The longer Xie Lian listened, the odder he found it to be. And the more he thought about it, the more confusing it became. In the end, he spoke up, "General, if I may ask..."
But Ke Mo refused him angrily, "Stop asking! After killing my soldiers you still want to talk? I won't answer anymore, come at me!"
San Lang said, "I was the one who killed them, he did nothing. You can answer him, then come and fight me."
He certainly sounded very reasonable. Ke Mo spat, "You are all lackeys sent by her, it's the same thing!"
Xie Lian spoke quickly, "General Ke Mo, aren't you misunderstanding something. Our purpose for coming here to the Gobi desert was to root out Ban Yue's State Preceptor, how could we have been sent by her??"
{T/N: 国师 (Guó shī) – lit. Teacher of the State. The title was originally created in 1260, the first year of Kublai Khan's enthronement. In 1270, the title was renamed as Imperial Preceptor (帝师 – Dì shī). The role of the imperial preceptor was serving as the emperor's chaplain, teacher and consecrator and, more generally, teaching, writing, translating and editing. This was originally translated as Grand Tutor by Sakhyulations.}
When he heard that they were here to get rid of the State Preceptor of Ban Yue, Ke Mo fell silent. After a while, he said, "If you were not sent by her, why did you kill all my soldiers?"
Xie Lian replied, "Isn't it obviously because you tried to chuck us down here, and we had no choice but to act in self-defense?"
Ke Mo snorted, "Nonsense, I did not chuck you down. I even grabbed hold of you just now. It was the two of you who insisted on jumping down yourselves!"
Xie Lian said obligingly, "Yes yes yes, we wanted to jump in ourselves. General, we are now all trapped in this pit together, how about putting aside our differences for now. Why did the State Preceptor of Ban Yue open the gates to allow the army to massacre the city?"
Ke Mo refused to listen to reason, and continued nursing his grievances. "The both of you are too despicable, you ganged up on me."
Xie Lian said helplessly, "I only thrashed you once, really. I didn't do much."
To be honest, he doesn't actually mind being accused as underhanded or despicable or whatnot. If the situation calls for it, he's not above leading a hundred people to gang up on one person, much less two against one. One one one? Hah, no thanks. But earlier, San Lang clearly had the upper hand even while carrying him around, and even told Xie Lian that he didn't have to step in. But Ke Mo somehow leapt to the conclusion that he would have won in a one on one fight. Xie Lian was quietly upset on San Lang's behalf. But based on Ke Mo's temperament, using words would be more persuasive than brute force. Xie Lian can coax him, slow and easy, no problem.
However, San Lang obviously had no patience to spare. "It's best if you answer him, for the sake of your soldiers," he drawled.
Ke Mo said, "You've already wiped them out, using them to threaten me is useless."
San Lang replied, "But the bodies are still here."
Ke Mo seemed to be still trying to drag his way up. He asked warily, "What do you want to do?"
San Lang said, "That depends on you. What do you want me to do?"
As Xie Lian listened, he could already imagine the way San Lang's eyes would be curved as he continued, "Do you want them to be well and healthy in their next lives, or do you want them to be reborn looking like a slab of bloody paste?"
Ke Mo was dazed for a moment, then comprehension hit him. "You?!"
The people of the Ban Yue nation observed strict funeral rites. They believed that the state of the bodies of the dead would reflect their appearances at rebirth. For example, if the body was missing an arm, this person would have a malformed arm in their next life. If the bodies in this pit were really pulped into bloody paste, wouldn't they be better off not being reborn?
Ke Mo was a Ban Yue citizen through and through, it ought to scare him. Sure enough, they could hear him grinding his teeth from the other side in the dark. In the end, he said grudgingly, "Don't touch them! They were all valiant soldiers. They were already unfortunate enough to have been stuck in this Sinner's Pit for so many years. I don't know if your killing them could be considered as having set them free at last. But they should not be dishonored any further."
He hesitated, then asked, "You're really here to kill Ban Yue?"
{T/N: Not a typo. This will be clear in the next chapter.}
Xie Lian replied gently, "My word of honor. Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. The past deeds of Ban Yue's State Preceptor are not well known to outsiders. General Ke Mo has worked with her before, hence I hope you can shed some light on her so that we may have a clue on how to go about."
{T/N: An idiom from The Art of War. Full quote: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."}
Perhaps it's because they were facing a common enemy, or perhaps he had no way of climbing out of the abyss after falling in. Ke Mo sat on top of the mountain pile of corpses of his soldiers, disheartened, and seemed to temporarily shelve his enmity. "You don't know why she opened the city gates to allow the Yong'an people in? It's because she wanted to take revenge on us. She hates the Ban Yue nation!"
Xie Lian said, "Why would she hate the Ban Yue nation? Isn't the Ban Yue's State Preceptor a Ban Yue citizen?"
Ke Mo replied, "Yes, but not exactly. She is of mixed-blood, half of her is of the Yong'an race!"
"Ah..."
It turns out that Ban Yue's State Preceptor had a Ban Yue mother and a Yong'an father. And in this frontier, prejudices ran high, both countries loathed each other. The husband and wife from different tribes did not have it easy, and after several years, the Central Plains man could no longer endure that sort of life. He left the border and returned to the bustling and prosperous nation of Yong'an.
Although the couple had mutually agreed to part, not long after, the Ban Yue woman died from pent up heartbreak. They left behind a seven to eight years old daughter with no one to look after her. She lived, constantly hungry. The parents had been held in contempt, their offspring was equally discriminated against. The Ban Yue people had tall and strong statures, both men and women were robust and held it as a standard of beauty. And this girl, being of mixed blood, stood out among the other Ban Yue children like a sore thumb, appearing particularly petite and frail. She was constantly bullied as a consequence, and grew more and more gloomy and eccentric. The children of Ban Yue refused to play with her, but some Yong'an children were willing to accept her.
When this little half-breed was ten years old, a revolt broke out at the frontier. The armies of both sides clashed, many lost their lives, and the little half-breed disappeared.
She had neither friends nor relatives in Ban Yue. Even after having gone missing for several years, no one cared to ask after her. However, everything changed when she returned.
In those past few years, she had actually trekked through the Gobi desert by herself and entered Yong'an. And who knows if she had had a fortuitous encounter, for when she came back, she possessed terrible, magical skills. Not only that, she was also capable of controlling Bai Yue's most feared creature—- the venomous Scorpion-Tailed snake.
Her return was met with awe, admiration, and dread. The maiden's disposition had not changed, she remained as gloomy and unapproachable as before. There were plenty of Ban Yue's citizens who had bullied her mercilessly before, but now she held an official post in the royal palace, serving as a high-ranking mage. If she still nursed grievances, wouldn't she seek them out to cause trouble?
{T/N: 法师 (Fǎshī) – can refer to one who has mastered the sutras (Buddhism), or a wizard/sorcerer}
Xie Lian broke in, "I take it there were many Ban Yue people who attempted to slander her."
Ke Mo gave a 'hmph'. "More than that, they directly approached the imperial palace and beseeched the ruler to hang her, claiming that she was the devil sent by the Scorpion-Tailed snakes to destroy the Ban Yue nation. But they did not succeed."
Xie Lian attempted to guess, "She sentenced them all to hang?"
Ke Mo appeared scandalized. "You Yong'an people, are your brains all filled with nothing but murder and torture? No! I protected her."
Xie Lian said feebly, "I said I'm not from Yong'an... never mind, forget it."
At that time, Ke Mo held the rank of General. Once, he traveled to the desert with his soldiers to launch an attack on some desert bandits, and brought the young court mage along with him.
The group of bandits were cunning, they built their den below the surface of the sand. There were heavy casualties on both sides during every encounter. Ke Mo was victorious, but the sand had collapsed on them in the underground den due to the fierce fighting. A violent sand-storm was heading their way, they could not linger. Ke Mo led some of his soldiers to withdraw, but the rest, including the mage, could not escape in time.
He led his men to safety, and they remained sheltered while waiting for the howling wind and sand to pass. Ke Mo then turned back, planning on excavating his soldiers to give them a proper burial. But when he arrived, he found the mage had single-handedly dug out a large underground cave, and had dragged the wounded soldiers in to shelter them from the storm.
The bodies of the deceased had also been dug out and neatly arranged. Everything had been done with her bare hands. When Ke Mo and his soldiers arrived, the mage was bloodied and tattered, waiting quietly for them at the mouth of the cave like a small, lonely little wolf.
Ke Mo said, "Since then, I thought she was very good and capable, and had absolutely no intention of harming the Ban Yue nation. I vouched for her, and I defended her against those with malicious designs."
Ke Mo himself had been weak and sickly as a child, and had suffered the same humiliation. He saw himself in the maiden, and sympathized with her. And so he paid her special attention, and found her to be an extraordinarily skilled mage. Thereupon he spoke highly of her, and strongly endorsed her for the seat of State Preceptor, and per the records written by later generations—-she became the Ban Yue nation's most devoted State Preceptor.
Until another war erupted. The Yong'an nation had sent an army to encircle and attack the Ban Yue nation.
Ke Mo said, "Both countries had been in a state of hostility for a long time. She set up an altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven, and said it was to call for protection for the soldiers of Ban Yue."
Thus bolstered, the soldiers were in high spirits and eager for blood as they defended the city gates. Arrows flew, boulders were hurled, boiling oil was poured, swords rose and fell for days on end.
And when the battle was at its most intense, the State Preceptor suddenly opened the city gates.
With the gates wide open, tens of thousands of soldiers and armored horses poured into the city and began a frenzy of slaughter. In a flash, the whole city turned into a bloodbath!
Ke Mo had been locked in a bitter struggle with the enemy troops at that time. When he heard that the State Preceptor had opened the city gates, he went mad with rage. He fought dauntlessly, but was unable to turn the tides of fate.
Ke Mo ground his teeth. "At that time, I found out that she had long colluded with the enemy's high ranking officials, and had made arrangements to let them in. But even if I was fated to perish in battle, before I die, I must kill that traitor!!! So I led a squadron of soldiers to the city gate's tower, dragged her down, and hung her to death over the Sinner's Pit. That's her hanging from the pole!"
By the time the main forces left, the whole of Ban Yue had turned into a dead nation. The general and soldiers who fell in battle, and the State Preceptor who was hanged to death, were all unable to leave the ruins, but their hatred for each other endured.
Xie Lian mused, "So, you lead the Ban Yue soldiers under your command to search for the State Preceptor, and each time you find her, you will hang her over the Sinner's Pit again?"
"Hanging her a hundred thousand times would not be enough!" Ke Mo sneered. "Because she would turn up here and there, seizing my undead soldiers, and throw them into the Sinner's Pit! She set up a powerful spell array around the pit which only she can undo, anyone who falls in can never climb back up. I was betrayed by her, the soldiers died tragically in war, our grievances are heavy. Only the flesh and blood of the Yong'an people can dispel our hate, which would allow us to gradually depart. Otherwise we will never be free, doomed forever to wail at night!"
{T/N: 凶化 (Xiōng huà) – lit. turned fierce. Think fierce and malicious corpses.}
Xie Lian said, "So you've been incessantly grabbing people and throwing them down here to feed the soldiers, right?"
"What else would you have me do?" Ke Mo demanded. "Just sit and listen to them wailing and crying below?"
"The people you threw down were all brought here by you?"
"We cannot stray too far from Ban Yue. But luckily, the snakes here are fond of causing mischief. They like to crawl out of the ancient city and go around biting people. The caravans whose people were bitten would enter this city to look for the Kindred Moon herbs."
"That head which was buried by the imperial palace was your doing as well?"
"That's right. The man who was buried in the ground there tried to rob the imperial palace of its treasures. But all of our country's valuables have long since been looted by the Yong'an people centuries ago."
Xie Lian asked, "Why did you just bury him instead of throwing him down here?"
Ke Mo replied, "The herbs need fertilizer to grow well. Else how would we manage those snakes? We don't want to run into those creatures either."
{T/N: The implication here is that those herbs act as a snake repellent as well, because XL has not seen any snakes since entering the city either.}
Something's not right, Xie Lian thought.
If Ke Mo and his party were this dedicated to ensuring the Kindred Moon herbs grow well, to the extent of using a living man to fertilize the soil, it goes to show that even if they were no longer living, breathing men, their fear of the Scorpion-Tailed snakes had not diminished one bit.
So in fact, when they had been alive, they must have been even more terrified of the snakes. Since the Ban Yue's State Preceptor was capable of controlling such a lethal weapon, how could she have been so easily captured at the city gate's tower by the Ban Yue soldiers and subsequently hung to death?
According to Ke Mo, in these past two hundred years, they had been nabbing the State Preceptor over and over again, and had been stringing her up over and over again. Xie Lian felt that if he were in her shoes, with such a powerful weapon in hand, he would never allow any enemies near enough to harm him.
As for those Scorpion-Tailed snakes who liked to crawl out of the city to go around biting people, is it mere happenstance? Unlikely, it seemed more like they had been drawn out. So was this a deliberate action by the State Preceptor? Doesn't it seem like she was making it easier for Ke Mo to kidnap people to feed his soldiers? Does this not contradict with the story of both sides being sworn enemies?
So are they just pretending to be enemies? But what's the point in doing so?
And before the whole situation had dissolved into one mess after another, there is still one more riddle—- and that is the identities of the female official in white and her companion. Xie Lian decided to probe further. "General, when we entered the city earlier, we saw two female officials on the streets, one dressed in white and one in black. Do you know who they are?"
Before he could receive a reply, San Lang whispered, "Shhh."
Though puzzled, Xie Lian immediately fell silent. Intuition told him to look up.
Amidst the backdrop of the squared night sky, the half-moon continued to shine bright and cold.
However, by the side of the moon, he finally saw a person at a distance. The upper half of a small, black silhouette was stretched over the pit, peering downwards.
After looking for a moment, the half-figure suddenly became a full figure—– the person had jumped down.
As the person was hurtling towards them, Xie Lian could see clearly. This person, was the State Preceptor of Ban Yue who had been hanging from the pole over the Sinner's Pit!