Chapter 87: Night Talk, Deep Discussion: Aspirations First Revealed

The campfire flared up again.

The location shifted to a relatively intact courtyard on the outskirts of Zhang Family Settlement that had been carefully searched.

The ruined walls blocked the night wind and also shut out part of the lingering smoke and blood stench from the town center.

The flames drove off the chill of the spring night, illuminating the faces of the dozen or so people gathered around.

The Khitan corpses had been dragged away for centralized disposal, and the wounded civilians had received preliminary resettlement.

The survivors were gathered in a few rooms that could still shelter from wind and rain.

Personnel dispatched from both sides jointly guarded and comforted them.

The shaken people finally caught their breath, with low sobs and murmured conversation faintly audible.

This added a touch of desolation to the night of survival after the disaster.

Chen Wen and Rongxiong sat by the campfire; both had simply washed up and changed into clean clothes.

But the fatigue and gravity etched on their brows from the recent fighting could not be wiped away at once.

Their subordinates were scattered around the courtyard keeping watch, or snatching whatever rest they could.

They left the space to these two leaders who obviously had more to discuss.

After a moment of silence, it was Rongxiong who spoke first.

His voice carried a hint of hoarseness, no longer the steady composure of a commander in command during the day.

Instead, it revealed a deep sorrow:

"... Thirty-seven civilian corpses, and over twenty injured."

"Nine women and children were seized and later rescued... This is just one Zhang Family Settlement."

He picked up a branch and unconsciously poked the fire, sending sparks crackling.

It lit up the repressed anger and grief in his eyes.

"Khitan cavalry, able to penetrate this far!"

"The frontier prefectures and the imperial garrison stationed there are as good as nonexistent!"

"Watching the barbarians burn, kill, and loot as if entering an uninhabited land!"

His tone was filled with helplessness and indignation at the current state of affairs—not affectation, but coming straight from the heart.

Chen Wen listened silently.

He could sense that the speaker's words held a genuine concern for the common folk, unlike that of ordinary warlords.

"The Imperial Court..."

"Rongxiong" let out a cold laugh, his voice dropping lower, openly expressing disappointment and criticism.

"In Bianliangcheng, the nobles in their official robes."

"They're probably still scheming for power and status, never truly taking to heart the lives and deaths of the border people."

"The regional warlords across the land, holding their armies for self‑preservation, only think of expanding their territories, fighting each other—who would sincerely devote themselves to guarding the frontiers and resisting foreign invasion?"

"This realm… this Central Plains—must we really let the barbarians' iron hooves trample it over and over until the mountains and rivers lie shattered and the people are all enslaved?"

These words were extremely bold, bordering on rebellion.

Unless he had considerable trust and esteem for Chen Wen, he could never have spoken them aloud.

As he finished speaking, he clenched his fists tightly.

His chest rose and fell slightly, clearly his inner turmoil unabated.

Chen Wen did not immediately reply; he could feel the speaker's sorrowful lament—'grieving their misfortune, angering their lack of resistance'.

He recalled how hard it had been for Jiao Tu Zhen to rise, and the threat posed by Northern Han and the Iron Crow Army.

He remembered the decline of livelihoods he had witnessed along the way.

The root of this chaotic age, as Rongxiong said, is corruption and selfishness from top to bottom.

"Rongxiong's pain is also my pain."

Chen Wen spoke slowly, his voice steady, carrying the strength of one who has endured despair and personally forged hope.

"The Imperial Court is inept, the regional warlords self‑serving—this is a chronic malady, not a passing chill, nor something one person can reverse."

He lifted his head, his gaze piercing the fire to stare into the starless black night.

As if gazing into the deep darkness of this era:

"But precisely because of that, we need someone to step up and do something."

"Not for the private gain of one family or clan, but for the countless people on this land who long for peace."

He turned his head, his eyes blazing as he looked at Rongxiong.

His tone turned resolute:

"I am unworthy, of humble origin, and even in my homeland I once struggled to survive; I know well the suffering of the people in troubled times."

"I refuse to hide in a corner, nor to go with the flow and keep company with those who treat human lives as weeds."

"What I seek is merely to do what I can in this chaotic age."

"To protect more people, to establish a bit more order, so that those who work hard can have enough to eat and wear, and the law‑abiding good can live in peace."

"If I could, with this body, inject a thread of purity into this turbid world."

"To end this endless war and suffering—even if I die a hundred times, I would have no regrets!"

This was the first time he had so clearly laid bare his heart and ambition before an 'outsider'.

No grand boasts, yet it brimmed with practical strength and firm conviction.

What he said was exactly what he had done in Jiao Tu Zhen, and what he wanted to expand on in the future.

Rongxiong listened, stunned.

He had seen too many ambitious sorts who mouth 'to aid the realm' and 'to save the people' all day long.

But often it is merely used as a beautiful slogan for hegemony.

And this young man before us speaks with such simplicity, yet his words carry great weight.

He does not speak of ideals in the abstract; he makes his goals concrete—'to protect some people,' 'to establish a bit of order.'

Such an aspiration, rooted in reality and sprouting from humble beginnings, appears all the more genuine and precious.

"Protect more people…… build more order……"

"Rongxiong" whispered repeatedly, the light in his eyes growing ever brighter.

How well this matches his deep-seated yearning to end the chaotic age and rebuild peace!

Except his starting point is higher, his vision broader, yet the core idea is remarkably consistent!

He suddenly lifted his head, staring intently at Chen Wen, as if trying to see through his eyes.

To directly peer into his heart:

"Chen brother, if… if there truly is an opportunity, let you protect more people, establish greater order, and even…"

"To join the undertaking of clearing this world and rebuilding peace, are you willing?"

His voice carried a barely perceptible tremor and anticipation, this almost being a naked solicitation and promise.

Chen Wen met his gaze, without the slightest evasion, speaking frankly:

"This is what I wish; I dare not ask for it."

"If I truly encounter a wise lord and can display my ambitions, Chen Wen will exert all his strength; even if it means nine deaths, he will have no regrets!"

The campfire crackled, illuminating the faces of the two, equally young yet bearing extraordinary aspirations.

An intangible pact based on shared ideals and goals was quietly achieved on this ruin-strewn night.

Although their identities have not yet been fully revealed, the distance between their hearts is already within arm's reach.

The direction of the road ahead, at this moment, has become unprecedentedly clear.