“Sir, the stone steps are quite cold. Why don’t you come over and sit with us?”
“Thank you, but I’ll leave once I’ve finished my pancakes.”
“We have wine and meat here. Isn’t it more pleasant to enjoy a drink and chat rather than just eating a few pancakes?”
“I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Then at least try a chicken leg!”
“Thank you very much...”
The meal consisted of pancakes made the previous night and mountain spring water—simple fare, but comfortable nonetheless.
A kind-hearted scholar sitting at a distance, who was drinking wine, wanted to form a friendly connection with the Daoist. He tore off a chicken leg from his roast chicken and handed it to him. This time, the Daoist accepted it with gratitude, though he only took a single bite and then tore the rest into pieces to feed the cat.
The calico cat took a couple of bites but then looked up at him, whispering so softly that only the Daoist could hear, “What are you eating?”
“Last night’s pancakes.”
“Let me try.”
“...” Song You tore off a piece of pancake and gave it to her.
The calico cat chewed loudly. As the calico cat had said, cats didn’t usually eat fruit, and they naturally didn’t eat pancakes either. Yet, after traveling together, she had eaten fruit and pancakes.
When did she start to take the initiative to eat human food?
The first time seemed to have been during their stay in Jingzhou.
Not far from the Fuyun Temple, Song You had stopped by the roadside and taken out the lotus seeds prepared by the Northern Mountain Daoist and steamed buns bought from the road. The calico cat had come over, looking up at him and asking for a taste. Since then, whenever Song You ate congee or buns, the cat would eat some too if it wasn’t just finishing a rat or planning to catch one.
“Is it good?”
“Hmm, I don’t know...”
"After we finish eating, we’ll head down the mountain. We’ve enjoyed the flowers enough by now. There’s no need for you to accompany me down the mountain," Song You said. "Please rest in the bag. If you feel well in the evening, you can go to Minister Zhou’s house to catch the mice. If not, it’s fine to skip it. After all, we’ve taken several days off, so it's no problem if we go a few days later."
“Okay.”
Soon, the Daoist and the cat rose to leave. The cat nestled into the bag, and the Daoist cupped his hands in thanks and farewells to the scholars nearby before heading down the mountain.
As he walked, he had a sudden sense of something and turned back...
Behind him, in a pavilion, several people stood. Some were painting, others were watching the painting, and some were observing the painter, with a few even looking in his direction.
The Daoist looked away and continued down the steps.
The painter, having just finished the last stroke of the apricot blossoms, noticed a few scholars gathered around to admire the use of color and the artistic mood of the painting. The discussion was lively, but when the painter looked up to see if there was anything more to add, the Daoist and the cat were no longer in sight.
The mountain remained the same, the stone steps unchanged, and the apricot blossoms still hung down beautifully. Yet, without the Daoist and the cat, the scene seemed to lose its highlight.
Even Song You felt a bit disoriented.
Chen Ziyi was a person he had often heard of since descending the mountain, someone whose stories had been told for half a year in Changjing—a figure who originally existed only in stories and the words of others. Though he had never thought of meeting this general, when he suddenly appeared before him like this one day, it was still quite remarkable.
It always felt like he was a legendary figure.
“Indeed, he's quite young,” Song You remarked as he entered the city.
He could still faintly see the cavalry’s retreating figures.
Chen Xin, with style name Ziyi, was a scion of the Chen family from Angzhou. Though he came from a distinguished family, it was in the military that he first made his mark, initially gaining recognition as a dueling general.
What was a dueling general?
Contrary to the tales and oral accounts in novels, it’s not possible for the personal strength of a general to decisively determine the outcome of a battle or significantly impact its result. However, historically, this land had a tradition of dueling generals. They were not the primary commanders but specialized generals kept within the army, not usually in command but possessing extraordinary martial prowess.
Their role was to challenge enemy generals or to be sent out when the enemy general issued a challenge. In battles, the dueling general would fight first; the victor would naturally boost their own side’s morale, while the loser would affect their side’s morale.
In the current dynasty, this practice had waned. Tales of dueling generals had become rare, mostly found in the north.
The people of the northern borderlands esteemed martial prowess and liked to provoke others. If someone came to the battlefield and taunted but shrank away or was shot dead, it would affect the morale of their side and make the Great Yan seem lacking in formidable talent.
At just sixteen, Chen Ziyi fought for the first time, and stories say that he defeated the renowned Great General Yinma of the northern border in less than ten exchanges with his red-tasseled spear.
Since then, his reputation soared. Under his long spear, countless brave generals perished. It was said that even after he became a main general, he still often challenged the northern border generals, but no longer just the dueling generals—now he faced the enemy’s main commanders.
The people of the northern borderlands, being skilled in martial arts and not daring to refuse, often felt deeply embarrassed. Even the foot soldiers felt humiliated.
Whether true or not, though this general was famous as a dueling general, he was indeed from a powerful family and well-versed in military strategy from a young age.
Besides being able to challenge enemy generals and daringly charge into battles, he was also courageous and strategic, known for leading elite troops straight to the enemy’s headquarters and often capturing it before the main battle even began. For over ten years on the battlefield, he had never suffered a defeat.
He was not just a figure from stories but someone destined to be recorded in history. Not only was he renowned in his time, but even a thousand years later, he would be remembered as a shining jewel in the annals of history.
Such an encounter was truly marvelous. It felt as if history had appeared before him.
“Hmm...”
A cat's head emerged from the bag, looking around at the many people with a puzzled meow. At the nearby houses, it then produced another curious sound, which was somewhere between a “hmm” and a “mew.”
“We’ll be there soon.” Song You patted her on the head and gently pressed her back into the bag.
Gradually, they walked back to Willow Street.
At the entrance, they spotted the figure of the heroine.
She was still sitting on the same wide bench under the eaves, holding a bowl in one hand and using chopsticks to scrape at something in the bowl with the other. From time to time, she glanced up at the passersby in the street, seemingly observing something, or perhaps nothing at all. It seemed even someone with great martial skills could be absent-minded while eating.
Song You glanced over and saw that the bowl contained a thick, indistinguishable paste with two pieces of pickled ginger, one of which had already been bitten into and had strings of ginger hanging from it.