The matter of the Zhalantai tribe was something Gu Chengyan knew about in his past life.
Perhaps, it could be said he knew of it.
In his previous life, although he was trapped in the deep palace at this time, the Emperor never avoided him when dealing with state affairs, so he could hear some news from the outside.
The border reports (tangbao) would not detail which Rongdi tribe was causing trouble, but they did mention that the Wolf Lord of the grasslands was gathering a massive army to move south.
Remembering the grudge of the marriage alliance, the Emperor immediately summoned the army to harass the border and seized the opportunity to reclaim lost territory.
In any case, the matter escalated quite significantly in the end. If he remembered correctly, this war later lasted for three to five years, and the old Wolf Lord died unexpectedly on the battlefield.
Afterward, the grasslands fell into chaos; the Wolf Lord’s several sons slaughtered each other to seize the throne, involving almost every tribe.
The Jin Dynasty took the opportunity to recover their lost territory, regaining control over Yunzhou, Jizhou, and other occupied commanderies.
“Then” Gu Chengyan tilted his head, “take care of yourself?”
Temurbagen glared at him, feeling that he didn’t realize at all how serious the situation was. “Mr. Gu! I am going to war, not going hunting; I won’t be back for many years!”
Gu Chengyan nodded, indicating he knew what war was.
“Then you…” Iron Pillar’s eyes reddened, “What will you do all by yourself?!”
“…?” Gu Chengyan was full of confusion.
“The winter on the extreme northern grasslands is dangerous! The snow falls like goose feathers, accumulating waist-deep, and there are even ‘white-hair winds’ (blizzards)!”
“The Fourth E-qi and the little Teqin who were exiled here in the early years disappeared during a white-hair wind they are still missing!”
Iron Pillar wiped his face. “In such harsh weather, both people and wild beasts can go mad. Our courtyard has sheep, horses, and chickens; it’s hard not to attract the wolves from the Holy Mountain.”
“And you, getting sick every other day, all alone—there’s no guarantee you won’t be targeted by passing horse bandits!”
“After it snows, everything is a vast expanse of white. It’s very easy to get lost if you run out. If you really run into horse bandits, you can’t chase them, and you can’t run away. If you happen to encounter a white-hair wind, how are you going to survive…?”
The more Iron Pillar spoke, the redder his eyes became. A grown, dark, and fat man, his tears falling like they were free of charge, which made Gu Chengyan quite amused:
With hands and feet of his own, why wouldn’t he be able to survive?
He just didn’t understand the grasslands, he wasn’t someone who couldn’t tell one grain from another.
Seeing that Gu Chengyan was still laughing, Iron Pillar grew anxious and annoyed, his face flushed purple.
In fact, all along the way, he had been constantly sending messages to the royal court, requesting the Wolf Lord to send more men and reward them with supplies.
He wasn’t entirely ignorant of the power struggles in the royal court, so he hadn’t mentioned the Great Shaman in his letters, only trying his best to show his loyalty and yearning for the Lord’s mercy.
However, the peregrine falcons flew back and forth but never brought back any news from the Wolf Lord.
If it weren’t for this Zhalantai tribe affair, Iron Pillar would have been confident in guarding Gu Chengyan through the winter, but now… now he was terrified that Gu Chengyan might suddenly disappear.
Thinking and thinking without finding a solution, Iron Pillar gritted his teeth and made a decision that went against his ancestors—
“Mr. Gu, why don’t you come back with me?”
Although the Qiyan tribe was in the midst of war, their territory was further south and the winter was warmer. Furthermore, the tribesmen were united and could help each other to overcome the difficulties.
Gu Chengyan looked at him and couldn’t help but tease, “Why? Are you not afraid that your Wolf Lord will cause you trouble this time?”
Iron Pillar looked dejected. “If you are gone, that’s when he will cause me trouble.”
“…” Gu Chengyan coughed. He didn’t dare to delve deeper into this, not forgetting Temurbagen’s “consecrated” mouth.
“I’m fine. You can go back without worry.”
Iron Pillar clearly didn’t believe him, still staring fixedly at him.
Gu Chengyan could only pull him back to the courtyard, showing him the animal traps, fish baskets, rain capes, and straw garments he had learned to make and complete that day.
“I can manage on my own.”
Iron Pillar pursed his lips, wanting to say that even ten-year-olds on the grasslands could make these things, but Gu Chengyan was a person from the Central Plains, and also a prestigious E-qi…
So he held it in for a long time, and finally squeezed out a sentence through his teeth:
“You can’t.”
Gu Chengyan: “…”
He truly had no way to respond to that.
In utter helplessness, Gu Chengyan could only return to the room and retrieve the Yibai sword.
Coincidentally, there was a basket of bamboo leaves in the courtyard that he had stripped away while whittling bamboo splints. He had originally intended to roast them into tea leaves, but now he had to wrong them to prove his point—
Performing a sword dance, Gu Chengyan pressed his fingers against the sword, then, carrying the sword on his back and turning his head, he smiled lightly at Iron Pillar:
“I rarely show this move to others. Consider yourself lucky.”
He hooked the bamboo basket with his foot and tossed it into the sky. The bamboo leaves fell like rain, and he moved with light, graceful steps, his bearing superior to the wind, moving freely among them.
Where the sword went, silver radiance flowed, and the falling leaves disintegrated. Yet, the rustling, fragmented leaves didn’t even touch his clothes.
Iron Pillar watched, overwhelmed, his head moving subconsciously to follow.
Seeing the bamboo leaves completely shattered, Gu Chengyan swirled, tapped his steps, and shook his wrist, leveling his sword to gather the sky full of emerald green into a single thread.
The emerald-green fine powder descended from mid-air, falling bit by bit onto the sword’s blade as if it had been pre-arranged.
Gu Chengyan kicked the bamboo basket up again, shook the fragments of bamboo leaves from the sword into the basket, and finally, with a flick of his sword, hung it steadily upon the rack.
“Mere horse bandits,” Gu Chengyan raised his eyebrows and held the bamboo basket out before Iron Pillar’s eyes, “why would they even be worth mentioning?”
Iron Pillar looked at him and then at the bamboo basket, finally recalling those rumors from the Central Plains and remembering that the person before him was not a golden canary raised in a cage needing protection.
He was convinced; Gu Chengyan had absolutely no need for his worry.
It was no wonder the Great Shaman would be so wary of him.
Even though he had to leave, Iron Pillar still tried his best to help with more things:
He hurriedly cut several baskets of horse grass, reinforced the courtyard walls, taught Gu Chengyan how to distinguish the signs of a white-hair wind, and also told him the rules of dealing with horse bandits on the grasslands:
“Although horse bandits are formidable, everyone looks down on them, believing they are people who profit without working and have betrayed the Eternal Heaven.”
“Therefore, no tribe will shelter horse bandits. Once caught, they can be killed immediately, and their clansmen wouldn’t even have the face to seek revenge on you.”
Finally, after some thought, Iron Pillar prepared to leave the peregrine falcon on his shoulder behind.
“Use it to send me a message if something happens.”
“You are so far away in the south,” Gu Chengyan shook his head. “Look after yourself first, and your family.”
“But you…”
Gu Chengyan gave a bright smile, “Long time no see.” (An idiomatic expression meaning “there is plenty of time.”)
Iron Pillar had no choice but to take the bird and mount his horse, looking back at every step. “I will come back to see you! I will also find a way to let you return to the royal court!”
Gu Chengyan simply waved at him with a smile.
Once Iron Pillar was far away and his figure completely disappeared from sight, Gu Chengyan turned around and leisurely walked a circle around the Snow Mountain Villa.
Afterward, he knelt to embrace the big white sheep, burying his face deeply into its curly, soft, and fluffy white wool.
The white horse, tied to the side, snorted and looked at him curiously.
“From now on,” Gu Chengyan turned over, leaning comfortably against the big white sheep, “you two will accompany me to live my days—”
“It is ‘Big White’,” he scratched the big white sheep’s chin, then bent his eyes to point at the white horse, “and you are ‘Abai’.”
The clear winter morning light shone, covering the entire courtyard.
Gu Chengyan leaned against the big white sheep basking in the sun, raising his hand to look through his fingers at the vast, clear blue sky above—
So the sky could be this high, this blue. So light clouds and scrolling mists could have such a gentle breeze. So a person like him could still have such a relaxed time.
Gu Chengyan closed his eyes, the smile at the corners of his mouth constantly widening, until he finally truly laughed out loud, wrapping his arms around the big white sheep to lie flat:
Worldly affairs are like floating clouds; nothing is as good as lying down in comfort.
Therefore, lying down is happiness.
A few days later, Gu Chengyan was still worried about the “Blessing of the Holy Mountain” and wanted to go inside the cave to see for himself.
After finally waiting for a bright and sunny day, he packed his things and went around the courtyard to harness the white horse.
As a result, the white horse was still harboring the same temper as before, dodging backward, its front hooves raised high, simply unwilling to let itself be led.
The man and the horse fought several rounds, and Gu Chengyan was so tired that fine beads of sweat oozed from the back of his neck. He held his waist and helplessly glared at the big white horse:
“Abai, if you do this again, I will let ‘Big White’ eat all the fresh purple alfalfa in the future; I won’t leave a single blade for you.”
The struggling white horse paused. After rolling its eyes twice, it actually bent its front hooves and lay down beside him.
Gu Chengyan narrowed his eyes, picked up the saddle, and moved a step toward the white horse. This time, the big white horse didn’t dodge, but instead shook its mane and actively bit the bit.
Actually, Gu Chengyan had just been furious and teasing it, not expecting the big white horse to really be able to understand him?
After harnessing the saddle and mounting the horse, Gu Chengyan took up the reins and asked tentatively: “Then Abai, I want to go to that cave from before, do you… know the way?”
The big white horse flicked its ears and neighed, and then truly ran along the mountain trail without taking a single detour, carrying him to the “Blessing of the Holy Mountain.”
So…
Gu Chengyan dismounted, looking deeply at the white horse that was happily finding tender grass to eat.
So, when he asked the white horse if it had seen the person who saved him, the white horse’s terrified reaction was not because of the snow avalanche.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know horse language, and no matter how curious he was, he couldn’t ask for more.
Tying one end of the rope to a dead tree at the entrance of the cave, Gu Chengyan hung the remaining rope over his arm, and then lit a torch to pass through the heavy white mist.
This time, in order to explore the cave, he had made full preparations. Besides the rope and torch, he had specially prepared a cloth bundle containing a hand-held pick and a hoe.
The black rocks outside the “Blessing of the Holy Mountain” were not basalt, but volcanic rock with a sparse structure and covered with holes.
This type of stone had extremely strong permeability, so although the cave was damp, the ground was very dry.
The cave was approximately funnel-shaped; the entrance was very narrow, but it became more open the further inside one went, and there were no forks along the way.
Gu Chengyan, while laying out the rope, measured with his footsteps how far he had walked. Seeing the torch was about to burn out, he stopped and reached into his bag to touch the sheep oil.
At the same time, a wind carrying a rich smell of sulfur suddenly blew fiercely from the depths of the cave, immediately extinguishing the torch.
His eyes couldn’t adapt to the darkness instantly. Gu Chengyan sighed, prepared to close his eyes and relax for a moment before looking for the fire-starter, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of light in the distance.
The “Blessing of the Holy Mountain” was in the southern part of the mountainside. Calculating the distance, at this moment, he should have been deep in the belly of the mountain. If there was light…
Gu Chengyan let out another segment of rope and walked quickly toward the place where the light was. Sure enough, he saw a cave opening in the ceiling of the cave.
The cave entrance was not large, about a foot wide, only capable of letting one person squeeze through.
This narrow cave was slightly inclined and did not face the sky directly, but because of this angle, it had not been covered or filled by ice and snow for so many years.
Thousands of threads of sunlight spilled through the cave entrance, and a hot spring filled with white mist suddenly appeared before his eyes.
The spring water was not transparent, but a light white color containing some kind of mineral.
Gu Chengyan stepped forward and was surprised to discover—he was not the first person to find the hot spring, because a circle of pebbles was neatly piled up by the spring.
In the pool, there were also blue stone slabs that had clearly been polished, fashioned into three layers of stairs extending downward.
Gu Chengyan crouched down and gently swished the water with his hand: the temperature was slightly hot, but in the freezing snow-capped mountain, it was just right.
The water slipping through his fingertips felt slippery, as if he were touching a piece of high-quality silk.
Looking around the cave, besides the path he came from, there was no second exit.
Behind the spring water was a small clearing. Judging by the charcoal traces left on the ground, it could be deduced that someone had built a fire there before.
Gu Chengyan curled his lips and nodded, committing all the directions in the cave to memory, then he relit the torch and exited the cave.
Without the “consecrated” mouth of Iron Pillar, when he came out this time, the sky above was still as clear as if washed by water, and the big white horse was still leisurely chewing on tender grass roots.
“Abai, let’s go; we’re going home.”
Gu Chengyan was in a good mood, the end of his tone unable to stop from rising.
The tunnel at the cave entrance needed a few sheep-oil lamps for lighting; he would need to cut pine wood to make lamp stands, hang clothes, and later move some stones to build a fire pit and set up a pot.
Then this hot spring would be all set.
These tasks were not difficult to say, but they weren’t simple either. Just making those few sheep-oil lamps and chiseling holes in the mountain wall to hang them took three days.
However, just as he himself said: There is plenty of time.
Gu Chengyan was not in a hurry; he just prepared slowly, doing a little bit every time he went up the mountain, and then bringing the big white horse along to run around nearby and hunt some game.
During this period, he tried to go find that small wooden hut once, but the big white horse was clearly resistant; it wouldn’t move at all after walking halfway.
Helpless, the thought of seeing his savior had to be put aside.
Going back and forth like this, by the time Gu Chengyan had the hot spring cave completely tidied up, it was already the eleventh lunar month of winter, and gusts of westerly wind had begun to blow in the extreme north.
It had just snowed a little early this morning. By the afternoon, when Gu Chengyan returned after cutting horse grass, the clouds had parted and the red sun was in the sky.
Gu Chengyan fed the chickens and sheep, and seeing that the weather wouldn’t bring a heavy snow, he led the big white horse up the mountain again.
As the weather improved, more small animals came out in the mountains to forage. After he hunted two rabbits and collected enough dead branches for firewood, he dove into the hot spring cave.
Today, Gu Chengyan had prepared all the necessary items for bathing. Taking off his clothes and hanging them on the newly nailed wooden stand, he leaned against the cave wall, stepped on the blue stone slabs, and went into the water.
These blue stone slabs were excellent; the heights were appropriate. One could step or sit on the lowest level, and the water surface just passed his chest.
Gu Chengyan sat down to rest for a while, feeling that the stagnation in his chest was not as heavy as before, only then did he play with the water and lie down.
The narrow cave in the dome was like a skylight opened above the hot spring, just right for him to lie here and watch the red sunset and the galaxy of stars filling the sky.
During this period, Gu Chengyan had already vaguely sensed that the poison the Emperor had given him was not only intended to make him lose all his inner strength, but also had a tendency to flare up periodically.
It seemed the Emperor had prepared a back-up plan.
He hissed and closed his eyes. Gu Chengyan didn’t want to think about these vexing matters, only completely relaxing himself as he half-floated in the steaming hot spring.
However, just as he was pleasantly enjoying the tranquility of the moment, the light in the cave suddenly dimmed, followed by the sound of splashing water.
The huge splash caused by a heavy object falling splashed Gu Chengyan right in the face, even extinguishing all the lamps on the pool wall.
From above, there came a low growl of a wild beast, and the discordant roars of a wolf pack.
Gu Chengyan wiped his face, felt his way to the fire-starter by the dim light leaking from the top of the cave, and relit the lamp.
Only then did he see clearly that the one who had fallen was a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth.
The youth’s black hair was curly and fluffy, his wheat-colored skin was covered in scratches, and there was a large bloody hole in his shoulder and neck.
Strands of blood seeped into the water, dyeing the light-white hot spring a thin red.
Gu Chengyan frowned, looked up at the narrow cave entrance, but didn’t see the culprit who had pushed the youth down.
What was even stranger.
On the snowy mountain, the youth was completely unclothed. Even with the hot spring water covering him, Gu Chengyan still saw at a glance his broad shoulders and back, his narrow waist and abdomen, and beneath the water surface…
Cough, beneath the water surface, a pair of powerful, long, and sturdy legs.
Gu Chengyan rubbed his nose and looked away, feeling that the hot spring was too big… no, too hot.
He took a deep breath, waded over, and first fished out the youth.
Just as he was about to help him treat the wound, at the moment he looked up, he suddenly met a pair of deep, sapphire-blue eyes.