Chapter 29: 29

In late autumn, the mornings were cold and foggy, but once the sun came out, the scenery was no longer hazy. When Mu Zhiming, who had been unable to find Gu Heyan, returned to his tent, he ran into Xiahou Hu by chance.

Xiahou Hu was transporting a Crouching Tiger Cannon1 to the training ground. When Xiahou Hu saw Mu Zhiming, he greeted him warmly: “Little Xiongdi! Where were you going?”

Mu Zhiming bowed and saluted: “Lieutenant Xiahou, I went to ask General Gu about the matter of White City’s County Magistrate2 and the local authorities. But the General wasn’t in his tent.”

“The County Magistrate of White City? He’s a good-for-nothing!” When Xiahou Hu mentioned that man, his face contorted with anger and began to disdainfully scold the County Magistrate: “When we were stationed on the frontier, and we failed to resist the Gouji army, we had to retreat to White City to defend it to death. Originally, we planned to recruit the County Magistrate’s soldiers to resist the army together, but when we went to ask, we found out that the County Magistrate had already fled with his family a long time ago! I heard that he hasn’t been caught yet!”

“He left his people behind and ran away?!” Mu Zhiming was surprised to hear this. He never expected that such unkind and inhuman people could still exist in this world.

“Damn right!” Xiahou Hu spat angrily. “He’s the type to care for nothing, but saving his own life.”

Mu Zhiming’s suspicions gradually became clear: ‘That tax notice must have been imposed by the County Magistrate. He’s relying on the fact that the Emperor is as far away as the Heavens3 to privately tax and oppress the people.’

As Mu Zhiming pondered whether this matter could have a connection to the Gouji Kingdom’s sudden attack, he heard Xiahou Hu shout: “Hey, slow down! Lift it carefully, don’t hurt yourself.”

When Mu Zhiming looked up, he realized that they had arrived at the training ground, which they had been walking towards while chatting. At that time, Xiahou Hu was ordering several soldiers to bring the Crouching Tiger Cannon inside. When Mu Zhiming’s eyes fell on the Crouching Tiger Cannon, they were glued onto the piece of artillery. It was shining so brightly, that it was almost impossible for Mu Zhiming to look away from such an artifact: “Is this the latest artillery made by the workshop of the Ministry of War? I heard that when it is fired, it sounds as powerful as thunder. So loud and deafening that even the animals present in the mountains and forests flee in fear, putting on an amazing, magical spectacle.”

“I didn’t expect that this little Xiongdi would be interested in this kind of mechanism weaponry?” Xiahou Hu laughed. “You’re absolutely right! This Crouching Tiger Cannon was transported to the barracks arsenal yesterday. I brought it here so my Xiongdis can see and try its power. If you’re interested, you can stay and watch with us!”

“I’m not a soldier. According to the rules, I shouldn’t go in and out of the training ground-….”

However, before Mu Zhiming could finish his words, Xiahou Hu pressed down on Mu Zhiming’s shoulders and pushed him towards the training ground: “Rules are dead and people are alive! You’re just going to take a look, come on!”

The training ground was so large you couldn’t even see the end of it. The soldiers were lined up in various square-shaped formations for training, such as: fighting with their bare hands, practicing archery, and those facing each other with swords. Although there were many people, they were in perfect order.

When the soldiers saw that Xiahou Hu had dragged a beautiful looking young Gongzi with an elegant appearance to the training ground, their mouths opened wide in shock: “Lieutenant Xiahou, what are you doing? And who is this?!”

“This is the Official from the Minister of Rites sent by the Imperial Court.” Xiahou Hu cheerfully introduced Mu Zhiming to the crowd.

Mu Zhiming hurried to bow and salute everyone.

Although they were soldiers, the atmosphere of the Rong Yan Army was good and friendly. They all cupped their fists and praised Mu Zhiming: “I heard about you, but I didn’t expect you to be this young?! I guess you’re a Dragon and Phoenix among people4.”

“But, Lieutenant Xiahou, why did you bring this little Xiongtai5 to the training ground?” A vanguard General6 asked in confusion.

“He has some knowledge on mechanism weapons, and since we’re going to try the Crouching Tiger Cannon today, I brought him to take a look!” Xiahou Hu explained.

“Not a good idea.” Gu Heyan’s confidant, the Deputy General of the Yulin battalion said. “The Rong Yan Army has military rules, and non-soldiers aren’t allowed to enter the training ground. If this matter reaches General Gu’s ears, he will certainly get angry. Xiahou Hu, don’t cry injustice when you get punished with the military stick.”

When Mu Zhiming heard that Gu Heyan would get angry at this, he panicked and wanted to leave. As Mu Zhiming hurried to salute the Deputy General, he said: “I’m sorry I have bothered you all. Since there are regulations in the army, we should follow them carefully. I have committed an offense on this occasion, and I hope you won’t let General Gu know about it.”

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Right after saying that, Mu Zhiming hurriedly turned around to leave. However, how could Mu Zhiming know that this world was full of indefinable, unfortunate coincidences? As soon as Mu Zhiming turned around, he saw Gu Heyan striding towards where he was.

Gu Heyan’s face was terribly gloomy. Although he was only 19 years old, a young man with elegant eyebrows, gorgeous eyes, and a handsome face. At the end of the day, he was also a General who had fought on the battlefield and stained his hands with the blood of the enemy. As Gu Heyan slowly walked over, his eyes grew darker and darker. No one dared to say a word.

When Gu Heyan approached the crowd, his gaze swept over everyone present, until his eyes finally landed on Mu Zhiming. With a cold voice, Gu Heyan asked: “Who let you come here?”

Gu Heyan’s cold voice made Mu Zhiming’s heart tremble. Before Mu Zhiming could say something, Xiahou Hu stepped forward and asked Mu Zhiming to stand back. Then, Xiahou Hu clasped his fist and knelt on one knee to apologize: “General, it was me. I saw that Mu-xiongdi was interested in the newly arrived Crouching Tiger Cannon, so I led him in to take a look. General, if you’re going to punish someone, you should punish me alone.”

Gu Heyan frowned: “Get up.”

After saying that, Gu Heyan’s gaze passed over Xiahou Hu and fell back on Mu Zhiming again: “Come with me.”

Gu Heyan’s tone of voice was extremely cold and his words were unquestionable. The second after speaking, Gu Heyan turned around and started walking, without giving anyone a chance to refute or intercede.

Mu Zhiming anxiously trotted behind him, trying to keep up with Gu Heyan’s hurried footsteps. The crowd, on the other hand, was stunned, looking at each other in disbelief.

Xiahou Hu was still kneeling on the ground, with a dumbfounded expression adorning his face. ’It was clearly my fault, but General Gu didn’t punish me….Instead, he wants to make things difficult for the Official sent by the Imperial Court?!’

—

Beyond the fortress, the sun stood alone in the vast sky, while the strong wind danced everywhere, making people feel on edge. Mu Zhiming followed Gu Heyan, not knowing what to do, but he also didn’t dare to speak. When he raised his eyes to look at Gu Heyan, Mu Zhiming noticed that Gu Heyan wasn’t wearing armor today, but was wearing deep black robes, with a belt that had cloud patterns embroidered in gold thread. These clothes only helped to accentuate Gu Heyan’s tall and upright posture, adding solemnity to the silence that stretched between the two.

Mu Zhiming couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. Mu Zhiming sincerely admired Gu Heyan and didn’t want to have just a casual friendship with him. However, after what happened today, Mu Zhiming was afraid that Gu Heyan would be even more indifferent to him than before.

As the sorrow accumulated in Mu Zhiming’s chest, he sighed. At that moment, Gu Heyan stopped in front of a tent. This tent looked impermeable, and was also heavily guarded by soldiers both in the front and the back. When the soldiers saw Gu Heyan, they hurried to clasp their fists and saluted. Gu Heyan nodded in response and then turned to say to Mu Zhiming: “Come in.”

Mu Zhiming, who didn’t know where they were, followed Gu Heyan in bewilderment. When Mu Zhiming entered the tent, his eyes immediately widened in shock.

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Inside this tent, there were iron swords, bows, arrows and halberds displayed left to right. Right in front of them, stood two majestic-looking Crouching Tiger Cannons resting on iron claws.

Mu Zhiming was so flattered, he couldn’t even utter a single word. On the other hand, Gu Heyan, who was usually silent, was the first to speak. As he looked at Mu Zhiming, Gu Heyan whispered: “The swords and arrows that the soldiers practice with in the training ground don’t have a fixed aim, so it’s easy to get hurt by mistake. You don’t know any martial arts and you never take your bodyguard with you. If you are interested in the Crouching Tiger Cannons, you can come to the armory to see them. You have my waist token with you, so you can go in and out of the military camp at will.”

Mu Zhiming froze in disbelief as he turned his head to look at Gu Heyan. After taking a deep breath, Mu Zhiming reached out and pinched his own arm as hard as he could. After confirming that this was real by feeling the pain, Mu Zhiming slowly exhaled that breath that he had held.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Heyan frowned, wondering uneasily whether he had been too fierce and scared Mu Zhiming.

Mu Zhiming asked somewhat dazedly: “Did you just use up all of the words you wanted to say to me for the rest of your life?”

Gu Heyan: “….”

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