Chapter 9: Dragon Bone Burial

Chapter 9: Dragon Bone Burial

He didnt know how long he had been sleeping, but when Qi Tiezui woke up, he found himself in a guest room at the defense headquarters. There was a cup of water beside the bed, and other than the basic necessities, the room was completely bare and undecorated.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

He remembered that someone named Tan Caifu had studied abroad before, and wrote a book mentioning that in order to maintain the spirit of a soldier, the Prussian emperor only kept an iron bed and basin in his bedroom. Qi Tiezui wondered if Fo Ye's bedroom was the same. If so, that would explain his single-minded focus in his everyday life.

The cup had been made many years ago by a customer who was a Jingdezhen (1) merchant in thanks for one of Qi Tiezuis divinations. The merchant had made a total of seventy-three colored porcelain cups, and Qi Tiezui had given them to Fo Ye when the Nine Gates had gathered. Since one of them was so casually placed in a guest room, he assumed Fo Ye had directly allocated the rest to headquarters as tableware. In light of this, sending Fo Ye things in the future would depend on whether they could be used on the frontlines.

After drinking the cool water, Qi Tiezui felt the pressure in his chest slightly ease. He knew that this depression didnt come from an illness, but from the tragic scene he had witnessed earlier. And it was all because of what he had said. The Qi family was happy with knowing their fates, but even though he knew he hadnt been in the wrong and Fo Ye's family didnt want or need his self-pity, he still blamed himself. When he thought of the child's eyes, his heart felt unbearably choked up. That arm for such a young child to lose an arm it was really.

He put on his clothes and walked out of the guest room, finding a guard waiting for him at the door: "Ba Ye, are you done resting?" Knowing that Fo Ye definitely hadnt rested and was still working, Qi Tiezui wanted to help, so he nodded to the guard. "Lead the way, soldier."

As they reached Zhang Qishan's office, another soldier brushed passed them on his way out of the room. Qi Tiezui noticed that the soldier's face looked very similar to the child who had been probing the coffin hole, and figured he must have been the childs older brother. Qi Tiezui felt a wave of sadness surge up in his heart. How many other children were out there in China now, unable to enjoy their youth? And war was fast approaching. Maybe the next time he saw this child would be on the battlefield.

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TN Notes:

(1) Prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province thats famous for porcelain

(2) Dragon bone is a vital component of many traditional Chinese medical remedies. Its actually fossilized animal bone, which is high in calcium, potassium, sodium and other trace elements. The bones are cooked and ground into a powder before being used. Theyre usually combined with a number of herbs for different formulas. Seems like dragon bones are also called oracle bones. More info here

(3) Qing emperor Guangxu or Guang-hsu (1875-1908). So this is like 1900.

(4) Someone who studies inscriptions

(5) I left the pinyin. Characters are . Its basically like an official tomb robbing position in the dynastic governments. I think this is more along the lines of Ghost Blows Out the Light stuff because what Im finding is that Chinese Warlord Cao Cao took his subordinates around looting graves. In order to raise the efficiency of the tomb robbery, two posts were specially set up: Faqiu Zhonglang Jiang and Mojin Xiaowei (none of this is actually proven. People just kind of believe it anyways lol). Fa means "excavation", Qiu means "mound" or tomb or grave. Zhonglang Jiang and Xiaowei were the two military commander positions at the time. The position of Zhonglang Jiang is second only to the general, which is a bit similar to the reserve of high-level generals. Heres someones essay (take it with a grain of salt lol)