SHA PO LANG
C1
The countryside village of Yanhui had a “General Hill”; the name sounds all mighty and spectacular, but it’s really just a tiny little dirt pile, and someone with a slightly longer neck could see right over the top of it.
General Hill hadn’t always been there. It was said that fourteen years ago, the Great Liang Dynasty’s three Blackmetal Battalions went on their great expedition north, wiping out the eighteen barbaric Man tribes. They passed Yanhui victoriously en route back to the capital city, and dumped their trashed armour here, which piled up into a small mound, and after years of sand, wind, and rain, became what is now General Hill.
General Hill was a complete wasteland – nothing planted there ever grows, and not even weed graces this place with their presence; there’s not even anything for cover if a couple wanted to secretly have some fun. It just lay there in the middle of the place, and nobody knew exactly what to do with it. The older generation said that the reason behind its desolation was because the Blackmetal Battalions were too strongly shrouded in the stenches of death and violence. Time passed; eventually certain good-for-nothing street ruffians who had way too much spare time on their hands used this as the basis to conjure up a series of countryside ghost stories, and over time fewer and fewer people even visit the area.
But this evening, two little kids of around ten years old snuck over to the bottom of the slope.
Of these two kids, one was tall and skinny, the other short and fat. When put together, they bore striking resemblance to a running pair of bowl and chopsticks.
The skinny one was dressed in female attire, and only upon closer inspection could one tell that this was actually a little boy. In fact, his very name was Cao Niang Zi, because the fortune-teller said he had the lifeline of a girl, but was born into the wrong body, and the gods above would probably tell him to go away and find another body to get reborn in. His family worried that he wouldn’t live long, so they’d just brought him up as a daughter.
The fat one was name Ge Pang Xiao, and he was son of the local butcher. He certainly lived up to his name; his entire body seemed to be covered in a glistening sheen of oily wealth.
The two of them stuck their heads out, but due to the fear left over from those ghost stories, neither dared approach.
Ge Pang Xiao held a leather-bound “Thousand-Mile Eye” in his fat little hands, stretching his neck out as far as possible in the direction of General Hill and muttering, “Say, the sun’s about to go down, and he’s still not back, big bro is seriously… um, what’s it called —— hanging yourself to avoid wheat!”
Cao Niang Zi: “That’s called hanging your hair up and putting spikes under your bum to avoid falling asleep while studying. Now stop spewing nonsense and give the me the Eye.”
This fake little girl sometimes took the role a bit too seriously, but unfortunately the direction he was going in was a tad bit worrying – he wasn’t behaving like a lady, but rather some sort of roughish tomboy, especially with his chicken-like claws waving around trying to pinch everyone.
As soon as he reached out his hand, the thick fat pasted on Ge Pang Xiao’s body started itching with pain reflexively. He quickly passed over the Eye with a quick reminder of “be careful with that; if you break it, my dad’s gonna turn me into mince pie!”
This so-called “Thousand-Mile Eye” was a small copper tube with the Five Bats carved around the rim. Layers of transparent glass was stuck on the inside, and when put to one’s eye, one could clearly see the sex of a rabbit some ten miles away.
The one Ge Pang Xiao had was especially intricate, as it was passed down from his grandfather, who had been a scout.
Cao Niang Zi clutched it excitedly in his hands for a while, then held it up to stars. “It’s so clear.”
Ge Pang Xiao followed his gaze. “Oh, I know, that one’s called Hesperus, also known as ‘Chang Geng’. Same name as big bro! Mister Shen’s taught us before, I remember.”
Can Niang Zi’s mouth twitched. “Who’s your big bro? Does he even talk to you? Look at you, chasing after him all the time insisting he be your ‘big bro’, do you even know what shame is… Hey, hang on, is that him?”
Ge Pang Xiao looked in the way he’s pointing, and – it really was.
A teenage boy was coming down slowly from General Hill with a sword in hand. Immediately, Ge Pang Xiao forgot all about his fear of whatever ghosts were involved in the stories, and shot out like a bullet: “Big bro, big bro!”
He went perhaps a bit too fast, and somehow managed to trip himself at the foot of the hill. He fell, flailing, and rolled to a stop right at the boy’s feet.
Ge Pang Xiao looked up with his face covered in dirt. Before he even bothered getting up he first let out a big fat grin, and through his exposed teeth he said, “Hehe, big bro, I’ve been waiting here all day for you.”
The teenager, Chang Geng, silently retracted the foot that was about to step on the kid.
Every time he saw Ge Pang Xiao, he would always have the genuine impression that the butcher Ge, who must have killed thousands of pigs, probably has those kind of super talented eyes that can see everything. After all these years, it was an absolute miracle that he still hadn’t butchered his son by mistake. But no matter what he thought in his head, Chang Geng, with his ahead-of-his-age mature personality, would never say something like this out loud.
Chang Geng helped Ge Pang Xiao to his feet with quite the demeanour of an actual big brother, then dusted the kid off. “Be careful, what are you running for? What’s the matter?”
Ge Pang Xiao: “Big bro Chang Geng! Your dad’s coming back soon, so let’s not go to class, come with us to fight for the yan snacks! We’d totally smash those little monkeys for sure!”
Chang Geng’s dad was mayor Xu – not his real dad.
When he was around two or three years old, his widowed mother miss Xiu brought him here to seek the help of relatives, only to find that said relatives had long since moved away. Xu, who’d conveniently lost his spouse and who has no children, then decided to marry miss Xiu.
Mayor Xu had went off with some men to collect the Man‘s yearly tribute, and should be back in a day or two.
The countryside village was poor, and the children didn’t really have much to eat, so every time the soldiers came back from their yearly patrols they would always bring along with them some cheese and dried meat from the Man tribes. They would throw it off the road along the way, and the children would all fight mightily over it, and it became known as the “yan snack fight”.
As it was a “fight”, a bunch of goofy kids would no doubt actually throw punches, but as long as nothing was broken, the adults let them have their fun. And so, these kids started ganging up, and soon it started looking like some serious business.
For this kind of thing, whoever could get Chang Geng on their side would be absolutely unbeatable.
Chang Geng had studied the martial arts from a very young age – villages near the frontier generally had many soldiers and military families, and while there were a vast many kids who also learned quite a few moves, the majority found it too difficult, so most just learned some loose basics and stopped there. Only Chang Geng, from the very start, would come to practice here alone on top of General Hill every day, with astonishing persistence and willpower over the years.
Now, nominally aged fourteen, Chang Geng could already carry a thirty-kilo heavy sword in one hand. Even though he knows his strength and never participates in the smaller kids’ fights and wrestles, the little monkeys still were oddly afraid of him.
Chang Geng didn’t take the boy seriously, and laughed, “I’m not a kid anymore, why should I be picking snacks?”
Ge Pang Xiao wasn’t giving up. “I’d already told Mister Shen, and he’d agreed too, so we can have a break these days.”
Chang Geng walked slowly with his hands behind his back and the heavy sword knocking against his leg, not listening to Ge Pang Xiao’s childish words.
Whether he studies or not, whether he practices sword fighting or not, it was his business alone and had nothing to do with whether Mister Shen let them off.
Ge Pang Xiao: “Also, Mister Shen said he’s be switching up the medicine for Uncle Sixteen, so he might be going far away to get herbs and won’t be home. You don’t have anywhere to go either, so why not just come with us? What’s so fun about heaving around a big sword?”
Now this, Chang Geng actually listened to. He paused. “Didn’t Sixteen just come back from Changyang, how come he’s fallen ill again?”
Ge Pang Xiao: “Ah… I don’t know, I mean, he’s never actually been not sick…”
“I’m going to go take a look at him,” Chang Geng waved the two little stalkers off. “Go on home. It’s getting late, and if you miss dinner your father’s going to beat you up again.”
Ge Pang Xiao: “ehh, big bro, um… that….”
Chang Geng didn’t have any interest in his endless ramble of “this” and “that”. Every passing year counts for boys at this age, and not only height but also maturity were very different for different ages; Chang Geng was already unfit to hang around with kids like Ge Pang Xiao.
He masterfully utilised his advantage in height and long legs, and soon had already gone far.
The little fatty came all the way here for nothing, having been pathetically unable to invite the older boy, and he let out a disappointed sigh. Turning around, he glared at Cao Niang Zi. “Can’t you say something!”
Cao Niang Zi was beet red in the face, eyes hazy, and the aggressiveness directed at Ge Pang Xiao just minutes ago was utterly gone. Clutching his chest like a girl going through intense puberty, he sighed, “Ahh, even the way my big bro Chang Geng walks is more attractive than other people.”
Ge Pang Xiao: “……”
Can’t even bring this brat out anymore.
The “Mister Shen” that Ge Pang Xiao was referring to and “Uncle Sixteen” were brothers, and actually had quite some relations and history with Chang Geng.
Two years ago, when Chang Geng was still small, he’d snuck out of the city gates alone to play. Unluckily enough, he’d gotten lost and almost got killed by a wolf pack, and it was only lucky for him that the brothers Shen had passed by.
Miser Shen used some sort of medicinal powder to scare away the wolves, saving his tiny little life. After that, the two brothers settled down in Yanhui, and mayor Xu rented them a spare yard for free as thanks for saving his son.
The elder brother was named Shen Yi, and was a failed scholar. But though he was still young, he’d already given up on all goals and dreams, instead settling for being something of a hermit in this trashy place, and the villagers all politely called him “Mister Shen”.
Apart from being a hermit, Mister Shen also had the role of doctor, calligrapher, the village teacher, “Long-Arm Master”, and many other jobs. He could do all sorts of things from caring for the injured, to being midwife for a horse in labour. During the daytime, he schooled a bunch of children at home, then as soon as the evening comes he shooed the kids away. That was the time when he rolled up his sleeves and started thinking on all sorts of things – steam engine, armour, and practice dummies. With all these things to do, he was probably the busiest hermit to ever exist.
Mister Shen did practically everything, from earning money to caring for the family, and even cooking he was good at. And so, without anything left to do, his brother could only become a professional spendthrift —— Mister Shen’s brother was named “Shen Sixteen”. Apparently he’d always been a sickly kid, and because his family thought he wouldn’t live that long, they didn’t bother giving him a name. He was born on the sixteenth day after the new year, so they just conveniently named him “Sixteen”.
Shen Sixteen did absolutely nothing all day long; he didn’t study, didn’t read, didn’t do work. If a oil bottle toppled over he wouldn’t even reach out a hand to right it, and he’d probably never hauled a single water bucket in his life. All he did was wander around and drink; in fact, he was so useless there was not a single good thing about him.
Other than his good looks.
And those were good looks. This was even confirmed by the oldest man in town, who said that even after living for almost ninety years, he’d never seen a man so neat.
But unfortunately it didn’t matter how attractive he was – Shen Sixteen fell severely ill once when he was small, and it burned him up. Now he could barely see two feet and couldn’t tell if someone ten steps away was a man or a woman. He’s also quite deaf; in fact, if one wanted to tell him something the only method of communication would be yelling. Every time someone passed the Shen’s yard, they could hear through the thick wall the gentlemanly Mister Shen roaring at him like some mad dog.
All in all, Shen Sixteen was a sickly deaf-blind.
With his conditions and relations, he should have been able to live very comfortably. But in this pathetic little village, the only kind of people other than the poor was the even poorer. Even if some goddess of beauty descended to this place, nobody would be able to take her in.
According to local tradition, when you were greatly indebted to someone and there was no way of paying them back, you would formally acknowledge that person’s descendants (if he/she had any) or that person him or herself as your family.
The Shen brothers had saved Chang Geng from under the wolves’ mouths, and this was enough for Chang Geng to nominally acknowledge one of the two as his father.
Mister Shen studied so hard he broke his brain, and he insisted that it wasn’t right and wouldn’t accept Chang Geng as his son. But his dear old brother didn’t care; Sixteen went ahead and called Chang Geng “son” right on the spot.
And it was like this that the bastard Sixteen caught a big fish effortlessly – even if this piece of waste kept up with being a piece of waste and did absolutely nothing for the rest of his life, Chang Geng would still have to care for him until he died.
Chang Geng went past his own yard, turned a corner, and arrived at the Shen’s.
The Shen family has two singles in total with not even a female chicken present, so naturally there no need to avoid anything in case of rumours. And so whenever Chang Geng came he just went straight in, not even bothering to knock.
The moment he stepped foot into the yard, the distinct smell of medicine and a wispy xun tune hit him.
Mister Shen was stewing medicine in the yard with his eyebrows pulled into a frown – he was a scholarly looking young man and had on a worn robe. He wasn’t old by any means, but the constant frown on his face gave him an air of weathered coolness.
The sound of xun came from inside the house, its player’s elegant silhouette cast on the window from a dim light. The performer was clearly rather lacking in skill, and no matter how hard one tried it was impossible to tell the tune. Occasionally one or two stubborn notes would refuse to get played, which caused the melody to float and waver up and down, and it brought out a desolate feeling of weariness.
To label something like this “music” would be pushing it. Chang Geng listened for a while, and eventually decided that if he had to say something positive about this, it would be that this would make for some excellent funeral accompaniment.
Shen Yi heard his footsteps and looked up to smile at him. Then, turning back, he belted out, “dear lord, please spare our lives, you’re going to get us potty-trained with that sound in no time! Chang Geng’s here!”
The one with the xun had no reaction. With his hearing, it was more than likely that he actually didn’t catch a single thing.
Mister Shen had an expression similar to that of having eaten a turd.
By the sounds of it, the one playing had tons of energy and was nowhere near to falling ill, and Chang Geng’s squeezed-up heart loosened halfway. “I heard from Ge Pang Xiao that you were going to change Sixteen’s medicine. What happened?”
Mister Shen stared at the colour of the boiling medicine soup, looking annoyed. “It’s nothing, just change of season. There’s different medicine used for each season, because he’s just that sick and delicate… Oh, you came right on time. He’s gotten hold of a little something from I don’t even know where, and was going to give it to you first thing tomorrow – but since you’re here now, go take a look.”
SHA PO LANG
C2
*yìfù -义父 meaning: adoptive father, foster father, Godfather
**Chapter 1 can be found in https://2333translations.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/chapter-1-the-frontier/.
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Chang Geng took the well-brewed bowl of medicine and entered his young father’s chamber.
Shen Shiliu’s room only had a single dimly-lit oil lamp, its glow was the size of a bean, similar to that of a firefly.
He was sitting by the window. Most of his face was hidden under the shadow of the lamp,only a portion of it was visible and he appeared to had fallen asleep. Shen Shiliu did not wear a hair-crown(1), his hair scattered all over. Two small beauty marks the color of cinnabar rest under the corner of his eye and on his earlobe, looking like they were created by a needle.
The only meager source of light in the room was all taken in by this pair of beauty marks, almost too blinding.
Watching him under the light, his charm seemed to have multiplied three times more than usual.
Anyone would appreciate beauty, even if he’s already accustomed to it, Chang Geng’s breathing still can’t help but stagnate, he blinked quickly, as if to clear away that dazzling blood-red spot from his eyesight.
He cleared his throat and raised his voice: “Shiliu, take the medicine.”
The teenager was undergoing a voice-changing period. It is a little difficult to talk to this half deaf. Fortunately, this time Shen Shiliu has heard it, and the sound of the hyun that had the ability to urge people to urinate had stopped.
Shen Shiliu’s eyes narrowed to see Chang Geng standing in the doorway: “Where are your manners, who did you just call?”
In reality, he was only approximately 7-8 years older than Chang Geng, and was not yet married. He was fully aware of his good-for-nothing nature and had fully prepared to live this life alone unable to wed a wife. But suddenly he got a son whom he did not have to raise himself; he wanted nothing more than to hold firmly onto the boy. Without anything else to do, he could only assert his role as his “father” to emphasize the point.
Chang Geng ignored Shiliu and carefully put the medicine bowl in front of him: ” Drink while it’s still hot, it’s no longer early, hurry and lie down after you finish drinking.”
Shen Shiliu puts aside the hyun(2) and took the medicine bowl: “How ungrateful, was it not a good life being my son? I have wasted so much effort in treating you so well.”
He drank the medicine without difficulty, downed it in one go unmistakably used to it. He took two mouthfuls of plain water that Chang Geng handed him for rinsing and waved his hand: “There was a market in Changyang today, I brought home something exciting for you. Come here.”
Shen Shiliu then bent over to search around the desk and due to his eyesight, the tip of his nose appeared as if it could graze its surface. Chang Geng had no choice but to respond: “What are you looking for? Let me look for you.”
Then he couldn’t help but complain: “I have already grown up, have you got nothing else to do but keep on bringing me children’s playthings?”
If you have so much free time on your hands, why not just stop causing me trouble and let me study more useful things, Chang Geng rolled this thought in his head, and as the words were about to come out, it felt a little hurtful, and he did not say it.
All year round, Xu Baihu seldom stays home, he is a good and honest man who was very kind to Chang Geng, although he does not often communicate with his stepchild. Thinking about it, Chang Geng had spent these most crucial years of his life with this improper Adoptive Father.
Shen Shiliu was a loiterer; spending day by day wasting time was one thing, but he must always drag Chang Geng along with him! If not to go to a market gathering, then it’s to go horse riding.
On one occasion he even found a “puppy” for Chang Geng to raise – causing Teacher Shen to turn green from fright. This blind man could not differentiate between wolf and dog and ended up bringing back a small wolf cub.
From a young boy who was growing into an adult, how much willpower does one need to not be ruined by Shen Shiliu’s bad habits?
Chang Geng truly felt frightened as he recalled.
By nature he was not the type that loved to play around, everything had his own planning that he would strictly follow. He did not like to be bothered by others; the constant disturbance from Shen Shiliu was greatly irritating.
But his irritability did not usually last long for Shen Shiliu truly loved him as a son, and was not taking advantage of him despite what his words may sound like.
That year when Chang Geng was infected with a severe illness, Xu Baihu was not at home as per usual. Physicians said that he was in danger. It was also his young Father who took him home and watched over him day and night endlessly for three days.
Every time he went out, no matter near or far, no matter what his business might be, he will surely present Chang Geng with some small toys or snacks. Chang Geng didn’t love these things, but he can’t help but love the fact that Shiliu kept him in his thoughts at any time and any place.
In short, every day that Chang Geng saw Shiliu, his irascibility would be extremely strong, but the moment he would not see the man, concern raised up in him.
Chang Geng sometimes thought to himself: although Shen Shiliu was not a martial man, nor was he scholarly, nor was he someone who can at least work himself to the bone, but in the future, will there be anyone who would be fooled by his good looks?
In the future, his young Father would eventually get married, birth his own children; would he still remember this adopted son?
When he thinks about this subject, an indescribable feeling stirred up inside. He found a square box on Shiliu’s table. He briefly shook off the train of thoughts in his head. He took it to Shen Shiliu: “This?”
Shen Shiliu: “It’s for you, open it.”
Maybe it was a slingshot, maybe a package of cheese, nevertheless, it could not be anything of worth – Chang Geng opened the box without any expectation and scold: “You have to learn to save money even if we have some to spare, moreover, I am…”
The next moment, he saw the item in the box, and suddenly shut his mouth, his eyes widened.
There was an iron wristband(3) in the box!
The so-called “iron wrist buckle”, in actuality was part of light-weight armors used in the military, very convenient as it is only a circle wrapping around the wrist, therefore it often got taken apart from the armor to be used separately.
The iron wristband is about four inches wide and can contain three to four small knives inside. The knife was made with unique craftsmanship, can be as thin as a cicada’s wings, can also be referred to as the Xiu zhong si(4).
It is said that the best Xiu zhong si when firing off from the Iron wristband, can split a single hair apart within a few feet distance into two in the blink of an eye.
Chang Geng was startled: “This… Where did you get it?”
Shen Shiliu: “Shh – don’t let Shen Yi hear, this is not a plaything, he will start nagging again if he saw – do you know how to use it?”
Teacher Shen himself was watering the flowers in the courtyard. His hearing wasn’t impaired, he could clearly make out the conversation inside the house. He did not know what to do with this half deaf person who uses himself to measure others.
Chang Geng had followed Shen Yi to learn how to disassemble iron armors, he skillfully put on the iron wrist buckle, only then did he discover a special feature of this object.
Xiu zhong si was not easy to make, and there were very few floating around. Most of the iron wristbands on the market were old and used goods from the army. The size was, of course, also of an adult man. The one brought back by Shen Shiliu was obviously a size smaller, a perfect fit for a young teen.
Chang Geng was stunned, Shen Shiliu knows what he wanted to ask, and slowly said: “I heard from the merchant that this is a defective good. There is nothing wrong with it, just that the size is a little small. Still nobody wanted to purchase it, eventually he sold it to me for a cheap price, I couldn’t use it for anything, you can play around with it. Just be careful, don’t hurt anyone.”
Chang Geng seldom let his delight showed: “Thank you…”
Shen Shiliu: “Thank who?”
Chang Geng quickly cried: “Father!”
“Submit to whoever feeds you(5), bastard!” Shen Shiliu laughed and put his arm around Chang Geng’s shoulders, sending him off. “Go home, don’t go stay out too late on the month of Forsaken Spirits.”
Chang Geng listened to it for a while and pondered, it turned out that today was July 15th.
He walked back to his home through the side door, as he entered the doorway, he suddenly felt that the tune Shiliu was blowing on the hyun was a bit familiar, although it is completely off tune, but it truly resembled the tune of < Song Xi>, a song that was used as a burial cried among the people.
“Is it appropriate?” Chang Geng silently thought.
Shen Shiliu sent Chang Geng home, bowed his head to search around quite awhile, eventually found the outline of the door and carefully stepped over to close it.
Teacher Shen, who was waiting in the courtyard, offered him a helping hand with a blank expression and led him back to their place.
Teacher Shen: “Iron wristband that was made by the best kind of iron, the three blades inside were created by Master Qiu Tian Lin himself. After the Master had passed away, they have stopped producing and selling it… defective goods?”
Shiliu did not answer.
Teacher Shen: “All right already, don’t play coy with me – do you really want to raise him as your own son?”
“Of course I do, I like this child, righteous and benevolent,” Shiliu finally said, “That person probably also have this idea in mind. If I can really make him my heir and pass him my name, those people will be relieved. He could also live a much better life.”
Teacher Shen was silent for a while, then whispered, “You have to make him not resent you first- are you not worried at all?”
Shen Shiliu smiled, lifting the hem of his robe and pushing the door into the house.
He said with a shameless face: “There are loads of people who resent me already.”
This night, lights floated on the river; souls returned home.
Chang Geng was stirred up before dawn arrived, his body in a fervorous state, a thin layer of sweat on his back, his loincloth wet.
Every adolescent will experience such fright and confusion at least once – even if there was already someone to teach them in advance.
But Chang Geng did not panic, nor was he confused, he was nonchalant, he sat in bed for a moment, then proceeded to get up and washed up casually. There was a slight undetectable disgust lingering on his face.
He goes out to fetch a bucket of cold water, scrub his still-growing body from head to toe, took out the neatly folded clothes besides the pillows, drank the tea that had been left there overnight, and started the day’s study session as usual.
Chang Geng did not know what other people’s dreams were like.
But he himself didn’t actually have any Spring dream. He only dreamt of a snowstorm that could freeze people to death.
The wind of that day was like a white fur, ruthlessly passing by, the blood from his wounds had already condensed into ice slag before they could flow out, the roar of the wolves was far and near, he could no longer smell the rusty scent of blood, every breath brought in more pain, and the bittersweet scent that cut deep into one’s bone.Chang Geng’s limbs were stiff, his lung burning. He thought that this snow would swallow him whole.
But no.
When Chang Geng woke up again, he found that someone had used their outer coat to wrap him in and carried him away.
He remembered that the man was dressed in white robes, a scent of bitter medicine lingering on his body. When he saw that Chang Geng was awake, he did not say a word, he just took out a wine jug and gave him a sip.
Chang Geng didn’t know what kind of wine it was, he never had the chance to taste it again. He only remembered that even the Shao Dao-zi (a type of wine) that was sold outside of town wasn’t this strong. It was like fire rolling down his throat – burning all the blood in his body with just one sip.
That person was Shiliu.
It was immensely vivid. The sensation from the dream of Shiliu’s hands carrying him still lingered on his body. Chang Geng still could not comprehend, wassn’t that person a sickly man? In such frightening ice and snow, how can there be such steady and powerful hands?
Chang Geng looked down at the iron buckle wrapped around his wrist. He did not know what kind of material it was made of, even after pressing against his body for a night, it did not warmed up even the slightest. With the coolness of the cold iron, Chang Geng quietly waited for his heart and boiling blood to cool down, sneered, and mocked the ridiculous thought of “Seeing your Father in a Spring dream”, then went to lit up the lamp and started his reading as usual…
Suddenly, there was a “rumbling” sound in the distance, the ground and the small quarters were shaking and vibrating. It was only a moment later that he remembered that counting the days, it should be about time that the “Giant Kite” of the Northern Patrol unit returned.
“Giant Kite” was a large ship with a length of more than 5,000 feet. The ship had two wings and was composed of thousands of “flaming fins”. When the Giant Kite would take off, all the “flaming fins” would sprout out white steam altogether, creating a dreamy imagery, every “flaming fins” burned Ziliujin(6) the size of a bowl inside, flashing a faith purple-red gleam in the vast expanse of smoke. It seemed like a million lights.
Since fourteen years ago, the Northern Barbarian bowed to pay their tribute. Every year on the 15th of the first month, there would be dozens of Giant Kites setting off from the border areas. They each would take an established route, their might displayed for thousands of miles. They could also observe each and every move of the barbarians.
In addition to deterrence and inspections, the Giant Kite was also responsible for sending the tributes of the various northern tribes back to the capital, mainly “Ziliujin“.
The Giant Kite was loaded with nearly a million pound of Ziliujin, its returning footsteps were a bit heavier than when it took off. You can hear the angry blowing noise of “flaming fins” from within 20, 30 miles.
The Northern Patrol unit would set off on the first month of the year and would only return in six months time after departing.
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(1) an accessory to put your hair up in a bun or ponytail, as seen in ancient dramas and such
(2) hyun is a type of musical instrument with an egg shape with holes on it.
(3) 铁腕扣, tie wan kuo
(4) meaning: a thread hidden inside a sleeve
(5) 有奶就是娘: Chinese idiom, literally means “The person who feeds me with milk is my mother.”
(6) Ziliujin-紫流金: direct translation: flow of purple gold – is a type of oil that power every steampunk gadgets in this universe, ranging from gears in the military to household objects and more, very crucial and immensely important, you’ll see this term coming up a lot throughout the book
SHA PO LANG
C3
Note: We’re going to start to use yifu instead of adoptive father for the next chapters. Will be editing the previous one as well. 🙂
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The Xu Family owned a few bits of land, Xu Baihu was also a military man. Life in the local areas was not bad at all. With some small family fortune they owned, they kept an old servant in the house to do some cooking and cleaning.
Only when dawn has broken that the Xu family’s old maid slowly finished making breakfast. She came to knock on the door of Chang Geng’s study room: “Young master, Madam inquired whether or not you’ll have your meal at her chamber.”
Chang Geng was currently concentrating on practicing calligraphy from existing samples, the motion of his hand stopped momentarily upon hearing the maid’s call. He answered with a rehearsed: “No, Mother prefers peace and quiet, I will not bother her, would you mind passing my regards to her?”
The old maid was not surprised by his reply. The daily back and forth between the mother and the child was as routine, nothing new.
It was indeed quite strange. Logically, Xu Baihu was only but a stepfather; the ones with an actual biological connection were Chang Geng and Xiu Niang. But it was only when Xu Baihu stayed at home that this pair of mother and child would feast on the same table, exchange greetings, show filial piety, and pretend to be harmonious. As soon as the man of the family would leave, they were even more strange than strangers, and regard no attention to one another. They lived in the same house, yet Chang Geng didn’t even use the main gate; every day, he’d run to their next-door-neighbor using the side entrance, the mother and son may not be able to see each other even if many months would pass.
Even before, when Chang Geng was infected with a serious illness that could cost him his life, Xiu Niang merely glanced at him with indifference, not a single concern about whether or not he was dead or alive.
In the end, it was Shiliu who took him away and cared for him.
The old maid has always suspected that Chang Geng was not Xiu Niang’s biological child. However, their appearances were similar to one another, they unmistakably must have a blood-related relationship.
Moreover, a vulnerable and fragile woman who strayed away from her home country like Xiu Niang, who did not even have the strength to defend herself…if it is not her biological son, why would she still hold on to this child?
It was truly incomprehensible.
After a while, the old maid brought over a food container and said to Chang Geng: “Master will probably return today. Madam had asked Young Master to come home early.”
Chang Geng understood what she meant: when Xu Baihu returned, they would have to put on the display of harmonious mother and son. He nodded and said, “I know.”
His gaze fell on the food container. Suddenly, Chang Geng noticed a long strand of hair on its handle, and the hand that he had stretched out immediately flinched back.
The old maid’s hair was already white. This black and silky strand of long hair would unquestionably not be hers. Xu Baihu hasn’t come back yet. In this household, counting the servant, there were three people in total. If it is not the old maid’s then, without a doubt, it must be Xiu Niang’s.
Chang Geng had a strange kind of cleanliness – a son who despised his own mother.
He could eat the leftover rice in the bowl of his yifu with no problem when staying at their next-door neighbor place, but as soon as he returned home, as long as Xiu Niang had laid her hand something, he would never touch it.
The old maid was aware of this strange quirk of his. She carefully removed the hair and said with a smile: “Madam just accidentally let it fall on the surface of the box, no one has yet touched the breakfast inside, please rest assured.”
Chang Geng politely smiled at her: “Don’t mind it, by chance I also have some topics to ask of Teacher Shen today. I will have my breakfast over at yifu’s place.”
In the end, he did not accept the food container. He proceeded to gather all the notes and papers on the table, putting them under his arm, then grabbed the heavy sword hanging on the back door and left.
Teacher Shen was pulling up his sleeves and working in the yard to oil several pieces of steel armors that have been dismantled.
Steel armors were sent over by the officers and soldiers of the City’s defensive force. The officers of Yanhui Town also had their own “Mechanics division” who specialized in maintaining military steel armors. However, the amount of armors that required maintenance were too abundant, and when in a rush, they would also look for Mechanics from the common folks to share their loads with.
”Chang Bei Shi (1)- Mechanics” are those who repair steel armor and machines. They deal with ‘Iron Fellas’ all day, resembling the work of a craftsman. However, in the eyes of ordinary people, Mechanics and those who cut one’s hairs or fine one’s nail were almost the same. It was a job that belonged to the ‘lower class’. While it could put food on the table, it was not considered a grand profession.
Teacher Shen was a scholarly man; no one understood why he had this unusual hobby. Not only did he like to mess around with them in his free time, but he also frequently used this skill to earn some money, demeaning his educated and refined image quite a bit.
But Shen Shiliu – who entered the adolescent’s dream by accident, was idly stretching his two long legs. He was sitting on the doorstep, leaning against the door frame as if there was not a single bone in his body, an empty medicine bowl next to him – which he did not even bother to clean after he finished drinking.
Shiliu stretched his lower back, reached out and weakly waved his hand at Chang Geng: “My son, go fetch me my wine bottle.”
Teacher Shen, whose hands were full of machine oil and sweat trickling, said to Chang Geng: “Don’t mind him, have you eaten yet?”
Chang Geng: “I haven’t.”
Teacher Shen turned his head and snarled at Shiliu: “Just got up in the morning and already lying around waiting to get fed! Why can’t you help out a bit? Go clean some rice and cook a few bowls of porridge!”
Shen Shiliu tilted his head, deaf ‘just enough’, slowly asked: “Ah? What?”
”Let me,” Chang Geng was already used to this scenario, “What kind of rice?”
This time Lord Shiliu had heard clearly, raising his long eyebrows, said to Teacher Shen: “Stop ordering children around, why can’t you do it yourself?”
The usually polite and gentle Teacher Shen got provoked by this bastard of a brother every day, anger apparent on his face: ” Didn’t we say we will take turns? Not being able to hear is one thing, why is it that you never keep to your words?”
Shen Shiliu busted out his old usual trick, again he‘could not hear’, then asked, “What is he barking about?”
Incredibly real.
Chang Geng: “…”
Truly it was quite convenient to be a deaf man.
”He said that…” Chang Geng bowed his head and was struck by the playfulness in Shiliu’s gaze, the dream of the night before flashed back right in front of his eyes. He suddenly found that he was not so unaffected.
Chang Geng’s throat suddenly became a bit dry, he tried to steady his mind and said with an expressionless face: “Please sit still, don’t play tricks so early in the morning.”
Shen Shiliu has not had the chance to get some drinks this morning. With only small bits of his conscience not soaked into liquor yet, he smiled and grabbed Chang Geng’s hand, borrowing some strength to stand up, patting the boy’s head intimately then stumbling into the kitchen.
He was really ready to be put to work- Lord Shiliu doing chores was an incredibly rare occurrence that has not been seen in a hundred years, almost comparable to the blossoming of iron trees.(2)
Chang Geng hurriedly stepped after him, only to see his yifu carelessly grabbing a few handfuls of rice, throwing them all into the pot, pouring in water, splattering droplets all over. Next, he ‘lowered himself’ sticking two fingers inside to mix and stir around for a brief moment, then took them out, shaking the remaining water off of them and announced: “I’m done washing my half. Shen Yi, come and take turns.”
Teacher Shen: “…”
Shen Shiliu then grabbed the wine bottle on the tabletop, tilting his head back to take a sip, his movements completely precise, like moving clouds and flowing water.
… Sometimes Chang Geng suspected that even his blindness was only an act.
Teacher Shen truly admitted defeat. No longer pointlessly arguing with him, he washed his hands with saponins, rushed into the kitchen, reheated their breakfast, and started to clean up the mess left behind by Shiliu.
Chang Geng took out the notes he wrote earlier this morning and showed them to Shen Yi. After Shen Yi had finished making his comments on them, Chang Geng puts them into the stove to help keep the fire.
”Your handwriting improved quite a lot. A lot of effort was put in recently, was it not?” said Teacher Shen. “I see that you are imitating the writing of
Chang Geng: “Yes.”
Shiliu who was idling on the side, upon hearing this, immediately turned his head. A strange expression flashed on his face.
Teacher Shen did not look up: “The Marquis of Order took over the army at the age of fifteen, his first battle has ended in glorious victory.
“He became the commander at age seventeen and went on the Western Expedition campaign under the Emperor’s order. While passing through the outskirt of Xiliang City, he saw the historical remnants of the people from ancient times. He felt moved that the remains of former dynasties are still there, yet hundreds of years have already passed. With emotions rising up, he wrote down
” Writing it is one thing, but those sugar-coating bunch had to secretly make a copy of it and engraved it on a stone tablet –
“Thinking about it, Gu Yun was taught by the renowned scholar of the present time – Mo Sen, his words have a lot for one to learn from, just that when writing
Chang Geng rolled up the papers that had been filled up with his practiced calligraphy and stuffed them into the stove without hesitation:
“I heard people say, Black Eagles, Black Armors, Black Calvaries – the three major factions of The Black Iron Camp – in the hands of the Previous Marquis, had silenced the Eighteen Barbarian tribes. Later he passed it on to the Young Marquis, he had made the Western Regions bowed their heads. It’s not that I liked his words. I just wanted to know, the hands that commanded the three black iron camps: what does his handwriting look like?”
Teacher Shen unconsciously stirred around the pot with a spoon, his eyes seemed to have drifted to somewhere far away. After a while, he slowly said:
“The Marquis of Order’s surname is Gu, first name Yun, called Gu Zi Xi, is the only son of the First Princess and the previous Marquis, his parents passed away in his early childhood. He was pitied by the Emperor, got taken in and was raised in the palace. Even gave him royal status.
“He should be living a wealthy life idling around, yet he has to run out to the Western Region to eat sand. Heroic or not heroic, I do not know, I am just afraid that he might not be quite alright in the head.”
Teacher Shen was dressed in a white blouse, the collar of his robe was stained with machine oil, an old apron hung on his neck – there were no women in this household, this pair of brothers living together, neither is more proper than the other. No one knew if that apron has ever been washed before as one can no longer see its original color; wearing it was just so indecent.
Only that face was well defined.
The bridge of his nose was high, when not laughing or talking, his profile seemed awe-inspiring and almost stoic. His eyelids trembled slightly, and suddenly blurted out:
“Since the Old Marquis passed away, Black Iron Camp’s grand achievements had sent fear and suspicions to the one up above, plus lowlife sugar-coating subjects rampaging the royal court -..”
Shiliu who had not said a word until now suddenly interrupted him: “Shen Yi.”
The two people on the side of the stove looked at him at the same time, Shiliu was staring at a small cobweb on the doorframe.
Shiliu’s face did not show any sign of alcohol, the more he drank the whiter his face becomes, the slightest bits of emotions were all absorbed into his eyes that you could no longer see them clearly.
He spoke in a low voice: “Don’t talk nonsense.”
The brothers of the Shen family usually did not care about manners. The younger brother would disrespect his elder, and the older brother would cater to the younger’s every whims. They argued loudly from morning to night everyday, yet the bonds between them were very good.
Chang Geng had never heard Shiliu spoke in such a serious and stiff manner before.
He was sensitive by nature; he frowned deeply for he did not fully comprehend this situation.
Shen Yi’s jaw tightened a bit. Realizing that Chang Geng was observing him, he involuntarily took back his emotions, and smiled: “I went a bit too far – but words of insulting the imperial court are merely idle conversations to have after dinner are they not? I was only casually making some comments .”
Chang Geng could sense the awkward atmosphere, he smartly switched the subject and asked: “During the ten years from the Northern Expedition to the Western Campaign, who is in charged of the Black Iron Camp?”
”No one was in charge,” Shen Yi replied. “After the Northern Expedition, the Black Iron Camp was initially quiet: some left, some had passed away, some of the older veterans in the army were left feeling very disheartened.
“After more than a decade, the soldiers from that year have been changed to the newer generation, equipments and gears that have not been replaced for many years, have all been rusted and broken.
“Up until a few years ago, the Western Region rebelled, the imperial court had no other solution but to allowed the Marquis of Order to take on this mission during trying times, and start the Black Iron Camp anew,
“To say that Marshall Gu took command of Black Iron Camp, it is better to say that he has once again trained a group of elite powerhouses in the Western Region. If you have the opportunity, it is better for you to learn his current style of writing.”
Chang Geng was startled: “Teacher Shen have seen the writing of the Marquis from his later years? “
Shen Yi laughed: “Although rare, occasionally there are one or two pages going around in the market, all claiming to be authentic and genuine, whether they are the real deal or not, I do not know. “
He said while flowing off the white steam, placing their meals on the table. Knowing his manners, Chang Geng stepped over to help. As he was carrying the bowl of porridge, he passed by Shiliu. The man reached out and grabbed his shoulder.
Chang Geng grew faster than an average teenager, his stature is already bigger than his peers. Even though still lacking some flesh and bone, he was already catching up with his young yifu in height, so just by tilting his head up a bit, he could already look directly into Shiliu’s eyes.
Shiliu actually had a pair of signature peach blossom eyes(5), only when his gazes were scattered that one will notice this, because as soon as they become focused, his pupils seem to have a pair of black endless abyss, hidden deep in dark clouds where one could not see the bottom.
Chang Geng’s heart jumped, he lowered his voice and deliberately used the pronoun he normally did not use: “Yifu, what is it?”
Shiliu said casually: “Children should have fun, don’t go all day thinking about trying to be a hero, has there ever existed a hero that had a good ending? All you need is food on the table and a roof over your head, a worry-free life is the best kind of life to live, a little bit short on the budget or a bit too much downtime aren’t nothing to worry about.”
Shen Shiliu playing dumb was a usual everyday occurrence, he rarely ever spoke of anything sensible, but the moment he did, it was to immediately splash cold water on Chang Geng.
Shiliu was but a sickly blind-deaf, as a matter of course, he did not have any plans or ambitions in life, nor did he have any determination. But how could any young person listen to these demotivational words?
Chang Geng was a little uncomfortable inside, he felt as if he was being looked down upon. He thought with irritation: “Spending each day loitering around like you then who will be there to support this family in the future? Who will clothe you and feed you? It truly is easier said than done!”
Avoiding the hand of Shiliu, he replied just for the sake of it: “Don’t move. Be mindful not to burn yourself with the hot porridge.”
——
(1) 长臂师: literally means Long Arm Master, a term that Priest made up to call mechanics in this universe
(2) 铁树开花/tiě shù kāi huā/; lit. the iron tree blooms; a highly improbable or extremely rare occurrence
(3) poem written by Gu Yun, Chang Ting means ‘a place where one can stop and rest’; what it probably means here is that he wrote this while he was resting at certain places
(4) 安定侯，Āndìng Hóu, Gu Yun’s title
(5) flirtatious eyes
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