Unnamed Mountain.

The agonizing wait made each day unbearable for every Chile tribesperson who had arrived there ahead of the others. They were wracked with worry for their kin.

They had escaped from the Black Wu army, but their kinspeople had not yet made it out — and they all knew the odds of their kin escaping were not great.

When Shuyangchuan had left, he had vowed that he would bring every last tribesperson out. But everyone understood that was Shuyangchuan’s resolve speaking — nothing more.

The Chile people all lived on the grasslands, where they were responsible for raising and taming horses for the Black Wu forces. The place was under heavy guard.

Even with twenty thousand fighters riding back, Shuyangchuan might still fail to break through the Black Wu defenses.

Every day, the Chile people on Unnamed Mountain labored with everything they had, all of them acutely aware there was not a moment to waste.

But this was not the attitude they had carried from the very beginning.

When they first arrived at Unnamed Mountain, many were deeply despondent — especially given the news the Khan had brought back, which was far from encouraging for them.

The Central Plains people would not allow them to pass through the pass. They were to hold Unnamed Mountain, and provisions would be supplied in return.

So many had come to feel it was pointless. Staying here was merely delaying the inevitable — sooner or later they would be massacred by the Black Wu forces.

This was nothing but a barren mountain. Could it hold back a Black Wu army of a million men?

Some even said that if they were going to die regardless, they would rather die beside their own families — dying together.

This mood only began to shift after one of their young men was beaten by a Central Plains soldier.

Li Chi had dispatched a considerable force to assist the Chile people in building a stronghold on Unnamed Mountain. A company commander was hauling two heavy logs up the slope when he gestured for a Chile tribesman in his path to give him a hand. The Chile man merely fixed him with a cold stare.

The company commander paid him no mind and struggled on by himself. Then, out of nowhere, the young Chile man suddenly stuck out his foot and tripped him. The company commander crashed to the ground, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the logs.

In the next instant the company commander grabbed the Chile man by the throat, pinned him down, and rained blow after blow upon him.

He beat the man until his face was covered in blood. The man tried to fight back but was hopelessly outmatched.

The commotion drew Bulegdi, who hurried over and demanded an explanation.

The beaten young man wore an aggrieved expression. “What gives them the right? If they want to work, let them work — what right do they have to order us around? Who gave them the authority to command us?!”

The company commander was named Peng Bo. He looked at the young man, then looked at Bulegdi.

Bulegdi raged, “The Ning Army came here to help us!”

The young Chile man said, “Khan, don’t be fooled by them. They’re only using us to fight against the Black Wu!”

Peng Bo smiled, turned, and waved to his men. “We’re pulling out. Take everything — all supplies and equipment.”

Bulegdi rushed over to block him. “Company Commander, he’s only a child. I beg you not to stoop to his level.”

Peng Bo smiled lightly. “I won’t stoop to his level — that would only vex myself. My commanding lord always said: when you go to help someone, if they show no gratitude and think you haven’t done enough, the best thing to do is take back everything you’ve given and never offer help again.”

Peng Bo gave the order: “Tear down every wooden wall we’ve built. Take all the provisions and supplies we brought. We’re returning to Beishan Pass.”

His men acknowledged the order and moved to dismantle the walls they had already erected.

“You dare!”

“Don’t go too far, or don’t expect to come to any good end!”

“Ning Army — don’t push us too far!”

A crowd of Chile tribespeople surrounded them, on the verge of turning violent.

Peng Bo swept the gathered faces with his gaze, utterly unintimidated.

“Look at yourselves.”

Peng Bo said, “You begged us to help. We said we couldn’t help with everything, only part of it. And then you started resenting us, acting as if we’d done wrong. Well then, we’ll take back the portion we intended to help you with. We’ll write off the labor we’ve already put in. Yet you actually think the portion we’ve already given you has somehow become yours? You think we’re stealing from you by taking it back? You think you’re the aggrieved party? Get this straight — it was ours. If we felt like giving it, we gave it; if we choose not to, we take it back. There’s nothing you should feel wronged about.”

He drew his blade. “Tear down what’s to be torn down, take back what’s to be taken back. Anyone who tries to stop us dies. If we fall here, the Ning King will avenge us.”

“Hu!”

The Ning Army soldiers responded in unison and began dismantling the wooden walls.

Bulegdi was genuinely alarmed now. He shot a furious glare at the young man who had started all this. “Kneel!”

The young man seemed not to have anticipated the Ning Army’s people would be this unyielding. He had assumed that on Unnamed Mountain, with the Chile tribespeople the majority, the Central Plains men would know better than to push things this far.

Seeing his Khan’s fury, the young man was frightened enough to drop immediately to his knees.

Bulegdi turned to Peng Bo, clasped his hands together in the Central Plains manner, and said, “Company Commander, we were indeed in the wrong. I will deal with them appropriately. Please don’t leave.”

Peng Bo said, “Before we came, my commanding lord told us: you’re going there to help, not to be mistreated. If someone mistreats you, take our people and our things and come back. If we take losses in a fight, my commanding lord said he’ll collect that debt back twofold.”

Bulegdi pleaded, “It truly was my failure to keep them in line — all the fault lies with me. Please forgive us. I will punish them severely and give the Company Commander a proper explanation.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Peng Bo said, “My commanding lord also said: if they don’t know what’s good for them, don’t humor them — not even once.”

He turned back. “Tear it down!”

The Ning Army soldiers drew their blades and began hacking at the wooden walls, severing the ropes binding them together and toppling the sections already built.

The Chile tribespeople panicked and rushed forward to stop them, but Bulegdi ordered them back.

Bulegdi looked at his own people. “You brought this on yourselves.”

Peng Bo led his men to dismantle the walls they had built, gather their equipment and provisions, and leave behind anything they couldn’t carry — the grain was scattered on the ground rather than left for the others.

This grain was given to us by the common people of the Central Plains. We can scatter it on the ground before we leave — we will not let you benefit from it.

And with that, the Ning Army returned to Beishan Pass.

After Peng Bo finished recounting everything, Li Chi announced Peng Bo’s promotion to the fifth-rank general, and every soldier who had gone to Unnamed Mountain and returned with him would receive three additional months’ pay.

Xiahou Zuo even presented Peng Bo with his own personal saber, telling him: you did nothing wrong.

Peng Bo had half expected to be reprimanded upon his return, for his actions had likely wrecked the Ning King’s plan to ally with the Chile people.

Xiahou Zuo clapped Peng Bo on the shoulder and said, “Don’t overthink it. Do you know what the Ning King said? The Ning King said: if my men are mistreated out there, I can’t let them be mistreated again when they come home.”

He told Peng Bo: “From now on you’re a general. When you are a general, remember those words. Our men can’t be mistreated out there, and they certainly can’t be mistreated at home.”

Not long after, Bulegdi came to the gates of Beishan Pass once more requesting an audience — but this time, Li Chi had no intention of seeing him.

Bulegdi waited outside the city for an entire day. No one paid him any attention.

Yet he did not leave. That night he made do with whatever shelter he could find outside the walls, and early the next morning he was at the city gate again requesting an audience.

Xiahou Zuo mounted the city walls and looked down at Bulegdi below. “Go back. Properly discipline your people. Make them understand right from wrong. You should not have forgotten — the first time you came to Beishan Pass, the Ning King asked you if you could accept the terms. You said yes. That was a promise. A man, a leader, who does not cherish his own promises is not someone we wish to deal with.”

Bulegdi offered explanation after explanation, but Xiahou Zuo was in no mood to listen.

“Let me tell you something more.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “On Unnamed Mountain, Peng Bo told his soldiers to give their best effort, because we had given our word and we would keep it — and moreover, once large numbers of Chile people fled to Unnamed Mountain, Black Wu troops would surely come in pursuit. With a wooden fortress, those Chile people could be protected. So they had to work fast.”

“Yet your people thought we were the ones who had wronged them. Since that is the case, what is the point of any further dealings? Let me give you one more piece of advice: to be a good leader, you must first teach your people how to be decent human beings.”

With those words, Xiahou Zuo turned and walked away.

No matter how Bulegdi called out from below, no one responded.

When Bulegdi returned to Unnamed Mountain, his tribespeople all came out to meet him. Now they were desperate for their Khan to bring back good news.

Looking at those faces, Bulegdi felt helpless and despairing for the first time.

“When I went to seek an audience with the Ning King, I was willing to offer my own death in exchange for his help. And you — you thought that was simply what the Ning Army was supposed to do. That was bought with my life! And you didn’t care in the least.”

Bulegdi stared at them, no longer able to contain his fury.

“I went there as a supplicant, and you acted as if they hadn’t helped enough — as if they owed you something? Well, they left. They owe you nothing anymore. Find your own way to survive. I’m exhausted. If you won’t value what I bought with my life, then there’s no point in my staying. I don’t owe you anything either.”

With that, Bulegdi turned and descended the mountain.

A crowd dropped to their knees immediately, pleading desperately.

“Begging me will do you no good — just as my going to beg the Ning King again will do no good.”

Bulegdi said, “Since you’re all so capable, rely on yourselves.”

He pushed through the crowd and descended, taking only a handful of attendants, and simply walked away — leaving behind tribespeople who were suddenly plunged into despair.

At the foot of the mountain in the forest, Bulegdi dismounted and sat beneath a tree, releasing a long, slow breath.

An attendant asked, “Khan, where are we going?”

Bulegdi shook his head. “Nowhere we can go. I only wanted to frighten them. If they still don’t understand what’s right, annihilation is only a matter of time. I am their Khan — if the tribe truly faces extinction, I must be the first to die.”

He leaned there, even his breathing seeming to carry the weight of exhaustion.

After a long silence, Bulegdi appeared to come to some realization. He mounted his horse again. “Come. Let’s go to Beishan Pass one more time.”

His attendants exchanged glances but said nothing. They mounted and followed their Khan back toward that border city.

Outside the walls, Bulegdi called up to the ramparts: “I am requesting an audience with Company Commander Peng. I request the chance to offer my apology to him in person.”

Peng Bo was on the wall. He glanced toward the Ning King, who was not far away playing chess with Xiahou Zuo. Li Chi looked up at him. “Your call.”

After a moment, Peng Bo walked to the edge of the parapet. “Khan, you should go back. There is no need for an apology. The method for building the wooden walls — I have already taught what needed to be taught. You are on your own from here.”

Bulegdi said, “I dare not ask for forgiveness. I only wish to earnestly request that the Company Commander give us one more chance. I beg the Company Commander to help us — and to speak on our behalf to Prince Ning.”

Peng Bo said, “Some wrongs can earn forgiveness, but not every wrong will.”

He looked back at Li Chi. “My lord, I wish to return.”

Li Chi looked up at him. “For what reason?”

Peng Bo said, “I have not forgiven them. Only because doing so is advantageous to us.”

Li Chi was silent for a moment, then nodded. “You are now a fourth-rank general. Take the men and go.”

Peng Bo stood to attention: “Hu!”

—