Three days later, Li Wu and the female clan chief sat down at the negotiating table once again.

“So — have you thought it over?” Li Wu crossed his legs with a careless, easy manner. “Will you negotiate with me, or with whoever comes here next?”

The female clan chief said something, and Dong Miji translated: “With you — yes. Three years — yes. But, we also have — conditions.”

“Speak.” Li Wu’s expression was entirely unsurprised, as he gave his foot a leisurely shake — looking for all the world like a ruffian. The unobtrusive press of Shen Zhuxi’s hand from beside him stopped him.

He glanced at Shen Zhuxi, who was frowning, and sheepishly lowered his conspicuously relaxed leg from its very-much-in-public display.

The female clan chief said something more, and Dong Miji showed a startled expression. A moment later, he translated it to Li Wu with some hesitation.

“My mother says — you help us, fight the Qiqi people.”

“No.” Li Wu rejected it without a second thought. “The matters between your two tribes — that’s not my business. If you want me to handle it, that’s also fine — three years becomes permanent, and I’ll help you defeat the Qiqi people, utterly and completely.”

“Not possible.” Dong Miji translated the female clan chief’s words. “Only — three years.”

“Also not possible for me.” Li Wu said flatly. “Don’t think about taking advantage of me.”

Dong Miji looked toward the female clan chief, waiting to translate her response. The female clan chief looked steadily at Li Wu; Li Wu met her gaze without evasion. After a long moment, the female clan chief spoke:

“Li Wu.”

Both Shen Zhuxi and Li Wu widened their eyes at the same time.

It was not standard pronunciation, but it was most definitely the Yan speech that every Qingfeng Army soldier could understand.

“You have reason — to have to help me.” The female clan chief said slowly.

The female clan chief could not only speak Yan speech — she spoke it more correctly and completely than Dong Miji.

Dong Miji stared blankly at the female clan chief.

Li Wu’s expression shifted. He swept the female clan chief with a watchful, suspicious gaze from head to toe. “How do you know our language?”

“The people who came here with you taught me a great deal.” The female clan chief said.

Shen Zhuxi looked at Li Wu in astonishment.

Li Wu immediately thought of the nearly two hundred soldiers who had fallen from the cliff together with him.

“They’re still alive?!” He could not restrain the surge of emotion in his chest and said urgently.

After he had regained consciousness that day, he had spent many days searching for those soldiers who had fallen with him. But every search had come back empty. Li Wu could only accept that he was the only one who had survived the fall.

Now, to suddenly learn that his brothers might still be alive — how could he not be moved?

“Your people —” the female clan chief said, “I have twenty-two. The rest are all in the Qiqi people’s tribe.”

“Why didn’t you say so sooner!” Li Wu erupted in fury. “Return my people to me. Otherwise I’ll fight your way through both tribes!”

“Borrowing them before, now — returning them to you — that is possible.” The female clan chief said. “Only if you help us — defeat the Qiqi people.”

“Even without you telling me, I was going to rescue my brothers!” Li Wu said.

And so the matter of the two sides joining forces against the Qiqi people was decided with speed. Before the troops were mobilized, Li Wu demanded that the Rong tribe return the twenty-two soldiers. Shen Zhuxi had expected a round of verbal sparring, but to her surprise, the female clan chief agreed to Li Wu’s demand without hesitation.

Before long, twenty-two men were brought forward. Though clad in animal skins, they still bore the look of Yan people.

Upon seeing Li Wu and Shen Zhuxi and the other Yan people in the grass awning, they went from their initial composure to covering themselves in shame.

“Enough, enough — it’s not like this is the first day you’ve disgraced yourselves. Drop that expression, you’re making me sick!” Li Wu said with ill humor. “When I was in the village before — why didn’t any of you contact me?!”

One of them said with grievance, “It’s not that we didn’t want to contact you, General — it’s that they were keeping watch over us, and we had no opportunity to send word to you…”

Li Wu cursed a while longer, and yet could only wave his hand for these twenty-two men to hurry back to the riverside camp and get changed.

“Your turn to honor your side of the agreement.” The female clan chief said.

“Would I be deceiving you?” Li Wu said with impatience. “Where are those Qiqi people? Tell me about their situation —”

The table-talk shifted from negotiations to a military briefing.

Shen Zhuxi followed the conversation with limited comprehension. Just as she had gotten a rough grasp of the Qiqi people’s situation and hadn’t yet figured out how to subdue these extremely high-alert Qiqi people, Li Wu had already slapped the table:

“I’ve got it in my head — before sunrise tomorrow, bring your people to the riverside. We’ll rendezvous and set out together.”

“How do you plan to fight?” The female clan chief asked.

“Tomorrow you’ll know.” Li Wu gave a half-revealing, half-concealing answer. “Before the troops depart, this cannot let anyone know — we don’t want it to reach the Qiqi people’s ears.”

“Good.” The female clan chief nodded.

Having set the time for the troops to move out, the two sides each went their separate ways. Before leaving, Li Wu made eyes at Dong Miji and used his gaze to signal “little brother Rooster, come join my venture.” The female clan chief noticed Li Wu’s expression and looked at Dong Miji an extra moment longer, frightening the latter into fleeing in a panic.

Shen Zhuxi and Li Wu returned together to the riverside camp. Li Wu called over those twenty-two soldiers who had changed back into their leather armor, held a brief impromptu military council, and finalized the attack plan for the following day.

Shen Zhuxi was somewhat worried. In her presence, Li Wu appeared exceptionally nonchalant. She knew he was doing this only to reduce her worry.

After Li Wu had coaxed her to sleep, in the deep of the night he quietly left the riverside camp, taking eight hundred soldiers now combined with the Rong tribe’s forces.

When Shen Zhuxi woke, Li Wu had already returned in triumph. Though the Qiqi people were cunning and unpredictable, where could stone spears and wooden clubs compete against the iron swords and leather armor of the Qingfeng Army? Combined with the Rong tribespeople who were intimately familiar with the Qiqi people’s battle tactics, the victory proved just as effortless as Li Wu had predicted.

The Rong tribe had no tradition of massacring captives. After confirming that the female clan chief of the Rong tribe intended to take both the land and the people, Li Wu led his troops back to camp.

By the time Shen Zhuxi woke, he had even had time to wash up and change into clean clothes.

After the sun had fully risen, the Qingfeng Army dismantled the temporary camp and, led by Li Wu and the others, came to the entrance of the Swallowing Heaven Cave that led to the outside world.

The female clan chief, who had settled the affairs of her tribe, also arrived at the cave entrance and presented the antidote pills that would allow them to pass safely through the toxic mist. As agreed, five elephants in their prime, along with their Rong tribe riders, also joined the Qingfeng Army’s ranks.

Li Wu and Dong Miji exchanged quite a few meaningful looks. Dong Miji looked as if he saw none of them. Li Wu had half a mind to knock him out and drag him along by force, but with the female clan chief watching his every move, he could only reluctantly suppress the wicked impulse.

Forget it… if he couldn’t steal away the clan chief’s son, he’d come back later and steal away the clan chief’s grandson.

He was going to steal away someone eventually, just to have someone dedicated to raising his elephants.

Li Wu shook his head with regret, took Shen Zhuxi’s hand, and walked into the cave.

Watching the leather-armored Qingfeng Army soldiers file one by one into the dimly lit Swallowing Heaven Cave, Dong Miji standing beside the female clan chief showed an expression of longing and couldn’t help but fall into a daze. When he came back to himself, he found that his mother was looking at him without a word.

“Mother…” Dong Miji felt that his desire to leave was a deeply shameful thing, and bowed his head with a guilty expression.

To his great astonishment, his mother was not angered by this, nor did she scorn him for the thought.

“If you want to go, then go.” The female clan chief said with complete composure. “Go and see whether he honors his promises. Go and see what the outside world looks like. Go and bring back whatever can make life better for our people…”

After his stunned moment passed, Dong Miji nodded vigorously with overwhelming joy.

“Alright!”

Watching Dong Miji’s great bare feet flicker as he shot into the Swallowing Heaven Cave like a gust of wind, the female clan chief looked up at the clear, washed-blue sky, breathed out slowly, and turned to walk back toward the village.

The Rong tribespeople followed one after another in her footsteps.

Outside the Swallowing Heaven Cave, the tranquil swirl of toxic mist returned once more.

…

Inside the pitch-black Swallowing Heaven Cave, there was only the sound of the Qingfeng Army’s footsteps and the dripping of water drops. Every now and then, a cold drop of water would fall onto the back of someone’s neck, giving them an involuntary shudder. Five elephants walked at the front of the column, clearing the way. In the darkness, the riders’ whistle-commands to the elephants sounded from time to time.

Suddenly, a rapid patter of footsteps came from behind. Dong Miji, barefoot, came running up from the rear with his arms pumping, his bare feet slapping through the water with a splashing rush.

“Wait for me… together! See dog!” he called out urgently.

Having successfully… no, having invited an additional elephant trainer, Li Wu of course couldn’t have been more pleased. He warmly invited Dong Miji to sit with him and Shen Zhuxi on the elephant they were riding.

A half-hour that was neither too long nor too short later, the narrow tunnel gradually widened. After climbing a sloping path streaked with flowing water, the view before everyone’s eyes opened up at once, and the bright daylight at the far end lifted everyone’s spirits in an instant.

After walking out of the cave entrance, Shen Zhuxi looked out at the familiar scenery beyond the cave and nearly shed tears of excitement!

She had finally come back!

The elephant swung its trunk beneath them. Dong Miji, busy curiously taking in the mountain forest surroundings — which at first glance looked not so different from his homeland — asked in his halting Yan speech: “We — where go?”

Shen Zhuxi looked toward Li Wu.

“Xiangyang is out of reach for now — what about going back to Jinzhou?” Niuwang rode up, tilted his head back and called up to Li Wu on the elephant’s back. “We have land and men in Jinzhou. No need to look at the court’s face.”

Li Wu was silent for a long while, his expression seeming to hold back words, his gaze falling on Shen Zhuxi several times.

Shen Zhuxi vaguely sensed what was troubling him.

In the end, Li Wu said nothing. He only let out a sigh and said, “…Let’s get out of here first and talk.”

That night, the army set up a temporary camp to rest.

Shen Zhuxi lay with her eyes closed, but could not sleep. Her thoughts were tangled in her heart. The image of her father — sometimes tender and kind, sometimes cold and distant — alternated in her mind. At times he was the loving father who had seated her on his knee to listen to state affairs; at times he was the stern father who had regarded her with cold eyes and not a single word.

She was a princess of Great Yan. She should share in the burden of Yan’s restoration. Even if it cost her everything, she should clear a path for the current Son of Heaven of Great Yan.

She should.

That was how it ought to be.

But Great Yan — so deep in its troubles, so far gone — could it still be saved?

Hot tears welled in her eyes. Shen Zhuxi held her breath, forcing back the trembling in her throat.

The Li Wu at her side was equally silent — too quiet. It was the kind of quiet that told Shen Zhuxi instantly that he too was lost in thought, unable to sleep.

Shen Zhuxi swallowed the unsettled feeling in her voice and spoke softly, breaking the silence:

“…What are you thinking?”

After a moment, Li Wu turned over and held her close. He buried his face in the hollow of her neck and said in a low voice:

“I was thinking — Yutou Town is already gone. Where else could we go to live in seclusion?”

Shen Zhuxi understood, and she knew that Li Wu understood —

The world was vast, yet there was no longer any place in it where they could live quietly apart from it all.

Yet she still tried to lift the corners of her mouth into a smile.

“It would have to be a place with mountains and water — spring with blooming flowers, summer with flowing streams, autumn with red leaves, winter with auspicious snow —”

“Good.”

“A place with good food —”

“Good.”

“A place where we could boat on the lake, fish, and have picnics in the wild —”

“Good.”

“A place where we could climb heights and look out over the world, play ball, and race horses —”

“Good.”

“And most importantly — a place with proper paper for the latrine —”

“Whatever you want.” Li Wu said. “Whatever you want, I’ll steal it for you.”

Shen Zhuxi laughed through her tears. She turned to face Li Wu, pinched his cheek, and looked at him with tear-bright smiling eyes, saying:

“Then take me back to the imperial palace.”

Li Wu froze.

“It has mountains and water, flowers and trees. You can boat on the lake and climb to high vantage points. The imperial kitchen gathers the finest chefs from all under heaven, and the imperial workshop produces the finest, softest paper for the latrine.” Shen Zhuxi laughed softly through her tears, looking at Li Wu. “…Take me home.”

Li Wu was quiet for a long while. He held Shen Zhuxi’s gaze, his expression more grave than she had ever seen it.

“…Do you know what you’re saying?”

“I know.”

Shen Zhuxi took his hand in hers. They were a married couple, one body. They understood each other better than anyone in the world. She knew that with his talents, he ought not go back to live as a simple man of the mountains. He also knew that her character would not allow her to cast aside her inborn duty and return to a life of ears stopped and eyes shut.

“Jinzhou may be easy to defend and hard to attack, but is that enough? Are we to guard that stretch of marshland and be turtles retreated into their shells for the rest of our lives?”

Li Wu said nothing.

What she said was the very thing weighing on his heart.

If they didn’t deal with Fu Xuanmiao, they could hide for a time — but could they hide forever?

“The Fu clan has all power in their grasp, controlling the court, committing acts of treason.”

“Great Yan is already on the edge of collapse…”

Shen Zhuxi spoke slowly, word by word:

“I would trouble my husband —”

“To purge the treacherous from the Emperor’s side.”