"I spur my steed to the front of battle,
Over there comes a lad seeking death!
Lifting my precious blade, red light blazes forth,
And the ignorant boor perishes on the field!"
Li Banfeng hummed The Battle of Mount Dingjun as he made his way up the mountain to bring Old Yao the good news.
Earlier, he had wondered whether he should tell Qiu Zhiheng first about breaking the Mourning Array. But on second thought, it was better not to spread the news yet—it might prove a good opportunity to lure the Star of Mourning into a trap. So he decided to tell Old Yao first.
From a distance, Old Yao stood in the courtyard in majestic splendor, wearing a three-pronged purple-gold crown, draped in a red brocade robe of a hundred flowers, clad in cloud-treading lotus-silk boots, holding a three-pointed double-edged blade in his hand, and bearing four theater battle flags behind his back.
Li Banfeng had always admired the man's commanding presence.
Hearing footsteps from afar, Old Yao chuckled. "Xiao Qiu, is that you?"
Li Banfeng smiled. The old fellow was as humorous as ever.
Truth be told, that red robe of his, paired with that red beard, plus the four flags fluttering behind him in the wind, really did look magnificent.
Wait.
When had his beard turned red?
Li Banfeng quickened his pace and rushed into the courtyard.
Old Yao spoke again. "Not Xiao Qiu? Is it that lass Yu Nan?"
This wasn't humor.
He was truly blind.
Li Banfeng stepped forward. "Old Yao, what happened?"
Old Yao was covered in blood.
Both the courtyard and the rooms were in absolute shambles.
"Li Qi! It's you, boy!" Old Yao chuckled hoarsely. "Nothing much happened to me. Just ran into a petty thief who didn't know life from death and barged through my door, so I cut him down."
One of Old Yao's hands gripped the long blade, while the other dangled a human head.
Was this the Star of Mourning's head?
Li Banfeng didn't care about that right now; he wanted to help Old Yao sit down first. But Old Yao waved a hand.
"No sitting. If I sit down, I won't be able to stand back up. Li Qi, you came too early. If you'd come a bit later, you wouldn't have had to see me in such a pathetic state."
He spoke with great effort.
"Why talk about that now? Let's find a place for you to sit first."
"I can't sit. I must stand. I have to stay on my feet." Old Yao grabbed Li Banfeng's wrist. Standing was agonizingly difficult for him, yet he remained upright. "Looking pathetic doesn't matter. If you see it, so be it. Among the living, I never make friends, but I truly count you as one. Do you remember why I never make friends?"
"I remember," Li Banfeng said as he hurriedly looked for adhesive tape to help stem the bleeding. "You said you made a friend when you were eight. He snatched your sugar figurine and ate it."
Old Yao nodded and smiled. "Right! That bastard was my childhood friend, Pan Dehai. He had a glib tongue, knew how to trick me with sweet talk ever since we were kids. God knows how many good things he swindled out of me. By the time I finally wised up, everything that came out of his mouth was just farting to me."
Li Banfeng was startled. "Pan Dehai was your childhood friend?"
Old Yao laughed. "That's why I told you that old dog is rotten to the core!"
Li Banfeng found the adhesive tape and applied it over the wounds, but the blood wouldn't stop. Li Banfeng went to look for medicinal ointment.
Old Yao called out, "Stop fussing about! Do you think you understand medicinal properties better than I do? I'm done for. Do you only remember what happened when I was eight?"
Li Banfeng retrieved wound medicine and applied the ointment as he answered, "I also remember what you said about when you were eighteen. You made a friend when you were eighteen. He stole your wife and slept with her."
Old Yao smiled. "I was born into a military family. Joined the army at thirteen, earned merits and made captain at fifteen, and earned more merits at eighteen to become a miscellaneous-titled general. Prince Rui thought highly of me and gave his daughter to me in marriage. Oh, how overjoyed I was—I was marrying a commandery princess! On our wedding night, I drank and drank, round after round. I had a friend named Lin Dexing, the Grand Preceptor's son. That bastard drank along with me, keeping me company round after round. Once I passed out drunk, the motherfucker went to the bridal chamber in my place! He..."
At this point, Old Yao's hand trembled for a moment, then he sighed. "To be fair, the commandery princess wasn't to blame. She'd lived a sheltered life, never stepping beyond the inner chambers. On the wedding night, before the bridal veil was lifted, even I didn't know what she looked like. She didn't recognize me either, and so, completely in the dark, she was bedded by that bastard Lin Dexing!"
Li Banfeng asked, "The Grand Preceptor's son did such a thing, and no one held him accountable?"
Old Yao let out a bitter laugh. "If the matter had been exposed, Lin Dexing deserved to die by a thousand cuts. But it wasn't exposed. The prince wouldn't allow me to expose it, Grand Preceptor Lin begged me not to expose it, and I didn't want to expose it myself either. But my life was ruined; I couldn't bear to live like that anymore. I couldn't stand the sight of the princess, so I petitioned before the Emperor to go to war. Out on the battlefield, the matter still ate away at me. Leading troops with a distracted mind, I lost every single battle I fought. My general's rank was stripped from me. Stripped, so be it! If I couldn't lead troops, I could still do other things. I could lead the cooks in preparing meals, and I could brew wine for the soldiers. While brewing wine, I drank. Wine is a marvelous thing—it boosts cultivation, bolsters courage, extinguishes sorrow, and cures illnesses! I'm not joking—the fine wine I brewed truly could cure illnesses. The lives of countless soldiers in the army were saved by my medicinal wine! And so I remained in the army for decades, until everyone forgot I ever knew how to fight and thought I was just a military physician. In truth, I never forgot the art of war, nor did I abandon my martial arts. When battles came, I could still offer advice to the commanders, but alas, no one was willing to listen to me. In the blink of an eye, I turned eighty, still idling away in the military camp, letting my life slip by. Then came a major battle. When the generals gathered before the battle to deliberate, I couldn't hold back and proposed an idea: lead an ambush on the enemy camp that very night. The enemy would surely be unprepared, guaranteeing an overwhelming victory. Everyone mocked me, saying an eighty-year-old toothless physician was talking big and ought to watch his tongue lest the wind wrench it off. The Marshal didn't mock me. She gave me two thousand troops and sent me out to lead them that night."
Li Banfeng asked as he applied the medicine, "Who was this marshal?"
"The renowned general Zhao Xiaowan."
Clang!
The medicine pot fell to the floor, and Li Banfeng hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
Old Yao continued, "Zhao Xiaowan was a truly gifted commander who knew how to wage war, completely unlike those who merely rode on empty reputations. She had the vision, and I proved myself worthy. That night, I torched the enemy encampment, decapitated their commander, and returned victorious. She made me a general under her command. Eighty! Do you understand? At eighty years old, I was a general once more! When my armor was damaged, I stitched it back together, needle by needle. When my broadsword rusted, I ground it sharp and bright, stroke by stroke. My warhorse from years ago was long gone, but the saddle remained; with a bit of mending, it was good as new. Following Marshal Zhao Xiaowan, I served first as vice general, then as the vanguard, fighting battle after battle. Under General Zhao, I never lost once! I had come back to life. I felt as if I had died at eighteen, only to be reborn at eighty! But do you know what happened after that?"
Li Banfeng said, "You told me you made another friend when you were eighty. And from you, he took everything that could possibly be stolen."
Old Yao sighed. "I made that bastard Cong Shixiang my friend!"
Cong Shixiang. Li Banfeng had seen the name in history books—General Hengbo at the time.
At the mention of this man, Old Yao gritted his teeth. "That bastard stirred up trouble, telling me the Marshal didn't trust me, that she would never call on me for battle again and would relegate me back to being a physician. In several battles back then, the Marshal indeed hadn't called on me, assigning me menial chores like patrolling camps and standing guard instead. I bought into Cong Shixiang's lies, and in a fit of pique, I insisted on guarding Bitter Medicine Pass, refusing to listen to anyone's counsel. I truly had no idea what the situation was back then. I didn't know those bastards were scheming to stab the Marshal in the back! The Marshal hadn't sent me to fight because aside from me, there was no one left in the army she could trust! But I stubbornly insisted on going to Bitter Medicine Pass, and the Marshal gave her assent. Not long after arriving at Bitter Medicine Pass, I received word that the Marshal had been... by those sons of bitches..."
Old Yao paused and sighed. "If I had still been in the army, those bastards would never have succeeded. But what's the point of dwelling on that now? I held Bitter Medicine Pass with my life. No matter who came, I beat them back. But what use was any of it? In life, I guarded this place; in death, I would still guard it. I came to treat this place as my home, but what use was that? I have nothing left. At eight, at eighteen, at eighty, I was wronged and betrayed by friends at every turn. From then on, I never made another friend. By the time I forgot how old I was, I happened to run into you. You said you wanted to do business with me, and I didn't want to pay you any mind, but your temperament truly suited mine. More importantly, I knew our Marshal was by your side."
Clang!
The medicine pot fell to the floor again, and Li Banfeng hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
Old Yao smiled gently. "Our Marshal went to Feng's Grocery Store. I heard her sing opera, but I didn't dare face her. Later, I learned she left with you. I know you're a decent man. You saved Fatty Qin, helped Yu Nan, and dealt with those scoundrels from the Geng family. You're a good lad who knows right from wrong and values loyalty. Still, I couldn't put my mind at ease, so I sent Gourd to check on the Marshal for me. But after she returned, she refused to tell me a thing—that girl had devoted herself wholeheartedly to you as well. Going with you is good, too. You stood firm against Pan Dehai and saved Haichiling. A hero like you is someone I can trust. With the Marshal following you, my mind is at peace."
Li Banfeng gripped the medicine pot tightly; it didn't fall.
Old Yao knew many things, but Li Banfeng wasn't worried about that right now.
What worried him was how much longer Old Yao could hold out.
The adhesive tape was gone.
The ointment was gone as well.
The blood on Old Yao still hadn't stopped flowing.
He was the Medicine King.
If even he had no way, was there truly no hope?
Old Yao took a deep breath, turned toward Li Banfeng, and smiled. "Brother, from the smell of it, the foul fortune in Yaowanggou seems to have dispersed. The Mourning Array... is it broken?"
Li Banfeng answered, "It's broken."
Old Yao smiled. "Good brother. I owe you a great debt of gratitude. All the possessions in this place belong to you now. There's one thing I'd like to ask of you... I want to see the Marshal one last time."
Could he let him see her?
Old Yao stood where he was, his entire body trembling, supported only by his agonizingly strained grip on the three-pointed double-edged blade.
He couldn't see Li Banfeng, yet it felt as though his eyes were fixed right on him.
He waited for Li Banfeng's word.
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then said, "Wait a moment."
Having lost his sight, Old Yao didn't know where Li Banfeng went.
After a brief wait, he suddenly heard the rumble of war drums—a familiar rhythm.
Amidst the drumbeats came the marching of soldiers, the neighing of warhorses, and the clashing of weapons and armor.
Li Banfeng pushed open the main door of the Portable Abode, facing straight toward Old Yao.
From inside the door came the wife's voice: "Old General Yao, how fares the battle?"
Old Yao gripped his long blade tight, straightened his back, and boomed:
"Subordinate General Yao Xin, stationed at the pass, has repelled the invading bandits without yielding an inch of ground! Over a hundred enemies slain, the enemy commander beheaded in battle—now presenting the rebel's head to the Marshal!"
He wanted to raise the Star of Mourning's severed head high, but his strength failed him.
The wife's voice came once more: "The general's valor stands second to none across all three armies. When we march out in days to come, the general shall remain our vanguard."
"My thanks to the Marshal!"
Two beads of bloody tears trickled down from Old Yao's eye sockets.
His breath ceased.
Yet he did not fall.
Gripping his long blade, he still stood tall.
The gramophone once again played The Battle of Mount Dingjun.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Matching the drumbeats, Hong Ying gently yet firmly tapped the ground with the butt of her spear.
It was a warrior's salute.
Hong Ying said, "You were right. He's a good general. Is he still alive?"
The gramophone said, "He lives, but his wounds are too severe. He has fallen asleep."
"Can he still wake up?"
The gramophone made no sound.
Chapter 345