The two took turns resting until the sun was high in the sky. Once daylight had warmed the air somewhat, they finally set off for the river.
The sun was bright, and the wind was fierce. As they walked, the bamboo cage on Zhang San’s back nearly blew over. The black cloth wrapped around it flapped violently, and one corner of the lid came loose. Several pigeons poked their heads out with little coo, coo sounds, only for Li Si to push them back inside.
They retied the cage securely and continued.
——
They crossed at the same ruined bridge as before. The Fen River remained covered in ice. Four days had passed, and the ice looked a little thicker—or perhaps it did not.
Zhang San set one foot onto the surface and bounced lightly on his toes. It felt sturdy. He lifted his other foot and… promptly put it back on shore, then ordered Li Si to go first.
After all, the little colt could fly.
Li Si obediently took off at a run. Within moments, he had crossed the river. The ice remained perfectly stable beneath him without even a crack, and Li Si’s footing was astonishingly sure. He did not slip once.
“Frozen solid?” Zhang San muttered to himself.
Feeling confident, he stepped forward.
Crack!
Zhang San: “…”
He retreated to the eastern bank and called the little colt back. “Take the pigeon cage and my saber!”
Li Si removed his bow and arrows and ran back. Over the last three or four meters, he practically glided across the ice as lightly as though skating.
He strapped the pigeon cage onto his back and carried Zhang San’s saber in one hand. Zhang San worried that the extra weight might make him sink, but Li Si ran smoothly back to the western bank without producing a single crack.
Zhang San considered the matter. He and Li Si were almost the same height, so surely they could not differ by that much in weight. And now that Zhang San had handed off his gear, he was even lighter.
With renewed confidence, he stepped forward several paces.
Crack! Splash!
He plunged straight into the river.
He had not removed his boots and socks beforehand, nor had he landed on the submerged stone pier. Most of his body went into the freezing water, and he clung desperately to the ice, floundering in humiliation like a drenched tiger.
Li Si hurried over to rescue him, extending his saber scabbard for Zhang San to grab before beginning to drag him out. Even while standing there and hauling with all his strength, Li Si did not break the ice.
Zhang San roared as he was dragged free. “Why?! How is this fair?!”
Li Si hauled him upright. Zhang San sputtered furiously, “I’m not even that much heavier than you—”
Crack!
Both froze and looked down at the fresh fracture spreading beneath Zhang San’s feet.
Li Si silently took several steps backward until he stood outside the crack.
Zhang San remained rooted in place. “…”
Humiliated beyond words, he bent down and flattened himself against the ice like a tiger-skin rug. The crack finally stopped spreading.
Li Si held out the scabbard again, and Zhang San grabbed it with a face full of grievance.
Li Si walked ahead and pulled. Zhang San clung to the scabbard and slid behind him like a large dog on a leash.
——
When they reached the middle of the river, a powerful neigh sounded behind them.
They looked back and saw a tall, pitch-black warhorse pacing along the eastern bank, raising its head and neighing toward them as white breath streamed from its nostrils.
“It’s General Sun’s horse!” Li Si recognized it immediately. This was the horse he had stripped of its saddle and bridle and released beneath Kuiyuan’s walls.
The horse turned and galloped several dozen meters away, then wheeled around. With another ringing neigh, it suddenly charged toward the frozen river.
“No!” Zhang San shouted. “It’ll break its legs! It’ll fall in! Stop it!”
Li Si immediately threw down the scabbard and sprinted toward the horse. Man and horse rushed toward one another, and Li Si reached it just before its hooves touched the ice. There were no reins to grab, however. He slid past the horse’s body and managed to seize only its tail.
The horse did not care in the slightest.
It leapt forward, dragging Li Si onto the ice behind it.
Born on the northern frontier, the horse had been used to moving over ice since it was young. Each hoof struck sharply downward, its horseshoes gouging tiny depressions for traction. Its steps were swift and powerful, and it moved onward before the ice could split beneath its weight. Within only a handful of breaths, it safely reached the western bank.
Li Si was dragged over the ice the entire way, awkwardly dodging the horse’s flying hind hooves. Upon reaching shore, he nearly slammed into a boulder—the horse had already jumped over it—so he hurriedly released the tail, flipped over the rock, and crashed to the ground in an undignified heap.
The horse shook its head, blew a cloud of white breath from its nostrils, and gave another triumphant neigh.
It looked as though it were laughing at them.
No.
It was definitely laughing at them.
Zhang San: “…”
He was still lying in the middle of the river like an enormous frog.
Why?! How is this fair?!
——
The warhorse wandered leisurely along the western bank, nudging aside thin patches of snow to chew on dry yellow reeds that barely qualified as food. Li Si eventually dragged Zhang San ashore. Both were exhausted and sat on a nearby rock to recover.
Zhang San pulled out his water gourd and took a drink. Li Si suddenly punched him hard in the shoulder, making him spray water all over the ground.
Zhang San was so confused 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. “I couldn’t even cross myself! Ordinary horses couldn’t either! Did you think every horse could fly like the two of you?”
Li Si could not win an argument against him, so he simply punched him again and stood up indignantly. After taking two steps, however, he remembered that Zhang San’s coat, trousers, socks, and boots were all soaked. He turned back, yanked off Zhang San’s wet outer coat, removed his own dry one, and wrapped Zhang San tightly in it while still looking furious.
Bundled up from head to toe, Zhang San felt somewhat guilty. “This horse really is different from ordinary horses. It belonged to a great general.”
Li Si glared. He did not say anything, but every inch of his face plainly declared: You are not allowed to talk. Everything you say is irritating.
“Hey! Little Fool, now you’re getting fierce with me—”
Another punch interrupted him.
“All right, all right! I’ll stop talking!”
——
They had no spare trousers or socks, and only one dry outer coat remained between them. The cold was dangerous, so after resting briefly, they resumed their journey, hoping to find somewhere warm as quickly as possible.
Following the official road to Ant County would take roughly another hour, including the climb over the landslide blocking the mountain road. Following the river to the earthen fortress, however, required only about one incense stick. Since they already needed to visit the earthen fortress to look for clues about the missing young master, they packed up and headed there.
The warhorse followed some distance behind, neither too close nor too far. Apparently finding their pace unbearably slow, it occasionally stopped to graze while waiting for them to catch up.
They had gone quite some distance before Li Si suddenly thought of something. “Why aren’t we riding the horse?”
“It doesn’t have a saddle.”
Li Si did not need a saddle. After a short running start, he planted one hand on the horse’s back and vaulted lightly onto it, then leaned down and hauled Zhang San up behind him.
The horse was pleased too. It had clearly been annoyed by their walking pace. Now it broke into an energetic gallop, jolting the two riders back and forth until both cried out in alarm.
——
Before long, the Seven-Star Formation outside the earthen fortress appeared ahead.
They dismounted and entered the same way as before. After only a few turns, they reached the breach they had previously smashed open.
It had been repaired again.
Li Si was about to charge into it when Zhang San stopped him. “No hurry. Let’s try walking through it 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 passages and remained beside the repaired breach, snorting loudly.
They could hardly force it inside, so they went in alone.
The maze twisted through turn after turn and contained countless forks. Because its construction was so crude, every wall and every path looked exactly the same, which only made it harder to navigate.
They wandered for half an incense stick. Zhang San, walking in front, suddenly turned around. “Are we not there yet?”
Li Si stared at him in utter confusion, his pressed lips and expression clearly saying: You’re asking me?
Zhang San said, “You walk in front. Everyone says little colts know the way home… Hey! My trousers are still wet! Stop kicking dirt on me!”
They wandered another half incense stick.
The northern air was dry, and the freezing wind had already dried Zhang San’s trousers. His boots and socks remained wet inside, however, and his toes were so cold that he could barely feel them. Worried about frostbite, he simply removed his boots and socks and walked barefoot, the ground so cold that he hopped with every step.
While bouncing around, he raised his voice. “Still not there?”
Li Si’s head appeared around the corner ahead. He shook it.
“I’m freezing to death. Forget walking. Let’s smash through a wall!”
Li Si disappeared around the corner and tested several walls one after another. After nearly knocking himself dizzy, he came back and shook his head again.
Zhang San refused to believe it and chose several walls himself, only to discover that it was as if they had encountered a ghost. The farmers who had repaired the formation varied wildly in skill: near the entrance, the earth had been tamped carelessly and remained loose enough to break, while deeper inside, the walls had somehow been packed hard as stone. Neither Zhang San nor Li Si could smash through them.
The two stood dumbly in the passage, looking at one another.
Fine. They would retrace their steps, go back to the entrance, and smash through the weak wall there.
Another half incense stick passed.
They could not find the way back.
The two stared at one another again.
Zhang San had proposed the terrible idea and was now suffering the consequences. With no other solution and his feet half-frozen, he leaned against an earthen wall and shamelessly shouted at the top of his lungs, “Zhou Qi! Zhou Ba!”
After a while, two heads appeared on the fortress’s ramshackle sentry platform. The maze walls were too tall for either side to see the other. One head shouted, “Boss?”
“It’s me!”
The other shouted too, “Boss! I missed you to death! Earlier, when I saw someone floundering around on the river, I said it had to be you! My brother kept saying no! Said you’d never lie there looking like a toad!”
Zhang San said awkwardly, “Enough nonsense! We’re trapped in here! Come get us!”
The younger sentry sounded genuinely baffled. “Boss, how’d you get trapped? Brother! I told you the walls were repaired real solid this time! See? Even Boss couldn’t smash through!”
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 instantly fell silent.
——
The brothers returned to the fortress for the formation diagram. Neither understood it particularly well, so they slowly discussed one fork after another. After roughly another incense stick, they finally found Zhang San and Li Si.
The two were sitting on an earthen mound, squeezed together inside a single dry coat 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, while his toes rested on top of Li Si’s boots because the ground was too cold to touch.
The two brothers took one look at how inseparably they were pressed together…
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 rounded on the younger brother. “What are you grinning at? Take off your coat!”
After thoroughly exploiting both brothers, Zhang San was in no hurry to return to the fortress. Using the formation diagram, they went back to the entrance first to retrieve the horse.
——
The warhorse was still beside the old breach. Having grown bored, it had closed its eyes and appeared to be dozing.
Hearing the group return, it lazily opened one eye, looked over the four dusty, disheveled humans, snorted a cloud of white breath directly at them, bared its teeth, and gave a contemptuous huff.
It was mocking them.
Zhang San said to Li Si, “Do you think this thing cultivated itself into a spirit? Why does it act more human than you?”
Li Si kicked him.
Again.
——
Four people and one horse returned to the earthen fortress. The dozen or so farmers and farm women rushed out excitedly and crowded around their Boss. Several of the men nearly cheered and tossed him into the air.
One roar from Zhang San sent everyone scattering like frightened birds. Some ran to chop firewood and build a fire so the Boss could warm himself; some cleaned out a room; some went into the mountains to hunt game and add meat to the meal; and two more men relieved Zhou Qi and Zhou Ba at the sentry platform.
Back when the bandits still robbed travelers, they had also stolen livestock fodder from wealthy families fleeing south. Someone led the warhorse to the fortress stable and dug out fodder for it, while the pigeon cage was taken away and carefully settled as well.
Zhang San did not go underground. He had them build a bonfire on the surface and bring several battered little stools. Sitting around the fire with the two brothers, he saw that the fortress remained orderly. Everyone had their own duties and worked together harmoniously, just as they had while Zhang San was still there. The sight pleased him greatly. “So who’s in charge now?”
The younger brother, Zhou Ba, answered, “My brother. He’s Second Boss now. After you left, we all got together and talked it over, then had a writing contest. Whoever could write the most characters became Boss. My brother knows twenty or thirty characters, and he can write every single one.”
The older brother, Zhou Qi, had gone underground to fetch something and was not there to stop his little brother from boasting.
Zhang San asked, “If he’s Boss now, why’re you two still spending every day on the sentry platform?”
“There aren’t many people here. 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 already plowed the fields behind the fortress and watered them for winter. When there’s nothing else to do, we keep watch.”
As Zhang San and Zhou Ba chatted, Li Si sat quietly beside them with lowered eyes. Before long, Zhou Qi returned carrying the tiger-fur cloak. First he draped it over Boss Zhang’s shoulders, then found rags for Zhang San to wrap around his feet and a pair of straw sandals to wear over them. The wet clothes, boots, and socks were spread beside another fire to dry.
Zhou Qi also brought a bamboo tray filled with densely packed, enormous black insects.
Mole crickets.
Li Si’s scalp tingled. He picked up his stool, stood, retreated behind Zhang San, and sat down again.
Zhang San, by contrast, was delighted. “Little field oxen! Mole crickets! These are good! You fellows know what to catch!”
Zhou Qi proudly said, “Back home, we call them earth dogs. Found a nest near the fields a few days ago, buried real deep. My brother and I dug whenever we had time, and this morning we finally got them all out.”
The three men happily crowded around the tray, choosing the fattest ones and threading them onto little wooden skewers to roast over the fire. Before long, a rich roasted aroma filled the air.
Li Si remained curled behind Zhang San and did not even dare look.
Zhang San finished roasting one skewer and immediately offered it to him. “These are good. Try one.”
Li Si shook his head furiously, his face pale.
Zhang San grinned. “They really are good. When have I ever lied to you? Wasn’t that noodle-piece soup good? Weren’t my sister’s steamed buns good?”
Li Si gave him an aggrieved look. When had he ever not lied? Zhou Ba had just admitted that the most literate person in the fortress knew only twenty or thirty characters. Yet on the night Zhang San and Li Si first met, Zhang San had demanded to know what was written on the Imperial City Directorate token and threatened, “If you won’t tell me, I’ll go find someone literate to read it.” In reality, there had not been one person in the fortress capable of reading it.
Just thinking about it made Li Si want to punch him again.
But Zhang San was smiling. His normally fierce tiger eyes had curved into two beautiful crescents, his pupils bright and sparkling. In a gentle voice, he coaxed, “Be good. Close your eyes and try one bite.”
Li Si grew dizzy beneath the coaxing and obediently closed his eyes. He parted his lips, and Zhang San placed one insect into his mouth. The firm little body touched his tongue, and disgust instantly overwhelmed him. Li Si tried to spit it out, only for Zhang San to cover his mouth.
“You’re not allowed to spit it out. Chew.”
Li Si chewed several times with his face twisted in misery. Gradually, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed. He slowly opened his eyes, and Zhang San’s smile was waiting for him again. “Good, isn’t it?”
Li Si nodded.
“Come sit back here. Stop hiding.”
So Li Si picked up his little stool and returned to Zhang San’s side. Zhang San roasted another skewer and taught him to tear off the legs before eating. “You can eat them whole too, but the legs get stuck between your teeth.”
Li Si clumsily pulled them apart and ended up with crumbs all over his hands. Eventually, Zhang San took over, removed the legs himself, and fed the mole crickets to Li Si one by one.
The aroma of roasted meat drew everyone else in the fortress out. They abandoned whatever work they had been doing, and seven or eight people gathered around the fire. Those with stools sat on them; those without sat on the ground. Everyone waited eagerly for roasted insects. Aside from those on sentry duty and those who had gone hunting, nearly the entire fortress was there.
——
Seeing everyone assembled, Zhang San said, “Perfect. I need to ask you something. Who remembers when those bandits first arrived at the fortress?”
One farmer answered, “Can’t remember the exact date. Didn’t have a calendar here. But that day, we saw the Xiao army surround Kuiyuan in daylight. The bandits came 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 showed up that 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 started nodding. “Yes, yes! They brought a boy! You could tell right away he was some rich family’s young master they’d kidnapped!”
One person said, “Didn’t look fourteen! More like eleven or twelve!”
Another held out a hand to indicate his height. “About this tall. Pale and delicate.”
The old steward had also said that his young master was small for his age. Zhang San was now certain they were talking about the same boy. “Then where did he go? Why wasn’t he here when I arrived?”
The crowd looked confused. “Think he disappeared a few days later.” “They sent us to tamp the earth walls by the entrance around then. When we came back, he was gone.” “Yeah. Never heard the bandits mention him again.”
Zhang San frowned. “Could they have killed him?”
Everyone shook their heads. “No child was buried.” “Whenever the bandits killed somebody, they made us dig the grave.” “They never dug graves themselves. Digging holes is hard work.”
Among the crowd was a middle-aged woman whose expression had changed the instant the young master was mentioned. She had hesitated all this time, but at last quietly said, “Boss… I know that young master.”
Zhang San raised one hand, and everyone fell silent. “Big Sister, what’s your surname?”
The woman hurriedly replied, “Nothing important. My surname’s Wu.”
“Elder Sister Wu, take your time. No hurry.”
“I used to work as a cook for a wealthy family. The bandits made me cook here in the fortress, so I wasn’t sent out to tamp walls. They kept that young master locked in a storage cellar. I brought him food several times. After a few days…” She hesitated. “…they stopped asking me to bring anything.”
Zhang San asked, “Which cellar?”
Cook Wu replied, “Not one of the caverns where we lived. They kept him in a separate one.”
Zhang San handed her the freshly roasted skewer in his hand. “Eat first, Elder Sister Wu. Then take us there.”
Li Si, who had been quietly waiting for that skewer: “…”
He looked at Zhang San with deep grievance.
“You’ve already eaten five skewers,” Zhang San said. “Any more and your stomach will hurt!”
Li Si lowered his eyes in disappointment.
Cook Wu accepted the skewer and lowered her gaze. Her expression remained heavy and hesitant, as though she had much more she wanted to say. Zhang San did not press her in front of everyone. Instead, he changed the subject and continued chatting casually with the others.