Nirvana In Fire

Xu Anmo, the Commander of the Qingli Army, was apprehended on the third day. When the news arrived, Mei Changsu was sitting across from Prince Jing, discussing follow-up matters after returning to the capital. Upon receiving the news, both of them were very happy.

“Xu Anmo must be confined alone. Don’t beat or scold him. He must return to the capital alive,” commanded Prince Jing.

“Yes!” Lie Zhanying couldn’t lift one of his arms to cup his fist so he bowed instead. “Those guarding him are mostly from our household so Your Highness can rest assured.”

“Did he say anything?” asked Mei Changsu.

“He was shouting all the way, saying that he had been deceived by Prince Yu.”

“It seems that he is not intending to sacrifice himself for Prince Yu.” Mei Changsu couldn’t hold back a smile. “Prince Yu and Xia Jiang are walking into this dead end on their own. But there is a favour to ask of Concubine Jing niang niang. The Empress cannot be put to death. Like it or not, she is still Marquis Yan’s younger sister.”

“Mother already mentioned this. I believe she will try her best.” This thought reminded Prince Jing of something, and his gaze was profound. “When I went in to pay my respects today, Father Emperor spent a better part of that time cursing Xia Jiang. He even showed me Xia Jiang’s confession.”

“That’s good. Showing it to Your Highness means that His Majesty doesn’t believe it.”

“That’s right. Father Emperor doesn’t believe a word of Xia Jiang’s confession. However, you and I both know that most of what Xia Jiang confessed is the truth and not false allegations.” Prince Jing looked intensely at his advisor. “What I can’t figure out is, if he was telling the truth out of desperation, why did he keep saying that you used to be Prince Qi’s man? Without any basis, such a statement will make one think he said this because he was cornered, but Xia Jiang isn’t so stupid, is he?

“He’s not stupid.” Mei Changsu chuckled. “I told him so.”

“Oh?”

“Prince Qi is a thorn in Xia Jiang’s heart. His fear of Your Highness stems completely from this. Claiming that I was someone from Prince Qi’s camp was more likely to cause him to be emotionally unstable, making it easier to advance my plans in future.”

“So that’s how it was….” Prince Jing leaned back, his expression mild. It was hard to tell if he believed this or not, but he didn’t ask further.

Mei Changsu sorted out the papers that were spread out on the table, and just as he was about to move on to another topic, a loud sound could be heard from outside.

“Go and see what’s going on.” Prince Jing frowned, raising his chin in Lie Zhanying’s direction and the latter immediately ran out, returning with Qi Meng not long after.

“Your Highness! We’ve caught him!” Qi Meng knelt and said this loudly, his face beaming with excitement.

“We know you’ve caught him. Zhanying just reported this.”

Lie Zhanying hurriedly said, “No no, Qi Meng wasn’t referring to Xu Anmo.”

“If not Xu Anmo then who is it that’s making you so excited…..?”

“The beast, Your Highness. It was such a coincidence! It also happened to be here in the vicinity of Jiu’an Mountain. We surrounded it while scouring the area for rebel soldiers. Hehehe. Hehehe.” Qi Meng laughed in a silly manner after saying this.

Prince Jing didn’t share his obsession with the beast. It took him a while before he responded with “Oh. The one for which Jingzhao county came to seek help, which you hadn’t managed to catch after more than a year?”

“We’ve caught it, Your Highness. We’ve caught it. It’s just outside, locked up in an iron cage. Would Your Highness like to look at it?”

Prince Jing waved his hand disinterestedly, but Mei Changsu grabbed the opportunity to stand up and say, “I would like to have a look. Your Highness, please allow me to take my leave.”

“Sir, please do as you wish.”

Mei Changsu leaned forward slightly in a bow then followed Qi Meng out. Prince Jing picked a document up from the top of the pile on the table, opened it, and hadn’t even read half a page when a mournful wail suddenly sounded from outside.

“Mister Su!”

“It’s dangerous…..quick…quick….”

“Mister Su, no…..”

Xiao Jingyan immediately stood up and rushed out with Lie Zhanying hot on his heels. At first glance, his heart almost leapt in his chest. In the corner of the spacious courtyard stood an iron cage about one and a half times a man’s height. Huddled in the cage was a shaggy, dark brown creature that was struggling violently at that moment. His view of Mei Changsu was blocked by a few of his household soldiers who surrounded him, looking on in panic. But what was clear was that both of Mei Changsu’s pale arms were already in the cage, both his palms trapped within the creature’s brown paws.

“How did this happen?” Prince Jing was pale as he stepped forward. “Don’t just stand there. Quickly rescue him!”

But after he walked to the front and got a clearer view, he was as stunned as his subordinates. The beast didn’t grab Mei Changsu’s arms. On the contrary, it was trying to avoid him, but the cage was too small, so no matter how much it dodged, Mei Changsu still managed to grab hold of its wrist, unwilling to let go.

“Don’t be afraid….don’t be afraid….There’s nothing to fear. Everything will be okay….it’s okay, it’s okay….” Completely oblivious to all the confusion around him, Mei Changsu focused his attention on pacifying the creature. “I won’t harm you. I can help you. Don’t move, let me feel….”

The beast was quiet for a while, blankly allowing Mei Changsu to feel about his left wrist, but it didn’t take long for it to get agitated again, its body constantly spurting out hot air.

“They’re red, they’re red, its eyes are red,” Qi Meng yelled, “Mister Su, quickly get away. Once its eyes are red, it must drink blood. It almost sucked someone’s blood on the way here!” Prince Jing was startled. He immediately grabbed Mei Changsu’s arms and pulled them away.

“Let me go!” Mei Changsu firmly pulled back his arms and turned back. “Can’t you see him restraining himself? Yes, he longs to suck blood, especially human blood. Only then can he alleviate some of his pain. But he keeps restraining himself. He’s doing his best to control himself in order not to hurt anyone. Didn’t any of you observe this?”

As if confirming his words, the beast suddenly roared, struggling painfully in the cage. Mei Changsu leaned against the cage, staring intensely at it. Suddenly he called out, “Qi Meng!”

“Oh? Here…..”

“Give me your sword.”

“What?”

“Give me the knife!” Mei Changsu raised his voice sternly. Qi Meng jumped in reflex, then blankly pulled out his waist knife and handed it over. But Mei Changsu did not reach out to grab hold of the knife by the handle. Instead, he drew his wrist against the knife blade, and blood immediately flowed from the small opening. Qi Meng was so shocked his waist knife dropped onto the ground.

“Don’t be afraid. Come, take a few sips.” Mei Changsu put his bloody wrist through the iron bars, extending it towards the beast’s mouth, saying softly, “There’s medicine in my blood. It will make you feel better. Come, don’t be afraid. You won’t be able to suck me dry. I’ll be fine….if you don’t drink, the blood will flow in vain….”

The beast gasped and tried to resist for a while, but in the end, it couldn’t resist the dark red blood, and its mouth descended on Mei Changsu’s wrist. All around, the men cried out in alarm. Prince Jing also couldn’t help rushing forward two steps.

But everything was as Mei Changsu said. The beast had no intention of harming anyone. It had taken no more than ten sips, and when its pain began to ease a little, it removed his wrist from its mouth, and couldn’t be persuaded to have more.

“Bring me the key.” Mei Changsu simply tied the wound on his wrist with a towel. Standing up, he extended his hand to Qi Meng, “The key.”

Stunned by the earliest scene, Qi Meng handed the key over like a puppet. Mei Changsu quickly opened the iron cage and helped the beast out.

“Your Highness, I will take care of this person. Will you allow him to stay in my room?”

“This……person?”

“Yes, even though he doesn’t look like it, he is a person.” Mei Changsu’s usually placid eyes were blazing at this moment. “If it is not convenient here, I will bring him with me and camp outside. I would just need Your Highness to arrange for someone to help me.”

Xiao Jingyan looked at him in a daze, feeling confused and disoriented, as if he hadn’t yet recovered from the earlier shock. Mei Changsu didn’t rush him either, but merely waited quietly as he supported the “person” by his side.

After a very long while, Prince Jing finally came to himself. He looked around him, then at Mei Changsu’s resolute expression, then said with a slight cough, “Since Sir is so sure of this, there’s no harm for him to stay here, but please be careful.”

“Many thanks, Your Highness.” Mei Changsu smiled faintly, bowed, then led the “person” by his arm into his room on the west side of the courtyard. Prince Jing frowned, signalling for Lie Zhanying to follow them in.

After a while, Lie Zhanying came out and instructed men to arrange for hot water and a bathing barrel, then went to the master bedroom to report to Prince Jing, “Mister Su didn’t say anything to that….that person. He just kept comforting him, and even looked for medicine for him to eat. The person is calm now, so Mister Su would like to give it a bath.”

Prince Jing frowned, rubbing his right wrist with his left hand, saying to himself, “But who would let anyone suck one’s own blood just because that’s a person?”

Lie Zhanying blinked, not knowing how to respond, so he stood silent. After a long while, Qi Meng also came in. Cupping his fist, he blurted out without thinking, “Reporting to Your Highness, it’s actually white.”

“What’s white?”

“That beast…..er, that person. After bathing, we discovered that his fur is white, but it was so dirty we thought it was brown.”

“Qi Meng!” Lie Zhanying said in reproval, “Why are you telling His Highness all these insignificant details?”

“I thought His Highness would like to know….”

“What His Highness would like to know is not this. You should leave quickly.” Seeing Prince Jing silent and morose, Lie Zhanying hurriedly ushered Qi Meng out.

Out in the courtyard, two soldiers were carrying the dirty bath water out, while someone else brought clean towels. The beast that Qi Meng had so painstakingly tried to capture for more than a year was suddenly defined as a “person”. This made him very uncomfortable, so he stood outside Mei Changsu’s room for a long while before going in for another look.

The man with the white fur was at that moment lying on Mei Changsu’s bed, curled into a ball, his facial hair concealing his features. He didn’t resist as Mei Changsu inspected his body, but as soon as he touched his wrist, the man would instinctively retract it to his chest.

Qi Meng stood behind looking at him blankly for a very long time. Mei Changsu didn’t bother about him, so he soon felt bored and left sheepishly of his own accord. As soon as he left, Mei Changsu immediately got up to close the door and windows. Returning to the bed, he tried to tug at the man’s wrist but was again refused.

“There’s no need to hide it. I know what it is,” Mei Changsu said quietly, “That’s a Chiyan Army wristband, each one engraved with each person’s name. If one died in battle, even if the body was unrecognizable, one could still be recognized with the wristband, am I right?”

The man with the white fur trembled violently all over, the lump on his throat moving as he made a “hu hu” sound, his teeth rattling.

“I would just like to see your name, see if there is anything I can do to help you,” Mei Changsu gently patted his back, whispering in his ear, “Come, let me have a look. What harm can it do? How much worse can it get?”

The man with the white fur eventually allowed himself to be persuaded and his stiff body slowly relaxed. Mei Changsu gently and carefully pulled out his wrist, and little by little pushed aside the long fur. Due to the swelling in the arm, the finger-wide silver wrist band was deeply embedded in the flesh, and its surface was a little black and indistinct. But the unique double cloud flame pattern of the Chiyan Army, as well as the name surrounded by the flame pattern, could still be recognized.

Mei Changsu looked at the name, his face pale as snow. His eyesight blurred. He blinked his eyes and tears fell. His vision sharpened for only a brief moment before it blurred again.

The man with the white fur breathed roughly, peering from behind his long fur at this man who was weeping before him without any reservation. He opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was an ear-piercing “Hu hu” sound.

It was unclear how much time passed before Mei Changsu finally raised his hand to wipe away the tears on his face with his sleeves, take a deep breath and break into a broad smile.

“Nie Feng dage, you’re still alive…..this is truly very good….” After saying these words, Lin Shu finally couldn’t suppress his emotions and opened his arms to bring his former comrade-in-arms into a tight embrace.