《The Strategist Tiger Lord》
Prologue and Chapter 1: City of Blood
(Author: Hello all. I am trying to write a story about war and strife so I hope you all enjoy it.)
Prologue and Chapter 1: City of Blood
Zhuang finally had his prayers answered as he put on his costume. He had finally received the call for a stunt double. All his years of learning martial arts and twin swords finally paid off.
He wore a white silk robe with gold flowers embroidered on the hem of his robe, a steel chain shirt beneath the robes, and had twin swords in his hands. The swords he wielded could only be found in a fantasy or cartoon show. He didn''t know what metal they were made of save that it was indestructible and never dulled or lost its shine. He had been allowed to practice with the swords and was about to film his scene.
One the blade of the sword in his right hand, the outer edges of the blade were the color of steel but the middle surface of the blade was a dark purple and had intricate designs crafted form the guard to half of the length of the blade. The sword on his right was the same except the color was a bright crimson.
"Finally," Zhuang, surnamed Ji, thought. "I''m finally going to be a stunt man. It''s only a matter of time until I star in my own movie."
He walked into the set and closed his eyes as the bright lights focused on him. He was about to put his satchel down and begin his first filming. This was it. His moment to shine. That''s what should have happened.
He held his head as he felt dizzy. He shook his head as he tried to stay conscious, but felt something akin to an earthquake shake beneath him. The people at the set''s eyes grew wide as they saw a flash of jade and Zhuang Ji was gone.
"Ugh," Zhuang said as he rubbed his head and slowly stood up. "Did I suffer a migraine?"
Zhuang stepped back in surprise and awe as he witnessed the scene in front of him. It looked so real but the concept was wrong. Japanese samurai were not supposed to be in the Chinese fantasy movie. He also knew that there was not rape and assault scene as he saw a woman dragged into a wooden house while another house was full of crying and moaning.
He instantly knew it wasn''t a fake porn movie when he saw a child get slashed with a sword and fell still in front of him, the boy''s body twitching as his eyes stayed open and never closed.
"What the heck is going on? I didn''t sign up for this!" Zhuang cried and slashed at the nearest samurai he saw. His heart grew cold as he had killed a man, but was too busy to care as he tried to stop the rapist and murderers.
"Thank you," some of the people sobbed after Zhuang had killed some of the samurai before the others bolted. He trained in martial arts since he was five. Only his act of killing made him feel grief. What happened? Where was he? He didn''t see any cameras and people were dead and stayed dead.
Zhuang decided that survival was his priority and ran into an abandoned house. He grabbed some discarded meat buns and stuffed them in his satchel that contained two bottles of water and a granola bar. He also went into other abandoned homes and put in copper and silver coins in his satchel. He didn''t know what country the coin was from and was in too much of a hurry to care.
Now that he got supplies and what seemed to be money, he needed to run. The Chinese looking soldiers looked like they were losing against the samurai. He saw a large manor in the center of the city and ran in that direction. He was sure there would be soldiers there guarding the mansion from the samurai.
Zhuang sneaked his way toward the manor as the number of samurai increased. He was confident against a small group but not if they were organized and led by an officer. He picked up a discarded longbow and a quiver. He put the quiver on his back and adjusted the strap before collecting arrows.
He silently thanked his parents for letting him take archery and martial arts lessons as he picked off stray samurai with his arrows as he shot their backs. Blood and corpses littered the floor as Zhuang reached the manor. He saw three samurai fighting a massive soldier guarding the door and decided that his next few moves would determine his fate.
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He nocked an arrow, adjusted his aim, and let the arrow loose. He kept his arm in position for a few seconds before throwing the bow aside as he drew his swords. His shot hit a samurai in the lower back region and caused the samurai to fall to his knees in pain. The soldier took advantage and beheaded him. The other two samurai were outraged and turned to face Zhuang.
"Who is that fellow?" the soldier asked as he saw Zhuang fight the samurai. Zhuang put his sword at an angle and the samurai''s sword was reflected and hit the floor. Zhuang yelled as he stabbed the samurai in the neck with his other sword and push kicked him forward. The other samurai yelled a few words, but Zhuang didn''t hear him as he leapt forward and fully extended his right arm forward, piercing the neck of the samurai. After all, samurai did not have armor around their neck and was the safest target to strike for a kill.
"What happened Cao Chu?" a large man with dark black armor and a sword as large as he was tall asked as he and a few soldiers left the manor. The man''s four wives and two daughter saw Zhuang rip off a piece of cloth from a fallen samurai and clean his swords before he slid them in their sheaths.
"I don''t know Lord Liao Chu," the soldier answered. "That young man appeared from nowhere and saved my life. I believe that young man is a wandering scholar based on the silk robes he wears. As for the swords, I have never seen anything like them."
"I thank you for saving my soldier from the invaders," Liao shouted as Zhuang approached the manor. "May I ask his savior''s name?"
"I am Zhuang from the Ji clan," Zhuang replied, thinking that this was similar to ancient China but wasn''t as samurai didn''t exist in China during the Three Kingdoms. If he hadn''t been in danger, he would have fainted from shock as he learned that he was not on Earth.
"Lord Liao Chu!" a general cried as a force of four hundred men arrived. "We need to evacuate the city. Cao Ma has turned traitor and approaches from the southern gate. Our army of ten thousand strong waits for you at the eastern gate. I don''t know how long they can hold their position."
"Then we leave immediately! Cao Chu, you and your soldiers will guard the harem and my daughters," Liao ordered and looked at Zhuang. "Young scholar, I ask for your aid. Join me in escaping from the city."
Zhuang grinned as his plan worked and said, "I will humbly accept Lord Liao''s offer. I will join you in your escape."
Zhuang and the others forced their way through many samurai. Zhuang sighed as he looked at his white robes as the battle dragged on. There was no way to salvage his robes. He took his anger out on the samurai and cut them down, leaving the officers to the more experienced soldiers.
"That kid can fight," Liao murmured as Zhuang looked like he was dancing with his twin swords. One sword would follow the other like water as Zhuang moved in a fluid motion that seemed endless.
"We ride to the Wu Province!" Liao Chu roared and got on a horse. Zhuang paused as he heard a meow from a rich looking house. He ran into the house and saw many slain guards and nobles. He gasped as he saw corpses of giant tigers and a small tiger cub the size of a kitten staring at him. Zhuang decided to take the tiger, seeing all the corpses. He figured that the tiger was tamed and the tiger merely purred as it ran alongside its new master.
"This is definitely not Earth," Zhuang muttered as he got on a horse, the tiger cub on his lap. "Tiger cubs are not the size of a kitten and tigers aren''t raised as house pets. All I can do is follow that Liao Chu and learn more about this planet."
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Chapter 2: Escape to Wu
Chapter 2: Escape to Wu
(Author: Hello all. Now that Zhuang and Lord Liao Chu escaped from the city, they must escape to the Wu province. The samurai behind their back, can Zhuang successfully escape with his life? Hope you enjoy the chapter.)
Chapter 2: Escape to Wu
Zhuang analyzed the situation carefully as he caught up to the Chu forces. The samurai were the enemy. There was no question. Most of the Chu forces were part of the infantry so escaping will be slow. He needed to find a way to have some of the infantry to stay behind to slow down the samurai.
"Cao Chu," Zhuang started as he rode beside the general. "We need to station some of the infantry behind to slow down the pursuit. We will lose more men if we continue at this pace."
"Tiger cub?" Cao Chu gasped, startled and said, "I''m sorry young scholar but my elder brother is stubborn. We can only pray that we reach the Wu province where he is lord and our main forces can protect us."
"Is there any location with cliffs or canyons on the way to Wu?" Zhuang asked, a plan popping in his head.
"Ah, that would be the Canyon of Heilong," Cao replied. "It is called that because the road has many twists and turns and is pitch black at night. Is the young scholar thinking of traveling through the canyon?"
"That''s right," Zhuang grinned. "We can send the cavalry up ahead with some of our archers. They must travel around the canyon and wait for us to pass. They can shoot at our pursuers from above while the cavalry can approach the enemy from the rear. We can box them in and kill them all."
"It might work. There is a fork in the canyon that leads to a dead end. The top of the canyon walls are low enough that our archers can shoot at the enemy accurately. I''ll inform my elder brother immediately. You must join us as I will guide them to the area," Cao Chu laughed and rode forward to tell Liao Chu. His savior was not only had good swordsmanship, but he was as smart as he looked. He and his brother must devise a method to have the young scholar stay with them.
Liao Chu and his generals were surprised as Cao told them Zhuang''s plan. Liao nodded in agreement and let Cao lead half of his cavalry and archers to the cliffs. He needed the rest of his cavalry and archers so as to not draw suspicion and unveil the plan to the enemy.
Cao grabbed an extra longbow and gave it to Zhuang as he led them to the canyon and through a path to the destined location where the ambush would take place. Zhuang was given a war horn by Cao and told that once Zhuang blew the war horn and the archers began shooting at the pursuers from above, Cao would lead the cavalry to attack the rear. His elder brother''s forces would also turn back and destroy the trapped pursuers.
"Good luck young scholar. I leave the timing to you," Cao said and led the cavalry to take a different path where they could ambush the pursuers without being seen.
The archers stared at the young man in the blood-stained silk robes. The young man carried twin swords they had never seen before and even had a tiger cub that seemed to be tamed. They had heard of the young scholar''s swordsmanship and archery skills from other soldiers that witnessed it from inside the manor. Some had doubts but knew that their life was in his hands and dared not disturb him as he waited for the samurai to arrive.
The top of the cliff they waited at was to the left of a dead end in the canyon. As soon as the Chu forces were "trapped," the ambush would begin. Zhuang felt the ground shake a little and knew that the Chu forces were approaching. He told the archers to nock their arrows and wait for his signal.
Zhuang watched as the Chu forces were startled as they reached the dead end. As only the generals , the harem, and Liao Chu knew the plan, Zhuang would have believed that the army really was trapped if he hadn''t come up with the plan. He smiled as the samurai arrived and watched as the cavalry of the samurai struck first.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there."We should strike now. Our brothers are dying out there," one of the archers whispered.
"Not yet. Not until the samurai on foot attack. If we attack now, the cavalry will escape and we lose our chance to strike back," Zhuang hissed. "Shoot only on my signal. I will kill any archer who plans on shooting first!"
The archers feared for their lives. They were only armed with bows and arrows and Zhuang was too close to them and could behead them before they can lift their bow and shoot him without shooting each other. They watched miserably as they saw the infantry''s numbers dwindled slowly under the cavalry''s assault.
"Draw," Zhuang said and waited until the samurai on foot broke into a run. "Fire! Shoot them down! Aim for the samurai on the horses!"
Arrows loosed one after another as a war horn was heard all over the battlefield. The samurai realized they were under attack and most of the cavalry were killed as the samurai on foot blocked their escape. The samurai who were running in the front could not stop and those who did were trampled by those who followed.
Another war horn sounded and Cao Chu had arrived with the cavalry to strike the rear, blocking the samurai from escaping. Liao roared his orders and his forces realized that the archers and cavalry were on their side. Hope rose in their chests and they formed their formations. Shield bearers stood on the front with their spears pointed to the samurai. Zhuang saw gaps in the shield wall and the rest of the cavalry of the Chu forces rode forward through them.
"Shoot only the samurai in the middle," Zhuang said as the cavalry attacked the samurai. "Aim for all the samurai wearing the flashiest armor. They must be the officers!"
The archers nodded as their respect for Zhuang had grown. His plan really worked and their pursuers were the ones who became trapped. They stopped shooting randomly and focused their arrows on the officers. When the battle finally ended, only a fifth of the infantry had died. A small number compared to how many more would have died if not for Zhuang''s plan.
"Ah, Scholar Zhuang," Cao grinned as Zhuang and the archers joined the main forces. "Your plan worked brilliantly. Those samurai bastards are dead!"
"We should still hasten toward Wu province," Zhuang said. "We can''t relax. We don''t know how many more samurai the enemy sent after us. We should salvage any weapons and arrows we can find and leave quickly."
"You got it," Cao laughed and yelled at the soldiers to quickly collect the weapons.
Liao Chu, his harem, and his commanding officers and strategists stared at Cao and Zhuang. This Zhuang character truly was a young hero. He had swords they had never seen, made a tiger cub he found his pet, and created this grand strategy. Thanks to him, they had a chance to escape with most of their forces and fewer casualties.
"This person said he was surnamed Ji," Liao began. "Has anyone heard of the Ji clan?"
"No Lord Liao Chu," his chief strategist Wei Xu answered. "We can investigate once we reach Wu province. I believe we should have this Scholar Zhuang as one of your strategists. His unorthodox strategies will prove useful for your ambition and he might have other qualities. I am also interested about those twin swords of his. I have never seen a young scholar wield such magnificent swords."
"You may be right Wei Xu. I must take that young man under my wing. For now we make haste to Wu province," Liao said and after a half hour passed, led his forces out of the Canyon of Heilong and into the Wu province.