Xiahou Zuo rapped Li Diudiu on the head again: “Spirits possessing people in broad daylight? You… that man was in all likelihood the Yan Mountains’ great bandit Yu Chaozong. You saved him. If anyone finds out, Prince Wu will be the first to have your head.”

Li Diudiu said: “A group of bandits having an internal conflict—we were passing through and happened upon it. With bandits numbered in the hundreds, we were preparing to retreat, when we observed that the bandit leader Yu Chaozong was himself being surrounded and attacked, and so a certain youth of virtue, talent, superior martial skill, and patriotic heart named Li Chi picked up a great stone and hurled it at Yu Chaozong—though he did not succeed in striking him down, still…”

Xiahou Zuo said: “Still saved his life?”

Li Diudiu said: “Hah—though he failed to kill the bandit leader Yu Chaozong, he certainly gave him a tremendous scare.”

Xiahou Zuo: “You think Prince Wu would believe that story?”

Li Diudiu said: “It all depends on how the story is told. You could say I fired several bolts and saved Yu Chaozong—or you could say I fired several bolts and killed several bandits. The former framing gets you executed; the latter framing gets you rewarded.”

He shrugged: “Besides, nobody will pursue this matter.”

Xiahou Zuo asked: “Why? How can you be so certain?”

Li Diudiu said: “Why was Yu Chaozong ambushed and nearly killed? It’s obviously an internal breakdown within the Yan Mountain Camp. And it just happens to coincide with Prince Wu arriving with a great army. Most likely Prince Wu had previously sent people to negotiate and discuss amnesty—and perhaps also used tactics of sowing division.”

Xiahou Zuo furrowed his brow, thought it over, then nodded: “Most likely, yes. Some of the Yan Mountain Camp bandits want to surrender, but Yu Chaozong refuses. So they seized the opportunity while Yu Chaozong was outside to set up this ambush to kill him.”

He finished speaking and looked at Li Diudiu: “Doesn’t that make the transgression even worse? If this scheme had succeeded, Yu Chaozong would already be dead by now. Prince Wu wouldn’t have had to expend a single soldier—the Yan Mountain Camp would have fallen into his hands. But because of your stone and crossbow bolts, Yu Chaozong might well escape with his life. If Prince Wu knew, it would be enough to make his beard curl up with rage.”

Li Diudiu said: “Let me finish. Prince Wu’s method of dividing and breaking apart the Yan Mountain Camp—yes. But the ambush to kill Yu Chaozong was definitely not arranged by Prince Wu. If it had been, do you think Yu Chaozong could still be alive? Right now there would certainly be a large number of Left Martial Guard’s top fighters lying in ambush here.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded: “True. What you’re saying is sound. But even if Prince Wu didn’t arrange it, won’t he find out? If he does, he’d still assign blame.”

Li Diudiu said: “Prince Wu will definitely not find out.”

He looked at Xiahou Zuo and explained carefully: “Those people who set the ambush to kill Yu Chaozong would never tell Prince Wu. If they dared tell Prince Wu this plan in advance, we’re back to what I just said—if Prince Wu agreed, those elite fighters from his army would already be here.”

“But they’re not here. That tells us two things. First, that Prince Wu had absolutely no knowledge of it. Second, that Prince Wu absolutely refused to go along with it.”

Li Diudiu smiled: “If it’s the first case—Prince Wu had no knowledge at all—then those within the Yan Mountain Camp who wanted to surrender acted on their own initiative. They wanted to kill Yu Chaozong themselves and claim the biggest share of the reward. Why kill Yu Chaozong? Obviously because Yu Chaozong refused to accept the court’s amnesty—which is to say Prince Wu is still waiting for news.”

He continued: “If it’s the second case—Prince Wu completely refused—then these people went ahead and tried to kill Yu Chaozong without Prince Wu’s consent, and may well have fumbled it, making it impossible for Prince Wu to smoothly bring Yu Chaozong over. Do you think they would dare let Prince Wu know?”

Li Diudiu said: “So this staggering, world-shaking feat of mine—Prince Wu is destined never to know of it. What a pity. A mere youth such as I possess the strength to hurl stones at bandits and the heart to serve my country. Alas… a road to fortune and a meteoric rise was right in front of me—and now it’s gone before I even set foot on it.”

Xiahou Zuo rapped Li Diudiu on the head again: “Did you think all this up just now, or had you already worked it out before you picked up that stone?”

Li Diudiu said: “What do you think?”

Xiahou Zuo said: “I think you just worked it out.”

Li Diudiu said: “What a common, shallow man. I won’t stoop to argue with you.”

Xiahou Zuo laughed: “You must be hiding something from me. Tell me—do you have a nickname? Is it Li Cunning?”

Li Diudiu said: “The correct title is Li the Divine Strategist. Take a good look at who my master is—do you think Changmei’s years of wandering seven counties was all for show?”

The truth was, the people on Xiahou Zuo’s side also understood how serious this was. Their lives were also at stake in this matter. If Prince Wu were to find out, he might not necessarily move against Xiahou Zuo—after all, he was Prince Yu’s son. If Prince Yu could not resist Xiahou Zuo’s pleading, Prince Yu might even intercede on Li Chi’s behalf. Prince Wu was Prince Yu’s own elder brother and would in the end have to show him some consideration, so Li Chi might well be all right. But these followers of theirs—their fate would not be so fortunate.

So this matter—everyone would pretend it never happened. Best for all concerned.

Li Diudiu said: “What a shame though. This trip to the Yan Mountains, and we never found that legendary invincible wild boar king said to weigh over a thousand jin.”

Xiahou Zuo said: “You think the wild boar king doesn’t have its dignity? Even as a wild boar it’s still a king. A king is someone you can just go and meet whenever you please?”

Li Diudiu suddenly pointed ahead toward the mountain’s foot and raised his other hand to rub his eyes—as if uncertain of what he was seeing.

“What’s that?”

By now they had come down to about the lower half of the mountainside, nearly at the foot. Looking down toward the plain, a colossal wild boar was racing across the open ground.

Even from that distance, it was perfectly clear that this wild boar was noticeably larger than a man—the kind of creature weighing close to a thousand jin that could charge through anything in its path. The reason the comparison was so plain was that there was a person on the wild boar’s back.

That person appeared to have a rope looped through the wild boar king’s mouth as a makeshift bridle, riding on the wild boar’s back, gripping the rope with both hands, using it as reins—riding the wild boar king as a mount. Anyone who could do such a thing clearly possessed martial arts of the most obvious caliber.

Behind the wild boar king, a whole herd of wild boars was still giving chase—apparently feeling that having their king captured alive was such a humiliation that they needed to run up and rescue him.

And the figure riding the wild boar king seemed glued to its back. No matter how violently the wild boar king lurched and bucked, his body moved in perfect rhythm with the beast’s body—rising and falling in sync, his rear never once leaving the wild boar king’s back.

“Incredible.”

Li Diudiu rubbed his eyes again.

The person riding the wild boar king off into the distance looked somewhat familiar, yet he couldn’t quite place where he had seen him before. He looked blankly at Xiahou Zuo; Xiahou Zuo happened to be looking blankly at him at the same moment.

“Do you think that person on the wild boar looks familiar?”

Xiahou Zuo asked Li Diudiu.

Li Diudiu nodded: “I was just about to ask you the same thing. I also feel that person’s silhouette is somehow familiar, but I can’t quite recall… The number of people in this world who could capture a wild boar king of that size alive must be very small. To capture it alive rather than kill it and then ride it around for the sport of it—the number who would do such a thing is even smaller.”

He suddenly had a flash of insight—the more he looked, the more that figure’s silhouette reminded him of that Mr. Li from Shulin Tower who had disappeared without a word of farewell.

He shook his head vigorously, telling himself he was letting his imagination run away with him. A person of such inscrutable depth—how could they possibly have nothing better to do than come all the way to the Yan Mountains to catch wild boars?

Besides, what use was a wild boar to him?

—

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, in a secluded spot, Yu Chaozong sat waiting as his men bandaged his wounds. His injuries were too numerous to count, though fortunately most were not too severe.

The worst were the blade wound on his shoulder and the gash across his back. His brothers were sewing the wounds closed—men of the jianghu never went anywhere unprepared for injuries, and always had medicines and supplies on hand.

The wound across his back ran from shoulder to lower back. At its deepest point one could nearly glimpse bone. Naturally it was laborious to close—yet Yu Chaozong sat there with only the faintest furrow of his brow, showing not the slightest sign of pain.

Moreover, he was actually comforting the young brother stitching his wounds, telling the young man not to worry, that he didn’t find it particularly painful.

Zhou Daoshou came sprinting back from the distance, ran to Yu Chaozong’s side, crouched down, and said between gasps for breath: “I checked—I think we’ve shaken all of them. Just now I laid a few false trails. They took the bait and chased north.”

Yu Chaozong made a sound of acknowledgment and raised his hand to pat Zhou Daoshou on the shoulder: “Well done.”

When he moved, the young man stitching his wound was startled—letting out a cry of alarm. Yu Chaozong immediately said: “That was my fault. I’ll sit perfectly still—no more moving around.”

Zhou Daoshou wiped the sweat from his brow, and in the end could not hold back: “Brother, when we get back we have to conduct a thorough investigation. Those people had to have come from within the camp—there’s no other possibility.”

Yu Chaozong gave him a slight shake of the head, gesturing him not to continue. The surviving brothers were already feeling wretched enough. If he brought up now that the people who had tried to kill them might be their own brothers from the camp, it would only make everyone feel worse.

“We’ll deal with it when we get back.”

Yu Chaozong changed the subject: “I wonder what that young brother who saved us is called. He looks like he comes from an official family—with that many bodyguards, his status must be quite high. But why would he save us?”

Zhou Daoshou said: “Can’t work it out. If he were from the government’s side and knew you were the one being hunted down, he should have helped those bastards kill us instead. Yet he intervened to help us. Something doesn’t add up.”

Yu Chaozong smiled: “Whether it adds up or not—the debt of life those people owe us is real. Sooner or later we’ll have to find out who they are and try to repay the kindness somehow.”

Zhou Daoshou nodded: “That goes without saying. Our Yan Mountain Camp brothers repay kindness—and repay grudges. Debts of both kinds get settled.”

Yu Chaozong knew what was on his mind. He was quiet for a moment, then said: “In a little while, once everyone’s wounds are tended to, head east—follow the Yan Mountains back. We all know these mountains better than anyone. Don’t go down the mountain and don’t take the main roads. Set everything else aside for now—first priority is getting our brothers home safe.”

Zhou Daoshou made a sound of acknowledgment: “Understood.”

Yu Chaozong closed his eyes, wondering who that young brother could possibly be.

Just then, one of the brothers on outer perimeter watch came running back, his expression one of great excitement. He crouched before Yu Chaozong and said: “General Leader—the fourth in command is here. He came with a good number of brothers.”

Yu Chaozong let out a great laugh: “Our brothers came to meet us! Everyone get yourselves together—time to go home.”

Zhou Daoshou, hearing that it was the fourth who had come, also let out a breath of relief. If it had been the second in command Bi Datong who had arrived, things would not have been quite so straightforward.

Shortly afterward, the fourth in command, Wu Xiongsqi, arrived with his forces. When he saw Yu Chaozong covered from head to foot in blood, this rough and weathered man gave a great wail and burst into tears.

“Brother!”

Wu Xiongsqi rushed over and dropped to one knee before Yu Chaozong: “Your fourth brother came too late!”

“Not too late at all.”

Yu Chaozong helped Wu Xiongsqi to his feet and said: “Just in time—we’ve run out of rations. Did you bring any food? I’m starving. Quick—share it out among the brothers. Hahaha…”

He didn’t ask the fourth why he had suddenly come, but directly changed the subject—because he already knew. For the fourth to come suddenly like this, he must have found out something. The people who had set the ambush trying to kill him were truly men from within the Yan Mountain Camp—his own brothers.

He laughed loudly—yet within his gaze, a flicker of sorrow passed and was gone.

—