Xu Fengnian walked into the distance holding the hands of Xiaoshancha and Que’er. Meng Lao Tou, a ragged bandit for more than twenty years, felt a surge of emotions. Back then, while wandering with the old companions, they encountered the master and servant touring Qingcheng; even a blind man could tell these were two plump sheep dripping with wealth. The group of over ten men rushed forward and blocked their front and back. Meng Lao Tou claimed he only wanted money without harming anyone, but this timid young noble immediately fled on horseback. If not for the unfortunate incident of being knocked off the horse by a branch, he would have escaped in a panic. They bound both the man and his horse and took them to the temple serving as a base. Initially, the intention was simply to search them and take the silver, then let them go. Meng Lao Tou wasn’t the type to kill after robbing, but to their shock, they found several stacks of silver notes and some strange books on the fat sheep. The old comrades were stunned—this sheep must have come from an impressive background. Without Xu Fengnian begging, Meng Lao Tou took a hundred taels of silver note, returning the rest. It wasn’t that Meng Lao Tou cared little for money; it was more that several gangs on Qingcheng Mountain had provoked the county’s armored soldiers by robbing the super-rich, and those unlucky ones had their hideouts destroyed. The fortunate ones were still plagued with restless sleep. Meng Lao Tou had no desire to drag his brothers into public execution.
Back and forth they went, dining at the temple on roasted game, and the two groups of sheep and bandits grew familiar with one another. This lad wasn’t particularly brave, but he had a face as thick as a city wall. He stubbornly insisted on staying together with them for half a month, getting addicted to free food and lodging. Every day, he would spout lies about how he was the wealthy heir from Beiliang. Who believed that? Just because you carried a few thousand taels didn’t make you noble-born. Meng Lao Tou, after all, had seen the world. Later, he kicked the kid down the mountain. After all, they made their living with their heads on the line—what if they inadvertently dragged the servant duo into trouble? The boy wasn’t completely heartless; before leaving, he slipped an extra hundred taels, claiming it was for Que’er to buy clothes and makeup when she grew up. But with the business slow for over three years, most of it extorted by young immortals from Qingyang Palace, and several times loans with no repayment by fellow desperate bandits who were less fortunate, there was practically nothing left. Half a year ago, he had no choice but to borrow thirty taels from Yingxuan Peak, and that was when misfortune knocked at the door.
Liu Lüweigan ran over, dripping with sweat, lips pale and trembling: “Old Meng, those bastards from Yingxuan Peak are all dead, carved up by that guy with the big sword!”
Meng Lao Tou was startled: “What?!”
Liu, thin as a reed stalk, somehow ended up marrying a wife twice his weight and bore a pretty little daughter—it was impossible to judge the course of one’s fate. Wiping sweat, Liu sat down with a plop, gasping for breath, whispering, “This swordsman is just too ruthless! One slash and several lives gone. Who can stand more than a few of his strikes? They’re all dead, not a single intact corpse. Old Meng, out of all of us, you’ve got the sharpest mind—tell me, are we lucky or doomed? If we faced Yingxuan Peak, at worst we’d fight back, but this kid Xu Fengnian isn’t who he seems. If he wants revenge from back then, won’t he just play with us like toys?”
Meng Lao Tou thought a bit, trying to reassure himself: “It’s probably a good thing. Xu Fengnian doesn’t look the type to kill without reason. He truly likes Xiaoshancha and Que’er—we can all see that. He can’t be that bad. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be alive right now.”
Liu whispered: “Just what is Xu Fengnian’s background?”
Meng Lao Tou touched his back, damp with sweat, shaking his head: “How should I know?”
Liu marveled: “Oh, where’s that servant Huang?”
Meng Lao Tou muttered: “Have you ever seen a servant run faster than a galloping horse? That’s why I didn’t dare ask for more silver back then.”
Liu suddenly understood, slapping his thigh, which had hardly any meat, and accidentally hit it hard, sucking in a breath painfully.
Kong Bozi, who usually liked to lag behind during a robbery due to his crooked leg, ran today like a champion—or rather, like a panic-stricken mess. Once fond of chattering with Xu Fengnian and boasting about his better looks when he was young, he now shouted with a pale face: “There are government men! At least a hundred, all riding horses with swords and crossbows, way better than those soldiers sent by the county years ago. Old Kong served in the army before—I recognized the famous Beiliang sabers! Beiliang swords! A hundred of them, and not just us, the entire Qingcheng Mountain could be flattened!”
Meng Lao Tou and Liu Lüweigan exchanged glances.
Heaven help them, they could only await death. At least Xiaoshancha and Que’er weren’t here, so their deaths wouldn’t be too miserable.
Unexpectedly, this hundred-strong elite cavalry arrived at the stream. The leading general, fully armoured and wielding a halberd, lifted his visor, smiling toward the gathered group of once-rarely compassionate thieves. He tried his best to speak softly: “This is General Ning Emei. The Palace… Xu Young Master said not to disturb Master Meng, but our cavalry regards their horses as comrades-in-arms. On our way up the mountain, we couldn’t find any water sources, so we had to come here to ask for a favor. Please, Master Meng, don’t blame us.”
Meng Lao Tou, with his thick Yuzhou accent, asked in confusion: “What in the world are you saying, General?”
General Ning Emei patted his beloved black stallion beside him, smiling: “The horses need water. We’ll rest a moment.”
Meng Lao Tou’s heart dropped. He spoke heartily: “General, no problem at all. Let them drink all the stream water!”
Ning Emei lightly clasped his fists, instinctively shouting back: “One incense stick’s time. Hurry!”
The entire hundred riders of Fengzi Camp made no noise, only the sound of horses drinking and snorting remained.
The Liyang Dynasty was universally acknowledged as having the finest horses in the Spring and Autumn Period, with the court paying special attention to horses. As a saying in military texts goes: “Horses are the country’s armor and essential national resource.” Other Spring and Autumn kingdoms either didn’t care much or, like the powerful state of Xichu, lacked significant pastureland, thus naturally lagging behind. Beiliang, boasting thirty thousand iron cavalry, meticulously recorded every horse from birth, enforcing nearly obsessive military laws. Anyone skimping on horse feed faced the same punishment as those who withheld soldiers’ rations—immediate execution. Horses couldn’t be used for hunting in peacetime, nor lent out for riding, under penalty of one hundred lashes. Abandoning stirrups or saddles led to the same punishment.
General Ning Emei, leading a hundred light cavalry, followed the basic regulations: resting every ten miles, cleaning the horse’s nostrils, watering and feeding every thirty miles.
In Beiliang, anyone who lost their horse in battle was beheaded on the spot; those who fought hard but lost their mounts received rewards.
Beiliang’s iron cavalry was world-famous, not earned by scholars boasting on paper, but through the thundering hooves that crushed six kingdoms and half the jianghu!
Kong Bozi, who had once worked in a training ground in Yuzhou and claimed he had joined the army, hesitantly asked: “General, are you really from Beiliang?”
Ning Emei smiled: “I’m not really a general, but we are indeed part of the Beiliang army.”
Kong raised his thumb: “Beiliang’s Iron Cavalry? Unmatched! Back when I was in the Yuzhou army, I heard so much about Beiliang’s thirty thousand riders. Today, I finally get to see them with my own eyes!”
Ning Emei smiled but didn’t reply.
Kong crouched beside them, watching closely. Compared to the Yuzhou soldiers, how much stronger were these one hundred Beiliang riders? He estimated that three Yuzhou soldiers fighting one Beiliang rider would still be uncertain.
Once the horses had finished drinking, Ning Emei put on his visor again and shouted: “Mount up!”
The riders mounted like one, smooth and swift.
Meng Lao Tou’s gang watched in stunned silence. Just this mounting action exuded an aura of killing intent. If they charged, who could possibly resist?
Liu Lüweigan watched the Beiliang cavalry depart in perfect order and clicked his tongue: “Old Meng, I have to admit it. Just as you said, that Xu Fengnian must be the son of an official—perhaps even from an aristocratic family!”
Meng Lao Tou sighed, his expression complex: “An aristocratic family? Understated! Old Liu, we’re in Yuzhou here. Ordinary Beiliang cavalry could openly enter Qingcheng Mountain? Otherwise, wouldn’t local regions have already engaged in battle along the way?”
Kong nodded: “That’s true.”
Liu laughed: “Then even bigger! Old Meng, why don’t you just say Xu Fengnian is the son of the great prime minister? There’s no bigger name than that! Wait, Xu Fengnian? Doesn’t he share the same surname as the Northern Border Prime Minister Xu?”
The three stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Old Meng, almost suffocating from holding his breath, finally exhaled and whispered: “But it doesn’t seem that way.”
Kong nodded: “It doesn’t!”
Liu echoed: “Not at all!”
Qingyang Peak stood steep and majestic, like a heaven-pointing sword. As the saying goes, “Gazing at the mountain may kill a horse”—actually reaching the top of Qingyang Palace still had a long way to go, possibly not until evening. Fortunately, the journey offered picturesque scenery: ancient trees towering tall, deep valleys echoing silently, cliff inscriptions, and agile monkeys leaping about, making the journey far from dull. Many devout followers of the Nine Dou Rice Sect would trek into the mountains for ten whole days with their own provisions just to reach the summit and witness the sacred and wondrous sight of a thousand lamps facing the celestial court.
Xu Fengnian and Xiaoshancha rode on the same horse, while Que’er was held in the arms of Yu Youwei. The little girl adored the white cat Wumeiniang and was happy to hold her.
Xu Fengnian looked up through the thick, ancient foliage at the evening clouds, brilliant and sprawling like an ocean.
Xiaoshancha, hands eagerly clutching the Xiudong sword borrowed from Xu Fengnian with a pleading smile, said: “Just a bit further ahead is the Crane-Viewing Pavilion. It’s said to be a few hours on foot, or an hour on horseback to the summit. Before, I and Que’er only dared to go as far as the pavilion’s edge. The fairy aunts up there have terrible tempers—they’ll scold anyone.”
Xu Fengnian asked: “Are there many female Daoist nuns on the mountain?”
Xiaoshancha was puzzled: “What?”
Xu Fengnian smiled and explained: “Female priests.”
Xiaoshancha nodded and playfully stuck his tongue out at Que’er: “Many of them, all prettier than Que’er. But none as pretty as your older sisters you brought.”
Xu Fengnian tapped the boy’s head, chuckling: “I’ll teach you a lesson I paid countless silver taels for: when you see pretty girls, praise them lavishly, call them beauty so great it sinks fish and makes geese fall from the sky, or beauty that turns kingdoms upside down. If they’re not so pretty, still call them very pretty. And even when you see someone truly hideous, at least say they’re graceful and delicate.”
Xiaoshancha looked distressed, honestly saying: “I can’t do that. Like how I always tease Que’er, calling her as white as a piece of black charcoal.”
Xu Fengnian laughed: “You’re really asking for a beating.”
Yu Youwei smiled, stroking the girl’s little braid in her arms. Que’er giggled along.
She didn’t care who Xu Fengnian really was. She only remembered the Xu Fengnian who once taught her how to blow leaves into flutes.
He said he would come back to see her, and take her to Qingyang Palace to see the immortals.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage