Part 4, Chapter 27

The red desert camp

Ch 27

It was easier than Xun had expected. Jingyi located the pavilion where the war leaders were camped using a jade pendant carved into an intricate flame shape that Xun had never seen before. The heart of the stone glittered as if it contained a live ember that brightened as they came closer to the camp.

Getting into the encampment was also much simpler than Xun had thought. Jingyi held the pendant up before him and the guards fell to one knee in a deep salute. Xun was impressed. Outside of the Emperor’s hall she had never seen such an immediate reaction to someone in power. Jingyi strode through the makeshift gate and down the main line of tents. Xun and Xiaomin hurried after him. 

He walked through the camp as if it were as familiar as their village until they reached a large, decorated yurt. 

“Father!” Jingyi shouted. “Father, enough is enough! It’s time to call the council and end this madness!”

A large, beefy man with a tanned face and dark tattoos strode out from behind a buckskin partition. His clothes, finely made silk trimmed and overlaid with fur hung loosely on his frame, as if the huge man had recently been even bigger. Completely in character for someone of his appearance he wrapped his arms around his son, banging on his back a few times in manly affection before setting the younger, leaner man away from him.

“Jingyi, you xiao afei (“小阿飞(飛)”) Where have you been? You’ve missed out on the best part of the war.”

Jingyi stared coldly at his father. “There is no good part of a war, Father. Only our people dying uselessly for land we can’t hold.”

“Who says we can’t hold it,” his father blustered, but doubt and possibly a bit of shame crept into his voice as he spoke. 

“Father, only the God of War and a few of the Heavenly Realm’s generals are involved at the moment and they’ve held us off for over 200 years. The Emperor broke our siege and scattered our troops by himself. If he called up even a few of the High Gods to help him we would be wiped out in a matter of days! The Desert Master’s madness is driving this. The chiefs of the other tribes have to put an end to it. I’ll admit, when the King of the Merfolk was involved we had a chance, but he’s dead. It’s over.”

His father’s false bravado was almost completely gone now, but he still made an attempt. “The Emperor has entered the camp of the Heavenly Army. If we can surround them and wipe them all out in a single fight we still have a chance,” he said, but his eyes lacked the confidence his voice held. “For now go and sleep. You know where your tent is, boy. Take your slaves with you.”

Xiaomin looked as if she were going to say something, but Xun grabbed her by the arm and followed Jingyi.