After Zhuang Wudi finished speaking, Li Diudiu nodded but said nothing more. He’d seen at a glance that Yu Chaozong’s state was off, and could roughly piece together what must have happened.
Sometimes, the gap that talent creates simply cannot be bridged.
While Yu Jiuling and the others were still exchanging pleasantries with Yu Chaozong, Li Diudiu had already run through all the possible problems in the stronghold and then considered the risks and merits of going up the mountain right now.
If Yu Chaozong’s personal safety couldn’t even be guaranteed, he would need to think clearly about what dangers his master and the others might face once inside the stronghold — and ideally, avoid facing those dangers at all.
“Master.”
Li Diudiu turned and gave Changmei a tug: “Weren’t you heading to Qianlie County? How about this — you and Master Yan go to Qianlie County, and Jiuling and I will go up with First-in-Command to take a look. We can’t let the task fall behind, can we?”
Changmei heard this and knew immediately something was wrong. He gave Yu Chaozong a slightly embarrassed smile and said: “First-in-Command, let me have a few words with my disciple — a few things to pass on.”
Yu Chaozong could hardly object, and smiled with a nod.
Changmei pulled Li Diudiu aside and asked: “Are you sensing the stronghold isn’t safe, so you want me and Master Yan to leave first?”
Li Diudiu nodded: “Elder Brother Yu seems to have some trouble on his hands. Going up the mountain right now really could mean running into danger.”
Changmei counseled: “If you feel there might be danger, why not all leave together? If you insist on going, he can’t force you to stay.”
“I have to go up.”
Li Diudiu smiled slightly: “He came down the mountain — he must have things to say to me. And if I want to form a bond with this person, coming to him in his moment of triumph is very different from coming when he needs help. Master, this is something I should do. Some things are dangerous — but not doing them means losing the opportunity.”
He had no need to pretend in front of Changmei.
“But what if you run into danger?”
Changmei asked with concern.
“It won’t come to that. Trust my martial skill, and trust Jiuling’s abilities too. We’ll watch each other’s backs — nothing will go wrong. And isn’t Elder Brother Zhuang there as well?”
Li Diudiu smiled: “You go ahead. The vast mountain of spring flowers is mine to tend.”
Changmei gave Li Diudiu a fierce glare, then nodded: “Then we’ll wait for you in Qianlie County. Today doesn’t count — one day, then another, and on the third day you come down the mountain. You’ll make it to Qianlie County before dark. If you haven’t come by then, Master Yan and I will come looking for you.”
Li Diudiu said: “Rest easy. Nothing will happen.”
With that settled, Changmei spoke privately with Master Yan as well. Then the two of them went to make their apologies to Yu Chaozong, citing urgent business at the academy requiring them to go to Qianlie County, and that they were unable to stay and go up the mountain together.
Yu Chaozong offered to send an escort. Master Yan considered it and agreed. So the two set off from Yanshan, with a company of horsemen as escort, and headed toward Qianlie County. Li Diudiu and Yu Jiuling followed Yu Chaozong up Yanshan.
The magnificent tiger was hauled up the mountain as well. Once inside the camp, Yu Chaozong sang Li Diudiu’s praises to all, calling him a rare young hero and the like.
Yu Chaozong’s men took the tiger away to be skinned, and it wasn’t long before the hide had been stripped clean.
Two men stretched the tiger hide open and the crowd pressed forward to look.
Zhuang Wudi looked it over for a while, then said: “If you took this hide out to sell, any buyer with a discerning eye could tell at once — whoever hunted this tiger must have come from a wealthy household.”
Li Diudiu: “Ahem…”
Yu Jiuling went red in the face.
That tiger hide looked exactly like a window-paper after being pelted by hail — riddled with holes from end to end. The three of them had emptied their quivers, and the holes in the hide were so numerous that it genuinely did resemble a torn paper window.
To sell this hide, one would first have to convince the buyer that the tiger hadn’t been shot to death, but had somehow died of mange.
Yu Jiuling was just about to make a joke about mange when he swept his eyes across the chiefs of the stronghold — roughly half of them had a concerning shortage of hair on their heads — and he swallowed the joke back down.
As for the tiger hide itself, not a single one of that gathered band of heroes could figure out what on earth to say about it.
After a long silence, Fourth-in-Command Wu Xionqi offered: “What remarkable archery.”
“Yes, yes, remarkable archery!”
The whole crowd immediately chimed in.
Second-in-Command Bi Datong stood to one side, carefully sizing up Li Diudiu. He thought to himself — so this was the one who had saved Yu Chaozong. If not for him, Yu Chaozong would already be dead a year ago, and Yanshan Camp would have been his, Bi Datong’s, to command long since.
Yu Chaozong hadn’t said outright that Li Diudiu was his lifesaver, but anyone who’d come down the mountain with Old Seven and been treated with such courtesy — even a hint of respect — by Yu Chaozong, and who was clearly so young, could only be that person.
So Bi Datong fixed the young man’s appearance firmly in his mind and thought to himself: if I can’t dispose of you in the next couple of days, I’ll dispose of you later all the same.
He was still turning this over when he noticed Li Diudiu glancing in his direction a few times. He looked back — and yet Li Diudiu’s gaze did not seem to actually be on him. Still, he had the persistent sense that this person was observing him too.
Coming up the mountain, Li Diudiu had said he couldn’t let his real name be known, so when Yu Chaozong introduced him to the others, he used the name Li Diudiu liked best.
Li Dui.
“Brother Li.”
Bi Datong walked over with a broad smile: “To hunt a fierce tiger — that kind of ability, you won’t find anyone like it in all of Yanshan Camp. Truly a young hero.”
Li Diudiu cupped his hands in return: “Second-in-Command flatters me.”
Bi Datong paused, then smiled: “Big Brother hasn’t introduced us yet — how did you know I am Yanshan Camp’s Second-in-Command?”
Li Diudiu answered: “One look at Second-in-Command’s distinguished bearing, and one can tell.”
What he also wanted to say was that the cold menace threaded through with a touch of wretchedness, the wretchedness laced with two parts ugliness, the ugliness compounded by three parts affectation — with that appearance, you’d have to be blind not to see the wickedness. But he kept that to himself.
Zhuang Wudi came to Li Diudiu’s rescue: “Second Brother, what you don’t know is that Li Dui is a disciple of Changmei Zhenren. Changmei Zhenren is a truly remarkable Daoist immortal, one who can discern right from wrong and perceive what is to come.”
“Oh!”
Bi Datong put on a look of surprise and immediately turned to Li Diudiu: “In that case, Brother Li, can you read physiognomy? Read mine, if you would.”
Li Diudiu shook his head: “My master’s abilities are things I have failed to acquire even one of. Second-in-Command, I’m truly sorry — I really cannot do it.”
Bi Datong said with mock regret: “What a pity. I really do want to know what my face says about my fate.”
“Great wealth and high rank!”
Li Diudiu said immediately: “Even without the skill, I can see that much — great wealth and high rank, without a doubt.”
“Ha ha ha ha…”
Bi Datong laughed so hard he nearly doubled over, thinking to himself that this young man was a crafty little fox.
Li Diudiu also laughed hard enough to nearly double over, thinking to himself that this old scoundrel was a great old fox — and a male one at that.
Before long a feast was set in the great gathering hall, and they truly did stew up a pot of tiger meat and bring it out. No one had ever eaten tiger before, so everyone was curious to taste it.
Bi Datong said cheerfully: “Brother Li coming up the mountain to join our Big Brother after slaying a tiger — when word gets out, it’ll be a source of great pride. The common people will say that every man in Yanshan Camp is a true hero.”
The only word that mattered in all of that was the word: join.
Yu Chaozong said: “Brother Li hasn’t come to join me. Brother Li works within the Blue-Robed Array in Jizhou City and is a man trusted by the Military Governor. Coming to our stronghold would only be a step down for him.”
What Yu Chaozong said also carried more than one meaning.
Sure enough, upon hearing these words, Bi Datong’s expression shifted slightly. He thought to himself: could it be that Yu Chaozong has also privately been in contact with Prince Yu’s side? If so, would Yu Chaozong negotiate with Prince Yu to have him, Bi Datong, eliminated before agreeing to join?
In just that brief moment, Bi Datong’s mind had already cycled through countless thoughts.
“Is that so — a truly outstanding young talent!”
Bi Datong immediately raised his cup: “I drink to Brother Li.”
Li Diudiu rose at once: “Thank you, Second-in-Command. I’m no great man in the Military Governor’s employ — just someone who runs errands. If Second-in-Command ever comes to Jizhou City, the big decisions are beyond me, but eating, drinking, and enjoying ourselves — come find me and I’ll make sure it’s all well arranged.”
“Ha ha ha ha…”
Bi Datong laughed: “I’ll have to trouble Brother Li for that when the time comes.”
These two men clinked cups and drank with broad smiles, each harboring their own schemes.
Li Diudiu of course had to go along with what Yu Chaozong said. He had already observed, from where each person had chosen to sit, something of everyone’s allegiances. People always unconsciously reveal who they’re close to — and sometimes they deliberately show who they’re close to. Unconscious and deliberate, if you pay close attention, the two can be distinguished. Most people just don’t bother with the details.
For example, Fourth-in-Command Wu Xionqi — just moments ago he had been moving toward Bi Datong’s side of the table, about to pull out a chair, when he seemed to catch himself, and while no one was looking, slipped over to the other side of Yu Chaozong and pointedly took a seat directly across from Bi Datong.
And then there was the rest of the group — most of them had seated themselves on Bi Datong’s side.
Li Diudiu thought to himself: Elder Brother Yu, your Yanshan Camp is already looking like it’s nearly not your Yanshan Camp anymore.
The banquet went on. Li Diudiu pretended he couldn’t hold his liquor, and after seven or eight bowls began to sway and wobble. Yu Jiuling’s performance was somewhat overblown — he first boasted he could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, then after five bowls collapsed face-down and didn’t move.
Bi Datong, seeing Li Diudiu already thoroughly drunk, glanced at the peregrine falcon perched on the back of Li Diudiu’s chair and smiled: “Brother Li, that bird of yours is well raised.”
He reached out to pet the dog. The dog cocked its head and immediately struck with its beak. Bi Datong yanked his hand back just in time.
Li Diudiu was so drunk he looked nearly gone, and mumbled indistinctly: “Don’t go provoking animals. Provoke an animal and it’ll bite — bite the owner, bite kin and brothers too…”
He said this and then collapsed over the table and didn’t move, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Yu Chaozong called men to help Li Diudiu and Yu Jiuling back to the guest quarters. The dog flew out the door, and the moment the divine eagle sensed the wings, it stood up. The dog landed on the divine eagle’s back, and the divine eagle carried it, grunting and grumbling, following behind Li Diudiu all the way.
Today as always it grunts and grumbles; on its back, you’re as aloof as ever.
This sight left Yanshan Camp’s people utterly dumbfounded — they thought to themselves, Brother Li truly is a remarkable figure.
Once back on Yu Chaozong’s side, the moment the door closed, Li Diudiu and Yu Jiuling were both completely lucid. Yu Chaozong saw the two of them like this and knew — this person had already sized up seven or eight tenths of what was happening in the stronghold. Nothing could be hidden.
“Elder Brother Yu.”
Li Diudiu said: “If there’s anything in the stronghold you need us brothers for, just say the word.”
Yu Chaozong let out a long sigh: “You must find this laughable.”
Zhuang Wudi instructed someone to close the door and keep watch outside, then lowered his voice and said: “Big Brother, Li Chi is not an outsider. Say what you need to say.”
Yu Chaozong opened his mouth, and then sighed again.
—