In the spring drizzle, fine as ox hair, a hundred or so crossbowmen stood on the eastern wall of Liting in Qinghe Commandery, sheltered by crude plank huts atop the ramparts, cocking their crossbows and setting their bolts in readiness. Their leader, Deputy Commandant Han Erlang, one of Assistant Governor of Qinghe Cao Shancheng's trusted generals and ordinarily a steady man, had also gone pale as he stared beyond the walls, his lips pressed tight.
The atmosphere on the wall was exceptionally tense.
A little over a hundred paces away, on the official road directly opposite the gate's drawbridge, two groups of Exorcising the Dragon Gang cavalry were busy doing something in the ox-hair drizzle, which scarcely obscured the view at all. One group wore heavy armor, the other light armor. Their movements were casual, their manner relaxed, and they merely gathered around the few men working, chatting and laughing.
Many of the riders had bloody heads tied to their horses' necks or behind their saddles, while many of the spare mules and horses carried stripped clothing, armor, and bags. Clearly, they had come after winning some success in battle, and that was precisely why they were in such good spirits.
In short, they paid not the slightest attention to the defenders standing ready on the wall.
This distance was within theoretical range, but outside effective killing range. Only exceptional hands, including cultivators, using particular powerful crossbows or heavy bows, could achieve anything... and this was precisely what frightened the Qinghe Commandery troops on the wall and their defending commander, Han Er.
The lightly armored riders among the two groups of Exorcising the Dragon Army cavalry opposite were clearly only a border patrol, which was one thing. But every man in the other group of armored cavalry had a leather-covered