Chapter 133

Although the victory dispatch had traveled by express relay, for Mobei itself, the events it described had occurred a half-month ago.

The temperature in Mobei started to drop at the beginning of September.

Once it cooled, the night wind whipped up sand like steel blades, scraping against the buildings and stone walls with a hissing, rattling sound.

Inside a dwelling below the watchtower at Dragon Head Fortress, several men huddled around a pot of stewed mutton, drooling as they chatted.

“At this rate, if we keep defending, we might hold out until spring. Once winter hits, it’s even less suited for battle.”

“Can’t say that for sure. The Ghost Barbarians have it rough in winter; they’re more likely to attack then.”

“Anyway… the higher-ups definitely still want us to hold. Honestly, it’s not much different from when the Marquis of Dragon City was here.”

“Stop gossiping. Let’s eat the meat, eat! This is all thanks to General Huo—first, give a bowl to Little General Huo.”

Ge Tong was the one speaking.

He could still clearly remember that day over four months ago. He was cleaning the latrines when suddenly a troop of soldiers stormed into Dragon Head Fortress and seized Lu Chuan.

His soul nearly left his body in fright. He thought, This is the son of the Marquis of Dragon City! Who would dare be so bold?

Then, by the afternoon, he learned that the Marquis of Dragon City, Lu Jingshan, was already dead.

Lu Chuan was also arrested on charges of dereliction of duty and falsifying military achievements.

The one who arrested him was the same little lass who, when Ge Tong had tried to sneak away to join Huo Zhengmao, had caught him.

That wasn’t General Chen’s little sister at all, but Huo Zhengmao’s little sister, named Huo Pingsheng.

Ge Tong was stunned. He thought, Isn’t this the flood washing out the Dragon King’s temple—family not recognizing family?

After dealing with Lu Jingshan, they quickly mustered troops to intercept the army under the Ghost Barbarian commander, Ke Lanwei, which should have been stationed nearby. But to their surprise, the enemy seemed to have received some word. The encampment was already empty, only wind-swept, half-buried, cold fire pits left as proof that troops had indeed been there.

This was not good news for the Duke of Ying and his men. Without military achievements, the justification for killing Lu Jingshan became far weaker.

Ge Tong had originally planned to immediately tell Huo Pingsheng that Huo Zhengmao was still alive. But afterwards, he too was taken aside for individual questioning, held for a long time before being released. After his release, he learned the court had sent officials to investigate the matter.

Ge Tong worried that if they found out Huo Zhengmao was alive, he’d be branded a deserter. He hesitated whether to speak out… and in his hesitation, two months passed.

He’d been held for a month, then questioned off and on for another month, before finally being returned to Dragon Head Fortress and assigned to Huo Pingsheng’s unit.

In two months, Huo Pingsheng had been promoted to Qu Commander—now she was an officer, albeit a junior one.

As an officer, she had her own room. Ge Tong had little chance to meet her privately. Besides, he was now reconsidering whether he should even tell Huo Pingsheng.

Before, he’d thought he’d just tell Huo Zhengmao’s sister, and the two of them could run off together to join Huo Zhengmao. But looking at Huo Pingsheng now, clearly on a path to great prospects, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

And so it stretched into September.

In the first two months, the Duke of Ying had sent troops on offensive raids a few times. But the Ghost Barbarians were highly vigilant. Once they saw they couldn’t win, they’d immediately retreat deep into the vast desert. The Wei army, losing all sense of direction in the wasteland, would quickly lose the trail.

After several such attempts, the Duke changed tactics. He sent out scouts patrolling day and night. The moment any Ghost Barbarian incursion was spotted, beacon fires would instantly signal the alert. This prevented losses on their side, but also made it impossible to get a solid grip on the enemy’s tail.

So a stalemate set in.

In Ge Tong’s view, the Duke of Ying’s method was clearly different from the former Marquis of Dragon City, Lu Jingshan. When Lu Jingshan held the fortress and refused to engage, he truly didn’t go out. They wouldn’t even know if the Ghost Barbarians camped right outside their door. But the Duke of Ying actively sought to intercept the enemy; the lack of results was simply because the Ghost Barbarians were cunning.

From another perspective, this also eliminated any chance of the Ghost Barbarians invading.

Truthfully, Ge Tong didn’t fully grasp the nuances. It was just that after years as a soldier, he could feel the difference. But for him, the biggest difference was that after the Duke of Ying replaced the Marquis of Dragon City, they actually got to eat meat during festivals.

Especially under Huo Pingsheng. Don’t let the title of Qu Commander fool you; Huo Pingsheng had close ties with Left General Chen Yan, the Marquis of Northern Liang, and even the Duke of Ying himself. Whenever there were rewards from above, she received them first and, being extremely generous and not one to hoard, would promptly share them with her men.

In everyday life, she held no airs, eating, sleeping, and training with them. Her training was relentlessly intense. Before long, the entire army knew of the young “Little General Huo”—born with divine strength, and a woman of few words.

So even though she was young and lacked military merits, everyone respected her.

Clutching his share of mutton, Ge Tong quickly sought out Huo Pingsheng, who was resting her eyes in an adjacent room. He ducked low, placing the mutton beside her, when suddenly he heard Huo Pingsheng say: “Ge Tong, come scout with me tomorrow.”

“Scouting” was Huo Pingsheng’s own term. It essentially meant going out daily into the great desert. Every time she took one or two soldiers along, but when they came back, they could never clearly explain what Commander Huo did out there. If they had to describe it:

“She sniffs at the sand, picks up a few stones to examine, then looks up at the sky… It’s pretty odd.”

It wasn’t a hard assignment, just required getting up extremely early. But orders from a superior officer were absolute; who would refuse? Ge Tong readily agreed.

The next day, before the sky had even brightened, Ge Tong was already up and waiting at the door. Before long, Huo Pingsheng emerged from her room and, upon seeing Ge Tong, seemed slightly surprised. “Up earlier than me. You’re the first.”

Ge Tong bowed and scraped. “How could I make my general wait?”

Huo Pingsheng said, “I am not yet a general.”

Ge Tong: “Yes, yes, Commander.”

Huo Pingsheng gave a slight nod, then simply walked off.

Commander Huo was good in every way, except she was not much for words.

Pushing the gate open, they saw the sky was still a deep jay-blue, only paling to a fish-belly white on the far horizon.

Ge Tong led the horses, following behind Huo Pingsheng. His mind couldn’t help but drift back to that night months ago. He still hadn’t dared to say this, but that night, he truly had been trying to desert—to go seek refuge with Huo Zhengmao.

Learning Huo Zhengmao was alive wasn’t a convoluted story.

One night, as he was mourning Huo Zhengmao by the base of the city wall, a small stone hit him on the head. Used to being bullied, he assumed it was someone from his unit messing with him and immediately slumped against the wall, pretending to be unconscious. Then he heard a woman’s voice: “Are you Ge Tong?”

Ge Tong opened his eyes.

The woman, Yuan Fenglai, had saved Huo Zhengmao and now lived in a small tribe.

Besides bringing the news that Huo Zhengmao was alive, Yuan Fenglai also told him that Huo Zhengmao had injured his leg and couldn’t stand, and that Ke Lanwei’s detachment was still roaming nearby and might be planning another assault on the fortress.

This was the reason Ge Tong could lead Huo Pingsheng to Ke Lanwei’s detachment that day. Over the past few months, no matter how he was investigated, he never dared reveal this, merely calling it a fluke.

He was just thinking of this when Huo Pingsheng suddenly asked, “How did you find Ke Lanwei’s army that day?”

Ge Tong gave a sheepish laugh. “Many lords have asked. It was just a fluke, a stroke of luck.”

Huo Pingsheng suddenly turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were dark and bright, as if seeing right through him. “That lie might fool others, but it can’t fool me. That night, when I walked this path with you, you were moving with clear purpose.”

Ge Tong froze, then looked around.

They were on the same path?

The dunes shifted daily; the stars overhead were already fading. Ge Tong couldn’t tell.

“You don’t recognize this path today, but you remembered it that night. Because someone had led you down it before that night?”

Ge Tong’s eyes widened. He involuntarily took half a step back, his instinct screaming to run.

Huo Pingsheng reached out, seizing his arm firmly. “Who?!”

Somehow, under Huo Pingsheng’s calm question and unwavering stare, Ge Tong felt his mind go blank and blurted out, “It was Yuan Fenglai.”

Huo Pingsheng’s eyes flew wide open.

She remembered Yuan Fenglai; that woman was a friend of her eldest brother’s.

Just as she was about to press further, Ge Tong frantically added, “General Huo is still alive. It was General Huo who had her tell me this.”

In that instant, Huo Pingsheng felt the buzzing sandstorm winds go silent. Her heartbeat drowned out the gale, pounding against her eardrums with a deafening beat.

But her tone was chillingly cold: “General Huo?”

Ge Tong said, “Your brother, your brother is still alive!”

If she’d heard this news two months ago, Huo Pingsheng would have jumped for joy.

But now, she only said: “For months, you’ve been sneaking glances at me. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Ge Tong was close to tears. “So you—no, Commander—noticed… I always wanted to say it, I just… just feared the Commander wouldn’t be happy to hear it. And besides, if you know a deserter is alive and don’t report it… the whole unit gets punished…”

Huo Pingsheng could maintain her composure precisely because she’d already considered this.

What she couldn’t understand was: if at first, Lu Chuan’s presence prevented her brother from returning, why, after Lu Chuan was arrested, did he still not come back?

Was it because he couldn’t get news from inside the fortress?

“Where are they? Take me to see them.”

“I don’t know either. Before, they always came to find me. These past two months, maybe because the patrols have increased, they haven’t dared to come.”

Frustration flickered in Huo Pingsheng.

But she quickly suppressed it. “You have no way of contacting them at all? Then where were you planning to go that night?”

In a flash, she had pinpointed the crux of the matter.

That night, Ge Tong couldn’t have been going to scout Ke Lanwei’s army. He had only changed direction because she’d run into him.

Ge Tong, as if suddenly remembering, hurriedly said, “Before, they said if I tied a strip of cloth on a desert willow tree about seven li out, the next night, someone would come to meet me.”

“Where is that desert willow?”

Ge Tong gazed towards the horizon.

The sun was rising from the east. Its red flames pierced the cloud layers, slowly ascending from the end of the dunes.

“It’s that direction.”

Ge Tong pointed northwest.

Huo Pingsheng frowned. “When you took this route back then, you started from Dragon Head Fortress?”

Ge Tong nodded repeatedly.

Huo Pingsheng said, “Then that’s not right. We’ve already walked two li northeast from Dragon Head Fortress. The location you mentioned should be further west.”

Ge Tong looked blank.

Huo Pingsheng said, “Follow me.”

Ge Tong didn’t understand why he, who had walked this path before, was being told to follow someone who hadn’t. But about an hour later, they truly saw that Desert Willow Grove, saw that familiar desert willow tree.

He marveled inwardly. Despite her youth, Huo Pingsheng’s meticulousness and experience surpassed many veterans.

They approached. Ge Tong went up to the tree and discovered the cloth strip he’d tied was gone.

“The cloth… it’s gone.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than there was a riiip from beside him.

Without any hesitation, Huo Pingsheng tore a strip of cloth from her sleeve and tied it firmly onto the desert willow tree.