Chapter 428
Chapter 428
As darkness fell, Su Nan grew even more tense. He even leaped to a high point in the palace, straining his ears and scanning the surroundings for any sign of an approaching enemy. But still, no one came. After checking the area, Su Nan strolled slowly through the palace. The amount of gold the army had stripped was growing, soon to form a small mountain. A large furnace had been set up next to the pile of gold, with a fire roaring inside. Since the stripped gold was thin gold leaf, it was all being melted down and cast into ingots weighing about ten catties each. Su Nan picked up one of the newly made ingots. Seeing it gleam under the firelight brought him even more joy.
“My lord, there’s more gold than we expected. Once it’s all gathered, it will probably exceed two million gold coins! With this gold, my lord will be able to establish yourself very quickly after reaching the Western Regions. You will secure the position of a provincial governor, and in just a few years, our Su Clan will see prosperous days once again. And when great chaos erupts in the State of Yue, we will invade again and reclaim the lands that belong to us. We can also kill that bastard Shen Lang and the entire Jin Clan. Let’s kill them all! Long live our lord! Long live the Su Clan!”
In a way, gold truly was omnipotent. Before they had even reached the Western Regions, the mere sight of so much gold had boosted the morale of the Su Clan’s army. Even in the dead of night, the work of stripping the gold continued. Su Nan patrolled the area, paying attention to every soldier.
“Be careful. Don’t fall.”
“Be careful not to hold the fire so close, you might burn your hair.”
Putting on little shows to win people’s hearts was what Su Nan did best. The soldiers were all convinced that their lord truly cared for them. After stripping off a piece of gold, the first thing most soldiers did was bite it. Gold was soft, so the urge to see their teeth marks on it was irresistible.
Su Nan spoke gently.
“This gold was used for exterior decoration, so it won’t be clean. Don’t put dirty things in your mouth.”
However, Su Nan didn’t really try to stop them. Because, in truth, he couldn’t have stopped them anyway.
Everyone naturally used the same hands that had touched the gold to pick up flatbreads and put them in their mouths, unaware that Wu Lie and the others had coated the gold with the filthiest water from corpses, teeming with countless germs. Furthermore, dozens of catties of arsenic had been dissolved in over a hundred buckets of that water. Although the amount of arsenic was minuscule, those who handled the gold inevitably ingested some bacteria and arsenic into their stomachs.
***
The task of stripping the gold was indeed taking too long. Su Nan’s grand army had been stationed at the Palace of the Qiang King for several days, yet they still hadn’t managed to strip all the gold. However, the gold they had already collected amounted to a hundred and fifty thousand catties, already worth over two million gold coins. With this huge windfall, the Su Clan would be able to recover its strength very quickly once they reached the Western Regions. Moreover, with no enemy forces appearing within a hundred-mile radius, the Su Clan’s army grew increasingly complacent.
Then, a small shadow was cast. More and more people in the Su Clan’s army began to suffer from stomachaches. In fact, the stomachaches had started on the first day they arrived at the Palace of the Qiang King, but no one paid it any mind. This was a desolate wilderness, and it was the height of a sweltering summer, so getting an upset stomach was considered normal. But the number of sick soldiers grew, and their diarrhea became more and more severe. It wasn’t malaria, as malaria has a very long incubation period; this was an outbreak caused by various germs and toxins.
Finally, one day, a massive epidemic erupted within the Su Clan’s army, and many of the Su Clan’s warriors fell ill. Though it was a sweltering summer day, they shivered with chills. Yet their actual body temperatures were astonishingly high, and the diarrhea grew increasingly severe. It went from dozens to hundreds, until finally, most of the soldiers were vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, which eventually turned bloody.
***
Seeing this scene, Su Nan felt his entire body turn ice-cold.
‘This is bad. The gold wasn’t clean! Something must have been applied to its surface. Whose scheme is this? Shen Lang, it must be that bastard Shen Lang!’
In fact, the idea that something was applied to the gold wasn’t the most terrifying part. The fact that Shen Lang had tampered with the gold in the Palace of the Qiang King meant he had predicted the Su Clan’s army would come here. That meant a confrontation with Shen Lang and the Qiang nation’s army was imminent.
“This is bad. Shen Lang’s army is about to attack!”
‘How many will there be? Ten thousand cavalry? No, it won’t be just that. Aruna is the new Queen of the Qiang, and cavalry from every tribe she visits are constantly joining her. So the Qiang cavalry attacking this place will number over twenty thousand!’
Su Nan looked at the soldiers writhing on the ground, suffering from diarrhea. They were so weak from sickness they had no strength left; how could they possibly fight? A few vanguard units would probably be enough to annihilate them. Only then did Su Nan regret coming to the Palace of the Qiang King, feeling as if he could vomit blood.
‘I was blinded by profit! Blinded by greed again. Why? I knew I had to keep heading west, that I absolutely could not be delayed by any temptation, not even for two million gold coins. Why did this greed arise?’
Su Nan let out a scream from the bottom of his throat and struck his own head forcefully.
‘Shen Lang, you vicious bastard! He was triumphant for only a day or two, yet he quickly realized I would flee and set a trap at the Palace of the Qiang King. I knew he was vicious, I knew he never miscalculated in his plans, so why did I make this mistake again?’
Su Yong said in a trembling voice.
“My lord, even if Shen Lang’s army is in pursuit, they won’t be able to catch up quickly. Our scouts hundreds of miles behind us have not spotted any large forces. If they were coming, our rear scouts would have reported it long ago. They’ll need at least a few more days to catch up, which gives us plenty of time to escape.”
Su Zan said.
“No. We must stop stripping the gold immediately, and everyone must mount their horses and flee at once!”
“Go, let’s go!”
At Su Nan’s command, everyone, despite their illness, mounted their horses. They couldn’t strip the remaining gold, so taking only what they had already acquired, Su Nan’s army of five thousand rode west like madmen.
***
The stench of urine and feces filled the air on their frantic ride. More and more soldiers were suffering from diarrhea on horseback. Two days had already passed since Su Nan fled the Palace of the Qiang King. This was a vast grassland where horses could run freely, yet in two days, they had covered less than two hundred miles. The soldiers were too gravely ill. The number of people in Su Nan’s army who collapsed from sickness grew, and eventually, half the army had fallen. Then, a scout brought terrifying news. A large force of Qiang cavalry had been spotted riding in from the south. They were coming from the south, not from their rear.
Upon hearing the news, Su Nan’s entire body trembled.
‘As expected, Shen Lang circled around to the south to pursue me. But with the army before me completely incapacitated by illness, how can we fight now?’
Su Zan slapped his own cheek with all his might, knelt, and desperately slammed his forehead against the ground.
“My lord, it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have been greedy. If I hadn’t suggested we take the gold, today’s disaster would never have happened!”
Su Yong slammed his forehead down even harder. He was the one who had first mentioned the gold at the Palace of the Qiang King. Su Nan’s head felt like it was about to split, but he forced himself to be calm once more.
‘Once again, a disaster that could annihilate the Su Clan has befallen us. What should I do? Su Nan, if you can’t overcome this crisis, the Su Clan will be wiped out. Greed has been my undoing. Blinded by profit! What should I do? The Su Clan cannot be destroyed like this. There must be a way, a way.’
Su Zan said.
“Brother, take a few hundred men and flee to the Western Regions at top speed. I will stay behind to hold the rear. I brought this disaster upon us, so I will atone for it with my death.”
Su Yong said.
“My lord, I will also stay behind to hold them off. My lord, take the young master and leave quickly!”
Su Nan shook his head.
“No, that won’t work! Shen Lang must have set up an ambush in the west as well. He already predicted I was heading for the Western Regions. We were delayed at the Palace of the Qiang King for several days, so he must have sent his elite cavalry ahead on the path we must take, waiting for us to walk into his net!”
Su Nan asked with utmost composure.
“Su Yong, will you die for me?”
Su Yong pressed his forehead to the ground and replied.
“This servant is willing to die!”
“You will wear my robes, carry my banner, and continue forward, to the west, to lure Shen Lang’s main force. To get from the Qiang nation to the Western Regions, one must cross a great mountain range and a canyon. This is the only direct path to the Western Regions. Shen Lang will surely have an ambush there, so you will be the bait to draw them out! I will take a few hundred men and quietly head north!”
Su Yong asked.
“To the north? Are you going to the State of Chu?”
“No. I will borrow the path through Chu to head to the Western Regions!”
Su Yong kowtowed and replied.
“I understand, my lord!”
Su Nan patted him on the shoulder and said.
“Su Yong, I have given you a difficult task!”
Su Yong said through tears.
“To die for my lord is this servant’s happiness!”
***
A quarter of an hour later.
Su Yong, disguised as Su Nan, led several thousand of the Su Clan’s soldiers in a mad dash to the west, luring the Qiang cavalry. Meanwhile, Su Nan, disguised as an ordinary warrior, took several hundred of his trusted followers and a portion of the gold and fled north under the cover of darkness. Su Nan had ruthlessly cut off his own arm once again in order to survive.
***
Half a day later.
Several hundred of the Su Clan’s direct warriors were galloping madly northward. They spared no effort from their horses, and after a few hours, they had covered over a hundred miles. No, it wasn’t a gallop; it was a flight.
Su Yong was leading several thousand men to the west, making it look like he was the main force of the Su Clan. By cutting off his own arm once more to find a path to survival, Su Nan was certain that Shen Lang would be fooled this time. After heading north and entering the path through Chu to reach the Western Regions, he would have to travel at least a few thousand extra miles. Although he had lost several thousand men, with the few hundred he had now and a large amount of gold, the Su Clan could definitely rise again in the Western Regions.
‘Our Su Clan will never be destroyed. Never! I, Su Nan, have nine lives. Shen Lang, you will never be able to kill me! As long as I am alive, our Su Clan can rise once more. And one day, I will invade the State of Yue again and establish a dynasty that belongs to the Su Clan. One day, I will slaughter the entire Jin Clan, and you, Shen Lang, I will tear you to pieces!’
Just then, a calm voice drifted through the air.
“Uncle Su Nan, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry? Are you heading north through the State of Chu to take the long way to the Western Regions?”