Yinhai Hu's departure left Wuyi alone with Baijian, who stretched his naked legs out beneath his robes and took a long drink of his wine.
"That Jia's too soft for this life," Baijian said. "He tries, and he is not worthless, but you should let him go."
"He doesn't have anywhere to go," Wuyi said.
Baijian nodded. "I'd wondered." He took another sip and grinned. "That girl—the pavilion disciple?"
Wuyi looked blank.
Baijian wasn't fooled for a mont. "Don't give that. Asking you why you curse Heaven. Listen, if you want my advice—"
"I don't," Wuyi interrupted.
"Get your knee between her legs and keep it there until you get what you want. You want her—she wants you. I'm not saying to force her," Baijian added with a professional authority that was more unsettling than his admission of killing the captives. "I'm just saying that if you get it done, you can have a warm bed as long as you're here."
He shrugged. "A warm bed and a soft shoulder. Good things for a man in command. None of the guys will bla you." His unspoken thought was also clear: so of the guys might see you in a better light for it.
Wuyi knew that even if his mbers were loyal, they believed he was not one of them. It is true that acting like them would make them feel more connected to him, which could be very effective in war. The harmony between a leader and his troops is very important.
Baijian nodded and gave knowing smile at Wuyi, and Wuyi felt the anger of Boluo inside the statue of valor. He worked on trying to calm Boluo—trying to shape it, trying to plug it. But it was like the brew they'd sent against the enemy—oily black, and when it hit fire—
Baijian, misunderstanding, thought Wuyi was getting angry as his eyes seed to have a red hue. He took a deep breath and stepped back.
"Beg your pardon, Young Master," he said. He said it with as much assurance as he'd suggested everything else. "Overstepped, I expect."
Wuyi sighed. "Are my eyes glowing?" he asked. He had noticed the first ti change in color of his eyes when the statue of knowledge sent him its Qi to read the manuals of origin text from which the ancient zenith was born. As his statues grew, they affected him physically. For example, right now, since valor was angry, his eyes had a red hue.
Wuyi had to be careful and hide it well; he also had to be cautious when his statues absorbed souls. Boluo's soul could be emotional at tis, especially when things were related to Wuyi and his brother. It was safe to say that the righteous Boluo did not approve of his brother's suggestion at all.
"Little bit," Baijian said. "You know what's wrong with you, Young Master?"
Wuyi leaned on the table, the burst of Boluo's rage dying away and leaving a sigh of archaic proportions. "Many things" he spoke.
"You're a freak, just like . You're not righteous like them. —I take what I want and let the rest go. You want them to respect you," Baijian shook his head. "They don't respect the likes of us, Young Master. No matter how noble you are, they will want to see your clan records, and if you cannot be clear about that, they will consider you a bastard.
Even when I kill their enemies, they don't respect . Eh? You know what a sin-eater is?"
That ca out of nowhere. "I've heard the na."
"They live up in the hills, usually so poor bastard with one eye or no hands or so other affliction. When a man dies, or sotis a woman, we put a piece of food soaked in rice wine—previously it was soaked in blood—on the corpse. It goes on the stomach and the heart. And the poor man cos and eats the food, and takes all the dead's sins upon himself.
So the dead one goes off to heaven, and the poor soul goes to hell," Baijian explained, seemingly lost in mory. Wuyi had never seen him that way before. It was odd, and a little scary, to hear such talks of ancient customs from Baijian.
"We're sin-eaters, every one of us," Baijian continued. "You and , sure—but also Yinhai Hu, Yun Ming, and all the rest. iying too. Even that boy, your attendant that you like to teach. We have taken on the job of eating the sin of the righteous. We kill their enemies, and then they cast us aside."
The words 'We eat their sin' hit him like a thunderclap, and he sat back. As he digested the thought—which cascaded away like a waterfall, scattering his thoughts in every direction—he realized the shadows had shifted. His wine was long gone, Baijian was gone, and his legs were stiff.
There was a reason Baijian's words affected him so deeply. Throughout all this, Wuyi had been ignoring his true purpose. Initially, he thought after leaving Lujingbao he was free. But later, he realized that it was not true; the cage had only gotten larger. He thought he was acting freely according to his will, but it was only an illusion.
He had co a very long way here to find the cultivation thod to gain power, but now he was in a war, trying to protect this fortress with all his might.
Never the less he did not know why but he had to see this thing through. He sighed; if things got worse—if the specter proved too much to handle—he would just run away. It wasn't the path he wanted to choose, but it might beco necessary.
Jia was standing in the doorway with a cup of wine in his hand.
Wuyi dredged a smile from his reverie, shrugged, and took the wine. He drank.
"Shenxiao Zhen went down to Bridge Fort with grain and ca back with a ssage for you from Beastmaster Jin," Jia said. "He says it's urgent he speaks with you."
"Then I'll have to put my cloak on," Wuyi said, his tone whiny even to his own ears. "Let's get it done."
Wuyi rode through the gate of Bridge Fort with no one but Jia, also armored and ard. They had ridden out of the upper side entrance of the fortress with a minimum of fuss—two warriors on detail. But Wuyi rode fast and hard down the summit because the sky was full of birds to the west. He noted there wasn't a bird to be seen over the fortress.
He dismounted in the Bridge Fort courtyard, where big rchant wagons were parked hub-to-hub, leaving just enough room for a small unit to form up. As Wuyi looked around, he realized that all the wagons were occupied. The rchants were living in them. No wonder Shen said he had room. Over by the main tower, hounds whined and barked—four braces of good mountain hounds.
He stopped and let them sll him. Dogs always made him smile with their enthusiastic approval; they were one of the few positive mories he brought from Lujingbao.
Ceio, Shen's attendant, ca and led Wuyi into the main tower where the warriors had their quarters on the ground floor—plenty of beds of new straw, with six local won and another half-dozen won of business sitting on the floor and sewing. They were making mattresses and cushions—there were sackings already asured and cut, as Wuyi had seen done in a dozen places.
Clean sacks made good cushions—any warrior knew it.
The won rose to their feet and bowed.
Wuyi bowed. "Don't let disturb you, ladies."
He saw Shen.
Shen had taken so warriors and crossbown with him. Both brothers were brutes, but compared to Baijiang, Shen caused a lot less problems for Wuyi. The warriors with Shen, older, steady n, pushed the rchants away.
"I protest!" the taller rchant called. "My dogs—"
"I'll complain to the pavilion mistress about this!" a stout rchant shouted.
Wuyi ignored them and went up a set of tight steps to the uppermost floor, where tents had been used to partition the tower into sleeping quarters for officers.
Yun Ming was here, watching everything quietly. He nodded curtly to Wuyi.
Wuyi nodded back.
"Ready to move back up?" Wuyi asked.
Yun Ming nodded. "Didn't find much, but I am sure that specter thing is furious?"
Wuyi lowered his voice. "Anything we should be worried about?"
Yun Ming nodded. "Yeah, from what I heard, the damn specter can summon stars out of the sky and make them fall on the forts. Jin saw it."
He looked over to Jin and indicated his beastmaster with a nod.
"It's bad," Jin spoke.
"No one ever summons for good news," Wuyi remarked, relieved that he hadn't lost his beastmaster who had gone to spy on the enemy, too close to see their war techniques.
Wuyi sighed, "You shouldn't have gone that close. And Yun Ming, you should have kept watch."
"I'm sorry," Jin said, "but then we wouldn't have known their strength."
Wuyi sighed, "What use is knowing their strength if you were dead?"
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