~~~

Huang Shing does not return the following morning, nor does he return the following afternoon. It takes over a day for him to show his face again. When he does, Liu Jin does not ask if he’s okay, and Huang Shing does not lie to his face about it.

“He’ll be fine,” Lu Mei tells him when he asks her for advice. “He’s cut from the same cloth as Bei Hong. Leave him be for now. He’ll get over it. If you pay him too much attention, it’ll just hurt his pride.”

Unfortunately, Lu Mei is right. Huang Shing won’t get better by just worrying about him. The last thing Liu Jin wants is to damage Huang Shing’s already frail pride by paying him too much attention. Best to give him some space.

For now, at least.

Besides, Liu Jin is already swamped with work as it is. The city watch, spying on Yuan Tao, familiarizing himself with the situation on the front lines, going over the list of disciples who will be under his command, and so on. He scarcely has time to concern himself with Huang Shing’s romantic life.

Then there are the parties.

Somehow, City Lord Chu manages to organize two more in the time it takes for them to be sent away. They take place after the visiting nobles leave, so they are not as grand. The last one, in particular, is quite small by City Lord Chu’s standards. As City Lord Chu smiles at him and raises his glass, Liu Jin cannot help but wonder if that is because he told the City Lord that he enjoyed smaller celebrations.

Still, all things come to an end. The day of their departure arrives, and, just as they came out to welcome them, the people come out to bid them goodbye. There is a parade and multiple speeches. One by City Lord Chu, one by Feng Zhi, and one by General Dan. They speak of unity, strength, and coming victories.

Liu Jin, however, feels neither unity nor strength, and the wild clapping around him does not change that. As the flame-wheeled wagons take off into the skies and leave Rumbling Thunder City behind, Liu Jin can only feel an odd sort of dread.

Three days ago, a new name was added to the list of disciples under his command: Yi Jiao. To his surprise, Feng Zhi hadn’t shown up to threaten him about what would happen if she was hurt during the expedition.

He sent his servant to do it instead.

Liu Jin sighs and leans his head against the window. The flame-wheeled wagons fly through the skies, likely scaring quite a few Spirit Beasts and more than one farmer. They pass through mountains, valleys, and rivers. As they grow closer to the border, the terrain starts becoming rocky and lifeless. The few farming fields they pass by look downright pitiful.

Eventually, they arrive at a large fortress built of solid stone and surrounded by sturdy walls of the same material. It is a heavy place made with simple lines. The fortress is brutal in its utilitarian rawness, something further enhanced by its empty surroundings. Had Liu Jin not spotted a small town a little under a mile away, he’d have believed this place to be completely removed from civilization.

Two lines of soldiers stand in front of the gates to welcome them. Their dark armors have many scratches and dents but are still clean and shine under the afternoon sun. The soldiers’ faces are hardened, and even the youngest has a full beard. Their heads look forward; their backs are straight. From bearing to cultivation, they are superior to the soldiers Liu Jin saw in Rumbling Thunder City.

Standing in front of them is the man in charge of this fortress as well as the entire southern army.

Colonel Peng.

He is tall. Almost unreasonably so. Closer to nine feet than eight. Like his soldiers, he has a full beard that covers most of his face, but his head is almost entirely bald under the helmet. His armor is darker than that of his men, made of stronger material, yet it has far more nicks and scratches. His skin is the same, Liu Jin notes. What little Liu Jin can see under the man's armor is covered in multiple scars.

His Qi is that of someone in the Heaven Realm. It is firm and strong, lacking a shred of hesitation. Without a doubt, this man is a veteran of many battles who expects nothing less than the utmost discipline of his men.

“Welcome, visitors of the Eternal Flame Clan,” Colonel Peng says with a firm and clear voice. Each of his words is perfectly enunciated.

It takes Liu Jin a moment to realize he is the highest ranking person of the Eternal Flame Clan present, and it falls to him to say something right now.

“Greetings, Colonel Peng,” Liu Jin says, offering the man a short bow with his hands clasped together. “I am Qing Jin of the Eternal Flame Clan, and we are honored-”

“No.”

Liu Jin is left blinking.

“I beg your pardon?”

“We already have too many Qings,” Colonel Peng tells him bluntly. In a louder voice, he says, “Isn’t that right, soldier Qing?”

“Yes, sir!” shout at least fifteen of the men behind the colonel.

“Be grateful I did not call out the Jins,” Colonel Peng adds with a wry smile. “I’ll have to think of something else to call you to avoid confusion. That’s how things work here.”

“Is that so?” Liu Jin has a hard time keeping a smile off his face. Lei Kong had told him Qing Jin wasn’t an uncommon name, but he had not imagined it was this bad. “We’ll have to think of something later. For now, allow me to say we are glad to be here and look forward to cooperating with you.”

“The pleasure is this old man’s,” Colonel Peng replies, returning his salute. “We are grateful for your aid. Heaven knows we always need more men.”

~~~

Colonel Peng has no great feast prepared for them. Instead, after the customary greetings are done, he and Liu Jin move into his office to discuss things.

“I do not like this.”

Those being the first words Colonel Peng says after he closes the door bodes poorly for this.

“Begging your pardon, your words now are at odds with how you greeted us, colonel,” Liu Jin points out as he sits before a large table with a map stretched over it. It has multiple figurines placed on top of it.

Colonel Peng snorts.

“My men follow my lead. If I had said my true feelings in front of them, it’d have invited them to disrespect you. We can’t have that. I am not happy to have you Cloudlanders here, but I can feel your power. Your men are strong. I’ll admit that much. I imagine you have gorged yourselves on all manner of pills and elixirs.”

Liu Jin hums and tilts his head to the side. “If it is not our power you are unsatisfied with, what is the problem, colonel?”

“Two reasons,” Colonel Peng says as he sits on an aged wooden chair. He raises two fingers. “First, you are green. I know of your Crimson Cloud Empire. I went there when I was young. I know of your tournaments. I know of your sects. I know of your politics. This is not like those things. The fights you are used to and the fights we deal with are different. Your people and General Dan speak of aid and unity. All I hear is I have to deal with a bunch of pampered, unruly youths.”

“That is not an unreasonable objection,” Liu Jin admits. Colonel Peng grunts.

"I do not need a child to tell me whether my objections are reasonable or not.” The colonel blinks and squints at him. “Heavens, you are a child, aren’t you? Your appearance is not the result of preference but your true age.”

Liu Jin nods. “That is so.”

“A prodigy! Of all things!” Colonel Peng shakes his head and lightly bangs his fist against the table. It makes all the figurines there do a little jump. “Not just untested, overly privileged fighters, but the one in charge of them can’t even grow a beard!”

That actually draws a frown from Liu Jin. Colonel Peng chuckles.

“Finally got a reaction out of you, huh?”

“I cannot grow a beard by force of will, nor do I want to,” Liu Jin replies. There is probably a technique that does it, but Liu Jin has no interest in it. “The rest of your objection, however, can be worked on. If we do not know your way of fighting, we’ll just have to learn.”

“If Murong Bang and his forces were to attack right now, should I comfort myself by thinking you could have learned if the enemy had decided to be patient with us?”

Liu Jin frowns. “That’s unfair, Colonel.”

“That you’re speaking of fairness just proves my point. I got this job when Murong Bang decided to lead a surprise attack one day and killed my predecessor,” Colonel Peng replies. “We lost many people and a lot of territory that day. It took years to claim it back.”

“And you have been Colonel for all the years since,” Liu Jin points out. “How often does Murong Bang actually appear on the front lines?”

“Rarely, but that is the problem. It is rare, not unheard of. Murong Bang will appear without rhyme or reason. Sometimes, he’ll attack strategic spots. Other times, we can only assume he attacked for the fun of it. Even when he’s not leading the attack, his forces remain a constant problem for us. They prod and poke as often as they can get away with. And yet, we’re expected to have to teach you while dealing with our usual problems.”

“You spoke of two reasons. That’s the first one,” Liu Jin says. “What is the second one?”

Colonel Peng points to the map.

“This is the border between Murong Bang and us,” he says, using his finger to trace a line in the map. “Of all our borders, it is by far the most troublesome. We have nine fortresses like this one along its length that we try our best to keep manned. There used to be more, but war has a way of reshaping the landscape. We also have several smaller stations in between the fortresses. Some are manned. Some are not. The civilian settlements are not many, but they exist. Poor souls lacking the money and power to move elsewhere and just unlucky enough not to have died out. At any given time, my forces are spread out from one end of the border to the other, and that’s still not enough. We always need more men, which brings me to the second reason. General Dan will use your presence here to deny me more troops.”

“He’d sabotage his own war?” Liu Jin asks dubiously. He did not talk much with the man, but that is not at all the impression he got from General Dan.

Colonel Peng laughs. “I’d hardly call losing a few miles of wasteland sabotage. Your presence here gives the general a truly great opportunity to muster his forces like never before and ram them into Murong Bang’s armies. Even if we lose a few fortresses here and there.” He moves the figurines representing Murong Bang’s army over them. “The counter-offensive will push them back.”

He grabs another piece and brings it forward, knocking down all of Murong Bang’s pieces in the process.

“Once we’re in the heart of Murong Bang’s territory, it will be a one-on-one match between the two generals. General Dan will win, and Murong Bang’s men will falter. That’s all it would take. In the meantime, however, I am stuck with you.”

In other words, until General Nie Dan is ready, Colonel Peng will not have as many men as he wants, and the men he does have are not as experienced as he’d like. If anything, Colonel Peng seems to view them as privileged and pampered. No wonder he is not happy.

“I now understand Colonel Peng’s objections and deeply regret the situation he finds himself in,” Liu Jin says. “However, we are nowhere near as unprepared as you believe us to be. Some of us have survived the Dead Plains. We understand what it is like to be in constant danger. Allow us to do what we came here to do and supply you with manpower. If you believe we can be taught the ways of war, mix my men with yours, and they will adapt. If you don’t, keep our forces separate, put us where it’s most dangerous, and we’ll act as sword and shield.”

“Confident, aren’t you?”

“I am being practical,” Liu Jin replies. “Either we prove ourselves to you, or we don’t. There is nothing else I can do. I can no more leave this place than you can make trained soldiers appear out of thin air. All the decisions have already been made, so Colonel Peng might as well use our power as he sees fit.”

Colonel Peng regards him carefully. “You will grow to regret those words.”

“I regret many things, Colonel Peng.”

A reluctant glimmer of approval appears in Colonel Peng’s eyes.

“If that is true, I might be able to work with you after all.”

~~~