Chapter 110: Not Yet Arrived in Yang Zhou 1: Ominous Clouds [Thank You All for Your Support

Above the Bianhe River, during the Dry season, the water flows slowly, but fortunately, the north wind blows, making the boat speed slightly faster than in the flood season.

However, the Bianhe River itself diverts water from the Zhuolong River, so there are many places where silt has accumulated; when the weather warms up, dredging must be done to ensure smooth grain transport.

Three huge passenger ships sailed on the river; having been out for ten days, they had traveled nearly eight hundred li by water. Xu Xu Zaijing and the others were growing tired of the scenery.

Today on the ship where Bai Shi was, Bai Shi and her daughter and daughter-in-law were playing pot-throwing, while Sister Qingzhi stood beside the pot busy picking up the thrown arrows; the loser had to have a dot of face powder applied to their cheek, and for a time, laughter filled the cabin without ceasing.

Meanwhile, Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye, accompanied by their young male servants and female maids, had gone to the rearmost ship, mostly to check the condition of their horses.

Zhu Zhu Qinghu frowned slightly as he watched his cousin and the personal guards of Hou Fu grapple; although the guards were tall and strong, they were fighting to first test Xu Xu Zaijing's strength.

But upon contact, after feeling Xu Xu Zaijing's power, the guards reflexively exerted their full strength, yet a shock ran through his heart; the absolute suppression of power made him feel a chill of fear.

When facing the Zhou scouts of the Northern Liao nomadic hunters in the north, he had never felt such alarm; in that split second of distraction, Xu Xu Zaijing immediately sensed it.

Afterwards, this personal guard of Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu, ranked as the top wrestler and holding the title of Gao Gao Yuhou, was pinned to the ground. Brother Qingyun took it for granted, while Gu Gu Tingye jumped up and said, "Gao Gao Yuhou, did I not tell the truth? Is his strength not astonishing? You still said your skills were unrefined?"

Gao Gao Yuhou stood up, bowed his head to Xu Xu Zaijing, and said, "Please forgive me, Young Master; I could not control such movements."

Xu Xu Zaijing said, "Gao Gao Yuhou is polite; it is nothing. It was my momentum that I failed to suppress, drawing yours out."

In the arena, apart from Zhu Zhu Qinghu wearing a hint of approval, everyone else wore expressions of confusion; they saw nothing of substance.

Gu Gu Tingye asked, "Gao Gao Yuhou, what is wrong? Why is forgiveness needed for losing? Jing Ge is not that kind of person."

"Yuan Erlang, just now I could not control myself and used my full strength; I might have accidentally injured Young Master Xu."

"You used your full strength?" Gu Gu Tingye asked.

Gao Gao Yuhou lowered his head.

"Jing Ge, how about letting Brother Zhu and my Gao Gao Yuhou have a match?" Gu Gu Tingye asked.

"One is a Western Army scout, the other a Northern Army scout; a fight between them would surely be very spectacular."

Gao Gao Yuhou glanced at Zhu Zhu Qinghu and said, "Yuan Erlang, let us forget it. When Captain Zhu and I engage, we have no control over our force; we can both smell the true substance in each other."

Zhu Zhu Qinghu nodded, his furrowed brow relaxing slightly, and looked at Gao Gao Yuhou with a thoughtful expression.

Xu Xu Zaijing nodded; this matter was very mysterious, just like during the Lantern Festival before, when he could sense others' malice.

In the instant of grappling with Gao Gao Yuhou, he also felt that surge of momentum.

Brother Qingyun and Zhique, watching from the side, were full of interest. "Young Master, let me and Brother Brother Qingyun have a match!"

A match between masters is too boring, but Brother Qingyun still overwhelmed Zhique; however, the excitement was far greater than Gao Gao Yuhou's match.

Gu Gu Tingye kept cheering for Zhique, but alas, the opponents in their sparring were different; Brother Qingyun, who had been battered by Xu Xu Zaijing for several years, was not someone anyone could easily handle.

Finally, Zhique let out a panicked cry and was pinned to the ground by Brother Qingyun.

Seeing Seeing Qingcao watching the many burly men wrestling and fighting in the cabin, her eyes were full of smiles; that personal guard uncle with the scar on his face, after throwing down an opponent, even smiled proudly at Seeing Seeing Qingcao.

Watching the commotion, Seeing Seeing Qingcao picked up a piece of charcoal with her hand and put it into the nearby stove.

This stove was shaped like a wine cup, with a large belly that could hold quite a bit of charcoal; although the stove walls were lined with clay for insulation, the stove still had to glow red with heat.

Seeing Seeing Qingcao hurriedly narrowed the air vent; the kettle on the stove was somewhat large, and just as Seeing Seeing Qingcao was about to reach for it when the water boiled, that personal guard uncle walked over.

"Little girl, you have no sense of weight; let me do it."

"Thank you, Uncle."

She filled everyone's gourds, water skins, and silver pots with water from the kettle, then refilled it and placed it back on the stove.

The personal guards and young servants in the cabin stopped their horseplay and looked out the window at the dark clouds; Gao Gao Yuhou of the Gu family said, "Look at the sky; a north wind is coming."

Zhu Zhu Qinghu walked to the bedside, sniffed the air, and said, "Not only is a north wind coming, but snow is too."

Gao Gao Yuhou clasped his hands and said, "Brother Hu is impressive; how about we release our force and spar with techniques?"

Zhu Zhu Qinghu's brow relaxed and he said, "That is exactly what I intend."

Afterwards, the two linked arms; Gao Gao Yuhou signaled for Zhu Zhu Qinghu to go first, so Zhu Zhu Qinghu, without using force, demonstrated a technique of the Western Army scouts for grabbing tongues.

Gao Gao Yuhou said, "What if it were to kill?"

Zhu Zhu Qinghu changed his method; one could see his training habits remained, and the final strike was steady, accurate, and ruthless, nearly making Gao Gao Yuhou shiver in fright; his hands rose instinctively to block.

Zhu Zhu Qinghu said, "Forgive me, forgive me; it is a habit. Gao Gao Yuhou, please."

Gao Gao Yuhou waved his hand with a smile, signaling it was nothing, then practiced with Zhu Zhu Qinghu; for the final killing move, Zhu Zhu Qinghu's eyes did not even flicker.

Afterwards, the two experts discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the two armies' techniques, and finally Gao Gao Yuhou laughed and said:

"Indeed, the Bai Gao Kingdom in the northwest strikes harder and darker. But previously in the north, our scouts encountered two or three tribal soldiers whose attire differed from the Liao Kingdom; their conduct was quite similar to yours, Brother Hu, striking both dark and hard."

"Did you manage to grab a tongue and find out where they were from?"

"One was a grassland tribe even further north than Northern Liao, with excellent archery skills. The other was a fishing and hunting household from the deep mountains and old forests to the east, forcibly conscripted by Northern Liao to the border between the two countries."

Xu Xu Zaijing walked over and said, "All are fighting for life against wild beasts and the heavens; without ruthlessness, one cannot survive. Cousin, what is wrong? You have been frowning lately. Missing Sister-in-law???"

Hearing this, the men in the cabin all laughed.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhu Qinghu shook his head and said, "Go, go, get away! I just feel something is wrong; since returning to Bianjing, I have not felt this sensation for a long time."

Leaving Bianjing, looking at the vast winter desolation of wild fields and withered forests, Zhu Zhu Qinghu's instinct for life and death arose spontaneously.

In the cabin, everyone stopped laughing.

Gao Gao Yuhou glanced at Xu Xu Zaijing and quietly asked Zhu Zhu Qinghu, "The feeling of wartime?"

"No, the feeling of being watched." Saying this, Zhu Zhu Qinghu looked out the window; dark clouds filled the sky, and the distance was all hazy and indistinct.

In the distance, in the forest by the river,

beneath the trees were full of withered branches and dead leaves; the wind blew, the dead leaves rolled, making a rustling sound.

Two draft horses were tied in a depression not far away.

Two people wearing leather caps revealed their heads beneath the riverbank embankment piled up from dredging.

"This is no fat sheep; this is a golden-bodied, golden-furred, golden-horned sheep!" said one of them, a man with a fat face and two thin mustaches shaped like the character 'eight'.

"Brother, the flag hanging above belongs to nobility; if we act, what if..." This one also had a fat face, but small eyes.

The man with the 'eight' mustache said, "Did you forget the training in the yamen? Do you think the clerks spent money to bribe officials to maintain that group of bandits out of sheer boredom?"

"But the boat is full of Hou Fu's personal guards; they're tough to handle," Little Eyes said with some worry in his gaze.

"The greater the risk, the pricier the sheep!" Eight-Character Beard said fiercely.

He continued, "Besides, there's a band of ruthless men from the south; each one looks straight at a person's vital points, treating people as less than human, resembling bandits even more than the bandits we've caught before."

Just as Little Eyes was about to speak, a gust of wind swept by, blowing a mouthful of dust into his face.

"Pah, pah, pah! Brother, let's stay toward the rear when the fighting starts, so we don't get cut down by Hou Fu's personal guards."

Seeing everyone say the pace is slow, the author has marked whether or not they have reached Yang Zhou; everyone can choose to read selectively.

Three chapters remain.

Tomorrow depends on my condition; I've been revising for two hours.

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(End of chapter)