"Ah!"
Zhou Fugui let out a scream.
"Er Lang is awake, Er Lang is awake."
"Flag Master, Flag Master, you finally..."
"Flag Master, you must be hungry?"
"Wei the Blind, hurry, hurry over, Fugui is awake."
Zhou Fugui's vision cleared to reveal familiar faces: Li Qing, Xu Mancang, Suo Dacheng, Xue Wentai, Pan Jiugui, Bai Ma Wu, Yang Xinhong, Wu Tianqi, Wei the Blind, Chen Kunkun, Hong Wei, Yelihu, and more.
They all looked joyful, concerned, and excited.
"Where am I? Where did the Golden Palace go? The immortal mountain? The giant? The great general?" Zhou Fugui asked, dazed and confused.
"Brother Fugui, what Golden Palace, immortal mountain, and giants? Have you gone mad?" Xu Mancang's jaw dropped in surprise. He touched Zhou Fugui's forehead, then turned to the panting Wei the Blind. "Blind man, hurry over and check Brother Fugui. I think he's gone mad."
"Slap!" Hearing this, Zhou Fugui was furious. He slapped Xu Mancang's hand away and said, "You oaf, what nonsense are you spouting? What happened?"
Zhou Fugui got up and looked around. All he saw were snow-capped mountains and black waters. There was no immortal mountain or golden palace. Huo Qubing's heroic spirit was nowhere to be seen.
"Fugui, you were unconscious for two days and two nights," Li Qing sighed when he heard this.
"Two days and two nights? Not two years?" Zhou Fugui seemed to be understanding something.
But as the saying goes, a day in heaven is a year on earth. He had clearly spent over two years in the immortal mountain and golden palace, yet only two days had passed in the human world? Zhou Fugui was secretly astonished.
Furthermore, the two years spent in the immortal mountain and golden palace, and everything he experienced, were still vivid in his mind. He had also memorized Huo Qubing's marksmanship and military strategies.
A dream of Nanke? Dreams were never remembered so clearly, nor were they so realistic, Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"It seems I've really become delirious from illness..." Xu Mancang mumbled again. "It was clearly two days, but he insists it was two years..."
Zhou Fugui glared at Xu Mancang fiercely, scaring him into silence.
"Blackie..." By now, Wei the Blind had finished examining Zhou Fugui and said with a smile, "Fugui's body is fine, perfectly well."
"Good. Did those skeleton barbarian soldiers do anything to you?" Zhou Fugui nodded and asked, "What happened?"
"The specters and demons were dispersed by the appearance of the golden sun. However, you have been unconscious ever since," Li Qing replied.
"Oh, I see." Zhou Fugui couldn't explain or understand such mystical matters. He decided it was better to believe it than not. However, it was not the time to broadcast it, so he nodded.
"Yelihu?" Zhou Fugui then called out to Yelihu.
"Yelihu is here, General, what is it?" Yelihu leaned forward and responded.
"In the past two days, have you found a way out of the valley? Is it a dead valley?" Zhou Fugui asked.
After Zhou Fugui and the two hundred Yan cavalry entered the Underworld Valley, they could not return the way they came because the valley entrance had disappeared, replaced by knife-like peaks. It was an entrance only, with no exit.
"Dead valley? No..." Yelihu replied. "While the General was unconscious for these two days, I led the men to find the path out of the valley. However..."
Yelihu, as always, liked to play mind games with Zhou Fugui...
"However what?" Zhou Fugui was too tired to argue with him and simply rolled his eyes before asking.
"There is only one path out of the valley. You need to cross a snow mountain. Before the snow mountain is a black mud swamp," Yelihu replied.
"Oh..." Zhou Fugui nodded, catching a few snowflakes. "Why didn't anyone notice the weather getting colder?"
"Fugui, the ropes, poles, grappling hooks, and other equipment for crossing mountains and ridges are all prepared. If you didn't wake up, we would have had to carry you," Suo Dacheng, who was much more steady than Xu Mancang, said to Zhou Fugui. Suo Dacheng had taken charge while Zhou Fugui was unconscious and was essentially Zhou Fugui's deputy.
"Mm, scholarly fellow, how are the provisions and horse feed? Are they sufficient?" Zhou Fugui nodded and asked Li Qing.
"Not much left. Dacheng and the others even went to hunt some game. But we can last at most three days. If we can't get out of the valley within three days, we will all die here," Li Qing sighed.
Zhou Fugui and his men had escaped in a hurry and had not prepared enough provisions. Along the way, they were constantly pursued, so they couldn't stock up.
Moreover, Huo Qubing, leading his army north, would not carry excessive supplies. They would simply resupply as they went, meaning they would raid for supplies while fighting.
"Heaven always leaves a way out!" Zhou Fugui patted Li Qing's shoulder and then loudly ordered everyone, "Go and prepare. In an hour, we will climb the snow mountain and cross the grasslands, embarking on our own twenty-five-thousand-li Long March."
Twenty-five-thousand-li Long March? What was that? The crowd mumbled to themselves, but then they all responded in unison and went their separate ways to prepare.
...
"Fugui, a ruined temple has been found."
As Zhou Fugui led nearly two hundred Yan soldiers up a slope, Yang Xinhong rushed up to him and reported.
"A ruined temple? Ignore it. Continue forward," Zhou Fugui said, but then a thought struck him, and he changed his mind. "You all come with me to take a look."
So, Zhou Fugui led Li Qing and the others towards the ruined temple on the slope.
"Dismount, everyone. It is disrespectful to ride a horse before a divine temple," Zhou Fugui instructed everyone. He then dismounted and led his warhorse towards the ruined temple.
A divine temple? Who knew which god was worshipped inside? Was it your ancestor that you were so concerned and respectful? The crowd mumbled a few more words to themselves, then dismounted and followed Zhou Fugui towards the ruined temple.
What Zhou Fugui called a divine temple was merely a dilapidated temple. It was quite large in scale but was now in ruins. Thick snow covered the crumbling walls. The small temple had been severely eroded by time, and Zhou Fugui and his men could only vaguely discern its former glory from the remnants of the beast sculptures on the eaves.
"What does it say up there?" Zhou Fugui stood before the ruined temple with his horse and asked Li Qing about the plaque on the eaves.
The plaque had ancient script on it. Although Zhou Fugui knew it was Chinese characters, he couldn't understand them.
Li Qing looked up. He first used a long saber to clear away the cobwebs and then tried to decipher the blurred ancient script on the plaque.
"Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, Ghosts, and Gods align their virtues. Martial prowess endures for ten thousand generations. The Chronicle of the Worldly Ying Long's Temple," Li Qing read out after a moment.
"Chronicle of the Worldly Ying Long? What is that?" Zhou Fugui turned to Li Qing, asking in surprise.
"Mao Du gave birth to Ying Long, Ying Long gave birth to Jian Ma, Jian Ma gave birth to Qilin, Qilin gave birth to myriad beasts. All that are hairy are born from the myriad beasts..." Li Qing quoted from memory and then explained, "It refers to the ancient god of war."
"God of war? Then it must be him," Zhou Fugui said with a smile.
"Who? Fugui, do you know the master of this temple?" Now it was Li Qing's turn to ask in surprise.
"You'll know when you go inside," Zhou Fugui said and then gently pushed open the large door of the ruined temple.
The heavy door had not been opened for a long time, but it was not rotten. It only let out a "creak, creak" sound, and then countless dust fell from the beams, covering Zhou Fugui.
Zhou Fugui didn't bother to brush off the dust. He walked into the temple and saw a towering and majestic statue standing within. The statue was fully armored, with a white face and black beard. It was stroking its long beard with its left hand and holding a sword at its waist with its right. Despite the passage of time, the statue's face was lifelike and incredibly clear.
"Master!"
Although Zhou Fugui had been prepared in his heart, he was still greatly shocked upon seeing the statue. His legs went weak, and he knelt before the statue's pedestal.
The statue's face was none other than Huo Qubing. The statue was so lifelike that it was exactly the same as Huo Qubing in Zhou Fugui's dream.
Zhou Fugui even saw the golden-armored guards to the left and right of Huo Qubing's statue. Their faces were the same as the attackers. Their eyes, like golden bells, stared at Zhou Fugui, as if still filled with anger...
At this point, how could Zhou Fugui not realize that Huo Qubing's heroic spirit had truly manifested?
Master? Xu Mancang, hearing this and seeing the scene, was greatly bewildered. They all looked at the statue, then at Zhou Fugui, not understanding what was happening.
Zhou Fugui, Xu Mancang, Suo Dacheng, Pan Jiugui, and the other villagers knew him well. He had a master? And his master was a deity in this ruined temple?
Xu Mancang, Suo Dacheng, Pan Jiugui, and the others refused to believe it, but Zhou Fugui's demeanor made them half-believing.
What deity was it? They all looked at the statue, wondering in their hearts.
Li Qing waved his hand, signaling everyone to remain silent, and pointed to the memorial tablet before the statue.
The tablet clearly read: "The Divine Tablet of Huo Qubing, Marquis of Champion of the Great Han, General of the Cavalry and Grand Marshal."
This made Xu Mancang, Suo Dacheng, Pan Jiugui, Li Qing, and the others even more astonished.
Huo Qubing had been dead for who knew how many years. Could he still be Zhou Fugui's master? Had they truly seen a ghost?
"Master above, please accept this disciple's bow!" The ruined temple was ancient and dilapidated, so there were no incense sticks or candles to be found. Zhou Fugui could only hold his heavy sword upside down, using it as incense, and kowtow. "Disciple was knocked unconscious then... and left without saying goodbye, so I beg Master's forgiveness! Disciple bows again. One day, disciple will surely rebuild your palace and recast your golden body."
Of course, you have to bless me to stay alive first... Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"Camp Master, there's a golden spear behind the temple..." Zhou Fugui was rambling and acting strangely, continuously kowtowing and talking to the statue. Wu Tianqi was a bit bored and went to the back of the temple, where he discovered Huo Qubing's weapon, the red-tasseled forest spear.
Zhou Fugui and the others then turned to the back of the temple. They saw the red-tasseled forest spear standing in its stand. Wu Tianqi was using all his strength, trying to pull out the golden spear, but it was like a dragonfly trying to shake an iron tree, completely unable to budge it.
"Little Qi Zi, get aside, let me try!" Xu Mancang shouted when he saw this, rolled up his sleeves, and walked to the red-tasseled forest spear. He placed one hand on the spear shaft, intending to pull it out in one go.