Futile Devices Scans

The two took turns resting until the sun was well up in the sky. Once the daylight had warmed things a little, they finally set out for the river.

The sun was bright, and the wind was fierce. As they walked, the bamboo basket on Zhang San’s back was nearly blown over. The black cloth wrapped around the outside fluttered in the wind, and a corner of the lid came loose. Several pigeons poked their heads out, cooing, only to be pushed back inside by Li Si.

The two retied the basket securely and continued on their way.

⸻

They crossed the river at the same ruined bridge as before. The Fen River was still covered by a sheet of ice. Four days had passed, and it looked as though the ice had thickened somewhat—or perhaps it had not.

Zhang San stepped onto the ice with one foot and gave it a light test. It felt sturdy enough. He raised his foot and then promptly stepped back onto shore and ordered Li Si to take the lead.

After all, the little colt could fly.

Li Si obediently set off at a run. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed the river. The ice remained perfectly stable, not even producing a crack. His footing was astonishingly sure as well. He did not slip once.

“Has it frozen solid?” Zhang San muttered to himself.

Feeling confident, he stepped forward.

Crack!

Zhang San: “…”

He retreated to the eastern bank and shouted for the little colt to come back.

“Take the pigeon basket and my saber!”

Li Si removed his bow and arrows and came running back. For the last few meters, he practically glided over the ice as lightly as if he were skating.

He slung the pigeon basket onto his back and carried the saber in one hand. Zhang San had worried that the extra weight might cause him trouble, but Li Si smoothly ran back to the opposite bank. Once again, not a single crack appeared in the ice.

Zhang San reflected that he and Li Si were about the same height and surely could not differ much in weight. Now that he had unloaded his gear, he was even lighter than before. With renewed confidence, he took several steps forward.

Crack! Splash!

He plunged straight into the water.

He had not removed his boots and socks beforehand, nor had he landed on the submerged stone support. Most of his body ended up soaked. Clinging desperately to the ice, he floundered in embarrassment like a drenched tiger.

Li Si hurried over to rescue him. He extended his saber scabbard for Zhang San to grab and began hauling him onto the ice. Even while standing there and pulling, Li Si did not break through the ice himself.

As he was dragged out, Zhang San roared in outrage.

“Why?! How is this fair?!”

Pulled to his feet by Li Si, he sputtered furiously.

“I’m not even that much heavier than you—”

Crack!

Both of them froze and looked down at the fresh fracture spreading beneath Zhang San’s feet.

Li Si silently took several steps backward, retreating beyond the crack.

Zhang San, rooted to the spot: “…”

In humiliation, he bent over and flattened himself against the ice like a tiger skin rug. The crack finally stopped spreading.

Li Si extended the scabbard toward him again.

With a face full of grievance, Zhang San grabbed hold.

Li Si walked ahead and pulled while Zhang San clung to the scabbard. Like a large dog on a leash, he slid helplessly across the ice behind him.

⸻

When they reached the middle of the river, a powerful neigh suddenly rang out from behind them.

They turned around and saw a tall, pitch-black warhorse pacing along the eastern bank. Raising its head, it neighed at them and blew out clouds of white breath, as though greeting them.

“It’s General Sun’s horse!” Li Si recognized it immediately. Earlier, beneath the walls of Kuiyuan, he had removed its saddle and bridle and set it free.

The horse turned and galloped dozens of meters away before wheeling back around. With another loud neigh, it suddenly charged toward the frozen river.

“No!” Zhang San shouted. “It’ll break its legs! It’ll fall into the water! Stop it!”

Li Si immediately sprinted toward the horse. Man and horse rushed toward one another. He reached it just before it stepped onto the ice, but without reins there was nowhere to grab hold. He slid past its body and managed only to seize its tail.

The horse paid him no mind.

With a leap, it bounded forward, dragging Li Si onto the ice behind it.

Born in the northern frontier, the horse had been accustomed to walking on ice since it was young. Every step struck the surface with its horseshoes, gouging tiny depressions for traction. Its movements were swift and powerful. Before the ice could crack beneath it, it had already raced onward. Within a handful of breaths, it reached the western bank safely.

Li Si, meanwhile, was dragged across the ice the entire way. He awkwardly dodged the horse’s flying hind hooves. Upon reaching shore, he nearly crashed into a boulder as well—the horse had already leapt over it—so he quickly let go of the tail, flipped over the rock, and crashed to the ground in a thoroughly bedraggled heap.

The horse shook its head, snorted a cloud of white breath, and gave another triumphant neigh. It seemed to be laughing at them. No—it was definitely laughing at them.

Witnessing all of this, Zhang San could only stare.

He was still lying in the middle of the river like a giant frog.

Why?!

How was this fair?!

⸻

The warhorse wandered leisurely along the western bank, nudging aside thin patches of snow to chew on dry yellow reeds that barely counted as food. Li Si eventually hauled Zhang San ashore. Both were exhausted and sat down on a nearby rock to rest.

Zhang San removed his gourd and took a drink.

Suddenly, Li Si punched him hard in the shoulder.

Water sprayed everywhere.

So bewildered was he that he forgot to be angry.

“Why’d you hit me?”

“A horse can cross the river!” Li Si pointed furiously at the warhorse. “And you killed them last night!”

“How was I supposed to know?” Zhang San protested innocently. “I couldn’t even get across myself! Ordinary horses couldn’t either! Did you think every horse could fly like the two of you?”

Unable to outargue him, Li Si simply punched him again and stood up indignantly. After taking two steps away, he remembered that Zhang San’s clothes, trousers, socks, and boots were all soaked. He turned back, yanked off Zhang San’s outer robe, removed his own, and wrapped it around him while still looking angry.

Bundled up tightly, Zhang San felt a little guilty himself.

“This horse really is different from other horses. It belonged to a great general.”

Li Si shot him a glare. Though he said nothing, his entire face clearly declared: You are not allowed to talk. Everything you say is irritating.

“Hey! Little Colt, now you’re getting fierce with me—”

Another punch interrupted him.

“Alright, alright! I’ll stop talking!”

⸻

They had no spare trousers or socks, and between them only one dry outer robe remained. The cold was no joke. After resting briefly, they resumed their journey, hoping to find somewhere warm as quickly as possible.

If they followed the official road to Ant County, it would take about another hour, including the climb over the landslide blocking the mountain path. But if they followed the river toward the earthen fortress, they could reach it in only the time it took to burn one stick of incense. Since they needed to search the earthen fortress for clues about the missing impoverished young noble, they gathered their belongings and set off.

The horse followed some distance behind them, neither too close nor too far. Finding the two of them too slow, it occasionally stopped to graze on a few mouthfuls of grass.

Only after they had walked for quite a while did Li Si suddenly think of something and ask in confusion, “Why aren’t we riding the horse?”

“It doesn’t have a saddle.”

Li Si did not need a saddle to ride. After a short running start, he planted a hand on the horse’s back and vaulted lightly onto it, then reached down and pulled Zhang San up behind him.

That made the horse happy too. It had been dissatisfied with their pace, and now it galloped along with vigorous strides, jostling the two riders so badly that they swayed back and forth, crying out in alarm.

⸻

Before long, the Seven-Star Formation at the entrance of the earthen fortress appeared before them once more.

The two dismounted and entered the same way as before. After only a few steps, they arrived at the breach they had previously smashed open.

The breach had been filled in again.

Li Si was about to charge into it when Zhang San stopped him. “No rush. Let’s walk around first. I want to see what kind of magical treasure this thing really is.”

Li Si always listened to him, so he obediently followed. The warhorse, however, refused to enter the deep maze-like passageways. It remained beside the wall where the old breach had been, snorting through its nostrils.

The two could not force it, so they continued inward on their own.

The maze twisted and turned with countless forks. Because it had been built so crudely, every wall and every path looked exactly the same, making it even more confusing to navigate.

The two wandered for the time it took to burn half a stick of incense. Suddenly, Zhang San, who was leading, turned around and asked, “Are we not there yet?”

Li Si, following behind, looked utterly bewildered. Pressing his lips together, his face clearly said: You’re asking me?

Zhang San said, “You take the lead. They always say little colts know the way home… Hey! My trousers are wet! Don’t kick dirt on them!”

They wandered for another half-stick of incense.

The northern air was dry, and the cold wind had already dried his trousers. His boots and socks, however, were still soaked inside. His toes were so cold he could barely feel them. Afraid he might develop frostbite, he simply removed his boots and socks and walked barefoot on the ground, which made him jump from the cold even more.

As he hopped around, he raised his voice and asked, “Are we not there yet?”

Li Si, who was in front, poked his head around a corner and shook it at him.

“I’m freezing to death. Forget walking. Let’s just smash through the wall!”

Li Si withdrew his head and tried several walls one by one. After bumping into them until he was dizzy, he returned and shook his head again.

Zhang San refused to believe it and chose several walls himself to ram. Yet it was as if he had encountered a ghost. The farmers who had repaired the maze varied greatly in skill. The walls near the entrance had been tamped down carelessly and remained loose, while the walls deeper inside the maze had been packed so solidly that they would not budge at all.

The two stood there stupidly in the passageway, looking at each other.

If that would not work, then they might as well retrace their steps and go back to smash through the wall near the entrance.

Another half-stick of incense later…

They could not find the way back either.

Once again, the two looked at each other.

Having suffered the consequences of his own terrible idea and with no other option left, Zhang San leaned against an earthen wall and shouted at the top of his lungs in a thoroughly embarrassing manner, “Zhou Qi! Zhou Ba!”

After a while, two heads appeared atop the earthen fortress’s ramshackle watchtower. Because the maze walls were too high, neither side could see the other. One of the heads shouted, “Boss?”

“It’s me!”

The other head shouted as well, “Boss! I missed you to death! Earlier, when I saw you floundering around on the river, I said it had to be you! My brother insisted it wasn’t! He said you’d never lie there looking like a toad!”

Zhang San said awkwardly, “Enough nonsense! We’re trapped in here! Come down and get us!”

The younger watchman sounded deeply puzzled. “Boss, how’d you get trapped in there? Brother! I told you this time the walls were repaired real solid! See? Even the Boss couldn’t smash through them!”

Zhang San roared, “Say one more word and I’ll come up there and punch you flat! Get down here and lead us out! I’m freezing to death!”

The voices above immediately fell silent.

⸻

The brothers returned to the fortress to fetch the formation diagram. They could not make much sense of it themselves and slowly discussed each fork in the maze one by one. After roughly another stick of incense’s time, they finally found their way to Zhang San and Li Si.

The two of them were sitting atop a dirt mound, squeezed together inside a single dry outer robe like a date and a red bean wrapped inside a rice dumpling. Zhang San’s bare feet were tucked between Li Si’s legs, warmed by the younger man’s calves. His toes rested on top of Li Si’s boots because he was too cold to let them touch the ground.

When the two brothers saw how inseparable they looked…

The older brother smacked his lips. “My, my, Boss…”

Zhang San cut him off. “Shut your mouth, you blind fool! Take off your boots and give them to me!” Then he turned and scolded the younger brother. “What are you grinning at? Take off your coat and hand it over!”

After exploiting the two brothers, he was no longer in any hurry to enter the fortress. Instead, following the formation diagram, he returned to the entrance to retrieve the horse.

⸻

The warhorse was still resting beside the old breach. Having grown bored, it had its eyes closed and appeared to be dozing.

Hearing the group return, it lazily opened its eyes and glanced at them. Then it snorted a puff of white breath directly at the four dusty, disheveled humans, bared its teeth, and let out a contemptuous huff.

It was mocking them.

Zhang San said to Li Si, “Do you think this thing has cultivated itself into a spirit? How does it act more human than you do?”

He was immediately rewarded with another kick.

⸻

The four people and one horse returned to the earthen fortress. The dozen or so farmers and farm women all rushed out excitedly and gathered around their boss. The farmers nearly cheered and tossed him into the air.

One roar from Zhang San sent everyone scattering like startled birds and beasts. Some hurried off to chop firewood and light a fire to warm the boss. Others cleaned a room for him. Some headed into the mountains to hunt game and add a bit of meat to his meals. Two more men relieved Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba at the watchtower.

Back when the bandits had been robbing travelers, they had also seized some cattle fodder from wealthy refugee families fleeing south. Someone led the warhorse to the fortress’s dedicated stable and dug out the fodder to feed it. The cage of pigeons was likewise taken away and properly settled.

Zhang San did not go underground. Instead, he had a bonfire lit on the surface and several battered little stools brought over. Sitting around the fire with the two brothers, he saw that everything in the fortress remained orderly. Everyone had their own responsibilities and worked together harmoniously, just as they had when he was still there. The sight pleased him greatly.

“So who’s in charge of the fortress now?” he asked.

The younger brother, Zhou Ba, replied, “My brother is. He’s the second boss now. After you left, we all got together and took turns writing. Whoever could write the most characters became the boss. My brother knows twenty or thirty characters, and he can write every one of them.”

The older brother, Zhou Qi, had gone underground to fetch something and was not around to stop his younger brother from showing off.

Zhang San said, “If you’re a boss now, why are you still spending every day up on the watchtower?”

“There aren’t many people in the fortress, so everyone has to work. My brother and I are dumb. We can’t tamp earth properly and we can’t hunt either. All we know is farming. We’ve already plowed all the fields behind the fortress and irrigated them for the winter. When there’s nothing else to do, we keep watch.”

As the two chatted, Li Si sat quietly beside them, listening with lowered eyes. Before long, Zhou Qi returned carrying a tiger-fur cloak. He draped it over the boss’s shoulders first, then gathered a pile of rags so Zhang San could wrap his feet. Underneath, he wore a pair of straw sandals. The soaked clothes, boots, and socks were laid out beside another fire to dry.

Zhou Qi also brought over a bamboo tray filled with densely packed large black insects.

They were all mole crickets.

Li Si’s scalp immediately tingled with horror. Carrying his stool, he stood up and retreated behind Zhang San before sitting down again.

Zhang San, however, was delighted. “Field cattle! Mole crickets! These are delicious! You fellows know how to catch them!”

Zhou Qi proudly replied, “Back home we call these earth dogs. We found a nest near the fields a few days ago, buried real deep. My brother and I dug around whenever we had free time, and this morning we finally got them out.”

The three men happily crowded around the bamboo tray, picking out the fattest ones and skewering them on small wooden sticks to roast over the fire. Before long, the rich aroma of roasted meat filled the air.

Li Si remained curled up behind Zhang San, not even daring to look.

After roasting a skewer, Zhang San turned and offered it to him first. “These are good. Have a bite.”

Li Si shook his head desperately, his face pale.

Grinning, Zhang San said, “They really are delicious. When have I ever lied to you? Wasn’t that bowl of noodle soup delicious? Weren’t my sister’s steamed cakes delicious?”

Li Si shot him a wronged look.

When had he not lied?

Just moments ago, Zhou Ba had admitted that the most literate person in the fortress knew only twenty or thirty characters. Yet on the night they first met, Zhang San had demanded to know what was written on his Imperial City Directorate token and threatened, “If you won’t tell me, I can go find someone literate who can read it.” In reality, there had not been a single person in the fortress capable of reading it.

The thought made Li Si want to punch Zhang San again.

But Zhang San was smiling at him. His normally fierce tiger eyes curved into beautiful crescents, his pupils sparkling brightly. In a gentle voice, he coaxed, “Be good. Close your eyes and take one bite.”

Li Si felt himself growing dizzy from the coaxing. Obediently, he closed his eyes.

He parted his lips slightly and felt Zhang San place one of the insects into his mouth. The firm body touched his tongue, and the disgust instantly made him try to spit it out.

Zhang San covered his mouth.

“You’re not allowed to spit it out. Chew.”

Li Si chewed a few times with a twisted expression. Gradually, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

Slowly opening his eyes, he found Zhang San’s smile waiting for him again.

“Good, isn’t it?”

Li Si nodded.

“Come sit back over here. Stop hiding.”

So Li Si picked up his little stool and returned to Zhang San’s side. Zhang San roasted another skewer for him and taught him to pull off the legs before eating. “You can eat them whole too, but the legs get stuck in your teeth.”

Li Si clumsily tore them apart, ending up with crumbs all over his hands. Eventually, Zhang San did it himself and fed them to him one by one.

The smell of roasting meat drew everyone in the earthen fortress out of hiding. They abandoned whatever tasks they had been doing. Seven or eight people gathered around together. Those with stools sat on them; those without simply sat on the ground. All of them waited eagerly for roasted insects. Aside from those standing watch or out hunting, everyone was there.

⸻

Seeing that most of the people were gathered, Zhang San said, “Perfect. I wanted to ask you all something. Does anyone remember when those bandits first arrived at the fortress?”

One farmer replied, “Can’t remember the exact date. We didn’t have a calendar in the fortress. But we saw the Xiao army surround Kuiyuan during the day, and the bandits showed up that same night.”

A farm woman added, “That’s right. When the Xiao army came, my husband and I were talking about packing up and heading farther south. Then the bandits arrived that very night, and we couldn’t leave anymore.”

Zhang San asked, “When they came, did they bring anyone with them? A fourteen-year-old boy? Did any of you see him?”

Everyone nodded.

“Yes, yes! They brought a boy!”

“You could tell at a glance he was some rich family’s young master who’d been kidnapped!”

One person said, “Didn’t look fourteen! More like eleven or twelve!”

Another gestured. “About this tall. Fair-skinned and delicate.”

The old steward had also said that his young master was small for his age. Zhang San was now certain this was the person they were searching for.

“Then where did he go afterward?” he asked. “Why wasn’t he there when I arrived?”

The crowd looked confused.

“Think he disappeared a few days later.”

“They sent us to tamp earth at the entrance those days. By the time we came back, he was gone.”

“Yeah, we never heard the bandits mention him again.”

Zhang San frowned. “Could the bandits have killed him?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“No child was buried.”

“Every time the bandits killed somebody, they made us dig the graves.”

“They never buried anyone themselves. Digging holes is hard work.”

Among the crowd was a middle-aged woman whose expression had changed the moment the young master was mentioned. She had hesitated to speak all this time, but finally said in a small voice, “Boss… I know that young master.”

Zhang San raised a hand, quieting everyone.

“Big Sister, what’s your surname?”

The woman quickly replied, “Nothing special, nothing special. My surname is Wu.”

“Big Sister Wu, take your time. There’s no hurry.”

“I used to work as a cook for a wealthy household. The bandits made me cook here in the fortress, so I wasn’t sent to tamp walls. They kept that young master locked in a storage cellar, and I delivered meals to him a few times. After a few days… they stopped having me bring food.”

Zhang San asked, “Which cellar?”

Big Sister Wu replied, “Not the one where the rest of us stayed. They kept him in a separate cellar.”

Zhang San handed her the freshly roasted skewer in his hand. “Eat first, Big Sister. Then take us there.”

Li Si, who had been quietly waiting for that skewer the entire time: “…”

He turned toward Zhang San with eyes full of grievance.

Zhang San said, “You’ve already eaten five skewers. Eat any more and your stomach will hurt!”

Li Si immediately lowered his eyes in disappointment.

Taking the roasted insect skewer, Big Sister Wu lowered her head. Her expression was grave and hesitant, as though she were hiding many things she wanted to say. Zhang San was in no hurry to question her in front of everyone. Instead, he steered the conversation elsewhere and continued chatting idly with the others.

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