Becoming Guiguzi's Disciple

"Hua, what This Dowager is about to say is extremely important. Listen carefully." Dong Qianqiu continued speaking in the Queen Mother's tone.

"Please speak, Your Majesty. If it is within my power, I will do my utmost!"

"Your daughter Zhongli Chun will one day become an important figure whose name resounds throughout the seven kingdoms. You must never keep her in the Pigsty, or Heaven will surely punish you."

"Heaven's punishment?!" Hua hurriedly kowtowed. "I would not dare! I will never dare again!"

"Zhongli Chun is sleeping beside the river outside the city tonight. You must send people to find her as quickly as possible and take her to Ghost Valley Mountain to become the disciple of the Master of Ghost Valley. Years from now, she will surely become a figure whose fame shakes the world."

"I... I understand..." Hua said softly, kneeling on the ground.

"Du Yu, will that do?" Dong Qianqiu asked when she saw Hua agree.

Du Yu studied Hua's expression, but something still felt wrong. That expression looked less like agreement than hesitation.

"No, Sister Qianqiu. This woman is even more vicious than I thought. Right now, she's probably not thinking about how to send Zhongli Chun to Ghost Valley Mountain, but whether Zhongli Chun will take revenge on her once she becomes famous. I know Zhongli Chun would disdain doing that, but this woman sees things differently."

"Huh? Could that really happen?" Dong Qianqiu was a little startled. "Aren't they mother and daughter?"

"This woman threw her daughter into a pigpen just so she could dress in silk and feast on delicacies. I can't trust her. Sister Qianqiu, let's keep going. I have a few more things to say to her."

Dong Qianqiu nodded, then repeated each sentence Du Yu supplied.

"Hua, your heart is crooked."

"Ah?!" Hearing the Queen Mother say that, Hua trembled on her knees in terror. "I would not dare! I would not dare!"

"This Dowager will make a wager with you. If you do not find Zhongli Chun as quickly as possible and send her up Ghost Valley Mountain, not only will your current husband immediately be reduced to a commoner, but you will spend the rest of your life in the Pigsty, keeping company with pigs all day amid an unbearable stench, until you grow old and starve to death. After that, you will also..."

Du Yu grew more animated as he spoke. "After that, you'll descend into all eighteen levels of hell, every single one of them, for a hundred and eight thousand years each, never to be reincarnated! Every ghost in hell will beat you whenever they see you! A hundred and eight thousand beatings every year! Sister Qianqiu, hurry up and say it!"

"Du Yu... this sounds a little like cursing someone out in the street... it's not really appropriate..." Dong Qianqiu said awkwardly.

Du Yu thought it over and realized she was right. He had gotten carried away and started cursing the woman.

"This Dowager has nothing more to say. You had best conduct yourself wisely," Dong Qianqiu said.

"Yes... yes... I will obey..." the woman sobbed, seemingly frightened out of her wits.

"That should do it. This woman is completely cowed now. Promising her that her daughter will shake the world means less to her than threatening her with a lifetime without peace."

Du Yu opened his eyes and saw Dong Qianqiu beside him. She was carefully removing the various tubes attached to his body.

"Did it go smoothly?" Du Yu asked.

"Fairly well." Dong Qianqiu nodded. "The staff are already observing at accelerated speed. Hua found Zhongli Chun the very next day and set off for Ghost Valley Mountain."

"Well, I'll be! Your observation machine can even fast-forward?" Du Yu asked.

"Of course. Otherwise, how could you descend multiple times over the several decades of her life?"

"True."

Du Yu stood and rolled his neck, asking as he walked toward the monitor, "What happened afterward? Did Zhongli become his disciple?"

"See for yourself. There was a little hiccup, anyway."

Du Yu sat down in front of the screen. Zhongli Chun appeared on it, being escorted up a mist-wreathed mountain by a group of men who looked like household servants.

Several small bamboo huts stood at the summit. Once the servants saw that they had reached their destination, they turned and left, leaving Zhongli Chun standing there alone.

Zhongli Chun ignored the servants and walked straight toward the bamboo huts. Outside one hut, two young men were waging war on paper.

"Senior Brother Pang, your plan to cut off supplies is truly brilliant, but..." The young man picked up a game piece and set it on the map. "Suppose I abandon my supplies and launch a night attack from three directions to capture this city. What would you do then?"

The man addressed as Senior Brother Pang studied the map, a trace of displeasure crossing his face. "What fine calculations, Junior Brother Sun. It's as though you've seen through every move I make."

"What are you saying, Senior Brother Pang? Your command of troops is truly masterful. But we are fellow disciples, after all. Sometimes I can discern what you're thinking, that's all."

"Hmph." Senior Brother Pang snorted and tossed down his game piece. "Enough. I'm done."

Junior Brother Sun smiled and was about to put away the map and pieces when a delicate face suddenly leaned in from beside him. Staring at him, she quietly uttered a question:

"Master Ghost Dog?"

"Good heavens!" Junior Brother Sun cried out in fright, while even Senior Brother Pang nearly toppled to the ground. "Who are you?!"

The two scrambled to their feet. When they realized that the person before them was a young girl with exceptionally delicate features, they relaxed.

"Miss... who... who exactly are you?"

Zhongli Chun did not answer. She looked at Senior Brother Pang instead and asked, "Are you Master Ghost Dog?"

"Is this girl here looking for a dog...?" Senior Brother Pang muttered in bewilderment. "She looks like an idiot. We should just drive her down the mountain."

"No, no." Junior Brother Sun hurriedly waved his hands. "Night is approaching. It's too dangerous for a girl to go down the mountain alone."

"Senior brothers, what happened?" Hearing the commotion outside, two slender youths emerged from the hut. They immediately noticed Zhongli Chun's extraordinary bearing.

"Wow, what a beautiful girl," one of the youths said, looking at Zhongli Chun.

"A lunatic showed up," Senior Brother Pang said irritably.

"Don't talk nonsense, Senior Brother! Junior Brother Su, Junior Brother Zhang, go inform Master!" the young man surnamed Sun called. Then he approached Zhongli Chun, bent down, and said gently, "Miss, my name is Sun Bin. This is my senior brother Pang Juan, and behind me are my two junior brothers, Su Qin and Zhang Yi. May I ask your name?"

Du Yu was drinking water and nodded silently.

"Sun Bin, Pang Juan? So when Zhongli Chun came up the mountain, those two hadn't finished their training yet?"

"Yes," Dong Qianqiu said beside him. "The Master of Ghost Valley's four disciples: Pang Juan, Sun Bin, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi. Every one of them became a world-renowned figure during the Warring States period."

"I'm a little ashamed I never studied history properly. Wasn't Pang Juan the guy who dug out Sun Bin's kneecaps? Now that I think about it, they were actually fellow disciples turning on each other..." Du Yu said.

"Not only that. Su Qin and Zhang Yi were also rivals," Dong Qianqiu said meaningfully.

"So the Master of Ghost Valley's disciples really didn't get along," Du Yu replied. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Su Qin and Zhang Yi—I haven't heard much about those two. What did they do?"

"Du Yu... I hear you mortals have to take exams in 'history'... what scores did you usually get?"

Du Yu gave an awkward laugh. "Sister Qianqiu, you're putting me on the spot... let me put it this way: I stopped taking history in my first year of high school. As for middle school... on my best attempt, I was only twenty-odd points short of passing."

Dong Qianqiu sighed helplessly and flipped through the documents in her hands. "Then I'd better tell you... Su Qin and Zhang Yi were most famous for their vertical and horizontal alliances... At the height of its power, the Qin Kingdom once faced a crisis that nearly destroyed it: the other six kingdoms all sent troops against Qin on the same day. History calls this the 'Six Kingdoms Alliance.'"

"The Six Kingdoms Alliance?" Du Yu sounded surprised. "Why would all six kingdoms join forces to attack Qin at once? Were they really that friendly?"

"Of course they weren't. This is where Su Qin comes in. Single-handedly, he persuaded all six kingdoms, held all six ministerial seals, and commanded all six military tallies. In other words, he became prime minister of six kingdoms on the same day," Dong Qianqiu continued. "So they all sent out their armies together because Su Qin ordered it. This was what he learned from Master Guiguzi-the Vertical Alliance Strategy."

"That's incredible... but something still doesn't add up..." Du Yu thought for a moment. "If that's the case, why wasn't the Qin Kingdom destroyed?"

"The Qin Kingdom survived because, shortly before the alliance attacked, it had recruited a strategist named Zhang Yi. Through ingenious troop deployments, he held the borders, then offered several schemes to sow discord and break the alliance apart. He even allied with some of the kingdoms that withdrew from it, turning their spears against Su Qin. This was the Horizontal Alliance Strategy he learned from the Master of Ghost Valley."

"Vertical alliances... horizontal alliances?" Du Yu murmured. Such formidable figures were merely the Master of Ghost Valley's disciples?

"People summed up those two with one phrase: 'striding across the world, both lengthwise and breadthwise.' The two of them alone could shake the entire balance of the Warring States era." Dong Qianqiu adjusted her glasses. "That is why the Master of Ghost Valley, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi are also known as the School of Diplomacy. There are many legends about them. For that very reason, you must be even more careful with this mission. You can't concern yourself only with Zhongli Chun."

"This suddenly feels a little tricky..." Du Yu murmured, watching the screen as Zhongli Chun spoke.

"I'm Zhongli from Wuyan City. Looking for Master Ghost Dog. To become his disciple."

The four were a little bewildered.

Master Ghost Dog? Did she mean their master, the Master of Ghost Valley?

While they stood at a loss, an old man slowly emerged from the hut carrying a wine gourd.

Though advanced in years, the old man had exceptionally bright eyes. He glanced around, his gaze settling on Zhongli Chun.

"Little girl, are you looking for me?"

"Are you Master Ghost Dog?"

"My name is Wang Xu. Because I live in Ghost Valley, people also call me the Master of Ghost Valley."

"That's right." As though she had remembered something, Zhongli Chun nodded. "Guiguzi, not Master Ghost Dog."

Pang Juan hurried over to Guiguzi. "Master, do you think this girl's gone daft?"

Guiguzi said nothing. He extended his right hand and calculated on his fingers, then adopted a meaningful expression. "Born with incomplete souls, beset by misfortune. She could become a great talent, or a vicious bandit."

Du Yu hurriedly nodded. "The Master of Ghost Valley really is unfathomable. He understood Zhongli Chun's problem with just one look."

Dong Qianqiu nodded too. "There are countless extraordinary people in this world. You'll meet more of them in the legends to come."

Guiguzi slowly approached Zhongli Chun and asked, "Little girl, tell me: why do you wish to become my disciple?"

Zhongli Chun thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know."

"Oh?" Guiguzi grew interested and asked further, "If you master these skills, what will you do?"

Zhongli Chun shook her head again. "I don't know."

Guiguzi considered for a while. "In that case, I cannot accept you."

"You won't accept me? Why not?" Zhongli Chun stared at Guiguzi, her expression fierce.

"Because you have no idea where you're going." Guiguzi gave a meaningful smile. "Little Saltless Woman, I will neither accept you nor send you down the mountain. Reflect on it yourself. If you discover what you want, come see me. If you cannot, then grow old and die on this mountain."

With that, Guiguzi led his disciples into the hut.

Zhongli Chun stared blankly at the sky.

Yes, why exactly did I come to this valley?

Dong Qianqiu pressed the fast-forward button. "Zhongli Chun spent six months contemplating this. Though they lived on the same mountain, Guiguzi and his disciples behaved as if they couldn't see her. They never spoke to her."

Du Yu was a little worried. "I really can't imagine what Zhongli Chun wants, either."

"For her, that question is difficult," Dong Qianqiu said. "Among the Three Hun and Seven Po, one po is called desire. Zhongli Chun was born without it."

"So what did she finally decide?" Du Yu asked. "What does Zhongli Chun want?"

Dong Qianqiu looked a little sorrowful. She pressed fast-forward again. "You."

"Me?!"

Dong Qianqiu nodded slightly. "After six months of reflection, the only answer Zhongli Chun reached was, 'I want to see you.'"

Then she tapped the screen, and Zhongli Chun's voice came through. "Old man, I've figured it out."

"Good. Tell me." As though he had calculated the exact moment, Guiguzi had been waiting outside the door for Zhongli Chun well in advance.

"I want to see someone. He said that as long as I studied here, I would definitely be able to see him," Zhongli Chun said slowly.

Guiguzi's expression turned exceedingly strange. First, he drew a deep breath, then calculated on his fingers again, and finally frowned repeatedly.

"Master, what's wrong?" Sun Bin asked beside him.

"How strange." Guiguzi looked thoroughly puzzled. "According to the divination, this Saltless Woman should aspire to bring peace to the Qi Kingdom. Yet she has given me another answer. Very strange... my divinations are rarely wrong."

Zhongli Chun remained expressionless.

Bring peace to the Qi Kingdom? What did the Qi Kingdom have to do with her?

"Then what do you intend to do, Master? Junior Sister has already lived in the mountain woods for six months. She's suffered enough," Sun Bin said sympathetically. "Please let my junior sister join us."

"I must consider this carefully. After all, your junior sister..." As soon as the words left his mouth, Guiguzi felt that something was amiss.

"Wuyan! Hurry and thank Master!" Sun Bin shouted. "He admitted you're my junior sister!"

Zhongli Chun had not yet grasped what had happened, but it sounded as though this Sun Bin had pulled some clever little trick.

"Why, you brat! You dare trick me?" Furious, Guiguzi picked up his wine gourd and hurled it at Sun Bin.

"Master, you taught me yourself: warfare is the way of deception!" Sun Bin shouted as he dodged.

The stone weighing on Zhongli Chun's heart finally fell away. She bowed until her forehead touched the ground.

"Greetings, Master."