The night was as dark as ink, there was no wind, and the hissing of the autumn insects was as if they were stuck in the humid air, fine and fragmentary. A long and bitter horn sounded, and the lights in a ten-mile radius were gradually extinguished. At south of the city in the military camp, pine oil torches lit up, the gate with inlaid copper closed with heavy creakings. Four soldiers holding long lance and knives stood under the golden plate "Office of Luzhou Military General " .
Deep inside the camp fence, in the military hall, sixteen arm-thick candles were burning on the ten-foot-high copper candlesticks, illuminating the hall as bright as day. The various types of equipment on the weapon racks looked even colder under the light of the candles. It was in the second year of Kaihuang in Sui State (582 AD), candles was not popular in ordinary people's homes. Other ordinary military house was also relatively simple, but Luzhou (now Hefei City, Anhui Province) Military General's House was extremely cleaned up, with flying arches, dark red columns and windows, gold and jade inlaid screens, green veils and mantles, silk seat cushion set by the office table made by precious nanmu timber, and shining willow flooring.
The door of the hall was closed, the latticed windows tightly sealed. A general in his forties and a young man of twelve or thirteen stood twenty paces apart, speechless. The general was tall, neatly armoured, with a cold gaze from his wide bell-like eyes, a steel-needle beard extending from his cheekbones to his chin, and his mouth hooked downwards with its own majesty. He had finished examining the physical Kongfu of the young man, and instructed him to fetch the bow and arrows.
The young man's hair was tied in a double bun, his face was like a crown of jade, he had sword-like eyebrows, and starry eyes and he was dressed in a short green-coloured outfit, and a pair of high riding boots. He subconsciously used his right hand to gently touch the back of his swollen left hand, but shrunk back under the general's gaze. So he quickly walked to the weapon rack, took down a short bow, a feathered arrow, and immediately turned back, having steadily stood in a bow position. In an instant, the arrow was already strung, and the bow was like a full moon. However, the general's figure shifted and moved to the arrow target, hooking up his right index finger and pointing it at his throat.
The teenager hesitated slightly. The general stared angrily, and the whiskers on his face seemed to be about to fly out. The teenager gritted his teeth, the two fingers of the string released, the arrow run like a meteor to the general's throat. At that very moment, the teenager closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly regretful and afraid. But when he opened his eyes, the feathered arrow had already been grasped in the general's hand.
The general threw his hand back and the arrow hit the bullseye behind him with a whoosh. He patted his big, burly hand, signalling the boy to rest. The young man put the bow and arrow away and walked over to him with his head bowed. The general unlocked his armour and hung it on a wooden stand.
The two sat cross-legged in front of the general's office table. The general grabbed a handful of fried soybeans from the large bowl on the table and threw them into his mouth to chew. Under the crash of his steel teeth, the sound of crunching was like a horse treading on yellow sand. He ate a few mouthfuls of soybeans and grinned: ''You don't have to be concerned. Martial arts can not be cultivated within one day. However, when uncle was at your age, I was already able to fight tigers on the mountain."
The young man bowed his head and said, "I dare not compare to you, my uncle ..."
"No ambition!" The general laughed, "Before I was twelve years old, my father named me 'Leopard hunter', but that autumn, I went up the mountain and captured a tiger, from then on I was renamed Qinhu 'Tiger Hunter'."
The young man did not dare to look at him and said in a low voice, "Uncle, you are as strong as tiger, it is known to all..."
"Haha ..." the general laughed and got up, "To tell you the truth, the tiger was indeed captured, but it was a tiger cub, and the mother tiger chased after me, scaring me so much that I pissed my trousers... ...Fortunately, my Father arrived in time and shot the mother tiger with three arrows, so I was lucky to escape."
The teenager couldn't help but laugh. The uncle and nephew drew closer together over the story and began to make small talk.
The middle-aged general was Han Qinhu, with a style name of Zitong, rooted in Henan Dongyuan (present-day Henan Xin'an County), son of General Han Xiong in Northern Zhou State. Since childhood, he received family education, getting excellent in riding and archery, and good at reading. At the age of fourteen, he joined the military service, and was already a famous general of the Northern Zhou State before he was thirty. When Han Qinhu mange the army, his military discipline was extremely harsh, they would terminate all the enemies without sparing any single one, so in the army he was known as "King of Hell". No matter a friend or a foe, they were frightened at his name. When Yang Jian became the king of Sui State, he appointed him as the military governor of Luzhou in charge of four military states, shocking the northern part of Yangtze. At that time, the Sui State was first established, the north China was unified, and the small countries such as Xiliang were under Sui's actual control, except Chen State in the south not yet conquered. Yang Jian, who was ambitious and strategic, thought that Han Qinhu was a tiger-like general, and that he was the right person to guard the southern towns and prepare troops to fight against Chen.
The young man was Li Jing, the third son of Han's sister. The Li family lived in Sanyuan County adjacent to the imperial capital, and was considered a prestigious family at that time. Li Jing's grandfather, Li Chongyi, was a former governor of Yinzhou province, appointed as Duke of Yongkang County; his father, Li Xian, was the governor of Zhao County. Li Jing had six brothers: the eldest, Li Duan, was over sixteen years old and had already joined the army; the second, Li Zhuang, was fourteen years old and studying in Sanyuan; the third, Li Jing, was just twelve years old; the fourth, Li Ai, was ten years old; the fifth, Li Keshi, was six years old; and the sixth, Li Zhenming, was only two years old.
Among the six nephews, Li Jing was the only one that Han Qinhu liked. When Han'sister gave birth to Li Jing, she had difficulty in labour. Han was then staying at the Li family's home, so he rode 300 miles overnight to ask his good friend Sun Simiao to help deliver the baby Li Jing. Li Jing grew up with a weak body, and his mother was worried that the child would not live long, but Han Qinhu thought that if he could bring up the child himself, he would be as strong as an ox. As a result, Li Jing was taken care of by Han Qinhu since he was three years old, and his body gradually became stronger. Therefore, although they were uncle and nephew, their love was better than father and son.
However, Han Qinhu's discipline of Li Jing was almost harsh. From the age of four, Li Jing began to study both literature and martial arts. The martial arts were passed down from the Han family, and the literature work was reading and writing, with daily exams. If Han Qinhu was on the march, his subordinate would test him instead. When Li Jing was seven, Han Qinhu thought that he was so gifted that if he only learnt martial arts from one tradition, he would be affected, so he sent him back to Sanyuan to inherit the Li family's best martial art skills.
The Li family had a profound family origin, although they could not comparable to the "Eight Pillars of State" and other families of the Western Wei State, but they were also well known for their Buddhism practice, history and literature education, and swordsmanship. Their Swordsmanship, in particular, was originated from the Mohist school. After the decline of the Moist school in the late Warring States period, the Moists were scattered among the country. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Sanyuan Li Clan was the most authentic of all the swordsmen in the Central Plains. However, after generations of war, sword was no longer suitable for the battlefield, but was only used as an object of honour for the scholarly class. Although Han Qinhu was also an excellent swordsman, his weapon was a large iron spike.
Li Jing stayed at home for four years and made progress in academic education of classic scriptures and martial arts. In February of the first year of the Kaihuang in Sui State (581 A.D.), Yang Jian became the king and ordered Han Qinhu to command the army in the north of the Yangtze River. After settling down in Luzhou, Han sent a letter to Li Jing, hoping that his nephew would come south. Li Jing was escorted by Han Zhong, a lieutenant whom Han Qinhu relied on, and returned to his uncle's side.
Over the past year, Han Qinhu had not only strengthened his martial arts training, but also focused on teaching Li Jing the art of war. In the early years of the Sui State, common military camp was extremely shanty. In order to give his nephew a good environment to grow up, Han Qinhu built a magnificent martial arts hall, which was used to discuss and perform martial arts, and in his spare time, it became Li Jing's classroom for literature and martial arts. Someone told King Yang Jian about this. Yang Jian thought that although the General's martial arts hall was slightly extravagant, it was not a violation of the system, and decided not to investigate. When Han Qinhu learnt this, he became more and more loyal to his lord.
Han Qinhu was rough externally but meticulous internally. He studied a lot of books and made friends all around, expecting to become a military god one day like Han Xin and Bai Qi. Therefore, he never stopped studying the art of war, such as Sun Zi, Wu Zi, San Lue and Six Tao. There were generals such as Yang Su and He Ruobi, but Han Qinhu was far away from them and never talked about the art of war with them. However, he was extremely attentive to his young nephew, and every time in teaching he would discuss it with him. He was pleased to find that Li Jing was knowledgeable and had magnificent memory abilities . But for a long time, he always felt that this child seemed obedient, but in his heart he had no interest in the art of war, but willing to practice hard in martial arts.
Han Qinhu understood him but could not do anything to him. He had been in the war for a long time, and he was quite clear that although martial arts could be used to defend and kill enemies, but in wars the key was planning, otherwise one would just become a rude martial man. The ancient art of war had been passed down after generations, most generals were just reciting texts without having any strategy. He would like to cultivate Li Jing into a famous general, but only found Li Jing perfunctory in military arrangements, instead he was fond of adventuring in martial Jianghu.
Once, when Han Qinhu returned after training his soldiers, he was shocked to hear Li Jing orally recite the "Legend of Warriors". Though he could recite the Art of War and the Scriptures word for word, there was no emotion at all. But when he recited the " Legend of Warriors ", he was full of emotion, and his eyes flashed, as if he was fighting for justice. He stood in the doorway for a long time and sighed softly.
Tonight, he felt it was time to talk to his nephew.
"Jing, does a great man put the affairs of his country first? Or is it personal gains and losses that matter?" Han Qinhu changed his seriousness and looked at him gently.
"Uncle, I don't know." Li Jing timidly looked at his uncle. His uncle was ten times stricter than his father, and he didn't dare to talk nonsense.
"Then let me ask you, do you want to be an official like your father? Or do you want to be a general like uncle?" Han Qinhu held his anger. His nephew had a soft character, he could get angry at any time.
"I never thought ... about it," Li Jing didn't dare to look Han Qinhu in the eyes.
"Could it be that you ..." Han Qinhu got up and paced with his hands at back, "have the ambition to overturn ..." He hurried cover his mouth at those words. He was engaged in art of war, but was not worldly wise, as he often could not control his words, there was always someone sue him to the king. If not for Yang Jian, he would have been demoted to nobody.
"Never." Li Jing answered affirmatively this time.
"Then what exactly do you want?" Han Qinhu spread his hands and shook his head, "you can't just follow those prodigal high born in Chang'an City, can you?"
"I want to be ... like Uncle Sun Simiao," Li Jing's voice was so low that he couldn t even hear himself.
Han Qinhu, however, heard it clearly. Although he was not quite satisfied, he did not resent it. Sun Simiao was a noble doctor who travelled all over the country to help the poor and save the sick. A few years ago, Han Qinhu dedicatedly visited Sun Simiao in Zhongnan Mountain, and asked him to become an official. Sun Simiao replied that, there would be no wise ruler in 50 years, so he reminded Han to be autious, and he would go to Shu (current Sichuan area) to find a new herbal medicine to save people. Han Qinhu was well aware that Sun Simiao had been taught astronomy, geography, metaphysics and medicine by a man of seclusion at his childhood, but he did not agree to him. He did not believe in ghosts and gods, nor did he respect Buddhism, he thought that the way of heaven belonged to heaven, and the way of man dwelled in the earth. As long as he worked hard and was loyal to his country, he could change the current situation and leave his name in history.
However, Sun Simiao endeavored to save lives through medical treatment, which led to Han Qinhu's heartfelt admiration. Li Jing's life was saved by Sun Simiao, therefore it was also reasonable for Li Jing to have admiration for him.
"Could it be that you want to be a medicator?" Han Qinhu's expression eased slightly.
Li Jing was about to reply when he suddenly saw his uncle's left palm up, signalling him to keep quiet. Han stretched out his right hand and grabbed the soybeans, and flicked several fingers. With puffing sound, dozens of candles were all snuffed out immediately by flying soybeans, the hall was suddenly dark.
Li Jing stayed where he was. He had already inherited some of the best traditional skills of the Li and Han families, so he could learn that the difficulty of putting out candles flickering soybeans was far greater than that of catching an arrow. But he didn't know why his uncle did so.
After a long time, Han Qinhu said in a deep voice, "A honorable guest is at the door, apologies for not receiving you in courtesy, please come in!"
The door creaked as if blown open by the wind. Cold air poured in, and Li Jing couldn't help but shiver.
Coming in with the cold wind was a dark shadow. In the blink of an eye, it had come close.
Li Jing could see clearly, although in the darkness, a short figure walked near to Han Qinhu, with a strong smell of blood. The dark shadow put down a kid from his back.
With a flash of his body, Han Qinhu ran to the door, barred the gate, and said in a deep voice, "Jing, go fetch the medicine!"
Li Jing knew the hall like the back of his hand, so he touched the medicine cabinet on the east side of the room and took out wound medicine. Han Qinhu received it and ordered Li Jing to light a thumb-like candle by clashing firestones and placed it on the case.
Under the candlelight, the visitor was revealed, he was in his forties, dressed in black, his face as white as paper, his lips blue, kneeling on the ground, seemingly exhausted; beside him sat a boy of three or four years old, also with a white face and a dull gaze.
"Lord Ouyang!" With tears in his eyes, Han Qinhu also knelt down to help him, and quickly examined his injuries.
The man shook his head, "Lord Han, my life is at stake, so there's no need to bother. Rather, it's this kid that I have to trouble you." Saying so, he pulled the dull kid over and ordered him to kowtow to Han Qinhu.
"This ..." Han Qinhu was puzzled.
"This little brother ..." The man glanced at Li Jing.
Han Qinhu waved his big hand, "Don't worry, Lord Ouyang, this is my son Jing. Jing, meet Lord Ouyang!"
Li Jing got up and stood in front of him, left hand on top of the hands clasped together, and then bent down and pushed his hands forward, he performed a "heavenly bow" salute. Since following his uncle, he rarely heard his uncle call anyone "Lord". Tonight this uninvited guest must be someone significant.
The man was already exhausted, but he still returned the salute and coughed lightly, "Lord Han, my life is about to end, and it's too late to talk about the causes and consequences. Just please don't worry, though I am not quite skilled, I have already killed all the assassins out in the field. When I rushed in your house, I did not disturb your soldiers...."
Han Qinhu waved his big hand: ''Lord Ouyang is over-worried! Even if someone knows about it, I'm not afraid! However ... with brother's great skill, how can a mere thief hurt you?"
The man shook his head with difficulty, "The assassins were not ordinary thieves, but royal generals ...Under Empress Dugu ... Dugu's decree ... the one who chased me out to Luzhou City, was Huangfu Jiong ..."
Li Jing was shocked, he had heard his uncle mention this person. Huangfu Jiong was originally a captain of the Northern Zhou army, and was later promoted to imperial general in Sui State. With extremely ferocious methods, he was deeply trusted by the Empress, and the ministers were all somewhat afraid of him. It seemed that this man in black had caused a big trouble, and was even ordered to be killed by Empress Dugu!
When Han Qinhu heard this, his dark face became grave: "Could it be that the rumours are true?"
The man in black had no more breath to speak, he probed into his chest pocket, took out a roll of cloth silk, and handed over to Han Qinhu, gasping for breath: "I am in desperation ...and the kid is pitiful, I am begging Lord Han's mercy to save him ... In hell, I would be grateful ..." this said, he fell to the ground and died.
Han Qinhu's eyes dripped with tears as he stretched out his right hand and pressed down his furiously opened eyelids. But the eyelids flipped up again, looking very creepy. Han Qinhu let out a sigh and swore to the sky, "Farewell, Lord Ouyang! Even if I sacrifice my life, I will settle this kid properly, heaven beware!"
Strangely, the black man's eyelids closed.
The child sitting on the ground remained demented and unresponsive to the death of the man in black.
Han Qinhu froze for a moment, "Jing, a terrible disaster is coming." He said, sighing tersely.
Li Jing was puzzled. Han Qinhu said, "Let's go to the bedroom first, then we'll make a plan." He held up the black-clothed man's corpse. Li Jing also held the child and followed him out the door.
When the door was opened, a slender black shadow like javelin stood outside.
"General Han, leave this kid to me, you will be spared." The man had his back to the door, as if he had eyes behind him, and there was contempt in his voice.