Li Chi asked, somewhat curiously: “So — are your throwing knives actually any good?”

Senior brother Jia Ruan said: “Good — absolutely good. We’ll put on a hundred-man throwing knife performance for the Carefree King, and I refuse to believe he won’t be completely won over.”

Yu Jiuling said: “Then I don’t really have much to do with any of this. The brothers of the Blade-Hangmen can handle it all — a hundred-man knife throw, grand in scale, awe-inspiring just to imagine. I’m thoroughly impressed.”

“No.”

Tang Pidi placed his hands on Yu Jiuling’s shoulders and said earnestly: “Without you, we absolutely cannot win over the Carefree King.”

Yu Jiuling felt that this, too, was a pit.

He asked: “What exactly do you want me to do?”

Tang Pidi said: “A hundred-man throwing knife performance is certainly spectacular — but it lacks any real element of danger or thrill. Seen too many times, it becomes dull. But if a hundred men are throwing their knives at *you*…”

With a whoosh, Yu Jiuling was already several zhang away.

Li Chi went to consult with Lady Xiahou. Ultimately, the decision had to rest with his godmother — if she preferred not to get involved in more complications, there was no need to make this detour. The elderly lady might not care for excitement.

Lady Xiahou listened to Li Chi and then smiled. “It depends on what Ning’er and Yuli want,” she said. “If the two of them want to go, I’ll come along and see what the fuss is about.”

Xiahou Yili said immediately: “I want to go.”

Gao Xining said: “Then let’s go have a look.”

Xiahou Yili genuinely wanted to see the excitement. On her return journey she had passed through this area without ever knowing such a hidden kingdom existed. Even Lady Xiahou, passing this way when she left Yunyin Mountain, had heard nothing of it.

Gao Xining, for her part, said *let’s go* because she knew perfectly well that Li Chi had something in mind.

So Li Chi went to work things out with Old Luo, the troupe’s leader. Old Luo agreed at once. He said the place was well-hidden — no one who hadn’t been there before could find it on their own. So he would have Li Chi’s group follow behind his troupe, and once they arrived, they would say they were all one group, all coming to celebrate the Carefree King’s birthday.

The column set off once more, advancing toward the unknown Carefree Kingdom.

In truth, Li Chi was not simply curious about what the Carefree Kingdom looked like or where the Carefree King’s silver came from. His main purpose in making this journey had been to recruit people, and if the Dong people had preserved their old customs, this visit might well yield something.

On the road, Li Chi and Tang Pidi discussed the Dong people. Tang Pidi said: “Different lands have different customs, and so different regions produce different kinds of soldiers. In the western regions, you face countless small kingdoms that, even in alliance, are loosely organized — so heavy armor is the right instrument, to awe them with discipline and an unbreakable line against light cavalry.”

“In the southern reaches there are many minority peoples, like the Dong — they live in jungle terrain, scaling and leaping like gibbons, skilled in concealment and ambush. To awe people like that, you’d need a force equally fierce and equally nimble — savage as wolves when the killing starts, fluid as apes when moving. That would intimidate the south.”

“In the north, the Black Wu have failed to break through, and that owes a great deal to Youzhou’s Luo Geng. Luo Geng knows how to fight the Black Wu — which is why he built that force of absolutely formidable heavy armored cavalry.”

Tang Pidi added: “I’ve never been to the Eastern Reaches, so I have no sense of how the people there fight — I couldn’t say what would work there.”

Li Chi said: “So as you describe them, these Dong people are natural-born soldiers — wolves and apes both.”

Tang Pidi nodded. “So once we’re there, we can take a closer look. If we can recruit people, that would be even more valuable than gold.”

Li Chi said: “Why say it that way? Both people *and* gold would be better still.”

Tang Pidi: “…”

Li Chi said: “I can never stand people who treat money like it’s nothing.”

Tang Pidi sighed. “Did I force you into becoming such a mercenary? Scheming for money day after day, every single day.”

Li Chi said: “Don’t blame yourself. I was like this before. I just never imagined I’d need to scrape together quite this much.”

Tang Pidi burst out laughing. He liked Li Chi’s personality — he only had to tell Li Chi what needed doing and what to stay out of, and Li Chi would give everything to make it happen and truly wouldn’t interfere where he wasn’t supposed to.

The column traveled through this scenery-like landscape for about five days. Ahead, a river blocked their path. The river was at least a hundred zhang wide, its current fierce. There was no bridge, no boat — there was no way to cross.

The river’s source was a waterfall pouring off a cliff face just beyond. The torrent cascaded down as though formed of countless packed swords. One look at the force of it and you felt that stepping under it for even a moment would strip the flesh from your bones.

“The road lies behind the waterfall.”

Old Luo pointed at the waterfall. “Last time, we discovered it by chance. At the time we were hiding from the fighting — we had slipped into the Nairan Grassland cautiously, since the herders didn’t allow Chu people to enter, and we’d made our way through with great care before coming out the other side of the Great Western Mountains.”

“After reaching this side, we thought since we were already hiding from the rebel forces, we might as well wander the mountains for a while. We walked here, and some of my people were curious and went to look behind the waterfall — and found a passage. Keep going, and it leads into the Carefree Kingdom’s territory.”

After finishing, he led the way forward. The carts were impassable here, and horses could barely manage — so Li Chi’s group discussed the matter and decided to leave a hundred crack soldiers behind to guard their position and serve as a backup in case they needed to retreat.

They would take only the Blade-Hangmen into the Carefree Kingdom. The Blade-Hangmen didn’t carry themselves with the sharp, frigid air that soldiers had — they would be more easily accepted.

The matter settled, the main column set up camp here. They had ample dried rations, and water was plentiful, so there was no great cause for concern.

Li Chi’s group brought along signal flares that could be launched into the sky. If they ran into trouble, the signal could go up and the people outside should be able to spot it.

They edged their way behind the waterfall with great caution, the fierce current roaring before them, the cliff wall at their backs, picking their way forward step by step. It took roughly two quarters of an hour for all hundred-odd people to make it through.

Beyond the waterfall they found a canyon — completely hidden behind the curtain of water. You would never spot it from the other side.

To call it a canyon was almost overstating it — it was more of a slightly widened crack, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. On either side the rock faces rose as though cut clean by a blade. Looking straight up from the gap, you could see only a narrow strip of sky like a white thread.

Li Chi figured the signal flares would be useless here. The soldiers waiting outside would never see them.

The passage was hard going. It took a full shichen to make it through. But when they emerged on the other side, the world opened wide — a vast valley, wild flowers blooming in every direction, as though they had walked into a painting.

Xiahou Yili, taking in this scenery, had to admit that it could almost compare with Yunyin Mountain. Yet the way she said it made it clear — even a place this supremely beautiful, a scene like an immortal realm, still fell just slightly short.

“No guards?”

Tang Pidi looked around. The valley floor was carpeted with wildflowers. Bees and butterflies were everywhere. Birdsong rang clear and pure as bell-chimes, echoing through the empty valley.

Not a single soldier stood watch. It was as though no one was the least bit concerned about intruders.

Old Luo said: “The people here have no conflict, no fighting whatsoever — not even arguments. They live in great comfort. A little further on is a wide plain ringed by mountains, several hundred li across, with rich fields — completely self-sufficient.”

He smiled. “And the Carefree King, though he rules this place, is enormously beloved by his people. Apparently every generation of Carefree Kings has most enjoyed distributing money to his subjects…”

Li Chi and Tang Pidi looked at each other. Tang Pidi’s eyes said: *look at you and your greedy little sparkling stare.*

They walked for another half a shichen or so before they finally encountered people from the Carefree Kingdom — soldiers. These men stood at a junction in the path. Some were drinking tea in a covered pavilion, some chatting. Others were playing chess. One was reading a book. They were a group of remarkably refined, fat men…

All fat. Not one of them was thin. Even the leanest among them could probably have contained one and a half Yu Jiulings inside.

Their uniforms were rather interesting — all loose, billowing long robes. None of them appeared to be carrying weapons, though if you were willing to count each man’s umbrella as a weapon, then perhaps.

The one who appeared to be the commander — a large, fat man — spotted Old Luo and immediately broke into a grin. “Old Luo, I knew you’d be back this year.”

He showed no wariness whatsoever. He looked at Old Luo the way you’d look at an old friend you hadn’t seen in ages, his smile open and warm and genuine.

He lumbered over and looked Old Luo up and down with a sigh. “Is life still that hard out there? Look how thin you all are — skin and bones, every one of you. I say you should just stay. All of you. Stay here.”

Old Luo exchanged a few pleasantries with him, then introduced Li Chi’s group.

Old Luo said: “Commander Shan, this is my friend — a man of great ability. He’s come especially to wish the Carefree King a happy birthday.”

The large, fat man addressed as Commander Shan came over and gave Li Chi a full embrace. Li Chi had the sensation that he might suffocate in the breadth and depth of that generous chest.

Commander Shan said: “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Come — I’ll take you to eat first, then have someone escort you into the city.”

Li Chi had expected a simple meal — after all, these were soldiers, and soldiers made do. He had not expected them to have a dedicated chef…

Not quite half a li ahead was an open clearing where a number of wooden pavilions had been built. There were only about twenty or so soldiers garrisoning this stretch, yet there were six chefs and twelve apprentices to assist them.

When those chefs saw Li Chi’s group arrive, they looked as though they had spotted precious treasure. Their eyes lit up, every one of them.

Seeing how surprised Li Chi’s group looked, Old Luo explained: “Day after day these chefs do nothing but cook for the soldiers guarding this valley. The soldiers have grown picky from being spoiled. When we arrived last time, we were genuinely famished — we ate every last thing they put in front of us, and those chefs were as happy as children.”

Li Chi looked at Tang Pidi. Tang Pidi nodded and said quietly: “This is a pure land.”

Li Chi turned to the others. “Everyone treat the people here with the utmost respect. No causing trouble. And don’t bring the habits of the outside world in here.”

Then he said to Tang Pidi: “I’ve already more or less stopped thinking about where their silver comes from. Everything here has nothing to do with us.”

Tang Pidi nodded. “Let’s just call it a visit.”

The chefs welcomed Old Luo and the others and bade them sit. They busied themselves with what was clearly work they genuinely enjoyed — no sign of tedium, no sign of burden. Though when you thought about it, eighteen people cooking for twenty was not exactly grueling labor.

About a shichen later, the tables in the wooden pavilions were covered end to end with dishes. The eighteen chefs and apprentices stood watching Li Chi’s group, their expressions full of anticipation.

What they seemed to want to say, but couldn’t quite bring themselves to, was: *eat, eat, please eat, eat all of it, please finish everything.*

Yu Jiuling reached out and tried a bite. His eyes lit up.

“It’s delicious!”

With Yu Jiuling’s verdict, everyone reached for their chopsticks.

The chefs watched Li Chi’s group eat, and every one of their faces said: *yes, yes, exactly like that, that’s what our cooking deserves, that’s our long-suffering culinary artistry finally finding its rightful audience.*

And Commander Shan and the other soldiers watched Li Chi’s group with expressions of pure sympathy. *These poor thin people*, they seemed to be thinking. *You’re getting emotional over this? You poor things.*

—