Book 1 - Chapter 10 – Dashing on bravely with no thought of personal safety (1/2)
Book 1 Chapter 10 – Dashi+ng on bravely with no thought of personal safety
When the sky was still dark early the nexttheir bundles over their shoulders and set off on another journey
It was precisely this sudden decision that would change their destiny Not only theirs, but the Wulin’s as well as the world’s [tian xia] destiny
Their destination was the Great Sui Dynasty’s eastern capital, Luoyang
That day Song Lu said that after their business in Sichuan was done, they would go to Luoyang to look for the legendary Jade Annulus of the He Clan Since it was not so that could be accoh it was already half a year ago, they were still thinking of going to Luoyang to try their luck, to see if they could still cotze River, thethe way, froees When asked, nobody could give the from; these people could not even tell the difference between Sui army and the rebels’ army
One day they arrived at a small county town, and found a sht when suddenly the street was like a boiling cauldron of voices, a total chaos Realizing that so was amiss, the two boys hurriedly packed their bundles and rushed downstairs Pulling aside another guest that was just about to run outside, they inquired of as going on
Theoccupied Liyang It’s just that nobody expected to see his ar, he ran away in fear
The two boys were surprised that Liyang would fall this soon, whichwas disrupted
When they got to the street, they saw people and carriages were fighting over the road, everybody was scra and calling out their child and their h the two boys’ courage was above average, at the end of the day, they were still big kids Infected by this kind of terrible doo atmosphere, immediately their minds were on chaos, so they blindly followed the strea the city
The road was littered with clothes, furniture, household utensils, shoes, everything, that people simply abandoned; evidently the situation was extre on to each other with dear life, afraid that they et separated by this tidal wave of people
Once they were outside the city, they saw covering the mountains and the plains were lanterns and torches of the people fleeing the war They could not believe that such a small county tohich streets ordinarily were sparsely travelled, all of a sudden could produce these o to different direction, following another road away froo north, worst case scenario it won’t be via Liyang”
Xu Ziling nodded, “We should,” he agreed, “We’ll just have to be a bitaround the town, they proceeded to the north
After leaving Cui Shan, this was the first tiht To their surprise, they found out that under the faint starlight, they could still see the road clearly
After walking for several hours, they saw blazing fire filling the whole sky ahead, and they heard shouting and killing noise Panicked, the two boys ran without looking where they were going They took a long detour, and because of this, they completely lost their sense of direction
By daybreak they reached a s for directions, suddenly they heard the sound of hoof beats A group of riders were charging toward their direction from the hillside The two boys were shocked, and quickly hid inside nearby bushes
There were about sixty riders But looking at their all mixed up and chaotic warrior outfits, it was clear that they were rebels’ arreen cloth tied on their are, they shot dead several dogs that ran out toward the several hundred villagers,and old, out of their hos ran away, parents called for their children and children cried out for theirthe two boys could not bear to watch er
If they had one out to uphold justice But they also remembered that even a tyrannical man with superb martial art skill, who ran a Yu[1], still required coordination and all kinds of favorable factors before he ended up cutting his own throat at Wu Jiang [lit Black River] In this turbulent tiible
The green cloth army divided the men and women into two separate rohich were surrounded all around, to prevent anybody fro
It was only then that the two boys understood why upon hearing the rebel aric was the fate of these villagers who heard the news but waited here, who, until the troops entered their village they still did not knoas going on
The two boys had never seen such troopsmilitia troops look fierce and ruthless as if they are ready to kill without blinking an eye, they did not even dare to breath too loud Especially the closest militia troop was only about fifty steps away froerous
One of the riders, who seeed his e men He picked several healthy, robust men, and drove them to the side, where some other riders immediately tied them with ropes They appeared extremely harsh, brutal and inhuman Anybody dared to resist, instantly horsewhip lashed down, beating hi the scene, the two boys’ faces turned green and their lips white, but their hearts were boiling with anger
As those ed away to be forced labor, they wailed and cried out miserably that those who hear it could not bear it anyhteous ar the least bit of compassion
[Translator’s note: the word ‘volunteer army’ or ‘militia’ consist of two characters 义军 – yi jun, the first character literallythe h the womenfolk and the children Suddenly he pulled the reins Pointing toward the croith his horsewhip, he barked, “You, co the villagers, which the rebels army quickly quenched, naturally not without several people fell down in injuries
Watching this, Kou Zhong, two boys’ eyes were bloodshot with fury, but they knew that if they stepped forward bravely right now, they would suffer the same fate It was thisthe e woh, she looked rather pretty, with a well-developed figure; no wonder the rebel leader’s heart waslecherously, fro militia soldier coldly said, “Qi Laoda [boss, see Chapter 1], Du Zongguan [chief er, also Chapter 1] has an order, we e of a cliff, reining your horse; there’s still tihteousness, and he dared to confront his superior The two boys were surprised that there was such man in the rebel army; in their hearts they cheered for hi[2], youany wo this pretty wo her my official wife Ha! Do you think Du Ye [uan’ of Zongguan abovewas about to reply, the village woreen-cloth soldier’s hand The green-cloth soldier was startled and let go his grip With the strength that nobody knehere it came from, the woman dashed out wildly from the encircle and Xu Ziling were hiding
Ihed and cursed while urging their horses to give chase
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling saw the fear in the village wonation Forgetting about their own safety, they picked stones fro place, and threw the stones at the green-cloth soldiers pursuing the village wozhou, theirrocks It is called with a lot of work, the art is perfected, their throw has become accurate This time they made their move without hesitation, also it was a sudden attack that was not anticipated, two of the green-cloth soldiers were hit at the pit of their stomach and fell down froe woth was finally exhausted, she tu suddenly felt his entire body was full of energy, the true qi inside hiers to death, the strength hich he threw the rock was also doubled With great excite, snatch the horse and save her”
The stones were thrown in rapid succession Two other green-cloth soldiers were about to shoot with their arrohen suddenly their cheeks were hit With a round
Hoof beats thundered as the rest of the green-cloth soldiers swar has already pulled the village wo about how to ride a horse, he saw the crowd of soldiers was closing in In his panic, he forgot that he did not know martial art; hastily he rushed forward toward a war-horse, while still dragging the village wo, he leaped onto the horseback To his surprise, he easily landed steadily on the saddle
Thisalready jus on the horse’s belly, but the horse reared on its hind legs and threw hioing around in circles, he was unable to reen-cloth soldiers were only about twenty steps away The several soldiers at the front have already prepared their bows and arrows, but they were afraid of hurting the horse, hence they did not shoot
“Zhong Shao(ye),” Xu Ziling called out, “Co the call, he dashed h in the air and landed on Xu Ziling’s horseback Wrapping his aro!”
[1] Xiang Yu the Conqueror (232-202 BC), warlord defeated by the first Han emperor
[2] There was a real historical character Li Jing (570-649AD), Tang Dynasty general and purported author of ‘Duke Li of Wei Answering E’, one of the ‘Seven Military Classics’ of ancient China; not sure if this Li Jing was the sauess we’ll have to wait to find out
Chapter 10, Part 2
HPC, Zlack, Anh, Jaya, Weed, Jiraiyan, Janger, you are welcome
In this critical moment, where one can have his black hair turns white, the village woman suddenly took over the reins, and then with a shout her tiny feet kicked on the horse’s belly The horse neighed wildly and dashed forward like an arrow, carrying the three people on its back
They saw that very soon they were about to enter a wooded area; ould have thought that there was a dirt path inside the woods? Turning to the left and winding to the right, in a flash they saw the thief soldiers were left far behind on this unfa cheered in their rather strange voice The latter suddenly reer’s, the unfaood-looking, capable woman not only had consummate equestrian skill, she was also fa into the woods, passing through the open fields, cli the creeks, ascending the radually quieted down
When the three people were happy, the warhorse suddenly stuhtly heap While they were crawling to get up, the village woman suddenly cried out in alarm and covered up her chest in panic Turned out her clothes caught on soe part of her snohite breasts The two boys were frightened and busily turning their body around
Noticing that she was about three, four cun [an inch, a thu tossed his bundle to her and said, “All clothes are clean, pick one and put it on, on’t peek”
Rustling noise ensued Soon after the village woman’s bashful voice was heard, “I’m done!”
The two boys turned around and were ht that unexpectedly she was so pretty
The village woman was about twenty, her eyes were deep black, her skin was unusually fair Wearing , she exuded soe woman beckoned to them and said in low voice, “Follow me”
The two boys looked at the foahed inwardly, and dejectedly followed the village woe woman led them into a secluded cave on the e wo low, “Thank you two heroes [the word here is ‘hao han’ – strong and courageoushelp from a sense of justice Xiao Nuzi [little/loorateful”
Addressed by her as ‘heroes’, the two boys were elated that they felt they were high in the clouds; while at the same time they were surprised, because not only this woe worew up in soe wo eyes, with a doubtful expression on their faces, and then she realized that although these two look tall and sturdy, they were in fact still big boys ere younger than she hose faces still looked naïve and childish Involuntarily the bashfulness and fear in her heart subsided considerably
“Nu jia [lit servant/slave; yet another word for loo to self] is called Susu,” she said softly, “Really isn’t a Pujia Village resident, it’s just that I got separated from e people’s kindness in offering shelter tosaid, “Susu Jiejie [older sister, term of endearment] is so pretty, it doesn’t matter whether it was kindness or ill-intention, I am sure a lot of people will scramble to offer you shelter”
Susu’s pretty face blushed as she protested, “It’s not like that!”
Seeing Kou Zhong was starting to flirt, Xu Ziling gave hi have Jiejie lived there? How did you beco added with a laugh, “Jiejie’s equestrian skill is so formidable”
The two boys were used to be despised and scorned by others, so if anybody was a bit kind to them, they were easily touched And now suddenly there was this pretty older sister who regarded the’ – hero], it was obvious that they felt a novel excitement Yet for some unknown reason, Susu’s pretty face blushed even deeper