Red Cliff Road

From here on, he could only rely on his own wits. He Lingchuan changed the subject and asked, "Father, why must we go back to the Great Capital?" "The foundation of the He family is there. How could an unworthy son not return?" He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. "There are ears on all sides. Must I spell it out plainly?" Leaning close to his father's ear, his voice buzzed like a mosquito, easily drowned out by the drumming hooves. "Our whole family is being marched to our deaths by the emperor. Why go back and risk our lives for him?" He Chunhua frowned. "Where else could one fulfill one's ambitions?" Could a real man achieve great deeds without powerful backing? "Baling Kingdom to the west would do just fine. Doesn't our Qiansong Commandery border four nations? That monster kingdom to the northeast looks decent too..." Keeping an eye in every direction, He Lingchuan ducked under the slap He Chunhua swung at his head. "Besides, turmoil wracks the realm, and common clodhoppers who raise a banner dare style themselves petty bandit kings! Look abroad, and emperors change like lantern slides! I heard Xuan Kingdom to the east went through eleven emperors in twenty years, the shortest reigning a mere nineteen days." A bona fide high-risk profession. What wire had crossed in this brat's head to make him obsess over treason? He Chunhua said with a stern face, "Petty states—how can they compare to Great Yuan? Our state has stood for more than sixty years, with complete institutions and systems." *Heh.* He Lingchuan let out a long breath. "We're walking into a nine-in-ten death trap this time, yet you still won't speak from the heart with me, Father?" He Chunhua was slightly taken aback and suddenly stared at him. "Has something possessed you?" The question came without warning, sending a sudden chill of sweat down He Lingchuan's back. "What?" His eldest son had bravery to spare, but was never a subtle thinker; he shouldn't have seen through his father's reservations. He Chunhua studied him for two beats, then said in a low voice, "Never utter such treasonous, head-severing words again." A gust of windblown sand swept past, and He Lingchuan sneezed. His old man's thoughts ran very deep indeed. *** National Preceptor Sun's company finally stepped onto the Red Cliff Trade Route. Passing through the belly of the mountain, a world of yellow sand stretched before them, boundless and vast. Dunes stood one after another in the sweltering wind, some as low as mounds of earth, others dozens of zhang high, rivaling great mountains. Yet they were nothing like solid cliff faces; some gigantic dunes vanished overnight, only to emerge abruptly in another depression. All vegetation had disappeared, without a single speck of green. As far as the eye could see, there was only vast, unbroken desolation. Red Cliff Road was carved through this very desert, five zhang wide, spacious enough for several carriages to run abreast. The stone pavers had lost their original color, turned uneven beneath the tread of thousands upon thousands of passing merchants. Some bricks were new, as Blackwater City and neighboring countries had each contracted to repair sections of the road; other ancient bricks had never been replaced, their surfaces layered with varying shades of dark black. This made Red Cliff Road resemble an immense, grayish-black serpent creeping through the sea of sand. Zeng Feixiong was also walking beside the He father and son. Seeing He Lingchuan's curiosity about the paving stones, he explained, "Those are bloodstains on the bricks, both old and new. There are many sand bandits along this route, and just as many battles have been fought here. "What's more, some of the bloodstains were left behind more than a century ago. Red Cliff Road was the supply line for Panlong City back then, used to transport troops and grain. It's said countless massive ambushes and massacres took place along these roads." To besiege a city, one had to cut off its reinforcements and provisions. Hearing this, He Lingchuan immediately felt a fierce, bloody aura wash over him. So many savage clashes, so many living souls, so many resolute cries to defend home and country, all swallowed by the endless yellow sand in the end, leaving nothing behind. Three years after the fall of Panlong City, Xiluo Kingdom perished; six years later, Xianyou Kingdom fell as well. Those two bitter rivals had battled for decades, only to both hit the dirt in the end, tumbling into the dust of history. "Is that also why everyone flies the 'Zhong' banner?" He Lingchuan pointed toward the pennant raised high at the very front of the column. This was clearly an army of Great Yuan, led by the venerable National Preceptor Sun, yet the banner flying above the force bore a prominent character: *Zhong*. For people of this age venturing into the wild to fly the banner of a fallen dynasty was truly astonishing. In fact, it wasn't just their own company. Almost every moving caravan on Red Cliff Road hoisted a Zhong banner high, as if projecting a message across the entire desert. Naturally, once any group left Red Cliff Road, they would stow the Zhong banner before entering the territory of other nations. Thus, although He Lingchuan had heard of it, he had rarely seen the flag in person. "Vengeful spirits and mutated beasts roam the desert, devouring whatever they catch, but they never set foot on Red Cliff Road, for this was the path the Gale Army marched countless times back then. Everyone hoists the Zhong banner out of respect for the Gale Army of old, and to secure safe passage for themselves." To He Lingchuan's mind, that wasn't respect at all—it was blatant counterfeit. Zeng Feixiong pulled down the cloth covering his face, spat into a kerchief, and tucked it away. "Spittle and urine cannot be cast onto Red Cliff Road at will. They must be collected and carried away, or else it is seen as disrespect, which will anger the heroic spirits here." He Chunhua added, "In the past, many countries refused to believe it and forbade their merchants from planting the Zhong banner while traveling Red Cliff Road. In the end—" "In the end, they had no choice but to permit it," He Lingchuan understood. "There's no point in the living picking a fight with the dead." Right then, several loud shouts came from behind. Everyone turned to look. A snow-white puppy had bolted from another party traveling behind them. In just a few bounds, it left Red Cliff Road and scampered toward the nearest dune. Its little owner was a five-year-old girl. The moment the dog slipped from her grasp, she instinctively took off after it. Before long, she had left Red Cliff Road as well. Before her family could react, a caravan outrider rushed up from behind and bellowed at her, "Come back! Get back here!" What He Lingchuan and the others had heard were his shouts. The child's mother, a well-to-do lady, walked over and scolded irritably, "Keep your voice down! Don't frighten my child!" "If she doesn't get back here, you won't have a child!" the outrider roared back. "Get back here! The monsters are going to eat her!" The desert was as empty and still as a painting; not a single wild beast was in sight. The little girl halted, looking back at the convoy, then at the white puppy in the distance, hesitating. The mother sneered in disdain. "Go scoop her up and bring her back." The outrider refused, unwilling to take even a single step off Red Cliff Road. Left with no choice, the mother strode toward her child, scooped her up, and turned to walk back. Nothing happened. "Useless men—" Before the lady could finish her curse, the ground beneath her feet suddenly caved in. A gaping maw surged upward from below, swallowing her and the child in a single gulp. The scream was horrific, but abruptly cut short. At that moment, they were less than three paces from Red Cliff Road. After surfacing and devouring the two, the creature did not dive back down right away. Instead, it moved swiftly toward the white dog not far away. The thing looked somewhat like a flounder, its mouth sitting atop its crown and its body shaped like a massive round platter—flat, wide, and colored like the yellow sand. If it hadn't leaped out on its own, He Lingchuan might not have noticed its presence even from up close.