Chapter 01: Flies!

Du Ruhui knelt alone on the elevated platform, with a bowl of wine before him. Above hung a waxing crescent moon, and within the wine bowl reflected another waxing crescent moon. The old master sat rigidly upright in his kneeling posture, appearing utterly solitary.

“A jug of wine in the camel city, drinking alone without companions. I raise my cup to invite the bright moon, facing my shadow we become three. Yet the moon cannot understand drinking, and my shadow merely follows my form. Briefly accompanied by moon and shadow, one must seize joy while spring remains. When I sing the moon lingers hesitantly, when I dance my shadow scatters in chaos. While sober we share in merriment, once drunk each goes separate ways. Forever bound in passionless wandering, we meet again in the distant Milky Way.”

Comforting different people certainly requires different methods. For Cheng Chumo, you only need to use the most brutal approach—it works because his father has consoled him this way since childhood. Just kick him for no reason, and Cheng Chumo would bounce right back up.

But for an old master like Du Ruhui, you cannot treat him roughly. You must reason with him. However, he himself is famously shrewd, so if you want to console him, you must somehow be more clever than he is.

Fortunately, Yun Ye still knew how to plagiarize. With one poem, “Drinking Alone Under the Moon,” he successfully pulled Du Ruhui’s thoughts away from the thirty thousand-plus corpses. Du Ruhui lifted his head to glance at Yun Ye and raised his thumb in approval. While savoring the poem, he unconsciously picked up his wine bowl and took a gentle sip. Though his mood remained somewhat heavy, at least now he had the desire to drink.

“The Great Tang army has conducted large-scale massacres of prisoners only three times since the founding. The first was when Li Yuanji killed Dou Jiande’s forces in Hebei—that time seventeen thousand were killed. The second was when His Majesty executed Wang Shichong’s former subordinates in Luoyang—twelve thousand killed. The third time was this old man in the Western Regions, burying alive thirty-three thousand six hundred Arabs. I have killed more than Prince Xi and His Majesty combined.”

Yun Ye lay on the felt mat, hands clasped across his chest, constantly playing with his fingers. After playing for a while, he turned his head toward the old master and said: “You cannot imagine how many people I killed in Goguryeo. You also cannot imagine how Hou Junji killed on the grasslands. You don’t know how many Niu Jinda killed either. Now Zhang Jian is also killing in Silla, which you also don’t know about, right? These are all secrets of us military families—you civil officials could never know. Actually, if I had done the deed, there would be no problem. At worst it would just be an increase in numbers. After all, whether in Goguryeo or in the South Seas, have I killed few people?”

“The royal city became a hellish city, on Crab Island the ghostly wind howls miserably, white bones scattered everywhere. They say even in daylight you can hear the wailing of ghosts. This is what I did. Since I already have the reputation of a butcher, you shouldn’t have helped me cover it up. I planned to use the title ‘Blood-Handed Human Butcher’ to frighten people, but you completely ruined it for me.”

“How about it? After hearing what I’ve said, don’t you feel cheated? You helped with good intentions but the other party doesn’t even appreciate it.”

Du Ruhui chuckled softly, took another small sip of wine, smacked his lips twice to savor the fine liquor, then smiled at Yun Ye and said: “A man in his thirties, how can you still have such a childish mentality? Sins are not simply additive. You often say that it’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back, so this old camel wants to help you, a young camel, share some of the burden. Your road is still long, unlike this old man who has already reached the end. Even if historical judgment is as sharp as a knife, what can it do to me?”

Yun Ye rolled restlessly on the carpet a couple of times, knocked on his own head and said: “Why must you all treat me so well? Old Niu is like this, Old Cheng is like this, the Crown Prince is like this, Prince Wei is like this, the Empress is also like this. Even Old Wei, upright as he is, has only given me warnings but never actually harmed me. If this continues, aren’t you worried about raising a tiger that will become a threat?”

“Raising a tiger? You think too highly of yourself. At most you’re a hunting dog—a clever hunting dog. But fortunately, over these years this hunting dog of yours has been running east and west biting people all for the sake of this country, with very little selfish intent. You can be considered a hunting dog for this nation and ethnic group, not a hunting dog for the imperial family or anyone else. It’s because you have this sense of righteousness in your heart that Old Fang, Old Wei, and I yield to you in many matters. We avoid conflict with you when possible. Did you really think the several of us are all pushovers?”

Speaking of impassioned matters, Old Du drained his bowl in one gulp, let out a long belch, and shouted loudly toward the starry sky: “Let the world slander me, defame me, let the history books curse me, revile me. So what? I, Du Ruhui, can honestly say I am clear and open in conscience. For this country, for this ethnic group, what does it matter if I bear infamy? Haha, Yun Ye, you’re absolutely right. When retiring, this old man can still shine brilliantly one more time, becoming someone both gods and ghosts detest. It’s the perfect conclusion to the past. What joy for this old man!”

Having drunk too hastily—the Yun family’s strong liquor was not meant to be consumed this way—Old Du staggered back to his room. However, his mental burden seemed to have been lifted. Tonight he would probably sleep soundly.

Yun Ye completely sprawled out his body, lying face-up gazing at the bright moon above. Too lazy to leave, with wine overtaking him, he smiled charmingly at the starry sky, then fell into deep sleep.

When he woke the next day, Na Rimu was sitting by the bed, leaning against the railing, sound asleep. Yun Ye felt desperately thirsty. Jumping barefoot from the bed, he grabbed the teapot and gulped it down. Just as he was drinking water, he heard a sharp scream. Xiao Miao stood at the door holding a food tray, her eyes fixed intently on Yun Ye.

Cold wind rushed in from outside. Only then did Yun Ye realize he was completely naked from head to toe. After hesitating, he still felt thirsty—drinking water was more important at this moment.

“Silly girl, don’t you know to close the door? The wind is blowing in!” Na Rimu rushed over in one stride and slammed the door shut with a bang, then came back to drape a robe over Yun Ye, complaining: “If you’re thirsty, just call out. I’ll bring it over for you. Why did you come out naked like this?”

“I’m dying of thirst. Didn’t you think to give me water last night?” Yun Ye cast his eyes sideways, glancing at Na Rimu.

“I did! You drank two pots already. Any more and I was afraid you’d wet the bed!” Na Rimu covered her mouth and started laughing. She probably found her own joke extremely funny, because her body went soft and she slid down to sit on the floor, still pointing at Yun Ye breathlessly saying: “The world’s first general to wet the bed, hahahahaha.”

Xiao Miao’s face flushed bright red. She was still very unaccustomed to the playful banter between Yun Ye and his wives and concubines. She struggled hard to suppress her laughter. Yun Ye irritably took the wooden tray from Xiao Miao’s hands and said to her: “If you want to laugh, then laugh. Don’t hold it in. I know you can’t take it anymore. I didn’t wet the bed, so what’s so funny?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Miao doubled over with laughter. Having apparently found the humor, she and Na Rimu embraced each other, laughing until they nearly fainted. Ignoring these two silly women, Yun Ye placed the food tray on the table. As always, it was the eternally unchanging mutton soup. Having this once or twice was enjoyable, but eating it three times a day was torture. However, his empty stomach could not withstand the intense hunger. Yun Ye slurped down the mutton soup, one bowl of mutton, two flatbreads, yet still felt somewhat hungry. He wanted Xiao Miao to fetch another bowl, but discovered the two women had stopped laughing and were whispering under the table. Looking under the table, he found Na Rimu pointing at his groin area, whispering in the ear of Xiao Miao who was covering her eyes…

He hastily washed his face, dressed properly, and left the room, leaving the space to the two strange women. Xiao Miao buried her head in Na Rimu’s embrace, refusing to show her face. Na Rimu kept raising her eyebrows suggestively at her husband.

The camel city was already moving, swaying gently. On the horizon, two large groups of people surrounded two small mounds like ants moving things. Those must be Xi Tong and Han Zhe. The small mounds were the armor and weapons Yun Ye had left for them. These items were all refuse that the Tang army scorned. Though valuable, if Yun Ye had to transport all these things back to Chang’an, it would be like pricing tofu at meat prices—completely uneconomical.

When returning home, no one considers the distance too far. After resting on the battlefield for three days, all the wounded had boarded the camel city. Many lay on the deck sunbathing, quietly calculating how much military merit they had earned and how much reward they would receive upon returning to Chang’an. After over three years of hardship, they had finally reaped the sweetest fruit. This was their due—nothing wrong with talking about it.

Large quantities of weapons had been consumed, and even the camels bearing the camel city felt lighter, their steps more lively, moving much faster than on the journey out. Tian Yuanyi no longer restricted supplies on the camel city. In half a month they would reach Suiye City, where they could have whatever they wanted. So whether the wounded on the camel city or the cavalry below, everyone’s life became much easier. The wounded were each allocated a preserved fruit jar. Sitting in the sunshine, reaching their hands into the black ceramic jars to fish out pieces of fruit to pop in their mouths—life was utterly carefree.

Upon entering Almaty, the atmosphere turned very unpleasant. Many strange people had arrived here, all officials of the Great Tang. They were bold enough to want to inspect the army. Cheng Chumo was unwilling, so they found a large group of people to block the main road, preparing to remonstrate unto death. They said that regardless of who entered the prince’s territory, they must be interrogated.

When the camel city approached, Yun Ye had no intention of stopping it. More than half of those blocking the road fled, but some didn’t believe in supernatural intervention. This was a bad habit formed domestically—commoners no longer feared the military. If seedlings were trampled, compensation must be paid. So they thought the camel city would also stop at the last moment—that Yun Ye was merely frightening them.

The camel city did not stop. It trampled directly over those lying on the ground. After the camel city passed, when the Almaty officials wanted to collect the bodies of those people, they discovered that only a few tattered human skins remained on the ground…

Had the sixteen princes’ people already begun taking over their fiefs so quickly? Yun Ye continued forward with this question. When he arrived at Suiye City, his rage nearly made him lose all reason. The officials he had left to garrison were hung high on wooden stakes by the roadside. Though still alive, they had only one breath left. On the walls of Suiye City hung a strange banner—something called the Fire Phoenix Kingdom. He had never heard of it.

“Full army alert, prepare to assault the city! When the city falls, seal the sword after three days!”