Chapter 234: Wuluo Zhongli Mountain

Deep in the mountain ranges south of the Three Gorges, as if flowing along the hem of the Wu Mountains, runs a river so clear that from ten zhang away you can see the five-colored horse-tooth stones on its bed.

"It is said that when the Kaiming clan of Shu passed through here on their eastern campaign, they named it Qingjiang, but we Ba people prefer to call it Yi River."

In late April, after several days of offensive and defensive fighting at Yidao, Ba Zhong and his retinue were traveling upstream. Beside him was his ever-present loyal guard Dan Hu, and there was also a dark-faced man dressed as a Ba warrior, wearing leather and zhe cloth with straw sandals. As long as he did not open his mouth, you could not tell him apart from an ordinary Ba person.

Yet when Ba Zhong whispered with him, they used the Xia tongue!

Over the past few days, Ba Zhong had visited nearly every Ba tribe in Yidao, and just as he had expected, internal strife had already broken out among the Ba factions. It turned out that when attacking Yidao, the Ba chieftains had discovered that the Qin resistance was so resolute — nothing at all like what the Chu envoy and Fan Qin had said, that they would collapse at a single blow after the county magistrate and commandant were killed.

As a result, many tribal chieftains regretted it. They led their followers away from the battlefield and returned to the mountain forests, watching cautiously while also beginning to worry about the Qin army's retaliation, which could come at any time.

Sure enough, after reinforcements arrived, the Qin forces at Yidao did indeed begin to move out. Under the leadership of Hei Fu and Cheng Wuyou, they swept through some small Ba tribes living in the villages and hamlets, executing every Ba person who had taken part in killing Qin officials and soldiers!

Just as the various tribes were uncertain whether to keep following Fan Qin down the path of rebelling against Qin to the bitter end, or whether to migrate and leave, Ba Zhong's appearance gave them another choice.

"The commandery governor understands that you, my lords, had no choice. Therefore, only the ringleaders will be punished; those who merely followed will not be held accountable. If you stop this rebellion now, there is still time!"

Ba Zhong was a son of the Ba clan and held high status among the Ba people. Moreover, his family's horse caravans and boats often traveled along both banks of the Yi River, trading cloth and bronze and iron from the outside world for the locally produced rock salt and well salt. Thus, he also commanded great prestige in Yidao. Even though he was an envoy of Qin, he could come and go freely and his safety was assured — after all, no one wanted to offend the wealthy and powerful Widow Qing.

Ba Zhong appealed to their sentiments and reasoned with them, persuading several tribes. But the people still had misgivings, so they decided to follow tradition and reassemble at Wuluo Zhongli Mountain to discuss the matter together.

At that time, Fan Qin, as the leader publicly chosen by the local tribes, would automatically forfeit his leadership over them if he did not come. Ba Zhong could then persuade the tribes to attack him together! If he did come, Wuluo Zhongli Mountain was ancestral ground, and no one could bring too many followers inside — Fan Qin would be walking right into a trap…

At this stage, the plan to unite the majority and strike at a small handful was already half achieved. The gathering at Wuluo Zhongli Mountain would be the key to persuading the tribes to stop the rebellion.

Therefore, Hei Fu could not just wait idly in Yidao either. He left the defense of Yidao to Cheng Wuyou, then took two or three soldiers, disguised himself as a Ba person, and blended in among Ba Zhong's personal attendants.

In the long, narrow valley of the Yi River, the summer waters rushed swift and clear. Both banks were thick with lush trees and empty grottoes, and when people passed by, flocks of birds would gather, their plaintive cries answering one another.

Ba Zhong continued telling Hei Fu that this beautiful river valley had not only nurtured the ancestors of the Ba people, but was itself practically the history of the Ba migrations. Tracing upstream from here, one would first pass Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, the earliest stronghold of the Ba people, then Yanyang and Yicheng, where they had founded their kingdom, all the way to the source of the Yi River — the vast world where the Ba people had multiplied and scattered, not far from Ba Zhong's home in Zhi County, Ba Commandery.

As a child, Ba Zhong had once traveled east from Zhi County, crossing these hundreds of li of mountain forests to reach Wuluo Zhongli Mountain and pay respects to his ancestors. Back then, he was still young, dressed in traditional Ba attire, returning to the ancestral land as a son of the Ba people. But now, he was going the opposite direction, as an envoy of Qin, wearing Xia robes, coming to persuade the Ba people to stop their meaningless resistance.

At high noon, the group reached their destination. Wuluo Zhongli Mountain stood by the banks of the Yi River, surrounded on all sides by water at its base, with emerald waves rippling gently. On the island, five peaks rose in scattered formation, bristling with grotesque rock formations — one had to take a boat to reach it.

However, what startled Ba Zhong was that when he and the tribal chieftains took boats and landed on Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, they saw that Fan Qin had already arrived early with several warriors and was waiting there!

And the person standing beside him was unmistakably a man from Chu, wearing a tall Chu cap and wide-sleeved Chu robes!

Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, where by tribal convention blood feuds and armed fights were forbidden, and where outsiders were not permitted to enter, suddenly became tense with swords drawn and arrows ready.

"Fan Qin!"

One tribal chieftain flew into a rage and rebuked him: "You dare bring an outsider into the ancestral ground!"

Fan Qin wore an exaggerated feathered headdress, a leopard skin draped over him, and a blade hung at his waist. Facing the crowd's accusations, he pointed at Ba Zhong and his group and sneered: "Did you not also bring a Qin man with you?"

…

Everyone's eyes turned to look, but the dark-faced man beside Ba Zhong remained impassive, because Fan Qin's finger was not pointing at him, but at Ba Zhong, who was dressed in Xia robes…

Ba Zhong was startled at first, then burst out laughing: "Chieftain Fan is truly forgetful. I am no Qin man. I am Ba Zhong of Zhi County, descendant of Lord Lin, son of the Ba clan. We met just a few days ago."

"Naturally! It was you, Xia boy, who told the Qin people all about our strengths and weaknesses, which led to the failed attack on Yidao! We should have seized you then, you unfilial descendant who has turned your back on your ancestors and sees yourself as a Qin man, and locked you in the Red Cave to reflect properly!" Fan Qin began preemptively denouncing Ba Zhong.

"As long as one's heart is with Lord Lin and with the welfare of the Ba people, one is still a Ba person! I ask myself, I have never done anything that harmed the Ba people!" Ba Zhong defended himself.

"On the contrary, Chieftain Fan accepted gifts from the Chu people and coerced the Yidao tribes into rebelling against Qin — a path of self-destruction from the start. Already, several hundred have been killed or wounded beneath the walls of Yidao. Must more lives be thrown away before this stops?"

At this moment, the Chu man beside Fan Qin called out in the Ba language: "Not so! Though Yidao has not yet been breached, the Chu army has now laid siege to Chanling and will take it within days. Once Chanling falls, what does Yidao matter? My lords, do not be deceived by this Xia boy!"

Ba Zhong was not to be outdone: "How is it that I have heard the governor and commandant of Nan Commandery in Qin have personally mobilized a large army to reinforce Chanling? The Chu army has so far failed to breach Chanling, and in the end will likely retreat in defeat. When the great Qin army arrives and exacts retribution, this ancestral land along the Yi River may no longer belong to the Ba people!"

He began to cry out loudly: "My lords, ask yourselves: each tribe pays an annual tax of two thousand and sixteen qian, and every three years a poll tax of one thousand eight hundred qian. Each household in the tribe pays an annual corvée commutation tax of fifty-six qian, eight zhang and two chi of cloth, and thirty bundles of chicken feathers. Compared to the levies imposed when Chu ruled Yidao over a hundred years ago, this is not heavy. Compared to the registered commoner Qin households near Yidao city, it is already lighter. The Qin authorities have never forced us to abandon the ways of our ancestors. If we returned to Chu, would anything change? Since there is no profit to be gained, why rebel against Qin!"

"The Qin official broke faith and killed my own younger brother! How can I not avenge this grudge?" Fan Qin's hand had already moved to the blade at his waist. A bloody clash seemed imminent. He had brought quite a few men up Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, and they held the high ground. If a fight broke out, Ba Zhong and his group would be at a disadvantage.

Just then, a blast of horn notes suddenly rang out. The Ba ritualist who guarded the place and performed sacrifices to Lord Lin came out, blowing a water buffalo horn.

"Who dares slaughter each other on Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, before the Red and Black Caves, before Lord Lin himself?"

A priestess wearing a feathered robe walked down from the mountain. Her face was painted with thick colored patterns, making it impossible to tell her age or appearance, but from her aged tone of voice and the wrinkled backs of her hands, one could tell she was quite old.

Since high antiquity, the Ba people "had no rulers but served the ghosts and spirits together," and it was still so today. The status of ghost-spirit shamans was very high, and the shamans were often women who undertook various matters of sacrifice and divination. Any woman who had participated in sacrifices was regarded as a special person capable of communicating with ancestors, ghosts, and spirits, and received particular respect.

Seeing the priestess, the arguing crowd finally quieted down and prostrated themselves on the ground. Hei Fu hesitated a moment, then also prostrated himself along with them, but he did not join the crowd in shouting slogans he could not understand.

The priestess looked at the chieftains before her and declared loudly in a hoarse voice: "This concerns the survival of all the tribes. How can you be swayed by the instigations of outsiders? According to the ancestral law, whenever a matter cannot be decided, the tribal chieftains shall hurl their swords at the stone cave. He who hits the mark may command the multitude! All chieftains, follow me into the stone cave. The rest shall wait outside!"

"Ba Zhong, you too are a Ba chieftain. Enter as well!"

With that, the priestess strode away. The Ba chieftains looked at one another. Fan Qin, utterly unafraid, walked at the very front, while Ba Zhong followed at the very back. Before leaving, he turned his head to glance at his trusted man Dan Hu, and at Hei Fu, who was disguised as a Ba warrior, and nodded slightly…

Hei Fu understood. His gaze, intentionally or not, fixed upon the Chu envoy, who was under the protection of Fan Qin's trusted men!

PS: Starting tomorrow I'll begin making up the owed chapters. Currently 9 chapters behind; I'll make up one chapter every other day. The timing will be as regular as possible. These past two days have just been too busy.

(End of chapter)