Chapter 3087: Heart Cold

The border was already within sight, and Xia Liejie didn't want to get tangled with them, so he took out a few ingots of gold and silver from his bosom and had the guards hand them over, asking as he did so: "You're this close to the border—why don't you flee to Shen State?"

The mountain chieftain weighed the gold and silver, then gave a heh-heh laugh: "Why flee? We've been waiting a long, long time for the descent of the Heavenly God. At last, the Heavenly God has finally descended upon Tuhun State, and they're coming right away to rescue us!"

Xia Liejie frowned: "Rescue from what? Don't you know the descent of the Heavenly God will bring suffering upon all living things?"

"What does the suffering of living things have to do with us? Our lives have already been hard enough—after the Heavenly God descends, could it get any worse? The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is so rich, yet we still can't grow much grain in these mountains. The villagers toil every day just to barely fill their stomachs. Look at those officials and nobles in the capital— their storehouses are piled high with the people's fat and grease, they eat until oil drips from their mouths, fatter than pigs! Hehe, when the Heavenly God descends to the mortal realm, their good days will be over."

"And what does their good days ending have to do with you? The Heavenly God won't give them anything to you, either."

"With Biji State in chaos, we naturally have our chance." The mountain chieftain laughed: "Haven't you heard the saying? One seeks wealth and honor in peril."

"I see." Xia Liejie nodded: "Money given—let us pass."

Out of respect for the two fire wolves, the mountain folk were quite agreeable and moved the blocking logs aside.

The carriage started moving again.

The wife then said: "These people aren't so bad-hearted—they just wanted to ask for some money."

"Not bad-hearted?" Xia Liejie shook his head: "Our guards are highly skilled and wield formidable weapons—they didn't want to suffer heavy losses, otherwise they'd surely have caused financial harm and loss of life. See how practiced their movements are? They must do this sort of thing all the time."

The old lady muttered resentfully: "These wicked things— they ought to meet with retribution."

"Don't worry." Xia Liejie sighed: "They fundamentally have no good ending to look forward to."

"How do you know?"

"They think the Heavenly God can't harm them because they already have nothing." One who has nothing—why would anyone else want to harm them? They're worthless, right? "But they're wrong. In the eyes of the Heavenly God, they still have value."

The wife asked: "What kind of value?"

"The value worth taking over Biji State, this little sesame-seed-sized country."

This time, there were no further complications—the Xia family made it to the border quite smoothly. As the mountain folk had said, the border garrison had already vanished. The empire's gate stood wide open and undefended.

And on the other side of the border, Shen State's troops were heavily garrisoned.

The Xia family's paperwork had already been prepared by someone on the other side; they gave their names and passed through smoothly.

Upon setting foot in Shen State's territory, the Xia family members all let out a breath in unison. At last, they had escaped.

Xia Liejie had just crossed the border when he saw someone running over from not far away, waving at him while shouting: "Xia, my lord!"

"I'm no longer anyone's 'my lord'." Xia Liejie introduced him to his family: "This is my friend Liu Baobao, whom I met in Shen State. He came specially to receive us. By the way, he was also an old friend of the former Emperor Jiuxiao."

Xia Liejie's son exclaimed in surprise: "You're a friend of Emperor Jiuxiao?"

This man looked like a short, plump middle-aged merchant, with a bit of the air of a market trader about him. The legendary Emperor Jiuxiao must have been a heaven-sent genius—how could he be friends with someone like this?

Liu Baobao gave a light cough: "More than twenty years ago, Emperor Jiuxiao lived in Heishuicheng, on the edge of the Panlong Wasteland. Back then he was merely the son of the Jinzhou Governor, and I often served him."

More than twenty years ago, he was one of He Da Shao's wine-and-meat companions in Heishuicheng. Later, He Chuanhua annexed the old state, proclaimed himself king, and the Liu family also reaped great benefits. A large portion of the business in the northwest of Balin Prefecture was allocated to his family.

This is what they call "when one person ascends to heaven, even his chickens and dogs rise."

And the Xia family's business dealings have involved many interactions with Liu Baobao.

Liu Baobao then said to Xia Liejie: "You've rushed all the way here—you must be exhausted. Tonight, rest in the border town; tomorrow morning, I'll have someone send you to the capital."

"Many thanks, Brother Liu." Fleeing in exile, Xia Liejie is also especially humble.

"What are you talking about?" Liu Baobao laughed: "My king has long invited you over, saying you've been wasting your talents in Biji State. Now that you're rising to prominence, my lord, don't forget to pull me up as well."

"Brother Liu, you've sent charcoal in the snow—I dare not forget."

……

The previous night, due to staying awake all night because of the descent of the demon god, and then a full day of travel by boat and carriage, Xia Liejie fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He didn't even know how long he'd slept when he was suddenly awakened by the noise outside; upon opening his eyes, it was already daylight.

He put on his clothes and went out to see that Shen State's officials and soldiers were all crowded in front of the outpost, pointing and gesturing toward the mountains.

The border between the empire and Shen State just happened to be a mountain gully. Shen State's border post was on higher ground, and from the outpost's position, one could just see the village below the mountain.

The sun had already risen, and the villagers were moving about, chickens and dogs leaping wildly—everything could be seen clearly from the outpost.

The old lady was also at the outpost, arms crossed as she looked down.

Xia Liejie pointed and said to her: "That's Tangxia Village."

"Ah?" The old lady wondered: "Are the mountain bandits who robbed us today from this very village?"

"Yes."

Now that village looks like it's fallen into utter chaos, and the noisy sounds are coming from there.

Xia Liejie saw that the village seemed to be full of people coming and going—some dressed as villagers, others as soldiers. Then he looked again: it was villagers fleeing, soldiers pursuing, the whole village in a chaotic mess like a pot of porridge.

Once villagers were pinned down, the soldiers would bind them on the spot, tying them up like piglets and leading them away.

Whenever a villager tried to flee or resist, they were immediately kicked to the ground and subjected to a barrage of clubs and fists until subdued, then dragged up and forced to keep moving.

Just then, a sturdy man leapt out from the village corner, knocked aside several soldiers in succession, and charged toward the border.

"Hey hey, that's him!" The old lady, though old, had sharp eyes and saw clearly: "That's the bandit leader! Back then he even said he didn't want to cross the border! What's going on here?"

Liu Baobao also arrived, rubbing his hands and saying: "Looks like your Biji State's soldiers are arresting people."

"Not just that." Xia Liejie frowned: "More than half are soldiers of Tuhun State."

That soldier's armor and uniform are from Tuhun State.

Before, Tuhun State's army would occasionally cross into Biji State to conscript laborers, but never had it been this outrageous—even Biji State's soldiers were now joining them, arresting their own mountain folk!

Seeing this scene, Xia Liejie's heart turned cold, and he secretly rejoiced that he had made the correct decision.

The bandit leader ran fast—just about to leap over the border line. On this side, Shen State's troops watched the spectacle without minding the fuss, still grinning and cheering him on.