The old year passed, and a new year began.
It was early morning, barely light.
The young Chen Chusheng carried a woven basket on his back and wore clean blue robes.
He ran along the path with light, cheerful steps, through the scent of grass, trees, and earth, through the warm breeze.
The years raced past, and the mountains receded into the distance.
Two years had gone by in the blink of an eye.
That year, Chen Chusheng turned fifteen.
He was old enough to enlist, but he had yet to become Li Ping'an's disciple.
To this day, he had not managed to touch Li Ping'an even once.
Feigning illness, playing dead-he had tried every method he could think of.
But through training day after day, year after year,
the once impatient, restless boy tried again and again, failed time after time.
His character was tempered into ever greater tenacity.
And through his struggles against Li Ping'an, his fighting skills slowly grew as well.
Even he himself had not noticed.
Not until one day, when he got into a fight with a troublemaking thug on the street.
Facing several broad-shouldered, thick-waisted men, the boy handled them with ease.
After growing accustomed to fighting Li Ping'an, facing the attacks of these street thugs
was like getting used to a game's hell mode, then going back to easy mode.
And so, one day, the boy said farewell to Li Ping'an.
He was going to enlist. Life here was wonderful, it was true.
But he still had not forgotten his mission.
The day he left was in September.
Li Ping'an could no longer quite remember the exact date.
He only remembered that he, Duha, Aliya, and Old Ox had all come to see Chen Chusheng off that day.
"Here are some shoes I made for you, and some provisions. Save them to eat on the road."
Aliya handed Chen Chusheng a bundle, her eyes misty with tears.
Chen Chusheng smiled. "All right. Thank you."
Duha said, "Remember to write to us."
Chen Chusheng nodded again, then looked at Li Ping'an.
Solemnly, he knelt and kowtowed to Li Ping'an three times.
"Sir, Chu Sheng will never forget the kindness of your teachings!"
Li Ping'an smiled faintly and gave his shoulder a firm pat.
After a moment of silence, he said softly, "Have a safe journey."
Chen Chusheng had walked a long way before he turned back and waved to them.
"Go home!! Once I've had my revenge, I'll come back to see you."
His voice reached them from far, far away.
War's beacon fires burned for three months; a letter from home was worth ten thousand in gold.
Chen Chusheng's letters arrived sporadically from the frontier.
From those letters, Li Ping'an learned that he had successfully enlisted.
He also learned that fighting broke out at the frontier from time to time, and there were reports that Great Sui was preparing a major move against the Turkic Lands.
Sure enough, before long, Chen Chusheng wrote that the army was about to march, and he might not be able to write for a while.
-Don't worry about me.
The army made camp in a barren wasteland.
The officers said that in a few days, they would fight a decisive battle against the Turkic cavalry.
"Hey! Hurry up, hurry up."
"You lot over there!"
The din never ceased.
The bitter, freezing cold made everyone shiver. Dressed in a worn military uniform, Chen Chusheng sniffled.
After arriving at the battlefield, because he was so young,
Chen Chusheng had always been assigned to logistics.
Only yesterday, with the fighting at the front growing desperate, had he been transferred to the vanguard camp.
In his first battle, he saved his centurion and killed three Turkic soldiers.
The centurion rewarded him with a thick padded coat, so Chen Chusheng would no longer wake up freezing every night.
Not only that, the centurion also gave him two sweet potatoes and a flask of liquor.
Chen Chusheng did not know how to drink, but liquor could warm his stomach.
When he was cold, a little drink made it less bitter.
During a break, Chen Chusheng found a spot and built a fire.
He roasted the sweet potatoes with great care.
"Grandpa, Dad, I killed three Turkic soldiers today.
They weren't very old. They only seemed a few years older than me.
Did they have families too? Now that they're dead, will their families be sad?"
Chen Chusheng talked to himself.
Killing... did not seem to be an easy thing.
The war continued.
Chen Chusheng made many friends, including a boy about his own age.
Everyone called him Fatty.
Fatty was a chatterbox. He had enlisted to earn money.
Chen Chusheng asked him what he would do afterward.
Fatty said he could then go home, buy a big house, and get married, and his mother would no longer have to weave cloth to sell.
Fatty then asked Chen Chusheng what he wanted to do in the future.
Chen Chusheng thought for a moment, then said firmly,
"One day, I'll make sure there are no more wars on the frontier. I'll make Great Sui and the Turkic Lands live together in peace."
Along this journey, Chen Chusheng had seen a great deal.
He had witnessed the soldiers of the Central Plains plundering and slaughtering Turkic civilians.
Just as the Turkic soldiers had once plundered his village.
He had come to understand deeply the hatred between peoples, the endless wars fought for survival.
Two years. He had spent two years learning from Li Ping'an.
Chen Chusheng had learned a great deal.
He no longer thought only of killing every Turkic person to avenge his grandfather and father.
He wanted to ensure that no one in Great Sui or the Turkic Lands would ever again lose their loved ones to war.
Behind the glory of generals and nations lay shattered families and bitter women waiting in their inner chambers.
Chen Chusheng had told others of this dream many times, and every time he had been met with mockery.
Only this time was different. Fatty swallowed, then said,
"I believe you'll make it happen. Don't forget to look out for me when you do."
"I won't!"
Chen Chusheng put his arm around Fatty's shoulders.
The army marched out, and Fatty and Chen Chusheng were transferred to different units.
Before leaving, Fatty broke the flatbread in his hand into two halves.
"Until we meet again, brother."
"Yeah."
Until we meet again...
The next time Chen Chusheng saw Fatty was while clearing the battlefield.
The boy who had talked endlessly about earning money to go home, buy a house, marry a wife, and care for his mother now lay cold among a heap of corpses.
Chen Chusheng sat in silence through the night, then buried Fatty.
The war had reached a fever pitch. Everyone knew this would be the final battle.
The soldiers secretly rejoiced. Once this battle was over, they could go home.
But that also meant this battle would be exceptionally brutal.
Because both sides knew full well that only by killing the enemy could they return home alive.
For his bravery, Chen Chusheng was transferred to the vanguard camp.
The night before the battle, Chen Chusheng sharpened his sword.
"Did you hear? A cultivator has come to our camp!"
"Really?"
"Really. He can control a flying sword. Good heavens, that one man is worth a hundred men or more. He's incredible."
"He'll be going into battle with us tomorrow."
"Yeah. They say he'll join us in a surprise attack on the enemy."
The soldiers in camp whispered among themselves about the powerful cultivator joining them.
It put everyone considerably more at ease.
No one slept that night.
Chen Chusheng sat on a tree stump, watching the morning sun slowly rise in the distance.
Suddenly, he smiled.
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