Chapter 62 Gong Jie IV

　　—What is perseverance? It is because one holds faith and seeks selfredemption. Every person who reads, likes and collects is a person of faith.

　　Before the War of the Gods the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods were the very heaven of the Gongyou Clan. After the great decisive battle of the RoeDeer Grassland the clan’s heaven collapsed.

　　In the impression of successive generations of the clan the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods had originally been beings who neither were born nor perished, neither aged nor died.

　　After the War of the Gods, overnight the hunters’ mainstay was gone. That even celestial gods could die brought a tremendous psychological shock to the hunters. The loss of spiritual support left a huge wound upon the hunters’ hearts.

　　“Live toward death; die and be reborn” had originally been the motto of the hunters—either live or die; there existed no third road.

　　After personally seeing the Green Clan Celestial Gods descend from the sky holding the heads of the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods, the faith in the hunters’ hearts completely collapsed. They successively threw down their weapons, knelt upon the ground, and lowered their proud heads in submission to the Green Clan.

　　Although the hunters comforted themselves inwardly that this was forced submission to the Green Clan Celestial Gods and not surrender to the EagleGod Clan, the Giant Clan or the BullHead Clan, the final result was the same.

　　The hunters broke the clan precept and chose the third road of surrender and of enduring humiliation in order to survive; thereafter the human race upon the continent of Mu received the title “the lowly, cowardly human race.”

　　Thereafter the human race every year had to offer human sacrifices to the Green Clan Celestial Gods and also provide labor service, until at last the Gongyou Clan found it unbearable and the limit of the hunters’ endurance was exceeded, burying the hidden danger of still greater turmoil upon the continent of Mu—this, however, is a later matter and will not be mentioned for the present.

　　Speaking only of the hunters of the present day, their resentment had long since reached the point where a single spark would set them ablaze; only a spark to ignite the fire was lacking.

　　After the War of the Gods new forces arose within the Gongyou Clan and a religious sacrificial authority equal to the administrative authority appeared.

　　Originally the Gongyou Clan had possessed no position of High Priest; Fang Mu had formerly been merely an attendant at the side of the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods.

　　After the fall of the celestial gods the spiritual pillar in the hearts of the Gongyou hunters collapsed; incidents of alcoholism, suicide, degeneration and violence occurred frequently. Administrative authority alone could not calm the clan’s violent atmosphere.

　　Therefore Fang Mu responded to the demands of the age, established a sacred site, and founded a religious sacrificial organization.

　　At first the hunters came to Fang Mu’s sacred site only in leisure time to dispel loneliness, to offer sacrifice and commemorate the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods, and to comfort their wounded hearts.

　　Later it developed that whether for weddings and funerals or for hunting and gathering, divination and sacrifice had to be performed; sacrificial activities became an indispensable part of ordinary clan life.

　　In the end Great Chieftain Gongdian compromised with High Priest Fang Mu and shared authority with him; when formulating the major policies of the clan he also had to consult the opinion of the High Priest.

　　In Gong Jie’s family her grandfather—then Great Chieftain Gong Chang of the Gongyou Clan—had died in the RoeDeer battle.

　　Her father Gongdian had personally experienced that war, yet like Ji Mazi, each time her father heard the words “RoeDeer battle” his expression would change greatly. Within the household “RoeDeer battle” had become a forbidden topic.

　　This war affected every aspect of the Gongyou Clan and influenced several entire generations of hunters.

　　After leaving the battlefield of the great decisive battle of the RoeDeer Grassland the column continually advanced southeastward. After continuous travel of several days, toward dusk one day Gong Jie saw a majestic city upon the distant horizon.

　　She was about to ask Ji Mazi when, unexpectedly, Ji Mazi took the initiative and introduced it to her: “Second Miss, the city ahead is precisely Junma City of the PhoenixBird Tribe of the FireWorship Clan.”

　　At that moment Gong Jie saw in the distance a troop of men and horses waiting by the roadside; they held high banners of black ground and scarlet phoenix.

　　This was a ceremonial reception party specially sent by Junma City to welcome the Gongyou Clan.

　　Beside Gong Jie’s ears arose the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments, flutes and drums; she saw a brief welcoming ceremony held ahead. Thereafter the Gongyou embassy party, escorted by the reception party of Junma City, advanced toward the gates of Junma City.

　　“Presumably Great Chieftain Lian Kui of the FireWorship Clan has come out of the city to receive us.” Ji Mazi said.

　　“Uncle Ji, the name of the FireWorship Clan is too strange—what does ‘FireWorship’ mean? And their tribes are all called Phoenix this, Roc that, Eagle, SparrowHawk and so on, yet their city has nothing whatever to do with birds and is actually called ‘Junma City.’” Gong Jie rather despised these tribal names of the FireWorship Clan.

　　“Uncle Ji, tell me—how can these Horse People give names so randomly, completely mismatched, all in a mess, incomparable with our Gongyou Clan.”

　　“Second Miss, the origins of the FireWorship Clan were already related to you last time by Old Wu; what he said was essentially correct.” After leaving the battlefield of the RoeDeer battle of that year Ji Mazi’s gloomy mood gradually cleared; he related the origins of the FireWorship Clan to Gong Jie in detail.

　　“The FireWorship Clan was originally called the Phoenix Clan and also lived in the forest. A very long time ago, for reasons unknown—perhaps their brains suddenly went wrong, or it is said the Black Clan Celestial Gods ordered them to do it—they set a fire and burned the forest, changing the clan name to the FireWorship Clan.”

　　“After the forest was burned, many years later it became a great grassland. Wild camelhorses made their home here; they lived by raising horses, and the city they built was therefore called ‘Junma City.’”

　　“Because the phoenix eats the Azure Dragon, in order to suppress us by one head, although their territory no longer possessed phoenixes or other birds they still retained the original tribal names containing phoenixes and other birds.”

　　“Uncle Ji, I have heard that the motto of the FireWorship Clan is ‘Fine horses gallop, gold in ten thousand taels’?”

　　“Correct. The FireWorship Clan calls itself ‘Horse People.’ The Horse People engage in the business of selling camelhorses with the surrounding races; the camelhorses of the continent of Mu, including those of our Gongyou Clan, all come from the FireWorship Clan. The Horse People are filled with the stench of copper; they are all merchants.” Ji Mazi said with contempt.

　　“Along this entire road I have seen many small villages and towns upon the territory of the FireWorship Clan; I feel their markets are prosperous and their population far more flourishing than that of our Gongyou Clan.”

　　“Second Miss, what you say is correct. The Nanyu Forest cannot compare with this place. Our forest is filled with maneating beasts; people must gather together in order to survive. Here is the great grassland; there is little threat from maneating beasts. The Horse People have for generations engaged in animal husbandry, farming and commerce; their population has grown rapidly and long ago surpassed ours.”

　　“Ah—speaking of human sacrifice and labor service, because the population of our Gongyou Clan is smaller than theirs, the pressure our hunters bear is far greater than theirs.”

　　“Uncle Ji, what is the combat power of the Horse People like?”

　　“A bunch of merchants—what combat power do they have? In former years our two clans were allies, jointly resisting the claws of the Green Clan; these Horse People gave us hunters no help at all and only caused us endless trouble, making us suffer greatly.”

　　The embassy party very quickly arrived at the foot of Junma City. Gong Jie raised her head and looked: this was a huge city built upon a slope of earth; surrounding it was a wide moat; the city walls towered, fully more than ten meters high.

　　At that moment the drawbridge was lowered; Gong Jie and Ji Mazi followed the column through the city gate.

　　This was the first time Gong Jie had stepped into a city of any race other than the Gongyou Clan.

　　She looked about curiously and discovered that the structural layout of Junma City was completely different from that of Wangqiu City: here there were no giant trees or treehouses; along the streets most buildings were twostory structures of rammed earth or stone; the streets were neat and orderly, the ground paved with stone blocks; shops lined the streets, brightly lit.

　　Although dusk was already near, the crowds upon the streets of the city were still bustling and extremely lively.

　　Everything here was so novel that Gong Jie was completely entranced. She looked left and right, wishing she could at once jump down from the camelhorse, plunge into the alleys, and experience the life of this foreign land.

　　The column continually advanced along the main thoroughfare of the outer city; when it was about to approach the inner city it turned right, entered the alley on the right, and at the end of the alley an elegant garden came into view.

　　Before the gate of the garden hung lantern signs bearing the two characters “PostHouse.”

　　After entering the garden one saw more than twenty threestory Westernstyle buildings. This was the reception guesthouse of Junma City; in order to receive the honored guests of the Gongyou Clan all the rooms of the posthouse had been vacated.

　　The cooks’ squad was allocated a suite; the room was divided into an outer chamber and an inner chamber. The inner chamber contained a large communal bed; the outer chamber was a reception hall.

　　Ji Mazi left the inner chamber for Gong Jie; he and the other two cooks prepared to spread bedding upon the floor of the outer chamber.

　　After settling in, at the invitation of Great Chieftain Lian Kui of the FireWorship Clan, Great Chieftain Gongdian of the Gongyou Clan and the highranking members of the clan entered the inner city to attend a banquet; the remaining personnel dined in the dining hall of the posthouse.

　　“Ji Jie, and you two brothers—come with me to the dining hall. Today the FireWorship Clan is treating; we cooks need not busy ourselves. Let us also play the part of lords for once.” Ji Mazi called the cooks’ squad and walked toward the dining hall of the posthouse.

　　The evening meal was sumptuous; wine and meat filled the table.

　　Yet Gong Jie had little appetite. After casually eating a few mouthfuls she wished to slip away, yet all of this was seen by Ji Mazi.

　　At the entrance of the dining hall Ji Mazi stopped Gong Jie.

　　“Second Miss, where are you going?”

　　“Oh, Uncle Ji—I… I am going to the privy.”

　　“Is that so? The privy is at the back door of the dining hall—why are you going out the front door?”

　　“Uncle Ji—why are you watching me?”

　　“My Second Miss, I have already lost Ge Wu. If anything should happen to you the Great Chieftain will certainly flay me. Just tell me the truth—are you thinking of slipping out secretly to stroll through Junma City?”

　　“How did you know?” Seeing that Ji Mazi had guessed her intention Gong Jie no longer concealed it. “This is the first time I have come to Junma City. I hear that early tomorrow morning we must set out for the capital. Having come to Junma City with such difficulty I wish to go out and stroll a little at night.”

　　“Second Miss, our two clans have already regarded each other with hostility for many years over human sacrifice and labor service. Are you not afraid to walk alone through Junma City at night? Do you know that a few days ago in Blacksmith Town the Great Chieftain was nearly assassinated by people of the FireWorship Clan?”

　　“Uncle Ji, there are no characters written upon our faces—how would they know we are of the Gongyou Clan? You must have accompanied my father to Junma City many times and are very familiar with it. Why not accompany me for a stroll—how about it?”

　　“Ah, Second Miss—you are curious about everything. Very well—this old man will accompany you this evening.”

　　The two came to the entrance of the posthouse garden; several FireWorship soldiers stood guard at the gate.

　　“You two—where are you going? Without a token no one is permitted to enter or leave.”

　　“Military sirs, it is like this: we two are cooks. Because we must set out early tomorrow morning our superior ordered us to purchase some supplies for the road. We have heard that the roedeer meat of your Junma City is excellent in flavor; we wish to take advantage of the night market still being open to purchase some meat. Please, military sirs, do us a favor.”

　　While speaking Ji Mazi slipped several copper coins into the hand of each of the guards.

　　“Mm—so that is it. Go early and return early.” The several soldiers waved their hands and allowed them to leave.

　　In earlier years Ji Mazi had accompanied the Great Chieftain to Junma City many times; therefore he was quite familiar with the city.

　　He led Gong Jie through several alleys and then arrived at the most prosperous place of the night market of Junma City. Here people came and went in an endless stream; it was extremely lively.

　　“Second Miss, Junma City is called the City Without Night. The Horse People are born merchants and trade with every race of the continent of Mu. This street is called TileMarket Street; here one can buy goods produced by every race of the continent of Mu.”

　　“The City Without Night does not close until the third watch of the night; yet after the fifth watch it begins business again.”

　　By then the sky was already dark, yet TileMarket Street was brightly lit; shops stood in dense rows; carriages and horses clamored through the market; people came and went; business was flourishing—a scene of bustling activity.

　　Upon the street there were formal shops and also peddlers carrying loads and setting up stalls.

　　The shops sold camelhorses, medicinal herbs, grain, fruit, various meats, cloth, shoes, colored silk, women’s cosmetics and every kind of merchandise in dazzling abundance—everything one could want.

　　Upon the street there were also various taverns and snack shops; walking along the street a fragrance filled the air.