The flame of the fire starter suddenly extinguished. The tent was dim and quiet. Xu Hexue’s dulled senses revealed little expression, like a handful of mountain snow that could never melt.
Ni Su’s cheeks puffed slightly. She was about to blow the fire starter alight again when she saw fluorescent dust suddenly burst forth from his body, floating ethereally like snow particles blown up by the north wind.
“How can this be?”
Ni Su was startled and quickly lifted his sleeve. His wrist bone was smooth and cold white, showing no wounds.
“…It’s nothing.”
Xu Hexue pulled down his sleeve, turning his face slightly to the side.
The fluorescent dust didn’t only appear when he was injured. When he basked in moonlight, it would emerge to cleanse away impurities. When his emotions fluctuated, it would move with his joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.
Having lost his flesh and blood body, it was very difficult for him to express his emotions in a human way. The fluorescent dust silently bore the externalization of his emotions, also giving him the illusion at times of being separated from another version of himself, coldly observing that self’s descent with the most calm, most restrained demeanor.
Just like now—he coldly observed his own fluorescent dust bursting like a cluster of fireworks before her eyes because of her one teasing remark.
“We should hurry, otherwise when daylight comes, the dew will dry up.” Ni Su tucked the fire starter back into her bosom, holding the earthen jar in one hand while helping him stand with the other.
“Young Master Ni.”
A voice suddenly came from outside. Ni Su and Xu Hexue both recognized it as Duan Rong’s voice at almost the same time.
“The two people you asked the general to find—I’ve had someone bring them here.”
Just as Duan Rong finished speaking, he heard footsteps approaching from inside. He looked up to see the tent curtain lifted by Ni Su, her hair dressed in a man’s style.
“Miss Ni!”
Qingqiong, wrapped in a cloak covering his head, called out upon seeing her.
The father and son stood not far behind Duan Rong. Upon seeing them, Ni Su broke into a smile, then bowed to Duan Rong before her: “Thank you, Officer Duan.”
“No need for thanks…”
Duan Rong rubbed the back of his head. Not seeing Xu Hexue emerge, he asked: “Is Young Master Ni unwell? Should I fetch a physician?”
Ni Su shook her head. “No need, I am a physician.”
“Young mistress is a physician?”
Duan Rong was somewhat surprised.
“Yes, it’s in my family’s tradition—I’ve been exposed to it since childhood,” Ni Su said, watching Qingqiong and Fan Jiang approach, each holding an earthen jar. She couldn’t help asking, “Did you go to Agate Lake?”
“Yes, is young master alright? Shall I go brew tea for him now?”
Fan Jiang limped closer.
“Good.”
Ni Su agreed.
Watching Qingqiong and Fan Jiang enter the tent, Duan Rong couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. That Young Master Ni inside was truly particular—wouldn’t ordinary water do? He insisted on dew from the reed flower groves at Agate Lake… so much so that his men had spent several hours at Agate Lake following this father and son.
“Well then, the general has some good tea leaves. I’ll go fetch them for Young Master Ni to use.” Seeing Ni Su turn to look at him, Duan Rong didn’t know what else to say for a moment. Dropping that line, he turned and fled.
For three consecutive days, Fan Jiang and Qingqiong, under the watch of Duan Rong’s soldiers, gathered two full jars of dew from the shores of Agate Lake to brew tea for Xu Hexue.
Xu Hexue hadn’t shown his face for three days. Qin Jixun had not returned to camp since being summoned away by Military Supervisor Song’s personal guard bearing the command token. It wasn’t until the morning of the fourth day that Qin Jixun returned on horseback, covered in dust. After dismounting and hearing just a few words from Duan Rong, he dove into Xu Hexue’s tent.
“Young Master Ni’s illness seems grave. Why don’t I summon a renowned physician to treat you?”
Qin Jixun looked at the young man lying on the bed with his face covered by the long cloth. His sleeves were rolled up somewhat, revealing arms that displayed a sickly pallor.
“The condition is too deeply entrenched to reverse, medicine and herbs are powerless.”
Xu Hexue calmly refused.
“If that’s the case, why does young master…” Qin Jixun began to speak, then swallowed his words.
Xu Hexue looked at him. “Ten years sharpening a sword, the frosted blade never tested. If the general were me, would you not seize this chance to test it?”
Qin Jixun was speechless.
“Military Supervisor Song presses too hard. My sworn brother Dechang and I can barely withstand it. These past days I’ve visited Shen Tongchuan daily, but he continues to give no response.”
Perhaps the Shen Tongchuan of years past had unlimited spirit in his heart, but clearly, these years of being stuck in this sandy land of Yongzhou had worn away everything, leaving him only wanting to dim his light and mingle with the dust.
Qin Jixun’s expression was somewhat heavy. “Young Master Ni, Yang Tianzhe’s rebel army must have received some information, believing we’ll join Su Qile in surrounding and eliminating them. Now they’ve stopped at Mount Ru, remaining motionless. I fear that if Military Supervisor Song and Su Qile can’t exert force on us, they’ll use Yang Tianzhe, stirring his desperate resolve to fight us head-on.”
When that happened, they would become passive defenders.
They couldn’t disobey Song Song’s orders any further.
After hearing this, Xu Hexue asked: “I want to ask General Qin, what are your thoughts on Yang Tianzhe?”
“This man,”
Qin Jixun thought for a moment. “I don’t really understand this man. Years ago he was implicated by his father’s crime, escaped to Yongzhou during the chaos, and went to serve as an official under the barbarians. I truly can’t determine what kind of person he is.”
“The general isn’t uncertain—you simply don’t trust him.”
Xu Hexue exposed the truth with one statement. “You don’t trust him, but his rebel army is indeed made up of poor, suffering Qi people from the thirteen provinces. This uprising, they’ve even brought along the elderly, weak, women and children. This is why you’re unwilling to engage in conflict with him, but you also suspect because of this that Yang Tianzhe brings these people specifically to force you in Yongzhou to take them in. If you respond with weapons, you’ll lose the hearts of the Qi people in the thirteen provinces.”
Qin Jixun’s heart trembled with surprise. He couldn’t help but raise his eyes to gaze at this young man. The long cloth covered his face almost completely, leaving only those eyes—cold and deep.
“Correct.”
He nodded.
“For sixteen years, the people of Yongzhou City have been unified in spirit, so that the Danqiu bandits, though eager to steal our city defenses, have found no way. But if I welcome Yang Tianzhe into the city, the people in the city will be filled with anxiety. My years of hard work may be destroyed because of this man in a single moment.”
“Will General Qin abandon the thirteen provinces?”
“When I entered the army, I vowed that in this life I would definitely recover the northern border’s thirteen provinces. Just as Young Master Ni, though your diseased body is falling apart, you still must test the frosted blade—I, Qin Jixun, will never abandon the thirteen provinces!”
If even a general abandoned the ideal of recovering national territory, what would the Qi people of the realm live for, what would they call home?
Xu Hexue suddenly fell silent.
His gaze fell on the armor Qin Jixun wore. He hadn’t worn armor in a hundred years, hadn’t gripped that spear again.
Suddenly footsteps sounded, and someone shouted outside the tent: “General! Something’s happened in Commander Wei’s army!”
Qin Jixun’s brow jumped. He turned and swept aside the tent curtain: “What happened?”
“Last night Military Supervisor Song forcibly ordered the Wei family army to send out a squad to leave the city and investigate the rebel army at Mount Ru. Who would have thought they’d encounter the rebel army head-on—Yang Tianzhe nearly slaughtered them all! Commander Wei is currently raging in the army, wanting to muster his troops and launch an attack to eliminate Yang Tianzhe!”
Upon hearing this, Qin Jixun immediately sensed something was wrong. “Who led the troops out last night?”
“It was Commander Wei’s eldest son Wei Zhan. He’s dead.”
Duan Rong’s expression was complex.
Qin Jixun didn’t delay, immediately rushing out of the tent. Inside, Xu Hexue had already heard their conversation clearly. He lowered his eyes to stare at the blanket for a moment, then threw it off and rose.
“Xu Ziling?”
Ni Su entered the tent to see him changed into an indigo round-collared robe—the clothing Qin Jixun had ordered prepared for him. These past days his soul had been unstable and he’d hardly left the tent, naturally not having changed into these clothes.
“Something’s happened in the Wei family army. I must go see.”
After several days of using reed flower dew water, Xu Hexue felt much better.
“Alright.”
Ni Su nodded.
Staying temporarily in the military camp, Ni Su hadn’t dressed as a woman, still wearing men’s robes with her hair in a man’s style. She went out together with Xu Hexue and asked a soldier to bring horses.
“Where are you two going?”
Qingqiong ran over to ask.
“To Commander Wei’s camp. Qingqiong, you stay here. We’ll return soon.” Ni Su told him, then turned to see Xu Hexue had already mounted the horse, extending a hand toward her.
Under the sunlight, Ni Su grasped his icy pale hand and was pulled onto the horse’s back. The horse neighed once, then galloped out of camp following Duan Rong and the others.
The sky was clear and bright, the sunlight blazing.
Ni Su pulled her hood tight, hiding from the wind and sand in Xu Hexue’s embrace. The Wei family army camp wasn’t far from the Qin family army camp. When the group arrived at the Wei family army, they saw corpses covered in white cloth laid out on the ground.
“Commander Wei, Yang Tianzhe has the heart of a wolf—everyone has the right to execute him. Today when you go to Mount Ru, you must make him pay with his life for your fine young man!”
Song Song sat on high, ordering in a deep voice.
Wei Dechang knelt to receive the command, but heard a great shout: “Dechang!”
He turned his head to see Qin Jixun riding into camp, horse hooves trampling dust and sand as he galloped over.
“Sworn brother…”
Wei Dechang watched him dismount and stride quickly over.
“Military Supervisor Song, there may be something suspicious about this matter. We absolutely cannot rashly launch troops against Yang Tianzhe at this time!” Qin Jixun bowed with cupped fists toward Song Song seated above.
“Suspicious?”
Song Song laughed coldly. “So the dead aren’t soldiers of your Qin family army, not your son, General Qin, so you don’t hate him at all? You’re still thinking about bringing that Yang Tianzhe under your command? Even if you want to, you must ask the soldiers of the Wei family army, ask the people of Yongzhou City—are they willing to throw open the city gates and welcome a traitorous rebel into the city!”
“We’re not willing!”
“Those who betray the nation must be executed!”
“Our Wei family army vows to kill Yang Tianzhe!”
“Vow to kill Yang Tianzhe!”
The soldiers of the Wei family army roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
Song Song stood up, walked forward several steps, and curled his lips. “Did you hear that, General Qin? If you continue to obstruct us, I’ll impeach you to His Majesty for the crime of delaying military affairs! Do you want to bring disaster upon your entire clan?”
Qin Jixun’s face was expressionless, but he looked at the person beside him: “Dechang, you truly want to go?”
“Sworn brother, Yang Tianzhe killed my son Azhan!”
Wei Dechang’s knuckles gripping the sword hilt were white.
“How do you determine it was Yang Tianzhe who killed Azhan?”
“There’s a witness!”
Wei Dechang’s personal guard shouted from the side. Immediately someone led out a wounded soldier who was being carried out, his body wrapped in fine cloth soaked with blood.
“He escaped back and told us—they encountered Yang Tianzhe on the shaded side of Mount Ru. As soon as Yang Tianzhe saw they were Qi army, he immediately ordered them surrounded and killed…”
Wei Dechang walked forward several steps, crouched down, and almost tremblingly reached out his hand. After pausing, he lifted a corner of the white cloth. His son Wei Zhan’s face was deathly pale, lying beneath without breath.
“Sworn brother… my son suffered twenty-one stab wounds before dying.”
Wei Dechang’s voice trembled.
Qin Jixun also couldn’t bear to look at Wei Zhan beneath the white cloth. He closed his eyes. “Everyone died, only he alone escaped to tell you something, and you believe whatever he says?”
“What does General Qin mean by this? Can’t we trust our Wei family army soldiers?!” Someone said indignantly.
Song Song sat above, coldly watching this chaotic scene below. “Qin Jixun, if Wei Zhan were your son, if these corpses were your Qin family army’s young men, what would you do?”
“If it was Yang Tianzhe’s doing, I will certainly kill him!”
Qin Jixun suddenly raised his head, staring intently at Song Song. “But what if it wasn’t Yang Tianzhe? Military Supervisor Song need not pressure me with words. Everything I, Qin Jixun, have done is without shame in my heart. If it implicates my clan, I have wronged them, but I have never wronged Great Qi! If today we rashly launch troops to eliminate Yang Tianzhe, how will the Qi people of the northern border’s thirteen provinces view their homeland in the future? I don’t pity Yang Tianzhe alone—I want to ask Military Supervisor Song! Do you dare, on His Majesty’s behalf, order the abandonment of the Qi people of the thirteen provinces!”
“Qin Jixun!”
Song Song’s face turned nearly iron-blue.
Magistrate Shen Tongchuan, who had been sitting quietly at Song Song’s side like a monk in meditation, seemed completely unrelated to this dispute. But the ease on his face suddenly ceased at Qin Jixun’s words.
His fingers tapping the chair stopped.
Song Song roared angrily, “I speak to you of Yang Tianzhe, yet you drag in the entire northern border’s thirteen provinces! Yang Tianzhe is a rebel, and those following him are all rebels! You defend rebels—are you truly not afraid of death!”
The military camp fell deathly silent for a moment, only the wind and sand unceasing.
Qin Jixun’s gaze swept past him, also sweeping past Magistrate Shen Tongchuan sitting nearby without raising his head. He gave a nearly desolate laugh: “When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked. Whether my sworn brother Dechang wins or loses this battle, Supervisor, you won’t spare us two brothers.”
After over a decade of endurance and compromise, he was nearly exhausted in this boundless coercion.
“Commander Wei, I, Song Song, am absolutely not that kind of person. Your action is to pacify bandits for the nation. If this battle is victorious,” Song Song raised his cupped hands high, “I will certainly memorialize His Majesty to request merit for you!”
“Magistrate Shen will as well.”
Speaking thus, Song Song looked toward Shen Tongchuan at the side. “Isn’t that right, Magistrate Shen?”
Shen Tongchuan seemed to have just awakened from a dream, dully raising his head with an “Ah.” He met Qin Jixun’s eyes below, then quickly averted his gaze. “What Military Supervisor Song says is correct.”
Qin Jixun could no longer control the situation before him. Though the Wei family army honored him as general, they ultimately followed Wei Dechang’s lead. Now the two brothers’ hearts weren’t aligned, and Song Song had issued his order—he had almost no room to maneuver.
Seeing Wei Dechang about to muster his troops, Ni Su quietly asked the person beside her: “What do you think?”
Xu Hexue released scattered soul fire behind the crowd: “They weren’t killed by Yang Tianzhe.”
“Wait here for me.”
Xu Hexue instructed in a low voice, then stepped forward, bending down to lift the white cloth and examine the corpses beneath.
“Who are you?”
A Wei family army soldier shouted.
Xu Hexue paid him no mind, but said to Wei Dechang who was about to walk past him: “Commander Wei, Yang Tianzhe came to surrender to his homeland—what benefit is there for him in killing your men?”
Wei Dechang stopped, recognizing him as Qin Jixun’s advisor.
“It must be that Su Qile spread information making Yang Tianzhe think we’d join forces to eliminate him. He wants to fight us to mutual destruction!”
“Oh.”
Xu Hexue responded coolly. “If that’s the case, then if I were Commander Wei, I definitely wouldn’t kill Yang Tianzhe at this time.”
At these words, not only Wei Dechang, but even Song Song and Shen Tongchuan on the platform couldn’t help but fix their gazes on this mysterious young master.
“Isn’t Su Qile equally detestable? Isn’t he the chief culprit who killed your son Wei Zhan?” Xu Hexue supported himself with one hand on his knee. Ni Su saw he seemed to struggle rising, so she stepped forward to support his arm, helping him stand.
“And what are you, Commander Wei, about to do now?”
Xu Hexue seemed to mock coldly. “Kill Yang Tianzhe and relieve Su Qile’s siege?”
Wei Dechang’s expression changed.
“Who dares speak such nonsense here to disturb military morale!”
From the high platform, Song Song sternly rebuked. “With the alliance treaty between our nations in place, how dare you slander it!”
Xu Hexue raised his head.
The pure wind blew his snow-white cloth. Ni Su looked toward him, but he grasped her wrist and pulled her behind him. She could only see his upright, lean back.
Stripping away the gentleman’s refinement, revealing his sharp skeletal form.
Ni Su heard him seem to laugh coldly:
“The alliance is merely a thin piece of paper. The Danqiu barbarians are too lazy to take it to heart—only you never forget it for a moment. Whether these people truly died at Yang Tianzhe’s hands or died in your calculations with Su Qile, Song Song, you know very well in your heart.”
“If Great Qi doesn’t restrain appeasers like you, the nation will be in danger.”