Futile Devices Scans

Wang Xu remained atop the city wall directing the defenses. Prefect Zhang, meanwhile, had already summoned dozens of medical soldiers and laborers to wait beneath the wall. The wounded prisoners and injured soldiers brought back by the cavalry were taken from their mounts and hurriedly sent to the nearest military camp for treatment.

Chief Commander Wang was the last to enter the city. As soon as he dismounted, he was supported by the approaching Prefect Zhang.

“Good, good! You’ve returned safely! Excellent!” Prefect Zhang said repeatedly, drawing several long breaths in succession.

The civil official had always been frail. He had spent the entire previous night in anxiety and had not rested at all. Then he had stood atop the city wall watching the battle, his heart burning with worry. Now that he finally relaxed, after repeating “good” several times, his eyes suddenly closed and he collapsed straight to the ground.

The sight threw everyone present into confusion. Since they were already carrying wounded men, they simply added their unconscious superior to the stretchers and carried him off to the military camp as well.

——

Zhang San and Li Si had been the first to return to the city, bringing with them the most severely wounded of the rescued soldiers. The man was now receiving treatment in the camp.

He had already been wounded during the previous night’s battle, and later had one arm severed. Having lost too much blood, he was barely clinging to life. After working on him for some time, the physician could only let out a long sigh. He shook his head at the two men waiting nearby before hurrying off to treat other casualties.

The two of them silently remained by the man’s side, accompanying him on his final journey.

The soldier’s tongue had been cut out, and blood stained his face from constant coughing. Only now did Zhang San recognize him. During their rest in the abandoned village, it had been this very Imperial Guard who had brought them a sack of beans to feed their horses.

Zhang San could not bear to tell Li Si. He quietly straightened up, intending to block Li Si’s view. Yet Li Si caught his arm and gently pulled him aside.

When Zhang San saw two pools of tears already gathered in Li Si’s dark eyes, he knew Li Si had recognized him as well.

Without waiting for Zhang San to wipe them away, Li Si raised an arm and fiercely rubbed at his own eyes, forcing the tears back. Then he went outside, fetched a basin of water and a cloth, and gently began cleaning the Imperial Guard’s face.

The earliest memory Li Si possessed, from when he was five years old, was of his mother’s haggard face as she coughed blood. When she passed away, blood had covered her face in much the same way. His grandmother had cleaned her just like this.

At the time, his grandmother had said: a person comes into the world clean, and should leave it clean as well.

——

As he was wiping the Imperial Guard’s face, several medical soldiers hurried into the tent carrying a stretcher, accompanied by a number of attendants and servants. The noisy crowd surged inside and brought in the unconscious Prefect Zhang.

There were so many people moving about that one attendant nearly crashed into the cot holding the Imperial Guard. Zhang San reacted instantly and shoved him far away.

The attendant almost fell to the ground and opened his mouth to curse, but one glare from Zhang San’s tiger-like eyes made him shut it again. He slunk off to one side.

Li Si kept his eyes lowered and paid no attention to the commotion around him. His movements remained gentle and careful.

Suddenly he froze.

With trembling fingers, he reached toward the Imperial Guard’s nose.

All he felt was coldness.

He remained motionless for a long time before slowly setting the cloth down.

His hand gradually clenched into a fist.

Then he lifted his head and looked toward Prefect Zhang, who lay on a nearby bed.

——

Prefect Zhang’s condition was nothing more than weakness and heart palpitations. The physicians splashed water across his face—water borrowed directly from Li Si’s basin—and he slowly regained consciousness.

When he awoke, the world spun around him. All he could see was a mass of people crowding nearby, and he weakly waved them farther away.

His subordinates helped him sit up.

Everyone was asking after his condition, but he suddenly felt a sharp gaze cutting through the crowd.

Prefect Zhang shook his head slightly and focused his eyes.

On a neighboring cot lay a blood-covered corpse. Kneeling beside it was the young imperial envoy whose archery had amazed everyone earlier.

Li Si’s bright black eyes were like a pair of blades aimed directly at him.

Suddenly, everything blurred.

No one present could have anticipated what happened next.

Li Si sprang to his feet and crossed the distance in the blink of an eye.

His fist smashed directly into the face of the highest-ranking official present.

The subordinates: “…”

Zhang San, who had no time to stop him: “…”

Grabbing hold of Prefect Zhang just as he had once grabbed those bullies in the capital, Li Si unleashed a storm of punches. In moments, he had beaten Prefect Zhang from the bed all the way onto the floor.

The entire tent instantly descended into chaos.

“Stop him!”

“Someone, get in here!”

“Assassin! Assassin!”

No one could pull the frenzied Li Si away.

In the end, Zhang San charged forward and wrapped both arms around him. Ignoring the fact that the wound in his shoulder split open again, he forcibly dragged Li Si off the prefect.

Even as Zhang San hauled him several paces away, Li Si struggled desperately and screamed himself hoarse at Prefect Zhang:

“You killed him! You killed them! It’s all because of you!”

Prefect Zhang’s face had already swollen black and blue from the beating. Frail to begin with, he now looked half dead. Through swollen eyes, he glanced toward Li Si and opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something.

Nothing came out.

A moment later, he fainted again.

The tent erupted into another frenzy.

“Save the Prefect!”

“Inform Chief Commander Wang!”

“Drag the assassin away! Drag him away!”

——

Outside the main command tent of the western military camp.

After rescuing the prisoners, Chief Commander Wang had immediately summoned the commanders of all four city gates to the western camp. His goal was to bolster morale while also preparing in case the Xiao army launched a retaliatory assault.

Before addressing the officers, however, he first dealt with the assault on the Prefect.

The attacker was temporarily confined in the prefectural prison.

As for the Prefect, who had fainted a second time and could no longer be revived even with water, Chief Commander Wang ordered him carried back to the prefectural yamen to recover.

Those permitted into the command tent included military advisers and subordinate commanders. Officials from the prefectural administration, such as the Assistant Prefect, were also invited to discuss logistics and supplies.

Zhang San, however, was merely a squad leader. Furthermore, his current situation was awkward, since every official had seen that he knew the attacker personally.

As a result, he could only wait outside the tent.

Chief Commander Wang was a decisive man. The meeting did not last long before everyone departed to carry out their assigned duties.

Wang Xu emerged last. Lifting the tent flap, he glanced at Zhang San waiting outside and tilted his head, signaling him to enter.

Zhang San stepped into the tent and immediately knelt before Chief Commander Wang. Holding up the commander’s sword with both hands, he bowed deeply and said:

“Chief Commander, please spare his life.”

Chief Commander Wang stood before a terrain map of Hedong. Hearing those words, he turned and glanced at him before accepting the sword.

“Get up.”

Zhang San kept his forehead to the ground and refused to rise.

Chief Commander Wang sighed.

“This is the second time you’ve knelt since returning. Once to beg for your own death, and now to beg for someone else’s life. Just who is this young envoy? Why is he so skilled, yet so reckless?”

Zhang San replied, “He was originally a Dragon Guard soldier accompanying the Command Envoy on his mission. Only because of unexpected circumstances did he become the envoy himself. He’s still young and innocent by nature. He acted in a moment of anger. He never truly intended to harm the Prefect.”

Chief Commander Wang recalled the Prefect’s swollen, pig-like face and severely injured head.

Claiming there had been no intent to harm was one thing. Even if he believed it, would the officials present believe it?

He remained silent.

Zhang San bowed again.

“I know you’ve been placed in a difficult position. Even transferring him to the military prison would be enough. It’s still better than the prefectural prison. He’s young and won’t endure harsh punishment well. If his hands or feet are ruined, all that skill will be gone as well.”

Chief Commander Wang replied, “I have already instructed the Assistant Prefect that he is an imperial envoy and therefore a special case. Until the Prefect regains consciousness, no one is to act rashly. As for transferring him to the military camp, forget it. He assaulted the Prefect himself. That is beyond my ability to arrange. Now stand up.”

Zhang San understood the difficulty of the situation. The fact that Li Si had been spared immediate torture was already a blessing. Knowing when to stop, he finally rose to his feet.

Seeing that he had finally obeyed, Chief Commander Wang continued:

“Once the Prefect wakes up, I will speak on his behalf. Don’t worry. He is an imperial envoy, and the Prefect is a cautious man. He won’t move against him lightly. At most, he’ll be allowed to complete the Emperor’s business and then be expelled from the city.”

Zhang San did not trust Prefect Zhang. He lowered his head and remained silent.

Chief Commander Wang knew his stubborn nature.

“You are not allowed to do anything reckless either. For the next few days, you will stay with Wang Xu. You are not to leave on your own.”

Chief Commander Wang asked Zhang San more about what he had seen on his journey north. Upon learning that Zhang San had passed through Ant County, he inquired about the county’s situation as well. After listening, he fell into thoughtful silence.

“You may go now. In the future, this old man has an important task in mind for you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zhang San walked toward the door, his thoughts unsettled. Before he could leave, Chief Commander Wang called out another warning from behind him. “A’Xiao, no foolishness!”

Zhang San drooped his head and replied listlessly, “Yes, I know.”

——

Near midnight, in the prefectural prison.

The cells were packed with prisoners, most of them local hooligans and thugs who had taken advantage of the chaos surrounding the siege to rob and loot within the city. The ringleaders had already been dragged out and publicly executed. The remaining offenders did not deserve death, but releasing them risked causing further trouble, so all of them remained locked up.

The Xuan Kingdom possessed a well-developed granary system, and before the war the nation had been prosperous. Grain reserves were still sufficient. Kuiyuan’s inner city contained a massive military granary, and supplies had been stockpiled in advance, so there was no immediate food shortage. However, Prefect Zhang was an extremely cautious man. Fearing that one day relief would never come and provisions would eventually run out, he had enforced strict frugality. Even the prisoners’ rations had been reduced to a single meal a day.

The result was that the thugs were all yellow-faced and emaciated, weak from hunger and poor health. They lay scattered throughout the cells, barely alive, lacking even the strength to shout or cause trouble.

Footsteps sounded at the prison entrance.

The newcomer identified himself to the jailer, exchanged a few words, and then descended into the dungeon accompanied by another person. They walked for a long time, all the way to the deepest corner of the underground prison, where a single cell had been specially emptied. Only Li Si was confined inside.

Curled up alone amid a pile of messy straw in the corner, he looked pitifully small. Northern nights were cold, and the dungeon was damp besides. Sitting on the icy ground with a cangue around his neck and restraints on his wrists, his face had grown pale from the cold.

Zhang San had pestered Wang Xu for an entire day, buzzing around him until Wang Xu’s head nearly split. In the end, Wang Xu had reluctantly agreed to let him visit Li Si for a single glance at midnight. The moment Zhang San entered and saw Li Si curled into a tiny ball in the corner, his heart tightened.

Grabbing the bars, he called softly, “Sisi!”

Li Si lifted his head and immediately tried to stand. But with his hands and neck restrained and his body stiff from sitting so long, he only managed to rise halfway before stumbling back to the ground.

Zhang San immediately turned to Wang Xu. “Tell the jailer to take those things off him! Why is he wearing them?”

Wang Xu glared and lowered his voice. “He beat up the Prefect! Those staff officials are all calling him an assassin now. Could they not at least put on a show by shackling him? The fact that nobody has tortured him already is a blessing. Do you see a single injury on him?”

By then Li Si had staggered over. Zhang San sat down beside the bars and pulled Li Si down with him, kneeling outside while Li Si sat inside.

The first thing Zhang San did was touch his hand. It was freezing. Immediately he stripped off his own outer coat and shoved it through the bars, wrapping it around Li Si’s shoulders. Then he reached up and touched Li Si’s cold face. Li Si no longer avoided such intimacy. Quietly, he rubbed his cheek against the warmth of Zhang San’s palm.

Standing nearby, Wang Xu’s eyelids twitched. He silently turned away.

Behind him, Zhang San said, “Brother Xu, let me talk with him for a while. Don’t you still have patrol duties? Go do your work.”

Wang Xu shook his head repeatedly and remained exactly where he was. “I’m not leaving. I’m afraid you’ll help him escape.”

“The key’s with the jailer! How would I do that?”

Wang Xu lifted his chin toward the bars between them. “You could bend them open.”

Zhang San laughed in exasperation. “They’re iron!”

“You could bend them open.”

That nearly made Zhang San laugh. “Even if I did let him out, so what? Just tell everyone I was the one who released him.”

“And what would happen to you?” Wang Xu shot back. “Run away with him? The moment you leave Kuiyuan, you’re a deserter again.”

“So be it.”

Wang Xu stared at him. “You said you came back to enlist again. You said you wanted to protect Kuiyuan. I thought you weren’t the same kind of man as Grand Preceptor Tong. Was all of that a lie too?”

Zhang San’s expression froze. He fell silent.

All the while, he was still holding Li Si’s cold hand. After hearing Wang Xu’s words, Li Si tried to withdraw his hand, wanting to signal Zhang San to leave. Zhang San immediately caught it again.

Wang Xu sighed. “Father already told you during the day. Don’t rush. Don’t do anything reckless. Just wait patiently until the Prefect wakes up.”

Zhang San continued holding Li Si’s hand until some warmth finally returned to it. Only then did he pull two steamed cakes from inside his clothing—food he had secretly hidden earlier that day. Because Li Si’s hands were shackled, Zhang San tore the cakes into small pieces and fed them to him bite by bite. Afraid he might choke, he even held water up for him to drink.

Watching from the side, Wang Xu felt his eyelids twitch again. His usually rough and straightforward younger brother looked as though he had fallen under some sort of fox-spirit enchantment. Yet the young man sitting there had eyes as clear as spring water. He hardly resembled some seductive demon.

Besides, what sort of fox spirit could draw a two-stone bow and kill a man from three hundred meters away? What sort of fox spirit would throw punches at a Prefect in broad daylight before a crowd of witnesses?

——

After feeding him, Zhang San tidied Li Si’s loose hair and wiped his face clean. Only after Wang Xu repeatedly urged him to leave did he finally rise and depart.

Eager to begin his patrol, Wang Xu dragged him along the empty nighttime streets. As they walked, he removed his own cloak and draped it over Zhang San, who no longer had an outer coat.

At the same time, he muttered irritably, “And you still claim there’s nothing going on. You practically rubbed his face red.”

“There was dirt on his face,” Zhang San replied. “I was only helping him clean it off. We’ve only known each other a few days. What could there possibly be?”

“I’ve never seen you treat anyone else like this.”

Zhang San suddenly stopped walking. After a long moment, he sighed. “He’s different from everyone else. I’ve never met anyone quite like him… like…”

He had never received much education. He lacked the words. He could not compose poetry or elegant prose. He could not find any beautiful phrase to describe the Li Si he saw.

Put simply, when they first met, he had thought Li Si was merely a childish little country boy who had never seen the world. Later, he seemed more like a silly little beast. Or a little colt that kicked when it got angry.

But the longer he knew him, the more Li Si resembled a piece of pure white jade.

Zhang San had never seen fine jade in his life. He had wandered across half the Xuan Kingdom with the army, seen northern deserts and endless yellow sands, seen great rivers at sunset across the Central Plains, seen misty waters and clouds in the south. Yet he had never seen treasures of gold, pearls, or precious jade.

If there truly existed a piece of flawless white jade, he imagined it would be something like Li Si.

A little stone. Slow and innocent. Awkward with words. Though admittedly quite nimble with his hands. The moment his heart was hurt, tears would come pouring down. Usually obedient and well-behaved, willing to do whatever he was asked. Yet once he became stubborn, no one could stop him.

For the sake of a dead Imperial Guard, he had publicly beaten a Prefect. Wasn’t that childish? Wasn’t it impulsive? Wasn’t it foolish?

Others would say he acted without thinking of the consequences. That he never used his brain.

Only Zhang San knew the truth.

It was because he was clean.

Because he was a little stone.

Because, in the eyes of that little stone, the Prefect’s life and the Imperial Guard’s life were worth exactly the same.

If someone had caused those deaths, then that person deserved a beating.

Didn’t Zhang San want to hit Prefect Zhang too? Of course he did.

He could kill Xiao soldiers without fear. He could slaughter vicious bandits without mercy. He had openly defied Grand Preceptor Tong and deserted the army. He had stormed a county yamen at night to kill a demonic priest without fearing the county magistrate.

But he also understood something clearly. He had only dared to do those things because Chief Commander Wang and Kuiyuan still stood behind him. He still had somewhere to go. Something to strive for.

Once he entered Kuiyuan, even he dared not let Prefect Zhang see the resentment burning in his eyes.

The little stone had done what Zhang San only dared imagine.

And if consequences followed, Zhang San was willing to bear them for him.

He never spoke any of this aloud. For a long time he said nothing.

Looking at him, Wang Xu could only conclude that he had completely lost his senses. With a sigh, he grabbed Zhang San by the arm.

“Forget it. Enough about this. Go back to camp and change into a uniform. You’re joining me on patrol tonight. I can’t let you run around by yourself.”

——

Li Si remained alone in the dungeon.

Wrapped in Zhang San’s outer coat, he looked like a large gray-white rice dumpling as he curled himself back into the corner.

A lonely little mouse scurried down the corridor. Northern mice were much smaller than those of the Central Plains, only about two fingers wide and skinny to the bone. It slipped into the cell and began nibbling at crumbs of steamed cake scattered on the ground.

Li Si made no move to chase it away. He simply sat there in a ball and watched.

For more than ten years he had drifted through life in a dull haze. Only recently had he begun learning how to think. Yet he still wasn’t very good at it.

He knew beating the Prefect would have serious consequences. His first concern had been whether he had caused trouble for Zhang San. But now he had seen Zhang San walking around freely with Wang Xu and even bringing him steamed cakes. That meant Zhang San himself was unharmed. That meant Zhang San still had food to eat.

So Li Si felt relieved.

As for himself, if the Prefect ordered him beheaded, what would happen to Grandma back in the capital?

When he had insisted on joining Zhang San and General Sun’s breakout attempt, he had been prepared to die. He had only thought about the compensation payment and the three thousand strings of cash his death would leave behind. He had forgotten to consider whether Grandma would be sad.

Of course she would.

The death of an Imperial Guard he barely knew had made him sad. How much more painful would it be for someone who had raised him all his life?

Grandma was old. What use was money alone? Who would care for her? Who would support her?

But then again, hadn’t Prefect Zhang deserved that beating? His cold refusal had caused so many deaths.

Yet after thinking further, was it really all Prefect Zhang’s fault?

The reinforcements had come from far away, yet had possessed no way to prove who they were. At the time, what proof could truly have convinced anyone? And if those reinforcements had actually been working with the Xiao army, what would have happened to Kuiyuan if the gates had been opened?

Did I do something wrong?

Then what would the right thing have been?

Li Si couldn’t figure it out.

The warmth of Zhang San’s coat surrounded him, easing some of his loneliness and confusion. Tilting his head slightly, he rested it against the thick, soft fabric.

Before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.

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