Golden Wind and Jade Dew
When Wang Ba found Instructor Liang, the Instructor was talking to Shen Han. Zheng Xuan and the others were standing beside him. Shen Han’s expression was extremely ugly and he could vaguely hear a few words, “Didn’t keep the military order…over the mountain…”
Zheng Xuan was still talking when someone rushed over. Before he could respond, he was met with a heavy punch to his face, knocking him to the ground.
“Wang Ba, are you crazy?” Liang Ping was shocked for a moment before returning to his senses and stopped Wang Ba’s next move.
“Teacher Liang, did this kid tell you that He Yan didn’t listen to military orders and walked over the mountain by himself? And that he hasn’t come back yet?” Wang Ba gasped.
Shen Han and Liang Ping looked at each other. Wang Ba sneered and stared at Zheng Xuan who was still on the ground.
“This shameless bastard! Zheng Xuan, how dare you accuse the one who saved you? You crossed the mountain peak by yourself and was surrounded by fucking wolves! Would you be able to run if it wasn’t for He Yan? Well, not only did you run away by yourself, but you also poured a basin of dirty water all over him! Are you still a man?”
Zheng Xuan’s face turned pale, his lips bleeding from the punch.
He stopped up, wiped the blood from his lips, “Instructor, don’t listen to his nonsense. He Yan climbed over the mountain by himself. If you don’t believe me, you…you should ask them.”
He pointed to the other two recruits who had gone up the mountain with him.
The other recruits nodded in a hurry, “Yes, it was…He Yan who wanted to cross the mountain himself. We tried to persuade him but he didn’t listen…”
Wang Ba was so angry he wanted to beat them up again, “Do you have any conscience?”
The cowardly and pitiful Shen Hong was a little scared. Although he had explained everything to Wang Ba, he still dared to lie. Besides He yan, Wang Ba didn’t like him that much. Even so, Wang Ba knew that He Yan would not take the initiative to seek death. He Yan looked so much more pleasing to the eye compared to Zheng Xuan.
Instructor Liang stopped Wang Ba and reprimanded him, “Stop what you’re doing and take a look at yourself! If the General came, every one of you would be punished!”
“What’s the matter?” Xiao Jue’s voice appeared from behind.
He walked over from the backyard of the guardhouse, glanced at the crowd and walked towards them, “Speak.”
Shen Han’s skull felt numb but he replied honestly, “Today, they went up the mountains together, but He Yan has not returned. Zhen Xuan claimed that He Yan didn’t listen to military orders and had climbed over the mountain. They couldn’t find him, so they rushed down the mountains by themselves before sunset.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Wang Ba jeered, “It was these few bastards who climbed over the hills and attracted wild wolves. To save them, He Yan led away the wolves. These people ran away by themselves without a care about the death of their brother. They even dunked him in a bucket of shit. Such people are insincere!”
“General, don’t listen to him,” Zheng Xuan hurriedly knelt to the ground, “We all persuaded He Yan, but he refused to listen and insisted on diverging from the group. It was getting late. We have to come back for help first.”
When he spoke, he sounded exceptionally genuine, but the glance Xiao Jue gave him was indecipherable to the surrounding people.
The sun had completely set now, the last trace of hazy red swallowed up by the mountains. The forest was silent. At this rate, He Yan’s chances of survival were only getting bleaker and bleaker.
“Since the instructors are unwilling to take the risk for him, then I will save him myself!” Wang Ba gritted his teeth, “I had to go outside every day in the past. So much so that I have been the king of the mountains for so many years. I’m not afraid of a few animals, but it seems like these days, humans are still inferior to beasts!”
Just as he took a step, a sword brushed past his scalp and plunged straight into the wooden stake in front of him. Wang Ba felt an instantaneous adrenaline rush.
He turned around and saw their General Xiao Jue looking unhappy.
“Liang Ping, control your soldiers.” He warned.
Liang Ping stiffened his head and responded with a yes, but was crying loudly in his heart for the millionth time. He thought he could fight a good cause in front of General Xiao this time, but he never thought he would be criticised. He felt discouraged and wished he had never appeared here.
Shen Han hesitated for a moment, “General, let’s bring a group of people into the mountains.”
“No need.” Xiao Jue interrupted him.
Wang Ba stared at him incredulously whilst Zheng Xuan’s eyes flashed with glee.
“The terrain is completed, so I’m afraid there might be traps. I’ll go instead.”
Once Xiao Jue finished speaking, he whistled and a black horse galloped from afar as if the beast was running on clouds. The horse was born extremely powerful with four snow-white hoofs. Its ears were green and the hair colour unique.
It affectionately rubbed its head against Xiao Jue’s hand. This was Xiao Jue’s favourite horse, Lu Er (Green Ears).
Xiao Jue mounted his horse before Shen Han could say anything.
Liang Ping asked in a daze, “Chief Instructor, the General said that there might be ‘traps’. Is there anyone else in the mountains?”
Shen Han didn’t speak, but he knew for certain that He Yan ran into some trouble. However, this time, they didn’t know if He Yan intentionally disappeared into the mountain.
They hoped that they were only overthinking.
…..
At night, the mountains got colder and colder.
The pit was so deep that it was difficult for her to climb up alone. She was injured and could not move. The bloody smell in the air will only attract nearby beasts. If she really started walking whilst dragging her injured body, she’d be swallowed up by beasts after walking a couple of steps.
It was pretty good here anyway.
He Yan looked up at the sky. The night sky was encircled by the trap, leaving only a rounded view. Looking up from here, she could see the shining river of stars. The night was as cool as the river water with countless bright stars shining away.
She moved her body so she could see the starry sky more clearly. She felt a little cold, but there was only a wolf corpse beside her in this pit. He Yan thought for a while and shrunk her body under the wolf’s belly. Although it was cold, there was a coat of fur that could temporarily provide insulation.
He Yan stretched out her hand to untie the flask on her waist. There was only one sip of water lift. She drank the remaining liquid and threw the flask aside. She was cold, hungry, thirsty for the first time in many, many years.
Suddenly, she remembered what Hong Shan said to her before going out in the morning, ‘Come back early and let’s spend the festival together.’
It was a fine autumn night. The fireflies flying across the bright moonlight, numerous stars flourishing and the white river flowed beneath the black Wu Que (magpie) Bridge [1].
He Yan raised her head and looked at the stars in the distance, muttering “Every family begs to watch the autumn moon, wearing tens and thousands of red silk [2].”
She sighed, a helpless smile dancing across her lips, “Today’s the Qi Xi Festival.”
The night was silently speechless. The cowherd and his weaver girl were crossing Wu Due Bridge in the far, far distance. The cool breeze rose slightly, blowing away all of the love and hatred in the world.
“What about it? Do you still want to set a flower boat on a river with your sweetheart?” A voice mocked.
He Yan looked up in surprise to see a slender figure appear in front of the vast sky. He stood by the trap. The moon was swaying; the stream bright as he looked at her playfully.
It was none other than Xiao Jue.
[1] These are the lines of a poem. It comes from the nine ancient poems of Altair and is related to the Qixi festival [weaver girl and cowherd]
[2] On the night of Tanabata/ July 7th/ Qi Xi, when looking at the blue sky, it is like seeing the Cowherd and the Weaver girl meeting on the Magpie Bridge across the “River of Heaven”. Families are watching the autumn moon while begging for a coincidence (threading needles on the moon), and tens of thousands of red threads are passed through.
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