in response and left without pressing the matter.
By dawn, the enemy army launched a surprise assault.
Hong Linying, prepared in advance, led his troops out of the city to engage the enemy, exactly as they had anticipated.
Both sides clashed in a fierce battle outside the city walls, corpses piling up like mountains. By sunrise, soldiers on both sides were utterly exhausted, and they gradually began retreating toward their respective rear lines. Hong Linying also ordered a retreat back into the city.
Apart from the main battlefield, Hong had also stationed troops on the eastern and western mountains to guard against flanking attacks, plans that were already laid beforehand.
However, just as they were retreating to the city gates, the ground suddenly trembled, a rumbling roar like distant thunder rolling toward them.
The enemy soldiers, who had seemed utterly exhausted, suddenly split to either side, opening a wide road. From behind them, a massive cloud of dust rose.
A squadron of heavy cavalry suddenly charged forth.
In merely a dozen breaths, the cavalry crashed into the retreating imperial soldiers.
The retreating soldiers, tired and disorganized, had no time to form heavy shield formations for defense.
Instantly, the battlefield erupted into screams; blood and flesh flew everywhere.
Seeing that the situation was dire, Hong Linying made a snap decision. He immediately spurred his horse into the city and ordered the gates closed.
Sadly, at least ten thousand soldiers were still outside the walls, unable to enter.
Those outside could only fight desperately in despair. Without the protection of heavy armor, how could they withstand the brutal charges of armored warhorses?
In just half an hour, the imperial forces outside the city were completely wiped out, slaughtered to the last man.
But in those critical thirty minutes, Hong Linying had managed to reorganize the approximately twenty thousand troops remaining inside the city, setting up heavy defenses atop the city walls.
He also dispatched a swift horse carrying a command arrow to the northern central army camp to call for reinforcements.
Before reinforcements could arrive, the enemy launched frenzied assaults on the city.
Several times they even fought their way up to the top of the walls.
Hong Linying, undaunted, personally led the defense atop the walls.
Wave after wave of soldiers fell; wave after wave went up to replace them.
At last, they managed to hold out until reinforcements began streaming in through the northern gate.
Only then did the enemy realize the situation was hopeless and finally sounded the gong to retreat.
(Chapter End)