The dark-skinned girl was called Tang Ke. Her surname was rather long, and they hadn't caught it. Apparently, she used to attend school in Leche. Before the war broke out, Duqin had been a thriving country—backward, but not poor. At least it had abundant mineral resources. Not everyone could afford school, but plenty of people could.
Schools in Duqin required students to study a foreign language. Her school had offered a choice between Chinese and the Blue Language, and she had chosen Chinese.
Tang Ke took the group to see where the two sides had fought. The Lanya soldiers' bodies, weapons, and equipment were still there. The villagers hadn't dared touch them.
This Lanya squad had consisted mainly of Nightfolk and Barbarians, enough to mark it as an elite unit. It had reportedly brought two armored War Chariots fitted with small-caliber cannons. One had been reduced to scrap and lay there still. Though dust and sand had covered the battlefield, the sight remained shocking.
Then she took them to the place where Master Tongzhi had died.
A small mound of earth on a hilltop.
Not a blade of grass grew there.
Chen Shu couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow.
Master Tongzhi had been in the same cohort as senior brother Ji Guanhe. On a five-year university program, he would only have graduated this year, at around twenty-five. Reaching the Fifth Tier at that age made him a genius. He had possessed a heart of great compassion, too. If he had managed to come to terms with things, he could surely have become a Buddhist Venerable. Perhaps New Orthodox Temple would even have gained another Ninth Tier bodhisattva.
But who could say which path was good?
Who could say which was better?
Had Master Tongzhi not understood that?
Not necessarily.