Inside the barbican of the west gate of Hanseong, ding--ding--ding!
As soon as the three gongs were struck, the Satsuma infantry guarding the city gate erupted in chaos.
Corporal Satsuma, who had swallowed half a white flour pancake, ripped off his tattered hat.
His throat was sore from being pulled, and his hoarse voice echoed back and forth in the narrow barbican:
"Hey everyone! Don't just stand there and wait to die!"
Inukami just finished drinking with the Great Yan people in the middle of the river!
He sold us all to Great Yan to be used as cannon fodder to block the city gates, and he's packing his valuables to escape by boat to the East Sea!
Look, I stole these white steamed buns from his house!!
He wouldn't let us eat; he ate all by himself!
Upon hearing this, all the Satsuma soldiers who had been starving turned around.
Thousands of eerie green eyes stared intently at the two dazzlingly white steamed buns in the corporal's hand, their Adam's apples bobbing up and down, the sound of them swallowing saliva filling the air.
The sergeant shoved a huge mouthful of steamed bun into his mouth, his cheeks bulging, and roared indistinctly:
"The prince of Great Yan is outside the city!"
As long as we open the city gates and lower the drawbridge, each person will receive 400 catties of rice, plus 20 taels of gold!
They'll give us the money and supplies, and they'll even let us take a boat back to our hometown in Satsuma!
If we don't act now, we'll all starve to death in this godforsaken place and be buried with the Inukami!
Having gone hungry for three whole days, surviving on just two scoops of wheat bran water mixed with sand each day, the eyes of the three thousand Satsuma infantrymen were all bloodshot.
It's unclear who shouted "Grab the winch!" but thousands of sharpened bamboo spears simultaneously turned their heads and surged like a tide towards the three hundred Inukami warriors guarding the city gate winch.
"You bastards! You lowly creatures dare to rebel!"
The samurai leader guarding the gate drew his katana and cleaved the two foremost bamboo spears in two with a single stroke, then pierced the stomach of a Satsuma soldier.
But the Satsuma soldiers behind didn't care about life or death. As soon as the man in front fell, seven or eight bamboo spears pierced the samurai leader's crotch and armpits, suspending him in mid-air.
Three thousand men, their eyes bloodshot, lunged at three hundred warriors, biting with their teeth and stabbing with bamboo spears, desperately trying to turn the winch of the heavy gate.
On the city wall, the general leaned on the crenellations and looked down.
With the samurai below reduced to only a few dozen steps, the Satsuma soldiers had already gotten their hands on the chains of the winch.
His molars ground together with a grinding sound, and his right hand slammed heavily onto the city bricks.
"Open up the bunker! Leave no one alive, shoot them all!"
Twenty dark firing ports suddenly appeared in the brick walls that had been sealed off on both sides of the barbican.
Twenty improved Wa repeating crossbows, loaded with iron bolts, emerged, their mechanisms clattering incessantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A dense barrage of crossbow bolts rained down like water.
The Satsuma soldiers at the forefront didn't utter a sound, their bodies riddled with iron arrows, falling in droves into pools of blood like wheat being harvested.
In just a few breaths, more than two hundred corpses filled the open space in front of the winch.
The remaining Satsuma soldiers were terrified by the fierce rain of arrows. They retreated to the corners of the walls on both sides of the barbican, crying and screaming, unable to move.
At exactly 7:00 PM, three hundred paces outside the west gate.
The Great Yan force of the Dayan army stretched out in a dense, dark formation.
Gu Moran raised an eyebrow as he listened to the screams and the clicking of crossbows coming from inside the barbican.
The iron-clad suspension bridge, at least half a foot thick, still hangs high above the moat, showing no sign of being lowered.
Murong Xue, standing nearby, grew anxious. She spurred her horse forward half a step, holding the iron spear in one hand, the armor plates rustling loudly.
"Your Highness, those short guys inside are useless; they've probably been suppressed!"
"Don't wait any longer! This humble general will lead men to push up the Heavy Subduing Fire Thunder and blow up that damn city gate!"
Before Gu Moran could speak, more than twenty large torches suddenly lit up on the West Gate tower.
Upon receiving the news, Inukami Jusaburo rushed over and had someone push a wooden pulley to the center of the castle tower.
Two thick iron chains hung from the pulley, and at the end of the chains were two iron hooks that pierced through the collarbone of an old man, hanging him from under the plaque of the city gate tower.
The old man's bright yellow royal robe had long been stained blackish-brown with blood, and his two legs swayed helplessly in the night wind.
Three feet above his head hung a large wooden barrel filled with flammable oil, its bottom dripping black oil.
Inukami Jusaburo, with one hand gripping the crenellations and the other taking a torch from a guard, shouted at the top of his lungs towards the city below:
Gu Moran! Kim Seon-a!
Let me see clearly who this is!
If you dare take another step forward, I will drop the torch and have your King of Goryeo burned as a torch for all the soldiers in the city!
At the front of the caravan, Kim Seon-a saw the bloodied figure hanging below the city gate. Her breath caught in her throat, her bottom slipped on the saddle, and she tumbled down the horse's belly.
Gu Moran reacted quickly, reaching out his left arm to grab her slender waist, pulling her into his arms, and then carrying her horizontally onto the saddle in front of him.
Kim Seon-a's chest heaved violently, her whole body was ice-cold, and the white tiger sword in her hand clattered and rattled.
She abruptly turned her head to look at Gu Moran, her lower lip marked with a row of deep, bloody bite marks from her teeth.
Her throat was dry, and she opened her mouth twice, but she couldn't bring herself to beg him to stop.
Having dealt with the Japanese for so long, she knew better than anyone that Inukami Jusaburo was an insatiable mad dog.
Even if Great Yan retreats now, my father will definitely not survive.
On the city tower,
A cold wind carrying the pungent smell of burning oil filled his nostrils, causing King Kim Tae-heung of Goryeo, who was hanging in mid-air, to shiver and open his eyes, which were swollen to slits.
By the light of the torch, he saw the familiar figure on the white horse below the city and suddenly began to struggle wildly.
Two iron hooks scraped back and forth inside the collarbone, and dark red blood trickled down the back.
The veins on his neck bulged, and he roared with all his might:
" Seon-a! Don't worry about me! Let the Prince of Great Yan attack the city!"
Kill these beasts!
Protect yourselves! Don't let our Goryeo become extinct!
"You old bastard, you're asking for it!"
Inukami Jusaburo drew his katana from his waist and slammed the heavy hilt down hard on Kim Tae-heung's back.
Kim Tae-heung groaned, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and his head slumped limply down.
Inukami Jusaburo thrust the burning torch forward, the flames less than three inches from the bottom of the blazing oil barrel, causing the barrel to sizzle.
" Kim Seon-a! I will count to three!"
Now you've thrown away your sword and are going to stand alone at the city gate as a hostage to me.
I'll put this old man down right now!
Otherwise, you can just wait to retrieve his ashes from the moat!
[Four more chapters to come!]
Thank you to Sister Yue, An'an, Young Master, Wu Huai's Flower, Wild, Twelve, Youyu, Xiyuan's Milk Tea, White Bear's Inspiration Capsule, Fool's Likes, and everyone else who contributed their love! Love you all~~