[Water Margin] Hu Sanniang with her delicate hands - Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The thunderous sound of the war drums shook the earth, like heavy hammers pounding on the hearts of every defender. The Liangshan forces were no longer scattered bandits; they had formed an orderly battle array: shield-bearers in front, spearmen following, archers securing the rear, and dozens of crude but effective scaling ladders and battering rams interspersed among them, advancing slowly. The sheer murderous intent was incomparable to the previous night attack.
The figure leading the charge, like a caged tiger released, was the Leopard Head, Lin Chong! He was on foot, holding his spear, his steps as steady as a mountain, his gaze like lightning, fixed directly on Hu Sanniang atop the manor wall. The tip of his eighteen-foot snake spear glinted with a captivating cold light in the dim morning sky.
“Hu Sanniang!” Lin Chong’s voice boomed, carrying far. “Your manor’s stubborn resistance only increases casualties! If you are willing to open the gates and surrender, Brother Song Jiang is benevolent and will surely spare your lives!”
Hu Sanniang stood upon the wall, her dark cloak wildly flapping in the biting morning wind. She did not answer Lin Chong’s call to surrender, but slowly raised her right hand and shouted clearly: “Fire the arrows!”
Bowstrings twanged in unison on the wall. The prepared arrows, wrapped in oilcloth, were ignited, transforming into streaks of fiery meteors that arced over the front-line shield-bearers, striking directly at the supply train and densely packed areas in the rear of the Liangshan formation!
This surprise attack caught Liangshan off guard, causing a brief moment of chaos in the rear. Several scaling ladders caught fire from the flaming arrows, sending up plumes of thick black smoke.
“A cunning girl!” Lin Chong frowned, saying no more. He brandished his snake spear forward. “Attack the city!”
“Kill—!”
A chorus of shouts, like a mountain roar and a sea tide, erupted from the Liangshan ranks. The bandits, shields held high, braving scattered rolling logs and rocks, surged frantically towards the manor walls! Scaling ladders slammed heavily against the battlements, and the fearlessly charging leaders, with sharp blades clenched in their mouths, scrambled upwards, using both hands and feet!
“Hold the line!” Hu Sanniang’s Sun and Moon double sabers were already unsheathed. She led by example, defending the most pressured section of the wall. Where the saber light flashed, bl00d splattered. A small Liangshan leader who had just peaked over the wall had half his head sliced off, his body tumbling down.
Instructor Chen and Hu Cheng, too, led their elites, intercepting and fighting desperately with the Liangshan bandits who managed to climb onto the wall. The wall instantly turned into a bloody mincing machine. The clashing of weapons, roars of anger, and screams of agony merged into a single sound. People continuously fell after being struck, their bl00d staining the mottled bricks of the wall.
However, the ferocity of Liangshan’s current assault far surpassed previous ones. Lin Chong did not personally scale the walls but commanded the attack from the periphery. Yet, the veteran soldiers under his command, survivors of countless battles, possessed extremely fierce fighting capability. Coupled with the enemy’s numerical superiority, within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, several defensive lines were breached. More and more bandits leaped onto the wall, the defenders were pushed back, and the situation became critical!
Hu Sanniang’s double sabers danced like the wind. She had already cut down seven or eight bandits, but more enemies swarmed in like locusts. Her arms were sore, her breath labored, and the web of her jade hands was cracked and bleeding, staining the saber hilts red. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a section of the wall on the flank completely occupied by Liangshan. The defenders there were virtually wiped out, and a leader wielding a monastic knife was grinning savagely as he led his men deeper into the manor!
It was Wu Song!
She could wait no longer!
“Hu Cheng! Light the fire!” she screamed hoarsely, her voice carrying a tone of desperate resolve.
Hu Cheng, who was already positioned at a specific, concealed spot inside the manor wall, violently swung his saber and severed several ropes upon hearing the order! With a few “booming” sounds, pre-buried oil jars within the seemingly sturdy inner walls were ignited. Flames instantly shot up, forming several walls of fire that temporarily blocked Wu Song and his men from charging further inside, and isolated a small vanguard of Liangshan bandits who had pushed ahead!
This desperate act, though momentarily preventing an internal collapse, doubled the pressure on the remaining defenders on the wall!
It was at this moment that Lin Chong, who had been quietly observing the battle, moved!
With a sudden burst of speed, he sprang from the ground like a giant roc, lightly stepping on several scaling ladders for leverage. In a few leaps, he landed silently on the wall section defended by Hu Sanniang, like a falling leaf!
“Your opponent is me,” Lin Chong’s voice was calm, but the snake spear in his hand shot out like a venomous dragon leaving its lair, carrying an utterly irresistible, formidable momentum, aiming straight for Hu Sanniang’s chest! This spear thrust was fast! Accurate! Vicious! It seemed to condense half a lifetime of his pent-up frustration and martial expertise. The air was torn apart, emitting an ear-piercing shriek!
Hu Sanniang’s pupils contracted! She knew Lin Chong’s ability was far beyond the likes of Wang Ying! Not daring to meet the force head-on, she crossed her double sabers over her chest, rapidly shifting her footwork, trying to deflect the world-shattering thrust with skillful technique!
“Clang—!”
The spear tip struck the precise intersection of the double sabers! A massive, irresistible force surged like a flash flood! Hu Sanniang felt a violent tremor in both arms. The Sun and Moon sabers were nearly ripped from her grasp. Her chest tightened, her throat tasted sweet, and a mouthful of bl00d was barely swallowed back! Her body retreated seven or eight steps uncontrollably, only managing to steady herself when her back slammed heavily against the cold battlement, her face instantly turning ashen white!
The gap was too vast! This was simply not a contest on the same level! Lin Chong had not even exerted his full strength; a casual spear thrust had already caused her internal injuries!
Lin Chong forced Hu Sanniang back with one strike but did not pursue. He stood holding his spear, his gaze holding a hint of appreciation, but more of undeniable authority: “Do you still want to fight? It will only lead to more deaths.”
Hu Sanniang propped herself up with her sabers, gasping heavily. Her jade hands were trembling, barely able to hold the hilts. She looked at the surrounding manor guards who were still fighting desperately but constantly falling, at the flames rising within the manor, and heard the terrified cries of the women and children. A great sense of helplessness and sorrow surged in her heart.
She knew the Hu Family Manor could not be held.
Individual bravery seemed so pale and ridiculous in the face of absolute disparity in strength and the relentless tide of history.
Would all her struggles, all her plans, all her resolve to die a noble death, ultimately fail against this predetermined outcome?
No! Even if she failed, even if she died, she absolutely could not fall into that predetermined, humiliating trajectory!
She suddenly looked up at Lin Chong, her eyes burning with a near-mad resolve: “Instructor Lin! Hu Sanniang can surrender!”
The surrounding surviving defenders and the Liangshan leaders who had scaled the wall were all momentarily stunned by this declaration.
Hu Sanniang’s voice was hoarse, but every word was clear, carrying across the battlefield: “But I have three conditions! If Leader Song does not agree, Sanniang will choose death, and everyone in the Hu Family Manor will perish with me, we will not live in shame!”
Lin Chong slightly furrowed his brow: “Speak.”
“First! My father is elderly. You must guarantee his life and not harm him! The women and children in the manor must not be slaughtered!”
“Second! The manor guards who wish to surrender shall be incorporated, and not indiscriminately killed! Those who do not wish to surrender shall be given travel money and allowed to leave!”
“Third!” She stared intently at Lin Chong, roaring out word by word, using all her strength, “I, Hu Sanniang, would rather die than marry Wang Ying! If Song Jiang forces me, I will instantly commit suicide here! You may take my body and my life, but do not think to disgrace me!”
The last sentence was practically a scream, carrying the tragic dignity of one who would rather shatter than bend, shaking the hearts of everyone on the wall!
That unyielding vow of “rather die than marry Wang Ying” caused many Liangshan leaders, who knew the inside story, to show unusual expressions.
Lin Chong looked deeply at her, his gaze complex. This woman was highly skilled in martial arts, fiercely spirited, and, even more rare, possessed such composure in the face of danger and unyielding dignity.
“Wait here,” Lin Chong said, then turned and leaped off the wall, heading towards the center of the army.
The fighting on the wall gradually ceased due to this sudden turn of events. Everyone waited for the final judgment.
Hu Sanniang leaned on her saber, sitting against the cold battlement, her eyes slightly closed. She could feel the turmoil of her inner strength and hear her rapid heartbeat. The single exchange with Lin Chong had caused her considerable internal injury.
She did not know if Song Jiang would agree. She was merely gambling: gambling that Song Jiang wanted to win the hearts of the Hu Family Manor, not a corpse; gambling that he would not dare to force the death of such a resolute woman warrior who had publicly stated her conditions on the battlefield, lest he discourage the hearts of other potential defectors.
Time passed slowly in the deathly silence and anxiety.
After an unknown period, Lin Chong returned, leaping back onto the wall. He held a command arrow in his hand.
“Brother Song Jiang has given his order,” Lin Chong’s voice was deep and resonated far and wide. “Your three conditions are granted! Squire Hu and the women and children in the manor will not be harmed! Manor guards who wish to surrender will be integrated into the infantry; those who do not will be given travel money! As for you…” His gaze rested on Hu Sanniang. “Brother Song Jiang respects you as a heroic woman. The matter of marriage will absolutely not be forced and will be discussed later!”
“Now, open the manor gates.”
She had won. At least, she had temporarily won the point most crucial to her personal fate.
The string in Hu Sanniang’s heart, taut to the breaking point, suddenly relaxed. A huge wave of exhaustion and depletion washed over her. Her vision darkened, and she could no longer hold herself up, her body slumping downwards.
In the instant before her consciousness completely plunged into darkness, she felt a pair of steady, powerful arms supporting her falling body, preventing her from completely collapsing into an embarrassing heap under thousands of eyes. It was Lin Chong. His gaze held a hint of complexity that was hard to decipher—perhaps a touch of respect from one master to another, perhaps a little pity for her fierce spirit and underlying fragility.
However, as the boundless darkness and coldness were about to consume her, and on this desperate battlefield filled with bl00d, smoke, and the scent of unfamiliar men, a completely unbidden yet incredibly clear thought, like a final piece of driftwood grasped by a drowning person, flashed through her chaotic mind:
‘If he were here… no, if ‘she’ were here… I would not have fallen to this state… ‘She’ would surely understand that beneath this armor, I too… feel pain, feel fear…’
The thought was vague and absurd, without a clear face, only a blurry, feminine, strong, and gentle outline. It arrived abruptly, yet carried an indescribable sense of reassurance, as if, in the boundless darkness, it pointed her toward a distant but the only possible direction for understanding and shelter.
Then, consciousness completely subsided.
The meticulously woven net she had crafted ultimately failed to catch her overturning fate, instead trapping herself within it. That resolute will to perish nobly, under the crushing weight of reality, finally revealed a deep, unexamined crack hidden even from herself.
The Jade Star had fallen, and the Hu Family Manor was lost.
And her resistance, too, seemed to have reached a temporary pause with the opening of those gates.
But that vow of “rather die than marry Wang Ying,” like a sharp thorn, was deeply embedded in the hearts of some, planting a seed of unpredictable change for her in the Dragon’s Den that was Liangshan Marsh.