Chapter 68
Bloodstains and corpses littered the ground. The black armor of the Xiliang people surged like a tide, with glints of white blades flashing in the middle. A cold wind swept across the battlefield, carrying the pungent smell of blood.
"wood."
Her voice came again, very softly.
It felt like a beautiful dream.
Wei Mingsu lay in a pool of foul-smelling blood, smiling at his own illusion.
It is said that a person will see the person they most want to see in their life before they die.
He looked at the face before him, and the battlefield, littered with blood and gore, suddenly fell silent.
...
Before the age of ten, Wei Mingsu had no famous name.
The adults and children in the village all called him a bastard.
But Wei Mingsu was not an illegitimate child; he had a father, a tall, short-tempered man.
Their family was very poor. The men left early and returned late, spending all their earnings on alcohol. Almost every time they came home, they reeked of alcohol. They would drag Wei Mingsu, who had been starving all day, over, and talk to him while breathing in the alcohol. Then they would take off their belts and whip him hard, calling him a bastard.
Bastard was the name his father gave him.
Then one day, his father came home drunk. For the first time ever, he didn't hit Wei Mingsu. Instead, he patted his head and looked him over for a while.
The next day, the father took Wei Mingsu out.
That was the first time Wei Mingsu went out with his father.
This is also the last time.
His father led him to the door of a house, knocked, and a middle-aged couple came out. Seeing Wei Mingsu pushed into the doorway by the man, their faces lit up with surprise and delight. They went back into their room, retrieved a bundle, and handed it to his father. His father opened it, looked at it, and left satisfied.
Wei Mingsu was led into the house by the middle-aged woman. He turned around and watched his father's figure disappear into the mid-spring sunlight.
He remembered it was a warm day. It was the first time he had gone out with his father. He was nervous and excited. He was young and walked with small steps. He didn't dare to rest on the way and had to keep walking to keep up with his father. His clothes were soaked with sweat.
The middle-aged couple were relatives of the Wei family and also surnamed Wei. They had a pair of children who had both died young. They called Wei Mingsu Sanlang and asked him to call them Grandpa and Grandma. They bought cloth and made him new clothes and shoes.
The servants of the Wei family all called him Sanlang.
That was Wei Mingsu's second name.
Children his age are usually naughty, but he is very well-behaved and sensible. He gets up by himself every day, dresses and eats by himself. When it's hot, he helps his adoptive parents pour tea. When it rains, he helps his adoptive mother collect the laundry. He eats everything given to him cleanly, without wasting a single drop.
His adoptive parents liked him very much.
A month later, the Wei family officially adopted him. Relatives came to congratulate him, pulled him to kowtow to his adoptive parents, said he was blessed, and taught him that when he grew up he must be grateful and repay kindness, be an upright person, and be filial to his parents.
The relatives thought that Wei Mingsu was too young to understand them and was just saying nice and auspicious words to flatter his adoptive parents. But he nodded, looked at his adoptive parents, and said seriously, "Sanlang will remember."
Six months later, the Wei family held another banquet to entertain their relatives.
Wei Mingsu's adoptive mother is pregnant.
After the couple lost their two children, they had no children for more than ten years. The adoptive father took several young concubines, but none of them became pregnant. The couple were disheartened and desperate, so they decided to adopt a son. Unexpectedly, they had their own child soon after adopting the son.
That winter, the adoptive mother gave birth to a son. The couple was overjoyed and doted on him, indulging his every whim.
The relatives' children mocked Wei Mingsu, saying that he wasn't a member of the Wei family and that now that he had a younger brother, everything in the family would be left to his brother, and he would have nothing.
The adults teased Wei Mingsu, saying, "After your younger brother was born, your grandparents only like him and don't like Sanlang anymore. Sanlang must hate his brother to death, right?"
Wei Mingsu shook his head.
He didn't hate his younger brother; his brother was his adoptive parents' son and his family.
The adults, however, did not believe it. They exchanged glances, pointed at Wei Mingsu, who was only a few years old, and laughed, "Look at Sanlang, how cunning he is! He's so young, yet he already knows how to pretend to be generous to deceive people!"
"
The room erupted in laughter.
My younger brother is growing up and he can walk now.
The adoptive mother, preoccupied with caring for her beloved biological son, unknowingly neglected Wei Mingsu.
Wei Mingsu was very sensible and quietly took care of her.
Sometimes, she also had to help her adoptive mother take care of her younger brother.
When his younger brother was two years old, he wanted Wei Mingsu to lie on the ground so he could ride a horse.
It rained that day, and the ground was muddy.
Wei Mingsu looked at his new clothes and hesitated for a moment. He cherished the things his adoptive parents had given him and was afraid of getting them dirty.
He didn't lie down, and his younger brother started crying in grievance.
The foster mother picked up her younger brother, looked at Wei Mingsu, and frowned: "Sanlang, your brother is still young. He wants to play with you. Try to coax him."
Wei Mingsu rolled up his sleeves and lay down.
The younger brother stopped crying and laughed, climbing onto Wei Mingsu's back and treating him like a horse: "Giddy up!"
Seeing her younger brother smile, her adoptive mother smiled too.
Wei Mingsu was only four years older than his younger brother, who was quite overweight. He crawled around on his back, panting heavily, and wanted to rest for a while. But his brother immediately turned pale and started crying, so he had no choice but to continue crawling.
My younger brother loves horseback riding games; he's played them from age two to six without ever getting tired of them.
He would deliberately steal Wei Mingsu's food and have the servants take it away, so that Wei Mingsu could lie down and play with him in order to get some food.
When relatives came to visit, the younger brother became even more outrageous, treating Wei Mingsu like a servant and mocking him along with the other children.
His relatives and servants no longer called him Sanlang; Sanlang was his younger brother.
Because he was an adopted son and could inherit his adoptive parents' property, relatives advised his adoptive parents to be careful of him. His younger brother often bullied Wei Mingsu, telling their parents that Wei Mingsu wanted to take his things, and forcing them to drive him away.
Worried that Wei Mingsu would be jealous of his younger brother and plot against him, his adoptive parents made him move in with the servants so that he would realize his true identity.
Wei Mingsu lost his right to inherit the family property. He went from being the adopted son of his adoptive parents and the third son of the Wei family to a page bought by his adoptive parents to accompany his younger brother and a servant of the Wei family.
Wei Mingsu is ten years old.
That year, an accident happened in the family. While my younger brother was sleeping at night, the curtain was suddenly set on fire by the oil lamp, and in the blink of an eye, a huge fire broke out. If the servants hadn't rushed into the room and carried my brother out, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The next day, all the relatives came to visit the younger brother.
They discussed among themselves: "Was it really an accident?"
Wei Mingsu was summoned to the main room, where his relatives, with serious expressions, questioned him about whether he had visited his younger brother's courtyard the previous night.
He went there; last night, his younger brother needed to take a bath, and he carried the water into the house.
The relatives' gazes changed.
"He must have put the oil lamp by the bed. That kid is so vengeful!"
Relatives urged the adoptive parents to send Wei Mingsu away quickly: "You can tell what a person will be like at three years old. This child's face shows that he is ruthless and heartless. You can't be soft-hearted!"
"He wants to kill Sanlang! I told you long ago that this child has a wicked heart. You should send him away immediately. If anything happens to Sanlang later, it will be too late for you to regret it!"
Later, the way his adoptive parents looked at Wei Mingsu changed. They didn't dare let him get close to his younger brother, and when his younger brother called him over to do chores, there were servants watching him.
One day, the younger brother insisted on checking if there were any baby birds in the bird's nest in the tree, and asked Wei Mingsu to climb the tree to catch them.
He climbed up the tree and heard his relatives and adoptive father talking inside the house.
Relatives advised the adoptive father to send Wei Mingsu back to his old village.
The adoptive father sighed and said, "His biological father got married and had three children. When I went back to pay respects to my ancestors during the Dragon Boat Festival, I asked him if I could take the children back. He said that the children had already been sold to me and that it was none of his business if they died outside."
Wei Mingsu sat in the tree for a while.
His younger brother urged him from below, so he climbed down and said there were no birds in the tree.
There were several baby birds in the nest, crying for food. He didn't catch them, because his younger brother would drop them and kill them.
The younger brother was very angry and came up and kicked Wei Mingsu a few times.
Wei Mingsu was sent to work in the backyard.
In the evening, the adoptive father called Wei Mingsu over and scolded him. The younger brother then complained to the adoptive father that Wei Mingsu had hit him.
Wei Mingsu shook his head and said that he did not hit his younger brother. His adoptive parents had taught him to be an upright person.
His adoptive parents didn't believe him; everyone thought he wanted to harm his younger brother.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th of August.
The adoptive mother took her younger brother and relatives to the temple to burn incense, and brought Wei Mingsu along as well.
They set off by boat, and when they reached the shore, the younger brother and cousins wanted to eat water chestnuts. Their aunt instructed them...
The servants bought some and asked Wei Mingsu to peel them. He sat in the courtyard peeling water chestnuts. After he finished, he didn't see his younger brother and cousins. The monks at the temple said that the Wei family had already left.
Wei Mingsu paused for a moment, then silently put away the peeled water chestnuts and walked down the mountain alone, walking for a long time until he reached the riverbank.
The Wei family's boat is no longer on the riverbank.
They forgot about him.
Wei Mingsu looked up in the direction of the Wei family home and asked the people by the river how to get home.
He walked along the river, drinking water from the river when he was thirsty, and picking fruit from the trees to eat when he was hungry.
Two days and two nights later, Wei Mingsu found a place to board a boat. Someone recognized him as a member of the Wei family and sent him back to the Wei family.
When the foster mother saw Wei Mingsu, she was stunned.
Wei Mingsu took out the water chestnuts he had peeled two days ago and handed them to his foster mother: "I peeled them for Sanlang."
He was so hungry these past two days that he drank river water and didn't touch any water chestnuts.
When the younger brother learned that Wei Mingsu had returned, he stormed back, grabbed the water chestnuts from his foster mother's hand, and stomped on them.
"I won't eat anything he touched! How did he come back? Didn't you say he was lost and wouldn't come back?"
The foster mother felt a little embarrassed, covered her younger brother's mouth, pulled him into the house, and coaxed him with a smile.
Wei Mingsu silently picked up the crushed water chestnuts from the ground.
On the Double Ninth Festival, relatives invited the Wei family to climb mountains together. This time, instead of taking a boat, they hired several oxcarts.
After a day of playing on the mountain, they were all exhausted. As darkness fell, they took an oxcart down the mountain.
Wei Mingsu was asleep on the oxcart when someone nudged him, and then he felt himself being helped up.
Suddenly, a strong force came from my back.
He was pushed off the oxcart and rolled into the mud.
Wei Mingsu was dizzy from the fall, but when he woke up, he got up and chased after the oxcart in front of him.
The oxcart did not stop.
It was already dark, and the surrounding mountains were pitch black. Wei Mingsu was terrified. He ran forward while shouting, and his helpless cries echoed along the mountain path.
The oxcart never stopped.
During the day, Wei Mingsu had to carry food for his younger brother while climbing the mountain, leaving him feeling sore all over. Even though he tried his best to catch up with the oxcart, the distance between them kept getting further and further apart.
Finally, the oxcart disappeared into the dark night.
Wei Mingsu was filled with fear and despair. Remembering the direction in which the oxcart disappeared, he walked forward step by step.
He walked from darkness to dawn, and then from dawn to darkness.
There's no trace of the oxcart anymore.
There were many forks in the road at the foot of the mountain, and Wei Mingsu didn't know which one led home. He stood blankly at the crossroads, and then suddenly he understood.
His adoptive parents didn't want him anymore.
The time his adoptive mother and relatives took him to burn incense during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it wasn't that they forgot about him, but rather that they deliberately left him behind and abandoned him.
He returned home on his own. His adoptive parents were surprised that he was able to find his way back. This time, they deliberately took him to a more distant and unfamiliar place and abandoned him there to prevent him from finding his way back.
Wei Mingsu continued walking.
He didn't know how far he had traveled, or how many days he had been on the road. His shoes were worn out, his clothes were dirty, and he was hungry as he wandered in unfamiliar places.
One day he fainted from hunger and collapsed by the roadside.
Several monks who came down the mountain to perform religious rites found him and brought him back to the temple.
He was very diligent. After eating in the dining hall, he would go to work, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, washing clothes, planting vegetables, carrying water, and doing all kinds of work.
When he wasn't working, he studied with the monks at the temple. Among all the students, he was the poorest and the most diligent.
The monk asked him what his name was.
He has no famous name.
No.
One name was Bastard, and the second name was Saburo. He only used that name for a little over a year before giving it back to his younger brother. Later, he became a servant and no longer needed a name.
The monks at the temple gave him a name, taking the characters "Ming" and "Su" from the scriptures, and named him Mingsu.
Wei Mingsu only gained fame when he was ten years old.
Abandoned twice, he stayed in the temple, studying, writing scriptures, and working, growing from a sallow-faced child into a young man.
Youth leaving
He opened a temple and arrived in the bustling city of Chang'an, where he met a willful and unrestrained young woman.
She called him "Wood".
When she's in a good mood, her eyes crinkle into a smile, and she playfully scolds, "You blockhead!"
When she's in a bad mood, she puts on a stern face and says arrogantly, "Wei Mu Tou, am I not pretty enough?"
That was Wei Mingsu's third name.
Only Philip would call him that.
...
"wood."
The Xiliang soldier, dressed in a Hu robe, called out softly again, bent down, and, taking advantage of the others' inattention, fed Wei Mingsu a pill.
"Wood, swallow it. You have to hold on. I am Third Sister. I'm going to take you back to Xizhou."
She took her saber, slashed down several arrows flying through the air, and dragged Wei Mingsu behind the horse carcass.
Wei Mingsu snapped out of his daze, stared blankly for a long time, his mind went completely blank, and looked at the Hu-style Xiliang soldiers in astonishment.
The medicine stuffed into his mouth was real, the hand supporting his shoulder was real, and the voice in his ear was real too.
She is real.
"Lu Huaying".
He was barely breathing, his voice was hoarse, and his face, covered in blood, made his expression unreadable.
Hearing his weak yet imposing tone, Lu Huaying, disguised as a Xiliang soldier, subconsciously felt a pang of guilt.
Wei Mingsu never called her by her given name. The few times he called her by her full name four years ago were when he was furious and disheartened.
She glanced around warily, looked down into Wei Mingsu's eyes, and suddenly smiled.
Thankfully, she came.
"Wood, once we've escaped, we'll have a proper chat with you."
She stuffed the remaining medicine into Wei Mingsu's hand, stood up, and shouted loudly to the other Xiliang soldiers, ordering them to take all the Duosang tribe prisoners back and imprison them.
The soldiers were somewhat suspicious. The Dosang tribe had lost all their horses and run out of arrows. They could kill them all while they were exhausted.
Lu Huaying said, "The old chief of the Duosang tribe has led more than 10,000 people and disappeared. Only these people know the whereabouts of the Duosang tribe. If we kill them all, how will we explain to the governor if he comes back to interrogate them? They are all young and strong men. If we take them back as prisoners, they can be used as laborers and slaves."
The soldiers hesitated.
General Ayi suddenly led the main force to pursue the Duosang tribe. The Xiliang army's formation had long since broken down, and they split into small teams to hunt down Yixi and his men. The main force withdrew, and although the soldiers left on the battlefield were bloodthirsty, they had all broken away from their units, and the situation was very chaotic.
One team was turning around to consult the vanguard general.
The general was in a dilemma.
If no one comes back to ask for instructions, the soldiers, blinded by rage, will kill all the warriors of the Duosang tribe. Even if General Ayi blames them, the fault will not lie with him.
But the squad leader came to him for instructions, asking him to give the order.
He dared not actually execute hundreds of warriors and had his deputy decide.
The lieutenant said, "What's so difficult about that? Just arrest them first, and we'll wait for General Ayi to return and make a decision."
The general had been waiting for these words, and then he gave the order.
...
The Xiliang soldiers led a string of prisoners down the hillside.
Yi Xi, the old chief's son, was taken away and imprisoned in solitary confinement.
Wei Mingsu was on the verge of death. A Xiliang soldier cleaning up the battlefield thought he was too badly injured and was a burden, so he wanted to kill him with one blow.
Lu Huaying stopped the soldier, tied her saber to her belt, and dragged Wei Mingsu down the hillside.
"Wood, just bear with it for now. General Ayi isn't here, so he won't kill prisoners for the time being. Once your injuries have healed, we'll find a way to escape."
She dared not carry Wei Mingsu on her back, fearing he would...
Others noticed something amiss.
"Go back... don't worry about me... you should get away quickly while things are in chaos..."
Lu Huaying heard Wei Mingsu's intermittent voice.
She looked at the blood on his body, lowered her head, and whispered, "I won't go back, Wood, I won't abandon you."
In the blood-soaked battlefield, Lu Huaying carefully dragged Wei Mingsu along. The surrounding mountains and plains were filled with their enemies.
They depended on each other for survival.
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