Cheng Chumo dismounted and walked slowly, stepping across a patch of low shrubs. The world before his eyes seemed to suddenly open up. The azure sky extended to the edge of the earth. Waist-high wild grass covered the rugged ground tightly. Here there was no birdsong, nor any beasts. The entire hillside was permeated with a strong bloody stench. Even the crows that most loved to peck at carrion kept far away from this land of death.

Parting the wild grass, a young body that had long lost its life lay face-up in the grass. A wolf-tooth arrow had penetrated his throat, forever freezing his life in this most beautiful prime of youth. A piece of the wolf tooth on the arrowhead had also chipped off, as if mocking Cheng Chumo’s incompetence.

Walking further forward, the grass on the ground had been trampled into disarray. Correspondingly, there were even more corpses, all naked Tang soldiers. Those heaven-damned Turks had not only killed them but also stripped away their clothing.

There were no survivors. Twelve men total—this was the number in a squad.

Cheng Chumo had been searching since morning for this squad of missing soldiers. It wasn’t until afternoon that he found them, but regrettably they had all perished.

They were all his life-and-death brothers, his subordinates. Before going out on patrol last night, they had still been joking with him, saying that after returning to Chang’an, he should treat them to the most delicious food under heaven at Yun Manor, drink the most fragrant and mellow wine, then go to Yanlai Tower to find the most beautiful singing girls.

Every corpse had eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the blue sky. Perhaps they wanted to remember this final beautiful scene of the mortal world.

War made a person mature quickly, just like Cheng Chumo. He displayed no irritability, nor any particular grief. He merely closed his brothers’ eyes one by one, then together with the others, used engineer shovels to dig a large pit and bury them together. There was no erected stele, nor any need for one. Those who died here would have no one come to pay respects.

In the distance crows flew up. Faintly came the sound of horse hooves. These were Turks bringing their children to come view their glorious battle achievements. This was how they taught generation after generation, how they passed down their traditions.

The corners of Cheng Chumo’s mouth curved upward. Finally he could vent some of the distress in his chest.

One hundred and twenty-one riders quietly disappeared onto the small hillside.

A group of Turks shouted loudly, calling for the children on horseback behind them to quickly catch up. They wore standard-issue Tang military leather armor, gripped snow-bright horizontal sabers, and continuously showed off to their companions how brave they themselves were, how the Tang army was such pushovers, the grime on their faces becoming the most ferocious of masks at this moment.

When they dismounted and saw no corpses, only a new grave mound, the lead Turk suddenly shouted loudly. All the Turks ran toward their warhorses, wanting to use the fastest speed to leave this dangerous area. In their earlier smugness they had forgotten their ancestral teaching: never easily leave your warhorse…

Too late. Cheng Chumo lowered his mask, like a demon from hell. He didn’t use bow and arrows—he wanted to use the horizontal saber in his hand to avenge his fallen comrades. The Turks’ wolf-tooth arrows could not penetrate his armor, couldn’t even leave a mark. His horizontal saber easily severed the curved saber in the Turk’s hand, incidentally cutting off a large chunk of shoulder muscle. He still wasn’t satisfied. When passing this Turk, he held the horizontal saber level, relying on horse speed to sever the Turk’s head.

This was a battle without suspense. One hundred and twenty-one warriors needed only a single charge to rout the several dozen Turks opposite them. The remaining old Turk knelt before Cheng Chumo pleading, hoping he could spare the several dozen children behind him.

Cheng Chumo didn’t even hesitate. With one stroke he severed the old Turk’s head. Blood spurted into midair, yet the remaining Turks including the children actually together raised the curved sabers in their hands and charged over, their dirty little faces twisted with fear. Unfortunately, their fragile bodies still couldn’t withstand the sharp horizontal sabers.

Corpses everywhere—old and young, robust and slender—were all arranged by Cheng Chumo and his men into an altar, used to console those fallen comrades.

The troop no longer had the distress of when they came. Everyone was laughing. War was just like this—either you die or I live. It only depended on whether the death was worth it or not. Cheng Chumo believed that the tribe that had attacked the Great Tang cavalry patrol was finished. With most of their able-bodied men and children dead, all that awaited them was being annexed by other tribes.

Xie Li’s position as khan was not secure. Leading his powerful cavalry, he not only harassed the Great Tang but also harassed his neighbors, even harassed his weak subordinates. These years, Li Er had never relaxed his efforts to win over and divide Xie Li’s subordinates. Tuli, who was suppressed by Xie Li, was one of them. Now Xie Li was busy campaigning against subordinates who didn’t obey discipline. He didn’t believe that Li Er, who had surrendered to him at Weishui Bridge just last year, would have the capability to campaign against him. The Turks had always been strong and would continue to be strong. The Tang people were merely pasture grass in the fields—just go cut them again when wanting to harvest.

“Officer, we took one hundred forty-four heads this time. Do you think another merit level will be awarded?” Liang San, whose horse’s neck hung with a long string of Turk ears, asked his superior. What Guanzhong men cared about most was military merit—this could bring glory to ancestors.

“You still have the face to ask for military merit? Twelve brothers died in battle. We’ve lost tremendous face. Among these ears are many from children. Going back without being punished by military law would be burning high incense for us. You still dare ask for military merit?” Cheng Chumo’s complexion looked somewhat better, but was still gloomy.

“Officer, you’re the legitimate son of the old Duke’s household. Would the secretary officer dare not give you face?”

“Hmph, if I use my status to apply pressure, we not only have no merit but would actually have guilt. If personal relationships were useful in the military, how could you bastards get ahead at all!”

“This humble one won’t ask anymore. Calm your anger. At least we avenged our fallen brothers—this is always worth celebrating, right? Yesterday when helping you arrange your bedding, I discovered you still have a jar of good wine. How about we all drink it up tonight?” Liang San was the cleverest among the brothers and knew how to change topics.

“Who told you that was wine? That’s alcohol for treating wounds. Drinking a mouthful will kill you.”

“This humble one knows. You said so. Last night this humble one couldn’t resist and secretly drank a mouthful. Fearing you’d blame me, I thought I might as well drink myself to death and be done with it. Who knew I still haven’t died? Just now I even hacked to death two Turks. I have so much strength I can’t use it all. Is this a sign this humble one is about to die?”

Liang San’s words drew a round of laughter. Immediately some bold one took up the conversation.

“This humble one is also sick of living. Cutting my throat is too painful, hanging is too unsightly. Officer, how about you reward this humble one with a large bowl and let me drink myself to death? Last night Liang San breathed on us brothers—that wine smell was so fragrant. You wouldn’t be unwilling to part with it, would you?”

This made Cheng Chumo’s face flush red. Yun Ye had said exactly this to him. He had also secretly tasted it. Although the wine flavor was somewhat strong, it truly was premium wine. He wondered in his heart whether Yun Ye, fearing he would drink and neglect his duties, had deliberately deceived him.

“Stop talking nonsense. My brother is a divine physician. These were his words—how could they be false? In a few days he’ll also come to Shuofang. If you want to drink good wine, he definitely has some. When the time comes, a bowl for each person, absolutely no backing out.” Cheng Chumo was among the small group who knew earliest that Yun Ye would come.

“Marquis Yun is also coming to Shuofang? With him here, this humble one’s heart is more than half at ease. If I’m unlucky enough to be seriously wounded, you must help me and have Marquis Yun extend this humble one’s life for another term. How did we forget today to keep a few Turks? In case of misfortune in the future, we could borrow their lives for use.” Liang San’s words drew a round of regret from everyone.

Near nightfall, Cheng Chumo finally led his men back to Shuofang.

Shuofang City was a famous large city on the grasslands. Due to a lack of stone materials, the city walls were all constructed by pounding earth. Having experienced last year’s great battle, the walls had not yet had time to be repaired and were full of gaps large and small everywhere.

After Liang Shidu’s death, his cousin Liang Luoren surrendered to the Great Tang and was summoned to Chang’an to become a great general, never returning to Shuofang.

The current commander was Chai Shao, husband of Princess Pingyang. Under his command he had fierce generals, the brothers Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche. After crushing Liang Shidu, they didn’t return to the capital but instead stationed themselves there. Although transporting grain, grass, and military equipment was difficult, Li Er had no intention of abandoning the place. His elder brother had never had any intention of peacefully coexisting with Xie Li.

Building cities on the grasslands was too difficult. Walls made of pounded yellow earth couldn’t withstand wind and rain erosion and had to be repaired year after year at enormous expense.

The Tongwan City built by Helian Bobo was an exception. This madman built Tongwan City over a hundred years ago. All the earth was steamed, and he also ordered that as long as an iron nail could be driven into the earthen wall one inch, the craftsman would be killed. If it couldn’t be driven in, the soldier responsible for driving the nail would be killed. After the walls were built, it was said they could be used to sharpen knives and axes. Now they still stood intact at the desert’s edge.

At this moment Yun Ye had no mind to view the beautiful grassland scenery, because that heavy rain from some days ago had caused Niu Jinda to contract a cold. With high fever not subsiding, Yun Ye took out his own not-yet-expired Western medicine and fed it to him, barely managing to preserve his life. Old Niu was old after all. His body couldn’t compare to when he was young. With this illness, all the ailments in his body showed their heads together—rheumatism, high blood pressure, spleen and stomach disorder. He even had migraines. According to him, his method for treating migraines was to use cloth strips to bind his head and tighten them.

Forcibly taking over Old Niu’s military authority, Yun Ye became the highest commander of this force. In a force of less than a thousand men, there were endless matters large and small. Yun Ye not only had to shoulder leadership authority but also mediate various disputes, and moreover had to pay attention to this force’s safety.

In less than three days, Yun Ye intensely hoped Old Niu would recover. After handling a case of man-on-man sexual harassment, he hurriedly came to the side of Sun Simiao’s horse cart to see whether Old Niu had recovered. It was too disgusting—just thinking of those two bastards’ behavior made Yun Ye want to vomit.

Old Niu sat in the horse cart with a ruddy complexion, holding a wooden bowl in his hands, using a spoon to eat the nutritious meal Yun Ye had specially made for him. Seeing Yun Ye come over, he paid no attention and continued eating on his own.

“Your venerable self has a ruddy complexion and looks much better. Some days ago your nephew rashly seized your venerable self’s military authority. How about returning it to your venerable self now?”

“This old man never had any intention of blaming you. When the commander is seriously ill, the deputy taking over is originally perfectly natural and right. What’s there to apologize for? Look at this old man now, sickly without any human appearance. I can’t manage the affairs of the troop. You endure the hardship a few more days. In any case, we’re almost at Shuofang City.” Having finished speaking, he had his grinning personal guard cover him with a thin blanket, saying that until reaching Shuofang, there was no need to call him to get up.

This old fellow, seeing these past few days that Yun Ye had managed the troop quite well, had developed lazy thoughts. Last night he had even been seen single-handedly finishing off an entire fat chicken, yet at this moment he was acting sickly and feigning weakness.

No help for it. Yun Ye could only once again rally his spirits to continue handling miscellaneous affairs.