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Yellow dust filled the sky. A troop of riders, flinging aside their armor and discarding their helmets, even treating their own banners like worthless rags—tossing them to the roadside as if they were nothing but cumbersome hindrances—fled as though a fire were scorching their backsides. In what appeared to be blind, frantic panic, they plunged headlong into a mountain valley. The general who followed in tight pursuit threw his head back in raucous laughter. "Those fools! Do you see that? Those fools have run right into their own deathtrap!"
That valley had only a single entrance. Though the interior was spacious, it had no other way out. The general brandished his long saber, bellowing at his men to quicken their pace. He intended to slaughter every last one of these cowardly, worthless wretches. "I'll let these petty thieves know that I, Heavenly King Hu, am no vegetarian! Ha ha ha ha..." Heavenly King Hu bellowed, his face a mass of brutal flesh. The scar across his cheek, flushed with excitement, had turned almost purple, writhing on his face like a purplish-red caterpillar—fierce and terrifying.
In Shang Commandery, the former order imposed by the Han people had, for the most part, been utterly shattered during that incursion of the Hu southward. After many county towns were ransacked, no Han ever returned to restore order. Once the Hu had withdrawn, some common Han folk who had hidden themselves in nooks and crannies slowly emerged. Unwilling to abandon their former homes, they secretly crept back to the ruined county seats. Some former horse bandits, brigands, and the like, seeing that the county towns were devoid of government troops, swaggered into these unguarded places, proclaiming themselves appointed by the Son of Heaven, or simply inventing grandiose titles for themselves, and began brazenly managing the county towns, setting themselves up as local tyrant kings.
This was precisely the case with Heavenly King Hu, who had seized Diaoyin. Who knew what Heavenly King he was supposed to be; it was merely that his own surname was Hu, and he felt the title "Heavenly King" was awe-inspiring and particularly pleasing to the ear—and so he called himself that. Having played the local tyrant king for so long, he seemed to have truly come to believe he was an emperor, genuinely convinced that this patch of land belonged to him.
Upon learning that a small band of horse bandits had come near Diaoyin to plunder—firstly, without greeting him, and secondly, reportedly having looted a good deal of things—he flew into a towering rage. Leading his "Grand General"—well, one he had appointed himself, which was actually a large black-haired dog—along with the "heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals" of the county town, he promptly routed this small band of horse bandits and pursued them relentlessly all the way to this valley, plunging straight in after them.
Fei Qian watched from afar as this Heavenly King Hu blundered into the trap. "Who will take this one? Or shall my own troops handle it?" he asked.
Li Nagu let out a booming laugh and quickly spoke first: "Last time it was the Chanyu. This time, it should be the turn of the Baishi lads!"
Yufuluo nodded and also laughed, saying, "Fine by me. But if the Grand Commander can't swallow it all, just say the word. I'll certainly lend a hand."
Li Nagu spurred his horse forward, his voice booming: "We Baishi lads have hearty appetites! No matter how much, we can stomach it! No need for the Chanyu to trouble himself!" With that, he gave a sharp whistle, and leading his men, charged out of the ambush site, heading straight for the valley.
Under Fei Qian's banner of grand ethnic unity, the Eastern Qiang and the Xiongnu, though often eyeing each other with disdain, were, for the moment, cooperating in their joint westward advance. Fei Qian watched Li Nagu's retreating figure and slowly said to Yufuluo beside him, "After we take Diaoyin, I will need to turn and head south for a time."
"What?!" Yufuluo was greatly startled. They had only just set out on the path to reclaim Shang Commandery—how could he suddenly change course and speak of heading south? Before Yufuluo could voice his doubts, Fei Qian explained: "There has been a change in Chang'an. Chancellor Dong Zhuo... has died."
Was this the time in history when Dong Zhuo had died? Or had it been somewhat later? Perhaps because more people had been relocated this time, generating fiercer conflicts among them? Or were there other reasons? Fei Qian did not know. His memory had already grown somewhat blurred. Nor did he know whether Dong Zhuo's premature exit from the stage signified something better or worse.
"Ah?!" Yufuluo, having once made a special trip to the Han court to seek aid, was far more familiar with these titles and individuals than Li Nagu was. He, of course, knew full well who exactly Dong Zhuo was and what he meant to the Han dynasty. "Then who is the new Chancellor now?" Yufuluo asked.
Fei Qian shook his head. "There is none yet. But what follows next..." Yufuluo went quite for a moment, then said, "In that case, General Fei, in returning at this time, do you intend to..."
"I intend nothing at all," Fei Qian replied. "I merely plan to go and bring my teacher here. As for other matters—I have no wish to meddle in them." He glanced at Yufuluo as he spoke.
In the end, Dong Zhuo had indeed died at Lü Bu's hands—one could not call it anything but a bitter irony. Before setting out for Shang Commandery, Fei Qian had already dispatched Huang Xianliang ahead to Chang'an. To be honest, Fei Qian was truly somewhat worried that his teacher, Cai Yong—that old man—might, on some inexplicable whim, misstep and give Wang Yun a handle to seize upon. But perhaps it was due to the reminder delivered by Huang Xianliang, or perhaps Lü Bu still remembered some words about taking good care of Cai Yong, but this time, Cai Yong had not publicly expressed any lament or regret, and Wang Yun had no pretext to make trouble for him. Even so, Fei Qian still felt it was best to get Cai Yong out of Chang'an as soon as possible. Up on Peach Mountain, the academy buildings were nearly complete. It was time to let that great luminary, Cai Yong, take up his post.
Yufuluo said, "If it is merely to bring your teacher here, surely you could simply send a general to do it, could you not?" To Yufuluo, he could hardly wait to immediately follow the old Qin Straight Road, galloping without pause straight to the foot of the Yin Mountains, slaughtering every one of those traitors who had usurped the Southern Royal Court, and reclaim his throne.
Fei Qian understood perfectly what Yufuluo was thinking. "The situation in Chang'an is now so tangled and complex. If I do not go personally, I will not be able to set my mind at ease... Besides, I can seek an imperial edict from the Son of Heaven to confer upon you."
"An edict from the Son of Heaven?!" Yufuluo could barely conceal his delight. He could not help but draw closer and lower his voice. "General Fei, you mean..."
"What other meaning could there be? Does the Chanyu not wish for a formal title of investiture?" Fei Qian asked, looking at Yufuluo.
Yufuluo's title of Chanyu was self-proclaimed. Strictly speaking, it was no different from that "Heavenly King Hu" now struggling on the brink of death in the valley—except that Yufuluo still had some troops under his command, which had earned him a measure of recognition. But to be formally invested by decree of the Han dynasty—that would be an entirely different matter. In these years, the prestige of the Han dynasty still remained rather high in the hearts of the Hu people. Moreover, this was something Yufuluo had long dreamed of and yearned for day and night.
"Then this... Well, then when does General Fei intend to depart?" Yufuluo immediately shifted his tone, stopping just short of saying, "Do hurry back, General Fei."
Fei Qian gazed into the distance, not minding Yufuluo's abruptly changed attitude. "Probably within the next few days... But as for the matters here—the surrounding tribes, hmm, well?"
Yufuluo thumped his chest until it resounded and beamed a smile as wide as a blossoming morning glory. "General Fei, you may rest assured. Here, we shall continue according to the old rules..."
Fei Qian nodded, stroking the stubble that had just begun to grow on his chin. He was not worried about Yufuluo. For the sake of obtaining the Han dynasty's formal edict of investiture, Yufuluo would, to a certain degree, subconsciously safeguard Fei Qian, the man who could bring him such benefit. On that point, there was no doubt. What worried Fei Qian now was something else. There were also reports that on the very day Dong Zhuo died, Li Ru had taken his own life at home. But that man who had single-handedly forged the Xiliang military machine—could he truly have died so easily? Was he truly dead?
Originally, this Bingzhou volume was meant to contain a bit more content, but I decided to cut it all. After all, the matter of Dong Zhuo's death has probably been depicted several hundred times over in other Three Kingdoms novels. In any case, Dong Zhuo has collected his lunchbox and made his exit. Let us leave it at that and begin a new volume.