The Northwestern Main Camp, during the chou hour.
Insects chirred in the darkness. Looking out from the watchtower, one could see an endless violet night sky meeting the red-and-black sands, where moonlight traced the gentle contours of the dunes. The view was quiet and unexpectedly tender.
The landscape was not all the night concealed. Sentries stood watch both above and below the tower.
The sharp wind carried sand and made the night bitterly cold. No one knew how many sentries had suffered frostbite. Yet among them was someone who particularly enjoyed the low temperature, reciting the Thousand Character Classic while savoring the cold wind against his face. The crescent moon cast a pale silver gleam into his gray eyes.
That person was Xue Ci.
Before long it was time to change shifts. As soon as the two men on the tower climbed down, Xue Ci eagerly mounted the wooden ladder and ascended to the lookout.
Another sentry, An Hu, followed him up. The two stood back to back, each watching a different direction.
The cold wind kept making An Hu sniffle and stamp his feet. Their uniforms were too thin to keep out the cold, and he was shivering from head to toe. Yet the man behind him did not make a sound, as calm as could be. Xue Ci was a rookie assigned to night watch as punishment, whereas An Hu was an experienced old hand. What face would he have left if he were outdone by a newcomer?
Unwilling to believe that the boy could withstand the cold so easily, he spoke quietly to Xue Ci. “If you really can’t bear it, say so. Don’t bottle it up and pretend you’re fine. Otherwise I won’t be able to catch you if you collapse off the tower. Plenty of people freeze to death that way every year.”
Xue Ci remembered at all times that sentries were forbidden from chatting while on night duty, so he did not reply.
To An Hu, the silence sounded like arrogance. He snorted, decided to ignore the youngster, and waited to see how long he could endure it.
After an unknown length of time, An Hu began to feel that he might be the one to ‘go’ first. The cold had dulled his senses so badly that he was only staying upright by bracing his long spear in a crevice.
Suddenly he heard someone speaking behind him. Turning his frozen body with difficulty, he saw Xue Ci approach the stone whistle opening at the center of the watchtower and blow into it with all his strength. An Hu had no chance to stop him before the long, ringing whistle sounded across the camp.
It was the fourth watch of the night. Half the Northwestern Main Camp woke with a start.
“Are we under attack?!”
“What’s happening? What’s going on at the outer sentry post?!”
One area after another of the camp began preparing for battle.
An Hu watched dumbfounded as Xue Ci leaped from a platform two zhang high. From the ground, he called up, “Come down quickly! Someone’s calling for help!”
The two soldiers stationed below had heard the alarm too. Seeing the rest of camp waking and voices rising everywhere, they judged that the sentry post was no longer in immediate danger. Taking up their weapons, they followed Xue Ci.
After a moment of stunned hesitation, An Hu hurried after them as well.
“What on earth happened? Next time, can’t you warn us before blowing that whistle?” As An Hu ran, his body began to warm, but Xue Ci’s words left him unable to relax. He questioned him with a furrowed brow.
“From that abandoned house. Someone was crying out.” Xue Ci pointed in the direction.
The other men’s expressions turned grave, and they quickened their steps.
The night was almost completely dark. Shrubs, thorny branches and loose stones littered the ground, and the men behind Xue Ci nearly stumbled several times. Only Xue Ci moved as easily as though walking on level ground, swift and light-footed.
They had assumed that a person crying for help must be nearby. Instead, they reached a place a full three li from the watchtower.
“Here? How could you hear someone from this far away? Are you playing with us? And you sounded the stone whistle too. You’re dead this time!” An Hu could not hold back his angry scolding.
“Shh. I think I can hear something too. There are people inside!” The other two soldiers silenced him and moved toward the abandoned house with Xue Ci.
Before they could enter, two men emerged from the house, their clothing in disarray and each holding a sharp sword. They stopped face to face with the four sentries.
“…A battalion commander? And… Deputy Commander He?!” An Hu recognized the men first and exclaimed in astonishment.
The expressions of the two officers darkened at once. An Hu and the other soldiers immediately panicked. Only Xue Ci continued studying them.
*
By the time the night watch ended, the eastern sky was paling. The outlines of the hills were edged in gold, and the growing light stabbed at the sleepy soldiers’ eyes.
After completing his night duty, Xue Ci obeyed his commander’s order to report to his tent. An incense stick’s time later, people outside heard furious shouting from within, and then Xue Ci was driven out.
Commander Qin was still roaring, “Look what you’ve done! From today onward, you’re not doing night watch anymore! Get over to the stables, feed the horses and shovel dung! No daytime sentry duty either!”
“Yes, sir.” Xue Ci made himself scarce with remarkable speed.
Only after Xue Ci was gone did Commander Qin slowly calm down. He felt as though the incident had aged him several years.
He was quite defeated by this new recruit. The boy was usually wooden and quiet, but whenever he caused trouble, it was something enormous.
Previously he had sneaked out of camp without permission to pick mushrooms in the fields and eat them, then had the nerve to write about it openly in a letter. The commander would have been remiss not to punish him.
But this latest incident was far worse. What kind of ears did the boy have? He could hear people doing… doing that sort of thing several li away! It was enough to give a man a headache. Then he had blown the stone whistle, putting the entire camp on alert. It was true that abnormal circumstances warranted sounding it, and border defense required quick thinking, but most sentries were afraid of being blamed, and very few would dare sound the alarm. Once it was blown and everyone in camp accounted for, wouldn’t it become obvious who had been where? If Xue Ci truly offended the wrong people, there might be serious consequences. Yundi had asked Qin to look after the boy, but one of the men involved held the rank of battalion commander, two grades above Qin himself. Qin might not be able to protect him!
The thought of Yundi reminded Commander Qin of the letter delivered the day before, which lay beneath a weight on his desk. Wu Yundi had sent it by messenger. Qin had inspected it and meant to give it to Xue Ci, but in his fury had forgotten.
Never mind. Let the boy learn his lesson. I’ll give it to him in a couple of days.
Outside the commander’s tent, An Hu had been punished with menial duties and reduced to the status of a raw recruit. He ought to have been furious at being dragged into the mess, but the fright from the previous night had still not entirely left him. He felt as though his soul had barely returned to his body.
When they first encountered the battalion commander and deputy commander, An Hu had thought little of it. But the two ordered them to pretend they had seen nothing, delivered stern warnings and hurried away. As they left, the battalion commander supported the deputy commander, who was limping. At that moment An Hu had a sudden revelation about what kind of ‘cry for help’ Xue Ci had actually heard.
Yet Xue Ci had sounded the stone whistle and brought the whole camp into the affair. It was impossible for their superiors not to demand an explanation.
An Hu had not known Xue Ci well before. But since they had taken the blame together, he supposed they counted as comrades. He therefore waited for Xue Ci to emerge so they could leave together.
Xue Ci did not understand why the commander was so angry. He only knew that he would no longer be assigned night watch, a duty he quite enjoyed, and felt rather disappointed. Even more puzzling, he had distinctly heard miserable cries from a distance the previous night. When they reached the abandoned house, however, he smelled no other people, only those two men. Neither appeared injured. There was no scent of blood, only a strange, fishy odor.
The two men had ordered him to keep the encounter secret, but he had not obeyed. His superior was Commander Qin, so he had reported the situation truthfully to him, only to receive a fierce scolding.
Another incomprehensible thing to add to his list. Still, he had no intention of asking anyone in camp. He could write about it in his next letter and have He Yi explain. The military camp had many bewildering social rules, and life there was not easy. He missed Chongzi Village a little.
“They’ve sent you to the stables?” An Hu asked.
“Yes. But the horses here all kick at people. They’re very fierce.”
“…” An Hu opened his mouth, then thought better of speaking. He had heard about Xue Ci’s experiences during riding and archery practice: not a single horse was willing to let him ride. Some seemed terrified to death; others became wildly uncontrollable. Everyone had discussed it for half a day.
They parted ways when they reached their respective tents. But An Hu had barely lifted his tent flap when he heard swift footsteps pass behind him.
“?” He turned around. Wasn’t that Xue Ci? “Hey, where are you running off to now?”
Without looking back, Xue Ci answered, “Someone took my things.”
Before An Hu could ask another question, Xue Ci had headed off in a definite direction. An Hu had always loved gossip. He looked once toward his bed, then resolutely ran after him.
When he caught up, Xue Ci had already seized a man who looked like a ruffian from head to toe. The fellow stubbornly refused to admit he had taken anything.
“Why would I steal your stupid straw ball? What’s it worth? Don’t accuse an innocent man!” he complained with a disdainful curl of his lip.
“…” A straw ball? An Hu had thought it must be something precious. He wanted to speak up for Xue Ci, but had no idea what to say.
The man tried to leave, but no matter how he struggled, he could not break free of Xue Ci’s grip. How could the boy be so strong? Then the fellow met Xue Ci’s deep-set eyes. They were plainly a pale blue-green in the sunlight, yet the gaze within them seemed stormy and dark, his knitted brows overflowing with anger.
“…” Previously he had been able to insult Xue Ci without receiving much of an answer. The boy had seemed mute. Watching him work on the straw ball day after day inside their tent had annoyed him, so he had wanted to see how the boy reacted when it went missing. He had not expected him to get genuinely angry. It was only a bit of broken straw. Was it really so important? Could a sweetheart have given it to him? What sort of person would try to woo someone with such a shabby thing?
There was not the faintest smile on Xue Ci’s face. He had followed the lingering scent of He Yi on the straw ball to this man. With his extraordinarily keen sense of smell, he was certain he had made no mistake.
Perhaps Xue Ci had unconsciously picked up He Yi’s scholarly, easygoing manner. Combined with his fine, delicate features, it gave others the illusion that he would be easy to bully. Even people who had witnessed his extraordinary skills could find them hard to believe unless they had personally been on the receiving end.
The man Xue Ci had caught was named Gao Ti. He had always resented the special attention the commander gave Xue Ci. Although Qin was strict with the youngster, he clearly had high hopes for him. Gao Ti assumed the pretty-faced boy had powerful connections and that the rumors claiming he was as skilled as the commander were lies.
Many others shared Gao Ti’s opinion. As a result, Xue Ci’s days in camp had not been nearly as pleasant as they might have appeared.
Xue Ci clenched his fist and restrained the urge to turn into a snow leopard and tear the man apart. In a low voice, he said, “Spar with me. If you lose, let me search you.”
“Huh…” An Hu froze and glanced around. A crowd had gathered at some point, all eager for entertainment and urging Gao Ti to accept the challenge.
Gao Ti was ordinarily very confident in his muscular build. But Xue Ci’s gaze was so sharp that it made him want to retreat, and he felt an invisible pressure like being watched by a wild predator.
“What do I get if I win?” Unwilling to be looked down upon, Gao Ti forced himself to ask.
“That’s right! It’s only interesting if you both put something on the line,” the onlookers chimed in.
How could a slender fellow like Xue Ci hope to defeat a man as burly as a water buffalo? An Hu might love a spectacle, but he could not bear the thought of seeing Xue Ci beaten to the ground. “Stop egging them on!” he protested.
Confusion flickered in Xue Ci’s eyes. He apparently did not understand why Gao Ti was asking such a question. “But I’m not going to lose,” he said.