Chapter 241: Getting Away with It (Part 2)

Hu Xiaotian entered the room, first tended to his wound, then found several old clothes in the Zhou family's wardrobe, changed into them, took out the human-skin mask Qin Yutong had left for him, followed Qin Yutong's written instructions, placed the mask over his face. The west wing should be a young lady's boudoir; he found a bronze mirror on the ground, faced the mirror and carefully adjusted the mask. In the mirror appeared a swarthy middle-aged man, weather-beaten, with many wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and forehead—a completely unfamiliar face; even Hu Xiaotian himself could not recognize himself at that moment.

Confident there was no flaw in his disguise, he gathered his belongings, but the Crimson Script Iron Charter that had saved his life became a problem—city gates were tightly guarded, soldiers might search up and down, and if the charter were discovered he would have nowhere to hide. Yet the charter concerned the lives of the entire Hu family; if he stayed here to eke out a living, Hu Xiaotian would feel unwilling.

Taking advantage of the empty early morning, Hu Xiaotian slipped out of the Zhou residence. As he left Jade Brocade Alley, he saw a manure cart that had been used to collect night-soil parked there, its driver absent. He frowned, devised a plan, quietly pushed the cart away, walked a distance, looked back to confirm the driver wasn't following, then tossed the Crimson Script Iron Charter and his short dagger into one of the cart's manure buckets. Passing a notice board, he saw a posted notice bearing a portrait of a man; without reading the accompanying text he could hardly tell it was meant to be him. The artist's skill was truly poor—using that portrait to hunt him down, even if he went unmasked, they'd still fail to find him.

Hu Xiaotian continued pulling the manure cart. As he passed West Gate Main Street, he saw a troop go by, with one man bound tightly and seated on a wagon—it was Zhou Wenju.

Zhou Wenju wore a smile, his expression showing no fear. Seeing Zhou Wenju captured, Hu Xiaotian felt both sorrow and relief—sorrow that Zhou Wenju had suffered this calamity because of him, relief that Zhou Wenju had not ultimately been burned to death by Li Honghan's men in the Heavenly Prefecture Traveling Palace. If Hu Xiaotian possessed peerless martial prowess, he would surely rush forward to rescue Zhou Wenju now; but as he is, charging ahead would only mean surrender. Zhou Wenju's sacrifice was solely to aid his escape; he could not betray Zhou Wenju's painstaking effort. Hu Xiaotian's eyes filled with tears; he silently vowed, "In this life, as long as I draw breath, I will repay Master Zhou's great kindness!" After composing his feelings, he again took hold of the manure cart and set off.

All major gates of Harmony Prefecture City were heavily guarded; anyone entering or leaving had to be searched and inspected.

Hu Xiaotian arrived at the city gate with the crowd pulling his manure cart, where soldiers immediately stopped him, one shouting, "What's your business?"

Hu Xiaotian glanced at the manure cart behind him and said, "Sir, what could I possibly do with a manure cart?"

Several soldiers covered their noses; one came forward to search Hu Xiaotian, another grabbed a stick and probed the manure bucket several times, fearing someone might be hidden inside. The officer in charge of the search also carefully compared Hu Xiaotian with the portrait posted at the gate, finding no resemblance.

The people behind grew impatient: "Hey, dung-carrier, move it already, hurry up, you reek! Are you trying to choke us to death?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "It's not that I won't go; several sirs need to search."

"What's there to search on a dung-hauler?"

Finding nothing suspicious, the soldiers waved him through. Hu Xiaotian leisurely tidied the manure bucket, whereupon the crowd behind began cursing again. Even the gate guards couldn't help but shout: "Hey, what are you doing? I told you to go, why aren't you moving? Do you want me to arrest you?"

Only then did Hu Xiaotian feign alarm, pulling the manure cart out of the city, his heart swelling with the wild joy of escaping a cage.

He continued along the official road for over five li, saw a river ahead, then left the road with the manure cart to a deserted spot. He emptied the manure bucket containing the Crimson Script Iron Charter, wrapped his hands in cloth, picked up the blood‑stained charter and short dagger, went to the riverbank, washed them clean in the water, then rewrapped them in cloth and concealed them on his person.

The rain had stopped; Hu Xiaotian drew a few breaths of fresh air, checked his shoulder arrow wound—it was fine, recovery progressing well. After applying Golden Trauma Medicine, he returned to the main road, glanced back at distant Harmony Prefecture City, recalled his night of terror, and felt immense relief: without Zhou Wenju's self‑sacrifice, he doubted he could escape the Li clan's grasp. The official road saw little traffic; Hu Xiaotian went to the nearest market, bought a large bowl of beef noodles and ate his fill, then went to the horse market and purchased a chestnut‑red horse. He lacked the expertise to judge horses like Hu Fo, but seeing the animal's well‑filled muscles and glossy mane, he judged its build sound. After fitting it with saddle and bridle, he led the horse to locals to ask for directions: heading east around Harmony Prefecture City leads back to Azure Cloud; heading west along the official road, at the foot of Pengyin Mountain it splits—one route skirts Pengyin Mountain into the heart of Dakang, the other is the way he came, crossing Pengyin Mountain directly. Though the latter is shorter, recalling the perilous, death‑defying journey he had just made, he chose the longer route skirting Pengyin Mountain toward Kangdu.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, and after buying some travel necessities, he left the market. Riding the chestnut‑red horse saved him much effort; in a day he covered one hundred fifty li. As the distance from Harmony Prefecture City grew, his mood gradually steadied—he had essentially become another person, with no need to worry about being recognized.

Unfamiliar with the route, Hu Xiaotian did not reach the intended village before nightfall; unwilling to travel in the dark, he spotted an abandoned earth‑god shrine by the road and decided to spend the night there.

In the shrine he lit a bonfire, propped up branches, hung the kettle above, boiled some water, then ate the flatbread he had bought at the market that day, wrapped around pickles in big bites. Although meat was also sold at the market, the hot weather meant carrying meat on the road would likely spoil.

Having simply filled his stomach, he also gathered fodder for the horse, then closed the shrine door, bracing it with a wooden post he found inside to keep intruders out. Since leaving the capital, Hu Xiaotian's worldly experience has grown day by day.

Hu Xiaotian cleared a clean spot in the side hall, spread a mat, and lay down. A crescent moon rose slowly from the eastern sky. Moonlight washed over his face like water, and he felt an indescribable perplexity. Before leaving the capital, he had once thought of fleeing his marriage to live the life he wanted; later his ideas shifted, and he once believed he should live solely for himself, freely and at ease, caring nothing for others' feelings. But when the sudden upheaval struck and the Hu family faced life‑or‑death, the deep‑seated sense of responsibility buried in his heart surged to unprecedented strength. He could have made better choices—he could have returned to Azure Cloud, sought out Murong Feiyan, sought his sworn brothers, relied on their help to turn danger into safety, or at worst taken to the mountains to rule as a king, settling in a corner, likely safe for a time; yet he chose a far harder path.

Hu Xiaotian felt a voice continually calling him, urging him toward the capital; he would exert all his strength to save the fate of the Hu clan. He might risk his life, or his efforts might come to nothing, but he knew that if he did not go, his vitality would forever be unable to face himself, to face the reproach of his conscience.

A night breeze stirred; a leaf, after a long struggle against the wind, finally gave way, fluttering down to settle on Hu Xiaotian's chest. He picked it up, blew on it, and imagined his current appearance—no matter how he thought, he could not picture what his face now looked like. Right, his successful escape from Harmony Prefecture City also owed thanks to one person: Qin Yutong! This female disciple of Xuantian Guan, had she not left him a mask before departing, he could not have walked out of the city openly.

Hu Xiaotian felt his mask; he now wore a perfect false face, which struck him as funny. He yawned, about to drift off, when he heard the chestnut‑red horse neigh softly and begin pacing restlessly in front of the corridor.

Hu Xiaotian sprang up; his earlier perilous experiences had made his nerves highly acute and his sense of danger unprecedentedly strong. He snatched a burning stick from the bonfire, approached the chestnut‑red horse, and saw a green snake less than three feet away, head raised, tongue flickering, poised to strike. He seized the moment, swung the stick hard, the flaming end smashing the snake's head and flinging it aside; the air filled with a scorched stench.

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