When the scenery before Pei Hengyu cleared, he found himself standing before an ancient city. Looking into the distance, the stone carvings atop the city gate were clearly visible.
Staring at the powerful, vigorous characters on the city wall, Pei Hengyu asked, confused, "This is... Gancheng? Why has the Judge brought me to Gancheng?"
Gancheng was located in the Northwest, the primary stronghold of the Dasheng Northern Frontier, guarded by General Cui Jiyun.
Even when reduced to a prisoner, Pei Hengyu had never once used his tiger tally to command the two hundred thousand frontier troops to march to the aid of Shangjing. This was because, beyond the Northern Frontier, lived a nomadic tribe known as the Quanrong. Four years prior, a powerful grassland enemy had launched a surprise attack on the Quanrong, and they had sent envoys to the capital begging Dasheng for aid. Pei Hengyu had dispatched two hundred thousand troops on a long-range expedition to the grasslands, saving the entire Quanrong tribe from extinction.
However, the nomadic tribes were inherently vicious. Pei Hengyu had never expected them to return the favor; on the contrary, he was always on guard, fearing they would take advantage of his misfortune.
The Judge said, "This is Gancheng one month ago. Come, let us go and see."
The White Dragon had taken its form, no longer willing to hang upon the dragon robes; it coiled around Pei Hengyu’s forearm like an ornament.
Once they entered the main street, the Judge, who was walking ahead, stopped. After standing for a moment to wait for Pei Hengyu’s soul to catch up, he slowly stepped aside.
A massive cauldron over eight feet in diameter was propped up in the middle of the road by iron pillars as thick as a bowl. The contents of the pot were steaming, and the firewood beneath burned fiercely.
What was this?
Before Pei Hengyu’s soul could drift closer, a roar erupted. "ROAR..."
Accompanied by a thunderous growl, a white beast with the face of a tiger and the body of a lion stepped out from behind the iron pot. Its copper-bell eyes were fixed in the direction of Pei Hengyu, filled with wariness.
Pei Hengyu was startled. It was a Lion-Tiger Beast! "How," Pei Hengyu asked, "did it come to be here?"
The black-faced Judge stood with his hands behind his back, saying hollowly, "In the first year of Longyun, the Human Sovereign was betrayed and imprisoned. In his desperation, he issued a secret decree ordering Cui Jiyun to lead his two hundred thousand troops to hold Gancheng and defend against foreign invaders, forbidding them from returning to the capital to support the throne."
"That is correct," Pei Hengyu said. "It was I who ordered the General to guard the Northern Frontier and recognize Yuwen Junan as the new sovereign!"
As he spoke, a figure stumbled out from behind the iron cauldron.
The figure’s face was obscured by matted, filthy hair. He swayed unsteadily, and the chains at his feet clattered with every push and pull.
"Who is this?" Pei Hengyu frowned. "Judge, did you bring me here just to look at him?"
The Lion-Tiger Beast leaped forward, pouncing on the man! Its sharp teeth bit into the flesh of his neck.
The man raised his arm to block the beast’s fangs. His tattered armor was pierced through, and blood streamed down his forearm. Yet, the man seemed to feel no pain; he raised his other fist and hammered it violently against the beast’s head, one blow after another, shaking the very air!
The Lion-Tiger Beast, however, seemed to have skin of bronze and bones of iron. It shook its massive head, tearing at the man’s flesh.
In the struggle, a bronze tablet slid from the man’s waist, hitting the ground with a *clink*.
Pei Hengyu looked closely. On the front of the bronze tablet, a single character was engraved: "An."
Pei Hengyu recognized this tablet! It was the one he had personally tied to Cui Jiyun’s waist before he departed for the frontier. This man was Dasheng’s General—Cui Jiyun?
"That same autumn, a severe drought struck the Northwest, and there was no harvest," the black-faced Judge’s voice rose again, sounding ethereal. "The head of the Ji clan, Ji Chengyuan, manipulated the court and cut off Cui Jiyun’s provisions."
"What did you say?" Pei Hengyu stared in disbelief at the man who was now beyond recognition. "Has Ji Chengyuan gone mad? Denying the frontier troops their rations?"
"With no grain," the Judge’s voice grew even more ethereal, yet it struck Pei Hengyu’s heart like a thousand-pound hammer, "the majority of the two hundred thousand troops starved to death. The remaining soldiers, fearing they would die in a foreign land, conspired to desert and return home. In the end, there were fewer than twenty thousand troops left in Gancheng."
"Twenty thousand?"
Dark clouds descended. Pei Hengyu’s ears were filled with a roaring sound. The Judge’s voice seemed as distant as the horizon, yet as close as his own ear: "The Quanrong King, Jijidan, seized this moment to lead his army into the city, burning, killing, and looting—committing every evil imaginable!"
"Brother Jiyun!" Pei Hengyu could not bear to listen any longer. He lunged forward to tear at the Lion-Tiger Beast, but his soul-form hands passed straight through the beast’s white fur, grasping nothing!
Pei Hengyu refused to give up, striking at the beast’s head, but his ghostly fists were mere phantoms; he could provide no help at all!
Cui Jiyun gasped violently. His arm was ripped away by the Lion-Tiger Beast and flung into the iron cauldron.
"No..." Pei Hengyu screamed. No one heard him, but the beast’s roar was deafening.
The Lion-Tiger Beast pounced again. Deprived of one arm, Cui Jiyun grew exhausted during the struggle and was forced to watch as the beast tore off one of his legs! A thunderclap shook the sky, dark clouds pressed down, and rain began to pour.
The rain washed away the blood. Tears streamed down Pei Hengyu’s face.
"Don't..."
Pei Hengyu cried out, his silver hair dampened by the cold rain, stained with grief.
Before Pei Hengyu had ascended the throne, he had grown up in the military camp. The one who had mentored him was Cui Jiyun. When he said he wanted to learn martial arts, Cui Jiyun had him practice his horse stance. When he said he wanted to learn strategy, Cui Jiyun gave him military classics to read. The first time he went on a campaign and lost his way, Cui Jiyun and his personal guards searched for three days and three nights until they found him. Cui Jiyun was the brother who had accompanied him as he grew up!
Now, watching helplessly as Cui Jiyun was torn to pieces by a beast, how could Pei Hengyu remain indifferent?
Endless pain, like a surging tide, mingled with the freezing autumn rain, battered Pei Hengyu’s long-chilled heart.
"No..." Pei Hengyu turned to look at the Judge. "Save him! You are a Judge, aren't you? You can save him! I beg you, save him! Save him!"
A drowning sensation of suffocation filled his chest; every breath was agony.
The Judge extended two fingers and crushed a raindrop. Malicious Qi spilled forth. He said, "Human Sovereign, I cannot save him. In this world, there is only one who can save him, and that is you, the Human Sovereign!"
"Fine!" Pei Hengyu took a deep breath. He gazed at the cold, pouring rain and let out a long sigh to the heavens. "I promise you. I will return to the human world, to be reborn..."