Chapter Sixty-Six: Digging a Pit

Because there were women in the group and they were escorting bandits, Qi Jun’s team moved slowly. They stopped to rest several times along the way, and it wasn’t until the horizon began to pale with the first hints of dawn that they finally arrived at the riverbank in front of Dongling Village.

Deng Fang had heard Qi Jun speak of this little mountain village more than once and had long wished to visit. Previously, he’d rushed here to seek Liu Kui’s help, leaving no time to appreciate the village or get to know its people. Now, with dawn still some way off, he looked around curiously.

Yet, as far as his gaze could reach through the thin veil of night, all he saw was desolation and bleakness.

“The drought this year has been terrible; the people are suffering…” Deng Fang, reflecting on the root causes of the village’s misery, couldn’t help but feel a deep sadness.

“If it were only the drought, things wouldn’t be quite so bad. Ultimately, it’s the work of men,” Qi Jun replied with a sigh, glancing around as he caught Deng Fang’s lament.

Deng Fang knew exactly what Qi Jun was referring to but merely shook his head in silence. After all, as the descendant of a famous general and a loyal servant of the state, he could not utter anything that might disparage the imperial court. Even though he knew that the suffering of the people was worsened by the corruption and greed of certain officials, in his view, that was a matter of personal failing, not a flaw of the dynasty itself.

The better Deng Fang came to know Qi Jun, the more he understood his character. Qi Jun, though a scholar, was wholly unlike the other scholars of Great Liang. He preferred swords and spears to books, yet he also understood the mainstream ideals scholars revered: the ways of sages, the will of kings and nobles.

But to Deng Fang, Qi Jun seemed not to care for royal power or noble status. He was more concerned for the world and its people, harboring grand ambitions to change the fate of the realm.

When Qi Jun and his party reached the entrance of the village, the county constables who had been waiting hurried forward to take custody of the bandits from the villagers.

“Uncle Kui, there should be plenty of empty houses in the village. Let the women stay there for now,” Qi Jun said, glancing at the group behind him. The villagers, used to mountain roads, fared somewhat better, but the women were clearly exhausted. Many of them had blisters on their feet, limping along with mutual support, yet not one uttered a complaint of pain or fatigue.

Qi Jun knew they were afraid of becoming a burden and worried he might abandon them because of it.

“Biaozi, I’ll leave these bandits to you. Uncle Fuyuan, I’d like to ask you to make some bunk beds for the girls,” Qi Jun said, after watching Liu Kui lead the women into the village. He turned to Liu Biao and Liu Fuyuan.

“Bunk beds? What kind of beds are those?” Liu Fuyuan was momentarily baffled.

“I’ll draw you a picture tomorrow, and it’ll be clear. For now, go back and rest with the others—you’ve all worked hard today,” Qi Jun said, bowing in thanks to Liu Fuyuan.

“If you need my help, sir, just say the word. There’s no need for such formality,” Liu Fuyuan replied, bowing back. The journey had indeed left him exhausted.

With farewells exchanged, the villagers all went their separate ways.

After a day of judging bandits, standing guard on the mountain, and moving house at night, Qi Jun felt all his strength was spent. All he wanted was to return home and sleep soundly.

But as he approached his own door, he was so startled that his fatigue vanished. He took a few steps back to make sure he hadn’t come to the wrong place.

Before his eyes, a mound of earth loomed in front of his house, burying even half of the thick old tree in soil. Several county constables, cradling shovels, were sound asleep against the mound. Qi Jun hurried forward and nearly fell into a huge pit dug right before his door.

He glanced in astonishment into the hole, finding it nearly half his height deep and covering almost the whole yard in front of the house.

“What the hell happened here?” Qi Jun burst out, unable to contain his anger. If he hadn’t been living in ancient times, he’d have suspected his doorstep had been hit by a rocket launcher.

The constables, startled awake by his exclamation, instinctively grabbed their shovels and sprang to their feet, ready to continue digging. But as they rounded the mound and saw Qi Jun’s dark expression at the edge of the pit, they exchanged uneasy glances and took a step back.

“What are you doing? Is there a mine or an ancient tomb in front of my house? Who’s so thoughtful as to dig me a grave in advance? Was this Sun Jiu’s idea? Where is he? Tell him to get out here immediately!” Qi Jun knew the constables wouldn’t be doing this in the middle of the night without orders; it had to be Sun Jiu’s doing.

The constables said nothing but nodded and pointed toward the house.

Qi Jun, confirming his guess, carefully skirted the pit and entered his home, where he found Sun Jiu sprawled on his bed, snoring mightily.

The sight infuriated Qi Jun even further. He strode over and landed a slap across Sun Jiu’s face.

But the slap wasn’t forceful enough—Sun Jiu, half asleep, touched his cheek, mumbled something, and rolled over to keep sleeping.

Qi Jun frowned in exasperation and kicked Sun Jiu hard on the backside.

“Who’s there? Damn it—” Sun Jiu, startled from sleep, leapt up, one hand clutching his behind, the other groping for his sword at the head of the bed.

“What are you so jumpy about? Quite the grand project you have here!” Qi Jun asked, barely restraining his anger.

“Sir? What are you doing here?” Sun Jiu, still bleary-eyed, looked at Qi Jun, not yet fully awake.

“What am I doing here? This is my house!” Qi Jun was so exasperated that he laughed, then pointed at the door and asked again, “What’s with that pit outside?”

“Ah, sir, I was tired and just borrowed your fine bed for the night…” Sun Jiu yawned, slapped his forehead, and said, “But sir, wasn’t it you who told me to do this?”

“What? I told you to do this? I—” Qi Jun was completely baffled by Sun Jiu’s words. He wondered which of them had lost their mind.

“Sure, you said it would be safest if we put it at the bottom of your pit! I thought it was odd, but figured you must have your reasons, so I got started right away. I guessed you wanted to bury things here, like at Panlong Ridge, and build an underground—” Sun Jiu tried to recall exactly what Qi Jun had said before leaving.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Qi Jun felt like he was about to lose his mind. “Are your pig’s ears just for show? I told you, nobody is here, so it’s the safest place! I meant it’s safe, not literally at the bottom of a pit! Heaven help me!”

Qi Jun felt the world go dim, pointed at Sun Jiu for a long moment without finding words, and finally, helplessly, waved his hand.

“I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Just go—can I please sleep in my own bed for once? Sleep, not fall into a pit, got it?”

“Sir, I’m really sorry! Don’t worry, I’ll fill in the yard tomorrow. Really, it’s not all my fault—after the battle my head’s been buzzing, and when we spoke, there were so many people around…” Sun Jiu scratched his neck awkwardly, wanting to explain himself further.

Lying on his bed, Qi Jun wearily raised a finger toward the door. Sun Jiu snapped his mouth shut and hurried out to stop the constables still digging in the pit, then led them off to pitch camp elsewhere.