As the senior and junior sect siblings talked, they walked along, and after an hour, they turned from a secluded winding path onto the main official road.
The official road instantly became lively, but not in the usual sense; rather, both sides of the road were crowded with many refugees.
They were dressed in tattered clothes, some desperately digging up grass and tree roots, some sitting in a daze, some lying on piles of withered grass, barely clinging to life.
Among the crowd were several crude tents.
This place is very far from any city, so what are they all doing here, there’s nothing to eat…? Chu Caiwei watched, puzzled.
When she turned her gaze back to Yang Qianhuan ahead, she noticed that he was already wearing a veiled hat, not draped with light gauze but with thick cotton cloth, the kind so thick that even a beyond-mortal martial artist could not see through it.
“Mum, I’m so hungry…”
By the roadside, a boy of six or seven curled up in his mother’s arms.
Both mother and son were dishevelled and covered in grime, emaciated from hunger.
“Just hold on a little longer, just a little longer and you won’t be hungry any more.”
The young mother hugged her child close, shivering in the cold wind as she said, “Once you fall asleep you won’t feel hungry any more…”
The young mother’s face was covered in bruises, her wrist was stained with dark red blood, and her lips were pale, she seemed to be wounded or sick.
In Chu Caiwei’s eyes was reflected the young woman’s helpless and numb expression, and the child’s yearning for food and fear of hunger.
She walked over and squatted down in front of the mother and son, taking out two steamed buns wrapped in butter paper from her deerskin waist pouch.
In an instant, many bloodshot eyes turned towards her, filled with an indescribable light, so intense that it felt almost inhuman.
The young woman took the steamed buns, shook her drowsy child awake, and urged eagerly,
“Eat, quick, eat…”
At the same time, she stuffed a bun into her mouth with one hand and grabbed a sharpened stone she had beside her with the other, casting a fierce glance around at the refugees eyeing them hungrily, itching to snatch the food.
Throughout, she kept urging her child to eat faster.
Seeing the boy almost choking, his eyes rolling back, Chu Caiwei quickly handed over her waterskin, speaking gently,
“Slowly, have some water.”
While the boy drank, Chu Caiwei looked at the young mother and asked,
“What are you all gathered here for?”
From her experience, refugees survived in roughly three ways: one was turning to banditry, robbing other civilians like locusts swarming the land, and those robbed also became refugees, swelling in numbers.
The second was to gather outside the city, relying on government charity to survive, or foraging desperately for anything edible.
The third was to join up as conscripts and become militiamen.
Few chose the last option, as the government had limited food and could not support many militiamen. Moreover, Qingzhou was at war, and those who joined would soon be sent there.
But these refugees were gathered here, with villages and towns far away, just sitting in the cold waiting to die?
The young woman took a couple of bites of the bun, then stopped eating and held it in her hand, her voice hoarse as she spoke:
“About six li ahead there’s a mountain with a bandit chieftain. Every few days they go raiding, and when they get something, they’ll send some food down here.”
Seeing her child had finished eating, she handed over the bun still in her hand:
“Here, eat it…”
She then looked at Chu Caiwei, scrutinised her for a moment, then pleaded in a low voice:
“Young lady, can you take my child with you?”
Chu Caiwei froze, she definitely couldn’t take a child with her. This boy was about the same age as Xu Lingyin, but much skinnier and weaker, clearly not as easy to care for as Xu Lingyin.
Moreover, she was a person exiled by the Sitianjian, wandering everywhere, how could a frail child withstand such hardship?
She was about to refuse when the young woman suddenly said, her voice mournful:
“I can barely keep him safe any more. The way the others look at him gets stranger every day. Last night, someone tried sneakily to take him away. Thank heavens I woke up in time, so I fought them to the death…”
Chu Caiwei suddenly realised how the woman had got those bruises and cuts on her face and the bloodstain on her hand.
At that moment, Chu Caiwei almost felt unable to breathe.
At that moment, her ears caught the sound of hoofbeats.
She stood up and looked ahead along the main road, seeing a cavalry troop galloping towards them, led by a beautiful woman in a black dress, with thick eyebrows and large, spirited eyes, radiating heroic energy.
“Clatter, clatter…”
Suddenly, the lifeless refugees sprang to life, jumping up from the ground and crowding towards the cavalry.
Crack!
The woman in black flicked her horsewhip, driving back the pressing refugees and shouting:
“Line up properly! Anyone who dares to rush in, I’ll thrash you to death myself!”
The refugees seemed extremely afraid of her and obediently lined up in an orderly fashion.
The cavalry dismounted, each carrying a cloth bag filled with steamed buns, handing one out to each person.
By the time every refugee had received food, the cloth bags were empty.
Sitting on horseback, the woman in black scanned Yang Qianhuan and Chu Caiwei up and down and said,
“Judging by your looks, you’re not refugees. Where have you two come from?”
Chu Caiwei was about to reply when Yang Qianhuan floated up off the ground, turning his back to everyone, and spoke slowly:
“Picking the stars with the moon in hand, there are none like me upon this land.
“If Heaven had not birthed Yang Qianhuan, the Great Feng would be a night that never ends.”
Everyone present, refugees included, was dumbstruck with awe.
The woman in black looked wary, but dared not act rashly. She said gravely,
“Why have you come here, sir?”
She quietly gripped her sabre hilt.
Not long ago, the authorities had sent troops to assault the mountain, trying to wipe them out.
Though they had ultimately been repelled, Li Lang had predicted the government would not give up, and now, at such a fraught moment, a mysterious figure of no small ability suddenly appeared, it was very likely a master sent by the authorities.
Yang Qianhuan said slowly,
“I have come to visit my friend Li Lingsu. Have any of you heard of him?”
…
The sun hung languidly in the sky, bringing not a trace of warmth. In this easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack little mountain stronghold, smoke curled up from cooking fires.
A man in a shabby cotton jacket, carrying a bamboo basket, came to the watchtower at the entrance and shouted at the top of his voice,
“Come down, it’s time to eat.”
“Alright…”
The fellow on lookout duty replied. At that moment, he suddenly wondered aloud,
“Huh, the Fourth Boss is back, why has she brought so many people with her?”
The woman in the black dress spurred her horse towards the stronghold and exchanged the ‘safe return’ hand sign with the guard on the watchtower.
The gates slowly opened.
“Fourth Boss, why’ve you brought those refugees in from outside?”
One of the guards hurried forward to lead the horse, his gaze constantly drifting towards the girl in the yellow dress behind.
With large almond-shaped eyes, a slightly thin face, and dainty, delicate features, she was a rare beauty indeed.
The woman in the black dress said coolly,
“These people are not ours. Just put them anywhere for now.”
After this short explanation, she dismounted and led Chu Caiwei inside.
They walked on, passing one simple wooden hut after another, and road-side yellow-clay dwellings, until they reached their destination, still a yellow-clay house, but this one had a fence around it.
The woman in the black dress called out loudly,
“Li Lang, come out, an old friend is here to see you.”
Before long, three people emerged from the house. The man in the middle was exceptionally handsome and carried himself with great dignity, a perfect gentleman of the mortal world.
On his right was a graceful young woman in a white dress, with a refined air; on his left, a girl in purple, fair-skinned and bright-eyed.
All of them were exceptionally beautiful.
On seeing Chu Caiwei, the young women in white and purple frowned slightly, their expressions growing wary.
“Miss Caiwei!”
Li Lingsu, who had previously been in contact with Yang Qianhuan, was not surprised in the slightest; he looked around and asked,
“Where’s Brother Yang?”
Just then, Yang Qianhuan’s voice rang out from the roof tiles, reciting lines as if in verse:
“If heaven had not birthed Yang Qianhuan, the Great Feng would be a night that never ends!
“Picking the stars with the moon in hand, there are none like me upon this land.”
Everyone turned to look. Atop the black tiles, a figure in white stood with hands clasped behind his back, his robes fluttering dramatically.
This display inspired genuine respect in the white- and purple-clad girls, who took him for a reclusive master.
Even the woman in the black dress, familiar with his poetry, looked on in admiration.
Li Lingsu said to the three women,
“Allow me to introduce you. This is Yang Qianhuan from the Sitianjian. Just call him Senior Brother Yang. He’s the Jianzheng’s third disciple.”
He then made introductions for the women.
The girl in white was called Zhao Susu, her father the county magistrate; the girl in purple was Yu Hanxiu, daughter of a local Jianghu faction leader; the woman in black was Lan Lan, disciple of the Fuyun Sect in Xiangzhou, Refining Spirit cultivation.
“Susu is good at accounting, she helps me manage all expenses for the whole stronghold. Xiu’er used to help her father train and manage their followers; order in the stronghold depends on her. Lan’er’s the strongest in cultivation, in charge of going out with me to rob the landlords.”
Li Lingsu went on, “Miaozhen was right, I really have no talent for warfare. No matter how she tried to teach me, I just couldn’t get it. All the better that my acquaintances are so capable.”
Yang Qianhuan worked up to saying,
“As expected of you!”
Li Lingsu waved him inside, inviting Yang Qianhuan and Chu Caiwei in for tea, saying,
“What brings you here? Is something the matter?”
Seated with her veiled hat, her back to the others, Yang Qianhuan remained silent.
Chu Caiwei answered,
“Senior Brother Yang wanted to outshine Silver Gong Xu, so he decided to donate all the Sitianjian’s property, which displeased Senior Brother Song and got him reported. So we ended up banished by our teacher, the Jianzheng.”
Li Lingsu took a moment, then replied,
“As expected of you!
“But Caiwei, why did you come too? You didn’t have to get involved.”
Chu Caiwei answered somewhat awkwardly,
“Someone gives you food, you help them out. Senior Brother Yang bought me a meal, after all.”
As expected of you… Li Lingsu thought to himself.
Yang Qianhuan said,
“I brought that group of refugees we met on the road here, planning to do as you did, gather the displaced, seize a mountain, and rule as a king. I’ll handle supplies, but for now, they’ll have to stay here in your stronghold.”
Li Lingsu looked at Zhao Susu, in charge of expenses. Seeing her nod, he agreed immediately,
“No problem, no problem. With Senior Brother Yang’s uncanny teleportation techniques, robbing food stores from the wicked rich is a trivial task.”
Yang Qianhuan shook his head,
“I won’t rob them. If I want food, I’ll just buy it.”
At this, Zhao Susu smiled slightly and said,
“Senior Brother Yang, that is no small expense. Grain prices are rising, ”
She hadn’t finished before Chu Caiwei added,
“When we left the Sitianjian, the old Jianzheng gave each of us fifty thousand taels.”
Li Lingsu gaped, “Fifty thousand taels of silver, the Sitianjian is certainly wealthy…”
Chu Caiwei shook her head.
“It’s gold.”
I might as well rob and kill them… Li Lingsu thought inwardly.
Yang Qianhuan spoke in a low voice,
“My purpose this time, along with relieving the people’s suffering, is mainly to gather strength and form a formidable army.”
“Then you plan to fight in Qingzhou? Looks like we’re of one mind, Brother Yang,” Li Lingsu said with feeling.
…Yang Qianhuan paused, then said,
“Naturally, that’s one goal. The other is that this is a plan I devised to outdo Xu Qi’an.”
Although he had no idea how this would actually put Xu Qi’an in his place, Li Lingsu felt delighted just hearing the words “outdo Xu Qi’an” and quickly asked,
“Why do you say that?”
Yang Qianhuan replied calmly,
“That wretched Xu Qi’an keeps currying favour with the masses, constantly stealing the spotlight. No matter what I try, I can’t keep up, it’s truly disheartening.”
Each of his lovers is extraordinary, it’s truly disheartening… Li Lingsu was in full agreement: “Ah, Brother Yang, you understand me.”
Yang Qianhuan continued, his voice steady with self-assurance,
“But lately, I have devised a marvellous scheme. As long as it succeeds, the name Yang Qianhuan will outshine Xu Qi’an.”
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