Di Renjie patted Huang Shu, who had already burrowed into his sleeping bag, in a comforting manner. All four of them kept their eyes wide open. Every midnight, that annoying wind would blow, and the timing was extremely accurate. Di Renjie had measured it with an hourglass—it was almost perfectly precise without the slightest deviation.
Hearing the whimpering sounds in the distance, they knew the wind had come. This wind blew over from the distant desert, swept past the bare treetops of the poplar trees, and upon falling to the ground, rolled up dust and plunged headlong into the city. The broken wooden doors were blown by the wind, swaying wildly. The main gate made ear-piercing sounds as it struck against the door frame, then quickly bounced back. Such striking seemed endless.
Di Renjie saw that a large section of the tent had caved in, as if some tangible demon was trying hard to drill into the tent. He placed both hands inside his sleeping bag, grasping two delicate crossbows in his hands. Although he knew this was the result of wind, and he had learned much about the desert from his master—he could answer many of the junior officer’s questions—being cautious could never be wrong. Careful vigilance was an excellent quality, and he decided to carry it through.
The crossbow gripped in his left hand was Xiao Wu’s. The handle was wrapped with silk ribbon. The one-foot-long recurve bow wings, after being activated, would have powerful kinetic energy. Within a short distance, it could absolutely pierce gold and penetrate stone.
“Sun tombs are different from other burial sites. They’re purely constructed from wood, using the poplar trees from here. This type of tree is said to not die for a thousand years, after dying not fall for a thousand years, and after falling not decay for a thousand years. Among trees it belongs to the yin wood category. Not only does it have antiseptic properties, most importantly this type of wood can separate yin and yang, locking people’s ghosts in the burial ground unable to emerge. Wherever there’s a sun tomb, there must be human sacrifices. According to legend, the human sacrifices buried in the burial ground can live for up to three years. So you see, entering a sun tomb, you must not only guard against ghosts, but also against yin people. Those who live at the bottom of the tomb are more terrifying than wild beasts and venomous snakes, because they survive by eating the dead.”
Huang Shu’s voice drifted out eerily from the sleeping bag. Gou Zi impatiently threw the leather bag beside him and said loudly, “Huang Shu, can’t you speak properly? Do you have to speak so eerily?”
Huang Shu stuck his head out of his sleeping bag, smiling and saying, “This is just to relieve everyone’s boredom. If you don’t tell ghost stories this way, how else should you tell them? Let me tell you, the most dedicated profession in this world is tomb robbers. Our founding patriarch, in order to get rich, specifically searched the whole world for large burial sites. He went everywhere north and south—the desert was no exception.”
“The large tombs in the Central Plains have been looted clean. Now we can only go west to the Western Regions. The burial sites of those extravagant Western Region merchants are no worse than the large tombs of the Central Plains. If you’re caught by the officials digging Central Plains large tombs, they’ll chop off your head. Many things also can’t be sold due to ritual system issues. If you find a jade burial suit with gold threads, you can only take apart the gold threads, melt them down, and sell them for money. Those priceless jade pieces are all thrown away—isn’t this exactly buying the casket and returning the pearl?”
“The Western Region items are great! Everything in the burial sites can be sold for money, from crowns to dead people’s bones. Hehe, if you find a royal tomb, you won’t have to worry about food and drink for your whole life.”
Di Renjie also stuck his head out and said to Huang Shu, “So this is how your legends about sun tombs came about?”
“That’s right! That junior officer said anyone who enters a sun tomb can’t survive. Actually these words are a bit too absolute. I know of people who crawled out from sun tombs and even made great fortunes—their ends were just a bit miserable. All the flesh on their bodies rotted away, finally falling off piece by piece. The founding patriarch said they were poisoned by corpse toxin. He also said that if we encounter such burial sites again, as long as we open the tomb and expose it to blazing sun for three days, we can go down. By that time the corpse toxin will all have been dissolved by the sun—absolutely no problem.”
Gou Zi laughed so hard he sprayed. Gasping, he said to Di Renjie, “Little Jie, listen to this. He truly has tomb robber origins—he won’t let any tomb robbing opportunity pass. We’ve surrounded Loulan City with a great army. With so many people, forget digging sun tombs—even digging moon tombs would be no problem. He’s instigating you to rob tombs!”
“Let’s sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go look at their temple and burial area. If we don’t discover any clues, we’ll have no choice but to dig three feet deep throughout Loulan. His Majesty’s decree cannot be questioned.”
“Little Jie, I’m actually very curious. That junior officer wasn’t wrong—the ones who disappeared are Loulan people, not our Tang people. Why would His Majesty pay such close attention to Loulan? Just saying it obstructs the trade route doesn’t fully explain it at all. If we want to travel to other countries, Loulan isn’t the only road. Going through Kuche can likewise reach Dashi and Persia. Look, we’ve already been here for half a month. Have we ever seen a single merchant caravan pass through here? They’re all taking detours.”
Gou Zi had changed greatly these past years. Being able to say such things showed he had used his mind. Di Renjie didn’t say much, only saying to Gou Zi, “Go look at our Great Tang’s map and you’ll know. His Majesty never does meaningless things. Teacher Xu Jingzong and Teacher Jin Zhu actually both know, so they don’t take matters here to heart and let me fool around by myself.”
“Why do you want to fool around?” Xiao Tie, whose head was burrowed in his sleeping bag, truly couldn’t bear it any longer and interjected.
“Why? Because I like it!” Di Renjie smiled and teased Xiao Tie, then drilled his head back into his sleeping bag. The tent immediately quieted down. Outside, the wind continued to blow with a whimpering sound, but it no longer had the eerie meaning from earlier.
After daybreak, Di Renjie emerged from the tent and discovered that a thick layer of floating soil had again settled on the leeward side of the tent. His mouth was also full of sand grains—very uncomfortable. In the distance on the great marsh, soldiers were chiseling ice to get water. The chiseled ice holes might even yield fish.
Xu Jingzong had the highest official rank. As long as he could avoid leaving the tent, he absolutely wouldn’t come out. The local junior officer urged him to live in a house in Loulan City, repeatedly guaranteeing it had been cleaned very thoroughly inside, but was blocked by Xu Jingzong with the high-sounding phrase “taking without permission is called theft.” His noble quality of freezing to death rather than entering an empty dwelling immediately earned everyone’s respect.
Since the teacher wouldn’t move in, Di Renjie and these other juniors could naturally only follow the teacher. As for Master Jin Zhu, who wholeheartedly wanted to defend the Academy’s lofty integrity and bright principles, he was arranged into the carriage by Xu Jingzong under the excuse that his body was weak. The conditions there were much better than the tent.
Loulan City’s daytime appeared brighter than nighttime. The tall tower bathed in sunlight cast a long shadow. The streets didn’t need sweeping—last night’s wind had already blown the whitened stone slabs spotlessly clean. Perhaps some small sand piles were still scattered in the wall corners, actually appearing in wave patterns.
During the day, it was naturally the world of people. The Great Tang’s soldiers went in and out of the city. They didn’t overlook any corner, because the order Di Renjie issued was that not a single inch of land could be overlooked.
Xu Jingzong emerged from the tent wrapped in his cloak. His tent had three layers and very good thermal insulation performance. A Persian slave girl stayed with him in the tent—he had casually bought her when passing through Shanshan. Lonely nights always needed a warm bosom to let him forget he was still in the great desert. This kind of refined scholar’s romantic elegance could only be done by Xu Jingzong in the Academy.
“Little Jie, you have ten more days. When the time comes, we’ll return. You know clearly that this old man cannot endure this wind and cold and needs to return to Guanzhong early. Leaving these old bones outside Yumen Pass is not this old man’s plan. When the time comes, I’ll casually report some reason, and naturally a great army will come to settle everything here. This is His Majesty’s intention. You and I both understand—do fewer foolish things.”
Di Renjie grinned at Xu Jingzong with gleaming white teeth in a brilliant smile. A bad premonition immediately enveloped his head, and he couldn’t help saying in a trembling voice, “Boy, could it be you have some bad news you’re concealing without telling this old man?”
Di Renjie pulled out a letter from his bosom and gave the second page to Xu Jingzong to look at. “Look, this is news my student’s fiancée sent from Chang’an. I only received it yesterday. Seeing you and the Persian dancing girl in tender affection, young master didn’t want to disturb you. Since you’ve asked about it, young master absolutely has no reason to conceal it.”
After Xu Jingzong finished reading that paper, his face was ashen. He muttered, “This old man encountering you master and disciple—this is going to shorten my lifespan! The Taoist priest at Wanshou Palace calculated my fate to be living to the ripe old age of eighty-seven and dying without illness. Encountering you master and disciple, if this old man can live past fifty-seven, it would be heaven having eyes.”
Di Renjie supported the tottering Xu Jingzong and comforted him, saying, “You see, my master is about to assume the position of Grand Protector of the Northern Court Protectorate. Then the position of Chief Administrator must be yours. Your official rank should have been promoted long ago. In one breath climbing from Upper Fourth Rank to Lower Third Rank—this is a full level up!”
“Young master heard that from Fourth Rank to Third Rank, though it looks like only one level up, this is actually a huge watershed! When you return to Chang’an, you’ll absolutely be a Chancellor in the Hall of Governmental Affairs. This should be celebrated!”
Xu Jingzong knocked an angry chestnut on Di Renjie’s head in shame and annoyance, roaring, “Nonsense! Does this old man not know? Do you need to be talkative? Is a Third Rank official in the Northern Court so easy to be? Your brain was kicked by a donkey—not being a perfectly good Fourth Rank capital official, running to the Northern Court to be a Third Rank official. Dealing with rough soldiers in the military all day long—is that very pleasant? No wonder you’re not anxious anymore, not even thinking about Xiao Wu. Boy, this old man doesn’t matter, but your fiancée is one in ten thousand in good looks. You staying in the Northern Court—aren’t you afraid something will go wrong?”
Di Renjie once again gave Xu Jingzong a big smile and said, “My master said I should finish things early and get the hell back to Chang’an to get married. His old self has already secured a good position for young master at the Court of Judicial Review. As soon as I return, I can assume the post. I heard it’s a Sixth Rank official.”
Xu Jingzong spat and said, “Sixth Rank official? This is a position countless people toil their whole lives to reach. When this old man served as an editor at the Directorate of Education, it was a Sixth Rank official position. At that time I was already thirty-one years old. Just this was already praised as rare good fortune. You’re seventeen years old this year, entering the Court of Judicial Review as a Sixth Rank principal official—how can this put people like this old man at ease!”
For the ambitious Xu Jingzong, as long as it was a Third Rank official position, he didn’t care if he served at the edge of the sky. Although he displayed an appearance of being very unhappy, his heart was cheering. After enduring a few years in the Northern Court, upon returning to Chang’an he would absolutely be like Di Renjie said—he would become a Chancellor of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, although there were relatively many people there.