Chapter 72 - I'm So Naive

The Goding army, city guards, and the locals shared a meal of meat porridge and fruit outside the gate. This was the fastest the locals could provide. There were dancing, singing of each country's songs and ballads, and a few bouts of arm-wrestling near the campfire. 

Zang Wei tried to sing a local love song in a surprisingly awful one. Then the dogs howled with him, making the atmosphere somewhat freaky until an old man shut him up by throwing an apple's core at the back of his head. After that, he contented himself sitting beside Lifen, who was in a fit of boisterous laughter with his out-of-tune voice. Though embarrassed, he was glad to hear Lifen's laughter. This made his day.

After the hearty feast and time together, the Goding army went back to their camp while Lei Ming, the general, Tyriece, some knights, and the other Chiangdas sat in front of the bonfire in the city square, drinking wine as they unceremoniously discussed the unusual war. 

"General, I'm really confused why Goding nation attacked us? And now, you signed a treaty with us. Deaths could have been avoided if we did it the other way around."

General Lofey drank quite a lot of wine tonight. His face was deep red but his mind was still sharp. 

"Honestly, I'm also confused. I have a lot of things to ask you too. This war is absolutely a puzzling one. I'm against it from the start but my voice can't compete against the court elders and officials. Most of all, against the king's adviser," he said as he tilted his head emptying another cup.

"What really happened in Goding for you to say that?" Ming asked, pouring more wine to the general's cup.

"The king ordered to capture this city because they said it is a very strategic location to make a base for the expansion upward north," said Tyriece as he finished his wine.

"What? That's quite hilarious. This place is totally isolated unless you take a good slice in the middle of these surrounding mountains and open another road. But that would be hard to accomplish. You need humongous beasts or lots and lots of soil and rock Chiangdas to create a road in the middle. Not to mention fighting against those territorial magic beasts living in those treacherous mountains."

"I know. But I'm really interested to see the whole city. I hope you don't mind giving me a tour tomorrow, little brother." General Lofey changed the subject because he was curious about those mines the scouts spoke of and on what attracted Mafan to this city.

"No problem, big brother."

Then General Lofey turned to Tyriece. "Tyriece, what happened why were you late of warning little brother here." 

Tyriece scratched his head while the three knights giggled, disregarding the person they laughed at was a high-ranking knight. Because tonight, there were no superior or subordinates but plain buddies drinking together. 

"As you can see, we went…" Tyriece disinclined to speak more. He kept on scratching his head while the three snickered. 

CRACK!?! One of the knight's chair broke while laughing, sending everyone chuckling. "Just say it, boss," he said as he rolled on the dirt and his hands on his belly. Tyriece's face became crimson with embarrassment.

"It was getting dark. We were running around heading to what we thought was the right way. Then we saw a light far ahead. I thought it was from the city but it turned out to be a light from the camp kitchen. Then later, we saw the lights from the city walls..." He uttered rapidly and almost incoherently to avoid more embarrassment. And ended with a shrug.

However, the three knights wouldn't let him get by easily. "Actually, Sir Tyriece had no sense of direction. He kept on running without looking where he was heading," one of the three knights said with a giggle. Tyriece was fl.u.s.tered hearing it. 

Poor guy, even General Lofey didn't spare him by patting his shoulder and saying, "Son, I guess your lowest grade in the knight's school is geography." Everyone had a good laugh with that statement, aside from Tyriece. 

Ah, Tyriece wished to dig a hole and hide and never come out of shame. This was totally humiliating. Geographic Layout class was important for a knight. He even hoped to become a general someday and yet General Lofey was on the mark. Tyriece was a directionally challenged person. 

"Geez, give me some slack, will you?" Tyriece said as he drowned his humiliation with wine to forget this shameful experience.

As midnight drew near, there were only two left talking in front of the fire, Ming and Lofey. The rest lay on the ground, snoring. The two had a good discussion about Lei Ming's great grandfather, General Lei Ming.

---- o ----

Inside Cuxin estate, Xinyi couldn't sleep. She stood outside Nufang Pavilion as her temporary abode. She looked up at the moon but her mind was in the fight where the enemy's sword almost pierced her face. 

Grandma Liu trained her in Forsaken Valley. She even had her share of killing a demonized bear. But today's deathly experience was an eye-opener for her. 

"No wonder Skrider told me to practice how to fight without using my power. I'm so naïve. I really need to learn more. But who will teach me?" Then she recalled Lifen Ma fighting with no hassle with her enemy. "I'll ask her to teach me starting tomorrow." 

Xinyi breathed deep, filling her lungs with the cold night air. She hoped that Nianshi and the Hutyuns would arrive soon.

---- o ----

It was already deep in the night. Mafan's black knights had stealthily reached the city gate, but it was now closed. Though it was densely dark, their eyes could see the area like day and the city guards couldn't see them even if they were near the light because of some magic spell they cast on their bodies.

The night was cool and silent. They looked up the wall and saw it was not that high, so they dashed through the dry canal and climb the wall with no equipment but as they reached the top, they screamed in agony...