Red Cliff Road

They'd have to rely on his wits from here on. He Lingchuan changed the subject. "Father, why do we have to go back to the Great Capital?"

"The He family's foundation is there. How could an unworthy son not return?"

He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. "There are ears everywhere. Do I really have to spell it out?" He leaned close to his father's ear and whispered, his voice so faint the clatter of hooves easily drowned it out. "The emperor got our whole family killed. Why should we go back and work for him?"

He Chunhua frowned. "Where else could I put my ambitions to use?"

A true man built a career and won glory. Didn't he need someone to rely on?

"The Baling Kingdom to the west would work too. Doesn't our Qiansong Prefecture border four kingdoms? That monster kingdom to the northeast seems pretty good to me..." He Lingchuan kept his eyes peeled and dodged the slap He Chunhua swung down at his head. "Besides, the country's in turmoil. Even those peasant rabble who've raised their banners dare call themselves rebel kings! And look abroad: emperors change as often as horses on a carousel! I heard the Xuan Kingdom to the east went through eleven emperors in twenty years. The shortest reign lasted just nineteen days."

Now that was a dangerously unstable job.

What had gotten into the brat, that he kept thinking about betraying his country? He Chunhua's face hardened. "Those petty little kingdoms can't compare to the Great Yuan. We've been established for over sixty years, and we have everything we need."

Heh. He Lingchuan let out a long breath. "We've barely survived this time, and you still won't speak frankly with me, Father?"

He Chunhua looked startled. Then he fixed his eyes on him. "Have you been possessed by something?"

The question came out of nowhere, and a cold sweat broke across He Lingchuan's back.

"What?"

His eldest son was brave, but not particularly perceptive. He shouldn't have seen through his father's reservations. He Chunhua studied him for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Don't ever say things like that again. They're treasonous enough to get your head cut off."

A gust of sand blew past, and He Lingchuan sneezed.

His father's thoughts ran deep, too.

They were both old foxes. Somehow, that made He Lingchuan feel a little more at ease.

Governor He seemed to have been dragged into this maelstrom against his will, but who had really been plotting against whom behind the scenes?

State Preceptor Sun's party finally reached Red Cliff Road.

Beyond the mountain pass stretched a world of yellow sand, vast and boundless.

Sand dunes stood in the hot wind, one after another. Some were low as mounds of dirt, while others rose dozens of yards high, rivaling mountains. But they were nothing like solid cliffs. Some enormous dunes vanished overnight, only to appear suddenly in other hollows.

All the plants had disappeared. Not a trace of green remained.

As far as the eye could see, only desolation remained.

Red Cliff Road cut through the desert, fifteen yards wide—broad enough for several carriages to travel abreast. The paving stones had lost their original color and were worn uneven by the countless feet of passing merchants. Some of the bricks were new, since Blackwater City and its neighboring kingdoms each took responsibility for repairing sections of the road. Others were ancient and had never been replaced. Their black surfaces varied in shade, layered one over another.

Red Cliff Road looked like a gigantic gray-black snake crawling through the sea of sand.

Zeng Feixiong walked beside the He father and son. Seeing He Lingchuan's curiosity about the bricks, he explained, "They're all stained with blood, some fresh, some old. There are lots of bandits on this road, and plenty of battles."

"Some of the stains are over a hundred years old. Red Cliff Road was the route Coiling Dragon City used to move troops and grain back then. They say countless ambushes were fought along these roads."

To besiege a city, you had to cut off its reinforcements and supplies.

After hearing that, He Lingchuan felt the fierce, blood-soaked past bearing down on him.

So many brutal battles, so many lives cut short, so many impassioned cries to defend home and country—all buried beneath endless yellow sand in the end, leaving nothing behind.

Three years after Coiling Dragon City fell, the Xiluo Kingdom perished. Six years after that, the Xianyou Kingdom fell as well.

The two old enemies had fought for decades, only to collapse together and sink into the dust of history.

"Is that why everyone's flying the Bell Flag?" He Lingchuan pointed to the tall banner at the head of the party.

This was clearly an army of the Great Yuan, led by the respected State Preceptor Sun, yet the banner bore one huge character: "Bell."

People traveled across the land with an old flag from a bygone dynasty flying above them. It was incredible.

In fact, it wasn't just their party. Nearly every caravan on Red Cliff Road raised a Bell Flag high, as if sending a message to the entire desert.

Of course, once the caravans left Red Cliff Road, they put away the Bell Flags before entering other kingdoms. He Lingchuan had heard of the flags, but had rarely seen one.

"Vengeful spirits and mutated monsters roam the desert, eating whatever they catch. But they don't step onto Red Cliff Road, because the Great Wind Army traveled this route countless times. Everyone flies the Bell Flag to honor the Great Wind Army of old—and to keep themselves safe."

If you asked He Lingchuan, that wasn't honoring them. It was impersonation.

Zeng Feixiong pulled down the cloth covering his face, spat into a handkerchief, and put it away. "You can't just spit or piss on Red Cliff Road. You have to collect it and carry it away. Otherwise, it counts as disrespect and will anger the spirits of the heroes who died here."

He Chunhua added, "In the past, some kingdoms refused to believe it. They forbade their merchants from flying the Bell Flag on Red Cliff Road. But—"

"Then they had to allow it," He Lingchuan said, catching on. "The living have no reason to pick a fight with the dead."

Just then, several shouts rang out behind them.

Everyone looked back. A little white dog had darted out of another party farther down the road. In just a few bounds, it was off Red Cliff Road and racing toward the nearest dune.

Its owner was a five-year-old girl. As soon as the dog slipped away, she instinctively took off after it.

Before long, she too had left the road.

Her family hadn't even realized what was happening when a caravan hand hurried over from behind and shouted at her, "Come back! Hurry back!"

That was the voice He Lingchuan and the others heard.

The girl's mother, a wealthy lady, walked over and complained, "Keep your voice down. You'll scare my child!"

"If she doesn't come back, you'll lose her!" the caravan hand shouted. "Come back! The monsters will eat you!"

The desert lay empty and still as a painted scene. Not a single wild animal was in sight.

The girl stopped and looked from the party to the little white dog in the distance, hesitating.

The girl's mother said disdainfully, "Go bring her back."

The caravan hand refused. He didn't want to take even one step off Red Cliff Road.

The girl's mother had no choice but to hurry over to her child, scoop her up, and head back.

Nothing happened.

"Useless ma—" The wealthy lady hadn't even finished cursing when the ground suddenly collapsed beneath her feet.

A huge mouth appeared out of nowhere, rising from below to swallow her and the child whole.

Their screams were terrible, but brief.

They had been less than three steps from Red Cliff Road.

After swallowing the two of them, the monster didn't immediately burrow back down. Instead, it rushed toward the white dog nearby.

The creature looked a little like a flounder, with its mouth on top of its head. Its body was a huge, flat, round disk, colored much like the yellow sand. If it hadn't leaped out on its own, even He Lingchuan might not have noticed it, even from close by.