For Yu Jiuling, covering seventy or eighty li on foot through the night to reach Unnamed Mountain was no great feat at all. With his stride, never mind seventy or eighty — double that would still be within reach.

People in this world all seemed alike, each with four limbs and a mind, yet the differences between one person and another were genuinely vast.

As they drew close to Unnamed Mountain, Yu Jiuling worried they might be cut down on the spot by Nalan sentinels, so he simply had his men light their torches.

They were nearly at the foot of the mountain now, so there was no concern about Black Wu scouts.

Before long, Yu Jiuling’s group was surrounded by Nalan people, and shortly after that, they were brought before Borjigit.

The moment Borjigit saw Yu Jiuling, he threw his arms wide open with excitement. “Long time no see, my Ninth Sister!”

Yu Jiuling also spread his arms wide: “Long time no see, my Brother Borjigit.”

These two embracing each other the moment they met — and those names they used — left Shuyang Chuan bewildered.

Something stirred vaguely in his perception, as if he were glimpsing another door in the landscape of human feeling.

He looked at the strapping Borjigit, then back at Yu Jiuling — comparatively slender — and wondered what kind of role these two played to each other.

Then Shuyang Chuan shook his head vigorously, wondering what on earth he was thinking.

Yu Jiuling conveyed Prince Ning’s military orders, and Borjigit’s force immediately began preparing to withdraw inside the pass.

There were truly no provisions on Unnamed Mountain. Not to mention long-term — even ten days would be impossible to sustain.

If the Black Wu forces encircled them again, they wouldn’t even need to assault the mountain. Just surround it without attacking, and the people on the mountain would be reduced to gnawing bark and eating leaves.

Once arrangements here were made, they had plenty of warhorses available — after routing the Tiehu cavalry, Borjigit’s force had captured a large number of horses. This meant the Chile people on Unnamed Mountain could also mount up and withdraw.

There was nothing to pack anyway. Before dawn, the force set out eastward.

By the time the Black Wu forces noticed, they had already traveled dozens of li. The Black Wu forces did not dare give reckless pursuit.

Besides, from the Black Wu perspective, the cavalry withdrawing from Unnamed Mountain was hardly unwelcome news.

But halfway along the route, Borjigit abruptly changed his mind.

He ordered the force to split — sending more than half the men to escort the Chile people, to enter the pass through Xifeng Kou.

He then led twenty thousand Nalan warriors, each with three horses, turned around, and headed northwest.

—

The fighting at Beishan Pass continued without pause. The Black Wu forces would not give it up easily — they had already lost hundreds of thousands of men here, and to simply retreat would surely bring down the Black Wu Khan’s furious wrath. Many heads might roll.

Black Wu losses alone exceeded two hundred and fifty thousand, and added to that more than one hundred thousand Tiehu cavalry. The battle had reached a point where wanting to leave was no longer an option.

Every day, the Black Wu forces still pressed the assault. Every day was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Meanwhile, Borjigit’s force rode northwest, circled around the main Black Wu army, and twenty days later appeared without warning at the Black Wu Southern Encampment.

The most formidable Black Wu Southern Encampment troops had by and large all been transferred to Beishan Pass. The camp held very few garrison forces.

This delighted Borjigit enormously.

Leading his twenty thousand light cavalry, he wreaked havoc throughout the Southern Encampment — killing as he went, burning as he went.

They did not linger. Like the wind, they swept through various positions of the Southern Encampment, struck a blow, and moved on — never delayed.

This force of twenty thousand was like a plague of locusts. In its wake, one could say not a blade of grass remained.

It did not take long for the news to reach the main Black Wu camp. When Yefulie heard it, his head buzzed with rage.

Those Nalan cavalry had clearly withdrawn — how in the world had they suddenly turned back?

The Black Wu scouts had not neglected to follow them, tracking them for over a hundred li before turning back. But Borjigit’s force had traveled three hundred li before suddenly splitting.

On the city wall, Li Chi raised his spyglass and saw movement in the Black Wu camp — especially the cavalry. All that could be mobilized appeared to be mustering.

Shortly after, the Black Wu cavalry set out first, followed by the infantry also beginning to assemble.

Li Chi did not yet know that Borjigit had actually gone to strike the Black Wu Southern Encampment, but he guessed there must be trouble in the Black Wu rear.

Another ten or so days passed, and by early in the ninth month, Borjigit’s people, with the Chile in tow, had completed their circuit and arrived inside Beishan Pass.

When Li Chi heard that Borjigit had gone to the Southern Encampment, he was glad for the likely pressure it would put on the Black Wu forces to withdraw — yet at the same time he grew worried about Borjigit.

The Black Wu forces had abundant manpower; they could summon troops from all directions to encircle and block him.

Shuyang Chuan came on behalf of the Chile people to pay his respects to Li Chi, sincerely and solemnly declaring that the Chile people were willing to submit to Prince Ning’s authority.

Li Chi had them move to the rear to rest and recover, allocated provisions and supplies, and Shuyang Chuan arranged for the elderly, women, and children to proceed to their quarters. He himself stayed on with the remaining Chile able-bodied men.

At this moment, Shuyang Chuan understood clearly what kind of choice he needed to make.

Having entered the pass and received Prince Ning’s welcome, from this moment forward he needed to adapt to his new identity — a subject of Ning.

After the Black Wu forces divided, they still did not abandon their assault on Beishan Pass. From the third month until now had been a full six months, and the number of soldiers from both sides who had died on this stretch of land was beyond counting.

From when Li Chi first began preparing to face the onslaught until now was a full ten months.

In those ten months, many great events had unfolded across the Central Plains — though at this moment, those events seemed to have little to do with the Ning Army resisting the foreign invaders in the north.

—

In the seventh month, the great rebel leader Li Xionghu had no choice but to launch his assault on Daxing City.

Relying on his superior numbers, Li Xionghu opened with a ferocious attack, yet Daxing City was too tall and fortified, and the defending force was not small.

With the troops of Prince Wu Yang Jiju having retreated into Daxing City, along with Emperor Yang Jing’s new forces — and the Emperor’s transformation having won back the populace’s will to fight as one — toppling such a formidable stronghold was no simple matter for Li Xionghu.

Also in the seventh month, the rested and reorganized Yang Xuanji launched another offensive — but this time he had learned from experience and chose to bypass Jingzhou.

The border between Liangzhou and Jingzhou was not extensive, and the roads were difficult. It was far less convenient than going through Jingzhou.

That was precisely why Yang Xuanji, after taking Liangzhou, had spared no effort attacking Jingzhou.

Now Yang Xuanji, having developed a measure of wariness toward the Ning Army — even knowing the Ning main force was in the north — did not dare provoke them lightly.

Going through Liangzhou into Jingzhou, though slow and arduous, was at least secure.

By mid-eighth-month, Yang Xuanji’s army entered Jingzhou from Liangzhou and began picking up speed, heading toward Daxing City.

This time, Yang Xuanji raised the banner of “loyal service to the realm, rescuing Dachu” — aimed squarely at Li Xionghu.

Also in the eighth month, Tang Pidi in Suzhou sent a letter to the great general Cao Ying, left by Li Xionghu to hold Suzhou.

Cao Ying had been ordered to hold Suzhou at all costs. Li Xionghu’s command to him had been: no matter what, stop Tang Pidi from marching south again.

If the Ning Army took advantage of Li Xionghu’s assault on Daxing City to march south again and strike Yangzhou, Li Xionghu might lose even his line of retreat.

Li Xionghu had left Cao Ying no small force — a full two hundred thousand troops. Before leaving, his parting words to Cao Ying were: hold the line, never attack.

Cao Ying’s thought at the time was… Overlord, even if you ordered me to take the initiative and attack Tang Pidi, I probably wouldn’t go.

Now, in the rebel camp, Cao Ying held Tang Pidi’s handwritten letter, torn between laughter and exasperation.

Tang Pidi’s letter was short, and its meaning simple.

The four-month deadline has passed. You may come and fight me now. If you choose not to come and fight me, I may have to come and fight you.

What could Cao Ying say… Tang Pidi had kept his word, refraining from engaging the rebel forces for four months, as repayment for Li Xionghu’s favor.

Now the four months were up. The man wanted to fight, and there was nothing to do but prepare to face it — except he had no desire to.

Over those four months, Cao Ying had not simply sat idle doing nothing. With two hundred thousand soldiers, he’d never once considered taking the initiative and attacking Suzhou — but he had thought about how to block a Ning Army advance.

In those four months, he had ordered the construction of numerous earthen walls and arrow towers south of Suzhou, as well as the digging of many trenches.

In short, every means of obstructing a Ning Army sortie that he could think of, he had implemented.

After long deliberation, Cao Ying picked up his brush and wrote a reply to Tang Pidi.

The gist was: Great General, as you can see, I have dug many trenches over here, and erected many walls. I have also built many earthen fortifications and arrow towers.

If it comes to fighting, it would be bad for both sides. So why don’t things stay as they were — I won’t provoke you, and you won’t provoke me. How agreeable that would be.

Your lord is in the north, and my lord is in Jingzhou — why must we subordinates fight each other?

The next day, Tang Pidi’s reply arrived.

Cao Ying unrolled the letter and read it, again torn between laughter and exasperation.

Tang Pidi said in the letter: your proposal is excellent — honestly, that was my thinking too. But my provisions here are running rather short. I cannot let my men go hungry, nor can I let the people of Suzhou go hungry. So I have no choice but to take yours.

Cao Ying calculated the days. The autumn grain would be harvested in the ninth month. Tang Pidi was clearly coming for the harvest.

He also estimated the Ning Army strength inside Suzhou — it couldn’t possibly be as many as ten thousand.

His own forces outnumbered the Ning Army by at least two to one, maybe more. So… he still couldn’t win.

Having fought the Ning Army more than once, Cao Ying understood all too well how vast the gap was between his troops’ equipment and theirs.

Setting aside equipment, the Ning Army’s fighting strength far surpassed his forces as well.

So after much deliberation, Cao Ying wrote Tang Pidi another letter — far shorter than the last.

Its meaning could be summed up in six words: *How about… I just give you some?*

For a commanding general to write such a letter was already a sufficient show of humility… but then again, his opponent was the Ning Army’s General Tang Pidi.

Not to mention that under Tang Pidi was also that battle-mad lunatic Luo Jing, who fought without regard for his own life.

Another day passed. Tang Pidi’s reply arrived at the rebel camp. Cao Ying had summed up his reply to Tang Pidi in six words; Tang Pidi’s reply to Cao Ying needed no six words, no summary at all — because on that letter there were only three characters:

*How much?*

Seeing such a reply, Cao Ying — who should by rights have felt some measure of humiliation — actually found himself feeling something like relief.

Whether he should or not, not having to fight was worth feeling relieved about.

So he wrote another reply to Tang Pidi. He didn’t specify an amount, but expressed an urgent desire to meet Tang Pidi in person.

Another day passed. Tang Pidi’s reply came again.

The gist was: writing letters is perfectly good. No need to meet in person. How much?

Cao Ying had no choice but to write again — appealing to emotion and to reason, making the case that no matter the amount, it was better to discuss it face to face, as all this back-and-forth correspondence was truly too troublesome.

Another day passed. Tang Pidi’s letter arrived.

The letter said: correspondence is wonderful. I rather enjoy it. How much?

—