Gu Yun asked no further questions.
Chao Yan turned and left. This time, he took Li Lan with him and arranged for different people to protect Gu Yun.
They were not Chao Yan’s personal guards. Both belonged to the Night Watch, the intelligence-gathering organisation. Gu Yun was already well acquainted with their leader, Yan Zhao, so he felt no curiosity about their identities. After committing their names to memory, he entered the courtyard.
Guo Yangquan. This was the man the entire Night Watch had spent a month tracking down.
The man sat on a chair, bound tightly and securely. He was a young man of around twenty, tall and powerfully built. His skin bore the roughness of years of hard labour, his shoulders and back broad. When he hunched forward, he resembled a giant wolf.
Xu Jingzhou later remembered a few more details and added to what he had said during the previous meeting: Guo Yangquan, as the leader of the largest faction among the rebel armies, had trusted his subordinates too much and fallen into an enemy trap. He died in the prime of his life.
After his death, his followers were absorbed by other rebel forces.
Most rebel armies had received no formal training, and they had existed for far too short a time. Even after absorbing Guo Yangquan’s men, they were no match for the regular armies of the northern states. Had those nations not each harboured their own ambitions and constantly warred against one another, these rebel forces would never have survived. They would have collapsed long ago.
At the end of the novel, fifty years later, a formidable figure emerged out of nowhere, subduing most of the northern states. Even the lands of Great Xuan were incorporated into his domain. Everything that had once belonged to Great Xuan was gradually erased. He established a new dynasty: the Rong Dynasty.
Gu Yun had no interest in matters so far in the future. By then, he would probably already be buried beneath the soil.
Standing at the doorway, he studied the man before him.
The moment Gu Yun entered the room, the man sensed his presence. He abruptly raised his head and looked over. His features were rugged and sharply defined. His dark brown eyes, strained by extreme vigilance and tension, carried a savage fierceness that suited the impression he gave.
Gu Yun signalled for the Night Watch guards to withdraw. Then he walked over, dragged a chair across, and sat down in front of him.
“Guo-xiong,” he said with a smile.
A low rumble emerged from Guo Yangquan’s throat, like a warning growl.
Gu Yun had no intention of untying the ropes binding him. He would wager that the moment they came off, Guo Yangquan would throw himself at him and start swinging fists and feet.
Gu Yun said, “Allow me to introduce myself. My surname is Zhang. Zhang Er. I bear you no ill will. I merely wished to confirm one thing. Now that I’ve seen you, I’ve confirmed it. I apologise for the trouble I’ve caused you. As compensation, I’ll give you a sum of money.”
Guo Yangquan stared at him fixedly.
“Blood money?” he asked.
Gu Yun replied, “I told you, I bear you no ill will. Naturally, I have no interest in taking your life. Once you receive the money, go home. As for my bringing you here, do not tell a single soul. Otherwise… since I was capable of bringing you here, I am naturally capable of bringing your family here as well.”
Scrrrape—
The chair slid noisily across the floor.
Guo Yangquan glared at him viciously.
“What exactly do you want? Someone of your status needs to see a mud-legged peasant like me just to confirm something? What is this thing you needed to confirm?”
Gu Yun said, “The secrets of Heaven cannot be divulged.”
He rose to his feet.
“You can rest here for a few days. You’ve travelled all this way through dust and dirt. You must be exhausted. Once you’ve recovered, I’ll honour my word. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.”
“Stop!”
Gu Yun left without so much as a backward glance.
As he neared the doorway, he heard a crash behind him. Turning around, he saw that Guo Yangquan, chair and all, had toppled onto the floor.
Gu Yun sighed inwardly.
Just as the novel described. Reckless to the core.
He left the room and sat along one side of the corridor. Fine rain drifted steadily down. He found himself thinking that, now that he had confirmed this world was indeed a novel, he absolutely could not sit back and watch events proceed along their predetermined course.
…
Above the green roof tiles hung a veil of mist. Water streaked down the smooth surfaces, flowing along the slanted channels.
On the left side of the corridor, at the corner, a recess had been carved out to create a small ornamental garden. At present it was saturated with rainwater. Amidst it all lay a piece of soft grey fabric.
Someone stood there.
Their shoes were only slightly damp. Using the wall as cover, they watched Gu Yun.
…
Gu Yun sat in the corridor for a while before getting up and leaving.
He had already sent a message to Xu Jingzhou. The latter would meet him at the small courtyard where they usually met. It was not here. This place lay in the eastern part of the inner city, while that courtyard was in the west.
After Gu Yun departed, the person who had been secretly observing him also left. Their footsteps were light as feathers.
Before long, Gu Yun arrived at the courtyard. There he saw… the child who had previously come to summon Xu Jingzhou to the medical clinic.
Where was Xu Jingzhou?
Gu Yun swept his gaze around before looking at the child.
“The monk is at the clinic,” the child said. “He told me to wait here and tell you he’ll be here soon.”
Gu Yun bent down. “What’s your name?”
The child looked at him warily. “Why do you want to know?”
“Are you a beggar child?”
The child reached behind her ear and touched the thick layer of grime there. Then she flared up. “You’re the beggar!”
The moment the words left her mouth, she glanced at Gu Yun’s clothing and immaculate appearance, as well as his fair, lustrous skin. Then she turned and bolted.
A Night Watch guard named Zhou Si immediately grabbed her by the collar and hauled her back as easily as one might pick up a chick.
The child curled into herself. Yet her eyes darted shrewdly from side to side, as though she would scurry away like a rat through the first gap she found the moment Zhou Si loosened his grip.
At that moment, Gu Yun understood who she was. During his time in Zhuyang County, he had seen people with the same expression before.
Gu Yun smiled. “A gentleman of the beams.”
The child blinked. “What?”
Zhou Si said, “A thief.”
The child’s face instantly darkened. Yet she did not deny it.
Struggling, she protested, “I haven’t stolen anything from you! Why are you grabbing me?”
Gu Yun took out a silver ingot. “Take me to that monk, and this is yours.”
The child studied his expression. Seeing no sign of anger, she immediately reached out to snatch the silver. Gu Yun stepped back. Her hand closed on empty air.
Embarrassed, she withdrew it, smoothed her relatively tidy hair, and said with a grin, “Leave it to me. I guarantee there won’t be any problems.”
As she spoke, she gestured for Gu Yun to follow.
They wound through one alley after another and soon arrived at a medical clinic with a weathered signboard hanging outside.
The moment they stepped inside, the scent of medicinal herbs greeted them.
Gu Yun noticed an elderly man squatting in a corner sorting medicinal ingredients. After making enquiries, he confirmed that the man was indeed the physician who ran the clinic.
When he asked where Xu Jingzhou was, the physician pointed towards the rear courtyard, then shook his head.
Before Gu Yun could ask further questions, the child declared that she knew where the rear courtyard was.
Gu Yun followed her.
When they arrived, he saw Xu Jingzhou standing atop a bamboo ladder propped against a wall, enduring the drizzle. He was leaning over the wall and cursing someone. As for whom he was cursing, no one knew, but the language was thoroughly foul.
Holding an umbrella, Gu Yun walked over and kicked the bamboo ladder.
The ladder swayed, creaking noisily. Raindrops clinging to it pattered down one after another.
Xu Jingzhou spun around furiously. “Who’s that? Looking for death, are you?”
When enraged, coupled with his monk’s appearance, he looked genuinely terrifying, like a yaksha.
The child jumped in fright. The two Night Watch guards instinctively tensed. Gu Yun, however, remained unaffected. He knew Xu Jingzhou far too well.
He kicked the ladder again.
“What are you doing? Oh, it’s you.” Xu Jingzhou’s attitude changed by a full one hundred and eighty degrees. He quickly climbed down, wiped the rainwater from his face, and smiled. “Need something from me?”
Gu Yun said, “Otherwise, what? You think I came looking for you for entertainment?”
“That would be fine too.”
Gu Yun was speechless.
Xu Jingzhou bumped him lightly with his elbow. “Looks like bad news?”
Gu Yun gave a grunt of acknowledgement. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Xu Jingzhou gestured for him to follow him to the dispensary. The clinic only had one physician, so finding a place where nobody would overhear them was remarkably easy.
Before heading there, Gu Yun handed the silver to the child, who was watching eagerly, and told her to wait for him. He had something he wanted to discuss with her later.
The child’s eyes rolled thoughtfully. “Alright.”
Gu Yun paid her no further attention. Entering the dispensary, he said: “We found him.”
Xu Jingzhou did not react immediately. “Who?”
Gu Yun merely looked at him in silence. Xu Jingzhou jolted. “Guo Yangquan?”
Gu Yun nodded.
Xu Jingzhou muttered to himself, “With this many coincidences, they can no longer be called coincidences.”
Gu Yun said, “I’ve kept Guo Yangquan there for now. I’ll release him in a few days.”
“You’re still going to let him go?”
Gu Yun looked at him oddly. “What do you mean?”
Xu Jingzhou froze for a moment. He looked into Gu Yun’s eyes but found not the slightest trace of murderous intent there. He had never once considered such a possibility. Looking away, he swallowed. “Nothing.”
Gu Yun stared at him for a while. Then he understood.
“The rebel armies aren’t made up of him alone. Even if you kill him, there will be others. Can you kill them all?”
“I’m not…”
“The greatest cause of chaos is natural disaster,” Gu Yun interrupted. “As long as natural disasters continue, there will always be rebel armies. If not Guo Yangquan and his people, then someone else. Are we supposed to keep killing one group after another forever? Is there even an end to that?”
Xu Jingzhou said, “Why can’t they all be killed? Besides, the situation you’re describing is unlikely to happen in the future.
“You created the fire lance. And after I leave the temple, I’ll join the army. The Crown Prince needs capable people. With his support, I’ll be able to rise through the ranks as a military commander and train a force of elite soldiers.
“Great Xuan fell because its military strength wasn’t enough. If its military strength were sufficient, then no matter what disasters it faced, it could survive them. As for rebel armies, perhaps they wouldn’t even have the chance to take shape.”
“I simply think there may be a better solution. As for natural disasters, starting from now—”
“Why are you gambling with the common people?” Xu Jingzhou cut him off. “If a rebellion really does break out and foreign enemies invade at the same time, the consequences would be catastrophic beyond recovery.”
Gu Yun said, “I’m not gambling with the common people. I am one of the common people myself. What happened today? What’s troubling you? Tell me. Once you’ve calmed down, we can discuss this matter again.”
Xu Jingzhou felt thoroughly unsettled and no longer wished to continue the conversation.
He stood up and left the clinic.
