Futile Devices Scans

For an instant, there was complete silence. Only the dull thud of the corpse hitting the ground remained.

The eunuch began both threatening and tempting them—this group of brave warriors had all been carefully selected. Each possessed a useful skill and could be put to great use. Their wives, children, and elderly mothers were also in camp as hostages, proof of their loyalty. If they returned successfully, they would be promoted three ranks and rewarded three thousand strings of cash. Even if they died along the way, their families would still receive silver compensation.

For example, this good fellow currently lying on the ground may have talked too much, but he had at least done his utmost to earn three thousand strings of cash for his family.

Seeing the men’s emotions begin to waver, the eunuch soothed them further. “Gentlemen, there is no need for worry. Daoist Ma received the personal teachings of the Divine Firmament True Master and is skilled in immortal fire arts. He can summon fire to subdue spirits and command gods to drive ghosts. He will surely lead everyone back safely. If you do not believe me…”

The eunuch stepped aside again. The mighty Lion-Headed Strongman planted his long-handled zhuo saber into the ground, sank into a horse stance, and assumed a posture to serve as the Daoist’s guardian. Daoist Ma swept his horsetail whisk, neighed with his horse-like mouth, and a streak of fire shot into the sky!

The soldiers in the front row had their beards singed and retreated in terror.

Li Si opened his dark eyes wide, tilting his head up as he stared intently at the magnificent flames blazing before him.

Only Li Er secretly let out a despairing sigh: Who were they fooling, acting like no one had seen street performances during the Lantern Festival or Dragon Boat Festival? Every year, when His Majesty reviewed the troops, the various armies’ “hundred entertainments” also included fire tricks for blessings. Although this fake Daoist’s posture was fiercer and the flames stronger, it was surely the same kind of trick meant to deceive people!

But no one else thought so. The soldiers clicked their tongues in wonder, and Li Si was even more entranced. Even after Li Er tugged at him twice, he still could not bear to look away.

Fine, then. Just set out peacefully. Die early, reincarnate early.

——

The group disguised themselves as a band of armed escorts, all mounted their horses, and galloped for days.

Kuiyuan was a thousand li from the capital. They had to travel west along the Yellow River, then follow the Fen River upstream, heading north all the way to the upper reaches of the Fen.

The Fen River lay between the Lüliang and Taihang mountain ranges, flowing long between the mountains and carving out a narrow plain stretching from north to south. Kuiyuan City stood at the northernmost end of this Fen River Plain, the only entrance into the plain, blocking the western Xiao Army from advancing south like a throat seized shut.

Because Kuiyuan held them back, the towns and villages downstream along the Fen River remained relatively peaceful. Along the official road, the group saw only a few wealthy households fleeing south. Snow covered the fields beside the road, and the villagers had not yet become refugees. It was the farming off-season, so they were irrigating with winter water, repairing tools, and fixing houses.

Only the officials of each prefecture and county knew that peaceful days would not last. They built tall walls, patrolled, drilled troops, and put on the appearance of strict defense.

Fearing unexpected trouble, the group did not dare enter cities to rest. They concealed their tracks and kept a low profile the entire way. Each time, they only sent a few men into town to buy dry rations and water. At relay stations along the way, they used relay vouchers to replace some of their exhausted, worn-out horses.

——

That evening, the group reached Jiao County, one hundred li south of Kuiyuan City. In a mountain forest far from the county seat, they found an abandoned farmhouse and lit a fire to keep warm.

Daoist Ma, with his immortal bearing, went off to one side to sit in meditation, only secretly shifting his backside closer to the fire once it was lit. During the day, the Guardian Strongman had sent two of his men into town to buy several pots of wine. Now he took the wine out and warmed it beside the fire, then pulled out several strips of dried meat and tore into them in great chunks.

The soldiers were all eating ordinary dry rations such as baked flatbread and parched rice, so a few who craved wine and meat shamelessly went to beg some from the Strongman. The Strongman made them spin around and perform tricks to amuse him, and the men did as asked, making him laugh until he rocked back and forth in delight.

Li Er gnawed on a flatbread in the corner, secretly sighing because he found them noisy. Li Si lowered his head and polished his saber with poor-quality oil ointment. Hearing the commotion, he lifted his eyes for a look. Seeing that their tricks were not as strange as Ma’s fire-breathing horse mouth, he lowered his gaze again.

Someone called, “Li Erlang.”

Li Er sprang up, and Li Si put away his saber and followed him. The two passed through the noisy campfire area and walked to another quiet corner. The leader who had carried the roster and chosen the men was sitting cross-legged on the ground, studying a map. Several close subordinates standing guard beside him stopped Li Si outside.

“No matter. Let him come too,” the leader said.

On the first day of the march, this leader had already informed everyone of his background—he was a Command Envoy of the Imperial City Directorate. In name, the Command Envoy was escorting Daoist Ma, but in truth, he was the real commander of this small unit. The thirty unlucky Imperial Guards had been selected by him according to some unknown standard. Add to them a dozen or so Imperial City Directorate subordinates, plus Daoist Ma’s group of four, and this small unit had fifty people in total.

Li Er hated him for selecting both uncle and nephew, leaving their blind old mother in camp as a hostage. He wished he could stab him to death with one slash. However, the Command Envoy’s saber skills were outstanding and his men were numerous, so Li Er dared be angry but dared not act. He stood before him with complete respect. “Command Envoy, what do you need this subordinate for?”

The Command Envoy stared at the map without raising his head. “I looked at your military record. You came from the lower army, were once transferred to Hedong to suppress bandits, and after earning merit, were transferred back to the capital’s upper army. Do you know the terrain around Kuiyuan?”

Li Er said, “Reporting to the Command Envoy, I know a little.”

“In another day, we will be near Kuiyuan. In your opinion, what is the best way to sneak in?”

Li Er thought back for a while, then said, “The land around Kuiyuan is flat, with nothing to hide behind. But twenty li to the west, there is Yuquan Mountain. Halfway up the mountain is a small county. The terrain is dangerous, people can hide there, and one can still see Kuiyuan from it. If the small county has not been discovered by the Xiao Army, we can go there first and make plans afterward.”

He poked a finger at the map.

Li Si, standing beside him, slightly raised his eyelids and also looked toward the map.

The Command Envoy focused his gaze and said, “Ant County?”

——

The Command Envoy asked Li Er a few more questions, then waved him away. As Li Er walked back with his nephew, he pondered inwardly: it made sense that the Command Envoy had chosen Li Si. The boy had been good at quick fists since childhood, excelled in mounted archery, and was the youngest drill instructor in the Imperial Guards. But why choose an old slicker like him, someone with no special skill? Was it only because he needed him to lead the way?

Li Er let out a long sigh, glanced at his unlucky nephew beside him with that wooden expression, then sighed again.

Li Si still did not understand his uncle’s full belly of worries. His dark eyes lifted, fixed steadily on the campfire ahead. Li Er grew suspicious and followed his nephew’s gaze. He saw that the Lion-Headed Strongman, heated from drinking, had removed the lion-head mask he never took off, revealing a swollen pig-like face that had not yet fully healed.

It was actually the same burly thug who had bullied commoners in the street that day and been pinned to the ground and beaten by Li Si in a veiled hat!

The moment Li Si saw him, he still seemed unsatisfied. He rolled up his sleeves and strode forward, ready to reward him with another beating. Li Er cried, “Hey, hey!” and grabbed his nephew around the waist!

As uncle and nephew struggled, Li Er looked up and met the burly thug’s gaze head-on! He hurriedly covered his face, but the thug only said impatiently, “So damn noisy! Get lost!”

Li Er touched his face and only then remembered the precious full beard he had cruelly cut off. He slapped his troublesome nephew on the forehead and dragged him back to their corner.

——

Early the next morning, the group hid their horses and supplies in the forest, leaving two Imperial City Directorate subordinates behind to guard and receive them. Everyone else dressed as rustic villagers and set out on foot toward Kuiyuan.

Since the Xiao Army was besieging the city, they would surely guard against reinforcements from the south and arrange scout cavalry along the road. To avoid the scouts, the group did not take the official road through the river valley. Instead, they followed the mountains the entire way, diving swiftly into the forest whenever there was the slightest disturbance.

At sunset, under Li Er’s guidance, the group arrived at Yuquan Mountain west of Kuiyuan.

The setting sun slanted westward, its afterglow illuminating Kuiyuan City twenty li to the east. Kuiyuan’s thick city walls were roughly three to four zhang tall and wide enough for horses to run across. Stretching twenty li around all four sides, it looked like an enormous Bixi standing silently in the vast river-valley plain, four legs planted firm and its shell heavy and thick.

Author’s Notes: Bixi, pronounced bì xì, is one of the nine sons of the dragon. It resembles a dragon-turtle and is known for bearing heavy loads. In ancient times, its image was often used to support stone steles.

The Xiao Army’s camps were like dense swarms of bees, surrounding this descendant of the divine dragon from every side.

All the soldiers could not help stopping, staring blankly.

“Move quickly!” the Command Envoy, bringing up the rear, barked in a low voice.

Worried that the Xiao Army might already have discovered Ant County, the group did not dare take the main road up the mountain either. They crept quietly through the forest. By evening, the woods grew darker and darker, and after walking for some time, even Li Er, who was leading the way, lost his direction.

The Command Envoy signaled for everyone to wait where they were and called back Li Er and Li Si, who had been walking at the front. Several men lit a torch and crouched on the ground, studying their direction with a compass.

Just as they were hesitating, the needle of the compass suddenly began swaying violently!

The ground beneath their feet jolted. In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled! The people in the forest could not stand steadily and were overwhelmed with panic as thunderous rumbling rolled down from the mountain above!

Li Er shouted, “It’s a landslide! Hurry, move!”

But in the pitch-black surroundings, where could they go? Dozens of people fell into chaos in the forest, and broken rocks had already begun falling through gaps in the tree canopy!

Li Er shouted, “Run forward! Don’t go downhill!”

The trees in the forest were dense, and the soldiers in front were still darting around like headless flies. The uncle and nephew, along with a dozen or so Imperial City Directorate men, were blocked at the rear. Suddenly, a horse-mouth neigh rang out, and a streak of fire shot into the sky!

It turned out that Daoist Ma, in order to make his own escape easier, had spat a burst of raging fire behind him! He intended to burn back the soldiers behind him and squeeze out a path of survival for himself!

Winter was dry. Dead branches and fallen leaves caught fire the moment they touched flame. For a time, stones rained down, flames flared everywhere, and even some Imperial City Directorate subordinates caught fire, screaming as they rolled on the ground.

The scene was so tragic that Li Si, who had never experienced real war, froze in place, stunned.

Li Er turned back and dragged him up, then drew his saber to hack apart several burning branches blocking the way. But the flames were far too fierce, leaving no path at all. Uncle and nephew could only stagger a few steps forward…

RUMBLE—!!

Mud and stones surged downward, rolling like a flood, flattening great swathes of forest and rushing all the way to the foot of the mountain.

——

In the middle of the night, Li Si opened his eyes.

He had been buried under a pile of broken stones. When he rose, tiny fragments clattered and dust flew up, choking him into several coughs.

As though awakened by his coughing, a weak groan sounded nearby.

Many of the surrounding trees had been snapped and crushed, and moonlight illuminated the pile of rubble. Li Si scrambled forward a few steps and dug his uncle’s blood-covered face out from beneath the stones.

Li Er had been struck in the chest by a falling rock. Half his chest was twisted inward, caved in. He exhaled more than he inhaled, clearly beyond saving. Li Si began frantically digging at his body, but Li Er grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to listen.

“Don’t… waste your strength…” Li Er sighed. His ribs were completely shattered. Every word brought agonizing pain, and after only a few words, blood surged up from his throat.

“Your father… died like this too… hit by a stone thrown from a siege engine… I came back alone… you were only… so small… so obedient… silly child… you even thought I was your father…”

He gripped Li Si’s icy wrist. Under the cold moonlight, Li Si lowered his head and quietly looked at him, his dark eyes still revealing nothing.

“That Ant County… if you can’t get in… at the riverside below the eastern mountain… there’s an abandoned earthen fortress… go there… hide for a while…”

More and more blood poured from Li Er’s mouth, almost drowning out his words. Struggling, he said one last time, “Silly child… take care of your grandmother… those sweet fruits… eating a bite or two once in a while… doesn’t matter. I won’t blame you…”

Li Si remained silent. He did not speak or nod. Only his lips trembled faintly.

Li Er had not expected him to say anything. He let out a long breath, feeling that his whole life had been empty illusion. His family had been lower-ranking military households for generations. His elder brother’s martial arts had been decent, but his luck was poor. Li Er himself had no ability at all, yet had lived on until now, tumbling through one battlefield after another by knowing how to hide and flee. He had picked up a few heads, scraped together a minor Deputy Commander post, and spent his days in constant fear, never knowing when the next battle would come, where he would die, or on what day.

Now, at last, he knew.

He laughed indistinctly. “Ant County… people like us… no better than tiny ants… what have we spent our whole lives for…”

Laughing and laughing, he closed his eyes. A tear ran down through the blood and mud on his face. The moment it fell to the ground, his breath cut off.

——

Li Si bent down and pressed his head against his uncle’s chest, listening for a long while before slowly lifting himself up. His expression was blank.

He knelt dazedly beside his uncle for a long time before remembering what his uncle had just said: “At the riverside below the eastern mountain, there’s an earthen fortress. Go there and hide for a while.”

He had always listened to his uncle, so he stood up and prepared to set out.

Before leaving, he searched his uncle’s body, wanting to find some relics, but apart from a few pieces of dry rations and a fire striker, he found nothing. Even the water flask he carried had been smashed by rocks.

He dipped the corner of his sleeve in the remaining water and wiped the blood and dirt from his uncle’s face. Then he painstakingly dug a handful of frozen earth from beneath a nearby tree root and covered his uncle’s face with it, leaving his body buried beneath the broken stones.

He then dug his own saber out from the rubble. His bow had snapped into two pieces, so he abandoned it and only carried the still-intact quiver on his back. Standing again, he checked his direction. Seeing that the road toward the small county had been completely blocked by huge fallen rocks, he could only follow the stone flow downhill, heading toward the abandoned earthen fortress his uncle had mentioned.

——

After walking only ten or so steps, someone suddenly grabbed his ankle.

Li Si drew his saber with a sharp sound, and that person coughed up a mouthful of blood, spraying it directly onto the falling blade.

“It’s me…” the Imperial City Directorate Command Envoy said weakly.

The Command Envoy lay on his back, his chest and abdomen pinned firmly beneath a massive fallen rock. He was also close to death. His subordinates had been near him when they fled, but no one knew which nearby stones they were buried under.

Li Si went around searching for broken logs, trying to pry the stone up and pull him out. He failed, and even caused the Command Envoy to cough up two more mouthfuls of blood. The Command Envoy grimaced and stopped him. “Don’t waste your strength…”

The Command Envoy reached toward his waist, which was pinned beneath the rock, and struggled for a long while before finally tearing out an identity waist token marked “Imperial City Directorate Envoy.” He handed it to Li Si.

“With this token as proof, you will succeed me as an Imperial City Directorate secret envoy, carrying out an important mission by His Majesty’s order. You may enter and leave any city…”

Then the Command Envoy dug around in his hair bun for a long time and pulled out a wax pellet.

“Our journey was to deliver a secret letter to the Kuiyuan Prefect, Zhang Xiao… The secret letter is hidden inside this wax pellet and written in cipher symbols. Only Zhang Xiao can translate it… Once he reads the secret letter, he will tell you what to do next…”

Seeing Li Si imitate him and tuck the wax pellet into his own hair bun, the Command Envoy sighed. “This assignment should have been handled by the Imperial City Directorate alone… But that Divine Firmament True Master said this journey would be extremely dangerous and required the aid of fire virtue. We had to find fifty men whose birth dates and five phases belonged to fire to deliver the letter… There were not enough fire-phase men in the Imperial City Directorate, so His Majesty ordered me to choose thirty more soldiers from the Imperial Guards… And that True Master insisted his disciple Daoist Ma take the leading title, saying he would assist with immortal fire. Who would have thought Daoist Ma would instead set fire to the mountain and harm so many people…”

Li Si silently blinked. In truth, his five phases did not belong to fire. Back then, in order to enter the military register early and receive a monthly salary, his uncle had found someone to alter his age upward by one year. In reality, he had joined the army at fourteen. But he did not open his mouth to tell the Command Envoy.

At this point, the Command Envoy suddenly experienced a flash of final strength before death. He seized Li Si’s wrist and said urgently, “Daoist Ma is greedy for life, afraid of death, and wicked of heart. He is absolutely not someone capable of completing this mission! If he survives tonight and you encounter him, you must kill him! Prevent him from causing further trouble!”

Li Si’s expression was wooden as he silently knelt on one knee. The Command Envoy clamped his wrist tightly and glared at him for a long while. Only then did Li Si react and realize he was supposed to agree, so he nodded.

The Command Envoy exhaled. His hand loosened, and his breath was gone.

Li Si, as usual, searched his body for belongings. He found a pouch of broken silver and an exquisitely crafted sleeve dagger the length of a palm, both of which he kept for his own use. He also dug up some yellow earth and covered the Command Envoy’s face. Then he stood once more and groped his way down the mountain.

——

The season had nearly reached Lesser Cold, and a layer of ice had just begun forming on the Fen River. After the landslide, the stone flow rushed down the slope all the way to the riverbank, smashing a row of large holes into the still-thin ice. From time to time, more broken rocks fell from the mountain, rolling down over the stone flow and producing a series of eerie crack! crack! sounds that set one’s teeth on edge.

On the sentry platform, the two gaunt peasant men were still wrapped in their ragged padded coats, each clutching a hand-warmer. The earlier earth-shaking tremors had frightened them badly. Later, seeing that the stone flow had slid down still far from the mountain fortress, they relaxed again and stuck their heads out to watch the excitement.

The younger brother stretched his neck and watched until a nose bubble appeared again. He did not bother sucking it back in. Trembling, he stretched a finger out from his ragged coat and once more pointed into the distance like an immortal maiden casting a spell. “Bro, am I dreaming again? Look by the riverbank. Why has another tree grown there?”

His older brother yawned and answered lazily, “You damned fool, how could another tree grow… What tree!”

Both men jolted awake in fright and clung to the half-collapsed parapet, craning their necks to look. The older brother said, “No need to worry! Didn’t the new Boss have us repair the Seven-Star Formation? This time it can trap an idiot ghost! You watch here! I’ll hurry and report—”

BOOM!

Their secret weapon collapsed again.

The brothers said nothing more. They threw down their hand-warmers and ran for their lives!

Author’s Notes: A parapet is the raised, crenellated wall structure on ancient city walls, used by soldiers as cover while attacking enemies.

——

Following his uncle’s directions, Li Si found the abandoned earthen fortress at the foot of the mountain. But the outside of the fortress was made entirely of rammed-earth walls, three or four zhang tall, like a sealed little city. Only by the riverbank was there a stretch of earthen wall that looked like a maze, seeming to offer a path inside.

Li Si descended to the riverbank and stepped through an opening in the maze, turning left and right inside. The walls were one or two zhang high and one or two chi thick, apparently meant to trap intruders within. But after walking only a short distance, Li Si saw a recently repaired section in the corner ahead, its mud color different from the surrounding wall.

He backed up a few steps, then charged forward with force. The earthen wall collapsed, revealing a narrow but passable path. After walking for a while, he saw several stones beside the road that could be stepped on to climb higher. Climbing up, he found a half-collapsed, dilapidated sentry platform.

Strangely, his uncle had called this an “abandoned” earthen fortress, yet two warm hand-warmers were lying on the sentry platform.

Li Si bent down and picked up one hand-warmer, holding it warmly in his arms. Knowing that living people were hidden inside this abandoned fortress, he drew his saber.

——

He descended from the sentry platform and continued forward along a narrow, rugged path. There was no light anywhere in the earthen fortress and no sound to be heard. The earthen walls on both sides gradually rose higher, and he realized he was walking downhill into an alleyway. Moonlight was also gradually blocked out.

He listened again, then took out his fire striker, blew it alight, and shone it forward—

In the darkness, a pair of sharp, bright eyes suddenly flashed. A cold blade came cleaving straight toward his face!

Li Si raised his saber horizontally to block it. With a heavy clang, the impact rang out. The man’s arm strength was enormous. Li Si could not hold his saber steady with one hand and was forced back a step.

The man shifted forward and delivered another heavy, vicious slash, forcing Li Si back several more steps until he staggered into the earthen wall behind him.

Two rows of torches lit up overhead. More than a dozen shabby men in ragged padded coats, looking like bandits, emerged from the earthen walls on both sides of the alley and glared down at him from above.

Opposite him, at the far end of the narrow alleyway, stood a man draped in a tiger-fur cloak. He was tall, imposing, and fierce, clearly the head of the bandits. This tiger bandit wore a tiger-fur hat, and beneath the brim, his loose hair was damp, freezing into frost in the wind and making his shoulders look streaked with white. The tiger-fur cloak was only loosely draped around him, revealing two full pectorals faintly gleaming with water and steaming with heat.

Seeing Li Si’s face clearly, the tiger bandit no longer hurried to attack. He lowered his saber and sneered. “I wondered what kind of hero scared you all out of your wits and made me rush out halfway through my bath! Isn’t this just some little brat whose hair hasn’t even grown in yet?”

Li Si steadied himself, tucked the extinguished fire striker back into his waist, tossed aside the quiver on his back, and finally pulled the warm hand-warmer from his arms. Reluctant as he was, he threw it away too. Then he gripped his saber hilt tightly with both hands, slowly inhaled, and suddenly launched himself forward.

The tiger bandit still wore a cold smile as he received Li Si’s lightning-fast slash. After another heavy impact, both men retreated a step and shifted apart.

The smile disappeared from the tiger bandit’s face, and his gaze sharpened. He lowered his head and glanced at the broad single-edged saber in his hand, now split with a large notch, then tossed it away in disgust.

Although Li Si still held his saber steadily, the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had been jolted numb. He glanced at his own weapon and saw several large chips in it too. This saber had been with him for five years. Though it was no fine weapon, he had cared for it with oil ointment every day. He was somewhat reluctant to part with it, but if he used it further, it might snap and put him at a disadvantage, so he could only throw it aside.

The two fought another round barehanded in the cramped alleyway.

The tiger bandit’s heavy fists moved with tiger-like force, wind roaring around each blow. Li Si’s punches were lighter but fast, and he did not fall behind. The two traded blows back and forth, and as the fight grew fierce, the ragged men on both walls began shouting, cheering loudly for their Boss.

Li Si took a heavy punch to the shoulder, and his movements slowed slightly. The tiger bandit seized the chance to strike at his waist, but Li Si dodged with a sparrowhawk flip. Years of riding had given Li Si excellent waist and leg strength, and as he flipped, he kicked the tiger bandit hard in return.

The tiger bandit stepped back in pain, pulled open his cloak for a look, and saw a bright red footprint on his chest.

He laughed, interest stirred. Then he yanked off the heavy, cumbersome cloak and threw it aside. In the dead of winter, wearing only a pair of thin trousers, he went bare-chested to spar with Li Si.

The two clashed again, growing even more tangled. Neither of them noticed that the tiger-fur hat on the tiger bandit’s head had fallen during the fight. The inside of the hat was leather, wet and frosted over, making it extremely slippery. As the two fought at close range, each of them stepped one foot onto the hat.

Both men swayed!

Splat!

The ragged men on both walls, holding torches, saw it clearly: their Boss’s foot slipped, and he fell to the ground together with that little brat!

Li Si’s vision blurred. Heat rushed against his face. All he saw was a pair of water-slick, wheat-colored pectorals slamming heavily toward him, smacking him squarely in the face!

His ears buzzed, and in an instant, he plunged into darkness.

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