Chapter 608
Chapter 608
In a forest outside Jiangling, were a few tired woodcutters. As there could be wolves, these woodcutters rested together for safety.
“Old Li! Has your son gotten a wife?” The woodcutters chatted as they gathered.
“Not yet.” Old Li shook his head.
“Not yet? He is already about twenty four years old! There is a family in the village with a sixteen year old daughter. You should have your second son marry her!”
“I also want to but I do not have the money!” Old Li’s replied gloomily. Both the rich and the poor had their own worries. Though his first son have already settled down, his second son could not do so due to the lack of money. He had already spent it all on his eldest son. Now, his second son was twenty four years old and still single.
“Are you going to let your son stay single for the rest of his life?” One person asked.
“Sigh. I can only take things slowly. Maybe some rich person would be charitable.”
At that moment, several pitch black muddy figures appeared from behind the trees.
“Ghost! Run!” A few woodcutters shouted. They abandoned their firewood behind and quickly ran away.
“Ghost?” Old Li was stunned.
“Old Li! Run away! There is a ghost!” One of them from the same village had a conscience. He did not forget to warn Old Li. Unfortunately, Old Li was too old to move nimbly. He could not run like the rest of them. Before he could even run, the muddy creatures have already in front of him.
“Ah! A ghost!” Old Li shouted in fear and fainted. Before he could fall, he was supported by a muddy figure.
“Ghost! Ghost!” Old Li quickly regained consciousness and shouted again. He was then about to faint again. But then he heard voices.
“Old man. We are not ghosts. Look at us carefully. We are people!” A few of the other muddy figures said as they approached. When Old Li still gave them a supercilious look, the figures realized the state of their sorry appearance. They grabbed a cloth to wipe their face. It was enough to at least look like a person. “Old man. Are you still afraid of us now?” The man laughed.
“You are people?” Old Li asked as he looked at muddy figures.
“That’s right!”
“How come you all came out from there?” Old Li was confused. Old Li and the others came to the edge of Jiangling where this forest is to avoid tax. The closest place to this forest was the Huarong Road.
To the locals, Huarong Road was a place full of ghosts. Most of those that entered Huarong Road would never come back out. The ones that do would die a few days later. If it was not because the wood here was good, Old Li would not even approach this place.
“We come out from Huarong Road!” The muddy figure, Lu Xun, replied. After suffering through this tribulation, the army had less than a thousand and five hundred soldiers. Over five hundred people were lost to the Huarong Road. After escaping Huarong Road, they found themselves in a forest. Since they were lost, they sent out scouts who found this old man. They wanted to ask this old man the way to Jiangling.
Though Wu Mi was from Jiangling, she had never came out from Huarong Road before so she was just as lost.
“Old man.” Lu Xun greeted politely. His face may be dirty but his face was still the calming face of a delicate beauty so the old man wasn’t frightened.
“There is no need to be afraid. We just want to ask where we are.” Lu Xun said to Old Li.
Old Li looked at the others carefully and saw from their armors that they were probably soldiers. He understood that the young man in front of him was their leader. “General. This is the border of Jiangling.”
“Jiangling?” Lu Xun’s expression brightened when he heard this. They have reached their destination. “How far is it to the city?”
“It is approximately twenty kilometers from here.”
“Twenty kilometers?” Lu Xun frowned. This distance was not too near nor too far. If they were to keep marching, they could reach Jiangling in a day. However, Lu Xun and the others were too tired and needed to rest. On the other hand, if they were to rest, they may be discovered by Jiangling’s defenders.
The reason Lu Xun went into the Huarong Road with so little men was not because he was confident he could take Jiangling with only two thousand men. He did it because he wanted to launch a surprise attack on Jiangling.
However, Jiangling was too far away. If they were to march there quickly, they wouldn’t have the strength to fight.
“Old man. Is there a shortcut?” Lu Xun asked.
“General. You want to go to the city?” Old Li was not a fool. Though Jiangling had experienced many years of peace, Old Li used to be a soldier who served under the General Cai. He fought at Nanyang but returned to Jiangling when the army disbanded. From his experience, he could tell that Lu Xun and the others were not Jiangling’s soldiers. They may have Jingzhou’s dialect but Old Li knew that Jiangling did not dispatch any soldiers out, nor would they appear at the Huarong Road.
“Yes. We want to go to Jiangling.”
“General. Why do you want to go to Jiangling?” Old Li asked curiously.
“Why are you so talkative? Our general asked you a question. Instead of answering, you reply with a question!” One of the other soldiers said with dissatisfaction.
“Yes, yes!” Old Li quickly nodded knowing that his life was in the hands of others.
“Old man. We are going to Jiangling to look for an old friend. This girl here is the daughter of Jiangling’s Wu Family. We are escorting her home.” Lu Xun said to Old Li.
“The Wu Family? Lord Wu’s family?” The Wu Family had been in Jiangling for many years so it was natural that the people would know of them.
“Yes.” Lu Xun called Wu Mi over. Wu Mi used some water to wash her face, revealing her beautiful appearance. It was like a fairy appearing. On top of that, Wu Mi could speak in proper Jiangling dialect so Old Li believed them.
Had it been someone else, they would not have believed Lu Xun so easily. This is because the Wu Family had already been wiped out. Fortunately for Lu Xun, Old Li lived at a very remote village outside the city walls. He seldom entered the city itself so he knew nothing about what happened to the Wu Family.
“There is a shortcut to Jiangling. You need someone to guide you. However, I need to sell this lumber.” Old Li said awkwardly. He needed to sell his lumber to ensure his family had enough to eat for the month.
“We would not inconvenient you. Look.” Lu Xun waved for one of his subordinate to approach and offer the old man a piece of golden leaf.
“Old man. If you show us the way, this golden leaf will be yours.”
The old man was shocked. Normally, the common people do not see much gold in their entire lives. “No, I cannot accept so much.”
“You can.” Lu Xun replied. “This gold leaf will be compensation for you if you can guide us through this shortcut.”
“It is too much!” Old Li still shook his head, showing the honest and kind hearted traits of the common people form ancient times. They were not like modern people who were only afraid of being undercharged.
The ancient people were different. They were all willing to be helpful but in this case, Old Li was really out of options. He needed the money to feed his family, especially his second son who had a good appetite.
“It is not much! Old man, didn’t you have a second son that is still not yet married? Use this to pay for his marriage. After that, you can be at ease!” Lu Xun said to the old man. He had overheard the woodcutter’s conversation earlier.
“My second son!” Old Li remembered his second son and was now tempted by the golden leaf. With this golden leaf, his second son can finally marry. Old Li would no longer need to worry about his son.
“In that case, thank you general!” Old Li took the golden leaf and kept it.
Lu Xun sighed. “Old man. We will be troubling you.”
“It is no trouble at all!” Old Li who had already accepted the payment naturally had to conduct himself properly. He led Lu Xun and the others towards the shortcut.
****
“Chen Ming. Do you think I made the right move relying on the Second Lord?” Dong Zhi asked one of his advisors. In the past few days, Dong Zhi was at a loss. He did not know if he should really side with Liu Pan.
Before this, he would have been happy to receive Liu Pan’s backing as he was enemies with the Wu Family. He was Jiangling’s governor and yet his influence was weaker than the Wu Family. He could not do anything to the Wu Family who was backed by the Huang Family unless he was also backed by someone like Liu Pan.
He thought of suppressing the Wu Family but he never expected that Liu Pan was so ruthless. Liu Pan wiped out the entire Wu Family. Several hundred people died just like that. All of this was just to strike at the Huang Family. His actions frightened Dong Zhi.
“Your Excellency. Did you have any other choice?” The advisor asked back.
Dong Zhi smiled bitterly at this. His advisor was right. Dong Zhi really did not have any other choice. The moment the Wu Family was wiped out, Dong Zhi was already branded a culprit. Without Liu Pan’s backing, the Huang Family would go after him.
“Not good! Yangzhou is attacking!”