Prince Ning’s residence.
Whenever Old Zhang Zhenren laid eyes on Li Chi, he couldn’t help studying his face a moment longer than necessary.
As though he could see rivers and mountains shining with splendor in Li Chi’s features, and the vastness of stars and seas in Li Chi’s eyes.
“When I was on Dragon Tiger Mountain, I dreamed of five suns in the sky — two in the north, three in the south.”
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “I felt unsettled, and so I wished to come and see for myself. The Prince of Ning should already know that this dream of mine did not come to me for no reason.”
Li Chi gave a slight nod. “I can more or less guess.”
At present, those who had gained the most ground in the realm were Li Chi in Jizhou, Li Xionghu in Yangzhou, and Yang Xuanji in Jingzhou. On the surface, none of these three faced any particularly formidable opposition.
Among the three, the territories they held were the largest, though in terms of military strength, Li Chi was not comparable to the other two.
Li Xionghu commanded armies of a million men at a stroke, with support trains of comparable scale — when his forces took the field, they seemed to blot out the sky.
Yang Xuanji’s forces, though not quite matching Li Xionghu’s claimed million, numbered at least six hundred thousand, and were considerably more battle-hardened.
As for Li Chi — his combined combat forces at present numbered just over one hundred and thirty thousand.
The five suns Old Zhang Zhenren spoke of: three of them referred to these three men.
The fourth was, of course, Emperor Yang Jing, still seated upon the throne of Dachu — for as long as Dachu endured and its emperor did not fall, that sun still burned.
The fifth — Old Zhang Zhenren had said it was in the north. And who in the north could rival Li Chi? It could only be the figure in Yanzhou. There was no other candidate.
And that was precisely what Li Chi found so remarkable about Old Zhang Zhenren. The old man was ten thousand *li* away on Dragon Tiger Mountain, yet possessed the vision to see this clearly. Truly awe-inspiring.
The old Zhenren himself claimed it was only a dream — but Li Chi knew full well where such dreams came from.
Who simply dreams such dreams without reason? Only through deep contemplation of the realm’s circumstances, through sustained thought that carries into sleep, does night reveal what day has pondered.
Old Zhang Zhenren smiled. “And as for the three wolves?”
Li Chi said: “The northwest. Due north. The northeast.”
Old Zhang Zhenren gave a slow nod. “All predators from beyond our borders.”
He lifted his teacup, took a sip, then smiled at Li Chi. “So the Prince of Ning has surely considered this already — not all of it is bad news.”
Li Chi said: “Indeed, I’ve given it some thought.”
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “If a man can stand firm and build his strength in a place like the north — what then could shake that foundation?”
He smiled. “The only person contending with the Prince of Ning for mastery of the north is also the one threat lurking in the shadows… whoever has the opportunity to take root in the north is a rival for the entire fate of the realm.”
Li Chi’s thoughts had in fact been moving in a different direction entirely. He asked: “The south…”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence when Old Zhang Zhenren smiled and said: “The south need not concern you for now. That is a matter for later.”
The old Zhenren rose, stretching his limbs, and spoke while pacing slowly. “This kind of configuration taking shape in the north — it might well be called a Heaven-Ordained Formation.”
Li Chi asked curiously: “What is a Heaven-Ordained Formation?”
The old Zhenren smiled. “By my own understanding: in this world, if a sage were to emerge, it would be something heaven itself does not permit.”
He looked at Li Chi. “Consider how demon spirits and monsters come to be — a plant or a beast that lives long enough may cultivate awareness. That too is something heaven does not permit. And so if such a being seeks to reach full fruition, it faces a heavenly tribulation.”
Old Zhang Zhenren looked Li Chi steadily in the eye, one word at a time: “If even demons and spirits face such tribulation, then what of a sovereign of men?”
Li Chi’s expression shifted slightly. In truth, from the very beginning, he had always assumed that all talk of a sovereign of men was something Young Zhang Zhenren had fabricated to rally the people’s hearts.
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “The heavens punish demons and monsters with divine retribution to prevent their ascension — for those beings, this is a heavenly tribulation. And for a sovereign of men to rise and establish an enduring dynasty, to open an age of lasting peace — such a thing cannot be hindered by the people of this world. So the heavens themselves must provide the obstacle.”
Li Chi understood. Though he found the old Zhenren’s words to be extraordinarily mysterious — far more so than even his own master’s most elaborate pronouncements — there was still something about them that felt right.
Perhaps that was the old Zhenren’s particular gift: the things he said carried a force that made people inclined to believe.
Old Zhang Zhenren continued: “And so heaven has laid countless trials before you. The most formidable of all is this configuration of three wolves and two suns. My calculations fall short of perfect, but if the Prince of Ning passes through this trial, there will still be one more to come — a configuration of driving the wolves together to consume the tiger. My Daoist arts are limited; this is as far as I can see.”
He paused, then continued: “What concerns us now is not the distant configuration yet to come. It is this — the three wolves and that other sun have converged into what I call a Four-Direction Tribulation.”
Li Chi asked: “What is a Four-Direction Tribulation?”
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “Heaven has ten directions. The most severe is the Ten-Direction Tribulation — beyond rescue, beyond resolution, a configuration of absolute death.”
The Ten Directions of Heaven — originally a concept from the Daoist traditions of the Central Plains, later borrowed by the western monastic schools. It refers to ten great cardinal orientations: the heavens above and the earth below, east, west, south, north, birth, death, the past, and the future.
Imagine a true Ten-Direction Tribulation: there is no way to survive.
Old Zhang Zhenren said that the Heaven-Ordained Formation now bearing down on Li Chi was a Four-Direction Tribulation — referring to the west, north, east, and sky: three wolves, one sun.
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “A Four-Direction Tribulation is already exceedingly difficult to break. But the south is the Prince of Ning’s Gate of Life. Even if this formation cannot be broken, one can retreat southward to escape it — though if you do retreat, there will be a flaw in this great configuration. And a flaw is a source of future calamity.”
Li Chi asked: “Why is the south my Gate of Life?”
Old Zhang Zhenren smiled. “I have heard that the Prince of Ning’s great General Tang Pidi is currently campaigning in Yuzhou. So I cast a divination, and it revealed that the general is the one who will open the Gate of Life for the Prince of Ning.”
The pieces fell into place for Li Chi.
Old Zhang Zhenren continued: “Should you withdraw from the Four-Direction Tribulation, the north will fall to that other figure. From that point on, the north becomes the root of all future trouble.”
Li Chi said: “So the Four-Direction Tribulation must be broken — not evaded or fled from.”
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “Once the Four-Direction Tribulation is broken and the Heaven-Ordained Formation shattered, the Prince of Ning will face no further threat of mortal danger in this world.”
Li Chi’s brow furrowed slightly. By what Old Zhang Zhenren was saying, it seemed this Four-Direction Tribulation held a genuine threat to his life.
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “As I traveled here from the south, I spoke openly along the way, and by now many throughout the southwestern reaches know that I have left Dragon Tiger Mountain to travel to Jizhou to serve the Prince of Ning.”
When Li Chi heard this, his expression shifted once more. He folded his hands and bowed deeply. “My deepest gratitude, venerable Zhenren.”
What Old Zhang Zhenren had done was build Li Chi’s prestige with his own name.
That even the venerable Old Zhang of Dragon Tiger Mountain had journeyed ten thousand *li* to Jizhou to pledge his allegiance to Prince Ning — did that not speak for itself?
Common people have always been fascinated by such mystical and extraordinary things. Stories spread from mouth to mouth, and naturally become legend in the telling.
And the attitude most people take toward legends is: better to believe than to doubt.
In traveling here from the southwest, Old Zhang Zhenren had carried that current of prestige with him, lending it to Li Chi.
Old Zhang Zhenren looked at Li Chi with a smile. “I have been thinking all along the road about where the most critical point of this Four-Direction Tribulation lies.”
He raised his hand and pointed toward the northeast — in the direction of Yanzhou.
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “So I will not linger long in Jizhou. Before long, I will make my way to Dragon Head Pass to take up residence there, so that the people of Yanzhou may learn that Old Zhang of Dragon Tiger Mountain has come to Jizhou and is spreading the teachings of the Dao among the common people. Perhaps they will have cause to reflect on what that means.”
When he finished, Old Zhang Zhenren bowed deeply to Li Chi. Li Chi was startled and rushed forward to support the old man.
Old Zhang Zhenren said: “The malevolent influence enters from that direction. I will go there first to cut against it — this is the full extent of what I can offer. The rivers and mountains and all the people who live within them — from here on, they rest with the Prince of Ning.”
This bow, then, was not one Li Chi could decline.
Old Zhang Zhenren straightened, gave Li Chi a warm and gentle smile, turned, and walked away.
Li Chi watched the old Zhenren’s retreating figure, and felt within himself a tide of emotion.
—
Meanwhile. The Black Wu Empire. The Red City.
Black Wu Khanate Emperor Kuokedi Daishi sat upon his vast throne, looking down at the man who knelt and spoke before him.
In the enormous hall, they were the only two present. The space was so immense that even their voices seemed to echo with a faint hollowness.
The man speaking was Chizhu Liuli, the Great General of the Black Wu Empire’s Southern Court — a man of only thirty-six who had already risen to the pinnacle of power, with an unbroken record of victories stretching behind him.
The Southern Court was a place the Black Wu Empire had always placed great importance upon. In truth — to speak plainly — in all the conflicts prior to the present, no Central Plains nation had ever truly fought the full might of the Black Wu Empire. What they had faced, each time, was only the Southern Court.
“You are saying…”
Kuokedi Daishi smiled and asked: “You believe the time to move south has come?”
Chizhu Liuli bowed his head. “In response to Your Majesty: based on intelligence gathered by our agents, I believe this is not merely the best opportunity we have at present — it is likely the best opportunity we will see for a very long time to come.”
Kuokedi Daishi asked: “What leads you to this judgment?”
Chizhu Liuli answered: “Your Majesty, based on what our agents have learned of the Prince of Ning Li Chi in Jizhou — I believe this man will come to rule the Central Plains. He possesses exceptional strategic genius and rare martial ability. Once a man of this kind unifies the Central Plains in the future, the nation he establishes will surpass Dachu without question.”
Kuokedi Daishi smiled. “Dachu has lasted several hundred years and yet has done little more than barely hold our forces at bay — and even then, they have been beaten again and again.”
Chizhu Liuli said: “And that is precisely why we cannot allow a nation to arise that might one day pose a genuine threat to the Black Wu Empire. The Prince of Ning Li Chi must be killed before he can become that threat.”
Kuokedi Daishi sat in thought for a moment. He asked: “How many troops does the Southern Court have available?”
Chizhu Liuli said: “The Southern Court has two hundred thousand seasoned frontier soldiers ready for deployment, along with four hundred thousand new conscript forces.”
Kuokedi Daishi rose from his vast throne and descended the thirty-six steps.
“Six hundred thousand… that should ordinarily suffice.”
Kuokedi Daishi spoke as he walked. “But I do not wish to return empty-handed this time. If six hundred thousand troops go and come back having accomplished nothing, what was the point of sending them? So I will issue an imperial decree to levy cavalry from the steppe tribes — I will find another two hundred thousand men for you. Those steppe warriors are wasting away sitting idle. Leaving a fine blade unused is letting it rust and rot.”
He came to stand before Chizhu Liuli, looking at him with absolute gravity. “I don’t care whether it is some Prince of Ning called Li Chi or the Emperor of Dachu. I want you to bring their heads back for me to see.”
Chizhu Liuli bowed. “Your servant will not betray Your Majesty’s trust.”
Kuokedi Daishi asked: “Is there anything else you want? Speak freely — I will consider it, and what I can give you, I will give you.”
Chizhu Liuli said: “There are two men I also wish for.”
“Who?”
“The young general of the Imperial Guards, Qibuti. And the Northern Court general Anshina Yi.”
Kuokedi Daishi was silent a moment, then nodded. “Granted.”
He met Chizhu Liuli’s eyes. “I give you everything you ask. Then give me a timeline.”
Chizhu Liuli considered carefully before answering: “One year to take Jizhou. Three years to take the Central Plains.”
“Three years?”
Kuokedi Daishi considered this, then gave a single wave of his hand. “So be it. Three years from now, when we meet again, I want it to be on the soil of the Central Plains.”
—