Chapter 51

He Xuan dismounted, causing another round of cheers from the soldiers. In this atmosphere, He Xuan descended from the sky, and the soldiers hailed him as their general once again. He Xuan smiled as he was surrounded by the crowd.

“General?” Mo Yin asked in confusion. “How come you’re back?”

He Xuan had only just returned not long ago. Excluding the time for back and forth travel, he had only stayed at home for about a day or two.

Without greeting him, He Xuan glanced at the steamed bun pierced by Mo Yin in the distance, waved to the soldiers beside him, drew his bow, closed his eyes, and shot. With a “whoosh,” the arrow landed right next to Mo Yin’s arrow with precise accuracy. The bun remained intact, and the entire scene erupted into applause!

He Xuan opened his eyes, gave Mo Yin a faint smile, and said, “I’m back for the New Year.”

The camp was bustling with activity, torches flickering brightly as if it were daytime. It was slightly quieter behind the sand dunes facing away from the camp, but there were still sounds of jubilation.

Mo Yin and He Xuan sat side by side, each with a pot of wine. Mo Yin had already drunk quite a bit and his face looked much better from all the laughter and banter. He Xuan, covered in dust, appeared quite relaxed.

“It’s rare to come home. Why didn’t the general stay home for the New Year?” Mo Yin asked.

He Xuan replied, “As the commander, the camp is my home.”

Mo Yin smiled, took a sip of wine, and after a moment of contemplation, asked, “I heard that the general visited someone back home this time. How was the visit?”

He Xuan turned his head, his expression becoming serious. “Who told you that?”

Mo Yin gestured with the wine pot and said, “The whole camp knows.”

He Xuan shook his head slightly, looking somewhat helpless but not angry. He took a sip of wine without answering Mo Yin’s question. Mo Yin kept staring at him until he turned his head and said, “I went back to inform my father that I have no intention of getting married.”

“You don’t want to get married?”

He Xuan felt like Mo Yin’s eyes lit up for a moment.

“Yes,” He Xuan lowered the hand holding the wine pot, “I forgot to ask you, have you gotten married?”

Mo Yin pondered for a moment. “I have been married.”

He Xuan raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been married?”

“Why? Surprised?”

He Xuan turned his head to look at the silver moon hanging high in the sky. “What kind of woman was she?”

“They were sisters.”

He Xuan suddenly turned his head, looking at Mo Yin incredulously.

Mo Yin remained calm, his eyes full of playful amusement as he leaned back, one hand loosely holding the wine pot and the other supporting his face, smiling crookedly at He Xuan, appearing somewhat drunk yet not entirely so.

He Xuan moved his lips, “Are you joking with me?”

Mo Yin shook his head slightly, “No, I’m serious.”

He Xuan was momentarily speechless, his gaze scrutinizing Mo Yin. It was hard to imagine Mo Yin being involved with a pair of sisters simultaneously. Unpleasant thoughts involuntarily surfaced in his mind. He took a sip of wine and asked, “What happened next?”

“They died.”

He Xuan was taken aback again. Mo Yin’s lips curled into a smile under the moonlight. “They’re all dead. Killed by me.”

He Xuan suddenly understood.

Mo Yin had once mentioned that his entire family had been slaughtered by barbarians. At the time, He Xuan had half-believed him. But gradually, he forgot about it. He always felt like Mo Yin was like a figure from the sky, with no past or future, and no ties to family, just as lofty and remote as the moon in the sky.

“I’m sorry,” He Xuan lowered his eyelashes and said softly, “you’ve avenged them. They can rest in peace now.”

Mo Yin suppressed a smile and took a sip of wine, “Hmm,” he murmured. He lay back, turning away from He Xuan, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

Seeing this, He Xuan thought Mo Yin was remembering something sad and finding it hard to control his emotions. He regretted and hesitated for a moment before reaching out his hand, hovering over Mo Yin’s shoulder for a moment, and gently patting it. “Take care.”

Mo Yin bit his lip, suppressing his smile, “And you? Why haven’t you settled down?”

“My aspirations lie elsewhere.”

“Where does the general’s aspiration lie?”

“To defend the homeland, reclaim lost territory.”

He Xuan’s tone was plain, but Mo Yin caught the message. He adjusted his posture from lying on his side to lying on his back, looking up at the sky. “You mean the land currently occupied by the barbarians?”

Apologies for the oversight. Here’s the corrected version:

“That area used to be a large part of my ancestral land,” He Xuan said solemnly.

“That was over twenty years ago.”

“Yes.”

“Before you were born, the ancestral land had already lost that territory,” Mo Yin blinked slowly. “That land has never been associated with you, and no one has thought of reclaiming it in these twenty years. Why are you so obsessed with recovering it?”

Despite the continued noise behind them, He Xuan’s determination to join the military to suppress rebellion, despite He Qingsong’s strong opposition, was recalled. He Qingsong would rather He Xuan take a civil position than go to the battlefield. The battlefield was merciless, and swords had no eyes, He Qingsong couldn’t bear it, but He Xuan never felt that way.

These living people might become corpses in an instant, but their existence and sacrifices were always warm and comforting.

“It’s there, and I’m still alive, so I must go.”

He Xuan’s eyes were intense. “That’s my mission.”

Mo Yin turned to look at He Xuan.

He Xuan’s expression remained plain, but the more plain it was, the more his conviction seemed unwavering.

It’s really not a simple matter.

Mo Yin’s gaze shifted as he observed He Xuan. He Xuan turned to Mo Yin and asked, “And you? Why did you join the military? Just for revenge?”

He joined for power, to help regain the throne, for revenge, and in the end, revenge turned into reciprocating kindness with enmity.

Mo Yin didn’t answer. He turned his face towards the sky, raised his hand, and took a sip of wine. “Perhaps, I’m just here to stay alive.”

A cold wind blew by, Mo Yin coughed, and his already slightly flushed face reddened further. A hand appeared in front of him, and following that hand, he saw He Xuan’s face. “Get up.”

Mo Yin thought for a moment, then gave his hand to He Xuan. With a gentle tug, He Xuan pulled him up. After Mo Yin stood up, He Xuan still didn’t let go of his hand. “You’ve had so much wine, yet your hands are still cold.”

“Is that so? I’m used to it.”

He Xuan let go of his hand. “Follow me.”

Outside the general’s tent, a chestnut horse was chewing on hay obediently. He Xuan untied a bundle from the horse and lit a candle inside the tent. “Sit.”

Mo Yin sat down without hesitation, picked up a book from He Xuan’s table, glanced at it, and then put it down. He Xuan brought over a box made of golden nanmu wood and opened it. Inside was a piece of snowy white silk, emitting a bright luster in the candlelight. It seemed out of place in the cold borderlands. He Xuan opened the wrapped silk and found five different-sized boxes inside. Mo Yin smiled and asked, “What’s so precious that General, you took such care to wrap it?”

He Xuan glanced at him, then slid open the longest box on the right. Inside was a ginseng root with full whiskers. He pointed at the other four boxes with his finger. “They’re all qi-enhancing pills. Take them.”

Mo Yin’s gaze slowly rose from the precious ginseng root to He Xuan’s beard, then to his eyes, which were imposing without anger.

As their eyes met, He Xuan felt that Mo Yin’s gaze seemed substantial.

He Xuan didn’t understand what he meant and explained patiently, “The illnesses inherited from birth are not comparable to common illnesses. You should take these pills first. If there are any changes in your body, remember them. I’ll write a letter and ask Physician Jin to adjust the prescription for you. Physician Jin is very skilled. My mother’s health gradually improved under his care.”

Mo Yin nodded involuntarily and stood up. “It’s getting late, General. You should rest early.”

He Xuan’s eyes followed Mo Yin as he stood up. He wanted to say something but hesitated. He didn’t know what to say, so he just watched as Mo Yin turned around and walked out of the tent with the box.

The festivities outside hadn’t stopped yet tonight, probably going to last all night. He Xuan hurried back, covered in dust, just to spend the New Year with the soldiers. Thinking of this, He Xuan also got up and left the tent, only to see Mo Yin back in the crowd, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a smile, watching a few soldiers awkwardly dance.

He Xuan watched for a while from a distance, then turned and headed towards the circle where the martial arts competition was taking place.

*

He Xuan felt that Mo Yin seemed to be distancing himself from him.

Certainly, their relationship wasn’t particularly close to begin with—general and strategist, superior and subordinate, plus a chess partner on top of it all.

But He Xuan remembered how they cooperated seamlessly when they first met, killing enemies together with tacit understanding, exchanging weapons on the city walls. That should count as being close friends, right?

However, after Mo Yin truly entered the camp, it seemed like they were growing more distant from each other.

Naturally, that was because of their hierarchical relationship; there should be protocols when commanding subordinates.

Later, there were some incidents that made him suspicious and contemplative.

After overcoming those incidents, they had become much more open with each other, and their relationship should have grown closer.

He Xuan rubbed the smooth surface of the chess pieces, and his thoughts suddenly halted—why was he sitting here contemplating his relationship with Mo Yin?

Lowering his gaze to the black chess piece in his hand, He Xuan scowled and threw the piece back.

Whether their relationship was close or not didn’t matter much; even if Mo Yin distanced himself, it didn’t really affect anything.

That was the theory, but after the generals’ meeting ended that day, He Xuan asked Mo Yin to stay back, saying he wanted to play another game of chess with him. Mo Yin declined politely, saying, “There’s a lot of military affairs to attend to in the camp, General. I’m afraid I don’t have time to play chess with you. I need to go back and deal with matters in the military.”

He was politely declined.

He Xuan stood stunned on the spot. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Have you taken the medicine?”

“I have,” Mo Yin replied.

Mo Yin’s face showed a faint smile. He didn’t smile often, and even now, his smile was still cold and clear. “Thank you, General, for your concern.”

General?

This was the first time He Xuan had heard Mo Yin refer to himself like that.

After Mo Yin left, He Xuan called for Li Yuan.

Li Yuan stood respectfully to the side.

After hesitating for a moment, He Xuan asked, “Do you feel that the strategist is somewhat displeased with me?”

Li Yuan was shocked and pale. “General, who spread such slanderous rumors? The strategist has always been loyal to you, never wavering in his loyalty.”

He had served alongside Mo Yin for a while. Before the formation of the Vanguard Army, Li Yuan had personally witnessed how Mo Yin tirelessly experimented with farming methods in the sand. He admired Mo Yin a lot. Although he eventually returned to He Xuan’s side, he still harbored a strong desire to defend Mo Yin.

He Xuan’s eyebrows furrowed.

Seeing his expression, Li Yuan continued to defend Mo Yin cautiously, “The strategist just has a cold personality. He treats everyone the same way, not just you, General. There are few people in the entire camp who can have a conversation with the strategist. Compared to others, the strategist is quite warm towards you.”

He Xuan turned his head, his expression seeming to soften slightly. “Explain this warmth in detail.”

Li Yuan: “…”

Racking his brains, Li Yuan tried to find some “warmth” in Mo Yin. After hesitating for a while, he said, “The strategist loves to drink the wine you offer, General.”

Did that count?

Li Yuan wasn’t sure.

“Go on,” He Xuan urged.

He Xuan thought it did.

If it counted, then Li Yuan had something to say. Gathering his spirits, he said, “The strategist always carries around the hand stove, arm warmers, and other items you gave him, General.”

He Xuan nodded. Yes, wherever Mo Yin went, he always had his hands tucked into those furry arm warmers, which was somewhat out of place in the military, but everyone had grown accustomed to it. Mo Yin’s icy face and those snowy white fur arm warmers were actually a perfect match. If he added a fur coat, he would undoubtedly be exceptionally elegant.

“Anything else?”

“And… and…” Li Yuan suddenly had a bright idea. “The strategist treasures the sword you gave him and takes excellent care of it!”

He Xuan’s face softened even more, and he nodded again, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

For people like them who fought on the battlefield, weapons were as important as their lives.

From this perspective, they could be considered to have a deep bond.

After a moment of contemplation, He Xuan said to Li Yuan, “Go to the strategist’s tent and invite him for dinner. Tell him I’m inviting him for a drink.”

“Yes, General.”

With his mission in hand, Li Yuan hurried out of the camp, thinking that he would be at a loss for words if he had to make up more excuses.

Arriving at the Vanguard Army, Li Yuan entered the tent and explained his purpose. Mo Yin stood with a book in hand, silent for a long time. Feeling nervous, Li Yuan asked again, “Strategist?”

“I’m going to train the troops on night raids later. I’m afraid I won’t have time to dine with the General,” Mo Yin said calmly. “Thank you for the invitation, General. I’ll have Zhou Yong go with you to bring back the wine.”

He Xuan listened to Li Yuan’s report and glanced at the stern-faced Zhou Yong beside him as if he could already see Mo Yin’s cold expression when he refused the invitation.

He remained silent for a moment before saying, “Give him the wine.”

Li Yuan trembled as he handed the wine to Zhou Yong, who accepted it with a bow. “Thank you, General.”

After they left, He Xuan’s gaze swept over Li Yuan, causing him to straighten up instinctively. He began, “The strategist has indeed been busy with some matters during this period…”

He Xuan didn’t want to hear anymore. He swept out of the tent.

Zhou Yong brought back the wine, and Mo Yin took it, taking a sip first.

Hmm, the wine here in He Xuan’s tent was still the best.

Since He Xuan had no intention of marrying and starting a family, Mo Yin didn’t need to worry about him becoming a burden. There was no need for any emotional entanglement between them. That was for the best.

However, it seemed that He Xuan was even more clueless about emotions than he was. Didn’t He Xuan realize that his treatment of him already showed some favor? 

Mo Yin glanced at the wineskin, his lips curling slightly as he shook his head, then took another sip of wine.

The wine was good, but as for the person… he could do without.