Chapter 4: Section Three

Only when he reached Old Zhang’s doorstep did Huang Shi feel his heart gradually steady, but that near-death sensation lingered and would not leave. Throughout the meal he was utterly distracted; Old Zhang’s family asked him several times with puzzled looks and got only vague, perfunctory grunts in reply.

“I know, I know,” Zhang Youdi declared, putting his loud voice to full use. “Must have his eye on some girl — lovesick, that’s what it is.”

This remark drew a wave of laughter. The two women at the table also chimed in with amused agreement, even naming a few specific girls. Huang Shi kept the chopsticks clamped between his teeth and still did not respond, his mouth chewing something unconsciously. Their voices gradually faded, and Zhang Youdi rubbed his nose awkwardly, dropping the teasing.

“I’m done eating.” Huang Shi slapped his chopsticks down on the table and left Old Zhang’s house as if his soul had fled his body.

Back home, lying down, Huang Shi could not fall asleep for a long while. He felt the torrent of history shrieking as it bore down on him, ready to tear him to shreds. The thought of the whole town consumed by flames, of neighbors he knew hacked into chunks of flesh by butchering blades — Huang Shi could not control his emotions. These people were not like the soldiers who had marched past today; in Huang Shi’s heart they were living, breathing, flesh-and-blood human beings.

The cunning grin of the town’s general-store proprietor surfaced before Huang Shi’s eyes — that expression always appeared after every disastrous defeat in haggling. The identical complaints from the neighbor to the left grated endlessly on his nerves: what use was it coming to him with the squabbles between your two wives? Several families with sons of marriageable age treated him like a blue-chip stock, and the daughters of those families kept casting glances his way, some shy, some bold.

Finally, the faces of his benefactor’s family: Old Zhang belching contentedly after a meal; the mistress of the house ceaselessly grumbling that salt had gone up in price again as she carefully plucked feathers from a bird; the eldest son always leaving one piece of meat in his bowl, only turning his head to join the idle chatter after watching his wife pick it up with her chopsticks; the second son forever talking about some other family’s daughter, and when privately told of Huang Shi’s plan to help him with a little money, first feebly protesting out of politeness, then muttering on and on about how the two families had been good brothers for generations.

“I don’t have the strength to protect you.” The helpless words shattered the stillness of the room. Huang Shi lay with his hands behind his head, eyes wide open, wondering why he had suddenly spoken his innermost thoughts aloud. “Right now I can only think of a way to save my own skin.”

At the end of the third month, bad news came one after another: Shenyang and Liaoyang fell in succession, and over a hundred thousand troops of the Liaodong Army were annihilated. The entire Guangning army erupted in panic. Amid the terror and chaos all around him, Huang Shi accepted this reality without a flicker of expression, cutting firewood and hunting as usual. The turmoil left everyone with no heart for work, which happened to let him earn a tidy little sum.

The Later Jin army did not, as everyone had feared, press their victory and attack. His Lordship Wang Huazhen, Provincial Governor of Liaodong, soon began assembling troops at Guangning. In less than a month, everyone’s life returned to normal. Huang Shi’s unruffled composure in the face of upheaval left a deep impression on the neighbors, and Old Zhang’s family admired him to the point of prostration.

“Mao Wenlong should already have been recommended to Wang Huazhen. He is dreaming of one day being enfeoffed as a marquis, and his appetite for the offensive suits Wang Huazhen’s tastes perfectly. In two more months he will be dispatched toward the Liao Sea. Within a few years, this force of under two hundred men will grow to nearly a hundred thousand. So as long as I catch this deployment, then with my knowledge of history, within three years I should reach the rank of Assistant Regional Commander, and within five years I can make Vice Regional Commander.”

After running through his escape plan once more, Huang Shi let out a long breath. His plan for survival was to attach himself to Mao Wenlong’s army — he did, after all, know the history of Later Jin sweeping through Liaodong. And the crash study of Ming history he had done before crossing over had made him remember the name Mao Wenlong.

The only thing left to consider now was how to take a few of Old Zhang’s sons with him. Old Zhang was so advanced in years — there was absolutely nothing to be done for him; he could only hope the old man would escape the flames of war on his own. But as for his three sons, Huang Shi very much wished he could bring them all into the future Dongjiang Army.

The next day, when drill was over, Zhang Youdi ran over to walk back to town with Huang Shi. The mysterious look all over his face made it clear he had some story to tell again.

“Shitou, did you hear that General Cheng has led troops across the Liao River? I wonder how it will go this time.”

This month Wang Huazhen had again dispatched a contingent of the Guangning army to raid Later Jin territory. Huang Shi reckoned the odds were heavily against them, so he made it very clear that he did not hold out any hope for this offensive at all.

Zhang Youdi seemed to have a somewhat different opinion. “General Cheng is a true hero of our Guangning army — there should be no problem.”

After the Battle of Sarhu, the string of crushing defeats had left the Liao army’s morale at rock bottom. To boost morale, Wang Huazhen, Provincial Governor of Liaodong, kept sending small units across the Liao River on raids. The result was one disastrous defeat after another, which sank the troops’ spirits even lower. Huang Shi silently calculated when he might use Mao Wenlong’s opportunity to flee this land that was soon to fall.

At lunch, the Zhang family argued the question once more. Zhang Youdi also supported his younger brother’s view — General Cheng was a magnificent hero and a true man. Huang Shi could not be bothered to say much; after making his own opinion clear, he buried his head in his food. Zhang Zaidi, however, got into a quarrel with his two older brothers, his face red and his neck bulging.

When Huang Shi took Zhang Zaidi up the mountain to work, the young man was still indignant. “Big Brother Huang is certainly never wrong.”

“Mm.” Huang Shi could not be bothered with him.

“My eldest brother and second brother don’t understand anything,” Zhang Zaidi added.

“Mm.”

“Oh, right — I told them about Old Zhao’s business.” After spending time together for a while, Zhao Manxiong had become “Old Zhao” in Zhang Zaidi’s mouth.

“Oh.”

“My mother said I don’t understand. That Big Brother Huang means to learn all of Old Zhao’s skills and then kick him aside and go it alone.” Zhang Zaidi cried out in agitation. “I said that’s not how it is, and my mother still laughed at me for being young and told me to watch and learn more.”

“Oh?” This topic piqued Huang Shi’s interest. He knew the calamities of the coming years, so he had no long-term plans — and certainly no intention of using Zhao Manxiong up and then discarding him. He had not expected Old Zhang’s wife to have already passed judgment on his conduct. “What do you think, then?”

“Doesn’t Big Brother Huang always say a man must keep his word?” Zhang Zaidi said with full confidence. “Of course I know Big Brother Huang is not that kind of person.”

For the rest of the walk, Huang Shi silently mulled over his own concerns, not even noticing what else Zhang Zaidi was saying. When they reached the woods, he still did not register the clamor up ahead — it was Zhang Zaidi who alerted him.

Three men, also dressed as hunters, were shouting something at Zhao Manxiong, shoving and jostling him in a manner that looked far from friendly.

Huang Shi frowned and walked over, stepping between them. “Who are you, and what business do you have with him?”

The three hunters, by their faces, appeared to be brothers. The eldest of them shot Huang Shi a glance. “And what the hell are you? This is none of your business!”

Huang Shi’s face instantly darkened. Just as he was about to retort, the youngest-looking of the three let out a piercing howl — Zhang Zaidi had already circled around to their flank and swung the flat of his axe into the man’s leg.

There was no avoiding a fight now. Young Zhang’s strike was clearly vicious; the man he had ambushed never got back up. Huang Shi felled one of the two Ming hunters — neither of them taller than one meter six — with a few punches, then immediately lunged at the last one, who was grappling with Zhang Zaidi.

Once all three were down, Zhao Manxiong immediately shouted, “Stop! No more fighting!”

Huang Shi did stop, but Zhang Zaidi would not. Before Huang Shi had come to his aid, he had taken a solid few hits himself, and now he was kicking them back in return.

“Stop it,” Zhao Manxiong kept calling as he circled around to help the other two who were lying on the ground.

Zhang Zaidi landed a few more kicks, vented his anger, and was about to withdraw, panting heavily. In that instant — quicker than words can tell — Zhao Manxiong lunged forward in one bound and wrapped his arms tightly around Zhang Zaidi, shouting at the man, “Get out of here, now!”

After the three had scrambled and crawled their way out of sight, Huang Shi, who had stood to the side watching the whole scene unfold, could not help bursting into loud laughter. “Zhao Manxiong, what kind of game are you playing?”

Zhao Manxiong laughed too. Once the laughter subsided, he first turned to Zhang Zaidi and thanked him. “Little Brother Zhang, you’ve vented my anger for me.”

“They dared curse Big Brother Huang — they must be tired of living.”

The three men were indeed brothers, hunters from the same village as Zhao Manxiong — three scoundrels, in Zhao Manxiong’s words. Zhao Manxiong was clever and deft, skilled at making all kinds of traps, and had even designed and built many useful tools himself. But his parents had died early and he was all alone, so these three brothers constantly bullied him.

“They’ve secretly learned a lot of my skills, and they forcibly take my game and my tools.” Zhao Manxiong said bitterly, “If I don’t hand them over, they beat me.”

“Real scoundrels,” Zhang Zaidi said, spitting on the ground.

Huang Shi shot Zhang Zaidi an odd look, then glanced at Zhao Manxiong. He could not shake the feeling that these words carried the suspicion of pointing at a monk and cursing him bald.

Zhao Manxiong caught Huang Shi’s expression and understood at once. “Big Brother Shitou is very honorable — when we divide things up, he’s always fair. I’m actually embarrassed by it.”

“That fight with you back then wasn’t about trying to take your things.” Zhang Zaidi was no fool; hearing this, he grew embarrassed too, scratching his head and saying sheepishly, “It was because you were far too rude to Big Brother Huang.”

“I know, I know.” Zhao Manxiong looked magnanimous, smiling and waving his hand to show he did not mind at all. Speaking of his own view, Zhao Manxiong believed that offending these scoundrels was not permissible, but neither could one be too weak and easy to bully. So for a long time, he had made things for the three brothers when asked, but he always kept a measured restraint, making sure it was not too much, lest he whet their greed.

“That trap I had Big Brother Shitou make is one I improved. Today they spotted it and wanted to snatch it away.” Zhao Manxiong drew a few circles on the ground, thought for a moment, then looked up at Huang Shi. “Big Brother Shitou, could you make a few more? I’d like to deliver them tonight.”

“On what grounds?” Zhang Zaidi cried out in outrage. “People like that — you beat them every time you see them.”

Zhao Manxiong ignored Zhang Zaidi and faced Huang Shi. “I think Big Brother Shitou will surely agree.”

“Why?”