Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 125 : Meng & Yu

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There was not much of the sixth month left. Cizhou’s garrison troops were already beginning to take shape, and it was time for Xiao Chiye to continue his journey north. Not once had he sent a personal letter to Libei in the two months he was in Zhongbo; likewise, Libei did not send him one either.
Both parties seemed to have come to some kind of tacit understanding.

Meng began to spend more and more time out hunting. Xiao Chiye knew it was flying north. He stood in the courtyard today, watching the sun sink in the far distance. It was only when Shen Zechuan rapped lightly on the door frame behind him that he returned to his senses.

Xiao Chiye looked back at Shen Zechuan from under the last of the evening rays.
Shen Zechuan felt as if Xiao Chiye had grown a little taller again. Those broad shoulders of his bore the weight of the setting sun; he was far more sturdy than he had been six years ago. Shen Zechuan watched for a moment until Xiao Chiye turned aside slightly and said, “Let’s go horse-riding.”

Unlike the last time they went horse-riding in Qudu, Xiao Chiye was serious this time. He led Shen Zechuan up Lang Tao Xue Jin and explained it all to Shen Zechuan regardless of significance, from how to step on the saddle to how to pull on the reins. It was as if he wanted to leave it all to Shen Zechuan—His horse, his eagle, his heart.

The two men rode on the horse together and trotted along the forested path outside the city of Cizhou. This section of the path was not long. They ran until the last of the sun on the horizon vanished. Stars adorned the vast stretch of the sky behind them, sprinkling the ground with a smattering of light. The lands in the mountain ranges to the north were rich in vegetation and water. Lang Tao Xue Jin ran up the slope. Xiao Chiye reined in the horse and sat in the wind as he said to Shen Zechuan, “The Hongyan Mountains lie at the end.”

Shen Zechuan looked out into the distance. On this cloudy night, the boundless sky stretched on in the far distance. He could vaguely catch a glimpse of the tall, rising peaks of the Hongyan Mountains. It looked like a dragon lying at the end of the earth, asleep in eternal rest. It drew a meandering demarcation line at the very edge of Dazhou. One could see its contours from Zhongbo, but not reach it from where they were. It nourished the vast expanse of land north of Dazhou; it was a natural-formed wall that rose from the earth of Libei.

Shen Zechuan heard the howl of the wind—a wind that was entirely unlike that of Qudu. It blew against him, sending the sleeves of his robe fluttering like a white bird spreading its wings.

“This is the call of the Hongyan Mountains. It’ll miss me too. When we get closer to it, we will be able to hear the song of the wind even more clearly.” Xiao Chiye spurred Lang Tao Xue Jin into a run. They jolted in the wind, shooting across the billows of wild grasses like a bird swooping towards Hongyan Mountains.

Meng flapped its wings and chased after them from behind. It circled in the air and dove, leaving behind a line of bent grass in its trail as it swept past.

Xiao Chiye suddenly said in Shen Zechuan’s ear, “I want to take you there to see it.”

The puff of warm breath from Xiao Chiye warmed up the little jade earring on Shen Zechuan’s ear. Looking ahead, he said, “Xiao Ce’an…”

Xiao Chiye turned his head. Shen Zechuan said something, but the wind was too strong, and Xiao Chiye did not hear him clearly. Refusing to let it drop, he moved in closer and motioned for Shen Zechuan to repeat it.
Shen Zechuan said, “Keep going, and we’re going to cross the border!”

“Then so be it.” Xiao Chiye did not stop. “I’m taking you home to meet my old man and eldest brother—What did you just say?”

Shen Zechuan shouted in the wind, “WHERE . IS . MY . FAN?!”