Chapter 92: Beacon Smoke!

The campfire flickered.

Eyes wandered.

Expressions shifted.

The atmosphere seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

Everything inside the fort appeared uneasy beneath Zheng Fan’s silence.

The barbarian soldiers standing around them made no attempt to hide their gazes toward the women huddled in the corner.

There was fire in those eyes.

Ever since the night they had followed their Young Lord to Mei Clan Fort, these men had lived like wild beasts locked inside iron cages.

From north to south and now here.

A foreign state.

War.

Night.

Every one of those things was another bar being removed from the cage.

Certain instincts inside them were already beginning to awaken.

When the people of Qian called Yan people “Yan barbarians,” it was fundamentally a form of regional contempt.

Not too different from people in later generations mocking one another based on province or hometown.

But when either Yan people or Qian people spoke of the barbarians that contempt had long since gone beyond ordinary prejudice between similar peoples.

It had nearly risen to the level of race itself.

Barbarians were seen as human-shaped beasts.

Liang Cheng stood to the side.

His eyes were slightly closed, as though he could not see anything around him.

Zheng Fan slowly raised his head.

His gaze swept across the surrounding barbarian soldiers.

Then, in barbarian speech, he asked:

“Miss women?”

The barbarians nodded frantically.

Some even swallowed instinctively.

The implication in Zheng Fan’s question was obvious.

They could barely contain their eagerness.

“No matter whether she is a woman of Yan or a woman of Qian if I learn that any of you touched one, I will make that man regret ever being born into this world.”

THUD!

THUD!

Every barbarian soldier dropped to his knees.

Their bodies trembled.

Liang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

“I will say this only once.

“When the rest of your tribesmen arrive later, pass my words on to them.”

With that Zheng Fan stood.

He walked toward the stairs leading up through the fort.

Liang Cheng swept his gaze across the surroundings.

In barbarian speech, he gave two simple orders:

“Guard them.

“Stand watch.”

Then, he followed Zheng Fan up the steps.

Few stars could be seen tonight.

The moon was hidden as well.

Most likely, rain would come tomorrow.

Zheng Fan heard the footsteps behind him and naturally knew who had followed.

He asked:

“Do you think the order I just gave was unreasonable?”

Some things were extremely difficult to avoid.

In almost every war and massacre, the shrill cries of women could be heard among the killing.

“This subordinate is only responsible for carrying out Master’s orders.”

“I thought you might think I was giving foolish commands.”

Zheng Fan understood perfectly well.

Allowing the barbarians to indulge themselves could increase morale.

It could also win their loyalty.

Even gangsters in later generations chose bosses by asking which man could feed them, give them money to spend, and give them girls to sleep with.

“This subordinate understands.”

“Actually, if they weren’t barbarians if they were proper Yan cavalry—

I probably wouldn’t object.

“The women inside this fort are in this line of business anyway.

“They aren’t respectable household women.

“When it was over, we could give them some silver as compensation.

“Who knows?

“Everyone might even be happy.”

“Master.

“This subordinate believes that if we paid them, the women below would probably be willing to receive barbarians as customers too.”

Zheng Fan turned.

He looked at Liang Cheng.

His gaze deepened.

Then he slowly said:

“I’m being a hypocritical double-standard bastard.

“All right?”

“All right.”

“I don’t think of myself as a Yan person.

“To be truthful, I don’t feel much belonging toward Yan.

“Maybe I could have developed a little if I had lived longer in Tiger Head City if I hadn’t gone through that business of being used as bait among the civilian laborers.”

Liang Cheng stood beside him, listening quietly.

“I don’t feel any belonging toward Qian either.

“Maybe because I’ve already served as an official of Yan, I even instinctively reject Qian somewhat.

“But the barbarians?

“Even with Shatuo Que Shi still lying inside that coffin back at Green Willow Fortress— even though I respect him—

I don’t have the slightest good feeling toward barbarians as a people.

“I don’t know exactly where my own position lies.

“But if I see barbarians laying hands on the women here, I will get angry.”

“Master.

“You do not need to explain so much to this subordinate.”

“I’m afraid my willfulness might interfere with you commanding them afterward.”

“Master worries too much.

“You underestimate our methods.

“From the night they entered Mei Clan Fort, we have continuously worked to shape Master’s image in their minds into that of a terrifying demon.

“The Blind Man brainwashes them every night as well.

“In their hearts, Master is a demon.

“And for a demon to order them to do something contrary to their own nature is perfectly normal.

“They may even believe it is a punishment from the demon.

“But strangely enough— they gladly accept that punishment.

“The order Master just gave may appear difficult for them to accept, but the stimulation it produces in their minds may actually be stronger than what women could give them.”

“...” Zheng Fan.

So he genuinely should not have been lazy.

Because he had to practice needlework every night, he could not wake early enough to join their morning drills.

And because he had to practice needlework every night, he had to go to sleep early and could not accompany them during ideological education.

Otherwise he would at least know what kind of image his own subordinates had built for him inside these barbarians’ heads.

That image... was fucking perverted.

“Actually, using meat and wine, money and grain, or women to stimulate military morale is a lower-class method to begin with.

“The most important thing is to attract them with something beyond material desire.”

Zheng Fan looked at Liang Cheng.

“Your ideology is dangerous.”

“The Blind Man gave them a dream.

“In that dream, one day they return to the desert.

“With our support, they establish a tribe of their own.

“There is no war there.

“No slaughter.

“Only cattle, sheep, oases, and the laughter of children.

“For that dream— to make that dream real these five hundred barbarian soldiers will follow us to the death.

“Even if only one man survives, that final survivor will live to witness the dream for all the others.”

“I suddenly feel they’re rather pitiful.”

“The truly pitiful people are those who live ordinary, meaningless lives in this world without any dream at all.”

“Enough.

“Let’s talk business.”

“Yes, Master.

“What does Master intend to do next?”

“What else can I do?

“Heh.

“We came out this time without telling the Blind Man beforehand.

“If we return like this, do you know how he’ll mock me behind my back?”

“The Blind Man would not dare mock Master.”

“He’ll say:

‘Zheng Fan, Captain of the Anti-Prostitution Squad at Green Willow Fortress Police Station of The Great Yan Dynasty, led his heroic men across the national border to help a neighboring country crack down on prostitution and assist them in building a spiritually civilized society.’”

“Master.

“Your ideology is dangerous as well.”

“In short—

I refuse to go back like this.

“This isn’t the kind of war I imagined.

“Look at how those bastards reacted when we burst in earlier.

“They crouched down with their hands over their heads.

“This wasn’t warfare.

“This was a prostitution raid!”

Liang Cheng nodded.

“It is not the kind of war this subordinate imagined either.”

Zheng Fan placed one hand on the battlement.

He sighed.

“We imagined Qian as far too normal.”

Liang Cheng nodded.

He very clearly agreed.

Because during their surprise attack earlier, Zheng Fan had not been the only man playing games of wits against empty air.

Liang Cheng had too.

When he thought about all the concealment, flanking, and infiltration he had used while approaching the fort, even this cold zombie felt the illusion of heat rising into his face.

“A century of peace.

“Several generations passing one after another.

“That is enough to grind away far too many things.

“Actually, I should have realized it earlier.

“The moment I saw Green Willow Fortress reduced to ruined walls, I should have understood.

“At the time, I only thought Yan had grown arrogant and looked down on Qian.

“And because the Jingnan Army was stationed in Yinlang Commandery, they let the fortress defense network fall into ruin.

“But this is also simply the inevitable result of time.

“When peace lasts too long, machines rust.

“Let alone people.

“You heard what that Fort Commander said earlier.

“Qian’s frontier forces suffer from severe shortages in pay and provisions.

“Their troop rosters are badly hollowed out too.

“This Fort Commander even turned a frontline position in Qian’s defense system against Yan into a brothel just to make money.”

“Corrupt administration.

“Neglected military readiness.

“No dynasty can escape that fate forever,” Liang Cheng said.

“Tsk, tsk.

“I’m genuinely becoming interested.

“This generation’s Emperor of Yan is an ambitious ruler.

“And this generation’s Marquis of Zhenbei clearly has an extraordinary relationship with him.

“I don’t know how strong the Jingnan Army truly is.

“But you and I have both seen how elite the Zhenbei Army is.

“If the Emperor of Yan resolves the aristocratic-clan problem inside the state, stabilizes the desert barbarians, and then transfers the Zhenbei Army south could this hollowed-out frontier of Qian really stop three hundred thousand Zhenbei iron cavalry?”

Liang Cheng shook his head.

With absolute certainty, he answered:

“No.”

There was nothing controversial about that conclusion.

The Zhenbei Army was genuinely among the finest cavalry forces in the world.

“But that’s a matter for later.

“For our next step, I plan to...”

As he spoke, Zheng Fan turned and pointed south.

“Keep going south!”

Liang Cheng sighed.

“Master.

“Please allow this subordinate to say something against my conscience.”

“Go ahead.”

“It is too dangerous.

“And far too reckless.”

“And your true thoughts?”

“Master is wise.”

Clearly, Liang Cheng had not enjoyed himself enough either.

At that moment, hoofbeats sounded from below the fort.

Because the horses’ hooves were wrapped, the sound was relatively dull.

The barbarian soldiers inside immediately opened the gates and received their companions from outside.

“There is one more matter that requires Master’s decision.

“What do we do with the remaining people inside this fort?”

Zheng Fan did not answer.

Instead, he asked:

“What do you think?”

...

CLANG!

A dagger with a golden hilt was tossed before Zhao Changgui.

Zhao Changgui and the Squad Leader beside him both revealed greed in their eyes the moment they saw the glittering gold.

This fort had one Fort Commander—

Zhao Changgui.

Normally, there should have been four Squad Leaders, each commanding ten garrison soldiers.

With support personnel added, a full roster would have contained a little over fifty men.

But the actual strength of this fort was only around half that number.

The enormous frontier army claimed by the State of Qian might exist mostly on paper.

The proportion of phantom soldiers was already approaching half.

Of the original two Squad Leaders still present one of the unfortunate men killed earlier had been one.

So the two highest-ranking men now remaining in the fort were Zhao Changgui and a Squad Leader named Xu Defu.

“The army of The Great Yan Dynasty will march south before long.

“We are the advance force clearing the road for that army.

“Right now, I have two choices before me.

“And those two choices are also the two choices before you.

“The first—

I order every person in this fort killed right now.

“We take your heads back with us and claim military merit.”

At those words terror appeared immediately in both Zhao Changgui and Xu Defu’s eyes.

“The second choice is simple.

“We can pretend that nothing happened here tonight.

“As for how you explain the dead, and how you silence the survivors the two of you should have your own methods.

“I can even promise you that when the Great Yan army marches south in the future, both of you will survive.

“More than that— there will be military merit waiting for you.”

This was essentially recruitment.

“I’m willing!

“I’m willing!”

Xu Defu immediately kowtowed and shouted.

“I’m willing too!

“I’m willing too!”

Zhao Changgui began kowtowing as well, terrified that he might appear less enthusiastic than Xu Defu.

“Your fort was captured by us today.

“If word of that spreads, your superiors will certainly not spare you.”

“Yes.

“Yes.

“We understand.

“We understand.”

Zhao Changgui nodded frantically.

“We left in too much of a hurry and did not bring much gold or silver.

“But later, we will send men to contact you.

“As long as you work faithfully for us, you will not lack benefits.”

“Many thanks for the general’s grace!”

“Many thanks for the general’s promotion!”

Seeing that the matter was more or less settled, Liang Cheng left the room.

Still kneeling on the ground, Xu Defu and Zhao Changgui exchanged a glance.

In each other’s eyes they saw both terror and relief.

The frontier had remained peaceful for almost a century.

They had actually run into Yan soldiers.

Fortunately their lives had been preserved.

They might even gain wealth and status from the encounter.

After resting for less than half an hour, all four hundred barbarian cavalrymen rode out of the fort.

Their destination straight south.

They still had much to do tonight.

Like mischievous children who had finally managed to sneak out of the house, they had no intention of returning home until they had played to their hearts’ content.

Zhao Changgui and Xu Defu stood atop the wall and watched the cavalry force riding south until it vanished from sight.

“Haaah...”

Xu Defu released a long breath.

Only now did he finally believe he had truly survived.

Zhao Changgui’s legs went weak.

He sat down.

One hand covered his chest as he tried to calm his heartbeat.

The sensation of surviving disaster made him feel almost suffocated.

“Fort Commander.

“Later, we should gather the men from our hometown faction.

“We’ll explain everything clearly.

“Tell them that if even the slightest word leaks about the fort being captured tonight, every single one of us will die.

“Then we deal with the two troublesome fellows.

“We stop the women from receiving customers for a while.

“If we do all that, we should be able to bury this matter.”

“Mm.

“As for the men who died— we’ll report that they deserted.

“That sort of thing is common in these forts anyway.

“Tomorrow, find somewhere nearby and dispose of the corpses.

“Do it cleanly.

“Leave no trace.”

“Mm.

“I understand.

“But this may actually become an opportunity for us.

“The Yan people are finally marching south.

“Others may not know how rotten our frontier army has become, but don’t we?

“The soldiers don’t have enough to eat or wear.

“The civil officials in the cities only know how to compose poetry and whip military men.

“The generals only know how to drink soldiers’ blood and skim our pay and provisions until we can’t even fill our stomachs.

“Once Yan marches south— we can’t stop them.

“We genuinely cannot stop them.

“Now that we’ve established a connection with Yan, at least our lives can be preserved in the future.

“Maybe we can even win ourselves a good career.”

Zhao Changgui nodded.

“You’re right.

“Sooner or later, this place will belong to Yan.

“And sooner or later— we will become people of Yan.”

Then, Zhao Changgui continued:

“Go down now.

“Call out the men from our hometown group.

“Take control of the situation.

“We absolutely cannot allow anything to go wrong.”

“All right, Fort Commander.

“I’ll go immediately.”

Xu Defu walked past Zhao Changgui and headed toward the steps.

But at that moment an arm suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind.

Immediately afterward the golden-handled dagger was driven viciously into Xu Defu’s throat.

SPLURT!

Xu Defu twisted his head in disbelief and stared at Zhao Changgui.

At the same man who was usually so greedy he even skimmed a portion of the money earned by the women inside the fort.

“Y-you... why... why...”

The dagger had pierced his throat.

Blood poured continuously.

Yet Xu Defu still forced out the question.

They had only just agreed.

They had only just made the plan together.

Why?

Why?

“You... want... all... the merit...”

Still choking Xu Defu from behind, Zhao Changgui sucked in cold breaths.

His voice shook violently.

“No.

“I don’t want all Yan’s rewards for myself.

“That isn’t why I’m killing you.”

“Then... then... why...”

Zhao Changgui leaned his mouth toward Xu Defu’s ear.

Still trembling, he whispered:

“Didn’t you see?

“Didn’t you see who was standing beside those Yan men?

“Barbarians.

“Barbarians!

“Yan has already joined hands with the barbarians!

“They’re going south together.

“They’re marching south together!

“I...

I...

I can’t...

I can’t just watch it happen.

“I can’t.

“I can’t.

“People will die.

“So many people.

“So many, many people will die.”

“You...”

Xu Defu’s body trembled one final time.

Then it stopped.

He died filled with incomprehension.

His wide-open eyes still carried unwillingness.

Zhao Changgui released him.

Xu Defu’s corpse collapsed at his feet.

Slowly—

Zhao Changgui stood.

One hand gripping the battlement for support, he began walking forward.

More than ten years earlier, Zhao Changgui had spent a considerable amount of silver bribing officials so he could inherit his father’s position as Fort Commander.

In his entire life he had never even killed anyone.

His father had lived his whole life without ever seeing Yan cavalry.

Neither had Zhao Changgui.

Yan merchant caravans those he saw frequently.

When Zhao Changgui stepped onto the stairs leading toward the watch platform, his foot trembled.

His entire body crashed to the ground.

He did not hurry to rise.

Instead he hugged his head and whimpered softly.

He was afraid.

Because he understood perfectly well: if what happened inside the fort today became known, then under Qian military law he would certainly die.

He was no scholar-official.

Qian had a tradition of not applying corporal punishment to scholar-officials.

But when it came to penal soldiers like him the law had never hesitated to kill.

“I’ll die...

I’ll die...

I’ll die...”

Zhao Changgui muttered over and over.

But gradually he braced himself with both arms.

He forced himself back to his feet.

Then, he continued climbing the stairs toward the watch platform.

At last, he reached the top.

His teeth bit into his own lip until blood emerged.

He kept sniffling.

Tears constantly circled inside his eyes.

With a trembling hand, he pulled a fire striker from inside his clothes.

“Yan... barbarians...

Yan... barbarians...”

Zhao Changgui had never studied.

He understood no great principles.

He was greedy.

Otherwise, he would never have opened a red-curtain business inside the fort and attracted soldiers from surrounding forts and beacon towers to visit during the day.

He loved money.

He feared death.

But for some reason when he watched those several hundred barbarian cavalry ride south before his own eyes, his heart had suddenly panicked beyond control.

“Hoo... hoo... hoo...”

Zhao Changgui steadied his breathing.

His left hand gripped the fire striker.

He prepared to ignite the kindling.

Then, he would raise the beacon smoke.

Zhao Changgui had long since forgotten what different numbers of smoke columns meant or what different colors signified.

He had never lit one.

His father had never lit one.

But he felt that right now he should ignite the beacon.

He felt that was what he ought to do.

He thought he had gone insane.

But if he had gone insane... then so be it.

The fire striker moved toward the kindling—

THWACK!

A stone struck Zhao Changgui’s hand.

The fire striker tumbled to the ground.

Zhao Changgui looked up in shock.

Two people had appeared beside the battlement of the watchtower at some unknown point.

He recognized them.

One was obviously the man in charge.

The other was the man who had earlier tossed down the golden dagger that Zhao Changgui had just used to kill Xu Defu.

“I told you.

“That method of yours carried too much risk.”

Zheng Fan spoke calmly to Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng shook his head.

“My oversight.”

“It comes from your temperament.

“You don’t like analyzing human nature.

“You think it’s unnecessary.

“You’re too lazy to bother.

“That part— you need to learn more from the Blind Man.”

“Mm.”

Liang Cheng turned and looked toward Zhao Changgui.

Zhao Changgui collapsed against the ground.

He knew he no longer had a chance.

Despair spread across his face.

CLANG!

A saber was tossed down before Zhao Changgui.

Zheng Fan pointed toward it.

“You’re a man.

“I’ll leave you some dignity.

“End yourself.”

Zhao Changgui picked up the saber.

He nodded.

Both hands wrapped around the hilt.

First he pointed the blade toward his stomach.

He hesitated.

Then, he pressed the edge against his throat instead.

Tears and snot covered nearly his entire face.

CLANG...

The saber fell from Zhao Changgui’s hands again.

Zheng Fan narrowed his eyes.

“What is it?”

Zhao Changgui leaned backward against the battlement.

A faintly embarrassed look appeared on his face.

With genuine awkwardness, he said:

“Do me a favor.

“You... you do it.

“Kill me yourselves...”

Liang Cheng asked:

“Why?”

Zhao Changgui wiped the tears and snot from his face with his sleeve.

Then said:

“Sorry to make you laugh.

“I’m a coward.

“I don’t dare kill myself...”

(End of Chapter)