Canglong Enters the Clouds

In the windy sand of the boundary bridge, Zhao Yun tightened his grip on the pewter spear for the first time. When he took it from the quartermaster, the spear was new, the iron point had just been sharpened, and the hemp rope was still yellowish brown. From then on, this spear followed him all his life - from Jieqiao to Changbanpo, from Guiyang to Chengdu, and from Dingjun Mountain to Fengming Mountain. Trace after trace was added to the spear: the first scratch was left by the boundary bridge, and the deepest crack spread from Changban Slope. The hemp rope at the handle was soaked black with sweat, and was broken and twisted, twisted and broken again. He has been doing the same thing his whole life: standing behind Liu Bei and facing the other direction. It was the time when I received the bowl of muddy water outside the city of Xuzhou, it was the time when I entered and exited the Changban Slope seven times, it was the time when Chengdu admonished "the fields and houses should be returned to the people", and it was the same time when Yiling admonished "Destroy Wei first". He never explains himself, never says a word about his choices. When Guiyang refused to marry, he only said, "A real man has no need to have a wife." When he left, he stopped at the gate of the city and then continued walking. The less he said, the heavier the words he left on the bamboo slips. The first crack appeared on Chang Banpo's spear shaft. He lowered his head and glanced at it without wiping it. On Fengming Mountain, his armor was removed and his spear was inserted into the soil. He stood in the mountain wind and looked at the path he had walked throughout his life. The wind is still blowing. Many years later, someone unearthed a draft of a memorial from an old file. The bamboo fragments were scattered, the writing was smeared, and the signature was written with two words: "Zhao Yun." "May your Majesty put the world first" - for the only time in his life, he spoke so slowly, carving every word into the bamboo slips.