Chapter 52: Old Things

In their haste, they met a Uighur who was traveling with a single woman. The woman was so beautiful, like a clear spring in this barren desert, that his heart pounded. He wanted to look at her but dared not, so he could only steal a glance at her again and again.

The woman soon noticed him. As her horse brushed past his shoulder, he heard her whisper, "Young man, do you know Shuofang City?"

He stammered, "I...I've been there. The city is very high, and there are...many generals and soldiers."

In response to this ignorant answer, she simply pursed her lips, revealing a pair of charming dimples on her cheeks.

While the Huihe people were not paying attention, she leaned over and quickly brushed her lips against his ear, asking, "Can you take something to Shuofang for me? I will definitely reward you handsomely."

All the blood in his body seemed to rush to his ears. Meng Changshan nodded hurriedly amid the surging blood. He took the flower hairpin that she secretly handed to him in a daze and hurriedly held it in his palm.

Who would have thought that the Uighur man looked like a rough man, but his mind was much more than that of an ordinary person. When he saw his appearance, he immediately rushed up to him and twisted his hand, and the flower ornament in his hand suddenly loosened and fell to the ground.

Meng Changshan was so frightened that he stood there in a daze. The Uighur sneered and slapped him to the ground. He turned around and grabbed the woman, spouting a string of Uighur words, furious.

Although he didn't understand, he knew that the matter was exposed, and he climbed up while covering his swollen face.

How could the merchants dare to provoke the Uighurs? The guide urged them on, and the group hurried east, leaving the two men behind.

But the further he walked, the more he couldn't help looking back. He didn't know which one made him more uncomfortable: his swollen and painful cheeks or his burning ears.

Finally, driven by the surging blood in his heart, he turned around hastily and ran back like mad.

He thought to himself that even if the Uighur wanted to beat him madly, he was a man and could always take the blame for her and make things clear between them so as not to hurt her.

But when he ran back to the original place, he saw only the empty desert and the Uighur man lying on the ground, motionless.

Shocked and puzzled, he walked over and gave the man a push. The Uighur man's body turned over, his face covered in blood, his eyes bulging, and he was dead in the desert.

He was so frightened that he turned around to run, but he heard strange noises nearby, accompanied by a woman's shrill and desperate cries.

He approached hesitantly, and when he parted the brush and saw what was happening, he was so frightened that he froze in place.

The group of soldiers naturally discovered him. Someone kicked him and yelled at him to get out.

Looking at the knives in their hands and then at the woman who was being abused, Meng Changshan finally crawled away using his hands and feet.

Just when he had climbed a short distance, the sound of hurried horse hooves rang out across the wasteland. He looked up and saw a black horse running from the other side of the desert. Sitting on the horse was a little boy of only six or seven years old.

He had obviously been trekking alone in the wilderness for a long time; both he and his horse were exhausted and covered in dust.

Only his eyes were dark and deep, as fierce and sharp as a wolf cub on the grassland.

Although he was young, he rode over and understood what was happening in an instant. With his eyes wide open, he urged his horse to charge towards them and knocked over a soldier who was pressing on the woman.

Before the people around him could react, the boy jumped off his horse like a mad tiger. Before the people around him could react, heart-wrenching screams were heard.

The scream did not come from the child, but from the leader of the rebels who was tying his pants nearby.

It turned out that the child had pulled out a dagger at some point and stabbed it into the other person's lower abdomen.

The man was stabbed in the abdomen and fell to the ground in severe pain. He covered his stomach and couldn't get up for a while. He just cried with a distorted face.

Seeing their leader stabbed in the vitals, the soldiers immediately grabbed their knives and rushed towards the child.

The child did not retreat but advanced, relying on his small size, and pounced on the person in front of him. He stabbed the knife into the other person's thigh, and blood immediately spurted out of the boy's face.

But the soldier was brave and strong after all. When he fell, he kicked the child out and threw him into the grass opposite.

Meng Changshan had never seen such a bloody scene. He trembled and propped up his limp body. He saw that the woman who was being abused next to him had suffered a mental breakdown. Her eyes were empty and she was desperately trying to wrap herself with her tattered clothes, as if this could protect herself.

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly took off his coat and threw it to her to help cover her body.

The chaotic soldiers in the rear rushed forward and surrounded the child.

He wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, gritted his teeth and tried to get up with the dagger in hand, but someone stepped on his right hand.

But the boy was extremely ferocious. With his right hand restrained, he grabbed some sand with his left and threw it at the soldiers in front of him, cursing in a hoarse voice: "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"

Just as the soldiers were about to rush forward and chop him into meat sauce, the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang in his ears, and a group of people and horses came galloping from the side.

The group of people came very quickly. The leader was young and handsome. He rode a tall white horse without any other colors. He was wearing a silver helmet and silver armor, like a god descending to the earth.

Hearing this, Qiandeng couldn't help but let out a low "ah".

The man who appeared there at that time, with that age and appearance, and that attire, could only be her father.

She never imagined that her father was involved in the tragedy of the mother and son.

Uncle Meng didn't know why the county lady was acting strangely, so he paused his narration and hesitated to ask.

Qian Deng concealed his surprise and said, "Go on, I'm listening."

Prince Changhua glanced around and saw the disheveled soldiers and the trembling, weeping woman. He immediately knew what had happened and shouted sternly, "Form your ranks!"

The disorderly soldiers tugged at their clothes in a panic and hurried back to their ranks.

One of the soldiers, a goatee-wearing veteran, was older and clearly a seasoned soldier. He knew that looting and sexually assaulting women would be punishable by military law, so he immediately reported, "Your Highness, we were on patrol with Captain Yao when we discovered this woman had poisoned that Uighur. We were interrogating her when this child came over, thinking we had killed him. He went berserk and attacked us with a knife. Captain Yao was killed by his blade. You must enforce this and punish the murderer severely!"

Upon hearing this, the Prince of Changhua glanced back at the Uighur lying in a pool of blood, then at the child with a bloodstained face. He scolded, "The deceased's attire was completely different from his. Why would a Tang Dynasty child risk his life for a stranger? This woman is clearly a relative of his. You have humiliated her, and he fought you to save her!"

Seeing that he saw through the truth at a glance, the soldiers trembled and dared not speak.

The child bit his lower lip and looked up at him. His eyes, which were like those of a wolf cub, seemed to finally reveal a glimmer of consciousness.

"Although you killed someone, it was for a reason. I will absolve you of this crime. Captain Yao killed and robbed innocent people. According to military law, he cannot escape death." The Prince of Changhua looked at the child from his horse, then raised his finger and pointed at the woman, asking, "Is she your mother? You can go home with her."

The child looked at him, then at the woman lying on the ground, tears streaming down his face, mixing with the blood on his face, leaving a mottled mess of blood and tears.

In the end, he just gritted his teeth and shook his head heavily.

The Prince of Changhua was a little surprised and asked, "Who is she to you?"

"I don't know her. I can't take her home. She...she's not anyone to me!"

The child's voice broke, shrill and hoarse.

The woman covered her face and burst into tears.