Not believing in ghosts and gods in this world wasn’t just Yun Ye alone—Di Renjie also didn’t believe it. He didn’t believe a single word. He didn’t believe a single word that Elder Black Wind of Loulan said.

“You have angered the Sun King and will inevitably suffer the most terrible punishment. The black storm will descend from heaven and will bury everyone beneath the black sand. The Sand Demon King will devour your eyes, your hair, every inch of your skin and flesh. He will also extract your soul and bind it to a pillar for daily exposure to the sun. No matter how you wail and plead, it will all be useless.”

Elders who could speak the Great Tang language were relatively rare. Di Renjie listened with a smile to Elder Black Wind’s words, then had attendants feed the elder some water. Anyone who could say this passage continuously for half an hour would have a dry mouth.

“Let’s talk about the Sun King’s matter later. Tomorrow afternoon, we will discover the Sun King. Before he ties me to a pillar for sun exposure, I’ll first tie him to a pillar for sun exposure.”

“Elder Black Wind, speak up—why did your tribespeople suddenly go into hiding? I found the external cause for you. It’s because in recent years, the rivers flowing into the great marsh have changed course. You’ve also despaired of this place, right? Your city is rising higher, the land is also rising higher, but the great marsh’s water level is dropping. You have no way to solve the problem of crop irrigation, especially recently. You discovered that the water channels you dug have already been covered by yellow sand. Drawing water is becoming increasingly difficult, so you decisively prepared to move.”

“I can understand this kind of relocation, but why did you suddenly disappear? Furniture and utensils all abandoned without regard. I don’t believe you would have this kind of determination to burn your boats. Speak up—where did your tribespeople go?”

“Your disappearance greatly angered His Majesty. He thought at one time it was foreign invasion or harm by border troops, so he sent us over specifically to investigate this matter. You are His Majesty’s obedient people. Suffering such misfortune is truly saddening. His Majesty strictly ordered that no matter who this matter involves, there will be severe punishment without leniency. If you have any grievances, you can speak now.”

After Di Renjie finished speaking, he ordered people to untie Elder Black Wind’s binding ropes. He himself sat cross-legged on a blanket watching Black Wind’s reaction. When a person is nervous or flustered, there are always flaws that reveal themselves.

Black Wind could also be considered an elder who had seen the world. He sat cross-legged on the sandy ground opposite Di Renjie, clasped both hands to his chest, and prayed devoutly: “Respected Sun King, your servant can no longer suppress the pain and anger in his heart. Please allow your servant to use the most intense language to refute the shamelessness of these bandits and liars. They are blood-sucking demons, man-eating hungry wolves, the most despicable and shameless bandits in the human world!”

Among the Tang people present, except for Master Jin Zhu and the Academy students who furrowed their brows, those soldiers—including Cheng Chumo and the border army captain—together revealed proud smiles. The hatred of foreign peoples was the best praise for them.

“We are Loulan people, not Shanshan people. You forcibly imposed this disgusting name on us. Two groups with generational hatred had no choice but to share one name under your whips.”

“Central Plains people have always been powerful. You have times of weakness, but you can always stand up time after time, becoming incomparably strong. And this time, your strength makes even the celestial gods tremble. The Turks have nearly been killed off by you. The Huihe people have become your herdsmen slaves. The Tuyuhun people, the Xueyantuo people, and the distant Nine Zhaowu Surnames by the great river can only tremble under your iron hooves. With your arrival, countless tribes like Loulan have completely disappeared. The playmates of our childhood cannot be seen in the land where we grew up, but we can encounter them on distant Chang’an streets.”

“Yes, we all went to pay tribute to our common sovereign, the Tang Emperor, hoping to use the most beautiful maidens from our tribe, the sweetest fruits grown on our land, the fattest cattle and sheep from our pastures, the most precious treasures found in the desert, and the young men who dance Guldan the best to curry favor with the powerful emperor, hoping to allow the Loulan people to continue surviving on their own land.”

Master Jin Zhu suddenly interrupted Elder Black Wind’s outpouring: “According to this old man’s knowledge, you indeed presented generous gifts to His Majesty. This is an obligation you must bear as a vassal state. Moreover, our Majesty doesn’t simply take your gifts for free. Each time there are generous return gifts. The value of the return gifts even exceeds the value of the gifts you respectfully presented. What His Majesty needs is your submission, not your meager gifts.”

“The year before last, on His Majesty’s birthday, this old man also received His Majesty’s invitation and was among the crowd observing the ceremony. The gifts your Shanshan people presented couldn’t be considered generous. In our view, they were even somewhat shabby. His Majesty still happily accepted them and even said you Shanshan people were in a desolate wilderness where survival wasn’t easy. He specially increased the weight of return gifts. Have you forgotten all these graces?”

What Master Jin Zhu hated most were ungrateful people with wolf hearts and dog lungs. How could something he witnessed with his own eyes be wrong?

“We are Loulan people, not Shanshan people. We have always been Loulan people. Our names from birth are not something that can be changed by an imperial decree from your emperor.” Black Wind raised his head and roared loudly.

“Insolence!” The border army captain shouted once, swung his horizontal blade, and struck Black Wind’s face with the sheath. Two teeth immediately sprayed out from Black Wind’s mouth.

Black Wind spat out the blood in his mouth. Without even looking at the angry crowd around him, he slowly sat up straight and continued: “Indeed so. We did receive generous rewards in Chang’an. The children in our tribe were very happy. They purchased beautiful knives in Chang’an, sturdy saddles, beautiful garments, solid pots. Some silly children even specially purchased delicious pastries. They only thought about bringing these delicacies back to the desert for tribespeople to taste, thus forgetting that food would spoil.”

When Black Wind spoke to here, he still seemed immersed in Chang’an’s prosperity, saying as if in a dream: “We all thought at that time that Chang’an City was the most magnificent and beautiful metropolis in this world, also the most abundant place in the world. The Great Tang Emperor was a dignified yet benevolent emperor. Having such an enlightened sovereign, we were incomparably fortunate.”

“Misfortune began on our journey home. In Guanzhong we didn’t suffer any interrogation or difficulties. Local government offices even arranged food and lodging for us. But after leaving Yumen Pass—my God!—the bold and hospitable Tang people turned into hungry wolves. The gifts the Great Tang Emperor bestowed on us were robbed. Our own things were also robbed. The dancing girls who danced for the Great Tang Emperor and received praise were also taken. A vigorous young man said one more sentence and was dragged behind a horse and torn to pieces alive. They even used horse whips to beat an old person like me. Look, you all look!”

Black Wind tore open his garment. His withered body was covered everywhere with crisscrossing whip marks. Some places could even see bone. Perhaps because of excessive anger, his chest heaved unsteadily. Those whip marks seemed to come alive, meandering and moving on his body, appearing shocking and alarming.

Cheng Chumo curiously glanced once, turned his head, and said to the border army captain: “You sons of bitches are actually still using the Overlord Whip? You don’t even remove the barbs on it?”

The border army captain coughed once and answered: “Barbarians are crude and vulgar. Without severe punishment, they cannot be subdued. The brothers have been stationed in the wilderness for a long time. Having violent temperaments is normal. It doesn’t count as any big matter. On the contrary, this dog thief still hasn’t revealed his tribespeople’s hiding place. He must be a person with evil intentions. Please, Colonel, hand this evil thief over to this subordinate. I will definitely make him confess his ancestors eight generations back.”

Black Wind suddenly stood up. Before the soldiers nearby could approach, he fed the other two Loulan people a black object from their mouths, then also fed himself one. He laughed loudly waiting for death.

The captain was greatly alarmed, but saw Di Renjie also standing up. With one punch, he heavily struck Black Wind’s stomach. Black Wind’s body bent, and a black object was vomited from his mouth.

Cheng Chumo chuckled and in a flash also delivered heavy blows to those two people’s stomachs. His strength was great. Those two people not only vomited out the black pills but also sprayed blood outward.

Di Renjie wrapped the black pill in a handkerchief, held it before a torch and looked for a while, then smiled and said to Master Jin Zhu: “Turns out it’s cinnabar. Just not very pure. Eating it won’t cause death for a while.”

Master Jin Zhu hatefully spat at the border army captain, cursed “executioner,” and went straight back to the carriage. He couldn’t stand the border army’s atrocities. Along this journey, he had seen too many tragic events, so when Black Wind spoke, he believed him.

After Di Renjie had people help Black Wind up, he said to him: “I’ll give you two choices. Go find your tribespeople right now, or I’ll dig out your tribespeople like digging out rats.”

Black Wind chuckled and twisted his head away. He had already prepared himself to endure torture.

“Actually, I don’t need you to speak to find all your tribespeople. I’ll tell you—you told me everything!” Di Renjie wasn’t impatient. He slowly said to Black Wind.

Black Wind looked at Di Renjie with contempt but still didn’t say a word.

“I started excavating the Sun Tomb from yesterday morning. At this time, you must have been hiding in some secret place peeping, right? Where would this place be? Let’s think. The Sun Tomb is located on a sunny slope. You can’t see from the north. The south is the great marsh. The west is desert. Since you like the Sun King, you must very much like the east. The place you’re hiding is in the east. Am I right or not?”

Seeing Black Wind avoid his gaze, Di Renjie smiled and continued: “Having determined the direction, let’s calculate the distance. Actually, it’s easy to calculate. During the day, you hid in a secret place wailing and cursing me all day but didn’t dare come out. Thinking you could only pay final respects to your Sun King at night. When the sky just darkened, you didn’t dare come out. You had to wait until everyone was asleep—that was the good time for you to come out. Plus there’s the issue of visual range. If you could walk five li in the dark night in one hour, that would already be good. So, no matter how you quibble, your tribespeople are in the east, around five li away. Is this correct or not?”