Chapter 117: Counterattack

Qi Jun himself had not expected the explosive package to be this devastating. Worried that the gunpowder produced by the death-row prisoners might be of inferior quality, he had filled a single sack with a third of their entire supply to ensure a basic lethal effect. The result was this super-explosive. It seemed that when a person is on the brink of death, the instinct for survival can unlock every ounce of their potential. Qi Jun had only demonstrated the method of making gunpowder once in a rush, yet those prisoners, who knew nothing of such things, had actually succeeded—and with results better than he had envisioned.

Feng Qinian, Xiao Ming, Zhao Gui, and others, who had been patrolling the city walls, were drawn by the sound of the explosion and rushed over from the south in a panic.

"What is happening? Have the Qiang troops attacked the city again?!" Feng Qinian asked, glancing outside the walls. Hearing the panicked and chaotic cries from within the Qiang ranks, he frowned. "What... what is this?"

"It is Magistrate Qi! He used a mysterious weapon to summon heavenly thunder and blast back the enemy!" a county guard replied, still visibly shaken. He had seen Qi Jun throw something toward the foot of the wall, after which the attacking Qiang soldiers were blown to pieces and sent into a state of terror. To him and his fellow guards, only heavenly thunder could possess such power.

"Heavenly thunder?" Feng Qinian was stunned. Xiao Ming and Zhao Gui, standing behind him, exchanged looks of shock and disbelief; they, too, could not accept such an explanation. Summoning thunder? Had Qi Jun become a god?

Seeing their expressions, Qi Jun could not help but shake his head and let out a hearty laugh.

"Magistrate Qi, is this the 'explosive' you spoke of—the weapon that just repelled the enemy?" Feng Qinian, naturally refusing to believe in the talk of thunder, asked after a moment of reflection.

"Indeed," Qi Jun nodded. "Magistrate Feng, the Qiang formation is shattered and their morale is gone. If we strike now, we will surely defeat them in one blow!"

"I share that sentiment. With such a divine weapon at our disposal, what have we to fear from the Qiang thieves?" Feng Qinian laughed, stroking his beard as he nodded at Qi Jun.

Qi Jun produced the remaining two explosive packages, handed one to Deng Fang, and instructed him to light and throw it once they were in position. Then, tugging on his reins, he led the charge out of the city gates.

"Brothers! The time to earn glory is now! Victory depends on this moment! Follow me and charge!" Seeing this, Xiao Ming drew his blade, pointed forward, and followed Qi Jun with the remaining county guards to launch the counterattack. Zhao Gui was not to be outdone, urging his men on to keep pace with Xiao Ming.

Feng Qinian felt his blood boil instantly. Rarely had he experienced such exhilaration on the battlefield, and he felt the urge to mount his horse and join the charge, but he was quickly restrained by several of his subordinates. The battlefield was a lethal place; if a stray arrow were to strike the Magistrate, it would be no laughing matter. Realizing this, Feng Qinian calmed himself and retreated to the top of the wall to observe the situation.

Meanwhile, among the Qiang, the commander Ke Bie watched as his forces showed clear signs of defeat due to the thunderous blast. Desperate, he rode into the chaos, cutting down retreating soldiers in an attempt to intimidate the rest and reorganize the attack. But defeat was like a collapsing mountain; faced with soldiers who had completely lost their will to fight, even the blades of their own commander could not stop their flight.

"General, the Liang people have the aid of heavenly thunder; we cannot win! Let us retreat as well..." Ke Bie's lieutenant, watching the Qiang soldiers fleeing past them, sighed with deep frustration and reluctance.

"Shut up! As warriors of the Qiang, how can you speak of retreat! If anyone mentions defeat again, do not blame me for showing no mercy!" Ke Bie raised his scimitar, looked at the charging county guards, and with a faint smile, whipped his horse and charged forward alone. His lieutenants, all loyal followers, knew the situation was beyond saving, yet they gritted their teeth, whipped their horses, and followed him.

Qi Jun was startled to see a few men charging toward them against the tide of retreating soldiers. As he made out the figure and features of the leader, he felt a wave of complex emotions.

"A respectable opponent, though a pity," Qi Jun whispered to himself, feeling a glimmer of mutual respect. But an enemy is an enemy; as long as they remained on Liang territory without laying down their weapons, they were invaders. On this life-or-death battlefield, pity for an opponent meant digging one's own grave.

With that thought, Qi Jun hardened his heart. Not wanting to waste any more effort on these stubborn Qiang, he timed his move, pulled out a fire starter, ignited the explosive, and threw it with all his might.

"Boom!"

The earth-shattering roar returned to the battlefield. The explosive package Qi Jun threw detonated in mid-air right above Ke Bie and his men. A flash of fire erupted, and Ke Bie and his group were blown into countless fragments, men and horses alike. Although Qi Jun was at a distance, he still felt the shockwave, with gravel and sand whipped up by the wind stinging his face.

Seeing Qi Jun take action, Deng Fang, who had been itching to light an explosive himself, could no longer restrain himself. He whipped his horse to pick up speed, charged toward the distant fleeing soldiers, and raised an explosive package in one hand, preparing to light it.

"Deng Fang! Stop!" Qi Jun shouted, shocked, as he rode to catch up and stop him.

Hearing Qi Jun’s call, Deng Fang glanced back with a furrowed brow, then looked at the fleeing soldiers within reach. The desire for vengeance clawed at his heart. He did not know why Qi Jun wanted to stop him, but he was unwilling to disobey his command. However, after a moment’s hesitation, Deng Fang still lit the explosive and hurled it with all his strength at the retreating soldiers.

"Boom!"

Another loud blast. Deng Fang was like a living mortar, landing the projectile precisely on target. The explosive hit the ground in the midst of the Qiang soldiers, instantly blowing everything within ten meters to pieces. Torn limbs and flesh rained down upon the surviving Qiang along with a spray of blood. The sudden shock and terror made them subconsciously forget to continue running. The surviving Qiang soldiers threw down their weapons in tears, huddled on the ground, and began to tremble, muttering prayers or pleas.

Qi Jun caught up and, seeing the scene of carnage, paused for a moment and sighed. He had stopped Deng Fang because the enemy leader was already dead, and the remaining soldiers had no will to fight—they had already achieved a miraculous victory against superior numbers. Pursuing the remnants further served little purpose and would only waste their last precious explosive.

Qi Jun looked at Deng Fang’s back, wanting to say something, but he heard Deng Fang let out a laugh.

"Having killed so many Qiang soldiers today, I suppose the debts of family and country have been repaid, have they not?" Deng Fang looked at the corpses and the begging Qiang soldiers under the moonlight, sighing as if to himself or to Qi Jun behind him.

Deng Fang looked up at the moon, which shone like a mirror, cold and bright over the battlefield.

The cold moon hangs over the frontier pass,
The bones of the fallen have yet to wither.
In the imperial city, ten thousand lamps shine like day,
Yet one only hears the partridge's sorrow in the spring chambers.

"This moon, it must have shone upon him just like this back then. Brother Jun, do you think my father... would be proud of me? As his son, am I worthy?" Deng Fang turned to look at Qi Jun, his moist eyes reflecting Qi Jun and the border city behind him.

Qi Jun watched Deng Fang and nodded solemnly. He knew that as the son of a famous general, Deng Fang had carried the weight of things that did not belong to him, trapped in the shadow of his father’s halo and reputation. After today’s battle, perhaps people would no longer point at Deng Fang’s back and say, "Look, that is General Deng’s son!" For Deng Fang, the halo of his forebears was both an honor and a shackle.