Volume 2, Chapter 5: Dong Lufa Scales the City Wall First

Dong Falü jumped into the moat, swam to the opposite bank, and sprinted toward the foot of the city wall. With his saber clenched in his teeth, he found handholds and footholds in the gaps between the bricks, climbing with both hands and feet. In the blink of an eye, he had scaled a significant portion of the wall barehanded.

Most of the guards atop the wall were engaged in the chaotic fighting. The few who had noticed Li Shandao and his men focused their attention on those still crossing the moat or running toward the wall, completely failing to notice Dong Falü.

Li Shandao, who was not a strong swimmer, was still splashing about in the moat, his heart in his throat as he kept his eyes fixed on Dong Falü scaling the wall.

Dong Falü climbed upward with single-minded determination. Just as Li Shandao finished crossing the moat, Dong Falü reached the base of the battlements.

He grabbed the outer edge of the parapet, hauled himself up with a fierce heave, and vaulted onto the top of the wall!

Li Shandao raised his saber and roared, "Attack! Kill them!"

Gao Chounu, Qin Jingsi, Wang Xuda, Luo Zhong, Yuan Dezhen, and the others were all watching Dong Falü.

Seeing him reach the top, Qin Jingsi and the rest felt not the slightest sense of relief; rather, they grew even more tense. Hurriedly raising their sabers, they joined Li Shandao in shouting at the top of their lungs, "Attack! Kill them!"—intending to draw the guards' attention.

Even as they shouted to divert attention, a figure suddenly leaping onto the parapet inevitably caught the guards' eyes. The nearest guards were startled and instinctively stepped back. Recovering quickly, they drew their spears and sabers and turned to fight.

Dong Falü had already taken his saber from his teeth. Keeping his back to the battlements, he parried the thrusting spears with deft sweeps of his blade. Then, dropping to the ground, he rolled right beneath the feet of the two spear-wielding guards. Their spears were too long to retract in time; both men felt a sharp pain in their shins. Looking down, they saw their legs had been slashed open by Dong Falü. Cry out in agony, they dropped their spears, clutched their bleeding legs, and collapsed to the ground. Rolling forward, Dong Falü flailed and slashed wildly, scattering the remaining two or three guards who rushed toward him.

Instead of pursuing the fleeing men, he retreated to the two fallen guards. Kneeling on the chest of one, he grabbed his topknot and yanked his head back. Ignoring the man's shrieks and keeping his eyes fixed on the retreating guards, he severed the man's head with brute force.

Spurtles of fresh blood showered over him, but he made no attempt to avoid it.

His hair, his face, and the upper half of his body were drenched in gore.

Clutching the severed head, he leaped to his feet and bellowed at the fleeing guards, waving the bloody trophy, "Come on then!"

How could those few guards dare to fight him further? Glancing at each other in terror, they let out a terrified cry and fled in all directions.

Dong Falü dropped the head, untied the rope wound around his torso, secured one end firmly to the battlement, and tossed the other down to the base of the wall. He stood guard with his saber drawn. Between the headless corpse and the heavily wounded man groaning as he dragged himself away with a long trail of blood, the chilling deterrent effect was so absolute that not a single guard dared approach within ten paces!

A cheer rose from the foot of the wall.

At the cheer, the rope tautened, and one by one, Li Shandao’s retainers clambered up the wall.

Chen Jing'er was the third to ascend. The moment his feet touched the ramparts, he asked, "Who was fighting the guards?" Glancing sideways at Dong Falü, he found himself looking at a man soaked in blood. Brave as he was, Chen Jing'er was startled and blurted out, "Eleventh Brother, are you wounded?"

Dong Falü replied, "I don't know who was fighting them earlier, nobody came near me." He wiped the blood from his face. "It's the dog guards' blood."

Chen Jing'er ordered the retainers who had just climbed up, "Help kill the guards!" Shouting aloud, "We are under the command of Erlang Li of Wagang! Three thousand main troops have come to take Puyang! Those who surrender shall be spared; those who resist shall be slaughtered to the last!" He brandished his saber and charged toward the nearest clump of combatants.

The retainers who reached the wall shouted battle cries and surged forward behind Chen Jing'er.

Caught off guard, the sudden appearance of a horde of men atop the wall threw the already chaotic garrison into utter confusion. With the injection of Chen Jing'er's fresh troops and the terrifying rumor that the invading Wagang bandits numbered "three thousand," the defenders completely collapsed. After offering only a brief, disorganized resistance, they either fled down the ramparts or dropped their weapons and knelt in surrender.

Without pausing to confer with the forces they had just rendezvoused with, Chen Jing'er led Zheng Zhiguo and seven or eight others down the slope of the wall toward the gateway arch. A chaotic melee was underway there as well. Zheng Zhiguo charged in front, horizontal saber in his right hand and a dagger in his left, cutting down three or four guards in quick succession and sending the rest scattering in panic. Chen Jing'er and three or four other retainers joined forces to force the city gates open.

The first sight that greeted them was a fluttering black banner.

Beneath the waving flag, two to three hundred brave men followed closely behind Li Shandao, brandishing sabers and spears, howling with wild joy as they surged through the gates!

"We're in the city! We're in the city!"

"Plunder the wealth, eat meat, seize their women!"

A cacophony of chaotic shouts echoed through the gateway arch, deafening in volume.

Li Shandao rushed through the arch, then abruptly whirled around, blocking Qin Jingsi, Wang Xuda, Luo Zhong, and the others with his horizontal saber.

Gao Chounu brandished a pair of iron maces and bellowed, "Quiet everyone! Stop shouting! The master has orders."

The clamor subsided instantly, and the charging momentum halted as two or three hundred pairs of eyes fixed on Li Shandao.

Behind him was the gloomy darkness of the gateway arch; ahead lay the wide street of the county seat, bathed in sunlight. To the onlookers, Li Shandao appeared framed in a halo of golden light. Guarding his flank, Gao Chounu stood nearly two meters tall according to modern standards, resembling a formidable, fierce wild bear!

Li Shandao spoke concisely and issued his orders: "Jingsi, Third Brother, take your respective men and follow me to attack the county yamen. Fourth Brother, take your men and hold this city gate. Fifth Brother, Dezhen, Brother Zhongkui, each of you take your own squad and hunt down the fleeing county garrison!"

The men answered in unison.

Luo Zhong and his retainers stayed behind to guard the gateway arch. Chen Jing'er, Yuan Dezhen, and Shi Zhongkui led their respective retainers—some swarming up the walls, others pursuing the scattered county troops—joining the mopping-up operation. Shi Zhongkui was the commander of the hundred-odd men newly assigned to Li Shandao by Xu Shiji. Li Shandao himself led Qin Jingsi, Wang Xuda, and the others to attack the county yamen.

The county yamen was located in the eastern part of the city.

Along the streets inside the city, apart from fleeing garrison troops, there were also ordinary townsfolk.

Since there had been no warning of an attack, the city gates had merely been locked earlier without strict martial law in force. Initially, there were even more citizens out on the streets, gathered in small groups in alleys to exchange news and gossip.

Later, when chaos suddenly erupted inside the city—the scene Li Shandao and the others witnessed of attackers scaling the wall—most of the townsfolk panicked and fled back to their homes. However, not everyone had retreated; a few stubborn ones remained on the streets, and these were the people visible now.

Only a specific breed of people would dare linger on the streets at such a time: ruffians, scoundrels, and idlers.

Such individuals habitually broke the law and stirred up trouble even in peaceful times; how much more so now?

Some calculating opportunists, hoping to profit from the chaos, ran alongside Li Shandao's charging group, shouting, "Where are you brave heroes heading? Let us guide you!" They mingled directly into the ranks. One such person, upon learning that Li Shandao was heading for the yamen, even sprinted ahead to lead the way.

The county yamen, much like neighborhood enclosures, was surrounded by perimeter walls taller and sturdier than ordinary alley walls, resembling a miniature fortress. By the time Li Shandao and his men arrived, the magistrate of Puyang had already learned that the city gates were breached and bandits had entered. The heavy gates of the yamen were firmly barred, and garrison troops and yamen clerks had manned the battlements. Arrows began to rain down from afar.

"Damn their mothers! We're a step too late. Erlang, what do we do now?" Qin Jingsi asked with vexation.

Li Shandao glanced at him. Although the man's clothes were shabby, his features were neat and clean. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked.

"There's a small hole in the northern corner of that wall, just big enough for a man to crawl through. Why doesn't the General send a couple of brave fellows to crawl in through that hole?"

Hearing this, Jiao Yanlang flew into a rage, raised his foot to kick him, and cursed, "You want us to crawl through a dog hole?"

Li Shandao couldn't help scrutinizing the man closely. Standing nearly six chi tall, he wasn't short, though a bit thin. With clear eyebrows and bright eyes, his appearance was exceptionally fine. He wore a thin mustache that added a handsome air to his face. "What is your name?" Li Shandao asked.

The man replied, "This humble one's lowly surname is Niu, second in my family. The General can just call me Niu Er."

Li Shandao asked, "Is that dog hole you mentioned really passable?"

"It's tight, but a thin person can squeeze through," Niu Er answered.

Decisive as ever, Li Shandao commanded, "Third Brother, Thirteenth Brother, Fusheng, the few of you crawl through that hole! Once inside, don't climb up to fight on the walls; just open the northern gate!" Turning to Gao Chounu, Qin Jingsi, and the others, he ordered, "Put on a show of attacking to draw the fire and attention of the guards on the wall!"

Wang Xuda asked doubtfully, "Erlang, what if we can't open the gate?"

He was worried that if they failed to open the gate, he, Jiao Yanlang, and lame Cheng would be trapped inside the walls with certain death awaiting them.

Li Shandao chuckled and said, "Then you don't go; I will."

"How could we let Erlang take such a risk? I'll go, I'll go!" Wang Xuda dared say no more. Led by Niu Er, he, Jiao Yanlang, Zhang Fusheng, and a few other brave warriors who were either short or slender detached themselves from the main group and headed toward the northern wall.

Li Shandao and the rest staged a mock assault, shouting at the top of their lungs and charging forward repeatedly. Whenever arrows rained down from the wall, they would retreat, repeating the process over and over.

Just as Li Shandao was losing his patience and beginning to wonder if something had gone wrong with Wang Xuda's team, anxious shouts erupted from the foot of the northern wall: "Erlang, come quickly! The gate is open!"

They were currently stationed outside the western wall.

Gao Chounu sprinted forward first. The northern gate was not fully opened; only a narrow gap had been cleared. By the time Li Shandao and the others arrived, they caught sight of Gao Chounu squeezing through the crack. With a stroke of his mace, he crushed a garrison officer trying to slam the gate shut again. Gao Chounu wheeled around, braced both hands against the inner edges of the doors, and let out a deep grunt. Amidst a grinding screech, he shoved the heavy gates wide open.

The scene inside the courtyard instantly burst into everyone's view.