How to Survive As a Villain

Chapter 76 – They can Only Live in Chungui’s…

The sky was grey and snowy above Li Wuding, who was leading three thousand elite soldiers, to crawl through the snow near the Southern Yan granary storage area. The cold made these soldiers’ hands and feet feel numb as they slowly advanced. The body parts that weren’t covered, felt extremely itchy and painful every time they had to move, even for a little bit.

All of a sudden, a riot came from the Southern Yan barracks, and the soldiers ran westward with torches. Li Wuding seized the opportunity and quickly sneaked into the storage area with his troops.

The infiltration was a smooth success. However, precisely because it was too easy, Li Wuding had an uneasy feeling growing inside his heart. He saw that the granary of the Southern Yan Kingdom was close at hand, and it was extremely silent around the area.

“General?” The soldiers were waiting for Li Wuding’s next orders.

Li Wuding’s breathing became more and more heavy. Looking around, it was so dark that he wasn’t able to see anything other than pitch blackness. Even more, it was so silent that even the sound of a needle falling to the ground could be heard. Suddenly, there was a flash of light coming from the distance and Li Wuding’s eyes narrowed as he started to shout hoarsely: “Retreat!!!”

But it was already too late. The troops led by Li Wuding were soon surrounded by the Southern Yan Kingdom soldiers, which had been waiting to ambush them here beforehand!

In an instant, the battle cries sounded through the skies, as if they were trying to slice open the dark firmament!

Li Wuding didn’t panic, instead, he raised his sword to resist the enemy. He clenched his teeth so hard that he almost broke them. Inspired by this fierce spirit, the Northern Kingdom troops who’ve felt discouraged, began to gather up strength to break through this siege!

However, they were at the barracks of the Southern Yan Kingdom after all, so in the end, they were outnumbered. After several sword slashes, the Northern Kingdom’s soldiers fell down one by one. Red blood fell on their bodies, making them look fierce and dazzling.

Xue Yan shouted with a deep voice: “General Li, you don’t need to keep struggling. If you surrender, you can still save your life.”

As soon as these words fell, Li Wuding suddenly ordered the soldiers to give up breaking through the siege and turned towards the granary. When they approached the granary, there were no more than 100 Northern Kingdom soldiers left. Because of this complicated situation, Li Wuding led the remaining soldiers to hide inside the granary and blocked the door with all their strength! However, outside the granary were tens of thousands of Southern Yan Kingdom troops surrounding it.

“General Xue, the remnants of the Northern Kingdom’s army escaped into the granary. Should we break through quickly to prevent them from burning the granary?” The deputy General came to report the situation to Xue Yan.

Xue Yan shook his head: “There’s no need for that, they’re already a turtle trapped inside a jar1. If they decide to burn down the granary, won’t that mean that they would also burn themselves alive?”

After he said that, Xue Yan went to the granary to negotiate. Once he was in front of the granary, he shouted with a loud voice: “I’ve long heard of the great General Li and his achievements, but I do not wish to fight a war against General Li. Besides, the Northern Kingdom’s Emperor is well known for being fatuous and treacherous, making the Northern Kingdom people’s lives miserable.This kind of country is not worth General Li’s protection. Why don’t you surrender to the Southern Yan Kingdom and save those common people from their misery? The Southern Yan Kingdom is virtuous and capable of appointing a great General as yourself, we will certainly not treat you badly.”

“General Li…”

Inside the granary, Li Wuding slowly wiped off the blood on his face. When he heard the deputy General’s voice trembling and calling out his name, he raised his head and looked around. More than a dozen soldiers of the Northern Kingdom, with all varying degrees of injuries, were supporting each other. All of them were pale, knowing that their opportunity has been lost and there was no hope for the future.

“General, there’s no way back for us.” The deputy General said.

The deputy General’s voice was like a cold dagger, each of his words stabbed right into Li Wuding’s heart.

Li Wuding was at a loss of words, he stood up and raised his eyes. His expression was like a broken flag flying in the strong wind, completely desolate and unyielding. Outside the granary, the voice of Xue Yan persuading him into surrender pierced through Li Wuding’s ears, like a poisonous wine brewed with honey. It was a desire for life and a curse to loyalty.

Inside the granary, the eyes of the soldiers fell on Li Wuding’s body, their gaze a thousand times heavier. He took a deep breath, but he couldn’t inhale it. His head raised as he asked them: “Do you wish to live?”

Not a single voice was heard, no one answered. Everyone kept their heads down in complete silence.

They thought, who doesn’t want to live? Who wouldn’t want to be born in a peaceful and prosperous age2, with a complete family? All of them were young Officials and soldiers in the prime of their life. Who has never dreamt of rebuking Heaven and Earth3, and who hasn’t thought of a happy and healthy future?

As if a hundred years had passed, the deputy General who called Li Wuding before, finally made a move. He stood up slowly and walked towards the door of the granary, step by step.

Li Wuding, who looked at him without saying a word, didn’t stop his actions.

The deputy General, wounded from the enemy’s sword, stumbled with every step he took. The red blood dripped down his lower leg and onto the floor, leaving a trail of blood that led towards the door of the granary. He stood in front of the granary door, took a few breaths, and slowly reached out his hand.

Li Wuding’s originally emotionless eyes gradually widened.

Because the deputy General didn’t open the door! Instead, he took the fire fold4 from out of his clothes!

The deputy General turned around and bared his teeth in a smile. His appearance was one of no more than nineteen years old, and there was even a hint of youth and inexperience in his smile as he lit the fire fold, humming out a song.

It was a folk song of the Northern Kingdom, about prosperous times and peace. When the Officials and soldiers held events, they would often sing it around the campfire.

Gradually, all the other Officials and soldiers inside the granary began to sing along with him. Their singing voices slowly began to overshadow the voice of Xue Yan trying to persuade them to surrender.

Accompanying the song, Li Wuding saw the old General Sun telling him that the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom was trying to become a good ruler. He saw the figure of Xiao YuAn at the Imperial Court, fiercely punishing the corrupt Ministers because of the suffering of the common people. He also saw Xie Chungui laughing wantonly at him, with his porcelain cup filled with wine under the moonlight. This young man also said to him: General Li, for the years of the lands of this Country, I’ll share both the honor and the disgrace with the Northern Kingdom!

Li Wuding laughed up to the heavens. He sang loudly alongside the Officials and soldiers, when suddenly, some tears burst out of his eyes.

Black smoke soon emerged from the granary, and Xue Yan was horrified, quickly calling out for water to put out the fire. The folk song of the Northern Kingdom gradually disappeared, buried in the raging fire. The flames blazed into the sky, burning down the bodies, bones, and loyalty of the Officials and soldiers of the Northern Kingdom.

The wind and snow howled, as if it was buying the rise and fall of a Nation, and the bones of its heroes.

The folk song of the Northern Kingdom gradually drifted into the sky from the barracks of the Southern Yan Kingdom, pushing away the black clouds and stopping the falling snow. However, a hundred miles away, the reinforcements led by Xie Chungui were rushing to the border city, with the emergency Military rations accompanying them. The fire and the morning light lit up together, and Xie Chungui squinted his eyes as he saw the outline of the border city not far away.

A soldier said to Xie Chungui: “Deputy General Xie! Look, the snow has stopped falling and the rations will soon be delivered. After you and General Li meet up, we will definitely be able to keep the Southern Yan Kingdom out of our borders!”

There was a bright light shining inside Xie Chungui’s eyes, it was the anticipation of being able to fight alongside Li Wuding.

Because the weather was getting better, the soldiers who were delivering the rations supplies were in high spirits. Suddenly, they loudly began to sing the folk song of the Northern Kingdom, singing about the prosperity and peace of the Northern Kingdom. This song accompanied Xie Chungui all the way to the border city.

Xie Chungui laughed and shouted out loud from outside the city: “General Li, we’ve brought the ration supplies! Open the gates!”

With the singing voices sounding them, the heavy gates slowly opened, and Xie Chungui’s smile gradually disappeared from his face.

Life was truly unpredictable. Just a few hours before their arrival, everything happened because of a few hours of difference.

If Xie Chungui had arrived a few hours earlier, perhaps Li Wuding wouldn’t have resorted to rob the enemy’s rations.

But there’s no such thing as “what if” in this world. Only a quiet sigh is left behind, written in history books, and the weeping remorse from who knows who.

Footnotes:

[Title Meaning] 犹是春闺梦里人 yóu shì chūn guī mèng lǐ rén; Second line of the second part of the poem《陇西行四首·其二》(lǒng xī xíng sì shǒu·qí èr), “Four Songs of Long Xi: Second Part”, written by (陈陶 chén táo) Chen Tao [824-882], a poet from the Tang Dynasty [618-907]. The original sentence is (可怜无定河边骨，犹是春闺梦里人 kě lián wú dìng hé biān gǔ，yóu shì chūn guī mèng lǐ rén), “Pitiful bones laying by the Wuding River, they can only live in Chungui’s dream”. The poor soldiers who have turned into a pile of white bones under the Wuding River, and their wives, not knowing that their husbands died at war, are still dreaming of reuniting with them soon, which turns the whole poem into a soul-touching tragedy. (无定河边 wú dìng hé biān)Wuding River: Originated from present-day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it flows through the counties of Yulin and Mizhi in Shaanxi province in Northwest China, and enters the Yellow River in Qingjian County. (春闺 chūn guī)Chungui: lit. Refers to a woman’s bedroom. The characters 无定 wú dìng are the same as the ones from Li Wuding’s name, and although the 淳归 chún guī characters from Xie Chungui’s name are not the same as 春闺 chūn guī (a woman’s bedroom), it does sounds the same, so in this case it could be said that the Author deliberately used this poem as a chapter title for both ch75/76 because she’s trying to show how Li Wuding is the soldier (husband) that died at war, whereas Xie Chungui is the “wife” hoping/dreaming to reunite with his loved ones. Although, this is my own interpretation so take it with a grain of salt.
[1] 瓮中鳖 wèng zhōng biē; Its a Chinese idiom, it’s used as a metaphor to describe a person that’s in a difficult position and is unable to escape / The thing someone wants to catch is already within its grasp. From《李逵负荆》(lǐ kuí fù jīng), “Li Kui’s Guilty Consciousness ”, written by (康进之 kāng jìn zhī) Kang Jinzhi, a drama writer from the Yuan/Mongol Dynasty [1279-1368].
[2] 太平盛世 tài píng shèng shì; It’s a Chinese idiom, used as a metaphor to describe a very prosperous and stable society. The Country’s politics is clear and bright. The People live in peace and happiness. The Officials and the common people do their best job and everything else. There are more and more friends and fewer opponents. The roads are clear and the doors are closed at night. The wind and rain are favorable and there were no disasters nor difficulties. The society is extremely peaceful. From《野获编》(yě huò biān), “The Wild Hunt”, written by (沈德符 shěn dé fú) Shen Defu [1578-1642], a writer and bureaucrat from the Ming Dynasty [1368-1644].
[3] 叱咤风云 chì zhà fēng yún; It’s a Chinese idiom, describes a person who is magnificent / majestic. Nowadays, it’s often used to describe the mighty power of a General or someone of great influence. From《梁书·元帝纪》(liáng shū·yuán dì jì), “History of Liang of the Southern Dynasties: The Chronicle of Emperor Yuan”, a compilation by (姚思廉 yáo sī lián) Yao Silian [557-637], a writer and compiler of the Tang Dynasty [618-907].
[4] 火折 huǒ zhē; It’s a kind of straw paper that can be easily ignited, and was used to light cigarettes or as a fuse for fire in the countryside. It’s an easy and portable tool for lighting and fetching fire. The method of making the fire folders is to soak the white (sweet) potato vines in water, take them out and beat them with the fist, then soak them, add cotton, reed tassels and then beat them again, dry them, add nitrate, sulfur, rosin, camphor, etc., and fold them into flat tubes or twist them. Then it’s placed in a bamboo tube.