Chapter 3: Bandits Everywhere

"Go to your mother's ass crack!"

Wu Wu Dading, who hated evil like an enemy, instantly lost his temper; two surges of rage shot from his feet straight to the crown of his head, and the boundless fury in his heart, blazing uncontrollably, rebounded from his crown back into his chest and belly until "pop pop" two loud farts were released, only then did he feel somewhat relieved.

He immediately cursed loudly and struggled to climb down from Li You's back.

Li You suddenly let go; as soon as Wu Wu Dading's feet touched the ground, his ankles went weak, and he fell sitting on the ground. Just as he struggled to stand, he felt a flash before his eyes...

With a "boom" of a huge sound, that hemp-stalk youth was pinned to the wall by the Ghost-Head Great Axe; the axe pierced straight through his chest, and without even letting out a fart, he was dead.

Wu Wu Dading, who had just sat up, was startled by this axe blow, then startled again.

He swallowed hard and stared straight at Li You; having been startled a total of four times in succession, he finally realized Li You was different. At least before coming to Lueyang to have his head cut off, he had never killed anyone, and he certainly didn't have such strength.

Li You looked at the blood splattering on the wall and began to zone out...

"Damn your mother!"

The curly-bearded man's eyes instantly bulged until the veins nearly burst; he threw the girl aside, grabbed his trident-tipped halberd, half-clenched his right hand, took a bow stance, and thrust straight at Li You's chest.

Li You sidestepped, wanting to grab it, but the upper end of the trident-tipped halberd rose with a horizontal bar featuring a four-sided blade; before he could react, the curly-bearded man changed from a thrust to a sweep...

With a "clang," the blade tip of the trident-tipped halberd sliced not lightly nor heavily across Li You's left chest; fortunately, his ribs blocked the halberd head, but Li You was swept off his feet and fell to the ground.

The curly-bearded man stepped forward, twisted his mouth, slid his hand to the front half of the trident-tipped halberd for a reverse grip, and was about to give Li You a heart-piercing strike, when Wu Wu Dading from the side smashed a porcelain jar used for holding charcoal onto his head; instantly covered in blood, his body flipped over.

"Bang bang... bang bang..."

Li You didn't know if his own heart was pounding wildly or if it was the vibration sound coming from the cavalry; suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his heart, he used this opening to roll over,

snatched the Ghost-Head Great Axe from the hemp-stalk youth with one hand, performed a carp-leaping backflip, jumped up with both person and axe, and launched a storm of three axe blows at the curly-bearded giant...

The curly-bearded man's hands were skilled with tricks; he held the trident-tipped halberd horizontally with both hands and blocked three times in succession!

But these three blows shook his tiger-mouth until it cracked; after all, the trident-tipped halberd in his hands had been smashed and bent straight, and he saw the next axe blow was about to cleave his forehead.

Such tremendous force terrified him into a pale face, but there simply weren't so many so-called accidents...

Li You's next axe blow smashed his head to pieces.

Killing two people in a row, the bloodthirsty scene made Li You instinctively feel nauseous; from his muscles to his skin, his whole body began to go numb, and in his brain, streams of strange yet familiar memories surged chaotically, hurting as if they would split open.

"Run quickly!"

Wu Wu Dading pushed Li You; Li You went over, retrieved the axe, glanced at the woman with his peripheral vision, and as he turned to leave, his foot tripped, kicking away the blood-red quilt on the ground.

Li You then saw that the quilt was actually wrapped around a six or seven-month-old dead infant; the baby's face was blue, having died either from suffocation or from being thrown.

Li You's heart felt as if a large balloon had been stuffed inside it, making him feel stifled and painful; he bent down, picked up the broken silver coins dropped by the curly-bearded giant on the ground, silently went over to carry the girl on his back, and only then discovered the girl was actually awake, trembling all over like a sieve shaking grain.

"My name is Li You, don't be afraid, I am a good person..."

Li You spoke to her as gently as possible, then hoisted her onto his shoulders, supported Wu Wu Dading, and quickly exited the East Gate.

After walking about a hundred or so steps, the two were just about to sigh in relief, but what met their eyes was a huge crowd of common people crying to heaven and running back, followed immediately by dozens of riders in blue trousers and black jackets, with whiskers like daggers, arrogantly and recklessly driving and slaughtering from behind.

Behind them followed about fifty foot soldiers.

Shouting, screams, weeping, and the heart-rending shrieks of children... it was plainly a human hell.

"My hammer! Wolves in front, tigers behind, we can't run! Damn it, bandits and horse thieves are everywhere!"

Wu Wu Dading, wearing the curly-bearded man's clothes, looked hatefully at an old woman who was clutching a bundle of dried wild vegetables in her hand, begging bitterly, only to be stabbed through the belly by a horse thief with a flesh tumor on his face; her intestines were full of dry green tree bark and weeds...

Tragedies continued to occur all around.

Li You glanced at the enemy's men and horses, then first threw away the axe.

Then he hurriedly placed the girl in a pile of wild grass, and helped Wu Wu Dading stand on the other side.

At this moment, he finally felt his left chest was wet and uncomfortable; the wound had been bleeding continuously.

He reached into his clothes, pulled out a square piece of rough-edged paper, which bore two red seal-script stamps, one large and one small; a hurried glance revealed one stamp with the characters "Confucian School" and the other with "Instructor"...

"Qingjian County Confucian School Principal Zhang Zhang Suomin: Regarding the issuance of a license: It has been investigated that Li Youkou (missing character), courtesy name Hanchen, a student of the Qingjian County School, possesses upright character, diligent study, and outstanding academic achievements, qualifying him for selection as a Linsheng student. Besides compiling a detailed register and requesting submission to the Ministry..."

"This is... Li Li Youyin's student license?"

A student refers to a pupil admitted to a local government school (prefecture, commandery, or county school) after passing the provincial examination, commonly called a Xiucai, also known as Maocai, Doctor's Disciple, Disciple, or Xiangsheng, etc.

Since Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, implemented the imperial examination system to break the monopoly of aristocratic families over court politics, by the Ming Dynasty, the system had developed extremely maturely; this student license was the credential proving one's status as a Xiucai.

After every Tongsheng candidate passed the Xiucai examination, the Ministry of Rites or the county/prefecture Confucian school would issue such a license as proof.

For scholars, the student license was naturally a great honor; possessing this item meant an essential transformation in social class, becoming reserve personnel for the ruling class and beginning to share privileges.

For example, they could wear a round-collar blue gown, use servants, be exempt from corvée labor, appear before county officials without kneeling, avoid corporal punishment, report matters directly to the magistrate, and when commoners saw a Xiucai, they had to perform the official greeting ritual and respectfully address him as "Master" or "Young Master," etc.

Li You had no time to look closely; waves of hoofbeats resounded in his ears, dozens of riders surrounded the driven commoners like sacks, and the fifty-plus foot soldiers quickly caught up.

A short-maned, gray-white speckled horse came roaring in first; its rider was about fifty years old, with black temples and silver beard, his voice extremely majestic.

"Tie up the young and strong, take them back to the Second Master; leave the children... everyone else, hurry and follow me to the South Street to see if we can get some meat soup... Don't damn well waste time on these stupid bastards!" 【Note】

Having said this, he rode ahead, roaring away.

Hearing this, the bandits' cavalry quickly followed; the fifty-odd foot soldiers shouted and clamored, made a simple selection, and tied up five younger women and nineteen young men.

The remaining widows, orphans, elderly, and young were stripped of all money and grain; those who cried out even slightly were immediately hacked with knives or axes.

Outside the city finally grew somewhat quiet; then, by the roadside, they chopped down a red elm tree that was already bare of bark, had the captured people carry it on their shoulders in alternating left and right positions, and then tied them one by one, like a string of grasshoppers strung together.

After the deed was done, only six or seven half-grown child soldiers were left to guard this spot; the rest of the crowd, impatient, rushed into the city.

Li You's consciousness was now much clearer; resistance was utterly hopeless. Under the bandits' whips, he and Wu Wu Dading carried the tree trunk on their left and right shoulders, while their hands were also bound to the trunk.

Turning back, he noticed the girl hiding in the grass pile, cautiously crouching in the wild grass; beside her was another girl, presumably also hiding to seek refuge.

Originally, Li You had instinctively acted to save them, but now that he could barely save himself, he certainly didn't dare hope to take them along; once taken to the bandit's den, how could the two of them fare well?

Li You met her gaze, winked at her, and while the half-grown child soldier guarding nearby wasn't paying attention, loosened his bound hands; three pieces of broken silver immediately fell to the ground.

Li You immediately stepped on them with his foot, secretly exerting force to sink the silver into the mud, and nodded again at the girl.

The girl immediately understood, silently nodded her chin, and then kept her eyes fixed straight on Li You's shoe sole.

About three incense sticks of time later, the man riding the short-maned gray-white speckled horse returned with a crowd, shouting to the child soldier guarding Li You's side: "Following this bunch of *** from Guanzi Mountain, we got nothing but air... Let's go, let's go; now it's good, we have this bunch of two-legged grasshoppers, just bringing a bunch of useless burdens..."

He spoke thus, but everyone behind him carried big and small bundles, some leading livestock and carrying chickens and ducks, some draped in silk and satin, and every single one returned fully loaded.

Most glaring were the dozen or so women among them; some wore coarse hemp clothes, naturally common folk, while others were dressed in bright finery, clearly wealthy matrons.

Yet at this moment, each was weeping like a pear blossom in rain; some cursed, some pleaded... and so on, but it was all useless. They were still tied to tree trunks; those who couldn't be tied had their hands bound behind their backs and were propped before horses. Bandits with horses shamelessly pawed them up and down, enjoying themselves immensely for a time.

Immediately, Li You and the others were driven like livestock along a path of wild grass, heading eastward.

After Li You and the others had left, the young girl quickly ran out, dug up the spot where Li You had stood, and clutched three fragments of silver in her palm.

Holding her sister's hand, she stood on tiptoe and gazed for a long time toward the place Li You had departed, murmuring, "My name is Dou Mei-yi..."

Li You naturally could not hear; even if he had, he, who knew nothing of history, would naturally not know that the first imperial consort of the Wang Dashun Dynasty, Li Li Zicheng, was named Dou Mei-yi.

【Note】: "Sha-diao" was already colloquial in the Ming Dynasty; its meaning and usage are the same as today. Ma Zhiyuan's "Complete Yuan Qu," spoken by the Yila: "Sha-diao, let go!" The Yila replies: "I know, I shall go kill that sha-diao!"