Chapter 15

Cheng Feng immediately flipped off his horse, told the unmarked child to go back to the city and hide, and ran over to help Pei Ye up.

Pulled from the mud, this face was white with blue lips, like a corpse dug out of a grave. His eyes were wide and fixed, his teeth clenched tight, covered in fine beads of sweat and large drops of rain.

Seeing this pale, miserable face, it was the first time Cheng Feng intuitively felt the torture this once high-spirited brother had suffered over the past two years.

He stammered: "P-Brother Pei, your injury is acting up, isn't it... Do you have medicine... What should I do?"

"Don't... bother, in a while... it'll be fine on its own... you, go, it's fine..." Pei Ye squeezed out the blurred, unclear words through his teeth, but no matter how Cheng Feng looked at it, he couldn't believe he would be fine.

Cheng Feng stood up and looked around the wilderness in a panic. For a fourteen-year-old boy, this situation was truly mind-numbing. A reliable brother lay in the wild, seemingly in danger of losing his life; a terrified younger brother had a talisman glowing like ghost fire on his forehead; and a terrifying enemy, whom even Inspector Shen could not defeat, might appear behind them at any moment.

Who to save, who can be saved, how to save them?

His horsemanship was already poor; he had nearly fallen off his horse several times while rushing out of the city. Behind them was an even bumpier and more dangerous slippery mountain road. If he took both of them, he probably wouldn't make it five yards.

In fact, the best choice was to ignore everyone and leave alone. Just as Pei Ye said, who did he think he was? He wasn't a savior; he was just another mouse beside the two mice whose tails were being held down by a cat. If he didn't tuck his tail and flee now, did he still want to play tug-of-war with the cat?

But clearly, this option did not exist in the youth's heart. He tried hard to calm his mind, his gaze sweeping across the fields. Suddenly, he fixed his eyes, leaned over to carry Pei Ye on his back, and panted: "Brother Pei, I'll hide you in the wheat stack... I'll tie the horse under that tree over there, far away from you. When you're better, you can go ride it yourself."

Pei Ye nodded reluctantly.

In fact, Pei Ye hadn't lied to him; this injury would indeed be fine once it passed. If there were wine and medicine, it would just be painful for a while; if there were no wine or medicine, it would repeat itself within an hour, even leading to fainting and suffocation, but he could still pull through without losing his life.

Cheng Feng moved the wheat stack aside, placed the stiff Pei Ye inside, and moved the wheat stack back to cover his body, leaving only his face exposed. Finally, he propped up a small canopy over his mouth and nose to prevent suffocation if the rain got heavier.

"Alright, Brother Pei." Cheng Feng's effort made his voice sound calm. "I'll take Zhang Xiaoyan and run into the mountains. I'm familiar with the mountains, don't worry."

Pei Ye still wanted to persuade him to abandon Zhang Xiaoyan and leave alone, but he could no longer open his mouth. He could only stare with dazed eyes, as if he hadn't heard.

Cheng Feng took one last worried look at him, knowing time was of the essence, and turned to run back.

Pei Ye watched the youth's departing back with vacant eyes. The world was blurry and distant in his field of vision. He saw the youth running back with unsteady steps, tying his horse far away from himself. Then he ran back again, picked up Zhang Xiaoyan, put him on the horse's back, and grabbed the reins, preparing to mount.

Wasting too much time... Pei Ye thought powerlessly.

As if in response to this thought, a black robe emerged from the city gate tunnel.

The robe was soaked through and somewhat tattered; the hood was completely torn, revealing a pale, sickly young face. It was hard to tell if the deep red on his body was the light of red lanterns or seeping blood.

The first time Pei Ye saw him was at the city gate; the second time he appeared four or five yards outside the gate; the third time, he was already standing beside Cheng Feng like a ghost.

And Cheng Feng only just realized something, turning his head with a dazed expression.

There was no cold light of a blade being drawn; the youth's head rolled to the ground like a ripe melon.

The black-robed man lifted his foot and casually wiped the mud off his shoes on that face, which still held an expression. After both shoes were clean, he reached out and picked up the already dazed Zhang Xiaoyan, glanced at the fire talisman on his forehead, and reached out to crush his two leg bones.

Zhang Xiaoyan's hoarse, distorted scream echoed through the wilderness. The black-robed man then injected a stream of true Qi, destroying his vocal cords. A lively youth became a strange, grotesque shape that could only tremble and make "he-he" sounds.

The black-robed man carried this shape and continued to flicker away toward the west.

Severe pain does not disappear due to emotional shock.

Pei Ye kept his eyes tightly shut, enduring bitterly. After about a quarter of an hour, the first wave of the attack finally began to subside. Pei Ye kicked the wheat stack away, lay on the spot panting for a moment, propped up his body, and staggered toward Cheng Feng's corpse.

Blood was spread over a large area on the ground, washed far away by the rain. The face was imprinted with mud and a shoe print, and the lively eyes were now completely dull.

Perhaps as a side effect of the severe pain, Pei Ye felt he was having difficulty breathing.

He suddenly understood the origin of the irritability he felt when facing Cheng Feng's "I'm following you."

It wasn't because Cheng Feng was still being coy and dragging things out when a great enemy was at the gates.

Pei Ye had experienced many annoying situations; he had always been able to hide his emotions and handle them with a generous attitude. In comparison, Cheng Feng's act was just an untimely case of valuing loyalty over life.

What he was truly irritable about had always been himself.

When seeing Lin Lin's painful face, picking up Lin Jue's stained little clothes, untying that sword tassel... throughout this day, how many moments had he felt his heart burning with rage, wishing he could tear the murderer to pieces with his own hands.

But reason kept telling him that courage and hatred could not bridge the gap in strength. He should follow the arrangements of the officials and play the role he was supposed to, even if the only thing this role could do was keep hiding and fleeing.

When he chose to handle this matter with reason, the suppressed self in his heart was constantly churning and roaring.

That was actually another Cheng Feng.

Therefore, when what he had been trying hard to suppress was voiced by Cheng Feng so easily, so thoughtlessly, it ignited the anger in his heart—what do you know?! Do you think you're very heroic, very noble?! I and the officials are playing the turtle, playing the mouse, even hoping that those murderers can escape leisurely. Even if the vengeance for the six corpses can never be repaid, I don't want any more people to die tonight, yet you dare to throw away your life so lightly?

Pei Ye silently wiped the face clean with his sleeve, wrapped the head with an outer garment, moved the corpse onto the horse's back, and rode toward the county government office.

By hiding like this for a day, did it really save any lives? Or rather, what would it matter if one more person, himself, died?

He could no longer seek that humble survival in the shadows like a maggot. At the very least, he had to swing his sword head-on.

You damn beast, kill me with one strike just like you killed Cheng Feng, otherwise let me see if you will also fear and wail when a blade pierces your throat.