17.General Wen
1580 Words
“He didn't come here with the intent to harm you. But, I don’t trust him, so I read his mind,” Shi Lang smiles at General Shang.
“You got tired of games?” General Shang chuckles. “I thought you were more patient than this?”
“Depends on the situation,” Shi Lang answers. He is still holding General Wen in a tight grip. Even without his daggers, this man can be dangerous. He can feel his inner power. This guy is no slouch when it comes to martial arts.
“Why don’t you let him loose? I want to hear what he has to say,” General Shang suggests.
“Only if you promise to keep a safe distance,” Shi Lang sighs. His lover can be too trusting sometimes.
“I have you here. What could possibly go wrong?” General Shang smiles. Even in the face of danger, he still finds the time to flirt with him. In front of an enemy no less.
“Many things,” Shi Lang scoffs. He doesn’t trust anyone on the first word. Only actions count in his book. He lets go of General Wen’s neck, but he strikes a few fast moves to block the man’s acupoints. With his inner strength temporarily blocked, he is not as dangerous as before. But, to be absolutely sure, he takes the daggers that he found concealed on the man’s body earlier.
“Oh, just kill me and be done with it,” General Wen glares at General Shang. “Then you can flirt in peace.”
“You caught that?” General Shang sputters. The enemy has rendered him speechless with just one remark. This is not good, Shi Lang thinks.
“I just might. Would that stop the war, or cause more trouble?” Shi Lang wonders. His smile is cruel and cold, directed at General Wen. “I don’t care for you either way. It’s nothing to me to spend a few hundred years in my lair, and leave this human world to its own business.”
“See?” General Wen tilts his head. “He doesn’t care. He might be the Dragon Lord, but at the end of the day, he’s nothing more than a demon.”
“You really don’t want to live?” General Shang shakes his head. It’s not that he likes, or cares for his enemy, but getting killed for insulting Shi Lang is a possibility.
“What? My scouts insulted the Dragon Lord?” General Wen inquires. His contempt can’t be hidden at all.
“No,” Shi Lang chuckles. “They were misfortunate and picked on my new disciple. This kid has potential. I want to see it blossom, so no one gets to kill him.”
“A disciple? Who is this prodigy?” General Wen wants to know.
“Not important to you,” Shi Lang glares back. He knows that revealing the name would put Shang Yi in danger. You never give your enemies what they want.
“This is not why you’re here,” General Shang interferes. “We were discussing the imminent danger we are facing.”
“I don’t see how what I had to say is relevant now?” General Wen scoffs. “You are clearly on the same side. The legendary Dragon Lord is finally playing favourites. To my huge disappointment, it’s you.”
“So? What do you want?” General Shang asks.
“A simple promise,” He answers. A glimmer of mischief is seen for a moment. Whatever he’s going to ask for, will come back to bite them.
“What promise?” General Shang prompts him again.
“I want Shi Lang to promise to stay out of the war. He is not to fight on either side,” the man says with deliberation.
“Easy,” Shi Lang scoffs. “I never fight.”
“You can’t train their soldiers, either. That would not be fair,” General Wen demands.
“Now you’re pushing it! What’s next? Will you demand that I give up my disciple, too?” Shi Lang exclaims. This man is making him angry.
“No!” General Shang says firmly. “You are not in position to demand anything. I do not agree. I’m fairly tempted to let Shi Lang kill you, and deal with the aftermath later.”
“Woah! Kill who?” Shang Yi exclaims. The boy has somehow made it past the guards without anyone hearing him.
“What are you doing here?” General Shang glares at his brother.
“I heard there was a scout with news,” the answer could not have sounded more sarcastic if he tried. “I can tell it’s bull. This man is not one of ours.”
“You can tell just with one glance?” Shi Lang is surprised.
“Yes. The uniform might look right, but our scouts always hide any insignias. He’s too obvious,” Shang Yi answers.
“Well, I’ll take this as you pass your homework for the day,” General Shang nods.
“So? Who is he?” Shang Yi inquires.
“General Wen,” Shi Lang tells him. “We’re just debating if we should kill him, or not.”
“I see. As much as I would love to see him die, we can’t. It would be morally wrong to kill him outside of the battlefield,” Shang Yi shakes his head.
“Oh…” Shi Lang looks at his disciple to see if it’s really him and not some imposter again. To think the younger brother would be the voice of reason? That’s a twist he couldn’t have predicted. “You just had to come and spoil the fun.”
“Sorry?” Shang Yi smiles. He is not sorry at all.
“I’m all for not killing me,” General Wen says.
“Of course you are,” General Shang scoffs. “Can we negotiate the terms of your surrender?”
“No! We never surrender!” General Wen exclaims.
“It's been a stalemate for months. Nobody will win this war. The casualties will be too big on both sides to say who the winner is,” General Shang sighs.
“It would be wiser of you to just back down while you still can,” Shi Lang suggests.
“No,” General Wen shakes his head. “We’ll never give up on this land.”
“Why? There is nothing here. Just hills and trees,” Shang Yi asks.
“Not entirely true,” Shi Lang says. There is a sense of foreboding running through him. “Don’t tell me you don’t know why you’re fighting this war?”
“Principle!” Shang Yi answers.
“For the country and people,” General Shang says.
“For the land, of course,” General Wen glares at him. The man still can’t move much, but the time on his restriction is running out. Shi Lang has to be careful.
“None of you know the real reason why this slice of land is so important?” Shi Lang laughs. It’s incredible how stupid humans can be sometimes. He only stops when nobody says anything. They are just looking at him like he’s the one that’s crazy.
“And I thought nothing could surprise me anymore!” Shi Lang chuckles again. “There is an old quarry two hours’ ride upstream. The previous dynasty got its riches from there. The finest jade money could buy is hidden in these hills. There’s also some gold left to mine. Whoever owns the land, owns the goods.”
“We will never give up on this land,” General Wen growls.
“It’s not yours. This land has belonged to the Wei dynasty for centuries,” General Shang shakes his head.
“Because it was the dowry of a Wen princess!” General Wen shouts.
“And, now you want it back? Who ever returned the dowry after centuries have passed?” Shang Yi asks. He has a point, but getting through some thick skulls will be impossible.
“The Wei dynasty has never mined for gold or jade in these hills. There are no records of it,” General Shang shakes his head.
“No. The quarry has been closed for two hundred years. The last to mine here was Emperor Jun. The great grandfather of the current Emperor Wei,” Shi Lang explains.
“Why would Emperor Wen want a closed quarry back?” Shang Yi wonders.
“I don’t know. This war must have cost more than that quarry can bring,” Shi Lang shrugs. He never gave it a thought. Frankly, he doesn’t care for jade.
After several hours of talking, the only conclusion they came to was to let General Wen back to his base. Talking has never solved a war before. It was utopic to think it might happen this time. Shi Lang got his frustration out on the training grounds with Shang Yi. He feels sorry for all the bruises he caused, but the boy came out alive. Anyone else might not have been so lucky. Even lying in his lover’s tight embrace late at night can’t ease his mind. There is a deep rooted feeling in his guts that something bad will happen. He might be forced to say goodbye to his lover sooner than he thought.
- Writer
