Chapter Nineteen: Three Hundred Skulls Build a Tower of Bones

Yu Lang had just stepped out of the Li residence when he saw Qingqing and Obaba standing guard on either side of a pair of stone lions, looking for all the world like two door guardians.

Qingqing’s eyes were rimmed with red as she pounded Yu Lang’s chest twice, hard. “You fool! How could you come here alone to confront Li Yu, knowing full well what he’s capable of? If something happened to you too…”

Yu Lang had no time for lengthy explanations. “I have to go to Beigu Mountain to find Grandfather. You two, stay home and keep watch.”

“No, I’m coming with you!”

“Don’t make trouble. This is urgent—if you come, you’ll only get in the way…”

Qingqing’s eyes darted slyly. “Can you ride a horse? Or are you planning to run all the way to Beigu Mountain? If you don’t drop dead halfway, it’ll be a miracle, and then how would you save anyone?”

Yu Lang was momentarily speechless—she had a point—so he agreed to let Qingqing take him on horseback. He reminded Obaba to guard Ping’an Lane carefully, wary that Li Yu might cause more harm.

Yu Lang was always clear-eyed about his relationship with Li Yu. This man could never be his friend. At times, they might use each other, but in the end, their paths would only end in death and ruin—it had always been so, throughout the ages; one’s position always dictated one’s mind.

The two rode together, galloping toward the ferry crossing.

———

A gust of wind swept up dust, blinding Liang Chaoran and making his arrow fly wide. The mountain bandits cheered, “Boys, the old man’s done for—he missed!”

But their bravado rang hollow; the slopes of Beigu Mountain were already strewn with dozens of cold corpses. Their shouts were loud, but none dared take another step forward.

The moment Liang Chaoran realized he’d been ambushed, he cut down several bandits in quick succession. Seizing upon the hesitation his ferocity inspired, he found cover in an earthen pit, picking off an enemy with every arrow—never missing his mark. But now, with that last miss, he felt his strength ebbing.

Li Wenshan was beside himself with rage. “Cowards! What are you afraid of? Get in there! Kill the old man and you’ll never have to be outlaws again—take the silver, go home, marry, raise families, farm your land!”

The bandit chief’s face was like stone. “Don’t be hasty, boys. A dying tiger bites hardest. I brought you here to keep you alive, not to throw your lives away.”

Li Wenshan snarled, “Liu Wendao, you’re just a dog for the Li family, don’t start thinking you’re someone important. When I say go, you go! When I say die, you die!”

Liu Wendao’s brow furrowed; he suppressed his anger and softened his tone. “Wait a little longer. Once the old man’s spirit breaks and he’s ready to die, then we attack all at once—casualties will be far fewer. If the old master of the Li family were here, I’m sure he’d agree.”

Feeling the faint aura of killing intent from Liu Wendao, Li Wenshan could only swallow his temper and fall silent.

In the pit, Liang Chaoran’s mouth was parched. Ever since he’d spotted Li Wenshan among the crowd, he’d known he’d been tricked. Three months before, he’d received a letter from Beigu Mountain claiming that Yun Niang had not died all those years ago, but had been quietly settled in a village at the foot of the mountain by Duke Jingye, forbidden ever to see Liang Chaoran again. Given Liang Chaoran’s experience, he should never have fallen for such a crude ploy, but everyone has their fatal weakness—Yun Niang was his. Even a sliver of hope was enough to draw him into the trap.

The letter claimed that Yun Niang and her two children had been abducted by bandits from the mountain, begging Liang Chaoran for help, and enclosed Yun Niang’s personal token. Liang Chaoran’s first reaction was rage—rage that his most trusted friend, Duke Jingye, had used him as a tool. But in the end, he couldn’t bear to abandon Yu Lang. He lingered in the city for two months, settling his affairs before coming out here.

Now, all he felt was guilt and remorse. Over the years, the world had branded Duke Jingye a rebel and traitor, saying his uprising was selfish, not for the people. Lies, repeated often enough, become truth. Such is the absurdity of life: people believe rumors and shadows, not the friends who once shared their days.

These thoughts stirred a sudden hatred in Liang Chaoran. He sprang up, bow drawn like a full moon, arrow flashing like a meteor, aimed squarely at Li Wenshan. Into that shot he poured the sum of his life’s skill, and all his regret and fury.

“No!” Liu Wendao reacted instantly, slashing the arrow in flight, but the broken shaft still sheared off Li Wenshan’s right arm.

“Aaah!” Li Wenshan’s wailing scream was chilling. “Kill him! Fifty taels of silver for his head! Anyone who stands still—wipe out their whole family!”

Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Liu Wendao knew he could no longer restrain the men. He hefted his saber and charged at the front.

After that arrow, Liang Chaoran’s bowstring had lost its tension, and his right hand trembled. He cast aside his bow, seized his spear, and joined the fray.

Blood pounded in his head. His spear swept through the crowd like a dragon swimming the sea. He lost track of how many he’d killed or how many wounds he’d taken; his mind grew heavier, heavier still.

In a daze, Liang Chaoran seemed to hear, once again, the sigh of that bookish Luo Binwang from years past: “What crime have the common people committed? What crime have the common people committed…”

Indeed—these bandits, wielding farm tools, were little more than dispossessed peasants, driven to revolt for survival. What crime could be laid at their feet?

———

Liang Chaoran’s spear halted. The wind died, the trees were still, the world was silent.

A peasant, his teeth yellowed, smashed Liang Chaoran’s skull with a hoe, shouting exultantly, “I killed him! I’m rich! Ha! Now I can take many wives and be the lord of the manor!”

What crime have the common people committed? Ignorance is their original sin. Folly is the greatest evil on earth. If not for that, what wrong could the beasts have done?

“Grandfather!” Yu Lang’s anguished cry reverberated through the clouds, making all of Beigu Mountain tremble.

But Liang Chaoran would never hear it again.

“Just call out ‘Grandfather’ and come eat, what’s so hard about that? Otherwise, I’ll lose all face.” The first words you ever said to me, on the day I arrived in this world.

“I owe you a ‘Grandfather.’” Yu Lang’s face was streaked with tears. “I don’t know that damn Xu Jingye, I only acknowledge you as my grandfather. Grandfather, grandfather, won’t you eat with me just one more time? I’m a good cook, you know. I can make cola chicken wings, fish and chips—you’ve never tasted any of it…”

Ning Xue doesn’t recognize me, Grandfather is gone—what meaning does my life have now?

Yu Lang knelt, his head bowed to the earth, his sobs growing more and more heart-wrenching, his entire body shaking like a tattered leaf in the wind.

Qingqing’s heart ached unbearably; great tears fell from her eyes. She embraced Yu Lang tightly. “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid—you still have me. Get up and look—there’s Li Wenshan, halfway up the mountain, laughing at you!”

Yu Lang slowly rose, gripping his dagger tight, his face smeared with mud and tears, his eyes as deep and dark as a bottomless well.

None of them will escape.

Three hundred heads to build a tower of bones; the youthful heart will never return.