The soldier who had finally set out to patrol the pass after much hesitation had barely taken two steps before he heard challenges being shouted below.
His heart jolted with fear. By the light of his lamp, however, he saw only a handful of dark figures, not the massive Shang Army assault he had imagined. Still, this was an emergency, and no one could say those were all the men the Shang Army had brought. He immediately descended from Pass Wall to report to Nangong Shi.
"Great General, bad news! The Shang Army is attacking the pass!"
Nangong Shi had already gone to bed, but the shouting startled him awake. He was no Dou Rong. Although he knew that personally patrolling the pass as Dou Rong had done was the best way to secure Sishui Pass, knowing it and being able to do it were two different things.
"Quickly muster the troops to defend the pass!"
Nangong Shi rose and issued his orders in an orderly manner. The Shang Army's attack tonight had indeed come as a surprise, but at most, it would cause a brief flurry of confusion. Lu Xiong was a defeated general whose troops had low morale, while King Zhou had only just arrived, and his troops were weary. Neither force was anything to fear. Even if they attacked, they would at most loose a few arrows; there was no chance they could breach the pass.
Before long, Nangong Shi had donned his full armor and climbed onto Pass Wall. Looking down at barely a hundred dark figures, he could not help finding it strange. "What is going on? Is this the Shang Army that came to challenge us?"
"Yes..."
Once the soldiers on Pass Wall recovered their senses, they too found it strange. With so few