Chapter 31: Bewitched and Bewildered

"Do you truly believe we can defeat the government troops?" Liu Heng countered.

"Isn't that a fact?" Chen Xunping spread his hands. "Today, our few hundred refugee recruits, bolstered by sixty archers, used the spear phalanx you taught us to defeat over a thousand government soldiers."

Liu Heng smiled helplessly. "Brother, did you really not notice that from start to finish, the government troops' archers never appeared? Even their personal guards and household soldiers were kept hidden behind the garrison troops."

Chen Xunping frowned, pondering for a moment before saying, "Now that you mention it, it does seem that way. I never saw a single government archer."

Liu Heng continued, "Think about it, Brother. If the government archers had coordinated with their personal guards to charge our spear phalanx, what do you think the result would have been?"

"Hiss!" Chen Xunping drew a sharp breath. "Our spearmen are all commoners in rags, none of them wearing armor. They have no defense against archers, and their training is too brief. If a volley of arrows had rained down, some would have certainly fled, and the entire phalanx would have scattered in a panic."

Liu Heng said with a smile, "If I am not mistaken, the government archers were all tied up besieging Shi Yunhu and his men. On the surface, they were the main force. Our victory today was a stroke of luck. Had we actually listened to Zhao Yutu, our fate would have been no better than Shi Yunhu's."

"That damned Zhao Yutu, he was sending our brothers to their deaths!" Realizing the truth, Chen Xunping raged. "No, I am going to chop his head off right now. If he wants to harm our brothers, I must kill him."

Seeing Chen Xunping stand up in a fury, Liu Heng reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.

"Don't be impulsive, Brother. I suspect Zhao Yutu didn't necessarily intend for us to die."

Chen Xunping stood without moving, though he did not sit back down. "How do you know he wasn't intentionally sending us to our deaths? Don't forget, he is one of Shi Yunhu's men."

"Sit down and talk, sit down first," Liu Heng insisted, pulling Chen Xunping down. "Zhao Yutu is also a bandit, and a leader at that. It does him no good for us to be wiped out by the government; it would only lead to him being hunted by the authorities as well."

"But he sent us to that place, the East Datong Road, which is a death trap. Why keep a man like that alive?" Chen Xunping grabbed a dry branch and threw it forcefully into the fire.

Liu Heng laughed. "I don't think he sent us there to die on purpose. It is more likely that he is blinded by the prospect of an official position."

"What do you mean?" Chen Xunping frowned.

Liu Heng replied with a smile, "Zhao Yutu has some learning, which is why he saw the strategic value of occupying the East Datong Road, but he momentarily forgot the dangers along the path to Daliang Mountain. Ten years of bitter study are all for the sake of one moment of fame. Most scholars study to become officials, and Zhao Yutu shares this ambition. Of the millions of scholars, only a few ever get the chance."

The fire caught the branch Chen Xunping had thrown in, and the flames flared up over an inch high.

Chen Xunping snorted. "Scholars are no good; they are full of devious schemes. I suspect Shi Yunhu was deceived by him too."

Liu Heng threw a few logs into the fire, suppressing the flames, and used a wooden stick to poke them until they burned.

Setting the stick aside, Liu Heng said, "At first, I thought Shi Yunhu would move against us on our way west, but he never did. This puzzled me, but hearing Zhao Yutu's words today, I finally understand: Shi Yunhu was also blinded by the desire for an official post and momentarily forgot to deal with us."

"Don't talk about Shi Yunhu. If it were me, I'd want to be an official too. If you hadn't constantly disagreed, I would have taken our men to the East Datong Road already." As he said this, Chen Xunping wore a look of lingering fear.

Liu Heng laughed. "Enough, Brother. That is in the past; let us not speak of it. Do not lay a hand on Zhao Yutu; I still have use for him."

"What use could he be? He is full of malice; keeping him is just inviting disaster."

Liu Heng smiled, stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said, "Come, let us check around the camp. We cannot afford any mishaps right now."

Chen Xunping threw a few more pieces of firewood into the fire before following Liu Heng to patrol the camp.

Having traveled all day, even the refugees who had not fought were exhausted, and the camp was filled with the sound of snoring. Apart from a few patrols, no one else was moving about.

"Greetings, Chief."

A patrol team stopped hurriedly upon seeing Liu Heng and Chen Xunping.

Liu Heng asked, "Anything unusual?"

"Reporting to the Chief, everything is normal."

"Continue your patrol!"

After questioning this squad, Liu Heng and Chen Xunping checked the other teams one by one. Satisfied, they turned back.

On the way, Chen Xunping said, "The government troops were just defeated today; there won't be any danger. Besides, the brothers have been marching all day and are dead tired. I suggest we just have two men keep watch and let the others rest."

Liu Heng shook his head. "Brother, we both come from the frontier army. We know better than anyone what happens in a camp. If there is no patrol and someone raids us, a few dozen men would be enough to cause a panic that could tear through a camp of a thousand. It isn't as if we haven't seen such things before."

Chen Xunping dismissed this. "The situations you're talking about involved two armies. We aren't a great army; we're just a band of wandering refugees. There's no need to be so cautious."

Liu Heng turned serious. "Our hard work is to ensure the lives of the thousand people in this camp. We are bandits, and we are currently on the march; we must adhere strictly to military discipline. Being strict does no harm. If we are seen standing watch, I believe the others won't have any complaints."

Chen Xunping, seeing how much importance Liu Heng placed on this, began to feel nervous.

As they neared the fire they had left, they saw a new figure there.

Chen Xunping’s gaze sharpened, his expression changing as he roared, "Zhao Yutu!"

He strode toward the figure, kicked the man in front of the fire, and sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Zhao Yutu! You son of a bitch, you dare show your face here?"

Chen Xunping mounted him, fists raised, ready to strike.

"Stop!" Liu Heng shouted from behind, rushing forward to pull Chen Xunping away and help Zhao Yutu to his feet.

Zhao Yutu clutched his chest, coughing twice, and said with dissatisfaction, "Chen Xunping, what is the meaning of this? You kick me the moment you see me. I don't recall offending you!"

"A kick is getting off lightly! You tricked me into going to Daliang Mountain to die. I'm going to finish you right now!" Chen Xunping raised his hand to grab Zhao Yutu's collar, his other fist clenched.

Liu Heng quickly separated the two, pushing Chen Xunping aside before turning to Zhao Yutu. "Master Zhao, what brings you here so late at night?"