A Jug of Murky Wine Stirred the Heart and Soul

"Hey, young man, want to leave your donkey with us? We've got the finest fodder, free grooming, hoof repairs, and professional massages. Your mount will be so comfortable it'll bray with delight. It's only one coin for an hour. Hey? Don't go! We've even got pretty young jennies..." Outside the city gate, a stablehand at a roadside inn was deftly hawking his services.

"You're still young. What are you thinking about pretty young jennies for? Come on, let's go." The moment Tauxue heard "young jennies," he lost all interest in leaving. Zi Bofeng quickly coaxed him along. "Once we get to Mengcheng Prefecture or Luo Qianshan's place, you can eat all the fodder you want for free. There'll be tall horses for you to look at, too. Maybe there'll even be pretty mares. Aren't mares prettier than jennies?"

In the end, the old ginger was the spiciest. After Zi Bofeng fooled him, Tauxue immediately tugged him toward the city. Zi Bofeng could only clutch the reins tightly to keep the rascal from breaking loose and galloping off.

With his intelligence up, Tauxue's curiosity had grown too. Once inside the city, he was curious about everything, looking at this one moment and sniffing that the next. After they'd finally made it through the gate, the donkey was drawn to the Lotus Fragrance Steamed Buns. He stretched his neck toward the vendor's steamer, so Zi Bofeng had to spend money on a few buns, both meat and vegetable. He ate the meat ones and fed the vegetable ones to the donkey, drawing a crowd of onlookers.

Zi Bofeng took the chance to tuck Green Snake into his sleeve. He ate a little, then fed a little to Green Snake. The snake didn't seem to have an appetite like a human's; after eating a bit, he stopped. Zi Bofeng sneakily put him back in the book box.

It took a quarter of an hour to finish breakfast. At last, Zi Bofeng dragged his little donkey to the gates of Mengcheng Prefecture and asked the guards standing outside, "Where's Qianshan? I'm here to see him!"

"Scholar." The soldiers at the Prefecture all knew Zi Bofeng by now. One hurried over to hold the donkey's reins and put on a fierce face as he scolded Tauxue. Another smiled and said, "General Luo didn't come to the Prefecture today."

"He didn't?" Zi Bofeng paused. "Then where did he go?"

"If General Luo hasn't left Mengcheng on assignment, then nine times out of ten he's at the barracks."

Zi Bofeng led Tauxue out through the east gate. After walking two li, he spotted a barracks. Signal towers stood tall, and several archers watched for danger from atop them. From a great distance, they drew their bows and aimed at Zi Bofeng, shouting, "Who goes there? Military grounds! No unauthorized entry!"

No unauthorized entry? Zi Bofeng rolled his eyes. Right beside the barracks gate, a tea flag fluttered in the wind, and an old man sat there sipping tea, perfectly at ease.

"I'm here to see Luo Qianshan!" Zi Bofeng shouted. "Tell him Zi Bofeng is here!"

Before long, Luo Qianshan's young aide came out to meet him. "Scholar, the general is drilling the troops. He sent me to escort you in."

Following the young aide into the barracks, Zi Bofeng looked around curiously. Several soldiers on guard watched him warily, their hands unconsciously gripping the steel sabers at their waists.

"Scholar, don't look around. This is a military stronghold..." the young aide quickly reminded him. But how could you stop someone from looking just by telling him not to?

Zi Bofeng looked around and saw that the soldiers ranged widely in age. Some were about as old as the young aide, while others were white-haired and looked ancient. Zi Bofeng wondered whether they could still take the field and kill the enemy. Others were slovenly dressed, sitting on benches and picking at their toes as they pointed and chatted.

"What makes this a military stronghold?" Zi Bofeng gave the young aide a sidelong glance. The aide hurriedly changed the subject and chuckled. "Ah, this little donkey's been behaving, hasn't he?"

"He's well-behaved enough... It's just that he walks too slowly. This whole trip has worn me out..." Zi Bofeng poured out his complaints.

"That's just how fast donkeys are..." The young aide could only shake his head helplessly.

Hearing Zi Bofeng complain about him, Tauxue gave a few displeased snorts and turned his head away.

"Look, the little fellow's angry. You have to praise livestock more often... What a fine donkey..." The young aide patted the donkey's ears.

Zi Bofeng stood by the road for a while and watched Luo Qianshan ride a horse, waving several small flags as he directed a group of reasonably fit soldiers through formation drills. It looked like a group dance, now a circle, now a square. It was quite a sight. As for what use the formations had, Zi Bofeng had never seen an ancient battle formation and had no idea. When he saw the best parts, he clapped and cheered.

Luo Qianshan was at a critical point in changing formations when he heard applause from the sidelines, as if someone were watching a show. He nearly fell off his horse. Handing the flag to his deputy, he rode to the edge of the field in a bad mood and looked down at Zi Bofeng. "What are you doing here?"

"Great show, great show!" Zi Bofeng offered him a warm round of applause. "Why'd you stop? I was enjoying it."

"Great show, my ass!" Luo Qianshan was seized by another urge to draw his saber. How had this guy managed to stay alive until now?

"Don't sell yourself short. You put on a fine show. If you performed in the town square, you'd rake in money hand over fist." Zi Bofeng kept teasing him. When Luo Qianshan swung down from his horse, Zi Bofeng turned to the young aide. "Go feed my donkey for me."

The young aide glanced at Luo Qianshan. Seeing no objection, he led Tauxue away. In the aide's hands, Tauxue was perfectly docile, looking straight ahead. Zi Bofeng grumbled inwardly.

"You only left yesterday. Why are you back already?" Luo Qianshan asked seriously.

"It's because of Feijianzi," Zi Bofeng said with a frown. "What are you planning to do?"

"Didn't I already tell you?" Luo Qianshan looked puzzled, clearly unable to understand what Zi Bofeng was thinking.

"You really plan to assassinate Feijianzi?" Zi Bofeng was shocked.

"Whether Feijianzi is assassinated isn't for me to decide," Luo Qianshan said gravely. "I'm just a soldier, and all I have is force. Feijianzi threatened the Prefect, which I find distasteful, so I proposed an assassination to the Prefect. He didn't approve it, but he didn't forbid it either, so I started making preparations. When to assassinate him, or whether to do it at all, is for the Prefect to consider. I don't need to think about it too much."

After speaking, Luo Qianshan noticed the weariness in Zi Bofeng's expression and spoke bluntly. "Bofeng, why do I feel like you're more worried than the Prefect? Listen to me. You're only a Village Chief. All you need to do is your best to gather jade and keep the villagers calm. If you really can't gather enough jade, the Prefect will surely find a way. He won't leave you in a bind."

Zi Bofeng smiled bitterly. If only things were really that simple. How could he explain to Luo Qianshan that he had not only the unspeakable Monster Raising Art, but also an indignation he could not put into words?

"I envy the way you think..." Zi Bofeng sighed. That was the biggest difference between him and Luo Qianshan, wasn't it? Luo Qianshan simply acted. He never considered why he acted or whether he should. Nor did he need to. He was a soldier. From ancient times to the present, a soldier's duty had always been to obey orders. To carry them out, he put life and death aside.

But compared to Luo Qianshan, Zi Bofeng was not so simple and direct. There were too many things he needed to consider and hesitate over.

"You're overthinking it." Luo Qianshan gave a cold laugh. "The Prefect has been in that position for years. Haven't all the hardships he's faced ended with him coming through unscathed?"

"This time is different. This time it's an immortal..." Zi Bofeng didn't know whether he meant the Prefect or himself.

Compared to the Prefect, he was still too green. In every aspect of his outlook, he fell far short of the Prefect. Combining the memories of two worlds couldn't make up the difference.

"What's so different? An immortal is only a little stronger than an ordinary person," Luo Qianshan said. "Just as you said, if we really want to assassinate him, there are plenty of ways. When it comes to killing people, that immortal may not be better at it than I am."

Luo Qianshan said it with murderous resolve, but Zi Bofeng still shook his head. His situation was different from everyone else's.

"Besides, Heaven favors the good. A few months ago, the Prefect was fretting over raising taxes, and didn't you, Zi Bofeng, jump in, roaring and clawing, and solve it?"

"Don't make me sound so awful. What do you mean, roaring and clawing? I nearly worked myself to death," Zi Bofeng said helplessly.

"Anyway, to me, all you did was roar and claw. I don't understand how you managed it at all. So a problem that looks impossible to solve to you might be child's play to someone else." Luo Qianshan patted Zi Bofeng again. "Do your own job. Don't fret over other people's affairs."

After watching Zi Bofeng think for a moment, Luo Qianshan asked, "Figured it out yet?"

"How could I figure it out so quickly?" Zi Bofeng was practically ready to roar and claw.

"I thought you were pretty clever. Don't clever people figure things out fast?" Luo Qianshan asked, now puzzled.

"But clever people can get stuck in a rut too..." As for being called clever, Zi Bofeng accepted the compliment. He had to put up with all the downsides of being clever, after all. I'm so pitiful. Sigh...

"I've got a good way to get out of a rut." Luo Qianshan put an arm around Zi Bofeng's shoulders—or rather, locked his neck in a chokehold. "You came at just the right time. The cook in our camp is a master. His food is every bit as good as Baimeng House's. I also sneaked a few bottles of fine liquor from the Prefect last time, brought all the way from the capital. And I've got some fierce Burning Knife Liquor. Today, you and I are drinking until we drop!"

"Wait, Burning Knife Liquor?" Zi Bofeng suddenly felt a lot of pressure. "I only know how to drink beer..."

"What's beer? I'll have to try it sometime. All I've got here is hard liquor!" Luo Qianshan dragged Zi Bofeng to the mess hall and called loudly, "Lao Guan? Lao Guan?"

A kindly-looking veteran in his forties or fifties rushed out from the back. He wore a soldier's uniform with a greasy apron over it. He bowed to Luo Qianshan. "General, what would you like to eat?"

"Pick a few of the good things I've been raising out back," Luo Qianshan said. "Make the portions big. This guy's a glutton."

"Coming right up. Just a moment." The fire cook called Lao Guan bowed again and turned to go.

"Bring out my treasured liquor first. Let's have a few cups!" Luo Qianshan declared, full of heroic spirit.

Record of Raising Monsters