Human survival capabilities are very strong, sometimes surpassing even the camel thorn of the desert. After the Great Tang army swept across the great desert like a scythe, it could not cut down all the sparse green grass there. Twenty years of time was enough for the Western Regions to become prosperous once again.

As the Great Tang’s policies became more moderate and benevolent, the tinkling of camel bells appeared once more on the Silk Road. Western Region merchants playing the huqin also appeared on camelback, though their songs had become much more desolate.

The flames of war on the Red Sea continued to spread without rest. The fleet of the Ocean King spared no harbor that approached the Red Sea, and the great Roman Empire became extremely weak and decrepit. Having no choice, they could only sing laments and leave from afar that homeland they would never be able to forget. A man named Yun Hai announced to the entire world his ownership of that land.

However, the Great Tang’s Court of State Ceremonial characteristically paid no attention to such ridiculous matters. After consulting with the Minister of War Yun Shou, officials of the Court of State Ceremonial threw that laughable document into the incinerator. The head of the Yun Family said he didn’t know this person, and since he didn’t know him, it had nothing to do with the Great Tang. The Great Tang fleet had never needed to greet anyone when passing through the Red Sea.

Su Jiujing was a junior general at Yumen Pass. His biggest daily task was stamping documents held by traveling merchants. Those leaving the pass were easy to handle—no need to look, just issue directly. Most people’s destination was to make pilgrimages to the Great Snow Mountain. Every year in September, the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West always drew large numbers of believers to offer congratulations. For Hu people entering the pass, Su Jiujing became extremely irritated whenever he thought of his personal grievance.

“Respected sir, Yu Suppu hopes to enter the interior to seek refuge with my son.”

A gray-haired Hu person speaking fluent Guanzhong dialect caught Su Jiujing’s attention.

“Entering Guanzhong requires special travel documents. Otherwise, Hu people may not cross west of the river. This is the court’s regulation and cannot be questioned!”

“Respected sir, Yu Suppu has no travel documents, but my son Hu An is a Great Tang person. He is now a Great Tang official, a noble official. Could this also not work? My child didn’t tell me that entering the interior would require any documents. He said we are his family and don’t need those things.”

Su Jiujing’s brows furrowed. He put down the brush in his hand and looked at Yu Suppu, saying, “Those words aren’t wrong. If your son is an official of our Great Tang, your entire family will automatically possess Great Tang household registration. However, without proof, how can I determine that what you’re saying is fact?”

“By Allah…”

“Don’t swear by your deities. In the Great Tang, deities are not as useful as concrete evidence. However, this matter can still be discussed. You can enter west of the river, but you need to provide evidence as quickly as possible. It would be best if your son sent official credentials from Chang’an to confirm. Otherwise, even if you reach west of the river, you won’t be able to pass Wuwei and Zhangye.”

Su Jiujing took up his brush and wrote the two characters “west of the river” on a blank document, then handed it to Yu Suppu, waving his hand to let him leave. Yu Suppu was not a destitute poor person. He even possessed a decent position in his original country. Believing himself to have suffered the obstruction of a petty official, he painfully closed his eyes.

Just at this moment, seven or eight people rode up swiftly on horses. When Yu Suppu saw the man at the front, he immediately puffed out his chest high—this was his son Hu An.

The women and children following behind Yu Suppu were already wailing and running toward Hu An. An elderly woman tightly embraced Hu An as he jumped down from his horse, continuously kissing his forehead.

“Mother, are you all well? Heaven be praised, you’re all safe, all arrived here alive. Since you’ve arrived here, there’s no need to worry anymore about anyone pursuing to kill you. Our entire family can finally live properly together.”

Hu An quickly counted his family members and discovered not a single one was missing. He immediately became delighted. Releasing his mother, he opened his arms wide to welcome his father, laughing heartily as he said, “Father, your son has come to receive you.”

Yu Suppu’s old tears flowed freely. He also spread his arms wide to tightly embrace his son, using the fastest speech to tell his son of the hardships and wretchedness of their party’s journey.

“Rest assured, Father. Having come to the Great Tang, those deities can no longer punish you. Here, the only thing that counts is the Tang Code. Even Allah cannot make you change your understanding of things.”

“You are an excellent scholar. Since Allah believes your theories are wrong, ha ha, Allah should really go look at the library of Yushan Academy. Your theories have already become a complete system of thought in the Great Tang, not mere conjecture. Just a dozen years ago, the Great Tang fleet completed a circumnavigation of the globe, proving the unreliability of geocentrism. Truth is already in our hands, not in the palm of the deities. Director Zhao Yanling’s star observatory has the most enormous telescope in this world. You can go to Yushan Academy to carefully observe the celestial bodies and rebuild your celestial motion system. The twelve zodiac houses are not a complete stellar system.”

After hearing his son’s words, Yu Suppu was extremely astonished. He had believed his theories already surpassed this era, never imagining he was still behind.

Sighing, he took out that document from his bosom and showed it to his son. His son glanced at it, then came before Su Jiujing, who was watching the excitement, and said, “Show off your authority in front of others, but don’t display your superior attitude before my father. My father was invited by Yushan Academy to come for an exchange.”

Su Jiujing replied with a smile, “Before the Tang Code, no one has special privileges. You’re wearing sixth-rank official robes, so this humble official cannot fail to salute you. However, before that, may I see your official credentials?”

Hu An angrily pointed his finger at Su Jiujing. Did anyone in this world dare to impersonate a court official? Nevertheless, he still took out his official credentials and showed them to Su Jiujing for a glance, then suddenly asked, “Why do you have ill feelings toward Hu people?”

Su Jiujing reluctantly saluted Hu An and said, “The reason I’m serving as a junior general here is because I didn’t pass the examination for Yushan Academy. The reason I didn’t pass the Yushan Academy examination is because His Majesty agreed to officially include you Hu people in Yushan Academy’s recruitment scope. In our cohort, if they hadn’t recruited fifty-one Hu people, this humble official would already be a student at Yushan Academy.”

Hu An laughed heartily and said, “If you went to take the examination now, you’d pass even less likely, because this year they admitted over one hundred forty students of foreign ethnicities. In the future, your superior might well be a Hu official. Ha ha ha, hurry up and prepare my documents for entering the interior.”

Su Jiujing rolled his eyes and extremely reluctantly prepared travel documents for Hu An, casually handing them to Hu An. He clasped his fists and was about to leave when he heard Hu An say, “Official protocol isn’t like that. You’re an unranked junior general, I’m a sixth-rank official. You should stand at attention, announce your name, report official business. This is customary and cannot be skipped!”

Su Jiujing’s hatred made even his tooth roots itch, but he could only take the documents back from Hu An’s hands, stand bolt upright, and loudly report, “Reporting to the Vice Director, your documents have been properly prepared. Please sign for them!”

After Hu An smiled and expressed thanks, he received the documents and patted Su Jiujing’s shoulder, saying, “Do you know why the Great Tang is incomparably powerful? It’s because it gathers all the strength under heaven for its own use.”

Having finished speaking, he turned and left, loudly arranging for his attendants to bring over the already prepared carriages. To ride the train, they would have to wait until after reaching Qinzhou.

Having traveled all the way, Yu Suppu countless times believed he had arrived in Chang’an, only to be told this was Wuwei, this was Zhangye, this was Qinzhou…

When he saw the train in Qinzhou, he could barely breathe. This was a miracle that only Allah could create…

The train raced across the Guanzhong plains. Yu Suppu’s eyes simply couldn’t keep up with viewing this land. May in Guanzhong was harvest season. In the endless farmlands, countless farmers were busy at work. Their operations were very rough—wheat was casually cut down and laid on the ground, bundled up, then thrown onto ox carts and transported away. Shouldn’t those precious wheat ears be cut with scissors and wrapped in head cloths to be sent to the threshing floor?

Hu An saw his father’s expression and sighed, saying, “Father, the cities you’ve seen along the way are merely the Great Tang’s third-tier cities. Yumen Pass doesn’t even rank beyond fourth-tier. When you see Chang’an City, you’ll understand why the Great Tang’s monarch is called the King of Ten Thousand Kings, even though the current emperor is only fifteen years old.”

“Yushan Academy is also not the academy you imagine. You need to magnify the things you envision by a thousand times before you can barely touch the foundation of Yushan Academy. There are giant dragon skulls there, the skeletons of great fish, countless books, and the world’s most precious treasures. Last year, the Grand Empress Dowager donated one of her headdresses to the Yushan Museum. Embedded on it was the largest diamond, named Heart of the Ocean—a truly priceless treasure. I heard there’s an even larger diamond called Mountain of Light, which the Emperor has set in the Heaven-Reaching Crown.”

“Father, Yushan is the Great Tang’s gathering place of wisdom and wealth. Your child requests that no matter what miracles you see there, please don’t be surprised. Even if you see people flying in the sky, don’t be amazed. Try your utmost to maintain the dignity of a Abbasid scholar.”

“Although the Abbasid Caliphate has already been left far behind by the Great Tang, it is still our homeland. Your child doesn’t wish for the Great Tang people to look down on the Abbasid Caliphate because of our astonishment.”

Yu Suppu looked at his son and asked, “The cities I’ve seen are already larger than Medina. Qinzhou even rivals Damascus, that heavenly city. If there is paradise on earth, Damascus must be within it. If paradise is in the heavens, Damascus must be equal in fame to it. Son, this is recorded in ancient books and cannot be wrong. I don’t believe there can be any city in the mortal world that can rival Damascus.”

“There is, Father. Damascus has a population of only two hundred thousand, while Chang’an’s population is fully over two million. That is the largest city in the mortal world—no city can stand shoulder to shoulder with it.”

“Even if there were, it would only be the Great Tang’s other giant city—Yueyang City!”

Half believing and half doubting, after seeing Chang’an City, Yu Suppu said to his son in bewilderment, “I have arrived in heaven!”