Hoofbeats faded into the distance as the Jing Dynasty marksman, decisive, ruthless, and resolute, swiftly departed after delivering his shot. Chen Ji turned to look at the arrow holes in the gate tower. The arrow had struck with such immense force that it had split a wooden beam, creating a crack. There were two other identical, fresh arrow holes in the tower. This was not the first time the Jing Dynasty had attempted to persuade them to surrender.

He turned to see Hu Junxian holding the silk cloth with the surrender plea, silently gazing at the distant Jing Dynasty camp.

The next moment, Hu Junxian threw the silk cloth into the darkness, where it drifted away. “If you were me,” he asked, “would you open the gates and surrender the city?”

Chen Ji did not answer. It was not a question he could, or should, answer.

Seeing his silence, Hu Junxian continued, “If I don’t surrender the city, I, Hu, will die a martyr for my country, and my name will surely live on for eternity. Future historians will record me as a man of both loyalty and righteousness. But if I surrender, I will be scorned by historians for ten thousand years, yet the people of Guyuan will be safe. If it were you, what would you do?”

Chen Ji remained silent for a long time, still unwilling to answer. “General Hu,” he finally said, “I am merely an illegitimate son of the Chen family, a person of little standing. Perhaps you should discuss this with Deputy Commander Zhou instead.”

Hu Junxian leaned against the parapet and said calmly, “Wang Daosheng wasn’t wrong about you; you truly have a cautious nature, always keeping things hidden. People like you belong in the capital, where even the stone lions are cunning, not out here on the frontier.”

Chen Ji did not refute him.

Then he heard Hu Junxian continue, “As for Zhou You, I’ve already had him locked up in the dungeon.”

Chen Ji was slightly startled. “What crime did Deputy Commander Zhou commit?” he asked.

Hu Junxian turned and entered the gate tower, sitting down heavily on a chair, his imposing build like a mountain. “It was my mistake to trust him,” he said, “which gave him the opportunity to burn the grain and fodder to ashes.”

Had Zhou You truly turned his pretense into reality? Chen Ji hesitantly asked, “Why would Deputy Commander Zhou rebel?”

Hu Junxian chuckled derisively. “Half of my frontier soldiers want to rebel every day and night,” he said. “It’s not surprising that he wants to rebel; it would be surprising if he didn’t.”

Chen Ji was stunned. He hadn’t expected the other man to say that. “Does General Hu also want to rebel?” he asked.

Hu Junxian said expressionlessly, “That is not for you to concern yourself with.”

Chen Ji tentatively asked, “General Hu, how long can the frontier army’s provisions last?”

Hu Junxian calmly replied, “If we slaughter the requisitioned camels, we can last another five days. If we slaughter the warhorses, we can last three more.”

Chen Ji then asked, “When will reinforcements arrive?”

“Possibly within twenty days,” Hu Junxian replied, “or possibly never.”

Chen Ji fell into deep thought. Looking at it this way, whether Hu Junxian opened the gates or not, Guyuan was doomed. The Jing Dynasty only needed to besiege Guyuan for another fifteen days; by then, the frontier army would lack even the strength to defend the city.

At that moment, a personal guard brought tea for both of them. Hu Junxian picked up his teacup and drank it in one gulp. “Stay away from the Crown Prince these next few days,” he advised. “When the Jing Dynasty’s Heavenly Strategist Army enters the city, they will undoubtedly immediately apprehend all frontier army generals and the Crown Prince’s loyalists. Disguising yourself as a commoner might allow you to escape. Consider this my explanation to your teacher.”

With that, he called for someone to bring a household registration document. “This document can help you blend in,” he said. “When the Jing Dynasty’s Heavenly Strategist Army sees it, they’ll simply think you’re an ordinary Guyuan resident and won’t suspect anything.”

A chill ran through Chen Ji’s heart. Hu Junxian was going to open the gates and surrender the city. His calling Chen Ji here now was clearly to teach him how to evade the Jing Dynasty army’s city-wide search. But there were four of them, yet only one household registration document.

Clenching the household registration document in his hand, he stood up to take his leave. Just as he was about to exit the gate tower, Hu Junxian suddenly spoke. “If your teacher, Wang Daosheng, were here,” he asked, “would he open the gates and surrender the city?”

Chen Ji, standing at the threshold of the gate tower, turned back. “I don’t know what my teacher would choose,” he said calmly, “but I would not.”

Hu Junxian silently scrutinized Chen Ji, who met his gaze, unflinching. After more than ten breaths, Hu Junxian said calmly, “I understand. Go.”

After Chen Ji left, Hu Junxian stood up and went to the parapet. His calloused hands rubbed the rough city wall bricks as he sighed deeply, “Guyuan, oh Guyuan…”

Chen Ji rode his horse at full gallop, a matter of utmost urgency. Hu Junxian hadn’t explicitly said whether he would open the gates and surrender the city, but Chen Ji had a faint feeling that he would. When that moment arrived, no one could be sure if the Jing Dynasty would uphold its promise not to massacre the city or follow its ancestors’ tradition of doing so. Before then, Chen Ji still had things to do.

He hunched low as he moved through the chaotic streets of Guyuan. When he reached the entrance of the Dragon Gate Inn, he dismounted, patted Zaozao’s back, and said, “Go back to the stable yourself.” With that, Zaozao took the reins in its mouth and headed towards the backyard, while Chen Ji, covered in dust, lifted the door curtain.

In that instant, every eye in the inn’s main hall turned to him, their gazes like beams of light shining on Chen Ji. He subtly scanned his surroundings, noticing that half of the hall was occupied by Imperial Forest Guards, and the other half by Guyuan’s wealthy and influential figures who had come to trade information. Everyone’s face showed worry.

Seeing Chen Ji return, a man named Li, who had previously bought information from him, stood up and anxiously asked, “Do you have any news to sell today?” Another person stood up, asking, “Do you know the Jing Dynasty’s movements? What are the frontier army’s plans?”

“How many more days can Guyuan hold out?”

Everyone spoke at once, asking questions as if grasping at a lifeline. Li Xuan had originally wanted to ask what had happened after Chen Ji was taken by the frontier army, what Hu Junxian intended to do, and if the frontier army still had provisions, but now he couldn’t get a word in.

Chen Ji pushed through the crowd that had gathered and walked straight towards the counter. “Please excuse me,” he said. “Like all of you, I know nothing.”

He squeezed through the crowd and stood before the innkeeper. The innkeeper, dressed in a black cloth gown, was calmly keeping accounts with a brush. He said with interest, “If the customer were to sell some useful information now, he could probably earn a considerable sum of silver. These people are desperate and would likely give their entire fortune for a way out.”

Chen Ji shook his head. “Now is not the time to earn silver,” he said. “Innkeeper, I need to find Third Master Hu. Do you know where he is?”

The innkeeper smiled. “Is the customer trying to buy information from me?” he asked.

Chen Ji glanced at him. “Yes,” he replied.

The innkeeper shook his head. “Third Master Hu is in Guest Room Heaven Character B,” he said. “You can go find him yourself.”

Chen Ji was slightly startled, then turned and ran upstairs.

The innkeeper watched his retreating back, then winked at Xiao Wu. “You watch the counter,” he instructed. With that, when no one was looking, he bent down and lifted a wooden board under the counter, then squeezed into the underground secret passage.

In front of Guest Room Heaven Character B, Chen Ji lightly knocked on the door with his knuckles.

The door opened, and Third Master Hu peered out through a crack. Seeing it was Chen Ji, he immediately checked left and right in the corridor. After confirming no one was there, he whispered, “Come in and talk.”

Once the door closed again, Third Master Hu asked curiously, “What do you need me for?”

Chen Ji lowered his voice and said, “Third Master Hu previously mentioned he could help me buy ginseng. I wonder if that was true?”

Third Master Hu smiled. “Of course, it’s true,” he replied.

Chen Ji took a deep breath. “But I can’t wait four more days,” he said. “Third Master Hu, could you perhaps move the time up? I need that batch of ginseng tomorrow.”

“So urgent?” Third Master Hu frowned, his mind racing. “Is the Jing Dynasty’s Heavenly Strategist Army about to attack?!”

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I cannot say.”

Third Master Hu said calmly, “In Guyuan right now, this is the only matter that can be called utterly urgent. But there’s only one person who can make Guyuan fall tomorrow: Hu Junxian. Hu Junxian wants to open the gates and surrender the city, doesn’t he?”

Chen Ji casually replied, “General Hu is loyal to the emperor and loves his country. I don’t think he would do that.”

Third Master Hu smiled. “I know my cousin better than you do,” he said. “He’d be thrilled if the Jing Dynasty marched straight in and took Emperor Ning’s head.”

Chen Ji was startled. “Why?” he asked.

Third Master Hu sat steadily beside the Eight Immortals table and poured two cups of tea. “Sit down and let’s talk,” he said.

Chen Ji sat down, but did not touch the tea.

Third Master Hu glanced at the teacups, then began to speak. “Hu Junxian was originally dedicated to cultivation, holding only the nominal rank of Brigadier General in the Imperial Army. At sixteen, he entered the Xiantian realm, and at twenty-seven, the Xundao realm. At that time, his ambition was sky-high; he always felt that the threshold of the Shendao realm was just a step away. He ignored all social interactions with colleagues and put matters of marriage and children out of his mind. But some people couldn’t stand the possibility of the Hu family producing two officials of the Shendao realm.”

Third Master Hu continued, “If both Hu Junxian and Hu Junyan, from the Imperial Observatory, were to enter the Shendao realm, many people would be in danger. So someone came up with a plan to eliminate Hu Junxian as a potential threat.”

Chen Ji asked curiously, “Did someone poison him?”

Third Master Hu sneered, “Why bother with the complications of poison? In the 22nd year of Jianing, an imperial decree arrived at the Hu family, appointing him Deputy Commander of Guyuan, a third-rank official.”

A chill went through Chen Ji’s heart. The Young Master once said that once an official rank reached the third grade, it would conflict with the path of cultivation, dispersing one’s cultivation realm. If Hu Junxian didn’t accept the decree, it would be defying an imperial order. But if he did, the moment he accepted it, his cultivation would vanish, and he would forever be an ordinary person. This imperial decree of appointment was truly malicious, yet no one could find fault with it.

Chen Ji asked, “Did Hu Junxian accept?”

Third Master Hu sighed, “If he hadn’t accepted, the Hu family would have been branded with the crime of defying an imperial order. How could he stand by and do nothing? If you were him, wouldn’t you hate?”

Chen Ji frowned. “Advancing to the Shendao realm is as difficult as ascending to heaven,” he said. “Hu Junxian might not even have been able to cross that threshold. Why bother?”

Third Master Hu slowly said, “To prevent trouble before it arises.”