At Hanyang Pass, Xu Zhongxing and Su Donghe stood atop the gate tower, watching an enormous flying ship pass slowly overhead and enter the Shattered Lands.
Su Donghe sighed with sudden emotion. "Three years. This is the first flying ship to head beyond the pass."
Xu Zhongxing narrowed his eyes. "It seems the imperial court is about to make a major move."
"They're not truly going to fight them, are they?" Su Donghe asked.
Xu Zhongxing shook his head. "Don't you know His Majesty's temperament by now? The greater the commotion right now, the less he actually wants to fight. If they truly intended to wage war, they would certainly dispatch high-level cultivators in secret to carry out assassinations first."
Su Donghe remarked, "Three years ago, the Shamans battered us all the way back inside the pass. Now, the court is finally opening an administration again. A pity we weren't the first to blaze the trail."
Having said this, Su Donghe suddenly recalled Xu Zhongnian's family and stopped himself immediately, speaking no further.
Xu Zhongxing gave a helpless smile. "We've worked together for three years; don't you know what kind of man I am? Not coming from an aristocratic clan is both a misfortune and a blessing. Unlike me—there are so many things I don't want to do that I must do, and so many things I want to do that I cannot."
Su Donghe asked in a low voice, "I've never quite understood—in your hearts, which is truly more important: the imperial court, or the family clan?"
Xu Zhongxing replied, "Each of us might hold slightly different views, but in truth, it all comes down to the same thing. The court and the noble clans are inseparable to begin with. The court manifests on the outside, like a man's flesh, while the great families support it from within, like the skeleton."
Su Donghe listened in silence, saying nothing more.
Once the flying ship in the sky crossed Hanyang Pass, its speed slowed somewhat. The shipmaster was visibly growing tense, repeatedly checking every critical section throughout the vessel.
Row upon row of armored soldiers sat cross-legged in the lower cabins, easily numbering over a thousand. At that moment, a cultivator walked over and shouted, "We are about to enter the Shattered Lands! Everyone hold firmly to the deck to avoid injury!"
Beside each soldier was an iron ring fixed to the floor. Immediately, everyone threaded the ropes they carried through the rings, securing themselves to the deck.
As the flying ship pressed deeper into the Shattered Lands, the vessel pitched and jolted with increasing violence. Without anyone noticing when, dark clouds had massed overhead, lightning flickering within their depths.
Sweat beaded on the shipmaster's forehead. He ordered the crew to raise the defensive formations to full power, then hurried to the upper cabins and respectfully knocked on a door.
The cabin door opened silently on its own. Not daring to trespass inside, the shipmaster stood at the threshold and said, "The Shattered Lands are treacherous. Our ship has already drawn down thunder from beyond the heavens. At the critical moment, I fear we must trouble your venerable self to step in and protect the vessel. Furthermore, we are shorthanded; activating the highest-grade formation requires twenty more Dao Foundation cultivators."
The cabin interior was dim and shrouded in swirling mist. From deep within the fog came a cold voice: "Have General Zhang assign some officers to you. If you cannot hold out later, this official will act personally."
The cabin door closed once more. Daring not linger, the shipmaster hurried down to find the officers.
The leaden clouds in the sky grew denser and lower, lightning flashing through the cloud cover with relentless frequency. Suddenly, an earth-shattering crash of thunder ripped through the air as a bolt of pale green lightning streaked across the vast sky, striking straight down upon the flying ship!
A luminous barrier flared around the ship, shielding it against the strike. Yet the lightning carried immense power, sending countless sparks scattering like a rain of falling stars, and the barrier dimmed noticeably in an instant.
Its first blow thwarted, the thunder in the sky seemed enraged. Streak after streak of pale green lightning rained down, bombarding the ship's shield in showers of fiery sparks.
At that moment, someone let out a heavy snort. Immediately, eight radiant discs appeared around the ship, each unleashing a beam of golden light that blasted upward into the clouds. In an instant, the leaden cover was shattered, revealing a gaping hole several thousand feet wide.
Yet the leaden clouds surged wildly, patching the void in the blink of an eye. Then, amidst ceaseless peals of thunder, a pillar of deep green lightning dozens of feet thick crashed down, striking the flying ship!
The ship's barrier held for merely a single breath before extinguishing entirely. Flames immediately engulfed the hull, and plates of outer armor began sloughing off.
A furious roar erupted from within the vessel. The eight radiant discs manifested once more, and this time, all eight golden beams converged upon the dark green lightning. The two forces ground against each other in prolonged contention for over a dozen breaths before the dark green pillar was finally exhausted, thinning down until it vanished completely.
The man inside the ship snarled, "Damned heaven and earth, sooner or later I'll replace you..." Halfway through his sentence, his voice suddenly went dead.
***
Dingbian City, Anzhao Commandery, Ningxi Province.
Dingbian City lay within Anzhao Commandery, one of Ningxi's four commanderies; it served as both the commandery seat and the provincial capital. At this moment, however, the provincial seat was still an empty expanse of cleared ground, bearing nothing but countless tents pitched over the ruins.
Inside a makeshift wooden hall, Chen Dao and Yue Jinshan were studying the sand table before them, upon which a cyan-green light shone conspicuously. The western expanse of the sand table was entirely colored in the dark green that represented the Shamans.
Yue Jinshan tapped three spots in succession along the edge of the dark green western border. "We must establish border garrisons at each of these three points, stationing at least ten thousand border troops at each to block the Shamans' eastward advance. Behind these three garrisons, we must also set up a main encampment with at least fifty thousand men—preferably a hundred thousand—to provide reinforcement as needed. Only then can we ensure the border is held. This main camp ought to be placed..."
Yue Jinshan's hand hovered in midair, hesitating to tap the table.
Chen Dao smiled faintly and reached out to tap a spot on the sand table. "The best location is none other than here. What is the matter, General Yue? Has your grasp of military strategy grown so rusty lately that you fall short of a mere scholar like me?"
The spot Chen Dao indicated was seven hundred li from each of the three border garrisons; in an emergency, the army could reach them within a single day. The trouble, however, was that this place was only four hundred li from the cyan light.
Yue Jinshan frowned and said nothing.
Chen Dao said, "General Yue, you and I must work as partners for some time. This territory is something His Majesty is determined to claim; we cannot simply dance around the subject forever."
Yue Jinshan snorted. "Truth be told, much as I despise that old scoundrel Xuan Yue, I still hold some admiration for this kid. Even back when I was at that fearless age, I might not have dared to plant a boundary stone in a place like this. I couldn't have pulled it off, and neither could you, Chen Dao. Now that someone else has accomplished it, here we come to establish our administration and commanderies. What kind of behavior is this? And what will the history books say?"
Chen Dao said, "The history books will write nothing of it."
Yue Jinshan paused in surprise, failing to grasp his meaning.
Chen Dao explained, "History books are written by men—more specifically, by people like us. As long as Great Tang does not fall and Western Jin endures, history will record only that the two of us established the administration and commanderies to recover the lost territory. As for who was the first to plant a boundary stone, there will not be a single word."
Yue Jinshan was even more astonished. "You can play fast and loose like that?"
Chen Dao smiled. "How can you call this playing fast and loose? Even the sages exercised editorial discretion when penning the Spring and Autumn Annals; we are merely following their example. Besides, it is simply leaving something out of the records. Do you know how many powerful chancellors and treacherous ministers throughout history were, strictly speaking, loyal and righteous men? Yet for one reason or another, they were recorded as wicked chancellors to be reviled for eternity. Compared to them, what we are doing is utterly trivial."
Yue Jinshan frowned. "What possible reason could twist loyalty into treachery? Could it be that they offended you historians?"
"They did not merely offend a few historians; they crossed an entire class of people. And among those people were the ones who wrote the history."
Chen Dao paused a moment before adding, "From antiquity to the present day, even human sovereigns have feared court historians. When a few powerful ministers act with reckless abandon, it is hardly surprising they meet such a fate."
Yue Jinshan stared wide-eyed. Only after a good while did he growl, "If I were the sovereign, I'd have every last one of you historians beheaded!"
Chen Dao gave a mild laugh. "There are tens of thousands of scholars under heaven. Could you ever slaughter them all?"
Yue Jinshan was struck speechless for a moment.
Seeing Yue Jinshan's expression grow increasingly sour, Chen Dao laughed heartily. "Though the two of us may be considered high provincial ministers, which sounds quite grand, we've been assigned to a godforsaken wasteland where our so-called provincial capital consists of a single wooden hut. Leaving our names in the annals of history is still far down the road; we have to manage the duties right in front of us before we can worry about that."
Reflecting on it, Yue Jinshan realized he had a point. He turned his attention back to the sand table, but no matter how he looked, that green point of light remained in his field of view, growing more and more glaring.
"General Yue, the list of appointments from above seems to hold some hidden subtlety," Chen Dao deliberately hinted.
"I haven't had time to scrutinize the civilian appointments. Why, is there a problem?"
Chen Dao tapped a spot on the map and said, "The governor of Ningxi Commandery, Yuan Qingyan: upright and unbending, fierce as fire, an iron fist, and never one to form cliques for private gain. His commandery seat is set at Quliu Town."
Then he tapped the map again, this time right along the edge of the cyan glow. "Magistrate Niu Jinbao, assigned to Yong'an County."
"Yong'an? There's a county by that name?" Although Yue Jinshan paid little heed to civil appointments, terrain and geography were the very foundation of military campaigns, so he knew every city and county in Ningxi like the back of his hand. Yet across all previous gazetteers and regional records, there had never been any mention of a Yong'an County.
Chen Dao said, "Originally there was no Yong'an. Later, the domain recruited displaced refugees, who gathered into Yong'an City. When word reached the imperial court, they newly established Yong'an County and appointed a magistrate. Magistrate Niu Jinbao was formerly the Right Chancellor's personal bodyguard. It is said he once saved the Right Chancellor's life, and he likely used that deed as a stepping stone to secure an outside appointment as magistrate."
"What kind of disposition does this Niu Jinbao have?" Yue Jinshan asked.
Chen Dao said with deep significance, "What kind of good temperament could a bodyguard possess?"
Yue Jinshan mused thoughtfully, "The Right Chancellor sending his own savior to that place..."
Chen Dao did not reply, simply leaving Yue Jinshan to ponder it on his own.
***
Meanwhile, out across the expanse of the Shattered Lands, a convoy was traveling slowly westward. A carriage window slid open, and a head poked out to ask, "How much longer until we reach Yong'an?"
The officer riding alongside the carriage replied, "Reporting to Master Niu, about five hundred li remain. We'll need to find a place to pitch camp and rest tonight."
"Haven't you seen any villages along the way?"
"We passed two hamlets, but they were both abandoned, without a soul in sight."
"This damned place is cursed—not a single person for hundreds of li! I hear Yong'an has plenty of people. Once I arrive at my post, I'm going to have a proper good time!"
The officer ventured, "Master Niu, that seems contrary to the law."
The man glared, eyes widening. "Law, my ass! I saved the Right Chancellor's life, and the King saw it with his own eyes! What law could possibly touch me?"
The officer dared not say more. The convoy continued forward, crawling slowly across the verdant expanse.
***
Quliu Town.
Today, the town was unusually quiet. The gates to several large compounds of the Xu family were tightly barred. The courtyard walls appeared deserted, yet silhouettes lurked behind the battlements in layers.
The once-bustling commercial street had grown desolate. Every shop belonging to the Xu family remained shuttered. The shops belonging to other factions had initially opened for business, but sensing something amiss in the air, they had closed their doors one after another. Nevertheless, shopkeepers and clerks hid behind their doorboards, peering through the cracks to see what was happening.
The ground began to vibrate faintly. In the blink of an eye, the tremors became unmistakable, rattling bowls, plates, and teacups across tabletops with a clamor of clinking porcelain.
The road into town was shrouded in mist, through which something seemed to be approaching. At last, a massive black horse broke through the fog, stepping into view before the townsfolk.
The rider wore a silver ghost mask. Leveling his spear across the saddle, he barked, "The Heaven-Battling Gang is here! Stand where you are! Move and you die!"
Yet many of Quliu Town's residents were bloodthirsty cutthroats. Someone immediately spat and cursed, "What kind of garbage is this? Playing ghost tricks on us!"
Without a word, the rider simply pointed his spear at the man. The heckler let out a sudden, bloodcurdling shriek as if seized by an invisible giant hand. Right before everyone's eyes, his body twisted, shrank, and was crushed into a cylindrical mound of minced flesh!
The man had been a Dao Foundation cultivator, a figure of some standing in the town, yet he had died so abruptly and bizarrely that the onlookers had no clue how he had even been killed!
Behind the ghost-masked rider, horseman after horseman emerged from the mist, encircling Quliu Town on all sides.
Chapter 177