Yun Ye looked at Old Cheng with his shifty eyes shining. Could he tell him the bitterness in his heart? If I told you that I only took two hundred hours of courses at an emergency center, and this was my first time giving someone a blood transfusion and suturing, wouldn’t you want my life? The doctor said it well—actually, people are just that simple. The more you don’t treat them as people, the more likely you are to save them. People are quite resilient.
The origin of Western medicine was barbers. If one could give someone a haircut, one could be a doctor. Probably right now, the founding fathers of Western medicine still regarded bloodletting as a cure-all remedy. Foot pain, chop off the foot; hand pain, cut off the hand. As for headaches, there was no solution. If beheading could let someone live, presumably those great founding fathers wouldn’t be polite about heads either. I already know to use alcohol for disinfection—this is simply a groundbreaking invention. When we reach later generations, wouldn’t this be enshrined and worshipped as an ancestor?
The car maniac had said it well: What’s so special about cars? They’re just an engine, four wheels, and an iron shell, that’s all. What wisdom! Anyway, he heard his automobile enterprise was quite successful, with no major problems reported. By the same logic, what’s so special about people? Just a head, two arms, two legs, a brain, plus a body of carbohydrates. Know the cause of illness, treat it casually—didn’t you see Zhuang Santing come back to life? This proves my theory is correct. It must be promoted and glorified.
“Zhuang Santing was struck by nine knife wounds and lost excessive blood. Find someone with the same blood type to transfuse blood to him. With blood, doesn’t the person live? Is this even worth asking?” Yun Ye felt he was playing the lute to a cow. Discussing blood type issues with ancient people was purely having nothing better to do after eating one’s fill.
“Boy, was all this taught by your master? What else do you know?” Old Cheng was still probing Yun Ye’s background.
“My teacher’s learning reaches to heaven and man. These things are merely trivial skills. There is much knowledge my teacher doesn’t teach. He said that life’s troubles begin with literacy. Being able to recognize characters and not be deceived by others is sufficient. The more one learns, the more troubles one has. He hoped I would live a simple life. Heaven and earth operate according to their own laws. Forcibly interfering only adds new troubles. Going with the flow is good. What your nephew understands—most of it is what your nephew saw his master demonstrate and just copied gourd-painting-gourd style, performing the same way.”
He had no choice but to once again make his master lofty and grand. Old Cheng pointed at Yun Ye fiercely, unable to speak. In his view, Yun Ye, guarding such a heaven-like master, had only learned half a bottle of water. Any one of these skills, if brought out, would be earth-shattering supreme learning. He pointed for a long time, not knowing whom to blame, and dejectedly lowered his hand.
“Brother has such great abilities. In the future, if elder brother has difficulties, I’ll find you. Who cares where the knowledge comes from? My brother learned it, so it’s my brother’s. What’s my brother’s is mine.” Cheng Chumo was big-hearted, just happy for his brother on the side. Today, seeing his brother display miraculous arts to save his subordinate, his mood naturally improved greatly. He embraced Yun Ye and laughed heartily. As for the blood transfusion life-saving technique, he had long forgotten it. In the future, if needed, just find Yun Ye.
Old Cheng gloomily kicked both of them out of the command tent and studied Yun Ye’s strange and peculiar blood transfusion equipment himself. Actually, it was just a section of rubber tubing plus two needles. Old Cheng pulled at the tube, looked at the needles, and gave up. Hearing the sounds of Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo laughing and playing outside the tent, a smile couldn’t help but float across his face.
The person became younger, and his heart seemed to become younger too. Yun Ye, with a psychological age of thirty-four or thirty-five, got along with the seventeen-year-old Cheng Chumo surprisingly without any generation gap. Cheng Chumo’s complete lack of scheming and bold temperament made Yun Ye very much enjoy the time together with him. Both mood and body were extremely relaxed. Yun Ye could no longer remember when he had last laughed and played with someone so unreservedly.
Finally, he figured out what had actually happened.
During this time, cartload after cartload of salt from the Lanzhou main camp continuously transported to various places in Longyou. This situation attracted the attention of the Qiang people wandering around the periphery of the main camp.
They equally lacked salt, while the salt price in Longyou was firmly held by Cheng Yaojin at the high price of one string of cash per jin, and moreover, there was a price but no market. To avoid arousing public resentment, Old Cheng opened up the supply of vinegar cloth. Although not tasty, it at least had a salty flavor. In any case, ordinary people didn’t eat much salt normally. The Turks had retreated, the salt route would soon open, so enduring a few days would pass.
But the Qiang people couldn’t manage. Because this time they had followed Prince Changluo You Liang in rebellion, being rebels, Old Cheng naturally wouldn’t care about their life or death. Vinegar cloth was supplied to the Great Tang people, not to rebels. Thus, they didn’t even have vinegar cloth.
Without salt, people couldn’t last more than a few days in high-intensity activities. Having no choice, to survive they took desperate risks. Taking advantage of when Cheng Chumo led troops to deliver salt, they gathered over four hundred cavalry and suddenly attacked the salt delivery convoy. Cheng Chumo quickly ignited wolf-smoke signals and led over a hundred guards in hasty battle. Unexpectedly, these Qiang people, to seize salt, were fearless of death, surrounding Cheng Chumo and the others in the middle and fighting to the death without rest.
Zhuang Santing, as Cheng Chumo’s guard, exhausted all his strength to protect him from harm, but himself received nine knife wounds and was on the verge of death.
Seeing the wolf smoke, Cheng Yaojin personally led people to the rescue. After scattering the Qiang people, of Cheng Chumo’s hundred-some people, only thirty-seven remained. Old Cheng’s wild nature erupted, and he issued a death order to completely annihilate the Qiang people. In a short while, of the Qiang people’s four hundred-some cavalry, only eleven survived; all the others were slaughtered. Then came the scene of Cheng Chumo going to the camp tent to find Yun Ye.
Yun Ye, living in a peaceful world, when had he ever experienced such a tragic event? In the morning, over a hundred people happily escorted the salt shipment on the road. By noon when they returned, eighty-one people had already lost their lives at Yellow Springs. Several large carts carried corpses missing arms and legs back to the main camp. In Yun Ye’s view, this was inconceivable. Just two thousand jin of salt—in later generations, worth only three thousand yuan. Four hundred bandits all lost their lives for it. Yun Ye didn’t think the other ten people who fell into Uncle Cheng’s hands would survive safely. One human life was worth only five jin of salt, not including the eighty-one guards who died protecting these two thousand jin of salt. Too unworthy—human life like grass.
Material scarcity, widespread poverty, a defense line full of holes—all made people not take their own lives seriously. If one’s head was chopped off, it was just a big scar. Why did wealthy families cherish their lives more? The so-called “the richer one is, the more one fears death”—this was an unshakeable truth. For poor families, living was suffering. If they couldn’t even continue suffering, had no opportunity to continue, then they could only tie their heads to their waistbands and rebel.
On the high haystack, Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo stared blankly at the sky full of stars. The brilliant Milky Way was like a jade belt hanging across the sky. The Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars on both banks of the Milky Way were shining brightly. The unpolluted Tang Dynasty night sky was like a piece of pure black brocade, revealing a vicissitudinous sense of mystery. Unlike the night sky of later generations, which displayed an eerie grayish-black color with only a few scattered stars appearing listless.
The June days in Longyou seemed to be on fire. Everyone suffered in this heaven-and-earth furnace. The entire camp was full of men wearing only loincloths. Yun Ye felt like he had entered a Japanese military camp. He found several bolts of fine hemp cloth and, while explaining to the camp tailor, gestured until he understood he wanted to make several pairs of underpants. Bullet briefs were out of the question, but boxer shorts were still no problem. Without elastic bands, he could only use ties, but fortunately, there was no danger of them falling down. Six large pairs, four small pairs—completed in one night.
Yun Ye was very surprised by the tailor’s efficiency being so high. It wasn’t until the tailor respectfully and reverently presented the underpants with both hands to Yun Ye that he understood why he received such treatment. This was related to a rumor in the military camp: the newly titled lord had heaven-reaching and earth-penetrating abilities, could distinguish yin and yang and communicate with spirits and gods. He used immortal wondrous arts to forcibly add the Qiang person’s remaining lifespan to Old Zhuang, who was supposed to die. Now Old Zhuang could already turn over. In this blazing heat, his wounds showed not the slightest redness or swelling. It seemed he still had one or two hundred years to live. If one oneself had such trouble in the future, just grab a Qiang person and beg His Lordship to display his wondrous method—wouldn’t one also have a hundred-some years to live? Therefore, the entire camp’s soldiers looked at Yun Ye as if looking at an immortal. Now the immortal wanted to make several pairs of short pants—this showed he valued us tailors. Four tailors stayed up all night and forced themselves to finish by daybreak.
Yun Ye smiled and expressed thanks. That tailor didn’t even want a reward silver, kowtowed, and left happily. His Lordship had no airs and even smiled in thanks. We’re people whom the immortal lord smiled and praised—who among this camp full of killers would dare give us attitude? Yun Ye didn’t know he had inadvertently become the tiger in “the fox exploits the tiger’s might.” Holding three large boxer shorts, he rushed toward the command tent.
In the command tent, Old Cheng was bare-chested with a white loincloth tied around his groin, a cloth towel on his head, drinking grape wine intermittently. The black hair covering his body made Yun Ye extremely suspicious this fellow hadn’t fully evolved yet.
“Uncle, seeing you unable to endure the scorching heat, your nephew made several pairs of underpants. Wearing them brings some coolness. I specially made three pairs for you. Please try them on and don’t disdain them.” Old Cheng liked wearing high hats. You had to lower your own posture. Only this way could you make requests and possibly achieve your goals.
“You’re still the boy with filial piety. That Chou’er is just a rough fellow. Besides stealing wine from this old man, he doesn’t have such delicate thoughtfulness. Come, this old man will try them.” Saying this, he untied his loincloth and stark naked put on the underpants.
“I must say, this thing is indeed cool. You boy put thought into it. Speak up—what do you want this old man to reward you with?” Old Cheng twisted his buttocks, felt very comfortable, and decided to reward Yun Ye with something.
“This is your junior’s filial intention for you. How could I ask for your reward? If you feel you must give a reward, when an elder bestows, one dares not decline. Just bestow upon your nephew that jade pendant from last time.” Yun Ye had long coveted that jade pendant from the last wager. Clearly, he had won, but Old Cheng had gone silent. He had asked for it several times openly and covertly without success. He didn’t know if this time he could achieve his goal.
“Dream on! That’s what this old man plans to give as a token to the woman’s side when arranging your betrothal. If I give it to you now, won’t you just squander it? This old man will keep it first.” Before the words finished falling, Yun Ye was already flying out of the command tent.
Good heavens! Not only did he fail to get the jade pendant, he even got kicked. Even more terrifying was that Old Cheng wanted to find him a wife. With his old man’s taste, Yun Ye felt his future wife would have nothing else except big breasts and fat buttocks. According to Cheng Chumo, the old master had shown him several young ladies, all without exception tall and robust physique, good child-bearing types. Calculating from this, Yun Ye felt Ru Hua was beckoning to him. At this moment, Yun Ye wanted to die.