Xuanzang gazed sorrowfully at the bottle. “I have never cared about winning or losing,” he said.
The David Bottle let out a cold laugh. “You began probing into my secrets back in Gaochang and followed me to Suye. May I ask, Master, what is your purpose?”
“In this world of Saha, where myriad things exist, whether gods or demons, all beings are under the Buddha’s gaze. What does it matter to me?” Xuanzang replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I am but a mortal, experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, and separation. Therefore, the suffering of all beings is what I cannot bear to witness. There was a child, my disciple, a Persian boy who accompanied his uncle to transport the David Bottle to Chang’an.
But at Moheyanqian, his uncle and kin were ambushed and killed. He was left alone in the Western Regions, and his greatest wish was to fulfill his family’s mission by delivering the David Bottle to Chang’an and then returning to bask in the sunlight of Persia. I promised him I would help him achieve this wish and bring him back to Persia.”
Xuanzang’s eyes shimmered with tears, his voice choked with emotion. “Yet, he perished in the flames of Tianshan, and I could not even find his ashes. Later, I discovered some charred remnants of his clothing in the fire, which I placed in a stone box. As a follower of the Fire Religion, he cherished cleanliness and would not allow his remains to pollute wood, iron, or anything in this world.”
As he spoke, Xuanzang took out a stone box from his robe and opened it, revealing a few tattered, charred pieces of fabric. He placed the stone box before the David Bottle. “He and I are both mortals, and our concerns are only for our loved ones in this world. I lost my mother at five and my father at ten. Now, at thirty, although I have taken refuge in the Buddha, I still wake up in tears at night, remembering my deceased loved ones.
This child, Ashu, is only ten years old, and his father is still waiting for his return to his hometown. He has expressed his desire to return to his father’s side, to hold his father’s hand and walk in the sunlight of Persia. Akamana, I pursue you as I pursue Ashu’s dream. For this child, I am willing to follow you to the ends of the earth. Unless you allow him to be resurrected and let me take him back to the sunlight of Persia.”
Xuanzang’s lengthy and slow speech was met with David Bottle’s patient silence, not interrupting him. After Xuanzang finished, the bottle fell into a long silence, and Xuanzang remained quiet as well. The two, one monk and one demon, seemed to silently gaze at each other.
“Master,” the David Bottle finally sighed heavily, “I understand your heart. A person cannot be resurrected. Even if I possess boundless power, I cannot bring a dead person back to life before you.”
“Is it truly impossible?” Xuanzang asked, a hint of regret in his voice as tears began to flow down his cheeks.
“Impossible,” the David Bottle firmly rejected Xuanzang’s plea, its tone tinged with sadness. “The sorrow and pain of all beings are not the greatest of deaths. Master, let me tell you a story from the Fire Religion! In the beginning, the universe was void, and nothing existed. Only the deity of time and space, Zervan, existed in solitude. Year after year, countless moments passed, and Zervan grew lonely. He said, ‘I wish to have a child.’ So he prayed in silence for a thousand years, yet no child was born. He began to doubt: Is this prayer even useful? Just as this thought crossed his mind, a pair of twin brothers were born from his womb. A thousand years of sincere expectation birthed Hormozd, while a moment of doubt gave rise to Ahriman…”
Inside the vast tent, stained with the blood of the previous night, the new Khagan of the Western Turks lay unconscious. A monk sat cross-legged beside the eerie David Bottle, listening to it recount a mysterious tale from a distant land. This scene suddenly made Xuanzang feel a bit dazed.
“Zervan wished, ‘I will entrust the world to the firstborn child, who will create heaven and earth.’ Ahriman tore open his father’s abdomen and leaped out, declaring, ‘I am your child; give the world to me!’ The child before him was pitch black, exuding a foul odor, with eyes gleaming with evil greed. Zervan was greatly displeased and said, ‘My child Hormozd should be the embodiment of light and fragrance. You, so black and foul, are not the child I have long awaited.’
“At that moment, Hormozd was born in light and fragrance, his brilliance and freshness filling the world with auspiciousness. Zervan smiled as he welcomed the arrival of this child. Ahriman insisted, ‘I am the firstborn; the world should be entrusted to me!’ Zervan replied, ‘Children, I will fulfill my promise and give the world to the firstborn Ahriman. However, Ahriman, you must know that your brother Hormozd’s power and wisdom surpass yours. Therefore, your reign over the world will last only nine thousand years. Once the time is up, Hormozd will replace you and rule the world forever.
“Zervan handed a bundle of green branches to Hormozd, saying, ‘My child, I have waited a thousand years for your birth, and now you must wait nine thousand years for me. This sacred green branch symbolizes power and majesty. Cherish it well and pray for the future!’ After saying this, he vanished into time and space, never to return.”
After finishing the story, the David Bottle fell silent again, seemingly lost in thought, before finally asking Xuanzang, “Master, do you know where the father’s most beloved child was during Ahriman’s nine thousand years of rule?”
Xuanzang shook his head.
“This is a story recorded in the Genesis of the Persian Fire Religion. In the tale, in the highest heavens, there exists a realm of light where Hormozd resides, waiting to descend to this world after nine thousand years. However, in the harsh reality, he, like me, is sealed in a small bottle, waiting for freedom after nine thousand years.” The David Bottle’s voice was mournful. “He is the father’s most beloved child, keeping his promise to his father, without struggle or resistance, forever silent in his seal, waiting for freedom after nine thousand years. Master, the greatest suffering in the world is not death, nor separation, but having your body and soul imprisoned in a small place, living a life of loneliness, darkness, fear, and solitude.”
Xuanzang recalled the incantation that Moheduo had recited and murmured, “My child, I have waited a thousand years for your birth, and now you must wait nine thousand years for me. Now that the eternal world has arrived, I will fulfill my promise. Come forth, my child; I will give you this world, allowing you to walk in the sunlight of Persia.” Xuanzang slowly recited the words and then asked, “So, is this the incantation to awaken you?”
“Master, what could be more alluring than freedom?” the David Bottle replied. “Thus, Master, I cannot resurrect Ashu.”
Tears filled Xuanzang’s eyes. “But I truly love that child. He is intelligent, brave, and kind-hearted; he is the noblest person in this world. I want to hold his hand, take him to the sunlight of Persia, and return him to his father.”
The David Bottle seemed to tremble, its surface swirling with smoke, radiating an unsettling energy, as if a force was struggling within. Xuanzang silently watched, tears streaming down his face.
At that moment, the David Bottle underwent a strange transformation. The patterns on its surface shifted and changed, and a crack appeared, silently splitting open. Amidst the swirling smoke, a fleshy mass rolled out of the bottle. After leaving the bottle, the mass slowly extended a hand, followed by a foot, and then a head and limbs emerged, forming a complete human figure, standing naked before Xuanzang.
“Master,” the figure said.
The person emerging from the bottle was none other than the long-deceased Ashu!
“Ashu,” Xuanzang trembled as he approached and embraced him, weeping uncontrollably.
Ashu quietly shed tears, gritting his teeth to suppress any sound. The two held each other for a long time before Xuanzang finally calmed down and carefully examined Ashu. His small frame and pale skin were striking; he stood about four feet tall, and Xuanzang wondered how he could fit into such a small bottle!
“Master, now you know the secret of the David Bottle, right?” Ashu wiped his tears and smiled. “I am the man in the bottle, a legacy of the Sasanian Persia for four hundred years!”
“The man in the bottle…” Xuanzang repeated, still in shock.
“Yes!” Ashu said, his voice filled with sorrow. “In Persia, there indeed exists a David Bottle that seals a demon. That is merely a story and a legend. After Ardashir I founded Sasanian Persia, he secretly summoned craftsmen and spent years creating this David Bottle to intimidate the nations. Do not be fooled by its small size; it is filled with mechanisms that can control black mist, spew flames, and even release blood, capable of killing invisibly with silver needles and poison.
However, its only flaw is that it cannot think like a true demon or converse with people. Ardashir I had a brilliant idea: he had a person skilled in yoga shrink their body and hide in the bottle to manipulate the mechanisms. Thus, a being comparable to a true demon emerged—the man in the bottle! For four hundred years, each generation of the man in the bottle has passed down this legacy.
They can fold their bodies like dough and hide in the bottle for months without eating or drinking, even without breathing. These individuals are the ultimate weapons of the Persian emperors, hiding in the bottles, impersonating demons, using the deepest desires of humanity to serve the emperor, eliminating disloyal ministers and generals, and enticing the people to pledge allegiance to the Sasanian Persia. Master, I am the current man in the bottle.”
“Could it be…” Xuanzang found it hard to believe. “Have you been hiding in the bottle all these months since being taken by Moheduo?”
“Not just these months,” Ashu’s smile was filled with sorrow. “Master, I am older than you; I am thirty-eight years old now. When I was eight, my father placed me in the bottle, and now it has been thirty years.”
Xuanzang was stunned by this series of revelations, examining Ashu from head to toe. “You… you are thirty-eight? Are you… a dwarf?”
“I was not originally a dwarf,” Ashu looked at his naked body and murmured. “But to fit in the bottle, my father used drugs to turn me into a dwarf.”
Xuanzang suddenly understood. Ever since he met Ashu at Moheyanqian, he had felt that the child was too mature and knowledgeable about the customs, politics, and military affairs of the Western Regions, as well as various languages and human relationships. At the time, he thought it was because the Sogdian people trained their children as businessmen from a young age. Now he realized that Ashu was already thirty-eight years old.
“Then your father is…” Xuanzang cautiously asked, “The previous man in the bottle?”
“No,” Ashu replied slowly. “He is the current Persian emperor, Khosrow II.”
“What?” Xuanzang was dumbfounded.
“Master,” Ashu smiled, tears slowly welling up in his eyes. “Forty years ago, my father, Khosrow II, murdered his father, Hormizd IV, to become the king of kings in Persia. He dared to stage a coup because the man in the bottle betrayed Hormizd IV and sided with him. Throughout the four hundred years of Sasanian Persia, there have been countless instances where emperors did not die at the hands of foreign enemies but were instead killed by their sons due to the betrayal of the David Bottle. Therefore, after my father became emperor, he chose a man in the bottle from among his sons. I am his sixth son, a prince of Persia. When I was only two years old, my father selected me, publicly declaring that I had died, and then began secretly training me in yoga to turn me into a dwarf.”
“How could he be so cruel?” Xuanzang exclaimed in anger.
“Is it cruel?” A Shu sat on the steps, gazing into the void before him. “Before I turned two, I had no memories. This means I was trained from birth to believe that life should be this way: to shrink my four-foot frame into a ball of flesh, to hide naked in a small bottle, to go months without food, drink, or even breath. I had never seen the outside world, nor had I ever encountered green trees, grass, houses, or the bustling crowds of people living their lives.
During those years, I longed to see just one thing: sunlight. A memory lingered in my mind—running naked in the sunlight, the warm sun shining on my body. It was not cold like the copper bottle; it was warm and free, allowing me to see far away, evaporating the sweat from my skin and refreshing me. Later, I shared this thought with my father. He promised me that once he had made three wishes, I would gain my freedom and live under the sun of Persia.”
“Master,” A Shu grinned, “My father waited two years for my birth, yet I waited thirty years for sunlight and freedom. I take the words you just recited as a spell to awaken me, a constant reminder to my father that I am waiting for his promise.”
“A Shu.” Xuanzang held his hand and wept uncontrollably.
A Shu cried too, wrapping his arms around Xuanzang’s neck, sobbing as if he wanted to release all the tragedy, desolation, pain, and sorrow of his life in this one outburst.
Xuanzang, now thirty, had spent nearly twenty years on the road. He had witnessed the collapse of an empire, seen the disasters wrought by human greed and desire, and even encountered the innocent victims captured by Cui Jue in the mud pit, bound to gears, their tongues pulled out and skin flayed. Yet nothing had ever impacted him as profoundly as this moment. A Persian prince, transformed into a dwarf by drugs, had spent thirty years confined in a two-foot-high bottle! Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
“I waited in the king’s bottle for my father’s third wish, but he never made it,” A Shu recalled blankly. “Eventually, I understood that no Persian emperor had ever made a third wish. My waiting was destined to be in vain; I was fated to spend my life in that bottle. Then, a few years ago, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius colluded with the Turks, attacking from the east and west, and the Sasanian Empire faced the threat of annihilation.
Even my father’s beloved Hailuang Palace was burned down. Finally, my father came to see me and said he would fulfill his promise. Once I completed his last wish, I would gain my freedom. I asked him what that last wish was, and he said he would send me and the David bottle to the distant Tang Dynasty, to Emperor Li Shimin. Then, I was to persuade Li Shimin to send troops against the Western Turks, allowing him to focus entirely on dealing with Heraclius.”
“But,” Xuanzang questioned, “how could he be sure you could persuade the Tang emperor to send troops?”
A Shu smiled confidently. “Master, don’t you understand? When I am in this bottle, I am a true devil, capable of anything. Every person has desires within them. When they see a bottle that can speak to them, displaying all sorts of miracles, who would doubt it?” He pointed to the unconscious Mo He Tuo on the ground. “Look at him; he’s a perfect example.”
Xuanzang felt a heavy weight in his heart; this was an undeniable truth. No matter how wise or brilliant Li Shimin was, when he saw the David bottle, he would likely be stirred by his inner desires and fall under A Shu’s control. The brilliance of Ardashir I lay in his complete understanding of human and creature desires.
Thinking of this, Xuanzang couldn’t help but feel relieved. Fortunately, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng, who were all Confucians, did not speak of strange powers or spirits. They risked everything to intercept the David bottle in the Western Regions; otherwise, the day the David bottle reached Chang’an would likely be the day of chaos in the Tang Dynasty.
“So, my father sent a court official, Ali Bu·Yezidin, as an envoy to secretly carry the David bottle along the Silk Road to Chang’an,” A Shu fell into distant memories. “We traveled over ten thousand miles, taking nearly a year. I hid inside the David bottle, far from my homeland and family, heading to that unfamiliar land. What I sought was the hope of returning to Persia one day, walking under the sunlight of my homeland.
My yoga practice allowed me to go without food, drink, or breath for three months. Eventually, I had to come out of the bottle to drink some water and eat some food. Yezidin didn’t know my secret; I could only sneak out at night while they were asleep. One day, we reached Mo He Yan Kan, and in a few days, we would enter the Tang Dynasty’s territory. That night, we camped by a lake in the desert with the Yanchi people. I came out of the bottle to drink some water and eat some food, preparing to face the challenges of this strange land. But…” A Shu smiled bitterly, “when I emerged, Yezidin accidentally saw me.”
“Oh!” Xuanzang suddenly understood. “So, the saying ‘there’s a ghost in the bottle’ meant this!”
At that moment, Xuanzang didn’t understand what it meant. After hearing the legend of the David bottle, he thought Yezidin was warning him that a devil was sealed inside. He hadn’t delved deeper into it, but now it seemed clear. The fact that the David bottle contained a devil was well-known among the Persians. Why would Yezidin insist on saying this before he died? It must have been that Yezidin had traveled thousands of miles with the David bottle, but that night he saw a child emerge from it. This revelation shocked and terrified him. Although he was soon killed by Qu De Yong, he couldn’t forget it and felt compelled to tell Xuanzang before he died.
“I didn’t notice him at the time; I secretly ran to the lake to drink water. Unexpectedly, Qu De Yong came with people to ambush the Yanchi envoy, and we became collateral damage. Yezidin was also shot dead.” A Shu recounted this event with a sense of despair. “Although my secret fortunately didn’t leak, I… I could never return to the bottle!”
Xuanzang was left speechless.
This situation was absurd. A plot that could influence the world’s balance, involving the fates of the most powerful empires—Byzantium, Persia, the Western Turks, and the Tang Dynasty—was thwarted by a mere coincidence. The devil could never return to the bottle, and the David bottle could no longer be sent to the Tang Dynasty!
“So, I had to follow the footsteps of the David bottle, looking for an opportunity to enter it,” A Shu said with a bitter smile. “That night, after meeting you, I followed you to the Western Regions. I never expected that later, when the David bottle reached Gaochang, it would be exploited by Zhu Gui, who fabricated a scheme to make it seem like the devil had emerged from the David bottle. Even I was astonished.”
Xuanzang also smiled wryly. “When I met you, I never imagined there was such a complex backstory.”
“Master,” A Shu asked curiously, “from the way you spoke to me earlier, you seemed to know I was hiding in the bottle. How did you find out?”
“That was just a guess,” Xuanzang replied honestly. “It was a terrifying guess that I couldn’t even believe myself, and I tried hard to think of other explanations. But after considering it, the only thing that could explain it was you being in the bottle. A Shu, do you remember? When I met you in Mo He Yan Kan, you weren’t wearing any clothes.”
“Yeah!” A Shu looked at his naked body. “How could I wear clothes while hiding in such a small space?”
“But it was night, and it was cold. A child jumps into the lake to swim—where are his clothes?” Xuanzang asked. “Later, I searched carefully but couldn’t find your clothes. I had to wrap your feet in a piece of sheepskin.”
A Shu felt touched and said, “Master, it was at that moment I realized you were the person I trusted the most. In my life, no one has treated me as well as you have, not even my father.”
He slowly nestled into Xuanzang’s embrace. Although he was thirty-eight, he still clung to the adult like a child. Xuanzang stroked his head and said, “There was also that time when we stayed in Yihu City, and you went to assassinate Qu Zhi Sheng.”
A Shu nodded. “Right, I wanted to reclaim the bottle.”
“But you killed three of his guards,” Xuanzang said with a hint of reproach. “Those guards were unharmed; we couldn’t even figure out how they died. Later, you told me you hit them on the back of the head with a brick. A Shu, at that time, you were a child under ten. How could you kill three battle-hardened guards? Besides, if you hit them on the back of the head, wouldn’t Qu De Yong notice? Unless you used a silver needle to kill them.”
A Shu felt embarrassed. “I did use a silver needle. When you asked me, I just made up a reason on the spot. I didn’t think much about it.”
“Then there was the time we escaped through the well channel,” Xuanzang recalled. “At that time, the well channel was filled with drifters. Why was it that wherever you went, drifters would die? Qu Zhi Sheng suspected that Wang Xuan Ce had secretly bribed an insider among the drifters to help us. That explanation could hold, but it’s hard for me to imagine that an ordinary drifter could silently put their people to death. A few days ago, Qu Wen Tai sent me two drifter’s eyeballs, and in those eyeballs, I saw the silver needle.”
Xuanzang shuddered at the thought of that day’s scene. It was eerie to think about. In the dark well channel, with drifters chasing and blocking them, a child ran up to them, smiling, and said, “Master, there’s no one here.”
The drifters must have been stunned. “Aren’t we human?”
Then perhaps their eyes saw a flash of silver light, or perhaps they saw nothing at all, and they died silently. Here, there truly was no one. Wherever that child went, he called out, “Master, there’s no one here.”
Those who saw him all perished.
“Do you remember what Mr. Xue said to the princess just before he died on the day of the coup?” Xuanzang asked.
“Hmm.” A Shu nodded. “I remember! It seemed related to you. I recall the princess looked at you in terror after hearing it.”
“It’s not related to me; it’s related to you,” Xuanzang sighed. “Later, the princess asked me to bury her and Qu De Yong together. As a condition, she told me that sentence. What she meant was that on that day, wherever you passed in the well channel, drifters died one after another. At that time, Mr. Xue and another drifter also saw it. Why didn’t they dare to pursue it? Because in their eyes, you were a true devil.”
“Is that so?” A’shu sighed, feeling somewhat downcast. “So you have suspected me since then.”
“No,” Xuanzang shook his head. “At that time, I never imagined you were the one from the bottle. I only thought you possessed a method to kill without leaving a trace. It wasn’t until that incident outside Gaochang City, when you shot several coalition knights in front of Nishu, reviving the legend of the magic of King David’s bottle, that I realized you must have some deep connection with it.”
A’shu let out a deep breath. “Master, I was helpless! That scoundrel Zhu Gui fancied himself clever and staged a conspiracy involving King David’s bottle. In the end, you unraveled it and exposed him in broad daylight. No one believes in King David’s bottle anymore, so what would be the point of me going back inside it and bringing it to the Tang Dynasty? Therefore… during that incident when Qu Zhisheng nearly went mad, I helped Zhu Gui snatch the bottle from him and secretly activated the mechanism inside. The bottle released a cloud of smoke, and I also shot down Nishu’s cavalry in secret.”
“Thus, A’shu, I had already begun to suspect your connection to King David’s bottle at that time,” Xuanzang said. “Then, at the Tianshan furnace, you rolled down the cliff with the bottle intact, yet you vanished without a trace. At first, I feared you had fallen into the furnace and turned to ash, which saddened me greatly. However, upon reaching the Western Turkic region and hearing news of King David’s bottle causing trouble, I knew you must still be alive.”
“Why?” A’shu asked curiously.
“Because if you had died, who would control King David’s bottle?” Xuanzang replied. “Mo Hedu? He is a crude man and lacks the intelligence of Zhu Gui. Last night, I witnessed the power of King David’s bottle in Mo Hedu’s camp, far surpassing what Zhu Gui could wield. It is not something an ordinary person can manipulate.”
“Indeed!” A’shu nodded. “The mechanisms inside King David’s bottle are incredibly complex. Zhu Gui didn’t understand them; achieving that level of control was already remarkable.”
“More importantly, I heard the incantation Mo Hedu recited,” Xuanzang said, gazing at him as he slowly recited, “…Come forth, my child. I will hand this world over to you, allowing you to walk in the sunlight of Persia. A’shu, you have mentioned many times that walking in the sunlight of Persia has been your long-held dream. Thus, I have a bold hypothesis: when a person rolls down a slope with the bottle if the person disappears but the bottle remains, then they must have entered the bottle.”
“So it was my dream that exposed me to your eyes, Master,” A’shu said, tears welling in his eyes as he gazed at the dome of the royal tent, sunlight filtering through the silk. “I wonder how the sunlight of Persia differs from that of the Western Regions?”
“It must be beautiful,” Xuanzang murmured, also looking up at the dome. “A’shu, let me take your hand and bring you back to Persia!”
A’shu fell into a struggle, his expression shifting, clearly conflicted within. Xuanzang, holding onto his prayer beads, was filled with anticipation.
“No!” A’shu finally shook his head. “I must fulfill the mission my father entrusted to me; otherwise, how can I return to his side?”
“Your mission has already been accomplished,” Xuanzang urged. “Although you did not lead the Tang Dynasty to war, you have plunged the Western Turks into internal strife. The crisis in northwestern Persia has been resolved; the effect is the same.”
“Their internal strife is not enough,” A’shu replied, shaking his head. “Mo Hedu’s position is still unstable. Besides Nishu, he has an even more formidable enemy, the King of the Tocharians, Datushe. He is the eldest son of Tongyehu and commands a large army. Upon learning of his father’s death, he will surely lead his troops to seek revenge. At that time, if Datushe and Nishu join forces, Mo Hedu will undoubtedly be defeated.”
“Datushe?” Xuanzang pondered for a moment before suddenly recalling, “Isn’t Qu Wentai’s eldest daughter married to him?”
“That’s right,” A’shu confirmed. “The Tocharians were originally occupied by the Xieda people. Thirty years ago, Tongyehu defeated the Xieda and sent his eldest son to govern the Tocharians. Qu Wentai’s daughter is now Datushe’s Kehadun. Master, I must kill him to leave the Turks leaderless and completely divided.”
“What?” Xuanzang exclaimed in shock. “A’shu, no! Not! Qu Wentai has done me a favor; how can you… how can you kill his son-in-law?”
Xuanzang still carried a letter written by Qu Wentai to Datushe, entrusting him to take care of Xuanzang.
A’shu smiled and said, “Master, I am glad you think so. You regard me as family. However, I must fulfill my promise to my father. Once I kill Datushe, I will return to Persia. Even if I no longer become a prince and live as an ordinary jester, that would be fine. Master, I have heard that there is a circus in this world where clowns like to use dwarfs. Master, I want to be a clown, laughing in the sunlight every day.”
“But…” Xuanzang began to protest, but suddenly A’shu waved his hand, releasing a cloud of smoke. The swirling smoke entered Xuanzang’s mouth and nose, causing his head to spin. He felt darkness envelop him and collapsed to the ground.
A’shu picked him up and laid him on the thick carpet, placing a cushion under his head to make him more comfortable. Kneeling beside him, A’shu gazed at him quietly, tears streaming from his eyes. “Master, farewell. In the future, when you travel west, if you wish to come to Persia, you will be my most honored guest. I will disguise myself as a clown to make you forget your worries and bring you joy every day.”
A’shu stood up, looking at the unconscious Mo Hedu, and waved his hand to release another cloud of smoke, whispering, “Mo Hedu, wake up!”
The drug A’shu used was incredibly potent. Xuanzang remained unconscious for a full ten days before awakening.
When he came to, he found himself in his original tent, with Qu Zhisheng, Huanxin, and Damozhi waiting by his side. Xuanzang rubbed his heavy head, and Qu Zhisheng brought water to wash his face. Only then did Xuanzang vaguely recall what had happened before he fainted. Ignoring the three of them, he walked out of the tent, only to discover that Shattered Leaf City was desolate; the Turkic tents had all been taken down, leaving a scene of chaos. Apart from a few merchants who remained, they were the only ones left.
“Master,” Qu Zhisheng stepped forward and said softly, “The Turks have all left.”
“Where did they go?” Xuanzang murmured.
“After you fell unconscious, Mo Hedu brought you back,” Qu Zhisheng explained. “Then another war broke out here, and Mo Hedu was defeated and fled.”
“A war broke out?” Xuanzang was taken aback. “What happened?”
Qu Zhisheng recounted the events of the past few days. It turned out that Nishu had fled to the Nushibi tribe, where the Nushibi people wanted to elect Nishu as the Great Khan. Nishu refused, telling his people, “In front of one person, I swore an oath to the Wolf Ancestor that no matter how Tongyehu treats me, I will never betray him! Although Tongyehu has treated me harshly and is now dead, my promise remains, and the one who heard my vow is still here. I, Nishu, will never break my oath.”
Xuanzang did not expect Nishu to be so proud, adhering to a vow forced upon him by Qu Zhisheng, even after Tongyehu’s death.
Later, Nishu suggested that the Nushibi tribe welcome Datushe back to become the Great Khan. The Nushibi tribe readily agreed to Nishu’s proposal. However, this sparked the jealousy of Tieli. In Tieli’s view, he was his father’s most favored son. With his father dead, it was only right for him to inherit the khanate. Why should he travel a thousand miles to bring Datushe back? Just because he was the eldest son?
He was still young and did not understand Nishu’s good intentions and strategies. To quell Mo Hedu’s rebellion and stabilize the Western Turks quickly, they could only welcome Datushe back and join forces to defeat Mo Hedu swiftly. However, jealousy and greed clouded Tieli’s judgment. After Nishu left, he secretly dispatched trusted subordinates to inform Mo Hedu of Nishu’s route in detail.
Mo Hedu acted decisively, leading his army to ambush Nishu.
The battles of the Western Turks relied on alliances. Many tribes in Mo Hedu’s coalition had intermarried with the Nushibi tribe, and someone secretly informed Nishu. Without hesitation, Nishu changed his route and, taking advantage of Mo Hedu’s main forces being absent from Shattered Leaf City, launched a surprise attack on the royal court with just a thousand men. Mo Hedu could not withstand the assault and fled in defeat.
“Nishu arrived while you were still unconscious,” Qu Zhisheng told him. “He was eager to pursue Mo Hedu and left first. Before leaving, he left a contingent of Turkic cavalry to escort you away from the Turks.”
“What about the King David’s bottle?” Xuanzang asked urgently.
“I don’t know,” Qu Zhisheng shook his head. “It may have gone missing in the chaos!”
“It won’t be lost.” As soon as Xuanzang thought of A’shu wanting to kill Datushe, his heart burned with urgency. He immediately told Qu Zhisheng, “Zhisheng, pack your things right away; we must go to the Tocharians immediately!”
Damozhi promptly gathered the Turkic cavalry, prepared supplies for the journey, dismantled the tents, and ensured Xuanzang was ready to depart. Huanxin, relieved to see Xuanzang safe, bid farewell to him and Qu Zhisheng before reporting back to Qu Wentai.
In the vast Western Regions, Xuanzang continued his journey westward. He knew that this journey would lead him to confront a true devil, and A’shu, who had entered King David’s bottle, was no longer something human strength could resist.
[1] In the “Old Book of Tang, Vol. I: The Turkic Chronicles,” it is stated: “The title ‘Khan’ is akin to the ancient title ‘Shanyu.’ The wife is called ‘Kehadun,’ similar to the ancient ‘Empress Dowager’.” The term “Khan” was used for regional rulers who governed places like the Tocharian lands and was essentially a local Khan. Consequently, the wife of such a ruler was referred to as Kehadun.