Chapter 7: The Nomad Whistling Against the Door

This was the second time Liu Xian had heard someone let out a long whistle in his entire life.

The first person to do so was, of course, the younger Lord Ruan. Abandoning himself to the rivers, mountains, and bamboo groves, whenever the mood struck him, he would raise his head and whistle. His whistle echoed above the green mountains and beneath the white clouds, causing gibbons to shriek in harmony, myriad birds to sing in chorus, forest leaves to rustle down, and mountain mists to slowly rise, possessing an inherent, rugged, and solemn majesty that seemed to pierce the sky.

Yet the long whistle Liu Xian heard this time was completely different from that of the younger Lord Ruan.

When the younger Lord Ruan whistled, it was mostly in deep, distant, and overgrown thorn-filled regions where human tracks were scarce. Though his whistle was lingering and distant, few heard it, and its source was rooted in the sorrow weighing upon his heart.

This long whistle, however, occurred right in the bustling and crowded marketplace. All around, people came and went, and even top-tier celebrities of the imperial court were traveling through. Yet such a lively atmosphere could not suppress this single whistle.

The whistle first pierced sharply through the air, climbing step by step like summer bamboo shoots, and simultaneously sounding like a sharp blade slicing through thin paper, causing the surrounding crowd to turn their heads in surprise.

Yet the whistler did not care in the least. He simply continued to whistle. When the sound reached its highest pitch, it began to swirl and drift, free and unrestrained like a great roc spreading its wings, rising at times and sinking at others, as if indifferent to the mortal world. In the blink of an explicit moment, it had soared ninety thousand miles away, leaving behind only leisurely white clouds with not the slightest trace remaining.

What an uninhibited and defiant whistle!

This was Liu Xian's first impression.

Only after gathering his wits slightly did he realize that the originally clamorous Jianchun Gate had fallen into complete silence. The throngs of pedestrians had been arrested in their tracks by the whistle, and even the renowned gentleman Wang Yan, sitting atop his ox-cart, could not help but stand up and look around, trying to find the owner of the whistle.

In their minds, anyone daring to whistle so boldly must surely be some extraordinary figure.

The owner of the whistle was right beside Liu Xian, or more accurately, standing about six feet to his northwest. Upon catching sight of the whistler's face, everyone paused in astonishment, and then burst into mocking laughter as they scattered in all directions, dismissing the scene as a fleeting farce.

For this was a Hu tribesman, and a Hu youth who looked exceedingly destitute.

The youth had a high bridge of nose and deep-set eyes, with unkempt, slightly yellowish hair and remarkably fair skin—a textbook example of a Jie-Hu from the Western Regions. His clothes were in tatters, the most ordinary hemp robes covered in dust and mud, and riddled with gaping holes. Had it not been for the sword at his waist and the horse he was leading by the hand, he would have been indistinguishable from a beggar. No wonder everyone kept a wide berth.

Yet, facing the sarcastic gazes cast by the public, the youth seemed entirely unfazed. Instead, a smile spread across his face, as if he were still savoring his own recent whistle.

That smile was radiant and brilliant, momentarily recalling childhood memories to Liu Xian and leaving him slightly dazed.

After the crowd had resumed its flow, Liu Xian remained rooted to the spot. He carefully scrutinized the young Hu tribesman, then stepped forward and asked with a smile, "Hey, little Hu, were you born in the Year of the Rooster?"

This greeting was far from polite, sounding somewhat like mockery of his whistle just now. Thus, the eccentric youth stopped smiling. He stared at Liu Xian and replied in mock seriousness, "If I was born in the Year of the Rooster, then my lord must be a man of the Year of the Snake, right?"

Xi An and Zhang Gu looked blank, but Liu Xian chuckled out loud.

What a sharp retort from this youth, turning his own poisoned tongue back on him! Judging by his appearance, he was even younger than Liu Xian himself, yet his height was barely a few inches shorter. More importantly, he showed not a shred of timidity and possessed an exceptional temperament. Liu Xian found him increasingly extraordinary.

"My apologies for just now; I was born in the Year of the Dragon. But that whistle of yours was truly something ordinary people could never produce."

"That is indeed the case," the youth nodded proudly, saying, "Then you should have guessed I was born in the Year of the Tiger. Not every loud creature in this world is just a rooster."

"So by your logic, you are two years older than me?"

"You must be joking!" The youth widened his eyes, patted the mount behind him, and said, "Didn't you see the fine steed behind me? Anyone capable of handling such a magnificent horse must have been born in the Year of the Horse!"

So he was actually a year younger than himself, Liu Xian thought with internal amusement. But as he followed the youth's gaze to the mount, he could not help a start of surprise:

This truly was a fine horse! Although it had not been groomed for days and its mane was filthy, a single close look revealed it to be an unquestionable, top-tier steed.

The horse's coat was mottled, blending brown, chestnut, and yellow, occasionally speckled with white, making it look unassuming. Yet its legs were shaped like pipa lutes, possessing a powerful, taut tension; its shoulder blades were broadly splayed; and its lower legs resembled tightly wound hemp ropes without a scrap of excess fat. Its standing posture was the nimble and agile stance commonly known as "chicken feet."

To be honest, among all the horses Liu Xian had ever seen, probably only Shi Chong's Black Dragon Colt could compare to it.

"A fine horse! Truly a fine horse! Little Hu, does this horse have a name?" Liu Xian's admiration poured forth sincerely.

The youth replied indignantly, "What 'little Hu'! My name is Afule! Who asks for the horse's name before the owner's? You have no manners at all!"

"My apologies, my apologies," Liu Xian said, smiling and offering a bow of apology. "I am Liu Xian. It is my fortune to meet you today, brother. Might such a magnificent steed have a fine name?"

Only then did the youth smile and say, "Fine, seeing that you are so sincere, I will tell you. This horse is called Fanyu, and it's only three years old. It's a brother I raised myself!" Pausing slightly, he tilted his head and said to Liu Xian, "Liu Xian, I warn you in advance, don't harbor any crooked ideas—this horse of mine is not for sale!"

Liu Xian looked at the horse, then at him: "I didn't say I wanted to buy it!"

Afule retorted, "Don't try to trick me; your eyes already told me you definitely want to buy it!"

"Did I?"

"You definitely want to buy it!" Afule bounced on his heels and shouted, "If you want to buy my brother, I'm telling you, it'll cost extra!"

"..."

"One final price! A hundred pieces of gold! Otherwise, I'm turning around and walking away!"

"..."

Xi An, standing nearby, could no longer hold his tongue and advised, "Hey, hey, hey, little brother, how can you just extort people like this? Does my young master look like such a fat sheep to you?"

"Then why did you come looking for me?" Afule countered. "Judging by your clothes, you aren't short of money. You surely didn't come just to mess around with me!"

Liu Xian smiled. "Are you telling me you're young, talented, and good-looking?"

"Well, you do have an eye for talent." Afule nodded, patted Liu Xian on the shoulder, and said, "In that case, I'll sell it to you at a discount—eighty pieces of gold."

"Do I look like someone carrying eighty pieces of gold on him?"

"This is already friend's price! No further negotiation!" Driven to his wits' end, Afule lamented, "Heavens above, a hero at the end of his rope! To think I would be driven to this pass. When Han Xin suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs back in the day, it must have been just like this."

Although the Jie-Hu youth's every action was radiant and his emotions so full that it was impossible not to feel a sense of fondness, Liu Xian could not help finding this remark somewhat excessively humorous: "You are a Hu tribesman, yet you compare yourself to Han Xin?"

"Of course!" Afule widened his eyes and said, "To be frank, if I hadn't been robbed recently and gone three days without a meal, and if you hadn't spoken so cordially, I wouldn't sell this horse for three hundred pieces of gold! Who would stand here arguing back and forth with you?"

"Make up your mind—are you buying or not? If not, I'm going to look for someone else! The horse market is right next door. With a horse this good, am I worried about finding no buyers?"

"I truly don't have the money to buy a horse." Upon hearing this, Afule actually took the horse's reins and made as if to leave, but Liu Xian's next words stopped him: "However, I can afford to treat you to a meal."

Afule immediately strode back, beaming with radiance. "I've had my eye on a good tavern for ages, and I've been craving it forever!"

With that, he stepped forward to lead the way. After taking two steps, he turned his head and shouted loudly, "What are you waiting for? Didn't you say you were treating?"

What an impolite little Hu boy! Yet he was undeniably interesting. Liu Xian smiled at his two companions and followed closely behind.

Opposite the horse market was an entire street of taverns and eateries, offering plenty of genuine delicacies. The establishment chosen by Afule was named "Huanxi Tavern," implying that all guests who entered would drink and rest until thoroughly intoxicated.

The moment Afule sat down, he stood on no ceremony whatsoever, firing off a machine-gun volley of a dozen dish names to the waiter: mutton soup cakes, oil-crisp pork skin, honeyed bean porridge, meat dumplings, yellow-mustard sliced fish, steamed lamb, roasted beef liver, scallion-white roasted barbarian meat, wild mushroom and egg stew, pepper-spiced dog meat soup... Liu Xian was left practically dumbfounded by the list. Feeling that he hadn't yet had his fill, Afule ordered two pots of millet wine and a bowl of honeyed dates on top of that.

After hearing the order, even the waiter thought it was a joke. He looked at Afule and said, "A single table can't hold all this. Can the guest possibly finish it?"

Afule made a grand sweep of his arm, pointed at Liu Xian, and said, "With a wealthy benefactor treating, what nonsense are you spouting? If I can't finish it, can't I pack the rest to go?"

Well, there it was—he had factored in his next few meals as well.

Noticing the waiter's inquiring gaze, Liu Xian drew a string of Wuzhu coins from his sleeve and said, "Just prepare it all. If this isn't enough, I'll pay more."

"Magnanimous!" Afule gave a thumbs-up and praised, "My journey to the capital, Afule, has been plagued by bad luck for so many days, but today my fortunes have finally turned. I've met a great philanthropist!"

"Oh?" Liu Xian was indeed rather curious about where this young Jie-Hu who dared to look up and whistle across the bustling streets of Luoyang had come from and what his background was. "Tell me then, where did you come from, and what bad luck did you encounter?"

The waiter could see that Afule was genuinely starving. Within moments, he rushed out the oil-crisp pork skin and sesame flatbreads. Afule immediately began to devour them voraciously, recounting his experiences between mouthfuls:

"This is a long story..."

It turned out he was a native of Shangdang in Bingzhou, and his descendants belonged to the Qiangqu tribe, a branch of the Xiongnu who originally made their living as nomads in the northern deserts.

About two hundred years ago, his ancestors followed the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu southward, eventually settling around Weiji in Xihe Commandery. By the time of his great-grandfather, Cao Cao had pacified Bingzhou and divided the Xiongnu into five tribes. Their family was relocated once more, finally settling in Shangdang, where they had lived for over sixty years.

Afule's father was a minor Xiongnu chieftain commanding several hundred men. Strictly speaking, he barely qualified as minor nobility, but life in recent years had grown truly difficult. Having lived in Han territory for two hundred years, these Hu people had long since been sinicized—they spoke the Han language, wore Han garments, and farmed and wove just like ordinary Han people. However, in recent years, Bingzhou had suffered consecutive natural disasters, ranging from severe droughts without rain to summer hailstorms, leaving them with hardly any decent harvests. The tribe had even been driven to the point of selling their children just to scrape by.

Since this could not go on, his father gathered the minor chieftains of nearby tribes to hatch a plan: they would return to their old trade of herding and raising horses. Although the profits were low, at the very least they wouldn't take a loss. If they could form a caravan and travel to major cities like Luoyang or Yecheng to sell them at high prices, while buying back some Central Plains millet and wheat at low prices, their food and clothing problems would at least be solved.

The year before last and last year, they had tried trading in Yecheng this way, and just as planned, they made a hefty profit.

The elders and young ones in the tribe were overjoyed, saying that although Yecheng was prosperous, it still couldn't compare to Luoyang. If they could bring horses to Luoyang to sell, they might save even more money and buy a few more mu of land! Therefore, they planned to lead a herd of about three hundred horses to visit the capital region this year.

As it happened, Afule was about to turn fourteen. Hearing that he could witness the dazzling world of Luoyang, he begged his father to let him accompany the caravan. Naturally bright, clever, and vigilant, he was deeply favored by his father, who easily agreed after hearing a few sweet words.

At this point, Afule, who rarely grieved, could not help letting out a long sigh and lamenting:

"We really shouldn't have come! Not long after we crossed the river bridge and entered the Mang Mountain trail, thinking that the capital region was a place of supreme virtue and good security, we let down our guard. Who would have expected to be ambushed by bandits right on the mountain trail!"

"Ambushed on Mang Mountain?" Liu Xian was deeply shocked. Mang Mountain was only thirty or forty li from Luoyang city; a fast horse could cover the distance in less than half an hour. How could there be bandits there? Liu Xian had never heard of any such rumors.

"That's right!" Afule took a sip of millet wine and hiccuped, "It was around the Rooster hour, the sun was about to set, and the sky was a dim, hazy yellow. Our group of thirty people was rushing along to find lodging for the night, marching with our heads down, when suddenly twenty or so men rushed down from the mountain forest ahead of us. Armed with crossbows, they let fly a volley right at us. My third uncle was shot clean through the face on the spot, and one of his teeth even knocked against my cheek!"

"Although we Hu people often fight among ourselves, where had we ever seen so much blood? We were all terrified and frozen in our tracks, completely unable to move. Then another dozen men appeared behind us, also holding crossbows, speaking as if chewing on needles, demanding that we all surrender."

Hearing Afule's vivid description, Liu Xian could not help asking, "And you surrendered?"

Afule widened his eyes and cursed, "Only a fool would surrender! He killed my third uncle without batting an eye, so why would he spare our lives? It was simply because they feared another round of arrows might accidentally kill the horses!"

Catching his breath, he continued his account:

"I figured Fanyu was the most valuable thousand-li steed among the herd. As long as I rode him and galloped away, they wouldn't dare loose their arrows for fear of hitting the horse, and even if they did, they wouldn't necessarily hit me. So, without waiting for them to react, I mounted Fanyu alone and urged him forward."

"Haha, it certainly gave them a huge scare! Before they could react, I had already broken through their line! In the end, they could only curse and chase after me from behind, but how could they possibly outrun my brother? Besides, I've been riding horses since I was five, and I've long since become one with my mount. After playing with them for a few circles, I escaped!"

At this, he looked somewhat smug, but his expression immediately turned sorrowful again. Picking up a slice of raw fish, he ate and sighed at the same time:

"Yet in the end, I was the only one who escaped. Yesterday, when I went back to look for my uncles and companions, apart from a few bloodstains, I couldn't even find their bodies."

Judged purely by Afule's words, the account sounded utterly absurd—bandits laying an ambush and committing murder right in the capital region was tantamount to saying the emperor was incompetent at governance. Yet simply observing Afule's expression and listening to his emotionally charged description, the three of them simultaneously chose to believe him.

Filled with deep sympathy for him, Liu Xian asked, "Then why are you still here? Are you planning to sell this horse and return home? But even if you get the money, what will you do if you run into bandits again? Let me give you some traveling expenses so you can head home early!"

In his view, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy had only this single option left.

To his surprise, Afule shook his head and said, "No."

With an expression of utmost solemnity, he declared, "There were four hundred and sixty-seven people in our tribe. Now, in a single day, thirty-four of my clansmen have died away from home in obscurity, without even their bones recovered. How can I peaceably return alone? How could I face my father and my remaining clansmen? Should I tell them I acted like a coward and ran away by myself?"

"There's no shame in that," Liu Xian thought.

Yet Afule clearly held a different view. Gazing up at the sky, hot tears welled in his eyes. Liu Xian was once again startled; given how carefree the youth had appeared earlier, he had assumed he was incapable of weeping. Yet the tears streaming down his face did not make him look weak; rather, they made him look strong, for his expression was fiercely resolute. He said to Liu Xian with absolute finality:

"I am going to find the bones of my clansmen, and I am going to avenge them!"

"No matter who is behind this, I will repay eye for eye and blood for blood! This is my responsibility and my burden!"

The Hu youth's ringing words quietly stirred Liu Xian's heart, prompting the Prince of Anle's heir to silently ask himself:

Do I not also have the exact same responsibilities and burdens?