Book 39

The more than a hundred riders galloped at full speed; all the riders had their hair tied in a bun and fastened with a piece of green cloth. They wore warrior outfits with the collar slanting diagonally to the left, their arms were exposed under the rolled-up sleeves, an armor belt looped around their waist, with sabers, swords, and so on hanging from the belt, their feet wearing jujube-red deerskin boots, each one had a dagger slipped into their belt, and oversized robes draped over their shoulders. While driving their horses speeding along, the wide robe flew backward like a clump of cloud. Contrasted with the warrior outfit held tight with the belt, one moving, the other still, it displayed particularly clear lines of beauty, sophistication and elegance.

The leader wore silver crown on his head, shaped like lotus flower. Instead of wearing oversized robe, he wore a vest with iron armor st.i.tched onto it. His age was around thirty, his build was like intrepid white horse, the divine light in his pair of eyes flashing, there was some kind of not angry, but powerful lofty quality.

Ba Fenghan blew a whistle, the three horses immediately ran back from the lakeside, and gathered behind the three men.

This was Kou Zhong’s first time experiencing the astonishing might of a large number of riders galloping over the prairie like a rolling tide; he thought that merely the other side’s bow and arrow would be very difficult to block, to say nothing of all warriors in the prairie had a set of charging-and-breaking-through-enemy-lines skill. Therefore, although it was only a group of about a hundred men, they must not be lightly ignored.

“What do they want?” he muttered to himself.

Ba Fenghan was the most calm; he smiled and said, “Looking at their attire, they must be the Qidan Grand [Tribal] Chief Abaojia’s most elite Sparrow Hawk Army. The silver crown indicates that the leader is a first-cla.s.s Sparrow Hawk General. The golden crown is the Commander-in-Chief. You must pay attention to the crown-wearing officers and soldiers’ greeting and hand gestures. He might speak out the purpose of his coming from outside the shooting arrow’s range, you must give him a satisfactory answer, otherwise it will be quite possible that the situation may deteriorate into staking-it-all, you-die-I-live battle, without any room to retreat.”

He had not finished speaking, the leader of the Sparrow Hawk Army already had his hand in front of his chest.

Ba Fenghan spoke indifferently, “This is a greeting, just like you guys cupping your fist to greet. They could be considered being polite and tactful.”

The Sparrow Hawk Army suddenly shouted together and pulled the reins. More than a hundred warhorses stopped immediately and neighed; the momentum was terrifying.

The silver-crowned Sparrow Hawk General waited until the horse’s front legs touched the ground before continuing toward them. The rest of the Sparrow Hawk Army stayed in place in tight formation. Their movement was swift and pleasant to watch.

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “If they knew our true ident.i.ty, a greeting [orig. ‘wen hao’, lit. asking for well-beings] might become asking for trouble [‘wen nan’].”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “Not necessarily! Within Qidan people, there are more than a hundred tribal chiefs, Abaojia is just one tribal chief. Hu Yanjin is a horse thief. Based on your relationship with Tuli, Abaojia will not want to tie an enmity with such a formidable opponent like you, Kou Zhong.”

By this time the silver-crowned Sparrow Hawk General was already about thirty paces away from them, where he reined his horse and stopped. The horse kept kicking the ground where it stood, so that the silver-crowned Sparrow Hawk General on the horseback appeared even more ferocious, his might spread out to eight directions.

He uttered a string of unintelligible words toward Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling. Seeing Ba Fenghan did not show the least bit of reaction to give them any directions, Kou Zhong braced himself like the ugly woman finally had to see her father-in-law, using the newly-acquired superficial Tujue language to shout back, “The towering Qidan brothers, do you speak Tujue language?”

The silver-crowned general responded in Tujue language, “Turns out Han manzi [barbarian, contemptuous term used by northern Chinese people for people from southern China]. What are you doing in our place?”

Great comfort swept over Kou Zhong’s heart, musing to himself that at least he understood these few words, and thus did not let down Ren Jun and Ba Fenghan putting their heart and soul into teaching them the language. Moreover, he knew that this group of valiant Qidan Sparrow Hawk Army was not coming for them at all, otherwise, their first question ought to be whether they were Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling.

His spirit greatly aroused, he let out an ear-splitting long laughter in an initial show of strength [orig. display of might in getting down the horse], before speaking with his pair of eyes flashing refined light, “I called you Qidan brothers, unexpectedly you called me Han manzi. We are not friends anymore, I am not going to answer your question.”

Hearing that, Ba Fenghan nodded inwardly, praising Kou Zhong as a child who could take instruction. Because outside the Great Wall, various tribes’ martial [or military] air was extremely flourishing, they valued courage and strength the most, and looked up only on heroes with guts; reputation and face were of paramount importance. If Kou Zhong meekly and politely took the insult, the other side would have looked down on you instead.

The vicious light in the silver-crowned general’s pair of eyes flared out, he sized the three up with his burning gaze, but did not respond to Kou Zhong’s remark. Finally his eyes rested on Ba Fenghan, he shouted sternly, “You are a Tujue?”

Ba Fenghan’s eyes turned as sharp as an arrow. Meeting the silver-crowned general’s gaze, he spoke coldly in Tujue, “I only speak with friends.”

Suddenly the silver-crowned general’s countenance changed slightly. Staring fixedly at Ba Fenghan’s mount standing behind the three, he asked, “Isn’t that Taklamakan?”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling felt great honor and glory. Obviously, beyond the Great Wall, Ba Fenghan had resounding reputation. Unexpectedly a Qidan high-ranking military officer was able to recognize Ba Fenghan from his horse.

Letting out a long laughter, Ba Fenghan said, “Just consider you have a bit of eyesight. I am indeed Ba Fenghan, and these two brothers of mine are Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling. Whether friends or foe, it can be decided in one word, no need to waste lips and tongue.”

From head to foot, the silver-crowned general was severely shaken; suddenly he turned his horse around and left, his voice came back from a distance, “I am Huangzhikun, the Right Vanguard General serving under Abaojia; gentlemen, I am sure we will meet again someday.”

Watching the Sparrow Hawk Army left far away like a tornado, Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “It looks like our three names added up together is quite valuable; without even fighting, it was enough to scare a hundred Qidan men to retreat.”

Ba Fenghan said with a sneer, “The good show is still coming. Because Huangzhikun has an important matter to attend to, he did not wish a new branch growing out of a knot, hence he was willing to retreat. On this kind of flat open plain, once fight breaks, if we want to put them in order, I am afraid we will have to pay a bitter price.”

The three sat down comfortably by the lake, while the horses leisurely gorged themselves on the green, fertile meadow, pa.s.sing the beautiful and spectacular nightfall in the prairie.

Xu Ziling said, “How did Huangzhikun recognize you as a Tujue? Right now you are wearing Han attire, there is no obvious difference from us.”

Ba Fenghan explained, “Some habits are difficult to change, such as how to deal with disheveled hair; therefore, in just a glance he could see through that I am a Tujue. Shiwei people are the easiest to recognize, because they have their hair draped over their shoulders. Gaoli people love to wear white clothes, Huitong people love tattoo; each ethnic group have their own social custom.”

Remembering Fu Junchuo’s white clothes, a burst of emotional stirring welled up in Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s heart.

“When you interrogated Xu Kaishan the other day on the technique of training horses, what is your conclusion?” Kou Zhong asked.

“It’s really hard to say,” Ba Fenghan replied, “I am guessing that he is Mengwu [Mongolia?] Shiwei man. All tribes of the prairie called themselves Mongolians. Among the Shiwei people, this tribe is the most courageous. Every year they hold a wrestling and horse racing festivals, attracting a lot of people to partic.i.p.ate. Some say that in the future, the one most likely to unify the prairie will be them.”

Astonished, Xu Ziling asked, “Why not your Tujue people?”

Ba Fenghan sighed and said, “What the facts are, we will only know in the future. I just wanted to make it clear that among the Shiwei people, the Mengwu Shiwei is the tribe with biggest potential. Martial art masters come forth in large number, included among these are Belegunatai and Bugunatai, two brothers, who are known as the Mighty Candidates of Argun River. My understanding is that there has never been anybody able to walk ten steps under their hands.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Old Ba, you should not let them get away.”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “They are the men that Xiaodi admire; one day we will meet each other.”

Kou Zhong said, “Returning to our main topic, according to your guess, is there any connection between the wolf-bandits and Xu Kaishan and Du Xing?”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan replied, “I really am not sure. I hope that by the time we reach Yan Yuan Ji by the Buir Lake, Ma Ji could provide us with an answer.”

Yan Yuan Ji could not be called a county town or even a hamlet; it was just a marketplace on the eastern bank of Buir Lake where nomadic people from various neighboring regions gathered. There was a vast open s.p.a.ce in the middle, surrounded all around by nearly a hundred irregularly scattered tents, in all shapes, sizes and colors, creating an impressive sight.

When the three arrived, the open s.p.a.ce was packed with a crowd, bustling with noise and excitement. Looking at their apparel, they were mostly Qidan, Mo, Tujue, and Huizu. There were men and women, all well-dressed, so that it was quite like a holiday atmosphere.

The three urged their horses to the top of a small hill and looked over. Ba Fenghan said, “We are a bit lucky; it happens to be their market day. This situation may continue for more than ten days. There will be endless stream of people coming, but there is also an endless stream of people leaving. To the people on the prairie, this is an important moment. Not only they can exchange goods for the stuff they lack, they can also exchange women.”

Kou Zhong was watching a group of ox-carts entering the Yan Yuan Ji’s surrounding, behind them was a spectacular sight of a large flock of several hundred bellwether sheep, bleating incessantly. Hearing Ba Fenghan, he was startled, “What?” he blurted, “How could such a barbarous thing happen?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Ba Fenghan said, “For you, Han people, the area beyond the Great Wall is a savage land anyway. Not only there are tribes who make their nest up on the trees, there are also people who live in caves, or perhaps in buildings made of clay mixed with the blood of cattle and sheep. Some of the customs might be hard for you to imagine, you will be more likely to see it as a good and common-sense, such as brother sharing one wife, or perhaps treating a guest with your wife. Xiaodi has made every effort to say things that are more acceptable to you, but some are so absurd that you will not believe it.”

The two listened with eyes opened wide, mouth agape.

Ba Fenghan continued, “Under normal circ.u.mstances, women’s trade is limited to their own tribe. But in the case of female slaves that they captured in war, they might bring them here to be traded with horses, cows, sheep, sables, and so on, whatever is more useful to them. By now two gentlemen ought to understand why Xiaodi made light of traveling a thousand li to come to the Central Plains, which is because of my admiration to your culture. During the great prosperity of the Great Sui, all the princes and tribal chiefs of the kingdoms beyond the Great Wall were learning your language.”

Kou Zhong was dying to ask him whether his Han language was taught by Ba Dai’er [see Book 15 Chapter 5], but in the end he refrained from asking. Nodding his head, he said, “Trading stolen goods in here is indeed absolutely safe [orig. ten thousand things, not one fails].”

Ba Fenghan said, “Ma Ji has a short rule: anybody who want to talk business with him must come here. As for his real base of operations, n.o.body knew. My guess is that he has distribution points everywhere. He has a large number of artisans working under him, who can work on the stolen goods. Even if it was sold back inside the Pa.s.s and was purchased back by the original owner, they might not recognize their own batch of goods.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “No wonder his stolen goods business can be that big.”

Ba Fenghan said, “He must do it this way, because horse thieves are the public enemy of the prairie tribes. The reason that wherever Xiaodi goes everybody must give me a little bit of face is precisely because I am the bane of the horse thieves.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “You really know how to choose people to kill. Not only to get rid of the inauspicious, but also to train your sword. One move, two gains indeed.”

Ba Fenghan cheerfully said, “It ought to be one move, four gains. Each time I go to a certain place, I would offer my service to the tribe of the area to wipe out the horse thieves, and they would offer the most valuable special local product as a reward, which would support Xiaodi’s livelihood. More importantly, they would provide the most thorough and detailed intelligence about the horse thieves. In general, horse thieves commit crimes across multiple tribes, hence it is very difficult for the tribe suffering damage to pursue and make reprisals. On the contrary, as a lone rider I don’t have the slightest bit of misgivings. Therefore, not only I can obtain reputation, but also find someone to test my sword. At the same time, I get the monetary reward and all kinds of unexpected information and intelligence.”

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “Should we get rid of Ma Ji, to cut off a channel with which the horse thieves can unload one or two stolen goods?”

“One chicken died one chicken cried,” Ba Fenghan replied, “Killing Ma Ji does not make much sense. When we meet Ma Ji later, we will use both gentle methods and force. When he feels that his life is threatened, he might be willing to betray the wolf-bandits. He is just another kind of bandit.”

Urging his horse to gallop down the hill, he laughed heartily and said, “You ought to make mental preparation. Entering the market is easy, going out is difficult! Brothers!”

Leading their horses along, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling placed themselves right in the middle of the Yan Yuan Ji, to learn from experience the local conditions and customs of the people of the prairie beyond the Great Wall. Whether it was a man or a woman, everybody had a bow on their back and a blade on their waist; sitting on horseback was like sitting in a chair, serene and cozy.

Different ethnic groups had different dialects, clothes and ornaments, adornments. Watching this, they were dazzled; hearing this, they were completely baffled.

Coming here to do business were mostly ordinary herdsmen, but there were a lot of tribal chiefs and evil tyrants from various places. However, everybody conducted their business according to established rules; they haggled over the price, but n.o.body used their strength to mistreat the other.

There were no other Han people in the market, so that the two were especially conspicuous; the difference was that no one interrogated them yet.

As for the goods being traded, everything that should be there was there; aside from all kinds of beast of burden, cowhide, sheepskin, deerskin, jars of wine, dishes, kitchen utensils, there were also Central Earth products like silk cloth, ceramics, and so on. Seeing all these, the two boys’ eyes were unable to take it all; it was indeed eye-opening.

Avoiding unfriendly stare, Kou Zhong leaned over to whisper on Xu Ziling’s ear, “The real big transactions ought to be carried out inside the tents. Do you think Cui w.a.n.g might be in one of those tents? Huh? What are you thinking? Are you detecting Shi Zhixuan’s presence?”

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling replied, “I lost Shi Zhixuan’s track, I can’t sense anything anymore.”

Kou Zhong was about to speak, suddenly someone shouted loudly in front of them, startling the two that they jumped in fright. Following the direction of the voice, they saw the speaker was a big man perching high on the horseback; his long hair was draped over his shoulders, his head was wearing a round cap made of wolf skin, his body was wearing short-sleeved, elbow-length leather jacket with overlap collar, and leather belt with copper buckle, his feet in leggings and boots, his steel-bell like eyes were fiercely sizing the two boys up.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance, knowing inwardly that this man was a Shiwei man, but they did not know from which tribe.

According to Ba Fenghan’s directions, when Shiwei people met their friends or perhaps wanted to express goodwill, they would take off their hat to show respect. But presently this gentleman did not take off his cap, plus his eyes showed ominous glint, so he could not possibly come in goodwill.

Nearby, the people were crowding around the goods, the clamoring noise reached out to the sky, so that even though the Shiwei man was shouting like a thunder shaking the heavens, he did not attract any attention at all.

The Shiwei man pointed at their horses and shouted some unintelligible blabbers, too bad the two boys did not understand even half a word of Shiwei language.

Kou Zhong lightly nudged Xu Ziling with his elbow and said with a laugh, “Have you ever seen anybody who wanted to buy a horse this vicious? When a tiger did not show off its might, it might be considered a sick cat.” And then he shouted in Tujue language, “Not for sale! Get lost!”

Tujue was indeed a popular language beyond the Great Wall. The Shiwei man understood immediately. The ominous glint in his pair of eyes flaring even brighter, beyond the two boys’ expectation, unexpectedly he pulled the saber from his waist and urged his horse to charge forward, he chopped down on Kou Zhong’s face.

With a whoosh, the saber displayed his full power.

Frightened, the crowd fell over each other in their eagerness to evade.

Kou Zhong mused inwardly that buying a horse should not use any blade, so which social custom was this man using?

The saber momentum was as fast as lightning, yet in his eyes it was still extremely slow. Thereupon he gathered his fingers together in a palm chop and raised it over his left shoulder in swift chop and hit the blade of the saber.

The big Shiwei man let out a stifled grunt, both his person and his horse were jolted away. His eyes revealed a disbelief, his saber drooped down by the horse’s belly side. The two boys were certain that his right hand holding the saber went numb so that he was unable to lift it up. He was still lucky that Kou Zhong was being lenient to him.

The big Shiwei man continued to retreat, his pair of eyes was blazing with hatred, he angrily glowered at the two boys, and then pulling his rein, he turned the horse around and disappeared into the crowd.

The two boys looked at each other in dismay. Xu Ziling blew out a mouthful of air and said, “Seems like something is wrong.”

This moment Ba Fenghan heard the commotion and came back. Seeing the two boys’ unusual expression, he asked what happened. However, showing the least bit of care, he said, “Come with me!”

The three flipped over to the horseback and left the market; they galloped toward a cl.u.s.ter of tents by the Buir Lake.

Before entering the market, when they were still on top of the small hill looking this direction, the various tribes’ camp looked to be crowding together densely. But now that they were inside, they began to know that the camp was unexpectedly distributed by groups, and a certain distance was maintained between the groups of camp that no one would misunderstand.

The real big business deals were indeed being carried out inside the tents. Outside the tents were each tribe’s warriors responsible for protecting the important figures inside the tents. As the two boys pa.s.sed, they aroused these guards’ alertness; they all fixed their gaze on the three.

Ba Fenghan spoke in low voice, “Don’t look at them, to avoid a new branch growing out of a knot.”

Kou Zhong asked in surprise, “A glance can arouse conflict?”

Ba Fenghan responded, “Who told you to be a Han like Yang Guang? The months and years that the Old Yang sitting on the dragon court has made the relationship between the Han people and various tribes of the prairie become extremely poor. Were it not for them seeing that the two of you look like you have a skill or two, I guarantee that somebody would have already blocked your way.”

Xu Ziling laughed and said, “They ought to be looking up at you, this Tujue man, and won’t dare to act blindly without thinking!”

The three galloped toward the group of Maji’s tents. More than a dozen Tujue armed men swarmed out from among the tents and blocked the way. One of them shouted in Tujue language, “Who’s coming?”

Ba Fenghan calmly dismounted the horse, the two boys followed his lead. The former smiled and said, “These two Han friends of mine are big customers coming from the Central Earth, they want to discuss a big business with Ma Ji; would you please let us pa.s.s?”

His eyes flashing, the Tujue man sized the two boys up. Seeing that the three were in relaxed manner, their shape dignified, their bearing steady and calm, he knew that these three were not to be trifled with. His haughtiness slightly diminished, he said, “Ma Ye don’t have time to see guests today; if you want to see him, come back tomorrow morning.”

Laughing coldly, Ba Fenghan said, “It looks like you still don’t know what’s going on? We are following the etiquette asking for an audience, this way we already give Ma Ji enough face. Quickly get lost and see Ma Ji, tell him that it’s me, Ba Fenghan coming.”

As soon as the three characters ‘Ba Fenghan’ were spoken, it was indeed like thunder piercing the ear. None of the Tujue crowd did not have his countenance changed.

From the nearest cl.u.s.ter of tents, more than twenty armed men rushed out; it appeared that they wanted to enjoy watching a bustling scene, but it also looked like they wanted to support Ma Ji’s side.

Ba Fenghan’s pair of eyes became as sharp as saber blade, he shouted, “Ma Ji! Do you want me, Ba Fenghan, to forcefully charge inside, or do you want me to peacefully coming to see you?”

His voice traveled far and wide. Immediately from the five tents on Ma Ji’s side men were rushing out to join the other Tujue warriors blocking the way. The number of men rapidly reached more than fifty, mostly Tujue men, who accounted for more than thirty men, while the rest were warriors from various different tribes.

A gentle and reserved voice came from the main tent, “Turns out it is Ba Xiong honoring us by your presence. The other two gentlemen must be Shao Shuai and Xu Ziling Xiong. You have come from such a faraway place, it is indeed Ma Ji’s honor and glory. Please come into the tent to chat.”

Unexpectedly he spoke Han language with very articulate p.r.o.nunciation and vocalizing.

Although the three were not afraid, they still cried ‘Not good!’ inwardly.

Ma Ji did not need to get out of the tent, yet he already knew that there were Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling accompanying Ba Fenghan. It is thus clear that he already received the news, and was waiting in strict formation.

Ba Fenghan laughed aloud. Pulling his horse along, he took the lead to walk toward the main tent.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance; they both recalled Ba Fenghan’s remark, ‘Entering the market is easy, going out is difficult’.