Chapter Five: Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon

Chi Fu brushed furiously on the scroll, holding the portable board in his arm as he listened to Shang selecting six of the best recruits he had chosen from his observation and named the first and second lieutenants to help him with training the men. He could not train hundred of men in camp and decided to delegate the duties to six men and have them rotate groups of soldiers through the training.

"Now," Shang turned to the hundreds of men that he had divided up into seven groups of roughly twenty men each. "Let's get down to business." He gestured for the Lieutenants to start and waited as they shouted commands to their own groups and leading them off to different parts of the campsite to start training. Once the majority of the men dispersed, he turned to the twenty before him. He saw that he ended up with Ping and the three men that the younger man made friends.

He glanced at the pathetic group of men standing in two rows and rubbed his face before grabbing the sticks from the barrel and threw them toward the men, "Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?"

Ping tried to grab the staff, but Yao took it, and with a quick move, he twirled the staff to hit behind Ping's knees, knocking him down. Shang turned and glared as Ping frantically stood up and grabbed the staff from Yao. "You're the saddest bunch I've ever met."

Ping winced as his legs smarted from the underhand move of Yao and stepped away to avoid another mishap. He watched as Shang moved in steps, demonstrating moves that they all needed to learn and do.

"Now, you all do it," Shang said as he finished the moves and watched. He frowned as the men attempted to follow the move and spied Ling inching toward Ping, wondering what the skinny soldier was trying to do. He heard Chi Fu mutter something and glanced to the scrawny governor and rolled his eyes and returned to the men to see Ping frantically waving his staff around, knocking the other men down around him and groaned.

"Ping!" He shouted to the younger man but was ignored. He stepped up, and Ping had butted the end of the staff into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Growling, he grabbed the staff, making Ping stop his wild movement and narrowed his eyes, he saw a beetle fall out from the bottom of Ping's tunic. Ping had a wild look in his eyes and was shuddering. "You can bet before we're through," he let go and stepped back, motioning for the men to continue and watched as they copied his movement earlier awkwardly. "Mister, I'll make a man out of you." He saw Ping halfheartedly went through the movements with a bleak look on his face. He turned away and shouted, "again!"

They continued for several hours before taking a break for lunch. Ping took his bowl and went to sit at the far end of the table and started to eat, wincing as his muscles screamed in pain from the exercises. He saw Shang walk past with Chi Fu and sighed, remembering how annoyed and angry Shang had looked earlier.

The Captain had seen Ping sitting alone as he walked by and heard the sigh. He wanted to turn back and grab the younger man and pull him away to comfort him. But he could not, not when he was under careful eyes of Chi Fu and upholding his duty as a Captain. He needs to see this through and make sure all of his men were trained. He had met with the other Lieutenants and learned the other groups were not doing any better than his own. It had only been the first day of training, and it was not even over.

"Your men are a bunch of undisciplined monkeys, this will not do!" Chi Fu turned his nose up and attempted to look taller.

Shang turned sharply to the man, "it has only been a few days. You must allow them time, and you will see them get better."

"We'll see." Chi Fu sniffed, "I am not sure about your ability to manage these lot," he turned away and trotted off to find his lunch.

Shang growled under his breath, glaring at the backside of the obnoxious man. He turned to the men, they all looked tired and not as lively as they were at breakfast. He moved along the rows and softly whispered under his breath, "tranquil as a forest, but on fire. Once you find your center, you are sure to win." he looked at the sky and exhaled, it was what his father had told him once when he started training.

Shang released the arrow and pinned the apple to the tree, demonstrating the next exercise for his group to do. He stepped back and watched as several men lined up and attempted to shoot the arrow. Many had no experience of handling the bow and arrows. He waved his arm to single for the next group to give it a try.

Ping had stood behind Ling and waited for his turn to shoot the arrow into the target. Ling turned and handed him the bow, and he stepped up to take his position and took the arrow from the skinny soldier to notch his arrow. He frowned at how heavy the arrow was and glanced down to see an apple hanging at the end. His eyes widened and turned to Ling, seeing the skinny man snickering and moving back to the end of the line.

"Ping!" Ping gasped and turned to see Shang next to him, looking angry. "I do not condone cheaters in my army!"

"But…" Ping uttered, mortified. "I…" He was shut as Shang held up his hand and grabbed his arrow, turning to the men, "You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you can bet before we're through, I'll make a man out of you!" He threw down the arrow and stormed off. Ping felt tears welling in his eyes as he looked down, seeing the broken arrow with smashed apple. He turned and thrust the bow into the other man's chest and moved to the back of the line. He crossed his arms angrily, blinking his eyes to fight back the tears.

Shang pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He was surprised to turn around to find Ping holding up the arrow with an apple on it. How dare he tried to cheat? He would have a word with him later.

They had moved on to jog up the mountain trail, carrying buckets of water on staff in the evening before dinner and train to balance the water on their head and deflect the stones. Ping had been the only one who was able to balance the water on his head gracefully, however, Yao and Ling had been cruel enough to pelt him with too many stones at once. Ping tried to deflect them and managed to shoot one back, nearly hitting Shang in the head before the bucket overturned and landed on his face, soaking him. He pushed the bucket up to see Shang looking furious. Sighing as he let the bucket down and move out of the way, feeling as if he had failed.

The evening fell, and Ping staggered away from the mess area of the camp to head to his tent. All he wanted to do was to fall down and sleep. He no longer cared if the ground was hard and uncomfortable. He just wanted to stop moving. Upon reaching his tent, he changed his mind and grabbed his towel and change of clothes, the cool river sounded better and made his way there.

"Ah," Ping exhaled as he stepped into the river, feeling the relief of the water washing over his legs. He waded far enough to be able to dip so the water would be at his chin and allowed the cool moving river caress his skin, washing away the sweat, dirt and grimes from the day and soothe his sore muscles. He closed his eyes and breathed.

He opened his eyes to see bare chest and glanced up to find Shang looking down at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Swallowing hard, he stood up and nodded, "Shang."

"Explain the attempt to cheat," Shang bit out, glancing down at Ping.

Ping blinked confusedly and drew back, "what?"

"Earlier!" Shang snapped.

"I didn't do that!" Ping gaped, "Ling handed me the arrow, and it was already on it! I never intended to cheat!"

"Yet, you were about to fire the arrow." Shang grounded, unsure if he wanted to believe Ping. The younger man stared at him with a hurt expression, and he looked away, feeling his resolve weakening. "Don't do that to me. You can not take advantage of me and make me weak for you!"

Ping shook his head, feeling tears welling up again in his eyes, hurt from his harsh words. "I am not! How can you think that way?"

"The looks you gave me today!" retorted Shang, recalling every time he had seen Ling glance at him with the despairing look, almost begging him to help or save him. It had made Shang angrier, thinking Ping was trying to play the damsel in distress.

Ping shook his head, "I don't know why you would think that. I have not done such a thing! Maybe it is you making the assumption! I am trying my best here, and the only thing I have managed to do the best was to balance the damn bucket on my head, and that was a thank to my performance training!" He pushed past Shang and made his way back to the shore and grabbed his towel, not bothering to redress and disappeared. Shang stared after Ping, wondering if he had made a mistake.

Shang growled, "damn it!" he slapped the water hard and turned to move back to the shore. Ping had long gone, and by the time he reached the camp, he saw Ping's tent closed tight, and the light was out. His shoulders sagged in defeat and feeling weary, he turned away and went to his tent.

The next morning, Ping joined the trio and glared at Yao and Ling, "the hell you doing yesterday playing pranks on me? I got in trouble with Captain Li."

Ping looked embarrassed and grinned nervously, "just trying to lighten up the mood. You were a perfect target."

Yao nodded, "yeah."

Ping narrowed his eyes, "I'll get you guys back. I promise this."

"Ooh, I am scared." Ling mocked shivered and laughed, digging into his bowl of rice and eggs.

Chein Po shook his head at the other men's antics and turned to Ping, "I'm never gonna catch my breath, Captain Li is hard."

Yao muttered under his breath, "say good-bye to those who knew me."

"Boy, I was foolish for cutting gym back then," Ling supplied and stood up, "another day. Come on."

Ping finished his breakfast and looked about, he saw the men' expression and their body language, "this guy's got 'em scared to death."

"You got that right," Yao growled and got up.

Ping followed the three men and placed his bowl away. He turned to find one of the second lieutenant approaching him with couple other men.

"You are Fa Ping?" the man asked and saw Ping nod. "I am Fang, I have seen a few of your performances in the past, and I must comment that you are an outstanding actor."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he laughed nervously, "ah, thanks."

"I have assumed you would be exempted from the army since you have an older brother? Is that correct?" Another man asked, and Ping recognized him from his hometown.

Shaking his head, "no. My brother is stepping in for his wife's family, and I have to join up for my family. There was no way I can get out of it anyway."

"Ah, that's too bad. I hope you manage through, it would be a real tragedy if we lose you. You have the golden voice throughout the providence." Fang said, and Ping blushed.

"You're being too kind."

"You sing?" Ling asked.

Fang turned to Ling, "you have not heard of Fa Ping? He is famous through several providences as the opera house main nan dan, performing the main roles of the best plays."

Ping waved his hands in embarrassment, "please, do not flatter me so. It's something I do." He turned to Ling, "yes, before coming here, I sing, dance and perform on stages."

Yao peered at him with his good eyes, "so that's why you're a pretty boy."

Fang laughed and wrapped his arm around Ping's shoulder, "he's the best! His best role was the golden princess from the Golden Flower. Makes me cry every time I see it."

Ping turned several shades redder and ducked his head. "I really shouldn't be praised. Those days are behind us, and I am here to be a soldier."

Fang turned and clasped Ping's shoulder, giving him a friendly shake and butted his chin with his fist, "maybe there is a reason that you are here. We all sure need our spirit lifted and that where you come in! Sing for us tonight at dinner! Be our golden princess and inspire us to do better!"

Ping pursed his lips and thought of it. He had missed donning the costumes, getting into the roles, dancing and singing on the stage. "I don't know…"

"We'll even pull together some sort of costume for you! Please?" Fang begged.

Ping looked up to the lieutenant. The other man was handsome and young, reminding him of his eldest brother. He nodded, "I will just need a simple gown, and I'll take care of the rest."

"Excellent! Leave it to us, we'll get the gown for you. Dinner, tonight?"

"Yes and uh… see if you can get some men to play flute and drums? It's, and I can teach them quickly."

"You got it." Fang smiled and squeezed Ping's shoulders. "I am already looking forward to tonight!" He then turned to leave and waved at Ping.

"He is correct, we all need our spirits to be lifted. It is good that you are here." Chien Po supplied as they watched the lieutenant and the other men leave.

Shang stepped out of his tent, ready for the day and Chi Fu had been nagging him about what he should do and not do in training. He had to fight back from biting the governor's head off. He did not need to start the day with Chi Fu's annoying incessant noises. He could see that most of the men had finished breakfast and was starting to disperse to their respective groups. He frowned as he spotted Ping with lieutenant Fang and few soldiers surrounding them. They all seemed happy. He watched as they chatted and grew red as Fang slipped his arm over Ping's shoulder and pulled him close. The man was overstepping his boundary with Ping. He did not like it. His rage boiled as Fang turned and held Ping a bit too close for comfort.

"Only in few days and already that boy is going through the army like his personal whore house." Chi Fu muttered from Shang's side.

Shang shot a look at Chi Fu, feeling his anger boil over. He turned back and saw Ping looking flustered and smiling shyly and nodded. He narrowed his eyes and wondered what did Ping agreed to do? Was he already starting to look to others and agreeing to sleep around? He stormed off, needing to cool down before he starts training his group. He then realized that Ping was in his group and threw a fist to a pole as he passed by, it cracked and splintered under his hand.

Ping had seen Shang passing by and heard the splintering thud and winced, wondering what had gotten the Captain so angry. Ling shrugged and pushed Ping to get on to join the others to start the day. Yao muttered under his breath, "Captain must have slept on rocks last night."

Ping struggled through the morning, doing the run up the mountain, falling over often. He felt humiliated at one point where he fell behind and tripped and to find Shang returning to him and taking his burden with a stony face and taking off. He did no better in the staff training but managed slightly better with pulling back the bowstring and making his arrow fly, however, going way off target.

He was almost glad that Shang led them to the creek to practice some exercise but at the same time, fishing for fish barehanded. Ping watched Shang make the movement and caught a fish. He looked down in the river and waited, slowly moving his body in graceful movement, searching for a shadow of the fish. He spied something and smirked, it was time for payback and quickly shot into the water and grabbed Yao's foot, upending him into the creek. He let go and smirked maliciously at the man and whispered, "payback."

Yao glared and nodded, "fair enough."

He was unsuccessful in getting any fish, but he was satisfied that he got Yao. Now he needs to pay back Ling twice fold for the beetle and the apple. He decided to wait and see what opportunity would rise.

Chien Po wobbled on the pole over coursing river, trying to keep his balance. "Now I really wish that I knew how to swim."

Shang called to the large man, "Be a man! We must be swift as a coursing river."

Ping took a turn and jumped onto the first pole and swallowed hard. The river looked harsh and flowing and one wrong move, you get pulled under and probably end up in the China sea. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Shang looking up at him with a challenging look on his face and squared his shoulders. Swift as a coursing river, right. He started to leap over the poles gracefully as he could and nearly lost balance halfway and twirled, pulling up his graceful dancing skill, he shifted his balance and regained his hold on the pole and continued.

Shang swallowed hard as he watched Ping, he may be angry at the young man but did not want to lose him to the river. He felt his heart stop when he saw Ping nearly lose his balance. But he found himself pleasingly surprised that Ping had managed across, with graceful skill and looking almost as if he flew like a swan. Of course, it had to be the dancing skill that he used. It was too bad that Ping was terrible at everything else.

The day ended, and the soldiers ambled back to the mess area for dinner. Fang found Ping and handed him the bag, "here you go. There's a village nearby, and one of the men has relatives there, and they were kind enough to lend a dress."

Ping peered in the bag and laughed, it was red and pink, with smattering chrysanthemums embroidery on edge. "Thanks. I just finished up with dinner. I'll be back shortly."

Fang grinned, "thanks! You remind me of my wife sometime."

"Oh? Thanks, I guess." Ping laughed and retreated to his tent and grabbed another bag and made his way to the river. He needed a quick dip before putting the dress on. He quickly made work slipping the gown over his underclothes and let his topknot and combed through his long hair. It fell down nearly to his knees in inky sheet, smooth and shiny. He dug in his bag and pulled out two small jars he had brought with him. He wasn't sure why he had packed it in the first place and was glad he had done so. He applied the red cream onto his lips and did the same to his eyelids, putting red shades. He finished off with sweeps of kohl, making his eyes larger and mysterious. He made his way back and spied some wild chrysanthemums in the wood and paused to pick one, it was hard to see in the shadow, and he thought he had picked the white one but found it was pink with a closer look. He stared at the flower, recalling what he had learned recently about the flower the other day and blushed. The pink one did indeed look like what it suggested. He shook his head and placed it in his hair over his ear. His ensemble was finished. He couldn't do much for his feet and opted to keep his uniform shoes on anyway, at least the gown covered them.

He returned to the mess area, and Fang came up to him with couple men in tow, "I got a couple of guys who could play flute and drums as you asked. They know the song to the Golden Princess from the Golden Flower. One of them said he played flute for your opera house." He gestured to a man on his right, holding a flute. Ping smiled, recognizing the man and bowed. "He was able to teach the song to him," the man on the left bowed, he was holding a small drum in his arm. It was an army drum, but it would have to do.

"Is that what you want me to sing, the Golden Flower?" Ping asked.

Fang shrugged, "the play is popular, and he said it is a solo act you can do."

"That is true."

"All right, they're waiting for you." Fang turned and held his arm out for Ping to take as if he were a woman. Ping hesitantly slipped his arm through, recalling Shang having done to him that one night a few weeks ago. It seemed ages ago. He felt homesick immediately. Swallowing, he went with Fang, and they approached the waiting audience of the soldiers. They cheered as they saw him and Ping blushed, grinning in return.

"All right, all right. Settle down, men!" Fang waved his arms and laughed as the men begin to boo at him. "Come on now! We have here Fa Ping! Our own personal opera house singer. He'll be giving us a special performance. I know we all are tired and exhausted. Please!" he clapped his hands and turned to Ping, "the stage is yours."

Shang had finished his meeting, having to spend his dinner in his tent with Chi Fu to go over the day record and reports. He heard the cheering outside and wondered what was going on with his men. Usually, they would finish dinner and disperse to their tent for the night. He stepped out of his tent to find the men sitting or standing in a large circle, surrounding the center of the mess area. He bit back a gasp as he saw Fang gesturing to a woman in pink and red. How the hell did he get a woman in camp?

Chi Fu pushed after Shang to get a better look and gasped, "a woman! It's forbidden! We must stop this."

Music began to play, and the men fell silent. Shang held his hand up, realizing what was happening. "Be silent. There is no woman here."

"What? Are you blind? There's clearly one down there!" Chi Fu pointed.

Shang glared at him, "shut your mouth. That is an opera singer, one of our soldiers is an opera actor and is giving a performance for the men, nothing more." He turned to watch.

Ping opened his mouth and sang in beautiful soprano, singing the song of the Golden Princess. He had enchanted his audience with swaying and dancing around on the makeshift stage. The gown may have been simple, but it mystically swayed as he moved. His hair swayed under the moonlight, and the lanterns around the stage cast a golden glow upon the inky black.

Shang watched, enchanted as he was the first night he saw Ping dance and sing. He found himself lost in the memories of the past few weeks, of the times he spent with Ping and longed to return to the moments. He suddenly felt homesick, not for his home but for Ping's arms and kisses. The song ended and silence fell upon the area as Ping gracefully lowered himself to his knees, the gown fluttering to stop. After a few long moments of stunned silence, the men burst into cheering and applauding.

Chi Fu stammered, trying to hide that he was also entranced. "Ah, I see. Well, this is not the place for it."

Fang had spotted the Captain and called him over, "Captain Li! Come!" Shang made his way to the center and watched Ling who had stood up and folded his hands demurely, playing the perfect role of a coy woman. He saw the flower in his hair and tinged slightly, seeing it was pink and recalled their conversation of the flower. He turned to Fang who had asked him a question, "I was thinking, if Ping wouldn't mind, maybe he gives a performance once in a while as a respite to the men. Something to encourage us to keep going with the training?"

Shang glanced at Ping and saw him nod once. He took in the pale face that had darkened slightly from the sun in the past week, the smoky eyes, and the red lips. He turned to the audience and saw the waiting looks of the hundred men around them. They looked lively and motivated. "I will consider it."

"Fair enough." Fang replied and turned to Ping, "Thank you for giving the performance." He then turned to the men, "the Captain will consider it!" and everyone cheered. They started to get up and disperse from the area.

"It is no problem, Lieutenant Fang." Ping bowed and turned to Shang, "Captain Li."

Shang gave a small nod and watched as Ping step off the stage and make his way back to his tent, the pink gown swaying behind him and his hair fluttering in the light wind. He turned to Fang and frowned, "what is your intention with the soldier?"

Fang looked confused, "uh, sir?" he glanced over to where Ping had disappeared to, "none, sir. I knew of his performance and thought the men needed some inspiration. We're all feeling the stress of the upcoming war and the training. They were beginning to grumble and complain and I figured if Ping could give performance once in a while to lessen that, perhaps they would feel the motivation and improve."

"I see." Shang murmured, realizing that he had thought wrong. "Very well, I'll see how everyone is with the next few days and decide if Ping would give another performance."

Fang bowed, "thank you, Captain Li."

Walking toward the end of the campsite, he saw a streak of pink heading toward the river and decided to change his course. He needed to talk to Ping. He found the younger man easily, kneeling at the bank of the river under the willow tree that was fast becoming their spot.

"Ping," Shang said as he approached. Ping rose and turned to him, smiling softly. He felt his resolve go weak and clenched his hands. "Good performance tonight. Thank you."

"It was nothing." Ping looked away coyly and brushed the long hair from his face as the wind blew past, "anything to help the men."

"Yes." Shang said and reached up to run his fingers through his hair and sighed, "you look beautiful as usual." He gave the younger man a sweep over, committing the feature to his mind.

Ping had felt elated when Shang appeared but as the conversation dragged on, the feeling turned, and he felt like a stone was sinking his stomach. Cold sweat was starting to break out as he met Shang's gazing eyes, unsure. He asked softly, "Shang?"

"Uh. I think it is best that we stop meeting like this here. I can not have any more distraction. I am sorry." He nodded weakly and turned, leaving before Ping could see him shaking.

Ping looked at Shang in shock. When his mind had processed what Shang had said, he shakingly inhaled and fell to his knees. He clenched his hands on the skirt of the gown and fought back rising nausea and struggled to breathe through his nose. He heaved and panted for a few moments and managed to regain his calm.

Shang had not gone far but slipped behind a tree nearby, unable to keep going as he felt his chest tightened. He was so sure he did the right thing yet it felt so horrible. He heard Ping slump to the ground and winced, expecting sobbing noises to follow, but all he heard was harsh paced breathing and slight choking. He bit his lips and thumped his head back on the trunk hard, he did not care if he had a headache. The pain in his chest was far worse. He had not known how much emotions could hurt until now. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaws, tensing up as he fought the nauseous feeling that was growing. It was like someone close to him had died.

He glanced up at the full moon in the sky through the tree. With all the force of a great typhoon. He thought to himself, it was what he needed to keep going.

Ping rose his head and loosened his fists. He took a deep breath as he looked up to the moon. With all the strength of a raging fire, he decided he needed to do his best. He can not let Shang do this to him.

Both men watched the sky until the clouds covered the moon, casting a dark shadow over the valley. The time ahead was mysterious as the dark side of the moon. They had no idea how things would go from there, and they both felt alone.


References/Notes for this chapter:

I'll Make A Man Out of You song: half of the song is referred here in this chapter and the next half will be in the next chapter. It is used as lines instead of a song.

Military ranking: first and second lieutenant are the position under the captain. Fa Zhou is considered General Lieutenant, a rank under the general title. A single man would have difficult time training about 150 men and to delegate to split up the groups are easier. I am just making up shit here (though the ranking is real).