Raising a Rebel - 4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In history, the greatest victories are won by the denial of battle; the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting¹. Armies of 100,000 soldiers are blunt instruments made to reshape nations, but they take time to wield properly. A force of 5,000 soldiers is nimble and can move two hundred li² without rest if needed. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian knew that they could devise a strategy to defeat this massive army. However, destroying such a force would also weaken the Jin kingdom, inviting Fu Jian’s forces from the north to invade without any force to hold them back.

Sun Wukong watched as his Sifu and Baba made arrangements with the city of Chen and the troops under their command. Wukong and Xie Lian, under the guise of Xie An, along with Lady Liu and the family’s retinue of servants and scholars, will travel to Jiankang by carriage. Hua Cheng, under the appearance of Xie Xuan, will march the 5,000 troops to confront the army of the Huan family. Many of the residents of Chen city wished to volunteer themselves for their noblest clan and defend the imperial capital, but Xie Lian refused these untrained volunteers as the needs of the operation required skill rather than numbers. Xie Lian only asked that the merchants and storeowners, who had wagons along with sturdy horses, spare two hundred empty wagons and sturdy horses for the army.

On the day of their departure, Xie and Hua inspected the makeshift army. It was a motley group of veterans from the frontiers, exiled troops from the fallen northern capital of Chang’an, and former bandits lured by the promise of gold by Xie An, who could barely afford their fees. While all of them could fight, they were not a disciplined force by any measure. They eyed their erstwhile leaders wearily, some whispering at the apparent youth and inexperience of Xie Xuan, others plotting to kidnap these two weak-looking lords now and presenting their heads to the Huan family for a supposed reward of 10,000 liang³ in silver, which the assassin failed to cash in.

Hua Cheng, being a ghost king with supernatural perception, overheard all their conversations, making mental notes to assess each of the men that he would need to watch out for or possibly make an example of. Unlike Xie Lian, who abhors killing or committing harm to innocent people, Hua Cheng had no reservations against harming those who would do it to him or those he cared about. Even if these men had no means of harming him, it’s better to have one less foe than one untrustworthy ally, especially when the required operations must be coordinated.

After the inspection of the troops was complete, Hua Cheng takes Xie Lian by the waist in front of the 5,000 assembled troops.

He speaks loud enough to be heard by all, “Oh favored Uncle, how long must I part ways from your embrace? How long must I hold back the fires of my passion?”

With those words, Hua Cheng hugged and kissed Xie Lian passionately in front of all the assembled men, the Xie clan’s retinue, the residents of Chen, and Wukong. Only Wukong, being privy to their interactions and being told to avoid their cottage at certain specified times, appeared unsurprised by the sudden passionate display of affection between the two men. To Wukong, this was a natural display of affection between two lovers, which he had observed among human lovers in captivity. However, it was a scandalous display to everyone from the army to clan members, whose hearts sank in despair at such a sight.

An angry young man shouted, “We are damned by the gods if we are to be led by a Yutao⁴! He is too young, too weak, and his affections are like that of a female mistress. Only men can lead an army.”

Hua used his spiritual senses to identify the young man, who despite his apparent angry tone and bigoted comments concerning him, appears to be aroused by the display in front of him. Hua was not foreign to the hypocrisy of men with his desires, but this lad was young and perhaps someone he can reform into something more than his words would indicate.

Hua disengages from the kiss with Xie Lian, who whispers, “Why did you do that, San Lang? The army will hate you and me. The people of Chen will spread this gossip far and wide.”

Hua Cheng replies in Xie’s ear, “Exactly, Gege, they are already at the bottom of their morale, so it’s time to force a rebound.”

Hua Cheng leaves Xie’s side and heads in the direction of the soldiers, then draw his scimitar, E-Ming. His special spiritual weapon was made from the essence of his right eye and had a dark foreboding nature that frighten many immortals with the sense to stay clear. It was a conscious weapon that has slew several gods, demons, and other powerful beings in its lifetime, granting it high self-confidence in its ability to strike down any being. Hua Cheng was confident in his weapon and battle prowess to challenge any immortal, let alone mortal humans even without the full use of his spiritual energies.

“Soldiers of Jin, I see many of you dislike me. You think I am too young, too weak, or maybe what I just showed you of my affection for my uncle makes you doubt my virility. I dare any of you to come forward and face me. I know there’s a bounty on my uncle and me. To whoever that can best me in combat, you can have our heads,” Hua points to the young man who shouted, “You cried out that a Yutao cannot lead an army, then face me in combat,” the soldier nervously shakes at being beckoned, but Hua Cheng continues to provoke, “You call me a weak mistress, are you claiming yourself to be weaker than a mistress by denying battle.”

The young man goaded by Hua’s words drew his sword and leaped to strike Hua. The sword strike was easily countered by a single thrust of E Ming that broke the young soldier’s sword. With shock on his side, Hua used his free hand to smack the young man to the ground.

Aligning his sword to the young man’s throat, he asks, “Who are you to mock me and my uncle?”

The young man fearing for his life begs for mercy, “Please Commander Xie Xuan, I…I was taken by your appearance and actions. My name is Wang Tsai from Taiyuan, I am in my twentieth year and the third son in my family. Please do not kill me.”

Hua grins “Lucky for you, I have a soft spot for third sons, who do not inherit from their father’s lands, nor receive education from tutors to take the government exams. However, from this day forward, you owe me your life,” Hua then kicks Tsai, “Now get back into formation, I shall deliver unto you a new fine sword that you will use to fulfill this life debt to me.”

Hua next went to a group of ten former bandits, he asks the leader, “I believe I heard you say you want to kill me and my uncle for 10,000 liang of silver from the Huan family. Their price is far too low, I would have demanded 1,000,000 liang of gold. However, since you have plotted to do this, why not just come at me right here and now, all ten of you? It’s either that or face a military execution for treason.”

Knowing that they had no other choice except to face this formidable fighter, all ten former bandits charged at Hua Cheng. He was just as nimble as Xie Lian even without the use of his powers, his swordsmanship rivaled even the greatest martial gods. Using E Ming crescent tip and lighter steel frame, he executed two bandits by using a 60° inverted swing, then kicked the leader behind his knee to bring his head in the trajectory of the scimitar’s backswing, decapitating him. In one motion three of the ten conspirators, one of whom was their leader, had fallen. The other seven former bandits laid their weapons on the ground to beg for mercy from this amazing youth, who appeared to possess the spirit of the invincible Lu Bu⁵. Hua Cheng showed the remaining seven mercy.

Grabbing the sword of the bandit leader, which was made of high-quality steel with a handle affixed with sapphire and rubies, Hua goes to Wang Tsai who was bowing along with the remaining soldiers at their commander’s martial prowess.

“Tsai, here is a sword befitting someone with a debt to me. You shall repay your life debt by relaying my word to our army without flattery or deception as my aide. If I ever discover you have broken my trust, I shall deliver unto you a fate worse than death. Do you accept these terms and vow to maintain them?”

Wang Tsai nervously takes the fine sword of the former bandit leader, admiring its beauty and fearing his new commander’s wrath. In truth, Wang Tsai also had other fears within him, he had never before met a man like him, whose passions inspired his own. Wang Tsai would gladly be this incredible man’s mistress to warm his bed during the campaign.

“Commander…Commander Xie, I vow with my life to be your aide and my sword is yours to use.”

Hua Cheng then demanded of the army before him, “What about you all, will you vow to follow me through water and fire, life and death until we achieve all the goals I put before you as soldiers under the Xie Clan?”

Voices spring forth from all the assembled soldiers, who have lost their apathy for their new commander. The two personal battles demonstrated to these men that Hua Cheng, disguised as Xie Xuan, was a capable warrior. His show of mercy toward the remaining conspirators and Tsai, including a reward for fidelity, gave him the perception of an enlightened leader. While most cannot understand the attraction between him and Xie An, such matters were unimportant to the abilities of a military leader.

As such, they all exclaim, “I vow my life to you and the Xie Clan!”

The city residents were amazed and praised the skill of Xie Xuan, some praised Xie An for bringing his nephew to command these troops. However, it was young Sun Wukong, who was the most affected by this spectacle displayed by Hua Cheng. Wukong had seen passing Qin soldiers at his former master’s shows, including their chants and hollering, but they did not demonstrate this sense of solidarity towards one person’s goals like this. Fu Jian’s followers spoke of conquest and power based on divine rights, but his Baba, who was a god in his own right, had created followers based on his ability rather than his perception of authority.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng bid each other farewell in front of Chen city as their path’s diverged, both promising to meet up again at the Jin capital, Jiankang. After some time passed inside their travel carriage along the main route to Jiankang, Wukong, as any other child, began asking Xie questions.

“Why did the man call Baba a Yutao? Why do they not like it when you kiss each other? I saw people do this all the time between men and women.”

Xie Lian’s face blushes and remembers that he had never taught Wukong about the differences between human intimacy and the perceptions of same-sex relationships.

“Wukong, many beings prefer intimacy between male and female. However, there are those, who prefer the intimacy of another male. An ancient story said one such male had shared a delicious half-eaten peach with his intimate male companion. Hence, people refer to people like him as a Yutao or a leftover peach.”

Wukong frowns making the connection “So they dislike you and Baba because you enjoy sharing. That isn’t fair, who said that sharing is wrong if it’s between two males? Why must it be male and female.”

Xie Lian sighs knowing this discussion would fill the entire journey. He tried to tell Wukong about the Yin-Yang⁶ makeup of nature through simple concepts like night and day or male and female, and why many people believe the world is based on a binary system.

“…To make the world simpler for understanding, Wukong, dissimilar things must complement one another, so similar things cannot complement. However, life isn’t like their philosophy. The Yin and Yang each contain aspects of each other, there are eclipses of the sun, bringing darkness in the day, and the moon, bringing light at night. There may be natural complements without being dissimilar as a result under the right circumstances. My love for Hua Cheng was born over eight centuries of his devotion to me and his love for me was born from my faith in him to live despite all the circumstances. We are a rare pairing that strikes this perfect balance.”

Wukong shakes his head in disagreement “Sifu, surely, being Gods, you could have taught others these things over such a long time. The other immortal gods would have said something, too. These seem like such simple concepts about the world not being locked in place between extremes.”

Xie Lian exhales knowing he and Hua have argued this exact point before with other gods “Even among the gods, we are loathed for our relationship. To many, the world should be simple and there should be a stable system where there is only light and darkness, good and evil. The male and female differences would fall under the same definition. We are tolerated for our abilities and beneficial acts to bring balance to the world, but we represent something unnatural to how a simple work should work.”

Wukong stirs with this revelation about the gods.

“Sifu, you and Baba are older than most of them, you are wiser, and you are stronger, too. Why must you supplicate yourself to these ideas that degrade your standing? Could you not battle them to make them see the truth like Baba did with the soldier? These notions of simplicity are absurd.”

Now, it is Xie Lian’s turn to frown as he remembers the arguments between friends, both old and new, who argued with him and Hua to take positions of power. They earned the right, they were more than capable, influential, and powerful enough. However, Jun Wu’s corruption and abuse of power shaped his views of such roles. He had traveled far and wide with Hua Cheng, seeing various pantheons of Gods from Vedic Gods of India to the Olympians of Greece. Power corrupted all of them to make bad judgments that harmed mortals and gods alike. Most of them have fallen and their temples abandoned as a result. Thus, he never could be a Heavenly Emperor or even a member of a godly pantheon anymore.

“Wukong, not everyone with ability should take power. There were once many gods across the lands with immense power, who abuse their positions and shaped life according to their will. Suffering under those gods as one of their victims, I can see how badly power can obscure perspectives. I fought some of those gods and removed them, but the pain brought on by their replacements was no less dire as power corrupts perspective. Thus, I chose to help others rather than rule others. Even if the narrow rules that mortals and gods pursue are factually incompatible with reality, I try to do what I can to relieve the suffering they create for themselves and others.”

Pausing, Xie Lian believes he had explained himself and the paradox, but Wukong returns with a stunning point.

“You are afraid to be like them, so you will not rule like them. Only without rulers can there be freedom from rules.”

Xie Lian in shock tries to recant, “No, no, Wukong, please do not believe that. It would bring anarchy to disrupt order like that…I just did what I thought was right to help reduce suffering as should you…It doesn’t mean…”

Xie Lian tried to deny that point desperately protesting to Wukong to ignore everything he told his young disciple, but Wukong remained stubbornly committed to his Sifu’s lesson. Lady Liu, who sat beside the two, held back her laughter at the precocious observational skills of the child, whom she wished had been born of a mistress to her husband. Truly, this child would create great change in the world.