A large commotion woke me up from the hard ground and a sore back. I stretched out my arms with a yawn while sitting on my horse, which was chewing its bribe of a fruit. Another more than half a day's worth of pain on the journey to Beihou's nearest border city.
Aguzen and the Hu were ready on their horses, and waiting for the soldiers who were loading the caravans behind.
From afar, we spotted a large group of people with oxen carts resting on the far side of the lake grounds. Among them were women, children, and the elderly. Some with their hands covering their faces while others were walking around with their backs slumped.
"Refugees," General Xu mentioned when he rode up.
"What is the situation in Beihou now?" I asked.
With a sigh, General Xu said, "last message was that they are holding the border city, Beidu, and the Shuanglong troops had retreated to their borders. Only problem is the Hu people, who have nowhere to go."
He gestured to the refugee group, "those lucky ones are from the villages which were plundered and burnt to the ground. Other villages in Beihou refused to accept them for fear of running out of food. All grain confiscated for military use only. None for the civilians. We have given them some supplies."
"Good."
A shout from the soldier interrupted us. It was the final loading. The campsite looked untouched except for a few obvious former fire places. Soldiers were standing in neat rows of their formation. I could hear the neighs of the horses from the cavalry at the back.
"MOVE OUT," General Xu lifted his arm as we grabbed the reins of our horses. Echoes of the command went down the line.
"Once we go through the mountain pass there," he pointed at the tallest mountain nestled in the middle of the valley. "We will be in the nearest border city of Houshan. Better accommodations will await us there."
"I wonder why no one built up this valley. It has a nice lake and the mountains form a natural fortress," I mentioned.
"Mo beasts. This has the most occurrences of their attacks. A city was built here about four centuries ago. Overnight, the mo beasts came. Few survivors left. That's why Youdu became the border city of Xuanlong, and the Xuanlong sect is the primary guard against them," General Xu explained.
'Land spirits don't like ling qi,' were Aguzen's words from last night. I turned around to look at the Hu who were busy talking to each other.
Aguzen was conversing with Okutai when he caught sight of me looking at him. He winked at me, and I quickly looked forward.
"It seems like you are friendly with the chieftain's son. A good thing if we can get the Hu on our side and then use them to chase off the Shuanglong troops."
"What happens after that?" I asked.
General Xu shrugged. "They don't want to be resettled. The King offered them some of the remote areas in Beihou but they refused."
"The Hu want Shuanglong's border province," I replied. "To occupy."
"I don't know the aim of their war, whether it is them trying to land grab…"
"I know the aim of ours," I replied.
"Oh? Take Shuanglong's border province? That's our right now - they gave us a reason."
In war, it didn't matter who is right and who has what rights. The only thing that matters is who was left standing alive.
"No, the aim is to preserve our troops and territory but make the Shuanglong troops die while losing theirs," I replied.
General Xu guffawed. "You should be in your father's court."
"I am not so fond of speaking to the courtiers when I don't possess a larger military force than my brothers combined," I replied.
***
The city of Houshan was coming into view from the turn around the base of the forested mountains. The lush primeval forests had provided some shade for the troops as they moved through the mountain pass.
In return, opportunistic biting insects had descended upon them to feed on blood. Some of the soldiers were still scratching the welts on their faces and some were scratching their exposed hands. Only the Hu and the third prince had escaped unscathed.
I could see a citadel behind the tall fortress walls of Houshan. Bigger than Youdu City and built with dark greyish bricks. It had an imposing atmosphere of gloom. Below the arches were the visible but shut dull red doors were visible. The wall guards or archers were standing in full force.
Two banner bearers on horses rode up beside General Xu and the third prince as they approached within 500 meters of the towering walls. The red bordered and yellow flags were flying in the air with the characters of Lingyu on it.
General Xu noticed the wall commander, identifiable by his blue cloak, waving from the top level of the wall above the middle arch. The commander made a secret hand signal pass, in which he returned a signal.
"Strange, why aren't they using ling qi but hand signals?" General Xu muttered as he looked around, searching for something.
A loud bellowing sound from the large horn blown welcomed them as six men on each side of the three doors pushed the doors open. The Houshan city administrators, unit commanders, and General Han were waiting for us at the entrance.
Behind them was the cleared primary avenue of Houshan city leading to the citadel on a hill in the middle.
"Third prince, please," General Xu said.
The third prince went forward, followed by the rest of them.
***
The common folk looked more sullen and weary, ignoring our presence as we moved through the city. Compared to the warm send off of Youdu city, it felt like a funeral parlour.
General Han and the Houshan administrators had dark circles under their eyes, like they had not slept for days. They were more interested in hurrying us along. I look at General Xu, who looked very puzzled.
Nothing looked right about the city. I turned around to see the archers, and the guards gone.
"What's going on?" I asked General Xu.
"I don't know. They were very insistent that we enter before sunset. I asked why but they didn't give an answer."
The Hu looked spooked behind us. They were whispering among themselves instead of banter. Aguzen was busy saying something to the shaman.
Not a bird in the sky when they should be flying to their roosts. The shop-houses were all shuttered up as commoners quickly packed their things. What should have been a lively market place looked dead.
Up the paved hill slope, we went towards the citadel. The sky was pastel pink and orange with clouds with Hanyue's faint outline seen.
My horse started swinging its head, snorting and neighing.
"Administrator Chen, what is going on here?" I asked the poor beleaguered man nearest to me.
He shifted around his horse while we negotiated the bend around. His head drooped.
"Tell them," General Han, who was ahead, had heard my question, said, "We have to tell them sooner or later."
Administrator Chen sighed, "Well, um… if you have arrived later, you won't have much of your troops left. We were attacked by Mo beasts several times despite the clamp down on ling qi use. They still come."
"I don't think those are Mo beasts. They are something else. Mo beasts come and attack. They don't take away humans. These do," General Han added.