Dantai Yajing stared at the man in front of him with an expression of helpless resignation — this uncle who had claimed that Yanzhou had ten thousand roads and he alone knew half of them.

He clung to a sliver of hope and asked: “Our direction should at least be correct?”

Nie Hongfu nodded, with an air of full confidence: “The direction is definitely right. We’ve been heading northeast the whole time.”

Dantai Yajing: “…”

Nie Hongfu knew this was hard to justify no matter how he spun it, so he grinned sheepishly and said: “In fact, we probably haven’t gone too far wrong. General, give me a moment to climb up and have another look — maybe I’ll spot a familiar peak…”

Dantai Yajing said: “I’ll ask, if I may — when you say a familiar peak, how do you identify one?”

Nie Hongfu said: “That’s where the general lacks experience. You’ve never lived deep among these mountains, so you don’t understand how to tell them apart. Those of us who’ve spent our whole lives in the mountains have our own ways of recognizing each peak.”

Dantai Yajing humbly asked: “And what method might that be?”

Nie Hongfu answered with full sincerity: “By height.”

This answer sent a chill straight through Dantai Yajing — the whole world seemed to turn unfriendly all at once.

Nie Hongfu could see from Dantai Yajing’s expression that he wasn’t being believed, and so began to explain himself.

“General, you may doubt how high my martial skill is, or how deep my learning goes — but when it comes to a mountain man’s knowledge of mountains, you cannot doubt that.”

Dantai Yajing thought about it, and in truth this was a reasonable point.

A man like Nie Hongfu — yes, he’d never read a book or learned his letters. But that didn’t mean he lacked practical knowledge of living. A mountain man who didn’t understand the mountains couldn’t really be called a mountain man.

So he nodded: “Brother Nie, I believe you.”

He pointed up the slope: “Why don’t you go up and have another look?”

Nie Hongfu nodded, turned, and set off briskly uphill. His footing was remarkably sure — for a man like him, climbing a mountain was as easy as walking on flat ground.

Before long, Nie Hongfu had reached the high point and was standing there, scanning the horizon.

Nie Xiaodi sat nearby on a rock, swinging his legs, talking half to himself: “Who knows what our father thinks he’s going to see up there — it’s not like we know these mountains.”

Nie Datian said: “Stop talking nonsense. Is our father worse than you?”

Nie Xiaodi said: “I’m not saying he’s worse than me. I mean — what if our father forgot that he’s never actually been to this part of the mountains?”

Nie Datian: “Pah! Do you think Father is an idiot?”

Then Nie Hongfu came scrambling back down at a hurried clip, breathless, and planted himself in front of Dantai Yajing: “Bad news. I just remembered that I’ve never actually been to this area. I have absolutely no idea where we are. Height comparison is useless.”

Nie Xiaodi: “See?”

Nie Datian: “…”

Dantai Yajing said: “Never mind — let’s just find a local and ask for directions.”

Nie Hongfu said: “I’ll go. I could see what looked like some houses over that way just now. Asking locals for directions — that’s something we’re good at.”

Watching Nie Hongfu trot away, Tingwei Army commander Zaoyunjian gave a quiet sigh: “We can’t tell the Commander about this when we get back.”

Dantai Yajing asked: “Why not?”

Zaoyunjian said: “Needing to find a guide for our guide — if the Commander finds out about this, he’ll be laughing at us for three years.”

Yu Hongyi, standing nearby, said thoughtfully: “Three years might be a bit optimistic. It depends on whether the Commander ever forgets. If he never does, I’d say he’ll be laughing at us for the rest of our lives.”

Dantai Yajing nodded: “So not a word of this gets out to anyone!”

Zaoyunjian and Yu Hongyi exchanged a look, and both nodded: “Right. Not a word.”

Nie Xiaodi had been sitting there for a while on his rock, and the cold stone was apparently getting to his stomach — a series of rumbling sounds began to come from somewhere inside him.

“I need to go relieve myself.”

He hopped off the rock and ran off into the forest in the distance.

Nie Datian called after him: “Watch yourself — there might be bears in there.”

Nie Xiaodi called back as he ran: “Those things are no match for me.”

And then he plunged headfirst into the trees.

Dantai Yajing and Zaoyunjian and the others were in the middle of a discussion. Nie Datian stood there with nothing to do and found her gaze drifting back to Dantai Yajing’s horse. She was truly taken with it. In her eyes, this was the gold standard of horses — long legs, broad haunches, gloriously powerful at full gallop.

Suddenly a shout came from Nie Xiaodi in the forest — he sounded like he’d run into something. Nie Datian startled and swung around, sprinting toward the trees.

She was still running when shadows flashed overhead.

In the moment that Nie Datian blinked, Dantai Yajing and those two men called commanders had already swept past her.

The three of them moved in a way that made their robes billow like dark clouds — a sight that was, if anything, even more breathtaking than a great horse at full gallop.

The group charged into the forest and found Nie Xiaodi alone. Several men lay on the ground around him unable to move — clearly beaten unconscious. Another was pinned beneath Nie Xiaodi, who was sitting on the man’s back and cuffing him around the head at regular intervals.

“Scoundrels, shameless scoundrels — peeping on me while I’m doing my business!”

He hit and cursed at the same time, visibly furious.

Dantai Yajing and the others rushed to the scene and stood there for a moment, slightly dazed.

Nie Xiaodi looked up and saw them, and immediately filed his complaint: “These shameless creeps — I’m a man doing my business and they were spying on me. Utterly shameless.”

The man pinned beneath him shouted: “Rubbish! Who in the world was watching you? We were just passing through here!”

Dantai Yajing reached down and pulled Nie Xiaodi off the man, then looked those men over carefully — the way they were dressed and equipped.

They looked like ordinary civilians at first glance. But then Dantai Yajing noticed they were carrying weapons.

The weapons were bundled up in cloth, but Dantai Yajing was who he was — one glance and he knew something was off.

He went over and picked up one of the cloth-wrapped weapons, pulled the wrapping away — and his expression shifted.

“A Ning Army saber?”

He snapped his head around to look at those men: “Who are you people?!”

The moment those four words — Ning Army saber — hit the air, Zaoyunjian and Yu Hongyi both stepped forward simultaneously, their own blades clearing their scabbards.

The moment those two drew steel, the man who’d been on the receiving end of the beating looked at their weapons, then back at the one Dantai Yajing had picked up.

“The same kind? Then who are you?”

Less than half an hour later, Dantai Yajing had pieced together the whole story.

These men had been sent by Elder An of Mengguangu to seek reinforcements. They had been making their careful way southwest, and had come from the other side of the forest — their stomachs had also been bothering them, so they’d slipped into the trees to relieve themselves, and by sheer chance crossed paths with Nie Xiaodi.

If Nie Xiaodi had been a normal person, the two groups would have passed each other by. An ordinary person, seeing someone else out in the open answering the call of nature, would generally just look away.

Even an ordinary madman would probably just nod in acknowledgment: *Oh, same as me, are you?*

But Nie Xiaodi was not ordinary. He remained absolutely convinced that those men had been peeping at him.

It was also, in its own peculiar way, fate. If not for Nie Xiaodi, the two groups would have passed each other by on opposite sides of those trees without ever knowing.

“How long have you been out?”

Dantai Yajing asked.

The man rubbed his battered head and answered: “We’ve been out nearly ten days. No idea what it’s like back home by now.”

Dantai Yajing turned and gave the order: “Give them horses. We move for Mengguangu immediately!”

The man froze: “You… with this few people, going there won’t accomplish anything. You need to get reinforcements from Dragon Head Pass as fast as possible. When we left, several thousand enemy troops were already besieging Mengguangu — and that was ten days ago. The main Shanhai Army force has likely arrived by now.”

Dantai Yajing nodded: “I know. I’ll send two men back to request aid. Your job is simply to lead us back to Mengguangu.”

The man thought: *Well, it’s the only option left.* Having the Ning Army send men back to request help was still going to carry far more weight than these villagers going themselves.

So he agreed to guide Dantai Yajing’s group and prepared to depart. At that moment, Nie Hongfu came back into view — with some dog from someone’s yard in hot pursuit behind him, chasing him at full tilt.

Nie Xiaodi watched in exasperation and shouted: “Father, just squat down! Pretend you’re picking up a brick! The dog will back off!”

Nie Hongfu ran and shouted at the same time: “Stop talking, just help me!”

The group surged forward, made a show of force, and the dog — seeing it was badly outnumbered — thought better of it, turned, and retreated. It ran a few paces, then barked back at them twice over its shoulder, as though it had come out the victor.

“Father, how can you be so hopeless!”

Nie Xiaodi said: “You taught me that one yourself — squat down and pretend to pick up a brick, and the dog gets scared.”

Nie Hongfu spun around and pointed at his own backside: “Obviously, if I hadn’t squatted down to pretend to pick up a brick, would it have bitten me in the rear end?”

Fortunately, his padded winter trousers were thick enough. The dog had torn a hole in them and the cotton stuffing was showing through — white fluff poking out — but upon a quick check in a private moment, the backside itself had not actually been broken skin.

Dantai Yajing said: “Brother Nie, we’ve found someone who knows the way. You and your family can head back to your village and wait for us now.”

He gave the order: “Portion out enough rations for them to make the return journey, and arm them in case of trouble on the road.”

Then he looked to Nie Datian: “I haven’t forgotten what I promised you, Miss Nie. But you’ll have to wait until I get back before I can give you my horse — this time I need it for combat. Here’s what I’ll do: the three horses you’ve been riding, consider those yours as advance compensation.”

Nie Datian shook her head: “No.”

Dantai Yajing sighed: “That horse and I have built up a rapport. In battle—”

Before he could finish, Nie Datian said: “I’m not talking about the horse. I’m talking about people. My father made a promise — to get you where you’re going. A promise is a promise. Our father has always said: if a person can’t even do that much, they’re no good person.”

One of the men from Mengguangu blinked, then looked her up and down carefully: “Miss, are you from Mengguangu?”

Nie Datian looked him over, top to bottom, and shook her head: “Definitely not. You’re far too ugly to have any connection to me.”

That man: “…”

Dantai Yajing said: “Mengguangu has several thousand enemy troops surrounding it right now. It could be more than that by this point — possibly tens of thousands from the Shanhai Army. It’s too dangerous for you to come with us…”

Nie Datian waved a hand: “None of that matters. We said we’d see you there, so we’re seeing you there — everything else is beside the point.”

Her father opened his mouth as if to say something. Nie Datian turned: “You be quiet.”

Nie Hongfu: “I didn’t even open my mouth.”

Nie Xiaodi tugged at his father’s sleeve and said quietly: “I think my sister has ulterior motives.”

Nie Hongfu suddenly understood. He took a look at the general — formidable, imposing, with the bearing of a true hero and the clean good looks to match — and thought: *It wouldn’t be the strangest thing in the world if my daughter had taken a liking to a man like this.*

A man like General Dantai would naturally attract a girl’s admiration. Perfectly normal — though his own daughter was a bit… less than normal.

The only question was whether the general could find it in himself to fancy her back. His daughter had many fine qualities, truly — only one flaw.

She was a bit dim.

He smiled, turned to his son, and said: “I didn’t think you’d noticed.”

Nie Xiaodi nodded, lowering his voice further: “I could tell at a glance. My sister being so eager to tag along — she’s after his stick.”

Nie Hongfu: “…”

—