In those seven hundred days and nights, what kind of effort did it take to transform a weakling who once fled from battle into the strong man who now swept away every single beast?
No one else could know.
Jiang Wang and the others simply followed his steps, upward, ever upward.
At last they stood on the top of Standing Brush Peak.
The summit was bare and empty. Only a lonely grave mound stood there.
The grave was tiny, crude. A simple tablet stood before it.
Jiang Wang walked over to read it, and saw the characters carved upon it:
Sun Heng Suppressed Standing Brush Peak Here.
The handwriting was delicate, but the strokes cut deep into the stone — plainly the work of a practiced hand.
"Sun Heng was the lord of Sanshan City two years ago. The one who erected this tablet was his wife."
Li Jianqiu spoke. "Ferocious beasts have been a plague that Sanshan City has had to face since its founding.
"After Sun Heng took office as city lord, he worked hard to govern and vigorously cultivated talent. Two years ago he finally raised a force and launched a campaign to cleanse the beasts.
"The first target he chose was Standing Brush Peak.
"Even though he had already estimated them as generously as possible, before the cleansing truly began, no one could have imagined that so many beasts would be gathered on a single mountain — tens of thousands of them!
"Where did they get their food? Those beasts alone could have devoured the entire Sanshan domain clean.
"When they all went mad at once, no line could hold.
"I ran then. But I heard that only Sun Heng stood at the front line, and did not retreat a single step. Not only did he not retreat, he advanced."
Li Jianqiu went on: "Alone, he fought his way from the foot of the mountain all the way to the summit. Right here, on the very ground beneath our feet, he personally slew the leader of that beast wave — the Yin-Yang Twin-Headed Eagle. After the eagle's cry, which had lasted a full month, fell silent, everyone knew what had happened. Everyone went mad with counterattack.
"Standing Brush Peak was cleansed clean. But Sun Heng died of exhaustion. They say that when he died, as a cultivator of the Inner Prefecture realm, all five of his palaces were drained dry, and his entire Heaven-Access Palace collapsed."
How magnificent!
Though no one had seen the man, only heard his name, it was enough to stir the guts.
Jiang Wang could not help but think: only such a man could have fathered a daughter like Sun Xiaoman.
The group stood at the summit and looked all around. Everywhere was vast, stretching into the distance.
The peace of this moment had been built with countless rivers of blood.
Cultivation, cultivation — did it refine only the self?
Was there not a duty to one's country and kin? Was there not a burden to bear for the weak?
Sun Heng, the late city lord of Sanshan, had written his answer with his own name.
The four of them bowed a few times before the lonely grave, then turned and descended the mountain.
On the way down, Jiang Wang thought of something and asked, "Senior Brother Li, at the Three-City Dao Debate, did you go easy on Sun Xiaoyan because of City Lord Sun?"
Li Jianqiu countered with a question of his own: "Do you know of the Kun Skin Drum?"
"Only the name, from an elder's telling."
"The Kun Skin Drum is a permanently fixed defensive Dao art. Its principle is this: while conscious, the caster peels off his own skin, inscribes Dao patterns into it, and then covers it over the recipient. Because the conditions of its casting are so harsh, the Kun Skin Drum's defense is so astonishing."
Huang Azhan was shocked. "Then the chubby kid has it on him?"
"It is the skin of the late City Lord Sun." Li Jianqiu sighed. "Whether as city lord or as father, he gave everything."
"To defeat Sun Xiaoyan, one either had to force him out of the arena — the way Wang Changxiang did — or else commit wholly to breaking the Kun Skin Drum. I did not dare try."
Jiang Wang understood perfectly well that when Li Jianqiu said "dare not," he did not mean he feared defeat. He feared that, once the Kun Skin Drum really was broken, he would be going all-out and have no way to hold back. The result he dared not face was that.
"Senior Brother's honor is great."
Li Jianqiu shook his head. "I owe my life to City Lord Sun. How can I have the face to hurt his son, now that the hero is gone?"
The group was halfway down the mountain when Jiang Wang suddenly stopped and walked to the great boulder. He condensed a flame sword and, behind Li Jianqiu's inscription, wrote a line in a bold, sweeping hand.
Then Huang Azhan and Zhao Rucheng did the same.
Now on the rock, beneath the line "Li Jianqiu, the cur that lost," a new line began:
Later-generation student Jiang Wang comes to pay respects to the senior's heroic might.
Later-generation student Huang Azhan comes to pay respects to the senior's heroic might.
Zhao Rucheng, same as above.
Surely that Wu Shan, who loved nothing more than to show off before the world, would let out a wild laugh if he saw this?
After all, in the midst of being cornered, his final thought had been to carve a boast on stone. His mind had always worked differently.
They were nearly at the foot of the mountain when Li Jianqiu, clearly having held back as long as he could, turned a strange look on Zhao Rucheng. "Junior Brother Zhao, have you ever been beaten for being lazy?"
Jiang Wang laughed out loud and hooked an arm around Zhao Rucheng's shoulder. "You should ask that of my Brother Yehu! He'd have plenty to say about it!"
"Get off!" Zhao Rucheng shoved Jiang Wang away.
"What do we do now?" asked Huang Azhan. "We've already finished the task we set out for. Senior Brother Li has fulfilled his wish. Do we just collect the bounty and head back to Fenglin City?"
Li Jianqiu settled his hand on his sword at his waist and said solemnly, "I won't hide it from you, brothers. I've decided to go to Jade Scales Peak. The fighting there is fierce. You can go back first."
Without a second thought, Jiang Wang said, "I speak only for myself. I came with you, Senior Brother, so I'll also go with you."
Zhao Rucheng rolled his eyes. "You're already going to the battlefield. How am I supposed to slip away?"
"Ah." Huang Azhan shook his head and sighed and sighed. "I knew it. Can't be around you young people — too impulsive! If I don't go now, I'll never have the face to drink with Tiger Du again."
Zhao Rucheng looked at him a few extra times, truly surprised.
The young master Zhao, though he often seemed aimless, was actually proud in his heart. He did not grant many people his regard. Toward Huang Azhan, he had always looked down a little, treating him as a source of amusement. At most, for Du Yehu's sake, he would let Huang Azhan get away with small advantages.
Today he finally understood. Zhao Rucheng understood why Du Yehu was willing to drink with this man.
At that very moment, the second large-scale cleansing campaign was underway at Jade Scales Peak.
Sun Heng's grave was still there, and Wu Shan's inscription was not yet forgotten. Everyone knew how dangerous Jade Scales Peak was. Total annihilation was not impossible.
Li Jianqiu, whether to atone or to prove something, choosing to go to Jade Scales Peak was no surprise. Jiang Wang, the fellow — he put it down to a hot head. But if Jiang Wang was going, then no matter how unwilling, he could not stay behind.
But Huang Azhan's choice — that was something he had never expected. And it did not fit at all with his usual sycophantic, sly, and lazy behavior.
"Good!" Li Jianqiu was well pleased. After two years of walking alone, he seemed to have found again the joy of calling up friends.
Call thee a cup of wine, ten thousand miles to meet our debts.
"Let's go to Jade Scales Peak!"