This battle drove back yet another Heiwu assault. The defenders on the wall now regarded Li Chi with complete and wholehearted admiration. Li Chi’s name spread for the first time among such a large crowd of people, and before long, the several thousand men gathered throughout the pass all knew the name Li Chi.
Before today, Li Chi hadn’t thought about revealing his real name. But the moment he had found his purpose, he also understood he needed to start building a reputation. The people around him all said he was a prodigy, especially Yu Jiuling, who always felt that somewhere in Li Chi’s body lived an ancient demon who had been cultivating for thousands of years.
What else could explain how he could read people so well? How he could see through any situation so clearly?
“I’ve already dispatched scouts.”
After coming down from the wall, Li Chi went to find Xiahou Zuo, and that was the first thing he said.
Xiahou Zuo looked at him and asked, “To see whether Prince Wu’s army is on its way?”
Li Chi smiled. “How do you always guess right on the first try?”
Xiahou Zuo said, “You’re thinking that once Prince Wu’s army arrives, you all have to leave immediately. First, Prince Wu has contempt for wandering martial artists and an even deeper hatred for rebels — before he turns to deal with the Heiwu forces, he might well move to arrest every one of these volunteers first. Second, even if he doesn’t go that far, you’ll all end up used as cannon fodder — he’ll put you right at the front.”
Li Chi nodded. “The moment Prince Wu arrives, we have to go.”
After a brief silence, Xiahou Zuo asked Li Chi, “Have you already decided to join Yanshan Camp and seek out Yu Chaozong?”
Li Chi was caught off guard. He gave an awkward little laugh but didn’t answer directly.
Li Chi had a pair of eyes that could see into people’s hearts. Xiahou Zuo had a pair of eyes that could see into Li Chi’s heart. It was as though Li Chi’s every move and thought were utterly transparent to him, with nowhere to hide.
“Look at that embarrassed grin on your face.”
Xiahou Zuo exhaled a long breath. He knew there were things he couldn’t force. Even if he had laid out a bright and sunlit road for Li Chi, that road wasn’t necessarily free of dangers. His own background gave him clearer sight than most into the people of so-called high society. No matter how talented and outstanding Li Chi was, in those people’s eyes he would always be a chess piece — and a chess piece that slipped beyond their control could always be discarded.
“You actually think more carefully about everything than anyone else. And you know better than anyone whether the choice you’re making is good or bad for you.”
Xiahou Zuo said, “Everyone has their own aspirations, and none are alike. I want only to guard the frontier. If I cannot bring peace to the Central Plains, then I will do my utmost to keep the Central Plains from being ravaged by foreign enemies — that is my ambition. And your ambition is to restore prosperity and strength to the Central Plains… Little One, I’ll say just one thing to you: no matter who you choose as your starting point, choose carefully. Yu Chaozong doesn’t strike me as someone destined for great things.”
Li Chi nodded. “I know Yu Chaozong has many faults. His temperament tends toward indecision. But compared to anyone else in Jizhou, he’s still the best choice.”
Xiahou Zuo gave a helpless laugh. “Honestly, my original plan was to bring you to the frontier. Yes, you’d be fighting the Heiwu forces day in and day out, but at least there’d be far less scheming and treachery — and you wouldn’t have to spend every day afraid of being killed by your own people. At the very least, if you weren’t willing to come to the frontier, I thought you might go to my father’s side. With your talents, honor and wealth would have been yours. But you… you don’t know how to scheme. You tend to be reactive — you wait for others to come at you before you strike back. The people under my father’s wing are all veteran foxes. If they ever truly decided you were worth their serious attention and started scheming against you in earnest, you might not even get the chance to fight back.”
He stood and walked over to Li Chi, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Still the same thing: since you’ve chosen Yu Chaozong, then go. But don’t be naive and pour your whole heart out to him right away. You just said Yu Chaozong has a somewhat soft character — but that softness may well be a disguise he puts on. Don’t trust people too easily. A man who appears weak on the surface can also be cold and calculating underneath.”
Li Chi thought carefully about those words, then nodded. “I understand.”
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and then both broke into wide, slightly foolish grins.
“Prince Wu will definitely come.”
Xiahou Zuo said, “I know why you announced your real name today. You need to start building a reputation. At the very least, when you eventually raise Li Chi’s banner, some people will come to you because of it.”
Li Chi grinned sheepishly. “And you guessed that right on the first try too.”
Xiahou Zuo gave him a sideways look. “Hopeless…”
Then he said, “I already sent people out yesterday. The moment they spot any sign of Prince Wu’s army, they’ll report back immediately. I was thinking ahead for you.”
Li Chi nodded again, bobbing his head enthusiastically.
Xiahou Zuo reached out and ruffled Li Chi’s hair. “You’ve grown up.”
Li Chi broke into a laugh.
That night, the Heiwu forces launched another fierce assault on the pass. But this time the Chu forces were fully prepared. The fighting was brutal and lasted a full two hours. The Heiwu soldiers even scaled the wall at one point, and the two sides fell into close-quarters combat — but in the end the Chu forces pushed them back.
By the time dawn came, they could finally see clearly the carpet of bodies spread across the ground outside the city.
Xinzhou Pass.
Yu Chaozong was on the wall inspecting the defenses when a trusted aide came running over and lowered his voice to say, “Big Brother, the second-in-command is on his way up. Last night he held a private meeting with a few of the other leaders that went on for quite a while. It looks like he may be planning to head back to Yanshan Camp early.”
Yu Chaozong nodded. “Understood.”
Not long after, four Yanshan Camp soldiers carried a stretcher up to the wall. Bi Datong lay on it, looking thoroughly mortified, and said to Yu Chaozong in a tone full of contrition, “Big Brother, look at this worthless body of mine. Barely got here and I’m already having trouble with the local water and food. Was up all last night with the runs. Today I can barely walk.”
Yu Chaozong looked at him with genuine concern. “If you’re unwell, you shouldn’t be up here. The defense is in my hands. Go and rest — I’ll have the physician pay you a visit.”
“Big Brother… I just don’t want to be a burden to you. To everyone.”
Bi Datong’s expression grew even more pained, his voice full of misery. “Maybe it would be best if I went back to the camp first. I hear Prince Wu’s army will be arriving near Daizhou before long. If he decides to attack our Yanshan Camp while everyone’s here, I should be there to prepare — otherwise we might not even have a home to go back to.”
Yu Chaozong thought it over with genuine care and then said, “That makes sense. Go ahead and return. I’ll have the physician accompany you on the road so there’s someone to look after you.”
A flash of joy crossed Bi Datong’s eyes and vanished instantly. He thought: *once I get back, he’ll never be able to get through those mountain gates again.*
He was just opening his mouth to speak when Yu Chaozong said, with an expression of some difficulty, “But we need more soldiers to hold the defenses here. If you’re leaving, you should leave your unit behind. There are more than enough troops guarding the camp already. Hand your men over under your command.”
Bi Datong’s expression shifted immediately. He hadn’t expected Yu Chaozong to ask for his soldiers.
“Big Brother, those men in the camp are all from the third and fourth leaders’ factions. I can’t get them to listen to me.”
Yu Chaozong said, “You are the second-in-command. Who would dare not listen to you? If anyone refuses orders, you can deal with them according to camp rules — no need to consult me. If they won’t listen, give them a beating. If they still won’t listen, take a few heads. That’ll keep them in line.”
Yu Chaozong waved his hand. “That’s settled. Take your personal guard unit and go home. Help me hold the camp while I finish dealing with the Heiwu forces, and when I return, we’ll celebrate together.”
Bi Datong’s mind turned frantically. If he went back without his troops, and Yu Chaozong threw his soldiers at the Heiwu forces, wouldn’t he end up burning through his entire unit?
But then again — the majority of the camp’s people were loyal to him at heart. Of the thirty thousand soldiers who had come to Xinzhou Pass, half were his and half were Yu Chaozong’s. Back in camp there were still over forty thousand fighters, and his people among them wouldn’t be so easily won over by Yu Chaozong. So the balance still held.
And he was also afraid of making Yu Chaozong suspicious. So he nodded. “Big Brother is right. A great battle needs enough strength behind it. I’ll leave my soldiers here for Big Brother. I’ll take just my personal guard and head home.”
Yu Chaozong said, “Go in peace. Guard the camp well.”
Bi Datong said a few more apologetic words, then had himself carried down off the wall. His personal guard numbered over a thousand men, all capable fighters, who escorted him out of Xinzhou Pass and headed back toward Yanshan.
On the road, Bi Datong dropped the pretense entirely. He sat in the carriage working out his plans: get back, open the storehouses, take everything Yu Chaozong had been squirreling away, reset the defenses, and then even if Yu Chaozong grew wings, he’d never fly back into Yanshan Camp.
“Commander.”
The physician climbed into the carriage from outside, holding a bowl of medicine. “Should you drink some of this?”
This physician was also one of Bi Datong’s own people. It was precisely because Yu Chaozong and the others had never trusted this physician that they had gone all the way to Qianlie County to find someone on their own side to treat injuries.
Bi Datong waved his hand. “Leave it. Just for appearances. Yu Chaozong sent you along with me — he almost certainly doesn’t trust you.”
The physician nodded. “He really doesn’t trust me, Commander. For the past year or more, he hasn’t let me prescribe a single remedy.”
Bi Datong grunted and said, “No matter. We don’t have to keep performing anymore. When we get back, no more pretending.”
The physician smiled. “Playing a role in front of Yu Chaozong was genuinely exhausting. I always felt like he could see right through me.”
He glanced back at the carriage door and said, “Yu Chaozong won’t send people after us, will he?”
Bi Datong shook his head. “If he had the guts to kill me, he’d have done it long before now. The man is all high-minded talk and nothing behind it — cautious about everything, second-guessing himself at every turn.”
He turned toward the carriage door and called out, “Zhou Sheng, come in here.”
Zhou Sheng was the commander of Bi Datong’s personal guard. He stepped in and asked, “What’s your order, Commander?”
Bi Datong said, “The physician’s worried Yu Chaozong will send men to kill us. Do you think Yu Chaozong has that kind of nerve?”
Zhou Sheng laughed loudly. “If Yu Chaozong wants to kill the Commander, he’ll have to go through me first.”
Bi Datong roared with laughter. “Loyal to the core. You’ll be one of the leaders when we get back.”
Zhou Sheng said, “But he already has.”
“What?”
Bi Datong froze.
The physician suddenly raised his hand, lifted the bowl, and threw the medicine in Bi Datong’s face. The liquid seared his skin with a hiss, sending wisps of smoke curling up from his cheeks. Zhou Sheng drew his blade and drove it into Bi Datong’s heart, working it back and forth several times.
Zhou Sheng said, “I’m sorry, Commander. You’ve been working to buy the loyalty of people close to Big Brother Yu for a long time. But what you didn’t know — we’ve been Big Brother’s people all along.”
The physician said, “Big Brother made a show of not trusting me. In the end, he still managed to fool you.”
He held Bi Datong’s body down while Zhou Sheng stabbed again and again.
Moments later, Bi Datong went still.
Zhou Sheng exchanged a glance with the physician. The physician stepped out of the carriage first and announced to those outside, “The second-in-command is unwell. No one is to disturb him!”
—