This chapter opens with a flashback to the events of the previous chapter, in which the emperor of the northern minority states his intention to attack the kingdom of the yao emperor. The northern minority forces are camped at the fortress of Beiling Pass, which is two hundred miles from the capital, and the emperor is worried about his own safety. He asks the emperor to go to battle personally, but the emperor refuses, saying that he has his own responsibilities to take care of the country. The emperor then asks the boy why he looked gloomy. The boy replies that he is gloomy because there are "important matters" to be solved, and that the war will never be won.