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Yang Feng sat alone on the mat inside his large tent. One leg was upright, the other crossed. He propped his head on his elbow resting on the upright leg.
Anyway, the White Wave didn't care much about rules or etiquette. Posture, standing, sitting—none of that mattered. The army rarely had tables or desks, seldom used them. Only commanders like Yang Feng had separate tents and mats. Ordinary soldiers at most had a tattered cloth, spreading it wherever as a bed.
Without a table, a plate of unknown animal meat, a wine gourd, and two wooden cups were placed on the mat inside the tent.
Yang Feng's gaze was distant, seemingly pondering something, though unclear what.
Footsteps approached. A voice came: "Commander Yang, what do you need me for?"
"Brother Hu? Come in, I'm here." Yang Feng said.
"Ah, wine and meat…" Hu Cai lifted the tent flap, entered, immediately spotting the plate of meat on the mat. He smiled, joking, "Commander Yang, living well, huh?"
"Just happened to find some! Besides, if there's good food, how could I forget a brother? That's why I specifically called you! The wine is ordinary wine; the meat, ordinary wild dog meat… brothers caught it by chance…"
Yang Feng gestured for Hu Cai to sit on the mat, took the wine gourd, poured a cup for Hu Cai and himself, then continued, "These past days, seeing Brother Hu holed up, my heart aches! But a temporary defeat is nothing. Who hasn't lost a battle? Everyone has! What's the big deal? Come, drink this cup, we'll start over. Win next time, that's all!"
"In that case, thank you, Brother Yang!" Hearing this, Hu Cai was somewhat moved. He picked up a cup, offered it to Yang Feng.
Yang Feng also took it. Both laughed, drank together.
"Come, try some…"
The army wasn't picky; having food was enough. Yang Feng and Hu Cai used their hands directly, tearing the dog meat.
After three rounds of drinks, Hu Cai smacked his lips, wiped his greasy mouth, and said, "Alright, Brother Yang, why did you call me? We're all brothers, just say it!"
Hearing this, Yang Feng laughed heartily. "Brother Hu really… There is something…"
Yang Feng took out a headless arrow from beside him, placed it on the mat before him.
"Last night, someone shot an arrow in…" Yang Feng tilted his chin, indicating the headless arrow. "…Then, found a piece of silk cloth on this arrow…"
Yang Feng handed a silk cloth covered in writing to Hu Cai.
"Silk cloth?" Hu Cai widened his eyes, took it, turned it over and over, couldn't make sense of it, then returned it to Yang Feng. "Brother Yang, you know I don't know many characters. What's written… can't understand…"
Yang Feng said lightly, "Didn't write much. Just roughly saying the previous emperor is dead, a new emperor's in place, general amnesty. If we're willing to sit and talk, stop rebelling, they won't pursue us, might even give us official posts…"
Hu Cai remained silent for a while, then scoffed disdainfully. "You believe that? I don't trust those officials! Not a single official has a good heart! Their words are unreliable! Whatever conditions they offer now are fake. Once they take our troops, won't they squeeze us however they want? Brother Yang, you absolutely cannot believe them!"
Hu Cai grew more agitated, stood up: "These years, haven't we killed plenty of government troops? Who dares take us in? Who would feel at ease? Besides, didn't every one of us rebel because officials forced us to the brink? Now, with just a letter, a few words, they want us to lay down our blades? Possible? Did the brothers who followed us these years, those who died, do so just so we could become the officials we hated most? This must be a treacherous plot by those officials! To trick us! If we become officials now, what about our past brothers? Wouldn't that be trading our former brothers' heads for some broken seal?"
Yang Feng listened expressionlessly, suddenly smiled, and said, "Brother sees clearly… Fine, let's not talk about this…"
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he slapped his own head…
"Oh, right, look at my memory. Brother Hu, you like jade, right…" Yang Feng stood up smiling, gestured for Hu Cai to come closer. "Found a jade jue a couple days ago. Quality not bad, patterns… Hah, I don't understand this stuff. You know, I'm not interested in these things. Thought of throwing it away, but remembered you'd probably like it, so kept it… Huh, where did I put it?"
Yang Feng patted his sleeves, seemed not to find it, then reached into his robe, fumbling…
Hearing this, Hu Cai's eyes lit up, immediately tossing aside the earlier unpleasantness, happily leaned in, craning his neck, licking his lips: "Oh? Ah, truly my good brother, remembering that… Hahaha, really thoughtful. What's it like? Ah, is it pretty?"
"Ah, very pretty…" While fumbling inside his robe, Yang Feng suddenly turned his head towards outside the tent, hissed softly: "Who's there?!"
Hearing this, Hu Cai also turned with Yang Feng, but didn't see even a ghostly shadow. He was about to ask Yang Feng what he saw when he felt a sudden chill in his chest and abdomen, then excruciating pain spread throughout his body…
Hu Cai slowly lowered his head in disbelief, stared at Yang Feng's hand, veins bulging from exertion, then looked up, painfully let out two sounds—whether laughter or sobs—"Haha," weakly said: "…Damn your mother! Just to… serve those dog officials… damn, I… always considered you… a brother…"
Yang Feng viciously twisted the dagger twice inside Hu Cai's belly, then kicked him to the ground, bared his teeth, snarling through gritted teeth: "…I… am surnamed Yang! Heh… being brothers… Hmph! Are you even worthy to be my brother?!"
"Damn! Idiot! Only because we've been brothers these many years did I tell you, you idiot! Never thought you'd actually get addicted to being bandits?!"
Yang Feng squatted down, rummaged on Hu Cai's corpse, pulled out a jade zhang, then shouted loudly: "Attendant!"
A Yang Feng personal guard entered, completely ignoring the corpse on the ground, saluted, awaiting orders.
Yang Feng tossed the jade zhang over. "Take this, gather that guy's remaining leaders together, then…"
The guard prepared to leave but was stopped by Yang Feng.
"Wait, remember to bring a box, chop off this guy's head, pack it…"
The guard nodded, left.
Yang Feng plopped down beside Hu Cai's corpse, then tapped Hu Cai's head with his foot, said softly: "Brother, you were wrong about one thing. Your head… still can't trade for that broken seal… need two more…"