The Black Wu army began a full-scale withdrawal along the entire front. Their most pressing concern right now was not to resume the assault on Beishan Pass — nor even to pursue the escaped Chile. It was to solve the food supply problem. If that couldn’t be resolved quickly, a million soldiers didn’t just face a retreat — things would get far worse than that.

Up on the wall, Yu Jiuling sat on the battlements watching the Black Wu army recede into the distance like a tide, and muttered to himself: “Boss, are you still keeping something from us?”

Li Chi asked: “Keeping what?”

Yu Jiuling said: “Boss, you definitely have some kind of backer. And that backer definitely isn’t human.”

He raised a finger and pointed at the sky: “Up there, I reckon.”

In truth, every Ning Army soldier on that wall had already prepared themselves to die in a final battle. Now that the fighting had suddenly stopped, they hadn’t quite adjusted yet.

But that didn’t stop them from being happy.

Yu Jiuling said: “Boss, maybe you should burn some spirit money later — thank that backer of yours. They helped out so enormously, you can’t just leave it without returning the gesture.”

Li Chi said: “Spirit money is for the ones underground, isn’t it? If I burn paper money for someone above, and then they’re in the middle of blasting me with lightning and I try to explain that it was Yu Jiuling’s idea — what if the one upstairs decides to ask me to pry open your mouth and strike your tongue while they’re at it? That would just be a nuisance.”

Yu Jiuling stuck his tongue out and waggled it up and down, left and right at high speed, then said: “With skills like this, you’d need to pry the mouth open first? I can dodge a downpour — you think I’m scared of a little electric tickle?”

Xiahou Zuo: “You appear to be engaging in indecent behavior.”

Everyone was in high spirits. The Black Wu were in serious trouble — of course that was worth celebrating.

If not a single grain of the million-man army’s provisions had survived, that would be truly something to savor.

To summon supplies from the Southern Court camp would take nearly a month in transit alone — a million soldiers would long have starved by then, and that wasn’t even counting the time needed to gather the provisions in the first place.

“Repair the walls — get the equipment in order!”

Li Chi called out the order.

Then he turned and started down from the wall: “We need to go back and think things through as well. Black Wu has now shown their hand in terms of siege tactics — while they’re occupied with their own problems, we need to work out countermeasures.”

Yu Jiuling said as he walked: “Boss, just send some more gifts to the one upstairs and you’re done.”

Xiahou Zuo: “We’d have to send our most precious thing.”

He grabbed Yu Jiuling: “Offer Nine-mei as a sacrifice — that’d be the most sincere gesture.”

Yu Jiuling: “No, no, no — if I go up there, the old deity will be sick of me within three to five days, and they might end up helping Black Wu instead.”

Xiahou Zuo stuck his tongue out and waggled it up and down, left and right at high speed: “You’d sweet-talk them.”

—

Two days later, the escaped Chile cavalry halted to rest in a birch forest. They had been riding without stop long enough that they should have put some distance between themselves and any Black Wu pursuers.

“Great Khan.”

Several elders of high standing in the tribe came forward, concern in their eyes, and looked toward Bulegedì, who had just been helped down from his horse.

“Great Khan — how are you?”

Bulegedì made the effort to smile: “I’m fine. How many of us made it out?”

One elder answered: “Great Khan, we set out with eighty thousand. Now we have roughly half that left.”

Bulegedì’s expression shifted. His eyes were full of grief.

“Great Khan.”

Another elder tried to comfort him: “If we hadn’t escaped, all eighty thousand would have been lost — not one would have returned. The Black Wu would have used our people as a meat-shield, and the Central Plains border soldiers would have cut us down first.”

Bulegedì nodded: “I know… The priority now is to get back as fast as possible and bring our people out. If we’re too slow — once Black Wu receives word, our people will be slaughtered.”

“Great Khan.”

A young man stepped forward: “You’re seriously wounded. Making the return journey yourself would be too dangerous. Give me some men and I’ll go back with the warning. Great Khan should find somewhere to lie low.”

Bulegedì understood that insisting on going himself would only slow things down.

“Don’t worry about me — take everyone back. This forest is secluded enough. I’ll find a place to hide.”

“That won’t do.”

The young man said: “With the Great Khan alive, the rest of us still have hope.”

An elder said: “Then do this — split the force in two. Shùyángchuān, you take half the cavalry back. We stay here to guard the Great Khan, and to draw off Ye Fulie’s pursuit forces.”

Bulegedì considered this, then nodded: “Alright. Shùyángchuān — bring every one of our people out.”

The young man bowed: “Great Khan, rest easy. I’ll spend my last breath getting every one of our people out. But Great Khan — you should think ahead now. Once our people are out, where do we go?”

Bulegedì fell silent.

They were born of the steppe, and they longed to return to that boundless green expanse — to ride free across that great land. But return was impossible. The Tiehu tribe now held dominion over the steppe, and the Tiehu were Black Wu’s dogs. If the Chile returned, the Tiehu would not welcome them — they would hunt them to extinction and bring Black Wu their reward.

“Great Khan.”

Shùyángchuān said: “We should go and speak with the Central Plains people. That is the only place left where we might find refuge.”

Bulegedì nodded: “I’ll think it through clearly. For now, take the men and go back — get our people out as quickly as possible. We rendezvous at Wuming Mountain.”

“Yes!”

Shùyángchuān answered and turned to leave.

After Shùyángchuān rode off with half the force, Bulegedì looked around at the elders beside him.

“Shùyángchuān is right — the only option we have is to seek refuge with the Central Plains people. But before we ask for refuge, we need to ask their forgiveness.”

When he said that, everyone fell silent.

After a long while, one elder said, his voice somewhat subdued: “Great Khan — the hatred is from hundreds of years ago. It has little to do with us now.”

Bulegedì asked: “If hundreds of years ago the Central Plains people had killed tens of millions of our people — killing until our tribe’s population had fallen below three-tenths of what it once was — would you forgive them, hundreds of years later?”

Everyone fell silent again. The elder who had just offered that argument could only shake his head and sigh.

Hundreds of years ago, the unstoppable Meng Empire cavalry had slaughtered tens of millions in the Central Plains — especially the northern territories, where the killing had left a thousand li of empty land.

It was said that at that time, all of Jizhou had been left desolate and uninhabited.

“Let me think of something.”

Bulegedì said: “Listen to what I have in mind.”

The men of standing from the tribe all drew close, waiting for Bulegedì to give his orders.

“First — Xuěěrhǔ, you take ten thousand men and make a false show of retreat, creating the impression that the main force is withdrawing to the northwest. Ride three hundred li out, then double back to rendezvous at Wuming Mountain.”

“Second — the elders take the rest directly to Wuming Mountain. Before our people arrive, make advance preparations — build defensive works, and be cautious not to be discovered by Black Wu.”

“Third — Ye Fulie cannot possibly resume his assault on Beishan Pass now. If we’re going to ask someone for a favor, we need to show sincerity. Have a few men escort me to the outside of Beishan Pass to request an audience.”

Every face in the group changed.

“Great Khan, you cannot go yourself!”

“Exactly, Great Khan — if the Central Plains people’s hatred hasn’t faded, going personally would be far too dangerous.”

“Great Khan, let me go — I’ll kneel if I have to, but I’ll beg the Central Plains people to take us in.”

“Great Khan, you cannot go. I’ll go instead.”

A chorus of voices urged him against it.

Bulegedì shook his head: “Remember this — only if I go personally will it be sincere enough. The Central Plains people are not like the Black Wu. They are not that brutal. If they cannot forgive us, they will not deal too harshly with me either… And if — I say if — something truly does happen to me, Shùyángchuān is to inherit the title of Great Khan.”

He looked at the senior elders: “Bear witness for me. My son Sāsāng, in both ability and character, falls far short of Shùyángchuān. Deliver this decision to Sāsāng on my behalf — and if he refuses to accept it, remove him.”

“Great Khan!”

The entire group dropped to their knees.

Bulegedì shook his head: “There is no need for this… The men of the Chile tribe — in times of danger, they stand straight and hold up the sky that falls upon them.”

He slowly exhaled: “Go — carry out what I’ve arranged.”

—

Back at Beishan Pass.

Yu Jiuling sat on the battlements with a stick of hard candy in his mouth, watching the distant Black Wu camp.

Over the past two days, Black Wu forces had been pouring out in all directions — it was unclear where exactly they were being dispatched, but there was constant movement in and out.

Li Chi’s assessment was that Ye Fulie had no other real choice — he was almost certainly sending forces out to raid the surrounding Black Wu tribes. Those tribes, great and small, were about to be thoroughly plundered, because keeping a million-man army from starving would require Ye Fulie to strip every nearby tribe bare if needed.

“Boss.”

Yu Jiuling asked: “Those slaves who revolted — do you think they’ll be able to escape?”

Li Chi, sitting beside him, was quiet for a moment before shaking his head: “No.”

Yu Jiuling said “Oh,” then muttered to himself: “That’s a real shame…”

Xiahou Zuo said: “The Chile have an extremely low status in Black Wu. The land where they live is Black Wu’s horse yard — heavily garrisoned. Unless a miracle happens, even if this rebel force cuts its way back there, it can’t possibly save all of its people.”

Yu Jiuling said: “The Chile — those were the ones who were the Meng Empire, right.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded.

Yu Jiuling went quiet. It was hard to say what he was thinking just then.

After a long while, Yu Jiuling looked toward Li Chi: “The Chile must also know that if they go back, there’s nowhere left to run. Would they come here and ask for help?”

Li Chi nodded: “They would.”

Yu Jiuling went quiet again.

After another long silence, Xiahou Zuo asked curiously: “Nine-mei, what are you thinking about over there?”

Yu Jiuling said: “Shh… I’m trying to commune with the spirits. I want to ask our ancestors — if the Chile really do come asking for help, would the ancestors agree to it.”

Xiahou Zuo asked: “What do the ancestors say?”

Yu Jiuling said: “The ancestors didn’t answer me — they must be busy. It’s past midday now, they’re either napping or playing cards. No time to answer me.”

Xiahou Zuo laughed.

Yu Jiuling slowly exhaled: “But I’d guess the ancestors probably wouldn’t agree. After all, every surname carries blood in it.”

Xiahou Zuo stopped laughing. He hadn’t expected Yu Jiuling to say something like that.

“We younger generations have no right to forgive anyone on behalf of our ancestors — just to show how noble we are.”

Yu Jiuling exhaled heavily again: “But then the ancestors also say… an enemy’s enemy is a friend. Ah… this is hard.”

Xiahou Zuo said with a smile: “They’re different from the Black Wu. Not forgiving Black Wu isn’t a matter of one generation — it’s a matter of every generation, for all time. But the great Chu generals of the past didn’t hold back either — General Xu Qulu alone was enough to hold a million souls in check.”

Yu Jiuling looked toward Li Chi.

And found Li Chi smiling.

Yu Jiuling asked: “Boss, what are you smiling about?”

Li Chi said: “I communed with spirits just now too. I saw one ancestor playing cards — just drew a complete winning hand, thirteen orphans. The other ancestors are all digging through their pockets.”

Yu Jiuling: “…”

Li Chi patted Yu Jiuling on the shoulder: “Have you noticed? The more a person thinks, the less happy they are.”

Yu Jiuling said: “So there needs to be a small group of people who think a lot and aren’t happy — so that the vast majority of everyone else can think a little and be happy.”

He asked: “Did that sentence of mine instantly elevate my whole standing?”

Li Chi burst out laughing: “High. As high as a mountain.”

Yu Jiuling: “What mountain?”

Li Chi raised his head and looked toward a faint outline of peaks visible in the distance: “Wuming Mountain.”

—