Chapter 14: The Zongwu General

'Twenty years of bearing the world's scorn in silence ends now.'

It had rarely been a problem for Xie Yun to eat heartily and sleep easily, and he seldom had any dreams.

But tonight, he dreamed that he was stuck in a sea of flames, pulling someone along as he frantically tried to find a way out. The three floors of the inn had suddenly transformed into an intricate maze that was impossible to get out of, with dead ends at every turn.

The fire was growing stronger by the second, and the smoke was thickening. He could sense the person behind him growing weaker. Xie Yun felt like the flames were burning up his insides as well, and in his desperation, delivered a palm strike to the wall in front of him with every last bit of strength that he had. The stone wall cracked open upon the impact, causing the dizzyingly bright daylight to stream in. Xie Yun felt the tension leave his chest, and he tugged at the person behind him, saying: "I told you that my skills are unparalleled…"

But the weight in his hand didn't feel like that of a person's. He turned around sharply, only to see that the person had been enveloped by the flames, leaving only a mutilated arm in his hand. Xie Yun felt as if his heart had been viciously squeezed, and he started awake, drenched in cold sweat.

He realised that he was in a peasant's simple house, with torn paper windows that had been patched up numerous times, and aged ceiling beams. But the furniture and bedding in the room were spanking new. Xie Yun tried moving his limbs, and immediately felt a sharp pain in his chest, probably an internal wound from Phecda's palm strike. He coughed several times, propping himself up with much difficulty. Resting for a bit, he suddenly thought of something, and tried to stand up and walk outside.

Just then, someone knocked gently on the door, and then pushed it open with a creak. A teenage boy walked in. Upon seeing Xie Yun, joy spread across his face, and he said: "Third Brother, you're finally awake!"

The boy was only about fifteen or sixteen, but already quite tall and well-built, with handsome features and expressive eyes. Xie Yun looked stunned, blurting out: "Ming Chen?"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before saying simultaneously: "Why are you here?"

Xie Yun pinched his brow hard, as he walked towards the door: "Forget it, you don't have to tell me. There's still something I need to do, I'll talk to you when I get back…"

"Third Brother," the boy said softly, turning behind him and gently closing the door. "Dubhe and Phecda of the Big Dipper are both in Huarong City now, and the city is being heavily patrolled. You definitely shouldn't go out now, please be patient."

Xie Yun shook his head, saying: "I must go."

It was strange – Young Master Xie always adopted a ready smile and teasing manner towards everyone, even speaking familiarly with young girls who he had never met before. But to this boy, who referred to him chummily as 'Third Brother', he was extremely serious and even curt.

"Is it because of your friends in the inn?" Ming Chen placed his hand on the door, saying to Xie Yun, "Listen to me first. I've already asked Mr Bai to look into it. Once he has any news, he'll report it to you immediately. That inn has been burnt beyond all recognition, and you're still wounded. If even Mr Bai comes back with nothing, then what's the point of you going?"

Xie Yun pondered this, and admitted to himself that it made sense. While he often boasted shamelessly of his own abilities, he wasn't completely ignorant of his own limitations. He knew that the 'Mr Bai' which Ming Chen referred to was far more skilled than he, and so he didn't insist on going outside to create unnecessary trouble.

Seeing this, Ming Chen heaved a sigh of relief. He let go of the door, walked further inside the room and took a seat, before asking: "Who did you get mixed up with this time? If Qing Mei hadn't recognised you and brought you back in time, I shudder to think what would've happened. You scared me half to death, third brother."

"It's a long story. Please thank Ms Qing Mei on my behalf." Xie Yun reached for the teapot sitting on his bedside table. It was still warm, proof that the person waiting on him had been doing a scrupulous job. He sighed, pouring two cups of tea and pushing one towards the boy. He looked like he was about to say something, but hesitated a good long while before eventually deciding to swallow those words. Instead, he asked casually, "How is my uncle's health of late?"

"Father is doing very well, thank you." Ming Chen picked up the cup of tea, then paused before saying, "But we've heard absolutely nothing from you for a long time, and really miss you. When we celebrate the new year, father often speaks of you."

"Mm." Xie Yun's tone grew measured, "It's my fault. I'll go back and see him this new year."

Seeing the slightly contrite expression on his face, Ming Chen said softly: "Third Brother, come back home. It's such a mess outside, and you don't even have anyone to take care of you…"

Xie Yun's lowered his eyes, and he said evenly: "I swore a solemn oath to my shifu that I would not return until I had learnt enough. You know this too. How can I go back on my word?"

Ming Chen said woefully: "Then you can still stay outside to learn for ten months in a year, but at least go back once or twice – I've heard that you're not studying any books or practicing martial arts, but you've learnt…is it blacksmithing?"

Xie Yun smiled absent-mindedly without responding, his gaze fixed on the door. Just then, someone knocked on the door and said: "Young Master."

Not waiting for Ming Chen to respond, Xie Yun jumped up and hurried to the door, pulling it open. A dignified-looking middle-aged man was standing at the door. Upon seeing Xie Yun, he bowed respectfully and said: "Third Master."

"Please dispense with the courtesies, Mr Bai." Xie Yun put a hand on his arm as he straightened his back, and asked: "What did you find?"

Mr Bai lowered his head, and said: "Third Master, please prepare yourself for what I'm about to say."

Xie Yun's heart sank.

Mr Bai wasted no time in giving Xie Yun a detailed explanation of what had transpired, saying: "Dubhe and Phecda had originally been heading for the Huo Clan in Yueyang City. But when they were halfway there, they seemed to have obtained some new information, and separated from the main group of men, changing course for Huarong City and heading straight for that inn. They tried to round up everyone upon entering, and while there were quite a few skilled pugilists in the inn, these were no match for the far larger numbers of Big Dipper men. Those pugilists might actually have been able to force their way out of the inn, but I heard that they retreated inside to protect the women and children in their midst. They also tried to send some people out to call for help. But Chou Tianji had pre-empted this and immediately surrounded the inn once they retreated inside, ordering his men to fire hundreds of tubes of poisonous water onto anyone who ventured outside. So they cut off all possible escape routes, and then set the inn on fire…there was a wine cellar in the inn, which hastened the fire's spread. Nobody could do anything."

Xie Yun's expression had darkened, and he felt unsteady on his feet, grasping onto the door frame for support.

Ming Chen called out: "Third Brother, you…"

"Something doesn't add up." Xie Yun suddenly looked up and said, "Are the Big Dipper's men still 'patrolling' the city now? Dubhe isn't so free that he would do this for nothing. It must be because some people have escaped, right?"

***

The entire city was run over by predators in hot pursuit of their prey, charging the atmosphere with a restless unease. The residents of Huarong City were all anxiously cooped up at home, and gloom hung over its streets. At a time like this, only the inner courtyards of the local government office, which housed the local governor's mansion, were an oasis of calm.

In the local governor's imposingly regal mansion, there was a little courtyard that stood forlornly apart from the rest of its rooms. A tree of indeterminate species stood in the centre of the courtyard. It looked like it had been there for quite some years, its branches extending to a corner of the courtyard such that its leaves blended in with the moss-covered walls. As people seldom visited, the moss had spread thickly across all available surfaces, marking out a lush green 'kingdom' of its own.

Colourful strips of silk and cloth were hung all about the courtyard. They were made of old fabric, about 15cm wide, and were fastened on the tree, the roof, and all over. If they hadn't been faded with age, the scene would have evoked Emperor Yang of Sui's infamous decree to 'decorate trees with colourful silks'.[1]

A young man who appeared to be a servant placed a box of food none too gently at the door of the courtyard, and knocked noisily. He rudely shouted: "The food is here! Are you gonna eat or what?"

The lid of the box slid off, and half a bun rolled out. That bun looked like it had been on this earth for so long it had fossilised. The other dishes also lay limply in the box, completely devoid of any heat. Irritation flitted across the man's face, and he banged heavily against the door again, saying: "We asked you to get the food yourself, but you didn't want to; and then when you complained behind our backs to the young master, now you don't want to come out and get it. You're nothing but a low-born witch, yet you dare to behave like you're the proper missus?"

Just then, a stout middle-aged woman rushed out of the house in a huff, brandishing a broom in her hand. Seeing this, the man turned tail and ran, muttering 'crazy bitch' under his breath. The woman planted her feet firmly on the ground and stuck both hands on her hips, letting loose a string of invective against the man and all his ancestors, not stopping until he was out of sight. Only then did she look down at the pitiful looking box of food by her feet, curse heavily, and woefully pick it up before turning to go back inside.

She nearly jumped out of her skin. A skinny and slightly-built woman had crept up behind her at some point, and was now staring unblinkingly at her with dark eyes. The middle-aged woman patted her hand against her chest, all her erstwhile ferocity now gone, and muttered: "You scared me half to death. Madam, you must have been a cat in your past life, you don't make a single sound when you walk. Come, let's go in and eat."

The woman continued to stare blankly ahead, but nevertheless obediently followed her servant back into the house. As she passed the hanging cloths in the courtyard, she stretched out an emaciated hand to caress them tenderly. Her unfocused eyes seemed to shift a little, and her slack face seemed to brighten just a bit. Her feet seemed to be moving in a pattern of sorts, as if she were dancing. She twirled in a circle every two steps, mindlessly humming some tune to herself. Then all of a sudden, she stopped, covering the lower half of her face with her arm in a dancer's pose, and winked flirtatiously in a particular direction.

So a crazy woman lived here.

Seeing that the woman had lapsed into her crazy antics, her servant quickly bustled forward, clucking like a mother hen: "Hey, hey, let's go, be careful not to fall again, Madam! Don't look there anymore, what's there to see in that shed? Those scoundrels cleaned it out long ago. There's nothing left but a bunch of rats."

The crazy woman still stared blankly at the shed in the corner, and had to be dragged and cajoled by her servant back into the house. When the courtyard was quiet once more, a noise could be heard from that little rat-infested shed. Zhou Fei wriggled in through the window, a paper packet in her hand. She passed it to Wu Chuchu, who was peering anxiously outside through a crack in the door, and asked: "What are you looking at?"

Wu Chuchu said in a hushed voice: "That was so scary, I really thought that we'd been discovered."

Zhou Fei quickly glanced outside, pressing her hand on the hilt of the sabre at her waist as she said cautiously: "Who lives here?"

When the two of them had sneaked in the night before, the governor's mansion had seemed quite empty, but Zhou Fei knew that such an important place wouldn't be left so unguarded for too long. Once those black-clad men realised that they weren't out there, they could surround this place very quickly. So under the guidance of Wu Chuchu, who was a proper gentlewoman, Zhou Fei had managed to find the women's quarters – she figured that as the lady of the house was of a certain class, Dubhe and Phecda would think twice before barging into the private dwellings of the governor's wives.

She hadn't expected the governor of a lowly county like Huarong City to live in a house as imposingly regal as this, with both inner and outer courtyards tastefully decorated and crowds of servants bustling back and forth. Zhou Fei was almost dazzled by the sights around her. Since young, her elders had always told her things like 'wealth should not be extravagant, and poverty should not shake one's will',[2] which she had never thought much of. Only now did she realise that this was because she had never actually witnessed real 'wealth' in all its glory. There seemed to be rules aplenty in this house, and many people to uphold them. So to avoid detection, the two girls had carefully surveyed the entire place before settling on an empty shed in the most secluded courtyard of the mansion as their temporary hiding spot.

"Maybe I was just seeing things," Wu Chuchu said as she unwrapped the paper packet, which contained several meat pies that were still steaming hot, and certainly much more palatable than the cold victuals that the resident of this courtyard had been served. She sighed and said, "It seems like the person staying here is a concubine who has fallen out of favour, and who's gone mad as a result. They probably only allow her to live here because she bore the governor a child, but she's being given just the bare minimum to stay alive."

Zhou Fei had managed to find two dust-covered little stools from somewhere in the shed, which she pulled over for them to sit on. The two girls set to work on the meat pies, devouring them in an instant. Crumbs had dropped all over the floor in their hurry to consume the food, and these now drew out the entire family of rats living in the shed. The rats here appeared to have been scrounging food from somewhere else, each of them plump with sleek coats, and entirely unafraid of humans. They squeaked incessantly as they rushed towards the girls' feet, causing Wu Chuchu to jump in fright.

Zhou Fei stretched out her foot towards the fattest rat of the bunch, giving it a swift kick to the stomach. The large rat went flying into the air, hitting the wall with a thud and collapsing to the ground unconscious. Seeing this, the other rats wisely hurried right back to where they had come from.

Zhou Fei asked curiously: "You're not afraid of a corpse, but you're afraid of rats?"

Wu Chuchu shot Zhou Fei an embarrassed smile, but then recalling all that she had gone through thus far, her eyes started to redden. Feeling that crying would only make the situation awkward and uncomfortable, she tried as best as she could to hold back her tears. To distract herself from dwelling on her series of unfortunate events, she attempted to strike up a conversation with Zhou Fei.

Zhou Fei wasn't really the kind of person who would take the lead in in her interactions with others. When she encountered vivacious people, she would become livelier than she usually was, and when she encountered people who were more reserved, she would also grow more reticent. Right now, she was wrapped up in gloomy thoughts about what had transpired thus far, and you could practically see a stormcloud hanging across her brow. Wu Chuchu feared that if she did not try to talk to her, she would sit there with her brow intensely furrowed like that for the entire day.

"Ahem…Fei."

Roused from her reverie, Zhou Fei turned towards Wu Chuchu. The girl looked nervous, as if she feared that Zhou Fei wouldn't respond, so Zhou Fei quickly replied with a "Mm."

But even after racking her brains, Wu Chuchu couldn't for the life of her figure out a suitable topic to engage Zhou Fei on. She decided that it was best to just discuss the situation at hand: "What will we do next?"

"We'll hide out here for a few days. Those Big Dipper folks probably have too many assassinations and clan exterminations to carry out every day to stay here for long. We just need to lie low for a bit until they leave. When that happens, we'll head straight for the south. Don't worry, the further south we go the safer we'll be."

Wu Chuchu nodded, and asked: "What is the 48 Zhai like exactly?"

Zhou Fei hadn't realised that Wu Chuchu was trying to draw her into a conversation. Thinking that this orphaned girl was feeling lost and alone without her mother and brother, she said: "The 48 Zhai is named that way because it has 48 different sects. If you don't like mixing with strangers, you can always stay with me first. When I'm not around, you can play with my younger cousin."

Wu Chuchu was relieved that she had managed to find a decent topic of conversation, and quickly asked: "You have a younger cousin too? She must be really pretty, and very powerful too!"

An image of Li Yan flashed across Zhou Fei's mind, and she scoffed: "Her looks are pretty average, and her skills are lousy. She's an idiot, really."

Wu Chuchu: "…"

There was no way she could continue this conversation!

Wu Chuchu sat there awkwardly for a good long while. But then she saw that Zhou Fei looked like she was at a loss too, and so despite her discomfiture, she suddenly felt a little like laughing. The laughter that escaped Wu Chuchu's lips caused Zhou Fei to realise that she had effectively killed the conversation. She quickly tried to salvage it, but having no clue as to what they could talk about, blurted out whatever she could think of: "Is the thing on your neck a longevity lock?[3]"

Longevity locks were usually only worn by children, till they reached adulthood. But most kids felt that they were already all grown-up by the time they reached the ages of eleven or twelve, and would start thinking that such things were too childish for them. It was therefore rare to see a girl of Wu Chuchu's age still wearing a longevity lock. Wu Chuchu looked down at the lock and touched a hand to its chain at the nape of her neck, her expression darkening as she said: "My father put this on me himself. When I was young, he got a fortune teller to divine my future. The fortune teller said that I was born with bad luck, and would need an object to counter it. I'm only supposed to take this off when I get married."

Zhou Fei said: "Mistress Li says that your father was a great hero."

Wu Chuchu smiled briefly: "Don't you know about my father?"

Zhou Fei shook her head, saying: "This is my first time leaving home."

"I see," Wu Chuchu nodded her head in understanding, and continued, "If you had left home about three to five years earlier, you wouldn't have thought that my father was a hero. At that time, everyone called him a 'two-faced traitor'. All those years ago when the Emperor of the Northern Dynasty usurped the throne, and twelve civilians escorted the remaining descendant of the imperial family down south, some of the officials from the previous dynasty who didn't leave the North were still unwilling to serve the new Emperor. So they were either slaughtered by the Northern Emperor, or exiled. Some of them fled elsewhere, or were forced to change camps and pledge allegiance to him. My father was one of those who changed camps. Upon doing so, the Northern Emperor conferred upon him the title of 'Zhongwu General', but those two words – 'Zhong' (Loyal) and 'Wu' (Valiant) – were clearly a joke, and whenever his name was mentioned, people would spit in derision."

Zhou Fei had heard Li Jinrong mention the 'Zhongwu General' before, but had never imagined that this title had been conferred by the Northern Emperor, Mistress Li's old enemy, and couldn't help but stare at Wu Chuchu in disbelief.

"Don't laugh at me, but even I thought he was that kind of person, until two years back. One day, he suddenly hurried home, and asked the three of us to pack our things and leave at once, to our hiding place in the Zhongnan Mountains. That place was a rural backwater, cut off from the outside world, and my mother cried every day we were there. Only much later did I learn that when the young Southern Emperor was escorted south all those years ago, the people who had conspired to do so decided that one of them should stay behind in the Northern court as a spy, even if this would mean that this person's name would go down in infamy. It was only through the concerted efforts of my father in the Northern court and the others in the south, that they were able to give the new southern kingdom room to breathe and grow into the Southern Dynasty that you see today. However, no matter how well they covered their tracks, Cao Zhongkun would certainly start to grow suspicious once he found himself being thwarted time after time. Cao Zhongkun's feigned illness three years ago was intended as a trap, to eliminate the various threats to him in the martial arts world, but also to test my father."

"My father knew that the emperor's suspicions had already been aroused. Once this was so, even steadfastly loyal officials would find it hard to prove their loyalty, what more a spy like himself. So he wrote a letter to my mother, containing only the words 'Twenty years of bearing the world's scorn in silence ends now', and then joined Gentleman Gan Tang at the frontlines, seizing three cities in a row and killing Alioth. He…he gave his life for his country, I guess."

Zhou Fei was at a loss for words. The funny thing was, what came to mind wasn't, 'Ah, this was a truly great hero'. Instead, what really resonated with her was the immense injustice of being wronged for so many years, which she discerned from General Wu Fei's letter to his wife. Youths could often endure pain, hard work and difficult circumstances, but absolutely could not take insults and humiliation lying down. Just putting herself in the General's shoes for a while was enough to make her feel overcome with a bitter resentment, and she wished for nothing more than to prove her innocence dramatically through a glorious, self-sacrificial death.

"Twenty years." Zhou Fei said softly.

Wu Chuchu made a sound of affirmation – for two girls who hadn't even lived that long, twenty years sounded like an eternity.

Wu Chuchu said, "My father said that for Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu, one had to sacrifice his own son, while the other his life, and the whole world thought that Cheng Ying had sold his friend out to save his own skin.[4] As for him, while the whole world also thought that he had sold out to save himself, he had at least managed to protect the lives of his wife and children. This already made him much better off than those two great men. So he was content with his lot, and did not dare resent it."

Zhou Fei shook her head, saying: "I can't quite understand him."

How much must a person be capable of enduring, for him to mutely suffer universal derision for years and years, and even view his plight with a dose of good humour?

Zhou Fei would never have guessed that not two days after she said this, she would be forced to understand. As she had expected, Shen Tianshu and Chou Tianji could not stay in Huarong City for too long. Yet though they had thoroughly searched every inch of the city these few days, they had come up empty. Zhou Fei knew that as long as she was able to hide here until they left, she would have won. But Shen Tianshu and Chou Tianji knew this too, and had a nasty surprise in store.

[1] 丝绸裹树 – Emperor Yang of Sui (569 – 618) once ordered that all the trees in Luoyang City be hung with coloured silk for a month to entertain merchants from the Western Regions for a month. He was criticised for this extravagance when many people in China were still living in poverty.

[2] A saying by Mencius: It means that when one is rich, one should control oneself and not squander one's wealth; while one's poverty should not shake one's will. Basically remain true to one's principles and behave in an upright manner whatever one's circumstance.

[3] 长命锁 – This is a traditional auspicious item that is intended to bless the wearer with safety and longevity. It is often presented by elders to the younger generation. It looks something like this.

[4] A story from the Spring and Autumn Period in Chinese history, that took place in the Jin Kingdom. To protect a young prince (who later became the Emperor) that was being pursued by officials intent on killing him, two friends Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu cooked up a plot to pass off Cheng Ying's infant son as the prince, and place him in Gongsun Chujiu's care. Cheng Ying would then pretend to turn Gongsun Chujiu and the 'prince' over to the officials, who killed them, while he would take the real prince into hiding. So Cheng Ying sacrificed his son, and Gongsun Chujiu sacrificed his life.