Chapter 341: Not Seeing the Smoke of War

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"Zongheng" by Fenghuo Xizhuhou

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**Lonely Journey to Northern Wasteland**Fenghuo Xizhuhou

Daoist Luo opened his eyes at dawn but couldn't find his sleepy disciple. How strange! This young lad was not only a late riser but also had a terrible temper upon waking. He looked out and saw his apprentice randomly waving a tree branch by the water. "Randomly?" Daoist Luo quickly dismissed that preconceived notion. He approached with his hands behind his back and saw that his naturally gifted disciple, with a branch in hand, executed fluid movements each time he concentrated slightly, like a sword master moving with the grace of a dragon or snake. What was especially remarkable was that it bore a striking resemblance to the movements of a grand sword master. Daoist Luo's eyes widened. Could it be that this child was truly so gifted that he could comprehend swordsmanship by merely observing water, learning without a teacher? But then Daoist Luo remembered that he had never taught him swordsmanship. It wasn't that he feared teaching the apprentice and starving the master; it was because Daoist Luo himself was clueless about swordsmanship, understanding six of the seven mysteries but remaining ignorant of the seventh! Daoist Luo hadn't seen Young Master Xu. Only when his disciple finished a full set of movements, drenched in sweat, did he ask, utterly bewildered, "How did you learn swordsmanship?"

The "little black coal" snorted, twirled the dry branch into a sword flower, and grinned, "Young Master Xu praised my exceptional talent and taught me this sword technique. I figure by the time we return to Yanyang Temple, Senior Brother Qingyan won't be a match for me anymore."

Speaking of that senior disciple who relied on his age, strength, and especially the fact that his master was the temple abbot, the child held a particular grudge. He always dreamed of mastering unparalleled martial arts to beat him until he lost all his teeth. Daoist Luo frowned and asked, "Does that Young Master Xu also know swordsmanship?"

The child, realizing something belatedly, shook his head and said, "Probably not. Last night, before teaching me this technique, he said he stumbled upon it in a tattered ancient manual. I guess he thought he couldn't learn it himself, so he just taught it to me. This way, when I become a master swordsman in the future, he'll also have bragging rights."

The child remembered something, scampered to the riverbank, picked up two pairs of straw sandals, and chuckled, "Master, these are from him. Before leaving, he asked me to tell you that he likes your poetry manuscripts. He said something about 'words of a benevolent person' and also that the line 'A sword moves mountains to mend peace' was excellent, truly excellent. Finally, he said he memorized all thirty-two poems and would read them to his second elder sister later. Anyway, that guy kept babbling, but I only remembered this much. Hey, I later got caught up in practicing swordsmanship and forgot some of it. Besides, I didn't quite understand it anyway."

The old Daoist pretended to hit him, but how could the child, who had seen this bluster for many years, be afraid? He held the branch like a sword and pushed the straw sandals into his master's arms, fawning, "I'll go carry the book satchel. Master, remember, I'll be a swordsman from now on. Just wait until I can 'move mountains with my sword'!"

Daoist Luo smiled helplessly, "You rascal, remember his kindness!"

The child dashed forward, his laughter clear and crisp, "Got it!"

Daoist Luo looked down at the straw sandals in his hand, shook his head, and sighed, "One separates from their shoes before bed; who knows that upon closing their eyes, they will never meet again?"

Xu Fengnian walked alone along the banks of the Ruoshui River. Inside his green python robe, a red-robed yin creature floated leisurely. Yin creatures naturally prefer water and dislike fire; their nascent souls become even more joyful when they see water. From time to time, their heads would surface, chewing a river fish, facing Xu Fengnian on the bank, their mouths bloody. Xu Fengnian couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind. The master and apprentice naturally wouldn't know that if he hadn't secretly intervened when they crossed the river, the man poling the sheepskin raft would have been dragged into the water and become a meal for the yin creature. The child saw them as water ghosts, which was not unfair. That night, Xu Fengnian personally taught the child the sword technique – the magnificent "Kai Shu Style." However, given the master and apprentice's background and resources, even if the child practiced daily, he wouldn't grasp a fifth of the sword's essence even by his sixties. In martial arts cultivation, renowned teachers have always been hard to find, and enlightened teachers even harder. Entering the fourth-rank martial artist level is a chasm; the second-rank 'minor grandmaster' realm is an insurmountable barrier; and the first-rank is as high as the majestic Heavenly Gate. Daoist Luo was already a dedicated person, even an abbot of a Daoist temple, who tirelessly sought the art of immortality throughout his life. Yet, to this day, he hasn't even completed half of the Twelve-Story Pagoda, a level that even the sweeping Daoist novices of Longhu Mountain's Tianshi Mansion had long since reached. This is the reality of the martial world: some are so poor they can't even get a single coin, while others are so wealthy that a mountain of gold doesn't catch their eye.

Xu Fengnian suddenly stopped, squatted on the ground, and took out all the items from his book satchel to sun them. Among them was the Spring and Autumn Sword, obtained in exchange for a Nanzhao relic from a Western Shu orphan. Its sword energy was so potent that Xu Fengnian could only wield five or six tenths of its power. That time, in a narrow alley in the rain, he almost died from the blind zither player's 'Hu Qia Puzi' technique. Also there was the black box containing three ancient Qin swords, which had been taken from the Dragon Wall and brought into the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum, along with a white-robed figure.

A Spring Thunder sword. Did the White Fox-faced man ascend the tower?A blade manual, its techniques stopping at "Tying Green Silk."The soft armor he wore, which he hadn he hadn't removed even to sleep during his last two journeys. Twelve flying swords, including "Morning Dew" and "Golden Thread," all with fully matured sword embryos.A pair of straw sandals he didn't know if he would ever be able to give away. He learned this craft from Old Huang. He remembered the first time the old man with missing front teeth handed him a pair of straw sandals, Xu Fengnian stomped his feet and cursed, "Are these even shoes?" Later, he realized straw sandals were better than walking barefoot, and he grew accustomed to them. That time, when he returned to the Northern Liang King's residence and put on comfortable boots with jade insoles, he actually felt unaccustomed.

As the hereditary heir to a vassal king, he could acquire many rare treasures without effort. Yet, Xu Fengnian had unwittingly risked his life to obtain certain things. At the same time, with the passage of time, he would lose many things that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't retain. How much hardship he endured could not be spoken of; if he did, others would only think he was ungrateful, like telling a hungry man that rich food is greasy. Therefore, when meeting others, he could only speak of how much good fortune he enjoyed.

Xu Fengnian put the items back into his book satchel one by one.

The yin creature's nascent soul came ashore, tilting its head and looking at him with pity.

Under Xu Xiao's personal supervision, the Liyang Dynasty once built an unprecedentedly vast network of postal roads. Post stations served as points, and roads as lines. Along these lines, beacon towers, major military towns, and border forts were added, forming a formidable defensive system that inspired awe. Today, Liyang's eastern border defense almost entirely replicates that original framework. Meanwhile, Beimang, which has absorbed a large number of Central Plains refugees, has also begun to spare no effort to replicate this proven and highly effective war infrastructure. In Jiayu Commandery alone, within Longyao Prefecture, where Maolong is located, there are a total of one hundred beacon towers of various sizes. They are distributed along three lines, with one tower every ten *li*, continuously visible to one another, their border beacons connecting. Whenever war broke out, wolf smoke signals would rise in succession. The Empress once made a night inspection of the border. When the mood struck her, she ascended a beacon tower and personally lit four torches. The next moment, the entire prefecture was ablaze with lights, the three lines of beacon towers resembling three fiery dragons. That night, it was discovered that one beacon tower had been negligent and delayed in its duty. All nine individuals involved, including the chief and deputy beacon masters, were immediately beheaded on the spot. Ten beacon chiefs had their arms severed, and one prefectural beacon commander was demoted to a common beacon soldier, with an imperial decree that he would never be promoted again.

In Beimang, several postal routes were exclusively for military use. Once, a powerful and influential imperial relative, who was secretly operating a salt and iron business, clashed with a patrol of Southern Dynasty cavalry within Longyao Prefecture, killing them all. For unknown reasons, the news leaked. When the Empress personally executed her own nephew, she stated, "Smuggling salt and iron might not warrant death, but galloping horses on a military postal road deserves death twice over." Then, the man's young legitimate son was dragged from his home and publicly hanged to death. After this, no unauthorized individuals dared to travel on these postal routes.

The postal route line to Ligou military town was already on high alert, like a startled bird. The four thousand iron cavalry advanced rapidly, destroying every post station and beacon tower in their path without exception. Everyone knew that Ligou's six thousand defenders were already like a turtle in a jar: they dared not retreat, nor dared to fight. Wazhu and Junziguang, two formidable military towns, served as grim precedents. Wazhu had taken the initiative to attack. Ligou, being before Maolong, had to undertake the brutal mission of sacrificing lives to wear down that isolated army. They could only pray that the grand generals in the Southern Dynasty court would quickly provide a countermeasure. After two battles, the once incredibly arrogant Southern Dynasty no longer had any military town whose elite combat strength could compare to that of the Northern Liang Army. Ligou faced an impending catastrophe; its people were in a state of panic. With the town sealed and gates closed, many scions of noble families trapped within the city were either weeping in despair or living for the moment, drinking today as if they would die tomorrow. The common people, kept in the dark due to martial law, were paradoxically less despondent than the well-informed gentry and aristocrats. Ligou suffered greatly, and Maolong felt a similar sorrow, like a rabbit mourning a fox. Many families in the city, taking advantage of the city not yet being fully sealed, fled north with their families, resembling the plight of scholars fleeing north during the Spring and Autumn period, like homeless dogs. It turned out that the Northern Liang Army and the "Human Butcher" were the culprits!

Maolong's Tizi Mountain Beacon Tower.

Built atop a hill, its rammed earth construction was sturdy, reinforced with massive red willow logs driven through it. The tower itself was tall. As this mountain was close to Maolong, a major border military town, Tizi Mountain Beacon Tower had three extra beacon soldiers, bringing its total to twelve. In previous years, all beacon towers in various prefectures, regardless of whether they belonged to the Northern Court or Southern Dynasty, only employed northerners; people from the Southern Dynasty were not allowed to serve as beacon soldiers. It was only in the last two years that they were permitted to join the beacon towers, after which their numbers quickly equalized. This caused significant complaints from the imperial court. The twelve individuals at Tizi Mountain Beacon Tower were evenly split between northerners and southerners. Of the three beacon masters, two were from the Southern Dynasty. The third deputy beacon master was a rough individual who couldn't contend with the other two and was heavily ostracized. This made the northerner beacon soldiers very awkward and their lives worse day by day. Previously, they dared to secretly drink a few sips of wine, but now, if caught, they would suffer a whipping.

The oldest and most experienced beacon soldier at Tizi Mountain was a typical northerner: shaved head, braided hair, rugged facial features, and a rather imposing physique. Unfortunately, he was a spineless wimp. In the past, he used to drink more fiercely than anyone else after leaving the beacon tower, but now he had even given up alcohol entirely. The two Southern Dynasty beacon masters enjoyed making fun of him, treating him like a dog, and assigning him all the arduous late-night shifts. The old man never complained. His only outburst of anger was when his pretty daughter came to visit and was intercepted and harassed by a beacon master on the way, then dragged into a small grove halfway up the mountain. While the other beacon soldiers found it amusing, they also wondered how such a good-for-nothing could have such a lovely and vibrant daughter. If she had unfortunately taken after her father, she would have been burly and never married. As for whether the deputy beacon master succeeded or failed that time, outsiders could only idly speculate. The Southern Dynasty beacon soldiers looked down on him, and the Northern Court beacon soldiers also disliked him. The old man was disliked by everyone, leading a lonely and miserable life. Only one "fledgling" beacon soldier, a newcomer to Tizi Mountain Beacon Tower, could still talk to this man, nicknamed "Muffler." This unsociable newcomer was named Yuan Huai. Yuan was an "Yi-rank" surname in the Southern Dynasty, also one of the few great surnames. However, no one believed that a scion of such a prominent family would willingly become a beacon soldier, a position destined for no military achievements.

Yuan Huai didn't have duty during the day. Since the old man no longer went outside the beacon tower to drink, he had nowhere else to go and always stood timidly in the shadowy parts of the beacon tower, gazing outwards, never tiring of it even after many years. Yuan Huai was a fair-faced beacon soldier with a slender waist, almost like a woman's. Everyone at Tizi Mountain knew that the beacon master was promiscuous and took both men and women. They all wondered if Yuan had obtained his position through sexual favors. Although being a beacon soldier was a plain job with no perks or future compared to regular border troops, it was still more comfortable than many other professions; at least they weren't exposed to the sun or starved, and their monthly salary was consistent. Without looking at the old beacon soldier, Yuan Huai asked, "How many beacon towers do you think the Liyang Dynasty has?"

The old beacon soldier, whose age wasn't truly old but whose appearance was aged, replied hoarsely, "I don't know right now. Five or six years ago, there must have been twelve thousand."

Yuan Huai touched his green headscarf and curiously asked, "I heard the beacon master say that beacon towers within Liyang Dynasty's passes light a torch every midnight to report peace. Why don't we do that?"

The old beacon soldier, with a weary expression, spoke in a voice like wind-worn stone, quietly saying, "After pacifying the Eight Kingdoms of Spring and Autumn, they relied on these 'peace fires' to send messages to Tai'an City, fearing repeated internal strife."

Yuan Huai chuckled, "Then the Liyang Emperor must be tired. Any day he doesn't see the peace fires, he won't get any sleep and will have to summon all his civil and military officials into the Forbidden Palace."

The old beacon soldier blandly replied, "What work isn't tiring?"

Throughout Beimang, beacon towers did not report "peace fires." This was an imperial decree personally decided by Her Majesty the Empress.

"Only when there is no peace will wolf smoke be lit. I will still ensure your peace," she had said.What arrogance!

Yuan Huai sighed, rubbing his cheeks, which had become much darker and rougher after becoming a beacon soldier. "The steps of our family ancestral hall must be covered in moss by now."

The old beacon soldier remained silent.

Yuan Huai continued, "If I were at home, at this time I'd be catching fireflies and putting them in a pouch to make a lantern so I could read at night without a lamp."

He turned and joked, "Old Man Xiang, your daughter is so lovely, like a celestial fairy from a painting. Why don't you let her marry me?"

The old man rarely smiled, and he neither agreed nor disagreed.

Yuan Huai stared, "Give me a straight answer! Are you a man or not?"

The old beacon soldier shook his head.

Yuan Huai turned away, grumbling, "Stingy!"

Yuan Huai, with his erratic temperament, immediately asked, "Old Man Xiang, when do you think I can become a beacon master?"

The old beacon soldier stared at him for a few moments, then turned his head away and said, "You? No."

Yuan Huai protested, "Why not me?"

The old beacon soldier quietly said, "To be an official, you must be discreet, like a woman's breasts."

Yuan Huai paused, then burst into loud laughter, "Oh, so you *do* know how to reason?"

The old man blandly replied, "Everyone understands a few great truths, especially old folks like me who have reached this age."

Yuan Huai rolled his eyes, "Talking to you is boring."

A young beacon soldier strode in and imperiously ordered the old man, "Old Man Xiang, go, come with me to the market and fetch a few pots of wine. The tab's on me for now."

Black masses arranged in a tide-like formation.Four thousand Dragon Elephant Army.Eight thousand Dong Zhuo Army.

LalalaLeaving my name before deletion.You are all mere commoners, what is there to say? My dear "Old House Pet," "Dandan," "Tomboy" friends, come to the front row!Reply to Boring Shift Worker: This post wasn't deleted...Reply to Boring Shift Worker: Our front row seems not so good.Furious interjection...Reply to wushumindehao2: I refreshed several times. I saw no one was grabbing it, so I thought it would be deleted.Xiao Qingqing, come take a look.Reply to Boring Shift Worker: I tried to grab it, but it was deleted. Next time.And 8 more replies.Total 1 pageReplies: 2

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