Chapter 26: Not the Bright Path

  (Spring thunder bursts forth at dawn, shaking the earth and mountains, stunning me with happiness. Heartfelt thanks to Fahao Xingkong for the reward, and thanks to my brother Xiao Xuanwu for his support!)

  "Is your name Li Xian?"

  "Are you Daran Chōkō?"

  Li Xian's response to Lang Changhong was a rhetorical question, and the latter furrowed his brow.

  "You're very rude, young Han man."

  Darong Changhong's Chinese is not very fluent, but at least it doesn't sound like there are any obstacles. Li Xian didn't expect that Chinese had spread to this extent either; the several grassland people they met today all seemed to be able to say a few sentences. However, he overlooked one problem: many grassland people can speak a few sentences of Chinese because the Great Sui does not basically prohibit trade with the grassland people. Han merchants travel back and forth between the various tribes of the grassland people and the Central Plains, the grassland people need the Han people's tea leaves, cloth, and porcelain, while the Han people need their hides and livestock.

  The Han people who trade with them can speak a few words of Mongolian, and the Mongolians can naturally also speak a few words of Chinese.

  Even the Xianbei people in the deepest part of the grasslands had dealings with the Han Chinese, let alone the Xiongnu, Khitan and Shiwei peoples along the Liao River and the Western Xiaoluanhe River.

  "Am I being rude?"

  Li Xian looked at Dalang Changhong, gestured to his height and sincerely praised: "You are almost as tall as two of me, when you speak, your hand is still on the hilt of the knife, is this politeness?"

  He smiled lightly: "No wonder people say that courage and brains are inversely proportional."

  Darong Changhong didn't know what "reverse ratio" meant, but he knew Li Xian was definitely not praising him.

  However, Li Xian still understood what was said earlier, so his hand slowly left the knife handle. He just didn't think this was a shameful thing, although in his opinion, this young man absolutely couldn't withstand one of his punches.

  "This is my habit. When I find that there may be danger, my hand habitually goes to the hilt of my sword, whether it's a wolf or a dog in front of me."

  Darong Changhong said.

  Li Xian jumped down from the tree, walked up to Dalang Changhong with his hands behind his back, raised his chin and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Dalang Changhong's eyes and said: "What you said makes sense, but our views are slightly different."

  His eyes were playful, the corners of his mouth curled up in an arc, staring directly at Dalang Changhong's eyes but his gaze drifted to the distant clouds: "I've never put beasts in my eyes, except when peeling and eating meat, I'm generally too lazy to use a weapon to deal with beasts."

  Darong Changhong's shoulders moved slightly, and the snow under his feet also sank a few more inches.

  But he still didn't take action.

  Li Xian simply ignored him, and instead walked past Dalang Changhong's side with a swagger, holding out the boots to Ousiqingqing: "Want them or not?"

  Ou Si Qing was a simple-minded girl, so although she smelled the gunpowder between Li Xian and Da Lang Zhang Hong, she didn't take it to heart. She was the kind of natural airhead who would feel sad for stepping on an ant one second, then go happily bother butterflies the next, so even though she felt a thread of unease in her heart, seeing Li Xian's clean and beautiful smile made her immediately forget her worries.

  She likes to laugh and also likes others to laugh at her.

  "I want!"

  She took over the boots handed over by Li Xian and bent down to take off Li Xian's boots.

  Li Xian's eyes widened, and he burst out laughing: "That big guy is your Da Lang brother? Most of what he said before was just farting around, but one sentence did hit the mark. You really are a little idiot..."

  Li Xian pointed at Ou Si's green boots: "Take off your boots and give them to me. What will you wear?"

  "Me?"

  Ou Si's face turned green for a moment: "I'll put on my own first."

  Her face turned red for a moment, with a bit of cuteness.

  "Let's keep it as a memento."

  Li Xian smiled and turned to walk away: "Actually, I just happened to meet Xiao Hui, so I'll just send you back on the way. Since your brother Da Lang is here, I don't have anything to worry about."

  He quickly pulled down a pair of boots from the corpse of a Tartar, cut off two pieces of slightly softer felt from the body and wrapped them around his feet, then put on the obviously larger boots. Feeling the warmth on his feet, Li Xian turned back to shout at Ouyang Qing: "The green hills will remain unchanged, the flowing water will last forever, we'll meet again someday."

  Feeling pleased with himself, Li Xian bowed and ran out.

  He had to run to get the blood flowing in his already cold feet, otherwise it would be no fun at all, just like Fu Hongxue.

  The Xianbei cavalry was somewhat disoriented by the thick smoke in the mountains, but it wouldn't take long for them to find their way. If they didn't run now, they would be complete idiots. Li Xian didn't think that fighting in the snow was a good thing. After running out for three or four miles, he met Chao Qiuge with thirty Blood Riders coming to look for him. He briefly explained and then followed Chao Qiuge back to the camp on horseback.

  Knowing that the Xi people's cavalry was nearby, chasing and killing the Khitan He Dahebu's Ejinmo Hui, Daxi Zhangru and Dongfang Liehuo took a dozen blood riders out for a lap, and after an hour, they caught two Xi people's cavalrymen and returned to the camp, immediately ordering strengthened vigilance.

  After separating and interrogating the two Xianbei cavalrymen, the information obtained confirmed Li Huan's conjecture.

  The reason why the Xi people left their own grassland and moved north has nothing to do with them. Three months ago, Ashina Gudu, the younger brother of the Turkic Khan, led 10,000 Turkic cavalrymen to suddenly move south, announcing that the Turkic royal court would occupy the Xi people's grassland. Then they drew out another piece of grassland and gave it to the Xi people, but that piece of grassland belonged to the Khitan He Da tribe. The intention behind this move by the Turkic royal court is obvious, and a simple analysis can reveal their sinister intentions.

  Li Xian analysis

  One:

  The great Sui is about to conquer Liaodong, this is no longer a secret. From the beginning of the year, grain and grass have been transported from warehouses such as Liyang Warehouse and Xingluo Warehouse to Huaiyuan Town. Tang Gong Li Yuan is also storing grain in Huaiyuan Town. Zuo Tunwei General Sin Shi-xiong has led his troops to arrive at the west bank of Liao River ahead of time. Calculating the days, Li Xian has been on the grasslands for a year now. It is currently the seventh year of Daye of Sui Dynasty, and in March of the eighth year of Sui Dynasty, the Sui army will start crossing the river, which is still one year and one month away from now. With such grand preparations, if Goguryeo people do not react, they are simply stupid. The military strength of Sui Dynasty is concentrated in Liaoxi area, and the purpose of Turks driving out Xianbei people is also clear. It's just to take advantage of the situation and make a southward move under the cover of chaos.

  Two, the Xianbei people have been developing strongly in recent years. The total military strength of the five departments of the Xianbei people can be combined to form a force of 70,000 to 80,000 people at most. Although this is nothing compared to the powerful forces of the Turkic court, Shi Suo Khan Ashina Chuoji would never allow the Xianbei people to become stronger and stronger. Driving the Xianbei people to migrate northward, neither the Khitan people nor the Xi people will watch with their eyes open as the pasture belonging to them is divided by the Xianbei people. As long as they fight, all three parties will be weakened, which is the outcome that Shi Suo Khan wants to see.

  Of course, even if Li Xian came to such a conclusion, he wouldn't say it out loud. After all, his conclusions were based on a large part of the knowledge that was already in his mind, such as knowing exactly when Emperor Yang of Sui first attacked Liaodong, and knowing that the Sui army had crossed the Liao River on March 14th of the eighth year of Daye. In later generations, there was much debate about Emperor Yang of Sui, with almost every forum having posts arguing for or against him, so Li Xian remembered this date very clearly, but if he said it now, he feared he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.

  But what he was worried about was not this, but rather Zhang Zhongjian.

  The people of Tie Fa Tu are hiding in the Yan Mountains, not far from the Xi People's tribe. The Turkic wolf cavalry is heading south, and it's unknown whether they will threaten Tie Fa Tu.

  It shouldn't be, right?

  Li Xian comforted himself.

  Tie Fo Tu had only about sixty people in total. Even if they were elite, they wouldn't take the initiative to find trouble with ten thousand Turkic wolf riders.

  Grandpa is a drunkard, but he's absolutely not an idiot.

  After Da Xi Long Rong asked clearly, he let the Blood Riders take those two Xian people out and behead them. The desolation on his face was very intense. After finishing the questioning, he stood under that tall pine tree in the camp, dazed.

  "Master, what's wrong?"

  Li Xian stood by the side of the creek, looking up and asking.

  "The sky is getting dark, and the world is going to be in chaos."

  Daxi Changru sighed and said despondently: "This time, the Great Sui's expedition to Liaodong has no victory but defeat. I don't know how many young men will be buried in a foreign land. Last month, Your Majesty called on all the good families in the country to voluntarily go to Zhuo County to join the army, and set the date for the expedition to Liaodong as this time next year. With such fanfare, won't the Goguryeo people take precautions? The grain from various granaries sent to Liaodong is all concentrated in Huaiyuan Sanzhen, relying on Xin Shixiong alone to defend three places, aren't you afraid of being burned by the Goguryeo people?"

  "If the Sui army were defeated in the war against Goguryeo...the world would be in great chaos."

  Li Xian could hear it from Da Xi Chang Ru's words, although he had said many times that he was no longer a soldier of the Great Sui, but in his heart, he actually couldn't let go of the Great Sui.

  "Master... maybe it's not as bad as you think."

  Li Xian told a clumsy lie.

  "Twelve years ago, the fortune teller said that the Great Sui's reign would be peaceful for at most a decade or so. Now it seems... she really hit the mark."

  "It's not necessarily so, the great Sui dynasty's military power is unmatched in the world, and for twenty years now, we haven't encountered any opponents."

  Li Xian comforted him.

  Da Xi Chang Ru smiled and said, "I know what you mean. I'm just a little sentimental. From the day we left Hong Hua, I've actually not been considered a Sui person anymore. You go back and prepare, after the Xianbei people leave, I'll take you to Qing Niu Lake. Taking advantage of the war between the Khitan and Xianbei people, we must find that piece of meteorite back."

  "How far is Qingniu Lake from here?"

  "Less than three hundred miles."

  "Shall we two go?"

  "Bring Xiao Chao along, his martial arts skills are second only to Tie Lang Wolf, but Tie Lang Wolf still has to guard the camp."

  "Master, the Turkic wolf cavalry is heading south, and my father is in the Yan Mountains. Will he be in danger?"

  Daxi Changru was taken aback for a moment after Li Xian asked this, then smiled and said: "Don't worry, in the past Bai Daquan's war against the Turks scared them off. Even if the Great Sui army is all in Liaodong, the Turks wouldn't dare to easily cross the Northern Long Wall. Ashina Cheji isn't an idiot, he should know that for now he can't afford to provoke the Great Sui."

  He paused and said: "Even if Ashina Helu is a madman, he wouldn't dare to provoke Rou Yi of Youzhou! Ten thousand wolf riders going south, not enough to watch."

  Li Xian let out a mouthful of turbid air: "Yes, Liao State's Luo Yi, five thousand elite armor, the Great Wall has a gap, and there is no match for the Tiger Guard."

  Da Xi Chang Ru patted Li Xian's shoulder: "The world is about to be in chaos, and our time is running out. You must cultivate well, in a chaotic world, martial arts are the foundation. As someone valued by the Law Master, you won't go wrong, so you must also work hard, can't be like the helpless Ah Dou."

  Li Xian shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Can I not play?"

  "Play?"

  Daxi Changru was taken aback for a moment, and then said seriously: "The great cause of the world, the lives of the common people, how can you say it's just play?"

  Li Xian was startled by Da Xi's serious expression and said somewhat at a loss: "The key is, why did it have to be me?"

  Daxi Changru looked at Li Xian, and suddenly thought that putting such a big burden on a child who was not yet thirteen years old might be a bit too cruel? The prophecy of the master more than ten years ago had already made him lose too many things. Behind his carefree and happy appearance, would there be a heart full of bitterness?

  Da Xi Chang Ru stood beside Li Xian, pointing to the distant mountains and said: "Only those who stand in high places can see the most beautiful scenery. From twelve years ago when Zhang Zhongjian carried you on his back and escaped from Chang'an City by killing a bloody path, you have been climbing up the mountain peak. Now, it's just a matter of whether you climb fast enough."

  Li Xian didn't respond, because he really didn't know what to say. That detestable yet respectable old witch seemed to have pointed out a bright path for him, but in reality... it was a thorny and bumpy road.

  One careless move and you'll end up dead, with a body that's battered beyond recognition, bones broken and tendons torn.