Some days later the warships put in at Chenzhou.

From there it was the land road.

The men came ashore in good order, and there was more or less a smile on every face.

After ten days and more adrift on a ship, solid ground under the feet is a fine thing.

Ning Chen did not linger in Chenzhou. After a short rest they went straight for Beilin Pass.

Hard traveling the whole way,

Five days later the great pass came into sight at last.

The imperial edict had arrived some days before.

So there were men waiting at the gate to receive them.

“Which of you is General Ning, if I may ask?”

A tall man in armor watched the approaching column warily.

Ning Chen reined in and swung down.

“That’s me.”

The man looked at him, taken aback. Startled by his age, perhaps.

When he came back to himself he said quickly:

“This officer is Liao Xingwen, deputy to General Liang. I am here by General Liang’s order to receive you.”

Before he came, Ning Chen had met with Old General Chen.

He had crammed a little knowledge at the last minute.

Liang Jingwu, General Who Holds the North, was a famous soldier of the Great Xuan and had once been Old General Chen’s deputy.

That man was a real general. His own title, General of the Northern Expedition, was a temporary thing, to be handed back the moment he was in the capital.

“I’m obliged to you, Deputy General Liao. Take me to General Liang.”

Liao Xingwen nodded and had someone take Qi Yuanzhong and the rest to the camp, while he himself brought Ning Chen and the others to General Liang.

Once inside the town, one look told Ning Chen what this General Liang was worth.

On the main street the hawkers’ cries never stopped.

The people walked at an unhurried pace, and the sight of Ning Chen and his men put no fear into them.

That meant Liang Jingwu knew how to handle an army. Discipline was strict, and there had been no soldiers troubling the common people.

And the Tuoluo Kingdom raided the border constantly, yet the people here went about their business unhurried, which meant they trusted Liang Jingwu absolutely.

They came to the general’s residence.

Liao Xingwen brought Ning Chen into the main hall.

But Liang Jingwu was not there.

“General Ning, if you will wait a little… General Liang went out on business a while ago. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “No matter.”

Feng Qizheng dropped his voice. “This General Liang wouldn’t be trying to take us down a peg at the outset, would he?”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “No. General Liang is a famous soldier of the Great Xuan and he followed Old General Chen for years. He wouldn’t play a dull little trick like that… Something urgent has come up. There’s no harm in waiting.”

Four hours went by in a blur.

Feng Qizheng and Chen Chong could not sit still any longer, and impatience came into their faces by degrees.

Ning Chen and Pan Yucheng were steady as old dogs.

With Pan Yucheng it was simply his nature.

Ning Chen had begun to suspect that General Liang was watching him from somewhere out of sight.

Just then heavy footsteps sounded.

A big, powerfully built middle-aged man in heavy armor, with a hard set to his face, came striding in.

He beat the dust off himself as he came, and he was grimed from head to foot.

“General. You’re back.”

Liao Xingwen came forward quickly and took the heavy blade out of General Liang’s hand.

Liang Jingwu made a sound of assent and asked, as though it had only just occurred to him, “Did you meet them?”

“I did. They arrived four hours ago.”

Liang Jingwu raised his head toward the main hall, then came striding in.

His eyes came to rest on Ning Chen. “So you’re Ning Chen.”

Ning Chen rose and put fist to palm. “General Liang.”

“No need to stand on ceremony. You’re General of the Northern Expedition by His Majesty’s own hand… The two of us are of a rank, but His Majesty’s edict says you lead and I follow.”

Ning Chen said, smiling, “I wouldn’t dare. Ning Chen is newly arrived. How should the guest take the host’s seat?”

“It’s an imperial edict. What has daring to do with it?”

Liang Jingwu looked him over as he spoke. “Not a bad-looking lad. A little short, though. A little thin.”

Ning Chen smiled bitterly. Liang Jingwu has to be one meter ninety, and built like that. Just looking at him makes a man feel safe.

Set beside him, Ning Chen was a whole size smaller.

Liang Jingwu took the tea Liao Xingwen handed him, drank it off at one go, wiped his mouth and said:

“Old General Chen sent me a letter, and he praised you to the skies in it… Said you were accomplished in letters and arms both, and full of resource besides.”

“The letters I’ve heard about. That lyric you gave Old General Chen really is a work for the ages… But the arms, I’ll have to try for myself, and see whether you’re what Old General Chen says you are.”

“General Ning. Do you dare trade a couple of passes with me?”

Ning Chen smiled bitterly. In a fight he was no match for Liang Jingwu, that much was certain. The man was a first-rate fighter who had crawled up out of heaps of the dead… But refuse, and Liang Jingwu would think the less of him, and everything after this would be harder to get moving.

“All right.”

Ning Chen nodded and agreed to it.

Approval came into Liang Jingwu’s eyes. Whatever else, Ning Chen had not ducked the fight, and his courage did him credit… Courage is the one thing a soldier cannot do without.

But Pan Yucheng’s brows drew together a little.

He had never crossed hands with Liang Jingwu, but he had heard the name, and he doubted he would be a match for the man himself… Ning Chen would not last many passes.

Ning Chen and Liang Jingwu went out into the yard and drew apart.

Ning Chen unbuckled his service sword and handed it to Feng Qizheng.

Liang Jingwu saw it and said, smiling, “You may use a weapon.”

Ning Chen gave a slight smile. “If it’s a friendly match, it should be fair.”

He looked Liang Jingwu over as he said it, hunting for a weak spot.

The man’s like a bear in human shape. I’ve got nothing to go on at all.

One strength puts down ten skills.

Against absolute strength, technique is wasted labor.

Liang Jingwu beckoned, telling Ning Chen to come on.

Ning Chen did not stand on ceremony. He pushed off hard and came at Liang Jingwu like a cheetah, the whole of his strength gathered into his right elbow.

Bang!!!

Ning Chen’s right elbow drove hard into Liang Jingwu’s chest.

It put Liang Jingwu back two steps, and he made a small sound of surprise in spite of himself.

But the pain had Ning Chen baring his teeth. Liang Jingwu was in heavy armor. The blow had done him no harm at all, and Ning Chen’s whole right arm had gone numb and lost every bit of feeling.

Liang Jingwu was tall and long in the leg, his heavy armor rasping and clashing as he moved, and two strides brought him in front of Ning Chen with the whole weight of him bearing down… He raised a hand like a palm-leaf fan and brought it down at Ning Chen’s shoulder.

Ning Chen bent fast and slipped the blow with a boxer’s footwork, then hit back at once, his left fist going into Liang Jingwu’s flank like lightning.

Liang Jingwu dropped his arm quickly and the punch landed on it.

Bang!!!

Liang Jingwu did not react at all, and Ning Chen felt as though his wrist were about to snap.

Liang Jingwu raised his right hand, and the palm like a palm-leaf fan came down at Ning Chen with a sound of tearing air.

Ning Chen dropped low all at once, rolled where he stood, came up behind him, got both arms around one of his legs and put his whole body into it, meaning to throw Liang Jingwu on the ground.

But Liang Jingwu only staggered a step. Then he shook the leg, and Ning Chen went flying.

Ning Chen hit the ground, rolled over once and came up with the roll.

He kept his eyes fixed on Liang Jingwu. The man’s a tank in human shape. There’s no moving him at all.

“Old Feng. Blade.”

Feng Qizheng drew at once and tossed it to him.

“General Liang. I beg your pardon.”

Liang Jingwu grinned wide and beckoned.

Ning Chen pushed off hard and came like a cheetah, the long blade cutting down at Liang Jingwu with a hard cold glitter on it.

Liang Jingwu turned aside from the stroke, and before Ning Chen could shift to another stroke he caught hold of the back of the blade.

And then Ning Chen let go of the long blade altogether, and it brought Liang Jingwu up short.

Ning Chen turned and was behind him, and his hand went out like lightning, and a streak of cold light passed across Liang Jingwu’s throat.

The shock of it changed the faces of Liao Xingwen and the rest.

Liang Jingwu went rigid. He put a hand to his neck, then turned his head, and there was Ning Chen several meters back, turning a dagger over in his hand and smiling at him with narrowed eyes.

“General Liang. If I’d used the edge just then, you’d be dead.”

(End of Chapter 155)