The city of Huai was experiencing a drizzle, mixed with sparse snow that felt like sharp blades against the skin.
Huai City lay at the southwestern tip of the Linyuan territory, bordering the neighboring nation of Dali. As a crucial fortress on Linyuan’s frontier, its earthen walls were built high and thick to defend against Dali’s invasions.
“General, they haven’t returned.”
The patrol team should have been back by now. Yet, half an incense stick’s time past their scheduled return and shift change, the patrol, led by a subcommandant, had still not come back.
The so-called general, to whom the remaining soldiers spoke, was merely a chiliarch. Huai City was remote. Although it bordered Dali, ever since the Regent had annihilated Dali’s imperial army, Dali had not dared to invade again. Over time, the soldiers stationed in Huai City dwindled, now numbering only a thousand.
This situation, however, had not occurred for over a decade.
The patrol route was along the border between Linyuan and Dali. Since Dali had sent a princess to Linyuan for a peace marriage, trade between Huai City and Dali had become increasingly active. It was supposed to be a routine patrol. Even if there were delays, they wouldn’t be this prolonged. For some reason, the general felt a growing unease.
The rain lessened, and the snow intensified, quickly covering the ground and rooftops with a thick layer of snow. The sky grew darker. Rolling thunderclouds churned high above, lightning streaking through them, the low rumble of thunder seeming to spread from the deepest recesses of the ear.
Torches were lit on the city wall’s watchtower, connecting one to another, tearing a narrow slit into the gloomy sky.
…
“Hoo~ Hoo~ Hoo~”
Heavy gasps echoed in the wilderness. Shen Zizhou crawled forward, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground. His blood seeped into the pristine white snow, melting it, diluting the crimson as it spread like a magnificent bloom splattered across an ink wash painting.
The loss of blood blurred Shen Zizhou’s vision. He gritted his teeth, crawling towards Huai City, and kept crawling.
On the beacon tower, a scout, using a thousand-li glass, spotted a splash of crimson in the snow under the extremely poor visibility.
“General, something appears to be moving towards the city gate in the ten o’clock direction!” The scout immediately reported what he saw to the chiliarch. “But it’s unclear what it is. It’s not an army, there are no horses. It’s… General, it’s a person, a crawling person.”
The scout’s eyes widened, his eyeballs almost piercing the thousand-li glass as he finally got a clear view.
“What?”
The general quickly ordered the city gate opened and personally led a troop of men, galloping towards the crawling figure.
Seeing the crawling figure, the general dismounted. Shen Zizhou heard the neighing of horses beside his ear. With the last of his strength, he raised his head. His blurred vision still couldn’t discern who was approaching, but the familiar silver armor reignited a spark of life within his almost extinguished being. He shouted hoarsely, “Quickly report to the General, I… we encountered Dali soldiers massacring our Linyuan civilians at Changming Slope, and… and then we clashed with them. Dali, Dali has gathered a hundred men near Changming Slope, and they… they intend to invade. You must deliver this message to the General, tell the General… to be sure to guard against it!”
With that, the last breath he had been holding escaped him.
His head, which had been held high, crashed to the ground. His face held no fear of death, but rather the peace and regret of completing his final mission by delivering the message.
The general knelt and cradled Shen Zizhou’s body. His bloodshot eyes were filled with a visceral pain as he cried out Shen Zizhou’s name with all his might, “Zizhou, Shen Zizhou!!”
It was as if cuckoos were weeping blood.
He held on with his last breath to bring back the news of Dali’s invasion.
Simultaneously, in Dali’s Weicheng, a similar scene was unfolding!
At almost the same moment, the commanding generals stationed in Huai City and Weicheng issued the same orders: dispatch the vanguard to Changming Slope to investigate!
The two armies collided at Changming Slope, igniting a battle of a hundred men.
…
Luan Wencheng arrived at Xiling County after traveling day and night.
“Let’s rest, we’ll enter the city at noon.” Leaving their horses at a post station several dozen li away, Luan Wencheng and a group of Dali Temple constables, dressed in plain clothes, sat at a roadside tea stall set up outside the city gates to rest.
“A pot of tea, fifteen steamed buns, and a few plates of side dishes!”
Although the swaying sign only bore the character for “tea,” it also served food, even diluted, inferior white wine and pork as snacks. To avoid suspicion, Luan Wencheng ordered only staple foods and vegetables, abstaining from alcohol and meat. The group, having traveled all night, was ravenous and immediately began grabbing steamed buns and shoving them into their mouths, looking like a pack of famished wolves.
The owner, with a worried expression, feared they might eat and run without paying.
Luan Wencheng produced a string of cash and placed it on the table. Only then did the owner’s face light up with a smile. He approached with a kettle, lifted the lid of the nearly empty tea pot on their table, and refilled it. He then replaced the lid and said to Luan Wencheng and the others, “My esteemed customers, if you need more tea, just call this old man to refill it for you.”
“Thank you, owner!”
“Not at all, it’s my duty!”
As the sun climbed higher, the flow of pedestrians gradually increased. Travelers on the road took a brief rest at the tea stall, and those not in a hurry would linger longer, chatting about various gossip they had heard or seen.
“By the way, have you heard? That mad scholar committed suicide again, and again!”
They were talking about a scholar in Xiling County who had attempted suicide several times, but each time, he failed to die, as if protected by some divine power.
“How did he try this time?”
“Jumping into the lake!”
“Didn’t he try that once before? What, is his inspiration exhausted, even repeating his suicide methods?”
“No, this time he jumped as the covered boat passed under a bridge.”
“He wanted to be run over by the covered boat!”
“Then why didn’t he die?”
“The helmsman today was an old sailor. Seeing him jump, he knew the boat couldn’t stop in time, so he rowed faster. When the scholar jumped, he landed directly into the covered boat.”
“Tsk, why does that scholar want to die so badly?”
Another person scoffed, asking the one who sighed, “You say that lightly. If what happened to him happened to you, you would have drowned yourself countless times already.”
“How could that be? If I had his luck with women…”
“If you had it, you’d have long since died tragically in a ruined temple, turned to dust, without even getting the chance to commit suicide!”
That person suddenly shivered, feeling that discussing this matter at a roadside tea stall was somewhat ominous. He quickly stood up, urging, “Alright, no more resting, let’s go.”
After they left one after another, Luan Wencheng curiously inquired of the tea stall owner. The owner, recalling the incident, still felt a lingering sense of dread. “This matter, it’s a long story. Do you know about the Ghostly Fiend Sect on top of Mount Chongshan in our Xiling County?”
Luan Wencheng shook his head. The tea stall owner continued, “It’s a martial arts sect, but this sect is a bit… a bit sinister. Anyway, it’s not…” The owner refrained from further comment, skipping over it to talk about what happened a month ago.