“Prince Jianxing Shen Wei was defeated at the Chashi River in the northeast. The Dunzhou line immediately collapsed, and thirty thousand soldiers were buried alive in the Chashi Heavenly Pit. You were among them—so why were you the only one who survived?”
Shen Zechuan’s gaze was unfocused. He did not answer.
The interrogator slammed his fist on the table, leaned forward, his eyes dark and vicious. “Because Shen Wei had already colluded in secret with the Twelve Tribes of Biansha, intending to hand over the six prefectures of Zhongbo to foreign enemies. You planned to coordinate from inside and out to break into Qudu, so the Biansha cavalry spared your life. Isn’t that right?”
Shen Zechuan’s dry, cracked lips moved. He struggled to hear the interrogator’s words, his throat rolling slowly as he answered hoarsely, “No… that’s not it.”
The interrogator barked, “Shen Wei committed suicide by burning himself to avoid punishment. The incriminating correspondence has already been fully submitted to His Majesty by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You little bastard still dare to argue—truly stubborn beyond redemption!”
Shen Zechuan’s head felt heavy. He no longer knew how long it had been since he last closed his eyes. It was as though he were suspended by a single thread over a bottomless abyss—one moment of weakness, one loosening of his grip, and he would be smashed to pieces.
The interrogator spread out the written confession, glanced over it, and said, “You said last night that you managed to walk out of the Chashi Heavenly Pit because your elder brother saved you. Is that correct?”
Before Shen Zechuan’s eyes, the scene of that day wavered into view. The pit had been impossibly deep. Countless soldiers were crushed together, yet no matter how they struggled, they could not climb out. The bodies underfoot piled higher and higher, but still they could not reach the rim. Biansha cavalry encircled the pit. In the freezing night wind came the whistling of stray arrows. Blood rose past their calves. Wails and ragged breaths pressed tight against his ears.
Shen Zechuan’s breathing grew rapid. He began to tremble in the chair, clawing uncontrollably at his hair as choking sobs burst from his throat.
“You’re lying.”
The interrogator lifted the confession and flicked it lightly in front of Shen Zechuan.
“Your elder brother was Shen Zhouji, the legitimate eldest son of Prince Jianxing. Before the Chashi Heavenly Pit, he abandoned thirty thousand soldiers and fled with his personal guards. He was caught by the Biansha cavalry, lashed with ropes, and dragged alive to death on the official road by the Chashi River. When the Twelve Tribes buried the soldiers alive, he was already dead. He couldn’t possibly have saved you.”
Shen Zechuan’s mind descended into chaos. The interrogator’s voice seemed distant, far away beyond the heavens. All he heard was endless crying.
Where was the way out? Where were the reinforcements? Dead bodies pressed against dead bodies, putrid, rotten flesh weighing down on his hands. Mu-ge shielded him from above, and he lay prone on blood-soaked corpses. He heard Mu-ge’s labored breathing, and the sobs in his own throat came from sheer despair.
“Your brother has three heads and six arms,” Ji Mu forced out a smile, already in tears, his voice breaking as he continued, “Your brother is a wall of bronze and iron! Hold on a little longer and it’ll be fine. Once we hold out, the reinforcements will arrive. Then I’ll go home with you to see Father and Mother. I still need to go find your sister-in-law…”
The interrogator slammed the table with a bang and shouted, “Tell the truth!”
Shen Zechuan struggled violently, as though trying to break free of invisible shackles, but he was pinned down onto the table by a swarm of Embroidered Uniform Guards.
“You’ve entered our imperial prison. Seeing that you’re young, I refrained from using severe punishment. But since you’re this ungrateful, don’t blame us for being ruthless. Men, put him to the torture!”
Ropes were looped around Shen Zechuan’s arms and he was dragged into the open space of the hall. A long bench clattered into place, his legs tied fast to it. A burly man beside him lifted the prison cudgel, weighed it in his hands, then brought it down.
“I’ll ask you one more time.” The interrogator stirred the tea leaves, took a few unhurried sips, and said, “Did Shen Wei collude with the enemy and sell out the country?”
Shen Zechuan clenched his teeth and refused to give in, shouting intermittently through the blows, “No—not at all!”
The interrogator set down his teacup. “If you had used this backbone on the battlefield, your Shen family wouldn’t be here today. Keep beating him!”
Shen Zechuan gradually could no longer endure it. He bowed his head and rasped, “Shen Wei did not collude with the enemy…”
“The defeat at Chashi River was entirely due to Shen Wei rashly engaging the enemy. After that defeat, the Dunzhou line still had a chance to recover, yet under vastly unequal forces he withdrew for no reason. As a result, the three cities of Duanzhou fell, and tens of thousands of civilians were slaughtered under Biansha scimitars.” At this point the interrogator let out a long sigh and said bitterly, “The six prefectures of Zhongbo ran with rivers of blood. Shen Wei led his troops south in retreat. The battle at Dengzhou was the most suspicious of all! The Qidong Red Prefecture garrison had already crossed Tianfei Gate to provide support, yet he abandoned the pincer strategy and diverted several thousand cavalry to escort his family to Dancheng, causing the entire Dengzhou defense line to collapse—was this not intentional? If not for the Libei Iron Cavalry charging day and night for three days and crossing the frozen river, the Biansha cavalry would already have been at Qudu’s gates!”
Shen Zechuan’s consciousness dimmed. Cold sweat drenched him as the interrogator contemptuously flung the confession, striking the back of his head.
“Better to be a dog than a man of Zhongbo. This time, Shen Wei is a criminal of the Great Zhou. You won’t admit it? You can only admit it!”
Half of Shen Zechuan’s body was numb with pain. He lay slumped on the bench, the confession covering his eyes. The ink marks were stark and clear—every character a lash of humiliation, striking his face, proclaiming it to the whole world.
Shen Wei betrayed the country, worse than a dog.
He had turned the six prefectures of Zhongbo into fields of corpses. Even now, no one had gone to collect the bodies buried in the Chashi Heavenly Pit, because all the cities of Dunzhou had already been slaughtered clean.
Shen Wei burned himself to death, but this blood-soaked debt still needed a living person to bear it. Shen Wei had many wives and concubines, many sons. When the Biansha cavalry captured Dunzhou, they all died. Only Shen Zechuan survived—because his status was too low, raised outside the household.
Shen Zechuan was dragged back, blood trailing from his heels. He faced the wall, staring at the narrow window. The cold wind howled, fierce snow battered down, and the pitch-black night stretched on without end.
His mind was muddled. In the sound of the wind, he returned once more to the pit.
Ji Mu was already failing. His breathing grew ragged, blood flowing from his armor onto the back of Shen Zechuan’s neck, quickly turning ice-cold. The cries around them had vanished, leaving only unbearable groans and the roar of the freezing wind.
Shen Zechuan lay face-to-face with mangled corpses. His leg was pinned beneath layers of heavy bodies, a shield digging into his waist and abdomen. Every breath was thick with the stench of blood. He bit down as tears streamed, unable to cry aloud. He stared blankly at the trampled face before him, unable to tell whether this was a soldier he had once seen.
“Brother,” Shen Zechuan whimpered softly. “I—I’m so scared…”
Ji Mu swallowed, gently patting Shen Zechuan’s head with his palm. “It’s okay… it’s okay.”
Shen Zechuan heard soldiers on the brink of death singing. The song was torn apart by the raging wind, drifting in tatters through the cold night.
“Fighting south of the city… dying north of the walls… the dead lie unburied… crows come to feed.”
“Brother,” Shen Zechuan whispered beneath him, “I’ll carry you out… Brother.”
Ji Mu’s body was like a twisted shield. He smiled faintly and said hoarsely, “Your brother can still walk.”
“Were you hit by an arrow?”
“No.” Ji Mu’s tears had already dried. He said lightly, “…those Biansha baldheads can’t shoot straight.”
Shen Zechuan’s fingers were soaked in blood and flesh. He wiped his face with difficulty and said, “Shiniang made dumplings. When you come home with me, we’ll eat lots of bowls.”
Ji Mu sighed. “…Your brother eats slowly. You… don’t抢 them.”
Shen Zechuan nodded hard beneath him.
Snow gradually covered Ji Mu’s body. He seemed terribly sleepy, his voice so faint he no longer had the strength even to move a finger. The singing dragged on slowly. When it reached the line “the fierce riders die in battle,” Ji Mu closed his eyes.
Shen Zechuan said, “My… my money too, I’ll give it to you, to marry sister-in-law…”
“Brother.”
“Brother.”
Ji Mu remained silent, as though tired of hearing him, and finally fell asleep.
Shen Zechuan began to tremble all over. He forgot when the Biansha cavalry left, forgot how he crawled out. When he pushed himself up on his arms, the snow-covered world was deathly still. Piled bodies cushioned his knees like discarded sacks.
Shen Zechuan turned back—and broke into soundless sobs.
Ji Mu’s back bristled with arrow shafts, his body curled like a hedgehog. So much blood had soaked Shen Zechuan’s back, yet he hadn’t felt it at all.
Hoofbeats thundered closer, like muffled thunder. Shen Zechuan jolted awake.
He wanted to retch, only to realize his wrists were tightly bound, and a burlap sack filled with earth was laid over him.
The sack grew heavier and heavier, pressing on his chest until he couldn’t even make a sound. This was the prison’s customary “earth-sack suffocation,” used on prisoners they did not intend to keep alive. It left no visible wounds. If he hadn’t woken just now, by dawn Shen Zechuan would already be cold.
Someone wanted him dead.