After entering the Ghost Desert, Xuanzang, Li Chan, and Yu Zao turned to travel west by south. Kui Wood Wolf did not travel with them. Instead, the wolf crouched atop a horse, maintaining a distance of about two li ahead, advancing at an unhurried pace. Every few hours, Kui Wood Wolf would drop a bag of water, then continue on without looking back. Xuanzang and the other two picked up the water bag and drank without ceremony. The two groups had arrived at a sort of wordless understanding.

Even after nightfall, Kui Wood Wolf kept its distance. Xuanzang and the other two unstrapped the wool blankets from the horses’ backs, wrapped them around themselves, and lay down on the sandy desert floor to sleep. The desert was empty and silent in the depths of the night. Kui Wood Wolf was nowhere to be seen, but somewhere in the edges of sleep they heard the distant, mournful sound of wolf howls drifting toward them — sorrowful and ancient.

On the second day, they reached the Shule River, and the road became considerably easier. The group traveled west along the north bank of the Shule River, the rushing water spread wide before them, its banks dense with stands of reeds, red willows, and licorice. All manner of waterbirds swept across the sky and the water’s surface, and the occasional fox, hare, or yellow gazelle darted through the deep grass.

The south bank of the river was the great desert road that led from Dunhuang to Loulan, Shanshan, and Yanqi during the Western Han period — a road lined with the long walls and countless beacon towers that the Han dynasty had built. The great desert road was not now open; other than Hu merchants running smuggled goods, few people passed that way. The walls had crumbled and the beacon towers had fallen to ruin, though the Great Tang had repaired some of them and stationed garrison soldiers there.

It was the hour of dusk homecoming. Occasionally Xuanzang could see the faint silhouettes of people atop the beacon towers across the river, and wisps of cooking smoke rising into the air.

Suddenly Yu Zao gave a startled cry. Xuanzang quickly turned around, and saw Yu Zao staring at Kui Wood Wolf ahead with a face full of alarm. Xuanzang looked carefully. Kui Wood Wolf was about a li and more away, riding forward through a thicket of red willows, alternately hidden and visible. And in that alternation of concealment and visibility, Kui Wood Wolf was slowly transforming — the wolf’s shape gradually receding, dissolving, and changing into a white-robed man. The posture of sitting atop the horse shifted from a crouching haunch to an upright ride.

Xuanzang, Yu Zao, and Li Chan spurred their horses forward. The transformed Kui Wood Wolf was standing still on a sand dune beside the Shule River, gazing across the water to the far bank. White robes like snow, a tall and imposing figure.

The three drew their horses up behind, and the transformed Kui Wood Wolf turned and threw a cold glance back at them. Yu Zao immediately covered her mouth, her face flooded with astonishment and joy — for who stood before them now was unmistakably Lv Sheng.

“Lv — my dear—”

Yu Zao cried out.

Kui Wood Wolf — though now wearing Lv Sheng’s face — fixed them with eyes that were ice-cold and hollow, empty of any emotion, as though what stood before it were not people but ice-carved idols. Everyone understood at once: this was still Kui Wood Wolf.

Though Xuanzang had not seen Lv Sheng in several years, he knew instantly that the person before him was not Lv Sheng. Lv Sheng was a man of graceful bearing and lofty integrity — even when he regarded the world as a chessboard and all ages as a scroll, he was unfailingly courteous and humble. The person before him now was entirely different in temperament: cold, sinister, and cryptic. The control of expression and gaze was plainly that of another person entirely, as though two different souls had been stuffed into the same body.

Xuanzang said nothing. He only gazed at the figure before him with sorrow.

Kui Wood Wolf did not speak. It broke off a leaf from a red willow, rolled it into a whistle, and blew. A sharp, piercing sound rose up, and across the river a great swathe of reeds suddenly toppled and fell as a vast wooden raft slowly rose up from the water of the reed marsh. Four Hu men rowed with all their strength, bringing the raft to the north bank, where they all knelt in reverence on the sandbar. “Divine One — you have returned!”

Kui Wood Wolf rode its horse straight onto the raft. The Hu men asked Xuanzang and the other two to dismount, helped them board the raft, then led their horses on as well and rowed them across to the far bank.

Crossing the mudflats of reeds and red willows, the Han dynasty long wall stretched out before them, following the Shule River all the way to the horizon’s farthest edge. Along the wall stood one beacon platform and watchtower after another. Although worn with age and fallen into disrepair — with gaps and breaches in some places — the sweeping, majestic grandeur still overwhelmed, still made one feel the awe-inspiring might of the Han dynasty’s martial glory.

Within the long wall lay the great frontier pass that had blazed through a thousand years of recorded history — Jade Gate Pass.

In the second year of the Yuanshou reign, Emperor Wu of Han dispatched the Cavalry-General Huo Qubing on a campaign to the Hexi Corridor, westward into the Juyan Sea, south to the Qilian Mountains, to encircle and annihilate the Xiongnu. He killed the Zhelan King, cut down the Luhou King, and pressed the Hunxie King to slay the Xiutu King and surrender with his forces. Emperor Wu of Han established the commanderies of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang on their former territories, and over time relocated more than six hundred thousand people from the Central Plains to populate the four commanderies. From that moment on, the Han dynasty held firm control over the Hexi Corridor.

To defend the northwest, Emperor Wu spent thirty years building a long wall of eighteen hundred li, from Yongdeng in Lanzhou to Jade Gate Pass, and from Jade Gate Pass to Lop Nor. This was the western frontier long wall of the Han dynasty.

The critical node in this western frontier long wall was Jade Gate Pass.

From Western Han through the Wei and Jin dynasties — nearly five hundred years — whether the Central Plains dynasties were campaigning against or trading with the states of the Western Regions, most did so through Jade Gate Pass. At its height, tens of thousands of soldiers were garrisoned at Jade Gate Pass, holding sway over ten thousand li of the Western Regions. Emperor Wu of Han took the phrase from the Classic of Mountains and Seas — “the great jade gate, where the sun and moon enter” — to mean that Jade Gate Pass was the extreme western boundary of his empire, and named it accordingly. Moreover, Jade Gate referred to the jade-adorned gates of imperial gardens and palaces, so Jade Gate Pass also carried the meaning of the Son of Heaven’s national gate.

Then came the Northern Dynasties, when Lop Nor gradually shrank and the city of Loulan was abandoned, and the great desert road from Jade Gate Pass to Shanshan and Gaochang became increasingly impassable. After a new route through the Mohe Yan Desert from Guazhou to Gaochang was opened, the Sui dynasty relocated Jade Gate Pass eastward to Guazhou, where the new Jade Gate Pass began guarding the new Silk Road. The old Jade Gate Pass was abandoned entirely, surviving only as fading echoes in the verse of Tang poets and the lines of later ages.

In the ninth year of Wude, after Kui Wood Wolf descended from the heavens, it seized the old Jade Gate Pass, which from that day forward became a city beyond the reach of any earthly authority.

The long wall had been built on high ground above the riverbank. Xuanzang and the others followed Kui Wood Wolf through a breach in the wall, and suddenly all of Jade Gate Pass came into view before them.

Jade Gate Pass was not a single isolated gateway, but a complete three-dimensional defensive system. It was divided into two parts: the long wall and the fortress city. The long wall consisted of the wall body, defensive bastions, and beacon towers. The long wall of Jade Gate Pass was oriented primarily to defend against attacks from the northern Xiongnu, and now the Turkic peoples, running roughly along the south bank of the Shule River — using the combination of the river and the walls to seal off northern threats completely. The fortress city consisted of gateways, fortified strongholds, watchtowers, and defensive barriers, forming together with the long wall a comprehensive three-dimensional defense system.

Jade Gate Pass had one main fortress city blocking the central desert road. To its north were the long wall and the Shule River; to its south were barren gobi and ravines. Within the fortress city, the southern sector housed a military town — the garrison soldiers’ daily quarters, with room for some military families and civilians as well. Within the fortress city on the northern side stood a square, compact barrier-fort. A barrier was a defensive shield — garrisoned by soldiers, serving as the screen for the fortress city. The square barrier-fort walls stood three zhang high and a zhang thick, formidably solid. In the Han dynasty, it had been the seat of the Jade Gate Commander’s Office.

By now Jade Gate Pass had fallen into terrible disrepair everywhere, crumbling walls and broken ruins, as bleak and desolate as a sword rusted through a thousand years. And yet it was permeated by an intense vitality of daily life. Within the walls, a good number of dwellings had been built, inhabited by household after household. People drove cattle, horses, and sheep to the Shule River to graze; people tended fields of millet and wheat; there were even stretches of continuous vineyard — an entire world like a paradise stranded in the desert, nothing at all like the grim and sinister lair of demons and wolves one might have imagined.

Kui Wood Wolf had barely appeared at the breach in the long wall when a good number of residents within the fortress city came running toward them with excited expressions. Judging by their clothing and features, there were Han Chinese, Sogdians, Turkic people, Tuyuhun people — men and women, old and young. Even a fully armored troop of infantry came marching out — a force of one battalion strength, holding spears and lances, swords belted at their sides, quivers slung across their backs — a force that looked genuinely battle-hardened and elite.

Among them, four armored soldiers carried out a great lion throne before Kui Wood Wolf’s horse. This lion throne had been carved from desert poplar wood with exquisite craft — railed on three sides, the railings carved with images of the sun, moon, and stars, and various intricate celestial patterns.

The armored soldiers knelt before Kui Wood Wolf’s horse. The lion throne sat perfectly level with the stirrups. Kui Wood Wolf stepped from the stirrups onto the lion throne and sat upright in formal posture. Four Hu maidservants knelt to the side, holding a set of ochre-yellow robes and a Tong Tian ceremonial crown. With light and careful hands, they helped Kui Wood Wolf dress. The shoulders of the ochre-yellow robe were embroidered with the sun and moon; the back was worked with stars.

“This is usurpation…”

Li Chan murmured.

Yu Zao asked in a low voice, “What do you mean?”

“Commoners and people outside official rank may wear yellow, but ochre-yellow is the exclusive color of the Emperor’s ordinary court dress.”

Li Chan explained.

Kui Wood Wolf, now robed in yellow, was lifted high on the four soldiers’ shoulders and processed through the crowd.

All around them, people fell prostrate to the ground, calling out to the wolf spirit in loud voices, their expressions fanatical and devout, sending a chill through Xuanzang’s heart. Kui Wood Wolf remained expressionless, as though accustomed to the sight. Countless people lay prostrate along both sides of the road, forming a corridor, and at the corridor’s far end stood a high platform at the center of the fortress city.

The platform was rammed earth, standing one zhang high and two zhang in perimeter — not large, but perfectly square and level, with a sloped ramp and stone steps on one side. Below the platform, scattered across the open ground, were eleven large stones and four round pits, each two chi deep, their purpose unclear.

The armored soldiers carried the lion throne up the steps and set it in the center of the platform. On both sides of the platform, more than a dozen richly dressed Hu figures were already seated. They all rose quickly, each bearing a gift box, and performed the full five-prostration bow of deep reverence, calling out in succession: “The emissary of the Western Turk Tongye Khan Khagan pays obeisance to the Wolf Spirit and presents a pair of jade discs, in observation of the spirit-summoning ceremony!”

“The emissary of the Eastern Turk Yugutie Prince pays obeisance to the Wolf Spirit and presents two celestial horses, in observation of the spirit-summoning ceremony!”

“The emissary of Tiele tribe leader Yinan Khan pays obeisance to the Wolf Spirit and presents a peck of night-glow pearls, in observation of the spirit-summoning ceremony!”

“The emissary of Huihe tribe leader Pusa Siqin pays obeisance to the Wolf Spirit and presents six Damascus blades, in observation of the spirit-summoning ceremony!”

“The emissary of Tuyuhun King Murong Fuyun pays obeisance to the Wolf Spirit and presents one hundred jin of gold, in observation of the spirit-summoning ceremony!”

Xuanzang and the other two were stopped by armored soldiers and could not ascend the platform. They could only stand below with the residents of Jade Gate Pass, gazing up. Hearing that these Hu figures were emissaries sent by khagans and kings from distant lands, even Xuanzang and the others could not help but be astonished.

“Master,”

Li Chan said in a low voice, “why do so many great khagans and kings pay such reverence to this wolf spirit?”

“Because my lord is the Wolf Spirit!”

someone nearby said softly with a laugh.

The three turned to look. Standing beside them was a prosperous-looking, middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man bowed to Xuanzang. “Zhao Fu, Chief Administrator of Jade Gate Pass, greets Master Xuanzang.”

“You know this poor monk?”

Xuanzang said in surprise.

Zhao Fu smiled. “I do not, in truth. But several days ago, before Kui Spirit set out for Qingdun Garrison, he gave orders to receive you well. When you arrived today in the Kui Spirit’s company, I knew it must be you.”

“What Chief Administrator of Jade Gate Pass is this?”

Yu Zao gave a cold laugh. “A self-appointed title, no doubt?”

Zhao Fu was not offended. He smiled genially. “The Son of Heaven is merely someone who calls himself that. Yet the Kui Spirit is a true god descended from Heaven — who is the more exalted is hard to say. Does a Chief Administrator appointed by the Kui Spirit rank lower than one appointed by the Son of Heaven? Jade Gate Pass has not only a Chief Administrator — it has a Deputy Administrator, a Military Commander, and a Staff Adjutant as well.”

Yu Zao was momentarily speechless.

Xuanzang asked, “May I ask, Chief Administrator Zhao — why are there so many residents in Jade Gate Pass? It seems there are both Hu and Han.”

“In reply to the Master,”

Zhao Fu said respectfully, “after the Kui Spirit descended, he chose Jade Gate Pass as the place of his dwelling, and people from the Western Regions’ various states came to pledge their allegiance upon hearing the news. There are now two hundred fifteen households and over six hundred seventy individuals. Most came from Great Tang, Gaochang, Shanshan, Yanqi, Tuyuhun, the Eastern Turks, and other places — convicted criminals, pastoral slaves, farmers who had lost their land, military settlers fleeing their conscription duties — as well as some Han people abducted by Tuyuhun and Turkic forces and sent here as gifts in service to the Kui Spirit.”

Li Chan asked, “Why do the khagans and kings of the Western Regions hold such reverence for your Kui Spirit?”

“The Master surely already knows.”

Zhao Fu said with a smile.

Xuanzang nodded. “The Turkic tribes, the Tiele peoples, and Tuyuhun have long worshipped the wolf spirit. It is said that the ancestors of the Turkic people were born of a mother wolf.”

Yu Zao was astonished. “Born of a mother wolf? She gave birth to people?”

“Such is the Turkic legend,”

Xuanzang said. “The Turks are surnamed Ashina. Long ago, a neighboring kingdom wiped them out. There was one small child — only ten years old. The soldiers, seeing his youth, could not bring themselves to kill him. So they cut off his feet and left him in a marsh. A mother wolf came and fed him with her flesh. When the child grew, he joined with the wolf, and the wolf became pregnant. When the neighboring king heard the child still lived, he sent men to kill him. The wolf fled to the mountains northwest of Gaochang and hid there, then gave birth to ten sons. Each son later took a different surname. One of those surnames was Ashina.”

“What a strange and preposterous tale…”

Yu Zao murmured.

Xuanzang glanced at her. “It is written in the official histories. The Book of Wei records another account as well. The Xiongnu chieftain had two daughters of extraordinary beauty, and the people all declared them divine. The chieftain said: I have these two daughters — how could I give them to ordinary men? I shall offer them to Heaven. So the chieftain built a high platform in a desolate land north of his realm, placed the two daughters upon it, and declared: I ask Heaven to come and receive them. Three years passed, and the daughters’ mother wished to bring them home. The chieftain said it was not yet time — they must wait with patience. Another year passed, and an old wolf came, howling day and night at the base of the platform. It dug a den beneath the platform and refused to leave. The younger daughter said: My father placed me here to offer me to Heaven. Now this wolf has come — it must be a divine creature, sent here by Heaven’s will. The younger daughter wished to take the old wolf as her husband. The elder daughter was horrified and said: This is a beast! What you do dishonors our father and mother! The younger daughter did not listen. She descended from the platform, became the wolf’s wife, bore offspring, and her descendants multiplied and grew into a nation. The people of that nation loved to sing with long, drawn-out voices — and their singing sounded like the howl of wolves.”

Yu Zao and Li Chan listened with their mouths wide open.

“So for the Turkic and other Western Region peoples, they are all descendants of the wolf lineage.”

Xuanzang said. “Even today, outside the great Turkic khagan’s tent, there stands a wolf-head banner to remind them never to forget their origins. The image on the banner is a golden wolf’s head. When Kui Wood Wolf descended from heaven, for the peoples who trace their ancestry to the wolf, it is naturally a sacred event.”

“The Master is wonderfully learned.”

Zhao Fu said admiringly.

“Master, how do you manage to read so widely?”

Li Chan asked. “Not only the Confucian classics and histories, but all those Maoshan arts texts and Louguang scriptures — you’ve read so many of those as well. Is not what you pursue the Great Way of Buddhism?”

Xuanzang glanced up at Kui Wood Wolf on the high platform and murmured: “I shared the same ambition with Lv Sheng in those days — since we sought a correct teaching that would hold true for ten thousand generations, we could not rest until we had mastered all six disciplines.”

“But—”

Yu Zao still looked bewildered. “Why do so many people believe themselves to be descended from wolves?”

“Because—”

Xuanzang paused, “none of us knows where human beings come from.”

At that moment, the great desert sun sank in the west and night began to fall. Countless torches and lanterns were lit all around, and a long, drawn-out horn call rang out. Xuanzang and the others fell silent and looked toward the platform. Kui Wood Wolf sat upright on the lion throne, while across the open ground fifteen towering men walked into view in orderly formation. The first eleven wore resplendent full-plate armor, helmeted and face-masked, the iron visors forged into the savage snarling faces of wolves — these were the Star Generals Xuanzang had seen on the night at Mogao Caves. The last four, however, wore ordinary everyday garments, with nothing on their heads, their hair hanging loose. Their faces mingled terror and excitement.

The eleven Star Generals stood on the large stones, silent and still. The four ordinary men lay down in the round pits, and people began shoveling earth in around them to bury them. Once the pits were filled completely, there was movement and struggle from within — the ground heaving upward. Workers with iron spades tamped the earth down flat, then pushed stone rollers over the surface to press it thoroughly solid.

“Are they burying them alive?”

Li Chan and Yu Zao cried out.

“What are they doing?”

Xuanzang was greatly alarmed and moved to rush forward, but Zhao Fu quickly seized his arm.

“Master, do not be alarmed — they will not die. This is the summoning of Star Generals to descend into the mortal world.”

Zhao Fu answered. “Kui Star totals sixteen: the main star is the Kui Spirit himself, attended by fifteen Star Generals. Three years ago, after the Kui Spirit descended, he summoned the fifteen Star Generals down as well, attaching their spirit forms to mortal bodies. Though the mortal bodies of the fifteen Star Generals will die, the spirit forms are indestructible. Several days ago, four Star Generals fell in Dunhuang, and the Kui Spirit today summons them back, to be re-attached to these four mortal bodies.”

The assembled crowd stared with wide eyes. The four who had just been buried were now rising from the earthen pits — and several among them, including Yu Zao, who had fought these Star Generals before and even slain one herself a year ago, were stunned to realize that these same Star Generals were apparently capable of reviving again and again.

“Now that Dunhuang is showing ever greater hostility toward our Jade Gate Pass, and may well move to attack with full force, so long as the fifteen Star Generals are here, three or five hundred soldiers can be cut down in utter defeat.”

Zhao Fu said with confident certainty.

Even Yu Zao was forced to acknowledge this. These Star Generals’ fighting techniques were rather crude — against a true expert like Wang Junke, two or three of them attacking together might not bring him down. But shielded by bodies that feared neither blades nor arrows and possessed of divine strength, once they closed with ordinary soldiers they were absolutely unstoppable. Fifteen of them charging in formation — only sheer numbers and the willing sacrifice of lives could exhaust them.

High torches blazed on the platform, lighting Kui Wood Wolf’s face. Kui Wood Wolf raised its head and looked up at the sky. The deep black night blazed with stars, as though countless silver nails had been hammered one by one into the vault of heaven, endless and without number, innumerable as the sands of the Ganges.

Above, a glorious canopy of stars; below, countless points of flame. In that moment, everyone raised their eyes to the sky, and from within each heart arose a spontaneous reverence and awe. Confronting the eternal and unchanging long night of stars, all people tremble — what manner of world lies above? Why can the celestial beings endure for eternity, while one’s own life is so infinitesimally small and brief?

Kui Wood Wolf slowly rose to its feet, turned to gaze toward the western sky, and for the first time wore an expression of unspeakable complexity. It seemed to be silently recounting the ages spent in heaven — as Kui Lunar Lodge, guarding the First Lodge of the Western White Tiger, revolving endlessly around the Purple Tenuity Enclosure. Ten million kalpas, eternally thus — had it grown lonely? Even nailed to the sky, one is only a nail.

“The many narrow paths of human life exist only because people must ferry heaven and earth across. The balance of yin and yang must always be set in ambush. Heaven and earth must hide within them a great slaughter.”

On this day, Kui Wood Wolf spoke for the first time — its voice vast and desolate, carrying an ancient sigh. “When I dwelt in the heavens, I gazed countless times into the cosmic void — up through the thirty-six layers of heaven, down through the human realm below — and found everywhere the same loneliness and desolation. I guard the western edge of the Purple Tenuity Enclosure. To my east lies a star called the Southern Gate of the Military, and passing through it, then past the Supplementary Road, one enters the Elevated Passage. Wang Liang drives his chariot alongside the Elevated Passage, and each crack of his whip sends a brilliant star blazing into life, long refusing to be extinguished. I have walked the Elevated Passage, and looking from there into the distance, I have often watched as whole constellations died and fell into the lightless deep sea. As seen from your human world, their dying was like flowers blooming across the sky, like rain falling from the heavens. I walked to the end of the Elevated Passage, and there I reached the North Celestial Gate of the Purple Tenuity Enclosure. That is the central axis around which all the stars revolve — the dwelling of the Celestial Emperor. There, the Emperor has built the walls of the heavenly court: eight stars in the left rampart, seven in the right, like two outstretched arms holding the Heavenly Court firmly at the center. I once tried to look inside — vast and empty, nothing within, only the Emperor Star and the Empress Star facing each other in cold silence, burning with a lonely light.”

Complete silence fell all around. Without being aware of it, everyone had gone to their knees, heads upturned to gaze at the stars. Heaven and earth were full of mystery; the Great Way made no sound. Only the torches gave off the faint crackle and pop of burning.

“So I turned in the opposite direction. I passed by Loushu Lunar Lodge — that old dog has only three main stars, and labors faithfully to tend the celestial herds for the Emperor’s sacrificial offerings. I once asked whether he would like to accompany me into the depths of the stellar sea. He did not dare. So I continued walking — through the seven stars of the Outer Screen. They are subordinate to me and did not dare block my way. I crossed the path traveled by the sun and the path traveled by the moon. I saw the Lady of the Great Yin eternally guarding her furnace of immortality medicine. I saw Xihe cracking her whip to drive the sun onward. In your human world, that was another sunset. I passed the Celestial Granary, where the millet of the heavens is stored — every grain of millet soaked through with starlight, gleaming with radiance. I skirted the Celestial Granary and came to the Office of Works of the Earth. Raise your eyes now — you can see it at this moment.”

Everyone lifted their heads. Far beyond the Purple Tenuity Enclosure, in some distant corner of the sky, one brilliant, solitary star burned.

“The Office of Works of the Earth governs the vast celestial farmland, harvesting the millet each year and bringing the grain into the storehouse. I walked through the harvested fields — and I cannot say how far I walked — and when I looked back, it was already another world. I walked to the very edge of heaven.”

Kui Wood Wolf raised its voice in a great roar. “And at heaven’s edge — is the human world!”

Kui Wood Wolf’s arm shook, and in its hand appeared a yellow talisman. The talisman ignited without wind, and Kui Wood Wolf cried out:

Kui Star’s position brings forth good fortune and blessing; family and household thrive in harmony and great auspiciousness. If the burial ground disturbs the spirits of the yin dead, that very year shall see two or three deaths in succession.

Watch as the military decree and punishment arrive; grave and heavy litigation shall bring pestilence and plague to bear. Open the gate and release the water — disasters and calamities shall rush in; twice or thrice in three years shall sons and young men be taken.

The three hun souls and seven po souls shall all be extinguished — behold: this is the Great Execution Ground of Heaven and Earth.

My sons — descend to the mortal world and follow me! Let us turn this sky and this earth upside down, until ghosts and gods alike bow in submission!

A white light blazed up from the talisman. Everyone looked up, and seemed to see the impossibly distant sky quiver, tremble, and flash — as though several shafts of light streaked past their eyes in an instant. Then a thunderous crash erupted from the open ground below.

The crowd surged back in alarm. The four earthen pits seemed to have been struck by something, and the soil of each burst open in an explosion. Yellow earth churned and roiled, and from each pit extended a hand — the arms visibly swelling with each passing second, muscles surging and expanding. Then four massive human figures slowly rose from the pits, shaking clumps of earth from their bodies as they stood.

The dozen or so Hu emissaries stared wide-eyed. The four who had been buried there were clearly the same people as before, still recognizable beneath the dust and grime. Yet every body had expanded by a size, muscles standing out in dense ridges, bones and sinews locked and hardened — as though giants had emerged from the primordial universe itself.

The four people still seemed a little dazed, twisting their necks and looking around, the necks making cracking and popping sounds.

“Kui Three! Kui Ten! Kui Five! Kui Twelve!”

one of the Star Generals bellowed. “Have you still not come to pay reverence to the Star Lord?”

Only then did the four notice Kui Wood Wolf. Their expressions surged with excitement. They walked in stiff, jerking strides to the base of the platform, bowed with clasped hands, and made inarticulate sounds from their throats — but could not yet speak.

Kui Wood Wolf said quietly, “It is good that you have come. You have only just attached to mortal bodies and have not yet adapted — it will pass in a few days. When you can speak, tell everyone something of the world above. Three years have passed; perhaps some people here still yearn for that place.”

The four nodded again and again. Around them, war drums and horn calls broke out in unison. Having witnessed this miraculous event, the crowd was at the heights of excitement. Zhao Fu immediately ordered wine brought out and bestowed on everyone present.

Within Jade Gate Pass, jubilant singing rose on all sides as everyone began to drink freely and deeply.

Xuanzang said quietly to Zhao Fu: “Where were these four people found?”

Zhao Fu replied, “They are members of the various peoples who have pledged allegiance to Jade Gate Pass — volunteers who offered themselves.”

“By letting Star Generals attach to them, were they not essentially dead? Their families must be deeply grieved.”

Xuanzang said.

Zhao Fu looked at him strangely. “To have a Star General attach to oneself — what a great honor for a mortal person. Why would their families grieve? Please look, Master — the ones dancing beside that bonfire over there are the wife and son of one of them. More than half the people in this Jade Gate Pass came in order to follow a divine being — they are the Kui Spirit’s most passionate devotees!”

Xuanzang watched the crowd singing and dancing around the bonfires, and for a moment did not know what to say.

Dunhuang City, Zhongwu Ward.

By now it was the third quarter of the first watch of the night, well into the curfew hour. The streets outside the ward were silent and deserted.

Linghu Zhan accompanied Tiao Niang to Zhongwu Ward to find that the ward gate was already shut. However, as Commander of the Western Frontier Garrison and the officer responsible for all urgent matters in Dunhuang City, Linghu Zhan naturally held the authority to move through the streets at any hour. Seeing that it was Linghu Zhan, the soldier standing guard at the ward gate promptly opened it and ushered them inside.

Linghu Zhan escorted Tiao Niang to the rear gate of the Zhang family residence, where he heard from the steward that Zhang Bi had not yet returned home. Tiao Niang inquired further and learned he had gone to the Zhai family estate. The steward was full of pent-up frustration as well: these past several days, Zhang Bi had been going from door to door hoping to ask the other noble clans for support in standing together against Wang Junke, but with little success. The day before, he had gone to the Linghu estate and been turned away at the gate — Linghu Demao had used some excuse that he was not in, and refused to see him at all.

Linghu Zhan’s expression became somewhat awkward.

Without a word, Tiao Niang wheeled her horse around and rode straight for Rufeng Ward.

Linghu Zhan quickly spurred his horse after her. The two galloped down Ganquan Avenue in the deserted night.

“Tiao Niang,”

Linghu Zhan said urgently, “you are a young woman — what can you possibly accomplish by going to the Zhai family?”

“I cannot simply let my father be humiliated without doing anything!”

Tiao Niang said coldly. “I want to see with my own eyes how these noble clans deal with our Zhang family!”

Linghu Zhan was helpless. If he left her there alone, a street patrol officer would arrive in moments and arrest her before she could even get through the gate of Rufeng Ward. So with great reluctance, he had no choice but to steel himself and accompany Tiao Niang to the front street of the Zhai family residence in Rufeng Ward.

At the corner of the street before the Zhai main gate, Linghu Zhan caught hold of Tiao Niang’s horse reins and pleaded, “Tiao Niang — this is the Zhai family estate. I truly cannot just barge in with you like this!”

Tiao Niang looked at him with pain in her eyes. “I had quite forgotten — you are the Zhai family’s son-in-law.”

Linghu Zhan was consumed with embarrassment. “Tiao Niang, think about it — if the two of us burst into the Zhai estate together, the reputations of the Zhang, Linghu, and Zhai clans alike will all suffer.”

“Is this how much you treat me as something to be avoided, like a snake or scorpion?”

Tiao Niang asked.

“I do not avoid you.”

Linghu Zhan said. “Tiao Niang — I am not unaware of how you feel toward me. But you also know: until Kui Wood Wolf is dead, I, Linghu Zhan, can never wash away the shame of that night. How can I have the face to speak of marriage?”

“And once Kui Wood Wolf is killed?”

Tiao Niang fixed him with a burning gaze. “Would you then be willing to take me as your wife?”

“I—”

Linghu Zhan’s expression faltered; he did not know how to answer.

Tiao Niang gave a mournful smile, said nothing, and turned her horse to leave. At that very moment, the great gate of the Zhai family residence swung open, and seven or eight retainers came out carrying lanterns, with Zhai Chang himself personally seeing Zhang Bi out through the gate. Linghu Zhan moved with quick reflexes, seizing Tiao Niang’s arm in a firm grip. Tiao Niang gave a start but did not struggle.

“No need to see me out.”

Zhang Bi said, his spirits low.

“Venerable Zhang,”

Zhai Chang sighed and cupped his hands in a bow. “It is not that our Zhai clan is unwilling to lend support. You know as well as I do that our Zhai clan also has enormous interests in the frontier merchant trade. What Wang Junke has done is a provocation against all. But there is one point: that Wang Junke has already gone completely mad — dragging what should be kept quietly in the shadows out into the open like this means he intends to tear everything apart with no turning back. He is a temporary posting official who will be transferred away after a few years, but we Dunhuang noble clans are rooted here in the Gua-Sha two-prefecture region for generation after generation. If this affair becomes known throughout the court and empire, how are the Dunhuang noble clans to maintain their standing in the future?”

“If we united the full strength of all Eight Great Clans, would some mere Wang Junke dare to stir up this kind of trouble? Even if he wanted to tear everything apart, would he have the power to do it?”

Zhang Bi said, seething with resentment. “It is precisely because certain clans have withdrawn and are watching from the sidelines that Wang Junke is allowed to act with such complete impunity!”

“Venerable Zhang, that is simply your nature — too stubborn.”

Zhai Chang said with a bitter smile. “What began as an extremely minor matter — a marriage proposal, a perfectly natural thing — you turned it down in such a manner that you are now asking other noble clans to bear the consequences alongside you. It is natural that each household has some grievance with you.”

“To be bullied and insulted by a horse trader who comes to our door — and for a dignified noble clan to capitulate and offer up its daughter — is that what the other noble clans wish to see?”

Zhang Bi said loudly.

Zhai Chang let out a long sigh. “Venerable Zhang, there is a prison in the prefectural jail where our Zhai clan has a jailer of our own. He has sent word to me secretly: the chief managers of the Hu merchant convoys and the Gaochang merchant convoys are now being subjected to severe torture and cannot hold out much longer. For the moment, Wang Junke has not yet completely lost his restraint — the Market Officer Zhang and the chief managers of the Zhang family trading firm are only being questioned, not tortured. But once the confessions from the Gaochang managers and the Hu merchants come out, this whole case will be impossible to reverse. Venerable Zhang, please make your decision quickly!”

Zhang Bi bowed with an ashen face, mounted his horse, and turned away with his retainers.

Zhai Chang shook his head with a sigh and returned to the inner compound.

Zhang Bi and his retainers had turned the street corner and taken only a few steps when he stopped dead in astonishment — for there stood his own daughter Tiao Niang and Linghu Zhan directly in his path. Tiao Niang’s eyes were red with tears, and she was sobbing.

“Tiao Niang! Linghu… Ninth Brother…”

Zhang Bi was utterly surprised. “What are you two doing here?”

“Father!”

Tiao Niang slid from her horse, ran to her father’s horse, and clasped his leg as she wept without restraint.

Linghu Zhan said awkwardly, “To report to you, Venerable Zhang — Tiao Niang was worried about you and wished to come find you, but could not move about due to the curfew. So your nephew… your nephew had no choice but to accompany her here.”

Zhang Bi’s expression shifted through several changes before he finally let out a long sigh. “You just returned from Qingdun Garrison? Is the matter there settled?”

“The main matter is resolved.”

Linghu Zhan said.

“Ninth Brother, you are a good young man. Though there has been some friction between me and your father, it has nothing to do with you.”

Zhang Bi said. “In fact, your father’s refusal to offer assistance right now is precisely because the main matter at Qingdun Garrison has been resolved. The Dunhuang noble clans are counting on Wang Junke to deal with Kui Wood Wolf, and so do not wish to offend him.”

“Your nephew understands.”

Linghu Zhan said bitterly. “Unable to slay this demon with my own strength — I feel deeply ashamed.”

Zhang Bi shook his head, dismounted, and took his daughter’s arm with a tone of deep feeling. “Tiao Niang — you must have heard everything just now. Do not let it worry you. Our Zhang clan has stood firm in Dunhuang for seven hundred years, through the rise and fall of dynasties, through every kind of storm and trial. What have we not endured? You are my daughter — I will protect you. I will not let anyone humiliate you, and I will not let you be married into a merchant peddler’s household to endure endless hardship and suffering.”

“Father,”

Tiao Niang wiped her tears, glanced at Linghu Zhan, and spoke with sudden resolve. “Your daughter is willing to marry into the Wang family!”

“The Zhang clan will capitulate.”

Wang Junke said quietly.

In the study of Prince of Linjiang Li Yan at Changle Monastery, Li Yan and Wang Junke sat across from each other in conversation. Oil lamps burned within the chamber, bright and clear.

Li Yan’s brow was furrowed with concern. “Zhang Bi did come to see me during the day, but I have no deep connection with him, so there is no need for me to speak up on his behalf. What worries me is you, Junke. By offending the Dunhuang noble clans this way — once they push back, it will not be a small matter. Those clans have deep roots at court. If they bring a complaint before His Majesty, it could be difficult to manage.”

“Would they dare bring a complaint before His Majesty?”

Wang Junke said with a cheerful smile.

Li Yan thought it over and laughed in spite of himself. “They truly would not dare. I must say — your timing with this move is exquisite to the point of perfection. You struck them at their most vulnerable. With the smuggling case at Garrison Commander Lin Sima’s Qingdun Garrison exposed, you launched a thorough investigation under the banner of suppressing smuggling — there is nothing anyone can say against that. But still… is all this really worth it for the sake of one marriage proposal?”

“Not for a single marriage proposal — but for the dignity of my Wang clan, it is entirely worth it.”

Wang Junke said. “Your Highness — I sent people to propose. Zhang Bi was free to refuse; it takes two willing parties to make a marriage, and one suitor among many — there is nothing wrong with that. But he actually proposed to offer me his concubine-born daughter!”

“What?”

This was the first Li Yan had heard of it. His expression changed at once and he erupted in fury. “That old scoundrel Zhang Bi — he truly insults a man beyond all measure!”

Little wonder Li Yan was furious. Li Yan was now connected to Wang Junke by marriage alliance, sharing honor and disgrace together. His own heir had married Wang Junke’s daughter. If Wang Junke’s son were to marry a concubine-born daughter, Li Yan’s own standing would suffer greatly.

“Junke — what do you intend to do?”

Li Yan said gravely. “This Prince will provide full support behind the scenes!”

“Many thanks to Your Highness.”

Wang Junke said. “For now, no need for Your Highness to move. The sharpest weapon in my hand is the Tang Code — I will proceed step by step according to the law, no one will find fault with that, and I will slowly tighten the stranglehold around the Zhang clan’s neck and see how long they can endure the pain.”

“What of the other noble clans?”

Li Yan said. “They have been pressing you to send troops to Jade Gate Pass. Will you send them?”

“Of course troops will be sent,”

Wang Junke said with a smile. “There is no rush, though — the military conscription authorization from the Ministry of War has not yet arrived.”

“I meant to ask you about that,”

Li Yan said in a low voice. “The garrison troops available in Western Shazhou number between fifteen hundred and seventeen hundred. Kui Wood Wolf’s forces are reportedly only three hundred. Though there is Jade Gate Pass to consider, given your skill in commanding troops, breaking through the pass would not be particularly difficult — so why insist on waiting for the authorization to call up府 provincial militia troops?”

Wang Junke smiled pleasantly. “Does Your Highness know how many provincial militia troops I have requested to conscript in my dispatches?”

Li Yan considered. “The document you submitted… five thousand!”

Li Yan’s expression grew somewhat uncomfortable. “You have requested the conscription of five thousand provincial militia troops! That is completely using a battle-ax to kill a chicken!”

“Not necessarily, Your Highness. Please look — in my dispatch, I calculated it this way:”

Wang Junke dipped his finger in grape wine and drew and wrote on the surface of the food table. “First, the main force advancing on Jade Gate Pass along the relay road needs fifteen hundred troops. Second, to prevent Kui Wood Wolf from escaping into Demon City, fifteen hundred troops are needed to cross the sandy desert and cut off his retreat. Then two thousand troops are needed to march to Qingdun Garrison, blocking the Qingdun Pass to guard against possible Turkic reinforcements; one thousand troops to march to Yangguan Pass, guarding against possible Tuyuhun reinforcements; finally, five hundred troops to hold the prefectural city. Your Highness, you see how five thousand provincial militia troops and fifteen hundred garrison troops would be deployed.”

“This…”

Li Yan murmured. “Would the Turks and Tuyuhun truly come to reinforce Kui Wood Wolf?”

“For peoples who regard the wolf as their ancestor, it is difficult to predict — but this reason is one that can persuade His Majesty. And His Majesty is preparing to campaign against the Eastern Turks; he too must guard against the Eastern Turks exploiting Dunhuang to break through his flank.”

“But why would you conscript so many provincial militia troops? Do you truly intend to help the noble clans exterminate Kui Wood Wolf once and for all?”

Li Yan was puzzled.

“I, Wang Junke, in exterminating Kui Wood Wolf, act for the benefit of the empire — not for the benefit of the noble clans.”

Wang Junke said with gravity. “I conscript provincial militia troops for the sake of Your Highness!”

“What?”

Li Yan was dumbfounded, and rose from his rope chair in surprise, nearly tumbling off. The lamplight played across Li Yan’s face as he stared at Wang Junke with sheer bewilderment. “For me? What do I want provincial militia troops for?”

Wang Junke fixed him with a long, deep gaze, and in the lamplight his eyes seemed to hold burning flames. “Your Highness needs provincial militia troops — to rebel!”

Within the palace in present-day Jade Gate Pass, the crowd was in the midst of an all-night celebration. Hu people skilled in music and dance played their various instruments, and the crowd sang and danced and drank in noisy jubilation. Xuanzang and the other two stood to one side in silence, conspicuously out of place.

On the high platform, the Hu emissaries had long since gone down to join the festivities. Only Kui Wood Wolf sat alone on the lion throne, gazing — or seeming to gaze — at the noisy human world below, or perhaps at the countless stars in the distance. Kui Wood Wolf raised a hand and gestured, someone blew a horn, and the desolate sound of the horn swiftly pressed down all the noise. The crowd gradually fell silent. The bonfires crackled and burned.

“Why does Master Xuanzang not drink some wine?”

Kui Wood Wolf asked.

“This poor monk is a monastic. I do not drink wine.”

Xuanzang replied.

“That is quite a pity — you have come to Jade Gate Pass and I have not even been able to offer you a cup.”

Kui Wood Wolf said. “All matters are now in order. The Master may depart in peace. Once I have refined the Heavenly Robe, I will naturally speak a word to the Lord of Mount Tai who governs the wheel of rebirth, and have you reincarnate as a person to cultivate again from the beginning. The delay will be only twenty years of practice.”

Yu Zao drew her broadsword with a ringing scrape. “Lv — my dear Lv — I absolutely will not allow you to kill the Master!”

Kui Wood Wolf glanced at her and said with indifference, “What is meant by killing? It is merely a delay of twenty years in his cultivation. Your human lives are far too short — a mere sixty or seventy years, which is no more than sixty or seventy days in heaven. In your view, what you call killing is so because death among humans means eternal parting. But for a celestial being, that same spirit — no matter what form it takes in the next life — remains visible to me. How could there be any killing?”

Yu Zao stood there blankly, unable to find any argument to counter him.

“Master Xuanzang — the Great Way’s cultivation is not the work of a single lifetime. Perhaps even ten lifetimes or a hundred will not suffice for completion. I sever your cultivation in this life and delay you by merely twenty years.”

Kui Wood Wolf said. “Tonight you shall depart. Come back again in your next life.”

Kui Wood Wolf ordered people to stack firewood in a circle around a large greenish stone — hard-wooded desert poplar and red willow — and was about to have Xuanzang bound to the stone. Li Chan drew his broadsword, Yu Zao drew her hard bow, and they both moved to stand in front of Xuanzang. The fifteen Star Generals closed in expressionlessly, each carrying a great Mo Dao blade. Both sides were on the verge of open conflict.

Kui Wood Wolf stood on the high platform and blew out a gentle breath. In the night air, a fine thread of pale, eerie fire flickered into view, and the hard bow in Yu Zao’s hands immediately burst into violent flame. Yu Zao cried out and beat at it against the ground, but could not smother the fire. In an instant, the hard bow was reduced to powder.

“This is Three Samadhi Fire — there is nothing it cannot burn. Master Xuanzang will feel no pain whatsoever.”

Kui Wood Wolf said calmly. “You cannot protect him. I need only shoot the fire onto him and he will be reduced to ash in an instant — you cannot block it.”

Yu Zao and Li Chan exchanged a glance, and both felt a measure of despair.

Yu Zao cried out, “Lv — my dear Lv — you cannot kill the Master! He is your dearest friend! Have you forgotten the friendship between you in Chang’an?”

Kui Wood Wolf gave a contemptuous laugh. “How many times must I say it before you will believe: Lv Sheng is dead. What stands before you is nothing but his empty shell. You saw how the Star Generals descended just now — do you still think there is any possibility of calling the original person back?”

Yu Zao trembled all over. “Does that mean… it was you who killed Lv — my dear Lv?”

“Killed… this lord cannot quite grasp the word…”

Kui Wood Wolf shook its head.

“I’ll kill you—”

Yu Zao screamed in fury and charged toward the platform, but the Star Generals blocked her way and she could not advance an inch.

“Twelfth Young Miss!”

Xuanzang quickly called out to restrain Yu Zao, then walked over and said quietly, “Do not act rashly. Have you forgotten what this poor monk said? Lv Sheng may not be alive — but he may not be dead either. Is it not to investigate the truth that we came here? The two of you, stay calm for now, and do not be impulsive no matter what happens.”

“But Master — you are about to be burned to death!”

Li Chan said urgently.

“If this poor monk is truly burned to death, then Lv Sheng is dead. If I am not burned to death, then Lv Sheng is still alive. I can only stake everything on this gamble.”

Xuanzang said.

“Master — could you explain more clearly? I do not quite understand.”

Yu Zao looked completely bewildered.

“If you don’t understand, then just watch.”

Xuanzang finished speaking and walked straight over to the large greenish stone. “Come, then. Bind this poor monk — and make it tight.”

Two Star Generals came forward and locked Xuanzang to the wooden post beside the stone with iron chains. Yu Zao moved to go forward, but Li Chan held her back with vigorous headshaking, and the two could only watch helplessly as firewood was stacked all around Xuanzang.

On the high platform, Kui Wood Wolf extended one finger, and from the fingertip grew a tiny flame of the palest, most ethereal blue. With a flick, the nearly invisible flame drew a thin line through the air and headed toward Xuanzang. This time the thin line moved at no great speed — even somewhat slowly — so that everyone could see the flame’s path through the air. Wherever the flame passed, the air seemed to be scorched into void, shimmering and trembling. Xuanzang watched it approach with wide-open eyes full of the hunger to understand — at times his brow creased in thought, at times his lips curved into a smile of sudden comprehension. Li Chan stood to the side, shaking his head in disbelief.

The thin line of fire crept closer and closer to Xuanzang, and just at that moment, a woman of devastating beauty suddenly rushed out from within the barrier-fort, pulling up her long skirt as she sprinted, her face full of panic. When the residents of Jade Gate Pass saw her, they bowed down, some even falling to their knees.

“My dear lord, you must not!”

The woman ran to stand before Xuanzang, spreading her arms wide to block the fire thread.

Kui Wood Wolf was greatly alarmed and leapt from the lion throne in a single motion, and in midair left a trail of after-images — as though wolf and human interchanged in that split second — arriving before the woman with the speed of thunder and lightning, one hand snatching the fire thread out of the air. The palm of that hand immediately gave a sizzling sound, and the smell of scorched skin and flesh rose. Then the fire thread was extinguished.

“You… my lady, why did you come out?”

Kui Wood Wolf was indignant. “Just now, the danger was truly too great!”

Whether it was Xuanzang, Yu Zao, or Li Chan — all three gaped open-mouthed in astonishment. My lady? Kui Wood Wolf actually had a wife?

The woman reached out to grasp Kui Wood Wolf’s palm; Kui Wood Wolf flinched back as though from an electric shock. The woman’s expression darkened for a moment, then she said gently, “Next time I will be more careful. Does it hurt?”

“It does not.”

Kui Wood Wolf, having been soothed so tenderly, quickly lost its anger. “But you must never do anything so dangerous again — even I sometimes cannot control Three Samadhi Fire.”

“Very well.”

The woman nodded softly. “My dear lord — I want to ask you not to kill this monk. But the situation was urgent and I had no time to explain in detail, so in my desperation I threw caution to the wind. Next time I will be more careful.”

“Not kill him? Why?”

Kui Wood Wolf’s brows knitted together.

“You know I am a Buddhist. I was resting in the inner chambers just now, and fell asleep without realizing it. In my dream, a golden-armored divine figure suddenly appeared.”

The woman said.

Kui Wood Wolf was surprised. “A golden-armored god? Which golden-armored god dared to trespass into my domain and enter your dream? What did he say to you?”

The woman said, “My dear lord, do not be angry — the golden-armored god meant no ill. He said that I have accumulated great merit through building pagodas and making offerings, but my lord husband is about to kill a monk, which would incur the five grave transgressions. If this transgression is committed, the two of us as husband and wife will inevitably face a great calamity in the future and cannot attain a good ending. At this I awoke with a start and rushed here, only to find you truly about to put the monk to death.”

Kui Wood Wolf’s eyes blazed with fierce anger as it scanned the sky above with careful attention, then gave a cold laugh. “Which minor deity in heaven has grown bold enough to meddle in my household affairs! I will track that one down in due time and make sure there is no pardon! My lady, have no fear — kill this monk I shall. As for this so-called great calamity… I want to see which deity in heaven dares to have me face a calamity!”

“What you say is true, but my lord is a celestial deity, while I am only a mortal woman. Any inauspicious disaster that cannot reach you may well fall instead upon me.”

The woman sighed. “Moreover, I am a Buddhist — to watch you kill a monk without being moved, I fear my heart would be burdened by guilt that can never be erased.”

Kui Wood Wolf hesitated. “But if I do not kill him, the Heavenly Robe cannot be refined, and your body will never—”

“Even if the Heavenly Robe is refined and the curse on my body dissolved, my heart would still be cursed — and that curse would be there for all eternity, impossible to erase.”

The woman was soft in manner but utterly unyielding in her words.

Kui Wood Wolf looked with annoyance from the woman to Xuanzang, then back again. “The night wind is strong. Go back inside first. Someone — take Xuanzang also into my dwelling.”

The Star Generals went over, cleared the firewood, and unbound Xuanzang.

Kui Wood Wolf accompanied the woman back to the barrier-fort. Two Star Generals pushed and prodded Xuanzang to follow.

“Master — what should we do?”

Li Chan called after them.

“Wait.”

Xuanzang did not look back.

“You… what did you say?”

In Changle Monastery, Li Yan leapt to his feet in shock, nearly toppling off his rope chair. The candlelight fell on Li Yan’s face, his expression filled with horror as he stared at Wang Junke. “This Prince… when did this Prince ever intend to rebel? You… you are slandering me!”

Wang Junke, however, was completely composed. He gave a faint smile. “Your Highness has no intention of rebelling — at the moment.”

“No intention of rebelling at the moment?”

Li Yan erupted in fury. “Are you saying that this Prince intends to rebel in the future?”

“Your Highness — His Majesty has already dispatched Protocol Officer Cui Dunli, bearing an imperial decree, to Guazhou. Cui Dunli has already passed through Liangzhou.”

Wang Junke said.

Li Yan froze on the spot. An inexplicable chill spread across his body.

Cui Dunli was of course known to Li Yan — a member of the direct Boling Cui lineage, holding the rank of Protocol Officer of the sixth grade upper, in charge of the Office of Four Directions, responsible for affairs relating to foreign peoples and missions, charged with conveying imperial decrees, delivering commendations, and undertaking diplomatic missions.

“How do you know His Majesty sent Cui Dunli to summon me to court?”

Li Yan murmured.

Wang Junke smiled. “Before Your Highness’s betrothal proposal, I had already expressed interest in seeking a marriage alliance between our families through correspondence. I made it a condition that each letter sent from home should include news of the imperial court — especially matters relating to the Hexi region. I had a number of former comrades-in-arms who are now in the Ministry of War, and so I arranged, through the Bureau of Carriages, to make use of the imperial postal relay system.”

Use of the imperial postal relay for private correspondence was officially prohibited, of course — but Dunhuang was three thousand li from Chang’an, and it was extremely inconvenient for officials posted far away to communicate with their families. So for someone like Wang Junke, a regional prefect, the court largely turned a blind eye.

“His Majesty summoning me to court is a perfectly routine matter — it has been three years since this Prince came to Guazhou.”

Li Yan said.

“Sending Cui Dunli here to summon you could be called normal — or could be called not quite normal,”

Wang Junke said. “A Protocol Officer’s duty is to convey imperial will and deliver commendations. Having Cui Dunli transmit the summons reflects His Majesty’s regard for you. But what is unusual is that Cui Dunli is in charge of the Office of Four Directions and has the duty of pacifying foreign peoples. Guazhou is not a foreign territory — so what is His Majesty’s deeper intention in sending him here?”

“In your view, what is His Majesty’s deeper intention?”

Li Yan asked coldly.

“None other than this: since the mission involves pacifying foreign peoples, he must fear that the foreign peoples will grow unruly,”

Wang Junke said with a meaningful smile. “And why would His Majesty fear that foreign peoples would grow unruly?”

“Perhaps… perhaps…”

Li Yan was rattled. “Perhaps His Majesty is planning an attack on the Eastern Turks and has sent Cui Dunli to make a tour of inspection in Guazhou.”

“Then let me add one more piece of news,”

Wang Junke fixed his gaze on Li Yan and said one word at a time: “After Cui Dunli departed Liangzhou, Li Daoliang immediately mobilized five thousand troops to march toward Ganzhou!”

Li Yan frowned. “Ganzhou falls under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhou Metropolitan Command. Li Daoliang dispatching troops to Ganzhou has nothing to do with me—”

Li Yan’s eyes suddenly went wide. “You are saying… you are saying…”

Li Yan’s entire body trembled, and the last sentence stuck in his throat, too frightening to speak aloud.

“Exactly!”

Wang Junke said gravely. “When I first spoke with you at the prefectural city relay station, I mentioned the hidden relationship between Ganzhou Prefect Zhang Bi and Li Daoliang — the two of them were life-and-death brothers on the Wagang Stronghold. After His Majesty stationed Li Daoliang at Liangzhou, he placed his most trusted man Zhang Bi at Ganzhou — making it perfectly clear who was being targeted. Once Cui Dunli arrives at Guazhou and completes the summons, if everything goes smoothly it will naturally be for the best. But if something goes wrong, Zhang Bi’s Ganzhou army can immediately sweep directly toward Suzhou. And Suzhou Prefect Niu Jinda is also a former Wagang man with an old connection to Zhang Bi — if Niu Jinda throws in with Zhang Bi, the two forces combined would have fifteen thousand troops, capable of reaching the walls of Guazhou in an instant!”

“I… I…”

Li Yan’s hands and feet went cold with terror. “How could it have come to this! How could it have come to this! I have never harbored the slightest thought of betraying His Majesty — Heaven itself can witness that!”

“Your Highness may well have never harbored any thought of betraying His Majesty. But His Majesty has no wish to leave the safety and stability of the entire Hexi region dependent on your single thought of loyalty.”

Wang Junke said coldly. “Your Highness was close to Pei Ji, and two months ago Pei Ji was stripped of his property and banished. Before launching the campaign against the Eastern Turks, it is only natural to first neutralize you in order to secure Hexi. If you are unwilling to submit like Prince of Changle Li Youliang and wait passively for the outcome, and instead intend to stake everything on a final desperate gamble, His Majesty’s armies are fully engaged on the northern front against the Eastern Turks — if you act here, is it not the entire Hexi region that would be engulfed in chaos?”

Li Yan was struck as though by lightning, his face caught between laughter and tears. He slumped back on the rope chair. Wang Junke poured a cup of grape wine and handed it to him. Li Yan took it with a wooden expression, his arm trembling so much that he could not bring it to his lips.

“His Majesty… summoning me back to court… what would he do with me?”

Li Yan murmured, as though speaking to himself.

“You may consult the precedent set by the Prince of Changle.”

Wang Junke said. “In the past, someone reported that the Prince of Changle and Military Governor of Liangzhou, Li Youliang, was secretly cultivating warriors and maintaining contacts with foreign powers, possibly plotting rebellion. His Majesty appointed Yuwen Shiji to take over as Military Governor of Liangzhou and investigate the case. At the time, Li Youliang intended to travel to Chang’an to protest his innocence — but before he could do so, Yuwen Shiji had already arrived at Liangzhou. So Li Youliang attempted to flee north to the Turks, but was intercepted by Yuwen Shiji. His Majesty then sent Vice Censor-in-Chief Sun Fujia to conduct the official interrogation, after which Li Youliang was granted death on the spot.”

Li Yan broke out in a cold sweat across his forehead and stared blankly into space.

“There is one puzzling point in that case which I have never been able to resolve: Li Youliang initially intended to go to Chang’an to protest his innocence — so why, when Yuwen Shiji arrived, did he immediately attempt to flee to the Turks? Thinking it over now, it was most likely because he had already understood that Yuwen Shiji came with the intent to kill him!”

Wang Junke said with a cold laugh. “The charge of ‘secretly cultivating warriors and maintaining foreign contacts’ can be substantiated with evidence against any frontier general. If His Majesty wished you to live, you might follow Cui Dunli back to Chang’an and perhaps be reduced to a commoner, your life spared. If His Majesty wished you dead, you need only step out through the north gate of Guazhou City and go ten-some li down the road — that would count as fleeing to the Turks. So what His Majesty would do with you, this subordinate truly cannot predict. However, since His Majesty has already deployed five thousand troops to Ganzhou, the attention he has given you would appear to far exceed that given to Li Youliang.”

Li Yan trembled and at last managed to bring the cup of wine to his lips. The sweet grape wine was bitter and harsh to swallow at this moment. “I knew His Majesty would move to neutralize me, but I did not expect it would come so quickly. I have turned it over in my mind countless times — when this day arrived, what choice should I make. Now that the moment is here, I find there is no choice to be made at all.”

“How could you have no choice?”

Wang Junke asked.

“What choice do I have?”

Li Yan laughed bitterly. “In the first year of Zhenguan, when I came to take up my post in Guazhou, His Majesty dispatched Li Daoliang to Liangzhou and you to Western Shazhou — just as you said that day: former Wagang men have me completely surrounded, with this trap clearly laid long ago, only waiting for the moment to spring. What choice do I have? The only thing I can choose is to sit at home and wait for the emissary to come to my door — either a white silken cord to hang myself with, or iron chains to take me in shackles.”

“This subordinate came to see Your Highness tonight precisely to offer Your Highness one more choice.”

Wang Junke watched Li Yan steadily and said slowly.

Li Yan stared at him blankly for a moment. “How can you give this Prince a choice?”

“Rebellion!”

Wang Junke said, quietly.

The word was barely above a whisper, yet in Li Yan’s ears it struck like a thunderbolt, and every hair on his body stood on end, his face draining of color.

“Outrageous!”

Li Yan exploded in agitation. He rushed to the weapons rack and snatched out a blade, pressing it to Wang Junke’s throat. “You carry such thoughts in your heart — you truly deserve death!”

Wang Junke tilted his head back to meet the sword’s edge and slowly rose. Li Yan recoiled in alarm.

“This subordinate came tonight to Changle Monastery rather than summoning Your Highness to the prefectural offices precisely so that Your Highness could make this choice on your own terms.”

Wang Junke said. “Your Highness may seize me and hand me to His Majesty — that might spare your life.”

“You think I don’t dare to seize you?”

Li Yan ground out through clenched teeth.

“Your Highness wishes to seize me — I submit without resistance. Your Highness could cut me down on the spot as well: one light thrust of that precious blade would send it through my throat.”

Wang Junke said calmly. “The reason I come to speak these words without regard for my life is that our two families are now united by marriage. The betrothal procedures for the union between Yu Zao and the Heir Apparent are complete — the ceremonial money and gifts have been delivered to my residence. Only the selection of the auspicious date and the formal wedding remain — our two families are in truth already a married alliance.”

Li Yan was stunned. He dropped the sword with exhaustion. “Is it because of me that you are implicated? And yet…”

Li Yan’s face wore a look of bewilderment. “You already knew of my circumstances before the betrothal. Why were you willing to make this alliance with me?”

Wang Junke said with resignation: “Since things have come to this, I will not hide it from Your Highness — you know me well. My deepest ambition has always been to establish the Wang clan’s aristocratic prestige and rise to the standing of a great noble house. To form a marriage alliance with Your Highness was naturally a great honor for my Wang clan. At the time there was also some private calculation on my part: I thought that even if His Majesty intended to neutralize you, the approach would be relatively gentle. The reason you are not tolerated by His Majesty is only that you were close to Prince Jiancheng — even if you were set aside, the princely title would still pass to the Heir Apparent.”

Li Yan smiled bitterly. “You thought as much, and at the time I more or less guessed as much too. That I could expect as much was already a gift from heaven.”

“Indeed!”

Wang Junke sighed. “I also did not anticipate that His Majesty’s wariness of you ran this deep — that he would actually mobilize the Liangzhou army to press down on the border. This being so, even the best you can hope for as an individual is to become a commoner. The title of Prince of Linjiang will most likely be revoked. Alas — to be allied in marriage with a condemned man: my career in His Majesty’s service, Wang Junke’s career, is finished for this lifetime.”

Li Yan nodded in silence, then said with genuine sincerity: “Junke — you know that this Prince has always greatly admired you. You are a formidable general of Great Tang — that you rose from Wagang Stronghold to become a prefect was no small achievement. You must not lose the opportunity to make your mark on the battlefield because of me. Dissolve this marriage!”

Wang Junke’s expression was moved. He bowed deeply and said, “My thanks to Your Highness. But… it is too late. Now not only in the three prefectures of Gua, Sha, and Su, but even in Chang’an itself, our marriage alliance is known. If at the moment of your downfall I were to dissolve the marriage, how would the censuring voices of the entire court regard me? My reputation has never been good — everyone says I am treacherous and ruthless in warfare, resorting to any means to win. But that is military tactics; in battle one does whatever it takes to achieve victory. But as a man — I have never broken my word. Since fate has decreed this, I will bear it together with Your Highness.”

Li Yan closed his eyes and worked hard to hold back the tears. “Junke — since you treat me thus, how can I not repay you? This Prince reflects that this life of mine still carries some weight. Rather than deliver it to that Cui Dunli, it is better to deliver it to you to make a meritorious contribution. Seize me and hand me to Cui Dunli, saying you detected signs of my rebellion and acted in service to righteousness above family loyalty — the court will surely reward you handsomely. You will be able to leave the hardship of this western desert early and return to Chang’an.”

Wang Junke was stunned on the spot. He stared at Li Yan for a long, long moment, his eyes reddening. He bowed down to the ground in a full salute. “Your Highness’s magnanimity of heart makes this subordinate feel utterly… utterly ashamed!”

“This Prince means it sincerely.”

Li Yan said with earnest gravity. “Western Shazhou is your territory — this Prince will not go anywhere. I will remain here and wait for Cui Dunli. When he arrives outside the city, send men to seize me.”

“Your Highness’s generosity… I truly…”

Wang Junke seemed to lose himself for a moment, as though wrestling with his thoughts. Then after a brief pause he shook his head with resolve. “I cannot bring myself to do such a thing. Your Highness — tonight I came to urge you to rebel, and there was no intent to test you. In truth, in the days before this, I had already made plans on Your Highness’s behalf. Your Highness might as well hear my detailed account before making your decision.”

Li Yan sighed. “Very well — speak.”

“Your Highness also knows that His Majesty, having heard General Zhang Gong-jin of Daizhou submit his memorial, has been planning a war to destroy the Eastern Turks. If my estimation is correct, a month from now — when autumn comes — will be the best moment to launch the campaign.”

Wang Junke’s eyes were bright and focused. “Destroying the Eastern Turks is a national war, vast in scale. I have carefully deduced it: this campaign will require at minimum three routes. One route will advance from the direction of Dingyuan to attack Yunzhong; one route will advance from Daizhou to strike the Eastern Turks’ heartland; and a third route will most likely advance from Lingzhou to cut off the Eastern Turks’ retreat to the west. Liangzhou is the western gateway to Lingzhou — once Lingzhou deploys troops, Liangzhou must certainly garrison heavy forces to guard the western flank of that route.”

As soon as the conversation turned to military affairs, Wang Junke spoke with flowing ease, drawing shapes in the air with his hands as though an entire map of the realm lay before his eyes, banners moving, cavalry charges unfolding. Li Yan was no stranger to military matters either — he narrowed his eyes slightly, and before him appeared the offensive routes Wang Junke was sketching out. Even the scale of forces and the commanding generals were more or less present in his mind.

“If Your Highness rises at this time, let us examine the forces at hand.”

Wang Junke said. “Western Shazhou has fifteen hundred deployable garrison troops. Once the Ministry of War authorization arrives, I can conscript five thousand provincial militia troops — that comes to six thousand five hundred—”

Li Yan was startled. “Junke — the real purpose behind your conscription of provincial militia troops is not to exterminate Kui Wood Wolf, but to aid me in rebellion?”

“Of course.”

Wang Junke smiled. “Kui Wood Wolf is the enemy of the noble clans — what concern is that of mine? Besides, he has only about three hundred cavalrymen. If I truly wanted to break him, one thousand garrison troops would suffice. My claim in the memorial to His Majesty about needing to guard against the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun was merely a pretext — the true purpose was to make plans on Your Highness’s behalf!”

Li Yan shook his head in a mixture of bitter laughter and alarm at Wang Junke’s decisiveness and foresight. Before Li Yan had even perceived the crisis, he had predicted Li Yan’s predicament today. Before Li Yan had made up his mind whether to wait passively or go to the capital to plead his case, Wang Junke had already concluded that rebellion was the only path — and had already been preparing military forces. Such vision, such resolve, such planning — it was truly enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

Perhaps in such extraordinary times, only a figure like this could salvage one’s desperate situation. Li Yan reflected silently.

Wang Junke continued: “Guazhou has two thousand five hundred deployable garrison troops. Prefect Dugu Da is Your Highness’s man — once you raise your banner, forge a Ministry of War authorization to conscript provincial militia troops, and that adds another six thousand. Our combined force from the two prefectures would thus be twelve thousand five hundred.”

“Dugu Da will naturally follow my lead — but even so, twelve thousand-some men are not enough to hold the Gua-Sha region!”

Li Yan said with distress. “Liangzhou is a major military stronghold with a garrison of fifty thousand — we would simply be crushed.”

“Since I am planning on Your Highness’s behalf, I could hardly devise something so crude,”

Wang Junke smiled. “Does Your Highness forget — there are also five thousand troops at Niu Jinda’s Suzhou.”

“But Niu Jinda would never rebel alongside me.”

Li Yan smiled wryly.

Wang Junke shook his head. “Niu Jinda himself will certainly not rebel. But his troops can be put to use. Within these next two days, our two families will set the date for the formal wedding ceremony and invite the Heir Apparent to come to Dunhuang for the wedding, then travel to Guazhou for the marriage. As Niu Jinda’s superior, Your Highness — whatever the occasion, he will have to attend the wedding banquet. At that point, secretly seize him, take his fish-tally, and then lead a great army to take over Suzhou.”

Li Yan immediately nodded. “So long as Niu Jinda and the fish-tally can be seized, taking over Suzhou is of course not a problem.”

“Correct. That will give us eighteen thousand troops in hand. We immediately strike east, attacking Ganzhou and routing Zhang Bi!”

Wang Junke said. “By that point, Cui Dunli will certainly have been seized. To avoid attacking a fortified city, we can use Cui Dunli and you to create the pretense of an escort convoy requiring heavy protection on the journey to the capital—”

“Wait, wait…”

Li Yan suddenly recalled a problem. “Junke — from a military standpoint, there is nothing wrong with what you say. Even if Li Daoliang has reinforced Zhang Bi with five thousand more troops, with eighteen thousand in hand we can naturally break Ganzhou City. But… but why would the soldiers follow this Prince into rebellion and attack Ganzhou?”

“The soldiers will of course not willingly follow us into rebellion!”

Wang Junke said in astonishment. Seeing that Li Yan was staring at him blankly — genuinely not understanding — he had no choice but to explain patiently. “To get the soldiers to follow us into rebellion is out of the question. So when we raise our banner, it cannot be in the name of rebellion — it must be under the banner of a court-ordered mobilization to attack the Turks. Once we have consolidated the forces of Gua, Sha, and Su, when we arrive at the walls of Ganzhou, we announce that Zhang Bi is collaborating with the Turks and march in to suppress the rebellion. Wouldn’t that do?”

“And then?”

Li Yan asked blankly. He genuinely did not understand. “After taking Ganzhou, won’t the soldiers know they themselves are the real rebels?”

Wang Junke laughed aloud. “Naturally that will be the case. But after one deadly, all-out engagement, once the soldiers have Tang warriors’ blood on their hands — who can turn back? After taking Ganzhou, I only need to suspend military discipline. These soldiers, having just killed, will be like demons released from a dam — they will loot Ganzhou, slaughter people, seize property. Once three days have passed without the sword being sheathed, whose hands will not be stained with the blood of commoners? After that — who would dare harbor second thoughts? And the Hexi region has for centuries been largely independent of Central Plains governance, always with a tendency toward separatism—”

“Wait, wait…”

Li Yan stared at Wang Junke with wide, unbelieving eyes and a trembling body. “You… you intend to massacre the city?”