Chapter 37: Old Friends Reunited
When the Shu King's rebellion was first quelled, the Emperor of Tianshui dismissed the vassal states and sent court officials to govern the various prefectures. According to regulations, Meng Gao, the magistrate of Yanling, was also appointed as the military commander, controlling a thousand officers and soldiers within the city.
Wen Yao really didn't expect that Meng Gao could be so brave.
She knelt on one knee on the eaves, looked down with a frown at the lights on all over Yushan Villa and the armored soldiers patrolling in groups of three below.
The last time she came here with Gao Shaoshan during the day, Yushan Villa hadn't seen this scene before. Just now, following the people ahead, she realized that the Xu family was using the Yanling garrison as their own private army, actually deploying them to guard their yard at night.
It seems that the fact that "Yan Luo" kills more and more people and has a higher and higher status has put pressure on the two brothers Xu Feng and Xu Fengping. Even though they have expert guards around them, they are still worried.
Very good, mobilizing troops without permission is a more serious crime.
Wen Yao looked up at the undulating eaves ahead and sighed helplessly. She recalled how she hadn't realized Xiaodao's martial arts skills were any good the last time she'd tested them. Climbing high and low, he seemed quite familiar with Yushan Villa.
However, he hadn't made a move after running through so many houses. He must have wanted to go all out and deal with Xu Fenghe or Xu Fengping, who hadn't shown up last time. Unfortunately, the two Xu brothers didn't seem to be at Yushan Villa tonight, and they were nowhere to be found.
Wen Yao held her breath and landed silently, half hidden in the darkness, ready to call for help. The figure standing in front of the window four steps away from her was also wearing night clothes, his face covered by a black and white Yama mask, looking eerie and terrifying.
Suddenly, a sound of breaking through the air was heard, and a white arrow suddenly shot out and hit the back of the man wearing the Yama mask!
There was an ambush.
Wen Yao's pupils shrank, and his right hand quickly reached down to his calf, pulling out the dagger and swung it out. The dagger struck the arrow horizontally, and the long iron arrow suddenly broke in the middle and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The man wearing the Yama mask turned his head slightly, and seeing the broken arrow on the ground, he immediately realized that he had been discovered. He raised his eyes slightly and looked at Wen Yao. Seeing that it was a woman with an unfamiliar face, he immediately stretched out his hand and jumped onto the eaves to leave.
...No, actually the archer on the opposite side is quite powerful. Bro, are you jumping on him to become a sitting duck?
Wen Yao was extremely helpless. She glanced at the sight of several more sharp arrows piercing the air from the opposite side. She immediately rushed forward, picked up the dagger, and in three or two steps, she stepped on the pillar and leaped to the eaves. With a flick of her finger, the Xingyi Sword was unsheathed, and the sword's gleam was like a stream of silver, cutting down the arrow.
Suddenly, a great noise erupted from below, and torches gathered rapidly towards them. Using the flickering light from the flames below, Wen Yao finally made out the man with a longbow on his back, perched on the opposite eaves.
Very good, but looks so strange, I don’t know him.
Someone with this kind of skills couldn't be from the government office. Was he a master raised by the Xu family or someone sent by Prince Yong?
Without time to think further, Wen Yao stepped forward and grabbed Xiaodao's shoulder. As she approached, she was stimulated by the cold air emanating from the leather bag Xiaodao hung at her side. She couldn't help but grit her teeth and take a small breath of cold air. "You ice... Oh, forget it, the Xu family is using experts to catch the turtle in the jar this time. We can't stay here for long. Come with me first."
The people under her command who were about to struggle suddenly stopped when they heard her voice, and their eyes in the holes of their masks were as big as copper bells.
Xiaodao couldn't believe it, and his voice came out through the mask with a slightly distorted tone: "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law?"
"Stop shouting." Wen Yao grabbed his collar and pulled him back, helping him dodge an arrow. "Look at the soldiers underground and the man across the street. They're all here to arrest you. Are you honored?"
The man across the eaves saw how easily Wen Yao and his men dodged his sword, and his expression suddenly grew serious. Someone below looked up and shouted something at him. He listened, and after waving his hand, archers appeared from all directions and drew their bows and arrows, aiming them at Wen Yao and Xiao Dao.
"I'll take you away first, to Yanling City, and we'll talk later." Wen Yao's eyes suddenly turned cold, and the Xingyi Sword in her hand rang with a trembling sound. She swung the sword with one hand, and the sword energy swept down like a rainbow, instantly slashing away the surrounding arrows. Then, holding the small knife by the collar, she dashed from roof to roof, taking two steps and rising into the air, shaking off the pursuers behind her and plunging into the dense forest outside Yushan Villa.
She was so fast that only the Leafman Hao Chunhe could rival her. Even if Xiaodao tried to use some strength to lighten her load, he had no chance. Eventually, he simply gave up and let himself be carried like a chicken.
The two of them raced through the treetops, their shouts echoing through the air. Wen Yao looked back and saw that the pursuers were even riding fast horses, their desperate attempts baffling her.
I have killed eleven people, why didn’t I receive this kind of treatment before?
Yanling City was right before their eyes, and the gates had long been closed. Wen Yao held the knife steadily in one hand, his other hand instinctively reaching for a dagger as he led his men up the cliff, just as he and Hao Chunhe had done.
Xiaodao quickly took out a hook with a flying claw from his pocket and raised his hand to indicate that he could do it: "Sister-in-law, uh, I, I can do it myself."
Wen Yao looked at him, let go of him and patted his shoulder.
Xiaodao hesitated, the ferocious mask on his face losing some of its allure in his clear eyes. He led Wen Yao skillfully around to a secluded part of the city wall, raised his arm to throw the hook rope, and climbed up with swift movements.
When he climbed back into the city from the city wall in the same way, Wen Yao had already been waiting for him on the ground with his hands folded on his chest for a while.
A lot of questions were stuck in Xiaodao's throat. He looked at the unfamiliar face of "Sister Zhao" and the majestic sword behind her. He had many things to ask but didn't know where to start.
But soon he won't have to worry about this problem anymore.
As soon as he landed, the clashing of swords and knives echoed all around him, a sound so distinct in the still night that it made one's teeth ache. Suddenly, from every alley in the flat, deserted street in front of Yanling City's gates, a multitude of soldiers, dressed like the pursuers from Yushan Villa, surged forward, swords drawn.
There was actually someone lying in ambush here in the city.
Xiaodao was a little shocked, and his face suddenly looked unhappy.
Wen Yao sighed, "With such a big scene, it seems like they really want to catch you. But it doesn't seem like it was for those eleven lives. Besides killing people, did you do anything else?"
Xiaodao was not used to Wen Yao's unfamiliar face. He trembled a few times, lowered his head and said nothing.
In just a few breaths, the people in the front saw the two men in black standing in front of the city wall, and immediately rushed towards this side waving their long swords.
They were all just following orders, Wen Yao didn't want to hurt anyone.
She looked up at the sky, estimated the time, then picked up the knife again, jumped onto the roof and headed towards the bustling city.
The two men ran along the rooftops, pursued below by soldiers holding swords and torches. At every street corner stood a clerk in yamen uniform, banging gongs. The clear, resounding gong sound echoed through the streets and alleys, and the clerks shouted at the top of their lungs, "Catch the culprit in the 'Yanwangzhu' case. Close your doors, everyone! No strangers allowed!"
The quiet Yanling City, which had been half asleep, was awakened by the waves of noise. Many people climbed out of bed, carefully lit candles, put on clothes, and leaned against the windows to squint at the chaos outside.
It was estimated that Meng Gao and his men had mobilized all the troops defending Yanling. The streets were filled with a murderous atmosphere. The firelight reflected from swords and knives, and the soldiers even began to push open doors and search every house.
Wen Yao still remembered that when he accompanied Zhao Xuanxu to visit Yanling City, he saw a deep alley where wine was sold. There were many winding alleys in it, and one of them led directly to the street outside the clinic.
She turned around and ran straight into the alley with the knife. After temporarily shaking off the pursuers, she stopped at a brick and stone protrusion under the eaves where two houses were connected.
"Okay, tell me." Wen Yao loosened Xiaodao's wrinkled collar: "What's going on?"
Xiao Dao took a step back, his back pressed against the wall in the narrow space. His dark eyes looked at Wen Yao quietly, and he hesitated, "Who are you? And who is Brother Zhao?"
Okay, okay, I’ll answer you first.
"A powerful prince came to the city a few days ago." Wen Yao's eyes curved and he said, "I thought you had heard of it."
Prince, the current Tianshui royal family is surnamed Zhao.
Xiaodao's expression changed: "Brother Zhao...is it Prince Yan?"
The King of Yan who is rumored to be powerful, unpredictable, and murderous?
But Brother Zhao is clearly a gentle and polite person, a rare gentleman.
"Let me tell you first, we didn't set out to get to know you. We just rented a house and you brought the vegetables to our door." Wen Yao paused, the smile on his face quickly fading as he got back to the point: "You disguised yourself as Yan Luo and killed the Xu family. Was it to avenge those tenants?"
Xiaodao lowered his head and said nothing.
"Young man." Wen Yao: "Are you trying to eliminate harm for the people?"
Xiaodao let out a breath, closed his eyes and shook his head, then took out a leather bag from his waist and opened it.
Wen Yao peeked inside and saw thumb-sized ice balls emitting a faint chill. The ice balls had melted a bit by now, making the leather bag feel damp and cold.
"Yes," Xiaodao said bluntly, "Those people relied on the Xu family to wantonly oppress the tenants. They took six-tenths of the harvest from an acre of land. How could the people below them survive? Not only that, they treated people like pigs, sheep, and livestock, beating and scolding them at will, and insulting their wives and daughters. Over the years, they colluded with the government and forced countless people to death. Even Ayin's parents died at the hands of the Xu family and those evil people."
He was an orphan with no name or surname. It was only thanks to the kindness of Ayin's parents that he was able to survive the turbulent winter in the past few years and to be able to follow the team to do odd jobs in the tile houses everywhere to earn a living.
"Do you know how I got my nickname?" Xiaodao took off his mask and held it in his arms, smiling at Wen Yao: "I don't really have any talent for martial arts. Of all the skills I've learned, the one I'm best at is knife throwing."
As he spoke, he pulled an ice ball from his leather bag and flicked it toward the alley below. The ball shattered suddenly upon the stone bricks, transforming into gleaming shards of ice. In this weather, it wouldn't be long before these shards melted away, leaving only a thumb-sized circular mark on the wall.
Wen Yao's previous guess was finally confirmed at this moment.
"Later, I met my master. He saw how good I was at throwing knives, so he asked the troupe leader to give me my skills. That's when I started learning martial arts from him." Xiaodao blinked, recalling his youthful wanderings. His expression softened, a sense of being in another world. "My master taught me many skills, but in the end, the best I used were the throwing knives I used to make a living in the troupe."
Wen Yao was speechless, "Your master..."
"He's gone." Xiaodao said lightly, "I used to be in Yanling. After he left, I had no other place to go, so I came back."
The first thing he did when he came back was to visit the kind couple who had helped him. Unfortunately, when he found the house by memory, he found that everything had changed.
The people who currently live there told him that the couple had sold their land and went to work as tenants in Yushan Villa.
Being a tenant is not a good job. The couple is hardworking and capable. They have cows at home and live a pretty good life. Why would they sell their land to become tenants?
He was surprised at the time and immediately rushed to Yushan Villa to meet his benefactor.
But I didn't see the couple, but only saw Ayin, who was huddled in a dilapidated shed and covered in dirt.
The tenants nearby told him that Ayin was the couple's daughter.
Ayin's father once clashed with a steward in the Xu residence and was beaten to death on a field ridge. Ayin's mother persevered for her daughter, tilling the fields during the day and washing and mending clothes for the city dwellers at night. One day, while rushing back from the city, she fell into a roadside ditch and never got up again.
Human life is like grass.
The powerful wind can easily destroy a once happy family, leaving only a young daughter wandering in the world.
"The law in this world is the king's law, not the people's law." Xiaodao sighed, then couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Apart from taking care of Ayin, I don't know how to repay the favor. The Xu family has no self-restraint at all. Yesterday, those tenants had to endure their clutches day after day. I won't accept it. I will use my own means to get back the justice that the king can't get."
But the world is just the world after all.
Those who take pleasure in revenge, roam the world with swords, and live outside the court's rules are destined to dislike these jianghu people who repeatedly challenge the authority of the government with their superior martial arts. No matter where you rank on Bai Xiaosheng's expert list, even if your martial arts are unparalleled, what does it matter - can you really withstand the imperial court's thousands of troops?
"Oh, right." Xiao Dao suddenly looked at Wen Yao and asked, "Thinking carefully, I misunderstood you and Brother Zhao before. Oh, no, I was rash before and misunderstood the relationship between the young lady and His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan. Now that I think about it, I don't know the young lady's name. I'm really sorry."
"Squeak."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carved wooden window on the second floor was suddenly pushed open.
Wen Yao reacted quickly, grabbing Xiaodao's neck as soon as the noise started, intending to drag him to another position. The next second, a slightly amused voice drifted out of the window, and she froze in place.
"You've undoubtedly heard of her name, little brother." A man in a gray-and-white floral gown, a silver crown tied high, and a head of dark hair stood by the window, his hands behind his back, followed by a black-clad waiter. He gazed across the flickering candlelight, his deep eye sockets gleaming with a smile. His stern brow softened, and his thin lips curled into a smile. "Xingyi Jian Wenyao, look at the commotion all over the city. Your elegance remains as strong as ever."
Wen Yao was stunned for a moment, then looked at him with an expression as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight: "Bu Guanlan?! You came out of the island?!"
The shock on her face was so clear that Bu Guanlan shook his head and laughed. Then he looked up at her and said, "I told you it's not that I can't leave the island. I just didn't want to before."
Xiaodao, who was standing by, was even more shocked. He was doubly shocked.
"Xingyi Sword Wenyao?" He murmured. "Liuli Island Bu Guanlan? Two legends in front of me, magical, so magical."
Wen Yao said, "I find it magical too." The world is so big, and Yanling is not near the sea, so how come she can just stand anywhere and open the window to see Bu Guanlan inside?
She recovered, cleared her throat, and said, "I just came out of Willow City not long ago. I heard that you are now the top star of Bai Xiaosheng?"
Bu Guanlan raised his eyebrows and said nothing, but Luo Jiu, who was standing behind him, couldn't hold it back and smiled with his hands covering his lips.
"Now that you're out, it's still uncertain." Bu Guanlan put one hand behind his back and said in a deep voice, "If you want, we can have a fight and see."
"No, no, I'm running for my life and don't have time to fight with you." Wen Yao said as he glanced outside the alley. Seeing a crowd of soldiers coming towards him, he reached out and took the mask from Xiaodao's arms and put it on himself.
"Go home now. I have prepared a horse for you. You can take Ayin and leave Yanling after dawn." Wen Yao said and turned to leave.
Xiaodao instantly understood Wen Yao's intention. She actually wanted to help him divert the pursuers. How could this be possible?
In a hurry, he quickly reached out and pulled Wen Yao's wrist, and was about to refuse.
"I'm your senior, right? You should listen to what I say." Wen Yao turned around and looked at him. Her face, covered with a scarf, revealed only a pair of startlingly bright eyes. "Ayin can't lose you. She's been scared today. Go back and stay with her. I'll be fine."
As he spoke, Wen Yao couldn't help but look up at Bu Guanlan.
It was also a coincidence that she had helped this man to steal the glass statue of Guanyin from the Western Dynasty Palace. She met Hao Chunhe and was chased all over the city by the Red Guards.
The scene today is very similar to that of the past.
"Are you working for the Prince of Yan?" Bu Guanlan pushed the window open a little, and as Wen Yao was about to leave, he asked the same question that Lou Chengyi, Hao Chunhe, and the others had asked: "Why?"
Being confined in Bianliang and involved in the biggest trouble in the world - this is really not something Wen Yao would do.
Wen Yao didn't say anything, waved his hand, and floated down to the eaves of the opposite house and left.
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