Chapter 16: The Past

"Mmm..."

Wu Zhuge's throat seemed to make a sound, yet also seemed not to; this man was rough outside but fine inside. How could he not know Li You's implied intent to stir things up?

He simply did not wish to pretend he hadn't understood, as he had yesterday.

Li You stopped short and said no more, just as "Sapiens: A Brief History of Today" says: If a mosquito buzzes by your ear, disturbing your peaceful sleep, we have a way to kill it; but if an idea echoes in our minds, making it hard to fall asleep, most of us do not know how to "kill" that idea.

Li You merely followed along to see; after touring the wooden sheds, they went to the salt wells.

Regarding the process of extracting salt from the wells and boiling it into well salt, it opened his eyes wide, and he exclaimed at its wonder.

Finally, they followed the foot of the mountain back to this small courtyard.

Cao Er invited Wu Zhuge into the main house for tea. Wu Zhuge cursed, "Drink what tea? I've got plenty of aged Daqu liquor over there!"

Then, surrounded by a crowd of bandits, Wu Zhuge left Nanshan. Before reaching Beizhai, Zhang Zhuanggen bid farewell to Wu Zhuge, saying there was a job near Mao'er Ba recently and he needed to go down the mountain to see if it was tricky or not.

Only Wu Zhuge and his group headed toward Beizhai. Suddenly, Wu Zhuge handed Gao Jinku a paper ball sealed with wax oil, saying, "Jinku, take some men to Flagpole Mountain and give this letter to Pig the Elder..."

"Although this scholar looks young, he is a man of letters after all, and his words are right. Better to be the tail of a phoenix than the head of a chicken. This kind of unequal joint venture will likely only end in being swallowed up. Go tell Pig the Elder, tell them to unite their hearts on this matter and not form a joint venture at all!"

"No problem!"

Gao Jinku took the letter, brought two or three confidants, went to the horse stable to Wang Qiong to get horses, and then descended the mountain.

"Boss, since that scholar is so capable, why do you still stay with the Second Brother?"

Da Yun'er frowned and said, "The Second Brother is not of our kind!"

"Precisely because we are not of the same kind, isn't it quite nice to leave a nail there?"

Wu Zhuge smiled and said, "The reason I didn't let him come to Beizhai is simply because I just sent Sun Juanmao to Qingjian County, and he won't be back for a while!

In Great Ming, this era where scholars hold the knife handles, how could he suddenly rebel? I must still get to the bottom of things; I don't want to capsize in a gutter!

Yesterday, in a moment of excitement, I really almost lost my head and wanted to raise the banner and rebel. But after thinking it over, what's the difference between this life and being Emperor? We have iron mines and salt slaves supporting us, a group of gentry providing for us, and the Golden Ox Road trade route, where we can raid the road anytime to relieve boredom. So... it's not worth it."

"Then if Guanzi Mountain... no, if Zhang Sihu cooperates from within and without to break Pingli, will Zhang Xian truly not come to seek revenge on us? The poor folks of Flagpole Mountain and Guanzi Mountain have been eyeing our iron mines for quite some time."

"Ah, long hair but short sight; scholars really have more insight. Zhang Xian has passed Jianmen and isn't rushing to raid Rui Wang's family yet. Actually, even if Zhang Sihu really comes for revenge, when the time comes, we just push this scholar out... Besides, right now they are mostly still holed up along the border. Entering Shaanxi? That'll be next month..."

"What good does pushing him out do?" Da Yun'er was startled.

"Heh, you just don't get it. People on the road, how can they do things to the absolute extreme? Offer a head, pay some money, give them a way down, and the matter is settled!"

Wu Zhuge paused, then added, "Of course, unless absolutely necessary, we wouldn't do this... I think this Li You might really have some kind of immortal art; otherwise, how could he diagnose my recent physical ailments so accurately?"

Da Yun'er was immersed in Wu Zhuge's words about "offering a head," thinking that such a handsome and likable head, if chopped off, would break one's heart to death. She secretly cursed Wu Zhuge as inhuman, completely forgetting that years ago, she and Wu Zhuge had poisoned the previous Big Boss, Wu Ying, to save her own life.

After Wu Zhuge left, the bandits of Nanshan finally cleaned up Tian Si's corpse. Everyone's eyes looked strangely at Li You, this scholar who didn't look particularly strong.

The bandits were mostly awestruck; the mine workers, besides awe, had less contempt.

Li You saw all this. For the mine workers, originally, as a man with imperial merit, the Great Ming court had bestowed grace upon him.

So his bowing and scraping to Wu Zhuge and others was no different from a refined scoundrel aiding a tyrant. Yet, by personally killing Tian Si, a scoundrel full of evil, he relieved a great deal of their heart's hatred.

Cao Er's gaze toward Li You was somewhat complex. Today, no one mentioned Tian Si's death, but who could see through that it was his calculation?

This left Cao Er unsure for a moment.

He nodded to Li You and said somewhat warmly, "Once you, Mr. Li, are familiar with this place, I will have you take over the accounts."

"Thank you, Second Master. To relieve the mountain stronghold's worries, this humble scholar is beyond honored!" Li You responded with a look of being overwhelmed with favor and delight.

Cao Er nodded, turned, and walked away.

"What accounts? Such a huge mountain stronghold, how could the accounts possibly be touched by an outsider like me?"

Li You felt some worry: Yesterday, he had relied purely on his tongue to bluff; could it be that Wu Zhuge's enthusiasm truly lasted only three minutes?

Why didn't he let me go to Beizhai?

Was it distrust?

Was I to stay under this old schemer Cao Er forever?

Cao Er clearly hadn't exposed his identity yesterday, so why suddenly turn hostile today and try to kill him?

If Song Man hadn't whispered in his ear today, "Cao Er wants Tian Si to kill you," giving him advance mental preparation, he certainly wouldn't have handled it so well today!

In short, such sudden changes left Li You unable to figure it out.

"Mr. Li, the meal is almost ready. Do you want to look around some more? I can take you to get more familiar."

Wa Qingyun walked up smiling. His heart was also beaming with joy; the fact that Li You could walk side by side with Wu Zhuge today didn't that prove Mr. Li's bright future?

So he made up his mind to cling to Li You's thigh and become a confidant.

Beside Wa Qingyun was a rough-shirted man, taller than Li You. He had sat at their table yesterday, named Liu Longjin, from Mian County, formerly a grain chief who knew quite a few characters.

"Then let's just look around nearby," Li You said casually, not wanting to spoil his mood.

"Good!"

Wa Qingyun said happily. If not for Tian Si's death, he truly felt Li You was approachable, with none of the airs of a scholar.

Li You strolled idly. On the left side of the small courtyard were two thatched huts, where the two blacksmiths, Qian and Liu, lived. Next to them was a low stone house half-collapsed, which was the kitchen. Two dirty, broken wooden buckets stood at the door; Li You recognized these as the two buckets used to serve rice to the mine workers.

Inside, besides two mine workers in chains helping cook, there was an old woman and a thirty-something woman whose face was half-burned, bringing up three children, busily working. She was Liu the Lame's wife, Lady Wang, and Qian Chengzhi's wife, Lady Xing.

Lady Xing had originally been quite beautiful, but after being captured up the mountain, fearing humiliation, she had used an oil lamp to burn her face until it was charred, turning into this terrifying appearance.

The children were two boys and a girl, all about six or seven years old. They had no shoes on their feet, and the coarse hemp clothes they wore were quite ridiculous; they must have been made by cutting one adult's tattered rough shirt into three pieces. One boy had one bare leg, one had a bare back, and only the little girl's clothes looked somewhat like clothes, though they were very short and tattered.

At this moment, they were busy pulling firewood into the house. When they saw Li You, they all widened their eyes, staring blankly, lacking the childish spirit children should have.

Liu the Lame's wife, Lady Wang, and Qian Chengzhi's wife, Lady Xing, also looked at Li You with numb faces. They had long heard a scholar had entered the stronghold, but what did that have to do with their bitter days?

"How can there be so many children?"

Li You asked in confusion. In chaotic times, children are burdens; even their own biological parents might abandon them to save their own lives. How could this bandit den raise so many children?

Wa Qingyun's face fell, and he sighed, "These were all gathered by the previous Big Boss, Wu Ying, who was Wu Datou's clan uncle!

The old Boss Wu Ying was a thoroughly good person. Although born a thief, he strictly observed the mountain gate rules, and his kindness was even more like a monk's than the monks in the temple. Whenever he went out and saw abandoned or lost children, he would definitely bring them back to the stronghold..."

Pity that in this world, good people never live long; the winter before last, he "fell ill" and died...

The men under his command mostly followed Wu Datou, even his wife did; these children are now completely unmanaged, and the atmosphere of this stronghold has long since changed—burning, killing, and plundering, paying no heed at all to the sect's rules...

My own younger brother, Wa Lan, was also goaded into joining Wu Zhuge's ranks! If it weren't for him, I would have left this wretched stronghold long ago."

Wa Qingyun seemed struck by some thought, paused for a moment, then couldn't hold back and blurted out in a rush: "Hmph... everyone says the old leader died of illness, but I, Wa Qingyun, know he was poisoned by that foul woman. That is why I would rather follow Cao Er than Wu Datou."

Li You was left speechless for quite a while; what filthy matters were these!