How To Survive as a Villain

When they once again set off towards the border of the Four Kingdoms, the once three carriages became one. Yang LiuAn took the merchant road, so there weren’t any bumps or obstacles. After a long journey, Xiao YuAn suddenly asked: “Is this place the former battlefield?”

Yang LiAn, who was concentrating on controlling the horse, froze in shock for a brief moment when he heard the sudden question from Xiao YuAn, then quickly answered: “Yes, this is the former battlefield, Young Master.”

Xiao YuAn hmmmned and lifted the curtain to look outside. After looking for a while, he suddenly said: “Can we go take a look?”

Yang LiuAn quickly turned the direction of the horse’s head, and led the carriage towards the battlefield.

Although the battlefield no longer had the fighting and shouting of the soldiers, the place was desolate and barren; after the war, the bodies of the soldiers were buried or burned here. The people that passed by felt that this place was very spooky, after having experienced such a bitter situation.

After a few steps, the carriage had already stepped on several corpse remains. Xiao YuAn, without saying a word, stepped out of the carriage and buried the remains, one by one on the ground.

After walking for some time, he could already see the corpse pit not far away, which showed the brutality of the war. It was such a tragic sight that Xiao YuAn didn’t let Yang LiuAn go any further, and as he got out of the carriage, he stepped on a hard object.

He was expecting it to be a bone or a broken halberd¹, but it turned out to be a broken piece of a big wooden plaque.

Xiao YuAn bent down to pick it up, when he saw that there were the names of the soldiers and Generals of the Northern Kingdom written on the wooden plaque. At some point, the words at the bottom were very hard to read.

The wooden plaque was written by an unknown man, for the men that died in the battlefield², that will never return home.

Xiao YuAn gripped the wooden plaque, looked far away, and inhaled deeply. He then lifted his robe, and knelt down to kowtow three times.

Xiao Fengyue and Yang LiuAn, who were standing behind him, looked at each other and then kneeled down as well.

Xiao YuAn apologized in his heart, then thanked the dead soldiers before slowly getting up again and walking back to the carriage.

The carriage slowly moved forward again, heavily crushing the land, leaving tracks behind. Xiao YuAn lifted the curtain and silently took a look, when unexpectedly, his eyes suddenly shrank as he shouted to Yang LiuAn: “Stop! Stop!”

Yang LiuAn, who was completely stunned by Xiao YuAn’s sudden shouting, held the reins in a panicked state.

Xiao Fengyue was very confused, so he asked: “What’s wrong, Young Master?”

Xiao YuAn swallowed dryly as he stared into the desolate distance: “I think I saw someone.”

Xiao Fengyue said unconvinced: “Young Master, this place looks like a mass grave to normal people, but it shouldn’t-…”

Xiao Fengyue couldn’t finish what he was trying to say, because when he raised his eyes, he also saw a person at the distance.

On the far side of the pit, a dark figure was turning over the corpses.

The scene in front of him was quite strange, but Xiao YuAn wasn’t afraid. He jumped out of the carriage and then walked towards the dark shadow step by step, vaguely feeling that he knew who it was.

The man was unkempt, skinny, with blood staining his ragged clothes. There weren’t any clean spots on his whole body, and when he heard the sound of footsteps, he didn’t react. Instead, he kept on shaking the rotting corpse dressed in the armor of the Northern Kingdom. His eyes were dilated as he murmured: “Wake up, don’t sleep. The Southern Yan Kingdom is coming. Get up and defend the Imperial City…. wake up… defend the City….”

Xiao YuAn instantly recognized this voice and with that, he knew who this person was. His hands and feet became cold, his heart felt as if it had been dug out of his body.

Yes, it’s him. He was the last curse that the Northern Kingdom placed on Xiao YuAn, stabbing him in the back, a cruel reminder that he couldn’t protect the Northern Kingdom at all.

Xiao YuAn half-kneeled in front of the man, as he reached out to hold the man’s wrist that kept on shaking the corpse. His voice was harsh and hoarse: “Xie Chungui, Xie Chungui, it’s over. Everything is over.”

Xie Chungui suddenly froze in place, stopped what he was doing, and then he turned his head to look at Xiao YuAn. After a long time, something flashed through his eyes. He quickly turned around and knelt down in front of Xiao YuAn, holding his wrist in a tight grip: “Your Majesty! Do you know where General Li is? I’ve delivered the rations! I delivered them! You asked me to go help him! With the military rations, we will be able to stop the invasion of the Southern Yan Kingdom! Where’s General Li?”

Xie Chungui was shouting almost like a maniac, strangling Xiao YuAn’s hand and leaving behind red marks on the skin, almost breaking his wrist.

Xiao YuAn knelt down with him, face to face, as he took a deep long breath. As if he had exerted all his strength before he was finally able to speak: “Xie Chungui, Li Wuding, he… he’s dead.”

Xie Chungui, who seemed to be struck by lightning, suddenly froze in place.

Yes, Li Wuding was dead, he had known this for a long time now. Li Wuding was dead and the Northern Kingdom also was conquered by the enemy. Xie Chungui’s faith in life had long since disappeared.

Xie Chungui suddenly stood up and roared to the skies, with his eyes completely red: “Liar!!!! All of this is pure lies!!! He said he would protect the Northern Kingdom!! That’s not him! He’s not dead! He won’t break his promise!! You’re all lying to me!! All of you are lying to me!! He has always said it!! That the Northern Kingdom will not fall!! There’s no way!!!!”

The voice of the young man, almost cracking his throat, echoed through Heaven and Earth. His eyes were pale as he kept asking questions, over and over again, that no one, not even the Heavens, dared to answer.

Finally, the shouting turned into a hoarse cry, and the grief into helplessness. Never again wanting to remember about the past.

Yes, Xie Chungui was alive all along… and he’s not… okay (´;︵;`)

Footnotes

1. 戟 jǐ; It was a Chinese polearm, translated into English as a Halberd. It was a long handled weapon with a pointed tip and a crescent blade / Combined a spear and a battle-ax. It was used in one form or another for over 3,000 years, from at least as early as the Zhou Dynasty [1046-256 BC], until the end of the Qing Dynasty [1644-1912]. They’re still used in modern times for training purposes in many Chinese martial arts.
2. 马革裹尸 mǎ gé guǒ shī; It’s a Chinese idiom, lit translated as: “A corpse wrapped in a horse’s skin”. It mostly refers to a soldier’s death in battle, and describes the will to fight and die for one’s country. From《后汉书·马援传》(hòu hàn shū·mǎ yuán zhuàn), “History of the Eastern Han: Biography of Ma Yuan”, written by (范晔 fàn yè) Fan Ye [398-445], a historian from the Southern Song Dynasty [420-479].