“This army cannot be kept, or at least cannot be kept in the hands of the Yun family. As for who benefits from this, that depends on Yun Ye’s intentions. However, I believe he will directly disband the army!” Wu She slowly voiced his opinion.

Liu Fang looked at Wu She with contempt, tapped the table with his finger to signal Wu She to continue pouring tea for him. Only after Na Rimu, who had wandered over to watch the excitement, had walked far away did he speak: “Wolves accustomed to eating meat—you want them to eat grass? You’ve spent your whole life practicing martial arts and killing people. You shouldn’t overthink matters of the human heart; they’re not things you can fathom.”

Wu She actually nodded in agreement. Comprehending the human heart truly was not his strong suit. Even after being a eunuch for decades, this remained his weakness.

After receiving large quantities of supplies, Xerxes led the cavalry away. Only about a thousand people remained—they were either injured and disabled or had grown extremely weary of war. Anyone who still harbored ambitions in their hearts all left with Xerxes. After all, the hatred between the Tang people and the Turkic people ran too deep; division was inevitable.

Yun Ye was indifferent to these matters. As long as these people didn’t return armed to the Western Regions, he didn’t care. If they could create more trouble for the Arabs, he would welcome it even more.

On the surface Yun Ye was happy, but in his heart there were still some shadows. Everyone had distanced themselves from him. Dan Ying was easy to explain—that was just his temperament. Whatever came to his mind, he would immediately do, not delaying for even a moment. Han Zhe left to spread heretical teachings. Xi Tong wanted to establish a nation and probably worried that Yun Ye would suddenly strike him down. Now it was good—even the subordinates Xiao Miao had gathered had left. Could it be that he truly lacked the legendary aura of a hegemon king? That as soon as their wings hardened, they would all leave without looking back?

Xiao Miao cried very sadly. Moasis softly comforted her. The two Persian maidservants also wept heart-wrenchingly. Ren Xiong, Gou Zi, and Qu Zhuo likewise had reddened eyes. Having depended on each other through life and death for such a long time, to sever their feelings in an instant was truly difficult to accomplish.

Not everyone had left though. Abbasid remained at the end. Watching as Xerxes’s troops departed into the distance, Abbasid devoutly bowed to Yun Ye and said: “Abbasid thanks you for your mercy, thanks you for letting them leave without worry, thanks you for not striking them down after using us. You are a truly merciful general.”

After Xiao Miao translated Abbasid’s words for Yun Ye, Yun Ye said with a bitter smile: “For a general, mercy is probably not praise but more like mockery. However, I forgive your impertinence. I also need to thank you all for safely sending Xiao Miao back. I am the governor of that vast land to the east. If you have nowhere to go, come there. I’ll give you a way to survive.”

After hearing Xiao Miao’s interpretation, Abbasid bowed in thanks again and said: “We won’t go. Wild wolves in the wilderness need to keep running and hunting for food to survive. Once they stop moving, they will die.”

Yun Ye smiled without speaking, watching as Abbasid wrapped his fur coat tightly around himself and rode his horse to chase after the distant Xerxes. He didn’t know if the direction they were heading was auspicious or suitable for establishing themselves. Yun Ye hadn’t consulted the almanac before going out today. Many years later, when he heard Xerxes’s great name resounding across the distant west, he began to feel somewhat regretful.

Wang Cai always turned back to wait for Xiao Miao, because Xiao Miao’s warhorse always sluggishly followed behind his rear.

“Hurry up! In this freezing cold weather, what are you dawdling about in the snow? Walk faster—getting back to the camel fortress early is what matters.” Yun Ye finally couldn’t stand Xiao Miao’s timid caution and couldn’t help but urge her along.

Only then did Xiao Miao catch up with a red face. Without another word, Yun Ye removed the cloak from his body and tossed it to Xiao Miao. Wearing only iron armor in this kind of weather was self-torture.

It really was cold. After Xiao Miao joyfully donned the cloak, Yun Ye discovered that the cold wind wrapped with snowflakes continuously drilled into the gaps of his armor. Before long he felt himself turning into a block of ice. Thus he fixed his gaze on the careless Liu Jinbao. Consequently, Liu Jinbao’s cloak ended up on Yun Ye. As for whom Liu Jinbao, who never suffered losses, planned to exploit, Yun Ye didn’t care. Those in superior positions naturally had certain privileges, including dressing more warmly.

Xiao Miao saw the camel fortress in the wind and snow and was so astonished she could barely speak. She pointed at the fortified city that had suddenly appeared before them, wanting Yun Ye to explain it to her.

“This is the camel fortress, an almost invincible existence on land. Since its appearance, it has completely changed the form of warfare. Hereafter, invincible mighty generals will no longer be the kings of the battlefield, because in the face of highly efficient killing weapons, invincible mighty generals are no more useful than ordinary soldiers. They will instead be eliminated first.”

“Xiao Miao, when you return home, put away your claws and fangs. Let’s peacefully live out this lifetime together. You’re a foolish girl. Good men of the Great Tang are as numerous as fish crossing a river. As long as you like someone, no matter who, I’ll help you bring him back. You insist on choosing me. You know I have no way to treat you wholeheartedly. This is very unfair to you.”

Hearing these words from Yun Ye, Xiao Miao was no longer shy. She raised her head and stared at Yun Ye’s face with her large eyes, saying: “I want to have a home, a warm home that can melt me, with a small courtyard. If I can bear two children, I’ll be very satisfied.”

Hearing Xiao Miao’s words, Yun Ye couldn’t help but laugh. Those who aren’t family don’t enter the same door. To be willing to abandon a powerful army just to return home—such a person, such feelings, if not properly cherished, would invite heaven’s punishment.

After learning that the camel fortress belonged to her own family, Xiao Miao lost her sense of novelty about the thing. As long as it belonged to one’s own family, no matter how formidable, there was no need to care. There would be plenty of time to study it slowly in the future.

When Na Rimu saw Xiao Miao return, she was so happy she nearly jumped up. She dragged Xiao Miao to her wooden cabin—she really had too many questions she wanted to ask Xiao Miao.

For a weak woman to raise her spear astride her horse, breaking through barriers and locks invincibly across the vast wilderness—how miraculous that must be! In her dreams she hoped she could have such a day too. Unfortunately, up to now, besides that time when Ludongzan forced her to flee, there really were no deeds worth mentioning. Now seeing Xiao Miao, how could she let her go?

Since arriving at the camel fortress, the Iris sisters had been too terrified to speak. To them, the camel fortress was almost another world. They followed tremblingly behind Xiao Miao, not daring to leave even one step, because so many people were staring at them with curious eyes—from white-haired elderly to young children, and each one smiled very strangely.

Seeing the two sisters’ frightened appearance, Na Rimu said with a smile: “Don’t be afraid. This is my home. Because everyone here is family, they’re just taking an extra look. That fierce-looking fat man is the family cook. Normally everyone bullies him. If you have nothing to do, you can also bully him a bit—he’s silly and quite fun. That old man is the family accountant who helps us calculate accounts. I’ve heard about your situation. Since you’re Younger Sister Xiao Miao’s personal maidservants, you can’t be without wages. They’ll be calculated from the moment you came to Younger Sister Xiao Miao’s side.”

“You’re Persian. Even when you get to Chang’an, you won’t feel lonely. The family also has several Persian dancing girls, though quite a few have already married…” Na Rimu said many things in one breath, but the Iris sisters still looked at her utterly confused.

“Elder Sister Na Rimu, they simply don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“How could they not understand? The foreign girls at home can all understand what I say! Never mind that—come quickly and try on the clothes I’ve prepared for you. They’re very beautiful. Xinyue prepared them for you and specially had someone bring them.”

“I want to eat first!” Xiao Miao had long since seen that the room next door was already filled with food. During this past year or more, she had always eaten those coarse foods. She felt she had almost forgotten what Han people’s food tasted like.

Na Rimu slapped her forehead and only then led Xiao Miao to the adjacent room to eat.

Liu Fang, having eaten his fill, nestled in a soft chair contentedly picking his teeth. Seeing Yun Ye enter shivering and crying out bitterly about the cold, he said unsympathetically: “I’m an old man who traveled ten thousand li without complaining once about being tired. You’re young—how can you be so weak? Xerxes and Abbasid left with their people?”

Yun Ye awkwardly rubbed his nose and said: “They really left. They only left me with over a thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled.”

Liu Fang turned his head toward Wu She and said: “You see, it’s just like this. Such a person—you should have at least kept some people to serve as death warriors in the future, to handle matters you find inconvenient. How nice that would be! Now it’s good—the fat meat at your lips has flown away. Truly someone without great ambitions.”

“There’s no need for that. My family has plenty of death warriors. Speaking of which, what do I need death warriors for? The family only has those few people. The death of even one makes me feel uncomfortable. There are plenty of methods for killing people. Must I necessarily use death warrior assassinations?”

“Qing Que’s research has gone astray, but he has blazed a new trail and opened up another path. This path is the flying sword. Taking a person’s head from a thousand li away is no longer a difficult matter. Right now it can only kill people from two li away, and the accuracy isn’t too good yet. After careful correction, killing one or two people at lightning speed truly won’t be much of a problem.”

“Flying sword?” Wu She couldn’t resist hearing such miraculous terms, especially legends about immortals. “Can it really take a person’s head from a thousand li away? Don’t deceive this old man. This should be the way of sword immortals.”

Liu Fang looked at Wu She with regret and said: “You truly are growing more muddled with age. Which of Yun Ye’s immortal methods has conformed to those legends? Immortals flying through the air—he turned that into hot air balloon flight. Thunder in the palm became gunpowder. Where is there even half a trace of an immortal’s ethereal elegance and refinement? This old man dares guarantee that his flying sword legend will definitely be extremely wretched and certainly related to gunpowder. When I left, Qing Que’s flying vessel could already fly two or three li. The only shortcoming is that this thing finally explodes. It’s infuriating! Li Qing Que has already racked his brains over this. I heard he’s attending classes at the academy, preparing to find a breakthrough method from other branches of learning.”