Chapter 3: The Awakening of Dragons and Serpents

Great Yao, Central Province.

This land is rich in treasures and densely populated, with fertile fields crisscrossed by paths. Viewed from high above, the landscape is as picturesque as a painting, and embedded like the finishing touch on a dragon’s eye within this splendor lies the great city of Shendu.

As the perspective descends into the city, an imperial aura swirls among the rivers and towering buildings.

First, on the ground of this great city, four man-made canals form a "well" character (井), with two running longitudinally and two horizontally. Bridge structures, resembling large buildings, stand on both banks of these rivers. There are eight such bridges in Shendu. Spanning a hundred meters, these bridges act like iron nails, pinning down the entry and exit points of Shendu's wealth.

The "arches" reserved on these bridges allow the passage of dragon boats five stories high. Once a dragon boat enters the canal, turbulent water surges up from the channel, and the rising undercurrent brings forth tortoise-bodied dragon-water beasts, several tons in weight and twenty feet long. They grip the towropes with their mouths and, following the horn calls from the dragon boats, begin to pull, hauling the vessels into the canal.

These water beasts are said to possess a faint trace of Qilin blood, yet they are now merely laborers under the "Legalist Statutes" of the Great Yao. After pulling the dragon boats into their designated positions, these beasts sink back into the pools, leaving behind swirling eddies.

...The arched bridges lock the water veins...

At night, if one looks up at the sky, one sees the "Dragon light shining upon the ruins of Niu and Dou."

The architectural layout of the nine zones divided by the man-made canals reveals a subtle dragon-like configuration. At the summits of the structures forming the dragon’s spine, faint electric clouds drift. When night falls and the lights gradually fade, this brilliance surges into the sky, corresponding to nine palaces manifesting hundreds of feet above.

This is no mirage, but true palaces suspended in the firmament, where auspicious beasts and spirit birds fly within, and the Emperor and his many ministers deliberate on the affairs of the world.

Among these nine palaces, the one drifting in the southeast is the "Qian Palace." Inside the central hall of the Qian Palace stands a massive sundial fifty feet tall. Within the complex zones marked by this sundial, streams of "Yin and Yang Qi" are forming "Yao Calculation" arrays. The Astrological Ministers working here record the intersection points of every long trace of Yin and Yang, then perform their deductions.

Lu Shaoqi, a second-rank Spirit-Observing Official of the dynasty, holding a brush made from spirit-fox fur, dots and draws a star chart on silk. Suddenly, his expression grows increasingly grave; his fingers move rapidly in calculation. Once finished, he looks up toward the direction of the "Wukang Star" in the firmament and murmurs, "A celestial catastrophe?"

At that moment, a comet faintly streaks across the sky.

...The dividing line of the comet’s double tail...

The following day, at the morning court, the Shu Emperor, wearing a crown with twelve strings of jade beads, looks at the silk star chart in his hand and says in a calm, flat tone to the ministers waiting in silence: "A descendant of the dragon, an outcast, has returned." As these words fall, the Great Yao court descends into silence.

The Wu (military) officials exchange glances, while the Wen (civil) officials lift their jade tablets, preparing to remonstrate.

The Great Yao has only two arrangements for the surrounding barbarian妖 seeds: either assimilate them or drive them into the wilderness. The descendants of the dragon are naturally a highly noble lineage, but the "outcasts" refer to that branch which followed the Chen Dynasty when it fled during the transition of power six thousand years ago.

The term "outcast" used by the Shu Emperor already expressed his attitude.

The Shu Emperor's stern voice falls from the top of the white jade steps: "Cloud Residence, Han Sheng."

The Grand Marshal and the Grand Minister of Education step forward, and the attendant scribe begins to take out yellow silk to record. The hundred officials understand the decree delivered by His Majesty.

The Great Yao is currently at its peak, with no extra favor to spare. Thus, the order is given to the generals of the four directions to hold the borders firm.

Subsequently, the Astrological Ministers also receive their orders. In the nine celestial palaces, the Zhen Palace in the due east initiates a ceremony at its central altar. As the Emperor’s order is embedded into the central gap, mobilizing the power of Heaven and Earth, the perspective rises—signal fluctuations on the planet's surface spread into the empty space, issuing a warning to forces beyond the heavens.

However, it is not only the dragon descendants who have come this time; four other evil forces are stealthily tailing them from behind.

...The dividing line spanning the vastness of the world...

In the 23rd year of the Great Yao Shu Era, in the southern border region, Wu Fei (Xuan Chong) is guarding a camp on a rocky, water-adjacent highland, commanding his battalions to stand in a standoff against those "things" outside.

Outside the camp, the writhing snake-men are emitting hissing battle cries. Such sounds make one feel completely uneasy, like the stench of raw fish rushing into one's face.

Inside the camp, Xuan Chong is issuing instructions: place more caltrops, rotate the watchtower guards, scatter iron thorns in the grass at seemingly vulnerable gaps in the fence, and keep two squads of armored axemen on standby, sleeping in tents near the camp gate with their shields as blankets. Some of these tents at the entrance are left empty, hung with clattering iron plates to ensure that if the enemy tries to sneak in, they will not gain the upper hand.

Xuan Chong: "It is said that the special forces kings in the novels of my previous life were quite impressive; I must be on guard."

Most of the fighting happens outside the camp. From time to time, snake-men throw spears that strike the shields, but these throws are from over fifty paces away and lack the force to pierce the shields. Conversely, the human light archers on the camp side fire arrows tipped with ignited "sulfur resin," which can burn the skin of these snake-men.

Xuan Chong stands on the No. 3 high platform, watching the snake-men block the gate.

Wu Fei yawns and orders: "The usual. When the sun sets this afternoon and the cold wind rises, send two battalions to drive them away. Let the other battalions sleep in peace. Wake up at the appointed time tonight and 'boil the snakes.'"

A cavalry commander steps forward, wanting to speak, but Wu Fei preempts him: "By the way, where are the brothers bringing the next shipment of grain?"

He then unfolds a silk map, where a small boat icon appears on the sparkling river.

Watching the map, Wu Fei mutters to himself: "Oh, six hours of water travel left." He then clearly instructs the cavalry commander, who was preparing to request battle: "Send some men to keep in touch with the grain transport officer; agree on a time for them to enter the camp and deliver the grain."

The cavalry captain looks at the lazy young general, opens his mouth, but swallows his words.

As for what the commander wanted to say, Wu Fei knows clearly: "The snake-men blocking the gate right now are few in number—that's great military merit! If Young General Wu were more aggressive, he would surely gain the old general's respect!"

But in reality, the battalion leaders grumbled behind his back: "This little bird, guarding the camp without stepping out the gate, like a sheltered young lady!"

Wu Fei (Xuan Chong) does not care about the petty talk behind his back. He lies back down to sleep. As for the snake-men at the gate, once the sun sets and the air cools, they will naturally lose their vigor. As for charging out? One more thing is better than one less. In the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* he read before crossing over, there was the story of "Losing Jieting."

Wu Fei thinks to himself: "Doing one's duty is enough; why go out and show off?" He glances at the squad leaders in the tent. Under his uncle, these men were strictly disciplined, but he cannot command them with such ease. As a modern person, Wu Fei laments that his subordinates are a standard feudal army. If he were to give the order to unleash the hounds—that is, to let these blockheads charge out of the camp—once they got into the thrill of killing, they would likely ignore the retreat signal.

The performance of a feudal army is based on military merit, and snake-man heads are worth a lot. He lacks the prestige to make these veterans abandon their bounties at a critical moment. If the main force guarding the camp were lured too far away and ambushed, his primary duty would be in jeopardy.

Wu Fei scans the surrounding terrain. There are three paths at the grain depot: two land routes to the north, one leading to the hills and one into the jungle. To the south is a river. The scouts he sent brought back information that makes Xuan Chong suspect the snake-men are trying to lure him out of his hole.

Wu Fei: "They often hunt empty-handed; I must make these snake-men hunt empty-handed as well."

Note: Snake-men can go directly into the river to feed on fish. One should be able to catch fish by the river near the camp, but there are none, so Xuan Chong judges that there must be at least five or six hundred snake-men.

Wu Fei: "If I really lose this grain station, the Old Uncle might not execute me, but a hundred lashes are inevitable, plus facial branding and social ruin within the clan."

Lying in the tent, Wu Fei looks at the sunlight filtering through. It is the "Wei hour" (1:00 PM to 3:00 PM). He judges he can sleep for two more hours, but he is too tense to sleep, fearing that if he drifts off, some veteran soldiers might leave the camp on their own.

Wu Fei sighs: "Damn, leading these veterans is harder than herding three hundred thousand pigs in Huaihai."

...The lush mountains and forests, where every tree and blade of grass seems like an enemy...

The Shen hour (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM) has passed. The sun is blocked by distant hills. Although it is still bright, the shadows of the mountains stretch out. A sudden chill settles in front of the grain depot by the river, and the frequency of snake-men prowling a hundred paces outside the camp decreases.

A horn sounds in the camp, followed by the sound of hooves grinding the earth. A squad of sixty peasant-cavalrymen, armed with long spears, prepares to leave the camp. Sensing something, the snake-men begin to writhe and prepare to flee.

Inside the camp, as the flags change, the aura of peace shifts, and the Yao hexagram turns from "Yang to Yin."

With the adjustment of the camp's Feng Shui, the cold air from two meters below the river water is drawn up. A sudden gust of wind spreads this cold over the snake-men outside the camp. These snake-men, who lack fur and have scales only on their upper bodies, suddenly shiver as if ice-cold hands were shoved down their necks. Their noon-day vigor vanishes, and their movements become sluggish.

Wu Fei jokes: "Cold-blooded animals, you have scales to retain moisture but no fur to keep warm. Now that it’s afternoon, the wind is up and I’ve sprinkled water, not so cocky now, are you?"

Regarding the combat power of snake-men, Wu Fei had learned before taking command. Every June, they become restless in Lingnan. A normal individual is five to six meters long from head to tail, two meters tall when semi-upright. When they launch an attack, the flick of a snake-tail can break a cow's leg. As for long-range attacks? They can throw a seven-kilogram wooden spear fifty meters. The dented shields and dislocated arms of his peasant soldiers have confirmed the waist and arm strength of the snake-men.

However, according to Wu Fei's summary: this high-burst power of the snake-men generally occurs in environments above 25°C. Once it drops below 10°C, they are not nearly as lively. Therefore, every day when guarding the depot, Wu Fei waits for "the sun to hide behind the hills and the valley wind to stir the banners," then he blows the horn for his riders to drive the snake-men away.

The cold water from the river bottom, whipped by the wind, carries a touch of autumn's bleak chill.

The peasant-cavalrymen, having just finished their hot soup, are in high spirits. The improvised spears—made by binding machetes to poles—are wielded with the same familiarity as they use sickles to harvest rice. Relying on the momentum of their horses, they approach from the side, slicing deep wounds into the snake-men. As the injured snake-men curl up in death throes, the horses have already curved away.

Watching from within, Wu Fei sees the snake-men have mostly fled and signals for the retreat.

The peasant-cavalrymen do not have the chance to dismount and take heads, and most of their strikes only pierced the scales without dealing fatal blows. Snake-men possess much greater vitality than humans. Injured snake-men still retain their ferocity, and their heads are not easy to collect.

Xuan Chong does not hold this against them. He orders the riders that when they return to the tents and dismount, they must drop their spears before the examiner. Anyone with blood and flesh on their spear can receive a portion of wine and meat. Some riders, to cheat, even deliberately nick their spear blades so that red matter sticks more easily (like a broken fingernail catching flesh), so as not to be scolded by the examiner: "You're just smearing blood and mud on your weapon to cheat for wine!"

Today, Wu Fei sent out two full squads, 120 men, and fought quite fiercely because the grain transport team is coming soon, and he needs to clear the area so the boat crew can unload in peace.

As for the squad leaders, Wu Fei grants them credit for ten heads. Others might not be able to pull heads out of thin air, but Wu Fei has an uncle; there are pickled snake-men heads in the warehouse at the rear pass that have not yet been reported.

This reward-and-punishment system is standard—it doesn't necessarily make the soldiers bloodthirsty, but when it's time to fight, no one slacks off. Even the slipperiest veteran feels he should land a few solid stabs on the battlefield.

As the core individual behind all this, Wu Fei feels no thrill of "holding military power," but rather the weariness of a "company boss and his employees calculating against each other."

Xuan Chong: "When others are generals, their orders are followed strictly. But I, I suffer."

Xuan Chong currently commands 500 men across seven squads, spending all his time in petty power struggles with the mid-level battalion leaders.

After the sun sets, Wu Fei personally re-examines the spears. After carefully sniffing the weapons that didn't have obvious blood to see if there was a scent of blood, he quickly distributes the wine and meat. Guarding the depot is the simplest task; the only thing to be careful about is the rewards and punishments.

...Ten hours later...

A grain transport boat appears on the upstream river. The watchtower guards and the transport officer on the boat coordinate via torch signals, and Wu Fei waves his command flag. Soon, the peasant soldiers waiting on the parade ground begin to enter the wharf, forming ranks and arranging the wooden tracks and wheelbarrows for unloading.

Ten tortoise-shell ships, each fifteen zhang long, dock. Spears thrown by snake-men are stuck in the defensive plating of the ships; clearly, the snake-men had also set their sights on this grain transport.

As the ships dock, Wu Fei does not leave the gates wide open. Instead, he orders the camp to be on alert. The peasant soldiers form ranks, ready for battle. They first exchange passwords, then send men with families to enter the hold and check. Only after confirming is the camp gate opened!

Wu Fei: "If this boat wasn't filled with grain but with a nest of snake-men, that would be quite the surprise." History is not without such "clever stratagems" that succeeded when guards were lax.

Sacks of grain are raised via pedal pulleys to the slide boards, then glide forty meters down to the wheelbarrows. Once loaded, they are pushed into the front gate. The grain is checked with bamboo tubes to ensure no spoilage before being stacked in numbered zones.

At the side gate of the granary, every night, as the Yin hexagram operates, the "Five Ghosts Carrying" array is activated. As the talismans attach to the grain carts, they gain the ability to traverse the night, and another transport officer waiting in the camp moves batches of grain to the army camp dozens of miles away.

The "Five Ghosts Carrying" array relies on "Dharma altars" built on mountain ley lines and river veins, with a maximum transport range within one province. The grain received by Wu Fei's depot during this campaign is supplied by other prefectures.

...The standoff line of lurking and patrolling...

On a mountain six kilometers away, a pair of vertical pupils is staring at the riverbank wharf, where the Great Yao military grain camp is brightly lit by torches and wreathed in sulfurous smoke.

The owner of these pupils is a white snake-man. The fine scales on his face give it a refined look. Although he still has a "snake's head," he possesses a level of civilization that other snake-men lack.

At this moment, the main force of the Wu family army is sweeping through the 800-mile Chilian Mountain Range. Fourteen spawning grounds have already been destroyed by Wu Hanluan’s armored warriors.

The peasant troops performing corvée labor in Wu Fei's camp are a grade weaker in combat power compared to the professional, armored soldiers under General Wu Hanluan. To the barbarians in the southern border who still use bone weapons, Wu Hanluan's main force represents a difference in "quality." Even if the snake-men bet everything and gathered four times the force, they could not stop the Wu family's elite troops.

Therefore, for the past ten days, the snake-man priest "White Scale," who has been watching Wu Fei's camp from the mountain, believes that the only key to their victory is to cut off this grain depot of the Wu army.

However, White Scale is quite frustrated by the caution of the depot commander. He has been under great anxiety lately, his body rubbing against stones, shedding some skin. He unfolds his snake sorcery; the smoke, like a wandering snake, forms the faces of various snake tribe leaders before him, and the smoke-constructed snake-men emit hissing sounds of communication.

In this "remote 3D video conference," White Scale points to the grain depot in the distance and says: "It cannot be taken by wit; it must be seized by force."

Priest White Scale does not even notice the eerie blue light flickering in his pupils.