Chapter 127
“I see.” The Chief kept scratching his head, thinking his little nephew had quite an extravagant last wish. “But an ice sculpture three zhang high… Where would we find that?”
“Ahem, in the rivers, naturally… Cut out blocks of ice and pile them together.” Xie Chengze covered his lips, his lowered eyes shifting slightly. “Ordinary people aren’t very strong, though. I’m afraid cutting through a frozen river would take them quite a while. I don’t know whether I’ll live long enough to see the sculpture finished…”
“No problem! Our brothers are all strong! It’s only a three-zhang ice sculpture!” The Chief confidently patted the tiger-headed axe at his waist. “Your martial uncle will dig it out overnight! We have craftsmen in the stronghold too. We’ll have them make your likeness in ice!”
“But…” Xie Chengze tilted his head slightly and bit his lower lip, looking hesitant. “I’d like a hundred ice sculptures, each three zhang high…”
…
…
…
An earsplitting shriek erupted inside the Chief’s head. How many???
“Is that last wish too demanding?”
Seeing him at a loss for words, Xie Chengze promptly looked ready to weep. He said mournfully, “I’ve lived in the capital for so long. Though I’ve seen little of the world, all I’ve ever wanted is peace in the realm, and for the people to live and work in comfort. Before I die, I want to make one last contribution to my mother’s hometown and the people of Liaozhou.”
He found just the right angle to lift his head. His watery eyes brimmed with sorrowful yet stubborn tears, a sight that inspired boundless pity.
He sobbed softly. “Liaozhou has so many bandits that merchants from elsewhere won’t come to do business. Supplies are scarce, and the people live in poverty. If we built a hundred ice sculptures of all kinds, we’d surely attract wealthy merchants from across the country to visit, bringing Liaozhou’s shops back to life…”
“Martial Uncle…” His voice was hoarse and pitiful. “If even you can’t help me, I’m afraid I’ll never rest in peace!”
“Well… It isn’t that I don’t want to, Martial Nephew. It’s just that a hundred ice sculptures…” The Chief counted on his fingers. “Qianjin Stronghold doesn’t have enough men!”
Xie Chengze glanced at Shen Yuan, signaling with his eyes: What are you waiting for? Get in here!
Shen Yuan understood, finally grasping exactly what Xie Chengze wanted to do. He stepped forward. “Though our brothers in Qianjin Stronghold aren’t enough, Liaozhou has so many mountains, and so many bandits… Perhaps we could try?”
The Chief slapped his hands together in sudden realization. “That’s right!”
Bandits were just the thing! Most of Liaozhou’s bandits were strong and sturdy. Cutting blocks of ice from rivers would be no problem at all. The only problem was that bandits weren’t easy to reason with. Each ruled his own mountain. Why should they obey anyone else?
Still, they could use the amnesty and recruitment as an opportunity to bring those bandits together. But winning them over would take more than martial arts. They would need some exceptional abilities as well.
“I’ll have to think about this. Think carefully…”
Tapping his chin, the Chief left deep in thought. Shen Yuan glanced at Xie Chengze, then followed him, clearly intending to continue persuading him to bring the nearby bandits under his command.
The Second Chief tried to follow too, but Xie Chengze caught his sleeve. He blinked, his eyes full of an anticipation that could turn a man’s head. “Second Chief, are you free today?”
–
By the time the Second Chief came to his senses, he was carrying Sheng Yiren in his left hand and Xie Chengze over his right shoulder, walking down the rugged mountain path.
The snow on the mountain had not melted, and every step left a print. Occasionally, they saw wild animals’ paw prints. Whenever that happened, the Second Chief used the tracks to decide whether to change direction, avoiding encounters with the mountain’s fierce beasts.
“Your Highness, what exactly are you looking for?”
Sheng Yiren brushed the snow off her boots and looked up at Xie Chengze.
Rolling a trace of black grime between his fingers, he said absently, “I’m looking for a kind of black gold.”
After entering the hall yesterday, he had surveyed its entire interior. The bandits weren’t meticulous cleaners, especially of the floor, where people coming and going always left many marks. The hidden sides of wooden tables and benches were often neglected too, revealing plenty of black smudges.
These marks were much more distinct than ordinary dirt. It was as though someone had gotten coal ash on his hand somewhere and, before washing it, rubbed it onto everything. The marks wouldn’t wipe away. The bandits’ shoes bore the same stains, meaning they must have stepped in coal ash somewhere…
And where there was coal ash, there was very likely coal beneath the ground.
So he had asked the Second Chief to take him to the place where Qianjin Stronghold‘s men often got dirty.
“Almost there.” The Second Chief lifted Sheng Yiren and quickened his pace. Soon, they stopped before a cave.
“We dug this when we first built the stronghold. To keep anyone coming up the mountain from discovering Qianjin Stronghold, one of our brothers suggested digging a few patrol caves and posting men at fixed spots around the mountain every day.”
Explaining the cave’s purpose, the Second Chief set them both down. “But in winter, our brothers would rather patrol than stay in these caves.”
“Oh?” Xie Chengze was surprised. “Why?”
“Uh…” The Second Chief scratched his head. “Don’t know why, but every winter, some brothers resting at the patrol posts end up dead. They all say the people who died in there before have come to take their lives.”
“People who died in there before?” Xie Chengze asked, puzzled.
“Ahem, there are always bold people who dare come to Mount Qiantai. To keep them from discovering the stronghold, we can only…” The Second Chief rubbed his nose, then drew a hand across his throat.
Xie Chengze: “…”
That certainly was something bandits would do.
Rubbing between his brows and shaking his head, he entered the cave. It was surprisingly well fitted out, even with a drainage ditch for rainwater. Inside stood a wooden table and two benches. Two patrolling bandits seemed to have slipped and fallen. They were wet all over with snow and were building a fire to dry their clothes.
Xie Chengze looked down to inspect the ground. Sure enough, it was black, with plenty of dark powder mixed into the yellow soil.
“Second Chief?” The two bandits were surprised to see the three of them. “What brings you here?”
“Showing His Highness around.” Everyone had learned Xie Chengze’s identity last night, so the title didn’t surprise them. Instead, they stole glances at him, thinking how extraordinarily beautiful he was.
Who could have imagined the Second Prince would appear on this lousy mountain, and turn out to be the Chief’s martial nephew?
Xie Chengze stood at the cave entrance for a while before following the drainage ditch deeper inside. At last, he stopped before a deep pit at the far end.
The pit was pitch-black, with two mounds of earth bearing inscriptions identifying them as so-and-so’s graves.
Xie Chengze rubbed between his brows, more or less guessing where these two bodies had come from. “Then after killing them, you buried them here.”
The Second Chief nodded, looking rather proud. “Of course! I even asked their names and made grave markers for them! At least they didn’t end up like those merchants, dead without so much as a burial mound!”
Sheng Yiren laughed dryly. “How kind of you.”
The Second Chief waved a hand. “Oh, not at all~ You flatter me~”
Sheng Yiren: … Did that sound like a compliment?!
Xie Chengze crouched and took out a handkerchief – the very one Shen Yuan had given him yesterday to wipe away the melted snow. He rubbed it a few times along the edge of the pit, leaving it heavily coated with black powder.
He sniffed it, then turned to the two bandits watching curiously. “Second Chief, have those two go down and cut out some black rocks.”
“Sure! No problem!”
The Second Chief shouted, and the two bandits hurried over. After hearing the order, they glanced at the deep pit, looking troubled and plainly reluctant.
“You’re not afraid the ghosts will come for your lives, are you?” Xie Chengze coughed a few times, his eyes showing surprise and disappointment. “I thought bandits were all very formidable. Who knew you were so timid…”
Who the hell could take that?
The two bandits immediately thumped their chests, declaring it was no problem whatsoever. Then they slid into the pit and began hacking at the black rocks with their sabers.
Before long, they climbed back up with a few loose chunks. “We’ve dug them out! Well? Is this what you want?”
Xie Chengze nodded and began giving instructions. “Throw them into the fire you just lit, then take out all the firewood.”
“Wouldn’t the fire go out?” The two bandits looked at each other, not knowing what he meant to do.
Seeing them stand still, the Second Chief kicked each of them and urged, “Hurry up! What’s all the dawdling for? It’s not going to kill you!”
The two hurried to the fire and put the black rocks in, then used their sabers to lift out the burning firewood.
To their astonishment, the black rocks began to burn!