After watching Cheng Wujie kill Ekema, Dantai Yajing—who had been standing some distance away—lowered the bow and arrows in his hands.
Though at first, the one he had taken aim at had actually been Cheng Wujie. He’d only realized his mistake when things became clearer.
This was also the first time in half a year that Dantai Yajing had seen Cheng Wujie—which was why in that moment just before, he too had failed to recognize him.
Over half a year, Cheng Wujie had lost half his body weight. The once richly plump man of over two hundred jin had slimmed to barely a hundred and twenty or thirty jin.
That made him look lean and tall, with a large frame.
If Cheng Wujie hadn’t shouted when he made his move, Dantai Yajing couldn’t have guessed it was him.
He handed the bow and arrows to an attendant beside him, then stepped forward.
Cheng Wujie had let out a great cry toward the sky—and then crouched down and sobbed, wailing like a child.
He sat crouched right beside Ekema’s body, crying with abandon.
Dantai Yajing walked to a spot not far from Cheng Wujie and stopped. He didn’t go to interrupt him—only stood quietly, waiting.
He couldn’t feel what Cheng Wujie felt, but he understood it must be an extraordinarily painful weight to carry.
Cheng Wujie cried for a good while before turning to look at the food that had scattered across the ground.
The Liangzhou Army soldiers hadn’t left either—they stood to the side watching.
Seeing that Cheng Wujie had stopped crying, one of the Liangzhou Army soldiers walked over and returned the military identification tablet to Cheng Wujie.
This tablet was one Cheng Wujie had asked Dantai Yajing for before he slipped away without a word.
After learning that Li Chi had attacked Five Peaks Mountain—annihilating the rebel forces but failing to capture Ekema—he had set his mind firmly on finding the man himself.
He spent a month recovering from his injuries, then went to Dantai Yajing and asked for a military identification tablet.
No one in the world knew Cheng Wujie better than Xiao Liu, Xiao Jiu, and Ekema. And no one knew Ekema better than Cheng Wujie.
He guessed that Ekema would never flee far. Ekema was not someone who gave up easily.
He concluded that Ekema would deliberately stay in the northwest—because Ekema would reason that the closer you remained, the safer you actually were.
And in the northwest, where was the safest place to hide?
Naturally, within the ranks of the Liangzhou Army.
Of course this hadn’t been something Cheng Wujie figured out straight away—it was an insight that came to him only after months of searching.
The military identification tablet Dantai Yajing had given him was a Liangzhou Army tablet. That was why the Liangzhou Army soldiers had held back from acting.
He had originally wanted the tablet simply for ease of travel through the northwest—he hadn’t anticipated actually needing it in front of Liangzhou Army soldiers.
“Back when there were four of us—we’d fight over a mouthful of food.”
Cheng Wujie turned back to look at the stall owner: “Make four portions for me.”
The owner had been frightened half to death, but didn’t dare leave. He hurried to make four portions.
Cheng Wujie sat cross-legged on the ground. Three portions were placed in front of him; one was placed beside Ekema’s body.
“This one’s on me.”
Cheng Wujie said this to Ekema’s body.
Then he breathed deeply several times, trying his best to force a smile. He looked down at the tattooed portraits on his chest.
“The three of us are eating.”
He sat there and ate, in great mouthfuls—eating through all three portions.
When he finished and stood, he happened to see Dantai Yajing standing not far away. He smiled: “Have you eaten?”
Dantai Yajing shook his head: “Do you have enough left to buy one more portion for me?”
Cheng Wujie shook his head: “Honestly, I don’t have enough for even those four.”
The owner stepped forward hurriedly: “There’s no need, no need—consider it my treat.”
Cheng Wujie said: “That won’t do.”
He opened his enormous pack and took out an iron hammer from inside, then looked back at the owner: “Can I settle the bill with this?”
Dantai Yajing let out a quiet sigh: “You really are being a little… insulting to me.”
Cheng Wujie stared blankly for a moment—then caught on, and burst out laughing: “Then you pay my bill, and when I get back and next payday comes, I’ll treat you.”
Dantai Yajing nodded: “You’d better mean that. If you forget, I’ll have the King Ning settle it on my behalf—and knowing the King Ning’s nature, by then you’ll probably end up having to treat him as well.”
Because of that line, Cheng Wujie laughed again.
—
Another month and a half passed. Jizhou.
Li Chi sat at the window reading, going through the books and journals his mentor Li the Elder had left him. He had turned every one of these books over countless times by now.
Yet every time he read them, he felt he could find new insight.
He always thought: Li the Elder must have been an immortal descended from the heavens, here to guide him.
If Li the Elder knew he was thinking this, his reaction would probably be: *Rubbish—if I were an immortal, I’d have left ages ago.*
Just then, Tang Pidi and Luo Jing came in together from outside. The moment they entered the courtyard, Luo Jing called out: “Hey you—we’ve come to mooch a meal!”
Li Chi looked out the window and shook his head: “Why do you always insist on attempting such difficult things?”
Tang Pidi let out a soft laugh.
Getting a free meal from Li Chi—that was truly no easy accomplishment.
Luo Jing stepped inside, and Li Chi immediately gave him a sidelong look: “Why are you still here? You’ve been freeloading in Jizhou for seven or eight months already—how can your skin be this thick.”
Luo Jing glanced back at him: “If I were really thick-skinned like you are, I’d have gone back to Youzhou already—why would I stay here and let you take shots at me?”
He sat down across from Li Chi and looked at him: “I’m definitely not going back to Youzhou. First—I’d have no face to look the people of Youzhou in the eye. I’d be too embarrassed. Second—if I actually went back, the next time I saw you I’d feel ashamed of myself.”
He smiled: “This way is so much better. I stay in Jizhou mooching food and drink every day—no guilt at all. Perfect.”
Li Chi sighed: “A perfectly fine person, choosing to stay here—look at you now. You’re starting to look like me.”
Luo Jing laughed so hard tears nearly came to his eyes.
Luo Jing said: “These past seven or eight months, I’ve probably mooched two rounds of free food from every place in Jizhou City worth mooching from—except you. You are extraordinarily stingy.”
He said in all seriousness: “Today, if you don’t treat me, I am not leaving.”
Li Chi looked at Tang Pidi: “You’re just his accomplice in this?”
Tang Pidi shook his head: “You and I are not the same kind of people. I would never stoop to coming here just to mooch a meal from you.”
He also said, with complete earnestness: “He’s mooching his—I’m mooching mine. Two entirely separate matters.”
Luo Jing: “Forthright!”
Tang Pidi: “Once this one is successfully mooched, that’s his. Once the next one is mooched, that’s mine.”
Luo Jing: “Upstanding!”
Li Chi sighed: “You two have just had too much free time lately… How about I send you both off to go fight somebody?”
Tang Pidi said: “Someone should record this for posterity—the King Ning, unwilling to treat Luo Jing and Tang Pidi to a meal, dispatched the two of them to campaign and take territory.”
Luo Jing said: “And on account of this, Tang Pidi and Luo Jing took many cities—yet no one believed it when told that the Ning Army’s reason for going to war was that the King Ning was too stingy.”
Li Chi said: “The two of you talking like this—why do I find it all so invigorating?”
He smiled: “Fine—tell me what you want to eat. Once we’ve eaten, I’ll have some military business arranged for you two.”
“Whatever you’re serving.”
Luo Jing said: “So long as you’re the one treating.”
Li Chi said: “Come on then—let’s go, today I’ll just throw caution to the wind and treat you.”
Just as they were talking, Dantai Yajing and Cheng Wujie came walking in from outside.
Cheng Wujie came in smiling broadly, calling out as he walked: “King Ning—Old Cheng is back! Made some silver on the way here too, and came specially to treat you to drinks!”
Li Chi said: “See, this is awkward now—in that case, let’s go ahead and eat on Old Cheng’s tab.”
Luo Jing looked at Tang Pidi. Tang Pidi shook his head slowly with a sigh: “Heaven’s will.”
At the meal, Luo Jing heard that Cheng Wujie had taken his revenge. His heart eased.
He had already known about Cheng Wujie’s circumstances before this, and had considerable admiration for the man.
So he raised his cup and said: “This cup I raise to you. And truly, this meal ought to be on us to treat you.”
Cheng Wujie looked at Li Chi—his expression meaning: *isn’t that a bit much.*
Li Chi sent back a look meaning: *what’s a bit much about it.* Then he smiled and said: “Then put it on their tab.”
Cheng Wujie: “Works for me!”
Tang Pidi tilted his head back to look at the ceiling: “I didn’t say that. That was his.”
Luo Jing: “I… what?”
Half an hour later, the four men’s conversation had shifted from idle chat to matters of military affairs.
Luo Jing said: “The old man and I talked it over for a while before coming to find you… It’s been another year of rest and recovery now. Troops are strong, grain is plentiful. Time to advance.”
Li Chi smiled and asked: “And who’ve you two talked yourselves into going to make trouble for?”
Luo Jing said: “Old Tang’s recommendation is the superior strategy: march on Anyang. Scouts have brought back word—that old villain Yang Jiju has moved south. The great bandit of Jiangnan, Li Xionghu, is on the verge of breaking into Jingzhou. The old villain can’t sit still in Anyang anymore.”
Li Chi gave a nod.
Luo Jing continued: “The middle strategy: attack Qingzhou. The area is full of petty kings—dozens of them, big and small—fighting among themselves. They’ve been at it for over a year, their forces are scattered, there’s no unity between them. A good time to march in and take it.”
Li Chi gave another nod.
Luo Jing said: “The lesser strategy: march on Yanzhou… Right now in Yanzhou, the White Mountain Army can’t leave Shelu City, which means all the other rebel factions are fighting each other over the territory—Yanzhou is fragmented. We could also move there.”
Li Chi thought it over. These three strategies—superior, middle, and lesser—were ones he had already considered himself.
The reason attacking nearby Yanzhou was the lesser strategy, despite being closest, was that the value of taking it simply wasn’t great enough.
Capturing Yanzhou would still require splitting forces to garrison it—more trouble than it was worth.
With the Ning Army’s current strength, only one region could be targeted at a time.
If after taking Yanzhou the forces had to remain and hold the most northeastern stretch of territory, there would be no strength left for a southward push.
As for the middle strategy—Qingzhou—even though it was said to be Dachu’s granary, these past years of various rebel armies tearing it apart had left it anything but. It too was a land of corpses and famine.
The advantage, however, was that Qingzhou was fertile land that also bordered the Eastern Sea. Once Qingzhou was secured, with careful development, the Ning Army could build up its strength quickly.
“With Yang Jiju moving south, he’ll be locked in a standoff with Li Xionghu at the border between Yangzhou and Jingzhou—difficult to free himself.”
Tang Pidi looked at Li Chi and said: “Marching on Anyang when spring comes next year—that’s the best window.”
Li Chi said: “Then we attack Anyang.”
Luo Jing suddenly stood up, straightened his clothing, stepped back two paces, and pressed his fists together in a formal salute toward Li Chi: “I request the role of vanguard.”
Li Chi startled: “You…”
Luo Jing said: “I am someone who accepts the consequences of a bet. What happened with Old Tang all those months ago—I haven’t forgotten.”
“Since I lost the bet, I’ll honor it. From this day forward, I, Luo Jing, serve under you, Li Chi. No complaints.”
Li Chi sighed: “You…”
Luo Jing said: “No need to be moved.”
Li Chi said: “No—what I mean is, you’re just going to make this decision this casually? You’re planning to stay here mooching meals off me forever?”
Luo Jing: “…”
Cheng Wujie said: “If General Luo is to be vanguard, I am willing to serve as the vanguard of the vanguard—I’d be glad to serve under General Luo’s command.”
Li Chi said: “Now I’ve lost another one too? Luo Jing, you’ve settled down here and won’t leave—eating my food and drinking my drink every day—and now even my own man wants to go be your subordinate.”
Luo Jing asked Tang Pidi: “Not a very convincing performance, right?”
Tang Pidi nodded: “Mm. Too stiff. And from the tone alone, you can already hear the joy underneath.”
Li Chi said: “You could hear the joy underneath?”
He looked at Luo Jing: “Want me to laugh so you can hear it properly? Ha ha ha ha—this kind of getting something good and then pretending otherwise—now *that* is genuinely delightful, ha ha ha ha ha…”
Luo Jing sighed: “Maybe I should just rebel.”
Cheng Wujie burst out laughing too.
And he suddenly realized: working under the King Ning was actually a truly delightful thing to do.
……
……
Chapter 609: I’m Delighted
Half a year passed.
By the calendar, it was now deep autumn in the tenth month in Jizhou—harvest season.
The weather could be called pleasant, though a last lingering trace of summer warmth remained. Those laboring in the fields to bring in the harvest still sweated through their work.
But the weariness of harvest was nothing beside its joy.
Liangzhou City.
Here, the tenth month had already turned quite cold. Situated at the far northwestern frontier of Dachu, the city had welcomed its first snowfall at the very start of the month.
Fortunately, Liangzhou City’s supply reserves were ample—especially since receiving support from Jizhou two years prior, there had been even less to worry about.
The soldiers guarding this frontier had nothing weighing on their minds, so their spirits were considerably better.
There were many street foods here that you couldn’t find in Jizhou City. They looked extraordinarily tempting—the smell alone was enough to make your mouth water.
Along the roadside, no shortage of vendors sold hot cooked food: stuffed tripe, lamb offal, steaming hot in their pots, ready to eat the moment you bought them.
A squad leader led his dozen or so Liangzhou Army soldiers to a lamb offal stall by the road.
They sat down in a circle. The squad leader smiled and said: “Pay day was yesterday—today, this meal is on me.”
They had been on duty through the night—more than ten men who’d endured a cold night watch with empty stomachs.
With hot meat sitting right in front of them, several stomachs were already growling.
The squad leader was a capable-looking man, appearing to be around thirty, with a thick beard, his bearing carrying a certain natural authority.
Then again, those who’d been stationed at this frontier long enough developed a look of age regardless. Men in their twenties could look like thirty-year-olds—skin rough and cracked and weathered.
The stall owner saw that several soldiers had come and hurried to serve them.
First, a bowl of piping-hot lamb broth for each person—no charge, complimentary.
The broth went down, warmth spreading through the belly, and the body began to thaw out quickly.
“Owner, your broth is excellent.”
The squad leader smiled: “Keep it coming—we’ll eat our fill and I’ll settle up when we’re done.”
The people running businesses in Liangzhou City all had a soft spot for the Liangzhou Army. Without the Liangzhou Army, who knew whether the Western Region fighters would have already cut through long ago.
The Liangzhou Army was a pillar holding up the sky in the northwest—to the common people, they were guardian protectors.
The owner smiled in that honest, unassuming way, not particularly articulate, but that clean uncomplicated smile was more than enough.
The soldiers chattered about the news from a few days back—apparently the young general had returned, and the great general had been overjoyed.
The rumor said the young general had come back to investigate something, to hunt someone down. They suspected this person had made his way to Liangzhou.
The squad leader sighed: “I haven’t seen the young general yet myself, but they say his martial skill is second to none. For someone like that to come personally in pursuit—just thinking about how formidable that target must be.”
Just as they were talking, a man with an enormous pack on his back sat down at the stall.
He took a table to himself. His face was dark from weathering, and he had pulled his neck scarf up fairly high—perhaps to keep out the wind and sand.
He was tall, lean in a way that made his frame seem even larger. He sat down and called out to the owner: “Bring some food—I’m hungry.”
The Liangzhou Army squad leader looked at him. The accent was off—this man didn’t sound local to Liangzhou. From his clothing, he’d clearly been travelling hard and long, with no telling how far he’d come.
“Where are you from?”
The squad leader asked.
It seemed to be the natural wariness of someone in their line of work. This lone traveler had something unsettling about him.
The man smiled: “I’m from the Central Plains, sir.”
The squad leader made a sound in his throat: “The Central Plains is a big place. Whereabouts in the Central Plains?”
He turned to look at the man, and behind his back made a subtle hand signal. The other Liangzhou Army soldiers quietly took their weapons in hand.
The man smiled and said: “A small county town—not far, actually. You’d know it, sir… it’s in Dongguo County.”
The squad leader’s brow furrowed.
“Dongguo County?”
Behind the squad leader, a Liangzhou Army soldier stood up and took a sheet of paper from inside his jacket.
He looked at the paper, then looked at the man, then bent to the squad leader’s ear and said in a low voice: “The fugitive the young general has come back to track—he’s from Dongguo County. His name is Ekema.”
The squad leader made a small sound of acknowledgment, a glint of killing intent passing through his eyes.
“Come back to camp with us.”
The squad leader rose.
The man smiled: “Go back to your camp with you? I’d wager you don’t quite dare that. You’d kill me halfway there and say I’d resisted arrest.”
He pulled the scarf down from his neck to reveal a face that looked as though it had weathered many storms. Scraggly beard, lips a little dry and cracked—and because he was so lean, his cheekbones seemed to jut out.
The squad leader’s hand moved toward the long blade on the table. His eyes had filled with killing intent. He could see that this man’s eyes had filled with it too.
“You don’t recognize me anymore, do you.”
The man said with a kind of pride: “I’ve been chasing you for half a year and lost at least a hundred jin. You can’t recognize me—that’s fair.”
He looked at the squad leader: “You shouldn’t be unfamiliar with Dongguo County.”
He reached into his chest and took something out, held it up briefly for the soldiers to see—their expressions shifted to confusion.
He tossed the object to one of the soldiers—it was a military identification tablet—then looked back at the squad leader.
Staring him dead in the eyes.
“Let me tell you a story… In Dongguo County, there were four orphans who grew up depending on one another. One of them was Ekema.”
His gaze swept across the Liangzhou Army soldiers.
“The name sounds familiar, doesn’t it? That’s right—it’s the very fugitive you were just mentioning.”
“This person was a good brother. When they were small, he’d often get his head beaten bloody trying to protect the others.”
“One day, he said he was leaving the village. He told the other three: I’m going to make something of myself. When I’ve risen to the top, I’ll come back for you—let you all live well.”
“He said: you three are the only people I care about in this life. I won’t forget you. Don’t forget me.”
“Later, they met again, by such coincidence. But Ekema—worried those three would ruin his future—laid hands on all three of them. Killed two. The third was lucky enough to survive.”
As he spoke, the man opened his coat. In that cold weather, he bared his chest—and on his chest was a scar the length of a forearm.
“Not unfamiliar, is it.”
The man looked at the squad leader: “Half a year. I’ve been chasing you for half a year. You’re genuinely remarkable—you managed to hide inside the Liangzhou Army itself, and make it to squad leader. If I hadn’t found you, in another couple of years you’d probably be a unit commander, a company officer, then a general someday. I knew it back when we trained together—that you’re the kind of person who doesn’t find it hard to become a general.”
He removed his upper garment, bare-chested in the cold.
Where the fat had once been, there was nothing left. The entire front of his torso was covered in tattoos.
They were portraits. Two of them.
The moment the squad leader saw those two tattooed portraits, his body swayed—instinctively stepping backward, knocking the table over.
He shouted: “Seize this man! He is the fugitive Ekema!”
The man rose too, rolling his shoulders.
“When we trained together, I could never beat you. I asked Master Xuanyuan—is someone like me never going to be able to defeat someone like you? Master Xuanyuan said: in a competition, you will never beat him. In a fight to the death, the outcome cannot be known.”
He looked into Ekema’s eyes: “At the time I told Master Xuanyuan—he and I, we’ll never have a fight to the death. He’s my brother. I may not be as good as he is—I accept that.”
Then, suddenly, he slammed both fists onto the table with full force.
With a thundering crash, the table shattered into pieces.
In the moment his fists fell, he let out a roar: “Come and fight!”
In that instant, the muscles of his arms surged.
On both arms, there were tattoos. On his left arm was tattooed *Liu the Sixth*—Great General. On his right arm was tattooed *Jiu the Ninth*—Great General.
Cheng Wujie’s eyes had gone blood red as he stared at Ekema: “I alone may not be able to kill you—but the three of us, here today, will kill you!”
Ekema tore his long blade free: “You refuse to leave me in peace!”
This slash carried the force of cleaving a mountain—directed straight at Cheng Wujie’s neck.
Cheng Wujie did not dodge at all. Instead, he strode forward, and sent his left fist driving toward Ekema’s throat.
If Ekema held his course, this slash would certainly kill Cheng Wujie—but Cheng Wujie’s fist landing on his throat would likewise mean certain death for him.
Ekema knew exactly how terrifying the force in Cheng Wujie’s left fist could be.
Cheng Wujie was unafraid of death. Ekema was.
So the blade momentum pulled back, his elbow dropping to drive into Cheng Wujie’s arm.
His elbow struck Cheng Wujie’s arm—by every expectation, that blow should have driven it down and aside.
But Cheng Wujie’s arm only shifted slightly—and the fist still drove through.
Ekema’s face went white with shock. He drove off his rear foot and stepped back, sweeping the long blade outward again.
This time Cheng Wujie dropped into a crouch to avoid it, then exploded upward as he rose, pushing off the ground with both feet.
Left fist again—driving straight at Ekema’s throat.
Ekema shifted to one side to evade, then gripped the blade with both hands and brought it down in a chopping arc toward Cheng Wujie’s left arm.
“I’ll cripple your left arm—what then?!”
Screaming as the blade fell like a bolt of lightning.
Cheng Wujie surged forward with full force—still no dodge.
His shoulder drove upward, crashing into Ekema’s arms, using the force of his shoulder to jar the blade off its path.
Ekema’s knee drove up, slamming into Cheng Wujie’s abdomen. Cheng Wujie let out a muffled grunt.
“You will never beat me!”
Ekema pulled the blade handle back and struck it hard against the back of Cheng Wujie’s skull.
Cheng Wujie pitched forward. The moment he hit the ground he rolled—Ekema’s long blade drove into the ground exactly where he’d been, gouging a white gash in the stone.
With a ringing clang, sparks flew from the flagstones.
Cheng Wujie came back to his feet. He shook his head once, and his left hand threw another fist toward Ekema’s throat.
Ekema’s fury was genuine now.
He dodged the left fist, then thrust the blade toward Cheng Wujie’s throat—a direct push, blade point leading. At this range and with this motion, it would take his head cleanly.
*Boom!*
In that instant, Cheng Wujie’s right fist crashed into Ekema’s temple.
The violence of that blow nearly took Ekema’s head from his shoulders.
The head didn’t go—but the man did.
Ekema went sideways through the air and hit the ground, eyes rolling back.
“Master Xuanyuan taught us—the real and the false are one and the same. What looks strong may not be. What looks weak may not be.”
Cheng Wujie stepped over and sat astride Ekema.
“This one is from Xiao Liu!”
*Boom!*
One fist—eye socket split open, eyeball burst.
“This one is from Xiao Jiu!”
*Boom!*
One fist—nasal bridge shattered, nose exploded.
“And these—are from both of them!”
Cheng Wujie laced his hands together, sitting astride Ekema, and drove them down onto Ekema’s face over and over like a tamping mallet—impact after impact after impact.
Ekema’s skull was driven down into the ground and bounced back up, driven down, bounced up…
The ground cracked.
*Pffh…*
The skull caved in. Blood and brain matter were driven outward with the impact.
Cheng Wujie rose, drawing in great heaving breaths.
“The King Ning said the matter of vengeance was not something he wanted to leave to me. He said you were once my brother—that when I took revenge, there would be no joy in my heart.”
Cheng Wujie charged forward once more, and drove his foot down on Ekema’s already-caved skull.
At that stomp, the skull fractured and scattered.
“I’m delighted!”
Cheng Wujie let out a roar that shook the sky.
—
# Chapter 610: Delighted
After watching Cheng Wujie kill Ekema, Dantai Yajing—who had been standing some distance away—lowered the bow and arrows in his hands.
Though at first, the one he had taken aim at had actually been Cheng Wujie. He’d only realized his mistake when things became clearer.
This was also the first time in half a year that Dantai Yajing had seen Cheng Wujie—which was why in that moment just before, he too had failed to recognize him.
Over half a year, Cheng Wujie had lost half his body weight. The once richly plump man of over two hundred jin had slimmed to barely a hundred and twenty or thirty jin.
That made him look lean and tall, with a large frame.
If Cheng Wujie hadn’t shouted when he made his move, Dantai Yajing couldn’t have guessed it was him.
He handed the bow and arrows to an attendant beside him, then stepped forward.
Cheng Wujie had let out a great cry toward the sky—and then crouched down and sobbed, wailing like a child.
He sat crouched right beside Ekema’s body, crying with abandon.
Dantai Yajing walked to a spot not far from Cheng Wujie and stopped. He didn’t go to interrupt him—only stood quietly, waiting.
He couldn’t feel what Cheng Wujie felt, but he understood it must be an extraordinarily painful weight to carry.
Cheng Wujie cried for a good while before turning to look at the food that had scattered across the ground.
The Liangzhou Army soldiers hadn’t left either—they stood to the side watching.
Seeing that Cheng Wujie had stopped crying, one of the Liangzhou Army soldiers walked over and returned the military identification tablet to Cheng Wujie.
This tablet was one Cheng Wujie had asked Dantai Yajing for before he slipped away without a word.
After learning that Li Chi had attacked Five Peaks Mountain—annihilating the rebel forces but failing to capture Ekema—he had set his mind firmly on finding the man himself.
He spent a month recovering from his injuries, then went to Dantai Yajing and asked for a military identification tablet.
No one in the world knew Cheng Wujie better than Xiao Liu, Xiao Jiu, and Ekema. And no one knew Ekema better than Cheng Wujie.
He guessed that Ekema would never flee far. Ekema was not someone who gave up easily.
He concluded that Ekema would deliberately stay in the northwest—because Ekema would reason that the closer you remained, the safer you actually were.
And in the northwest, where was the safest place to hide?
Naturally, within the ranks of the Liangzhou Army.
Of course this hadn’t been something Cheng Wujie figured out straight away—it was an insight that came to him only after months of searching.
The military identification tablet Dantai Yajing had given him was a Liangzhou Army tablet. That was why the Liangzhou Army soldiers had held back from acting.
He had originally wanted the tablet simply for ease of travel through the northwest—he hadn’t anticipated actually needing it in front of Liangzhou Army soldiers.
“Back when there were four of us—we’d fight over a mouthful of food.”
Cheng Wujie turned back to look at the stall owner: “Make four portions for me.”
The owner had been frightened half to death, but didn’t dare leave. He hurried to make four portions.
Cheng Wujie sat cross-legged on the ground. Three portions were placed in front of him; one was placed beside Ekema’s body.
“This one’s on me.”
Cheng Wujie said this to Ekema’s body.
Then he breathed deeply several times, trying his best to force a smile. He looked down at the tattooed portraits on his chest.
“The three of us are eating.”
He sat there and ate, in great mouthfuls—eating through all three portions.
When he finished and stood, he happened to see Dantai Yajing standing not far away. He smiled: “Have you eaten?”
Dantai Yajing shook his head: “Do you have enough left to buy one more portion for me?”
Cheng Wujie shook his head: “Honestly, I don’t have enough for even those four.”
The owner stepped forward hurriedly: “There’s no need, no need—consider it my treat.”
Cheng Wujie said: “That won’t do.”
He opened his enormous pack and took out an iron hammer from inside, then looked back at the owner: “Can I settle the bill with this?”
Dantai Yajing let out a quiet sigh: “You really are being a little… insulting to me.”
Cheng Wujie stared blankly for a moment—then caught on, and burst out laughing: “Then you pay my bill, and when I get back and next payday comes, I’ll treat you.”
Dantai Yajing nodded: “You’d better mean that. If you forget, I’ll have the King Ning settle it on my behalf—and knowing the King Ning’s nature, by then you’ll probably end up having to treat him as well.”
Because of that line, Cheng Wujie laughed again.
—
Another month and a half passed. Jizhou.
Li Chi sat at the window reading, going through the books and journals his mentor Li the Elder had left him. He had turned every one of these books over countless times by now.
Yet every time he read them, he felt he could find new insight.
He always thought: Li the Elder must have been an immortal descended from the heavens, here to guide him.
If Li the Elder knew he was thinking this, his reaction would probably be: *Rubbish—if I were an immortal, I’d have left ages ago.*
Just then, Tang Pidi and Luo Jing came in together from outside. The moment they entered the courtyard, Luo Jing called out: “Hey you—we’ve come to mooch a meal!”
Li Chi looked out the window and shook his head: “Why do you always insist on attempting such difficult things?”
Tang Pidi let out a soft laugh.
Getting a free meal from Li Chi—that was truly no easy accomplishment.
Luo Jing stepped inside, and Li Chi immediately gave him a sidelong look: “Why are you still here? You’ve been freeloading in Jizhou for seven or eight months already—how can your skin be this thick.”
Luo Jing glanced back at him: “If I were really thick-skinned like you are, I’d have gone back to Youzhou already—why would I stay here and let you take shots at me?”
He sat down across from Li Chi and looked at him: “I’m definitely not going back to Youzhou. First—I’d have no face to look the people of Youzhou in the eye. I’d be too embarrassed. Second—if I actually went back, the next time I saw you I’d feel ashamed of myself.”
He smiled: “This way is so much better. I stay in Jizhou mooching food and drink every day—no guilt at all. Perfect.”
Li Chi sighed: “A perfectly fine person, choosing to stay here—look at you now. You’re starting to look like me.”
Luo Jing laughed so hard tears nearly came to his eyes.
Luo Jing said: “These past seven or eight months, I’ve probably mooched two rounds of free food from every place in Jizhou City worth mooching from—except you. You are extraordinarily stingy.”
He said in all seriousness: “Today, if you don’t treat me, I am not leaving.”
Li Chi looked at Tang Pidi: “You’re just his accomplice in this?”
Tang Pidi shook his head: “You and I are not the same kind of people. I would never stoop to coming here just to mooch a meal from you.”
He also said, with complete earnestness: “He’s mooching his—I’m mooching mine. Two entirely separate matters.”
Luo Jing: “Forthright!”
Tang Pidi: “Once this one is successfully mooched, that’s his. Once the next one is mooched, that’s mine.”
Luo Jing: “Upstanding!”
Li Chi sighed: “You two have just had too much free time lately… How about I send you both off to go fight somebody?”
Tang Pidi said: “Someone should record this for posterity—the King Ning, unwilling to treat Luo Jing and Tang Pidi to a meal, dispatched the two of them to campaign and take territory.”
Luo Jing said: “And on account of this, Tang Pidi and Luo Jing took many cities—yet no one believed it when told that the Ning Army’s reason for going to war was that the King Ning was too stingy.”
Li Chi said: “The two of you talking like this—why do I find it all so invigorating?”
He smiled: “Fine—tell me what you want to eat. Once we’ve eaten, I’ll have some military business arranged for you two.”
“Whatever you’re serving.”
Luo Jing said: “So long as you’re the one treating.”
Li Chi said: “Come on then—let’s go, today I’ll just throw caution to the wind and treat you.”
Just as they were talking, Dantai Yajing and Cheng Wujie came walking in from outside.
Cheng Wujie came in smiling broadly, calling out as he walked: “King Ning—Old Cheng is back! Made some silver on the way here too, and came specially to treat you to drinks!”
Li Chi said: “See, this is awkward now—in that case, let’s go ahead and eat on Old Cheng’s tab.”
Luo Jing looked at Tang Pidi. Tang Pidi shook his head slowly with a sigh: “Heaven’s will.”
At the meal, Luo Jing heard that Cheng Wujie had taken his revenge. His heart eased.
He had already known about Cheng Wujie’s circumstances before this, and had considerable admiration for the man.
So he raised his cup and said: “This cup I raise to you. And truly, this meal ought to be on us to treat you.”
Cheng Wujie looked at Li Chi—his expression meaning: *isn’t that a bit much.*
Li Chi sent back a look meaning: *what’s a bit much about it.* Then he smiled and said: “Then put it on their tab.”
Cheng Wujie: “Works for me!”
Tang Pidi tilted his head back to look at the ceiling: “I didn’t say that. That was his.”
Luo Jing: “I… what?”
Half an hour later, the four men’s conversation had shifted from idle chat to matters of military affairs.
Luo Jing said: “The old man and I talked it over for a while before coming to find you… It’s been another year of rest and recovery now. Troops are strong, grain is plentiful. Time to advance.”
Li Chi smiled and asked: “And who’ve you two talked yourselves into going to make trouble for?”
Luo Jing said: “Old Tang’s recommendation is the superior strategy: march on Anyang. Scouts have brought back word—that old villain Yang Jiju has moved south. The great bandit of Jiangnan, Li Xionghu, is on the verge of breaking into Jingzhou. The old villain can’t sit still in Anyang anymore.”
Li Chi gave a nod.
Luo Jing continued: “The middle strategy: attack Qingzhou. The area is full of petty kings—dozens of them, big and small—fighting among themselves. They’ve been at it for over a year, their forces are scattered, there’s no unity between them. A good time to march in and take it.”
Li Chi gave another nod.
Luo Jing said: “The lesser strategy: march on Yanzhou… Right now in Yanzhou, the White Mountain Army can’t leave Shelu City, which means all the other rebel factions are fighting each other over the territory—Yanzhou is fragmented. We could also move there.”
Li Chi thought it over. These three strategies—superior, middle, and lesser—were ones he had already considered himself.
The reason attacking nearby Yanzhou was the lesser strategy, despite being closest, was that the value of taking it simply wasn’t great enough.
Capturing Yanzhou would still require splitting forces to garrison it—more trouble than it was worth.
With the Ning Army’s current strength, only one region could be targeted at a time.
If after taking Yanzhou the forces had to remain and hold the most northeastern stretch of territory, there would be no strength left for a southward push.
As for the middle strategy—Qingzhou—even though it was said to be Dachu’s granary, these past years of various rebel armies tearing it apart had left it anything but. It too was a land of corpses and famine.
The advantage, however, was that Qingzhou was fertile land that also bordered the Eastern Sea. Once Qingzhou was secured, with careful development, the Ning Army could build up its strength quickly.
“With Yang Jiju moving south, he’ll be locked in a standoff with Li Xionghu at the border between Yangzhou and Jingzhou—difficult to free himself.”
Tang Pidi looked at Li Chi and said: “Marching on Anyang when spring comes next year—that’s the best window.”
Li Chi said: “Then we attack Anyang.”
Luo Jing suddenly stood up, straightened his clothing, stepped back two paces, and pressed his fists together in a formal salute toward Li Chi: “I request the role of vanguard.”
Li Chi startled: “You…”
Luo Jing said: “I am someone who accepts the consequences of a bet. What happened with Old Tang all those months ago—I haven’t forgotten.”
“Since I lost the bet, I’ll honor it. From this day forward, I, Luo Jing, serve under you, Li Chi. No complaints.”
Li Chi sighed: “You…”
Luo Jing said: “No need to be moved.”
Li Chi said: “No—what I mean is, you’re just going to make this decision this casually? You’re planning to stay here mooching meals off me forever?”
Luo Jing: “…”
Cheng Wujie said: “If General Luo is to be vanguard, I am willing to serve as the vanguard of the vanguard—I’d be glad to serve under General Luo’s command.”
Li Chi said: “Now I’ve lost another one too? Luo Jing, you’ve settled down here and won’t leave—eating my food and drinking my drink every day—and now even my own man wants to go be your subordinate.”
Luo Jing asked Tang Pidi: “Not a very convincing performance, right?”
Tang Pidi nodded: “Mm. Too stiff. And from the tone alone, you can already hear the joy underneath.”
Li Chi said: “You could hear the joy underneath?”
He looked at Luo Jing: “Want me to laugh so you can hear it properly? Ha ha ha ha—this kind of getting something good and then pretending otherwise—now *that* is genuinely delightful, ha ha ha ha ha…”
Luo Jing sighed: “Maybe I should just rebel.”
Cheng Wujie burst out laughing too.
And he suddenly realized: working under the King Ning was actually a truly delightful thing to do.
……
……