Chapter Four: Blood Stains Jingyang Crimson

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“You… you… what are you trying to do?” Zong Luo Hou’s voice was tinged with panic.

“Take a guess.” Chen Ying’s face still wore an extraordinarily gentle smile. His tone was calm and unhurried, without the slightest hint of anxiety or agitation, as if the startled cries of the surrounding soldiers, the dozens of spears and swords, and the drawn bows and arrows all meant nothing to him.

A Western Qin officer swung his war blade and shouted, “You must have eaten a leopard’s gall to…”

“There’s an artery in a man’s neck! Once that artery is severed, blood spurts out, and with just a few breaths, all the blood in your body will be gone. It’s a quick way to die…” Chen Ying pressed the cold edge of his ram-headed arrow against Zong Luo Hou’s carotid artery, a faint sting making the latter instantly come to his senses.

“King Zong, do you want to give it a try?”

“I’ve hunted geese all my life, never thought the goose would peck my eye in the end. Fine, I admit defeat!” Zong Luo Hou, though stubborn, was a man who could accept reality. After a moment’s pause, he said, “Tell me, what will it take for you to let me go?”

Chen Ying replied, “Zhang, Old Qiu, Old Sly, come out!”

Zhang Huaiwei was the first to crawl out, rushing forward in three quick strides and pressing his blade against Zong Luo Hou’s neck. You Ziying and three other Tang soldiers, armed with swords and shields, formed a protective wall inside their shields around Chen Ying and Zong Luo Hou.

Chen Ying said, “There are seven of us. Give us seven horses!”

“Fine… that’s easy!” Zong Luo Hou breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, “So he just wants to escape.”

Chen Ying continued, “We want two horses each—fourteen in total. If you dare to tamper with the horses, you know what will happen!”

A flash of ruthlessness passed through Zong Luo Hou’s eyes as he shouted at a Western Qin officer, “Zheng Biao, are your ears stuffed with donkey hair? Hurry up and bring them the horses—”

“Tsk tsk tsk…” Chen Ying shook his head and clicked his tongue leisurely. “King Yixing, your men really don’t care about your safety, do they? They see a blade at your throat and still swagger around with their weapons… They must really not care if your precious life is lost here…”

Zong Luo Hou barked, “Drop them! Everyone, throw down your weapons!”

With a series of clatters, Western Qin soldiers dropped their sabers, spears, halberds, axes, and polearms, covering the ground.

“Very good. Not bad at all,” Chen Ying said. “Now, take the strings off all your bows. If you think you’ll shoot at us after we mount up, forget it. Remove the bowstrings and toss them into the fire!”

The Western Qin soldiers stood frozen.

Zhang Huaiwei thought, “Chen Ying is truly clever. Even if they had horses, they’d never escape an arrow volley.” Seeing the archers unmoved, Zhang Huaiwei pressed his blade harder, drawing a line of blood.

Zong Luo Hou hastily said, “Fine… do it! All of you, take the bowstrings off and burn them. Do you want me dead?”

The Western Qin soldiers exchanged glances, then obediently removed their bowstrings. At the time, bowstrings were either sinew or deer tendon—a precious strategic resource. Even with spares, archers couldn’t restring their bows in a hurry. A bow without a string is as useless as a rifle without bullets—just scrap metal.

But some archers in the distance didn’t move.

Chen Ying shouted at Zong Luo Hou, “Did you not hear me, old man? All of them—every archer! Old Sly, supervise them, make sure all the bowstrings are burned! If I don’t finish counting, next year on this day will be your death anniversary!”

To everyone’s surprise, You Ziying didn’t object at all, but instinctively followed Chen Ying’s orders. Shield in one hand, blade in the other, he nervously approached the archers: “You… take off your bowstrings and burn them!”

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Nearly half the Western Qin army were archers, which explained why the Tang forces had collapsed so quickly under Xue Ju’s ambush. Few could stand firm under a rain of arrows.

Slowly, a burnt, acrid smell filled the air, sickening all who inhaled it.

As Chen Ying watched the archers comply, he nodded approvingly. “Very good. Now you’re showing some sense… King Yixing, listen carefully. What I say next, you will order your men to follow to the letter, or else, whatever you might want to eat or drink next year, you’ll have to ask your brother to burn it for you in the afterlife…”

At this point, Zong Luo Hou could only let Chen Ying take charge.

Following Chen Ying’s orders, all the Western Qin weapons were gathered, piled with dry wood, doused with oil, and set ablaze.

As nearly two thousand weapons blazed, Zong Luo Hou sensed something was wrong. Panicking, he stammered, “You… Chen… I warn you, don’t do anything rash.”

Chen Ying ignored him and turned to Zhang Huaiwei. “Zhang, are there any large, sturdy houses in Jingyang City?”

Zhang Huaiwei thought for a moment. “Yes… Liu, the wealthy man in the south of the city, has a big estate—high brick walls, a sprawling compound, nearly twenty acres.”

Chen Ying gestured with Zong Luo Hou. “Quickly, order your men to enter Liu’s estate—every last one of them!”

Zong Luo Hou panicked. It now seemed Chen Ying’s goal was not mere escape.

Of course, Chen Ying had never intended just to flee; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. From the start, his aim was to annihilate Zong Luo Hou’s army.

To destroy nearly two thousand Western Qin soldiers with just seven men sounded impossible, but by gradually undermining Zong Luo Hou’s will, Chen Ying had succeeded.

Had he tried to force the Western Qin troops into the Liu estate at the start, Zong Luo Hou would have resisted to the death, dragging the Tang men down with him. But now, the archers’ bowstrings were gone, and all weapons burned. Even blades and axes, too heavy to burn completely, were red-hot and unusable for the time being.

Though the unarmed Western Qin soldiers could in theory overwhelm Chen Ying’s group by sheer numbers, they had already made enemies of every citizen in Jingyang. Jingyang was a central county in Guanzhong, with over four thousand households and more than twenty thousand people, including over six thousand able-bodied men. If a brawl broke out, the Western Qin soldiers wouldn’t stand a chance.

Zong Luo Hou screamed in desperation, “What are you trying to do?”

Chen Ying smiled faintly and slapped him hard across the face. “What I do is none of your business.”

If Zong Luo Hou still harbored any illusions at this point, he’d have wasted his entire life. He howled madly, “Brothers, fight them! He wants to burn us alive—”

“Inciting mutiny!” Chen Ying didn’t hesitate. He pressed his blade gently but firmly.

With a wet slash, the blade severed Zong Luo Hou’s throat and carotid artery. He clutched at his bleeding neck, but his hands were useless. He collapsed, convulsed briefly, and died.

Zhang Huaiwei said, “Why did you kill him?”

Chen Ying replied, “Is there a problem?”

With a single stroke, he severed Zong Luo Hou’s head, held it aloft, and shouted at the Western Qin soldiers, “Zong Luo Hou is dead! Surrender at once!”

Zheng Biao, Zong Luo Hou’s personal guard, roared furiously, “You killed the king—avenge him!”

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Dozens, then hundreds of Zong Luo Hou’s loyal men charged at Chen Ying and his comrades with their bare hands. Despite holding weapons, Zhang Huaiwei and the others tensed.

Chen Ying was unfazed. With a flourish of his blade, he shouted, “People of Guanzhong, these beasts are unarmed! Now’s your chance—settle your grudges, take your revenge!”

A woman, her body covered in bruises, hair disheveled, and face smeared with blood, was the first to step out, trembling, from her home with a pair of scissors in hand.

With a stab, the scissors plunged into the back of a Western Qin soldier.

An old man, well past fifty, picked up a carrying pole and swung it at a soldier’s waist. The blow landed solidly, but the old man lacked the strength, and the soldier only staggered, wounded but alive.

The Western Qin soldier’s eyes flashed with malice. “You old dog, you’re asking for death!”

As he raised his fist to strike the old man—

With a thud, the soldier toppled to the ground. Behind him stood a youth of about fifteen or sixteen, holding a blood-stained brick.

So it was true—no matter how skilled, anyone can be felled by a single brick.

“Fight! Fight!” The hot-blooded men of Guanzhong did not disappoint Chen Ying. The moment the Western Qin soldiers dropped their weapons and bowstrings, their fate was sealed—death was their only end.

Chen Ying roared, “I am Chen Ying of the Great Tang! Who dares face me in battle?”

The highest-ranking Western Qin officer, Zheng Biao, spat blood in rage. “Could you be any more shameless?”

Chen Ying swung his blade in a wide arc and charged into the unarmed Western Qin ranks like a tiger among sheep.

Four fell in a blur. Those who had seen Chen Ying’s skill before were now utterly demoralized.

“The Tang army is here to save us!” a burly man shouted, raising a heavy cleaver—over thirty pounds in weight—and bringing it down on an unarmed Western Qin soldier, cleaving him from crown to belly in a single stroke.

More and more townsfolk poured into the streets. Though they had no standard weapons, every hand held some tool—after all, under the Tang, private ownership of weapons was not forbidden. Even without military blades or spears, there were hatchets and axes.

All through Jingyang City, cries of slaughter and battle echoed. The Western Qin soldiers had fallen into the vast sea of a people’s war.