chyue

Oh, shut up, all of you.

I can't believe you're all racking your brains over this. Let me think.

The tall, slender lady stands up. She raises her bowl of wine and walks past the rows of empty jugs and arguing guests.

She opens the window, filling the entire room with the night breeze and silencing the attendees' chatter.

The twin moons hang high in the sky. The night is no longer young, but Yumen, the nomadic fortress, never sleeps. In its non-residential districts, the Originium lampposts keep the streets illuminated throughout the night, ensuring visibility at all times of day.

In the distance lies a chain of mountains, comfortably asleep. They look as though someone above the clouds had raised their hand and flung down blobs of thick ink.

What those mountains look like is in the eye of the beholder, but they've always been there. Anyone can see them just by looking up.

How about 'Chongyue'?

'Chongyue.'

The officer mouths the two syllables a couple of times. He has no idea what they mean, but they certainly sound imposing. It is definitely a far better name than the others that have been proposed so far.

He steals a glance at the Grandmaster, who sits not too far away. The man's expression has not changed, but while not overjoyed, his eyes have a glow to them that was not there a few moments ago.

He recalls how a decade or so ago, on the day he was first transferred to Yumen, the Grandmaster made an exception and paid the arena a visit.

Almost all the newly enlisted men had heard of the legendary Grandmaster, and he certainly did not betray their eager gazes.

Thousands of days and nights have come and gone across countless battlefields. Not once has Yumen's march through the sands come to a halt. Ten years have passed by in the blink of an eye.

He knows the Grandmaster's eyes. They never exert power nor radiance. More often, they are calm, with an unfamiliar-yet-comforting aura to those around him.

The Grandmaster has always been here, but does he truly belong here?

Right now, he has that look in his eyes again, but they also seem somewhat different than usual.

Is it the night breeze? Did the wind blow away the sand in his eyes? Or was the wine he bought today really so potent?

...Can someone really become so emotional over receiving a new name?

'Chongyue.'

'Chongyue.' Perfect! A towering yet stable mountain, that stops the sands below and blocks the clouds above. Literary, yet rolls off the tongue well. As expected of our heroine.

Hmph... Pipe down... Since when did she need <i>your</i> help explaining the meaning?

What a great name. It really captures the Grandmaster's dignified image.

I propose another toast to this fine name.

To Chongyue!

Thank you, everyone.

The workshop was closed yesterday, and the owner also forgot to keep the forge fires burning. The morning breeze sweeps through the courtyard and lands on the officer's face, immediately waking him from his wine-induced slumber.

His head still hurts, and all he remembers is how they had all raised their wine bowls to celebrate the Grandmaster's new name. Before long, one of the inebriated attendees began to sing a folk song from the barracks, and he teared up after a while.

My eyes aren't tricking me, are they...?

It had only been a single night, but the old pagoda tree no longer feels out of place. Rather, it is the man standing underneath it whom the officer is surprised to see.

He tries to sneak away, only for the man to hear him.

Good morning. You have the day off, if I recall. Why not rest a while longer?

I'm used to getting up around this time... and I had too much to drink. I couldn't sleep well.

This campaign has lasted year after year, and all of you have played no small part in its ongoing success.

Then why are <i>you</i> awake this early, Grandmaster? Or have you stayed up all night?

My apologies. There were too many people around last night. I wasn't able to offer you a toast. I just feel that... I really need to properly thank you.

Thank me?

You saved me! During our last battle a few days ago!

I was so focused on the bandit in front of me, I didn't notice the blade coming at me from behind. You fended it off for me.

If it weren't for you, even if I'd achieved enough to be granted a promotion, it would only have been for dying gloriously in battle.

I'm sure... you don't even remember.

If it were at all possible, I would defend every last one of my allies, but... the battlefield is a merciless place. There are too many variables, and it is something even I can only dream of achieving.

Grandmaster, all of us were prepared when we enlisted and came to Yumen. Of course I'm afraid of dying, but I'm not <i>that</i> afraid of dying.

Are you not alive and well right now?

As long as you still live, you must treasure your life. Be sure to live until the day you get to return home and be with your family.

I won't hide it from you... it's too late for that. I'm about to leave Yumen.

Are you being reassigned elsewhere?

No, that's not it...

Thanks to you, I survived our last battle, but the injury I had before has been acting up a lot these past six months. The doctor told me my meridians will never heal up completely. This hand of mine won't be able to hold a blade for much longer.

General Zuo has been very understanding. He's already given me permission to leave the army early. Once I'm finished packing, I'll be able to head home. I'll probably be gone by the end of the month.

My old mother is still waiting for me, and I don't have any siblings. I've been in the army for over a decade, and I've never had the chance to go home and care for her, not even for a day.

How could this be...?

It's nothing, really. Even if I won't be able to hold a sword, I can still plow the fields with a hoe.

The court is kind to us soldiers too. After I retire, I'll still have the same benefits as a centurion.

...Grandmaster, I hope you won't mind me speaking my mind.

When I found out I couldn't serve anymore... I really wasn't sure if I was ready to leave you, General Zuo, Yumen, and all my brothers behind... and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.

I know we used to yell 'the yellow sands will bury us all together,' but I actually felt a little fortunate when I realized I could go home alive...

And lately, I can't shake this thought either... Suppose I die on the battlefield. Even if my mother gets compensated for my death, how is she supposed to live out the rest of her life on her own?

Do you perhaps... consider me a deserter?

Why would you think so?

Your injury is definitive proof that you have defended your homeland for years. What could give anyone the right to criticize you?

And even in plowing the fields back home, you will still be serving our country by producing food.

A single leaf falls from the old pagoda tree. Having been replanted here from a hundred li away, even though the tree is now in a far superior environment, it has naturally yet to become accustomed to its surroundings.

The two men's lingering tipsiness draws them closer to one another. The officer glances at the man standing next to him.

He is the kind of man heard of only in legends, the kind of man one can only dream of laying their eyes on. Yet the man who stands beside him right now feels like nothing more than an approachable older brother.

I... I still have another question, but... I'm afraid to ask.

You and I risked our lives together. That makes us comrades. We may have different responsibilities that have thus far given us few chances to share a conversation, but that is no reason for us to be estranged.

Haha... Hearing that from you makes me feel like all those risks I took were worth it.

Grandmaster, why do you guard Yumen?

Is it not for the same reason as any other soldier?

But you are not like us, and not quite like General Zuo, either...

When I first arrived, the old veterans told me you'd already been guarding Yumen for a long time, but now I'm an old veteran myself, while you look just the same as all those years ago.

Everyone calls you the Grandmaster, but no one seems to know what your actual position is... We risk our lives together, but the court never seems to award you for any of your achievements.

You have no family... and the heroine has been here in Yumen for so long too...

Or perhaps it's because you have no equal under all of heaven, and the blades and arrows of the battlefield mean nothing to you, that you have no worries at all...

The man's eyes suddenly sharpen. It is at this moment that the officer realizes that he said something he should not have. His lingering tipsiness vanishes without a trace.

M-My apologies! I... I shouldn't have said that.

No, you are right.

It is true. I am different from the rest of you. That is nothing to hide, nor could I hide it were I to try.

Right...

But even if I am, what difference does it make?

These yellow sands are vast and harrowing, but this is Great Yan's wall, behind which are our loved ones.

Countless soldiers guard this place, suffer countless hardships, and brave countless deaths, but certainly they do it for more than honor and wealth.

Have all of you asked yourselves, 'Why do we stay here to defend this place?'

Is the answer really so important?

We may not necessarily be so different.

Besides, as you well know, I now have a name just like any of yours, don't I?

Is this a good time?

Please, go ahead. Is something the matter?

It's important.

General Zuo, Grandmaster, I will be heading back to the barracks now!

The Messenger from the capital arrived last night. You're being summoned back for debriefing.

With the situation here stable as of late, the court might perhaps have other arrangements for you.

But hardly any time has passed this time?

To the Sui Regulator, your current stay in Yumen has been long enough.

The Messenger handed me the letter directly. It seems aside from the Sui Regulator, the Ministry of War has also put on quite a bit of pressure...

The officer leaves the smithy and closes the door behind him. The conversation in the garden gradually fades away.

The conversation he just had with the man now feels almost unreal.

He tightens his armor and grips his aching arm.

The breeze that morning feels awfully cold.