Nine Nights Owl Song

May 17th, the eighteenth year of Yong'an. Liangzhou.

Xiao Yan only stayed in Liangzhou for two days before setting off to return to Luoyang on the third day.

It's not that I don't want to stay any longer, it's that the court can't wait.

The power struggle between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince intensified, with secret reports from the Thousand Machine Tower arriving like snowflakes, each one stating the same thing—although the Second Prince was imprisoned, his retainers were actively maneuvering in the court, secretly contacting officials dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, attempting to regain their footing with the Emperor. The Crown Prince, taking advantage of the Second Prince's loss of favor, frantically placed his own people in key positions.

The two parties are locked in a power struggle, and the political situation is extremely precarious.

Xiao Yan must be present.

On the day he left, Su Jiuge saw him off at the city gate.

The mornings in Liangzhou in May are still cool, with the wind blowing from the west, carrying fine sand.

Xiao Yan sat astride his horse, dressed in a moon-white casual robe, his hair disheveled by the wind, and dark circles under his eyes. He stared at Su Jiuge for a long time.

"I'm leaving." Su Jiuge nodded.

Xiao Yan then said, "You promised me you would write to me every day."

Su Jiuge nodded again.

"Sometimes I'm too busy in one day, so being a few days late won't make a difference."

"No, you promised." Xiao Yan's tone was curt.

Su Jiuge looked at him; the man's eyes were full of stubbornness, and he had a childlike quality.

"Okay, write every day." Xiao Yan bent down and stretched out his hand.

Su Jiuge looked at the hand and grasped it.

He leaned down and placed a very light kiss on her forehead.

He released her hand, turned his horse around, and rode away.

Su Jiuge stood at the city gate, watching his figure disappear at the end of the official road.

Shen Qing walked up from behind.

"Master, it's time to go back."

Su Jiuge didn't answer. She stood in the wind for a while, then turned and walked back into the city. Behind her, the official road was covered in yellow dust.

On May 18th, news of the Qiang scouts reached Liangzhou.

Helian Tieshu retreated to the north of Yinshan Mountain and was gathering troops, while supplies were being transported from the rear.

The various Qiang tribes had differing opinions, with some advocating war and others peace. Helian Tieshu persuaded most of the tribal leaders and prepared to march south again before autumn.

There are still more than three months until autumn, so Daliang still has time, but time is running out.

Su Zhentian convened a meeting of his generals in his command tent. They spent a long time strategizing in front of the sand table, considering the worst-case scenario for everything, including the Qiang troops, supplies, and routes.

Finally, he put down the wooden pole and looked at his generals: "The Qiang tribe will not move for the time being. They are waiting for supplies, waiting for autumn, and waiting for us to relax our guard."

The guerrilla general asked, "My lord, how should our army respond?"

Su Zhentian said, "Fortify the city's defenses, train the troops, and stockpile provisions. If the Qiang tribe doesn't move, we won't move either. When they do move, we'll attack."

Su Jiuge stood by the sand table.

The Qiang people don't move, so we don't move either. A stalemate.

She looked at the blank area north of Yinshan Mountain on the sand table.

The intelligence gathered by Qianji Tower only extends south of Yinshan Mountain; going further north would take them out of the territory of Daliang.

Helian Tieshu is gathering troops north of Yinshan. How many men, how much food, how many horses are there? The Great Liang has no idea.

You can't fight a war if you don't know anything about it.

She needed someone to spy out the area north of the Yin Mountains, deep into the heartland of the Qiang people.

This person can only be her.

On May 20th, Su Jiuge, along with Zhao Ying and Shen Qing, set off from Liangzhou and headed north to Yinshan.

They dressed up as Qiang people—wearing sheepskin coats, felt hats, and smearing ochre-colored liquid on their faces, looking like herdsmen who had been exposed to the wind and sun on the grasslands for many years.

Zhao Ying speaks Qiang language quite well, Shen Qing can only utter a few words, and Su Jiuge's Qiang language was taught by the old drunkard, so she has no problem with daily conversation.

The further north you go, the sparser the population becomes.

Once you cross the border of Daliang, there are no roads left, only grasslands and deserts.

They traveled during the day and slept outdoors at night.

On the sixth day, they entered the Yinshan Mountains.

The mountains are not high, but they stretch for thousands of miles, forming a natural barrier that separates the grasslands from the desert.

Beyond the Yinshan Mountains lies the pastureland of the Qiang people.

On May 26, Su Jiuge was attacked while crossing a mountain ridge.

It wasn't a Qiang cavalryman; it was a single person.

A woman suddenly emerged from the pile of rocks behind the ridge, wielding a curved knife, her movements incredibly fast.

Zhao Ying was the first to react, drawing her short blade and blocking in front of Su Jiuge.

The woman slashed at Zhao Ying with her blade, the edge sharp and fierce. Zhao Ying dodged to the side, his hand tingling from the impact—the force was considerable.

Shen Qing drew his longsword, intending to attack from the side.

Su Jiuge said, "Stop."

Zhao Ying paused for a moment before sheathing her short blade, and Shen Qing also sheathed her sword. The woman did not attack again, but gripped her curved sword and watched Su Jiuge warily.

She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and slender, with a cold and aloof face, high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and skin tanned to a wheat color. Her eyes were amber in color, almost transparent in the sunlight, like two polished pebbles.

She was wearing a sheepskin coat, a traditional Qiang garment, with a wide leather belt around her waist, from which hung several short knives and a small leather pouch.

There were dried bloodstains on the clothes, but they weren't hers.

Alone in this desolate wilderness, without companions or horses, she was like an abandoned wild beast.

Su Jiuge asked her in the Qiang language, "Who are you?"

The woman did not answer, her amber eyes fixed on Su Jiuge, as if trying to determine whether she was friend or foe.

Zhao Ying asked again in Qiang language: "We are not Qiang people, nor are we soldiers of Daliang. We are merchants."

The woman spoke up, "Merchants? Why are merchants coming to Yinshan instead of staying in the city?" Her Qiang language was accented.

Zhao Ying said, "We are in the fur business. We heard that there are some good wolf pelts in the north, so we wanted to come and buy some. But we encountered a pack of wolves on the way and got separated."

The woman looked at him with the same gaze she would give a three-year-old child lying.

Zhao Ying's smile looked somewhat stiff.

Su Jiuge said, "We are from Daliang, here to spy on the Qiang army."

Zhao Ying and Shen Qing's faces froze at the same time.

The woman was also taken aback, probably not expecting her to be so frank.

Su Jiuge looked at her.

"You're here to spy on military affairs too. You're not a Qiang person. Qiang women don't have your eye color. You're not from Daliang either; your accent is wrong. You're from the north; which tribe are you from?"

The woman remained silent for a long time. She slowly loosened her grip on the scimitar, but the blade remained unsheathed.

"My name is Ayiguli, and I am a Wusun. The Wusun were wiped out by the Qiang people. Some of my people died, some fled, and the rest were captured by the Qiang and enslaved. I disguised myself as a Qiang person and waited here for a month, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Helian Tieshu."

Her voice was calm, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

Su Jiuge looked at her.

Are you alone?

Aygul nodded.

"one person."

"You can't kill Helian Tieshu. He has three hundred personal guards in his command tent; you can't even lift the tent flap."

Aygul pursed her lips.

She hated the destruction of the Wusun, the killing of her people, and her own inability to avenge them.

She waited in this desolate wilderness for a month, only to be met with despair.

Su Jiuge looked at her.

"Cooperate with me. I'll help you kill Helian Tieshu, and you help me infiltrate the Qiang camp."

Aygul's amber eyes narrowed slightly.

Why should I believe you?

Su Jiuge said, "You don't need to trust me, you just need to trust yourself. You can't kill him alone, but cooperating with me at least gives you a chance."

Aygul remained silent for a long time.

She sheathed the scimitar at her waist. Su Jiuge asked her how old she was.

"nineteen."

Su Jiuge did not ask any further questions.

Nineteen, two years older than her.

A person waited for a month in this desolate wilderness.

Su Jiuge turned around and continued on her way. "Keep up, we need to cross this mountain before dark."

Aygul followed.

Zhao Ying walked beside Su Jiuge and lowered his voice: "Sect Leader, do you really trust her that much? What if she's a spy from the Qiang tribe?" Su Jiuge didn't look at him.

"No, it's not her. There's something wrong with her eyes."

Zhao Ying was taken aback. Su Jiuge remained silent.

As night fell, the four men set up camp in a sheltered mountain hollow.

Zhao Ying started a fire, and Shen Qing went to hunt two wild rabbits nearby. Zhao Ying roasted the rabbits, and they were roasted just as well as usual.

Aygul sat opposite the fire, hugging her knees and staring blankly at the flames.

Su Jiuge handed her the roasted rabbit leg.

Aygul looked at her, took the rabbit leg, and took a bite. She chewed for a long time before swallowing, tears welling in her eyes. It wasn't the rabbit leg that moved her; it was homesickness, longing for a home that no longer existed.

"You are a Wusun person. What are the customs of the Wusun?" Ayiguli put down the rabbit leg. "When a Wusun girl turns fifteen, her family will make her a knife. This knife stays with her for life, and she will be buried with it after she dies."

Su Jiuge looked at the curved knife at her waist. The scabbard was made of cowhide, its edges worn badly, and the hilt was engraved with a flower—not a Qiang ethnic pattern. "This knife was forged when you were fifteen," Ayiguli nodded, her hand unconsciously touching the hilt. This knife had been with her for four years, killing many people, never leaving her side. One day she would use it to kill Helian Tieshu, and then take it back to Wusun.

Su Jiuge leaned against a rock, gazing at the stars overhead. The starry sky over Yinshan was much brighter than that of Luojing, the Milky Way stretching across the heavens, countless stars clustered together. Xiao Yan could also see this starry sky from Luojing. Whether he was asleep or not, she didn't know. She closed her eyes.

The wind was strong in the Yinshan Mountains in May, blowing in sand and gravel from the mountain pass. Ayiguli was asleep, leaning against a rock, her hand still gripping the hilt of her knife. Zhao Ying and Shen Qing took turns keeping watch.