Love Beyond the Grave

The saying goes, "To hold a fragrant and soft jade in one's arms." Over the years, Duan Xu had come to deeply understand and savor this feeling.

When he woke up, He Simu was in his embrace, idly playing with his fingers. She lay with her back to him, resting on his arm, completely unclothed and pressed against his skin. By now, her body had been thoroughly warmed by his, almost as if she were truly a living, breathing person.

Duan Xu wrapped his arms around her shoulders and heard her say lazily, "Duan Xu, you're awake."

At this moment, she wasn’t engaged in a Sense Exchange with him, so she remained entirely in her state as an Evil Ghost, staying awake all night without sleep. This scenario had happened frequently over the past three years. He Simu knew Duan Xu wanted to see her when he woke up in the morning, so she often stayed in his arms all night until he awoke.

Sometimes, Duan Xu was amazed by her indulgence—lying awake in his arms all night, bored out of her mind, yet the Ghost King never complained.

"Good morning, Simu. How long are you staying this time?"

"I’ll be leaving soon. I just came to see you since you just arrived in Yunzhou. Who knew I’d stumble upon such an interesting show?" He Simu shifted in his arms to face him, smiling. "You talked in your sleep last night."

"Me? What did I say?"

"Couldn’t make it out. Your voice was low, mumbling—could’ve been Huqi or Han speech. It was quite amusing."

"If I call your name in my dreams when you’re not here, what then?"

"Then I’d have to travel all the way to wake you up by smacking you out of your dream." He Simu tapped Duan Xu’s nose. "That’s not fair, Duan Shunxi. You get to see me in your dreams, but if I want to see you, I have to come all the way here."

Duan Xu laughed at first, then sighed.

"I miss you so much, Simu. Why is the Ghost King always so busy?"

He Simu scoffed. "You’re one to talk. Aren’t you busy too? At least three times when I came to see you, you weren’t around to greet me. You didn’t even know I’d left, did you?"

"My mistake," Duan Xu admitted immediately.

Over the past three years, He Simu had been stationed in Jade Zhou City, handling affairs of the Ghost Realm, while Duan Xu recruited soldiers and fought bandits. Their meetings were always brief and far between. In fact, the longest stretches they spent together were during the ten days of their Sense Exchange.

He Simu gazed into Duan Xu’s eyes and smiled. "Marquis Duan, when will this war of yours end?"

"At least another ten years. What, is the Ghost King planning to stash me away in a golden cage once I’m done?"

"That depends on whether you’ll still be worth stashing away in ten years."

He Simu poked his chest, and he pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. Between kisses, he murmured, "The Ghost King has claimed me for a lifetime. There’s no backing out now."

He Simu giggled.

After their banter, He Simu prepared to leave. She slipped out of Duan Xu’s warm embrace and dressed. Duan Xu sighed, lamenting how he’d finally warmed her up, only for her to grow cold again soon.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him once, and vanished in a wisp of smoke. The moment she disappeared, the poor girl who had been slumped over the table all night woke up in confusion, stretching her stiff limbs and staring at Duan Xu.

Duan Xu, clad in a white undershirt and looking thoroughly satisfied, smiled warmly and said kindly, "You must have been exhausted yesterday—you fell asleep the moment you sat down and wouldn’t wake up no matter what."The little girl stared blankly and uttered a confused, "Huh?"

The prefect, all smiles, came to welcome Duan Xu and escort him back to the military camp. Upon learning that Duan Xu hadn’t touched the girl, the prefect was momentarily stunned before forcing a chuckle and saying that Yunzhou was a remote place, far inferior to the Southern Capital, and perhaps its beauties simply weren’t to Duan Xu’s taste.

Before arriving, Duan Xu had heard about this prefect in Fang Xianye’s letters. Though the man was slippery, he excelled at balancing relationships between various factions. Fang Xianye had abolished the four-class system previously imposed by the Hú Qì People here but refrained from purging those Huqi who had shown goodwill, nor did he encourage acts of hatred or revenge. Thus, the relations among the various ethnic groups in these prefectures were in a delicate transitional period, and this prefect was a master at smoothing things over—applying pressure here, offering comfort there—ensuring a relatively stable transition over the years.

Duan Xu waved his hand dismissively and said with a laugh, "Prefect, such words are meaningless whether spoken or not. I don’t care what customs others from the Southern Capital have brought. If you wish to host banquets for me or the generals in my army as a courtesy, that’s fine. But beauties like today’s are entirely unnecessary, and neither do you need to flatter me."

The prefect immediately bowed and nodded in agreement. Duan Xu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Now that Lord Fang has returned to the Southern Capital and the new border inspector hasn’t been appointed yet, you are the highest-ranking official in Yunzhou. Over the years, the court has allocated considerable silver for the mines and horse pastures, so Yunzhou must be quite prosperous. Make sure the money is spent wisely, Prefect."

"Of course, of course," the prefect replied, trembling with deference.

Duan Xu lowered his head and smiled at the prefect. "There’s no need to be so cautious, Prefect. To be honest, I rather like you."

The prefect shuddered inexplicably as he watched Duan Xu stroll leisurely out of his residence, hands clasped behind his back. He thought to himself that this marquis from the Southern Capital was even harder to read than Lord Fang.

Duan Xu hadn’t walked far from the prefect’s residence when he encountered Chen Ying, who had come to fetch him, along with Shi Biao, a colonel of his Returning Crane Army. Shi Biao had originally been the leader of a bandit gang on Sanshi Mountain in Huzhou. Skilled in martial arts, sharp-witted, and fiercely loyal, he had gained some local renown. Due to the many tattoos on his face, he was nicknamed "Blue-Faced Tiger." When Duan Xu had suppressed the bandits, he employed a strategy of large-scale encirclement and piecemeal annihilation. By then, he had already defeated more than half of the bandits and had besieged Shi Biao’s stronghold for seven days. In the end, he entered the stronghold alone and spent a day negotiating with Shi Biao, successfully recruiting him into the imperial forces. Thus, Shi Biao became a colonel in the Returning Crane Army.

Shi Biao was a burly man with a broad back, a thick beard, and a rugged face. The moment he saw Duan Xu, he boomed, "Marshal Duan, I heard the prefect treated you well yesterday—fine wine and beautiful women. Why didn’t you bring some back for the brothers to enjoy?"

"You still want a taste? Shi Biao, what did you promise me? No alcohol once north of the Guan River—have you forgotten?" Duan Xu walked past the three of them, and they turned to follow him back toward the military camp.

Shi Biao grumbled, "The war hasn’t even started yet. What’s the harm in a couple of drinks?""Just a little drink? Brother Shi, are you sure you can stop at just a little? Every time you touch alcohol, you drink until you're completely wasted. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have been so thoroughly surrounded by my third brother back then." Chen Ying mercilessly exposed Shi Biao, earning himself a slap on the head from the latter, who angrily told him to shut up.

Shi Biao was older than Duan Xu, and their friendship was informal, so Duan Xu also followed Chen Ying in calling him "Brother Shi." He said, "Brother Shi, the terrain of Jingzhou is similar to that of Huzhou. You're most adept at fighting here—as long as you can stay sober..."

Duan Xu suddenly stopped mid-sentence and halted in his tracks. Chen Ying, caught off guard, bumped into his back and rubbed his forehead in confusion. "Third Brother, why did you stop?"

Duan Xu didn't respond, his gaze locked onto a chaotic pattern drawn on the corner of a street wall. His expression serious, he walked over and bent down to examine the strange mark composed of circles and uneven slashes. Chen Ying and Shi Biao exchanged glances before following to look at the mark. Chen Ying exclaimed in surprise, "These are... didn't you teach me these, Third Brother...?"

Shi Biao frowned. "What? Little Chen, you recognize these scribbles?"

Chen Ying glanced at Duan Xu, unsure if he should explain. Duan Xu straightened up and said softly, "They're here."

This was a mark of Heaven Knows.

Its general meaning was to pursue Seventeen, with the circle representing the High Priest. Since the former High Priest had already passed away and Luda had taken over as the new High Priest of Danzhi, this symbol appearing here meant Luda was also nearby.

Shi Biao, still baffled, asked, "Who's here? What's going on?"

Duan Xu abruptly turned and strode toward the military camp. Though he wasn't running, his pace was astonishingly fast, and Chen Ying and Shi Biao struggled to keep up. He asked, "When did Han Lingqiu leave? Where is he now? Has there been any news?"

Chen Ying jogged alongside him and answered, "He left three days ago. Yesterday, we received word that he had just arrived at General Tang's location in Jingzhou."

The terrain of Jingzhou flashed through Duan Xu's mind—the portions held by the rebel forces and those controlled by Danzhi overlapped in his vision. Combined with the Heaven Knows mark he had just seen, he sneered. "What a perfect trap. Tang Dequan of Jingzhou must have been bribed by Danzhi. Under the pretense of requesting reinforcements from us, he plans to join forces with Danzhi's army to annihilate us once we enter Jingzhou."

"What? General Tang is Han!" Shi Biao exclaimed in shock.

Duan Xu scoffed. "With enough benefits, some would even become dogs—let alone mere lackeys."

"But General Han has already entered Jingzhou, and he didn't bring many troops."

"Han Lingqiu has likely been detained. Chen Ying, ride to the Snow-Treading Army immediately and inform them that Han Lingqiu's orders can no longer be trusted. Even if he returns in person, no troops are to be mobilized on his command." As the camp came into view, Duan Xu entered and said to Shi Biao, "Pass down my orders: from this moment on, no troops are to enter Jingzhou without my permission, and we must heighten vigilance against Jingzhou's forces. Gather everyone in my tent."

Shi Biao clasped his fists in acknowledgment. "Understood."Before long, several commanders of the Returning Crane Army had gathered in Duan Xu’s tent, discussing strategies around the massive geographical map. There were territories controlled by rebel forces near the border of Jingzhou and Yunzhou, with garrisons on both sides. However, since General Tang had repeatedly shown goodwill toward Great Liang, everyone believed he would soon lead his troops to surrender. Thus, they had let their guard down against those rebels. If the rebels suddenly attacked, the losses would be devastating.

“They have people in Yunzhou and Luozhou who are well-informed about our movements. Earlier, I ordered all troops to refrain from rash actions, and they should receive the news soon. The window of opportunity is fleeting. Shi Biao…” Duan Xu raised his eyes to Shi Biao, tracing a line on the map as he said, “I’ll give you fifty thousand troops. Set out immediately and capture these four cities in the southwest of Jingzhou within three days. Can you do it?”

Shi Biao’s eyes gleamed with the excitement of battle, and he replied readily, “Leave it to me. I’ll give those bastards a good lesson.”

Duan Xu then turned to Ding Jin, another commander of the Returning Crane Army. Unlike Shi Biao, Ding Jin came from a military family, well-versed in tactics and an exceptional horseman. He had once chased bandits all over Huzhou, only to end up as their colleague. He had always looked down on Shi Biao and rarely spoke to him.

“Ding Jin, I’ll give you five thousand cavalry. Take these two cities east of Jingzhou within three days. Can you do it?”

Ding Jin glanced at the enthusiastic Shi Biao and saluted. “Ding Jin will not fail the mission.”

Shi Biao rubbed his hands eagerly. “Commander Duan, should we show them our special skills?”

“Not yet.”

Shi Biao deflated slightly.

Duan Xu took two steps back, folding his hands near his lips as he studied the map. The areas he had just ordered the three to attack were territories occupied by the Hú Qì People. Capturing them would sever the connection between the Jingzhou rebels and the Hú Qì People. However, if too much time passed, the Hú Qì and the rebels might regroup, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from both sides.

Yet, the rebel forces were likely not united either. Tang Dequan had rallied Han people who bore grudges against the Hú Qì under the banner of expelling them and restoring Han rule. By surrendering to Danzhi, Tang Dequan would betray his subordinates—most of whom probably didn’t even know they had been sold out.

This was where Purple Micro’s involvement would be needed.

As Duan Xu pondered, Shi Biao interjected, “But what about General Han? He’s already in the enemy camp—surely they’ll take him hostage.”

“Since ancient times, it’s common for generals to perish after falling into traps due to momentary negligence,” Ding Jin remarked coolly.

“Damn, aren’t we all brothers fighting the Hú Qì together? Are we just going to abandon him?”

“This is a military camp, not your bandit hideout. Keep your outlaw behavior in check.”

“Hey, you pretty-faced Ding—”

Duan Xu raised a hand to stop the argument between his two commanders. Calmly, he said, “Of course we’ll save him. But there’s no need to mobilize the army for that. Focus on your battles—I’ll handle the rescue.”