Chapter 10

On his way out, Zhou Shixiang caught sight of his own bloodstained rat-tail queue still lying on the ground, so he casually picked it up and tucked it into his coat. Song Xianggong and the others paid it no mind.

One's body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents. Though the Manchu Qing had forced him to shave his head, and this money-rat-tail queue was truly hideous, it was still hair and skin from his own body.

Leaving it lying on the ground simply did not sit right with Zhou Shixiang. Thinking back on it later, perhaps it was the ancient mindset of the body's former owner at work.

Along the way, several more men emerged from the woods and silently fell in behind the group. By the time they neared Boss Hu's stockade, the party had grown to a dozen or more.

Judging by these men's nimble movements and familiarity with the mountain paths, they were clearly used to working the ravines.

The mountain path twisted and turned, and all around was pitch black. Even with torches lighting the way, Zhou Shixiang nearly fell several times. Fortunately his reactions were quick, and the two Ge brothers behind him caught him in time, so he came through shaken but unharmed.

After winding through the mountains for the better part of an hour, Boss Hu and his men finally brought Zhou Shixiang to a valley, and the stockade sat within it. Zhou Shixiang glanced around and found he had no way of determining the exact location of this place.

Once inside the stockade, someone came over to receive them. Boss Hu ordered a man to lead the big gray horse away, then invited Zhou Shixiang to rest first. He said nothing about holding a feast, nor did he raise any other matter.

Zhou Shixiang was perfectly happy with this arrangement. He had been startled awake from a dream, and at the moment he was still drowsy. If he did not rest now, he feared his energy would fail him the next day.

Zhao Sihai, however, grumbled a little about Boss Hu's arrangements, but he did not dare say anything to Boss Hu. He could only pull Zhou Shixiang aside and, in a low, apologetic voice, say that it was too late today and he would treat him to wine tomorrow.

Zhou Shixiang hurriedly exchanged a few polite words, and then someone led him to a guest room to rest.

It was called a guest room, but in truth it was just a simple chamber with no furnishings to speak of—only a bed, two stools, and a square table missing one corner. Crude as it was, the cleanliness was decent.

The quilt spread on the bed looked clean at a glance, and the room was spotless; clearly someone swept it often.

A guest follows the host's convenience and takes things as they come. Zhou Shixiang naturally would not quibble over the shabbiness of the room. Compared to a bamboo lean-to, these conditions were already quite good—at least there was a bed to sleep in and a quilt to cover him.

He lay down fully clothed, and his eyelids had just begun to close when someone knocked at the door. Zhou Shixiang's heart tensed. He rolled over, took out a fire striker, lit the oil lamp, grabbed the waist saber taken from You Yunlong, and only then stepped lightly to open the door.

When he opened the door, he saw a young girl standing outside with a basket. In the basket were a bowl of rice, a plate of stir-fried meat, and a bowl of soup made from something he could not identify.

The girl wore a paddy-field robe, the sort commonly worn by Han women of this era. She was not tall, reaching only to about Zhou Shixiang's chest, and her frame looked very thin and frail.

Her development was clearly far behind that of girls her age in later generations. Because the light at the doorway was dim and the girl kept her head lowered, Zhou Shixiang could not make out her face for the moment.

He could only guess that she was around thirteen or fourteen.

Since she had come to deliver food, Zhou Shixiang did not stand on ceremony. He turned and let the girl come in to set the food down, then, as she picked up her basket to leave, casually asked, "What place is this?"

Unexpectedly, the girl made no sound. Zhou Shixiang thought she had not heard clearly, so he asked again, but the girl still said nothing.

Mute?

Zhou Shixiang was a little taken aback. By the light of the oil lamp in the room, he now noticed the girl's features.

Her face was somewhat cute, much like a girl next door from later generations. Pity that her face had no rosy color, but instead a sallow, vegetable-yellow cast, likely from long-term malnutrition.

The girl saw Zhou Shixiang staring at her and grew afraid. She lowered her head a little further, not daring to meet his gaze.

Seeing this, Zhou Shixiang stopped staring at her, to avoid frightening her. He had lived two lives and had just suffered the brutal deaths of his parents, wife, and children.

Naturally he would have no improper thoughts toward a girl whose body had not even matured, nor would he feel any anger toward her.

"Can you speak?" Zhou Shixiang did not dare ask outright whether she was mute, and he tried to keep his voice as soft as possible, so as not to startle her.

This time the girl reacted, but she did not raise her head; she only shook it.

Truly mute?

Zhou Shixiang was stunned. Just as he was about to speak again, the girl picked up her basket, turned, and walked out.

Ah.

Zhou Shixiang sighed, casually pulled the door shut, and felt pity for the girl—so young, and a mute; truly heaven mocks people.

After the pity passed, however, acting on the principle of not wasting food, he wolfed down everything the girl had brought, wiped the grease from his mouth, and contentedly lay down again. This time no one disturbed his sleep, and he did not wake until dawn the next day.

When he sat up in bed, Zhou Shixiang saw the bowls and plates still on the table. He did not bother to tidy them, thinking that since the girl had brought the food, she would surely come back to collect them soon.

After doing a few simple stretching exercises in the room, Zhou Shixiang pushed open the door, intending to find Boss Hu and Song Xianggong—first to thank them for their hospitality, and second to ask them for a guide out of the mountains so he could go to Guangxi and join the Ming army.

Once outside the house, Zhou Shixiang finally got a clear, true look at everything in the valley. The stockade was indeed not large—only a sparse dozen or so buildings, plus a few long shed-like lean-tos.

Not far off, at the foot of the mountain, there was a stream, and he could vaguely make out people washing clothes there. From the posture of the washers, they all seemed to be women.

Women in a bandit den were naturally all decent women carried off by force. Thinking of the mute girl from last night, Zhou Shixiang shook his head.

He knew she must have been abducted too, and could not help worrying about their fate. But then he reconsidered—he could not even protect himself at the moment, so where would he find the leisure to worry about these women?

The sense of justice of later generations was not worth a copper now. Besides, with soldiers running wild and chaos everywhere, these women staying in a bandit den might not be such a bad thing.

At least they could keep their lives. Compared with life itself, what did chastity count for?

He raised his eyes and searched around, but found no sign of Boss Hu and his men, nor any of the other men of the stockade.

Zhou Shixiang found it strange. Where had everyone gone?

Just as he was about to go looking, the girl came along with her basket. When she saw Zhou Shixiang she did not pause, but went straight into the room, gathered the bowls and chopsticks from the table, and then, as last night, lowered her head and made to leave.

"Wait." Zhou Shixiang grabbed the girl's hand and asked, "Do you know where Boss Hu and the others are?"

The girl's small hand was seized by a strange man, and she immediately grew flustered, but she did not dare cry. She could only hurriedly point toward a somewhat larger building in the distance.

When Zhou Shixiang turned his head to look, she gave a sudden jerk, pulled free of his grip, and hurried away with a flushed face.

Zhou Shixiang was entirely absorbed in his own business and did not notice the girl's shyness. Once he had the direction, he hastened to that building to find the men, not even seeing where the girl ran off to.

When he reached the building, Zhou Shixiang heard people talking inside—a noisy hubbub, as if they were arguing about something.

Zhou Shixiang did not know what had happened, and hesitated over whether he should go in. Just as he was hesitating, Song Xianggong spotted him and quickly beckoned him inside. Zhou Shixiang had no choice but to step through the door.

The moment he entered, he saw twenty or thirty men standing inside, Boss Hu and Peng Dazhu among them. There was also one person seated in the room—a young man dressed in the robes of a Ming official, with four saber-bearing soldiers of the Ming army standing behind him.