Chapter 69: Chapter Sixty-Eight: Departure

Li You decided to set out around the Yin hour, instructing Lady Liu and the others to boil half of the remaining salted wolf meat and roast the other half, then fill some wolf-bladder waterskins with water to take along.

He then took Wu Dading and Gao Conglong to borrow bows, swords, and bronze gongs from Yu Dakai and the other archers.

Several of the archers, seeing the momentum, felt their blood boil; it seemed that if Li You had called out, they would have followed him.

Yet Li You never spoke up; besides, Wu Zhuge had long sent Wu Nai to keep watch. Weapons could be borrowed, but men would absolutely not be given.

In total, eight bows were requested: four of medium strength, three of high strength, and one of Tiger strength.

Only Zhou Yin could wield a bow of eight strength or greater, so Zhou Yin took that single Tiger-strength great bow, while Li Qinxiang and the others selected suitable ones.

As for the swords, the steel recently produced from their steel-smelting experiments had long been fought over by them.

Li Qinxiang and the others had already, over these past few days, imitated Li You's Miao sword and equipped each person with a curved blade; only Guan Hongxin and Wu Dading had crafted open-mountain axes. Axes are easy to pick up—anyone can use one—but using them well is far from easy.

The open-mountain axe is not very mainstream in the Ming army; its center of gravity is too far forward, and without thick arms, one simply cannot use it. Yet anyone who can wield it well must be a ruthless figure like Xu Huan, Suo Chao, Cheng Yaojin, or Jin Wuzhu, given its immense lethality.

Xiang Yingchuan passed word to the mine workers and salt slaves: "We go to take revenge on the government soldiers. Is there anyone standing there pissing who dares to come along?"

After all, they all defecate in the same outhouse. Who can bear such words from a tower-like man facing outward?

Immediately, a little over ten stepped forward.

Li You, fearing they did not understand the danger, repeated the warning specifically, yet still no one retreated.

The first was Yan Fengchun, a mine worker who had accidentally caught a chill a few days prior and whom Li You had pulled back from the King of Hell with a single dose of penicillin.

Next were mostly members of the Xiang clan, led by Xiang Hu, totaling five people.

From the Dang family, besides Dang Xiongxin bringing two people, what surprised Li You was that among them was Dang Suozhi, who did not like Li You.

Dang Suozhi had a square face and large ears, a thick waist and round shoulders, looking extremely powerful and muscular.

When Li You first arrived, he was one of those most averse to Li You, because he had been the one leading the Dang and Xiang families in their flight back home.

However, after Li You arrived, some persuasion made Xiang Hu directly abandon the escape plan; later, the leader of the Dang side, his clan uncle Dang Xiongxin, also gave up and wanted to follow Li You and see how it went.

This made Dang Suozhi's aversion to Li You reach an unsurpassable degree; he always harbored a kind of hostility toward Li You.

Wu Dading had told Li You about these matters, so Li You was quite surprised by his arrival.

Besides them, there was a salt slave surnamed Jin, who had held a favorable impression of Li You from the very beginning and was now extremely enthusiastic.

Except for Xiang Hu, who could use a bow, none of the others could; Li You gave the remaining medium-strength bow to Xiang Hu and distributed a borrowed sword to each person.

Counting Li You, there were now a total of twenty-four people, which gave Li You considerable confidence.

At the Xu hour, Li You and they each ate a bowl of plain white rice and drank a bowl of pickled meat soup; then he instructed Li Xiujun, Wang Xiugu, Lady Wang, and others to wrap up the remaining few jin of wolf meat in rags to take along, fill the water skins made from wolf skins with water, and Li You then told everyone to go to sleep first.

Just as the crowd had dispersed, Li Xiujun, Hong Da'e, Hu Aniang, and Huang Yanzi, the four women, did not leave.

"Eh?" Li You was somewhat puzzled.

"We want to go kill people together!" Li Xiujun spoke first.

"Go together?"

Li You frowned, looking at these cooks whose bodies had only just recovered recently; after all, they were women, would going not just add to the chaos?

He shook his head and said, "This journey is perilous; it is very likely we will not return!"

"Then we will not return!"

Hong Da'e bared her teeth and said, "That rascal Guan Hongxin can just grab his *** and run off with his legs spread; why can't I go? Husband, rest assured, I have killed people too!"

"I just want to kill people!"

Li Xiujun's eyes flashed fiercely and brightly, her voice cold like the freezing wind of the ninth month of winter, making Li You shudder involuntarily: Yes, what great suffering had they endured at Beizhai!

"That stupid, gluttonous fool Wu Xingshan, the people he abducted were certainly eaten. If we cannot take revenge on those *** at Beizhai, let's first kill these beasts to practice our courage!"

Hong Da'e's face was black and yellow, teeth bared, saliva spraying everywhere, her expression ferocious and cruel, like a hellish evil ghost, unspeakably chilling.

Li You's heart suddenly startled; he said, "You may go, but remember not to provoke any revenge against Beizhai! Do not cause trouble for me; the time has not yet come to tear up the face with Beizhai... otherwise, all will be dealt with by military law, execution without mercy!"

Li Xiujun's eyes suddenly brightened, igniting with a fervent light; she said, "Husband, in the end you too will kill those beasts at Beizhai, yes or no?"

Li You's gaze flickered slightly; he opened his mouth and said, "Go rest first; set out at the Yin hour."

Only then did the four of them leave happily; as they went out the door, Li Xiujun looked deeply at Li You. Her heart was finally settled; as long as she followed Li You, they would surely avenge Beizhai.

Li You fussed around a while longer, putting everything in order, before entering the side chamber to prepare for sleep. As he stepped up the stairs, he first saw a pair of "wolf ears"—simple furry shoes woven from wolf skin. Xiao Juzi stood at the doorway with bulging eyes, a necklace made of wolf teeth strung by Li You around her neck.

Recently, because Li You had been generous with food, both the mine workers and the blacksmith households had all lost their swelling and regained a human complexion. Especially these few children; Li You had specifically stewed wolf bone soup for them every morning before class, so they recovered the fastest. Xiao Juzi's eye sockets, cheekbones, and chin had all become rounder; although she still wore tattered clothes, her spirit and energy had become much more lively.

"Little glutton cat, you smelled it, right? Come... come back!"

Li You entered the room, and Xiao Juzi followed silently, like a little cat.

Li You placed a large bag of meat on the table, opened it, took out the piece of wolf loin with the most meat, and handed it to her.

Xiao Juzi swallowed and said, "No, I'm not greedy. Is Husband Brother leaving? Brother, keep it to eat."

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks; this appearance of a figure carved from jade and pink, with tears like pear blossoms, struck Li You's heart so painfully that he hurriedly picked her up and said, "Who told you I am leaving?"

"Wuwu... Brother Yu and Brother Zhi have been whispering something quietly... I know it. Husband Brother is leaving... doesn't want us anymore. Ah... wuwu... I can go without meat; a little soup is enough. Brother, don't go... if you go, they will eat us!"

"Not leaving, not leaving. Wherever you are, Brother is there; I definitely won't leave! Who dares to eat you?!"

"Sister Man said they are all very bad; they will stick their tongues into our butt cracks and leg cracks and lick us to eat us!"

Li You's face turned iron-green; his cheeks puffed for a moment, yet his eyes held some pain. He whispered, "Cao Erme? Alas, but he is a person of the gentry and wealthy households. Such people control most of the social resources and means of production of this era; their role in future development is far greater than Wu Zhuge's... I too must develop myself in the future; I cannot truly become a mountain bandit... but as long as one wants to produce, one cannot do without these gentry and wealthy households!"

Xiao Juzi cried for a while, then fell asleep in Li You's arms.

Li You felt her sharp little bottom and her spine as thin as dry firewood; his heart was momentarily somewhat lost, even hesitant, wondering whether he should go to Wu Xingshan after all.

The road ahead is always obscure and unclear; the future seems to hang by a thread at every moment. Although sometimes everything has been decided, yet whenever it comes time to depart, one feels an indescribable confusion. Seizing opportunities, seeking wealth and rank amidst danger—is it right or wrong?

Unknowingly, burdens had already settled upon him; this courage will bind him, but it will also give him infinite strength.

Li You leaned against the bed, half-asleep. In his daze, someone knocked on the door and said, "Brother You, the guide from Beizhai has arrived!"

It was Wu Dading's voice. Li You suddenly woke up, placed Xiao Juzi on the bed, covered her with mugwort grass, picked up the double-tipped spear from the table, inserted the curved blade into his boot shaft, and then went out the door!

The moon in the sky was very round, as large as a plate, its color like silver, shining steadily upon the earth, with bright shadows layer upon layer.

In the courtyard, more than twenty figures stood motionless; Li Xiujun and the other four women were among them, each standing straight and tall. Li You looked at this scene, his heart somewhat dazed, as if he were in a movie world...

Imagination is the mark that distinguishes humans from beasts. He seemed to clearly feel his powerful, leaping heart, the blood it pumped flowing quietly through his muscles and bones. As long as his nerve endings gave the command, that blood would surge like the Yellow River flooding; with the violent contraction of his muscles, he could shatter the Five Great Mountains and Mount Taishan into dust...

A faint tension now fed him a strange, indescribable power, giving him an almost mad, bloodthirsty urge!

Li You said nothing, quickly descended the steps, and merged into the bleak wind and dark night. Everyone followed in silence, one after another. No one noticed two small figures trailing behind, sneaking like rats.

Zhao Duyan had been waiting at the stockade gate long ago, but now someone stood beside him: the thin monkey who, after the trip to Mao'er Ba, had worshipped Li You to death and slipped out secretly.

Li You walked over, smiled at Zhao Duyan, and said, "Thanks for your hard work, Zhao Bata. Let's go, lead the way!"