The Young Swordsman of Dalu

When Changsheng woke up, he found Wenfei missing and was very anxious. He shouted in the courtyard, "Fourth Young Master, where have you gone!"

"Stop calling! He's gone," Sang Ziqi said.

"Brother Sang, didn't you stop my young master?" Changsheng complained.

“Your young masters are all stubborn; who can stop them?” Sang Ziqi said.

"You mean my second young master has also left?" Changsheng asked.

Sang Ziqi nodded to Changsheng, who cried out in despair, "Second Young Master, Fourth Young Master, how cruel you are! You left me all alone! Why didn't you take me with you!"

"Stop wailing! They're not going there for fun. Do you know how dangerous it is for them to go to the Northern Dynasty right now? It's only because your young master is protecting you that he doesn't want you to go," Sang Ziqi said.

"If anything were to happen to my young master, how could I face the Dowager Princess and the Prince?" Changsheng said sadly.

"You should hurry up and go pray in front of the Buddha statue!" Sang Ziqi said.

"Brother Sang, I'm going to the Northern Dynasty to find them. I won't come back if I don't find them," Changsheng said, crying.

“They have important business to attend to in the Northern Dynasty. You stay here and they will be back soon,” Sang Ziqi said.

"Brother Sang, are you going out again later? Take me with you," Changsheng said.

"Stay put and don't wander off!" Sang Ziqi said.

The next day at noon, Sang Ziqi repeatedly told Changsheng to stay at home and stay put while he went out to gather information. Walking on the streets of northern Xinjiang, he found a large crowd gathered there, all talking about the situation.

"Have you heard? They almost came to blows at the border today."

"really?"

"I heard that the Flying Hero of the Western Continent broke into the Northern Dynasty's palace and met with the Empress Dowager, but was blocked in the palace by the young emperor."

"You saw it with your own eyes, and you make it sound so sinister."

“My brother just came back from the border. The two armies were locked in a standoff for a long time before they withdrew.”

"How is the Flying Man of the West Continent? Has he been caught?"

"Our Western Continent Flying Heroes are incredibly powerful, and they couldn't easily capture us. I heard they chased us all the way to the border before being rescued by General Shangguan."

"That's truly amazing!"

"Is war about to start?"

"Please make sure this is right, and please don't let a fight break out."

Sang Ziqi listened for a moment, then left the noisy crowd and walked towards the border defense camp.

Sang Ziqi chatted with the gate guard of the border camp for a few words, and then the guard called out a man from inside the camp, who was Wang Zhong, Sang Ziqi's sworn brother.

"Brother, you've arrived," Wang Zhong said.

"Brother, is there any progress on the matter I asked you to inquire about?" Sang Ziqi asked.

"The brothers who came back from the border said that there were two young men with the Flying Hero of the Western Continent. They should be the two friends you mentioned. Don't worry! They're fine. They might return to the border camp with General Shangguan this afternoon," Wang Zhong said.

"Thank you for your trouble, brother," Sang Ziqi said.

"Have you heard anything from your sister-in-law lately?" Wang Zhong asked.

"No," Sang Ziqi said dejectedly.

"Sister-in-law is a lucky person, she'll be alright," Wang Chong comforted her.

"Thanks, brother!" Sang Ziqi said.

"Brother, contact me if you need anything. I'm heading back now." Wang Chong entered the border defense camp.

When Sang Ziqi learned that Wenjie and his brother were alright, he felt relieved, but the image of Ayiguli came back to mind.

"Aygul, where did you go? How are you? Please give me some news! I'm so worried about you!" Sang Ziqi thought to himself.

At this time, Aygul was in the Western Regions. Two years ago, she went to the Western Regions with a merchant caravan to learn advanced winemaking techniques, and she never returned.

It turned out that the caravan that Aygul was with had been robbed by local bandits in the Western Regions. Everyone in the caravan was sold into slavery by the nobles of the Western Regions. Aygul tried to escape several times, but was caught and severely beaten each time.

Whenever Ayiguli was about to give up, she would silently chant in her heart, "Sang Ziqi, come save me! Sang Ziqi, come save me!"

"Sang Ziqi, come save me!" Sang Ziqi was startled awake from a dream in which Ayiguli was calling for his help. "Could it be that Ayiguli is in danger? Ayiguli, where are you? Can you tell me in my dream?" Sang Ziqi woke up to find himself asleep in a teahouse. He got up, stretched, and saw that the sun had already set in the west. He quickly went to the shop to buy some food and went back.

Changsheng was pacing anxiously at home, but when he saw Sang Ziqi return, he immediately perked up.

"Brother Sang, is there any news about my young master?" Changsheng asked impatiently.

"Let me catch my breath, okay?" Sang Ziqi said.

Changsheng quickly placed a cup of tea in front of Sang Ziqi: "Brother Sang, have some water. You've worked hard, Brother Sang!"

"That's more like it," Sang Ziqi said with a smile.

"Brother Sang, please tell me quickly," Changsheng said ingratiatingly.

“If nothing unexpected happens, your two young masters should be able to return to Beijiang City tonight,” Sang Ziqi said.

"So we still can't be sure they'll come back," Changsheng said anxiously.

“Don’t you know your young master? He always does unexpected things,” Sang Ziqi said.

"What should we do, Brother Sang!" Changsheng said worriedly.

“Your sons are safe. According to reliable sources, they have safely entered our border military camp,” Sang Ziqi said.

"I'm relieved, thank you, Brother Sang!" Changsheng said.

Before returning to the border defense camp, Shangguan Chenxing summoned Wenjie and his brother to his tent.

"Wenjie, you two brothers are coming back to the border camp with me now."

"General Shangguan, I want to be with my master," Wen Fei said.

“Senior Ji still has things to do at the border. Having you around will only distract him. You and your brother should come back to Northern Frontier City with me,” Shangguan Chenxing said.

“Second brother, I don’t care. I came here to find my master. Now that I’ve found him, I’m going to stay with him and serve him. Only then will I feel at ease,” Wenfei said.

"Wenfei, listen to General Shangguan, don't cause any more trouble, let's go back to Beijiang City together," Wenjie said.

"Second Brother, you know I traveled all this way to find my master. Now that I've found him, I'm going to follow him," Wenfei said stubbornly.

"Shangguan, let this kid stay!" Ji Wuchang entered the tent.

“Since Senior Ji has allowed you to stay by his side, Wenfei, let’s go back,” Shangguan Chenxing said.

“But…” Wenjie was about to say something when Shangguan Chenxing interrupted him.

"Wenjie, I have an important task for you to complete."

"Alright! Wenfei, you must listen to Uncle Ji and don't do anything reckless," Wenjie instructed before leaving.

"Don't worry, Second Brother," Wenfei assured him.

Wenjie followed Shangguan Chenxing's border troops back to the border camp in Beijiang City.

"Wenjie, the young emperor of the Northern Dynasty has lost control, and war between the two countries is imminent. I suspect they are colluding with the Western Regions to attack my Great Lu Kingdom. This is a token His Majesty gave me before I came to the Northern Frontier. It can mobilize various armies. If war breaks out, you should take this token to contact the various armies to reinforce our Northern Frontier." Shangguan Chenxing took out a yellow token with a dragon pattern from his pocket and solemnly handed it to Wenjie.

"General Shangguan, this is absolutely unacceptable! This token is no small matter; how can I, a junior, accept such an important task?" Wenjie said in alarm.

“You come from a military family, and your Wen family has also shed blood for the sake of the Great Lu Kingdom. I believe in you,” Shangguan Chenxing said.

"Wenjie will certainly live up to the general's expectations," Wenjie said.

"Wenjie, you should set off now!" Shangguan Chenxing said.

"Take care, General!" Wenjie said solemnly.

“Master, the night at the border is so beautiful. I’ve never seen such a cool starry sky in my life.” Wenfei and Ji Wuchang sat outside the tent.

"What is cool?" Ji Wuchang asked.

"It just means it looks really good," Wenfei said.

“It really is beautiful,” Ji Wuchang said.

The master and apprentice sat side by side, gazing up at the dazzling starry sky.