Chapter 66 If you die when you get down the mountain, I will carve a tombstone for you
Three days later, Xie Zhao's injuries had healed a lot and he could move freely, but he should not walk too much.
This was the doctor's advice, but he didn't listen. He endured the pain and sent Lu Tingwan down the mountain.
After passing the narrow road of Qingyao Mountain, across a wide river, there was Fufeng Town on the opposite side. The two stood at the end of the wooden plank road bridge.
The spring breeze blows past with the tide, and the roaring sound covers up the throbbing in my heart.
"After crossing this bridge, you will reach Fufeng Town."
Xie Zhao carried a bow on his shoulder, and Lu Tingwan carried a small bag, which contained dry food given by the villagers and some travel expenses prepared by Xie Zhao for her.
With the arm crossbow tied on her wrist and the wide sleeves covering her face, she changed into men's clothing. Xie Zhao's eyes involuntarily fell on her delicate features, and he always felt that he could not see enough of this face.
Lu Tingwan simply regarded his increasingly wanton gaze as a token of gratitude to the villagers.
"Thank you for your care these days." Lu Tingwan smiled sweetly. A gust of wind rolled in from behind her, and the hairband hit her cheekbone. Xie Zhao hesitated for a long time, and finally reached out and gently took the hairband off her.
That was a rare tenderness that Lu Tingwan saw in Xie Zhao's expression, and he didn't know when he started to have such feelings for her.
Perhaps it was because she had been thinking hard all night about how to make a living for Baita Village and had given him advice time and again, that he had not been able to find a soul that could resonate with him in Qingyao Mountain for a long time. It was a rare comfort that they could not find together.
Xie Zhao quickly pulled his hand back, his lips moving several times, but no sound came out.
"I should go now." Lu Tingwan said first.
"Hmm," Xie Zhao said, his face slightly disappointed. "Do you still remember how to use that crossbow?"
"Remember," Lu Tingwan said with a flamboyant smile, as refreshing as a spring breeze, "Didn't I show it to you before we went down the mountain?"
"That's right," Xie Zhao smiled, "Take care."
Lu Tingwan turned around and stepped onto the wooden bridge. Halfway through, she wanted to say something, but Xie Zhao was no longer at the bridgehead.
Lu Tingwan stood still, sighed, and rubbed his wrist with his arm, muttering to himself, "Baita Village shouldn't be your final resting place. One day you'll be able to fly high and far."
After a long pause, she turned back and headed towards Fufeng Town. A figure stood steadfast on the rocks, gazing in the direction she passed until her view was completely obscured by the forest. The tide washed away the reluctance they felt after their brief time together, along with the radiance of Xie Zhao's rare tour of Qingyao Mountain.
On the eve of sunset, Lu Tingwan rushed to Fufeng Town and found an inn to rest before setting off again the next day.
The inn was full of merchants coming south from Kyoto and Binzhou. The bandit-suppression troops sent by Kyoto swept through the bandit camp in Binzhou, and in just one month, they seized fourteen bandit dens of various sizes in Binzhou.
The morale of the army was greatly boosted. Cheng Xianzhi stood on horseback. Han Zhou threw a water bottle over and Cheng Xianzhi took a big gulp.
"After passing Binzhou, we'll soon reach Tanzhou. According to the prefect's memorial, the most difficult place in Tanzhou is the Baita Village on Qingyao Mountain. The bandits in the village are well-armed, and taking advantage of the mountain, they are easy to defend but difficult to attack. The noise from the bandit suppression campaign along the way is so loud, they must have been well prepared."
Listening to Han Zhou's description, Cheng Xianzhi also vaguely realized that this trip to Qingyao Mountain was not as simple as Binzhou. He did not retreat. For him, whatever goal he wanted to achieve, no matter how difficult it was, he had to succeed.
"Although Qingyao Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it can actually be conquered in just one way," he said confidently.
While the army was resting at camp, he jumped off his horse. Han Zhou unfolded the blueprint, and Cheng Xianzhi stroked a spot with his knuckles. "There's only one path down Qingyao Mountain. If we can't attack, and we have to defend the path to the death, it depends on who can outlast us."
Although this is also a way of fighting, it will hurt the enemy by a thousand and your own by eight hundred.
"It hasn't reached that point yet." Han Zhou said.
"That's right. It depends on how these bandits want to fight. Whether they retreat or attack, I have a chance of winning."
Xie Zhao and others would take a different route every time they went down the mountain, one reason being to hide their whereabouts, and the other to avoid being seen.
However, there is a road that is the only way to transport goods, and this is what Cheng Xianzhi called the road crossing.
Lu Tingwan ordered a cup of tea and a bowl of vegetarian noodles, while the guests around him talked about the recent situation in Binzhou.
"That's good. From now on, we don't have to worry about being hijacked by bandits when we're doing business and transporting goods." said one of the merchants.
The people traveling with him also sighed, "Yes, the imperial court's suppression of bandits this time is to completely eliminate these bandit troubles and naturally leave no future troubles. The series of bandit dens in Binzhou have been completely wiped out, and the next bandit king in Qingyao Mountain will definitely not be able to escape."
The bamboo chopsticks in Lu Tingwan's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and the people around him couldn't help but look over.
"This little brother is going to Kyoto?"
Lu Tingwan didn't answer but asked, "My two elder brothers just said that all the bandit dens in Binzhou have been cleared out. Is there any evidence to support this?"
"What's the evidence? The head of the six ministers of Kyoto, Minister Cheng, was still young and heroic. At the sound of a command, his horse's hooves trampled through the bandit's den. Boxes of gold on the bandit's bed gleamed with golden light, and their heads were hung on the Binzhou city wall for public display. How could it be fake?"
"Are you saying that the person leading the army to suppress the bandits is the newly appointed Minister Cheng?"
"Exactly."
Lu Tingwan's heart suddenly beat.
She looked extremely unhappy.
No wonder!
No wonder Xie Zhao had to go down the mountain frequently to forge weapons, and was determined to let her go down the mountain.
He had known the news for a long time, but he didn't tell her.
For some reason, Lu Tingwan felt increasingly uneasy.
Cheng Xianzhi has arrived in Tanzhou...
If their goal was just to suppress the bandits, they wouldn't make things difficult for her. But if they knew she was here, and was still involved with the bandits, would they...
"I'm afraid the bandits in Baita Village won't be able to run rampant for more than a few days. By then, we merchants won't have to worry anymore."
Lu Tingwan was worried: "But I heard that the bandits in Qingyao Mountain never troubled the common people, and they wouldn't hang their heads on the city wall."
Of course what she said was true, but these people were also traveling merchants, and who knows if any of them had their goods stolen by the people from Bai Ta Village.
Xieke's words became increasingly fierce, and he was filled with anger towards the people of Baita Village. Lu Tingwan gradually lost her thoughts amid the voices, drifting like a wisp of smoke. She seemed to hear the sound of horses' hooves fighting, the sharp sound of arrows shooting, and the tip of a knife hitting a huge rock...
Blood flowed like a river on Qingyao Mountain, and the wooden building of Baitazhai was burned to ashes.
Suddenly, she was broken out of her reverie by a warm current, and she regained her composure, put down a few copper coins, and left the inn.
After Xie Zhao returned to Baita Village, he ordered his men to go down, but he was still in the main hall groping for the topographic map. He was not completely sure that he could resist Cheng Xianzhi's army of 10,000 men!
There are only two hundred people in Baita Village, including the elderly, the weak, women and children.
The blueprint for the Sunset Bow was not yet completed. He folded the blueprint and put it back into his sleeve pocket, then changed his clothes. The wound on his abdomen was torn due to excessive movement when going down the mountain. There was a layer of blood red on the edge of the gauze. He tore off the gauze himself, changed the dressing, and wrapped it with a new layer.
"I want to see Xie Zhao, don't stop me."
"Miss Jiang, didn't the boss ask you to leave the mountain? Why are you back again?"
Bai Tu came back from patrol and saw a familiar figure outside the main hall from a distance.
"Why is Jiang Yanli back?"
The brothers behind him jokingly said, "Could it be that you are reluctant to leave the boss?"
Bai Tu glared at him and the man fell silent.
Xie Zhao in the house heard the noise at first. The voice was very familiar, but he saw with his own eyes that Lu Tingwan went to Fufeng Town. She wanted to go down the mountain so much that she would definitely not come back.
Therefore, he didn't think about it that way.
But the sounds outside the house became clearer and clearer, and then the curtain was lifted, and a gust of wind came in, along with that figure, into the eyes.
Lu Tingwan was enveloped by the corridor lights, and the moment she stood under the curtain, she seemed like a messenger dispelling the darkness.
Xie Zhao thought it was an illusion, but Lu Tingwan's questioning voice shocked his eardrums.
"Xie Zhao," the crossbow was thrown directly at Xie Zhao's face from a distance, "Don't think that an arm crossbow can make me go away."
"Did you ask me to come down the mountain because you knew that Kyoto had sent troops to suppress the bandits?"
She leaned against the wooden table and looked down at him. Her upper body was wrapped in white cloth, and her shoulders were full of strong muscles. With just a little force, she could break Lu Tingwan's slender neck. If such a slender and white neck was held in the palm of her hand and admired, it might be quite interesting.
Xie Zhao stared at her for a long time, a blush appearing on her flawless white skin. She came up from the foot of the mountain without stopping, and she didn't even have time to catch her breath.
"Have some tea to moisten your body." Xie Zhao was at a loss as to what to do, so he could only hand over the untouched tea on the table.
Lu Tingwan's mouth was dry, but he looked as if he didn't care, which made her even more angry.
"Xie Zhao, if you want to die, could you please not take your brothers with you?"
"Then what are you back for?" He adjusted his armband, grabbed Lu Tingwan's wrist, and tied it back together like the first time.
"Do you want to die with me?" Xie Zhao asked this question for some unknown reason.
Lu Tingwan poured a cup of hot tea over to him, a familiar action, but Xie Zhao still did not dodge, and the tea dripped down the bridge of his nose.
Lu Tingwan only then noticed that the gauze he had just changed was stained with blood.
His injuries had not yet fully healed, so how could he pick up his sword and fight against the army?
"That's 10,000 troops. Taking down Baita Village is as easy as crushing an ant. Xie Zhao, why don't you take another route?" Lu Tingwan tried to persuade him.
"I won't risk the lives of the villagers. If I die, the worst that can happen is that my body will be torn apart. The villagers are unarmed. As long as they say they were coerced by me, the army will not make things difficult for them." He had planned everything.
As for why she came back for this, she was originally reluctant, but now she felt that even if she died here, she would have no regrets.
At least someone remembers Xie Zhao.
He gave a faint warm smile, and then laughed foolishly without restraint. Lu Tingwan didn't know what he was thinking.
"Perhaps," Lu Tingwan said calmly, lowering his voice, "Perhaps, I can try to negotiate with the army. If you are willing to surrender, I will save your life and the lives of your brothers..."
"Surrender?" Xie Zhao tilted his head.
He would not surrender. He hated those officials who bullied others by taking advantage of their power. If they asked him to surrender without a fight, it would be an insult to his pride.
Bai Tu and his brothers won’t do that either.
"Surrender, and as long as the green mountains remain, you will never worry about having no firewood." Lu Tingwan grabbed his wrist tightly, and it took two palms to hold his wrist bone.
"You have a long way to go, maybe one day..."
"One day," Xie Zhao interrupted her, "if you can still remember Xie Zhao, it will be my comfort."
"You..." Lu Tingwan knew that she was powerless to change the situation. She seemed to be back to that night when Zhou Huaer closed her eyes under the Chunfeng Tower. She confronted Cheng Xianzhi, trying to find the answer from him.
She suddenly realized that there was nothing she could do about the things in the world and not everything could be changed.
Half a year later, he and Cheng Xianzhi were still in hostile camps, and she couldn't change anything.
"If you die and I'm still alive, I'll carve a tombstone for you!"
"With your words, even if Xie Zhao dies, it's worth it." The moment he tied the crossbow back, he had no intention of letting her stay in Baita Village.
When Lu Tingwan turned around, the back of his neck was shaken and he fainted.
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