Growing Old and Thinking Deeper

I wonder if Suhe has been behaving himself lately.

When the thought popped into Wu Huaiyi's head, he himself felt it was inappropriate.

A north wind slipped in from under the tent flap, scattering the corners of the papers on the table. A colleague nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "Brother Wu, what are you thinking about?"

Wu Huaiyi snapped out of his daze, pressed down the corner of the paper, and put on his usual smile. "I didn't sleep well last night, my brain is a little sluggish."

"We have to hold on, Mu. Have you noticed that the further north we went after leaving Juntun County yesterday, the worse the weather became? The experts at the Imperial Observatory looked grim. It seems this mission is going to be a bit tricky."

"Then we'll follow orders from above."

Wu Huaiyi nodded in agreement, his attention following the crack in the tent flap as he looked outside.

The clouds outside hung low, dark and heavy.

The wind seeped in through the gaps in the camp fence, causing the white cloth tents to billow and then collapse back down, as if a hand was pushing them from the outside.

Even with a thick blanket spread on the ground, it couldn't block out the chilling aura.

Not long after Su He left home, Wu Huaiyi received a transfer order.

He was ordered to accompany Vice Minister Zhang of the Ministry of War to the border. The task sounded simple: just record the deaths and incidents of the Northern Three Battalions. However, when he arrived, he found that there were many troubles.

The situation I learned from Juntun County yesterday was very bad, so Vice Minister Zhang didn't even rest and took them directly to the army camp.

The tent was now crowded with people.

The border general, clad in armor, sat on the left, while six officials from the Imperial Observatory sat on the right. In addition to Wu Huaiyi himself, five other officials from the Xun Jin Division also arrived.

In addition, there were also江湖客 (jianghu ke, meaning people from all walks of life) recommended by the county.

Wu Huaiyi looked at the two people at the back of the group, wondering why Vice Minister Zhang had brought such people with him.

Because they were so close, Wu Huaiyi could hear the two people talking in front of him.

"That old Taoist priest ran away quickly last night, getting several meals from the county government for free. But when it came time to enter the camp, he said the feng shui was incompatible."

"Old Master Yan is old, so it's not shameful for him to be a little timid."

"That man in gray was just like that. Master Lin said he had revealed the old camp drum signal, and I thought a master had arrived, but he ran away even faster than Old Daoist Yan."

"..."

As the two continued their conversation, they began to comment on the situation and analyze the root causes of the troubles in the Northern Three Camps. However, their comments became increasingly absurd, and Wu Huaiyi stopped eavesdropping and shifted his attention elsewhere.

Another incense stick's time passed.

A series of footsteps sounded outside the tent.

"Lord Zhang has arrived."

Everyone inside the tent immediately stood up.

The curtain was lifted, letting in a gust of cold wind, and a middle-aged official in a scarlet robe entered the tent.

This man had square eyebrows and eyes, and wore a military tally from the Ministry of War at his waist. He was followed by a border army adjutant.

Vice Minister Zhang took the seat of honor without exchanging any pleasantries.

"Please sit down."

He uttered only two words, and the commotion in the tent immediately ceased.

Wu Huaiyi turned over the pages of the booklet, pressed the tip of his pen against the paper, and prepared to take notes.

Vice Minister Zhang took off his gloves and placed them on the table. "It's past Chenshi (7-9 AM), so let's skip the small talk. The matter of the Northern Three Camps is urgent, and we need to have a plan today."

After saying this, he instructed the adjutant, "Explain the situation to everyone."

The border army adjutant rose, cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and then said:

"The incident first occurred at night about two weeks ago. War drums were heard coming from Guifeng Camp. At first, the sound was very faint, and you could only hear it when you got close."

"The next morning, our army sent someone to Guifeng Camp to check, but the scout did not return for a long time."

No one spoke inside the tent.

The clerk continued, "Experience told me something was wrong, so I ordered all the soldiers to assemble and prepare to lead the troops to Guifeng Camp, but..."

The border guard's voice began to turn cold as he spoke.

"Before we even left the camp, fog started rolling in from the direction of Guifeng Camp."

"That fog was strange; everyone who came into contact with it lost their souls and stood there lifeless."

"I organized my men to stay away, but the fog, aided by the night wind, made it impossible for ordinary people to outrun us, even on horseback..."

"After daybreak, the count showed that Guifeng Camp had lost all contact, and Heishi Camp, like our side, had suffered 90% losses."

The tent became quieter.

"We're here to solve the problem."

Minister Zhang instructed, "Tell me again what the current situation is."

The adjutant replied, "The fog did not stop there; it expanded outwards every day, by as little as two li and as much as five li. People would get dizzy if they stood on the edge for too long, and the army could only retreat. I was worried that people would panic, so I told the outside world that the camp was sealed off. But I did not expect that the drumbeats would get louder and louder, and four days ago they reached the county. People had all sorts of suspicions and people were in a state of confusion."

The adjutant stopped there.

"Everyone, please share your thoughts." Vice Minister Zhang looked at everyone.

An old Taoist priest from the Imperial Observatory stood up.

He picked up a talisman, its edges already blackened: "I tried it last night. This fog belongs to the resentment of the battlefield, mixed with the yin energy of the borderlands. Based on my experience, it seems to be a camp ghost."

"The camp ghosts?" someone repeated in a low voice.

The old Taoist priest explained, "These ghosts were formed from the yin energy of the soldiers in the army. They like to travel in groups, and based on the description, this should be the creature."

Someone from the Xun Jin Division also stood up and added, "I went through the old files and found a similar case. Thirty-one years ago, three hundred border soldiers died in battle at the Dead Water Beach in the Southern Border. Three years later, they marched back to camp at night and bit seventy-two people to death along the way. The Imperial Observatory called them a ghost horde, but the scale should be far smaller than this time."

The adjutant asked in bewilderment, "If it's a horde of vengeful ghosts, how could it have expanded so quickly?"

"The momentum of a hundred ghosts parading at night has already begun, and the three camps are connected as one. It would be strange if things didn't go smoothly," the old Taoist priest of the Imperial Observatory replied crisply.

The tent became lively, with everyone chatting and quickly getting to the bottom of the situation.

Time passed, and the cold tea at dawn was replaced by hot soup at noon, but no one in the tent dared to complain of hunger.

Wu Huaiyi didn't say much throughout the entire session; he spent the whole time writing down all his suggestions on paper.

No one noticed that his brow furrowed more and more fiercely.

Wu Huaiyi always felt that there was something missing in this case. After thinking it over, he quickly remembered the files he had seen seven or eight years ago.

The incidents in the files resulted in many deaths, but ultimately pointed not to a group of vengeful ghosts, but to something far more terrifying.

The thought crossed his mind, and Wu Huaiyi tried to find the words to remind him.

However, seeing the contemplative Vice Minister and the heated discussion among the crowd, Wu Huaiyi ultimately did not stand up.

His guess was so unlikely that it was almost impossible.

As a seasoned veteran, Wu Huaiyi was well-versed in the art of avoiding goods.

Some things are better left unsaid than said.

Wu Huaiyi pictured Su He's face in his mind. He figured that if it were that reckless kid, he would have already said it.

Inside the tent, Vice Minister Zhang closed the case file beside him, concluding the matter.

"Probe the enemy groups in their respective camps."

After saying this, he began to assign responsibilities to everyone.

Vice Minister Zhang looked at the Imperial Observatory: "The Imperial Observatory should quickly set up the Blazing Sun Formation to stabilize the flow of mist along the Luanfenpo line and prevent it from moving further south."

Several officials from the Imperial Observatory responded.

Vice Minister Zhang then looked at the border troops: "The border troops, together with the advisors from the county, will be divided into three groups. The first group will seal off the camp, the second group will guard the county road, and the third group will probe the fog. If the exorcism fails, the people will retreat first, and the army will retreat later. Anyone who dares to block the road will be executed according to military law."

"This humble general obeys the order." The adjutant clasped his hands in a fist salute.

The two wandering swordsmen from the county also got up.

Just then, a drum sounded outside the tent.

"Thump."

The sound was muffled, as if it were rolling in from a great distance, or as if it were tapping against the curtain next to your ear.

The wind at the border is getting colder.