The Fallen Nation System, Turning the Tide - Chapter 8: Defeat

Chapter 8: Defeat

Never provoke a man holding a frozen fish.

The straw rope binding the fish was stiff. Niu Liu tugged at it, but it didn’t break. Pinching the rope end between his thumb and forefinger, he carefully loosened it strand by strand, his fingernails turning pale before he finally managed to untie it.

As Niu Liu lifted the fish to head back, a sudden cry pierced the air: “Enemy attack! Enemy attack”

The shouts grew closer. Niu Liu immediately tightened his grip on the fish, darting into a corner to assume a defensive stance.

Soon, footsteps echoed clearly in his ears. Swallowing hard, Niu Liu adjusted his hold on the fish, finding the most comfortable position.

They were coming.

He tensed, veins bulging on his wrist.

Swing

“Ah!” A dark figure staggered from the unexpected blow, crying out in pain as it collapsed.

Niu Liu’s heart hammered. All the throat-locking and punching drills he’d practiced vanished from his mindnot a single technique surfaced. Pure instinct took over as he pounced, pinning the enemy beneath him with his full weight.

But the Northern Barbarian was tall and powerfully built. Niu Liu’s wild struggle lacked finesse, and in a moment of carelessness, he found himself flipped onto his backroles reversed.

A chokehold crushed Niu Liu’s throat. Breath fled him. Desperate to escape, the enemy poured all his strength into suffocating him. Uncontrollable white filmed Niu Liu’s vision, his chest burning as if ready to explode. Dizziness swarmed his head, and a strange ringing filled his ears.

A sliver of consciousness returnedhe felt the cold, hard object still clutched in his palm. His fish.

At this life-or-death moment, a sudden heat surged through Niu Liu’s body, unleashing boundless strength. He swung the fish with savage force.

Amid the chaos, a dull thud echoed. The dry, bitter scent of broken twigs flooded his nostrils. Gasping for air, Niu Liu rolled over, coughing uncontrollably. Without waiting to recover, he gripped the fish tail and smashed it across the man’s face.

The fish flew from Niu Liu’s hand, striking Tanmuhu square on the cheek. A searing pain exploded across Tanmuhu’s face. Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation. Rage ignited instantly as he scrambled up and snatched the weapon that had struck him.

The night was deep, the light faint. Everything had happened in a flashTanmuhu had no idea what had hit him.

But the moment he seized it, the texture shocked him: prickly, slightly stabbing, like a fish.

“Tegin, we must go!”

His guards caught up, finding him frozen in confusion. Together, they hauled Tanmuhu away.

No time to ponder. Clutching the seized weapon, Tanmuhu fled at full speed.

“Stop!”

My fish.

Clutching his chest, Niu Liu watched helplessly as the barbarian stole his fish. Impotent fury filled his heart. He glared fiercely at the retreating figures, swearing to himself: from now on, he would train relentlessly and personally slaughter these bandits.

Tanmuhu stumbled back to camp in disarray. Yanjie was startled by his appearancehe’d heard the Jin never struck faces in combat, yet Tanmuhu’s left cheek was grotesquely swollen and darkly bruised.

Yanjie immediately summoned the medic, demanding, “What did you do? How did the Jin beat you like this?”

Tanmuhu stared wide-eyed, incredulous. “What did I do? You should ask the Jin! I merely infiltrated their camp at nightwhy would they humiliate me so?”

Only after escaping did he realize: the weapon that struck him wasn’t just fish-likeit was an actual fish.

Yanjie cleared his throat awkwardly. Sneaking into the enemy camp at night was indeed their fault. If Tanmuhu truly fell into their hands, his fate would be entirely at their mercy.

But reason was one thing, kinship another. Yanjie comforted Tanmuhu with a few words before asking, “After you went in, did you discover anything?”

Tanmuhu held his head and let out a breath, then told Yanjie about the Jin people transporting provisions at night. He urged, “The Jin would rather achieve nothing than make a mistakeespecially Xia Chenglie after that defeat. How would they dare show their faces? Rather than letting those cowards benefit from these provisions, we should take them for ourselves and use them to strike directly into the Central Plains.”

Yanjie shook his head, his brow furrowed. “It makes no sense for them to transport so many provisions. Either they intend to drag this out, or their actual troop numbers far exceed what they’ve shown.”

“The remote Youzhou region is unlikely to hold the Empress’s attention for long. In that case, it must be the latter…” Yanjie looked up, his expression turning stern as he faced this grave threat. “The Jin are cunning and well-prepared. We risk falling into a trap. We absolutely cannot act rashly.”

Tanmuhu was displeased. This was clearly a golden opportunity, yet Yanjie hesitated at every turn, repeatedly refusing to deploy troops. Was he afraid that Tanmuhu might earn merit and surpass his own prestige?

The more Tanmuhu thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Every past incident served as proof.

Before dawn, Tanmuhustill bearing wounds on his facedefied orders to muster troops. He led his two thousand warriors to attack the Jin army.

A soldier rushed into Yanjie’s tent and reported, “Yabgu, it’s terrible! Tegin has taken men to assault the Jin forces!”

Yanjie calmly took a sip of hot milk tea, set down the bowl, and waved a hand dismissively. “Noted. You may leave.”

The soldier clasped his fists and withdrew, still puzzled. Why had the Yabgu summoned him to report something he already knewthat Tanmuhu had launched an unauthorized attack?

Before he could figure it out, a loud crash came from the tentthe sound of a bowl shattering. Then Yabgu Yanjie stormed out, fuming, “That Tanmuhu is far too impulsive!”

The soldier stared in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Tanmuhu had already engaged the Jin forces at their station. He had never fought such an effortless battlethe Jin troops were utterly feeble, dropping their weapons and fleeing after a few strikes. All that talk of a years-long war was nonsense.

Drunk with victory and dreaming of the abundant provisions, Tanmuhu grew exhilarated. He raised his blade, spurred his horse, and charged deeper into enemy territory.

In the first clash, the Jin army was defeated and forced to retreat ten li.

News of the defeat spread swiftly across the nation. The people felt deeply humiliated, but court officials reveled in schadenfreudehere was concrete proof of Xu Ying’s flawed strategy. Smiles spread among them. Even He Chongguang, bedridden for days, perked up at the news, so delighted he could rise and walk about.

He Chongguang’s subordinates arrived with gifts, flattering him: “Only you, General, can turn the tide. It’s clear the nation’s stability rests on your achievements.”

He Chongguang chuckled modestly and waved off the praise, though he visibly preened. He even tilted his chin toward where Xu Ying resided.

When Xu Ying woke, she received urgent memorials delivered by express courier from Chang’an. Puzzled, she wondered why officials who usually ignored her had suddenly remembered their duties as subjects.

Upon reading them, she found they all discussed the northern expedition’s failure. Superficially criticizing Xia Chenglie, they were in fact indirectly blaming her. Instantly, she understood.

Xu Ying beamed with joy, her eyes crinkling into slits. Xia Chenglie was truly impressive. She had been struggling for ages with minor achievements that barely caught the attention of those in Chang’an, but the moment Xia Chenglie stepped in, they proactively submitted memorials to her.

Overjoyed yet worried that Xia Chenglie might be discouraged by the gossip and abandon his efforts, Xu Ying immediately picked up her brush and wrote a secret letter to encourage him to persevere:

“Well done, you have lived up to my high expectations. Do not worry.”

The secret letter was delivered to the front lines by a special courier. Around the commander’s tent, patrols moved back and forth in multiple layers, guarding it so tightly that not a breath could pass through. After a long period of silence, the tent finally admitted one person and one letter.

Author’s Note:

No more drafts left. Tomorrow’s update might be delayed until 9 p.m.

Fixed some minor phrasing issues.