Commander Liu

Du Chengfeng knew of Commander Liu, who governed Jizhou.

Like Liu Qingyun, the famous swordsman from before, Commander Liu usually served as little more than background chatter in people's conversations. But as the great figure who ruled all of Jizhou, Commander Liu stood far above Liu Qingyun in status.

That much could be seen from Liu Qingyun's life as well. He might mention Commander Liu in passing, but he had never actually met the man himself.

At the end of the day, no matter how famous a swordsman was, he was still only a swordsman. To enter the Commander's residence was a gap far too wide.

But what Liu Qingyun could not do did not mean Du Chengfeng could not.

After all, in the course of sharpening weapons, he had learned that this southern advance by the Hu was no ordinary raid. It was a full-scale war launched by the Khan deep in the grasslands, with the Azure Sheep Tribe serving as the vanguard. These grassland warriors who had clawed their way through the bitter cold north of the desert would pay any price to seize the warm lands of the south. And at such a time, the Azure Sheep Tribe had produced a terrifying commander like Hexi Qing, a man with virtually no weaknesses.

Without question, this was vital military intelligence. If he handed it to Commander Liu, perhaps the man could deploy troops in advance, lay an ambush, and strike Hexi Qing—and the Azure Sheep Tribe behind him—with a head-on blow.

The idea was good, but when it came time to put it into practice, Du Chengfeng still felt he would run into no small number of difficulties.

For example, just like this.

"What? You're saying the Hu are about to attack?"

The next day, Du Chengfeng had risen unusually early and hurried all the way to the Jizhou Commander's residence, only to be stopped by the soldiers at its gate.

"All right, we understand. You can go back now. Commander Liu will send troops to rescue you later."

Clearly, the guards at the gate did not take Du Chengfeng's words seriously. The reason was simple: there was far too much intelligence like this. Jizhou lay on the border, with the grasslands directly to its north. Raids by grasslanders happened hundreds of times a year, if not a thousand. A dozen Hu could mount their horses and come charging over to rob people. They had no possessions to speak of and only one rotten life left to lose. Faced with such endless harassment, no matter how often the Commander's residence sent reinforcements, they could never match the speed of the Hu's plundering.

That was precisely why villages throughout Jizhou had strongmen like the Yang Clan. If everyone did not build stockades and defend themselves, relying solely on troops from the Commander's residence to save their lives, then by the time those soldiers arrived, everyone would already be lying dead on the ground.

But after the villages and towns under its jurisdiction began building stockades for self-defense, the Commander's residence instead found itself with less to do. Unless intelligence confirmed that a Hu army was pressing against the border, the Commander's residence was perfectly happy to let villages and towns like Yang Family Fort organize their own resistance, lightening its burden somewhat.

Fortunately, Du Chengfeng had brought solid intelligence this time.

"This is the axe left behind by Hexi Xuan of the Azure Sheep Tribe, the Hu commander who attacked Yang Family Fort not long ago."

As he spoke, Du Chengfeng untied the coarse cloth wrapped around the axe blade.

"I sharpen weapons, so I can glean intelligence from this axe. Take it to your grinding craftsmen. Someone will understand what I mean."

"This..."

The moment they looked at the axe, the two soldiers guarding the Commander's residence instinctively took half a step back.

When Du Chengfeng held the axe out to them, neither guard even dared accept it.

As soldiers who handled weapons year-round, how could they fail to see just what kind of danger this great axe represented?

"Wait here! We'll go in and report at once!"

The two soldiers rushed into the Commander's residence as if fleeing for their lives, making Du Chengfeng frown.

He had originally thought that since Commander Liu commanded Ji Town on the frontier, he must surely be an iron-blooded, battle-hardened general. The soldiers under such a man naturally could not be too poor—yet from what Du Chengfeng saw now, these two men standing guard at the Commander's residence looked no different from servants of an ordinary wealthy household. A mere battle axe had frightened them into a panicked retreat.

Their nerves were far too weak. They were not even as steady as Carpenter Li. Last night, after Carpenter Li had gotten drunk, he had even asked whether he could pour wine over the axe too, so he could take it home to chop wood.

Looking at it this way, the Commander's residence was likely not something he could count on. If Commander Liu's soldiers were all of this caliber, it was hard to say whether gathering them together would amount to fighting strength—or merely provisions for Hexi Qing to grow stronger on.

The news the two soldiers brought back made Du Chengfeng shake his head even more.

Commander Liu was not in the residence, and neither were the grinding craftsmen. According to the two soldiers, they had ridden out early in the morning.

It was hard to say whether that was true or merely an excuse the two soldiers had made up to fob him off. But since he already knew he would not be seeing Commander Liu, Du Chengfeng no longer had any interest in lingering in Ji Town.

Better to rely on himself than beg others. Rather than be like Liu Qingyun, placing his hopes elsewhere only to die in the end, he might as well use the methods he had recently learned to temper himself first.

It was not as though he would necessarily win, but even if he died, perhaps he could die fighting gloriously.

So, after leading his horse out of Ji Town, Du Chengfeng swung into the saddle and rode all the way back to Yang Family Fort.

But when he had just returned to his little courtyard, Du Chengfeng suddenly saw Yang Xuan, the old man in charge of Yang Family Fort, standing at the entrance to his yard.

"What is it this time?"

Du Chengfeng dismounted, his face full of confusion.

"Did you bring me another new blade?"

"Not a new blade, an old blade... no, that's not right. Hero, let's speak somewhere else first."

Yang Xuan hemmed and hawed for quite a while before finally pulling Du Chengfeng aside.

And Du Chengfeng learned what had happened.

It was indeed about an old blade—the Broken Horse saber from yesterday. After Liu Qingyun had been killed by a single sword strike in the duel, Yang Xuan had bought the Broken Horse saber from Liu Qingyun's family almost immediately and brought it to Du Chengfeng.

Du Chengfeng had gained a weapon and the opportunity to sharpen it, while the Yang Clan of Jizhou had gained Du Chengfeng's friendship. It should have been a win-win arrangement.

But that was where the problem lay.

"I only learned last night that one of the Commander's residence's grinding craftsmen had also taken a fancy to that Broken Horse saber."

At this point, the aged Yang Xuan could not help wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

"That's a grinding craftsman from the Commander's residence. This..."

"So you want me to speak up for you?"

Du Chengfeng immediately caught the meaning beneath Yang Xuan's words, though he did not feel annoyed.

He had always sharpened weapons alone, and had been wanting to exchange ideas with others in the trade. Because of this Broken Horse saber, he now happened to have the chance.

"Set a time. I'll go talk to him."

"There's no need to set a time."

Yang Xuan gave an awkward smile and pointed toward the little courtyard beside them.

"They're already here. They're in the courtyard now."