Ekema turned to face these three men — the playmates of his childhood, the brothers he had grown up alongside.

He paused a moment, then said with earnest gravity: “If you still intend to speak on behalf of the Ning Army, do not expect me to spare you on account of old feelings.”

“If you are willing to stay, I will still regard you as brothers. When we have taken the realm, I will give you wealth and glory. Whatever I can give, I will — silver, women, all of it is yours.”

“But if you are unwilling to stay…”

He continued, “I can only ask your forgiveness.”

Ekema said, “I will keep you here for the time being. Once I have settled things with the Ning Army, I will decide what to do with you.”

Cheng Wujie raged, “Old Ekema — wake up! You’re following heretics, and you think you can conquer the realm?!”

“And why can’t I conquer the realm?”

Ekema said, “The Chu dynasty’s realm was conquered the very same way. If the Chu founding emperor could do it, why can’t I?”

He looked at Cheng Wujie and said, “You have always been our eldest brother, and I respect you for it. So I have no wish to quarrel with you further.”

He waved a hand and said, “Someone come — take these men to their quarters and keep close watch on them. Before the great battle, they are not to leave this courtyard. If they attempt to escape… kill them on sight.”

He looked at the three men after issuing the order. “You have come to my camp, and I will not allow you to go out and repeat everything you have seen here.”

“I urge you: stay quietly, do not try to run. If you attempt to flee, I am truly capable of doing what is necessary.”

He paused after that last sentence, then repeated the final words.

“I. Am truly. Capable of it.”

Cheng Wujie flared up in anger. “We’re leaving right now — are you really going to kill us?”

Xiao Liu grabbed Cheng Wujie’s arm.

Xiao Jiu quickly said, “Stop arguing. We’re not going anywhere — we’ll stay right here. Right here!”

Ekema said, “You two keep an eye on Old Boss Cheng. He’s lost his mind.”

Cheng Wujie shot back, “You’re the one who’s lost his damn mind!”

Ekema said, “I know you still think you’re right and I’m wrong. Sit down and think carefully about what I just said — how this world actually decides right from wrong. If you work it through, you’ll realize you were the one who was wrong.”

He strode out of the front room and shouted loudly as he cleared the doorway: “Keep a close watch on all of them. If any of the three takes one step outside this courtyard, kill them immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

The men outside called back at once.

Back in the room where they were staying, Cheng Wujie’s face had gone white with fury.

“Let’s just walk right out. I want to see if he really has it in him to do it.”

Cheng Wujie said furiously, “Has something possessed him entirely?”

“Old Boss Cheng.”

Xiao Jiu shook his head. “What Old Ekema said isn’t entirely wrong, you know. In a world like this, who doesn’t want to make something of himself — especially someone with real ability, like him…”

He glanced at Cheng Wujie and continued carefully, “Come to think of it, when you look past everything… is he actually so different from Prince Ning? Isn’t Prince Ning also from a background of hardship? And Prince Ning is already someone great now. Maybe one day Ekema will be too.”

Cheng Wujie snapped his gaze to Xiao Jiu. “I knew you wanted to stay. Even when we were drinking, you had half a mind to stay. The two of you go look outside — what kind of soldiers does he have? They are common people — ordinary villagers!”

“You want to compare him with Prince Ning?”

Cheng Wujie walked to the doorway and pointed outside. “Go look at Prince Ning’s army — are there people like that? Did Prince Ning deceive anyone into joining his forces?”

“Go look at what’s standing by that gate — boys of fourteen or fifteen. Go look at what’s locked in that pen nearby. What do you think it is?!”

“Locked up?”

Xiao Liu genuinely hadn’t noticed. He looked at Cheng Wujie. “Whatever’s in the pen… isn’t it livestock?”

Cheng Wujie said, “Women. All of them women.”

Cheng Wujie’s face had gone white as paper with rage. “Those women are being kept like animals — dragged out whenever someone wants to use them. You didn’t see it, but I did.”

Xiao Jiu’s expression changed.

In that moment, he finally understood the distance between himself and Old Boss Cheng.

All the way here, Cheng Wujie had looked carefree and oblivious — and yet he had been taking in everything around him. The two of them — Xiao Liu and he — had been truly oblivious.

And then he realized something deeper: without the man standing before him, this Old Boss Cheng who seemed so carefree, quietly noticing more danger and quietly doing more for the two of them — could they have gone on living so genuinely carelessly?

Old Boss Cheng’s carefree act was performed for their benefit — so they wouldn’t have to worry so much. He did a great deal, bore a great deal, wore himself down without complaint — and then when he turned to face them, his lips still carried that carefree smile.

That was their Old Boss Cheng.

“This is how he treats ordinary people — this is how he abuses ordinary people. Never mind that he won’t become an emperor — even if he somehow did, do you think the realm he rules over could possibly be any good?”

Cheng Wujie crouched down, gasping for breath in great heaves.

“Have the two of you thought about this? Does he actually not know that heretical cults have a rotten reputation?”

Cheng Wujie exhaled hard. “He talks about being second only to one man — says if he went to Prince Ning’s side he’d only be a company commander. All of that is nonsense!”

“He’s staying here because he wants to use the Shuntian Cult. If I had to guess, one day he’ll slaughter every last person in the cult and take command of these forces for himself.”

Cheng Wujie broke down weeping as he spoke. “That is our brother. And the two of you weren’t even trying to persuade him — you wanted to stay and do things like this alongside him?”

“Old Boss Cheng…”

Xiao Liu crouched down beside him. “I know I was wrong. We’ll do whatever you say.”

Xiao Jiu crouched on the other side and patted Cheng Wujie’s shoulder. “You’re the boss — if we’re wrong, just say so, and we’ll listen. Is that not enough? Why get so angry? Look at you when you’re angry — you don’t look dignified or impressive at all.”

Cheng Wujie lifted his head, looked at one, then the other — and despite everything, was goaded into a tearful laugh.

“You two idiots — everyone says I’m stupid, that I have no brains. You two are the ones who truly have no brains.”

“Yes, yes, we have no brains — but following Big Brother is always the right call.”

“Exactly. Follow Big Brother and there’s always food to eat.”

Cheng Wujie said, “We have to go. Even if we don’t go back and help Prince Ning, we cannot stay here.”

Xiao Jiu nodded. “That’s right… He’s our brother. If we help Prince Ning to come after Old Ekema, that’s not right.”

Xiao Liu agreed, “I feel the same. Let’s just go straight home. We can go back to being mountain bandits on Dalang Mountain. Look at us — barely left home and it’s already nothing but trouble. Life was good and free up on Dalang Mountain.”

Cheng Wujie stood up. “Then we go home. Not helping Prince Ning — that’s just me, Old Cheng, failing to do the right thing. But if we help Prince Ning, then all three of us are the ones who have no brotherhood left in us.”

“Do we leave tonight?”

“Yes — figure out a way to go tonight. The longer we wait, the more likely something goes wrong.”

They settled on a plan and began making quiet preparations for the nighttime escape.

Cheng Wujie was a blunt man by temperament, but when it came to military matters, he had a sharp and instinctive read.

On the way in, he had made a careful point of studying the defensive layout of the Shuntian Army camp.

“Second half of the night.”

Cheng Wujie said, “That’s when people are at their most sluggish. We move then.”

He lowered his voice. “I looked it over — their defenses are concentrated on the eastern side, facing the direction of the Ning Army camp. There’s hardly anyone to the west. We do the opposite of what they expect: head west, take a roundabout route, then make our way home.”

Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu nodded. The two of them had long since grown used to following Old Boss Cheng’s lead.

They had barely finished working out the plan — just over half an hour had passed, and the sky was only beginning to darken — when Ekema returned.

He came back in some kind of rage. He kicked the door clean off its hinges.

He looked at the three of them with something fierce in his eyes.

His hands were clasped behind his back, so Old Boss Cheng and the others couldn’t see that they were covered in blood, nor did they know how many men he had just killed.

“Old Boss Cheng. Come out. I want to argue the question of right and wrong with you some more.”

Cheng Wujie stood. “Fine. You think I’m afraid of you?”

He stepped forward. Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu reached out to stop him, and Cheng Wujie said, “We’re just arguing. It won’t come to blows. I trust Old Ekema.”

Ekema shot a glare at Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu, then turned and walked out.

Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu pressed up to the window to watch. Out in the courtyard, Old Boss Cheng and Ekema were arguing louder and louder.

At first Ekema was shouting; then Old Boss Cheng was shouting; then Ekema fell unexpectedly quiet.

Watching this, the two of them began to think Old Boss Cheng had actually talked Ekema around.

But just then, while Old Boss Cheng was in the middle of saying something in a loud voice, Ekema suddenly drew his blade — and drove it into Old Boss Cheng’s chest.

Caught completely off-guard, Old Boss Cheng stopped mid-word, as if the world had gone blank.

His body stiffened. A long moment passed before he looked down at his own chest in disbelief.

The wound was long and wide. Blood instantly soaked through his clothes and began running down the hem in streams.

“Ah!”

Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu cried out in shock and charged outside, one after the other.

Ekema had landed the blow and seemed to have rage still left to vent. He drove his foot hard into Old Boss Cheng’s abdomen.

Cheng Wujie crashed to the ground. Ekema drove his boot again into Cheng Wujie’s temple with full force.

From that kick, Cheng Wujie went immediately unconscious.

“Old Ekema, stop!”

Xiao Jiu screamed and sprinted out.

Ekema glanced back at the two of them, looked once more at Cheng Wujie lying on the ground, and something like regret crossed his face — but a moment later, he turned and walked away.

Before long, a medical officer arrived, sutured Cheng Wujie’s wound and applied medicine, then sighed — glanced toward the door as though his conscience was troubling him.

He lowered his voice. “If you can run, you should run. Just now, our Great General went out and killed several men. You’ve angered him, and you should know by now how he kills… Do you understand?”

Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu looked at each other in silence. There was nothing to say.

In their memories, Ekema had never been like this. How could they have known how mercilessly he killed?

After the medical officer left, Xiao Liu and Xiao Jiu talked it over. If they didn’t leave tonight, all three of them would die.

Xiao Jiu was the physically stronger of the two. In the depth of the night, he strapped Cheng Wujie to his back and carried him.

Cheng Wujie was heavy, but Xiao Jiu had spent months training alongside the others and no longer had the feebleness of his childhood.

The two of them quietly climbed out through the back window and crept over to the rear guard post while the sentry dozed. They knocked the man unconscious and slipped out through the back gate of the courtyard.

Perhaps the guards had truly not anticipated that with Cheng Wujie lying unconscious and barely alive, the other two would dare carry him and attempt to flee.

They hadn’t expected it. Not even Ekema had expected it.

Xiao Jiu carried him; Xiao Liu brought up the rear, supporting Cheng Wujie’s legs. They moved along the base of the wall, keeping low.

But before they had even made it out of the village, shouts erupted behind them.

Torches blazed to life. A wave of pursuers came, in numbers too difficult to count.

They ran as fast as they could, and from behind, the whistle of arrows cutting through the air closed in around them.

Xiao Liu was in the rear. Terrified that Old Boss Cheng might be hit, he angled his body to use himself as cover.

A thud — an arrow buried itself in Xiao Liu’s back. Xiao Liu let out a muffled groan, and his stride lurched.

“Are you all right?!”

Xiao Jiu heard the sound and instantly called back.

“I’m fine. Tripped.”

Xiao Liu gave the most even-voiced answer he could manage, keeping his voice flat and calm.

The pain radiating from his back was bone-deep. Blood flowed down behind him; his trousers were soaked through before long.

Xiao Liu glanced back, then gritted his teeth against the pain. “Xiao Jiu…”

“Yeah?”

“Run faster.”

“Got it!”

In that very moment, two sentries burst from the shadows and rushed straight at them.

Xiao Liu saw them coming. He shoved Xiao Jiu down to the ground, kicked one sentry flying, and slammed the other down with his shoulder.

He grappled on the ground, got the blade free from one of them, and stabbed the man dead.

Xiao Liu gasped for breath, took in the woodpile nearby with a glance, and pointed toward it. “Hide in there.”

Xiao Jiu asked, “You’re hurt?”

Xiao Liu reached back as far as he could and got a grip on the arrow shaft. Biting back the pain, he wrenched it free.

He smiled. “Didn’t we agree? Last time the two of us faked being drunk — you said we owed you one. You said I could even play dead. Xiao Jiu, you and Old Boss Cheng get into that woodpile and play dead. Wait until they’ve passed and then come out.”

Xiao Liu chuckled softly as he handed the arrow to Xiao Jiu. “If anyone spots you, hold the arrow against yourself and play dead. Don’t make a sound. I’ll draw them off.”

He said this, then hauled up a corpse, gritted his teeth, hoisted it across his shoulder, and ran.

The pursuers were closing in. Their shouts sounded like they were nearly on top of them.

“Xiao Liu!”

Xiao Jiu suddenly lunged forward and grabbed him from behind. He stripped a section of cloth from his own clothes and cinched it tight around Xiao Liu’s wound.

“Next life.”

Xiao Jiu pressed Xiao Liu down and said quietly, “Next life, you two can pay me back.”

Then he shoved Xiao Liu into the woodpile and pulled loose straw over both of them.

Xiao Liu was already losing strength. He’d lost too much blood.

Xiao Jiu hoisted the corpse onto his shoulder, looked toward the woodpile, and said quietly, “Next time we drink — set out a cup for me. And call out: Ninth Master, you’re the best!”

Then Xiao Jiu slung the corpse over his shoulder and charged out.

He was worried that if the pursuers saw only him, they would split up to search — which was why he was carrying the body.

But carrying it, there was no way to run fast.

Before long, the pursuers were nearly on him. Xiao Jiu’s heart hammered with urgency.

Then he spotted it — horse stables not far away. The decision was instant. He gritted his teeth and sprinted for them.

As fast as he could, he untied the reins, laid the corpse across one horse’s back, slapped the animal sharply, and sent it plunging out.

He had picked up a blade moments before. Now he swung it wildly, cutting through the other tethering ropes, then drove the horses out into the open.

Once the horses were scattered and running, he swung himself up onto one, put his heels in, and charged forward.

It was in that moment that Ekema came pursuing with his men. He reached back for a bow and arrow, and shot at Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu spurred the horse and galloped ahead. Ekema roared with fury and shouted for his forces to split up and pursue.

Some of his men broke off after the horse carrying the corpse. The rest followed Ekema in giving chase to Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu rode at full gallop and glanced back over his shoulder. He could see the arrow shaft protruding from his own back.

He bared his teeth in something like a grin, and thought: that’s probably how much it hurt for Xiao Liu just now. He was really something, that one — playing it off like nothing…

It really did hurt.

He threw his head back and began to cry out — loud, wild shouts — using the shouts to scatter his focus away from the pain, and to draw Ekema after him.

Ekema recognized Xiao Jiu’s voice. He led his men to horse and gave chase, driving far out of the village.

In the woodpile, Xiao Liu heard the chaotic mass of footsteps sweeping past. One hand pressed over his own mouth; the other pressed over Old Boss Cheng’s.

When the crowd had passed, Xiao Liu bit down hard, and with everything he had left, hauled Cheng Wujie out of the woodpile.

He saw the torches in the distance had all pursued out of the village. Inwardly, he said: Xiao Jiu, you have to make it out.

He gritted his teeth and braced Cheng Wujie upright, dragging him along step by step, muttering quietly to himself: “Boss, Boss — you are so heavy. I can barely drag you anymore…”

Just then, several enemy soldiers caught sight of them and came running.

Xiao Liu fought them. He took two more cuts, but killed all three or four of them.

He collapsed in a heap beside Cheng Wujie and coughed — and what came out was blood, running from the corner of his mouth down his chin.

“We really shouldn’t have come out here, Boss…”

“If we had stayed in the village, how good that would have been. Bandits? Fine, let’s be bandits. It’s not shameful.”

“Old Boss Cheng — I think I might be dying. I don’t know if Xiao Jiu got away or not. Xiao Jiu said we should have formally sworn brotherhood with you. I was lazy about it — I said sworn or not, Old Boss Cheng is Old Boss Cheng either way. I regret that now… Big Brother.”

“Old Boss Cheng… you’re in luck.”

Xiao Liu suddenly spotted a white horse ambling slowly toward them. He didn’t know it was one of the horses Xiao Jiu had set loose earlier.

He struggled to his feet, shaking badly, and went to take hold of the horse’s reins and bring it over.

But he could no longer even crouch down. He dropped painfully to one knee, bent forward, and tried to drag Cheng Wujie upright.

The pain was enormous.

He looked down. In the moonlight, he could see the wound gaping open, flesh split apart on either side, the bone beneath — white and red at once.

He clamped his teeth down. Blood seeped out from between them.

From nowhere, he found the strength — and somehow hoisted the heavy, unconscious Cheng Wujie up onto the horse’s back.

After securing Cheng Wujie to the saddle with a rope, Xiao Liu had nothing left. He sat down hard on the ground.

His back against the low wall, each labored breath felt like being carved apart by ten thousand knives.

“White horse… white horse… you take my boss away. No matter where — just get him out.”

Xiao Liu raised his hand, trying to land a slap on the horse’s flank. But his arm lifted and then had nothing left — not the smallest scrap of strength.

The hand fell against the horse’s leg, leaving only a few bloody smears.

The white horse whinnied twice and looked back, as if confused.

Xiao Liu leaned there against the wall, but could no longer hold himself up. His body listed slowly and toppled to the side.

By chance, his long blade lay beside him, with a stone underneath the flat of it. As Xiao Liu fell, his body came down on the handle and sent the blade swinging up — and the tip skimmed across the horse’s leg.

The white horse shied with pain and bolted forward.

Xiao Liu lay on the ground watching the horse run, and he laughed.

He didn’t know why. He just laughed.

“I wonder if… playing dead now… would look pretty convincing.”

His vision blurred and dimmed. He thought he could see the white horse growing wings — lifting off the ground, taking flight.

So he laughed again.

—

On the other side of the village.

Xiao Jiu looked back as he rode, thinking he must be far enough from the village now. He closed his eyes briefly and made a wish — to whatever spirit, whatever bodhisattva was listening…

Let me die. Just don’t let Xiao Liu and Old Boss Cheng die.

“I trade my life for theirs.”

He shouted it into the open air, not knowing whether any spirit or bodhisattva could hear.

He shouted: “It’s a deal!”

Thud.

Another arrow came flying from behind — and buried itself in his back.

Xiao Jiu could hold on no longer and fell from his horse, hitting the ground hard.

Ekema rode up hard. He saw Xiao Jiu lying motionless, and took the bow back from his subordinate.

He dismounted, strode over to Xiao Jiu, and saw him unmoving. Ekema said furiously, “Why are you doing this to me?! All of you are masters of playing dead — back when I was fighting for you, you would all play dead. Now you’re doing it again!”

He crouched and turned Xiao Jiu over. Xiao Jiu’s lips were parted in a smile.

“Old Ekema… this time… I’m really not playing…”

“It hurts… it hurts pretty bad…”

He was still smiling. And on that smile, his breath simply stopped.

Ekema stared, and then seized Xiao Jiu by the collar and shook him violently back and forth. “Stop playing dead! You wake up right now!”

Xiao Jiu’s body was still soft at first, swaying with every shake.

Then the arms and legs grew stiff.

On the other side of the village, a white horse ran in the moonlight.

……

……

—