Chapter 7: Guoshanmao

The border troops from Yubao Fort had found a village to settle in before dusk, amid the endless desolate fields. The village was once called Guoshanmao.

A "mao" is a type of loess hill in the northwest with a flat top and steep slopes. The village was built right beside such a hill, with many cave dwellings dug into the steep cliff face, along with even more residential courtyards. In the past, it had been a large village of over a hundred households.

Last spring, a few households still lived here. When Liu Chengzong went out from the fort to recruit soldiers, he had seen the shepherd of Guoshanmao singing folk songs on the road.

The scenes of past years were still vivid in his mind, but this year, only collapsed and dilapidated courtyards remained, along with cave dwellings whose doors and windows were sealed shut with yellow adobe.

It added a few more shades of desolation.

The nearly two hundred border troops He Renlong had released from Yubao Fort split into three groups at the river mouth. One group headed northeast with their soldiers, planning to bypass Yulin City to reach Baode Prefecture; their destinations were Shenmu County and Fugu County.

The small squad heading for Qingyang Prefecture and Pingliang Prefecture also bid them farewell at the riverbank. Carrying their shoes, they waded barefoot through the knee-deep Wuding River to the west bank, intending to enter the Heng Mountains.

In the end, only the squads of Liu Chengzu and Cao Yao headed south, totaling fifty men.

Squad Leader Tian Shoujing led men to gather firewood, while his elder brother Liu Chengzu had already climbed the steep slope along the cliff face upon first arriving at Guoshanmao, ascending to a high vantage point to survey the terrain.

The faces of those he knew well were all clouded with anxiety over their uncertain future. In contrast, Cao Yao's squad was quite at ease. They had chopped down a dead tree to use as a battering ram and were rampaging through the village, smashing open the adobe seals the common folk had used to block their cave dwellings when fleeing, rummaging everywhere for anything usable.

They said it was a drawing of lots, but Liu Chengzong felt the soldiers He Renlong had released all had some issues.

Liu Chengzu's squad consisted of soldiers recruited from the refugees last year. Over the past year, with insufficient provisions and supplies, their training was incomplete and their skills were limited. Judging by the standards of veteran border troops, the only thing they could present well was their formation drill.

That was why twenty of them had been released.

As for Cao Yao's squad, they were all over thirty, each a top expert in military skills, and many were veterans who had fought in the Battle of Sarhu. It was just that they had all spent a few years as bandits and were hard to manage.

Squad Leader Cao, the old scoundrel, was even more jovial. He ordered his men to chop up someone's door plank to build a bonfire and was hugging his woman, showing off a bronze mirror he had bought for three measures of beans. Something unknown was roasting over the fire. Seeing Liu Chengzong wandering around the village, he waved him over.

"Lion, Lion! I've seen you wandering the village for ages. What are you looking for?"

"Nothing in particular. I took Little Whirlwind for a walk in the fields outside the village and didn't see any living creatures." Liu Chengzong walked over and shook his head. "I was just looking around the village to see if there's any... Squad Leader Cao, I've made two rounds and haven't seen Third Brother Gao. Have you seen him?"

Squad Leader Gao Xian was the third child in his family, so everyone called him Gao Laosan.

Cao Yao chuckled slyly and waved his hand dismissively. "Heh, I thought you were looking for something important. Don't worry about Old Gao. He went over the mountain to the Seven-Eye Caves to find his woman. He probably won't get there until nightfall and won't be back until tomorrow. He even borrowed three dou of grain from me, said he wants to buy his woman back."

"I gave him advice, but he wouldn't listen. If you ask me, he should just take two men and tie the woman up and bring her back. Let that son of a bitch sleep with her for free for a year, and in the end, he still has to give him grain..."

It had to be said, among their two squads, Cao Yao was the undisputed man of means. When they left Yubao Fort, his luggage alone had required two mules to carry, and he had his soldiers carry some other items on their backs.

This was probably also the reason Cao Yao's squad was so at ease. They knew they wouldn't starve to death; if it really came down to it, they could slaughter the two mules and eat for days.

"So you lent him the grain?"

"What lend or not lend, I just gave it to him. He said that household had helped save his life back then. Tch!" Cao Yao spat into the fire. "Saved his life and helped him, is there really such a damn good thing? Why didn't he come to me for help?"

Cao Yao laughed lewdly, but immediately cried out "Ow!"—Sister-in-law Cao had fiercely twisted the flesh on his waist. "Fine, you Cao Liu'er, 'come to you for help'? Have you no shame!"

Sister-in-law Cao looked about ten years younger than Old Cao. She was a beauty with an oval face who had been with Cao Yao since he defected to He Renlong, always living outside Yubao Fort. Moreover, she was a woman with martial skills.

"Hey, I was just talking. If I'd known about this, he wouldn't have had to give his woman away... Lion, look." Seeing his wife's anger flare, Cao Yao smiled apologetically and changed the subject, pointing at the few pieces of meat roasting over the fire. "Look familiar?"

By now, the aroma of roasting meat had already wafted out. Before Liu Chengzong could speak, Sister-in-law Cao laughed and said, "Stop teasing Lion. That's the wild goose he shot."

As she spoke, she looked up at Liu Chengzong and said, "You know how your brother is, used to being a scoundrel. He felt wronged when he drew the short lot, so just before leaving the fort, he ordered someone to go ask He Yong for the geese."

"Only got one back." Cao Yao picked up a wooden skewer to check how cooked it was, blew on it, and handed it to Liu Chengzong. "This roasted goose leg is for you. That one's for your brother. The rest will be shared with the brothers to make soup later."

Liu Chengzong hadn't even processed it. He stared blankly at the willow branch skewer Cao Yao extended. "Got one back?"

"You shot the geese. Leaving them one is already generous. Who knows if we'll ever see them again? Eat your fill first, then talk."

Come to think of it, that made sense. Although Liu Chengzong felt he couldn't have done such a thing himself, Cao Yao had gotten a goose back, and now the goose leg was roasted to a fragrant perfection. It was quite nice, so he sat down and began to eat as well.

Seeing him sit, Sister-in-law Cao stood up, dusted the loose soil off her old floral-patterned cotton coat, smiled at him, and said, "Lion, you brothers talk about serious matters. I'll go inside and heat the kang. If I don't tidy up, we won't be able to sleep tonight."

She walked step by step into the cave dwelling until her figure disappeared. Only then did Cao Yao turn his twisted neck back. His large face, marked with a scar on the forehead, still wore a lovestruck grin as if in a dream. He came back to his senses, shook his head, and sighed with emotion, "Your sister-in-law is a good woman!"

Cao Yao telling Liu Chengzong this was useless; he had no wife and didn't understand these things. He just nodded, driven by a gossipy curiosity, and asked, "Brother Cao, how long has sister-in-law been with you?"

"How long has she been with me?"

Hearing the question, Cao Yao's hand, reaching to take the goose leg from Liu Chengzong, paused. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and pondered. "It's been... it's been ten years. The year of the great Battle of Sarhu. Yeah... it's been ten years."

"Ten years?" Liu Chengzong froze, his eyes widening in shock. He handed the goose leg over and blurted out, "I thought sister-in-law was only twenty!"

"Right, she was eleven the year she followed me. Without Sarhu, a man like me, Cao Liu'er, could never have gotten such a fine woman in this life." Cao Yao took the goose leg and bit into it fiercely, his mouth glistening with grease. "Delicious!"

"Want me to tell you about it?" The goose leg was handed back. Cao Yao poked at the bonfire with a wooden stick, his eyes reflecting the flames, his speech slowing. "That year of the great battle, the army was routed, and I escaped with the general. I was more or less a squad leader.

Near the pass, the general was executed by Xiong Tingbi. I took nineteen brothers, kowtowed, and swore an oath to Heaven and Earth to live and die together. We fled into the pass.

When we reached the borders of Guangping Prefecture, it was snowing heavily. We didn't dare go to the county or prefectural cities. We originally wanted to find a village to buy some grain... Don't look at me like that. Back then, I was just about your age, not yet a complete bastard. I just wanted to return to Henan alive. I would've even sold my boots, anything would do.

We found a village, but it had already been looted clean. The routed troops who got there before me weren't as well-behaved. The men had all been killed, and only the women were kept to cook.

We were all starving."

Cao Yao took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his tone was remarkably smooth. "There was still grain in the village, so we drew our blades on that group. In the fight, many men were just... gone, like that.

I saw she was truly beautiful, so fair. I really didn't know what to say, so I just said I'd take her home. She took me to her home, a fine, wealthy household. I still remember it now, a three-courtyard compound, the screen wall and eaves tiles capped with snow. It was wonderful!

The side rooms were burning. In the front courtyard, six were dead; in the back, two. I helped her carry her parents out and bury them. I got a huge bargain... We bowed to Heaven and Earth before their graves.

Everyone says I'm a rogue, but I'm no fool. If I weren't a rogue, how could I have kept such a good wife? Once we kowtowed, I made up my mind. Even if I returned to my hometown in Henan, I'd have to become an outlaw. I could never farm for someone else again in this life. If I farmed for someone else, my wife would sooner or later belong to another man.

Later, when I went to rob on the roads, she was a bandit's woman; when I took to the hills as a bandit chief, she was the fortress lord's wife; when I became a squad leader, she became the squad leader's woman.

She's just like me. No, she is my brother!"

Cao Yao turned his head, smiling, and said with utter seriousness, "If I had stayed on the straight and narrow, I don't know how many times I'd be dead by now."

Having said this, he took another deep breath, the reminiscence on his face receding. He gestured with his hand between the two of them. "Brother, shall we talk about some serious matters?"