Chapter 144: The Art of War of Guiguzi

The cave that Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue slipped into was a dead end with no way out.
There were three paths inside the cave, but walking all the way to the end of any of them led to the exact same place—they all looped back to the starting point, which was the chamber containing the skeleton. All three paths were dead ends.
"Woe is me!" Li Sanjian, holding the third and nearly burnt-out "bone torch," walked back to the skeleton with Cai Rongxue, staring at the remains and groaning in despair.
"Lady Cai, it seems the two of us are destined to die in this place. Years from now, we too will turn into two withered skeletons and keep company with this senior," Li Sanjian said, turning his head to look fixedly at Cai Rongxue with a bitter smile.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Li Sanjian's gaze swept almost completely over Cai Rongxue's body, leaving her utterly bewildered.
"This humble scholar is thinking," Li Sanjian said, trying to find some amusement in their grim situation, "years from now, future generations will discover three withered skeletons in this cave. One will be incomplete and mangled—that will be the senior's bones. Another will be hideously ugly—those will be my humble remains. Your bones, my lady, should be exquisitely beautiful. I just wonder if anyone will use our bones to light a fire for illumination?"
"Pfft!" Hearing this, Cai Rongxue couldn't help but laugh. "You... you really are something! How can withered bones be divided into ugly and beautiful?"
"Not so," Li Sanjian shook his head and said, "bones are the foundation of a person, while flesh is merely the exterior. Without a foundation of beauty, it is like water without a source or a tree without roots—how can there be an exterior of beauty? How could crude and ugly bones ever produce exquisite flesh?"
"Pui! Nonsense!" Cai Rongxue blushed, not daring to take up Li Sanjian's words any further. What he was saying was getting more and more brazen.
Fortunately, however, there were only the two of them here—Li Sanjian and herself—with no third person present, which spared Cai Rongxue from feeling overly mortified. Thinking of this, she was struck by a mingled wave of sorrow and comfort. The sorrow was that they were going to lose their lives here; the comfort was that this place was not far from her mother's burial site, meaning she could be considered buried close to her mother—though she had dragged Li Sanjian into this as well...
"Lady Cai, how about we bury the senior's remains right here?" Li Sanjian asked, feeling somewhat bored when Cai Rongxue ignored him.
"Mm, that is precisely what we should do," Cai Rongxue nodded in agreement.
Li Sanjian then walked up to the skeleton in the cave chamber, bowed respectfully, and said, "We borrowed the senior's immortal bones to guide our way, yet we were still unable to escape. I am filled with endless regret and remorse, wishing we had never done this. To make up for my fault, I will temporarily bury the senior here. When I have the chance to escape another day, I will definitely seek out a better geomantic treasure land to lay the senior to rest. I hope the senior will forgive me. But the senior should also be content—someone is burying your immortal bones, whereas whether my humble bones will ever have anyone to tidy them up remains entirely unknown!"
Hearing this, Cai Rongxue was torn between laughter and tears. If you want to bury the bones, just bury them! Why chatter on endlessly and incessantly? How could he possibly have so many words to say?
*Why didn't I notice before that he is such a chatterbox?* Cai Rongxue thought to herself.
Though inwardly disdainful, Cai Rongxue still gave a respectful curtsy to the skeleton.
Having finished his kowtows and rambling, Li Sanjian stepped forward, scooped up the one-legged, armless skeleton, intending to lay it flat on the ground and dig a deep pit to bury it.
"What is going on?" While moving the "senior's" withered bones, Li Sanjian suddenly discovered that the single leg remained stubbornly attached to the ground and could not be lifted.
So, Li Sanjian held up the "bone torch" to take a closer look and found that an iron chain was tied around the right leg bone of the "senior." One end of the chain was fastened to the bone, while the other end extended deep into the ground.
"There's something here?" Li Sanjian laid the "senior" back down, propping him against the cave wall, then stuck his rear in the air as he felt around for the iron chain. He gave it a hard tug, but seeing that the chain still wouldn't come loose from the ground, he said to Cai Rongxue, "Pardon me, may I borrow your knife once more?"
Hearing this, Cai Rongxue handed the "Jade-Breaker" dagger to Li Sanjian.
"What on earth is this?" After exerting himself to the utmost and using all his strength, Li Sanjian finally dug out whatever the iron chain was connected to. He held it in his hand to examine it closely. It was an iron box, pitch black, covered in thick rust and caked with mud, and its surface was carved all over with bizarre patterns.
"Won't you understand as soon as you open it and take a look?" Cai Rongxue suddenly felt a strange sensation at that moment. Her face turned alternately pale and flushed, and her expression grew exceedingly bizarre, though Li Sanjian failed to notice, as his attention was entirely focused on the iron box.
Li Sanjian nodded in agreement and used the blade that could cut through iron like mud—the "Jade-Breaker"—to quickly pry open the lid of the iron box. Inside lay a piece of sheepskin parchment and a book that appeared exceptionally ancient.
"What is the meaning of this?" Li Sanjian picked up the sheepskin parchment, looking at it from front to back, even checking the reverse side, but he could make no sense of it. He had no idea what language it was written in, though he could be certain of one thing: it was definitely not written in Chinese characters.
"This looks rather like the Zhuang language?" Cai Rongxue leaned over, took a look, and said.
"Oh? Can you read it?" Hearing this, Li Sanjian handed the sheepskin scroll to Cai Rongxue.
"Mm, this humble woman seems to have seen these characters in an ancient book before," Cai Rongxue took the sheepskin parchment, looked it over, and read aloud: "I roamed unrestrained across the realm for years, captured Yongzhou, and established the nation of 'Great Southern Kingdom.' Afterward, I led my forces eastward along the Yu River, shattering countless Song armies, conquering Gongzhou, Fengzhou, Kangzhou, Duanzhou, and numerous other prefectures. Wherever I passed, it was like splitting bamboo, like crushing withered wood, like snapping rotten dry twigs. I successively killed renowned Song generals such as Zhang Zhong and Jiang Xie, and beheaded dozens of Song military commanders. The Song forces scattered and fled before the wind everywhere I went. To roam the world in such a manner—how exhilarating it was! Guangzhou was a heavily fortified city difficult to take, and I suffered a narrow defeat there, forcing me to lead my army and retreat back to Yongzhou... In the Battle of Guiren Pout, the tattooed-face scoundrel used treacherous stratagems to shatter our army, making it difficult for my great enterprise to succeed. How lamentable! How agonizing! At the time of my death, I leave behind my sword and my book here. Whoever obtains them in the future shall be my disciple. You may hold this sword and this book, summon my old subordinates, and avenge the blood debt of the slaughter of my family by the Song. I shed tears of blood in heaven as I bow to this request. The final words of Nong Zhigao!"
"Nong Zhigao? Tattooed-face scoundrel? Who on earth are they?" Li Sanjian asked in astonishment after listening to Cai Rongxue finish reading.
"Nong Zhigao?!" Cai Rongxue cried out in alarm upon hearing the name.
"Nong Zhigao? Who is he? Is this senior Nong Zhigao himself?" Li Sanjian asked in bewilderment as he looked at the mutilated remains of Nong Zhigao.
"Nong Zhigao was a Zhuang tribesman, and he was a rebel... His story goes back to the fifth year of the Huangyou reign." Cai Rongxue then recounted the events that had taken place decades earlier, when Nong Zhigao raised an army to attack the Guangnan territories of the Song Dynasty.
Nong Zhigao was a native of Andezhou in Guangnan West Circuit. In April of the fourth year of Huangyou, Nong Zhigao raised an army in rebellion against the Song. In May, he captured Yongzhou, established the nation of Great Southern Kingdom, adopted the era name Qili, and repeatedly defeated the punitive expeditions sent by the imperial court. In January of the following year, Nong Zhigao was defeated by Di Qing, after which he fled to other parts and his ultimate fate became unknown.
"So that's how it was," Li Sanjian nodded after listening, then asked, "And who is this tattooed-face scoundrel?"
If the tattooed-face scoundrel had led troops to defeat and wipe out the rebel army that had repeatedly beaten the Song forces, then this man must certainly possess extraordinary capabilities, Li Sanjian thought to himself.
"What tattooed-face scoundrel? Such an ugly thing to call him," Cai Rongxue shot Li Sanjian a sideways glare and said, "He was the Martial Excellence Duke Di Qing of the Renzong Emperor's reign."
"Di Qing?" Li Sanjian was immediately taken aback upon hearing this, and asked repeatedly, "Di Qing, the one who launched a night raid on Kunlun Pass? Why is he called a tattooed-face scoundrel?"
Li Sanjian might not have known other figures, but how could he possibly not know the name Di Qing? There were even traditional operas about the night raid on Kunlun Pass that had been passed down for generations; Li Sanjian had watched those plays before.
"What do you expect?" At this moment, Cai Rongxue's expression grew increasingly bizarre for reasons unknown, and her tone when speaking carried a hint of impatience. "Anyone who entered the military forces of our dynasty had their faces tattooed with ink. 'Tattooed-face scoundrel' is just what the rebels called him."
By now, Li Sanjian had also noticed Cai Rongxue's strange expression and her impatient tone of voice. He found it utterly baffling—why would the normally shy Cai Rongxue suddenly become like this?
"Oh? Is that so?" Li Sanjian nodded afterward and asked, "Then what kind of book is this? What is written on the cover?"
With that, Li Sanjian handed the ancient book from the iron box to Cai Rongxue.
"This is merely written in seal script," Cai Rongxue took the ancient book, glanced at it, and immediately tossed it back to Li Sanjian as she said, "It says *The Thirteen Chapters of Guiguzi's Art of War* on it."
"Lady Cai truly has vast and profound knowledge," Li Sanjian laughed as he caught *The Thirteen Chapters of Guiguzi's Art of War*.
If a military commander or a scholar researching military strategy had seen this book, they would undoubtedly have been ecstatic, so overjoyed that they wouldn't be able to sleep for several days and nights. They would have regarded it as a priceless treasure—even an actual treasury of gold and silver could not compare to it. Yet Li Sanjian did not take it seriously at all.
Li Sanjian was not a military man, so what use would he have for studying military strategy? Furthermore, Nong Zhigao's last testament instructed whoever obtained the book to carry on his legacy and then rise in rebellion?
How could he possibly do such a thing? Li Sanjian thought to himself. Rebelling meant having one's entire family executed and heads chopped off; where would Li Sanjian find the courage for such a thing? Even if he had the courage, he would never do it. With such a massive disparity in strength, rebelling was no different from marching to one's death.
"A book and a sword? Where is the sword?" Thinking up to this point, Li Sanjian suddenly remembered that Nong Zhigao had also left behind a sword, which was bound to be an extraordinary object. He thought it would be quite nice to take it back and give it to his well-behaved nephew-disciple, Yao Yu.
Li Sanjian squatted down once more, felt around with his hands in the deep pit left by the iron box, and suddenly touched something hard.
"This must be it." Li Sanjian felt the hilt of the sword and exerted force to draw the blade out of its scabbard.
A flash of sword light immediately illuminated the dark cave considerably.
"What a fine sword!" Li Sanjian could not help praising it.
The sword was three feet and three inches long, featuring eight distinct bevels along its body. The blade gleamed like frost and snow, slender and graceful, with a pronounced central ridge and two razor-sharp cutting edges. The tip was curved and concave inward, and a faint purple and reddish glow flickered across the metal, making Li Sanjian unable to bear putting it down.
"The Sword of the King of Wu?" Cai Rongxue cried out in alarm once again after seeing the characters engraved on the sword. "You... how did you manage to draw it out?"
"Huh? Why wouldn't I be able to draw it out? I just used a little bit of strength and it came right out!" Li Sanjian asked in puzzlement.
"The Sword of the King of Wu chooses its master to serve. You... how on earth did you...?" Cai Rongxue asked in shock.
"Oh? Is that so? Surely not!" Li Sanjian hooked the scabbard's attachment ring onto his belt, patted the "Sword of the King of Wu," and asked with a smile, "Well? Do I look imposing?"
Cai Rongxue's only response was yet another sideways glance of utter exasperation.