Qiu Ran Ke fell into prolonged contemplation. What exactly had happened after he left the wasteland? He thought from sunrise to sunset, but still had no clue. The more he thought, the more confused he became, and the more irritable he grew. He was a bold and heroic warrior—a single word exchanged could result in bloodshed within five steps. These delicate considerations were not his forte. No matter how hard he thought, he just couldn’t remember why he had gone to the wasteland.
Little did he know, his train of thought had been led into a quagmire by Yun Ye from the very starting point. First confirming that he had indeed been to the wasteland, all other thoughts were merely perfecting this mistaken idea. How could one think clearly about something that never happened?
Bold and valiant people had simple methods for handling matters. If they couldn’t figure something out, they wouldn’t think about it. As long as this old man has his steel blade in hand, when the time comes I’ll just kill until heaven and earth are overturned.
This was exactly what Qiu Ran Ke thought, so he buried his head in eating, replenishing his energy. As long as he filled his belly and his strength returned, any conspiracy or scheme was just a joke before absolute power. Li Huairen, oh Li Huairen, whether your intentions were good or bad, this matter of torturing me—I’ll return it to you sooner or later.
Resentment was powerful. In an instant it reached the Qinling Mountains. Li Huairen, who was competing at urinating from a mountaintop, immediately shivered, and his championship slipped away.
People often say: a jug of wine among flowers, drinking alone without companions. If one drinks wine among flowers, then upon reaching a pine forest, how can one not urinate? Especially standing at the peak of a high mountain, overlooking the earth—Chang’an City crouched like a tiger and coiled like a dragon, the Wei River gleaming white as it passed through the plains, and in the bare fields, only patches of fiery red sorghum remained. Standing at a high place, people easily became arrogant, viewing everything as so insignificant. Seventy or eighty young men suddenly felt that a single stream of urine would be enough to wash away the Guanzhong Plain.
Cheng Chumo finally achieved victory, earning the title of Bird King. The seventy or eighty jade plaques he won hung at his waist. He shouted at the continuous mountain ranges, causing echoes to rise everywhere, and his masculine vigor greatly increased.
“Huairen, you don’t need to bring eighty household guards when you go out, do you?” Cheng Chumo asked Li Huairen strangely. Each person bringing along a dozen or so was already quite imposing. Li Huairen had brought a full eighty—his household only had less than two hundred guards in total. He couldn’t understand why he had mobilized everyone.
“Little brother originally never brought household guards when going out. Even bringing two servant boys made me feel annoyed. But ever since we sold out a certain someone in the brothel, little brother has felt that my household’s guard force is seriously insufficient. I have a feeling that great disaster is approaching me. Bringing more people is just being prepared for any eventuality.”
Cheng Chumo nodded knowingly and said to Li Huairen, “I heard rumors that Li Jing originally planned to give up seeking revenge, but later was incited by a petty person who slandered us, and then we suffered. My problem isn’t too big—mainly because you were the first to sell out that person. Be careful. Having known him all these years and been brothers for many years, his heart has never been magnanimous. It’s good that you make more preparations. Qiu Ran Ke is extraordinarily fierce in battle—we brothers still can’t beat him.”
Knowing these two were speaking in undertones for him to hear, and perhaps had planned it in advance, Yun Ye still pretended not to hear. Framing others felt great at the time—now it was time to taste being framed. When framing became a habit, who knows, in other matters they might follow the same prescription. He couldn’t let them develop this kind of fault—it had to be rooted out.
Qiu Ran Ke should be awake by now, and should know that tormenting him was all for treating his illness, right? But for untamed heroes like him, displaying his vulnerable side before others was a great humiliation. If it were Cao Mengde, he would definitely have the doctors killed. Qiu Ran Ke wasn’t that ruthless, so a heavy beating was probably unavoidable. Should he take it himself? Why should he? It was better to let Li Huairen take it.
The Qinling Mountains in autumn were full of wild charm. Various wild fruits were countless, especially the patches of hawthorn that brought joy to Yun Ye. Xinyue loved eating candied hawthorn the most. Last year he made a little, and she ate it until her teeth were sore but still wouldn’t share any with Na Rimu.
Carrying a basket, picking up hawthorn that had fallen on the ground, selecting the largest ones to bring back and make some more. Pine nuts were also a priority. These things were surprisingly abundant in the mountains. Liu Jinbao grumbled as he picked pine nuts, saying this was women’s work—a grown man like himself should go hunting with the others.
Only today did he learn that hunting involved many intricacies. Zhangsun Chong selected a mountain valley of suitable size as a sniping position, while the others took gongs and drums to drive out wild beasts.
For a time, whooping sounds rang out. Little birds in the forest fluttered up into the sky with a rustling sound. Several colorful pheasants also flew out at the same time.
Yun Ye stood up. Just as he saw a pheasant that had just taken flight, its wings not even having flapped a few times, a wolf-tooth arrow flew out and pierced through the pheasant’s head. The pheasant fell like a stone.
These dandy sons might seem like they knew nothing except eating, drinking, and playing, but those who came from great families—how many were incompetent?
In archery, Yun Ye couldn’t even touch the periphery. Chai Lingwu raised his bow and shot three arrows like lightning, each arrow piercing through the eyes of those poor animals. It was said that only this way could one obtain a good pelt.
Elk, roe deer, river deer, foxes, and even a bear—before these killers, their only fate was death. Arrows that hit their mark were passing grade. Hitting the beast’s body would invite ridicule. Only those whose every arrow precisely hit the eyes counted as heroes.
He hadn’t understood before why Yuchi the Big Fool wore gleaming Guangming armor. Now he knew—it was specifically for fighting bears. He strictly forbade everyone from attacking that black bear. This was his final gift to Teacher Li Gang before leaving Chang’an. The teacher was old and feared the cold, needing a bearskin robe. This bear was perfect—its entire body covered in glossy black long fur, very suitable for making a robe.
Watching him get slapped by the bear, its claws scraping against the Guangming armor making scratching sounds, Yuchi the Big Fool used his head to push against the bear’s chin, his fists wearing iron knuckles, pounding punch after punch into the bear’s waist. Man and bear kept rolling on the ground in circles. Then they heard Yuchi the Big Fool roar wildly and actually perform a back throw on the bear, heavily smashing it to the ground. He rode on top, his fists raining down like hail on the bear’s head…
Yun Ye had always believed a person’s mind was most important, but seeing the scene before him, he couldn’t help but recall a phrase someone had once said: “Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.” A person fighting a bear—you had to admit, though the scene was bloody, though barbaric, this kind of rough, primitive contest was also a form of beauty.
“There’s nothing worth watching in a killing field.” Li Ke held a pine cone in his hand, continuously teasing a squirrel on his shoulder. Last night while sleeping, it had crawled into Li Ke’s boot. When Li Ke prepared to put on his shoes in the morning, he was nearly scared to death. Finally, a bold guard shook the squirrel out. Its leg was slightly injured, and as a result, it stayed by Li Ke’s side with no intention of leaving, probably because Li Ke had fed it red dates.
“You don’t like killing?” Yun Ye asked Li Ke. Imperial sons who disliked killing were relatively rare. Yun Ye had studied with them and knew what their teachers had taught them. Killing was the ultimate weapon their teachers had told them about.
“I like plundering, but I detest killing. Every living person has value. People are the source of this world’s wealth. Without people, there is no wealth. Without people, wealth loses its purpose. Ye Zi, think about it—if only we two brothers were left in this world, even if I had inexhaustible wealth, so what? Would it have value?”
“Turning others’ wealth into one’s own—that’s an enjoyment. Keep people alive, because we can’t plunder them just once. It’s like crops—we can’t harvest them just once. I’ve discovered now that conducting business sometimes aligns with the principles of heaven and earth. I plan to implement this concept throughout my business career. It will surely be invincible.”
“Actually, leading the Li family’s great army to rob would probably be faster.” Yun Ye glared at Li Ke irritably.
It wasn’t that he looked down on merchants, but having merchants like Li Ke was what invited contempt. Li Ke scratched the squirrel’s bulging cheeks and said with a smile, “See, as soon as you start feeling jealous, you speak ill. What’s wrong? Unhappy that the student surpasses the teacher? Didn’t you say that blue comes from indigo but surpasses indigo, ice comes from water but is colder than water? These are all things you said. Your words and heart don’t match, your words and actions are inconsistent—what a petty person.”
“What have you learned? Nothing but superficial knowledge. Do you know what *Das Kapital* is? Do you know what *Political Economy* is? Do you know *A Treatise on Money*? Do you know *Microcirculation of Small Economies in Large Environments*? A half-empty bottle clangs the loudest. You don’t have even a bit of humble and prudent attitude toward learning. You’re not worth scheming with.”
All the bastards of the Li family had the same problem—immediately demanding to get to the bottom of anything they didn’t know. As for after learning it, they generally threw the teacher outside the wall. This was very similar to Japanese people. Could it be that the envoys to Tang had even learned this behavior?
Li Ke immediately bent at the waist in salute, his thumbs almost pointing to heaven as he cupped his hands: “Li Ke knows his error. Please instruct me, Teacher.”
“Those words just now were also about me. I only know the names, not the content. Back then, Master told me to study them well, saying they were first-rate learning for governing the country and bringing peace to the people.”
“And the result?”
“When Master was lecturing on *Das Kapital*, I was reading picture books underneath. When Master was lecturing on *Political Economy*, I was sneaking glances at young ladies passing by the window. As for that microcirculation thing, I heard the name vaguely in a dream. So you see, asking me is useless.”
“Outrageous! Outrageous! How could you discard the learning you were supposed to teach me in the future like worn-out shoes? Damn it! Give me back my *Das Kapital*! Give me back my *Political Economy*! Give me back my *Microcirculation*!”
“Is there anyone in the world like you? Entering a treasure mountain and returning empty-handed! What face do you have before me? Heaven! Oh Heaven! Send down a lightning bolt to strike me dead!” Li Ke was as grief-stricken as if mourning a parent. He stretched out both arms toward the heavens in supplication, wanting to ask heaven to end his suffering.