Return to Hometown

  Having packed up his luggage and handed over all the things that needed to be handed over, Gao Fei took Zhao Yun, Xia Houlan, Pei Yuanshao, and Bian Xi with him back to their hometown in Longxi. He entrusted all matters of Chen Cang to Liao Hua and Lu Heng, believing that they could handle such trivial matters.

  Going home made Gao Fei a bit apprehensive, after all he wasn't the real Gao Fei but rather a soul attached to this person named Gao Fei from Longxi. He carefully searched through Gao Fei's previous memory bank and found that in his hometown there was still an elderly grandmother who relied on him for survival. Although the Gao family was a prominent surname in Longxi, Gao Fei's life circumstances were quite pitiful.

  Gaofei was born not long after his mother passed away, and his father participated in the rebellion of the Pingding Qiang people when he was three years old and died a heroic death for the country. His grandmother cried her eyes blind because she couldn't bear to see an elderly person send off a young person, so from then on, the grandmother and grandson relied on each other for survival. Fortunately, they were taken care of by their relatives, which allowed Gaofei to grow up healthily in his childhood.

  A miserable life experience left a deep shadow in the heart of this young man. He was not born with divine power, and compared to those northwest big men, he seemed much weaker. However, he had a dream in his heart and was unwilling to sink, so he worked hard to train his body and humbly sought knowledge from others.

  At the age of 12, by chance, he saved a black-clad swordsman who was grateful and taught him a set of gun techniques. Later, the swordsman suddenly disappeared, leaving behind only a few unlearned moves. Nevertheless, this led to the young man gradually gaining recognition within his family and eventually being selected as a Feathered Forest Lang at the age of 15. He then entered the capital to become a Feathered Forest Lang cavalry officer guarding the imperial palace.

  Memories of past events were searched out one by one, and what appeared before Gao Fei's eyes was like a projected documentary. He let out a long sigh, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for the young man who had died so prematurely. But if it weren't for this young man's premature death, his soul might not have attached itself to Gao Fei's body, and he wouldn't have had the chance to be reborn.

  "Fly high, farewell, I will make good use of this body. From now on, I am you and you are me, we will definitely have a different future." He was entangled because of Gaofei's background and slowly shouted it out in his heart.

  On the road, Gao Fei didn't say much, perhaps still immersed in the faint unease, he didn't know what to think when facing the old grandmother who had raised him a few days later.

  From Chen Cang to Longxi, there is only one Han Yangjun in between. Along the official road going west, Gao Fei and others gradually walked out of Chen Cang. The scenery in the northwest was different from that in Hebei, with no vast plains, but mostly high mountains and rivers. Surrounded by mountains, the official road wound its way, and it wasn't until they entered Han Yangjun that their field of vision suddenly opened up, but they could still see the continuous undulating high mountains.

  Longxi County has eleven cities, the governor's office is in Didao, and Gao Fei's home is in Xiangwu. Xiangwu borders with Hanyang County, Gao Fei took Zhao Yun, Xiahou Lan, Pei Yuanshao, Bian Xi four people along the official road straight to reach, along the way, people admired the scenery of Liangzhou, slightly showing a bit desolate, often can see large households gathered in the village, surrounded by scattered civilians, relatively sparse population.

  They walked for four days, and Gao Fei and his party were basically camping in the wilderness all along the way, except for a brief stop at Ji City in Hanyang County to replenish their food and water. The northwest wind was strong, and it was also quite dry and cold in September, with the autumn air being particularly biting. Riding on horseback, they felt as if their skin was being cut by the sharp wind, and Gao Fei finally understood what "autumn wind is like a knife" meant.

  In ancient times, the four seasons were very distinct, and the replacement of spring, summer, autumn and winter was also very clear. Because many places still retain their original ecology, and there is no greenhouse effect on earth, so the weather in ancient times must be much colder than modern times.

  "General Hou, once we pass this boundary stone, we will enter the territory of Longxi. Xiangwu is also just ahead, not far from here." Zhao Yun pointed to a distant road-side stone monument and said softly to Gao Fei.

  Gao Fei only hummed, and led the horse with Zhao Yun and others to slowly pass by the boundary monument. Xiangwu was just ahead, less than 40 miles away. The closer they got to Xiangwu, the more Gao Fei felt a sense of heaviness in his heart. His purpose for coming back this time was very clear: to recruit soldiers from his hometown. However, the scenes he saw along the way made him feel pessimistic. With such a sparse population, it would indeed be difficult to gather 2,000 local brave warriors.

  Let's take it one step at a time, and see how much we can collect. If we can't hold on to Chencang, then so be it, thought Gao Fei.

  They continued to walk forward for a while, and before they knew it, the wind started to pick up. The cold wind cut through the ground like a knife, immediately stirring up sand and dust. The sand and dust swirled in the cold wind and swept towards the crowd.

  "Look out, a sandstorm is coming! Dismount and take cover by the side of the road!" Gao Fei shouted to his men, including Zhao Yun, covering his face with his sleeve.

  Ban Xi's reaction was extremely swift, and he immediately found a mound of earth by the side of the road. Pointing to the mound, he said to Gao Fei: "Master Hou, let's go over there and take cover for a while!"

  Then the five of them rode their horses towards the earth mound, then dismounted one after another, hiding behind the earth mound, letting the wind and sand blow over their heads, with some rustling sand falling from the air, making several people look dusty.

  "Damn it, this is why I don't want to stay in the northwest. Except for one place, the Guanzhong Plain and the Hetao area, almost everywhere else has weather like this. It's not as free and easy as the white mountains and black waters of the northeast." Gao Fei couldn't help but curse silently in his heart, and a hint of displeasure appeared on his face.

  About ten or so minutes later, the wind and sand showed no signs of stopping, but instead grew stronger, with an increasingly severe situation unfolding. Not far away on the official road, sand and stones were flying about wildly, like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, as the massive dust storm reduced visibility to less than five meters, casting everything in a yellowish hue.

  After a while, Gao Fei and others vaguely heard the sound of camel bells coming from the official road, some big men shouting loudly, listening to the noisy sounds in the sandstorm, there were about 100 people, with pure northwestern accents. The voices got closer and closer, only to see a figure flashing out of the wind and sand, after taking a look at Gao Fei and others hiding behind the earth mound, he turned back. Soon, the sound of camel bells came rolling in, interspersed with the neighing of horses, a group of knife-wielding guests wearing strong clothes led their horses out of the wind and sand, slowly driving towards the earth mound where Gao Fei was located.

  The guests were all robust men, and under their escort, a sallow-faced man walked over. From the way the crowd treated him, it was clear that he was their leader. The guests numbered over a hundred, each holding a sturdy Northwestern horse by the reins. They arrived behind the earth mound, politely bowing to Gao Fei and company, offering a few smiles but not speaking.

  When the hundred or so people had all arrived, the thirty-meter-long earth mound was crowded with this group of knife-wielding men and their horses, leaving no room to spare. Gao Fei and his companions also yielded a large area, unknowingly reaching the edge of the earth mound.

  The two groups of people did not speak, looked at each other and then fell silent in the wind and sand.

  "Where are you guys going?" After a moment of silence, the yellow-faced man who led the knife guests walked over to Gaofei's side. Perhaps it was because he was too bored or perhaps it was out of curiosity towards Gaofei and his companions that the man broke the silence.

  "Xiang Wu!" Gao Fei simply replied to the yellow-faced man's words.

  The man with a yellow face had a scar on his cheek, and his chin was covered with curly and dense whiskers that extended to both temples. His eyes were deep-set, and his bright eyes looked at Gao Fei's body for a few moments before he continued in his Northwestern accent, laughing and asking: "Judging from your accents, you seem to be from the Kwantung Province. You don't look like poor people from your clothes and attire. Are you here in Xiangwu to buy horses and smuggle them back to Kwantung?"

  Gao Fei shook his head, he didn't have a good impression of this yellow-faced man. The man looked too sinister, with a scar on his face that made him look even more ferocious when he smiled. Moreover, the eyes of the over 100 knife-wielding men behind him seemed to gleam with a murderous intent, making Gao Fei think they were no different from bandits. He replied simply: "Returning home to visit relatives!"

  "Oh?" The yellow-faced man's face showed a hint of surprise, and upon hearing Gao Fei speak in pure Mandarin, he cupped his hands and asked, "Little brother is from Xiangwu?"

  Gao Fei nodded and said: "Right, I am a Xiangwu person."

  The yellow-faced man suddenly laughed with joy, hastily took a step forward and laughed: "What a coincidence! I'm also from Xiangwu. It turns out we're fellow townspeople. My name is Li Wenhao, may I ask your name, young brother?"

  "Li Wenhao? Isn't he the one who rebelled with Bei Gong Boyu? What bad luck, how did I run into someone like him, and to think we're even from the same hometown. Is he leading this group of over a hundred people to Xizhong to discuss rebelling with Bei Gong Boyu?" Gao Fei was familiar with this piece of history, and soon after, the Xizhong uprising rebelled against the Han dynasty, jointly proclaiming Bei Gong Boyu and Li Wenhao as generals. They pillaged and plundered along the way, capturing Bian Zhang and Han Sui together to rebel, causing the entire Lanzhou region to be in turmoil for years afterwards.

  "Understood, Lord Li!" Knowing Li Wenhao's background, Gaofei didn't like him, but the other had over a hundred brothers backing him up. Moreover, he himself wasn't carrying any weapons, so he politely answered Li Wenhao's questions.

  Li Wenhao had never thought that he would hear Gao Fei's answer, and was shocked and asked hastily: "Isn't your lordship Gao Fei, the one who pacified Hebei and the Yellow Turbans, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Douchang and given a fief in Chenliu?"

  Gao Feng did not expect his own affairs to spread so quickly. Although the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan and Nanyang were still resisting, news of the pacification of Hebei's Yellow Turbans had already been transmitted far and wide across the land, from the Yangtze River to the north. Only Gao Feng himself was unaware of this matter. He smiled and said with a chuckle: "Indeed, it is I."

  Li Wenhao still had some courtesy, after confirming Gao Fei's identity, he hastily bowed and said: "Your humble servant Li Wenhao pays his respects to Your Excellency."

  Gao Fei saw Li Wenhou being so polite and said: "No need to be polite."

  "It's really a hero emerging in youth, I didn't expect that our Xiangwu would also produce a Lord Hou, Lord Hou has indeed brought glory to the people of Xiangwu. Unfortunately, a small person with the surname Hou can only do the work of watching houses and guarding courtyards, it's truly a shame for the people of Xiangwu."

  Gao Fei heard Li Wenhou speak in this manner, seemingly feeling that Li Wenhou still didn't have the concept of rebelling now, and was also very respectful to himself. His thinking suddenly underwent a qualitative change: "I only thought about how to defend against the rebel army's attack, almost forgetting the famous saying 'officials forcing the people to rebel'. Perhaps these people aren't rebelling, but are being forced by life and have no choice but to do so. Otherwise, why would there be so many Liangzhou people following along with the rebels, with a grand momentum? Moreover, wherever they go, they can quickly gather tens of thousands of troops. According to historical records, Beigong Boyu's rebellion was in November, now it's September. Perhaps I can use the time difference to stop this rebellion, and then rely on my own reputation to gather an army, no problem. Finally, I'll lead them to develop in my hometown in the northeast. Hehe, hehehe, I'm really too damn clever."

  Thinking of this, Gao Fei's heart was filled with joy, and he said to Li Wenhou: "We are all from the same hometown, if I can do it, you must be able to do it too. By the way, are you also returning to our hometown?"

  Li Wenhou shook his head and sneered: "Return to the countryside? What can you do when you go back? Can you fill your belly? A petty person like me doesn't have a fief like Master Hou."

  Gao Fei detected a hint of sarcasm and discontent, for there are indeed differences between people. Ordinary people in modern times all dream of having assets worth tens of millions, but those who have tens of millions will think about reaching hundreds of millions or even billions. This was also true in ancient times, as the saying "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born with a special kind?" is good proof.

  "What's this, Brother Li?"

  "I went to Xizhou, where the Protector of the Qiang, General Yang, was recruiting volunteers. I brought my men to join the official army and fight for the court, also hoping to become a marquis. Although my followers are not many, they are all seasoned veterans and elite cavalrymen who have often clashed with the Qiang people. With over a hundred of them as a foundation, it's not impossible to mix in and become a commander or military marquis."

  Gao Fei listened to Li Wenhou's words and thought for a moment before asking: "Brother Li, are you willing to work under me?"

  Li Wenhou bowed his hands and said, "I appreciate your kindness, sir. However, I have already made a promise with my good friend to attend the ceremony of loyalty together, and I don't want to break that promise."

  Gao Fei's face, however, was all smiles as he continued to speak politely: "Then, Brother Li, would you be willing to wait for a day or two? I'd like to follow you to Xining to take a look around. As it happens, I also have a good friend in Xining who I've been meaning to visit. We're all from the same place, so we can keep each other company on the road. What do you think, Brother Li?"

  Li Wenhou thought for a moment, then said: "Alright, since Master Hou is willing to travel with me, it's also my good fortune. It just so happens that my men have been wanting to go back and see their families too, after all they've been out for so long without even one visit home."

  Gao Fei smiled, but in his heart he thought slowly: "It seems that going to Xining is inevitable. If I can stop them from rebelling and also lead a team, it's not a bad choice either."