Main Text, Chapter Eighty-Eight: Contest of Strength, Part Twenty-Two

Inside Cloud City, within the patrol post.

Yu Chi-gong lay sprawled across a bed of straw, his limbs flung wide, snoring so loudly it seemed to shake the heavens.

Of course Yu Chi-gong was not the sort of man who relied on brute force alone and had no brain to speak of, but neither could he be called deep or subtle in thought.

When Xu Le suddenly vanished, Yu Chi-gong hesitated for a while, turning over whether to report the matter upward. In the end he hardened his heart and simply went to sleep.

He knew full well what Xu Le was capable of. Once a man like that was gone, there was no bringing him back. Only after that young lord of delight had caused some great affair would everyone know how large a hole the divine and valiant young lord had once again punched through the sky.

To report it at once would not spare him from blame. Better to lie down and take the blows. In any case, in a world as chaotic as this, with his own skill in hand, so long as he did not betray Liu Wu-zhou, that was as good as having an imperial pardon against death. Why worry so much?

Having understood this, Yu Chi-gong soon began snoring like thunder and truly cast the matter entirely beyond the ninth heaven.

Yet as a general, armored and campaigning across a hundred miles, one cannot eat when hungry nor sleep when weary. But in a place of safety, one must be able to eat and sleep well. Otherwise how could one endure the wars of such an age? Cloud City was precisely such a refuge, enough to put Yu Chi-gong at ease; once asleep there, not even thunder could wake him.

In the midst of that sound sleep, Yu Chi-gong suddenly felt his body jolted violently. Before he even opened his eyes, he cursed, "Go play with your own damned bird! Disturb this old man’s sleep, and I’ll twist your head off!"

The next instant came a savage kick to his body. Yu Chi-gong opened his eyes and sprang up at once, a fist as large as a vinegar jar already raised. One blow later, it would have smashed into the newcomer’s face.

Then he froze and drew the fist back. Standing before him was Liu Wu-zhou, his face livid with fury.

Liu Wu-zhou was disheveled, his hair knot askew, his robe thrown on in haste; clearly he had also risen in the night and hurried over. Behind him stood seven or eight personal guards, filling the patrol post to the brim. Every face was tight with tension. Outside, torches blazed, their light pouring in, making Liu Wu-zhou’s expression seem even more ferocious.

Seeing Yu Chi-gong awake, Liu Wu-zhou demanded at once, "Where is Xu Le?"

Only then did Yu Chi-gong finally make sense of the commotion outside. He heard footsteps surging in waves, and from the watchtower came the low blare of horns summoning troops to the walls. At this moment, it seemed the whole of Cloud City had been roused to action.

Just how great an affair had that young lord of delight wrought this time? Had he truly punched a hole straight through the heavens?

Though his mind turned with these thoughts, Yu Chi-gong’s face remained innocent. "Not in the temple?"

With a hateful motion, Liu Wu-zhou turned and strode out. Yu Chi-gong hurried after him.

At the temple gate stood a squad of personal guards from the Eagle Strike Commandery office, and Xu Le’s men were being led out in single file. Han Yue stood like a mountain, lips pressed tightly together, plainly unwilling to say a word. As for Song Bao, he looked utterly baffled; several roving heroes and estate retainers were also blinking in sleep.

Liu Wu-zhou asked loudly, "Where is your young lord Le?"

Han Yue stood like a rock, saying nothing. Song Bao had lost too much blood from his wounds that night and had slept as if dead; he truly had no idea that Xu Le had slipped away quietly in the middle of the night with Bu Li. Yet at this moment he still appeared unconcerned. Though he bowed politely, his tone held a trace of defiance when he answered.

"Cloud City is the commandery lord’s ground. Thousands of Eagle-Banner troops are stationed here, and even they do not know where the young lord Le has gone. I was injured and bleeding; once night fell I slept like a corpse. How could I possibly know?"

The few roving heroes and retainers dared not speak, but each of them nodded along, echoing Song Bao’s words.

These days Song Bao had followed Xu Le through life and death, and his courage had grown by another degree. Xu Le caused too much trouble, and always for great men. In the end, though, everyone still ate and drank well and received hospitality everywhere, so by now Song Bao and the others had grown somewhat numb to it all.

Besides, Song Bao now considered himself one of Xu Le’s household men. In such an age, once the ranks were divided high and low, whatever consequences the master drew upon himself had to be borne by those beneath him, unless one meant to break away and leave.

Song Bao had no mind to break away.

So this country-born young hero, who once became nervous and flustered at the mere sight of a noble, now could actually speak at length before Liu Wu-zhou.

Liu Wu-zhou said no more. With a wave of his hand, he ordered, "Seize them all!"

Seven or eight guards rushed forward and twisted Han Yue, Song Bao, and the others into submission. Brutish soldiers in the army, how could their grip be gentle? At once several retainers and young heroes cried out in pain.

Han Yue never changed expression and offered no resistance. Song Bao, however, stretched his neck and bellowed at the top of his voice, "Fine loyalty, Liu Eagle-Strike! Favoring outsiders and only bullying us men of Mayi!"

Liu Wu-zhou’s face darkened. He kept waving his hand, signaling for them to be dragged away at once.

Song Bao was still howling himself hoarse when he too was hauled off. Yu Chi-gong stood there dumbly, staring toward the direction outside the city.

Firelight from beyond the walls illuminated half the night sky. The whole of Cloud City was thrown into turmoil by this upheaval. Since entering Cloud City, this young lord Le had only grown more and more outrageous, and now it seemed he had set the entire encampment of the thousand-odd Yue tribesmen ablaze.

What heights might such a man reach in the future?

Used to grand scenes and countless times passing through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Yu Chi-gong, the foremost fighting general of Hengan Prefecture, could not help feeling a chill of astonishment at this moment.

Liu Wu-zhou turned back to Yu Chi-gong and said coldly, "Hurry to the walls. Commissioner Yuan is already guarding there. Take armored cavalry with you and obey Commissioner Yuan’s orders!"

Yu Chi-gong asked blankly, "What about the young lord Le?"

Liu Wu-zhou’s face was ice-cold. "This is my Cloud City! No matter how handsome the local youth may be, I will not let him disturb things again and again! If you encounter him, kill him on the spot!"

A blaze of lanterns and signals danced atop Cloud City’s walls. The garrison and the outer defensive line at the low hill fort all had been mobilized.

Armored soldiers stood like a forest, fully on guard.

To the north, the night sky was already lit red by the fire. Sparks drifted and danced, and even from the battlements one could smell the faint stench of smoke.

The entire thousand-strong Yue encampment was burning!

Yuan Junzhang stood atop the wall, gazing gravely at the scene before him.

This Xu Le could not be left alive. Since arriving in Cloud City, he had stirred up so much trouble, and in the end had brought about a spectacle like this. Men like that were better uprooted early. A little infamy, even if it was borne by Liu Wu-zhou, so what of it?

Yuan Junzhang turned to the brother standing beside him, Yuan Junwei, and lowered his voice to instruct him, "Take a squad of armored cavalry ahead on patrol. If you see Xu Le, cut him down on the spot!"

Yuan Junwei’s face was alight with excitement. He loudly took the order. "I will not fail my elder brother’s trust!"

In the open wilderness, Xu Le galloped hard on horseback.

Before him lay Cloud City. Behind him came hundreds of shouting pursuers, the thousand-strong Yue warriors and the Turkic Blue Wolf Cavalry.

A great general of the Eagle Banner Commandery rode with him as well, Zhang Wansui.

Sparks drifted down in a scatter, tinting heaven and earth a blood-red hue.

Xu Le knew he could not return. He could not go back to the idle, uneventful days of Divine Might County, to the quiet lanes of the Xu family quarter.

This was the age at the end of Sui, a turbulent world in which the curtain was about to rise.

An age of valor and of wild intoxication alike.