Darkness. Gloom.

Pain. Self-recrimination.

Xie Wanzhou felt that he would die — but he was not particularly afraid of death. What he feared was making another mistake. He had already made one; he could not afford a second.

The first mistake had been coming here at all. The mistake he now feared making was failing to endure the bandits’ torture and letting something slip from his lips.

Fortunately, when it came to military affairs, he knew nothing.

He tried to move. His limbs seemed to have been severed — there was no sensation — yet he could not remember when his limbs had been cut off. He recalled no pain at all.

“Wondering why your body won’t obey you?”

A voice came from not far away. Xie Wanzhou looked toward it and only then noticed that someone was seated in the shadows.

This appeared to be a side room. Judging by the light, evening had come — not long before full dark. So the figure seated against the wall was hidden in shadow and easy to miss. If he had not spoken, Xie Wanzhou might not have noticed him in time.

“Are you one of Ning Wang Li Chi’s people?”

The man asked again.

Xie Wanzhou pretended to struggle and deliberately tilted his head to one side — because hidden inside his collar was a poison pellet, and all he wanted now was to bite it open.

“The medicine is with me.”

*Thud.* Something was tossed to the ground, landing with a faint sound.

The man’s tone carried a trace of disdain. “Stop wasting your energy. From your equipment, you’re likely one of the so-called Tingwei Bureau, aren’t you?”

The man leaned forward slightly. The last sliver of sunlight still filtering through the window fell across his face.

“My name is Xiao Ting. I am the Blood Butcher’s military advisor.”

In that dim light, Xiao Ting looked like a magistrate judge from the underworld, waiting to pass sentence on a newly arrived spirit.

“Right now, your limbs have no feeling — but it’s not because they were cut off. They’ve been bound tightly, and have been for a while. The blood flow to your limbs has been cut off, which is why you feel nothing.”

Xiao Ting said, “If you’re willing to cooperate, I’ll have the ropes loosened. If you’re lucky, your limbs can still be saved.”

Xie Wanzhou suddenly laughed. “Since you know I’m from the Tingwei Bureau, do you know how the Tingwei Bureau questions its prisoners?”

Xiao Ting shook his head. “I don’t.”

Xie Wanzhou said, “Much like what you’re doing now — but with far more methods, and none of the glaring holes you’ve left.”

His body was still covered by something and he couldn’t see himself — so instead, he found himself no longer afraid.

“Let me teach you.”

Xie Wanzhou said evenly, “If you had truly bound my limbs tight enough to cut off circulation, you would not have draped a piece of coarse cloth over my body to stop me from seeing.”

“Letting me see it would tell me it was a trick — so you covered me up. You’re bluffing. You probably have some kind of numbing agent, don’t you?”

Xie Wanzhou asked.

Xiao Ting genuinely had not anticipated this. The Tingwei Bureau’s people had nerves of iron.

“You guessed right.”

Xiao Ting stood and came over, lifting the coarse cloth that had been draped over Xie Wanzhou. Sure enough, all four limbs were perfectly intact.

Xiao Ting said, “In the Northern Wasteland, medicine is more precious than gold. A whole chest of gold might not buy you a chest of medicine. But there is a plant here called *Guibujing* — Ghost Fright. Grind it up and apply it to the body. Wherever it touches, that part of the body loses all feeling.”

Xie Wanzhou said, “A useful thing.”

“It is,” Xiao Ting agreed. “When my brothers are wounded and can’t find proper medicine, and there’s no physician to be found, the wounds turn putrid and the pain becomes unbearable — so they smear *Guibujing* on the wound. That way they can’t feel the pain. Dying numb is still better than dying in agony.”

Xie Wanzhou frowned. “So it’s a poison plant.”

Xiao Ting glanced at him. “You know quite a lot.”

Xie Wanzhou ignored the remark.

Xiao Ting said, “What I used on you was *Guibujing*. What you don’t know is that if too much is used, the body will begin to rot. On an open wound, it accelerates the decay — very rapidly.”

Xie Wanzhou went still.

He could not help but think about what Xiao Ting had just described — wounded men with no access to medicine, forced to coat themselves in *Guibujing* to deaden the pain, only for it to hasten their own decay. In other words, this substance helped the wounded die faster.

Xiao Ting drew a dagger, slit open Xie Wanzhou’s sleeve, and pressed the blade against his arm.

“All I need is to make one small cut here. Then you get to watch that tiny wound slowly rot before your eyes — but at least you won’t feel it.”

“You’ll watch it grow worse day by day, helpless to stop it, and so will we. One more small mercy: it’s early spring and not summer. If it were summer, you’d be watching maggots squirming through your rotting flesh with your own eyes.”

Xiao Ting held Xie Wanzhou’s gaze and said, “I don’t know whether the Tingwei Bureau has crueler methods than this. But we have no worse — this is as bad as it gets.”

He paused, then said, “The General asked me to put a question to you. If we were to help you defeat the Black Wu — could the General expect a reward?”

A flicker of puzzlement crossed Xie Wanzhou’s eyes.

Seeming to notice it, Xiao Ting immediately said, “We are all Central Plains people. Although we ended up in the Northern Wasteland because we could no longer survive in the Central Plains — we are still Central Plains people at heart.”

“I will put three conditions to you honestly right now. If you can agree to them, I will let you go immediately.”

Xie Wanzhou said, “Say them.”

Xiao Ting said, “First: if our Blood Butcher helps Ning Wang defeat the Black Wu, every one of us must receive a full pardon — no matter what crimes were committed in the past.”

“Second: the General and the other leaders must be rewarded. We do not ask for kingships or marquisates — but at the very least, real military commissions.”

“Third: every person in the Blood Butcher is free to choose their own future. Those who wish to stay, you must provide for. Those who wish to leave, you must give a sum of silver.”

Xiao Ting looked Xie Wanzhou in the eye and said earnestly, “If these three conditions can be agreed to, you may leave right now.”

Xie Wanzhou could not help but laugh. “Are you out of your mind?”

Xiao Ting: “What do you mean? The Black Wu were willing to grant our General the title of king. You can’t even agree to this much?”

Xie Wanzhou said, “I’m nothing but a scout. You want me to agree to this? Fine, I agree to all of it — but does it mean anything?”

Xiao Ting was silent for a moment, then said, “But if I release you and you give me nothing in return, how am I to know whether you’re sincere or just playing along?”

Xie Wanzhou said, “Do you know the Ning army?”

Xiao Ting shook his head. “Not very well.”

Xie Wanzhou said, “Then let me tell you the first thing you need to know about them: the Ning army never negotiates.”

The color drained somewhat from Xiao Ting’s face, and a look that might have been killing intent appeared in his eyes.

He thought for a long moment, then said, “Tell me where your people are. You stay here, and I’ll send someone to deliver a message. If they have good faith, they’ll come back to exchange for you.”

Xie Wanzhou: “The Tingwei Bureau is part of the Ning army’s combat forces. The Ning army never negotiates — so the Tingwei Bureau doesn’t either. I just told you that. You should remember it.”

Xiao Ting fell silent again.

After a long while, he rose and left — without using his dagger on Xie Wanzhou, and without another word.

When the man was gone, Xie Wanzhou quietly exhaled. He looked around the room, searching for anything he might be able to make use of.

Breaking out and escaping was the first priority. If he determined there was no chance of that, then taking his own life would become the first priority.

His poison pellet had already been confiscated, and he still could not move. Even dying would not be easy right now.

He waited like that for a long time — perhaps a full night passed — before someone entered the room again.

A figure pushed the door open and walked in. Xie Wanzhou opened his eyes and looked. The man seemed very tall and powerfully built. The dimness of the light made it impossible to make him out clearly.

The man dragged a chair over and sat down with a creak.

“I am Han Sanzhou.”

The man’s voice was calm. “Yesterday’s conversation between you and my military advisor — he told me everything.”

Xie Wanzhou said, “And?”

Xu Suqing said, “My military advisor tells me you never negotiate. I rather like that, because I’m too lazy for long-winded talk myself — so I’ll tell you my decision directly.”

He leaned forward and looked at Xie Wanzhou. “The Black Wu special envoy who came yesterday has already left. The reason he came was to thank me for providing the most suitable locations to store their provisions and supplies.”

“As you know — before the troops can move, the grain must go ahead. Before the Black Wu’s million-strong army marches south, a massive quantity of provisions and supplies will be transported ahead of them. The location for that must be extremely secure.”

“Only I know where the Black Wu will be storing their provisions. If I’m willing — I could tell you right now. Then, before the real fighting even begins, your forces could force the Black Wu to withdraw.”

Xie Wanzhou said nothing. His mind was turning ceaselessly, weighing how much of Han Sanzhou’s words to believe.

Xu Suqing reached into his coat and tossed a map down in front of Xie Wanzhou. “The map is right there. Whether you believe it or not is your business. What I can tell you is this: there are three copies of that map, because the Black Wu’s provisions will be stored in three locations.”

“You may go back and tell your general to strike the Black Wu supply positions according to the map. I’ll have people waiting at each location. If you succeed, agree to the conditions my military advisor put forward. If you don’t agree, don’t expect to get the other two maps.”

“The three locations are not very far apart. If you move quickly, you could burn all three supply camps in a single night.”

Xu Suqing raised one hand — no great motion, no visible weapon.

Yet the ropes binding Xie Wanzhou snapped apart in an instant.

Although his limbs had not truly been bound tight enough to cut circulation, he had still been tied to a pillar. Now that the ropes were gone, Xie Wanzhou immediately tried to rise. The *Guibujing* should have worn off by now — some feeling had returned to his limbs.

He seized the map in his hand. Watching this, Xu Suqing gave a cold laugh. “So you are eager for merit after all.”

With those words, Xu Suqing stepped out and was gone.

And Xie Wanzhou truly was simply released. When he left the Blood Butcher camp, not a single person so much as looked his way.

There was even someone waiting by the gate, who handed him a decent-looking warhorse.

The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt — yet since he had managed to get free, he would deal with the rest later. He rode out.

Halfway back, he ran into Tingwei Bureau *Qianban* Yu Hongyi, who had been searching for him with a party of men.

After Yu Hongyi heard Xie Wanzhou recount everything that had happened, she decided to first go consult Master Ye before doing anything else.

They hurried back to the border pass. Master Ye was in the middle of deploying men, intending to broaden the search for Xie Wanzhou.

When he saw Xie Wanzhou walk in, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Before long, Master Ye had learned everything — and the Beishan Pass commander, Dou Weicheng, who was seated beside him, found his gaze beginning to drift.

After a moment of quiet thought, he looked at Master Ye and said, “If it’s a trap, they’ll have an ambush waiting at the locations on that map. Anyone we send in won’t come back.”

Master Ye nodded. “Seven or eight chances in ten — it’s a trap.”

Dou Weicheng said, “But what if it’s real?”

Master Ye looked at him. “In matters of the battlefield, you cannot make decisions based on ‘what if.'”

Dou Weicheng thought for another moment and said, “I’ll take the five hundred most elite cavalry and ride to that location. If it’s real, we set fire to the Black Wu’s provisions. If it’s a trap, light cavalry has some chance of breaking out — not much, but not zero.”

Master Ye shook his head. “That’s not advisable.”

Dou Weicheng said, “Master Ye, I am the commanding officer of this border garrison.”

Master Ye paused, momentarily at a loss for words.

Dou Weicheng said, “Tonight I’ll go and test it. If we succeed, the Black Wu will have lost all their initiative in this battle — they may even be forced to delay the march south. If we fail…”

He paused, met Master Ye’s eyes, and said: “I am a soldier. I have to go.”

Master Ye had no choice but to agree — but he selected several dozen skilled fighters to accompany Dou Weicheng, himself among them.

Dou Weicheng led his five hundred elite soldiers out through the pass and rode hard. The locations on the map were indeed extremely hidden — without the map, finding them would have been impossible.

When they arrived and observed carefully, the number of guards seemed manageable, and the defenses were genuinely lax.

Dou Weicheng threw caution to the wind and charged the cavalry straight in. And the Black Wu truly had no defenses prepared whatsoever.

Over five hundred men swept into the camp — no lingering, only fire.

In moments, the camp was a roaring inferno.

When Dou Weicheng and his men came bursting back out, they spotted in the distance a small cavalry unit riding toward them with torches.

At its head was the Blood Butcher’s military advisor, Xiao Ting.

Xiao Ting looked at Dou Weicheng and said, “General, do you believe us now?”

Dou Weicheng said, “If the other two Black Wu camps can truly be burned as well, I will stake my life on vouching for you before our lord.”

Xiao Ting gave a nod. “Then we have a deal. I’ll give you the second map. Send men back now to bring more troops east — the largest of the three Black Wu camps is in that direction. You’ll need greater numbers.”

He pointed west. “The third Black Wu camp is over there. I can lead you there personally. If we move quickly, all three camps can be burning before dawn.”

Dou Weicheng nodded at once. “We’ll do it your way.”

He had Master Ye take men back to summon reinforcements for the second location, while he led his five hundred light cavalry with Xiao Ting to the third.

Master Ye’s heart remained uneasy. He left some of his best fighters with Dou Weicheng and personally led the party back to bring up troops.

And so — defeat.

Dou Weicheng was led by Xiao Ting straight into a Black Wu ambush. His five hundred elite light cavalrymen were killed to the last. Only a handful of Tingwei Bureau fighters managed to escape by a hair’s breadth.

Master Ye led his force to the second location following the map and was ambushed by the Black Wu as well. Of the column of over two thousand men, nine in ten were killed or wounded.

At dawn.

Atop a high rise.

Xu Suqing stood looking down at the Ning army’s dead below. He smiled, turned his head, and looked at Ye Fuzhi. “Well?”

Ye Fuzhi also smiled and clapped his hands together.

“This stratagem of Han Wang’s was truly marvelous.”

Xu Suqing smiled proudly. “As I said — the Black Wu Khan granted me a title of king. He will not regret it.”

Xu Suqing declared with satisfaction: “In this place, no one can be a match for the Blood Butcher.”

Ye Fuzhi watched him gloat, and Ye Fuzhi himself felt rather pleased as well.

—