The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 4: Chapter 15

The two rode their horses to a hillside. Although it was already late autumn, flowers were still blooming sporadically on the slope. Under a few ginkgo trees on the hillside, they found Tang Yingying’s grave.

The two dismounted and approached the grave, where a wooden plaque read, ‘Grave of Sister Tang Yingying. Erected by Younger Sister Su Xiaoyue.’

When they saw Tang Yingying’s grave, Zhuang Yuxie felt his heart die.

Suddenly, Zhuang Yuxie pulled out the tombstone.

Zhu Que thought that Zhuang Yuxie wanted to replace the tombstone and write ‘Tomb of Tang Yingying of the Tang Family at Cangmen.’ But he was wrong; after pulling up the wooden tombstone, Zhuang Yuxie used this piece of wood as a shovel and began to dig at the grave.

Zhu Que went to stop him, thinking he had gone mad again from missing Tang Yingying, but Zhuang Yuxie was not mad this time. He said, “I just want to confirm whether Yingying is really buried here.”

Zhu Que thought about it and realized this was the simplest way to confirm whether Yingying was really dead. Who could know if Su Xiaoyue was deceiving them again? As a member of a cult, deceiving others was quite common, but joking about one’s own family was a bit too much.

Su Xiaoyue and Tang Yingying were twin sisters, but they hardly saw each other growing up, so it was hard to say whether there was any sisterly bond between them.

Zhu Que was no longer sure when he heard Zhuang Yuxie say that. If Tang Yingying’s body was inside, it meant she was really dead. But what if it was empty inside?

Zhu Que could hardly bear to think any further.

He drew his sword and helped Zhuang Yuxie dig as well, one using a wooden board and the other using a sword. Their inadequate tools made the work twice as hard for half the result. Fortunately, both had excellent skills far beyond ordinary people. After more than an hour, the coffin beneath the grave was revealed.

The two dug around for half a day, and then Zhuang Yuxie jumped at an angle, followed by Zhu Que. Together, they brought the coffin up.

The coffin was very new, having been buried not long ago. According to Zhuang Yuxie, he had seen Tang Yingying in a coma over a month ago. Counting the days, Tang Yingying had been buried for no more than two months.

The two stood in front of the coffin. Zhuang Yuxe hesitated, saying to Zhu Que, “You open it.”

Zhu Que nodded. The coffin lid was nailed shut. Zhu Que inserted the sword into the gap in the middle and pried it with force, but the steel sword broke. Fortunately, the remaining half on the hilt, though shorter, was less likely to break. Zhu Que carefully pried at the nailed areas bit by bit and finally managed to open the coffin lid.

He lifted the coffin lid with one hand and peered inside, unable to suppress a ‘huh’ sound; it was empty, indeed just an empty coffin.

Zhuang Yuxie also saw the empty coffin; his face turned pale, and Zhu Que couldn’t tell whether he was happy or worried.

Could it be that Tang Yingying wasn’t dead? Was everything a lie? Or had Tang Yingying indeed died, but her body location was unknown?

All of this became a mystery.

For many years after that, Zhuang Yuxie traveled all over the country, continuously searching for Tang Yingying’s whereabouts, but there was still no result.

After discovering the empty coffin, Zhu Que accompanied Zhuang Yuxie back home. He was afraid that Zhuang Yuxie might really go mad, so he stayed with him for a few days. Zhuang Yuxie said he was fine and actively urged Zhu Que to leave.

Zhu Que saw him gradually emerging from the shadow of this incident and felt relieved to leave. Just as Zhu Que had left, Zhuang Yuxie also left Qingshui County, something Zhu Que learned only later.

That winter, Man Si and the people of the Fragrance Cult broke through the encirclement in Kaicheng and fled in disarray towards Shicheng.

On the road to escape, following Wang Zhaoxian’s wishes, Man Si raised the banner of Wang Zhaoxian high, intending to rally the people once more or to summon the followers of the Fragrance Cult to come upon hearing the news. Indeed, many followers of the Fragrance Cult, associating the meaning of Wang Zhaoxian with their leader Wang Zhaoxian, went to pledge their allegiance. Unfortunately, even so, they could not escape the inevitable situation of defeat and oblivion.

After the rebels entered Stone City, they held their ground and did not come out. According to the later historical text “History of the Ming: Biography of Xiang Zhong,” Stone City, also known as the Tang Tufan Stone Fortress, was described as a stronghold that could not be breached by less than tens of thousands of people.

Xiang Zhong and the governor-general Ma Wensheng divided their troops into seven routes and pursued them to the foot of the city. There, they joined forces with the troops of Marquis Mao Zhong of Fuqiang; they completely surrounded Stone City.

Mao Zhong was a man who sought glory recklessly, leading his troops to attack the mountains northwest of Shicheng, aiming to seize the high ground. The military strategy stated that attacking from a higher position to a lower one was like breaking through bamboo. Mao Zhong personally led his troops in a brave charge, but unfortunately, just as he was about to reach the summit, he was struck by an arrow and died. His soldiers, seeing their commander fall, scattered like monkeys fleeing from a fallen tree, turning and fleeing down the mountain.

Having seized this opportunity, Man Si led his troops out to charge, and the imperial army was defeated like a landslide, especially since they were the defeated soldiers rushing down from the mountain. Liu Yu, who led one of the routes to suppress the bandits, was even surrounded by Man Si’s troops, who followed closely behind the defeated army.

The defeated soldiers also affected Xiang Zhong’s troops, affecting the army’s morale. Xiang Zhong decisively executed a centurion who suggested retreating, stabilizing the troops’ morale.

After Man Si and Wang Zhaoxian achieved victory, they quickly returned and remained inside the city, not venturing out. They anticipated that the besieging army would not withstand the harsh winter and would voluntarily withdraw. However, with his unwavering determination, Xiang Zhong led by example, sharing hardships with the soldiers and gradually stabilizing the troops’ morale.

The water source of Stone City was a river outside the city, and the water from five wells in the town.

Xiang Zhong ordered his subordinates to block the upstream river outside the city, preventing water from flowing into it. As a result, Shicheng’s only remaining water source was the five wells in the town.

The roof leaked just as the night rain fell; the water levels in these wells had also dropped, and the water source was insufficient for the more than ten thousand people and horses in the city.

One night, the strategist Yang Huli of Man Si went out of the city to fetch water and was captured alive by Xiang Zhong’s men, who had been waiting nearby. To save his own life, Yang Huli lured Man Si out and subsequently captured him alive as well.

After being captured for four days, the city was leaderless and unable to organize a strong resistance. Within less than ten days, Shicheng was taken by Xiang Zhong.

After the city was breached, Xiang Zhong ordered the execution of all the traitors in the town, including Su Xiaoyue.

After resolving the issue with the rebels, Xiang Zhong escorted Man Si back to the capital. On the way, Yang Huli escaped. Later, Xiang Zhong learned from Man Si that Yang Huli was the alias of Wang Zhaoxian.

Although Wang Zhaoxian managed to escape, the nationwide crackdown on the Fragrance Cult lasted for decades. While Wang Zhaoxian became a fish that slipped through the net, he could no longer make a significant impact. He lived in hiding, concealing his identity to avoid being discovered, and ultimately died in obscurity. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later that Wang Zhaoxian’s descendants re-emerged under the name of the Fragrance Cult, stirring up trouble once again. This was a later story, not to be mentioned here.

Manipulated by Wang Zhaoxian, Man Si, who rebelled and raised an army, was executed by slow slicing after being taken to the capital. From then on, the disaster caused by the cult dissipated like clouds and soon became a speck of dust submerged in history, forgotten by the world.

After Zhu Que bid farewell to Zhuang Yuxie, he did not look for Yi Xue.

He heard that Ji Wuyou had gone to every sect to inquire about his son’s whereabouts and had apologized for Xie Tingyu’s actions. In the end, although he did not find out where Xie Tingyu was, he gained the understanding of all the sects except for the Black Mist Sect.

Zhu Que speculated that Xie Tingyu had already died, quietly killed for revenge by someone from Wudang, Huashan, or Taishan, but it was merely a guess; no one knew what ultimately happened to Xie Tingyu.

After returning to the Tianshan Sword Sect, Ji Wuyou immediately passed the position of sect leader to his eldest disciple, Shi Congrong, and subsequently vanished without a trace.

The highly skilled swordsman from the Western Regions exited the martial world in such a mysterious way.

He had a heart for seclusion and actually did not need to go to various sects to endure humiliation and seek understanding, but he did so because he was Ji Wuyou, a rival whom even Murong Hanshan respected.

Thinking from the best wishes, Zhu Que hopes that Ji Wuyou has gone to the Wangyou Valley in the Qilian Mountains, accompanying Qian Yan’s grave, to conclude this life.

And his son, Xie Tingyu, was also there……